SIX

ruby wants gender equality!

THE LEAVES HAD turned vibrant shades of orange, yellow and red. It gave a beautiful, comfortable hue to the school and set the students of all ages into a buzz of excitement for the approaching holidays.

Halloween was coming up in a couple of weeks and decorations were already staring to be put up. In recent years, people had taken to dressing up, a trend introduced by the muggleborns and half-bloods with muggle backgrounds. The school did have regulation, like no cultural, ghost or creature appropriation.

Mostly, people dressed up as muggle cartoon, movie and tv show characters or sometimes as each other. Ryan Allen-Chang had a running gag of dressing up as a professor every year and the first to guess was given a prize.

This was his last year, so it could be expected that it would be great. In the past, James and Fred ( and sometimes the twins ) had dressed up as heroes. One year, Fred and James went as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Another year, the four of them went as Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Nick Fury. And another, they had gone as the Beatles. They always had fun choosing their costumes and were yet to decide.

"Maybe you could 'accidentally' coordinate with Lily?" Lysander suggested. 

They had spent months trying to figure out the last costume that they'd wear at Hogwarts, but couldn't agree on anything.

"No, it'll seem forced and I don't know what she's going as anyways," James spooned some baked beans onto his breakfast plate.

"You could ask," Lysander pushed.

"No," James said firmly.

"Fine," Lysander surrendered and got up and headed over to Lily. 

James didn't think he was actually going to go through with inserting himself into their discussion, but just in case, he followed quickly behind so Lysander didn't make a fool of him.

"Hey Edwards, I have a question about Astronomy," Lysander stated.

He sat down opposite her, in between Nyah and Estelle, earning cries of annoyance from both of them when they were shoved to the side. James sighed in relief at the thought that Lysander was just bluffing.

"Yes?" Lily asked as she looked over in confusion.

"What do the stars predict that you'll dress as for Halloween?" Lysander asked. "Asking for a friend."

"Very funny. We haven't decided yet," she said as she chuckled at his attempt.

"You could actually help us decide as an unbiased third party," Ruby piped up.

"I'm all ears," Lysander said with a grin.

"I can help too," James said, sitting down next to Lily on her free side. 

Lily smiled at him slightly and turned away. He was grinning at her.

"We have multiple candidates, but we can't decide. Henry suggested the Addams Family —" Ruby explained.

"Which is a great suggestion," Henry interrupted Ruby to emphasize.

"I suggested Mickey and his band of characters," Ruby added. "And Ben suggested that we go as what we went as in first year."

"Wait, that's really sweet, I love that Ben!" Lily exclaimed, looking up from her bacon and eggs.

"What can I say?" he said as he ( mock ) flipped his hair.

"So, what do you guys think?" Nyah asked, causing all eyes to land on the two boys.

"What were you guys in first year?" Lysander asked, propping his head on the back of his hands.

"Disney. I was Tiana, Estelle was Snow White and Lily was Belle. Henry went as Prince Eric and Ben as Prince Charming. He didn't want to be Naveen, like I suggested because he didn't want to be married to me," Nyah explained with a glare in Ben's direction, who threw his hands up in mock surrender. Lysander bellowed with laughter while James chuckled.

"Any guy would be lucky to have you Ny, just for multiple obvious reasons, I will not be one of them." Ben said with a laugh.

This was followed by a chorus of agreement from everyone at their section of the table. This left Nyah with a wide grin. She loved her friends.

They always knew how to build up her confidence and make her feel like a badass, but they also let her be vulnerable and gentle, something that society rarely let Black girls be. When she was little, she was taught that not everyone would like her for reasons out of her control and they would call her sassy or bossy because she stood up for herself.

Sometimes, she just wanted to cry and not be judged for it. Sometimes she just wanted a cookie and warm milk. Sometimes she wanted to dress up in flowy dresses instead of leather and jeans and drink tea out of fine china. Her friends supported her no matter what and it's what helped her navigate the world.

