A/N: I'm soooo sorry!! The story's a bit slow to start, and these chapters are hard to get on. It might be partially because of that, but this story has been hard to get started for me. Plus, my friend who used to do the really thorough editing kind of stopped for some reason, so I'm having a hard time (Not that you're not a great help, Ainsley--believe me, you are). I think I'll have to get a beta... anyway, please read and review!!!


I sighed and sat down on my bed at home. Sirius sat down next to me. “Pretty strange day, huh?” I asked.

Sirius nodded. “What happened with Eve exactly?”

I didn’t really wanting to think any more today, but explained it to him anyway.

*Flashback*

After our “morning ritual,” Lily fled and, like always, Robyn and Scarlett followed her without finishing their breakfast. To my surprise, Eve stayed there, finishing her food and smiling shyly at me while I dished up some waffles for myself. I knew she had liked me for a long time, and I tried to avoid leading her on. Lily was the girl for me; I just knew it, even if she didn’t.

“Why don’t you just give up on her?” she asked hesitantly, refusing to look me in the eyes. I could tell that it wasn’t because she was acting jealous; she was genuinely curious.

“Because I love her,” I replied simply, not in the least bit embarrassed. It was not a big deal to me anymore; everyone knew. And I felt that being honest with her was the best way to go.

“She thinks it’s all a joke!” Eve informed me. “She thinks you just do it because it bugs her.” Eve looked me straight in the eyes. She was very pretty. Her huge hazel eyes were fixed on me, and her skin was flawless.

“I’m not!” I exclaimed. Her eyes dropped when I said this.

“What are you doing this summer?” she asked after a bit of an awkward silence, trying to keep the conversation going.

I was slightly annoyed that she was pushing it so hard, but I decided to be as polite as possible. No matter how pretty she was, if she was going to try so hard I couldn’t possibly imagine even being friends with her. “I’m just… well, I’m not doing anything. I’m staying at my house with Sirius.”

“I’m going to hang out at home. With my brother and sister,” she said, looking up again. With a note of pride in her voice, she said, “Eddie’s training to be an Auror. How about you?” She flipped her brown hair behind her ear and smiled seductively at me. I sighed inwardly and wished I could leave.

We continued to talk for about ten more minutes (well, she did most of the talking. I had no idea what was she said because my mind was elsewhere) before I finally looked down at my plate and realized that it was empty; I was glad to have an excuse to go. Eve had been blabbering on for practically the whole time.

“Well, I’d better go. I have a lot of packing to do.”

“Oh, yeah, same,” she said. She talked a little more while walking up to the Common Room.

“Bye,” Eve said, heading into her dormitory.

“See you later,” I replied. I went up the stairs to my dorm.

*End of Flashback*

I explained this to Sirius, and he looked at me suspiciously. “Are you falling for Eve?”

I shook my head. “No! She’s talks too much. And she tries way too hard.”

“Eve is Lily’s best friend,” Sirius said.

“I know,” I said irritably.

He sighed and shook his head. “Don’t you get it? You could use her as a way to get to Lily.”

“Sirius! That’s horrible,” I chided.

“Oh, come on, you’ve done it before! Admit it,” he said.

“I feel so sorry for Eve, though. She just lost her dad and brother,” I said, changing the subject with the first thing that came to mind. I had never done anything like that; he had, but I would never do something like that.

“But that’s not why you like her, is it?”

“I do not like her!” I replied crossly.

*Flashback*

We went back to the dorm to get our trunks, levitating them down the stairs and through the Great Hall. We got on the train very early; we were practically the first people there. We made the best of it, playing on Sirius’s chess board. Sirius and I were evenly matched, but Peter was almost laughably bad. He had no sense of strategy; that was probably part of the reason he didn’t play Quidditch like the rest of the Marauders.

Remus entered the compartment just as the train started to move. He sat down across from me. I was playing Sirius and my queen was beating up his knight, so I stared intently down at the chessboard, only breaking my concentration by saying, “Hey, Moony.”

“Hey.” He was much quieter than usual. Not that he was normally loud.

Sirius and I looked at each other, then at Remus. He looked back at us. “What’s wrong?” Sirius asked. “You’re too quiet.”

He shrugged. “Nothing, really. I’ve just been thinking.”

“About what?” I persisted.

“Well, Lily told me Eve’s dad and brother were killed by Voldemort,” he said. “I mean, it could happen to anyone, really. Especially me. I mean, I am a half-blood. In more ways than one.” He smiled grimly.

I sat there, stunned. What Voldemort was doing was completely disgusting; I could barely stand it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with people who weren’t purebloods!

“I’m scared,” Remus admitted. “I mean, from the sound of it, he just shows up on people’s doorsteps and then kills them all. Or he sends his Death Eaters to do it for him.”

Sirius grimaced. “How much do you wanna bet Bellatrix is a Death Eater?” he asked. No one answered, and we didn’t talk for a long time. We stayed silent, playing chess and just thinking.

My mind was full; I thought about how Eve’s summer had been ruined by Voldemort. I thought about all of the things I had done with the Marauders and what might happen when we graduated next year. And, as usual, I thought of Lily.

It was right about then that I started losing to Peter.

*End of Flashback*

“It is too bad,” Sirius said sympathetically after we had pondered it for a little while. I guess he decided to just go along with my rapid change of subject. “And also kind of scary. I mean, think about it�”Voldemort is out to get muggleborns and half-bloods. And people like your parents, who don’t support his movement to get the people who aren’t purebloods out.”

“Yeah,” I said. I really wanted to stop talking about it. “I’m starving. Want to go get some food?”

Sirius nodded, and we headed downstairs to eat.

---

A few weeks later, Remus came to join us. He waited until about a week after the full moon to come, but he still looked horrible. It was obvious that it had been a hard transformation for him.

Remus was a werewolf, but almost no one knew. No one, that is, besides the two of us, Peter Pettigrew, our other friend, the teachers, and someone else�”Severus Snape.

*Flashback*

“So now that I know your dear friend’s secret, what will you do for me?” Snape asked, smiling maliciously.

“You bastard,” Sirius almost yelled. “Why should we do anything for you? We can just kill you when you mention it.”

“Is that supposed to scare me?” Snape inquired haughtily, eyebrows raised. Poor Remus. He was covered in cuts and scratches and looked like he was about to cry. He had just undergone an especially difficult transformation and, to make matters worse, Sirius had played a trick on Snape, almost making him run straight into werewolf-Remus. Remus was done yelling at Sirius, but I could tell he was still pissed. But who wouldn’t be?

