Chapter 1: Hard to Get

“First day back, it’s the start of our Seventh Year and you haven’t given up yet, eh Prongs?” Sirius said with a sly smile, as James Potter tied a bow around a small package.

“This year,” he said, “is the year, Padfoot old friend. She wont be able to resist my charms."

“And why is that?”

“Well, its simple really…” he faltered. “Uh, well, because…"

“Good luck, Prongsie,” Remus said, laughing. “And what exactly is in that birthday present?”

“I’m not telling you, it’s a secret. Just for Lily,” James replied.

Sirius leant over to Remus and audibly whispered, “We’ll find out soon enough, once Lily throws it back in his face!”


They laughed, as James threw a pillow across the dormitory at Sirius. “She will not! This one’s special.”

Peter, who was unpacking his underwear into a drawer, suddenly spoke up. “I think this may be your year, James,” he said.

Everyone turned to look at him. “Well,” he stated simply, “you’re a handsome boy, she can’t refuse you forever.”

This set Sirius and James off into a fit of giggles. Remus looked on. “This is going to be a great final year for the Marauders,” he said, smiling.

***

Lily Evans was in a filthy mood. It was her first day back at Hogwarts for her seventh and final year, and things had not started out well at all. She had tried to use her new power as Head Girl for good, by scolding a group of Third Year Slytherins about to set off dung bombs outside the staffroom, only to be ridiculed when their bigger, tougher Seventh Year counterparts turned up. That hadn’t gone well at all.

But to make the day worse, she had received more homework than you could throw a hex at in both Ancient Runes and Divination, and if one more teacher mentioned N.E.W.Ts for a good while yet she would shout louder than she did at Potter.

That was another thing that annoyed her today: James Potter. However it was, despite what everyone else thought, his absence that irritated her today, and she didn’t quite know why. Not because she thought him anything special, but more that she had grown used to his stupid antics done to impress her over the years. It wasn’t that she couldn’t go by without one day of telling Potter to leave her alone, but after the dreadful summer she had had, Lily thought she could at least rely on him to make things seem like Hogwarts again.

Where was he?

Just as Lily entered the Great Hall for lunch, she spotted her friend Yves sitting chatting to a Sixth Year Gryffindor called Alice. She had become friendlier with the Seventh Years since she started dating James’s friend Frank Longbottom last year at the Summer Ball.

“Hi Lily,” Yves chirped, as Lily sat down next to Alice. “Good day so far? Mine’s been great except for the amount of homework I got! Professor Foxer gave us a 5-foot essay on the importance of artificial light to the development of the Muggle community! 5 feet! On the first day! How evil is she?”

Lily sighed and took a bite out of her bread roll. “Don’t get me started on my day.”
Alice looked sympathetic. “James bugging you already, is he?” she asked. “Doesn’t take him long.”

“Well, no actually. I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Don’t look too happy about it will you,” Yves said sarcastically. “People will think you don’t like him!”

“Haha,” said Lily, “very funny. Its just weird he hasn’t been hanging off my every word yet, is all.”

“Playing hard to get, I’ll bet,” Yves said.

***

Over by the Quidditch pitch, James ruffled his hair. “I tell you, the way forward this year is to play hard to get. That’ll get her noticing me.”

“Sure it will James. Leaving Evans alone will most certainly make her fall madly in love with you,” Sirius said, with a sly look in his eyes and a slight smile. “Go ahead, ignore her, avoid her, do all you can to stay out of her way. She’ll come running.”

James shook his head. “I’m telling you,” he said, “it’ll work. You’ll see. She wont be able to resist me.”

“The question is,” Remus put it, “how long will you be able to resist her? I mean, you wont be capable of staying out of Lily’s life for long. One week is what my money’s on.”

“Put me down for one day,” Sirius said.

“Cheers guys, it’s nice to know I have your support on this.”

“Oh no, Prongsie old pal, you’ve got us all wrong,” said Sirius, smiling. “We’ve been telling you to forget Evans ever since First Year!”

“Haha, very funny” James said, rising to return to lessons. “Seriously though, this is going to be tough. I’ve spent all summer thinking about Lily and now we’re back this hard to get thing is keeping me away from her!”

He debated this issue all the way to Potions, being stubbornly ignored by Remus and Sirius, who were discussing who might fill the two empty Chaser positions on the Quidditch team. Once they reached the dungeons and lined up alongside the other Seventh Years taking Potions, James dropped the subject of Lily: she was standing near the head of the queue.

Once the bell rang, the door opened and the Potions master, Professor Slughorn, was preceded out of the classroom by his exceedingly large stomach.

“Welcome, my eager young pupils!” he exclaimed, his moustache twitching as he spoke, “to another year of learning! Please enter quietly and take your places as usual. There will be no need for your practical equipment today.”

The class groaned as one unanimous objection. No practical equipment meant only one thing: a N.E.W.Ts lecture.

As predicted, once the class was settled, James in his usual place in between the other Marauders, and seated just behind Lily, Professor Slughorn smiled at them and said, “As you know, this year is the most important you will ever undertake during your education at Hogwarts: it is N.E.W.Ts year, boys and girls! Now I know you are all very excited by this, as it means we will be exploring new and ever more interesting potions, but it also demands a certain amount of hard work and determination that you have not yet experienced.”

Slughorn continued in this fashion for most of the lesson, outlining the different potions they would attempt, how these would aid them in their exams, and how they should structure their revision of all the past six years’ work. Most of the class began to lose concentration, and the only ones still making notes by the time the bell rang at the end of the double period were Remus, Lily, and a Hufflepuff boy called Tommy.

As the class rose to leave, however, Slughorn put up his hard to signal that he was not quite finished with them yet. “I have one more thing to say,” he said, holding up a short, podgy finger, “and that is this: although Professor Dumbledore would not have me frighten you, I am sure you are much more capable of taking bad news than the little First Years. Therefore, I shall not hold back on what I am about to tell you. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has, over the course of the summer, gathered to himself an immense army of loyal supporters. I am sure many of you have been keeping up with the news and know of the increasing number of deaths being reported. I can tell you, with my inside information on Ministry proceedings: it is worse than we could have imagined. Do not be alarmed, for you are quite safe here at Hogwarts while Dumbledore is around. Even so, times are dark, and I wish all of you to be on your guard. Stay close to your friends, and especially your families, for you never know what might happen next. That is all…now, Homework-“ he said to groans from the class as they picked up their quills to note it down, “is as follows: 4 feet on the effects of snake venom if used incorrectly in a Sleeping Draught. To be handed in next lesson. Now off you go, boys and girls! And don’t forget what I said!”

The class filed out, heavy with the thought of yet more homework, and the doom of Voldemort. As Lily was about to leave however, Slughorn called her back. “Oh, Miss Evans, could I have a word please?”

James bent down to tie his shoelace so that he could listen. Sirius rolled his eyes and stepped over him.

“Miss Evans, I am holding my first Slug Club gathering this Friday in my office. Usual time. I do so hope you can make it. Will you alert the usual from your year?”

“Yes, Professor,” Lily answered.

James stood and preceded her out of the door, running to catch up with the others. He made sure not to turn around to look at Lily as he did. That bloody Slug Club was a joke, he thought.

“Playing hard to get, huh?” Sirius said, jokingly, once James had reached them. “I guess in the fine print it doesn’t mention anything about being allowed to eavesdrop.”

“I wasn’t! My shoelace needed tying.”

Sirius raised his eyebrow. “Six years of friendship and that’s what you take us for? Idiots? That’s the most rookie excuse I ever heard. Raise the bar, Prongsie. We’re Marauders, remember?”

The four friends climbed up the flights of stairs to the Gryffindor Common room, to collect their things for the next lesson.

Chapter 2: Mysteries



The first week of school went by without any problems. The Seventh Year’s were overwhelmed by the amount of homework they were given, which didn’t lend any time for other, more amusing, excursions.



For James, it meant above all that he could easily avoid Lily.



“I just don’t have time to think at the moment,” he said to Remus as they walked back to the Common room after another long and tiring day. “The only times my mind isn’t on work are Quidditch practice, eating, and sleeping, and I can hardly think about girls during any of those!”



Remus smiled. “Heaven forbid you should have your mind on anything other than food during dinner time.”



“Well exactly,” James said, missing the sarcasm. “So really, this playing hard to get thing is a piece of pumpkin pie.”



“That depends on whether it’s working. For all you know, she could have forgotten all about you by now.”



James frowned. “Hmm, you think I should go back to square one?” They entered the common room and moved a couple of Second Years who were sitting in the good seats by the fire. “Seventh Year privilege I’ve invented as Head Boy. Go and sit in those spare seats by the entrance.”



They sat down. “So, what do think? Back to square one?” James repeated to Remus.



“You were never even on square one, Prongs,” came the reply. I think you should start again. Fresh. Now can we please change the subject? For someone who claims to have nothing but work, Quidditch, and food on his mind, you seem to have a lot of space for Lily Evans…”



***



“Lily Evans!” someone shouted the next morning.



Lily turned around. Yves was running towards her. She skidded to a halt in front of Lily. “You know, you’ve been walking around in a cloud these past days! I’ve been calling and calling you from the end of the corridor.”



“Sorry Yve, what did you want?”



Yves linked arms with Lily and they continued on their way to breakfast. “Well, I happen to know its someone’s birthday coming up really soon, and I wondered what she wanted as a gift…”



Lily bit her bottom lip and thought about it. “Uh, well I don’t really know to be honest. You don’t have to bother you know Yve, I don’t expect anything.”



“Don’t be silly!” Yves said as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. “I always get you a present every year. I just wanted to know if there was anything specifically that you wanted. Otherwise I’ll just go with my instinct. There are some really lovely things this season in Witch Catalogue.”



“Yeah, instinct is much better,” Lily said, pouring herself some orange juice.



She looked up and noticed they were sitting opposite James, Sirius and Remus, who were deep in a discussion about the qualities of the latest model broom. Lily noticed James’s eyes flicker up to meet hers for a split second, before lowering them again to his food and talking about air speed.



She looked to her empty bowl and began filling it with milk and cornflakes. “Pass the sugar please, Potter,” she said, not looking up. He jumped, surprised at being addressed at the breakfast table. “Uh, sure,” he said, sliding it across to her. She poured a generous helping on her cereal and slid it back to him. “Cheers.”



He turned back to Sirius and Remus and re-joined the conversation, which had moved to the new season’s Quidditch League table.



Yves opened the Daily Prophet that had just been deposited by a large tawny owl. It nicked a piece of bacon from her plate, swallowed it whole, and then stretched its wings wide and took off again.



Lily looked over to her friend who was scanning the front page. “How many?” she inquired routinely.



Yves sighed. “No mention of deaths on the front page, but a ministry official was caught trying to get into the Department of Mysteries last night. They think he was under the influence of the Imperius Curse.”



At this, James, Sirius and Remus stopped talking Quidditch, and all turned towards Yves.



“Say that again,” Sirius said.



Yves read out the opening of the article.



“Last night ministry official Berty Lord was arrested for attempting to break into the Department of Mysteries at Ministry Headquarters. Aurors were alerted to his presence by dark sensors placed around the building. Once caught, he was immediately taken to Azkaban where he awaits news of a trial.



“Minster for Magic Arvon Funke this morning spoke of the matter as “highly suspicious.” However, he also stated that the highest security has been placed upon the Ministry, and it is under no more threat. Mr Funke added that “Berty Lord has been a loyal and trusting member of the Ministry for many years, therefore until evidence is given otherwise, I am treating this as a case of the Imperius Curse. I believe he was accosted and the curse placed upon him. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has struck again.” '



She folded the paper and paced it on the table. Those who had been leaning in to listen were staring at each other.



“He’s probably wrong,” Remus said. “I mean it may have just been a misunderstanding. I bet this man ran into a Death Eater who thought it would be amusing to put the Imperius Curse on him and get him arrested. Wouldn't surprise me at all. You-Know-Who might not have even been involved.”



James looked sceptical. “Chance would be a fine thing,” he said. “He’s always involved nowadays. What kind of misunderstanding would involve someone trying to break into there?”



“I don’t understand. What’s so special about the Department of Mysteries?” asked Lily.



“No one knows,” Remus said mysteriously, “My dad once told me that it contains highly dangerous and unidentified magical substances. It’s like a huge laboratory where unclassified information is kept. But he only works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He could be wrong.”



Silence gripped the friends, until Peter came running towards them, and, tripping over a protruding Slytherin leg, fell crashing to the ground.



The Hall erupted into laughter. Lily ran to help him up, but Peter only shook her off and rushed to the empty seat beside Sirius, burying his face in a bowl of cornflakes.



Sirius, still laughing, clapped him on the back. “Good one, Wormtail. You never fail to embarrass yourself in front of the whole world. What's the rush, anyway?”



Peter cleared his throat and mumbled, “Never mind,” before hurriedly scooping spoonfuls of cereal into his mouth, milk dribbling down his chin.



James looked at Lily and smiled. She flushed and stood up.



“Come on Yve, we need to get our books for Transfiguration.”



Yves took another bite out of her bacon sandwich and joined Lily. “Why are you all pink?” she asked as they walked away.



“I really don’t know….” Lily answered, with her hands on her cheeks.

Chapter 3: Sirius in Trouble

“Wrackspurt.” The Gryffindor portrait swung forward and Lily entered. Inside, she found Sirius and Yves engaged in a game of Wizard’s Chess. Yves was smiling as her queen smashed one of Sirius’s bishops into pieces.

“No fair, you cheat!” he proclaimed. “I can’t believe I am losing to a girl...”

“Well start believing, bucko. Your turn.”

Lily sat down next to Yves. “I can see lots of work is going on here,” she grinned. “Professor Honour’s essay is in for tomorrow you know.”

“We’ve done it already,” Yves said.

“Really?”

Sirius smiled. “It appears this one is a bad influence on me. People might start thinking I actually enjoy doing my homework early.”

The trio laughed as James strolled in with a broomstick on his shoulder.

“Sirius! Where were you at training?”

Sirius ducked as James hurtled his bag at him. “Sorry,” he said, “my work is more important, you know.”

James slouched down next to him. “If you think for a moment I believe that, then you’re not giving me much credit as your best friend, now are you?”

Sirius shrugged.

“Well never mind. It just means we didn’t have our best Beater. Carolina is alright but she doesn’t have the uncontrollable and unending supply of energy that you do.”

“Is that the Fifth Year girl who fancies you, James?” Sirius inquired, smiling.

“She does not! She’s a friendly person who just likes smiling-“

“Oh and normal ‘friendly’ people like stroking your arm, do they?”

“And laughing hysterically at your jokes,” Lily said.

“Which really aren’t funny,” Sirius pointed out.

“Hey now wait a minute! My Hippogriff joke is a cracker!” James cried, feigning offence.

At that moment, Remus descended down the Boys’ Dormitory staircase. “Dinner time, guys. Man, I’m hungry.”

The boys headed off to dinner, and Yves turned to look at Lily. “Well now, that wasn’t torture, was it?”

“What wasn’t?

“Talking to Potter! You managed it perfectly well just then.”

Lily smiled. “Well, that’s because he wasn’t showing off or playing stupid pranks. It’s only then that he gets on my nerves.”

Yves looked like she was going to pursue the topic further, but thought the better of it. “Remus is right, dinner time!” she said.

***

Later that night, Sirius awoke to find both James and Peter out of their beds. Peter was known to spend all night in the laundry room trying to sort out his 'wet sheets', but James never left for a night-time stroll without Sirius.

He groped around in the dark under James’s bed for his friend’s invisibility cloak, but found it missing. He must have gone out of the building, he thought. Tempting as it was to wake Remus to help him find James, he looked so peaceful and there were only a few nights until the next full moon. He needed his sleep.

Sirius crept downstairs, stuffing his wand into his dressingown as he went. He had half a mind to throttle James for leaving without him. And more importantly, for taking the Marauder’s Map with him. It would be much harder to locate him this way, and if James didn’t want to be found, he could tell when Sirius was approaching.

So close to the full moon, the sky was light and so lit Sirius’s way. He reached a junction and was deciding which way to go when he heard far-off voices. Someone was angrily whispering. Sirius reached for his wand and held it in front of him. “Lumos,” he muttered, as his wand lit up for extra light along the windowless corridor, but more for his own peace of mind.

He followed the whispering, but before he got close enough to decipher its source, he heard hurried footsteps coming from somewhere behind him. Sirius panicked, and in his haste, hrew open the nearest door to him, shutting it quietely behinf him.

The footsteps grew louder, and Sirius distinctly heard a cat miaow. "Filch," he thought to himself. Why was it that whenever he was out of bed, Filch and his stinking cat were on his case? But Sirius wasn't a Marauder for nothing. That old man had never once got round to catching him... yet.

Filch spoke. "It's alright, my sweet. Those nasty Fourth Years will hang for this. We don't need to catch them at it. These dungbombs will go straight to the Headmaster tomorrow morning. He can't ignore evidence, can he, my precious?"

Filch's footsteps echoed away back in the direction he had come from. Sirius let out a sigh of relief. How many people were out of bed tonight?

He opened the dorr a crack and listened intentely. The whispering had stopped. Whoever it was must have heard Filch approaching. While Sirius was disappointed at not finding out if it was James, he told himself it was most likely those Fourth Year rebels. He left the classroom and started off back in the direction he had come.

The whispering started again.

Sirius stopped, turned around. He followed the sound of the voices; there were two now, the second was high-pitched and almost familiar. They led him round another corner, at which point Sirius breathed “Nox” and put his wand back in his pocket.

He felt his way along the wall, making sure to count every door frame his hand went over on the way: Three...Four...Five...the voices were in the next room. He stopped, and listened.

“The Dark Lord will know, you can count on that,” came the first angry voice. “He prizes those who obey him above all others. Make no mistake. Do I make myself clear?”

There followed a deadly silence in which Sirius could make out the sound of a mouse scuttling along the corridor floor.

“I said-“

“Yes.” It was Peter.

Sirius took a step backwards in shock, as the first voice uttered, “Good, good. Because if I find out, you know what will happen...” Sirius heard a whimper. “No....no please.”

Sirius reached for his wand again, and threw open the classroom door. “Stop!” he yelled, pointing his wand at the throat of the attacker.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” the voice said. Sirius stepped forward and saw his cousin sneering at him.

“Bella! What the hell are you doing? Let him go!” Bella was pointing her wand at Peter, who was dangling several feet off the floor. “Let him go now!”

“Or what?” Bella quizzed. “You’ll hand me over to Dumbledore? Will I get put in detention? Ha! You have no idea, cousin, what you are letting yourself into. Go and run off back to bed like a good boy. Peter will join you shortly.”

“Lay off the rubbish, Bella. He’s just an innocent fool and you know it.”

Bella flicked her wand away from Peter, and he fell in a heap on the floor. She pointed it at Sirius instead. “I mean business. You had better keep put of my way, fool, for your own sake. I don’t like hurting family members, but you betrayed the Black bloodline the moment you shook hands with Mudbloods. Your name won’t protect you forever that way. Join me and you might still be in with a chance.”

“I made my choice a long time ago.”

“Then there is nothing I can do to save you. We part here. Go.”

Sirius stood still for a moment, wondering how to react. Bella’s wand was still determinedly pointed in his face, and Peter was not moving, although he was still whimpering. Silence shook the room, but still Bella refused to move.

Eventually Sirius lowered his wand. “C’mon Peter, let’s get out of here.” He dragged his friend up by the elbow and led him away out of the room.

Peter turned at the last moment to take one last glance at Bella, whose wand was still pointed in their direction.

Chapter 4: Surprises



Lily awoke the next morning to find a bundle of packages at the foot of her bed.



“Presents!” she yelled, waking up the rest of the dormitory.



“Happy Bir-bir-birthday, Lils,” Yves said, failing to stifle a huge yawn. She stretched and moved to sit on the end of Lily’s bed.



The other three girls wished Lily a “Happy Birthday” and then promptly went back asleep. It was, after all, a Saturday.



“C’mon then, open them!” Yves said excitedly.



Lily reached for the first package. It was large and wrapped in purple paper. She ripped off the wrapping and inside was a leather-bound photo album. On the first page was a photo of Lily, Petunia and their parents, taken that summer on holiday. That was before all the arguments started.



Below the photo was a message:



To dearest Lily,



To remind you of our great love for you.

The remainder of the pages are for you to fill with memories of your last year at school.



Happy Birthday!

Love Mum and Dad.



Lily shut the book and passed it to Yves.



“That’s a nice picture,” Yves said, looking at the faces of Lily’s family. She poked it. “Except it’s one of those strange Muggle pictures that doesn’t move. How funny!” She paused and looked up at Lily.



“Lils? What’s that matter? Is it not good?”



“Oh no it’s great, its just I wish Rose was in the picture…” she trailed off.



“Your sister?”



“Yeah, I know she died a long time ago now, but, well…if she was around, everything would be ok again at home.”



“Did something happen with Petunia? Is that why you’ve been so distant?”



Yves always had the amazing ability to detect what was on Lily’s mind. “She left home this summer. I never told you because it hurt my parents so much and I wanted to forget about it, but she decided she couldn’t take any more magic and the way my parents were proud of me for it any longer. So she left. Went to live with her boyfriend, as far as I know. If Rose were, here, she’d sort it all out.”



“You never really talk about her. Maybe it would help.”



“You’re the only person I’ve mentioned her to at Hogwarts. Well, except Potter.”



Yves looked shocked. “Potter?”



“At the end of last year. It was 10 years since Rose had died, and James saw me looking down. I told him to go away but you know what Potter’s like…”



“Persistent doesn’t quite cover it.”



“Exactly. So I opened up. I was in a vulnerable state, that’s all. Felt really stupid about it afterwards.”



There was a silence as the two girls thought to themselves. Then Lily smiled.



“Well, these presents aren’t going to open themselves,” she said. “Pass me another one.”



The next was a silver bracelet in the shape of a snake that wove its way around Lily’s wrist as she put it on to form a perfect fit.



“Its from Charlotte,” Yves remarked as she read the card.



The next few were from other friends of Lily’s: a large box of Bertie Botts from Alice, a green scarf from Rachael, and a Grow-It-Yourself baby Perfuma kit, which claimed to grow into a plant which could be used to make ‘the most tantalising of all perfume odours. The boys will go wild’ from Sirius and Remus. She wasn’t sure whether to trust that one, it looked remarkably like the plant they had bred last year, which caused orange spots to sprout like wildfire all over your face.



“Here’s another one, Lily,” Yves said, passing over a small box tied with a ribbon. “Its from James.”



“How do you know?”



“Because it says ‘To Lily my love, together soon, never apart’ on the box.



“Ah,” Lily said, smiling despite herself. “That boy will never change…”



She opened it. Inside was a gold, heart-shaped locket on a chain, with the letters L.E inscribed on the front.



"Wow that’s beautiful!” Yves said. “He really outdid himself this year. Do you think it opens?”



“Maybe,” Lily said nonchalantly. “Who’s the last one from?”



“Oh that’s mine. Here.” Yves passed her a soft parcel wrapped in silver paper. She tore off the paper and out flowed a silky, sky blue dress robe.



“Oh Yves, its wonderful!” Lily exclaimed, tossing James’s present to one side. “Thank you so much!”



“No problem, Lils. I thought you’d like it. Do you mind trying it on later? Only I’m famished!”



“You and your stomach!”



***



James sat down at the table at breakfast next to Sirius. He had already put bacon, sausages and a boiled egg on his plate and started eating before he realised that there was silence between the Marauders.



Sirius sat with his jaw set, staring across the table at Peter who was deliberately avoiding his gaze. Next to Sirius, Remus was looking between the two with a confused expression on his face.



“What’s got you three so riled up? You were all gone by the time I woke up,” James asked.



“Some people never went to sleep,” Remus said. “If only they would tell me why…”



James looked puzzled. “What’s going on?”



“Its not something that can be discussed in public,” Sirius said, still staring at Peter, who thus far had refused to look up from the table.



“Well then, after breakfast, we’re taking a walk. No secrets, remember?” James said, looking from Sirius to Peter.



“Sure,” they said simultaneously. Sirius averted his gaze and turned to James.



“On a slightly different note, where did you get to last night?”



“Ah… that. Well, you’ll only laugh, but since when has that stopped me telling you anything?”



Sirius smiled. “Go on.”



“I went to the kitchens to give the house elves Lily’s birthday present, so they could put it with all her others at the end of her bed. I usually give it to them eariler in the day, but i left it a bit late this year. Only, they weren’t in the kitchen at that time of night. You know, I never really thought about where they sleep.”



“You’re right, I just assumed they were always based in the kitchen,” Remus commented.



“So when I gave up hoping that I would bump into one in the hallway, I went for Plan B.”



“And that is?” Sirius asked.



“Get Lily’s present to her room myself…. Without falling down that silly slide.”



“How on earth did you manage that?”



“You forget, Padfoot, that I am the Lord of Great Ideas.”



There was a distinct sound of people snorting into their breakfast plates. James pretended to not hear it.



“So anyway, I levitated the present into the dormitory.”



“Levitated? Up all those floors?” Remus asked, unbelieving.



“Yeah, and I can tell you, it took a while. Once the stairs bent round, I couldn’t see where I was leading it. It kept bumping into the wall and coming crashing down the stairs. I hope its still in one piece…”



“But you managed it?”



“Eventually. I dropped it outside the door. I hope a house-elf put it with the other presents… A couple of people came down the boys’ staircase so I had to hide: looks pretty dodgy, a boy standing at the bottom of the girls’ staircase with a wand…”



“Yeah, you’ve been trying to figure out ways to get up those stairs for years, Prongs.”



