Omnia vincit Amor: et nos cedamus Amori.
Love conquers all things: let us too give in to love.
-- Virgill 70-19 BC: Eclogues


A New Beginning

Tears fell onto the already soaked pillow. First day back of seventh year and James had already cocked it up. He had sworn to turn over a new leaf this year, but she did not know that. He felt a pain in his chest: his heart was breaking. Even picturing her face killed him. He knew she would never be his. He just was not good enough. He didn’t deserve her love so why should she give it to him?

A waterfall of red hair cascaded down a back of ivory skin. A beautiful sat alone at her dresser brushing her hair. She wore a loose shirt underneath a blanket for warmth. Her eyes were filled with tears, she didn’t know why.

***

“Wake up Prongsie,” said Sirius cheerfully. “A new Hogwarts year, a new host of prank opportunities.”
“Go away!” Said James, ashamed to show his face in case his pain was obvious.
“God, you are such a drama queen!” Moaned Sirius. “You have to be used to her rejecting you by now.”

James turned his head to face his best friend. He saw the playfulness in Sirius’ eyes.
“Right, you are going to get it now!” He yelled, jumping out of the bed and biffing Sirius on the head with the tear-sodden pillow.

Lily had woken to a loud discussion between two other girls in her dormitory. She was beginning to seriously regret letting Dumbledore have the head boy and girl’s dorm re-done.
“I’m sorry but have you taken one look at him recently. I mean that body!”
“But James has the hair, plus he’s a quidditch player!”
“Yeah, well, Sirius is a player. If you know what I mean…”
The room erupted into high-pitched giggles and shrieking.
“Ew, you cannot be talking about James Potter and Sirius Black!”
Lily scrunched up her face in disgust. “You better hope tat their things are bigger than their brains.”

She stood up, pulled on some robes and stormed out, but not before she heard one of the girls go, “Ooh, get her! It’s almost as if she fancies one of them. Or both. Maybe they’re in a threesome!”
More screeching laughter.

Lily rolled her eyes. One day she was going to put a silencio charm on those girls. Anything for a bit of peace.

***

The four marauders sat at the Gryffindor table together, mucking about, laughing, and joking. Remus had his head in a book; Peter was stuffing his face with toast. Sirius and James were showing off, as per usual.
Then Lily entered. James turned and caught her eye. She had the most amazing green eyes that sparkled in the sunlight issuing from the bewitched ceiling above.
Time seemed to hold still.

“James? James!” Sirius was staring at him, an expression of sickness on his face. “Here it goes again.” He muttered as James turned back smiling, a dreamy expression on his face exactly the same as the one Lily was wearing.

***

Divination really was a pointless subject. James had been sat in the dingy attic room of the North tower for twenty minutes and the only vaguely interesting or funny thing to happen had been Professor Yanaha smashing a cup while reading Sirius’ tea leaves. James really didn’t know why he was taking divination. Easy ‘E’ he supposed. How hard could it be to pretend to see a load of pictures in some soggy tea? Of course all he could see was Lily’s face laughing, smiling, blowing kisses. He wished he could hold her and never let her go.

Sirius recognised the lovesick look on James’ face. It was the expression he always wore when thinking of Lily. Sirius did not know why James bothered so much with her when he could have practically any other girl in the school. Yeah, Lily was pretty and sweet but was she really worth the state his best friend was in? Sirius was not sure.

***

By lunchtime James had pretty much forgotten Lily, well, on the surface anyway. He laughed when Sirius jinxed Snape so that his plate became attached to his face for five minutes. He joked with Remus about Peter’s eating habits. Outwardly, he barely noticed Lily come and sit by him. Inwardly, his brain was screaming, “Kiss her! Touch her! You know you want to!”

She leant her head close to his ear. “Meet me tonight by the fire in the common room. No funny business!” She stood up and exited, James’ eyes following her.
“What did she say?” Questioned Sirius.
“Nnrgh,” replied James, dumbfounded.
“I’ll have to take that as a good thing.” Said Sirius, smiling at the look on James’ face.

***

James practically sang his way through the rest of his classes. He skipped dinner and went straight to the dorm after their last lesson of the day: Transfiguration. He put on his best robes, brushed his teeth and ruffled his hair up to its sexiest height. By six O’clock he was ready. He went down to the common room and sat by the fire, waiting for her to come. He could not believe this was finally happening. “You must, under all circumstances, stay cool during this date.” He told himself as he gazed into the flames that reminded him so much of Lily’s hair. ‘Date’, he liked the sound of that. Especially when it went with the words Lily and Evans.

The room had pretty much cleared by the time Lily arrived downstairs. She walked over to James who had fallen asleep waiting for her.
“Hey, you,” she said, poking him gently. “Wake up! I need to talk to you.”
He awoke with a start. “Oh, sorry Evans.” Damn, so much for the whole playing it cool thing. “What did you want?”
“Well,” Lily began. “I know you like me and I’m sorry if I’ve been harsh with you in the past. I do like you, just not in that way.”
James’ heart sank, so much for date then. “Is that all you brought me here to say?” He said coldly. “Because if it is, I might as well go now.”
“No,” her voice wavered. “Don’t go. I need to ask you something.”
“I’m listening.”
“Do you maybe, possibly think that Sirius might one day, you know, do something?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, do you think he’ll go out with me?”
James’ heart froze. Sirius, his best mate. Sirius, who had been helping him try and get Lily since first year. Now she wanted to date him?
“I, I have to go,” he muttered, he didn’t want her to see him cry.