“I’ll pay you fifty Galleons if you shut up, Snivellus,” I offered.

“One hundred,” he said.

“Sixty.”

“Ninety.”

“Sixty-Five.”

“Eighty-Five.”

“Final offer, Snivellus. Seventy Galleons. Take it or leave it,” I hissed to him. Even though we were in an empty classroom, someone could walk in at any moment and hear us. Then I would have to pay even more. Not that it was actually a big deal; my family’s quite rich, but I still didn’t like to part with my money…

“Fine,” he agreed disdainfully. “I expect it by tomorrow.” He stood and walked briskly out of the room.

Remus gazed at me wearily. “How am I going to pay?” he asked.

“You’re not. I am,” I said.

He stared at me in disbelief “I can’t let you do that! It’s not your fault.” He glanced at Sirius in a slightly angry manner. “You’re the one who kept him from actually coming into the Shack!”

“I’m your friend Remus. Friends help each other, and you obviously need help,” I told him.

“I promise to pay you back someday,” he said.

I shook my head exasperatedly. “You don’t have to pay me back! I’m doing this as a favor to you because you need it!”

“I just hope he actually stays quiet,” Remus whispered.

*End of Flashback*

That had been a year ago, but the fear was still present. Remus thought about it every day�”it was obvious to anyone who was around him a lot. He would occasionally go into periods where he would kind of space out and look worried. I hoped that if Snivellus hadn’t told yet, he probably wouldn’t ever. But I still wasn’t so sure.

“Are you okay, Remus?” I asked.

“Sorry we couldn’t be there, mate,” Sirius apologized.

He shrugged with his good shoulder and said, “I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”

We continued to talk, and he asked about Eve. So I had to explain it all over again.

Once I finished explaining, Remus asked, “Do you like her?”

I sighed angrily. “No! And please don’t start that, too. Sirius has been doing it all summer so far and I’m already going crazy. Eve is annoying and too talkative. And she tries too hard.”

“Just give up on Lily. I hate to tell you mate, but you’ll probably never get her if you haven’t already. And really�”there are tons of girls who would kill to go out with you. And Eve is one of them,” Sirius said.

“I don’t like Eve!” I told them heatedly. “This is the year Lily will finally realize that I’m not a terrible person. I can feel it.”

“Maybe, but I still think that you should try going out with Eve,” said Sirius.

Remus sighed. “Do whatever you want, James. We’re�”well, I’m not going to stop you.”

“I don’t like Eve!” I repeated.

“Just think about it, mate,” Sirius suggested. “You have all summer.”

A/N: sorry for anyone who’s been waiting for this chapter… I’ve had a hard time finding inspiration, plus there was school and camp before that and Minnesota before that. And I’m having a hard time keeping this interesting. I promise it’ll get a lot better later… I have some slightly gruesome things planned. So if you don’t like that, I suggest you stop reading now. I’ll try to get the next chapter up ASAP!!

---

“Bye, see you later!” Scarlett called. Her long, pale blonde hair whipped as she turned around.

“Bye,” we all yelled after her.

“Robyn, I really like your hair cut that way. Hazel did a really good job,” Cassara said.

“Thanks, I do too,” Robyn replied. About ten minutes before we got off the bus Robyn declared that she was bored with her look and wanted Hazel to cut her hair shorter. “Cut it as short as you can get it so I can still get it in a ponytail,” Robyn had said. Hazel had obliged. I had to admit, she did look really good with it, even though it probably did mean she’d be grounded for the rest of her life by her domineering mother.

“I can’t wait until next year!” Cassara squealed, her dark brown eyes sparkling. As usual, she was so full of energy she couldn’t focus on one topic for more than a minute or two. “It’ll be so much fun!”

“We have NEWTs,” I reminded her.

Robyn raised her eyebrow. “Are you really that nervous, Lil? You did so well on the OWLs. And you’re the top of our class.”

“Of course I’m nervous!” I exclaimed. “Aren’t you guys?”

“No,” Cassara said.

“We’ll do fine,” Robyn said. “All of us will do perfectly fine.” I could tell she was nervous though, because she was fingering her nose. When she was a third year, she had gotten hit in the face with a Bludger as the Keeper. It had broken her nose, and ever since then she had had slight a bump on the bridge of her nose. Whenever she was nervous or self-conscious, she would rub the bump.

“You’re lying, Robyn,” I said. “You’re nervous. You’re doing that thing with your nose again.”

She immediately dropped her hand. “Well, maybe I’m a little nervous.”

“You’re lying!” Cassara exclaimed. Her pale face lit up with a grin. “You’re really nervous. And you know it!”

All of a sudden I heard footsteps coming toward us. We turned around to see who it was, and saw that it was Gregg.

“Hey Gregg,” I greeted him.

“Hi,” said Gregg. “Cassara, we have to go this way.” He pointed toward the right
Cassara gave me a big hug. “See you later, Lils.” She hugged Robyn, too, then walked away after Gregg.

Looking over at Robyn’s short black ponytail, I asked, “What do you think your mum will think of your new haircut?”

“She’ll hate it,” she replied with a touch of defiance and certainty in her voice.

“Oh.” There was nothing I could say to that, was there? I was sure I would never be brave enough to do that. If I knew my parents wouldn’t like something, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t face them when they got angry at me.

“I’m a coward, Robyn,” I said sadly.

“What are you talking about?” asked Robyn. She rubbed at her arm where she had gotten the latest cut, a scar from tripping over the pile of clothes on her side of the room and scraping her arm against her bed. She had a little bit of a reputation of being a klutz off the field, but she dominated in any sport she tried. She was the Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

“I always do exactly as everyone tells me without even thinking about it. I can’t make decisions for myself,” I replied.

“That’s not true, Lily, and you know it,” Robyn told me firmly. “You can make plenty of decisions for yourself. You just don’t like angering people. Normally the only person I’m angering is my mother, and it’s not like I’ll ever make her happy.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t hate you,” I said to her. She just shrugged and said nothing. I spotted my mum talking to her mum a little ways ahead of us and said, “Well, there are our parents.”

“Bye, Lily,” said Robyn. “I hope I’ll see you later this summer.”

“I hope so too,” I said. “I don’t want to spend any more time with my sister than I have to.”

We approached our parents, and they said goodbye to each other. I could tell from Mum’s clipped tone that she didn’t like Robyn’s mum very much. To be honest, I don’t think anyone did. She terrified me and all of my friends, even Robyn.

