Together We Are One

James pulled his trunk along with one hand and ran his fingers through his messy black hair with the other; his wand was stowed in his pocket and his owl’s cage was clunking around in the trolley, his owl hooting all the while. He let out a small sigh and frowned as he fingered the unwanted badge in his pocket. Beside him was his mother, who had been lecturing him since he had gotten onto the platform.

“Now James dear, don’t do anything -”

“Stupid, mother?” he said, smirking.

“You may find it funny, James, but if I get one single letter from your school telling me that you have been out of bounds, annoying the centaurs in the forbidden forest or -”

“Blowing up Moaning Myrtle’s toilet?” he asked mischievously.

“I was thinking of pulling pranks on the first years, actually,” she said seriously.

“I have grown, you know.”

“Yes, about ten inches by the looks of things, and we’ve had those robes readjusted about -”

“I meant up, mother dearest, up,” said James. He was looking about as he spoke, clearly searching for something or somebody. He glanced up at the large clock that was hanging on the wall and noted that he still had a good ten minutes or so before the train departed.

“I will agree that I have received far fewer letters telling me of your hexing people in the corridors, James, but there still have been many pranks and a distinct lack of homework completion -”

“I wouldn’t have been given the badge if I was as irresponsible as you make me sound, would I?” he asked patiently. “Honestly, I have grown up. My mental age is at least third year standard now.”

“Well, show me, and then I will believe you. Oh look, Sirius is just over there -”

“OI! Sirius! Come over here, mate!” called James, beckoning him over. He was completely ignoring his mother, and his face had lit up with excitement when he saw his best friend approaching.

“Hey Prongs,” said Sirius, smiling. “You’ll never believe the summer I’ve had!” He turned around slightly and saw Mrs. Potter standing next to James. “Hello Mrs. Potter, long time no see.”

“Good to see you again, Sirius, although I did see you just yesterday wreaking havoc in my son’s bedroom,” she said. But she didn’t appear too mad, and he could see a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

The scarlet train emitted clouds of smoke and the horn sounded, startling the first years, who weren’t accustomed to it. The wheels began to slowly revolve, and it came up so the students could begin getting onto the train. James felt a hand tap his shoulder, and he spun around, his hand clutched tightly around his wand.

“Prongs,” said Remus happily. “We should start packing our things on the train soon, you know. Don’t want all the best seats taken by the time I get back off my corridor patrols. Oh, hello Mrs. Potter!” The last was directed at James’s mother, accompanied by a very sweet smile.

James hastily kissed his mother goodbye, and after reassuring her that he would be on his best behaviour - despite Sirius laughing openly while he did so - she finally decided to leave her only son in the peace that he craved.

She shook her head ruefully as she walked back towards the barrier; she knew her son had matured greatly since his fifth year, but she couldn’t help but be apprehensive about his final year at Hogwarts. There was still a chance that he would continue with some more dangerous pranks despite promising her that he wouldn’t let Sirius cause another Shrieking Shack scenario again. In the midst of a dangerous war she wanted her son to be happy and, above all, safe.

“Where’s Peter?” asked James. He had been scanning the area looking for his small friend, but he couldn’t see him anywhere. It was certainly suspicious - his friend was usually so nervous that he asked to meet the rest of the Marauders before they got to the platform, just in case he was accosted by angry Slytherins that wanted revenge for his pranks.

“No idea but I don’t think we should we wait too long. We’ll get our things on the train and search for him again in a minute,” answered Sirius.

They hefted their trunks onto the train and shoved them in the compartments above the seats. James put his owl’s cage onto the seat and let it out (”Quigley, come here!”) after opening the window (”so it can get some exercise; the lazy thing has barely been out except for hunting all summer”). They hurried back off the train, almost anxious to search for their friend who completed the pranksters’ little group of four. As James jumped down the steps he saw a long mane of red hair flick in front of his face.

“Hey! EVANS!” he bellowed. She was only a few metres away from him, but he didn’t want to give her an excuse for getting away.

“What do you want, Potter?” she said cheekily, and he could almost have sworn that he saw the corners of her mouth twitching. He ran his hands through his hair nervously at the sight of her; he had very active butterflies in his stomach that were causing him to feel slightly queasy.

“How was your summer?” he asked genuinely. He really hoped to build bridges this year; he was sure that Lily couldn’t resist the Potter charm if he bestowed enough upon her. He was equally sure, though, that she wasn’t quite appreciative enough of him yet to find his charm… well, charming.

“Normally, Potter, you ask your friends that question. As I am neither a friend nor a real acquaintance I think I will decline answering,” she said sharply, tugging at her jumper in the hope of pulling it down a little further.

“But Lily dear, you did just answer me,” he smiled happily. “From the tone of your voice I must suspect that your summer wasn’t very satisfactory. Shame. You should have visited me; I would have shown you a good time.” He heard a derisive snort from behind him and his foot itched to seek Sirius’s and stamp on it. Hard.

“I’m sure you would, but I doubt my idea of a good time is the same as yours,” she said, barely glancing at his face. It was almost as if she couldn’t stand to look at him, he thought glumly. That would have to change.

“You’ll never find out unless you try, Evans. How about you come to Hogsmeade with me the first weekend?” he asked casually. Despite his tone, he was actually quite nervous. Lily always turned him down and for reasons he couldn’t quite fathom he still persisted in asking her out over and over. His friends were tired of it, and he was certain that she was also. He had vowed not to ask her out again this year until he was certain she would say yes, but it had just slipped out before he could stop himself; it had become a habit.

“No. Have I ever given you the impression that I would like to spend any time with you?” she asked.

“Well, no, but I was sure that you loved me subconsciously despite your harsh words…”

“Get on the train, Potter, before I hex you into next year,” she said warningly.

“Oh, but Evans! I could take points from you for doing that!” he called before bounding back up the train steps and leading his friends with them.

They had all forgotten about the absence of Peter now, and just assumed that he would be late or turn up at Hogwarts - in truth, they were Peter’s only friends but they weren’t truly worried about him. It never even occurred to them that, what with Voldemort gaining power, something awful could have happened to him. They didn’t think they were invincible, but they also didn’t think that Voldemort would waste his breath on them.

---

Lily tried helplessly to pull her trunk onto the train but soon realised that she lacked the strength. She didn’t really want to use magic to pull it up either; it was definitely a sign of weakness, she was sure. But it was ever so tempting to make it feather light…

“Lily! I haven’t seen you all summer!” her best friend Hannah called out to her. She hurried over and tried to help heave the trunk up the steps. She wasn’t much stronger than Lily, and they were soon both panting. The train began moving, and they cast worried looks at each other.

“Oi, Sarah! Come out here and help, you lazy little -”

But she was cut off by a tall boy with messy black hair appearing at the top of the steps. Lily’s face instantly darkened and Hannah could swear that she muttered a few profanities under her breath (which was most unlike her friend).

“Need some help, girls?” he asked pleasantly.

“We don’t need your help,” Lily mumbled. It was quite clear, however, that they did - more importantly, she did, and she grudgingly admitted it to him. He lifted the trunk up easily, pulled it into their compartment and sat down. The girls followed him into the compartment and Lily tapped her foot expectantly, hoping to get her message across.

“Thanks for helping us, James, but you can leave now,” said Lily. Her face was flushed with annoyance.

“Well, thank you for giving me permission, but I don’t really want to just yet,” he replied shortly, with a smile. Lily smiled back, forgetting who she was talking to for a second, but her face clouded over again when she realised what had happened.

“We have a meeting in ten minutes, Evans, don’t be late,” he said. Then he stood up to leave, turned back, and flashed her a smile before walking down the corridor.

“That boy is extremely infuriating, Hannah,” said Lily contemptuously. She pulled out her badge from her pocket, put on her robes, and pinned it on them.

“Hmm, sure, Lily. He is also the most popular boy in school and contender for the most handsome…” she said, glancing up at her friend just in time to see the look of anger that passed over her face.

“Yes, but what do you think he meant by saying ‘we have a meeting’?” asked Sarah, sitting down after making her grand entrance.

“Oh Merlin, I have no idea. I didn’t even think about… You don’t think that Mr. Overly Inflated Ego is Head Boy, do you?” she questioned.

“No, no, of course he can’t be,” placated Hannah, but she too had her doubts. She knew her friend hated him but also felt that, while it may have been deserved two years ago, it definitely was not now. She knew better than to articulate these thoughts, though.

---

“So Prongs, what trouble making are we going to be getting up to this year?” asked Sirius jokingly. He casually flicked his hair away from his eyes and looked up from the book he was reading (”A Prankster’s Guide to Pranking”).

“I told my mum I’d blow up Moaning Myrtle’s toilet. It would be a shame to disappoint her after being the prodigal son for so long,” said James, smirking.

“Now why didn’t I think of that one?” asked Sirius gloomily.

“Because you lack the brain cells required to process such a thought, oh friend of mine,” said James jokingly. “What do you think, Remus?”

“To be honest, James, I think it isn’t a good idea. I’m a Prefect, you know…” he said without even bothering to glance up from his newspaper (apparently there had been two Death Eater sightings already).

“That’s never stopped you before, Moony,” said Sirius enquiringly. “What’s changed?”

“The badge that James keeps fiddling with in his pocket. It would be the first time in over two centuries for a Head Boy to be forced to give up his title,” said Remus seriously.

“JAMES! You got the badge and you never told us?” said Sirius.

“I thought it was a joke, but…it’s obviously not. Anyway, I’ll be back in half an hour or so. Prefects meeting. You better come too, Moony, Lily will kill us if we’re late.”

“And we don’t want that, do we?” asked Remus, rolling his eyes expressively.

“Oh you two may laugh, but I can guarantee she’ll be my girlfriend by the end of the year.” said James.

“Whatever you say, James, whatever you say…” mumbled Sirius.

James walked out of their compartment, hurried down to the end of the corridor and went into the slightly larger Prefects’ one. As he had never been a Prefect, he had only been in there before when the Marauders had decided it was time to get one-up on the annoying rule-abiding Prefects. It was pure misfortune that the prank had landed on Remus instead of a Slytherin. Remus had never truly forgiven them for that; the girl of his fancy had been at the meeting at the time, and she had laughed a little too loudly for his liking.

Lily was already waiting there and was looking pointedly at her watch.

“We’re not late! We’re five minutes early!” protested James, seeing the look on her face.

She looked amused, however, when she glanced at them both. Clearly she had just wanted to annoy James and see his indignation at being accused.

“I know, you might as well sit down and wait for the rest to get here. We’ll both introduce ourselves, then tell them their duties for this year, taking particular care for the fifth years who don’t know what is expected of them yet. We need to address the issue of You Know Who, obviously…Everyone is bound to be scared after what was featured in the Daily Prophet this morning. Any questions about what you have to do?”

“No, I’m perfectly capable of speaking about the rules too,“ said James in annoyance.

“Yes, well, if you are so aware of them, why do you feel the need to break them every time you get the opportunity?” she asked. Remus grinned in amusement.

“Because if you know the rules you know how to break them properly, Lily,” said James, grinning. His eyes twinkled merrily. She quickly recovered.

“Yes, well, I think it would be better if you weren’t the epitome of a hypocrite. It doesn’t set a very good example.”

“Relax, Lily, James will do a great job. The only people that think he hasn’t matured are his mother and you.” said Remus, anxious to please both.

“His mother and I have something in common then,” said Lily.

“It’ll make it easier when she’s your mother-in-law won’t it?” said James.

She didn’t answer since the carriage door opened at that moment. She did let a small smile play around her mouth to show she was faintly amused despite her better judgement.

“You’re the Head Boy?” asked a Slytherin in pure amazement. After the initial shock the boy said nothing more and allowed a look of haughty disinterest to stay upon his face, but it was quite clear that he was displeased with the new arrangements. Everyone else that walked in didn’t share the same view; some of the more uptight Prefects sniffed disapprovingly to make their point clear, but most walked in and clapped James on the back before taking their places. Lily noted this in disgust; this appalling boy was extremely popular for being a prize idiot.

“Okay, so everyone is here?” asked Lily. When everyone nodded in consent she continued, “Right. Well, I’m Lily Evans, and I’m your Head Girl for the next year. I’m sure you all know who I am by now, and as a side note, anyone who is looking to join the Duelling Club can stay behind after the meeting. We need new recruits. I was thinking we could get onto patrolling duties and rules that have been added by the caretaker since last year.”

She heard a loud coughing or choking noise and stopped to look at James who was the one making it.

“Do you have a cough, Potter?” she asked, smiling through her clenched teeth.

“Not at all, Lily, but you seemed to have forgotten to introduce me. No problem though. To anyone that doesn’t know - I’m James Potter, lead mischief maker of the Marauders. Not that I will, of course, be creating mischief this year in light of my badge (sniggering ensued here, and James allowed himself a grin) and new found responsibilities.

If you are wondering why Dumbledore allowed me to be Head Boy, the answer is that I truly do not know. However, I am definitely sure that I did not curse or hex him in any way for the spot (more giggling, especially from the girls). Quidditch tryouts for the Gryffindor team will be on the first week back, but please only turn up if you already know how to fly. I already got the hint that I need to build up more muscle last year when I had to carry almost all the new fliers up to the hospital wing.”

He smiled as a fair few around him clapped, and noted it graciously with a small bow.

Lily continued, “So, duties. We’ve decided that two Prefects from each house will patrol every night. The rota stands like this: fifth years on Mondays, sixth years Tuesdays, seventh years Wednesdays. Yes, we do need prefects from every house at this time. It’s essential to be prepared and protected. It’s for the safety of all students that they aren’t wandering the corridors at nights. The consequences could be disastrous.”

James took this as his cue to read the additional rules on the parchment before him. “The new rules, which you will probably break even when you are meant to be enforcing them, are as follows: no magic to be used in the corridors for any purpose, all Quidditch practises will be observed by the Quidditch teacher or they cannot take place, even for special requests the restricted section remains off bounds, anyone caught out of bounds will get detention for a month, any duelling anywhere but the Duelling Club will be severely reprimanded, banned objects have increased tenfold…the list goes on. For a full list of the additional rules you can see the caretaker when you get to school. I’m sure he’ll be only too happy to give it to you.”

“You may also have noticed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gaining power, and reports of deaths are beginning to frequent the newspapers -”

“Yes,” said James, “I’d also like to add that discussions about him are supported. In fact, please encourage people to use his name. It’s silly calling him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And a waste of breath too. Voldemort is so much shorter, and if you use your sense of humour it sounds a bit like mouldy warts -”

“Well, enough of the jokes. What Potter is trying to say is that we need to all stand together and unite from within. Yes, that includes Slytherins and Gryffindors,” said Lily, observing the looks of disgust on the faces of those in the two houses. “Please support anyone who loses a family member. It’s a very difficult time, and we need to look out for each other.”

“Also note that only Evans and I can give out detentions and deduct house points. I am God and you are just my lowly minions,” said James cheekily.

