Chapter Text
Her whole life, Charlotte Potter had always believed herself to be her older brother’s complete opposite. James could walk into a room, and his presence could be felt without him having to say anything at all. Charlotte hated unnecessary attention. James abandoned all inhibition for the sake of fun. Charlotte was calculated, always thinking before acting. James flourished on the quidditch pitch, thriving off the noise and adrenaline. Charlotte had her ambitions set on her studies and her future career as a healer. And most importantly, James was a proud Gryffindor. Charlotte, much to the surprise of her family, was a Ravenclaw through and through.
It was a hot, late August day, and James had decided that the best way to keep everyone entertained was to drag everyone down to the lake at the edge of Potter Manor. He had managed to get his friends and his sister into the water, but keeping them there proved to be the challenge. So, he came up with a series of games he swore would be fun.
James balanced on his broom, attempting to stay on it for as long as he could without falling off the thin rod of wood. He lasted a good while before slipping and plunging into the lake with a big splash. James emerged from the water triumphant and soaking wet.
“How long was that, Lottie?” James called out to his sister. Charlotte had only gotten through one of James’ games before she decided to escape to the small deck that extended into the lake. She enjoyed tanning in the sun far more than playing along with whatever stupid new competition her brother had invented.
“Twenty-one seconds,” Charlotte called out, not bothering to lift her head.
“Aw, you’re not even looking, Lottie!” James whined. “That had to have been thirty seconds at least!”
“Sorry, Prongs,” Remus chimed in, “I saw the whole thing and counted twenty-one seconds too.” Remus had also successfully evaded James’ pleas to get him to play, choosing to join Charlotte on the deck. He lay on his back with his elbows propping him up, lazily basking in the sun.
“See, James, I’m never wrong.” Charlotte drawled as she lifted her head to give James a pointed look.
James stuck out his tongue at his sister, a completely childish gesture, yet Charlotte could not resist sticking her tongue out at him too.
“Alright, try and beat that, Padfoot!” James yelled at Sirius, who was already flying up above the water to attempt his next personal best.
“Don’t you worry, Prongs; I can beat you without even trying,” Sirius called back with typical arrogance. Sirius’s cockiness lasted all of two seconds when he got up on his feet and immediately slipped and crashed into the water below.
James howled with laughter, and even Remus and Charlotte were roused from their relaxation to also laugh heartily at Sirius’ failure. Sirius popped up from the water, red in the face, muttering expletives under his breath.
“Oh, come on, Padfoot, even I could have lasted longer!” Peter jeered with mirthful tears in his eyes. He too had joined James’s game at the start, but eventually grew bored with his insatiable competitiveness. He resorted to making occasional laps in the water, drifting between the boys and Charlotte and Remus on the deck for conversation.
It wasn’t long before Sirius was lunging for James, trying to tackle him in the water. The two struggled as they splashed around and laughed at the top of their lungs. They only got more raucous as Peter jumped into their horseplay.
This was nothing new to Charlotte and Remus, so they went back to minding their business, which just so happened to be letting their skin tan in the late summer heat.
Remus rolled over on his stomach to face Charlotte. He reached over and absentmindedly twirled one of her curls around his finger. It had been straightened that morning, but after swimming around a bit, her hair returned to her natural wild curls.
“How come you don’t leave your hair curly more often?” Remus hummed.
Charlotte turned her face toward him and frowned slightly. “I like my hair straight better.”
“Well, I think it looks nice like this.”
“Thanks, Rem.” Charlotte gave him an earnest smile. It wasn’t that she hated her natural curls by any means, but Charlotte had simply gotten used to seeing her hair straightened; no need to change something that didn’t bother her.
Charlotte sat up to get a good look at Remus. His pale shoulders were starting to turn the slightest bit pink from being in the sun for so long. Thin, silvery scars that ran over the expanse of his slender limbs seemed to glisten in the sunlight. And he had a certain look in his eye that she’d come to recognize.
“How are things with Sirius?” Charlotte meant to tread into this territory carefully, but she blurted out the question with little restraint. She knew Remus wouldn’t mind.
He sighed as he turned his body back to watch Sirius swimming. Sirius’s toned arms cut effortlessly through the water, years of swimming in the lake at Potter Manor evident in every stroke. Remus watched as Sirius tossed his head back, letting a warm laugh fall from his lips. Charlotte noticed the way Remus’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
“Things are… better,” Remus said after a long pause.