James ran, out of the portrait hole, down the corridor. He didn’t know where he was going or what he was doing, but he knew he needed to be as far away from Sirius Black as possible at the moment.

Somehow he ended up in the library. It was deserted. He sat alone in a corner, tears pouring out of his eyes. All these years she had liked Sirius better than him. Sirius was meant to be his best friend. How could he? No, wait, it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t help that Lily fancied him.

James stayed in the library all night crying himself to sleep over his broken heart.

***

Love is a growing or full constant light; and his first minute, after noon, is night.
-- John Donna 1572-1631: 'A lecture in the shadow'

The Next Day

The next day James woke up early. He had no recollection of the previous night’s events in the thirty seconds it took for him to awaken. Then the painful memory crashed down on him. He groaned, why Lily, why did she of all people have to fancy Sirius. He could not believe his bad luck, his best friend and the girl he liked, no, loved. He fought back tears as he gathered himself together and made for the common room. If only it were he she wanted.

He reached Gryffindor house and clambered in through the portrait hole. Lily was still in the armchair by the fireplace. She was asleep. James watched her breathing in and out, he saw he eyelids flicker. Quietly, he tiptoed past the chair to the staircase.
“James?”
“Just go back to sleep,” he sighed.
“No,” he heard the stubbornness in her voice. “James, we need to talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Here came the tears again. She reached out her hand and patted his. He looked up and caught her eye; there were tears in it. He tried to look away but she caught his head and turned it back.
“Look at me James. I am sorry, I am so sorry. I do not know what to say. Sorry.”
She let go. He turned his head towards the fireplace. A tear ran down his face.
“Yeah, well, so am I. We could have been so great together.”

He stood up and walked over to the stairs leading up to the boys dormitory, he was staying there until the head boy and girl’s dorm was done up.
“I did not mean to hurt you,” Lily said.
But he had already gone. She sighed; she knew she would never be able to tell him the truth.

***

Sirius practically jumped on James when he came in.
“James, old fellow, old pal, old boy! Where on earth were you last night? Was it Lily? Did you guys hook up? James? James what is wrong with you? I’d have thought you’d be happy as hell.”
James just fell onto his bed. Remus looked over in a concerned manner. Peter was sleeping.
“He doesn’t look so good Sirius.”
Remus had walked over to join Sirius. They were just standing there, staring at him. Sirius’ eyes bore into his, Sirius; this was all Sirius’ fault!
“You bastard!” Yelled James, hurling himself at Sirius.
“W...WH...What?”
“I’m going to kill you! You touch her again and I will kill you! You stupid, bloody bastard! I hate you! You’ve ruined it!”
Remus pulled him off Sirius. He was sobbing.

***

Lily wandered down the halls in a daze. He had not been cocky, he had not pretended not to like her, and she had even seen tears in his eyes. Sirius was a great guy, but Lily’s feelings for him were not as strong as she had thought. She had never known James cared that much.

She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had not noticed a figure emerging in front of her.
“Miss Evans?” Came a warm voice, Lily looked up. Standing in front of her was Albus Dumbledore.
“Oh, sorry Professor Dumbledore,” she said, blushing.
“Knutze for your thoughts?” He offered. “I was just coming to find you actually, the head boy and girl’s room has been refurbished and your duties begin tonight. I trust you already know who head boy is?”
“No,” said Lily, dreading the answer.
“James Potter. Could you please inform him from me?”
“Of course professor.” Lily’s face fell, Potter, just her luck.
Dumbledore started to walk away, “Oh, and Miss Evans,” he said over his shoulder. “Don’t be too harsh on Mr. Potter, he had a rough summer.”

Lily turned to ask what had happened but he had already gone. Suddenly a thought struck her, something she had read in the daily prophet: “Anna and Harry Potter were brutally murdered by You Know Who in their own home on Saturday 15th August. Their son James is said to be returning from his holiday in France with school friend Sirius Black.” How had she not remembered this? She had seen the pictures of them smiling and waving on the wizard’s obituary page. She breathed in deep, poor James. To come home from a holiday to find your parents dead and then to come back to school hoping to maybe turn over a new leaf and find that the girl you fancy likes your best friend better than you.

She had made a huge mistake and she had to go and find James before it got out of hand.

***

Sirius and Remus looked worried; James had stormed out without a word after his crying fiasco.
“This has to be something to do with what Evans said to him last night,” said Sirius. “Stupid bitch, doesn’t she realize that he’s not exactly the happiest he could be right now anyway.”
“Sirius, she probably didn’t know about his parents,”
Remus was being reasonable again; Sirius hated it when Remus was reasonable.
“He blames himself for their death you know,” Sirius looked a Remus. “He thinks he could have prevented it had he been there.”

Remus sighed; somehow, he did not think that being reasonable would help this time.
“We have to find him,” he said. “He needs us.”

***

Lily ran back up to the Gryffindor common room and almost collided with James who was on his way out.
“Wait, I need to talk to you,” she said.
“I know, I know. Our dorm is ready. One of the house elves came to find me.”
“No, not that, I really need to talk to you.”
“Yeah, well, maybe another time.”