Sirius looked puzzled. “So that’s where you were? And you took the map and the cloak while you looking for the house-elves?”



“I had the cloak but I couldn’t find the map. I thought you had it, I had to make do without.”



“No, I specifically remember finding it gone when I woke up,” Sirius said, turning to Peter. “Which means, out-of-bed-boy number 3 must have had it, eh Wormtail?”



Peter finally looked up. “Well, I’m a Marauder too, you know! You three act like I can’t be trusted to use it by myself!”



“The point is you can’t, Wormtail. Not when you go sneaking around and getting yourself caught up in dangerous situations with potential Death Eaters!” Sirius whispered angrily.



Remus and James looked at each other, as if for clarification that they weren’t the only one who hadn’t a clue what was going on.



“I think its time you two told us what the hell you’re on about,” James said, putting down his knife and fork and standing up. “You coming?”



The other three stood, and they all exited the Great Hall. “Where to?” Remus asked. “Whomping Willow?”



James nodded. “I’ll get the cloak. Just in case.”



***



Lily and Yves were walking towards the Quidditch pitch to watch the Ravenclaws’ training session. Yves was obsessed with their Keeper, Michael Younge, and no matter how often Lily told her it was traitorous to Gryffindor to watch an opposing team practice, her Saturday mornings just weren’t the same without ooh-ing and ah-ing over the Ravenclaw Keeper.



“You don’t have to come, Lils,” she was saying. “I don’t want to drag you here on your birthday.



“It’s ok, I’m used to it by now… Hey look, it’s Potter. I’d better go and thank him for my present.”



“Really? Thank Potter?”



“Yeah, let’s treat him. I’m in a good mood. You go on ahead, I’ll see you there in a bit.”



She left Yves to wander towards the delights of Michael Younge, and began to walk over to the Whomping Willow, where James, Remus and Sirius were standing, seemingly waiting for something to happen.



As she approached, the gentle moving of the Willow’s branches stopped as the tree seemed to freeze. Lily walked a little faster, curious now.



The three boys were ducking under suspended branches towards the trunk of the tree. Then, amazingly, Sirius disappeared into the tree itself. Remus followed him. Lily began to run.



“James!” she shouted, as she reached the branches.



He turned round; he was half way down what Lily could now see was a hole between two roots. His face was one of surprise. Then his expression changed.



“Lily, move!”



Lily momentarily looked confused, before she was hit in the back by something large. The branches were moving again!



She was thrust forward and smacked into the tree trunk. James grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her towards him just as another branch swung forwards in an attempt to sweep her away again. James’s grip was firm, however, and he pulled her through the hole. They fell tumbling into darkness.



Lily breathed heavily. James was on top of her.



“Sorry,” he said, getting up and brushing dust off his clothes. He helped Lily to her feet.



“Where are we?” she asked.



“Follow me, you’ll soon see,” James replied.

Chapter 5: The Whomping Willow





James took out his wand and muttered, “Lumos.” He heard Lily follow suit behind him.





“Stay close and keep up,” he said. “We’re not that far behind the others.”





Indeed, he could hear raised voices along the tunnel, and hoped they hadn’t started the conversation without him.





“Its not illegal, where you’re taking me, is it?” Lily asked. James looked over at her. She looked pretty frightened.





“Don’t worry. No one will know we’re here. I’ll look after you.”





Lily sighed. “I can look after myself. I just don’t want to end up in trouble.”





“Then you shouldn’t have followed me!”





“Followed you? You forget, Potter, that out of the two of us, you have the reputation for being a stalker, not me.”





“Look Lily, I just saved you from being battered until all your bones were broken back there. The least you can do is be civil.”





When she didn’t answer he repeated: “Stay close and keep up.”





They walked in silence after this for a further 20 minutes, until James couldn’t stand the tension any longer.





“Look Lily, we’re almost there-“





“Thank heavens!”





“-and the others wont be too happy that I’ve brought you along. So just stay cool and let me do the talking, ok?”





She nodded, and James sighed. “I didn’t mean to blow off on one back there. I’m sorry.”





“It’s fine, Potter. Don’t worry about it.”





The tunnel widened, and light flooded from ahead. “We’re here,” James said.





The passage opened out through a door onto a landing, from which they climbed a staircase and entered a room to the left. Inside were Sirius, Remus and Peter.





Sirius didn’t need an invitation to start speaking. “Last night, I went looking for you, James, and instead I caught Wormtail out of bed, being threatened by Bella.”





“Your cousin Bella?” Remus asked.





“Well yes, of course, my-“ he stopped as his eyes fell on Lily. “Prongs, what in heaven’s name is she doing here?”





“She has a name,” Lily pointed out.





“Lily saw us going into the Willow and got attacked by the branches. The only way to help her was to pull her in,” James explained.





“You do realise-“ Sirius started, before James cut in.





“Lily won’t tell, you can count on that, right Lily?”





Lily’s eyes cast around the dishevelled room and the Marauders, landing finally on James. “You have my word.”





“Good.”





“That doesn’t mean we can trust her with what I’m about to say!” Sirius interjected.





“Well, you pretty much just gave away the punch line,” Lily pointed out.





Sirius sighed. “Fine then. Wormtail, would you like to explain what you were doing in the presence of that witch? Or do you think we will believe that she randomly caught you wandering the corridors at night and thought it would be fun to threaten you by the scruff of your neck?”





Peter’s eyes shifted between the occupants of the room. “I didn’t mean… I never knew… it’s complicated!”





Not one of the others looked like they thought that to be an acceptable answer.





“We’ve got time, Peter,” James said. “Tell us, we’re your friends. We can handle Bella.”





“You think you can but you can’t! She has powers beyond levitating presents up a staircase, James. You don’t know what she’s like.”





“Then tell us.” This from Remus, who had dusted off an upturned chest of drawers and sat down.





“The Dark Lord… he… he has an army…” Peter faltered.





“Yes we know that part. Skip to the bit where you were dangling in the air,” Sirius interjected, clearly impatient.





“She wanted information.” Peter stumbled as he said this, as if it caused him great pain. “On… on Dumbledore.”





The Marauders stared at Peter, shocked expressions on their faces. Lily, however, stepped forward. “Hang on a minute. I never saw you go into the tree, Peter… where did you come from?”





“Lily, now is not the time for that,” Sirius said. “Tell us about Dumbledore, Peter.”





Peter looked to the floor as he began talking. “I don’t know anything about it. All I was told was that Bella wants to know what Dumbledore is up to. She wanted me to find out by using James. Because he’s Head Boy.”





He looked up as he said this.





James stared. “Why you? Why is she after you?”





“Scrawny, pathetic Peter,” he said. “He’ll break under pressure. You want a snitch? Peter’s your man. That’s what they all think.”





Sirius laughed. “Is that all they’ve got? You-Know-Who must be desperate. Trying to dig for information on Dumbledore by using the Head Boy of Hogwarts? Dumbledore’s not stupid enough to trust a student with any kind of top secret information.”





“That’s not it,” Peter said, looking at Sirius. “Its Bella’s idea, it didn’t come from You-Know-Who! You just assume she’s a Death Eater, just because she practices dark magic!”





Sirius laughed, but Remus cut across him. “So why were you talking about his army? If he’s got nothing to do with this, why mention him at all?”





Peter looked scared. “She… she threatened to tell him I was disloyal.”





“You idiot, Wormtail. You say Bella isn’t in league with You-Know-Who, yet you believe she would walk straight up to him and say ‘Hey, Voldie, this kid at school doesn’t do what I tell him, go finish him off!’ No wonder people think you’re stupid.”





“That’s enough,” James said. “The point isn’t whether Bella is a Death Eater or not. Personally I don’t think You-Know-Who is likely to trust school kids with anything. But the way Bella’s going, she could end up there one day.” He sighed. “Look Peter, she’s just looking to stir something up. I wouldn’t worry about it.”





Sirius shook his head. “You weren’t there, Prongs, she had him cornered in the middle of the night in a dark classroom. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t turned up.”





“Oh that’s right,” Peter spat, angry now. “Sirius the brave one. Sirius the good-looking one. Sirius who can do no wrong.”





“It seems to me this has got nothing to do with Bella’s threat anymore,” Lily said. Her presence almost forgotten, she made the Marauders jump. Everyone looked at her.





“Well,” she explained, “if you think about it, that’s just an incident that happened which has no real danger. We all know its not that important, that Bella is never going to unleash a great plan of Dumbledore’s and go running with it to the Death Eaters. That’s why you’re all stood here arguing about trivial things. Because it’s not an issue. The issue is that Peter’s jealous of Sirius, and Sirius has problems with his cousin. That’s what this is all about.”





The logic and sense of these words hit the others, and Remus nodded. “She’s right, let’s just get out of here. The mystery’s solved. We found out what happened to Peter, and we’ll keep an eye on Bella from now on.” He stood.





James motioned to Peter. “Come on Wormtail.”





Peter followed Remus out of the room, muttering something that sounded like “I’m not jealous.”





“Sirius?” James said. “You coming?”





Sirius’s face relaxed. “Yeah. Yeah let’s go play some Quidditch.” He passed James and Lily through the door.





James smiled. “Sorry you got caught up in that. It all seems a bit silly now, really,” he said to Lily.





“It’s fine. You can’t be too careful nowadays, what with the war and everything.”





“So we really are in a war, then?” They began walking out of the room together.





“Guess so. Don’t worry, Potter, I’ll look after you.”





“You will?” He smiled hopefully.





“In your dreams! Come on, lets get out of here.”





They followed Remus, Sirius and Peter out down the stairs, and back into the tunnel of darkness, where five wand tips lit up and led them back to Hogwarts.

Chapter 6: The Perfect Birthday

Lily and the Marauders reached the Whomping Willow around midday. Remus turned to James.

“Do you think we can all fit?” he asked.

James shook his head. “We’ll have to go in two groups. You three go first, then one of you come back and get me and Lily.”

He reached into his satchel and pulled out a silvery, flowing cloak and turned to Lily. “This is my invisibility cloak,” he said. “If we squash up, we can get out unnoticed.”

“You’re just full of surprises today, aren’t you Potter?”

James smiled. “Well, we can’t risk going out without it. Someone less trustworthy than you might catch us at it this time.”

Sirius, Remus and Peter gathered together, and James threw the cloak over them. “Bend your knees,” he said. “I can see your feet!”

The three boys left slowly and carefully, leaving James and Lily alone together in the tunnel. Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Lily cleared her throat to break the tension and James smiled at her nervously. “Where do think they are?” He asked. “It’s taking them ages!” He cursed himself for sounding like he wanted to be out of Lily’s company. She smiled at him reassuringly, and James looked away to stop himself from seizing his impulse to grab her and kiss her.

Finally, the knot opened and Peter came through the hole that emerged. “The others are waiting in the trees. There’re quite a few people out in the grounds, so it’s good we have the cloak. Here.” He threw the cloak over James and Lily, and pressed his hand against the wood so that it opened. It took a rather tiresome few minutes to choreograph their way out of the tree without the cloak slipping off and revealing a limb or a torso to passing students on a Saturday morning stroll. Once they were out, and the tree had been frozen, they hurried over to the shade of the trees to meet Sirius and Remus, with bent knees that were becoming ever more painful, where they were able to shrug off the invisibility cloak.

“Are we ok now?” Remus asked. “Sirius? Peter? You guys alright?”

Sirius smiled. “Of course, Moony. Let’s get on our brooms.”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Peter said. “I’m not in a Quidditch mood though. I’m going back to the common room for a bit.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked in the direction of the castle.

“You don’t think-?” Sirius began.

“Padfoot,” Remus cut in, “Whatever you may think of Peter at the moment, he’s not going to do anything stupid. Besides, there’s nothing stupid for him to do. Bella hasn’t got anything on him.”

“I guess.”

The four that were left began making their way to the Quidditch pitch. It wasn’t until they were almost there that James noticed Lily was still with them, chatting away to Remus about a rare and dangerous plant she had read about in The Hidden Plants of Asia.

“Lily, you’re coming?” he asked, bewildered.

She turned to him. “Sure. That’s ok, right?”

“You are coming to watch me muck around on a broom?” he asked again, disbelieving.

“If that’s ok,” she repeated, more slowly this time, with a confused frown. “I would have thought it wasn’t that difficult a concept to grasp…”

“It’s not that, it’s just… sure ok, that’s cool.” He ruffled his hair unconsciously.

Lily left the boys to get brooms and made her way to the stands. When they emerged from the changing rooms, James called up to her. “Evans! Come down here, I’ve got you a broom!”

“You what?! I can’t play Quidditch!”

“Its easy, come on!”

She begrudgingly climbed back down to ground level and crossed the pitch to where the boys were standing, ready to mount. James threw her a broom. “Its not anything special, just a spare, but it’ll do. Let the snitch out, Sirius.”

Sirius opened the chest of balls and released the tiny golden snitch. He grabbed the Quaffle and kicked off with Remus, who flew over to the Goalposts at the far end.

“You ready?” James asked.

“I dunno, James, I’m not much good at this.”

“We’ll soon see about that. Lets go!”

He kicked off and went soaring up like a bolt towards the sky. “Show off,” Lily thought, rising somewhat more slowly and wobbly into the air. She flew gently towards Remus, who was attempting to save goals from Sirius.

“I’m not very good at Goal keeping,” he panted, as the Quaffle sped past his outstretched left hand and through one of the posts.

“Goal!” came from Sirius, who promptly dropped to catch the falling Quaffle.

“Never was any good at Quidditch,” Remus said, turning back to Lily. “I prefer to watch it really, but it’s nice to get on a broom for the fun of it.”

Sirius called from the other end of the pitch. “Moony! I’m going to speed to about half way and then throw long!”

“OK!” he called back. “Lily, if you tilt you’re broom up sharply, you can speed upwards. Its more effective.”

“Thanks,” Lily said. She tried and remarkably she shot up a few metres without any trouble. Trying again she moved more steady, and faster still. Soon she was flying high above the grounds, and James flew over to meet her.

“Having fun?” he asked, smiling. “There’s nothing like this. Nothing in the world.”

“Careful, Potter. Lets keep this cheese-free, if you don’t mind.”

James smiled. “Sure.”

Lily caught sight of something glittering down by Remus.

“There’s the snitch! Race you!” She shot off downwards, in the way Remus taught her, but she had not gone far before James shot past her like a blur and caught the snitch. ‘There’s a reason that boy is the best seeker in years’ she thought.

***

Lily ended up spending the whole day with James, Remus and Sirius. To her surprise, James didn’t try any of his usual tricks. Without his constant mention of her ‘beautiful eyes’ or her ‘charming personality’, or his insistence that they would and will end up together, she found he could in fact hold a decent conversation.

Lily looked for Yves at dinner, having not seen her since breakfast, but she wasn’t there. She felt bad for not trying to find Yves sooner, but ever since the trip down the tunnel, her head had been on other matters.

At dinner, Sirius apologised to Peter. “That witch just gets to me, that’s all. I didn’t like the idea of her using my friends like that. Trust me, once she’s out of this place, the first thing she’ll do is join You-Know-Who’s ranks. Just… keep away, it’s all I ask.”

Lily walked back to the common room with the Marauders. She had completely forgotten what day it was, until James confessed, “Oh no! Lily I’m so sorry I didn’t remember to wish you Happy Birthday!”

“Its no big deal. Don’t worry about it. Wrackspurt,” she said, and the Fat Lady swung open to admit them.

Climbing into the common room, a great roar filled her ears. The room was filled with people with bottles of Butterbeer and handfuls of sweets. A banner was flying by the fireplace that read, “Happy Birthday Lily!”

“Wow!” she exclaimed. “What’s all this?”

Yves came towards her and gave her a hug.

“I’ve no idea where you’ve been all day, but it sure made it easier to set all this up!”

“Thanks Yves!”

“Oh it wasn’t my idea, I just put it all together. It was Potter’s.”

“Potter?” She turned to find him. “James?”

“Happy Birthday, Evans.”

Lily smiled. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Now go and have some fun.”

It was a great party. Someone had managed to get hold of several small fairies, which, it was rumoured, Dumbledore had obtained for the Christmas period. They glided around the room, occasionally swooping to someone’s ear and humming softly, leaving a contented feeling in the buzzing through the brain. Lily didn’t know whether it was the fairies or the Butterbeer or the fact that her birthday had been better than usual, but she certainly went to bed very contented that night.

Chapter 7: The Moon Rises

It was cold and still dark when Lily awoke. Someone had left the window open. She shivered and rose to close it. Looking out over the Hogwarts grounds, the night was calm and the moon was dazzlingly bright. It was full.

Someone started snoring in her sleep behind Lily. Probably Yves, she thought. She looked back at the night, so inviting, so still, and went to climb up on the windowsill. Her foot landed painfully on some sharp object on the floor.

“Ouch!” she whispered, rubbing the painful spot. She stooped to pick up what she had stepped on, and found it was the locket James had given her yesterday for her birthday. She had discarded it without a thought with the excitement of Yves’s gift. Lily looked closer and found it had a catch on one side, and as Yves had suggested, it opened. What she found inside made her gasp. It was a photo of her sister Rose, smiling back at her.

“How did he…?” she wondered.

Yves snored louder. Lily decided to take a walk. She was beyond sleep right now. She grabbed her cloak and snuck down to the Common Room and out the door. The Fat Lady gave an annoyed grunt in her sleep, but Lily shut the portrait door shut quietly and made her way down the many flights of stairs to the big oak front doors without any disruption. It was beyond duty time for the prefects, there was no one about. Not even Bella. Leaving the comfort of the castle, Lily ventured outside into the cold night. She wrapped her cloak tighter around her shoulders and walked towards the lake, thinking all the time about that blasted James Potter. Why was it that he was so irritatingly irresistible? Everyone seemed to think she hated him, and sure, he was a prat most of the time in front of her and came up with ever annoying ways to ask her out, but really, deep down, he had good intentions, as he showed in the locket. That, more than anything else, had touched her. Her sister was becoming a distant memory, but this photo, of her smiling blue eyes and her short, funky auburn hair brought back all Lily remembered of Rose. And James had done this for her.

She reached the lake, and began to walk around its edge, picking up stones and skimming them along the water. Occasionally some water creature would break the surface briefly before sinking back into its gloomy depths. And all the time, Lily thought of James.

By the time Lily had reached the Forbidden Forest, she was shivering with the cold. Perhaps it would be warmer in the shade of the trees, she thought. Or back in her bed…

At that instant, something hurtled into her, knocking her sideways onto the hard ground. The wind was knocked out of her, but she managed to catch a glimpse of a huge, white beast standing over her, before it grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the forest. Somewhere nearby, something howled, and she heard menacing growling. But the beast was dragging her ever deeper into the forest, and all she could think of was the searing pain in her right arm.

Eventually, the creature stopped and let go of her arm, breathing heavily. Lily pulled herself up to stand, and backed away from what she realised was a massive stag.

She opened her mouth to scream but was silenced by what she saw next. The stag was becoming disfigured, its antlers shrank, and as it reared up on its hind legs, the front hooves became human hands and the legs shortened and thickened into arms. Standing in front of Lily was no longer a stag; it was-

“James?” she whispered, her breathing heavy and shallow. He smiled, but did not speak.

Lily reached forward the hand of her uninjured arm and gently touched the boy’s cheek.

“You’re real,” she said. “What-?”

He shook his head. “Sorry I never told you before…”

“Told me? What the hell was that? Some weird creature nearly tears my arm off whilst pulling me deep into the Forbidden Forest, and then you appear out of nowhere!”

“Lily, I’m the creature. It’s me, I’m a stag.”

Lily looked confused. “No, James, you’re a boy. Are you telling me you know advanced magic? You’ve learnt a spell that changes you into an animal?”

“Its not that simple, Lily, I’m an unregistered Animagus.” He paused for effect. Lily just looked shocked. He decided to fill the blanks.

“We managed it in our Fifth Year. It took such a long-“

“We?” Lily asked.

“Oh, I guess there’s a lot you don’t know.” He looked up to the small section of sky that was still visible through the trees. “The moon’s bright tonight.”

Lily looked puzzled. “Well yeah, it’s the full moon. Don’t change the subject, James!” She groped around in the semi-darkness and found a stump to sit on. James joined her.

“Well ok,” he began. “But first you have to absolutely swear that you won’t tell anyone, not even Dumbledore, without my, or especially Remus’s, say so.”

“Remus?” Lily asked. “What’s Remus got to do wi-?”

“Swear, Lily, or I can’t tell you.”

“Ok, ok, you have my word,” she said.

“The thing is, it has everything to do with Remus.” He took a deep breath. “We, that is, Sirius, Peter and I, found out in First Year that Remus is a werewolf.”

Lily stared. “A…a werewolf?” Whatever strange events she had experienced from the Marauders recently, she had not been expecting anything on that level.

“Well, yeah,” said James. “Look, its not really my place to tell you any more than that on the issue. We’ve never told anybody else, and while I know Remus would be cool with you knowing, if he wants to tell you anymore about it then I’ll leave it to him.”

“Sure,” Lily said, her eyes still wide with shock.

“Anyway, when we found out, the three of us decided to learn how to become Animagi, to, you know, keep him company at the full moon. He’s really dangerous as a werewolf, and, for obvious reasons, we couldn’t very well keep him company as human boys. We did it illegally. There are all kinds of restrictions. As you know from Transfiguration, not just anybody can do it. It’s all monitored by the Ministry.

“It took years but we finally managed it. Sirius and I became large animals, so we could keep Remus in check, and Peter, being the scrawny, twitchy one, is a mouse: That’s why he was able to get into the Whomping Willow without you seeing him yesterday. He freezes the branches by pressing a knot at the bottom of the tree.”

“So... so that’s why you were out tonight? Because it’s the full moon, right?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, Remus is supposed to be locked up all night in the house at the end of the tunnel. But when he transforms we let him out and run around the grounds with him, keeping him away from danger and humans. Like you. That’s why I had to drag you into the forest. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“No, I don’t think so… just a scratch on my arm.” She had completely forgotten about it, but suddenly a dull, aching pain spread through her arm as it was brought to the forefront of her mind. She rolled up her sleeve and held her arm out into the moonlight.

“Oh my God! Lily, you’re bleeding! It’s really deep; I didn’t mean to hurt you. We’d better get you to the Hospital Wing.”

“No, its not that bad, James.”

“Yes, look! That gash is over an inch deep. I have very sharp teeth, you know. I’m taking you to Madame Pomphrey. No arguments.”

“I guess,” Lily said. “Besides, I should probably get back to bed soon, I need time to digest all this.”

James stood and helped Lily up. They made their way back through the trees, which slowly began to thin out as they reached the Hogwarts grounds. In the distance, somewhere just beyond the Quidditch pitch, the pair could see the silhouettes of two large animals racing along in the night.

“Is that…?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, Sirius is a massive dog.”

“Padfoot!” Lily said, the pieces fitting together. “I get it: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Inventive. I always wondered where those bizarre names came from.”

Once they reached the Hospital Wing, James went to wake Madame Pomphrey while Lily sat down on a spare bed.

“Bitten by a stag you say?” Madame Pomphrey said as she followed James out of the chamber at the far end of the Hospital Wing. “Well I won’t ask why you two were out at this time of night, I’ve had more business from you and your little friends than anyone else in all my time here, Mr. Potter, but a stag bite can be very nasty. They have extremely sharp teeth, you know.” James nodded knowingly, and then quickly changed his expression to one of concern.

They reached Lily, who extended her right arm for inspection. Madame Pomphrey took her arm. “This is fairly deep, but its nothing I can’t clean up in a flash. The paste I will give you causes drowsiness so take some pyjamas and get changed; you’ll have to stay the night. I won’t have Mr. Potter carrying you up to Gryffindor Common Room asleep!”

She bustled away, while Lily fetched some pyjamas from the clothes cupboard. James put up a screen around her bed so she could get changed. By the time she was settled, Madame Pomphrey was back with a large pot of purple paste, which she began to dab onto Lily’s injury.

“Potter, pass me that bandage,” she said, and then proceeded to gently wrap it around Lily’s arm.

“It’ll take a few minutes for the paste to enter your blood stream and cause the drowsiness,” Madame Pomphrey said, as she tidied up. “So say your goodnight, Potter, and then off to bed with you. She’ll be right as rain in the morning!” she added to looks of dejection from James.

James ruffled his hair, then put his hands in his pockets. “Well, night then," he said, “and sorry. Again. For all this.”

“Its my fault for wandering around outside in the middle of the night.”

“What were you-“ he began to ask, but Lily held up her hand.

“I’ll tell you another time, James, I’m sleepy.”

“Yeah, your eyelids are drooping, I’ll leave you to sleep now.”

He seemed to hesitate for a split second, then leaned in and swiftly kissed her on the cheek. As he left the Hospital Wing, Lily felt herself falling into a deep sleep, and the last thing she remembered was laying her finger on the place where James had kissed her.
“He’s not so bad,” she thought, as she drifted off to a deep sleep…

Chapter 8: A Future Career

The next few weeks went by as a blur for James. Homework was piling up every day, and he also had Quidditch practices and his duties as Head Boy to deal with. He had so far avoided much responsibility as Head of the School, but since Dumbledore had taken the trouble to trust James with this important role, he decided he should knuckle down and help Lily out once in a while.