Just a couple of months ago, at the end of their sixth year, Sirius pulled an incredibly stupid, reckless, dangerous prank on Snape. Whether Sirius had realized it beforehand or not, the truth was that his stunt came entirely at Remus's expense. Charlotte had been there to witness the aftermath and had watched their friendship be pulled apart at the seams. Remus had especially felt betrayed, having his worst secret revealed to the person they all hated the most. They argued a lot at first, Remus fueled by anger and hurt, Sirius driven by the desperate need for forgiveness. Remus swore he’d never speak to Sirius again. But as Charlotte’s mum always said, time heals all wounds. That, combined with some necessary interventions from Charlotte, James, and Peter, helped the two boys finally reach neutral ground.
Tensions still lingered between them. Charlotte saw it in every interaction they had that summer, but she knew Remus and Sirius would somehow always find their way back to each other. Maybe they couldn’t see it quite yet, but Charlotte had a sneaking feeling that certain suppressed emotions might soon come to light, especially with the upcoming school year being the boys’ last year. Soon enough, it would just be her at Hogwarts. The thought made Charlotte’s heart clench.
They sat for a while longer in comfortable silence, watching as the boys started swimming back toward them.
“I’ve had enough. Your brother doesn’t know how to play fair!” Sirius complained as he pulled himself onto the deck, shooting James a look. Water dripped off his body, his muscles flexing as he lifted himself out of the lake. Charlotte could swear she heard Remus swallow, which made her chuckle the tiniest bit.
Peter also emerged onto the deck, having been the only one sensible enough to use the little ladder on the side.
“Aw, you're just a sore loser, Pads.” James had also lifted himself out of the water and was now standing in front of Charlotte.
“James Fleamont Potter, don't you dare!” Charlotte shrieked.
To her horror, James began to shake himself off like a dog, letting cold water droplets rain all over her. She screamed as Sirius started to do the same.
“Come here, Lottie, let me give you a hug!” Sirius cried almost too happily as he chased Charlotte around the deck. He was, unfortunately, faster and wrapped his cold arms around her as Charlotte screamed.
The sun was beginning to set, casting their little slice of the world in an orange glow. And even though she was now freezing, Charlotte felt incredibly warm. She hoped days like these would never end, but she knew time was fleeting, and they would have to return to the real world soon enough.
❊❊❊
“Honestly, what was Dumbledore thinking?” Charlotte muttered under her breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I think he does it just to stir up some fun for himself at this point,” Remus muttered back.
They were, of course, referring to James being made Head Boy.
At the front of the prefect compartment, James was making a complete fool of himself, unabashedly flirting with Lily Evans—nothing new there. He was loudly declaring that surely fate must have brought them together to be this year's Head Boy and Girl.
“I think this badge becomes me. Makes me look mature, don't you think?”
Lily looked one heartbeat away from murder.
When they got the letter in the mail with James’ badge, everyone at Potter Manor was stunned. Their parents, though trying to hide their obvious shock, reassured James that they were proud of him. Charlotte was utterly bewildered, saying, “he’s never even been a prefect before!” Sirius, who had been living with them for the past two years now, found the whole thing hilarious and was entirely too happy to find that James was now in a position of power to get them out of virtually any trouble.
Charlotte and Remus, already knowing how this would go, had come early to keep the peace. They stood at the back of the carriage with the perfect view of Lily turning a shade of red that could compete with her hair.
“Oh, Remus, he's torturing the poor girl. Do something!” Charlotte pleaded.
So Remus sighed as he made his way over to try to mediate before Lily got the chance to hex James into next week.
Charlotte figured she might as well get closer to the action in case Remus needed backup. She made her way toward the center of the compartment and took a seat. She knew getting James to behave around Lily Evans was easier said than done.
“Hi, Potter.” A familiar voice spoke next to Charlotte. She was pleased to find David Haywood sitting down next to her. David was the other sixth-year Ravenclaw prefect, so Charlotte had found herself spending a lot of time with him last year on their rounds.
“Hi, Haywood.” Charlotte gave him a smile, which he happily returned.
“How was your summer?” Haywood asked, making himself comfortable in his seat.
“It was alright," Charlotte shrugged. "How was yours?”
“Mine was good, thanks. Looking forward to more late-night patrols this year?”
“Not at all.” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “I hardly got any sleep last year. And I’ll have enough on my plate with all my classes to be missing out on even more sleep.”
David hummed. “I thought O.W.Ls were bad… N.E.W.Ts will be absolute torture.”
“How did you do on your O.W.Ls, by the way?” Charlotte asked, turning her body to face him.
David looked around before leaning in and lowering his voice. “O’s on everything except for care of magical creatures. I got an E. But you know I hate that class anyway.”
Charlotte hummed. It was true, David always had a look of terror on his face when they had to interact with any creature larger than a niffler.
“Anyways, how’d you do?” David asked before pausing. “Wait, do I even want to know?”
“Well, since you asked, O’s on everything, including care of magical creatures.” Charlotte gave him a smug smile, much to David’s chagrin.