“James!” said Lily, rounding on him. “Enough of the jokes! This is a serious meeting. If you intend to carry on, you can leave.”

“You can’t just banish the Head Boy, Lily. I’m far too large for ‘Evanesco’,” he said.

He distinctly thought he heard her mutter, “I could try,” but he decidedly said nothing.

“Right, well, I think the meeting is over. Sixth years, you can patrol the corridors for the first part of the journey, fifth years, you can do the second part. If you have any trouble just call me or James.”

With that James walked straight out of the room and back to his friends’ compartment. Lily stayed behind to clear up and sighed. This year was going to be painful - especially if she was patrolling with that idiot.

---

The start of term feast was something that James always looked forward to. Whether it was because of the delightful food or the witty speeches his Headmaster made he wasn’t sure, but they were always enjoyable. He looked across the table and saw Lily gazing at her plate, pushing her food around. She was clearly preoccupied. Because of him? He hoped not. He wanted to ‘deflate his ego’ this year like she had asked him to.

“So what did the Sorting Hat say this year then, James?” asked Remus, looking at him directly.

“No idea,” replied James, his eyes still fixed on Lily.

“Look, you might need to know for your meeting with Dumbledore -”

“Okay, okay. Tell me then,” said James quickly, turning around.

“It’s telling us that house rivalries should exist no longer and that we should befriend even the…unlikeliest of people.” He glanced over dubiously to a certain Slytherin at the opposite end of the Great Hall as he said this.

“When’s your meeting then, James?” asked Sirius moodily, poking at the treacle tart on his plate listlessly.

“Tomorrow morning. Look, Sirius, just cheer up, all right? I didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t some kind of betrayal -”

“Whatever. I never thought you would become one of them.”

“Who, exactly, is ‘them’?” asked James angrily.

“You know, like Lily. Worshipping the teachers, never stepping over the line, always doing good and helping -”

“You’re my friend, right?” asked James.

“Yeah, of course,” said Sirius, looking puzzled. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“You two! Come on, we should leave…we’re some of the last here and -”

“Well, support me on this, all right. There’re more important things happening out there than my becoming Head Boy and you getting a detention,” said James seriously. He turned around and saw Lily looking at him approvingly. His cheeks went a light shade of pink, and he gave a half smile.

They headed back to their dormitories in silence, none of them speaking to each other. All were thinking about one thing - where on earth was Peter?

Peter, it turned out, had been held up with his mother. He reported to them that she was ill and had been in a sorry state for the summer. “Which is why I couldn’t spend that much time with you, and why I kept disappearing,” he told them sadly. “I wanted to owl you, but there wasn’t enough time.”

If any of the Marauders were suspicious of Peter and his alibi they did not say anything. They supported him in the only way they knew - by doing what they did best. James, as ringleader, decided it was high time new pranks were pulled. As Head Boy he was in a good position to do them undetected. Sirius began his normal regime of flirting with the girls (”What can I say? They don’t complain, and until they do, I’m not ruining their fun”). Lupin simply gave Peter a sincere smile before trying to comfort him about his mother. He got a baffling response - Peter, whom adored his mother, did not seem willing to broach the subject.

He wouldn’t let them read his owls (”I need my privacy, and so does my mother!”) and appeared to worship them more than ever. Nothing was said to him for fear that this was his way of coping.

---

The three entered the Great Hall together a week later with James in the lead. He frequently stopped on the way to talk to various students and members of the Quidditch team. Peter was desperately hungry, so he quietly whispered something in his ear to hurry him.

“Where’s Remus?” asked Peter quietly. “I haven’t seen him all morning.”

“Oh, no, not another disappearance,” cackled a Slytherin from behind them. “Seems to be happening to everybody these days. But, Lupin, well, he’s never here!”

“Shut up, McCauley, or you’ll be in detention for the rest of the week. Now stop blabbering. Do you need to go to the hospital wing?” said James.

“Um, no, he doesn’t Prongs. I just thought I’d give him something to blabber about -”

“You HEXED him! How many times, Sirius?” said James exasperatedly. “Evans is going to kill me if I don’t put you in detention again. How many times have I gotten you out of it?”

“I don’t really remember. I think at the last count it was about ten.”

“Exactly. Ten times when I had to practically beg Evans to not report you and me to Dumbledore. Remus wasn’t too pleased either and Peter was -”

“Yes, well, Peter always worries. It’s his job,” said Sirius. “Look, just give me the detention. It won’t be the first nor the last one I’ve had.”

“Five points from Gryffindor,” said James in a bored tone, as Professor Dumbledore walked past. “Don’t do it again Sirius. McCauley, go on to the hospital wing, and don’t speak a word of this.”

As soon as Professor Dumbledore stepped inside the Great Hall, Sirius exploded with laughter. He screwed up his face, imitating James’s voice and said, “Five points from Gryffindor, for doing what your friend wanted to do.”

“Sirius…” said Peter warningly.

Lily had just begun walking down the stairs, only stopping when she saw the melee before her. “Been hexing Slytherins again, Sirius? I hope you put him in detention this time.”

“I did,” said James quietly.

He turned on his heel and walked straight into the Great Hall without looking back at his friends or Lily.

“Nice one, Lily,” said Sirius.

He looked at her disbelievingly for a couple of seconds, shaking his head.

“What did I do?” she asked.

“Well, call me stupid -” he glared at her when he heard her snickering, “- but I think James might just fancy you. In fact, I think he has for a good few years, and you just turn him down every time. You’re horrible to him at every opportunity, sniping at him for doing something right, moaning at him for doing something wrong. I don’t think he can win, do you?”

“Maybe he should get the hint then. I don’t fancy him. I never have, and I never will even if he has deflated his ego, and just because he thinks -”

“Tell him that to his face once and for all,” said Sirius.

At which point she opened her mouth, but no words came out. He had completely flummoxed her and they both knew it. The truth was… she wasn’t sure why she continued to insult James at every opening in the conversation. She had no real idea why she publicly humiliated him when he tried to be nice. She also wasn’t sure why she went out of her way to make Professor Dumbledore remove his Head Boy status. He riled her like nobody else could and annoyed her to the point of her wanting to hex anybody within sight.

“I…” she began, but Sirius had already followed his friend into the Hall. Lily walked to her next lesson, all thoughts of eating gone. She knew she was behaving completely irrationally, but she couldn’t help it.

---

“Go and talk to her, James,” said Sirius pleadingly. “I really think she might listen to sense this time.”

“Maybe,” said James. “But I’m not saying anything. It’s just a standing joke now, isn’t it? Me asking out Lily and everybody else laughing as she turns me down.”

The corner of Sirius’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing.

“We’re going to be late for Potions,” said Peter. “We don’t want to be late for Slughorn.”

The conversation was conveniently ended for James, but Sirius hadn’t forgotten what they had been talking about, nor had he forgotten what he had said to Lily. He thought he might finally be making some head way with the whole situation.

Sirius knew he could behave like an idiot much of the time, but that didn’t stop him caring about James. He was like a brother to him - more so than his own was.

So when James refused to participate in any pranking schemes, he realised that something was undoubtedly wrong. Could it be the situation with Lily? It was possible, but he doubted it. James didn’t really get embarrassed by being flatly turned down; he simply waited a day or so and then continued in his pursuit. His homework was now all done as soon as it was set, and he barely spoke to anybody during class. He resolved to find the solution to his friend’s problems.

He would deal with Peter and his situation later on.

---

“Excellent, Miss Evans,” said Professor Slughorn, admiring the potion stewing in her cauldron. Two minutes into the lesson and Lily had already made the most progress out of the whole class. Snape, of course, wasn’t far behind and had produced a cauldron full of a perfect, shimmering potion.

James had yet to show up for the lesson, which meant his potion would again have to be excellent for Slughorn to ever forgive him. Even though Potions was his weakest subject, he was still particularly good at it.

Lily had pushed the events beforehand out of her mind and concentrated solely upon her potion. She loved the delicate intricacies of it all. The way just one stir in the wrong direction could change the colour and ruin it. It could even be the difference between life and death.

“Where do you think James is then?” called Slughorn, scuttling over to Sirius’s seat, looking at his potion. “Good potion so far, boy, just need to speed things along a little. Could create a disaster if you over-stew it…”

“Righto, sir,” said Sirius, rolling his eyes expressively to Peter. “Didn’t want to rush it. They say all good things come to those who wait.”

“Yes, well, we don’t have all day!” boomed Slughorn, laughing at his own joke. “Anyway, where is that Potter?”

“I have no idea. A bit like you, sir,” said Sirius, hiding a smile behind his hand.

“I hope you’re just talking about the Potter situation and nothing else, Black, or you’ll be in detention with me again,” said Slughorn.

“These meetings seem to becoming a routine, sir, it’s almost like you want to spend hours outside of lessons with me -”

“Believe me, that is most certainly not the case. Now get back to work,” said Slughorn dismissively. He soon turned away to go and inspect the rest of the Gryffindors’ potions.

James slipped in quietly soon after and set up his equipment. Within ten minutes he had a good potion, while Sirius was still battling with one of the steps.

“Sirius, what’s taking you so long today?” asked James, glancing at him.

“Oh, you know…well, actually, I’m looking for a detention with Sluggy here. Turns out Snape has one with him tonight and there’s nothing I’d like better than to spend hours with him.”

“Sirius,” said James warningly. “I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that, shall I?”

“Whatever you wish,” sang Sirius happily. “Oh, look, Evans’s potion is going to-”

He was cut off by the sound her potion was making. Minutes before the potion had been simmering rose pink water. Now it was far more viscous and a shade of magenta. It exploded, flying over everybody in the room and coating them in a thick layer of slime. Boils erupted over their skin and Lily, who was protected by the barrier that she had put up between herself and her potion, just looked on in horror. Slughorn, who was used to seeing her brilliant work, couldn’t seem to regain his composure.

“But Evans! Best potion maker in the class. Now, now, what happened? Who sabotaged her work?” asked Slughorn glaring around the class menacingly.

“It was nobody but me, Professor, I wasn’t concentrating,” she said glumly.

“Hand in your phial containing your potion please. End of class. Miss Evans, if you’ll just stay behind, I have something to talk to you about…”

---

“She’ll never be in the Slug Club again,” said Sirius, laughing. “Did you see the look of horror on ol’ Slugger’s face? Thought he was going to die when he saw his favourite crash and burn so spectacularly.”

“Mate, you may be laughing but you didn’t get as many boils as I did. Had some potion land right on my backside, and because I didn’t want to show the nurse or Slughorn, I’m going to have to suffer. Sitting on this chair isn’t comfortable, that’s all I can say,” said James, groaning.

“Don’t worry, Prongs, we’ll get her for it some way or another,” said Sirius, still laughing. “I thought she was going to cry.”

“Don’t be too hasty,” said Remus, “I thought she was going to hex somebody when I saw her a few minutes ago.”

“Really?” asked Sirius, his eyes bulging slightly. “Ever been on the end of one of her charms?”

“More than once,” James said, “And they leave marks, if you know what I mean. I think I’m scarred for life now.”

“Oh,” said Sirius glumly, “You know what… I think I might skip dinner and go for a walk instead.”

“I’ll come with you,” said James, jumping up. “I want to get back Snape for that Tripping Jinx he put on me the other day.” He smiled crookedly and gathered his things. “Head Boy or not, I’m not putting up with that.”

“It’s okay, Prongs, you stay here and… relax,” said Sirius, before hastily walking out of the portrait hole into the corridor beyond.

“Okay, things are beginning to get weird,” said Lupin, thoughtfully. “First Peter is all secretive, and now Sirius is running off without you. And I thought I was the one who had something to hide…”

“There’s nothing wrong with your… furry little problem!” said James indignantly.

“Mm. Well, I think that we should investigate,” said Remus, smiling.

“Are you suggesting we break the rules?” asked James.

“No. I’m saying that we should bend them to our advantage,” he said.

“Well seeing as it’s you giving it the go-ahead, I think we should. It’s not like Sirius at all,” said James, wonderingly.

“No, but somehow I think whatever Sirius is up to is less significant than Peter. I really think he’s in some kind of trouble,” said Remus, worriedly.

“Don’t be silly, Remus! What kind of trouble could he get up to without us being involved?”

“Call me stupid, but I think he’s gotten out of his depth with something. Anyway, don’t worry. It’s just a hunch.”

“Hm. We’ll start working on this and then the Marauders need to re-group. This is our last year, and with Lily’s approval or without, we need to do some serious pranking to lighten the atmosphere. Give everybody something to laugh about for once,” said James.

---

“EVANS! OI, EVANS!” called Sirius, running down the stairs to meet her.

“What do you want?” she said, looking at him suspiciously.

“I just wanted to know what happened in Potions today,” said Sirius, trying, and failing, to look innocently at her.

“I forgot what I was doing. It felt like I had been Confunded, okay?” she snapped.

“But why?” he asked.

“You put me in a bad mood,” she said, looking everywhere and anywhere but him.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because you keep assuming that I like James when I don’t!” she said. “And I don’t want to be pressured into going out with that rule-breaking, idiotic specimen.”

“Why?” he said.

“Because I told you. He’s an idiot that hexes everybody within a ten foot radius of himself, he bullies the first years, and he’s just generally…not a good person,” she responded.

“Why?” he asked again.

“I can’t explain why he does those stupid things and what goes on in his brain, so don’t ask me to!” she said.

“Why?” he asked.

“I don’t try and spend hours at a time thinking about James Potter,” she exclaimed in annoyance. “And don’t you dare ask me why!”

“Well, you spend Potions lessons thinking about him, don’t you? Ironic how the explosion happened after he entered the classroom and not before, isn’t it?” asked Sirius slyly.

“I…you…don’t run off, get back here right now, Sirius Black, or I’ll curse you into next year!” yelled Lily, pulling out her wand and dashing after him.

“Now, now, Miss Evans, no magic in the corridors. That would be rule breaking!” he called over his shoulder.

Realising that he was right, she stowed her wand back into her pocket and walked sedately back to Gryffindor Tower, vowing to get revenge some other time. As she lay in bed that night she found her thoughts were focussed completely on James Potter, and she also found she couldn’t get him out of her head.

But she didn’t like him. No, not at all. It was because he annoyed her so much that her thoughts were of him, she decided. Nothing else. Hate wasn’t close to love at all, she thought. She truly hated James Potter. No, scratch that, she didn’t care enough about him to hate him.

---

James lay on his bed with the hangings drawn around him, so he was hidden from his friends prying eyes. He had gone to bed early because he hadn’t felt like talking to anybody. Sleep had completely eluded him ever since. He couldn’t get one person out of his head. He knew it was time to move on, he really did. He had considered pulling a late night prank, but it just seemed too much effort, even if Sirius had encouraged him (which is chiefly what put him off).

He had tried counting sheep, had even imagined being in one of Professor Binns’s lessons, but even that could not get his mind away from thinking about her. Lily Evans. The girl he had thought about so often that he wondered if he was even capable of going a day without thinking about her.