Lily had been released from the hospital wing with a perfectly healed and working arm. James noticed that although she still seemed to avoid him most of the time, Lily was much less off-hand with him on the occasions they did bump into each other. She seemed to smile more often when he was around, instead of scowling and telling him to get lost. One Herbology lesson, she even went so far as to quite calmly tell him he was re-plotting his Tarangula upside down, and offered to help him.

One cold Thursday morning in mid-October, Lily came out of a classroom just as James was passing.

“Ah, I was hoping to bump into you soon,” she said.

James’s stomach did a flip. “Really?” he asked, keeping cool.

“Yeah, McGonagall wants us to spread the word: Hogsmeade has been cancelled this weekend. There’s an Anti Dark Arts security check being done on the village, and Dumbledore wants us all to remain in the castle.”

James looked at the floor to hide his embarrassment. “Oh, sure Lily. I can just about handle that.” He looked up, smiling. “Can I walk you to Potions?”

She flushed, then smiled slyly. “I can walk myself to Potions, thanks, but you can most certainly walk my bag…”

She handed it to James, who was weighed down by its immense weight. “What do you keep in here? Rocks?”

Lily laughed, “They’re called books, Potter. You should try acquiring some.” She motioned him forward. “Come on, we’ll be late.”

Their Potions lesson was particularly interesting. Professor Slughorn let them out into the grounds to find and pick a certain type of weed specifically good at counteracting the effects of a Sneeze Charm.

“Next lesson we will be stewing the weed into the correct potion. Remember, it only grows where it’s damp, so you won’t find any lying about the grass on a warm sunny day like this!”

The class hugged themselves, shivering slightly. It was far from warm or sunny. But it was an excuse to get out of the dungeons and walk around chatting.

“So off you go, the group that picks the most will be rewarded!”

The class wandered off in their various groups. Since Yves didn’t take Potions at N.E.W.T level, Lily decided to team up with the Marauders. This was something James took great interest in.

“This is turning into ‘the Marauders plus one’, you know,” he said, pulling up some grass from the ground and smelling it. “Yep, definitely grass.”

“What do you mean by that?” Lily asked.

“Well, its green, it came from the soil, and it smells like cows food.”

“Ha ha,” she retorted, not hiding the sarcasm from her voice.

“What James means,” Sirius said, “is that you’re spending more time with us than you used to.”

Lily shrugged. “It was either group up with you guys, that dirty bunch of Slytherins, or those others I never talk to. You do the maths.”

“Don’t try it,” James said, nudging her playfully. “We rule and you know it.”

Remus called from the lake. “Hey guys, I think I found some!”

They meandered slowly over, keen to spend the lesson doing as little actual work as possible. On reaching the lake, Remus handed Sirius a handful of weeds.

“Smell those. They about right?” he asked.

Sirius put the plants to his nose and sniffed. He pulled a face. “They stink!”

“Exactly. And they have the correct leaf shape and the rough edges. Here look, there’s some more over there.”

“Remus is in his prime,” James said to Lily. “Look at him, so peaceful…”

“Shut up, Prongs, or I’ll shove this mud in your face! Come on, I need some help, they’re rooted really deep.”

After 10 minutes of tugging soggy weed from the earth, Frank Longbottom approached.

“Hey Frank, where have you been all lesson?” James asked.

“Looking for Alice. She’s missing.” He looked pale,

They all stopped fighting with the weeds and turned to Frank. “Missing? How come?” Lily said.

“She was called to Dumbledore’s office this morning after breakfast. Her father’s been murdered by Death Eaters. She hasn’t been seen since.”

All five jaws dropped. Lily crossed to Frank and put her arm around him. “I’m so sorry. Do you want us to help you look?”

“No, Dumbledore’s got it covered. I just don’t want to be doing nothing. I feel helpless.”

“Sure. We’ll help,” Sirius said. “The more the better, really.”

“No really, you guys go back to what you were doing. If anyone can find her, Dumbledore can. I was just wondering if you had seen her recently, that’s all.”

They shook their heads.

“Sorry, mate,” James said.

“Alice is the one with brown hair, right?” Peter interjected. “I always get her confused with Sandy.”

“Yes, Alice has brown hair.”

“I think I saw her, you know…” Frank looked up and stared at him. “At morning break, I went to the Owlery to send a letter. There was a girl sitting on the windowsill of one of the windows on the staircase leading up to it.”

“The Owlery’s been checked!” Frank said.

“I’m just saying what I saw,” Peter mumbled.

Frank shot off. “I’ve got to go! Catch you later!”

There was a few minutes silence. Lily broke it.

“Poor Alice. I know what it’s like to lose someone, but not like that.”

“Who did you lose?” Remus asked.

“My sister, Rose. A long time ago now.” She touched the locket James had given her around her neck, which she had been wearing since the night she found out the Marauders’s secret. She decided not to dwell on it. “Those Death Eaters are pure evil.”

“Well look who they work for,” James said. “It’s like a sport to him. ‘Kill 10 and you get the next one free!’”

“James Potter, sometimes you can be extremely insensitive!” Lily said, colour rising to her cheeks.

“When have I ever been insensitive?”

“Right now!”

“I wasn’t! It was a joke, Lily.”

Remus sighed as they continued to argue. “Some things never change,” he said, picking up the weeds they had gathered and walking with the others back to the castle. “Come on guys, let it drop. The lesson’s almost over.”

***

Alice had come wandering back into the castle later that day. She admitted to having gone into the Forbidden Forest to cry in peace. She claimed she had never been near the Owlery all day.

She was sent home immediately, something that she had refused on first hearing the news. But her short disappearance had worried her mother, who said that for her own sanity she wanted her daughter home until after the funeral.

There was a gloomy atmosphere in the Gryffindor common room that evening. No one seemed to want to talk about what had happened, but it was clear that it was all that was on anyone’s minds. Frank never stopped moving. He had been pacing around the room silently for 15 minutes before Sirius said, “Sit down, mate. You’re not helping anyone tiring yourself out.”

Frank sank into the empty armchair next to James and rubbed his forehead. “Poor Alice,” was all he could be heard saying.

What had shocked everybody so much was that this was the first death of a family member for a long time, and never before had it been such a close relative.

Just before the summer, the twins in Hufflepuff Fourth Year had lost their aunt and uncle to a group of Death Eaters. They were tormented to death. A few pupils had come back from the summer holidays having lost friends or a cousin, but while sympathy had been felt and condolences passed around, most people believed the danger would pass. Since the rumours of Voldemort’s army had escaped, nobody had heard anything mysterious. Until Alice’s father was murdered.

Frank suddenly sat up. “Someone has to stop him,” he said. “When I have kids, I don’t want them growing up without me because of some crazy lunatic harbouring fantasies about ruling the world for his own selfish and cruel glory. He has to be stopped.”

“He does,” James said. “And we have to believe that he will be. But there’s no use cutting yourself up about it. With any luck, all our kids will grow up in a world free of You-Know-Who. Just leave it to the experts.”

“I’m gonna be an Auror.” James and Sirius looked at him. “Yeah, I’ve decided. I’m doing all the right subjects for it. When I leave Hogwarts at the end of the year, I’m gonna train to be an Auror and stop all this madness.”

“Sounds good, you know,” James said. “I mean, the way things are going, there won’t be any other job worth doing. Nothing’s going to make any difference once the chaos really gets going. We might as well do something productive.”

“Well that’s a while away yet. Let’s just get through this year first.”

At that moment, Lily approached. She sat on the arm of James’s chair. “Hey Frank, how you doing?”

“Great! I’m training to be an Auror.”

“You are?”

“Well not right now, but once I leave Hogwarts.”

“I’ve always wanted to be an Auror,” Lily said.

James looked at her. “You have?”

“Well don’t act so surprised, Potter. I can be outrageous too you know. Just because I actually do some school work, doesn’t mean I’m going to end up behind a desk somewhere.”

“That’s not what I meant, I think it’s a great idea.” He smiled. “Now I definitely want to be an Auror! It’ll be great, you, me and Frank, fighting the evil of the world!”

“Hey, what about me?” Sirius interjected.

“And Sirius.”

“Remus will want in, too.”

“OK and Remus.”

“And we should probably include Peter in this-“

“Fine! Frank, me, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Peter will all train to be Aurors.”

Remus, who had just come in the portrait hole, approached. “What’s all this about Aurors?” he asked.

The others laughed. Sirius patted his shoulder. “Never mind, Moony, never mind.”

Chapter 9: The Christmas Feast

Alice returned to school two weeks later, looking tired and downtrodden. Frank kept an extra-close watch over her, making sure she was sufficiently distracted, and that she ate properly. She had wasted away during her time at home.

Her Sixth Year friends seemed to keep her laughing most of the time, but, as Lily pointed out to Yves at dinner one evening, “her laugh just isn’t believable anymore. It’s going to take a while before she gets over this. Frank says she was extremely close to her dad.”

As is turned out, Alice’s spirits did improve during the weeks leading up to Christmas, so that by the time the holidays were fast approaching, she had most of her old spirit back.

Dumbledore had decided to host a special Christmas Feast, larger and more formal than usual, to keep spirits high. It would take place on the weekend before the end of term. The girls, more than the boys, seemed to be in very high spirits about it.

“It’s just a Feast,” Sirius said to Yves as they sat by the fire late at night, trying to finish a Transfiguration essay.

“Just a feast?” she replied, giving Sirius a ‘that-was-the-wrong-answer-mate’ expression. “It’s so much more than a feast, Sirius.”

“Would you care to elaborate?”

She called across the common room. “Lily! Got a date for the Christmas Feast yet?”

“Don’t remind me! Dumbledore only gave us two weeks notice!”

Yves turned back to Sirius. “See?”

Sirius looked blank. “Not really… what does Lily need a date for?”

Yves raised her eyes to the ceiling and smiled. “Boys,” she said despairingly.

***

By the morning of the Christmas Feast, most of the school had paired up. Sirius and James, however, remained firm on their view that there was no need to take a date.

“We’re going to the Great Hall, eating lots of food, and then probably making fools of ourselves on the dance floor. I don’t see why we have to force some poor soul to be witness to that,” Sirius said at breakfast that morning.

“Yeah, Padfoot, I hate to imagine what you look like dancing…” James said.

“I’ll have you know I am an expert dancer! Its you I’m worried about!”

Remus sat down next to James and pulled the milk jug towards him. “I have a date tonight,” he said, nonchalantly, as he poured milk into a bowl.

The other two looked at him, nonplussed.

“You cracked!” James said. “Who are you going with?”

“Sarah Connet. She asked me, I didn’t see why I should say no,” he replied, adding cornflakes to his bowl and grabbing a spoon.

“That Hufflepuff girl?”

“Yeah, she’s nice.”

“That’s not the point, you cracked mate.”

Lily approached and tapped James on the shoulder. “Uh, Potter, you going tonight?” she asked, not looking directly at him.

“To this Feast thing? Yeah, why?”

“Uh, you wanna take me? Just as friends, you know…” she flushed slightly.

James’s jaw dropped. Sirius elbowed him in the ribs and he startled.

“Uh, sure… I mean, yeah, if you want me to take you, that’s cool.” He ruffled his hair nervously.

“See you later then,” she said. She walked away.

Remus and Sirius laughed.

“Look who cracked, Prongs! Pot calling the kettle black!” Remus said.

“Did I miss something? Did Evans just ask you out on a date?”

“No… no! She said we’d go as friends.”

“Well whatever you think, she just volunteered herself to spend unnecessary time with you. Have you been slipping something in her Pumpkin Juice?”

***

“Is there something in your Pumpkin Juice, Lily? You did not seriously just ask James Potter to the Christmas Feast!”

“Its no big deal. It doesn’t mean anything. I just didn’t want to be the only one there without a partner.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t be if you hadn’t turned down Simon-“

“And Patrick,” another Gryffindor, Ellie, said.

“Not to mention David and Tristan.”

“Ok I get the point! So big deal, I’d rather go with Potter than those guys. He’s in my house, I know him better.”

“We’ll see if that’s your reason after tonight…”

James and the Marauders descended the boys’ staircase at 6:45, wearing dress robes, which were all deep purple. Remus left immediately to meet Sarah Connet by the Great Hall, and the other three slumped into armchairs to wait for the girls. Sirius had finally consented to take a date, a fellow Seventh Year Gryffindor called Ellie, who had problems getting a date that involved dancing as she was so much taller than most of the boys. Sirius, who had had his eye on her for a while now, had decided to bite the bullet and ask her to the dance when he realised he was the only Marauder without a date to the Feast.

Peter stood up quickly. “Gemma’s here,” he said. Gemma was a shy Fourth Year with great amounts of long, black curly hair. She was wearing black robes. “You look, er, nice,” Peter said. “Shall we go?”

Sirius and James were left with some of the other mingling Gryffindors. Finally, at five to seven, Lily, Ellie and Yves arrived.

Yves hugged her friends goodbye and ran off to find the Ravenclaw Quidditch player Michael Younge, who she had finally got to ask her out on a date. Lily and Ellie approached. Sirius kissed Ellie on the cheek and said, “You look lovely.” James cursed his ease with girls and smiled bashfully at Lily. “Yeah, so do you.” He was usually so good at telling Lily how beautiful she was, but when it mattered, when he knew he wouldn’t get told to shove off, it became a lot harder. Lily did look beautiful. She was wearing light pink robes that shimmered in the light, and dangling earrings that elegantly lengthened her neckline.

The four of them arrived in the Entrance Hall just as the doors were about to open. The school had never looked so busy. Everyone was wearing different colours and buzzing excitedly. Suddenly, light flooded the hall as the doors creaked open to reveal a stunning and almost unrecognisable Great Hall.

It was all white. Everything seemed to have been painted a dazzling bright white, so that no actual light was needed. On closer inspection, James found that the walls were covered in a layer of ice, which radiated a comforting warmth. The floor glistened with very fine, powder-like snow, and real snow fell from the ceiling, disappearing about ten feet from their heads.

There were many small tables around the side of the Hall, each seating around twenty. In the centre was the dance floor, and floating around the whole room were at least a hundred of the fairies that had been at Lily’s party.

“Wow,” Lily exclaimed, craning her neck to look up at the ceiling. “This is beautiful.”

James led her to a table on the left-hand side of the Hall, where Remus, Sarah, Sirius and Ellie were seated.

“Where’s Yves?” Lily asked.

She looked around and located her on one of the Ravenclaw tables, chatting away to Michael.

“Peter’s not here either,” Sirius said.

“Peter’s on that Fourth Year table over there,” Remus said.

“Poor Peter, he could have done better than her.”

They were joined by Frank and Alice, and a group of Sixth Year Gryffindors, who all seemed to be in good spirits.

During the meal, the fairies swept the Hall, humming softly in people’s ears. Once everyone had eaten, they flew back to the centre where they lit up the dance floor. Music began from somewhere.

“Oh I love this song!” Lily said. She was joined by a chorus of girls who all stood, ready to dance.

“Come on James, no time like the present.”

“Uh, Lily, I can’t really-“

“If I can ride a broom, you can lead me round the dance floor for ten minutes. Come on!”

She dragged him by his elbow to the centre, where most of the school had already gathered and were dancing enthusiastically to the upbeat tune. James looked awkward but began to sway slightly. Sirius approached with Ellie.

“You look like a right prat, Prongs,” he said, as he twirled Ellie around.

“Oh yeah?” James took Lily’s hand, and spun her in towards him, then back out again. He put his hand on her waist and energetically led her around Sirius and Ellie, ending with a spin under his arm.

He paused for breath. “You see, Padfoot, I excel at dancing.”

Three songs later, and James led Lily back to their table for a breather.

“I haven’t done so much exercise that didn’t involve a broomstick in a long time. You’re a bad influence on me, Evans.”

“Glad you’ve finally realised that. It only took 6 and a half years!”

“Not that long. I wasn’t always in love with you, you know.”

“You what?”

“Well,” James said, not recognising what he had let slip, “in First Year I was too busy making mischief with the boys to notice girls, and in Second Year…” he noticed Lily was looking like he had slapped her. “What did I say?”

She smiled. “Nothing whatsoever. Let’s get a drink and then I want to see how Michael Younge is holding up with an overenthusiastic Yves as a date!”

The rest of the night went smoothly. Everybody seemed to have a good time, including the teachers, who boogied on the dance floor along with everyone else. Once James and Lily had caught up with some of their friends and danced to a few more tunes, James suggested they take a walk to cool off.

The night was cold but it was a welcome relief from the stifling Hall with all its occupants. The couple walked through the grass, occasionally crossing paths with other merry people, full of the excitement of the evening.

They talked easily together, reminiscing about past times, which mainly involved James making a fool of himself in front of Lily. He was surprised at how easy it was to talk to her. She smiled as she remembered how James had mixed up a bag of Crème Candies intended for her with a bag of Dungbombs. She had not been impressed when the bag he left on her desk in Charms had exploded in her face. Now she laughed at it, and her face lit up. She truly was beautiful.

James stopped by the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest once they were fully alone.

“Lily, why did you ask me to take you tonight?” He said this quickly, and then proceeded to find a leaf on the bush they were standing by extremely interesting.

Lily hesitated. “Just thought it’d be nice, is all. Did you not want to take me?” She looked worried.

“Oh no! I only asked because I thought you didn’t like me.”

“Well, I didn’t, and then… I sort of did.”

“Like me?”

“As a friend, I mean.”

“Oh. Well, ok.”

“I did say this morning that I wanted to go as friends, didn’t I?”

“Sure, sure, yeah you did, I just thought maybe…”

“James, did you mean what you said earlier?”

“What did I say earlier?”

“When you said that… that you love me.”

Even in the dark, and with her face deliberately facing the ground, James could see she was blushing.

“Did I say that?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” It was his turn to blush. “Well, I would have thought you knew that by now.”

There were several moments of shuffling feet, and then Lily did something James would have put money on her never even considering doing.

She kissed him. It was only for a few seconds, but the time stopped for James as he jumped in shock, and then leant into the kiss. Lily broke it and stepped back.

What she did next was even more unpredictable. She turned on her heel and ran back to the castle, not looking back once.

“Girls are weird,” James said to himself, and he started to make his own way back, with a slight skip in his step.

Chapter 10: Chasing a Dream

No one in the Gryffindor Common room surfaced the next morning until after eleven o’clock. It had been a long night, with most students trailing off to bed in the early hours of the morning.

James was the first to wake in his dormitory. He sleepily sat up and looked round the room. Everyone was deep asleep, and Sirius was snoring. He had had a great time with Ellie, dancing all night, until they were practically forced off the dance floor by McGonagall.

James sank back into his bed, not quite sure what he had dreamed during his sleep, and what had actually happened last night with Lily.

He was sure she had kissed him. That part he remembered perfectly, and it was so clear in his mind that it couldn’t possibly have been a dream. However, he had a strange feeling she had then run away. That had puzzled him. He didn’t see Lily for the rest of the night, but spent it laughing away with his friends and dancing like there was no tomorrow. But then his memory went foggy, and all he remembered was chasing Lily round the castle, which didn’t make any sense. He would almost be level with her, until suddenly she would whip round a corner and out of his sight. Sirius, Remus and Peter kept appearing to tell him which way she had run off to, and every time he had followed their advice, only to find himself at a dead end.

Once he had woken up properly, James realised this last part had been in his dream, and probably had occurred in his thoughts because he had not seen Lily the rest of the night. She really had disappeared. James supposed she had been embarrassed at her spontaneous actions. He remembered the kiss, and smiled despite himself. Sinking back into his pillows, he relived it over and over, not yet ready to surrender the warmth that was spreading through him at the thought of it.

It was some time later that the others began to wake. Remus stood groggily and stretched. “Morning, Prongs,” he said, yawning. “What time is it?”

“Quarter past eleven.”

“So we missed breakfast?”

“Yeah, but it’s lunch soon!”

“What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing…”

Something soft hit the side of James’s face. “Ow!”

He turned to find Sirius smiling at him. “Don’t give us ‘nothing’! You were on top form last night! What happened?”

“Nothing!” he repeated, but the blush on his face and the smile that escaped him gave him away.

“Ok fine… something happened with Evans.”

The others looked at him. “What happened?” they said in unison.

“We kissed.”

“You what?!” Sirius asked, shock clear on his face. “How on earth did you manage that?”

“Oh thanks for the vote of confidence!”

Remus sat on the end of his bed. “Well, all I can say, Prongs, is you are living proof that persistence pays. You found out the hard way, I guess.”

“There was an easy way? You’re kidding!”

They all laughed.

“So what happened next?”

James sighed. “Don’t laugh-“

“Would we?” Sirius asked innocently.

“She ran away.”

“Oh, nice move, Prongs! You go for the kill, and she runs away! And I thought you had got her!”

“That’s the thing, I didn’t go for the kill… she did.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Evans kissed you? And then ran away?”

James nodded.

“Man, girls are weird.”

“That’s what I said!”

James’s task for the rest of the day was to find Lily and ask her what had happened. It proved to be harder than he had expected. Every time he saw her, he found he didn’t have it in him to get up the courage and talk to her. Why was this so difficult? He talked to Lily Evans every single day! He found her in the library mid-afternoon, talking with some of her friends, but just as he was about to walk up to her, his stomach did a back-flip and he chickened out. Cursing himself, he pulled out a random book off the shelves to excuse his presence in the library to curious faces from Third Years who had clearly never seen James step foot in the library before.

Things were not going well. There was no reason but cowardice for not talking to Lily. He sat at the other end of the table to her at supper, and every time one of the Marauders told him to “get a move on!” he would answer: “I’m going to!” and change the subject.

Later that evening, he found Sirius and Ellie sitting by the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common room. They looked fairly cosy.

“How did it go?” Sirius asked as James approached.

James shook his head despondently.

“You still haven’t done it? Get a move on, mate, we’re not getting any younger here.”

Ellie looked up. “Are you looking for Lily?” James nodded. “She’s over there in that corner with Yves.”

James looked over to where she was pointing, and sure enough, there sat Lily Evans, deep in discussion with Yves. He took a deep breath. It was now or never.

“Good luck, Prongsie,” Sirius said.

He walked over and stood behind her. Yves spotted him and stopped talking, which made Lily look around.

She turned red. “Oh, hi, James,” she said. “You, uh, alright?”

“Yeah, great. Listen Lily, can I have a word?’ He looked to Yves. “In private?”

She turned to her friend, who gave a ‘do-what-you-like’ look.

“Sure.”

They exited the common room and found an empty classroom, a deadly silence between them.

James closed the door and looked at Lily. ‘This is really hard’, is all he remembered thinking, before he blurted: “Why did you kiss me?”

Lily blushed and looked at the floor. When she spoke, however, it was with a calm, cool voice. “I would have thought you would be pleased, Potter.”

She looked up again.

James blinked. “Well, yeah, but that’s not the point. I want to know why.”

“What for? Can’t you just leave it? It’s not that big a deal, you know, people do it all the time.”

“It is for me! And you know perfectly well why, Lily. I spill my guts out to you, you kiss me, then run away and act like it doesn’t matter!”

“I only ran away because I was embarrassed!” This was becoming a heated discussion.

“Embarrassed about what? That I told you I loved you?”

“You can’t possibly have meant that, Potter.”

“I did! And I’ll say it again if you like: I love you Lily Evans!”

She looked like she was about to say something, then thought the better of it. It was a few moments before she spoke, making James sweat thinking he had pushed too far.

“You want to know why I kissed you last night?” she asked.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak again.

“When I asked you to the Feast, it was because I wanted to know what it would be like to actually go on a date with James Potter, the boy who had been after me for years and years, even before I was even interested in boys myself. So I asked you to take me. And you know what? You actually surprised me. I had so much fun that I was scared of what I was letting myself in for. So when we went for that walk, and you asked me why I had gone with you that night, I told myself to go with my instincts. And my instincts told me to kiss you. So I did.”

James stared. “So, once you did, you came back to earth and realised what a prat you had been? That’s why you ran?”

“No, I told you. I ran because I was embarrassed. About letting myself get carried away.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I’m still not sure how I feel about you, Potter.”

“How long does it take to decide how you feel about me? I’ve only given you six and a half years to think about it!”

“Don’t get cocky, I hate it when you’re cocky.”

“What don’t you hate about me?”

“Recently, lots of things. I don’t go around kissing random boys, you know.”

“Then I don’t get it!”

“You don’t have to get it, and you probably never will get it. As long as you know that I had a great night and thought I’d end it nicely. I obviously screwed that one up.”

“Well I don’t know about you, but I certainly enjoyed that kiss.”

They both smiled bashfully.

“So, how shall we end this?” Lily asked.

“End it?”

“The conversation, I mean.”

“Oh. Well, uh, can you sum up? I’m still a bit confused.”

Lily sighed. “Don’t make me say it all again!”

“Just the key points!”

“There’s only one. It’s hard to say this, and I probably shouldn’t, but…” she stopped.

“But?”

“I really like you. A lot. Only don’t go getting too cocky about it, ok?”

He smiled. “I promise.”

Lily bit her lip.

So,” James said, “where do we go from here? Did I finally get you on side?”

“You might have. Try convincing me.”

“How?”

She raised her eyes.

“Oh,” was all James said, before he leant in and kissed her. He was ready for it this time, and it felt even better than before. It felt right.

Chapter 11: A Treasure Hunt



The news that Lily Evans had finally succumbed to the charms of James Potter spread like wildfire. By breakfast the next morning, people on the Gryffindor table applauded as they entered, while Sirius walked in front of them shouting, “Make way, make way for the lovebirds!”



Lily could hardly believe what had happened in the last few days. The last time she had checked, her head had been screwed on and her feet were on the ground. She would be glad once the next few days were over, as people would leave for the Christmas holidays and things would calm down again, giving her time to think.