James pushed Lily away from him. He needed to get out of the school; he needed the wind in his hair. He needed Quidditch.

He collected his broom from the store cupboard on the way to the pitch. His dad had given him the broom the previous summer; it was a very expensive make made of ebony and teak wood. On the handle was carved “To my son James, make me proud, love dad”
He was going to make him proud; he was going to get revenge. He knew that one day he would kill Voldemort or die trying, nothing or no-one would stand in his way.

“James?”
He turned to find a teary Lily standing a few feet away from him.

***

a/n I want to get 10 reviews for this before I update with the next chapter, it's called “Lily’s Secret”.

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.
-- Samuel Johnson 1709-84: in W. Cooke 'Life of Samuel Foote' (1805)

Lily's Secret

Peter was looking out of the window. What had started out as a sunny day had soon become a cloudy and rainy one. He looked across to the Quidditch pitch. Two figures emerged onto it and it looked like one of the figures was trying to reason with the other one but it kept being pushed away. Peter shrugged and went back to his Transfiguration homework.

Maybe he should ask James for help.

Where was James anyway?

***

The sky had filled with clouds, blotting out the sun. Rain had started to fall. The grounds were completely empty, apart from two people. They stood staring at each other. Lily made as if to walk forward but James just backed away.

"Please," she whimpered, as the wind whipped her wet robes against her. "Just let me explain!"

"Go inside, Evans," ordered James. "Go inside and forget about me."

"I could never forget about you, James."

***

Peter looked out of the window again.

These people must be mad. It was freezing out there!

He saw one of them turn and walk back up the path to the castle. The other person just stood there, watching them go, as the black sky began to surround the pitch.

***

Lily ran back up to the castle, tears streaming down her face.

This was why you were not supposed to get involved with a Marauder.

She opened the castle doors quietly, took one look behind her at the closing darkness, and shut them.

"Ah, Evans."

She turned to find Sirius, staring right at her.

***

James did not want to go back inside even though he was so cold that he felt like his arms might drop off. He wanted to test the elements and forget all about Lily, Sirius, and the thoughts rushing through his head. He mounted his broom and kicked off. Almost immediately a great wind came, knocking him off his broom and into the darkness. He plummeted towards the ground.

***

"Not now, Black," said Lily, furious at having been caught crying.

"Yes, now, Evans. I want to know what you said to James and where he is and I want to know it now!"

Lily looked into Sirius’ eyes and saw that he looked worried.

He deserves to know the truth.

Reluctantly, she let him lead her into an empty classroom. They both sat down.

***

"Peter," said Remus, as he entered the common room. "Have you seen James? I've been looking everywhere."

"No, sorry. Can you help me with this?" he replied, waving his Transfiguration essay at Remus.

"Not now Peter," Remus rolled his eyes, "I have to find James."

***

"You said that?" Sirius's face looked as if it might explode, "and then you just left him outside, alone?"

Lily nodded, her face reddening. Sirius shook his head; this was one messed-up relationship.

"Well, come on then," he said, pulling her over to the door.

"What? Where are we going?"

"To get Remus and Peter, and then find James!"

"I think it's best if I don't…"

"You're coming, whether you like it or not!"

***

James hit the ground and instantly passed out. His broom kept flying, through the stormy sky and off into the dark. The fog grew thicker as he lay on the muddy ground, unconscious and bleeding, a big gash across his face.

***

"Oh, Padfoot, there you are. What's wrong?"

Remus looked from Sirius's grave face to Lily's tearstained one.

"You tell him what you just told me, I'll go to get Peter and the invisibility cloak," Sirius ordered, not meeting Lily's eyes.

Remus looked at her questioningly, worried about his friend.

James was renowned for doing stupid things but he usually told them first. That way they could at least try and talk him out of them.

***

Peter had dozed off. He had gotten bored and the figure he had been watching through the window had gone.

He did not know why Remus was making such a fuss. James was always disappearing and reappearing again. Then he remembered the fight from earlier.

"SHIT!" He woke with a start. How the hell could he have been so stupid?

He got up, pulled on his outside robes and collided with Sirius, coming down the boys’ staircase.

"Sirius. James. Quidditch pitch. Missing," he stammered, hoping Sirius would understand.

"Oh God," said Sirius. He glanced out of the window, "Oh god! I can't find the invisibility cloak either! Oh God! Oh God! OH GOD!"

He grabbed Peter by the arm and ran down the stairs.

"Mr. Black," came the all too familiar voice, "just where do you think you're going?"

Sirius looked up into the cold hard eyes of Professor McGonagall.

He wasn't going anywhere now.

***

"What the hell is taking them so long?" demanded Lily.

Remus shrugged.

"I'll go to see, be careful that no teachers catch you down here. It's after hours."

He walked up the main staircase in the same direction Sirius had gone.

Rain battered against the windows and wind clashed against the door.

"Oh James, where are you?" whispered Lily.

***

"Remus Lupin?" A high-pitched voice asked. "Ah good, I've been meaning to talk to you."

Just my luck, thought Remus as Professor Flitwick ushered him into an empty classroom to chat about his N.E.W.T.s.

Meanwhile Professor McGonagall was escorting Sirius and Peter back into the Gryffindor common room and locking the door behind her.