As soon as we got there, her mum turned to her. “Come, Robyn,” she ordered.

Robyn waved and walked off, sighing.

“We need to hurry. We have to make sure your bridesmaid dress fits you so we can get a new one if it doesn’t fit,” Mum said, kissing me quickly on the cheek.

I gaped at her. “Bridesmaid?”

“Of course. Petunia’s getting married. Didn’t I tell you?” Mum asked.

“No.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Well, you’re one of her bridesmaids.”

“Did she agree to this?” I asked skeptically. Mum couldn’t accept that we didn’t like each other, so she tried everything to force us to be together. This included setting us up on things like this.

“It doesn’t matter what Petunia thinks. You’re her sister; you have to be in her wedding.”

It was hard to believe that Petunia and I were related. We didn’t look at all alike�”she had stick-straight bleached-blond hair (which would’ve been dark brown if she didn’t waste all her money bleaching it) and was quite tall (but her long neck probably made up half that height). I was short, just reaching five feet four inches, and I had wavy red hair that I normally kept back in a ponytail. It was just lower-maintenance that way. She had huge, bug-like blue eyes whereas I had green eyes. Petunia was very skinny, not that I wasn’t, but she looked unhealthy. One time she ate only carrot sticks for lunch for a whole year. I had a huge sweet tooth. Petunia wouldn’t eat chocolate if you gave her money.

I think that part of the reason she hated me so much was because I had stolen my parents’ attention when the letter to Hogwarts came. She had always been the favorite�” after all, she was the oldest. And she always had friends surrounding her. They used to be nice to me, but I think that was only because Petunia made them. That was back when we were still friends. Now one of their favorite pastimes was Lily-bashing, which consisted of going up to me and flinging as many insults at me as they possibly could. After a particularly long and annoying session I couldn’t take it anymore I punched Yvonne, her best friend, and almost broke her nose. I got grounded for a month and had all my books taken away from me. This resulted in me not getting any of my homework done until the night before classes started. It all would’ve been fine, if it had actually stopped the insults. On the contrary, it made Petunia and her friends more inclined to tease me. It was kind of surprising that my parents never realized anything�”they still thought Petunia was a good daughter.

But as flawless as she seemed to my parents, she loved to insult people who weren’t normal. But what was “normal” anyway? She certainly wasn’t it�”regular people ate food. And normal people weren’t nosy. And in a witch or wizard’s mind, muggles weren’t normal. So normal didn’t exist. I would never tell Petunia that, though. She would probably rip my eyes out.

“I don’t want to be Petunia’s bridesmaid,” I told Mum blatantly. “She doesn’t like me.”

Mum gave me an exasperated look. “What makes you think that? You two are best friends.”

“She hates me Mum, can’t you see?” I yelled. I looked around; there were people staring at us. But who wouldn’t stare? A teenage girl was arguing with her mother in the middle of King’s Cross Station. And the girl was dragging a trunk and carrying an owl in a cage. “We should get out of here,” I said. We made the way to the car in silence.

Once in the car I continued, “Mum, Petunia hates me. She thinks I’m a freak.”

“Nonsense. She’s just not used to having you around,” argued Mum. “It’s going to take a while for her to get used to her sister being a witch.”

“It’s been six years, Mum. If she was going to get used to it she already would have!” I replied. “How can you not see that?” A tear trickled down my face; I hated Petunia. Well, I don’t think it was necessarily that; I hated what she had done to me, how she had treated me after she found out I was a witch. As much as it hurt, I knew she wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

“Lily, if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all,” ordered Mum. “I’m sick of hearing all of these lies.”

“Fine,” I replied dully.

The car ride home was silent from then on. Although it was slightly awkward, it was better than arguing about how my sister and I got along.

As soon as the car stopped at my house I jumped out and shut the door. “Your dress in on the bed. I’d like you to try it on to make sure it fits,” Mum told me.

I simply sighed and nodded dully. Mum narrowed her green eyes at me and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

I had inherited many of my physical characteristics from my mother�”my green eyes, red hair, basically my overall appearance was exactly like hers. I wasn’t sure how much our personalities were alike, though; we often argued, although mostly about pointless things, but soon forgot about what we were arguing about and made up.

I stared down at my feet, surveying the peeling red paint on the stairs. Our big, shingled house used to bring me comfort as a child; when people would tease me I would run home crying and, strange as it sounds, I would instantly feel better. But I didn’t get any comfort now; it felt like I was walking into a torture chamber.

Mum got to the door before me and rammed her key into the lock much more aggressively than normal and glared at me, obviously still annoyed. She swung it open and I heard Dad greet her. Then she muttered, “Lily’s being impossible.”

“How so?” Dad said, his voice fading away as they moved away from the door.
I sighed as I made my way through the door and thought, How am I going to survive like this until after the wedding?

I was making my way up to my room when I ran into something. Something very bony. “Watch where you’re going, freak,” Petunia said disgustedly. I said nothing and just stood still for a moment, watching Petunia and waiting for her to continue on. She gave me a funny look, then sauntered past scowling. Once she made her way by, I trudged up the steps to my room.

“Lily, try on your dress,” prompted Mum, shouting from the kitchen.

“I’m going,” I yelled back irritably. My room was just at the top of the stairs, so once I was at the top I crossed the hallway and opened the door hesitantly. Every time I left for school, I always expected to come back and find it completely different. That never happened, though; my parents went into my room to clean it (they were huge neat-freaks and couldn’t handle dust anywhere in their house, even in a room they seldom entered), but they left it alone otherwise. The walls were the same light lavender and dark purple sheets still covered my huge canopy bed. The bedside table with my phone on it was still next to it, and it even had the scrap of paper with Robyn’s phone number on it. She had given it to me before last summer and told me to call if I ever had a problem. We did spend a good deal of time on the phone that summer even though there wasn’t a problem, though, which, of course, infuriated Petunia. But whenever she went on one of her rants my parents and I tuned her out, so nothing ever came of it and she eventually stopped.

I looked at my bed and, sure enough, laying on it was the ugliest dress I had ever seen. It was bright pink and covered in lace and ruffles. I snorted in disgust, but shut my door and pulled off my clothes. I was not looking forward to wearing it. Maybe if it doesn’t fit I’ll be able to get out of the wedding, I thought as I pulled it over my head. As soon as it was on, I turned to the mirror on the back of my door and surveyed myself. Huh, just my luck. Perfect fit.
I could tell this was going to be a long summer.