She was confusing even herself. A few months ago, she would never in her wildest dreams have believed that she would be here in this place. But something had changed, and she was suddenly happier than she had been in a long time.



The next few days were a blur. She spent most of them caught up in the great amount of work they were being given for the holidays. It was immense, and she didn’t have much time to think about her new feelings for James.



She had decided a while ago to stay behind for Christmas, as she didn’t think she could bear the thought of returning home at the moment. James had offered his house for the holidays, as Sirius was staying as usual anyway. But Lily had decided against it. “Its too soon for any of that. I think it would be a good idea to spend the holidays apart. Gives us some time to think.”



James and Sirius left with the others for Hogsmeade to catch the Hogwarts Express. Lily gave him a cautious hug goodbye before kissing him on the cheek. “Have fun!” she said.



“You too. I’ll write as soon as I get home.”



“Come on, Prongs! Give her a smooch and lets get out of here!”



James smiled and raised his eyes. “See you then.”



Sirius grabbed him by the arm. “Sorry Evans. If I don’t use physical force I’ll never get him away.”



“Be my guest,” she said.



Sirius pulled James’s arm and jerked it backwards behind his back.



“Aargh!” James yelled. “Alright, alright, I give, let’s go!”



He smiled once more at Lily, Sirius winked at her, and they turned their backs to join the queue of people filing out of the grounds on the way to Hogsmeade.



The castle was strangely empty at Christmas. Lily had only ever spent it at Hogwarts once during her whole seven years at the school. Yves stayed behind every year, so at least she had her best friend for company. After using the first day of freedom relaxing and recharging their energy, they spent most of the first few days getting the bulk of their homework out of the way. It took a lot of persuasion from Lily to get Yves to work, but once they had got through a sizable amount, they found the rest of the holidays highly enjoyable.



On Christmas morning, Lily awoke to find Yves ripping paper off her presents.



“Merry Christmas, Lily!” she said, getting out of bed to give her friend a hug.



“Wow, that’s a sizable pile! What have you got so far?” Lily asked.



“Oh, bits and pieces really. Mainly from my parents.”



Lily looked at her own pile with a smile. She loved Christmas. Her first present was from her parents: a beautiful hand-knitted scarf with matching gloves. The next few were also from her parents: a pair of warm boots for walking in the snow, some new dress robes, and a huge box of chocolates. She sat nibbling on the chocolate as she opened the rest of her presents.



“Nothing from Petunia this year…” she said glumly. “Not that I expected her to have bothered. She usually gives it to me in person, and I’m not at home this year. I doubt she will be either.” She suddenly felt very guilty for leaving her parents alone at Christmas.



Yves changed the subject. “What did James get you?”



“Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t opened his present yet.” She looked at the few she had left and found the one that read “To Lily, have a very Merry Christmas, love James x.”



“Not as cheesy as usual,” Yves noticed.



“Well he doesn’t have to be anymore, I suppose.”



She ripped off the paper, and out fell a box. Opening it, Lily found-



“A piece of parchment?”



“Read it!” Yves said, excitedly.



Lily unrolled the parchment.



Lily, I know you probably have a lot of eating and present opening to do, but if you can spare me a few minutes, then follow the signs. Love James



P.S: Merry Christmas!



Lily looked up, puzzlement on her face. “Follow the signs? That boy gets weirder the more I get to know him.”



“Well get dressed then! We’ve got a treasure hunt to do!”



“Treasure hunt?”



“I read about them. It’s a Muggle sport.”



“I know what a treasure hunt is, Yve, my family are Muggles, remember? And it’s not a sport, silly, it’s a game.”



“Well whatever it is, they sound fun!”



Twenty minutes later, and they were dressed and ready to go. They began in the common room.



“I don’t see any signs, Yve,” Lily said, still puzzled.



“Well, it’s clearly a riddle… let’s think… follow the signs…” she trailed off, lost for words.



Lily sank into a nearby armchair. “Do you think he was supposed to put up signs for us to follow, but forgot?”



“No, silly, or we’d have seen them before this morning. Now, where do we find signs?”



“I have no idea,” Lily said, clearly at a loss.



“Help me, Lily! Signs…”



Lily hazarded a guess. “Divination?”



“Could be! The North Tower!” Yves said, shooting off.



Lily followed, not sure whether all this was just a silly Marauder joke. Once at the top of the tower, however, they found another box that read ‘For Lily’.



The scroll inside held few words, and was even more confusing:



‘Stirring the Slug’



Lily’s mind was at a blank. This was so typical of James, making her run around the castle on Christmas day.



“What do you reckon?” Yves asked, scratching her head in confusion.



“Uh, the Greenhouses would have slugs, wouldn’t they?”



“Not if Professor Sprout and her slug repellent have anything to do with it. Besides, the greenhouses get locked at Christmas.”



“Do they?” Lily read the scroll again. “Stirring the Slug… stirring the… Wait �“ Stirring. That could refer to potions, and Slug would be Professor Slughorn, right?”



“Brilliant! Let’s go!”



They made their way down the stairs of the North Tower. Lily was out of breath by the time they reached the bottom and hurried along the corridor.



“We have to go all the way to the dungeon?” she exclaimed despairingly. “Couldn’t he have put it somewhere a little nearer?”



Once they reached the dungeon, somewhat breathless, they proceeded to Slughorn’s office. It was locked.



“Alohamora!” Yves said, pointing her wand at the lock. Nothing happened.



“Yve, no teacher would be dumb enough to lock their office door using a charm that ‘Alohamora’ can counter. It can’t be in here. Maybe we got it wrong.”



Lily pulled out the scroll again and read it. “Hmm, shall we go back up and do it later? I’m getting hungry.”



As they walked up the staircase leading to the Entrance Hall however, they bumped into Slughorn.



“Ah, Miss Evans, Miss Shaw, a very Merry Christmas to you both!”



“Thank you, Professor.”



“Oh, Miss Evans, I have something for you in my office. It arrived this morning addressed to me, but the gift is labelled as ‘For Lily’. I suppose the owl must have been confused.”



“Thank you, can I take it now?” Her eyes shone with an excitement that Slughorn couldn’t resist.



“Of course, I would not like to deprive you of a present on Christmas day! I’m on my way down there now, as it happens.”



Lily went with Slughorn and left Yves standing in the Entrance Hall. She took the box form him, wished him a hasty ‘Merry Christmas, Professor’ and ran back to Yves.



“What does it say?” Yves asked excitedly.



Lily opened the small box and took out the parchment. It read:



'Take Flight'



"Well, this one's a little easier," Yves said, taking the scroll from Lily and rolling it up. "The next one's in the Owlery." She grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her up the stairs. Again.



They were once more out of breath before they reached the Owlery. Lily leant on the windowsill to get her breath back. "Why - couldn't - he - put - this - clue - after - the - North - Tower - clue... much - easier..."



Yves smiled. "Maybe he thinks you need to lose a bit of weight, so he's sending you round on a workout."



Lily stuck her tongue out at Yves, and they began to search the Owlery for signs of another parcel.



Lily looked up. "Yves! It's there!" She pointed towards the ceiling, where a particularly fat owl was sleeping on its perch with a parcel attatched to its leg. There began several minutes of cooing at the bird in an attemot to coax it down to their level, but to no avail. Once they had made enough fools of themselves, Yves turned to Lily, who was impersonating an attractive bird.



"Give it up, Lils. I'm gonna have to go up."



"Up?"



"As in, climb up and get it. Give me a leg up."



Lily hoisted Yves up to the first perch, where she methodically began climbing until she reached the fat owl. It woke up, and tried to take flight. "Oh no you don't," Yves said, grabbing hold of the parcel and loosing it from the owl's leg. "Lily, catch!"



She threw it down to Lily, who caught it in one hand and unwrapped it.



"What does it say?" Yves said as she climbed back down.



"It says ‘Feast’..."



“That’s it? What’s on the back?”



Lily turned it over. “Nothing. It just says ‘Feast’.”



Yves reached the bottom. “Speaking of which, I’m starving, and everyone’s going into breakfast. Shall we eat?”



“Sure. I suppose this can wait.” There was disappointment in her voice.



They made there way back down the many flights of stairs and entered the Great Hall with the few others who had stayed for Christmas. There were half a dozen Gryffindors at the table, and Lily and Yves joined them for breakfast. The Feast would be later, so breakfast was a normal affair. The girls chatted with the others until everyone had finished eating, and then went for a stroll around the grounds. It had been snowing the last few days, one of the plusses of being at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays, as it was so scenic.



Everything was white. Lily, Yves and three Sixth Year boys from Gryffindor walked around the lake, chatting merrily, and then had a very enthusiastic snowball fight. An hour later, they were all soaked through, and Lily could barely feel her fingers or toes from the cold.



It was time for Christmas dinner in the Great Hall. The five Gryffindors made their way slowly and painfully towards the oak front doors, and into the warmth of the Great Hall, where pupils and teachers alike were beginning to sit down at one, long table in the middle of the Hall. Lily scanned the table to find seats. Her eye caught a glimpse of two familiar bodies sitting in the middle, waving enthusiastically at them.



“No way! It’s James and Sirius!” she exclaimed, completely shocked.



“Where?”



“Over there!” She pointed.



“What on earth are they doing here?”



“I have no idea…”



They approached the pair, shock on their faces.



“Surprise!” James said, smiling. “Merry Christmas!” He got up and kissed Lily warmly in full view of the rest of table. She sat down, a little flushed, with James on one side and Sirius and Yves on the other.



“What are you-“ she began.



“I know its lame, but I thought I would lead you on a wild goose chase. This is where the clues end. At the Feast.”



“So where’s my present?”



“I’m right here!” he said, spreading wide his arms and grinning.



“Oh, great present!” she said sarcastically.



Yves raised her eyes. “So we ran round the whole castle for this? We could have just turned up as normal and been just as surprised.”



“I know, but this way was much more inventive, don’t you think? Besides, I was kidding before. This is your present.”



“He pulled out another small box, the same as all the others, labelled ‘For Lily’.



“If this is another-“



“Just open it.”



Inside were two pearl earrings.



“I found them myself. The pearls I mean. When I was abroad in the summer holidays, we went diving in the sea and I saw those at the bottom. I got them made into earrings for you. They’re unique.”



“They’re beautiful. Thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek.



Yves turned to Sirius. “So what the hell are you two actually doing here? Don’t you spend Christmas at James’s house?”



“Yeah, we spent the morning there. Then we Apparated to Hogsmeade and walked here. They didn’t mind, anything to get us troublemakers out of the house for a few hours of peace and quiet! We cleared it with Dumbledore before we left. Impressed?”



“I didn’t know you could Apparate!” Yves said.



“We both passed our tests last summer. Can’t you?”



“No. I failed. Badly.”



Dumbledore stood from his seat at the Head of the table and spoke. “Now that we are all seated, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas. In times like this it is important that we all have a little, if not a lot, of merriment in our lives. So on that note, I hope you stuff yourselves silly and laugh louder than you have in ages! Enjoy the food!”



The table was suddenly filled with every kind of Christmas food imaginable. Turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants, chickens and hams took up most of the room. There were also piles of sausages, heaps of vegetables, tureens of gravy, and masses of stuffing. They piled their plates high and began eating. It was food like Lily had never tasted before. All too soon, they were all clutching their stomachs, happily full and ready to sleep.



Once the Feast was over, Lily and Yves walked James and Sirius to Hogsmeade, where they Apparated back to James’s parents’ house for the rest of Christmas.



“Thanks for my present, James,” Lily said, as they were ready to depart.



“No problem. Have a great time during the rest of the holidays. I’ll see you soon.” He smiled.



“You too.”



James and Sirius waved goodbye, and were gone.

Chapter 12: A Sluggish Day

The rest of the holidays went smoothly. Lily and Yves, glad that the majority of their homework had been done, spent their free days sleeping in late, lounging around in the Common room, and taking walks around the crisp, white grounds.

Whilst it was pleasant to have such a restful holiday, Lily found that she missed James immensely. Even though she had only agreed to go out with him just before the holidays, she found she couldn’t wait for his return.

They spent much of the time sending letters to each other. On the day that the pupils were due to return to school, Lily received another letter from James. His owl, Prime, brought it to the window of the Gryffindor common room, tapping on the glass with his beak. Lily rushed over and let him in to release him of his parcel. He nipped her finger affectionately and took off, no doubt to the Owlery, as James would be returning at any moment on the Hogwarts express.

Lily returned to her seat by the fire, where Yves was sitting with her head buried in the latest edition of Witch Weekly. She tore open the envelope and began to read, just as Yves folded the magazine and leant in to read over her shoulder

Lily,

Thanks for your letter. Sirius found the idea of you and Yves ice skating on the lake very amusing. He says he’d never heard of Muggles sliding around on blades before…

We’ve decided to get the Hogwarts Express back to school. I have to be there anyway as Head Boy, to patrol, and Sirius is far too lazy to fill out the Apparition form. Besides, It’s our last year, so we want to make the most of the lunch trolley! That means we’ll be back with the rest of the school tomorrow (Sunday) in time for the Feast. Save me a seat!

Yesterday I showed my mum that picture Remus took of us at the Christmas Feast. She says you are very beautiful and I can’t possibly deserve you! Mothers!

Anyway, I had better go. Sirius and I are going to the field to practice Quidditch. I got a Snitch for Christmas, the newest model made for the Leagues. It’s really fast and light and … well, I won’t bore you with Quidditch talk. And Sirius is yelling at me to hurry up!

Can’t wait to see you!

James x

Yves smiled and nudged Lily warmly. “He’s so sweet!”

“Yeah, someone might think he actually likes me!” Lily said sarcastically.

“You lucky girl, I wish I had someone like James.”

“Lay off, he’s mine!”

The girls laughed and packed up their things, ready for the start of term feast.

They were a little early, as were the rest of the pupils and the teachers who had stayed at school for the holidays. Yves and Lily took their usual seats on the Gryffindor table, and before long, the doors were opened wide, and a flood of pupils entered.

As the five long tables began to fill, the Hall was filled with the buzzing sounds of people catching up on holiday news. Ellie rushed to Lily and Yves’s side and embraced them both, a big smile on her face. “How are you both?” she asked, sitting down on the other side of Yves. “Good holidays? I’ve got so much to gossip about! Did you hear about Simon and Rachel from Ravenclaw?”

At that moment, James appeared at Lily’s shoulder, along with Remus, Sirius and Peter. She turned and stood to greet him in a huge hug.

“Did you get my letter?” he asked, sitting down next to her, as the other Marauders filed in next to him.

“About twenty minutes ago! Did Prime not come back to you? He must have gone to the Owlery.”

“Yeah, he only thinks of his stomach.”

“Like some people I know!” James had already heaped his plate full of the food that had appeared on the table. “Where did all this come from? Dumbledore hasn’t welcomed us back yet!”

Yves turned to Lily. “Yes he has. You two were too busy talking to notice…”

Lily smiled sheepishly and pulled a bowl of roast potatoes towards her.

Once everyone had caught up on news and satisfied their hunger, the pupils and teachers filed out of the Hall slowly. The Gryffindors wandered up the their common room, where only a small handful sank into armchairs. Most of the others were sleepy from all the food and the long day of journeying, so bed was immediately sought.

After a few minutes of sleepy fireside chatter, Lily rose from the sofa to make her way to bed with Yves and Ellie. She turned to James.

“I missed you, Potter. I’m glad you’re back.” She swiftly kissed him on the cheek and then stood, linked arms with the others, and proceeded to the girls’ stairway.

***

The next day began with Potions, which Lily and the Marauders walked to together after breakfast. James took Lily’s hand in his and led her down the stairs to the dungeons. They joined the queue with the other Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs waiting outside the Potions classroom.

Slughorn appeared from the door and smiled. “Enter, dear pupils, a wealth of learning awaits you!” he proclaimed cheerfully.

He smiled and winked as Lily walked past him into the room. Lily smiled back politely and hurried to sit down next to James at the back of the class.

“I trust that you all had a restful and pleasant holiday! But now, back to work, if you will! Scales and potions kit out and turn to page 472 of your books,” Slughorn chirped, his enormous moustache bouncing up and down as he spoke.

A squeal of delight was omitted from a pupil at the front of the class. “Oh thanks Professor! I’ve been waiting to do this potion since Third Year!” came the voice of Charles Bug from Hufflepuff, an abnormally small boy who, it was rumoured, had dwarf blood somewhere down his family tree.

Sirius chuckled and called, “Bet you have Buggy!”

“That’s right, boys and girls, the Incrementum Potion. Now can anyone explain exactly what it does?” Slughorn asked.

A few hands rose to the air, and although Charles Bug was almost jumping up and down in his seat in a bid to be chosen, Slughorn’s eyes went immediately to Lily, who sat patiently with her arm up.

“Yes, my dear?” he sang, as Charles grumpily slumped forwards in his chair and put his head in his hands.

Lily smiled, “The Incrementum Potion has the ability to extend the height of a person whilst still maintaining proportion.”

A grin split Slughorn’s round face. “Correct my dear, as usual. Ten points to Gryffindor! And well deserved they are, too.”

James raised his eyebrows at her. “Teacher’s pet!” he whispered.

“Its not my fault he always picks me!” she exclaimed.

“Oh no, its not like you constantly batter your eyelashes at him,” James said sarcastically, as she began gathering the correct ingredients for the potion.

“Now now, before you start, boys and girls, remember to allow exactly 14 minutes for the brew to settle before adding the Lizard Juice. This is not a particularly challenging potion at face value, but can go disastrously wrong if not correctly planned. And as it’s not one we have covered so far in the course, it is compulsory that it go right today, if you are to have any chance of mastering it before N.E.W.Ts begin. I hope I don’t need to remind you that we have only one full term ahead of us before the exams start.” He raised his eyebrows at them, as if it were their fault that time had trickled past in such a hurry. “Now, please begin, and feel free to ask any questions along the way.”

James looked to Lily, who was already scrawling away on a piece of parchment, and simultaneously arranging ingredients along the desk in front of her cauldron. “Uh, where do we start, Lily?” he questioned.

“Well I would recommend reading page 472 of your book first, it might give you an idea,” she replied sarcastically but affectionately, and James grumpily reached for his book and began finding the correct page.

“You know,” he declared, “I did think, once we started going out, that you might cut me a little slack and share your brains.”

“I do!” Lily claimed, “I reminded you of the page number, did I not?”

“Oh yes, well I suppose that is progress, for you. There was a time when you would have slapped me for even talking to you.”

“Can you blame me? You were, it has to be said, an unfathomably annoying arse at times. Although you did persevere, so I guess I should give you some credit for that,” Lily teased.

“I’d rather have the help,” James replied, turning away and muttering something that sounded like ‘bloody page numbers’.

“Quiet at the back there, Potter! No time for chit chat if you are going to get this potion right. And why have you not got any ingredients out yet? Too busy making puppy eyes at Miss Evans!”

Sirius roared with laughter. “Ah sir, got it on the button.” He then pinched his nose and dropped something slimy into his cauldron, which was emitting a green trail of smoke. He leafed through Advanced Potion Making, and read: Your brew should now be a tinted shade of pink. He raised his hand. “Ah.... oh Professor!”

By the end of the class, Slughorn had on his desk twenty samples of very different looking potions. Sirius’s had never recovered from its state of putrid green, but he eyed it with pride. “And no help from anyone, either,” he smiled.

“Yes, yes, well done Black, it’s progress indeed. It took me hours to clean up last term’s explosion,” Slughorn said, looking sceptically at Sirius’s vile, which was still slowly bubbling away.

Chapter 13: Lost

Lily spent the next month in a blur of happiness. She was finding that life with James Potter as her boyfriend was easier than she would have imagined. She could really be herself around him, and relax into the enjoyment of their final year at Hogwarts.

One afternoon, however, things changed drastically. Lily was attempting to finish her Transfiguration essay for Professor McGonagall, but James had decided long ago that this was far too boring a past-time.

“James!” Lily protested, as he tickled her ear with the end of his feather quill. “Will you quite that! I need to finish this.”

“No you don’t. You don’t even want to finish it. You just think that you should. Am I right, or am I right?”

“It amounts to the same thing. Distracting me will only postpone the time when my essay is finished. Then I’m at your disposal.”

Sirius laughed. “Bad move. You don’t want to go giving Prongs that kind of power. He’ll never relinquish it.”

Sirius was reclining on the sofa opposite, absent-mindedly shuffling a deck of exploding snap cards. “Want a game?” he asked James, sitting up and pulling a table towards them.

“Sure, why not.” James finally put his quill down, much to Lily's pleasure, and leant forward to engage in the game. As Sirius began dealing the cards into two separate piles, Ellie and Yves approached. They dumped their bulging bags on the floor and pulled up chairs to sit by the table Lily was working at.

Lily looked up. "Where have you two been?" she asked distractedly.

"Library," Ellie answered. "We were set a horrible Ancient Runes essay this morning."

"I'm attempting McGonagall's now," Lily said, sighing as she picked up her essay and leafed through the pages. "Not very successfully," she said finally, setting it back down on the table.

"At least you've started it!" Yves said, pulling out books from her bag and heaping them in a pile in front of her. "I dread to think how long it will take me to read this lot."

Sirius, who had just succeeded in a hand of Exploding Snap that had blown up in James's face, turned to the girls. "You work too hard. I finished McGonagall's essay last night. It only took me half an hour." He said this proudly, taking more cards out from the box and dealing them out.

The girls ignored him, heads bent over their books and quills racing.

After half an hour, by which point the pack of cards had run out and both James and Sirius were looking much worse for wear, Ellie threw down her quill. "It's no use, my brain's going round in cirlces." She reached in her bag and pulled out a fresh pack of cards. "You boys in?" she asked, moving to sit on the sofa where the James and Sirius were.

Sirius, who wore an expression that was a mixture of pride and shock, nodded his head and moved over to make room for Ellie.

Just then, a small girl approached the table and cleared her throat. “Lily?” she questioned nervously. Lily looked up from her books at the girl, although her hand continued to move across the page of parchment that was her essay. “Yes?”

“Uh, I have a message for you from Professor Dumbledore. He says you are to meet him in his office as soon as you can. It’s important. Apparently,” she added hastily.

Lily rubbed her eyes. “Right now? My essay…” The girl shrugged. “I’m just passing on the message.” She turned on her heel and skipped off to find her friends.

James, who had been sitting with a puzzled expression on his face, now turned to Lily. “Well, come on then. Let’s go.”

“She didn’t mention you, James.”

“I know, and Dumbledore can kick me out of his office if he wants. But I’m coming with you anyway.”

Lily smiled. “Sure. Thanks James.”

Sirius looked up. “What’s all this about? Are you in trouble?”

“I hope not. See you later, Sirius.”

“Bye.”

Lily and James left the Common room and made their way up the flights of stairs to the stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore’s office. Lily looked at James. “Do you think the password’s the same as it was at our meeting?”

James shrugged. “Pear Drops.” The gargoyle leapt to the side and he smiled. “Seems to be.”

Lily returned the smile and then preceded James through the door and onto the moving spiral staircase. When they reached the top, Lily knocked hesitantly on the door. She always felt nervous about entering the Headmaster’s office, even for a Head of School meeting.

“Come in,” rang the voice of Albus Dumbledore from within the room. Lily turned the handle and stepped into the light of the office. James was just behind her.

Dumbledore was seated behind his desk, but he stood as Lily entered. “Ah, Miss Evans. Thank you for coming so swiftly. And Mr Potter…” He gave a slight nod to James, as if authorising his presence. “Come and take a seat, both of you," he said, conjuring up an extra chair for James with a lazy wave of his wand.

The pair sat opposite Dumbledore, who seated himself in his chair and lowered his half-moon spectacled to survey them. “I will cut to the chase. I do not think it fair to dawdle in these circumstances. Miss Evans, I’m am very sorry to have to tell you this, but I received a message this morning from your sister, which-“

“Petunia?” Pure shock was on her face. “Wrote to you? She would never…”

“It appears that in special circumstances, your sister can put aside her difficulty in accepting the magical world. I assure you, I received a letter from her this morning. It was brief. I am afraid to say that your parents have died.”

Whatever reasons Lily imagined Dumbledore having for summoning her here, this was certainly not one of them. She refused to believe it. “No. No, that’s a lie. No, they’re not, they’re not… they haven’t….”

James reached over and put his hand reassuringly on Lily's shoulder. He looked at Dumbledore. “Are you sure?”

“I am very sorry, yes. Your sister wishes that you return home for the funeral. I of course give my consent, together with my deepest sympathies.”

“How?” Lily managed to ask.

“Your sister writes that there was an explosion which occurred in town. The Muggle Prime Minister tried to cover it up from the Ministry of Magic, but we are not as blind as they seem to think we are." He paused, and surveyed Lily. "I had my suspicions. Even with what Muggles call “terrorists”, explosions are not common events. The Ministry was on the case far sooner than the Muggle authorities were. It was most defiantely the work of Death Eaters, although their motive is as yet unknown. Whilst this may sound harsh, it was most likely for pure fun. Your parents were simply in the way. I am deeply sorry.”

Lily's head was spinning as Dumbledore said all this. She didn't want to hear it. Without thinking, she took a great gasping breath in and held it. She didn’t know how else to react. Letting go of her breath would be like opening floodgates to her emotions and her tears, and mark an acceptence to what she had just been told. She couldn’t do that. Her parents couldn’t be dead. They wouldn’t leave her alone in the world. They couldn’t. So she held on. Her head started to feel light and her vision blurred. Somewhere that seemed far off in the distance, a voice was calling her.