***

Lily was growing restless; they had been gone for ages. Anything could have happened to James by now. She couldn't wait any longer. Bracing herself, she threw open the door and stepped out into the unusually strong storm surrounding the school. The wind felt like a thousand knives stabbing at her body. The rain drenched her robes and hair. She shivered violently and started to make her way down to the Quidditch pitch.

She ran down the path and opened the massive gate with difficulty. The entire pitch was covered in a thick, black fog. She could barely see past her hands. "Lumos," she whispered, drawing out her wand. But even that made no difference.

"James," she cried, "James, answer me, please!"

She ran blindly thorough the fog, feeling her way. She cried out to him, but still she couldn't find him.

Lily stopped.

Maybe she should go back to the castle and tell Dumbledore. Yes, that's what she should do. She turned, now which way had she come from?

She looked around; everything looked the same, eclipsed by black fog.

Oh no…I'm lost

No, there's nothing half so sweet in life as love's young dream.
-- Thomas Moore 1779-1852: 'Love's Young Dream' (1807)

Love

Lily collapsed onto the ground, sobbing.

"James? James?"

But she knew it was no use. She wouldn't be able to find him in this light; she could barely even see her own hands. Her body was numb and her eyes hurt from the amount of tears flowing from them. She ran her stiff fingers through her icy cold hair.

"I give up,” she whispered to herself, "I can't do this anymore."

She looked up to the blackened sky, looking for a small ray of light. Anything that could help her find James. But all she could see were clouds. She grasped her wand in her frozen hand and stood, she couldn't just sit there while James could be anywhere, in pain, needing help.

Stumbling over some tree roots, she staggered back towards the Quidditch pitch. Her eyes scanned what she could see of her surroundings. Judging by the stands around, she needed to go left. She turned and, up ahead, saw something or someone, lying on the ground.

"James?"

She ran forward and fell to her feet. It was James, unconscious and bleeding. Quickly, she felt for a pulse.

"Thank God!"

She could feel a steady pulse, beating away. She took off her cloak and draped it over him, exposing her thin robes to the rain and wind. She bent to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his head and she got his lips, she began to pull away but then she felt him kiss back. She lifted her head and took his hand.

"It's going to be ok; everything's going to be ok."

And she felt, in her heart, that maybe she was right. Maybe it would be ok, maybe it would all turn out ok.

***

Early next morning Sirius, Remus and Peter made their way down to the Quidditch pitch. They had noticed that Lily hadn't returned, with or without James. They stepped out, into the crisp, clear morning. It was hard to believe that the sky had ever been so black and the wind so harsh.

"Lily? James?" Sirius yelled, skimming the Quidditch pitch for signs of the couple. "There they are," he cried to the others.

They ran over and stopped short. Lily had her arms around James and was crying softly, James was lying, unconscious on top of her. They were both soaked through, Lily especially. Sirius saw that she had used her cloak to keep James warm. This is how it should be, he thought.

Sirius gently reached out and took Lily's hand.

"Come on, we better get you two to the hospital wing."

Remus levitated a stretcher for James, and him and Peter lifted James onto it and started to guide it back to the castle. Sirius looked at Lily; she seemed unable to move. Quickly he lifted her up, over his shoulder, and carried her back to the castle.

***

"Oh my goodness, what on Earth happened to these two?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she blinked at Lily and James.

"Long story, " said Sirius, laying Lily on a nearby bed, "will they both be ok? I would hate to think that falling in love killed James."

"Miss Evans should be fine after a bit of rest and a potion to warm her up but Mr. Potter…"

"He's going to be ok, isn't he?" A weak voice asked.

"It may take time Miss Evans, but he'll be fine."

Lily lay back on her bed in relief; he was going to be fine. They were going to be fine; there was just the small matter of Sirius. She sighed as she got into some warm, dry clothes. Madame Pomfrey poured a warming liquid down her throat. She would speak to Sirius later, but right now she needed to sleep. Across from her lay James, he had begun to feel the pain from the fall seeping through his body. He could see the blurry outline of people around him but he could only think about one thing. He had kissed Lily Evans and it had been the most magical moment in his life.

***

Hours later Lily awoke to find the three conscious marauders staring at her. She hoisted herself further up the bed so she could see them properly. Her head turned and she saw, to her dismay, that James was sleeping.

"He woke up about an hour ago, we were going to wake you but he insisted that you needed to sleep."

"Thanks, Remus," Lily felt her voice begin to crack. "I'm sorry you guys, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Remus reassured her. "It's nobody's fault."

A faint smile appeared on Lily's face.

"Sirius, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Ok."

Remus and Peter turned to leave.

"We'll come back in about half an hour." Remus said softly as he followed Peter out of the hospital wing.

Lily nodded. Sirius made his way over to her bed and sat down.

"Listening," he said.

"I'm sorry, I can't, I don't know. I didn't mean to say what I said. I didn't mean to, I just needed a reason to, to…"

"I know," said Sirius, "and I think James does, too."

"Really?"

"He's not that stupid, you know."

They both laughed.

"See you later, Lily."

"Bye."

Lily felt tears run down her face; she knew that couldn't go on keeping her feelings bottled up. She knew that she had to risk it, because her life would always be pointless if she didn't. She stepped put of her bed and made her way across, to where James was lying. She took his hand in hers.

"I love you, James."