He knew he should give up on her. He would give up on her. He was sure that Sirius could find a suitable candidate to fill her place.

James sat on his bed the next morning, feeling restless. He doubted that he had even slept for more than six hours last night (and as he normally struggled to actually wake up for his alarm that was saying something). His thoughts were not - as they usually were - of a certain red-haired girl either.

No, he was thinking about himself and how his life had gotten stuck in a rut. His parents, as lovely as they were, couldn’t do everything for him forever, and he knew he would eventually have to become completely independent. He simply felt at a loss. Gradually he was realising that although everybody found his pranking and joking hilarious, there would be a time when he would be too old for it.

He was seventeen. Surely he wasn’t going through a mid-teens crisis?

He jumped up from his bed, crossed the room, and pulled out some parchment. He then sucked on the end of his sugar quill and thought as he wrote.

Dear Sirius,

Don’t worry about waiting for me before you go into Hogsmeade today. I thought I would get some Quidditch practise in. Of course, you could always bring me back some products from Zonko’s. Annoying Filch with dung bombs never seems to get old. Oh, and if you see Evans around… tell her… (he paused, and scratched his chin thoughtfully.)…tell her that Slughorn is looking for her and that she’s still welcome to come to the Slug Club meetings. (His love for her will never die. I think I have competition, mate.)

Have a good day,
James.
PS. I have the mirror with me, if you need me at all.

James gathered his Quidditch robes and rested his broom on his shoulder. He hadn’t really been intending to practise Quidditch, but now that he had told Sirius, he might as well. He walked down the entrance hall, glancing neither left nor right, until he reached the changing rooms. He pulled his Quidditch robes over his head, donned his broomstick and marched out onto the grassy lawn.

He was just flying in and out of the hoops, chasing after the obstinate Snitch, when he heard a voice calling his name quietly from down below, almost as if whoever it was didn’t want to be heard.

“James!” called Lily at the top of her lungs. Why was he outside on the Quidditch pitch by himself? He wasn’t allowed! What if something happened to him? Then what would she do? She needed him as the Head Boy. It would take too long to teach somebody else the ropes.

And if she admitted it to herself, she quite liked having him around so often. Not that it would do to admit it to him, of course. It would give him far too high an opinion of himself. She was getting impatient now. Why did he seem to be frozen in mid-air? Had he not heard her? Was he completely oblivious to the fact that she was freezing cold, standing in the middle of a Quidditch pitch calling his name? Honestly, she had only come out because he was breaking the rules. This wasn’t quite what she had bargained for.

“POTTER!” she shouted more vehemently. “Get down here now!”

“Hey,” he smiled, coming down to meet her. “Sorry, it’s hard to hear from up there. It feels like I’m lost in my own little world sometimes, you know?”

“Which is exactly why you shouldn’t be out here alone. For your safety,” she replied.

“Oh. So I’m breaking the rules then?” he grinned wickedly, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes,” she said.

“So you are too?” he asked.

“Well… I suppose that I am,” she said slowly.

“I never thought I’d see the day that Lily Evans broke the rules,” he whispered, leaning in a little closer to her.

“This isn’t the only rule I’ve broken!” she said indignantly.

“Care to share any more that you have? You can tell me on the way back to the castle,” he suggested, holding out his hand to her.

She wrinkled her nose up in disgust at it. “You have mud on your hands,” she said disdainfully. But instead of pulling her hand away, she kept it loosely within his and let him pull her back into the castle.

---

Sirius walked back up to the castle with Peter and Remus beside him. Peter had forgotten his coat, so when it began to get chillier, Remus suggested that they head back for it and then return to Madam Rosmerta. Sirius put up no objection to that as he had a slight crush on her (“No I don’t, she’s too old!”).

But as they headed through the dewy grass they could see two figures, side by side, holding hands.

“Sirius… is that James?” asked Remus.

“Uh huh. With none other than Miss Evans,” replied Sirius, smiling.

“You know, I’d withdraw that bet,” said Peter through his chattering teeth. “He’ll win her over by the end of the year, you mark my words.”

“Oh, I agree,” said Remus delicately. “That was the whole point of the bet -”

“To give him a kick start,” said Sirius.

“Although she doesn’t look that happy,” said Peter thoughtfully. “I suppose we should put your plan into action, Sirius.”

“We’ll put it into motion once we’ve stopped you from getting frostbite,” said Remus.

It was with anticipation that they headed back to Hogsmeade: the Marauders were back in action and with fresh plans.

---

At the beginning of the year, the seventh-years sat in the Gryffindor common room together debating James’ love life.

“I’m telling you that you won’t be going out by the end of the year,” said Sirius, laughing at his friend.

“Oh, really?” said James, raising an eyebrow. “I bet you I will.”

“I’ll take that bet,” said Remus. “I and Sirius say you won’t. You say you will. Five Galleons to the winner.”

“Alright then,” said James, his mouth twitching in amusement. “Want to raise the stakes?”

“No, no, I think we’re comfortable with that, right, Moony?” asked Sirius.

“Just one question: prepared to lose, James?” asked Remus.

“No,” he said doubtfully. “Although I think I’ll be five Galleons poorer by the end of the year.”

---

“James, meet Lissy. She’s a sixth year Ravenclaw, and -”

“Plays for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as Chaser. I know,” said James, smiling. “Want to go then, Lissy?”

He reached out for her hand, took it in his, and walked with her down into Hogsmeade. Trips were banned, but James, being a Marauder, ignored the rules. Lissy, being so flattered that James was actually interested in her, hadn‘t given it a second thought. She had to admit that he seemed distracted this evening. Even though his eyes and conversation were focused upon her, it was as if his mind was somewhere else completely.

“So what’s your favourite Quidditch team then?” asked Lissy when the conversation began to dwindle.

“What’s yours?” asked James.

“Tornados,” she replied, grinning. “I know yours already. I just wanted to keep the conversation going.”

“I’m a little distracted, I’m sorry,” said James, looking stricken. “What with all the news recently I find it hard to concentrate.”

“I know what you mean,” replied Lissy sombrely. “Doesn’t seem that a day goes by without more ominous signs of him taking over. My auntie went missing a day or two ago. I guess we won’t be seeing her again.”

James put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. “We’ll fight to the end,” he whispered.

“You know, you’ve changed,” she remarked. “I didn’t think you were capable of being serious for more than a minute.”

“Times have changed,” he smiled, “And I’m capable of a lot more than you give me credit for.”

“Like what?” replied Lissy, leaning in a little closer.

In response he kissed her firmly on the lips.

---

It was meant to remain a secret that Lissy and James were seeing each other, the Marauders said. Of course they really wanted everybody to be aware, but by saying it was a secret they knew that the entire school would find out the same day.

Lily found out when she walked into the Great Hall the next morning. Lissy had crossed over to the Gryffindor table and was now sitting beside James in the place that was normally reserved for Sirius. But Sirius, she now noticed, was sitting opposite them both, looking at them with amusement. Lissy’s eyes were sparkling at something that James had just said. She threw her head back and laughed in delight.

Lily’s stomach churned with anger. She felt sick for a reason that she couldn’t quite place. Was she bothered by this development? No. Of course she wasn’t. It was just a shock - after years of chasing Lily, James Potter had finally moved on. She had asked him to go away numerous times, hadn’t she? He had finally proved that he had matured. He had moved on just like she had asked him to. Yet it didn’t give her the satisfaction that it would have once.

Just a few days ago, she had been holding his hand, walking back from the Quidditch pitch. He had clearly looked interested in her then, hadn’t he? She knew he had from the way he’d given her his undivided attention. He’d laughed at everything she had said, whether or not she was cracking a joke. They had parted with a last lingering look before she had walked up to her dormitory. She had finally been warming to him, thinking that he was decent. She had just been able to see the qualities that everybody else had been speaking of all along.

She stood there for a few more seconds, dumbfounded, before her friend called her over. “Lily!” called Sarah, “Over here!”

Lily walked sedately over to her corner of the table and stared at her plate, suddenly no longer hungry. “You know about them then?” asked Lily, jerking her thumb to where they both sat.

“Yeah,” grinned Sarah, “They look cute, don’t they?”

“Particularly gag-worthy, I’d have to agree,” said Lily, “Almost like one of those sickening romance novels you like to read.”

“I seem to remember that not so long ago you were fond of them too,” she said. “Anyway, you finally got your wish. I bet you’re relieved, huh?”

“Of course. Never been more delighted or happier. I’m really very happy for James. I just hope it doesn’t distract him from his Head Boy duties,” responded Lily in a monotonous voice.

“I’m glad,” said Sarah. “It’s just I remember you saying the other day that you might even be warming to him. Does this… change anything… for you?”

Lily placed the feeling as jealousy. Could she be jealous of Lissy? No, she must have misplaced her judgement for a second. And why was Sarah staring at her like that?

“So does this change anything?” repeated Sarah.

“God, no. It just makes me feel relieved,” said Lily, but her eyes were on the end of the table where the happy couple sat together.

Sarah just gazed at her sadly. “You’ve missed the train, Lily,” was all she said. But it was enough as they both knew it to be true.

“Oh no, I can just catch another,” said Lily, smiling. But the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

The rest of the day, of course, followed as disastrously as it had begun.

---

Later that day, Remus came up to her, “Hey, Lily.”

“Hello, Remus. Can I help you with anything?” she asked.

“No, I was just wondering why you’re not getting ready for the Quidditch try outs. They’re on in ten minutes. I was just about to head down to the pitch. You can come down with me, if you’d like.”

“Sure,” she replied. “I’ll just get my things.”

She ran back to the dormitory, gathered her Quidditch robes, and headed back to see Remus waiting outside the portrait hole. They walked down to the pitch in relative silence. All attempts at conversation that Remus started were dismissed by Lily’s one word answers. She didn’t mean to be rude to him but she was simply in a world of her own.

“Lissy’s going to be there,” said Remus conversationally as she put her hand on the door knob. “It seems we have our own cheerleader.”

“James does, you mean,” said Lily acidly.

Remus just smiled and opened the door for her to pass through. “So you’ve noticed.” It was a statement rather than a question.

“It was hard not to,” said Lily.

“Discretion has never been James’ strong point, I’ll admit,” said Remus.

“Which is painfully evident,” said Lily. “Look, Remus, I’m not bothered.”

“I never said you were,” he answered with a frown on his face. “Why would you be? Anyone could see you hated his constant attention.”

“I’m glad you understand,” said Lily.

“Oh I understand perfectly,” said Remus, watching her get on her broom. “Perfectly,” he repeated.

Ten minutes later, it was Lily’s turn for her tryout. Even though only one member of the team had left last year, James had still called for tryouts for the whole team. He insisted that by sticking with the same people year in and year out that they were more likely to become stagnant and miss out on the new talent.

And Lily, determined not to be put off by Lissy cheering for James in the crowds, tried to play her best. Something wasn’t quite right though. From the moment she got onto her broom she felt stiff and awkward. Normally she felt completely natural in the air but today she was afraid, tentative, and lacking confidence.

“Something wrong, Lily?” called James, looking at her worriedly.

She shook her head in response and continued to fly around the pitch at leisure. Her grip on the broom loosened slightly and she began to feel more comfortable. James unleashed the Quaffle and passed it lightly through the air to her. She caught it one handed and did a reverse pass to Beth who was directly below her. The play continued to build up in a similar manner until they reached the goal hoops. Lily went to score and it flew straight through the left goalpost.

Her tryout continued for a few more seconds before James said she could leave. “We’ll be seeing you on the team again this year, I see,” was all he said.

Lily gave him a half smile before stomping off to the changing rooms. Why had her broom been acting so odd? She didn’t pay it another thought, though, her mind too occupied with the high-pitched squeals of a certain girl in the crowd. A few weeks ago she had thought Lissy a sensible, intelligent student who was capable of her Prefect duties. Now it seemed that her apparent adoration of James had turned her brain into mush.

It was with a heavy heart that Lily got into bed that evening. She wasn’t jealous as her friends suggested, but nor was she particularly glad of the new arrangement, and she doubted that she would be able to play properly during the coming Quidditch match with that girl cheering for the Gryffindor team.

---

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. As Sirius liked to say: perfect conditions for Quidditch. The ground was springy and good for a fast take-off into the air. Although it was mild and warm, the sun wasn’t so blinding that the teams’ vision would be obscured. In fact, James was quite pleased with the weather. It seemed today could finally be the day when Gryffindor steamrollered Slytherin. It had been too long, Professor McGonagall said, since the trophy had been gathering dust in her office. James was determined to win it back for her.

He got to breakfast and was just tucking into some bacon and eggs when he saw Lissy striding over to where he was sitting. He inwardly groaned. He really liked Lissy. He did. But she wasn’t the same girl he had been on a date with a week ago. Oh no. She was now staring at him adoringly, laughing loudly at all his jokes, and cheering for him in the stands (in a rather cringe-worthy manner).

“Hey,” she said, bounding up to him. “Nervous?”

Her friends stood in a cluster behind her, giggling noisily at the interaction between them. James couldn’t really see the funny side. He was all for a joke, a prank but - laughing at this? It was too much.

“Not any more so than the other matches I’ve played,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Well, make sure you win. I want to see you at the after party,” she said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before running back to her friends.

Sirius walked up to him, observing the look of distaste on his friend’s face. “What happened to her?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Confounded,” said James innocently. “It would be better if she was. Somebody swapped the mind of the Ravenclaw Prefect for a giggling monster.”

“Popularity went to her head,” said Remus, looking over at her.

“Popularity?” said Sirius incredulously. “Is that what it’s called when you have friends like those?”

“Unfortunately so,” said Remus gravely. “Right, James, eat up. We need to go out. Sirius I need you to take the charm you put on the Beater’s bats off.”

“Charm? I didn’t put a charm on them!” said Sirius indignantly. “Okay, well, I did when I heard the Slytherins had their Quidditch practice booked for the time we wanted ours.”

Right on cue, a motley group of Slytherins walked past the Gryffindor table, some with suspiciously purple bruises on their eyes and lumps on their heads. Remus stifled a laugh by putting his hand over his mouth. James just groaned and pushed his plate away from him.

“Where’s Peter gone again?” he asked.

“Library,” said Sirius, his eyes glazing over at the mention of the word. “Again. I think he’s becoming all studious.”

“No,” said Remus in mock horror. “God forbid! He should be out pranking with us instead.”

“Exactly,” said Sirius, believing him to be perfectly serious. “Still, can’t help but think something might be wrong.”

“Of course not,” scoffed James. “What could Peter be up to?”

His question was rhetorical, but as they walked out onto the Quidditch pitch a little while later, he paid it less attention then it deserved.

---

“The Gryffindor team! Presenting… Black, Evans, Donaldson, Kass, Moldovan, Prewett and Potter!”

Wild applause met Lupin’s final words. Up from the commentating post he could see Lissy standing up on her feet, holding a huge banner. He couldn’t decipher the words, and he deduced that was a perhaps a good thing.