“Lily!” It was James. He took her shoulders and shook them hard. “Lily, you’re going purple! Breath, Lily!”

Dumbledore stood hastily, knocking his chair over in the process. “Leave her alone, James. Shaking her will produce nothing. She will breathe when she is ready to.”

“She’ll choke then!”

“Don’t underestimate her, James. Let go, please.”

James did as he was told. Dumbledore swooped down in his place and looked into Lily’s eyes. “It is ok to grieve, Lily,” was all he said.

His words reached her and clicked something into place. She gasped as if pulled from the ocean, collapsing forwards onto Dumbledore’s shoulder. He patted her on the back as she took great shuddering sobs. “You take over, James. I must arrange for some transport to take Miss Evans home.” James sidled in between the two, and Lily transferred her sobbing to James’s shoulder instead. She clutched at him despairingly.

Dumbledore left his office. It was just the two of them. James didn’t know what to say. He said nothing. Lily continued to cry.

After what seemed like an hour, her breathing calmed and she lifted her head from his shoulder, looking into James’s eyes. “I’m sorry. For making a fool of myself. You can go if you want.”

James looked at her and sighed. “I wouldn’t leave you right now for anything, you silly girl.” He pulled her into a tight embrace.

Dumbledore entered and they separated. He walked around to his chair, picked it up, but did not sit down. “I have arranged for the chimney in your parents’ house to be temporarily hooked up to the Floo Network. You can access it from my fireplace right away.”

Lily stood and wiped her hands over her tear-stained face. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and her head ached from all the crying, but she retained the utmost dignity as she said, “Thank you Professor. For your kindness and help.”

“Not at all. We all need a helping hand in such circumstances. I am sure you will find the next few weeks rather difficult, but it is best right now for you to be with your sister.”

James took her hand and squeezed it tight. He smiled reassuringly at her, not knowing how you say goodbye at such a time. He settled for “See you then,” before releasing her hand and moving towards Dumbledore.

Lily took a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. “14 Newman Lane,” her voice rang clearly into the room. There was a moment of purple mist, and she was gone.

Chapter 14: Home

Lily landed with a thud in the fireplace of a neat, Muggle sitting room. Opposite her was a large, squashy sofa, and several armchairs of similar style were dotted stylishly around the room. The walls were covered with photo frames, which contained smiling pictures of a girl riding her first bicycle; a man and his daughters building a magnificent sandcastle on the beach; three sisters laughing madly at a birthday party with funny-looking hats perched precariously on their heads. These were the memories of Lily’s childhood. She was home.

She crawled forward and stood, dusting the dirt off her school robes. The room was eerily quiet, and she could not hear noise anywhere else in the house. “Hello?” she called questioningly. “Petunia?” There was no answer.

Lily crossed the room to the door and passed the threshold. She walked up the hall and entered the kitchen. It was empty. She wasn’t sure what to do. There was no one here to welcome her. She should have expected this. Since when had her selfish sister ever thought of her?

Leaving the kitchen, she climbed the stairs slowly, running her hand along the smooth wooden banister. She made her way through the various rooms, checking for signs of life, but to no avail. Everything was empty. When she reached her parents’ bedroom, she paused at the door. She slowly reached out her fingers to the handle, but withdrew her hand quickly as if scalded. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to do this. Gathering strength, she thrust her hand at the handle, turned it slowly, and opened the door.

It was as she had remembered it from her last visit in the summer. Everything was neatly in order, the bed made, the curtains drawn back and hooked to the side, the rug thrown carefully over the back of the rocking chair. But there were also signs of life. The book her father had been reading, open on his bedside table. Her mother’s lipstick and mascara lying on the mantelpiece. A shawl hanging on the handle of the closet. There was a pair of socks poking out from under the bed and an open box of chocolates on the chair by the desk.

Suddenly Lily couldn’t believe they were gone. Surely she would hear them come in the front door with the week’s food shopping, and gasp in surprise and happiness as they saw her come charging down the stairs with a grin on her face. They would open their arms to her and tell her everything was fine, they weren’t in any explosion. Then they would tell her to go back to school and work hard at becoming a great witch. Yes, this room was proof that they were still alive. They had to be.

She heard the distinct sound of rustling keys. They were home. Lily turned on her heel and ran out of the room and down the hall, flew down the stairs and shouted “Mum! Dad! You’re back!”

The door opened and a man entered. It was not her father. He was short and round, with a neatly trimmed moustache and small, watery eyes. He stared at her, puzzled. Then his eyes narrowed.

“Lily, I presume?” His voice was cold.

“Yes. And you are?”

“Vernon Dursley.” He said it as a challenge, standing straight and looking directly at her. Lily took the bait with pleasure.

“I see. And what the hell gives you the right to possess a key to my house?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, a tall, slender figure emerged behind him. “Lily?” she exclaimed. “How did you…? I didn’t expect…” Petunia Evans bustled past her boyfriend to stand directly in front of Lily. “I only sent the letter yesterday.” She said this as if it was proof that by right there was no possible way Lily could have arrived so soon.

“One of the advantages of being a witch. It’s a lot faster than being a Muggle,” Lily replied, with a coldness that matched Vernon’s.

The look of shock on both their faces put a smile on Lily’s face. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to bed. I suppose it’s the shock, it’s made me tired. I didn’t have time to bring any clothes with me, so you’ll have to lend me some of yours, Petunia.” She turned on her heel and proceeded up the stairs.

“Wait!” This from Vernon. Lily turned. “Yes?”

“Well you can’t stay here, the house is empty, and there’s no knowing what you might…” He trailed off at the look on Lily’s face.

“Rest assured, Dursley, I can look after myself. I’m a big girl, you know.” She turned to Petunia. “I want to help plan the funeral. He’s not having anything to do with it. They were our parents, not his.” On that note she climbed the stairs, leaving them staring after her.

Once she reached her own old bedroom, Lily crashed onto the bed and buried her face into her pillows. There was too much going on to think about. Her parents were dead; her sister and that man were coming and going in her house as they pleased; her parents were dead, her parents were dead, her parents were dead. The thought went round and round in her mind, until finally a deep and lasting sleep claimed her.

***

Lily was surprised at how quickly a week went passed. She spent it living in her parents’ house, after finally persuading Petunia to give her some money to live on. She would not, however, leave Lily to herself. Petunia insisted on coming over to check on her every day, but Lily suspected it was more to do with her suspicions of what she might do with her magic than because of any kind of love or consideration for her younger sister. Lily didn’t mind. She had got used to the distance between them that had started ever since she had received her letter inviting her to Hogwarts. It hadn’t even been a shock when Petunia had moved out of the house last summer holidays. She was, after all, twenty years old. Yet it was the cruel way that she had taken everything from the house that she deemed as hers and moved it to Vernon’s flat without a backwards glance that had really cut Lily. She wondered whether her sister and her parents had made up before they had died.

Petunia claimed that they had never argued: a blatant lie, seeing as Lily had been there at the time. But what Petunia was really saying was that she had no quarrels with her parents on anything other than the topic of Lily. Once she had been safely reinstated into “that damn school” how could they not get on again?

This made Lily so angry that she had seriously considered taking out her wand and turning Petunia into something truly horrible as her sister suspected she would. She resisted the temptation, however, she was here to mourn her parents and celebrate their lives, not to give in and prove Petunia right about magic.

They spoke only when it was needed, and even then it was mostly based around the topic of the funeral. Lily had wanted a small affair, with only close relatives at the service. She didn’t like the idea of lots of strangers being present as she said goodbye to her parents. Petunia, however, had had other ideas. “I’ve already invited most of Mum and Dad’s friends, and we can’t very well uninvited them, Lily. They all want to be there.”

This included Vernon, of course. That man was the most irritating person Lily had ever had the misfortune to meet. She couldn’t imagine what Petunia saw in her. And then she realised: they were exactly the same as one other. In personality, at least. In appearance they looked comical together: Petunia was tall, slim and bony, whereas Vernon was short, dumpy and very beefy. They deserved each other. Still, Lily had argued against his coming to the funeral. His pure denial that she had anything to do with magic freaked her out. He and Petunia gave her constant sidelong glances, as if she would suddenly sprout horns. He flatly refused to meet her eyes. But Petunia insisted on his being present at the funeral. And that was that. She always had the last word. It was, she claimed, her right as the eldest.

The day went by as planned. The weather was beautiful, which surprised Lily. She had always thought it was supposed to rain on the day of a funeral. What she hadn’t counted on was how hard it would be to say goodbye to her parents. She sat through the service wishing she had someone other than her irritating sister to talk to, to lean on, to cry on, and to tell all her worries to. She found herself suddenly wanting James to be with her. He would know how to comfort her. He had always known her best since she had come to Hogwarts all those years ago, better than even her parents knew her. Now they weren’t here to know her at all.

As she threw a flower on their shared grave, Lily remembered how they had died. It sounded comical really. Blasted apart by a dark wizard as they wandered along the riverbank together. She shook her head sadly and wished every evil on Lord Voldemort. He was destroying the world he wished to rule. What a sad man, she thought, blowing a kiss into the ground and turning blurry eyed from the graveyard.

Chapter 15: Conflict

James didn’t realise he had been staring at the fireplace in Dumbledore’s office for so long until the Headmaster put a hand on his shoulder and passed him a steaming mug of hot chocolate. “Here, James. Drink this. It will calm you down.”

James took the mug and followed Dumbledore back to his desk. He sat down. “Professor?”

Dumbledore didn’t speak, but looked at James, giving him his full attention and inviting him to speak.

James cleared his throat. “Can you tell me something?”

“This depends on what you want to know. I strive to provide my pupils with as many of the answers during their time here that they desire. However, I have a feeling that what you are about to ask has nothing to do with, say, Herbology or Transfiguration.”

“No Professor. I just wanted to ask about… about You-Know-Who.”

“I do know who. What in particular would you like to know about Lord Voldemort?’

James, who had been in the process of lifting his mug to his lips, misjudged the angle at the mention of Voldemort’s name, and spilt hot chocolate down his shirt. Dumbledore pretended he hadn’t noticed.

“Well, you’re a very powerful wizard, too,” James said, recovering quickly and taking the opportunity Dumbledore had offered him to spare his dignity.

“Thank you, James. Unfortunately, I alone cannot tackle the evil that pours out of every crevice of Voldemort’s soul. He remains powerful not because of his skill, but because of his hatred of the world.”

James blinked. “I don’t understand, sir. Are you suggesting he can never be defeated? That the wizarding world is just sitting back and taking all this… all this onslaught? Surely there must be some sort of resistance?”

“Of course there is. To sit back and take it would indeed be incredibly foolish. I can assure you, James, that I am doing all that is in my power to halt Lord Voldemort in his tracks.”

“Can I help? After all these deaths, I-“

Dumbledore put up a hand to silence James. “I would never consider putting you at such a risk, James. Nor can I tell you anything about my plans in the resistance against Voldemort. Do not misinterpret my words,” he added at a rejected look from James. “It is not that I do not deem you worthy, or brave, for you are very much both and I hold you in my high esteem of a pupil. However, while you remain in my care at this school, you must forget any outside activity and concentrate on getting through your studies.”

“Yes sir,” James said. He looked at Dumbledore and considered him for a moment before saying, “Sir, I want to be an Auror, sir. When I leave here, I want to train with the Ministry so I can help fight Voldemort.”

Dumbledore smiled at the mention of Voldemort’s name from James’s lips. “An Auror?” he asked.

“Yes sir.”

Dumbledore lowered his glasses and peered at James intently, returning searching look James had given him just moments before. It made James feel as if he were peering deep into his soul, and the hairs stood up at the back of his neck. “Indeed?” Dumbledore said finally. “That is a worthy goal, Mr Potter. I think you would make a very good Auror.” He nodded, as if to clarify the issue, and James took it also as a sign that their discussion was now over. He downed the last of his hot chocolate and stood.

“Will you let me know when Lily is coming back?”

“I will indeed keep you informed. Good evening, James.”

“Good evening, Professor. Thanks for the hot chocolate.”

And he left the office feeling, despite the weight that Lily’s grief had spread over him, a distinct feeling that he had conquered something today. It was as if he had unintentionally forced Dumbledore to consider him in a new light, one that was neither jovial troublemaker nor dignified Head Boy. He had proved to Dumbledore that he could see past the trials and tribulations of school life. He wanted to fight. He smiled as he descended the stairs and made his way back to the common room.

***

It was quiet without Lily around. James had only just got used to being able to talk to her without fear of being shot down, and now she was going through hell and he couldn’t be around to help her through it. It made him mad.

“James?” Remus poked him in the ribs. They were in Defence Against the Dark Arts a week later and he had drifted off. Again. “James, it’s you.”

“Wha-“ He looked up. “Oh, sorry Professor.”

Professor Almony frowned. “You will be, if you don’t start paying attention. N.E.W.Ts are only a few months away, and you should all be working furiously hard. Next week we will be into March, and then it less than three months until exam season. I hope you realise this, Mr Potter.”

James nodded. “Yes, sir.” He scrambled to find the page that Remus was on, and sat up to listen. Ever since his conversation with Dumbledore he was more keen than ever to get the grades to become an Auror. It was the only way he could think of to help Lily and all those others out there who were losing loved ones, suffering needlessly under the hands of Lord Voldemort.

“Now, Mr Potter, can you tell me what defence precautions to take if you come across a werewolf?”

Remus coughed loudly and Sirius patted him on the back, trying not to laugh.

“A werewolf, Professor? We did werewolves in Third Year.”

“I am fully aware of this, Mr Potter. I do not need to defend my teaching strategies to you. List the defence precautions necessary in the presence of a werewolf, please”

“This is ridiculous! If the N.E.W.Ts are about tackling perfectly harmless beasts when there are much more dangerous enemies out there, then they’re not even worth taking!”

“Mr Potter, I-“

“Voldemort’s out there! He’s real. Lily can tell you that, and so can a load of other people in this school who have lost the people they love because of him.”

The class had all panicked at the sound of Voldemort’s name. Professor Almony, however, stormed over to James’s desk and stood towering over him, fury in his eyes. “Out!” he yelled, pointing at the door. “You will not re-enter this class until you have calmed down. Never has a pupil spoken to me in such a manner.”

James sat, shocked, for several seconds, before hurriedly snatching up his books and, with a glance at Remus and Sirius who were looking at him with surprise on their faces, leaving the class.

It was a long walk back to the common room as he contemplated what he had said. It hadn’t really been that rude, and he had only been speaking his mind. Wasn’t honesty supposed to be a good quality? He supposed he would have to endure detention now. Oh well, he thought, detention was worth it if he could have got through to the class the seriousness of the situation. He suddenly couldn’t wait until the end of the year, when he could actually do something productive instead of sit around in lessons learning how to defend himself against Remus. He was a weakling, anyway.

James entered the common room and slung his bag onto the nearest sofa.

“Ouch!”

James jumped. He hadn’t seen anyone sitting there.

“Lily?”

Lily rose from the sofa, grinning weakly. She had faint red circles around her eyes which suggested she had cried a lot recently. “I’m back. Don’t look too happy about it.”

James smiled and rushed to greet her in a hug that lifted her from the ground. “James! You’re squashing me!”

“Sorry.” He put her down. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. Are you alright?” They sat together on the sofa. “How was it?”

“Awful. My sister was a pain, not to mention her wart of a boyfriend. I’m so glad to be back here where I don't have to think about it.”

“Really? How was the funeral?”

“As funerals go, it was pretty miserable. I just can't believe they're gone..." she trailed off, and James thought he saw tears form in her eyes, making them sparkle. She looked at James suspiciously. "But I don’t really feel like talking about it right now.”

“Sure, I’ll bet you're knackered. But don’t worry, Lils, it’ll all fix itself someday.”

“What will?”

“This whole war. I spoke to Dumbledore about it. The Death Eaters can’t keep killing, you know. Someone will stop them.”

Lily raised her eyebrows. “Who? You?”

“No, I never mentioned me. But Dumbledore said I would make a good Auror. And I plan to. I’m going to help rid the earth of that scum.”

“Oh I get it. Mr Big Shot. James the Hero. So, what, just because you got Dumbledore's approval you're just going to walk out of school, become an Auror, and kill all the bad guys. Is that it?”

James wasn’t quite sure what he had said that was so wrong, but he didn’t like the tone of Lily’s voice, or the way this conversation was going. “No, I don’t-“

“This isn’t a game, James. Real people are dying, right now. Have you any idea what that’s like?”

“Well, if you’ll just tell me…”

“You wouldn’t understand. You have everything. Perfect family, perfect friends. I’ve lost my sister and my parents, and I’m not even out of school yet. All I have left is a stranger who I can barely call my sister, and a boyfriend with delusions of becoming the next James Bond!” She stood and this time James was sure of the tears that poured angrily down her face.

“It’s James Potter, Lily…” James said, looking confused.

“Oh, never mind!” She began to walk away.

“Lily!” James rose and went after her. “I know you’re upset right now, but this is just silly, I was only trying to help. They’re gone Lily, and you can’t bring them back by taking your anger out on me.”

She turned and stood in front of him, her face red and seething. “Don’t you dare talk about my parents, James! You have no right!”

She took a shuddering breath, as if even thinking about them was painful. As she was turning to walk away, James caught her wrist and held it to stop her from going. She whipped around and smacked him round the face with all the strenth she could muster. He let go of her wrist and clutched his jaw, his head ringing. “Lily!” He tried to call her back, but she was already gone.

Chapter 16: Bed Swapping

Lily couldn’t sleep. She hadn’t meant to get so aggressive with James, but the way he had been talking as if he could wave his wand and make everything better had irritated her. Death wasn’t something you can fix with magic. It’s real. He didn’t understand what it was like to lose a loved one, how every second of every day after it happens you are filled with a gut-wrenching guilt. Guilt for not being there; guilt at not saving them; guilt every time you smile, or laugh, or don’t think about them. She had spent enough energy feeling guilty for thinking about James over the last few days. He had occupied her mind when it should have always been on her parents, and yet now she was angry with him just for caring about her. Hadn’t that been what she wanted? Someone to look after her and tell her everything would be ok. That was all he had tried to do.

None of it made any sense. She tossed in her bed to find a new position that might encourage sleep to come. It didn’t. She groaned and sat up, leaving it as a lost cause. Over in the darkness, someone whispered her name. Lily shifted.

“Yves?” she called back into the darkness

“Yes. What’s the matter? You haven’t lain still for longer than 20 seconds at a time! Have you got itching powder in your bed or something?”

“No. I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“It’s ok, I wasn’t really asleep anyway. What’s up?”

Lily sighed. “James.”

“Ah. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” She lay back down and rested her head on her pillow. She listened as Yves quietly climbed out of bed, crossed the floor cautiously in the darkness and crept in beside Lily. “Here. Pass me some blanket. It’s freezing tonight.” She pulled Lily’s cover over her and turned her head to face Lily’s.

“Right. Now we can talk. What’s he done this time?”

“Well… it’s just… I can’t stop thinking about him.” It sounded stupid even as she said it.

“Is that all?”

“Well… yeah. It’s awful. My parents were just killed, and all I can think about is James Potter. Every time I close my eyes I see him. It drives me mad, and so I took it out on him today when I came back. He was trying to help me, albeit a little insensitively, and I let my temper and my guilt get the better of me.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. You could send a charging hippogriff after James and he would still forgive you.”

“Well, it almost got to that.” She sighed. “I hit him.”

Yves stifled a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know. The mental image, I suppose. Did you really smack him one? Properly?”

“Yeah. I feel awful.” Lily turned onto her back and stared up at the canopy at the top of her four-poster. After a few silent moments, Yves waved a hand in front of her eyes to bring her back to earth. “Hello? Are you there?”

Lily rolled back to face her. “Sorry. Am I being ridiculous?”

“Let’s see, shall we?” She ticked a list off on her fingers. “Your parents die, you have to go home to confront your only surviving relative who you happen to not get on with, you have to deal with a double funeral, then you come back and have to deal with Potter. Sounds to me like you’re being perfectly reasonable.”

Lily smiled. “Cheers. I still shouldn’t have hit him… not so hard, anyway.”

“You should feel proud. Not many girls would have the guts to do that!”

“Exactly. He didn’t deserve it. And now I can’t sleep.”

“Well go and sort it out then! Hitting him wasn’t a problem, it’s right now that you’re being ridiculous.”

“What? Go right now?”

“No point in tossing about in your bed. This way at least one of us will get some sleep.” She kicked Lily harmlessly in the shin. Lily grabbed a pillow from behind their heads and whacked it around her head. They began giggling hysterically.

“Shh!” Lily said, eventually controlling herself. “We’ll wake the others…” Yves gave her a staring look. “What?”

“Go! Some of us could do with some sleep tonight...”

Lily smiled. It was a ludicrous idea, going to talk to James in his room in the middle of the night, but Yves was right, there was no point shifting about endlessly in her bed. She handed Yves the pillow and silently rose from within the blankets. It was very cold out of the warmth of her bed, so she groped around in the dark for her dressing gown. Then she left the dormitory silently and descended down the staircase to the bottom, and into the common room, where the fire was still gently burning away. By the light of the fire, she looked at her watch. Half past two. This was madness.

Without letting herself think, she climbed the boys staircase until she reached the door that read Seventh Years. It creaked rather too loudly as she opened it, and in answer someone inside shifted subconsciously at the noise. Lily crept inside.

She had no idea which sleeping boy was James. She also had no idea what she was doing here. Madness was right, but there was no point turning back now. She scanned the room until she recognised the slender figure of James in the bed by the window, with his tousled hair and striped pyjamas. There was a little moonlight this side of the tower. She tiptoed up to the side of his bed and looked at him sleeping. His chest was rising and falling slowly in the deep rhythm of contented sleep.

Lily put her hand on his warm forehead. He jumped.

“Wassat?”

“James,” she whispered. “James, it’s Lily. Wake up.”

He rubbed his eyes. “Lily? How did you-? What did you-?” His speech was muffled and sleepy.

“I came to apologise, I suppose. For hitting you and running off. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“You wha-?” He sat up groggily. “Is that really Lily?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes again. “Oh…” Realisation dawned. “Oh! Lily, what on earth are you doing in my room in the middle of the night?”

Someone tossed in his bed on the other side of the room. But whoever it was soon continued his deep snoring. Lily turned back to James. “Shh! You’ll wake them up! “

James shook his head. “A stampede couldn’t wake this lot up.” He looked at Lily. “What are you doing here again?”

“I came to apologise. Look, I shouldn’t have hit you. I know you were only trying to make me feel better. It’s just, well, at the moment, no one can do that, not even you. I just need some time to get my head around losing my parents.” She paused.

James shifted his weight onto his side, and leaned his head against his palm. “I know you do. I shouldn’t have interfered. But I wanted to. I care about you, you know.”

“I know you do. I do too. That’s part of the problem. I like you too much for my own good.” She smiled.

“You can never like me too much for your own good. There’s far too much of me to go around…” Lily stifled a laugh, and then found herself shivering from the cold of being out of bed.

James noticed her shaking. “You must be freezing. Here.” He lifted the edge of his blankets invitingly to her. She raised her eyebrows sceptically. “James, there’s no way I’m getting into your bed. That’s ridiculous.”

He smiled slyly. “Why not? You’re clearly very cold, and my bed’s definitely warm. Take my word for it. It’s perfectly innocent. Besides, you are my girlfriend, you know.”

Lily paused. “I am?”

“Well yeah. Don’t go thinking one whack round the head is going to put me off you, Lily Evans. You know full well that I’ve waited seven long years to get you.” He took her by the hand and pulled her forward in to the warmth of his bed. “You see? That wasn't too hard now was it?” he whispered, with a slight sarcastic edge in his voice. “Shut up,” Lily said, as James wrapped the blankets around them both and shared his body’s warmth with her. “You’re freezing!”

“I know. But you’re warm.” She nestled into him and they lay there silently for a few minutes. The only sounds were the distant hooting of owls as they hunted in the night, and the deep breathing of four other boys as they dreamed.

Just as Lily began to feel warm again, and as James’s breathing slowed to suggest he was drifting back into sleep, Lily spoke into the darkness. “You know, James, I’m going to have to go back to my room soon.”

He yawned sleepily and shifted his position slightly. “No… You’re room…bad. My room…good.” He pulled her closer, and they both drifted off into a contented sleep.

Chapter 17: The Morning After

James awoke suddenly and unusually. He was sure that something had woken him subconsciously, but he couldn’t work out what it was. Everyone else was asleep. He let it go and sank back down into his pillows, putting his arm around a sleeping Lily.

Lily?

He realised with a start what it was that had woken him, and jumped out of his bed. “Lily!” he whispered, shaking her. “Lily, wake up!”

Lily opened a bleary eye to regard James. “Mm?” she asked sleepily. Then she remembered where she was. She jumped further than James had. “What am I still doing in your bed, James? What if someone saw me?” She clambered out of the bed and landed with a thump on the ground by James’s feet. Someone woke at the noise.

“James?” It was Remus. “Is it time for breakfast yet?”

“No Moony, go back to sleep.” He gave Lily a sly shove with his foot to encourage her further under his bed.

Remus didn’t look too convinced. He sent a wary glance around the dormitory. “What was that noise?”

“Oh, nothing. I dropped something. Sorry if it woke you, go back to sleep."