He opened his eyes and stared up at her with a slight frown on his face.

"About time, too."

She smiled as he gazed up at her. He was so perfect for her. She bent to kiss him again and as his lips met hers she heard a distant sound of people cheering and clapping. She straightened up and turned, to see Sirius, Remus and Peter standing in the doorway, clapping and smiling. She shook her head and bent to kiss him again and this time as she kissed him she felt him kiss back and she knew that whatever happened she would always have this memory.

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.
-- Bible: Song of Soloman

The Spark

"Lily, where on Earth have you been? We were so worried!"

As Lily walked into the Gryffindor common room, she caught sight of her two best friends, Cady Ford and Rose Wilson. They both had nervous expressions, quite the opposite to her dreamy one.

"Hi, you guys."

"What happened?" demanded Cady, "You missed all of this morning's classes. Sirius Black let slip that you were in the hospital wing."

"I was," was the only reply she got, as Lily drifted towards the girls' staircase to collect her stuff and move into the Head's room.

"Wait," Cady grabbed her arm, "Why were you in the hospital wing? Tell us what happened! Are you ok?"

"I’m fine, no need to fuss. I was just visiting, a, um, friend."

Rose looked into Lily's eyes, never before had she seen her friend so secretive. Not being much of an open book herself she decided to leave it, but Cady wasn't having any of it.

"Who?" she insisted, "Lily Evans, if you don't tell us right now I swear I'll…"

"James. I needed to tell him something."

"Lily?" Rose said quietly, "What happened?"

"I told him that, well, I love him."

"No way!" exclaimed Cady, "Way to go Lily, it's about bloody time as well!"

"Well done," Rose whispered in her friend's ear.

Lily climbed up the staircase, Cady right behind her, with Rose bringing up the rear. She wore a proud and happy smile as she collected all of her belongings and, with her friends' help, began to levitate them towards the Heads' room.

***

In the hospital wing, James had woken up properly. He was sitting up, alone, thinking about what Lily had said and done.

She loved him. She really loved him.

It was the moment he had been waiting for his entire life. Even though his whole body was aching and he felt as if his cut was going to explode, he was the happiest he had ever been.

Lily loved him, James Potter. Mrs. Lily Potter- that sounded good.

"Not interrupting anything are we?"

James looked up and his eyes met those of Sirius. He remembered what he had done.

"I'm sorry man, I just…"

"Yeah, I know."

James smiled; he could always count on Sirius to forgive him for being an arse.

"Anyway, I am here to discuss a matter of extreme sensitivity and importance. That is, you snogging Lily Evans after six years of pursuing her and dreaming about her and crying when she turned you down and…"

"I did NOT cry!"

"That is not the point, Prongsie, and you know it! The point is that you seem to be forgetting that Marauders are not really allowed to show their feelings, particularly to people of a female gender. However, as you will probably kill us if we don't, we have decided to scrap this rule. So, congratulations! When's the first child due?"

"Slow down, Padfoot. We aren't even officially going out yet."

"You will be. And I want you to promise me something. When you have your first child, can I be Godfather?"

"Sure you can."

They laughed, it seemed so distant and in the future, but what they didn't realize was that slowly and surely, the future was catching up with them.

***

Peter looked nervously at the stone gargoyle guarding the secret passageway into the meeting room.

"Password?"

"Pure blood."

He slipped inside, as the gargoyle revealed a door.

"Pettigrew."

"Snape."

He looked up at the hard face of Severus Snape, a notorious Slytherin, the Marauders' enemy.

"Well?"

"I'm in."

"Good."

He turned to leave, his heart sinking at what he had just done. Marauders did not take betrayal lightly, especially if it was from one of their own.

***

"Oh my God, Lily!” Cady said, sitting down on Lily's new bed. "Tell us everything! How did it happen? Why did it happen? Did you kiss? Did he say I love you back?"

"Slow down, I can only answer one at once."

Cady considered for a minute, trying to think what the most important question was.

"Did he slip you the tongue?"

"Cady!" Rose exclaimed.

"What? I'd tell you guys if I frenched someone who I fancied for ages."

"Yes, we wish you wouldn't."

Cady reached over and slapped Rose lightly on the leg. Lily sat down between her friends. Her heart felt so warm and fuzzy.

"Yes, he did." she replied, smiling in an embarrassed way.

Cady looked up at her, looked down again and shrieked with laughter. Rose looked at Lily and shrugged. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"It's open,” Lily called, wondering who on earth it could be.

"Heya Lils, James is requesting you."

Sirius looked at Rose, who was giggling at Cady, and at Cady herself, who was rolling about on the bed in hysterics. Lily sprung to her feet and ran out to go and find James. Sirius turned to go.

"What is she on?" he asked Rose, nodding his head towards Cady.


"God knows,” said Rose, "I'm going to take a walk, want to come?"

"Sure." said Sirius, smiling at her.

Cady frowned, was that a spark she had just seen between Rose and Sirius? You really could not ask for a more mismatched couple but maybe that was a good thing. She hoisted herself back up to a sitting position and watched them leave, chatting and laughing. Yes, a definite spark.

***

"James?"

"Lily?"

James opened his eyes and looked deep into Lily's emerald green ones, and, for once, she didn't look away. He leant forward to kiss her and was surprised to find that she withdrew.