---

A/N: Well, there it is… I hope you like it! Please review!!!!!!!!! I didn’t get many on the last chapter and it was slightly disheartening. It wasn’t the most interesting chapter I’ve ever written, but as I said, it’ll get more interesting soon. I would really, really appreciate some, and it doesn’t take all that long, people!!

A/N: Well, I’m relatively proud of myself for getting this chapter out so fast… not many reviews (or reads for that matter), but once my story gets more interesting I think I might get some more. This is quite a long chapter, so hopefully it can keep you occupied while I’m writing the next chapter. Pleeeaaasseee R&R

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“What’s wrong, Prongs? You’ve barely talked at all this summer,” Sirius said, flopping down on the couch next to me. I had been sitting in peace, thinking quietly to myself about Eve and the conversation we’d had. Well, actually I was thinking about how weird it was that I was still thinking about it after over a month, but that was basically the same thing. At least I thought so.

“Nothing,” I replied.

“You’re thinking about Eve, Aren’t you?” Sirius asked.

Sometimes Sirius could read people’s minds, I swear. “Of course not!” I answered irritably. Then I turned away from him and continued thinking.

Well, she is quite pretty, I thought to myself. But she won’t stop bugging me.

“I think the only reason you’re denying that there might even be a possibility you would like her is because you think she’s an easy catch,” Sirius told me.

“I never said there was no possibility I would go out with her!” I exclaimed, becoming slightly exasperated.

“You like her then?” Sirius inquired.

“I never said that!” I responded indignantly. “Stop twisting my words!”

“It seems like it to me.” Remus said, startling me. I jumped and turned to see Remus sitting down next to Sirius.

“It’s not going to happen,” I replied firmly.

“I think it is,” Sirius whispered loudly to Remus behind his hand. I turned around again and glared at him.

He grinned at me and shrugged. I rolled my eyes, deciding that saying anything else would just make it worse.

---

A few days later we received the lists of supplies we would need for our next year at Hogwarts and the day after we went to Diagon Alley to get what we needed. I found out that I was the Quidditch team captain this year, which I was excited about. Last year’s captain had been a total idiot.

And I was Head Boy, something that my parents were definitely proud of. I, however, was shocked. Everyone thought Remus would get it, and he seemed slightly disappointed. But, as usual, he got over it fast, stating “I never would’ve been able to do it, since I’m a werewolf and all.”

Mum, who was a bit of a worrywart, was nervous about the three of us going by ourselves.

“We’re seventeen, Mum,” I told her. “We can take care of ourselves.”

“Yes, but with Voldemort running around with al of his allies, who knows what you’ll find?” she argued worriedly, her eyebrows furrowed.

“I doubt he’d try anything. There are too many people at Diagon Alley,” I reasoned.

The discussion continued. Sirius and I argued that we could take care of ourselves, since my mum was more like his mum than she would ever be, but that didn’t work. Even Dad’s persuasion didn’t sway her very much. I was amazed that she had actually let us go to Diagon Alley by ourselves, but I guess she just thought that since it was so busy Voldemort wouldn’t attempt anything.

“We will,” I shouted as we walked out the front door, swinging it shut after us. Then we concentrated on Diagon Alley and Apparated there. I almost enjoyed it; after all, it meant we could actually get out of the house.

Gringotts was our first stop. Once we were out, I turned to Remus and Sirius and asked, “Where should we go first?”

“I think we should go to Flourish and Botts,” Remus answered quietly. Sirius just shrugged, so we set off.

I was expecting a lot of people to be there, but all of the stores were literally packed. We had to stand in line for half an hour or more at some stores and it was almost impossible to move around a lot of places. We went as fast as we could, but it was well past noon by the time we finished. As we walked out of the last store, our arms weighed down with bags, Sirius said, “I’m hungry. Let’s get ice cream.”

We headed off to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and ordered sundaes. Remus and I were done long before Sirius on account of the fact that he ordered three. He kept staring at the gap between Remus and I, and the two of us were trying hard to figure out what it was.

“What do you think it is?” Remus said under his breath.

I shrugged and whispered, “It’s probably a girl.”

“Should we turn around and look?” he asked.

“No,” I muttered, “if it’s girl, we’ll know soon enough.”

Just as I’d suspected, a girl appeared between me and Sirius a couple minutes later. She had pretty blond hair, big blue eyes, and a big chest, but she wasn’t really my type. She was definitely Sirius’s, though. I recognized her from school; I think she was the year behind us.

“Hey, Sirius,” she said flirtatiously, grinning at him.

“Hi,” he said, stalling. I could tell he was trying to remember her name.

“Sirius,” Remus leaned over and whispered just loud enough for me to hear it, “You won’t ever remember your name if you don’t look at her face.” I snorted.

He glared at Remus and asked, “How are you, Alma?” He stood up and put an arm around her waist.

“It’s Allison,” she giggled as he led her across the street to a park bench. It took them less than a minute to start making out.

Remus shook his head. “How the hell does he do that?” I could hear a bit of jealousy in his voice. But he did it to himself, at least to a certain extent. It was his theory that he had to distance himself from girls because he thought they would dump him when they found out the truth about his mysterious disappearances.

“You could do it, too,” I told him while trying my best to sound encouraging. I had never had to tell anyone that before. “It’s your own decision not to have a girlfriend.”

‘But how would I tell them without them breaking up with me?” he inquired exasperatedly. He was practically yelling by now. “They would probably break up with me on the spot and tell everyone they knew. That’s how girls are!”

“Well, we didn’t leave you,” I reasoned.

“You’re not my girlfriends,” he said. I was practically falling out of my chair laughing, and once he realized how stupid it was, he was laughing, too.

“Remus, that’s not the point. The point is that if she really loves you she won’t leave,” I explained. “So just make sure that you go out with the right girl. Or girls.”

“How will I know?” he asked.

“You just will,” I replied. “It’s something that hits you as soon as you see them.”

“Really?” he said skeptically.

“Well, it’s not always the first time you see them,” I admitted. “Maybe the first time you go out with them. Or the first couple times.”

“Do you really think I could get a girl to go out with me?” he asked sincerely.

“Yes, Remus, you could. I think you should ask Scarlett out.”

He just stared doubtfully at me.

“Come on,” I tried to persuade him. “She likes you, you like her… and she’s a great girl. She would never tell anyone, even if you did break up.”

“You think so?” It sounded like it was starting to work.