“Introducing the Slytherin team: Higginbottom, McCauley, Prince, Frances, Montague, Winberg and Black!”

Booing erupted from one end of the stands (notably the Gryffindor’s) and applause from the green and silver side. Remus saw his friend shake hands with Winberg, the Slytherin captain, and grimace. It seemed to be an unspoken rule that each captain had to try to break the other’s hand.

“Potter reverse passes to Evans, who drops it. Montague picks it up and flies on, before passing to Winberg, who also drops it. Evans picks it up, passes to Potter, who shoots -”

Cheers and roars came from the Gryffindor supporters. “AND HE SCORES! Ten points to Gryffindor!”

Moldovan, the light and speedy Gryffindor Seeker, was searching for the Snitch. Circling just below was the reserve Slytherin seeker, Prince. Their first choice Seeker had been one of those hurt by Sirius’s prank.

“And still no sight of the Snitch! Did Moldovan just see something? No! Spectacular hit from Black who nearly knocks his brother off his broom -” boos from the Slytherins punctuated his commentary “and play is resumed. Evans scores! The score stands at forty-nil to Gryffindor. Could this be Slytherin’s first defeat by Gryffindor in years?”

Moldovan had seen the Snitch. She went into a fast dive, almost colliding with the ground in her haste to reach the elusive Snitch. She pulled up at the last second triumphantly with the Snitch in her hand.

“GRYFFINDOR WINS! One hundred ninety to ten! Slytherin’s harshest defeat in two seasons!” called Lupin over the megaphone.

“I’ll see you at the after party, Moldovan,” he grinned before heading down onto the pitch.

James stayed airborne for a few more seconds, feeling the wind whistle through his ears, the joy of triumph coursing through him. He jumped down from his broom and joined the tangled hug that was the Gryffindor team.

He saw Lily’s face look up into his and for one joyous moment it looked like she was going to kiss him. Then she turned away to Sirius who pointed to Lissy. She was staring at him with a mixture of incredulity and confusion on her face.

He smiled half-heartedly at her before joining the rest of the team heading back to the castle. He could deal with her tomorrow.

James didn’t have to wait long to see Lissy. She was standing outside the Great Hall the next morning, evidently waiting for his arrival. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, breathed deeply, and then walked down the stairs to meet her.

“Hello James,” she said levelly.

She was no longer the giggling girl of the previous day, nor the days before that. This was more like the person he had originally liked. There was a serious manner to her today, an edge that she hadn’t quite had before, and circles beneath her eyes indicating that she too had not slept last night.

“Hello Lissy,” he responded. He was going to ask her why on earth she was waiting for him instead of eating breakfast but thought better of it at the last minute.

“Congratulations on winning the match,” she said, smiling tightly. “Big achievement for the captain, I’ll bet.”

James didn’t respond; he just inclined his head to the left slightly and raised an eyebrow.

“I saw something that interested me at the match yesterday,” she continued. “Something rather interesting.”

“I should hope so too. Best performance we’ve pulled out of the bag for a long time,” said James cheerfully.

“Oh, it wasn’t that,” said Lissy quietly. James’s heart sunk a little lower, resting somewhere near his kneecaps. “Actually, I thought… for one very bizarre moment that Lily was going to kiss you.”

She laughed derisively for a few seconds, but upon hearing his silence, she quickly sobered up. “So, James, you do still like her, don’t you?”

The question was rhetorical, but he felt compelled to answer it regardless. “I don’t know,” he said dumbly.

“More than me,” she said matter-of-factly.

“It’s not like that,” he responded, looking her straight in the eye.

“It is like that, James! I see you looking at her all the time. When you’re with me, you casually glance over. What was this, some plan to make her feel jealous and come to her senses? I’m not going to be some girl that you use!” she shouted angrily.

“Look, it wasn’t like that,” said James plaintively. “I like you, Lissy. Really, I do.”

“But you like her more,” she whispered. “There’s no point in denying it, James. Everybody knows it even if she’s too blind to see it.”

“No,” he said. “When you’re not around your friends, I like spending time with you.”

“Not with my friends?” Her voice went an octave higher “What do you mean by that? You don’t like me having fun? So you can prank with your friends, flirt with whoever you like -”

“You know what?” said James. “Give me a break.”

“Fine!” She stared at him for a few seconds. “Fine,” she repeated. “I’ll see you around, Potter.”

And instead of chasing after her, James just stared at her back in bewilderment. Surely she realised that he had given up all hopes of being with Lily? Even he realised when something had gone too far. But, a voice in his head niggled at him, he had only gone out with Lissy to forget about her. And, the voice said, he did seem to enjoy Lily’s company far more than Lissy’s even when she snubbed him.

But she was wrong. Wasn’t she?

*

The rumours spread around like wildfire the next day. Everybody noticed that Lissy’s spot at the Gryffindor table had been left vacated. Sirius was sitting back next to James again. It was also duly noted that a look of relief had settled on James’s face. He didn’t look in the least upset about his relationship failure. In fact he was possibly even more cheerful than ever.

“What do we have first period?” asked James as he spread some marmalade onto his toast. He took a hearty bite out of it and sighed in satisfaction. “I want to know why my toast never tastes like this.”

“Because you burn it?” suggested Sirius. “I’ve never seen you not burn food before. It’s a shame, really, what with your mother being such a fabulous cook.”

“You bet she is,” said James darkly. “I swear I put on at least ten pounds every time I go home. I come back to school looking like a pudding -”

“Oh I doubt that,” said Remus lightly. “Everybody complains that you need to fatten yourself up.”

“No, that’s just the reserve Seeker.” James laughed. “He said that generally the Seeker should be lighter than the Chasers.”

“Have you seen how much he eats?” said Sarah indignantly. “No wonder he’s trying to shift those extra pounds.”

Peter jabbed his finger in the direction of her Witch Weekly copy. “You should stop reading that before you put us all on diets.”

“Nobody could make you go on a diet,” said Sarah, looking at him in horror. “How many calories are in those kippers?”

Her words were met with blank stares from the boys. Either things like calories were Muggle words that they didn’t understand or they simply didn’t care to pay attention to the health content of their food.

“I’ve always been fond of a treacle tart, myself,” said Lily as she came over to their table.

“Yes, and you don’t put on weight either,” said Sarah darkly. “A girl could get annoyed by having you for a friend.”

“We have Potions first period, James,” responded Sirius. “With Slughorn. A ‘P’ if I ever saw one.”

“A ‘P’?” asked Lily, confused. “What’s than then?”

James let out a hoot of laughter. “I can’t believe you don’t know what they are! A ‘P’ stands for ‘Poor’. One of the worst grades you can get actually.”

“Oh,” said Lily. “Well, I suppose that explains why I didn’t know then.”

“Ever had less than an ‘E’, Evans?” asked James conversationally.

“No,” she smiled. “Have you?”

“Maybe,” he said, looking distinctly shifty.

“Oh don’t lie,” said Sirius. “The only time you didn’t get an ‘E’ was when you had points taken off for blowing up a desk. Even then McGonagall was beside herself with the excellence of your -”

“Be quiet,” said James. “It might get around that I’m the type of person who prefers a book to flying on the Quidditch pitch.”

“You can’t be serious,” said Lily doubtfully. “That’s more what I would say.”

“Of course I’m joking!” said James, looking horrified. “You don’t honestly prefer a book to Quidditch, do you?”

Lily just winked, gathered her books and placed them in her bag. She hitched it on her back and walked out of the Hall.

“She was joking, right?” asked James, looking to the others for comfort.

“I don’t think so,” said Remus, looking at him in amusement.

And so it was in slight incredulity and disbelief that James walked down to the dungeons.

*

The remainder of the day was spent studying for their Transfiguration test. James, having mastered all the theory and practical side of things, decided that revision was no longer necessary.

“What’s the point?” he told Remus. “I’ll just make myself as stressed as you.”

Instead he decided to Transfigure Remus’s books into chairs and desks for the other students to sit on and amused himself with removing chair legs when they tried to sit on them.

“Having fun, are you?” asked Lily in an annoyed tone. “It might be easy for you, but they’re trying to revise!”

James immediately flicked his wand, fixing the table, and said contritely, “Sorry. What’s up?”

“If you want to know, I was trying to study for a test that I’m definitely going to fail, and instead of being able to revise, you were distracting students who came to me for help, and how could I help them if I had to revise myself? Transfiguration is my worst subject and -”

James’s eyes bulged slightly as he made the effort to understand what she had just said in one breath. “Do you want some help?” he asked.

“Oh,” she said in surprise, “well, that would be great if you don’t mind.”

“What are you having trouble with?” he asked ten minutes later as they sat at a table with Lily’s books surrounding them.

“It’s not so much the theory, although I find that difficult too. I just can’t, you know -”

“Transfigure things?” he said kindly. “Vanish an invertebrate?”

“How did you know?” she said in relief.

“Most people can’t. More than you know anyway. And I should know because I’ve helped them all at some point,” said James.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Lily growing increasingly frustrated. “I just-can’t-do-it,” she said in annoyance.

“Relax,” said James. “You’re almost putting in too much effort. See - just a casual flick and a non-verbal spell. There.”

The badger he was vanishing disappeared in just one flick. Lily let out a low growl. “I’ve been trying to do that for an hour, and you did it in two minutes.”

James looked at her in slight despair. “But you’re really good. Honestly. You’re just -” He looked at her nervously. “Did you just pull out your hair?”

“No,” she said. “Oh, well, maybe I did. I find it hard to control my magic sometimes.”

“Anyway, so as I was saying…just a flick of the wrist, make sure you don’t move your arm, say a non-verbal ‘Evanesco’ and -”

Lily had finally done it. After three hours of work, she had finally completely vanished her animal. She ran around the common room (much to the bemusement of the other students who were revising for their exam too) and delightedly vanished her own books. After she had conjured them again, she ran up to James and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks,” she said breathlessly. “Now if I don’t get my ‘O’ I’ll know who to blame.”

He didn’t respond; he just felt his cheek where she had kissed him. His nerves were all aflutter, and he knew that his mind would certainly be elsewhere in the Transfiguration examination. Still, he thought tiredly, it would all be worth it in the end.

*

“Right, the map,” said Sirius, “needs some careful thought and serious planning. If we manage to pull this one off, it’ll be one of our biggest pranks during our time here.”

“We’re in our seventh year,” continued James, “and we’ve nearly finished. But for this to be the ultimate prank, we need to put the charm on it that will make it blank to all but us.”

“We need to document our knowledge of the school and its passages,” said Remus, “and pass on that knowledge to any new mischief makers that come through the great oak doors.”

“We can do it,” said Peter optimistically. “The thing is…none of us know the charm. We’ve spent months researching in the library.”

“I was thinking that we could ask Lily,” said James. “She’s better than all of us at Charms.”

“I don’t think that we should,” said Sirius stubbornly. “She might report us for it or confiscate it.”

“She’s not like that,” said James resolutely. “I think we should give her a chance.”

“I don’t think so,” said Peter. “We managed to become Animagi without any help, didn’t we? Why should this be any different?”

Sirius rolled his eyes slightly at the latter comment, but chose to say nothing.

“And,” he continued, “it won’t be just a Marauder production if we have outside help, will it?”

“No,” said James thoughtfully, “I suppose it won’t.”

“It’d just be nice to finish it before we left school,” said Remus, laughing. “At the rate we’re going, that may not happen.”

“And the library hasn’t been any help,” said Sirius. “Maybe we should ask a teacher.”

“Who would really be willing to offer that kind of advice?” said James dubiously. “Sure way to get found out if you ask me.”

“Get found out about what?” asked Lily as she came over to their table. “It’s our turn to patrol tonight, James.”

“Well,” said Remus, looking at her thoughtfully, “we were wondering if there is a charm to make, say, a map blank until you want to peruse it again. So no prying eyes could see it unless they knew the special charm too.”

“Sounds rather suspicious to me,” said Lily with sparkling eyes. “I’ll look into it for you, if you like.”

Sirius and Peter shot Remus looks that could easily kill a lesser person, but he chose to ignore them. “Thanks,” he said.

She walked out of the portrait hole, and James followed shortly after, picking up his Invisibility Cloak first.

They walked in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Lily decided to speak.

“I found out my Transfiguration result today,” she said.

“How did you do?” asked James curiously.

“Apparently I definitely ‘Exceeded Expectations’ by not failing,” she said, grinning.

“That’s great,” said James, smiling genuinely. “Do I get to claim half the grade for helping?”

“Hm,” said Lily thoughtfully, “no, I’m afraid not.”

“Shame,” said James in mock despair.

“So I was wondering if” - Lily stopped embarrassedly - “if you’d like to come to Hogsmeade with me at the weekend.”

“Wait,” said James, “you’re asking me to go to Hogsmeade with you?”

“Well, if you don’t want to…I just thought, after all you did to help me today…”

“Of course I want to go,” he said, smiling. “I just never knew it would be so easy after all these years of trying.”

“Maybe you just didn’t go the right way about it,” she suggested.

“Obviously not,” he said with a frown, “so what was I doing wrong?”

“It was more of a case of what you weren’t doing right,” said Lily, laughing. “It was embarrassing to have you coming up to me every day, and I didn’t want to inflate your ego by falling at your feet.”

They walked down the corridor in silence for a little while before she added, “And I didn’t like you, of course.”

“You didn’t?” asked James incredulously. “Well, obviously I know you didn’t, but…I’ve never been hated by anybody other than the Slytherins.”

“I know,” said Lily darkly. “Everybody thought I was crazy for a while.”

“They still do,” said James cheekily, earning himself a punch on the arm.

“Don’t push it, James, or the date’s off.”

“The date?” asked James. “You mean…it’s a date?”

Lily rolled her eyes expressively. “Well, we could always go as friends if you prefer it, after your…Lissy episode.”

James cringed. “Let’s forget about that, shall we?”

“Certainly,” said Lily. “I had the feeling that you would rather we did.”

They walked back companionably to the Gryffindor tower, where they parted ways.

“I’ll look forward to tomorrow,” said James.

Lily just gave him a little wave before heading up the steps to her dormitory.

*

Lissy had obviously heard the news when she saw Lily and James walking to Hogsmeade together the next morning. Her eyes widened slightly with obvious disappointment, but she said nothing, determinedly avoiding his eyes. He tried, and failed, to look like he really cared.

They spent the afternoon going through the different shops. Lily had to drag James away from Zonko’s with the promise that they would head back there later for him to purchase his products.

“Ever thought about opening a joke shop, James?” Lily asked as they walked up the path to the Shrieking Shack.

“Yeah,” he said slowly, “But I think that in a time like this I’d be more useful as an Auror.”

“Really?” she said. “I was thinking that too. It seems a shame to get high grades and not use them for anything worthwhile.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” said James, “I know that being an Auror isn’t the only important job, but I think it’s the only useful one I could see myself doing.”

“I don’t see you as a person that would sit back and let others fight your battles for you,” said Lily.

“No,” he said thoughtfully, “I’m not.”