“Nah, I’m awake now. Besides,” he looked at his watch. “It’s not that long until breakfast.” He shook himself from his blankets, stood from his bed, and made his way to the wash basin at the opposite end of the dormitory, where he proceeded to splash his face vigorously with cold water, making a wet mess all over the floor.

In the time it took Remus to do this, James had pulled a nervous Lily from under his bed and rushed her to the door, where he pushed her out of it, and, giving her a cheeky grin and a wink, shut it closed in front of her.

Remus finished splashing water on his face and turned to face James. “It’s a nice day. Fancy a walk before breakfast?”

“Sure,” James said absent-mindedly. His mind was still on the feel of Lily’s warm body next to his.

***

Lily wasn’t sure how she was going to explain her absence from her bed to the rest of the dormitory. She was well known to be a late riser, waking only just in time for breakfast. She climbed the girls’ staircase and hoped this was true of the rest of them. If they were still asleep she could slip in unnoticed.

They weren’t. Lily could hear chatter coming form her room, and cursing her bad luck, she entered the dormitory and shut the door behind her. The girls were all awake and sitting sleepily in their beds chatting. Sarah Tyas gave Lily a questioning stare. “Where’ve you been?” she asked curiously. Lily gulped.

She couldn’t think of an excuse. At the same time, she didn’t want to tell some of these girls where she had really been: Seventh Year Gryffindor girls were known as the gossips of the school. It would be everywhere by breakfast, and all of it would be exaggerated.

Yves cut into her mumbling. “She’s just been for a refreshing walk in the morning dew. Right, Lils?”

Lily stared. “Uh, yeah. I couldn’t sleep last night.” It was sort of true.

‘A walk?’ she thought to herself. ‘In my pyjamas? Nice one, Yves’

Yves grabbed her by the wrist. “Get dressed!” she hissed at her. “Meet me in the common room.”

Yves left the dormitory. Lily rushed to her bed, threw on her uniform hastily, grabbed her books for her three lessons, and hurried to meet her.

“Where did you go?” Yves asked as soon as she set foot at the bottom of the stairs. “You were gone all night! You didn’t…” she trailed off, one eyebrow raised questioningly. Lily finished the sentence for her.

“Stay in James’s bed all night? Yeah, I did… I didn’t mean to!” she added to Yves’s shocked expression. “We fell asleep!”

Yves stared at her, and then burst into a fit of hysterics. “Oh, wait until this gets out!”

“Yves! You can’t tell anyone!”

“Why not? I mean, I won’t if you don't want me too, but it’s hardly the shock of the century, it’s sweet! You are his girlfriend, you know.

“That’s what he said…it’s just I don’t want people getting the wrong idea.”

"You worry too much!"

Lily smiled. "True..." She trailed off.

"What are smiling about?" Yves asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

Lily tapped her nose anyway, her thoughts on James lying next to her.

"Come on, I'm hungry," Yves said.

They left the common room arm in arm, discussing James all the way to breakfast.

***

James and Remus met the others in the Great Hall for breakfast after their walk. James sat down next to Sirius, and opposite, through no fault of his own, to Lily and Yves. They giggled as he sat down. Were they laughing at him? Was it all a joke to Lily? He wasn’t too keen on the idea that she and Yves had been giggling about him all morning.

But as he reached across to get the milk for his cereal, Lily caught his eye and smiled warmly at him. The knot in his chest relaxed. It was a beautiful smile.

After ten minutes of idle chatter, Sirius broke into Lily’s conversation with Yves. “So, Miss Evans, how was your night? Mine was rather…” he searched for the right word. “Choppy.” He took a bite of his bacon sandwich innocently.

Lily and James looked at each other instantly and Lily turned red. However she kept her composure as she asked, “Oh dear, why was that?”

Sirius smiled falsely. “Funny you should ask. Well, you see, I was disturbed in the night, and became rather confused at how James’s voice seemed to keep switching from high and female-like to low and manly. It kept me awake in confusion, you know.” The humour in his voice was all too obvious.

Remus and Peter looked confused. “What on earth are you on about, Padfoot?” Remus asked.

Yves burst out laughing. “Lily was in James’s bed last night!”

“Yves!” Lily exclaimed.

“Oh, Lily, Sirius knew anyway. Don’t look so cross!”

Sirius put a hand on James, patting his shoulder. “Well, I had my strong suspicions. But they were confirmed when I found a pink dressing gown by James’s bed.” He smiled widely. “So… what were you two up to? Or do I not want to know?”

They all laughed apart from Lily, who just looked defiant. “Nothing happened, you know. And you’re all just going to have to get used to the fact that James and I are a couple now. So there.” There was a slight smile as she said this, although she tried to keep her superior stance. Everyone looked at her in surprise, not least of all was James.

“So we’re officially a couple now, are we?” he asked, grinning.

“Watch it,” she growled back at him, a glint in her eye. “Or no late night canoodling for you anymore!”

***

After breakfast, they had to endure a particularly long and dull double Transfiguration lesson, in which Professor McGonagall insisted on lecturing the class on the importance of creating a void in one’s mind in the novice of non-spoken transfiguration. Not surprisingly, James and Sirius were silently transfiguring their scrunched up parchments into tiny birds, which they fired after the girls directly in front of them. Most of them casually swatted the birds away without needing to look over their shoulders.

James sighed, “You know Padfoot, this was a lot more fun when it actually annoyed people.”

Sirius chortled. “Ok, then. Next lesson we'll sit somewhere else. But if you’re bored...“

He nonchalantly flicked his want at a lonely piece of parchment and immediately it transformed into a tiny blue bird, and with another wave of his wand, Sirius sent it soaring across the room towards McGonagall, whose back was turned as she was directing her wand to write on the board. The bird landed smoothly on her head and began picking away at her tightly bound hair.

The class erupted into laugher, and then immediately, as if anticipating a severe scolding, buried their heads in their copies of Silent Transfiguration: Transfiguration for the Mind.

McGonagall, however, merely continued to direct the chalk, and spoke with her back to the class. “If you think, Mr Black, that you are amusing, then I suggest you should take a long, hard look in the mirror. That should make you laugh. I am, however, pleased to see that you have mastered the art of silent transfiguration so quickly. If only all your energy was directed towards such productive ends.” She waved her hand, and the bird flew out of the open window, chirping happily as it soared towards its freedom.

The bell rang. McGonagall turned round to face the class. “Once you have finished copying down these notes, you may leave calmly. Homework is practical this week. I expect you to be able to transfigure silently by next week. I suggest you practice on small objects as we have been doing in class. I am sure that if you are having trouble, Mr Black will be only to happy to hold private tutoring sessions.”

The class made their way out; James and Sirius waited at the door for Peter. “Hurry up, Wormtail,” Sirius sighed. “Why do you always have to be last?”

Peter apologised quietly, and followed the lively duo out of the classroom. They were still laughing about McGonagall’s personal grooming device by the time they reached the Gryffindor Common room.

Chapter 18: Hogsmeade

A week later the word was spread around that a Hogsmeade weekend was coming up. This was very exciting news for the Thirds Years to whom this was a still a relatively new and exhilarating experience.

For the Marauders, however, it was merely another opportunity to refill their supplies of troublemaking aids, and warm themselves over many an inviting Butterbeer. That being said, this would only occur if they were ahead of their workload, something which was increasingly overpowering the Seventh Years. Many, Lily included, took this very seriously, and much as it was a great pain to spend every spare moment in the library or re-writing passages from essays, the alternative was much worse.

So it was with great trepidation that James approached Lily at her desk in the common room, where she had taken up camp over the last few days.

“Lily?” he asked precariously.

“Mm?” Lily answered reflexively, without looking up or pausing from her work.

“Did you hear about the Hogsmeade visit this Saturday? I’m looking forward to going, aren’t you? It’ll be nice to have a few hours break from work, won’t it?”

Lily sighed and put down her quill. “You know, James, if you want me to go with you, you just have to ask. But I’m not so sure I can afford a few hours break, it’s all piling up on me and I don’t have much time for shopping.”

“OK, sure. But I think it would be a good idea to get away from the castle for a bit. A few hours won’t hurt and you can leave whenever you like.”

“Gee, thanks,” Lily said sarcastically. Then she rubbed her eyes wearily. “Sorry James. I will try to set aside some time to come. I know I haven’t exactly been the best girlfriend recently.”

“That’s all I ask. We’ll have fun, I promise.” He smiled reassuringly. “And you’re a fabulous girlfriend.” He winked at her and left her to her own devices.

It seemed a long and tedious week before Saturday arrived. Work increased yet again and nobody seemed to have much time at all for anything recreational. Even so, on Saturday morning, when it was time to leave for the Entrance Hall and meet the others going for an indulgent day of no work, most of the Seventh Years seemed to be thinking along the same lines as James, that it would be as good a time as any to take a day off from work and worry, and concentrate on being young and free. The Seventh Year Gryffindors, together with Alice, all met in the common room and walked down together, buzzing excitedly due to the chance to get out of the Hogwarts grounds and stretch their legs in the fresh spring air. It was a relatively cool March day, and yet the sun straining through the clouds meant that the students were barely out of the Hogwarts gates before they had shed their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders.

By the time they reached Hogsmeade the clouds had dispersed and the weak sun was shining more strongly than it had in months. Spring was in the air. They spent the first hour revisiting their old spots of Honeydukes, Zongos and the like, which was more fun for the boys than it was for the girls. Lily and Ellie then met up with Yves who had left them on arrival to wander round with Michael Younge. They then proceeded to drag the boys round all the shops that interested them the most, such as Madame Tilly’s Perfumery and Moonshine Evening Wear. Sirius found all this very boring, and made several indiscreet signals to suggest as much. James however made a great show of being very interested in whatever it was that Lily found intriguing, as it was he who had made her come and he didn’t want her to have to spend the whole day testing out the All New Extreme Dungbombs and Exploding Sherbets.

When the sun disappeared again behind a huge wall of cloud and the wind returned with a chill behind it, the four Marauders with Lily, Yves and Ellie decided to visit Madame Rosmerta in the Three Broomsticks and warm themselves with mugs of Butterbeer. They seated themselves round a table by a crackling magical fire, which was emitting just enough heat to be comfortably warm at this time of the year.

Sirius jumped at the opportunity to order drinks for everybody, and even heroically offered to buy them. He was, of course, only interested in the attentions of Madame Rosmerta, the new, young and very pretty barmaid who had a head of curly black hair and stunningly beautiful large eyes, which she made a show of battering at all her young admirers.

“Men,” Lily said despairingly, as she watched from their table as Sirius attempted to get her attention by laughing loud and deep at something that Peter had said. By the look of shock on Peter’s face, it hadn’t even been funny. He’d probably just told Sirius what drink he had wanted to order.

“What about men?” James asked, putting on a falsely confused expression.

“They’re all the same,” she replied, not taking her eyes off Sirius. “Look at him! He’d jump off the top of the castle if she asked him to.”

“Well it’s hardly our fault,” Remus countered. “If girls weren’t so bloody pretty we’d have a much easier time of it. As it is there are too many of you out there who look gorgeous but with whom we don’t stand a chance in hell.”

“Speak for yourself,” James said, putting his arm around Lily proudly.

Just then, Peter returned to the table with their drinks. He raised his eyebrows when Ellie asked him what was taking Sirius so long. “Have a guess,” he said, handing the drinks round and sitting down in an empty chair. He took a breath. “Whilst he’s not here I might as well take the chance to tell you… I saw Bella this morning.”

“And?” James asked, although it was pretty obvious what had happened by the look on Peter’s face.

“She threatened me again.”

“But she hasn’t been near you since the beginning of the year! What’s she up to this time?”

“I don’t know. She just told me that she’s in league with You-Know-Who now and that I’d better keep my wits about me if I know what’s good for me. Which basically means I have to stop being friends with such Dumbledore lovers and join her circle of friends.”

James laughed. “I wonder what she’ll come up with next.” At the look of indignity from Peter he added, “Oh come on, Wormtail, it’s obviously a bluff. She has to stretch her need for authority over people once in a while. Leave her to do it, but don’t think anything of it.”

Peter opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment Sirius approached smiling with his drink in his hand and Peter cast his eyes down and dropped the subject.

“Had a little trouble pouring your drink, did she?” James asked mockingly.

“Hm? Oh, very funny Prongs. You know I was just making polite conversation. She can get lonely in here sometimes.”

“I’m sure she does, what with all that male attention.” He signalled over to the bar, where Madame Rosmerta was openly flirting with a group of locals, ten years their seniors.

Sirius furrowed his brow and turned back to the table, his face pink. “What do I care?”

Just then, Ellie stood hastily, grabbing her mug of Butterbeer and stalking off to sit with a group of Ravenclaws across the room.

“What’s eating her? James asked, taking his arm from around Lily and pulling out his Zonkos purchases for inspection. “You know, I think we’re a little old for this stuff now. Waste of money, really.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Lily retorted.

“Understand what?” James asked, repacking his goods and putting the bag back under the table.

“Never mind,” Lily sighed, reaching for her drink. James stopped her by putting his hand over hers.

“What?” he asked quietly. He was keen to have a very communicative relationship with Lily following their argument when she had come back from her parents’ funeral. But Lily shook her head warningly, before looking cautiously at Sirius, who was deep in conversation with Remus. Lily gripped James’s hand in a way that said “I’ll tell you later” and he released it, to join in the conversation with Sirius and Remus.

Lily immediately turned to talk to Yves, their heads bent in earnest discussion.

The rest of the morning passed pleasantly. Most of the Seventh and Fifth Years with impending exams decided to return to the castle in time for lunch so that the whole day of revision time wasn’t wasted in Hogsmeade.

As James and Lily walked hand in hand along the lane towards Hogwarts, James picked up their previous conversation.

“What was all that about back in the Three Broomsticks?” he asked casually.

Lily looked confused. “What was all what about?”

“When you said I wouldn’t understand.”

“Hmm? Oh, that. It wasn’t really that important, but if you must know, you have to promise not to tell anyone first.”

James raised his eyes. “Girls…” he said, sighing. At the look on Lily’s face he quickly changed his expression. “Sure, I promise.”

Lily smiled. “Ellie’s madly in love with Sirius.” She looked aside as she said this, as if the lack of eye contact would placate Ellie’s anger at having her secret revealed.

James stopped where he was so suddenly that a couple of Third Year girls walked right into him. They giggled very loudly and ran off, looking back at James several times before they were out of sight. James raised his eyes at them and then turned to Lily. “Ellie? And Sirius? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure that she worships the ground that he walks on, yes. I’m not so sure how he feels about her though.” She took James’s hand in hers again and they continued walking.

“Well, much as I hate to say it, lots of girls worship the ground that Padfoot walks on…”

“Not like Ellie does.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Between liking someone because they’re sporty, popular, and incredibly handsome and liking someone because they fit you’re personality perfectly and you can’t sleep at night for thinking of them? I would have thought you would have known the difference, James.”

“Well that’s different. I had six long years to fall in love with you.” He stuck his tongue out at Lily, as if this proved his point, before continuing with: “Ellie’s never shown any interest in Sirius before.”

“She has, you’ve just never noticed it. Apparently neither has Sirius.”

“Well then I’ll tell him-“

“No! You promised! Ellie would absolutely kill me if she knew I had told you about this. She just wants it left alone.”

“That’s ridiculous, she’s never going to do anything about it? I don’t understand the logic in that. She’ll just be miserable. Seems to me that if Sirius knew, he might take a bigger interest in her. They’re quite a well-matched pair actually…” he trailed off, clearly imagining them together as a couple. “Well anyway, it’s better to know one way or the other where Sirius stands. It’s torture otherwise.”

“It didn’t seem to make a difference with you,” Lily said, smiling. “I’ve lost count of the number of times I told you I wasn’t interested, but that didn’t seem to deter you.”

James chuckled. “That’s because I knew you really were interested. You’re just a good actress. Besides, it kept me on my toes.”

The pair passed through the castle gates and into the Hogwarts grounds.

“So you won’t tell Sirius?” Lily asked.

James sighed. “OK, I won’t tell him. But I still fail to see why not.”

They walked the rest of the distance to the oak front doors chatting about what it would be like to go on a double date with Sirius and Ellie.

Chapter 19: Birthday Plans

It was still dark when James, Remus, Peter and Frank rose from their blankets and silently surrounded Sirius, who was still sleeping peacefully. The boys stood around the edges of the four-poster, grinning at each other mischievously. Then, at a nod from Remus, James shouted, “Now!” and all four jumped on top of Sirius’s sleeping form in one huge bundle.

Sirius yelped as he woke with a start, taking in the situation at once. “Guys! Gerroff!” he pleaded, kicking wildly at them. James, who was closest to Sirius’s head, jumped up and down on his chest proclaiming “Happy Birthday, mate! You didn’t expect any less of us did you?” at which point Remus and Frank grabbed hold of Sirius’s feet and hoisted him backwards so that James fell on top of his head and all five boys screamed with hysterical laughter.

It was Sirius’s eighteenth birthday, and one week away from the Easter holidays. The ‘Birthday Bundle’ had been a tradition of the Marauders’ dormitory ever since First Year, in which the other four boys would select a time somewhere between midnight and sunrise when they would wake the birthday boy with a bang and not desist until either the victim had screamed “Surrender!” or the alarm had gone for breakfast. Since the first was deemed unacceptable past the age of fourteen, it had become natural to turn up in the Great Hall on the morning of your birthday looking as though you had endured a rather nasty punch up the night before.

Sirius’s birthday was no exception.

“Oh my goodness!” Yves exclaimed, when the boys joined them at the table for breakfast. “What on earth-“

“Birthday Bundle,” Lily explained, raising her eyes in exasperation. “Happy Birthday, Sirius.” She smiled warmly at him and made room for James to sit next to her.

“Thanks, Lily,” Sirius replied, reaching with a shaky hand for the largest plate of sausages he could see. “I’m starving now…” He poured half the dish’s contents onto his own plate and began ravenously tearing chunks off the sausages with his teeth.

“Easy, Padfoot.” Remus said.

“I deserve a good meal after the work-out you guys just gave me!”

“So guys,” James said, leaning in, “are you up for the usual tonight?”

Sirius swallowed his mouthful and nodded enthusiastically while Remus and Peter added their assent.

Lily didn’t like the sound of whatever James was talking about. It sounded far too much like typical Marauder behaviour. “What’s the usual?” she asked cautiously.

James tapped his nose mysteriously and continued eating his breakfast with a mischievous smile on his face. Lily gave him a sidelong glance and then gave it up as a boy thing.

“So,” James said, once the conversation had settled again. “Sirius’s birthday is quite a cause for celebration. We didn’t expect him to reach the ripe old age of eighteen, you know. I think he deserves a special day, don’t you Ellie?”

Ellie choked on her cornflakes and Yves thumped her on the back reassuringly. To her credit, Ellie recovered well. She raised her eyebrows in polite confusion at James’s direct question before responding with, “Of course. Eighteen’s a big one. I can’t wait until my eighteenth.”

Lily kicked James hard in his shin under the table, not caring if it was obvious to all that she had done it.

“Ow �“ Lily!”

Sirius looked from James to Ellie to Lily with pure confusion on his face. “What the-“

“Happy birthday Sirius!” Several girls had wandered over from the Hufflepuff table to make it known that they had remembered Sirius’s birthday. They elbowed each other in competition to be the one nearest him.

Sirius smiled. “Thanks, girls.” He turned back to the table. “So, what-“

“Here Sirius,” one of the girls said, tapping him on the shoulder. He raised his eyes and turned back to face them with a false smile on his face. “I’ve made you a card!” The girl thrust a pink envelope into his face and the group left, some of them giggling, one of them complaining with “You never told me you were going to make him a card!”

Sirius tossed the envelope carelessly onto the table in front of him with a sigh.

“Aren’t you going to open that?” James asked, suppressing a laugh. “She must have put a lot of effort into it.”

“Shut up,” Sirius said.

“Oh give it here!” Ellie cried out, grabbing the envelope and tearing it open. The card was also pink, with huge letters on the front that read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIRIUS”. As they looked at it, the letters changed to read “For he’s a Jolly, Jolly Good Fellow!”

James roared with laughter. “Apparently you’re too good for just one ‘jolly’, Padfoot. I’d see that as a compliment if I were you.”

Ellie opened the card and pink sparks were emitted from within that bounced all along the surface of the Gryffindor table, annoying several breakfasters. “What does it say?” Lily asked curiously.

Ellie cleared her throat and put on her best impression of the giggling girls who had just approached Sirius.

“Dear Sirius,

Happy Birthday! You are such a special guy that you deserve everything you wish for on this special, special day. I hope you like the card. It’s a special one just for you.

Have a great day. I hope it’s special!

Hugs and lots of kisses,
Dianne xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”

Ellie read out each and every ‘x’ to the crowd of laughing onlookers, at which point Sirius grabbed the card from within her grasp and shoved it into his bag. “That’s enough of that,” he growled.

James was holding his stomach in an attempt to stop laughing so much. Tears poured down his cheeks. “She’s a ‘special’ one, she is.”

Sirius had to smile at that. “Yeah, alright,” he said, finding the humour in the situation. He opened his bag and pulled out the card. “Hey Ellie, do that impression again, it was pretty good, you know.”

The look on Ellie’s face at being complimented by Sirius sent James into louder fits of laughter, and so caused Lily to thump him over the head.

***

Later that day as Lily and Yves were returning from the library, they caught the Marauders in a huddle in the far corner of the common room. As they approached Lily heard Remus say, “Nah, too risky that way. We may as well do what we’re used to.”

“What’s too risky?” Lily asked.

The boys all swivelled to face her with the guilty looks of someone who has been caught out.

“Nothing,” they said simultaneously.

Yves smiled. “You know, any lie would have been more convincing than that one. You’re clearly up to something. But seeing as we lowly girls are not worth you divulging your secret to, Lily and I will go and sit over there and talk about boring girl things.”

“Such as?” Sirius asked.

“Such as pillow fights and how we love to walk around our dormitory in our underwear.” She grabbed Lily by the wrist and swung her round just in time to see the boys’ interested faces before retreating to the opposite side of the common room and taking a seat on one of the sofas.

Peter turned to face the others. “Is that really what girls talk about?” he asked.

“Of course, Wormtail. Why else would they exist other than to live out our fantasies?” This from Sirius, who patted Peter on the back whilst giving well-known look to the other boys that was a mixture of exasperation and wonder at the levels of Peter’s gullibility.

“Anyway,” Remus said. “Back to tonight. I think we should use the one-eyed witch. We’ve always said we wouldn’t go into Hogsmeade via the Shrieking Shack. It’ll arouse suspicion.”

“I suppose. It’s just easier, that’s all. It’s a route I prefer,” Sirius said.

“Hey guys, would it be completely unacceptable if I took Lily with us?” James asked cautiously. No girl had ever gone on a late night Hogsmeade visit with them.

“Lily?”

“No way!”

“Boys night out, remember?”

James sighed. “Ok, ok. I was just wondering. I’ve been with Lily for over four months now, but the end of the year is approaching fast and you guys know how long it took me to actually get her. I just want to spend as much time as I can with her.”

“You’re turning into a sop, you know, Prongs,” Sirius said. “But I suppose Lily’s cool enough. As long as she keeps up and doesn’t tell a soul, then it’s ok with me.”

“But-“ Peter began protesting.

“It’s my birthday and I say Lily can come!”

“Lily can come where?” Lily had approached behind them again, and, as before, had taken them by surprise.

“Would you stop creeping up on us like that?” James protested, pulling Lily onto his lap.

“Lily can come where?” she repeated.

“Oh, well, we’re going out tonight, you know, for Padfoot’s birthday.”

“Out? Out where?”

James smiled sheepishly. “To Hogsmeade.”

“Hogsmeade? At night?”

“Yeah, we do all the time. And we never miss a chance to go on one of our birthdays. Do you want to come with us?”

Lily looked like she had a million questions and opinions on the matter of their late night rule breaking, but thought the better of it. She smiled. “Sure. Why not?”

“You don’t mind?” Remus asked. “We’ve been doing this for years. And you’re Head Girl…” He was treading carefully, testing to see whether Lily would dob them in to Dumbledore.

“Yes I am, and I also know you guys too well to know that it doesn’t matter what or who I am, that you will continue being bad boys for the rest of your lives.” She stuck her tongue out affectionately at Remus.

“Wow,” Sirius said, clearly impressed. “You know, Prongs, she’s a smart one. I’d keep hold of her if I were you.”

In response, James put his arms around Lily and pulled her further onto his lap. “I’ve got a pretty good hold,” he said, smiling. “So what time shall we go then?”

“How about ten-ish?” Sirius suggested. “It gives us time to have a good night and not feel the effects too badly tomorrow!”

“Sure, ten o’clock it is,” Remus agreed. “And while we’re on the topic of tomorrow, I’ve got an essay to finish for Almony that’s due in first lesson. And I want to get ahead on McGonagall’s as well, seeing as it’s the full moon this weekend.”

“Good idea,” Sirius said, standing up. “If you’re going to the library I might just join you.”

“Me too,” Peter said. “See you, guys.” The three of them walked towards the portrait hole together.

Lily smiled. “That just leaves the two of us, I guess…” she said suggestively, before swivelling around in James’s lap and leaning in for a kiss.

Chapter 20: Once Defied

“All clear,” Peter whispered into the darkness.

“Good. Hurry up, Wormtail, you’re taking forever!” Sirius gave Peter a shove that sent him tumbling out of the trapdoor in the basement of Honeydukes. Peter righted himself before protesting, “It doesn’t hurt to be careful, you know. Remember that time in Fourth Year when we almost got caught?”