"Sorry. Strict orders from Madam Pomfrey. It gets your blood pressure too high, apparently."

"Screw my blood pressure."

He grabbed her neck and pulled her in; they kissed for what seemed like an eternity. Lily wished that she never had to stop, but unfortunately, she had to go and tutor some kid in Charms.

"Bye, James."

"Lils?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Fire burns the body... love burns the soul."
-- anon

Kisses

Every single day for a month Lily spent every free minute she had visiting James in the hospital wing. He was healing, slowly but surely. A day before James was due to leave, the Marauders and Lily were planning something and he knew it.

"You're all conspiring against me!" He glowered at them when he caught them whispering while his back was turned.

"Would we do that?" Lily said cheekily, kissing him on the lips.

"Mmmmm. Feel free to conspire all you want just so long as I can have some more of those kisses."

She bent to kiss him again.

"You can have all the kisses you want."

Sirius rolled his eyes. The lovey-dovey stuff was really starting to annoy him, but in a sweet way.

"You two make me sick," he said, before turning to Lily and whispering, "we better get going if we're going to…"

She sighed dramatically.

"Ok, coming. I have to go now, but I'll come back later to say goodnight."

“Say? I’m sure you mean snog," James said, a smile spreading across his face.

The Marauders and Lily turned to leave.

"Hey Lils, could you pass me that magazine? Please?"

Lily walked back over to the bed and handed him the magazine. He threw it behind him, pulled her close and kissed her.

"Sorry, any excuse."

She laughed, her beautiful green eyes sparkling with mirth and happiness. Breaking away from James' embrace, she followed Sirius, Remus and Peter out of the room.

***

"Are we all set to go then?" Sirius asked, turning to face them all.

"Actually, I think I'll stay behind. I have some… um… stuff to take care of," Peter mumbled, before scuttling off towards the stairs.

"What's up with him?" Lily asked, wondering why Peter was in such a rush to leave.

"God knows. He's probably hungry."

Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius’ constant jabs at Peter were starting to come out a lot more now that they were in seventh year.

"So, I'm in charge of alcohol and sweets, Lily’s in charge of food and invitations, and Remus is in charge of decorations and balloons," Sirius said, pushing back a grumpy looking portrait of a king to reveal a passageway.

"I never knew about that," Lily said, indicating the passageway.

"Yeah, well, there are probably a lot of passageways like this that haven't yet become known by the student body. We, as the Marauders, pride ourselves on knowing that we can map out Hogwarts probably even better than the founders."

"Really?"

"You bet."

They walked down the passageway and ended up behind The Three Broomsticks. They split off, Lily and Remus going to Flourish and Blotts to pick up invitations and decorations and Sirius going into The Three Broomsticks to convince the bar manager that he was over eighteen and buy firewhiskey and butterbeers.

“Meet back here in an hour?” Remus called after them.

“See you then,” Sirius called back.

***

Peter returned to the common room late that night, he knew that the others would be visiting James so he wouldn't have to worry about any awkward questions. When they came back he could just pretend to be sleeping. He had received his instructions from Snape but he was having doubts. But then with Lord Voldemort once you were in, you were in and you didn't have a choice in what you did. He knew that what he was doing was wrong but he was too far in to stop now. He looked around, at the Marauders' mess, all the memories scattered across the floor. He felt so low; he couldn't believe that he was about to betray his friends.

***

After Remus and Sirius had left the hospital wing, Lily stayed. She liked to watch James sleep. She watched as his chest heaved in and out and his lips moved to the rhythm of his breaths. The wind, coming from the window, gently ruffled his hair.

"Stop staring, come over here and kiss me."

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, don't worry, you didn't. Besides it's worth being woken up for, just to look at you."

Lily's eyes filled with tears, nobody had ever been so nice to her. She felt like she didn't deserve it, she didn't deserve him.

"Why are we together?" she asked him. "Why did you wait around so long for me?"

"Because I love you."

"But what if I'd never come round, what if I'd never realized I love you?"

"I knew you’d realise eventually."

"How?"

”Because I know you. I know you probably better than you know yourself."

"You are amazing, you know that?"

"You're even more amazing."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"Not possible."

They kissed for what seemed like a few seconds but, it was actually an hour. In the end Madame Pomfrey had to chuck Lily out, it was after hours.

***

Sirius was sitting alone in the common room, thinking about all the changes that had happened so far this year.

"Hey."

He saw Rose shyly approach him, a book in hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise anyone was down here," she said.

"Don't be sorry, I'm glad for your company."

She smiled as he grabbed her round the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She bent to kiss him. He had never in a million years pictured himself with her; she was so shy and good. He had always thought of Cady as the one he would end up dating. She was so outgoing, just like him. Maybe opposites did attract. Besides, when it came to kissing she wasn't quite as shy as one might have thought.

“Mmmmm, if I could kiss you every day for the rest of my life I'd be happy," Sirius said.

"That's fine by me."

They rolled off the sofa, entangled in each other laughing and kissing.

This is the guy for me, Rose thought as Sirius began to kiss her neck and run his fingers through her hair, this really is the guy for me.

Sriaper&Serotser


James stirred; judging by how long he had slept he guessed it was about 9:30 in the morning.

"Hey, you. I was just going to wake you."

"Lily?"

"Duh! Who else?"

James laughed.

