James meets her on the Hogwarts Express along with his new friend, Sirius Black. She is wearing a white dress with a gold belt and she looks angelic with her golden locks and kaleidoscopic, colour changing eyes.
Her name is Camilla Lavensque, he learns. Her grandfather is the French Minister of Magic and her father is the Head of the French Department of Law Enforcement. She is carrying big expectations on her shoulders and is afraid to disappoint.
James smiles and tells her that he doesn't believe that she could do anything to disappoint anybody. She smiles at his comment, and James decides that he likes the way she smiles.
The three of them bond over their mutual love for Quidditch and the fact that James can't speak French to save his life (much to his mother's dismay).
She leaves after a while, claiming that she had promised to meet her two older cousins, and leaves Sirius and him to talk.
The next time he meets her is just before they are sorted. He asks her which House she wants to go to. She says that she is sure to go to Slytherin, but she can't go there because she wants to win a bet. He tries to convince her that Slytherin is the worse house she could go to, and she innocently asks if it is true that Dorea Potter -his mother- was a Slytherin alumni. He shuts up after that.
He claps for her loudly as her tie turns blue and she joins the Ravenclaw table. She was nearly a hat stall.
He asks her what happened with her sorting the next day at Charms. She shrugs and replies with a mysterious smirk that Hat was convinced that she was meant for Slytherin, but since she wanted to win the bet against her cousins, she told the Hat that a Slytherin not going into Slytherin would be the most Slytherin thing to do. He laughs at that answer.
Sirius, James learns, is fluent in French. He and Camilla are both very dramatic and can be seen ball room dancing in random places at spontaneous times and also whispering secretly to one another in French. James desperately wants to understand why they are both laughing so much when they look at him, but being bilingual is sadly not one of his many talents. James decides that French sucks.
Lucius Malfoy and Theodore Nott are her cousins, he learns, and she loves them very very much. Camilla learnt the password to the Slytherin Common Room from them, and agrees to share it with Sirius and James on the condition that no harm should be done to her cousins and Narcissa Black (because Lucius has a small crush on her). They agree, and pinky swear on it.
The next day, every Slytherin except three, wake up with bright red hair and yellow faces. Camilla laughs and applauds James and Sirius in the middle of the Great Hall, who just smile smugly. McGonagall gives them detention for two days and takes away twenty points each from Gryffindor. They don't regret it.
Headmaster Dumbledore walks into the Great Hall at that moment with his beard painted the colours of the French National Flag. Dumbledore laughs and applauds Camilla. He also stops any teacher from giving her any detention or taking away points because he thinks her prank was absolutely brilliant. Camilla smiles at them smugly. James decides that he is in love.
James decides that 'Camilla' is a bit of a mouthful. He starts to call her Cam. She in turn, starts to call him Jem. James shows her and Sirius his invisibility cloak. The three of them go up to the Astronomy Tower that night. Sirius shows them the star he was named after. Camilla remarks that it is a nice tradition to name children after stars. James and Sirius drop Camilla at her Common Room before going to their own Common Room. Sirius teaches James how to say good night in French. James says good laugh instead.
Sirius and James include their book-smart roommate Remus in their shenanigans. Camilla becomes very close with her roommate Catherine Fawley and a Slytherin girl named Selina Greengrass. She also starts conversing regularly with Narcissa Black, and gives her cousin Lucius either a wink or a suggestive grin whenever she does.
Camilla goes to visit Headmaster Dumbledore every Thursday before dinner. James doesn't know why. Camilla tells him that she and the headmaster exchange gossip over tea. For some reason, James believes her.
It's Sirius' birthday, and he has never had a party. James will forever remember Camilla's shocked face as she falls of her chair in surprise upon hearing that news. She vows to make it amazing. She enlists James, Remus', her cousins and her friends help. They all reluctantly agree to be civil with each other because Camilla is scary when she is angry. Camilla somehow manages to convince the Great Hall occupants to a surprise party. When Sirius walks into the Great Hall for dinner, the room is dark. Suddenly, it lights up once more and everybody yells surprise. Sirius wears the biggest grin on his face as he cuts a twelve layer birthday cake prepared by the House Elves. Everybody eats cake and chocolate that night for dinner, and they also have a mini-party with some music and dancing in the Hall. Dumbledore does the robot dance. Camilla and James collaborated on a gift and give Sirius a dart set with a picture of Walburga Black in the middle. Sirius declares that it is the best birthday present he has ever received.
Camilla and James have an agreement to support the other's house during Quidditch matches, as long as their respective houses don't playing against each other. During the first match of Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, James and Camilla have dyed their hair red and their face is covered with yellow glitter. They are wearing bright red and gold clothes and cheering loudly and are not ashamed even for a second. They have convinced Sirius to were red body paint and dye his precious hair gold. Remus and Selina are sensibly wearing their respective house scarfs and are clapping politely. Camilla had painted Catherine's forehead to spell 'Go Lions' in red paint that night when she was asleep, but Catherine doesn't mind and cheers loudly next to Sirius as well.
James gets Camilla kicked out of the library. Coincidentally, he also spends the rest of the day singing, "Salazar Slytherin is my love, broccoli is my life" whenever he opens his mouth. He vows to himself to never again mess with her.
Camilla gets a letter from James' mum two days later, who is very happy to hear that James finally likes eating broccoli. Lady Potter invites her to Yule Celebrations at their Manor. James looks green and blue when he hears about the letter.
In his next letter home, James teasingly asks his mother if she wants to adopt Camilla. Dorea Potter replies saying that, she would rather have Camilla as her daughter-in-law.
Sirius is confused on why James resembles a tomato after reading a letter from his mother.
Instead of staying in London like previously planned, James, his mother and father go to France for Yule. They are invited to stay at the Main Lavensque Castle (and yes they have other castles). Lady Potter takes a liking to Camilla, and Lord Potter is impressed with her ability to prank Dumbledore.
Lord and Lady Lavensque are all smiles and laugh lines. Lady Lavensque has the House Elves make all of James' favourite food the entire time they are there.
On the actual Yuleite day, Camilla locks herself and James in her room. When James asks her why, Camilla explains that her father has a habit of hanging mistletoes everywhere, so that he can find an excuse to kiss her mother. She doesn't want James to get caught in it accidentally. James waves off her worries.
Twenty minutes later, he gets stuck under a mistletoe. He begs and pleads for Camilla to save him, but she is perfectly content at just smirking at him. When he bargains with her that if she gets him out of there, he will do whatever one thing she wants; Camilla calls a House Elf and asks the Elf to kiss him, thus saving him from the dreaded mistletoe. The House Elf listens. James is horrified. Camilla asks James to throw a pie on her father and not to blame her. When he argues that he doesn't have to listen to her because she didn't save him, Camilla says calmly that all he asked her was to get him out of there, and technically, she did. James now knows why the Hat was so adamant on getting her into Slytherin.
James gets into major trouble with his mother for throwing a pie on Lord Lavensque, who surprisingly takes it all in good humour. James decides that he hates mistletoes. And pies. And Cam.
That year, Ravenclaw wins against Slytherin but loses against Gryffindor in quidditch. Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup. Ravenclaw won the House Cup. Camilla is first in their year, and she has accidentally stepped on Sirius' toes with her pointy heels at least three hundred times in the duration of that year.
James decides that Hogwarts in amazing.
YOU ARE READING
The Lion and The Raven ~ James Potter AU
Fanfiction"I fell in love the way I fall asleep. Slowly, then all at once."-- John Green He was dynamic. She was dramatic. He was cheeky. She was sassy. He was reckless. She was passionate. They were by no means perfect. But they were perfect together. ~*~*~*...