They paused outside the Shrieking Shack.

“Some say that this building is haunted,” said James lightly.

“You just want me to hold your hand, don’t you, Potter?” grinned Lily.

She placed her hand in his nevertheless as they stepped slightly closer.

“Do you think it’s true?” he asked.

“Of course not,” she said. “Just some rumour started by students.”

“You’re too intelligent for your own good,” said James sadly.

“Doesn’t always pay in this war to be intelligent, does it? Then again, it’s going to get you no matter who you are -”

Just then they heard a rustling in the trees. They both turned around, wands drawn, to the source of the noise. James stood protectively in front of Lily and shielded her with his arm.

“Who’s there?” he called.

Lily trod on his foot. “Let me go,” she hissed.

He ignored her and kept his arm around her. “Just wait a minute,” he whispered. “It took me this long to get you on a date, I’m not letting anything happen to you now.”

She sighed and resigned herself to their situation.

“Is that Sirius?” she asked.

James groaned.

“Please, tell me he isn’t with -”

“Is that a fifth year?”

“Sirius really doesn’t have many morals,” said James, laughing.

He had fallen out of the bushes with a girl following just behind him, picking leaves and twigs off her clothes. Seeing his friends standing nearby he raised his hand in mock salute and led the girl by the hand back into the village.

“I pity the poor girl,” said Lily, shaking her head.

“Where d’you want to go next then?” asked James.

“We could head up to the bookshop if you like…”

“Why did I bother asking?”

“It’s the price to pay if you want a date with me.”

“Well, for that kind of offer I’d even go to the Hog’s Head.”

“I won’t hold you to that.”

James couldn’t talk about that day with his friends without smiling rather inanely (“Great soppy grin he’s had on his face ever since he got back,” said Sirius to Remus). He realised his friends were laughing - fondly, he must admit - at him but he failed to care. Finally, finally, he felt as if they were getting somewhere.

“James!” called Lily.

He’d been walking back towards the Gryffindor common room after Quidditch practise. His muscles were aching slightly, he was more than a little sweaty, and his bones were exhausted. When he heard her voice, he turned in her direction despite his groaning body.

“I enjoyed our date yesterday.”

“Oh did you?”

“Mmm,” she said noncommittally. “Which is a good thing, especially if you want a repeat experience.”

He looked her directly in the eyes, and she felt her heart flutter slightly and her palms begin to sweat.

“It is,” he agreed.

He gazed at her for a few more seconds and then said, “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Lily.”

She nodded silently and walked back toward her friends.

“What was all that about?” asked Sarah, smiling at her friends apparent bewilderment. “Has he been cornering you in the broom cupboard again?”

“No,” said Lily, frowning. “What’s even worse is that I’m not sure I’d curse him if he tried to.”

Sarah grinned appreciatively at her friends change in attitude. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” she said loudly. “I knew you had it in you!”

“Shouldn’t you be revising for Charms?” asked Lily disapprovingly.

“I was taking a break actually. I’ve also been told by Remus over there that it’s unhealthy to revise for too many hours at a time,” said Sarah, grinning. “He’s quite the gentleman.”

“He’s a taken gentleman, Sarah,” said Lily warningly. “Diana will kill you if you even look at him again.”

“I know,” she said despairingly. “But you can’t blame a girl for trying her luck, can you?”

“Try it on Sirius instead if you’re so interested in the group,” said Lily, rolling her eyes.

“I was thinking about James actually,” said Sarah innocently.

“Mm,” said Lily as she read her book. “Go for it.”

“I was planning what we could do in the broom cupboard together,” she continued, laughing at her friend’s expense.

“Who with?” asked Lily absently.

“Your future husband,” said Sarah, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“James?” exclaimed Lily, dropping her book. “You were planning to do those things with Potter?”

“So you’re planning on getting married to him, are you?” grinned Sarah roguishly.

“Of course,” said Lily, raising her eyebrows. “It’s been fated for years.”

She poked her tongue out at the look of surprise on her friends face. “Honestly, Sarah, who do you take me for?”

“You really don’t want me to respond to that,” she said flatly.

“Lily, would you help me with my Charms essay?” asked Hannah hopefully. “I’ve been struggling with it for hours.”

“Sure,” said Lily with a smile.

Lily, Hannah and Sarah spent the rest of the evening correcting Hannah’s essay so it would be presentable to Professor Flitwick the next day. Lily was so busy concentrating that she didn’t noticed a certain hazel-eyed boy watching her every movement with interest.

“It’s not normal to spend your evening staring at somebody,” said Sirius, breaking into James’s thoughts.

“No, some might even say that it’s a little…what’s the word, Sirius?” asked Remus.

“Stalkerish would be the one you’re looking for, I believe,” replied Sirius seriously. “And it’s not healthy.”

“No, it’s certainly not healthy,” said Remus. “Which is why we thought we’d present to you -”

“The Marauder’s Map!” declared Sirius, handing James the piece of seemingly blank parchment.

“You see, we were going to wait until Peter was back,” explained Remus.

“But then we realised that we were incapable of waiting,” continued Sirius, “and that Peter could be out for hours writing his Charms essay if last time was anything to go by.”

“Plus we wanted to try it out this evening because neither of us have any patrol duties,” put in Remus.

James’s face broke into a huge grin. “How did you do it?” he asked.

“Actually, it wasn’t us,” said Remus. “As much as I’d like to claim the credit for such a legendary piece of Charm work.”

“It was Lily’s doing,” said Sirius smiling slightly. “She came up to us with the charm just after you left.”

“Amazing,” said Remus, looking awestruck. “Never seen anything like it before, mate.”

*

The next morning James was awoken by his owl hooting at him and tapping its beak on the window.

“Okay,” he said sleepily. “I’m coming.”

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and ruffled his hair as he tried to get his owl through the window. He noticed that some of the wings were ruffled slightly oddly on one side. Had his owl been attacked?

Dear James,

We’re so very proud of your achievements at school this term. I’ve never seen you go so long without landing yourself at least one detention before. You really have no idea how relieved your father and I are that you’re finally growing into somebody who we can present to the rest of the family. Before we had to worry about you having a prank up your sleeve!

I’m writing to you because of all the events that are taking place around here. It’s not safe anywhere anymore. That includes Hogwarts, James. If you see anything (and I really do mean anything, darling!) suspicious then please report it to Professor Dumbledore. It may seem almost insignificant to you, but I’m sure it will be of the utmost importance to him at a time like this.

Your father has been taken ill (no, really, there’s no need to worry) and is going to be in St. Mungo’s for a short spell so he can recover. I do not want you visiting him, or us, until we are back at home. You’re at the safest place you could be right now, and I do not want you leaving under any circumstances. If I could stop you from visiting Hogsmeade I would, but I know your knowledge of the passages leading outside of school far outstrips my own. It would be fruitless for me to suggest such a thing, but I will express my hopes that you will heed my advice.

Be strong, James, and get through this year with your N.E.W.T.s. I’ve never been more proud of you, honey, and I know you’ll get everything you want to out of your life. Your father wishes you to get yourself a replacement girlfriend; neither of us liked the sound of your previous one and I think he’s suggesting that you should renew your efforts with a certain red-haired lady.

Wishing you all the best,

Mum (and dad).

James smiled at her last words and pulled the quill out of his bag, uncertain of what he was going to say.

Dearest Mother,

Code has never been your strong point, has it? Think of the information potential letter thieves could have gotten out of that. It’s a good job that a certain mad-eyed Auror isn’t reading your mail, or he would have a fit.

As for the news regarding the certain red-haired lady, I think you’ll wish me all the best. I think she might be close to being won over. Then again, I have written similar letters to you every year, and each time they’ve turned out to be full of false hope.

I would love to visit dad, but I know you won’t permit it, and I would hate to put either of you at risk. Please wish him all the best from me and a speedy recovery. Tell him when he gets better I’ll take him out flying. He can be taught how to fly with style (for once) without a Beater’s bat in his left hand (which will be a relief because I’m fed up with coming home with bruises!).

Please stay safe. I promise I will try to at all costs even if I won’t grant your wish of remaining out of Hogsmeade at…certain times of the month.

Love to you both.

Your favourite and only son, James.

He tied the parchment to his owl’s leg and watched it as it flew back off in the opposite direction, stopping to hunt on its way. He sighed slightly, rested his head in his hands, and thought of his father in his hospital bed in London. Was his father really only slightly ill? Had there been another Death Eater attack that his mother didn’t want to tell him about? His mind was in turmoil.

He walked down to the showers slowly, humming a tune to himself. He decided not to worry too much about his parents’ situation. Regardless of what happened, he could not change anything himself, as much as he would like to.

He showered quickly, pulled on his robes, and decided to go straight to the Owlery. He was up early anyway, and he could always stop by the kitchens on the way to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Once he got there he looked out into the skies, then the Hogwarts grounds below. In the distance he could see Hagrid just outside his hut chopping logs and adding them to the fire. James thought that he must be doing Salamander lessons with the third years again.

He attached the letter to the owl’s leg and watched it fly out into the cloudless sky.

*

Half an hour later James was in Charms sitting next to Sirius, who had charmed his Quill to take notes for him.

“You’re so lazy,” said James, rolling his eyes at his friend. “It’s even going to note down when Flitwick falls off his books, you do realise?”

“Of course,” said Sirius. “It’ll make revision far more fun if I remember the spectacular moment every lesson where you give him a heart attack with your wand waving and he falls off his desk.”

James shook his head at his friend and said, “Got any more fake wands, Padfoot?”

“’Fraid not,” said Sirius regretfully. “Used the last of them to entertain myself in Slughorn’s lesson on Friday.”

“Shame on you,” admonished James. “His lessons aren’t half so bad as these.”

“No,” said Sirius. “But then you would say that because Lily sits directly in front of you. I’ve never see you work so hard before in Potions.”

James laughed at his friend. “What would I do without you?” he asked.

“Prongs, it doesn’t even bear thinking about. If I didn’t have you I’d be spending my time in the library with Remus,” said Sirius, looking horrified.

“Good job I’m not going anywhere then,” said James.

“You will be if you carry on talking in Flitwick’s lessons,” said Remus behind them. “Apparently he wants to put you in detention, James, but he can’t bear to break your clean slate.”

“Wonderful,” said James. “Mother will be happy.”

Sirius stared at him for a few seconds before letting out a bark of laughter. “I thought you were serious there for a second, mate.”

“I was,” said James, grinning. “So what do you think about our final prank for the end of the year then?”

“Couldn’t be better constructed. Of course there’s the highest possibility of us getting caught, but I feel strangely confident about it,” said Sirius.

“I don’t, for once,” said James doubtfully. “I swear Filch is onto us with this one. He’s been tailing me everywhere since the last dung bomb episode.”

“How’s he meant to know that we’re planning on letting off a hundred fireworks in the Great Hall?” asked Sirius.

“Talk a little louder why don’t you, Sirius!” exclaimed Remus from behind them. “Announce it to the world!”

“Ignore him,” said Peter quietly. “He’s just stressed because Diana thinks it’s time for them to have a ‘break’ -”

James swivelled around in his chair. “She said what, Moony?”

“Mr. Potter, would you please pay attention! Five points from Gryffindor. Now turn around in your seat before I put a permanent sticking charm on your -”

James looked at the Professor with an expression of terror. “I’d rather have a duel, sir,” he said with a grin.

“School champion, I was,” squeaked Professor Flitwick.

James said nothing in response, choosing to talk to Remus out of the corner of his mouth instead. “What did you do this time?”

“I missed her birthday,” groaned Remus. “But it was transformation night, and what was I supposed to do?”

“Turn up at her birthday as a werewolf and yell ‘surprise’?” said Sirius, laughing.

“Well,” said Remus, grinning, “it honestly did cross my mind, but I decided while it might be my best prank yet it would also wreak -”

“Havoc,” finished James. “Go make it up to her. Has she ever not taken you back before?”

“Well, it would have been okay,” said Remus slowly, “had I told her where we went every month.”

“Ah,” said Sirius quietly. “Relationship wrecker.”

“Exactly,” said Remus. “Never seen anybody go so red, actually. I thought she was going to explode from fury.”

“You’ve obviously not seen James’s mum when I ruined her cake,” chimed in Peter.

“God, do you remember that, Peter?” asked James, laughing. “It was wonderful to see her shouting at somebody other than me. She felt awful afterwards, of course.”

“Anyway,” continued Remus, “I thought it was wisest to apologise and make a swift exit until she calmed down.”

“Oh no,” groaned Sirius. “You walked out while she was shouting?”

“Evidently not the right thing to do,” said Remus. “I recall that shortly after that she said ‘we need a break’.”

“I wouldn’t hold out for her,” said James. “Sounds like that’s it.”

“It would be easier had she not spread the word to all of the girls in the school,” said Remus ruefully. “Now they have the idea that I’m a lousy boyfriend.”

“Which, of course, you are,” supplied Sirius. “Having to run out of a date to transform isn’t ideal -”

The bell signalling the end of the class rang at this point, and the boys hastily packed up their things.

James heard Lily say to her friends, “No, you go on. I’ll catch up with you later.”

He gathered up his pieces of parchment and stuffed them into his bag. He needed to hurry if he was going to be on time to his Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

“James?” said Lily. “I need to talk to you if you don’t mind -”

And even though he was, indeed, in a hurry, he put his bag down anyway.

“It’s about Remus,” she continued. “I’d like to know…I’d like to know where he goes every month.”

“I can’t tell you,” said James. “Is this because of Diana?”

“Yes,” said Lily uncertainly. “I had a feeling that if she knew the truth then she might give him a second chance.”

“He’ll never tell her,” said James. “She’s wasting her time. If she knew she wouldn’t want to be with him. I know her type.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little judgemental?” asked Lily. “Why won’t he give her a chance?”

“Because she‘ll judge him for it,” said James.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“No,” said James flatly. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask again.”

“James, I didn’t mean to intrude…”

But she was talking to his back. He had taken his things and left for his next lesson. Sighing in defeat, Lily stalked back to the common room. Always two steps forward, one step back, she thought sadly.

“Sirius, for God’s sake! Move over to the left! I’ve barely got space to breathe here -” said James.

“Look, be quiet, I’m trying to read the map!” replied Sirius quickly.

“That was my foot!” yelped Peter.

“Well, if you’d just take up less room -” said Sirius unapologetically.

“They keep tempting me with treacle tarts!” complained Peter. “How can anybody resist -”

“Hush!” said James. “I can hear footsteps. Sirius, look at the map before we go right into them.”

“The cloak’s flapping around our ankles!” said Remus, trying to enlarge it with a quick spell. He felt the fabric expand and could finally breathe unimpeded.

He heard a low whine from Peter’s throat.

“What’s wrong now, Peter?” said Sirius in a bored tone.

“Look.” He pointed. “It’s Snape.”

“What’s the time?” said James, checking his watch. “We’re ten minutes past night time curfew.”