They recognized that they would never understand her experience as a Black woman, but they damn well tried to help her succeed in a world that didn't want her to and she loved them for it.

"I think we should go with the Addams Family, it's the obvious choice!" Henry announced as he sent Nyah a teasing wink.

"You just want to dress up as Gomez," Estelle remarked, pointing her porridge's spoon in an accusatory fashion at him, making everyone chuckle.

"I've been caught!" Henry exclaimed dramatically.

"He does wear a fabulous suit though!" Lily exclaimed.

"See! Lil agrees with me, that means we have to do it!" Henry said.

"I didn't agree that we should do Addams, but I did say that he has a great suit. The two events were not related," Lily corrected.

"But they could be!" Henry said with a look meant to convince her.

"But they aren't," Lily shut down with a raised eyebrow. 

Everyone started laughing again while Henry pouted. James and Lysander both mentally decided that they liked the group's collective energy. They were well suited to each other and were lively and fun but seemed to really care about each other. 

What they didn't know was that this harmony was the product of a lot of hard work. The road to where they were was uncomfortable and bumpy with people saying some ignorant things and others having to correct them.

They had to work through societal and cultural systems that were aimed to pit them against each other, but instead flipped those standards on their heads. In the process of helping each other understand and appreciate their differences, they found even more similarities and became extremely close.

"So, unbiased third parties, what's the verdict?" Ruby asked, interrupting an argument happening between Henry and Lily about whether or not her complimenting Gomez's suit was a vote for his idea. Lysander and James looked at each other, they had the same decision.

"Ben's idea, it's sentimental," Lysander said.

"And more inclusive if others want to join," James added.

"Who else would want to join?" Nyah asked.

"Well we haven't decided on our costumes yet. We were thinking the Pirates of the Caribbean or something, but it seems like you guys need more princes," Lysander suggested, sending a wink at the girls and causing James to go a little red at the ears.

"Also weren't Oswald and MacMillan not a part of this during first year? Oswald you weren't friends with them yet and MacMillan hadn't even come to Hogwarts yet, right?" James commented.

Charlie grimaced at his past choice of friends, they were not the best people. When he started becoming friends with Ruby in 5th year, he tried his best to integrate into their friend group as a way to leave his. He'd been successful, though he would never be as close with them, they still considered him a part of the group as much as Henry or Nyah was.

"Yeah, I guess," Nyah replied, nodding her head in affirmation.

"Wait, Charlie! What if we were Anna and Kristoff?" Ruby suddenly burst out, scaring Charlie and Ben.

After settling down, Charlie smiled at her. It would be very cute and they were one of the healthiest Disney couples as they didn't include sexual assault, pedophilia or the overused trope of 'she cleans up nice'. He thought that Ruby was stunning all the time, whether she thought so or not.

"If we agree on it, then yeah, sure, that sounds brilliant!" Charlie said laughing as she already started planning their costume. He was such a Hufflepuff.

"I will relinquish my idea in favor of Ben's. Henry? Do you concede?" Ruby asked with pleading eyes.

"Come on, you looked hot as Prince Eric. All we need to do is find a red head for a male Ariel," Lily said, nudging his side and smiling.

"I guess I did, alright, I surrender, we can do Ben's idea," Henry surrendered. Ben pumped his fist in the air in victory and Ruby and Nyah cheered.

"Do you want to ask Lily Luna if she wants to join?" Estelle asked Lily.

Estelle had also developed a fondness for the youngest Potter. She found her to be sweet and funny and Lily Luna liked to come to Estelle with questions about her sexuality. Lily Luna wasn't sure about her own and found that talking to Estelle helped her figure it out.

"Yeah, but I think she has friends in her own year now, but I'll float the idea past her! Thanks for reminding me Stell!" Lily jumped up, ready to find the red head as she knew that she would forget to if she delayed.

"Thanks for consulting me, her older brother, on whether or not she wants to join us. Really appreciate it guys!" James said sarcastically.