Sirius climbed out of the tunnel, followed closely by Remus. “Yeah but that was one time. And it was years ago. We’re pros at this now. “ He called softly down into the trapdoor. “Come on, guys, let’s get going!”

Out of the tunnel next came Lily, followed by James. Lily looked around. “Wow. I feel like a burglar, sneaking in here like this.”

“It’s fine. We do it all the time.”

“Oh, well that makes it ok then,” Lily said sarcastically, but there was an acceptance in her voice. “So where do we go now?”

“Wherever we want. Come on.” James took her hand and led her up the wooden stairs to the shop floor, with the others close behind them. He opened the door a crack. It was empty.

“All clear,” he said quietly. “But we’ll go out in groups under the cloak, just in case.” He pulled the Invisibility Cloak out from his bag and threw it over himself, Lily and Sirius. “You two stay here and I’ll come back.”

The three under the cloak passed through the door and into the shop. They carefully manoeuvred their way across the floor and James reached out to slide the lock open at the door. Once they were outside, he lifted the cloak off Sirius and Lily and returned to get Remus and Peter.

Sirius and Lily retreated to the opposite side of the street where they sat down on a bench and awaited the others.

“So, what do you usually get up to on these illegal nights out?” Lily asked.

“Anything we want. We usually end up in the Three Broomsticks until Old Charlie kicks us out in the early hours of the morning.”

There was a rustling sound behind them. Lily swung around. “What was that?” she asked, peering into the depths of the darkness.

“Probably nothing. Mice or something like that. There are bushes right behind us.”

Lily continued to peer suspiciously behind her until the others arrived.

“What took you so long?” Sirius asked, standing form the bench.

“New range of Dazzling Dips. Here, have a look. Apparently they change the colour of your hair!” Remus replied. He handed a packet of sweets to Sirius.

“Did you steal those?” Lily asked, outraged.

“Course not! We left money for them behind the counter.” James replied.

“But won’t they notice that there’s money there that wasn’t there yesterday, and that some of their stock-“

“Don’t worry so much, Lils” James cut in. “Let’s just go and have some fun.”

The five of them ambled off down the street together, in the direction on the Three Broomsticks. “Fancy a drink?” Sirius asked. “To toast my birthday?”

“Will the Three Broomsticks be open at this hour?” Lily asked.

“Of course, it’s only quarter to eleven,” James answered. “It’s usually open until the early hours of the morning. But don’t worry, it’ll be mostly empty this time of the week.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Sirius said, “I’ll get the drinks, and I’ll meet you guys on the hill. We can drink them under the stars.”

“You’re such a sap,” Remus replied.

“Hey! It’s a lovely warm night and it’s my birthday. I say we drink under the stars. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”

James shook his head. “I know you just want another shot at Madame Rosmerta, but she doesn’t work the night shift, remember? Besides, as you said, it’s your birthday; you shouldn’t have to pay for anything. I’ll get the drinks. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

James waved them goodbye and turned the corner that led to the Three Broomsticks. The others carried on towards the opposite end of Hogsmeade, where a large hill stood towering over the village.

As they were approaching the outskirts, where the buildings lay fewer and more scattered, Remus stopped dead in his tracks.

“Alright, Moony?” Sirius asked, not stopping but turning his head towards Remus.

“Don’t move,” Remus said. “Stop and be quiet.”

The others did as they were told, confused as to Remus’s instructions.

A minute passed in silence. They grew restless.

Sirius sighed. “Moony, what are you playing at?”

Remus shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, but his eyes were still darting suspiciously around the area. “I thought I saw… never mind. Let’s go.”

They rounded a corner and found themselves walking across a small courtyard surrounded on one side by large bushes. Remus stopped again.

“Remus, this is really-“ Sirius began, but then he saw the look on Remus’s face, and turned to follow the angle of his eyes with his own.

A dark figure stood before them, his face obscured by a long, pointed hood that fell down past its eyes and cast the rest of its face in shadow. Lily and the Marauders stood still and gaped up at who ever it was, not daring to move. The wand in its hand was a definite danger sign.

The figure spoke, but not to them. “I thought you said the village was empty!” It was a man, with a deep voice. He hissed this remark to someone behind him, who promptly stepped forward out of the darkness.

“It was. I made sure there were no Order members here, tonight.”

“These are not from the Order, you idiot, they’re kids!” He turned to face them again. “How much did you see?” he demanded, pointing his wand in their direction.

No one spoke.

“Answer me!” He swished his wand in an upwards motion, and Remus was hoisted up into the air, ankles first. He struggled hopelessly as he dangled twenty feet from the ground. The others grouped more tightly together, and Sirius pushed Lily behind him protectively. Not one of them took their eyes off the Death Eater, but it was hard to ignore Remus’s pleas for help as the blood rushed to his head.

“How much did you see?” the man repeated, and when yet again no one answered, he flicked his wand and Remus came crashing down towards the ground.

“Nothing!” they all yelled in unison. The Death Eater stopped Remus’s descent centimetres from the ground, and Remus whimpered in shock of almost having his head smashed. “We saw nothing,” Sirius repeated, panic in his voice.

“Liars!” he spat at them. Then he spoke to the man behind him. “Why didn’t you seal off the area like I told you to?”

Sirius and Peter pulled Remus down to the ground and lifted him up to a standing position. They maintained their protective huddle as the second Death Eater replied. “That wasn’t my concern. I am merely here to make sure you do this properly. Believe me, I have better things to do than babysit you. Don’t blame me for your own oversight. Just get rid of them and get on with it!”

He had touched a nerve, and the first Death Eater spoke menacingly as he turned back to address the students, but through gritted teeth. “My pleasure.” He lifted his wand up to his eye level. “Don’t move, it’ll only make it more painful for you.” He chuckled at his own cruelty.

As he was about to swing his wand down with his curse, something large hit Lily from her left and she went hurtling into the others. They tumbled together sideways and landed haphazardly in the bushes. Lily landed badly on her ankle and shrieked at the pain as it crushed underneath the weight of the body on top of her.

“Lily?” It was James.

“My ankle,” Lily answered, just as the man with the hood laughed form beyond the bushes. The others shied further back into the shelter of the bush.

“There’s no point in hiding, you know,” the Death Eater said. “I have all night to play your little games. It makes no difference to me.”

The other man clearly thought otherwise. “We don’t have time for this. Just kill them now or stand aside and let me do it!”

“Oh no, this is for my pleasure. The Dark Lord will know that I alone completed this task tonight, no matter what obstacles get in my way. I need no “babysitting” from you, despite what He thinks.” There was a cold jealousy in his voice as he said this.

James reached for Lily’s hand as they continued to bicker. “Do you think you can walk?” he whispered, not waiting for an answer before he continued, “I want you to go. Get Dumbledore. Now!” He reached into his pocket and took out his wand, seeing that the others had done the same.

Lily didn’t move. “Now! We’ll distract them.” He shoved her aside, not caring whether her ankle hurt, just wanting her safe and out of the way. He wouldn’t let her die.

Lily looked at him in protest, but then the man’s voice grew louder as he commanded: “Come out now and your suffering will be minimal!” Lily rolled sideways towards the back of the bush, catching twigs on her clothes and tearing them as she went.

James took a breath and jumped out from inside the bush, followed by the other Marauders. They stood in a pathetic huddle together, four boys against two Death Eaters. Well, at least they had the majority, even if their talents were outnumbered.

The masked Death Eater laughed cruelly. “Brave, boys, foolishly brave. But let’s see how long you last, shall we?” He raised his wand again just as James yelled “Expelliamus!” His spell missed and flew past the Death Eater’s ear. The man laughed again. “Disarming spells won’t get you far here, boy.”

But he was foolish to have paused, for as soon as his wand arm had relaxed slightly, Sirius leapt in with “Stupify!” His aim was as bad as James’s, but luckily for the Marauders it sped past the first Death Eater and hit the second one. He gasped as the spell hit him square in the chest, clearly not expecting to be challenged, and then fell forwards onto his face.

The remaining Death Eater was quick not to make the mistake of lingering on his comrade’s predicament. He swung round to face the Marauders, raised his wand arm high and brought it down in Sirius’s direction. “Avada Ked-“

James leapt from the ground and for the second time that night threw himself heavily forwards. This time, however, he threw himself not to his friends, but towards the Death Eater. He landed with a thud on top of him and they went tumbling over onto the hard ground. James heard the breath get knocked out of his opponent as they made contact with the street, and didn’t waste his advantage. He brought his knee down sharply onto the Death Eater’s stomach, and pummelled his face with his knotted fists.

Behind him he heard the sounds of scuffles as the second Death Eater recovered from Sirius’s weak spell and engaged in battle with the three remaining Marauders. James hoped they were winning, but concentrated on keeping the fighting Death Eater on the ground and under his control. When they had fallen over, both had lost their wands from their grips, and James could see the man reaching around wildly with one hand for any sign of his or even James’s wand.

He put his hands on the Death Eaters throat, meaning to subdue him. He knew that he had one chance to make good his weakening grip on the Death Eater, and knew also the chilly moment when he missed it. This man was bigger than he was, and the initial advantage had only belonged to James because it was not he but his opponent who had landed on his back. The Death Eater got his knee up under James and kicked him hard. At the same time, he pulled his clasped hands up in between James’s elbows and flung his arms wide with great strength, breaking James’s feeble grip on his throat. James was thrown sideways, and the Death Eater immediately rolled over on top of him and pushed his face down so that the tips of their noses touched. “Don’t get cocky, kid,” he breathed, catching his breath from the effects of James’s beating. His eyes were bloodshot and James could see several old and ugly scars littering his face. He pushed his right hand up to James’s neck and squeezed hard. “If you want to play physically, I’m game,” he said, laughing.

James kicked wildly but the man had him pinned firmly to the ground. He was laughing madly and his eyes gleamed menacingly. James frantically tried to breath but it only made things worse. He felt his lungs clenching in a desperate attempt to dispel the remaining air caught in them and take in a fresh breath. James’s hands were at his own throat, scratching wildly at the Death Eater’s grip, but it was a weak effort and only made his attacker squeeze harder. The dark shapes in the scene around them started to blur in James’s vision. He was choking to death. Slowly. Well at least Lily would be safe, he thought.

Just then, two bodies collided with theirs, and the Death Eater was forced to loosen his grip on James’s neck to stop himself from hitting his face against the hard ground. James gasped a wonderful breath of air that filled his lungs and let it out again slowly. But there was no time to readjust, as another body threw itself upon the group and tackled the Death Eater in James’s stead. Someone felt around in the darkness along James’s body until his hands met James’s face.

“James?” It sounded like Sirius, but he couldn’t be sure. “Are you dead?”

“No,” James croaked, barely able to speak the word. “My wand…”

But Sirius didn’t have time to find it for him, as a blast of purple light and a yelp from James’s right said that someone had already found one. He hoped it was one of the Marauders. It wasn’t.

“Remus!” Sirius shouted, before lunging himself at the man who had sent Remus tumbling unconscious to the ground.

James rolled over to clear himself from the battle, and crawled slowly away, still gagging for air from his near suffocation. His knee connected with something hard. A wand. Not caring whether it was his or not, he grabbed it with his right hand and leapt to his feet, running to Sirius’s aid. Sirius and the Death Eater were locked in another physical battle, but James couldn’t see who had the advantage. He tripped over something large and solid, a body, and fell sprawling to the ground. This time he made sure to keep hold of the wand, and rolled immediately over so that he had a good aim on the struggling duo.

Sirius!” he yelled. “Duck!” He didn’t have time to see whether Sirius had heard and obeyed, but sent a jet of sparks towards the middle of the bulk of bodies. His aim was true this time, and whatever he had hit jerked violently before finally lying still.

Chapter 21: The Aftermath

There was a sudden deathly silence. James got to his knees and bent over double, clutching his stomach. He felt like he would be sick at any moment. Still no one made a sound. He coughed up some bile and blood and gulped for more fresh air.

“Sirius?” he queried quietly into the darkness. “Remus? Peter?” There was no answer. They were all still.

James dropped his hands to the ground and coughed again. His throat was raw, and his nose was dripping with blood. He kept gasping for breath, but it only made him cough up more blood. He collapsed into a heap on the cold, hard ground and shook violently.

Some minutes later, James felt a cold hand grip his shoulder, and he jumped in shock, reaching for his wand and gripping tightly

“I see I am no longer needed in battle,” came the voice of Albus Dumbledore. James turned his head to look up into the old man’s gleaming eyes.

“Sir,” he managed to say

“Where are they?” Dumbledore asked.

“Over there.” He pointed to where most of the silent bodies lay. “But Sir, I think they’re dead. Sirius I mean, and maybe Remus-"

“Stay still James,” Dumbledore cut in, before swooping in on the bodies. He crouched low. “Hmm, a very thorough job done on this one. Whose spell?”

“Mine,” James croaked. He sat back on his heels and massaged his neck

“Impressive.” He pointed his wand at the Death Eater and the unconscious man rose into the air under Dumbledore’s wand, who then flicked it once, and ropes appeared, binding the Death Eater tightly around the wrists and ankles

“That should do. Now, we must get these students to Madame Pomfrey.”

“Sir,” James said, suddenly remembering, “There was another one. I don’t know what happened to him, though. He may be around still.”

Dumbledore lit his wand silently and pointed it around the perimeter of the courtyard. “Well, he’s gone now. Apparated, most likely."

“Doesn’t that mean he’ll be back with more of them?”

“A very likely theory, James, which is why we must hurry. I have already alerted the Ministry Aurors, and they should �“ Ah. Here they are.”

Several figures had appeared a few feet form them, and they rushed over to Dumbledore.

“Who is it?” a large man with a deep voice asked.

“Marcus Axel.”

“What happened to him?” This came from a smaller figure with a high female voice.

“Mr Potter’s work, I believe,” Dumbledore answered. “But I shall have to leave you here to sort this out for the time being. My students require my assistance.”

The man nodded his assent. “Thanks for the tip-off, Albus,”

“Not a problem.” He swooped his wand over the remaining bodies and they all rose into the air and glided towards him. By the light of Dumbledore’s wand the floating bodies looked eerily lifeless.

“Sir, they’re not…” James couldn’t finish the sentence.

“No James, they are all merely unconscious. Cursed, by the looks of Mr. Pettigrew. Let’s get them to the castle. Can you stand?”

“Yes, sir.” James rose and moved to Dumbledore’s side. “Sir? What will happen to the Death Eater?”

“I will answer your questions, and indeed have some of my own, back at the castle. But for now, we must hurry.” He waved his wand again and more ropes appeared, but this time they were used to attach Sirius, Remus and Peter to one another by the wrists. James looked on in confusion as Dumbledore cupped his hands together and called out into the night in some sort of bird song. He knew better than to ask why.

In a matter of moments, the call was replied, and Fawkes the Phoenix swooped down upon them.

Dumbledore turned to James. “Here, take Mr Black’s arm.” James did as he was told. Dumbledore then put his left hand on Peter’s shoulder, and with his right he gripped the tail feathers of Fawkes. “Flying with Phoenix’s is my favourite way of travelling,” Dumbledore said, and that was all the warning James got before Fawkes spread his wings and leapt into the air. James was tugged violently upwards behind Dumbledore and the string of unconscious Marauders, and he had to struggle to keep his hand firmly on Sirius’s wrist.

He couldn’t understand why Dumbledore liked this so much, it was much worse than flying on a broomstick. The lack of any support for his body and the fact that he was at the end of the line of bodies meant that he flailed around wildly in the night sky. The cold air was forced into lungs that had so recently been deprived of any oxygen, and it made him cough violently.

Even so, sooner than he had expected, the Hogwarts castle came into view and Fawkes swooped down onto the parapet of the North Tower, landing softly and gracefully. Dumbledore followed suit and with his wand directed Sirius, Remus and Peter’s unconscious forms to gently halt in the air. James wasn’t so lucky, tumbling over and scraping his knee. Yet another injury to add to tonight’s casualties, he thought bitterly.

Dumbledore began to ferry James’s friends down the long winding staircase that led to the Seventh Floor of the castle. James wondered at how he managed to keep them from banging their heads against walls of the narrow stair, as he trudged along behind them. At the bottom, he heard Sirius moan as he stirred from his unconscious state.

“Wassat?” he asked groggily, before realising that he was drifting along several feet from the ground. “Argh, what’s going on?”

Dumbledore spoke calmly to him. “You have been attacked, Mr Black, and I am taking you and your friends to the Hospital Wing, where no doubt Madame Pomfrey will return you to your normal self in no time.”

“Oh,” Sirius said in recognition. Then his head drooped back in apparent satisfaction that he was being well looked after, and he fell back into a deep sleep.

They reached the Hospital Wing, where a nervous-looking Madame Pomfrey stood awaiting them. James didn’t know how she had been alerted to the situation.

“How bad are they?”’ she asked, looking doubtfully at the suspended bodies.

“Mr Black and Mr Pettigrew seem to be the victims of curses, and Mr Lupin has been badly knocked out. Mr Potter, I am sure, can speak for himself.”

“I’m ok,” James said, as Dumbledore untied the ropes binding the boys and directed them to separate beds. “Just make sure they’re alright.”

James walked further into the light and Madame Pomfrey gasped. “What happened to your neck?”

James raised his hands to his throat. “My neck?” It still hurt incredibly badly, but he hadn’t realised there were visible effects.

“Poppy, if you would see to these three, I will talk to James in your office.”

“Of course,” she said absently, bustling around Peter, checking to see what curse had hit him.

Dumbledore led James through the Hospital Wing in the direction of Madame Pomfrey’s office. They passed a sleeping girl about half way down who looked remarkably like-

“Lily?” James asked in shock. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s fine, but after she came charging into my office I sent her straight to Madame Pomfrey to be treated for shock. Apart from an ankle injury, she seemed to be in perfect physical health.”

James passed by her bed reluctantly. He wanted to see for himself that she was ok, but Dumbledore had moved on swiftly. He would have to take his word for it.

They reached the office and entered. James had never been inside before. It was a cosy room. Apart from the desk there was a pair of squishy armchairs by a crackling fire, and a furry rug that took up most for the floor space. The walls were covered with shelves full of various different remedies: bottles, powders, creams, and liquids. The rest of the space was littered with boxes that James could only suspect contained more medicines.

Dumbledore seated himself in one of the armchairs and signalled to James to take the other one. He crossed the room and sank into the comfortable seat. He took a deep breath that caused him to start another coughing fit.

“Sorry, sir,” he said once he was finished.

“Not at all, James. I would offer you some water but it will only make you cough again. Once we are finished here you will go straight to Madame Pomfrey and get that seen to. However it is important that first you tell me of tonight’s events.” He folded his hands into his lap and looked James deep in the eyes, giving him his full concentration.

James didn’t know where to start. He somehow left out the part where he and the others had snuck into Hogsmeade at night for Sirius’s birthday, and instead began with the point he realised the others were in trouble.
"I was catching up with the others, you see,” he continued, “so I wasn’t there when the Death Eaters appeared. But I heard what they were saying, because I was hiding round the corner. At first I thought they were harmless, people we knew even, because none of the others seemed to be afraid or moving away. But then the next thing I knew Remus was hanging upside down in the air. I should have helped him, but I was scared.” He paused and lowered his head in shame. “I didn’t do anything until the Death Eater raised his wand again. I didn’t really think, I just ran into the courtyard and threw myself at them. It wasn’t a very clever thing to do."

“You most likely saved your friends’ lives, James. Please continue.”

James proceeded to relive all he could remember of the battle. A lot of it was hazy, and he would need the others to fill in the gaps. When he spoke of how he was almost strangled to death, Dumbledore looked like he would react, but then sat back further into his chair and continued listening.

By the time James’s story was over, his throat hurt even more and it was so dry that he couldn’t swallow. But he wasn’t ready to go yet.

“Sir?” he asked, once he had paused at the point when Dumbledore had arrived on the scene. “Can I ask you something?"

“You may,” Dumbledore said, inclining his head slightly.

"What do you think they were doing in Hogsmeade? The Death Eaters kept talking about a task that they had to do..."

"There are many answers to that question, James, none of which I can honestly verify. But rest assured there will be people looking into it immediately. But one thing we do know, whatever it was that Lord Voldemort was planning, it wasn't achieved tonight. I thank you for that." He inclined his head again.

"And sir, can I ask you something else?"

"You may ask me one more question, James, and then I must leave to make some inquiries of my own."

“That Death Eater, he said he thought we were from an Order. But the other man said he had made sure that no members of that Order could hinder them. What were they talking about?”

James saw a conflict in Dumbledore’s eyes. Here was something that James wasn’t supposed to know, and he hadn’t realised this until he saw how reluctant Dumbledore was to answer his question. The old man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and continued to look at James intently. Several moments passed in silence, but James felt that he wasn’t the one who should break it.

Finally, Dumbledore spoke. “You have proved to me, James, that you are far more headstrong than I had believed. You have succeeded tonight in capturing a high suspect Death Eater, who right at this moment will probably be locked up in a prison cell in Azkaban. You almost got yourself killed in the process, but nevertheless I remain sincerely impressed. You have defied Lord Voldemort's plans. I have, however, so far avoided asking you what you and your friends were doing in Hogsmeade in the first place, and I ask that you do me that same favour in refraining from asking me about the Order of the Phoenix.”

James’s eyes widened, and he understood what Dumbledore had just done. By refusing to answer James’s question, he had kept his secret intact, but he also had given James an important piece of information by naming the Order. It was not a name most people were privy to, and it was a mark of Dumbledore’s respect for him.

“One day,” Dumbledore continued once he was sure that James understood the compliment, “you may ask me that question again. And I shall answer it for you. But for now, I am sure you are desperate for some relief for those injuries you have sustained, and a good night’s sleep wouldn’t go amiss either.” He smiled warmly at James, who nodded, rose from his seat and walked over to the door. He paused at the threshold.

“Sir?”

“Yes, James?”

“The others, they’ll be alright, won’t they?”

“I have every confidence in Madame Pomfrey,” Dumbledore replied, also rising from his seat. “They will be back to normal in no time. As I am sure will you.”

James smiled and exited the office with Dumbledore. They walked back to the other side of the Hospital Wing, past Lily’s bed, and up to Madame Pomfrey, who was still busy administrating remedies for the Marauders injuries.

“Have they woken at all?” Dumbledore asked.

“Mr Black has been in and out of consciousness a few times,” she answered absently as she applied a thick orange gloopy paste to Remus’ chest, which was littered with enormous calluses. “Lie down over there and I will see you in a minute,” she directed James, who obeyed, thankful for the chance to collapse on a soft bed. She finished administering the paste and turned to Dumbledore. They began talking intently, but James’s head was swimming and his throat was so sore that he couldn’t make sense of their words. He closed his eyes wearily and was soon in as deep a sleep as the others.

Chapter 22: The Road to Recovery

James was only half aware of the nightmares that came to haunt him that night. They were like fever-dreams, ones you experience when caught by a bad illness. They seemed to him to be more like real life. Yet no matter how he tired to wake himself from his slumber, he was too tired and had endured too much to drag himself into wakefulness.

His dreams were filled with men with red eyes wearing dark capes who surrounded him until he could no longer breathe. At one point he remembered escaping from their torment, only to fall hopelessly into churning water, and slowly begin to drown. He struggled to reach the surface, but the current pulled him down and down and-

“James!” Someone was shaking him. He didn’t know whether it was still in his dream or not. “James! Wake up!” He pulled himself out of his dream and into full consciousness, and opened his eyes.

He knew a moment’s confusion as he tried to recall where he was. This wasn’t his dormitory. Then he remembered the events of the previous night. He looked around.

“Lily.” His voice was croaky and his throat was still sore.

“Yes, I’m here. Are you all right? You looked like you were having a fit or something.” She looked worried.

“Nightmare,” James said, rubbing his eyes. He sat up, and a headache immediately pumped its way around his head. “How are you?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m fine, never mind me. Tell me what happened! I thought you were all going to die…” she trailed off as if remembering something painful.

“So did I,” James said, chuckling despite himself. “But we’re all alive. I think.” He looked around hastily for the others. Sirius and Remus were still unconscious. Peter wasn’t in his bed.

“Where’s Peter?” he asked.

“He left yesterday. He wasn’t badly hurt, just a bump to the head that knocked him out.”

“Yesterday?” He had thought he was only asleep for the night. “How long have I been out?”

“A day and a bit. Today is Saturday. Not too long, considering what you went through. Dumbledore said you were strangled!”

“Yeah…” he didn’t really want to think about it, his nightmare was still fresh in his mind. “How are the others?”

“Madame Pomfrey says they’ll both be fine. Sirius keeps waking up every few hours, but his body is still recovering from the curse. And Remus hasn’t regained consciousness yet. But he should be ok once he does.”

Once he does? James thought. That doesn’t sound too promising.

Lily put her hand over James’. “I thought I was going to lose you,” she said. There wasn’t any sadness in her voice, but more relief that James was ok. She smiled. “But now that I’m not…” she finished her sentence with her lips, as she leant in to kiss James gently. He put his hand behind her neck and pulled her in for a more intimate kiss. It felt good to have someone care about him, to be worried that he had been in danger. Footsteps brought him back to earth.

“I see you are recovering well,” Madame Pomfrey said with one eyebrow raised, as James and Lily parted hastily. She approached the bed on the other side of Lily and raised James’s chin to inspect his neck. She frowned. “Still puffy. Does it hurt to swallow?” James tried. “Yes.” He began coughing and had to sit up until it passed. “Here, drink this. It will help, but it might be painful to get it down. Try not to cough it all up again, though,” Madame Pomfrey said, handing James a goblet that she had brought with her. It was smoking.

