Too Honest ~ James Potter

Chapter 19

*7th Year*

Though the knowledge of Regulus not being able to talk to her still lingered in the back of Mariya's thoughts, she went back to moving around her days as usual in only a few days and tried to ignore the fact that he never glanced at her during mealtimes anymore. She missed him so much but she couldn't say anything to anyone because nobody knew, nobody except... Minerva McGonagall. After one transfiguration double period, Mariya waited behind whilst everyone else disappeared off to lunch. She walked slowly up to the teachers desk and gave a weak smile as McGonagall asked her what she wanted.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about Regulus Black." Minerva nodded and the two walked to her office together.

Mariya left her office that day feeling the best she had felt all week, it was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, having told Professor McGonagall everything that had happened and informed her about Snape acting as a go between. She smiled as she walked down to the Black Lake, having a free period before potions. The wind lifted her hair off her shoulders and it floated behind her slightly as she walked, it was a sunny day but the breeze kept her cool as she stopped on the edge of the lake. She dropped her heavy robe on the ground, leaving her in her black school skirt and tall school socks, white collared shirt, and black ankle boots. She pulled her wand from a holster on her belt and pointed at her boots, lifting each foot off the ground in turn to accommodate the silver blades which materialised along the bottom. Next she cast a spell on the blades which would turn the water to ice as she made contact. Tucking her wand back into her belt, she gingerly stepped forward onto the edge of the lake, smiling as the water crystallised beneath her feet. She walked forward more confidently, moving quickly once she got onto the ice and found her footing. She took a moment to get accustomed to the feeling of the ice beneath her feet and then began to enjoy herself, performing any of the tricks she had learned over the years of learning. She spun and jumped, losing herself in the intricate dance and forgetting all of her worries as she let loose.

James Potter had been surprised when he saw Mariya Seratova standing on the edge of the lake but had been distracted by something and so hadn't seen what she had done next. When he approached the lake therefore, he was shocked to see flying around the lake on ice skates. The ice appeared to be created by her blades and faded back into water as she moved away, leaving a silver trail to follow a few metres behind her feet. Though James was no expect on ice-skating, even he could tell that she was very talented as she landed all sorts of jumps that looked very complicated and at one point brought her leg up so she was doing a vertical version of the splits and began to spin so fast she was just a blur. She was only wearing her school uniform and James couldn't understand how she wasn't overheating in the warm weather along with all the heat she must be generating whilst moving. He stepped forward and picked up her robes off the ground, folding them over his arm and running a hand through his hair.

James was standing there for a few more minutes before Mariya noticed him. She stumbled slightly as she stopped pirouetting at the sight of him, she took a minute to recover and then began to skate back towards the shore. Stepping lightly off the ice she began to walk towards James, reaching out a hand to receive her robes from him. He handed them over and she pulled them on before removing her wand and casting a spell at her boots to turn them back to normal.

Mariya began to walk back towards the school and James lengthened his stride to keep up with her. "Was there anything in particular you wanted, Potter?" She asked.

"I didn't know you skated."

Mariya raised an eyebrow at him, disbelief etched into her face, "You are aware that you don't actually know me, aren't you Potter? I am sure there are plenty of things about me that would surprise you."

"Like what?" Mariya stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.

"I can't tell if you are genuinely asking me that in expectation of an answer or if you are making fun of me."

"Genuinely asking." James could tell that wasn't the answer Mariya had been expecting as her eyebrows rose even higher and she pursed her lips faintly.

"What about we make it twenty questions and you have to answer something for every thing you ask."

James nodded his head slowly, "Sounds reasonable, I'm in. So?"

"I speak the basics of two languages other than English, Ukrainian, and Spanish."

James gave her a surprised look, "You're right, I didn't know that. What languages?" Mariya cast him a look and he sighed, "Right, only one question at a time. So, what do you want to know?"

Mariya paused for a moment, thinking. "Why don't you like Slytherins?"

James let out a shocked huff of air, "Wow! straight in with the deep stuff." Then, realising that he was actually going to have to answer the question. "I guess I just always thought you were stuck up snobs who lived on their parents money and wanted to get rid of the Muggles and Muggle-borns. My parents never said it explicitly but I was exposed to enough Purebloods who are now Death Eaters to start thinking that all Slytherins were like that."

Mariya nodded in understanding as he asked his next question, "Have you always been friends with Regulus?"

"Yes. There was a while last year when he started getting pulled into his parents ideals but I reminded him who he was and our friendship wasn't wounded by the incident. Do you actually like Lily Evans."

"Of course I do." Mariya was astonished at how instantaneous James's reply was, he didn't seem to consider the question at all. "I love her."

"That isn't what I asked."

James's brow furrowed, "But you can't love someone you don't like."

"Of course you can. I would say that Sirius loves Regulus but I don't imagine he always likes him. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me that you loved Lily but couldn't actually pinpoint anything about her personality that you liked after all," Mariya shrugged, "You barely know her."

"Well," James thought for a moment, "I like that she is kind and caring but that she can be feisty and daring when she feels the need."

Mariya gave a short laugh, "I would argue that her kindness has never been directed towards you James Potter." She didn't finish the sentence but her tone implied it And I am not convinced it ever will be. James scowled at the implication but chose not to comment as he moved on to his next question.

"Where did you learn to skate like that?"

"We have a lake close to our house which freezes over in winter, with a little help from my parents, so I always went out skating on it as a child, my mother and father taught me the basics and they paid for lessons at an actual rink for my tenth birthday present. I probably would have skated professionally if I hadn't come to Hogwarts."

They walked in through the doors and began to head towards the potions classroom as the end of their free period was nearing an end. Neither of them considered the way it looked to the rest of the students as they walked through the corridors, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin talking and laughing with each other as though it were a normal occurrence. It looked strangest to Lily Evans, who couldn't understand for a moment what had happened to Potter to make him leave her alone and start hanging out with Mariya Seratova all of a sudden.

And yet, that was the beginning of two things. The first, a brilliant friendship between the two which would eventually develop into something more. The second, a breaking of the feud between their respective houses, cracks that might one day open up into canyons as others joined in their cause. If only they knew how important they were, if only they were aware of how crucial their roles in the destiny of the Wizarding World were, if only they had any idea of how their friendship would destroy everything the Dark Lord had spent years creating.