"Two things Potter, one, she happens to be friends with us so we can ask her whatever we'd like, especially when it pertains to Halloween costumes and two, we haven't said that you can join us yet," Lily said, placing her hands on her hips as she stood over James. He stood up, instantly becoming much taller than her.

"Oh love, you know you want me to join you," he said with a smirk.

"No, I really don't," she replied, showing an unamused expression on her face.

"Please, love, you know you want to see me in tight pants, boots and a loose white shirt. You read too much Jane Austen to not want that," he retorted as she blushed at this and looked down. It took her a moment to compose herself, before looking up and regaining the same stony expression. But James and literally everyone else caught that moment.

"If I say yes, will you stop bothering me about it?" she asked.

"Pinky promise!" he exclaimed as he extended his pinky towards her.

She looked down at it, turned around, sending an apologetic glance towards her friends who were snickering, gathered her things and left to go to class. After she left, the group stared at James Sirius.

"You know you're never going to get her at that rate," Ben mused, sipping on some of his pumpkin juice.

"What do you suggest I talk to her about then?" James asked, half sarcastic, half serious. The group elected to ignore his sarcasm with shared looks.

"You could talk about activism. She's really into that," Ruby said, starting to gather her things with Charlie's help. "That's what we bonded over."

"Dear god, do you really think you are going to make a difference?" James huffed, sitting down, causing Henry to scootch further from him. Then simultaneously, the table erupted.

"I think I'd rather be doing good than being a dick quidditch player," Henry growled as he scooted closer to Ben.

"Watch it — " Charlie yelled, standing up ready to defend his girlfriend.

"Excuse me?" Nyah shot up, slamming her hands on the table.

Estelle glared daggers at him, if looks could kill, he wouldn't even be in the wizarding after-life.

"Sorry. That came out wrong," James said with a grimace, it had sounded nicer in his head.

"Damn right it did." Estelle growled.

"It's fine guys, look, Potter, I'm going to use the privilege that I've been given to lift up others. That's what should be done. You should do it too. And not just to get Lily's attention, because it's the right thing to do. Aren't you a Gryffindor? Isn't that your whole thing? Doing the right thing and acting bravely and with chivalry? Well, do it. Prove yourself worthy of your status as a Gryffindor and as a Potter. Your parents and your grandparents used their power and standing in life to make it a whole lot better for others, now it's your turn to do the same," Ruby calmly said.

She had finished packing up and Charlie gave her a hand up, walking her out of the Great Hall, not before sending one last glare in James's direction.

"Shit. I'm sorry," James said, burying his head in his hands.

"Make it up to her. We were the only people defending you with Lily and I don't know anymore. And she's right. You're a Potter and Gryffindor, use that power to help people other than yourself," Estelle stated as she got up with Nyah and Ben. Lysander quickly followed, finding Lorcan and Fred. This left Henry and James.

"Look, what you said was really shitty, no denying it, but I know where it came from," Henry offered.

"What?" James said looking up with a confused look on his face.

"It must also be bollocks to be constantly shot down by the person that you've liked for a while. And sometimes it'll get to you," Henry explained.

"Yeah, I guess," James looked back down.

"Look, we aren't friends, but I've been told that I'm a good person to talk to about this type of stuff. I know Lil like the back of my hand and she's helped me through some really dark times. I don't think I would be here today if it wasn't for her," Henry revealed.

This caused James to look up. All he'd seen from Henry Stints was that he was happy all the time.

"I'm alright now, I don't think that type of shit anymore. But, she means the world to me, she's like my sister, which means I know that ... I don't know. It's not my place to say," Henry said as he shook his head, it wasn't his information to share.

He had noticed recently that she started smiling around him and they walked together to classes sometimes and she didn't complain about sharing a dorm like he thought she would. He thought she was starting to like James back.