“Yeah, I do.” In my mind, I thought that Scarlett was the girl for him, kind of like Lily was the girl for me. The two of them just seemed so… perfect for each other.

“Well, if you say so…” he started.

It couldn’t have been stranger timing; at that exact moment, I spotted Lily walking down the street with Scarlett. My stomach dropped slightly as I noticed once again how pretty she was. . But it almost wasn’t the same; it was probably the millionth time I’d noticed that, and it wasn’t as profound as it had been the first few times. But she always looked the best with her friends. She was always so casual and unguarded around them. That was the girl I had fallen in love with�”the Lily that laughed and told jokes with her friends. I hadn’t fallen in love with her telling me to go away.

Then Cassara and Robyn walked out of a nearby store and joined the group. I saw Lily look over and see us, a look of disgust passing over her face. She covered her hand and whispered to Scarlett, who smiled at Remus and stood, wading through the crowd in our direction.

“What do I do?.” Remus demanded in a strangled whisper, his face turning slightly red, then greenish.

“Just talk to her. Ask her about her summer,” I replied in a low voice. “And just… do what feels right. With luck, you’ll be exactly like him in five minutes.” I pointed toward Sirius, who was sprawled out on the bench with the blond girl Alma on top of him. Remus laughed slightly, then his face fell and her turned green once again as he saw her drawing closer.

“And don’t look so sick! Smile!” I reminded him. He nodded and tried to smile, but it was basically a grimace. “Oh, never mind. You’ll smile once she’s over here. Like an idiot. But try not to look like too much of an idiot.” She was almost at our table, and Remus still looked like he was about to throw up.

“Hey,” Scarlett greeted us, trying her best to sound calm. I could tell that she was nervous, though.

“Heyhowwasyoursummer?” Remus asked, so flustered all his words ran into each other.

` It took all of my strength not to grimace, and Remus gave me a frantic and apologetic look as if to say, “I’m so sorry! Now what do I do?”

But to my surprise, Scarlett giggled. “I think you just asked me how my summer was, but I’m not sure.

He nodded sheepishly.

“Well, it’s been wonderful. Howwasyoursummer?” she asked, imitating him
.
Even he had to laugh at that. “Great.”

Remus seemed to have calmed down, so I stood up. “Well, I hate to intrude, so I’m going to go off on my own for a while. I’ll meet you back here in an hour and a half, okay Remus?”

I walked past them and patted Remus on the back, “You’ll do fine,” I whispered in his ear.

“Bye, you guys,” I said.

“Bye,” Scarlett replied.

“See you later,” Remus added.

I walked down the street for a while before I realized something�”there was nothing for me to do. I looked back to find Remus and Scarlett, but they were no longer there. Backtracking a bit, I made my way back to the bench next to the one Sirius was occupying through the crowd. It seemed to have gotten busier here since I had left the table, but at least it was entertaining. Many people yelled thing to Sirius such as, “Get a room!” He was, however, oblivious, which didn’t surprise me much.

For a second I wondered whether I should tell him that Remus had finally gotten Scarlett, but I decided he’d be way too mad at me for disturbing his snogging session to be happy for Remus. But then I remembered that Scarlett had been with Lily, Cassara and Robyn on a bench very close to Sirius, and looked over to see if they were still there. They were.

I was surprised to find Lily staring back at me. She gave me a slight frown, then turned back to Cassara and Robyn, who were both standing up and laughing hysterically. Robyn said something and Cassara nodded vigorously, then they each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her to her feet, leading her over in my direction.

It still feels like they’re missing someone, I thought. Then I remembered that Scarlett and Remus were together. But that still didn’t seem like it.

It dawned on me that they were probably coming over to see me. Cassara and Robyn were sort of my friends, what with all of the Quidditch we’d played together, and I knew that they were doing their best to get Lily to give me a chance. It hadn’t worked so far, but there was still another year. Well, that is, if you only counted the time we had left in Hogwarts.

Lily was still being half-dragged in my direction when I looked at them again. When they finally arrived here, Lily stood there awkwardly for a second. I saw Cassara look over at Sirius briefly, and a cloud passed over her face. Robyn and I both knew that she liked him, but we had sworn not to tell, so we were the only two. In most cases, I think I probably would’ve told. But I guess I felt obligated, partially because she was my friend and partially because I knew Lily would only hate me more if I did. She got over it quickly though�”she was obviously used to things like this happening. She elbowed Lily and smiled slightly at me. “Hey, Potter,” she greeted me in a clipped tone.

“Hey, Evans.” I replied. “You’re hot.”

She glared at me and warned, “Don’t start.”

Robyn, sensing the tension, asked, “So, James, you’re the captain, right?” I didn’t have time to say anything else, which might’ve been lucky. Who knows what Lily would’ve done to me.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Our team’s basically the same, which is good because it was really strong last year.”

“But you have to replace Dexter and Carl, which might not be easy,” Cassara said. Dexter had been one of our Beaters (Robyn was the other), but he had graduated the year before. He’d been a decent player, but I had seen better. Since he was the captain, though, he still got to play on. I have to say, he had the leadership thing down; he was bossy as hell. But that still didn’t make him a good player. Carl had been the seeker last year, and he’d been pretty good, but not really anything to write home about.

“He wasn’t all that great,” I reminded them.

“I know, but you may not be able to find anyone better,” said Robyn.

“I still don’t understand what you see in Quidditch,” Lily complained. “It’s just a weird sport where you throw things at each other and attack each other with bats.”

“But that’s the fun of it!” Robyn exclaimed.

“Well, nothing’s fun for you unless you can hit something with a bat or kick something,” Lily retorted. As usual, her mood was bad now that she was around us.

I heard footsteps behind us. At first I didn’t think much of it, but they kept coming closer and started slowing down as they neared us. “Hey guys,” A familiar voice said.

My stomach dropped. It was Eve. No wonder I felt like I was forgetting someone, I thought, turning around slowly
.
My stomach fluttered slightly as I saw again how beautiful she was. She was slightly paler and thinner, but that was understandable. I mean, she’d lost her brother and dad! “Hey Eve,” I said.

I’d thought a lot about her brother over the summer. He’d been our Quidditch team captain my first and second years playing (in my second and third years), and he’d been really good. Our team had a lot of new players, and he’d never gotten annoyed with any of us for missing a pass or throwing it off. It amazed me that anyone could be so patient and genuinely nice all the time. It also amazed me that someone like that could’ve died so suddenly. I guess if there was something I should take from it, it was that anything could happen. And that it was always the best people who died.

