Too Honest ~ James Potter

Chapter 15

*7th Year*

Minerva McGonagall was not surprised to see James Potter and Mariya Seratova standing outside her door at seven o'clock that Monday morning. She had suspected that they would be interested in why she had asked them to work together but she had not expected how angry the two would be about the decision. She hadn't been able to find any reason why they wouldn't work well together and so she had put them on the same team. She knew they had never been close friends and was aware that James Potter claimed to hate the girl but she also knew that hate can so easily become love in the right circumstances.

She couldn't help but wonder if there had been some sort of incident she was unaware of. Mariya almost seemed to hold a bit of fear in her gaze when she looked at the boy and James's eyes always flickered with guilt when he locked eyes with the girl.

Minerva McGonagall prided herself on keeping a good track of everything that happened to her students. There were few things they had done that she didn't know about, even if they were unaware about her knowing. There were some things - like pranks - that she was quite happy to let go as they generally didn't do any lasting damage and in these dark times she reckoned that everybody needed the laugher caused by the joking attitudes of the four boys.

Unfortunately for McGonagall, she was neither omnipresent nor omniscient so she had no idea of what had transpired between the two otherwise models students. Therefore, when the two came to her looking for answers, but were unable to explain why they wouldn't be able to work together, she was baffled. She felt sure that the two were the best pairing she could have both for the rest of the student body, and for furthering their own relationship. After all, they were clearly perfect for one another - Mariya was like ice. She was honest to a fault, never sugar-coating her words in the interest of helping people, and was perfectly willing to point out people's flaws but seemed cold to most people, making them avoid her. Whereas James was like fire - he was warm and gave comfort, he burned brightly for everyone to watch, but had a bad tendency to burn people beyond repair without meaning to.

Minerva knew that if only they could resolve whatever had happened between them, they would become a combination that changed the world.

Both teenagers had been speaking when McGonagall cut them off, "I think that it would be best if you spent an hour in my office every week, informing me of your progress." For a moment both teens were shocked into silence and Minerva enjoyed the peace for a moment knowing it would not last long. Sure enough both of them started speaking over each other again.

"But Professor, we have our NEWTs."

"Minnie, we have Quidditch teams to coach. There are snitches that need to be caught!"

Minerva raised an eyebrow at the outbursts from the two. It was hardly difficult to determine who had said what and their responses could not have displayed their characters better.

"Indeed Mr Potter, there are many snitches that I could find who would happily tell me what the real cause of your complaints is. And my feeling is that you don't want me to know, otherwise you would have said it outright." Minerva restrained herself from giving a smug smirk as the students froze, looking at each other. "I believe it is your move but I think it is worth me saying that - if you do not accept my offer - I shall simply have to put you both in detention for disobeying a teachers instructions and your can spend your evenings with me as a mark on your permanent record rather than simply a friendly teacher-student talk. So, what do you choose?"

Rather than answering her question, Mariya responded with one of her own, "Why did you put us together, Professor? What made you think that we would work well together?"

Minerva paused for a moment before answering, "I truly believe that you make the perfect team, something I think you will see once you put your differences behind you. It is very important in these times to remember who the real enemy is. The problem is not between Gryffindors and Slytherins. It is between good and evil, those who use magic to help others and those who abuse it for their own gain. I think that you becoming friends is the first step in solving the feud between your houses. It was not always like this between the two, so what has changed? The people have not, the sorting hat assures us that the character traits new students display have never changed. There is no way to trick the hat; he does not simply look at what you are thinking as you put him on, many people believe that they can be put into a certain house by thinking a certain thing so it appears they display a certain trait. That hat looks at your past and your present, he looks deeply at what is in your heart and chooses your house based on that. Some say that he uses the information he has to consider your future in each house and that he chooses the one you will do best in, either because that is what your family expect of you, or because you will need the relationships you form because of being in that house to fulfil your purpose."

Minerva noticed something change in Mariya's eyes as the girl heard her final words, a recognition she hoped she would soon understand.

"I think it best that we hold our meetings on Mondays, starting today. So, if you return to my office this evening after dinner, we can talk further. If possible, I would appreciate it if you would come willing to share what the hat said to you, as I feel it may shed some light on your situation."

Both students left her office and Minerva breathed in deeply, she hoped she had made the right decision regarding those two because - if she hadn't - it could go horribly wrong.