“Of course you did,” David said, rolling his eyes.
Remus was coming back to join Charlotte now, having been successful enough to get James and Lily to collaborate amiably, at least to the end of this meeting.
“Well, I’ll see you later, Potter,” Haywood said as he straightened up. “Get excited, we’re leading a new horde of first-years to the tower tonight,” he said with a less-than-excited voice. And with that, he left for the other side of the carriage to sit with his friends.
Remus threw himself down into the seat next to Charlotte, where David had just been.
“Five sickles says Lily jinxes James in the first half of the meeting.”
“You’re on,” Charlotte says, chuckling.
Prefect meetings were always boring. At least this time around, as Lily read items off the list in her hand from the headmaster himself about responsibilities and protocols, she got to watch her brother’s facial reactions to all the new rules he would have to follow.
“One last thing before we go, because I know everyone is desperate to get out of here,” Lily announced. “Prefect rounds.”
There were a couple of groans from the crowd.
“I know, I know.” Lily waved her hands, getting everyone to settle down. “Now, there are some… changes this year.” Her brows furrowed as she looked at the paper in her hands.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Remus muttered. Charlotte couldn't help but nod in agreement.
“In previous years, we’ve always had prefects in the same house conduct rounds together, but the headmaster believes that some inter-house unity might do us all good,” Lily announced.
“That's outrageous,” Mulciber, the Slytherin seventh-year prefect, spat out. “Why change things now?”
“It’s not like I personally made this change,” Lilly snapped back, her face flushing red.
“Honestly, this is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard. And why should we have to listen to you?” Audrey Rose, a seventh-year Ravenclaw, also chimed in.
“Well, for starters, I’m the one with a Head Girl badge, and you’re not.”
More and more people began complaining, turning their animosity toward Lily, who was struggling to gain the upper hand.
Even Remus and Charlotte began to stir in their seats, just about ready to step in on Lily’s behalf.
“Oi! If you’d all shut up for one minute, you’d hear what she has to say,” James shouted, shooting glares into the crowd, effectively silencing everyone. “We had just as much say in the matter as you all did. Stop taking your anger out on Lily—she’s done nothing wrong. If you’ve got a problem with this, take it up with Dumbledore.”
The whole compartment seemed frozen as people were still reeling from being yelled at by James Potter of all people. Charlotte was impressed, she’d never seen her brother command a whole group of people like that outside the quidditch pitch before. Remus seemed to be thinking the same thing as he shared a look with Charlotte.
“About time,” He whispered to her. And Charlotte couldn't help but smile softly.
It seemed to hit James how stern he had been when he caught his sister’s eye. Charlotte didn’t know what he saw in her look that made him snap back, but he began to rub the back of his neck.
“Well, okay, go on then.” James gestured for Lily to continue.
Lily, who had also been stunned by James’ outburst, took a minute to compose herself again. She looked at him for a long time. For the first time, there was something different in Lily’s gaze.
“Thank you,” she said earnestly after a beat. James seemed taken aback by her sudden sincerity directed at him. Before he could say anything else, she forged on to get the meeting over and done with.
“Now, if you’d all let me continue,” she said, giving pointed looks to Mulciber and Rose. “Prefect pairs for conducting rounds will be decided randomly. Partners will be assigned by pulling names from this pot.”
Lily gestured to a little bowl with small pieces of parchment inside. “We’ll start with the fifth-year prefects.”
As the fifth-year pairs were made, any displeased comments were kept silent this time around. Charlotte watched as a Gryffindor girl was paired with a Slytherin boy, and the way her face went pale. Charlotte frowned, wondering if Dumbledore had really thought this through.
“We’ll continue to the sixth year prefects.” Lily reached into the bowl, now with new names, and began to list off pairs. Charlotte could feel a pit in her stomach as she anxiously waited to be called and paired off. She did not have to wait long as Lily pulled her name next.
“Charlotte Potter.” Lily set the piece of parchment loose as it floated over to a new sheet, where the slip seemed to melt into the paper, leaving only the name of the person called.
“And…” Lily shot a glance at James before continuing. “And Regulus Black.”
Charlotte inhaled sharply.
“No. Absolutely not.” James attempted to take the slip out of Lily’s hand, but she had already let it go, leaving the name permanently next to Charlotte’s.
James’s complaints became background noise. She didn’t meet Remus’s tense stare. No, she turned instead to the boy across the compartment.
But Regulus Black was already looking at her.
He didn’t look surprised or annoyed like Charlotte expected him to be. He simply held her gaze, unperturbed and unreadable.
Charlotte couldn't explain why, but for the briefest moment, she had the strangest feeling that Regulus Black knew something she didn't.