“Hi, James.” She grinned slightly. “How was your summer?”

“It was good,” I replied. “How are you?” I decided to ask that instead of how her summer was, because it probably wasn’t all that great. Aside from losing her brother and dad, she now had only her mother, a muggle who Cassara and Robyn had said wasn’t comfortable with the thought of magic, despite the fact that her husband (or her former husband, I suppose) and her children were all wizards. Unlike Robyn’s mother, though, at least it seemed she cared for them and tried her best to understand what was going on.

“I’m okay,” she answered, sighing.

“Glad to hear it,” I said.

“Did you get the present for Juli?” Lily wanted to know. She was acting strangely, even for when she was around me.

I wonder what’s going on? I thought. I guess she might be jealous about me talking to Eve, but why? She doesn’t like me. Or at least she didn’t last time I checked.

“Yeah,” said Eve. “I got the frog.”

“Frog?” I asked.

“Juli’s wanted a frog for a while, so I decided I should finally just get it for her, since her birthday’s tomorrow,” she replied.

“I still don’t understand what she sees in frogs,” Cassara declared, wrinkling her nose. “They’re all warty and gross.”

“How are you going to keep it from her until her birthday?” asked Robyn.

Eve’s eyebrows furrowed. “I hadn’t thought about that,” she admitted. “I guess I’ll just have to give it to her early. I’m not going to take care of it until her birthday. I don’t get why she likes them so much, either.”

“So, James, are you the Quidditch team captain?” Eve asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Cool. I’m thinking about trying out,” she told me.

“For seeker?” Robyn inquired incredulously.

“Yeah, why?” Eve asked defensively. “I mean, I can’t imagine there’d be anyone much better, now that Carl’s gone.”

“Good for you, Evie,” Cassara congratulated her, but I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. They didn’t want her getting hurt again after something so tragic had just happened.

We talked for a while longer. Lily seemed to be avoiding talking to me, but at least she hadn’t run away yet. I caught her glancing at me and then Eve several times. It seemed weird, but I decided it was best not to comment on it so that Lily didn’t strangle me.

It seemed strange to me that Lily hadn’t mentioned being Head Girl. I decided not to bring it up, though, because I figured that if she wasn’t it, she wouldn’t be too happy, and even if she was, she still wouldn’t be too happy because I was Head Boy.

After about an hour, Remus and Scarlett came over to the bench. Scarlett’s fair skin was flushed and she was grinning widely.

“What happened?” I asked Remus under my breath.

He looked at me innocently and replied, “Nothing.” But I could tell he was keeping something from me. Hopefully I’d be able to get it out later.

Scarlett was smiling widely and seemed to be staring off into space. She’s in love, I thought. I was really happy for her and Remus. They totally deserved each other.

“Scarlett, are you alive?” Lily asked sarcastically.

She smiled dreamily. “Yes,” she sighed languorously.

“Nothing my ass,” I muttered in Remus’s ear. He smiled and shrugged secretively.

Lily glanced at her watch and told Scarlett, “I think we should leave, your mum was expecting us ten minutes ago.”

That snapped Scarlett out of her euphoria. She sighed and pouted. “Do we have to?” she whined, sounding like a three-year-old.

Well, love does crazy things to you, I thought.

“You know how worried your um was just letting us come her by ourselves,” Lily reminded her.

“Yeah, and with You-Know-Who running loose, your mum’ll probably expect the worst. Hell, she probably already does,” Robyn added. Calling Volemort You-Know-Who was becoming a trend; people were starting to fear him so much that they refused to say his name. I said it, but just so that the people around me didn’t get angry when I called him Voldemort.

“We should probably be getting back, too,” Remus said, looking up at the darkening sky. “Your mum wanted us home before dark.”

Scarlett giggled coyly. “Good luck getting Sirius away from that girl.” Then she pecked him on the cheek and Disapparated.

Lily, Robyn, Eve, Cassara and I gaped at Remus, whose face was bright red.

Lily, as usual, was the first to regain her composure. “Are you going out?” she asked.

He nodded slowly.

Cassara squealed and ran at him, almost knocking him down with her force while she hugged him. “Oh, my God! I’m so happy for you!” she shrieked. “I’ve got to go congratulate Scarlett!” And with that, she took a few steps back and Disapparated.

Robyn, Eve, and Lily congratulated him in a more civil manner, then Disapparated as well. Remus and I were left alone. It was quiet; almost everyone was gone from the streets.

“Congratulations, Moony,” I said. “You must’ve done well.”

He smiled. “I don’t know if I ever could’ve done it without your advice. And to be honest, I’m still in shock.”

“I can tell,” I replied. “Now we have to retrieve Sirius.”

Remus patted me on the back. “Since you’re such a good friend, you can do it.”
I rolled my eyes at him but decided it wasn’t worth an argument. I rolled up my sleeves and turned around. It was almost surprising to see them still going at it; I mean, they’d been making out for hours.

I walked over cautiously and tentatively tapped him on the shoulder. As I’d expected, he didn’t move.

I tried again, poking him and yelling, “Sirius!”

“Go away,” he said, his lips never leaving hers. I looked back at Remus, who had a slightly surprised look on his face.

“Sirius, we have to go. It’s getting late,” I said, hoping the third time was the charm.

He slowed up a little, then pulled himself off of her. “Fine.” He turned to the girl. “Alma, I’ll see you later.”

“It’s Allison,” she reminded him.

“Right. I’ll see you later Allison.”

“Bye, Sirius,” she replied.

He stood up reluctantly, then the three of us Apparated home. I still hated that sucking feeling, but I decided it was more convenient than riding a broom around or walking for the rest of my life.

Once we were back, we told Sirius all that he had missed, and he said he was almost sad he had missed it, which was a new thing for him. Normally snogging sessions were his life.

“Good job, Remus,” Sirius said. “Between you and Scarlett and James and Eve, this should be one of the most interesting years yet.”

And he was right.

---

A/N: Well,. I hope you liked it… as you can imagine, it took me a while to write. As I said, please review, because I’m getting a bit discouraged at how few I’ve been getting. I’ll try my best to get the next chapter out soon, though. I bet it’ll be shorter though. A lot shorter.

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long... school's been really really tough. Basically, I'm coming down with senioritis 4 years early, and softball's already started... but since winter break's coming up, the next chapter or two will be up soon. PLEASE REVIEW!! I'm getting more and more discouraged... really, the story will get much better once I'm done setting it up...