“He’s going to report us,” said Remus. “He knows it’s us, look at him smiling -”

“Slimy git,” said Sirius vehemently. “But if he catches us then the map is going to get confiscated by Filch.”

“Right then, I’ll go out,” said James. “I’ll just say that I’m doing the rounds. He can’t get me in trouble for that.”

“Don’t curse him,” said Remus warningly. “He’d love to get you expelled, remember that -”

“He’d love to get Lily also,” finished Sirius.

James didn’t say anything but side-stepped the rest of the group and took a few steps away from where they were hiding beneath the cloak. He could hear Snape’s footsteps as he was about to turn the corner. James held his breath, waiting for the moment where his enemy realised that he was waiting for him. He would have pretended to be checking a broom cupboard, but he had learned from his Defence teacher never to turn his back on an opponent. Snape was certainly that.

Snape looked at him in horror as he turned the corner. The expression quickly disappeared, though, replaced with a small smirk.

“Wanted a midnight duel, Potter?” he asked waspishly.

“Well, if you’d like one,” said James offhandedly. “No girls to save you this time though, Severus.”

Snape walked a few steps closing, a menacing sneer upon his face. “I know far more than you’re ever likely to, Potter.”

“Not all of us are weak, Snape, and have to turn to the dark arts for protection,” said James quietly.

“I am not weak!” spat Snape.

“No, you’re just a coward,” said James, glaring at him. “You’ll be in with him eventually, though, won’t you? I bet he’d love somebody like you -”

“Don’t you dare,” said Snape in a warning tone. “I’m not a coward!”

“But you are,” said James delicately, “or you would have done something to me by now.”

“I thought the same about you,” said Snape slowly. “But you just don’t want that Mudblood finding out, do you?”

“Call her that again and the gargoyles will be seeing your pants, Snivellus,” said James in a deadly voice.

“Aren’t we above these antics now, Potter?” said Snape. “I would have thought even your level of competence would have risen by seventh year.”

“Oh, it has,” said James. “I’m just not going to waste those skills upon the likes of you.”

Snape let out a low snarl. “You will get your comeuppance, Potter.”

“Will I, Snape?” laughed James. “I doubt it will be because of you, if you don’t mind my saying.”

“You’ll regret your arrogance, you mark my words. There will come a time when you will rue today and every other encounter we’ve had,” whispered Snape.

In his black robes he seemed to almost glide down the corridor back to the Slytherin dungeons. As James glared at his retreating back, he called after him, “You’ll have to see Slughorn for being out past curfew, Snape. Let that be a lesson to you.”

James didn’t particularly feel like going back to the tower with his friends straightaway. He loved the freedom of having the Invisibility Cloak and the knowledge that the map gave the group…but he did sometimes wonder if it was ethical to create such a thing. As with every object, it could be used for good, bad, or slightly mischievous causes. He convinced himself that the Marauders fitted under the “mischievous” category rather than the “bad”.

He strolled around the castle complacently, completely at ease. He checked a few of the broom cupboards, awarding detentions to the couples he saw inside them. He was just making the final rounds of the Charms corridor when he saw Lily emerging from a classroom further down.

“Hi,” said Lily, when she spotted James. “Why are you patrolling? It’s not our night.”

“Oh, you know…” said James vaguely.

“No, I don’t know.” She smiled. “Tell me.”

“It’s rather boring. I was going for a night-time stroll, ran across ol’ Snivelly, and before I knew it -”

“Ran into Snape, did you?” said Lily, looking him over. “I rather hope that you didn’t hex him this time.”

“No,” said James lightly. “I must admit that it was quite tempting though.”

“Well, it seems you might be growing up at last.” Lily laughed.

“I seriously doubt that,” said James, grinning sheepishly. “But I’ll go along with it if it makes you happy.”

Lily said nothing. Walking back to the tower together at night was a regular occurrence between the two of them now; almost every evening James would do an extra patrol (he insisted that he didn’t trust the younger years) and Lily would meet him somewhere near the Charms classrooms.

“Why are you in the Charms department every evening, Lily?” asked James carefully.

She waved her hand carelessly. “Oh, you know…”

“You can’t use my own line against me,” he grinned.

“Well, I can certainly try to, at least,” said Lily.

“You don’t have to say,” backtracked James quickly. “I hope you don’t think I was being pushy -”

“Oh no. I don’t think that, James dear, I know,” she said. “I’ve been having advanced Charms classes with Flitwick himself. He said that I’m guaranteed an “O” in my NEWT and hoped that I would pursue a career in that field.”

“You agreed, then?” said James. “I thought you said that you’d like to be -”

“An Auror,” said Lily. “I know. I’m not quite so sure now, but I think I’d like to be one. Until the war is over.”

James smiled sadly. “You really think it’s going to come to an end within the next ten years?”

Lily’s chin jutted slightly. “I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t -”

James raised his eyebrows sceptically at her. “You’re awfully stubborn, you know,” he said teasingly.

She lowered her eyes in defeat. “I suppose I’m just wishing that it finishes soon. It all seems too much sometimes, you know.”

“Yes, I do know,” said James sadly.

“So I suppose you’ve tried out the map by now,” said Lily, watching him closely.

“We’d never have been able to do it if it wasn’t for you,” he said cheerfully.

“You didn’t answer my question, Potter,” she responded.

“What’s the point?” he laughed. “You already know the answer.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t be you, if you hadn’t,” she said grudgingly, giving him a small smile.

“And that’s why you love me,” he laughed.

There was a strange, almost awkward, silence that met his words. He hadn’t quite meant them to sound presumptuous; he had simply meant them as a joke that he knew she’d laugh off easily. Instead she was gazing at him with a little uncertainty and dragged her eyes away from his.

“In your dreams,” she replied.

“I have very explicit dreams, you know,” said James, injecting humour into the conversation.

“I don’t wish to know, thank you very much,” said Lily, but she was smiling this time, and she looped her arm through his.

“What’s that, Evans?” he asked.

Her brow furrowed.

“I think you just invaded my personal space -” he continued.

She went to withdraw her arm quickly.

“Not that I mind, of course,” he added hastily. “It was just very unexpected from a witch such as yourself.”

She leant against his arm slightly, sighing from fatigue. “God, I’m tired,” she said with a yawn. “I don’t know how I’m going to make it back to the dormitories.”

James observed her mischievously. “Well, there’s always a way to resolve a situation like this,” he said.

“There is?” questioned Lily, uncertainly. “I hope it doesn’t involve a prank, Mister Potter. Especially when I was warming to you; it seems such a shame that -”

But she was completely cut off by James. He scooped her up and carried her in his arms quite easily. She quieted when she realised that he was not, in fact, joking with her.

“Have you charmed me to be feather light?” she asked suspiciously. “You’d be working up a sweat if not, and I can’t see a single bead of it -”

James grunted slightly.

“Aha!” said Lily. “You are in pain. NOW PUT ME DOWN!”

James simply smiled. “I’m a Marauder. We just don’t ‘do’ pain. Plus you’re as light as a feather already. I don’t need to charm you.”

“There’s no point in asking, is there?” said Lily in defeat.

“No,” said James flatly. “You could always curse me if you really wanted.”

“No magic in corridors,” said Lily in a small voice. “I have to uphold the rules even if there is nobody to see.”

James laughed and brought her closer to him.

“Still feeling tired?” he asked.

Lily found it hard to remember if she had even told him such a thing. His face was so close to her own that she found it hard to formulate a proper thought. Her heart skipped a beat (and she thought that just happened in slushy romance novels, but apparently not) and her head inclined slightly toward his.

“Not particularly,” she mumbled.

“Good, because I’m not putting you down just yet,” he said.

They reached the dormitory in relative silence. James didn’t want to bang Lily’s head on any objects that they passed, and he took particular care on any moving staircases. If he dropped her he wasn’t sure that he would ever be forgiven. When they reached the portrait hole he put her right way up slowly but left his hand in hers, Lily thought, rather longer than necessary.

They walked through the portrait hole into the empty common room, and Lily went to approach the door to the girls’ dormitories. However she was incapable of moving. Her feet seemed almost rooted to the ground, and she wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to leave James for the safety of her bed just yet.

“Night, James,” she said slowly.

And she wasn’t quite sure how it happened; one minute she was saying goodnight and the next he was far too close to her. She could see the green flecks in his eyes. He was too close, much too close. She couldn’t think properly again; her brain was confused, confounded and yet…it wasn’t. Things also seemed to be remarkably clear.

“Lily,” he whispered.

In that split second James reached out to pull her closer to him. His head bent down slightly, and he inclined hers slightly toward him. He smiled slowly and leant in to kiss her.

They broke apart a few moments later. Lily stared at him, slightly dumfounded at what had just happened between him both. She hated this boy, had always hated him. But she didn’t anymore. Not one bit. Her feelings for him had swung completely in the opposite direction and her nerves fluttered anxiously.

“Goodnight, Lily,” he replied.

He headed slowly up to his dormitory and let out a silent cheer as he pulled his hangings around him. At that moment in time he felt that life couldn’t get any better for him. For the first time in months, he was truly happy.

*

James headed down to the Great Hall the next day full of life and vitality. His cheeks were flushed slightly, his eyes sparkled behind his glasses and he smiled at everybody he met on the staircase. As he was a generally happy person, this didn’t spark much interest. Nobody knew who had put the twinkle in his eye or made his smile span two centimetres wider.

“Remus!” he called when he had nearly reached the entrance. “Who are you waiting for?”

“You,” he replied. “I have some news -”

“So do I,” broke in James quickly. “About Lily -”

“James, this is important,” said Remus.

“So is this!” said James impatiently. “Finally, after all these years, and you decide that it’s not important!”

Remus was obviously put off his news. “You finally got together?” he asked, smiling. The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, though, and was a little forced. “Great news!”

“Yes,” said James, observing his friend properly now. “Remus, what’s wrong?”

“The thing is, James,” he said. “Okay. Blunt honesty or the slightly kinder version?”

“Blunt honesty,” replied James quickly. “Tell me as we eat breakfast instead. I’m so hungry I could eat a hippogriff!”

Remus almost shook his head sadly. He hated to be the one to break his friend’s good mood and happy euphoria.

“The thing is,” said Remus slowly, “Professor McGonagall stopped by our dormitory this morning when you were in the shower. She said that -”

Remus realised that he didn’t have his friend’s full attention. Something snapped inside, and he exhaled slowly.

“JAMES!” he practically bellowed. “She said that … your father … you see, he’s -”

James stared at him, dumbfounded. His brain refused to function properly, whirring around the same loop … Was his father dead? Surely not, he couldn’t be … His mother would have called for him if he was dying. She would have realised he didn’t care about his own safety if it meant that he got to see his father. He wouldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe it. His heart felt as if it had stopped beating, the voices flew over his head meaninglessly and his throat was completely dry. He looked at Lupin again, struggling with his words.

“He’s dying,” he finished softly.

“No,” whispered James. “No, he can’t be. Mum said he was fine. She said she would owl me if there was a problem. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t, not tell me. Mum would never -”

“It all happened so quickly, she would never have left you in the dark if she’d had a choice,” said Remus imploringly. “How about we take you to Professor Dumbledore? He’ll be able to sort out your travelling methods to St. Mungo’s to go see him.”

“You’ll do that?” asked James pathetically. “Thank you.”

His hand was clutching Remus’s arm almost painfully tight, but Remus didn’t have the heart to remove it. Instead he took his arm and slowly led him to the Headmaster’s office. He gazed at his friend worriedly, wondering if he was going to pass out along the way.

“Sugar Quill,” said Remus quietly, pulling his friend onto the stairwell.

The stairwell revolved around slowly, and Remus tapped his foot impatiently as they waited for the door to open. The door opened to reveal Dumbledore sitting at his desk. He waved the door shut with his hand and said “Portus” to the kettle sitting on his desk.

“Right, we have to be quick, Mr. Potter,” said Dumbledore carefully. “Your father is hovering somewhere between life and death at the moment. He was cursed severely and tortured trying to protect your mother from a Death Eater raid. She wished for you not to know, thinking his health would improve, but -”

He was cut off by an involuntary gulp from James.

“Unfortunately his health hasn’t improved. Listen to me carefully, James. You must not be seen. The staff at St. Mungo’s have been told to not inform anybody of your whereabouts. Death Eaters are swarming the streets in droves, and as you have access to my office regularly, they will most certainly try to accost you. Keep a low profile. You have until” - Dumbledore checked his watch - “eight o’clock this evening. The Portkey will reactivate at this time, and you will have to return immediately.”

“Thank you, sir,” said James.

His eyes were completely blank, and his hands were shaking slightly, the only betrayal of how he was feeling inside.

“How bad is it?” asked Remus.

“There is hope,” said Dumbledore. “The Healers are doing all that is within their power. However, in this case, that doesn’t seem to be quite enough. The next few hours are critical.”

Remus shook his head and said, “Could - do you possibly think - that I or Sirius could go with him?”

Dumbledore looked at James. “Sirius has been informed and might meet you shortly after you arrive. Remus, you will go back to Gryffindor tower and continue with James’s normal duties. I daresay that a certain Head Girl will be wondering about his whereabouts.”

“Good luck,” said Remus to James, embracing him. He left shortly after with a backward glance and proceeded back to the tower.

James had gone deathly white.

“It’s fine to be concerned for your relatives, James,” observed Dumbledore. “It’s our ability to feel, to love, that sets us apart from the likes of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.”

“I thought that dad was invincible,” said James simply. “His mortality seems to put things into perspective.”

“Go,” said Dumbledore. “One, two, three…”

James felt a sharp tug, and just before the world began to swirl rapidly around him, he heard Dumbledore say, “I look forward to your end of term prank, Mr. Potter.”

James felt distinctly ruffled as he walked down the corridor to his father’s room; the welcome witch had been most helpful in assisting him and kept casually fluttering her eyelashes. On a normal day James might have flirted back and held her attention for a few moments longer, but today he nodded curtly, said thank you, and headed on his way. He wasn’t stopping for anybody.

He stopped when he saw his father’s Healer outside the door.

“You’re James Potter?” she asked quietly.

He nodded in confirmation.

“Go straight through.” She jerked her thumb in the direction of the door. “He’s been asking for you.”

James edged in and glanced around the ward, searching out his father. He saw him in the bed closest to the window. His eyes were half closed, but they sparkled slightly when he saw his son in the doorway.

He walked unsurely to his father’s bedside, silently observing his sorry state. He had a large lump on the side of his forehead; it was glistening with the beads of sweat that ran down it. There were small gashes and cuts over his arms and face. His body was obscured by the sheets, but from the shallow, almost painful breathing James deduced his torso was wrapped in bandages.

“Hey,” said James softly.

One of his father’s eyelids cracked open. He winced at the pain that the small movement caused.

“Hello, son,” he rasped quietly.

James couldn’t say anything in response. He had never thought he would see his father like this: weak. His father was invincible. The one who never needed a wand to open a jar or fix a bike. The one who taught James to fight for what he believed in, to never settle for second best, to never let people who might be seen as inferior not have the same opportunities. This man, who had taught him all these things, was lying in a hospital bed because he had fought for what was right.

