The Tree of Blacks (English version)

Paper Butterflies and Onyx Snakes - pt.1

February, 1977. Hogwarts.

Life at Hogwarts proceeded quietly, the days went by in their usual daily routine, oblivious to the tumultuous changes that were silently creeping hidden within the castle walls.

However something had changed, indeed. Even if no one knew or dared to imagine it.

Two people, or rather two students, seemingly totally different, were grappling with the turbulent changes in their souls.

New feelings and unexpected emotions had unexpectedly overwhelmed them, leaving them bewildered. Nevertheless, both of them had decided to go along with that sudden change in the flow of events, letting themselves be carried along by that new and pleasant current. Neither had the faintest idea where it would lead them. But in all honesty, they were both dying to find out.

Alya Merope Black and James Potter walked through the castle corridors as usual, flaunting their familiar masks of haughtiness and boldness, which had always characterised them respectively since their entrance to Hogwarts.

They lived their daily lives as if nothing had happened between them, feigning indifference towards each other.

The whole of Hogwarts ignored to serve as a backdrop to their stolen glances, between the long tables in the Great Hall or through the billows of steam that rose thickly from the mumbling mouths of the cauldrons during Tuesday morning Potions hours. No student, teacher, portrait or ghost of the renowned Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry suspected the existence of thoughts burning with desire, imbued with the memory of passionate kisses, that swirled vividly in James and Alya's minds, tearing them sighing smiles between lessons.

Barely three days had passed since their last meeting in the Forbidden Forest, and James Potter was already itching to see Alya again. Watching her secretly from the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall during meals was no longer enough for him; he felt the growing need to take her in his arms, hold her close and kiss her until they were both out of breath. Inside, the boy hoped that Alya was also struggling with the same torment.

James had been mulling over the recent events that had seen him and the beautiful Black - and, in particular, their lips - for many days and had often wondered how wrong it could be to feel such an attraction for his best friend's hated sister.

However, the young Gryffindor had surrendered to the evidence that, for him, Alya Merope Black had now become a pleasurable fixture, which he wouldn't be able to give up easily.

James' heart and mind had archived many things about her: the fierce confidence with which she hurled her magic at anyone who dared interfere with her path (poor Filch still bore the marks), the sea of silver that illuminated her inscrutable eyes and the carnal way she kissed him. But also the faint note of fragility which tinged her voice whenever she happened to speak Sirius's name, the lavender scent of her hair and skin and the vaguely childish habit she had of fiddling with the silver locket she constantly wore around her neck and released from the collar of her blouse when she thought no one was looking.

Each of those images, which James had secretly captured and jealously guarded in his mind like a precious treasure, fuelled the boy's desire to be reunited with Alya as soon as possible.

A feat that loomed large if one wanted to keep it secret. Especially with Gryffindor's best friends. The question made him very uncomfortable: the idea of having to lie to his loyal group of fellow adventurers didn't appeal to him at all (the only time he had been forced to tell them a lie had been to guarantee them a safe alibi). However, James sensed how unwise it would be to blare his new infatuation for Alya Merope Black. Acting recklessly could have ruined more than one relationship and the boy had no desire to risk it.