---

“Lily, come down here!” Scarlett yelled up the stairs at me. It carried throughout the big, mostly empty mansion.

I looked up from my potions homework and shouted back, “What is it?”

“The letters from Hogwarts are here, come quick!” Cassara yelled.

I dropped my quill and sprinted down the long, winding staircase. I stood briefly at the kitchen door, telling myself not to be too disappointed if I wasn’t Head Girl. My friends had told me repeatedly that there were no other possibilities, but they were all smart and pretty responsible. And then there were always the people in other houses to consider.

“It’s simple, really,” Cassara had explained, “if any of us are Head Girl, we’ll step down, and you’ll probably be the next choice.”

“But what if you aren’t Head Girl?” I asked. “And what if someone really bad happens to be second-up?”

She didn’t have any answer to that one.
But nothing could be anywhere near as bad as my sister’s wedding…

*Flashback*

A few hours before the wedding, Petunia had made us all sit down in the living room to give us some last-minute orders. Yvonne had stood next to her, her bony face stretched into a menacing grin, while Petunia went on and on about what we were supposed to do. She glared at me briefly, then looked away, so I let my eyes wander around the room. It was actually funny�”the room looked like a big sea of frilly pink bows and ruffles with a few heads sticking out above them. Even people’s arms and legs were lost in their dresses.

Well, I thought, that’s what they get when they don’t eat.

Petunia, who had eaten nothing but carrots since I had gotten home for summer vacation, was slightly orange. She had been complaining to Mum about how she wanted to go down just one more size, although I don’t know how that worked�”she was already the smallest adult size there was, if she was lucky.

The wedding was a blur. I barely remembered any of it, until we were asked if any of us objected. I was almost crying�”of course I did! I had a feeling that, if Petunia hadn’t become so wrapped up in him and he hadn’t always made such a big deal out of being normal, Petunia would’ve been a bit nicer to me. And he was a pig, anyway. He was fat and ugly and always very cruel.

The reception afterwards was bad, too. I just sat at my table sullenly, not wanting to move at all. I wished for the millionth time that one of my friends had been there to help me through it. It only dawned on me then that I could’ve tried telling my parents that I wouldn’t be a bridesmaid unless Petunia let one of my friends come to the wedding. But it was too late now.

A few guys who were about my age came up and asked me to dance. I agreed, but only because Mum was standing a few feet away, glaring at me for having such a bad attitude. Every time this happened, I briefly wondered what Petunia would act like at my wedding, if I even let her come.

Somehow I managed to last through the night. Hoping that I would be able to forget about it soon, I had taken a shower immediately after we got back, then went to bed. There was no lecture on my attitude, surprisingly.

*End of Flashback*

I flung the swinging door open and ran in, my horrible hand-eye coordination forgotten as I grabbed my letter when Robyn threw it to me.

I pulled out the nearest chair and flopped down, deciding that if I was sitting I would be able to handle whatever I found (or didn’t find) a lot better. Then I tore off the seal, trying hard not to rip the letters.

And a little gold badge fell into my lap, landing upside-down. I flipped it over, and saw it was inscribed with the letters “HG.” I opened my mouth to tell them that I was Head Girl, but I was too dumbfounded to speak.

Cassara cocked her head to the right, a puzzled expression on her face. Then she grinned, walking around the table to me. “Lily, I’ve never seen you speechless, so that must mean…” she trailed off as she saw the badge. The whole room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop�”that is, until Cassara fully processed it and shrieked.

She screamed excitedly, “Lily’s Head Girl!” then proceeded to do a victory dance around the table, spinning around and jumping up in the air in a very odd way.

Everyone congratulated me, even Scarlett’s parents, who had heard Cassara’s earsplitting screech and rushed in to see what was wrong. I was still in total shock.

“Congratulations. We knew you could do it, Lily,” Eve said, so quiet I could barely hear her. She even mustered up a small smile, just for me, which completely made my day. She was still able to be happy for me, after all she’d been through. The whole Head Girl thing seemed like such a petty thing compared to all the losses she’d had. Not that I wasn’t still excited.

The funeral for Eddie and her dad had been a couple weeks before. The hardest part about it was finding out that Eddie had been engaged to a girl named Zora. And she was five months pregnant. She was really nice; I’d been briefly introduced to her before the funeral, and we’d stood next to her throughout the service. It was sad. I don’t think I’d ever seen anything sadder. And Zora somehow managed to stand there all by herself, her hand over the bulge of her unborn baby, her blue eyes filled with tears. It was sad, that she had no one to comfort her. And she had no job! Eddie had been an Auror, so she didn’t have to work. Luckily, Eve’s grandfather was able to hook her up with a job in the Ministry. Well, that’s what I’d heard. It was a low-paying job in a little-known department, but since it was just her and her baby, it was better than nothing.

We’d gone to Eve’s frequently after the funeral for the next couple days, making sure that Eve knew we were there for her and we’d do anything she needed. I hadn’t seen her cry, even at the funeral. I knew that she cried when she was alone, though. That was Eve�”she never wanted to show others her pain. She didn’t want to burden us with it. She’d just shut everyone out for days, telling us “I’m fine” whenever we asked her a question. We weren’t stupid�”we knew that she was not fine, but there wasn’t much we could do to help her out if she wouldn’t let us in.

She’d come a week after the funeral, and none of us had expected her so soon. We soon saw that she was much better. Although she was still quiet, she would carry on conversations and even talked to us about her dad and Eddie. It was definitely good for her, so we wee happy she was doing it. The only difference between her now and the old Eve was that she was quieter still. But that was sometimes a good thing�”then there wasn’t as much competition between all of my incredibly loud friends.

Now I was sitting at the table in a total daze, extremely excited for the new school year. I couldn’t wait to see who the Head Boy was. Probably Remus, I thought. But there was something telling me that it wasn’t him that I just couldn’t place my finger on.

---

We decided to go out to Diagon Alley the day after we got the letters, knowing that there wouldn’t really be a way to beat the rush except to leave early in the morning. Cassara, a late sleeper, loved that. We woke up at about seven and managed to get out of the house by eight, a great accomplishment when you’re in a house with four other girls who all feel like they have to get their makeup perfect because we might see boys. I don’t really know what the purpose of that is, and I asked them to explain it. Not that it made any sense. Eve seemed nervous and jumpy�”I briefly wondered if she was thinking about Potter, but that only depressed me. Seeing him was the only thing I wasn’t looking forward to in the new school year.

