Of Aces and Other Surprises
“Don’t move! Why are you following me?” Lily advanced on him, wand out, in spite of the prefect badge glittering on her chest.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to work up the courage to ask you if you’d come to Hogsmeade with me.” James flinched as the wand-tip jabbed closer.
“Since when do you need courage for that?” Lily raged. “It’s been six years , Potter, what makes you think I’m going to change my mind?”
“Nothing, yet. But you’re worth it,” James replied, with a seriousness Lily hadn’t heard him use before. She shook her head, turned on her heel and stormed away. James watched her go and sighed, wondering how he was going to explain his latest screw-up to Sirius. Tailing Lily down the halls probably wasn’t the ideal way to approach her.
Remus, who had seen the whole thing from just around the corner, hurried through a tapestry and up a hidden staircase, knowing that Lily would now be heading to the library to cool off. He popped out of a passageway not ten metres ahead of her, and pretended nonchalance as they turned into the library together.
“Oh, hi, Lily,” he said with one of his quick, easy smiles. “How’s your first NEWT year going?”
“It would be a damn sight better if James Bloody Potter would leave me the hell alone,” she replied, but her tone was milder than it had been moments before. “You?”
Remus lifted his shoulders. “So-so,” he said, as they settled together on a table. “What’s James done now?”
“Nothing, really,” Lily sighed. “He just asked me to Hogsmeade again, and I don’t understand why he hasn’t given up yet.”
“You’re the only person in the school that his charms don’t work on. Of course you’re the only person he’s going to want,” Remus said gently. “Makes sense to me.”
“What doesn’t make sense is that everyone else falls for his charms!” Lily burst out. “He’s an arrogant, cocky -”
“Lily,” Remus said mildly.
“Sorry. I know he’s your friend,” she muttered.
“No, I was going to say - it’s hardly surprising he’s so arrogant, is it? Everyone else is wrapped around his little finger, and he can’t even help it. So you’re a breath of fresh air to him.”
“What do you mean, he can’t help it?”
“Hang on.” Remus blinked at her. “You don’t know? James is part-Veela.”
Lily’s mouth fell open. “He’s… what?”
“You really didn’t know.” Remus shook his head slowly. “You must be immune, somehow.”
“I’m not - I’m - I’ve never been that interested in relationships,” Lily muttered. “Especially the physical part. So I guess that’s why.”
“Neither has James,” Remus told her. “So you can imagine what a curse his Veela is for him to live with… and why he’s so fixated on you. Everyone else wants him because his magic makes it that way. You don’t want him for exactly the same reason. You’re a perfect match.”
“I didn’t even know Veela could be male,” Lily muttered, rubbing the heels of her hands into her eyes. “How can he not be attracted to people when part of him is a creature like that?”
“Veela aren’t sexual beings. They use hormones as weapons. Most of it is involuntary. Hang on,” Remus said, and stood up to fetch some books.