"Oh, then hey, I'm coming back to our rooms tonight. Well, just as long as Madam Pomfrey gives me the all-clear."

A sharp but kind voice cut in.

"You seem well enough to me. I'll help you pack up your things when you get up. Miss Evans, don't you think that it's time you went to class?"

"Not today, Madam Pomfrey, Professor Dumbledore's given me the day off."

James looked confused; Lily rarely missed her classes for anything.

"Is everything ok?"

"It's more than ok, now that you're well again."

Lily gave James a quick kiss and turned to leave. Finally things would start to get back to how they should be. She and James were together and, from the shrieking she had heard coming from her friends' dormitory last night, Rose and Sirius had finally got together. If Cady were anybody else Lily would worry that she might feel left out. However, she knew Cady better than anyone else did and she knew that Cady wouldn't mind. Besides, Rose had told her that Cady had her heart set on Remus next and God knows he wouldn't be able to escape from that. Once Cady set her mind to something it was bound to happen, whatever the cost.

***

Sirius and Remus were busy in the Head's Room, setting up tables for food and drink and making sure all the decorations were in place. Peter was nowhere to be found, but they had just put it down to eating or sleeping. All the invitations had gone out, most Gryffindor in their year had got one, a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, no Slytherins though.

As Sirius had put it, "James has been ill enough recently, having Slytherins at his party might make him worse and we wouldn't want that."

Lily strongly disagreed with this idea of division and prejudice between the houses but she and Sirius rarely agreed on anything so she let it lie. If it made James happy then it was fine by her.

"I can't believe that Dumbledore gave us the morning off for this. That man never ceases to amaze me," Sirius said, bringing out a hundred or so butterbeers from under the bed.

"Me neither, I'm just amazed that he trusts you not to skive off or something."

"Are you implying something? Besides he doesn't trust me as much as Lily, she got the whole day off."

"I never imply, Sirius," Remus said, smiling slightly. "By the way, where is Lily? I thought she was going to help us."

"Maybe she's skiving off!" Sirius replied, laughing at the thought.

***

Lily had just arrived in Hogsmeade, escorted by Professor McGonagall. She carried in her hand a bag full of splintered bits of wood: James' broom. When she had used a Summoning Charm to find it, a few days after James was admitted to the Hospital Wing, it had come back in shards. James tried to shrug it off but she could tell that he was upset; it had obviously meant something to him.

She entered a small repair shop that not many people knew about called 'Sriaper&Serotser'.

"Hello?" she called nervously to the seemingly empty shop.

"Hello my dear, Lily Evans, am I correct?"

"Yes, I sent you an owl. Are you Mr. Sriaper or Mr. Serotser?"

"Neither dear, I am Mr. Brown. The shop isn't named after people; it is the words restores and repairs backwards."

Lily blushed at her own stupidity. She placed the bag on the desk and drew five shiny, gold galleons from her pocket.

"I'll be back in one hour, ok? I really appreciate you doing this at such short notice."

"Ok, dear."

She made her way down to The Three Broomsticks for a drink while she waited. Hogsmeade seemed surprisingly empty without all the Hogwarts students milling around. The only people at the bar were a middle-aged witch who gave her a dirty stare as she sat down and a man whose face was barely visible beneath scratches and bruises.

"Are you ok?" She asked him as she collected her butterbeer from the bar.

"Fine. What's it to you anyway?" he replied gruffly.

"Just wondering," she said, making a mental note never to talk to a scary stranger in a bar again.

The man laughed to himself as he exited the bar, everything was in position, now all he had to worry about was Peter doing his job.

***

Lily spent the next hour drinking Butterbeer and window-shopping in Hogsmeade. When the time came to pick up the broomstick she felt anticipation clench her stomach.

Please God let it work, please God let it be fixed!

She walked into the shop and waited for Mr Brown to appear with the finished result.

"There you are, good as new. I took the liberty of giving it a polish as well."

Lily peeked into the bag he had given her. It was good as new. She took out another galleon from her pocket and placed it into Mr Brown's hand.

"Thank you so much," she said, walking out of the shop.

***

As she made her way back up to Hogwarts she took a closer look at the broom. It was a favourite rumour amongst the seventh years that if you touched this broom then your team would catch the Snitch every match of the season. She ran her hand against the smooth, polished wood and came across the inscription. She read it and took a sharp intake of breath. Now she knew why James loved this broom so much. It was all he had left from his father, the man James has admired the most.

She returned to the Heads' Room later that night. Everything was perfectly set out and the Marauders stood staring at her curiously. She showed them the broom and they seemed to understand. Sirius gave her a respectful nod and Remus smiled; only Peter seemed not to care.

"What's up with him?" Sirius asked, as he ran from the room.

***

Peter ran, down corridors and passageways, down staircases and by portraits. He had made his choice; there was no going back. Slowly, he reached up and knocked and the door creaked open to the Hospital Wing.


A/n What did you think? Did you like that chappie? Was that an ok cliffhanger? Please please please give me feedback, positive or negative I just want to improve. Also, if you have any spare time could you let me know what your favourite chapter so far has been and who your favourite OC is, my email is m.moo.moo@gmail.com. Thanks!

Betrayal

"Hi, James." Peter said warily as he approached James' bed.

"Peter? Don't I have another hour until I leave?"