“How are you?” asked James.

“I’ve never known why people ask me that.” His father smiled. “If I felt good I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

James smiled, appreciative that his father’s sense of humour was still intact.

“They say you’re making a tremendous recovery,” said James hopefully.

“They always say that,” he said quietly.

“Forever the optimist,” said James, rolling his eyes slightly.

“I’m being realistic, James,” said his father. “Don’t interrupt me, please. I need to say this. Our home was taken by Death Eaters. Your mother doesn’t want me to tell you. This is one time I’ll go against her wishes.

Take your lessons seriously. You may think a prank or two every now and again is fine, but you need to be serious, James. The time for fun and games is over. I want to know that you’ll do all you can to keep your mother safe -”

At this point James nodded his head.

“- and that you’ll do everything within your power to keep yourself safe and out of trouble. I know that you sneak into Hogsmeade, and I want it to end. I’m not telling you, I’m asking with the hope that you’ll obey me. You may be of age now, but that doesn’t mean that you behave that way -”

James opened his mouth slightly to protest and then thought better of it.

“- and I want to be sure that I can trust you.”

“You can,” said James resolutely.

“Good,” his father replied. “I thought so.”

A single tear fell unchecked down James’s face.

“I’m proud of you, James,” he whispered, his eyes now closing again.

James, for once in his life, was completely speechless. What could he say to that?

“I love you,” he replied, truthfully.

“You know, in seventeen years, I think that is the first time I’ve heard you say those words,” said Mr. Potter somewhat gratefully.

“I’ve never meant it more,” mumbled James.

“Well now we’ve got that sorted,” said Mr. Potter, but his voice was slightly heavy with the sound of tears. “I’d like to discuss your girlfriend situation.”

“Lack of,” said James, laughing.

“I just wanted to know how you and Lily were getting on,” he continued. “Might amuse me somewhat. What have you done wrong now?”

“Nothing,” replied James simply. “I have matured, apparently…”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he replied. “Right, you go back to school. You’ve been here long enough and I need a sleep.”

“You’d have thought you would have had enough by now,” said James.

“I need my beauty sleep.”

“I could have told you that years ago,” replied James.

He leant over his father to kiss him goodbye, and his father put an arm around him, patting him on the back.

“You be good now,” he said gruffly.

“You know me, Dad.”

“I do know you, fortunately. I love you, James. Just you remember that,” his father whispered. His arm dropped back to his side and his face was creased with the pain that the effort of speaking required.

The mediwitch came back into the room quickly.

“Headmaster Dumbledore’s Portkey will take you back, Mr. Potter. Your father needs some well deserved rest.”

But the last James saw of his father was him looking deathly pale, sweating, and mumbling incoherently. He’d never get that image out of his mind. Not until the day he died.

--

AN: I really, really, dislike author's notes as a general rule but I just have one thing to say! If you read, please review. This fanfiction has been the product of many months. However, secondly, I need to say a huge (and I really cannot express how huge when I say this -- we're talking universe!) thank you to my beta reader Mortalus (can be found at Pefect Imagination). Without her the plot would have been far more melodramatic (I'm a drama queen, can't you tell?) and you would have wept when viewing the grammar. So a big thank you to her for seeing this through to the end.

A few months passed by after the death of James’s father. Lily was an outsider looking in on his grief and didn’t have any idea how she could make things better for him. Even worse, he hadn’t really paid her any particular attention since the kiss they had shared. She couldn’t help but feel sad about the whole situation despite Sirius’s protestations that he wasn’t any less interested in her. In fact, he was. He just didn’t quite know how to approach her.

Lily decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. She couldn’t spend her time watching him being thoroughly miserable. She wasn’t the only person to observe the change in him either; other people in school had questioned her about his sudden change in mood.

She knew his father’s death was a terrible, tragic, unexpected thing. She did. However she couldn’t help but feel his father would be disappointed in him for just giving up on life. Which was what he had done. He was a shell of his former self, conversing only with people within his closest circle of friends and ignoring those outside.

So when she saw him walking down the stone steps to their Herbology lesson, she walked a little faster and tried to match his pace. She fell in step beside him and said, “James.”

“Hi,” he said softly. “I’m sorry -”

“There’s no need to apologise,” said Lily flatly. “I just wanted to see how you are.”

“Never been better,” said James with a smile.

“You don’t have to pretend with me, James.”

“I know,” he said simply, “but I can’t help it.”

Lily took his hand in hers and said, “I’m always here.”

James went to say something, shook his head, then said, “Thanks.”

“Does that mean I get a ‘thank you’ kiss?” asked Lily.

“Always,” said James, gathering her into his arms.

When they broke apart a few seconds later Lily said, “Thank goodness for that then.”

Sirius poked his head out of the greenhouses, spotted them, and beckoned them over with his hand. He was grimacing as the giant plant behind him tickled one of his shoulders.

“Oi! James!” called Sirius. “Get over to Herbology. We’ve got some depodding to do.”

“Race you there, Lily,” said James.

They arrived at Herbology a few moments later completely out of breath, Lily bent over with a stitch in her side and James’s glasses slightly lopsided.

Professor Sprout took a look at their dishevelled appearances, glanced at Lily, and then rolled her eyes. “I see he’s corrupted you too, then, Miss Evans.”

“Is it still corruption if you enjoy it?” she asked, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear as she took a look at the plants they would be studying.

“Obviously did a good job of it too,” said the Professor to James.

“Like I do everything.”

“I haven’t deflated his ego at all though,” said Lily wearily.

“Everybody would be upset if you even tried, dear,” said James.

“Right then, class!” called Professor Sprout. “Pair up, put your gloves on, and make sure you do not go near the back of the class. Some of our most…interesting…fruits are ripening.”

“I’d hate for her to explain how lethal they are,” mumbled Remus darkly. “She thinks even the largest of plants are completely harmless. Next she’ll be telling us that the Whomping Willow is friendly.”

“Mr. Lupin, would you like to demonstrate the depodding process for us? You clearly know so much about it.”

“No problem, Professor.”

*

The term gradually passed by, full of Quidditch practises, lessons, homework, and much else besides. James was finding it increasingly hard to find time to spend with Lily. When he wasn’t working, she was. Their timetables seemed to be completely incompatible despite them sharing most of their classes.

Finally on a Thursday evening she walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Right, I want to see your timetable.”

“Why?” asked James, looking up from his chess game. “No, Sirius! You cheat every time! That queen was originally over there -”

Sirius rolled his eyes, placed the queen in question back in the right place, and then continued to make his next move.

“What were you saying, Evans?”

Lily glared at him.

“Sorry, it was out of habit. What were you saying, Lily?”

“I want to take a look at your timetable,” she said, placing her hands on her hips.

“It’s over there somewhere,” said James, waving his hand in the vague direction of his bag contents. “Sirius! I saw that!”

Sirius roared with laughter, flicked his wand, and made another move. “I’ll beat you anyway. I do every time.”

“No you don’t!” said James indignantly.

Lily looked at them, smiled, and rolled her eyes.

“I’ve reorganised your timetable, scheduled time for your Quidditch practises and colour coded the parts where I’m free -”

“You’re amazing,” said James.

“- and the ones where we’re both free. I’ve also done free periods and the Hogsmeade dates.”

James actually looked up from the chess board at this.

“You did all that in that time?”

“Yup,” said Lily, sitting down beside him. “And if you move your piece to the left - there, like that - you’ll win.”

James followed her instructions, then rested his head in his hands.

“No way,” said Sirius dubiously, looking at the board thoroughly. “This will be the first time you’ve beaten me at this in seven years. I don’t believe it.”

“You better believe it,” said Lily, leaning forward, “because it’ll be happening more often!”

Sirius glared at her but she responded by poking her tongue out childishly.

“I can’t accept this. I want a rematch, Potter, when your girlfriend isn’t around.”

“James, what was that noise you just made?” asked Lily.

“What noise?” asked James, blushing.

“That weird coughing, choking sound you made when he said ‘girlfriend’!”

“He did it again,” said Sirius, laughing.

“Nobody has used the word before,” said James, looking horrified.

“You mean you don’t want to be my boyfriend?” said Lily.

Her lips had turned down at the edges. James sat up hastily and said, “No!”

“You don’t?” she laughed somewhat humourlessly.

“No, of course I do,” said James. “I just…I don’t do…you know…”

“Commitment,” said Lily, laughing.

“Yeah, that. I don’t do it.”

“You are now,” said Lily.

“I know,” said James, shaking his head. “Sirius! Does this go under ‘entrapment’?”

“No, Prongs,” said Sirius, shaking his head. “Plus you’ve had plans for your wedding since fifth year. It definitely doesn’t count.”

“What a disappointment that is. I wanted to get something on the Head Girl.”

“Well, I have a few ideas…” said Sirius wonderingly.

“Don’t you dare,” warned Lily. “I know just the charms that would work on you two.”

James’s lips quirked in amusement.

“Whatever you say, dear, whatever you say.”

*

Sprigs of holly were placed sporadically around the Great Hall the next day. Flitwick levitated giant Christmas trees into the four corners of the Hall while the Head Girl and Boy added their own spell work. James charmed all of the baubles to be identical to the charms used on the ceiling (with the effect that they, too, were the same as the snowy weather outside) while Lily added a glistening effect to the stone walls. It was quite a spectacular sight to behold.

“You can’t help but admire their spell work at a time like this,” said Lupin, standing behind them.

“You seen the Daily Prophet?” asked Peter, jerking his thumb in the direction of his opened one on the table.

“No,” said Sirius. “Don’t tell them until they’re finished. They can find out if they choose to read them. I don’t want James being reminded of -”

“That,” finished Remus.

“Yeah,” said Peter, looking off into the distance. “I have no idea how anybody could do that.”

“Ask my brother,” said Sirius darkly. “He’ll be in amongst them, you mark my words.”

“Don’t say that,” said Remus, shaking his head.

Sirius looked at him, smiled sadly, and walked off to join James.

“All right, Padfoot?” he asked as he stood upon the ladder.

“Oi, Potter! Watch out. I don’t want to fall,” called Lily over her shoulder. She, too, was standing upon a precarious ladder that looked as if it was about to fall at any given time.
“I’ll catch you, Lily,” said Sirius cheekily.

“Don’t you dare!” said James. “I have that covered, thank you. She’s only falling for me.”

“I thought she’d already fallen?” asked Sirius.

“Padfoot, if you carry on -”

“All right, all right. I won’t say another word. My lips are sealed but for the charm work I’ll be helping you with.”

“And not even then!” said Lily. “Practise the non-verbal spells.”

Sirius rolled his eyes at her, muttering something about only professors telling him what he should and shouldn’t do, before waving at her.

“Of course. Anything for you.”

James glared in his direction.

“I mean, anything for James. Which includes you,” he hastily corrected.

“That’s better. Now go join in the festivities before I hex you.”

Sirius strolled off into the opposite direction, trying to hunt down a plate of kippers and toast. He was munching through his third piece when James decided to sit down and join him.

“Any news in the Prophet then?” asked James.

Sirius stayed quiet for a few moments, shrugged one shoulder and continued to eat his marmalade on toast.

“Sirius,” repeated James firmly, “I said ‘is there any news in the Prophet’?”

“Of course there’s news in the Prophet,” said Sirius. “It’s a newspaper. What else do you expect to be in there?”

“You know what I meant.”

“A whole wizarding family, down south,” responded Sirius dully.

“What happened?” asked James in hushed tones.

“The usual. I don’t even think the killing curse was used; the torturing was enough.”

James stared at him in incomprehension. It was one thing for the Death Eaters to use the Killing Curse; killing was a monstrosity. But to allow the people to die in agony, knowing full well how excruciating the pain would be…he shook his head.

“I’m not sure how much more of this I can take,” said Lily, when she walked over. “The Great Hall now resembles a glitter ball.”

When neither of the boys responded to her statement she looked at them both, spotted the newspaper, and took it to her space on the Gryffindor table. She read the headline, whimpered slightly and then looked back up at them both.

“You know what this means?”

James shook his head.

“We fight back.”

Sirius looked at her admiringly for a second before responding.

“How do we do that?”

“We form a defence group. We need to be prepared for what lies ahead. We need to make people realise exactly what’s happening out there. We can help.”

“An unofficial group? Lily, are you suggesting what I think you are?” said James incredulously.

“There’s nothing more important than winning this war.”

James stared into his pumpkin juice for a second.

“I’ll get in contact with all the Gryffindors,” he said. “I’ll get Lissy onto the Ravenclaws.”

Lily eyeballed him for a second. “I’ll do the Ravenclaws, thank you very much. Sirius can do the Gryffindors, and you’ll do the Hufflepuffs.”

“What about Slytherin?” asked Remus.

Sirius snorted.

“They’re more likely to be the ones we’re fighting.”

“We should still see if any of them want to come along though,” pressed Remus. “It should be open to everybody.”

“Peter will do it,” suggested James.

“Of course I will.”

“That’s settled then,” said Lily with satisfaction.

*

With the group given the nod of approval by Professor Dumbledore himself, the members swung into action. Sirius recruited all the Gryffindors in their year with the exception of the few that had gone back home to their parents and a fair few from the younger years. James, taking his task seriously (or as seriously as a Marauder can take anything), recruited over half of Hufflepuff. Lily managed to persuade a respectable amount of Ravenclaws, but Peter was relatively unsuccessful; he only managed to get promising feedback from a couple of Slytherins. So they were established: a motley crew of students, with mixed abilities, coming together to train against the evils that would face them when they left school.

“Where will we practise?” asked Peter one evening.

“The Great Hall,” responded James instantly. “Dumbledore said we could at the latest Head meeting. We might as well take him up on the offer. Once the tables are moved there will be plenty of room.”

“We don’t actually have any plans though,” said Remus, furrowing his brow.

“I was thinking that we would lead the group,” said Lily uncertainly. “The five of us.”

“Not me,” said Peter hurriedly. “Defence isn’t one of my best subjects.”

“The four of us then,” continued Lily. “I’ll do the research into the spells that we should think of using. I might see if Dumbledore has any suggestions. I reckon that James should lead though -”

“Why me?” said James, looking appalled. “You’d be a far better teacher than me.”

“They won’t listen to me,” Lily pointed out. “They’ll drool over Sirius -”

Sirius sniggered.

“So they won’t drool over me too?” said James with narrowed eyes.

“- and Remus said he’d rather take a back seat when dealing with Boggarts.”

“When’s the first meeting?”

“This weekend.”

“That’s the same date as Hogsmeade!”

“Nobody’s going anyway,” said Remus. “Nobody has for a long time. They’re all terrified.”

“Right then,” said James determinedly. “We’ll have to put a stop to that.”

“To the Defence Association!” said Sirius.

James decided to finish his homework after that. If he worked a little harder on his Potions and finished his essay on Golpalott’s Third Law, then he would be able to spend time with Lily later on in the evening. That was, of course, if he didn’t fall asleep on his book. He couldn’t remember ever being this tired.