"But just, be careful with her, alright? She may seem like she's got everything together, and for the most part she does, but she also has some deep secrets too and she's not super into letting people in, but when she does, she trusts you completely. She's good at trusting people. And I'm not going to pretend like I know what happens when your dorm door closes because I know that she's different when she's alone and comfortable with people and based on my experience with guys like you, I'm going to bet that you are too. But if she lets you in, and you'll know when she does, if you decide that you want to leave, please let her down slowly. She's had too much hurt in her life for anything less. I have to go to class, but I'm willing to bet that I'll see you at lunch when you come to pester her again," he explained.

Henry stood up, giving James a salute and proceeded to exit the hall. What was it with Lily and her friends giving meaningful talks and then just leaving him to ruminate?

When requesting his schedule, he'd made sure to leave his mornings free so he wouldn't have to wake up as early if he had a night out with the boys, so James had nothing to do for a period. He could do his homework, but that would mean studying in public and that was not an option. He didn't want to go back to the dorm because he liked to study with Lily there.

So, he set up a prank. He hadn't done a big one in a while and they had a calling card: small pranks here and there before a massive one. With the help of the Marauder's Map, he ventured into each hallway bathroom and put magical dye in the hand soap. Anyone who decided to use soap would have purple hands for 24 hours.

He chuckled to himself at the thought of all the students with discolored hands running in the hallway and taking notes. He almost had to go to class as getting into the bathrooms and charming all the soap was a long task, so he bounded into Defense Against the Dark Arts, spirit renewed. Professor Clearwater was wary as a giddy James Potter was never a good sign.

"Mr. Potter, you're here," Professor Clearwater said in surprise.

"I'm on time Professor," James said.

"Yes, I can see that, did you not hear the surprise in my tone?" Clearwater retorted.

"Sorry, Professor," James muttered.

He sat down next to Lysander, in front of Lorcan and Fred. He assumed that Lysander had picked up on Fred's crush on Lorcan and had switched up the seating arrangement to accommodate. Across the room he could see Lily sitting next to Henry behind Nyah and Annie González. Professor Clearwater tapped her wand on her desk to gain everyone's attention.

"Now, we will be reviewing Basilisks and the properties on their venom. I expect two feet at least by next lesson, please make it comprehensive on the subject. Once all of the essays are handed in," Professor Clearwater said as she looked pointedly at three of the four boys. "Then we will continue with our class. Until each one of you has handed in an essay at the required length and on the subject matter, we will continue to review. So, I encourage you all to get to it and to implore your friends to do the same."

All James had was a wink in her direction, receiving a stone cold look in return. The conditions that she set sent him back, before she caught on to how mischievous he was, he would turn in essays on a completely different subject.

In first year when they had an essay on Vampires, he turned in an essay recounting the Quidditch World Cup. She didn't catch it until she was grading them. He considers it one of his best achievements as Professor Clearwater was so strict.

James tuned her out as she droned on about Basilisks, he could just ask his dad what it was like to fight one. He could fill two feet with that story and subtly remind her that his dad was the chosen one.

Though he wasn't proud of it and he hated living in his dad's shadow, having Harry be the most famous person in the Wizarding World, aside from bloody Merlin, had its benefits. It meant he could get away with a lot more and combined with his love for quidditch, first name and aptitude for magic ( especially Transfiguration ), he was automatically endeared to McGonagall, the Headmistress. He could do wrong, but it was very hard for him to get into any real trouble for it.

But, who he could get in trouble with was Lily and more importantly Lily's friends. He knew the weight of having the friends like you because if they don't like you, even if you're head over heels, you've got to dump them. He saw how much they meant to each other and he saw those kinds of relationships within his own group of friends, so he understood.

That meant that he had to apologise to Ruby and quickly. He was not known for apologies, so he knew that him issuing one would be significant, especially for a girl he barely knew. But he wanted Lily to like him and he had been quite rude. Once the lesson was finally over, he decided to approach the three.