"Yeah, I just thought that'd I'd come and get your stuff to move it to your room. That way you don't have to do any unpacking on your first night out of the hospital wing."

Peter smiled, trying to cover up his guilt.

"Oh ok," replied James, "Thanks mate."

Peter gathered up his things and turned to leave.

"Peter?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

There was nothing James could have said to make Peter feel worse. Here was James, sincerely thanking him, when he knew that in a short while he would be doing quite the opposite. A tear gathered in the corner of Peter's eye, he hadn't realised that it would be this hard. He hadn't realised just how much he cared about his friends. He came to a halt, outside the door of the Head's Room and drew James' wand out from the pile. He slipped it up his sleeve; it was almost done.

He looked around to make sure there were no witnesses and entered the room. It was decorated, ceiling to floor, in brightly coloured banners and posters. Enchanted balloons had been bewitched into animal shapes and were walking and flying around. Confetti was generously sprinkled everywhere, glittering and sparkling different colours. A table of food and drinks had been laid out neatly, it was a real spread. Sirius, Remus and Lily stood proudly in the middle of the room.

"So?" Lily asked excitedly.

"So what?"

"So what do you think of the room, silly?"

"Oh yeah, it's great."

"And now for the final touch!" Sirius interrupted.

"Oh God, I didn't know about this, don't blame me." Lily said warily.

"Fireworks!" Sirius exclaimed and drew a box out from under the table.

Peter nodded and went into James' room to put his things away. He took the wand out of his sleeve and shoved it at the back of James' wardrobe. It was half done now. All that was left was the signal. Peter shuddered at the thought of what he had just done. He could barely recognise the actions as his own. But that was what happened when you joined with Lord Voldemort, you did things that you didn't want to do because if you didn't, things would happen. Peter remembered what Snape had told him.

"Blab one word of this to anyone and your parents get it. Fail to complete the Dark Lord's will and your parents will get it. If the plan does not go smoothly your parents will get it."

Peter blamed himself for getting in with that crowd in the first place. He hadn't realised that once he was in, there was no going back.

"Earth to Peter. Hello? Wormtail?"

"Oh, hi Sirius." He squeaked, pushing the wardrobe door closed. "Just putting James' things away."

Sirius frowned at him for a minute and then turned and left. Peter sat there with the choice in his hands; if he completed the task then his friends would never speak to him again. If he failed, his parents would be murdered. He thought back to his first meeting with the 'Hogwarts Death Eaters' as they had named themselves. He had been in the fifth year then, young and impressionable. He had liked the people there because they didn't make fun of him; they understood him or they seemed too.

Peter stood nervously in a crowded room. Students, mainly Slytherins, had assembled waiting for the meeting to begin. He was surprised to see that he was not one of the youngest there. There were first year students who looked like they knew exactly what was going on. It became obvious that they had come from backgrounds where the Dark Arts were common. A boy and girl, seventh year and both Slytherins, stood up to speak.

"Today is a very special meeting," Bellatrix Black, Sirius' older cousin whom he despised, began. "Today we introduce to you our first ever Gryffindor member. He is ready to pledge allegiance to the Dark Lord and promise to obey and honour his will. Would Peter Pettigrew please rise and make his way over here."

Peter had stood up. He felt his ears burn as people around him began to whisper.

"Gryffindor?"

"Isn't he a Marauder?"

"What are they thinking?"

"Silence!" Commanded the boy standing next to Bellatrix, Lucius Malfoy.

Peter had reached the front by this point. He stood next to Bellatrix as she drew out her wand.

"Repeat after me. I Peter Pettigrew swear that I will follow and obey the Dark Lord,"

"I Peter Pettigrew swear that I will follow and obey the Dark Lord,"

"I will do whatever he wishes me to and I will never question him,"

"I will do whatever he wishes me to and I will never question him,"

"And I will place him before my friends, family and myself."

"And I will place him before my friends, family and myself."

Peter felt his stomach churn as he realised what he had just done. He watched as Lucius Malfoy drew a long knife from inside his robes.

"Take your shirt off boy."

Peter did as he was instructed. Lucius Malfoy slid the blade across his chest, causing blood to stream from him and him to gasp. Each member walked forward and stroked their finger across the wound, leaving blood on their hand. Bellatrix whispered an incantation and the blood flew off their hands and into a small vial she held.

"The swearing of the blood is complete."

She reached out her wand, tapped the cut and it was gone.

After the meeting he was congratulated by the other members and offered butterbeer and firewhiskey. If felt almost as if they were his friends. He was respected because he had taken the oath and made a promise to Voldemort. He liked feeling respected; he liked not being made fun of as the Marauders were always doing.

Later that night he returned to his dormitory. He pulled back his duvet and lay down on his bed, almost immediately he sprung up again. He looked over his shoulder, into the mirror. Stamped on his back in permanent ink were the words 'Who ate all the pies?' He heard a laughing coming from Sirius' bed. Drawing back the curtains he saw the other Marauders, laughing, at his expense. He watched the rolling around and pointing at the words and he was glad. Glad he had decided to join the Dark Lord, glad he had put Voldemort before his friends and glad that one day there would be payback.

Peter could hear people arriving for the party. He knew that in a minute James would arrive. Without hesitating he walked to the window and stuck his wand out. He whispered the spell he had been told too and walked back into the party, knowing that it was done.