“I’ll help you if you want,” offered Lily. “Then you can head off to bed early.”

James looked up at her gratefully momentarily but then shook his head.

“That would just be lazy. I’ve only got two hundred words left.”

“Then stop looking at the back of your eyelids and write them then.”

“So unsympathetic.”

“Well you do insist on staying up ridiculously late into the night.”

“I was looking up spells we could use for the defence group!”

“Of course. Let’s see them then,” said Lily.

“I thought we could start with Patronus Charm.”

“Why don’t we start with something more basic before we go into the complex spells?”

“But he’s using Dementors,” said James, “and once people manage to achieve these then they’re equipped to do almost anything.”

Lily looked at him, smiled and then said, “C’mon, you can finish that tomorrow morning. Come for a walk in the grounds with me.”

“We’ll be out of bounds!”

“Oh, who cares? Do you suspect that Voldemort is going to be hiding behind the Whomping Willow?”

“Well, no…”

“Exactly. You like to live life on the edge. Let me live it with you.”

“You’ll regret saying that one day.”

Lily went on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

“I really doubt that.”

*

A few weeks later Lily was beginning to regret what she’d previously said about ‘living on the edge’. James Potter and his gang were the only people who were meant to behave in such a way. It was just how things worked. Lily was born to abide by the rules unless a situation arose in which they needed to be disregarded.

“James Potter, if you honestly believe that I’m sneaking around school when I’m Head Girl, then you are obviously more of an idiot than I thought,” said Lily, hissing into his ear.

“Lily! It’s perfectly innocent. We’re the head students. We’re allowed to sneak around the school. We’ll just tell them that we heard sounds in the dungeons -”

“Which just so happens to be as far away from Gryffindor tower as you can possibly get,” she replied waspishly.

“Haven’t I taught you anything?” said James, grinning.

“That I’ve obviously gone delusional to even agree to do something like this just because you want me to!”

“I know, I know. Who would have thought they would see the day?” asked James before continuing, “This is all part of my evil plan, you do realise.”

Lily rolled her eyes to heaven, surveyed her fingernails and then, just to humour him, said, “What evil plan would that be, master Marauder?”

“For me to marry you,” he said wickedly. “A bit premature, though, because I did make this plan back in fifth year.”

“Why does this not surprise me?” she said.

“Well, everybody knows that I’m hopelessly in -”

“Save it for Christmas.”

“Christmas?” he squeaked. “That’s the thing where we’re meant to give each other presents right -”

“Well, actually, as it’s after midnight we should be giving them now…”

She saw the horrified look on his face, turned to him and said, “You’ve forgotten, haven’t you?” Her eyes had narrowed, and her hand was now tightly clenched around her wand.

“Wha - No! Of course I haven’t!” said James quickly.

“If you have we are…over,” said Lily. “No excuses. You forgot my birthday, too, just because you were dreading having a detention with Snape.”

“I know, but you forgave me for that,” he said.

“For the last time then, James, where the heck are we going?” she said. “If it’s the Astronomy tower, I don’t want you getting any ideas.”

“Yes, yes. I’ve learnt from the last time,” said James forlornly. “Although it is actually there. What we’re going for.”

“Quelle surprise,” she said under her breath.

They had reached the tower now, and James looked slightly apprehensive.

“So, um, Merry Christmas!” he said a little too loudly in a feeble attempt to hide his nerves.

“If this is anything that will explode in my face, you better be good at dodging hexes.”

She stopped talking though as she looked at the box inside. She gingerly opened it and just looked at it silently. Inside was a white gold necklace, with a small pendant love heart in red gem stones. It sparkled prettily in the light of her wand.

All hexes forgotten she threw her arms around him (“Okay, no need to kill me for it,” he choked out) and whispered in his ear, “Merry Christmas, James.”

*

Christmas Day dawned bright, crisp, and full of snow. In the Gryffindor common room there was a huge pile of assorted presents for the students. A few owls were tapping against the windows trying to get in with their last minute presents and Christmas cards from friends and family.

After Christmas lunch Lily and James decided to sit around in the common room. They were both extremely full from the food: treacle tarts, chipolatas, Yorkshire puddings, chicken, roast lamb, the food never seemed to end.

Lily was just beginning to relax when she heard screaming outside.

“What is that noise?” asked Lily, pulling herself up from beside James. “I know it’s Christmas, but that’s not an excuse-”

James groaned. He had a strange suspicion that he knew who was creating the noise. He pulled her down beside him again hastily. “Ignore them.”

But, taking it upon herself to live up to the badge she was wearing, she stood up and pulled the window open.

“WHAT ARE YOU -” she screeched. A snowball hit her squarely on the face. She withdrew quickly and closed the window.

“Right, Potter. Come with me.”

“No. I think I’ll just stay here. Relax in front of the fire -”

Before he could finish his sentence he was being pulled out through the portrait hole and into the grounds beyond.

“James!” yelled Sirius as the Great Hall doors were opened. “Come join us!”

Snowballs were soon flying through the air, and James happily joined in, completely forgetting that his girlfriend was standing disapprovingly in the hall.

She was about to yell at them again, demanding that they come inside. But that was before she saw the look of boyish happiness upon James’s face.

Sighing in resignation, she walked outside to join them.

*

They were located in the Great Hall a month later with almost two hundred students hanging on their every word; well, James’s, at least. More than a few girls had slightly glazed looks in their eyes when the handsome Marauders passed them by. Lily couldn’t help but think they had very little intention of learning advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.

“Right! Wands at the ready! Think of the happiest memory you have and repeat the spell ‘Expecto Patronum’! Don’t worry if you don’t get it at first. I’ve never seen anybody do it on first try…”

Remus smiled from the corner he was in as he helped others.

“Remus, you try,” said James as he walked over. “Show us how it’s done.”

Remus smiled at his friend proudly. His face was crumpled slightly as he tried to think of something that would be powerful enough to produce a corporeal Patronus. In the end he settled for the memory he always did: when he had met his three best friends on the Hogwarts Express.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

An indistinct shape issued from his wand and, goaded by Remus, chased down the target that they had been practising with.

“Excellent,” said Lily, looking admiringly at him. “Who’s next then? Lissy? There you go -”

Ten minutes later everybody in the hall had managed to produce at least vapour. “They can be useful too, don’t worry,” said James to those who seemed a little deflated. “We’ll try it next time too.”

“When is next time?” asked a Ravenclaw fourth year.

“Every Wednesday at 7 o’clock,” said Sirius.

“Prefects are exempt from their duties if they want to come along. I’m sure we’ll be able to arrange something with the Slytherins who haven’t attended,” said Lily.

“I think we’re done for today, everybody!” said James.

The group slowly filed out of the hall with the Prefects guiding them back to their dormitories safely.

“I think that went fairly well…” said Remus contemplatively.

“Let’s just hope it makes a difference.”

“Of course it will. Look at how many people can’t defend themselves against Dementors.”

James shrugged noncommittally.

“I could really do with a prank at this moment in time.”

“You’ll be getting the best one at the end of the year,” said Sirius grinning. “Don’t you worry about that, Prongs. We’ll surpass ourselves.”

“You can bet on that,” said Remus. “The best.”

*

Winter slipped into summer, bringing with it the dreaded N.E.W.T exams. James wasn’t particularly worried about them; he reckoned he could count on a full set of ‘Oustandings’ without revision. Lily, however, was practically having kittens over the impending exams.

“Relax, Lily,” said James, rolling his eyes.

“Test me!” she nearly screamed.

James took the Transfiguration book from her hands and began to read the questions.

“Did I get that one right word-for-word? I’m sure I missed something. Let me just have that -”

She wrenched the book of him, accidentally hitting him on the nose. His eyes began to water, and a trickle of blood came from his nose.

“James! I’m so sorry!”

He gave her the book back.

“Test yourself. I’m not suffering any more injuries. It’ll probably be decapitation next.”

Lily, however, wasn’t actually listening to him any longer. She had her head buried back in the text book and was mouthing the definition of Animagi to herself. James looked at her, shook his head ruefully, and returned to his friends.

“I didn’t think it was possible for somebody to be as obsessed with revision as she is,” said James to Sirius.

“Leave her to it. We can go out and explore instead.”

“The statue of Gregory the Smarmy?” asked Remus.

“Meet you there,” said Sirius. “We’ll go and get some Butterbeers for when these exams are over. I’m sure everybody will need a good celebration. I’m still disappointed by the last seventh years. Going to sleep after Nastily Exhausting tests? I think not, thank you.”

“I’m glad to see you have your priorities right,” said Peter. “Honestly, will we ever mature?”

“No,” laughed James, “which is just how I like it.”

Five hours later, after the last exam, Lily sat down with her friends.

“It could’ve been worse,” she muttered.

“No, really, it couldn’t,” said Sarah. “I mean, I could’ve blown us all up. But for how many marks I got for that Vanishing Spell, I might have been better off doing that. At least then I could have said that I did it on purpose or something.”

“Don’t be silly,” said Lily. “You know it wasn’t that bad.”

“I was so nervous that it took me ten attempts to Vanish the stupid hedgehog. Even then there were bloody pins all over the floor. I think the examiner trod on one too from the look on her face. Either that or it was just a look of pure terror to see what I was going to do next.”

“Maybe it was that bad then,” laughed Lily. “You can always make up the marks on the theory.”

Sarah’s voice rose an octave. “Can you explain the definition of a Vanishing Spell? No! That would require you to be able to do one!”

“Honestly,” said Hannah as she walked over, “I wish you two would stop. I thought we’d agreed to leave the exams in there?”

“We have!” protested Sarah. “I just wanted to share the news of my impending doom.”

“Of course,” said Hannah, gazing over to the table where the Marauders were sitting. “Did they say how they thought they did?”

“Excellent,” said Lily. “Apparently it was ‘Outstanding’ that they’d bothered to revise, let alone when they put their pen to paper.”

“I shouldn’t have expected any less from them,” said Hannah wistfully.

Lily looked at her friend, opened her mouth to make a snide comment and then resolutely closed it again. It was none of her business what her friend got up to.

“Oi, Evans!” called Sirius. “Looking forward to the end of term feast?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she questioned dubiously.

“Oh, you know…” said Peter, grinning. “We might have a few surprises for you!”

“For everyone actually,” chipped in Remus. “Hopefully we won’t disappoint.”

“You never disappoint,” murmured Lily, gazing at James. “Never.”

“Stop drooling over him and tell me what you put for question 12b, would you?” implored Hannah.

“Was not!” said Lily.

“Was too!” Sarah giggled.

“I’m glad we’ve matured over the years.”

*

Before the Gryffindors knew it, the last day of the year was upon them. The last of the summer had passed without any real events (unless one considered the Dementors being officially outside Ministry control as news) and life remained relatively peaceful within the school itself. Especially as Lily Evans was no longer shouting at James Potter for being an ‘egotistical, arrogant, prat’.

“Oi! Evans! Will you go out with me?” called James as they walked into the hall.

“Oi, Potter! I ALREADY AM!” she said back laughingly.

They walked into the hall hand in hand with the rest of the Marauders and Lily’s group of (rather giggly, it must be said) girls following behind them.

As they walked to the Gryffindor table, they saw that none of the food had been put out as of yet. Clearly Dumbledore was waiting for his very own end of term speech to send the seventh years off in style.

“Welcome!” he said. “To the first years, I hope your year has been everything you thought it would be. To those who are leaving this year I would like to personally say what a wonderful time it has been having you all here. There aren’t any more words to say; you always have been, and always will be, welcome at Hogwarts. I know that you’re all looking forward to your exquisite feast -”

On cue, Sirius’s stomach rumbled loud enough for the whole of the Great Hall to hear.

“- but I think it is time to sing our school song any way you wish.”

The teachers groaned at this news, but there was uproar from the students; this was definitely one of their preferred times of the year.

“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something, please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they’re bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we’ve forgot,
Just do your best, we’ll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.”

Dumbledore conducted with his wand from his place at the staff table whilst the students joined in the loud chorus.

“Why we’re singing that at the end of the year I really don’t know,” said Lily, shaking her head in wonderment at their Headmaster.

“While the song might be wholly inappropriate…at the wrong time and in the wrong circumstances… I cannot help but wonder about the true magic behind music. Now: tuck in!”

With that Dumbledore sat down himself, the food appeared on the tables, and everybody began grabbing the food nearest to them.

“This is - oomph - gwate,” said Sirius with chicken half out of his mouth.

“You truly disgust me,” said Lupin, looking at his friend.

“Nah, I don’t,” said Sirius, trying to swallow his food before taking another bite.

“Yeah, you don’t. I’m going to miss your horrible eating,” said Lupin somewhat wistfully.

“You’ll see me so much you’ll wish you could get rid of me. And James. Oh, and Peter,” he added as an afterthought.

As the plates were finally cleared (nearly every last crumb had been demolished) James clapped his hands. “Ready then, Marauders?”

“As I’ll ever be,” said Peter softly.

“Right then…” said Sirius slowly. “Say the incantation on three. One… two… three!”

“MISCHIEF MANAGED!” the boys said in unison.

Fireworks sped through the air leaving trails of glittering dust behind them. Soon the atmosphere was full of laughter and applause as the fireworks collided, creating new species. A firework of the Quidditch Cup, won by Gryffindor, floated into view. It was followed by a firework of nearly every person within the seventh year. All of them bore legends: “the boy who never scored”, “the one who ran away”… the list went on. But not only the students had their moment of fame; every teacher who had taught at Hogwarts during their time also had their own commemorative firework.

Professor McGonagall’s was especially large: it started off as her in human form, but with a resounding cracking nose it quickly became a beady-eyed tabby cat. Professor Dumbledore followed shortly thereafter with the legendary words, “Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!” beneath him.

Finally, when the crowd was laughing fit to burst, there were four more images. They flew to the back wall, narrowly missing Dumbledore’s hat (he chuckled merrily), and lined up next to each other. Beneath them came the words, “I solemnly swear that I will always be up to no good.”

Just before the images disappeared a smaller, lighter, glittery, firework hovered next to James bearing the words, “Marry me, Lily.”

The students and teachers alike broke out into rapturous applause.

The Marauders had certainly made their mark upon Hogwarts. They’d ensured that they would never be forgotten for as long as they lived - and maybe even after. They had forged history and had laid down the foundations for any troublemakers-in-chief who succeeded them.

–

And that is that. The end. As always, thank you to my wonderful beta, Mortalus. One day I will learn about parenthetical statements and dialogue attributes. When I do it’ll be purely because of her words of wisdom. Over seven chapters and the same mistakes repeatedly made, I’m sure she lost the will to live. But I can only thank her for her wonderful contributions. Without her the story wouldn’t be worth reading! Thank you to all of you who managed to get through to the end. I hope it was worth it. This is my first chaptered fanfiction and the only one I’ve really thrown myself into. Hopefully it paid off.