"Hi Edwards, Stints, Thomas. Do you know where little MacMillan .. er .. Ruby, is?" he asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

Nyah cautiously narrowed her eyes at him while Henry just smiled. What the fuck was he playing at? Why did he want to find Ruby? To apologise? Not bloody likely.

"Uh yeah, she should be headed back from — " Lily said, only to be quickly shut up by Nyah with a jab in the side. 

Then Lily got a look of remembrance in her eyes as they widened slightly and settled into a glare. 

"Why do you want to know?" she growled.

"Oh you know, reasons," James said with an innocent smile.

"You're not going to prank her are you? After this morning?" Nyah asked accusatorially, crossing her arms over her chest.

James made nervous eye contact with Henry Stints, who was weirdly still smiling. What was it with that boy? Henry, on the other hand, could read James like a book.

"Yeah, she's headed back from would it be Herbology right about now?" Henry turned to confirm with his friends that that was her class.

"Henry ..." Nyah whined, betrayal written all over her face.

"What? He wants to apologise!" Henry defended as gestured to James, who was mustering as innocent a face as he could. This only caused the girls to glare harder.

"Bullshit," Lily said in a scarily low tone.

"What?" James asked, putting on a confused face.

"I said bullshit," she repeated, still glaring.

"What why?" James asked, he knew exactly why.

"You know why," Lily glared harder, if that was even possible.

"Fine, fucking fine, come on, I'll meet her and you guys can watch from a little ways away," James bargained as he turned on his heel and motioned for them to follow.

He waved his friends off who were waiting by the door, promising to catch up with them later and talk about 'operation goldfish' which the girls and Henry thought could only mean trouble. The group then set off down the field.

Sure enough, Ruby MacMillan was headed up with a girl in her year from Hufflepuff. They were happily chatting away as they approached the castle. As James came nearer to them, they noticed his presence and that he was intending to talk to them as Nyah, Lily and Henry stayed back. They could hear a little bit, but they were mostly focused on Ruby's face. She was very expressive and they would tell instantly if he was up to something.

"Hi Mac — Ruby," James said.

"And this is my time to exit stage right, I'll catch you later, Rubes?" the Hufflepuff asked as she walked away.

"Definitely!" she called after her friend and then turned her attention to the boy in front of her. "Hi Potter, how can I help?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," He said nervously.

Shit he sounded like he was in love with her. Which he was not. Don't get him wrong, he thought she was nice, but Lily, god Lily.

"I'm fine? I guess? Thank you?" Ruby asked, her confusion evident.

"You know after this morning ..." he said carefully with a guilty face.

"Oh, right, you know it's fine. I know you didn't mean anything by it," Ruby waved him off and started to walk away.

"Wait! Um, no it wasn't. It was out of line and a really shitty thing to say because you are a good person and I twisted that and tried to make it into something bad in order to make myself feel better and I guess all I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. I fucked up," James said quickly.

Ruby looked stunned at this. She had never ever heard him utter that word, not even sarcastically, not even with a "not" in front of it. Nyah, Lily and Henry saw her face change, they knew he had said it. James Sirius Potter had said he was sorry. It was about damn time.

"Oh, well, thank you. You know, you, specifically, could be a lot of help," Ruby said.

"Yeah, my aunt Hermione and my dad — " James muttered.

"No, no, that's not what I mean. I don't mean because of your family, I mean because of you. You're really into Quidditch, right?" Ruby inquired.

James actually could not believe it, she wanted his help with a social issue and not because he was a Potter or the chosen one's son or Hermione Granger's nephew or anything other than just being him.

"Yeah, I am. I'm co-captain for Gryffindor," James replied.

"I heard about that, with Ny right? She was elated when you asked her. Anyway, there's a serious lack of diversity in quidditch. Because you guys are flying around on your brooms so much, it's also about the looks too and our society equated whiteness with attractiveness, so players of color aren't often picked. Also, there's a huge gap in both pay and play between white male players and everyone else. The point is, things are getting better, but they're not where they should be. And I think you could help with that. Your team here is diverse and you play them all equally, but when you go off into the big leagues, and don't be fake humble about it, you're going to make it, maybe try and use your standing to make life better for those around you," Ruby explained with a smile.