We split up according to what classes we had so we could cover more ground, but that proved to be hard since I had almost all the classes all four of them had. Basically I spent a lot of time running around to other stores while they waited in line and bought my books and supplies for me.

It was really busy. It seemed like almost everyone had decided to come today just to get it over with, although I knew that all the people here were significantly less than half the people at Hogwarts.

Getting there early paid off�”we were done by early afternoon. We’d planned to meet by Florean Fortescue’s to walk around a bit more, since it was the first time we’d really been out of Scarlett’s house in a while. Eve was off by herself getting a frog for Juli, since she wanted one for her birthday, and Cassara and Robyn were buying Quidditch supplies. Scarlett and I saw Remus, Sirius, and Potter sitting at a table outside of the ice cream parlor. Sirius was just walking away with a blonde girl who had huge boobs. They made their way to a table and started to make out. Cassara and Robyn joined us shortly after, and I glanced over at Cassara. She was frowning, her face flushing slightly. I’d known for a long time that she liked him, even though she never said it. I have no idea what she saw in him, though�”he was worse than Potter. But to each his own. Or her own, I guess.

Potter and Remus were left alone at the table, talking. I looked distastefully at Potter, but then an idea popped into my head�”I leaned over to Scarlett, covering my lips with my hands.

“Go say hi to Remus,” I suggested. I knew she would do it; for the past few months she’d been trying a bit harder to catch Remus’s attention.

She took a quick look at him, paling slightly, but then she smiled and stood, squaring her shoulders bravely. “Okay, I will.”

She courageously made her way over to Remus. He looked like he was about to throw up, he was so nervous. But I knew he liked her. He’d just never been good at talking to girls.

We watched them talk for a bit, then Potter stood up to leave the two of them alone. Shortly after, Remus and Scarlett stood up and left the table. Then James must’ve realized he had nothing to do�”he stared back at the table and looked quite uncomfortable, like he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Poor James,” Robyn said. Cassara was still in a bit of a daze, since Sirius was sitting on a park bench making out with a girl we’d never seen before. Everyone else, however, was completely oblivious of the fact that Cassara was in total pain. Or maybe they realized it and just weren’t reacting.

“Cassara, I think we should force Lily to go say hi to James,” Robyn said, grinning.

That got her out of her depression. She grinned. “Definitely. Lily, do it.”

I looked over at him, sitting dejectedly on the bench. To my surprise and disgust, he looked right up at me and smiled slightly. I turned back around and saw Cassara whispering in Robyn’s ear. Soon after, the two of them burst out laughing.

“How about we don’t go over to see Potter?” I suggested in a slightly exasperated voice. I hated it when my friends tried to push me closer to Potter. It was never going to happen between us. The thought made me want to puke. “I mean, he’ll probably be happier if we don’t bother him anyway.”

“Well, Lils, we’re taking you whether you like it or not,” Robyn insisted. Cassara nodded so vehemently I thought her head might fall off. Then, much to my horror, they grabbed my arms and pulled me over to see him. I didn’t fight back too hard, though�”I knew I was going to have to speak with him. This knowledge made me irritated, and I had the intense desire to bash my head into a wall.

Once we were over there, there was a slightly awkward silence where I defiantly refused to speak. Then Cassara elbowed me hard in the side, and I said curtly, “Hey, Potter.”

“Hey Evans,” He replied with the annoying look in his eyes he got whenever I was around. “You’re hot.”

“Don’t start,” I told him, scowling warningly.

Robyn saved the conversation by asking James about Quidditch. They began to discuss their new strategies and who they needed to replace the people who’d graduated.

Since I was already in a foul mood, it didn’t take me long to get extremely exasperated. “I still don’t know what you see in Quidditch,” I complained. “ It’s just a weird sport where you throw things at each other and attack each other with bats.”

“But that’s the fun of it!” Robyn said, grinning lopsidedly.

“Well, nothing’s fun for you unless you can hit something with a bat or kick something,” I responded crossly.

Then there were footsteps behind us. I was sure it was Eve, back with the frog for Juli. I turned around and moved over slightly, allowing a little space in our semicircle for her to stand between Cassara and me.

To my surprise, the look on James’s face was different than I’d ever seen. He staring up at her with an almost sensitive look, like he truly cared about her. It looked a bit like the look he gave me, but there was no humor in his eyes like there was with me. I had no idea what to think�”it seemed like maybe he liked her.

Eve and James were talking, and I cut in, saying, “Did you get the present for Juli?” I felt slightly twitchy and anxious, but I wasn’t sure why.

While they discussed the frog, things became more and more obvious that James liked Eve. The thought of that made me want to throw up, but in the back of my mind it seemed like I was almost jealous.

Stop thinking like that, Lily, I told myself. You just feel bad that Eve will be
subjected to the same sort of torture you have to go through.

Accepting that as the answer to my strange feelings, I went on to join in the conversation, although I wasn’t really my usual self. I had too much to think about.

Soon, Scarlett and Remus came back. Scarlett was grinning stupidly and completely spacing out. I was happy for her, but my bad mood was still too great for me to be as excited for her as I should’ve been. “Scarlett, are you alive?” I asked.

She grinned even more widely and replied, “Yes.”

James whispered something in Remus’s ear, and Remus shrugged and smiled. I glanced at my watch and said to Scarlett, “I think we should leave, your mum was expecting us ten minutes ago.”

Scarlett started to act like a three-year-old you had just told should take their nap. “Do we have to?” she whined.

“You know how worried your mum was just letting us come here by ourselves,” I told her.

“Yeah, and with You-Know-Who on the loose, your mum’ll probably expect the worst. Hell, she probably already does,” Robyn pointed out.

“We should probably be getting back, too,” Remus said to James. “Your mum wanted us home before dark.”

“Good luck getting Sirius away from that girl,” Scarlett giggled, pointing over at the bench. Cassara’s face tensed, but after a deep breath she composed herself, smiling agian. Then Scarlett kissed Remus on the cheek and Disapparated.

We all gaped at Remus, although I wasn’t necessarily surprised. He was blushing all the way down his neck.

It apparently surprised Cassara, because she screeched and ran at Remus, hugging him tightly and shrieking something almost indeterminable at him. Then she Disapparated, leaving us to congratulate Remus more civilly, and we followed her back.

I could tell this year would be interesting, with James’s interests shifting from me to Eve. I knew I should be happy, but something inside me felt empty from it.

It’ll take some getting used to, having Potter not as interested in you, I told myself, but it’ll be a good thing.

Somehow I wasn’t completely convinced.