She had actually thought about this a lot, sometimes in correlation with him, but mostly with the greater population of straight, cis, white, male quidditch players.

"I'll definitely do that. Thanks for reminding me. Maybe after I leave, we could keep in touch about it? Lily's talked about how smart you are. 'Proactive' is the word she used, I think," James replied.

"Uh, yeah, totally, you've sent letters to my brother, so you know my address. Feel free to owl me any time! And just so you know, you're forgiven. I think it's much better to forgive than resent and I know you had no ill will," Ruby said.

"Thank you. I'll see you 'round?" James asked.

"Sure!" Ruby said and she beamed at him and started to walk away.

She caught sight of Nyah, Henry and Lily. Despite his flaws, he seemed like a good guy with a good heart, and she had to admit that since her fourth year, she'd thought that him and Lily would be a good match. Sure he was hoity and arrogant in public, but if he could be that nice to a girl he barely knew, then she could only imagine what kind of a boyfriend he would be to her.

"Hey guys, I'm going to go find Charlie. Henry, Nyah, want to come with?" Ruby asked.

The two looked at each other, but eventually agreed to go. This left Lily staring at James who was staring at the ground. She hesitantly approached him, when he saw her shoes standing near him, he looked up.

"You apologised," Lily said softly.

"I did," James replied as he gazed at her.

"I guess I should too," Lily muttered.

"You were right to doubt me," James said with a shrug.

"And yet here I am," Lily said with a short laugh.

He softly smiled at her. She returned it.

"Thank you," she said.

"You really care about your friends, huh?" James asked.

"Pardon?" Lily replied

"You always say thank you when I do something for them. You don't need to, but you do anyway," James explained.

"Yeah, I guess. I just want them to be happy, that's all," Lily explained with a shrug.

"I understand. I feel the same way about the lads," James said as he looked away.

"You boys are like brothers, huh," Lily muttered.

James chuckled softly at this and shoved his hands into his pockets. His head slightly tilted back, just his sweater vest over his uniform, the sky around him shrouded in a comfortable cloud. The chuckle itself sounded like warm honey. Lily thought he looked angelic.

The butterfly sprung up again, this time it had a friend. They swirled around each other in a waltz; intimately and slowly. It was barely noticeable, but she noticed it. Then he looked back at her. His brown eyes were shining. His hair was tousled. His smile was real and kind and soft. Shit. That's all Lily could think.

"Yeah, they are. Hey you ok?" he asked as his eyebrows furrowed and he took a step forward. 

She looked shocked almost, taken aback, caught off guard? He couldn't place it. As if a switch in her brain had been flipped, she lost the look and shook her head.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm fine. I was just thinking," she said quickly.

"I've seen you thinking, that wasn't you thinking," James ( half ) joked.

"Yes it was!" she huffed and looked at her watch. "We have to get going if we're going to make it to Potions on time."

"We don't have to be on time, I never am," James suggested with a grin.

"Believe me, I know. But I am and I don't intend to break that habit now. You can come with me or stay back, your choice," she said as she started heading up and looked back at him expectantly.

He rolled his eyes and picked up his bag that he had tossed to the side when he had first approached Ruby. He slung it over his shoulder and climbed up to meet Lily, he offered her his arm, she rolled her eyes, but smiled and continued up. She walked fast in an effort to make up the time she had lost in talking to him.

He had to jog a little to catch up to her once she'd reached the castle. They walked in silence the rest of the way. But it wasn't forced. Then, once they'd almost reached the Potions classroom, he spoke.

"Actually, is it ok for us to join you for Halloween?" James asked as he looked at her intently.

She thought about his question for a moment.

"Yeah," she nodded with a hint of a smile. "It is."

They entered the Potions room together.