James took it warily and pinched his nose with one hand. He raised the goblet to his lips and took in a mouthful of the steaming liquid. It burnt his throat as he swallowed it down, but he finished the whole thing off before he let himself cough again.

“Well done,” Madame Pomfrey said, as she took the goblet from him. “You should feel better in no time at all.”

“What about the others?” James asked.

“It’s taking longer than we thought, but they are improving,” she replied. “Do you by any chance remember what curse you hit the Death Eater with? Because Professor Dumbledore says his condition looked the same as Mr Black’s.”

Lily frowned. “You hit Sirius, too?”

“I suppose I must have,” James said, trying to remember. “Sirius was fighting him when I sent the curse. But it was dark and I was hurt…I must have hit them both…”

“But you don’t remember what with?” Madame Pomfrey repeated, returning to the point.

“No, I’m sorry.”

She sighed. “Never mind, then. We will work with what we have got.” She then bustled over to Remus’ bed and gently removed his blanket to inspect the calluses on his chest. They were very red and looked very unpleasant.

James turned back to Lily. “Thanks for being here. It’s nice to have someone to fuss over me.”

“Yeah, well don’t get used to it. As soon as you’re better, you can go back to adoring me!” She grinned widely.

"So what have you been up to?" James asked.

"Not much. Oh, but I passed my Apparition Test yesterday!" She grinned widely.

"I completely forgot about that! Well done! Come here." He pulled her towards him and they continued from where Madame Pomfrey had interupted them.

***

The rest of that day passed in boredom for James. Only two interesting things happened. The first was when Sirius awoke groggily, casting his eyes around until he saw James sitting up in his bed. Lily had left to eat lunch, and James had been doodling on a spare bit of parchment he had got off Madame Pomfrey.

“James?” Sirius queried.

James looked around. “Sirius! You’re awake! How do you feel?”

“Pretty rough. How are you holding up?”

“Oh, I’m alright really…” He told Sirius all that had happened since they had come back to the castle, and much that had happened to him during the fight. Sirius looked as if he was having trouble concentrating, but listened intently anyway, desperate to know all the details. They were interrupted by Madame Pomfrey, back from lunch.

“Mr Black!” she exclaimed happily. “You have come to again, I see. How do you feel?” She put a hand to his forehead and then the back of his neck. “Rotten,” he replied. “And very tired.”

“Well that’s to be expected, although you have been asleep for a very long time these last days. But you seem to be in a much better way than the last time you came around. I suggest you get some more sleep, and hopefully the next time you wake up, you will be feeling a lot better. Eat this first though.”

She pulled out a large chocolate bar from her bag and handed it to Sirius. “It will help. And then drink the rest of that medicine next to you. It’s to help your body mend itself.”

She bustled away, checking on James as she went past. Sirius did as he had been directed, and then closed his eyes and was lost to sleep again.

The next interesting thing to happen occurred when Dumbledore came to the Hospital Wing. It was around six in the afternoon, and James was thoroughly bored. Lily had come to see him since lunch but had three essays to finish and so left a few hours before Dumbledore arrived.

He approached James’s bed. “How are you feeling today, James?”

“Bored,” James replied.

“That’s good,” Dumbledore said, nodding. “I always feel I must be on the road to recovery once I become bored of bed rest.”

James smiled.

“Now, have you seen Madame Pomfrey recently?”

“Yes sir, I think she’s in her office.”

“Thank you,” Dumbledore said, inclining his head and striding off towards the office at the other end of the Hospital Wing. He returned five minutes later with Madame Pomfrey in tow. They strode past James’s bed and Dumbledore halted where Remus lay. Madame Pomfrey, however, continued to the other end of the room and turned the corner to the other section of the Wing. Dumbledore, meanwhile, was moving Remus’ unconscious body. He lifted him into a sitting position, and then turned him over so that he was lying on his side with his knees up almost under his chin.

James was confused. Were they taking him away? Just then, Madame Pomfrey appeared again with bed screens. She placed them around the perimeter of the bed, so that James could no longer see Remus or Dumbledore. She then disappeared behind the screens herself. James could faintly hear them talking quietly to each other, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

They re-emerged a few minutes later, and Madame Pomfrey returned to her office. “Poppy,” Dumbledore called after her. She halted at the door and turned around. “Would you alert me if anything goes wrong, please?”

“Of course,” Madame Pomfrey replied, before entering her office and shutting the door.

Dumbledore looked as if he was about to leave. “Sir?” James asked before he could go.

“Yes James?”

“What are you, I mean, what’s all… what’s going on?”

Dumbledore looked from Remus’ hidden bed to James. He walked over. “I would have thought you would have known,” he said, sitting down by James’s bedside. “Tonight is the full moon.”

“Oh!” James said, knowing full well what that meant.

“So,” Dumbledore continued, “as we cannot move him to the Whomping Willow in the state he is in, we are going to have to leave him to the effects of the full moon where he is.”

“But, won’t he transform?”

“Yes, he will. But seeing as he is unconscious, he won’t be a threat to anyone. Madame Pomfrey assures me that he is in no way ready to regain consciousness yet, so in theory this should run smoothly tonight. However, there is a small chance that he may wake up during the course of the night.”

“Then what?”

“Then, we play it by ear.” He rose. “I must excuse myself, James. Do forgive me.”

“No problem.”

“I shall come to see you tomorrow at some point. Sleep well tonight.”

“Yes sir, thanks.”

***

James couldn’t sleep. Now, not only was he afraid of his nightmares returning to him, but he feared that Remus would wake up while he was sleeping and run amok around the school, killing all the students. He knew it wouldn’t really happen, but he couldn’t get the idea out of his head.

So he drifted between sleep and wakefulness. At one point, he heard footsteps coming towards him in the dark.

“James?” It was Lily. “Are you awake?”

“I think so. What are you doing here? It’s late.”

“Not really, it’s only ten o’clock. I just finished my prefect rounds.”

“Oh.” He had thought it was later. “Did you get your work done?”

“Just about. How are you feeling now?”

“Better. I hate lying in bed all day. I’m ready to go but Madame Pomfrey insists that I stay longer.”

“She’s probably right. Besides, you get time off school.”

“It’s the weekend!”

Lily raised her eyebrows. “You know what I mean.” She pulled her chair closer to James’s bed and pushed the hair away from his eyes. “It’s quiet without the Marauders.”

“I bet. The school won’t know what’s hit them.”

“There’s one Marauder in particular that I miss,” Lily said suggestively.

“I know, but it doesn’t look as if Remus will regain consciousness for a few more days yet,” James replied, smiling.

Lily laughed and pushed James playfully.

“Tell me something,” James said.

“Like what?”

“Anything.”

“Ok…” Lily said, thinking. “Well, when I was four, I painted my cat green because I wanted him to be camouflaged in the garden so my sister wouldn’t be able to see him.”

James chuckled sleepily. “Yes,” he said, yawning. “Tell me about that.” He sank back into his pillows and listened to Lily tell him stories of her childhood…

***

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he must have, for he awoke while the sun was beginning to break through above the horizon, casting strange dark shadows across the Hospital Wing. The room was still with slumber, and only a single flame flickered in the lone lamp by the door. James lay huddled in a heap, his knees drawn up under his chin. Lily was still beside him, fallen sideways over the edge of his bed under a spare blanket. She slept, her head on his pillow, and one hand resting gently on the covers. James withdrew his own hand from under his blanket and placed it gingerly on her palm, closing his fingers around hers. She didn’t stir, but sighed contently and continued to dream. He felt at peace, and closed his eyes again, letting himself fall back into that space of unconscious sleep, where his nightmares didn’t follow.

Chapter 23: The State of Sirius

James left the Hospital Wing the next day. Sirius was well on the way to being fully recovered but Madame Pomfrey insisted that he stay until she was sure he would not put himself at risk by going back to lessons.

Remus was not so lucky. During the full moon the night before, he had transformed horribly, but not woken from his unconscious state. The calluses on his chest were getting worse, becoming puffy and turning a deep purple colour. As James, Lily and Peter went to visit him and Sirius after lunch, they found two unfamiliar people standing by Remus’ bed with clipboards, prodding him and making notes.

James and Lily went to Sirius’s bedside. He was awake and sitting up.

“Who are they?” Lily asked, looking over to the strangers.

“Healers from St. Mungo’s. They arrived about half an hour ago. Dumbledore said they’re here to see whether he needs to be moved there.”

“Moved?” James asked, confused. “Why can’t he stay here?”

“He’s clearly not getting any better, James,” Lily said. “There’s only so much that Madame Pomfrey can do for someone who was cursed by a Death Eater.”

“But still, St. Mungo’s is in London! I don’t want him going to London!”

“Best place for him,” Madame Pomfrey said, appearing behind them. “Miss Evans is right, there’s nothing more I can do for him.” She sighed. “Now, how are you feeling today, Mr Black?”

“Fine. My vision’s clearing up.”

“What was wrong with your vision?” Peter asked.

“It went all blurry this morning. All white. But it’s better now.”

“Excellent. It’s a good job I didn’t let you out with Mr Potter then, isn’t it?” She bustled off to talk to the Healers.

Remus was moved from the Hospital Wing soon after. The Healers had diagnosed him and decided to take him back with them to St. Mungo’s as Dumbledore had suggested. His state was no better than it had been when he was brought in and the expert staff in London would have more of a chance of helping him.

James and Peter stayed with Sirius for most of the day, who had improved significantly so that he didn’t get so sleepy as often as the days before. The three remaining Marauders talked of Remus’ condition, and of whether or not they thought it likely that he would return in time for the N.E.W.Ts, which were now only a month away.

“He’ll be lucky to miss them,” Peter said. “I wish I could. I’m going to fail miserably anyway, I might as well be in a coma like Moony.”

“You won’t fail, Wormtail,” James replied. “Not with the amount of revision you’ve been doing.”

“It doesn’t matter how much work I do in preparation, I always panic under pressure. It’s my weakness."

“Well it doesn’t really matter if you fail…” Sirius said.

“Yes it does! These exams determine the rest of our lives! Without good results I’ll never get a decent job.”

“Well me and Padfoot will be high-flying Aurors,” James said, “and when Lily and I get married, we’ll find a house with an extra room that you can lodge in.”

“Haha,” Peter replied, smiling and raising his eyebrows.

“Look who it is,” James said, nudging Sirius and pointing to the entrance to the Hospital Wing. Ellie was standing there, looking in on the three boys nervously.

“Hi Ellie,” James greeted her.

“Hi,” she replied sheepishly.

“Well aren’t you going to come in?” James asked.

She took a few cautious steps into the Hospital Wing, and then paused before rushing to Sirius’ bedside.

“Look at you! You look like death!”

“Cheers!” Sirius replied, smiling. “What a nice thing to say to someone.”

“Oh you know what I mean! I mean compared to what you usually look like…” She trailed off and looked aside. There was an awkward silence.

James nudged Peter. “Hey, Wormtail, don’t we have that…?”

“Uh, yeah, that … thing we have to do.”

“Yeah, that.”

They rose from their seats. “See ya around, Padfoot,” James said, winking. And they left. “Could we have been more obvious?” Peter asked once they were clear of the Hospital Wing.

“Probably not, but it’s best that we leave them alone. It’s about time Ellie told Sirius how she feels."

“Do you think she will?”

“Definitely. Girls are weird like that. Shove a bloke she fancies under her nose all the hours of the week and she won’t say anything. But throw in a life-threatening experience and she’ll be all over him!”

“How would you know?”

“I, my friend, am an expert when it comes to women.”

Peter snorted. “Try telling that to Lily.”

“Hey, at least I have a girlfriend! What’s going on with your love life?”

“I don’t have one. Simple as that.”

“What about that girl you took to the Christmas Feast? What was her name again?”

“Gemma? She’s in Fourth Year!”

“Still, she was…sort of pretty…”

“Shut up, Prongs! Just because you bagged one of the most good looking girls in the year!”

“What can I say? There’s just something about me that draws attractive women to my side.”

“Keep dreaming, James. Do I need to remind you how long it took you to get Lily?”

James sighed. “I knew I’d never live that down!”

They entered the Great Hall where they found Lily and Yves already eating their lunch. Yves gave James a hug as he sat down in between the two girls. “Good to see you up and about, James. You gave us quite a scare!”

“Me? I’m rock solid.”

“How’s Sirius?”

“Improving. Ellie’s in there with him.”

Both girls choked on their food. “Ellie?” Lily asked. “No way!”

“We saw it with our own eyes, didn’t we Peter? She came in and we left them to it.”

“Wow, I never thought she’d work up the nerve to be alone with Sirius,” Yves said. “I wonder what will happen…"

“Knowing Sirius, he’ll lap up all the attention,” Peter said.

“Shall we go and spy on them?” Lily asked Yves.

James frowned. “What is it with girls and being so nosy? Can’t you just leave them to it?”

"No way!” Yves replied. “We want to know the gossip. Come on, Lils. I’ll just go and tell Michael I’m off and then we’ll go and find Ellie.”

“Sure.”

Yves hurried to the Ravenclaw table, while Lily finished the last of her lunch. “Where are you going after lunch?” she asked James.

“Common room. I need to try to catch up on some work.”

“See you there?”

“Definitely.” He gave her a kiss and she left to drag Yves away from Michael Younge.

On the way back from lunch, James and Peter ran into Professor McGonagall. She looked tired and haggard, but smiled as they approached her. “I’m glad to see you two back to your normal selves,” she said. “Professor Dumbledore has told me much of what you went through, although I am sure there is much more that he couldn’t say. Nevertheless I am proud to have you as Gryffindors. And indeed Mr Black, Mr Lupin and Miss Evans. You are assets to our House.”

“Thank you, Professor,” James said, smiling.

McGonagall started to walk away. “Professor?” James called after her. She turned back to face them. “Uh, my essay…”

She smiled weakly. “I am not prone to giving out permission for late homework, but considering the circumstances… This Friday, please, boys.”

“Thanks!” they said simultaneously, and continued on their way to the common room.

“She must really like you, Prongs. I don’t think McGonagall has ever given anyone permission to hand in homework late.”

James chuckled. “I think she’s more shocked that we managed to take on two fully grown Death Eaters than anything else.” They reached the portrait hole. “Verity.” The Fat Lady swung open to admit them, and they entered.

The common room was eerily quite for the number of people in there. It was fairly full with students frantically working towards N.E.W.Ts and O.W.Ls and other end of year exams. The O.W.Ls were due to start first, immediately after the Easter Holidays, so the students doing the most frantic work were in Fifth Year, although James and Peter found Frank, Sarah and Rachel working hard at table near the Girls’ Staircase.

“How’s the work going?” James asked them as he sat down next to Frank and pulled a book towards him at random.

“Badly,” Frank replied. “I keep having to redo this one section on the properties of unicorn blood. It just doesn’t read right.”

James flipped through the book he had picked up. “I’ve never even seen this book before! You know, I think I should begin camping out in the library. It’s the only way I’m going to force myself to work hard enough to get good grades.”

“I know what you mean," Frank replied. " We both need at least a handful of O’s if we’ve got any chance of being Aurors."

Sarah Tyas looked up from her work. “Aurors? Wow, that’s interesting. I wish I had something like that lined up. But my dad wants me to work in Gringotts like him. I can’t think of anything worse to do with my life.”

“I don’t know about that. Gringotts is amazing!” James said. “I’d love to spend all day in those carts speeding around miles underground.”

“If only that’s what I’d get to do… my dad works in the Accounting Department. It’s all figures and it’s deadly boring. That’s why I’m doing Arithmancy.”

“If you don’t want to do it, why don’t you tell your dad?”

“You don’t know my dad…” She trailed off just as Lily and Yves approached their table.

“Where’s Ellie?” James asked innocently.

“Still with Sirius,” Lily replied, moving to sit on James’ lap. “We went in to say hello but it wasn’t very successful. They were just sitting there from what we could see.”

“What’s going on?” Sarah asked.

“These two nosey girls went to spy on Ellie and Sirius.”

“What about Ellie and Sirius?”

“Not much by the sounds of it. We all thought they were going to get together when Ellie came charging into the Hospital Wing.”

“Wow, that doesn’t sound like her. But I doubt Sirius has it in him to settle down with a proper girlfriend. Ellie would do better to go after someone like Josh Johnson in Hufflepuff. Now he’s a looker.”

“Josh Johnson?” Lily asked. “That scrawny idiot of a boy?"
“He’s not scrawny, he’s slim fitted.”

“Well I like them built up a bit more.”

“Then why are you going out with James?”

“Hey!” James protested, as Sarah laughed at her own joke. “I work out!”

“On a broomstick?”

“Yeah!”

Frank threw down his quill. “I can’t do this. It’s too hard. I’m going to find Alice. See you guys later.” He gathered up his books and scraps of essays.

“See you,” James said.

As he was leaving, Frank was passed by Ellie, who sat down in his seat and took out a heavy hardback book from her bag.

“Well?” Lily asked, as she and Yves leant in.

“Well what?” Ellie replied coolly, not looking up from the book.

“What happened?”

“Oh.” She paused. “Sirius and I are going out. Pass me that parchment, please, Sarah.”

There was a huge scuffle as James and Peter jumped from their seats at the same moment that Lily, Yves, Sarah and Rachel sent all the books flying from the table as they struggled to get closer to Ellie for the gossip. James and Peter immediately flew off towards the portrait hole, at which point James turned back, rushed back to the table, briefly kissed Lily on the top of her head, and returned to Peter.

The boys left the Common Room and hurried to the Hospital Wing to see Sirius. He was reading a copy of Witch Weekly.

“What are you doing reading something like that? It’s a girls’ magazine!” Peter said as they approached his bed.

“Don’t be so narrow-minded, Wormtail, old friend. There’re some very interesting things in this that we as the male species should know. Besides, I was bored and it was all that Madame Pomfrey had to offer me.”

James had a brief vision of Madame Pomfrey curled up by the fire with a box of chocolates and an edition of Witch Weekly before he changed the topic. “So… what happened with Ellie? She said you guys are going out now.”

“She did? Oh, well I suppose we are, really.”

“You suppose? What happened?” James repeated.

“Well she was taking her time about it, talking about the weather and how much work we have and stuff like that, so I gave her a helping hand. I asked her out.”

“You did? I never thought I’d see the day when Padfoot asked out a girl all by himself.” Peter said mockingly.

“You joke, Wormtail, but neither did I. It was just too painful to watch her sit there and mumble about nonsensical things, I had to put an end to it.”

“Do you even like her?” James asked.

“She’s cool,” Sirius said nodding.

“Cool?”

“All right, all right, I really like her and I’m looking forward to getting out of this place so I can spend some time with her and we can get to know each other better. Is that soppy enough for you, Prongs?”

“Just about,” James replied, smiling. “Hey, we can go on double dates!”

“Hey!” Peter said. “Make me feel even worse about my single state, why don’t you!”

“You’re too good for the lot of them,” Sirius said, thumping Peter on the back, just as Madame Pomfrey came bustling over with a goblet of medicine for Sirius. “Here you go, Mr Black. Swallow this down and then I want to give you a thorough check over. If I am satisfied with your recovery thus far then you may leave when I am finished.”

“Brilliant!” he said, grinning. "I’ve had enough of this bed.” He took the medicine from her hands.

“You two have thirty seconds to finish your conversation while I fetch something from my office, and then you must leave, please.” She stalked off.

Sirius looked at the goblet in his hands with a sceptical expression. “I hate this stuff,” he said grimly before pinching his nose and downing it in one long gulp. He looked like he was going to be sick, but instead he turned to James and said, “You know, Prongs, next time you curse me, can you make sure the remedy isn’t quite so disgusting. I’d be much obliged.”

The others laughed just as Madame Pomfrey came back into view with several implements in her hands. “Now, Mr Black,” she said, “lie back please so I can examine you.” Sirius looked petrified at the thought of this.

“Off you go, you two,” Madame Pomfrey said, shooing James and Peter away with one hand and readjusting the pillows under Sirius’s head with the other. They left him to his fate, and slowly began to make their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room to meet the others and catch up with work.

“How long do you think it will last?” Peter asked as they climbed the staircase with the trip step.

“Padfoot and Ellie? I give them a month.”

“A little cynical, don’t you think?”

“Perhaps, but when has Sirius ever been with a girlfriend longer than that?”

“Maybe Ellie’s more right for him than they were.”

“Maybe. I hope so. He could do with some taming,” James said.

“Taming? You make him sound like a … "

“A great big shaggy dog?” James finished. “Yeah, he’s pretty practised at that!” he said, and they both laughed merrily.

Chapter 24: St Mungo’s



Sirius was not allowed to leave that day, but stayed in the Hospital Wing for two more days until Tuesday evening. He was very glad to leave, but didn’t see the point of doing any productive work as the Easter Holidays were beginning on Friday. He spent most of the rest of the week telling people avidly how he had bravely fought two Death Eaters with his fellow Marauders by his side. By the time the holidays had approached they were being hailed as heroes by most of the school, much to the disappointment of many Slytherins. Lily also was happy to tell people of the ordeal they had all gone through, making sure people knew how brave her boyfriend was, which suited James enormously.



So it was that Easter was upon them. James had invited all the Marauders and Lily to his house for the holidays, but Remus was still in St Mungo’s and Peter’s father never let him stay at friend’s houses for the holidays. So when the Hogwarts Express arrived to take the students back to London, it was only James, Lily and Sirius who got on board with the other students.



The journey back was fun, as the three of them sat in a carriage with Yves, Sarah, Frank and Alice. They all played endless games of Exploding Snap and held competitions to see who could build the biggest tower of cards before they exploded. Lily proved to be the best at this, as she was more careful than the others, especially the boys, who were more concerned with making elaborate castles with extra turrets. Although they were supposed to be doing it the Muggle way, Sirius kept sneaking his wand out from under his robes to keep his card castle upright.



James’s parents came to meet them at King’s Cross, to help with the luggage. His father was tall and looked very similar to James, except that he had a different shaped nose. His mother had blue eyes and beautiful brown curls. They smiled as the three approached.



“Hi, mum,” James said, as his mother swept him up in a hug and kissed him on the cheek. “Welcome back, my boy,” she said, letting him go and reaching for Sirius.



James’s dad saw Lily standing awkwardly behind them. “Hello, you must be Lily,” he said, extending his hand. She shook it nervously. “Hello, Mr Potter. Nice to meet you.”



“And you.”



“Lily!” James’s mother screeched, suddenly spotting her. “Oh James, she’s gorgeous! Come here, dear.” Lily took a step forward and Mrs Potter grabbed her into a warm embrace. “I don’t know how you put up with this one,” she said, letting her go and picking up one of James’ suitcases. “He can be a handful at the best of times.”



“Come on, dear, leave the poor girl alone,” Mr Potter said, also reaching for a suitcase. “Let’s just get back to the house and get some food down you all. I’ll bet you’re hungry. I remember those long journey’s on the Hogwarts Express.”



“Cheers, dad,” James said. “I’m starving.”



“Do you know where we’re going?” Mrs Potter asked Lily.



“I think so. James told me where it was. But it’s my first time Apparating since I passed my test, so you might have to put my disassembled body back together again.”



“You’ll be fine,” James said. “Just stay close to me.”



James stood a step closer to Lily just as his parents Disapparated. Lily was nervous that the distance would be too much for her, but she managed to keep her head together and concentrate as she went spinning through the air to reach her destination in less than a millisecond. She appeared gracefully before a pair of magnificent gates.



Lily almost choked when she saw where James lived. It was enormous. The house looked close to the size of a mansion, and the grounds leading up to it from the gate where twice the size of Lily’s parents house. They walked up the path together dragging their cases behind them. James’ parents, who were more experienced, had Apparated straight into the house, and were there to greet them in the living room once they entered.



“Well, here we are,” James said, dumping his suitcase on the floor.



“James, take that up now, will you?” his mother said. “Then you can come down and eat. You can relax, Lily. The boys will take your cases for you.”



“We will?” James asked, incredulous.



“If you want to be a gentleman, you will.”



“Oh it’s ok, I’d like to see where I’ll be sleeping anyway.”



“Ah yes. We’ve put you in the Blue Room. And Sirius, you’ll be in with James again.”



The three of them dragged their cases back into the hall and climbed the stairs.



“Blue room?” Lily asked. “How many are there?”



“Six bedrooms,” James replied.



“Wow, I never knew you lived in such a big house.”



“It was my grandfather’s. He was a filthy rich man. But he went bankrupt when he lost a series of bets with goblins. We got to keep the house, but that was it.”



“Well, it’s an impressive bit of heritage,” Lily said, admiring the paintings in the hallway upstairs.



“Here’s you room,” James said, opening the door to a bedroom that overlooked the grounds at the back of the house. “It’s right next to mine. I’ll leave you get unpacked.”



“Thanks, James,” she smiled back at him, and then turned into her room to unpack.



Half an hour later, James’ mother called them all down for dinner. They sat down in the dining room together, and it felt good to be in a home environment again. James’s parents were really sweet to Lily and treated Sirius as a son. She felt right at home.



They talked mainly about the incident with the Death Eaters, and James’ parents were insistent that they were told all the details. His mother kept fussing over them all, feeding them more food than was necessary and making sure they all were recovered.



“And what’s all this about Remus?” James’ father asked at one point. “Is he any better?”



“We haven’t heard anything. For all we know he could be getting worse.”



“Well, why don’t you go to visit him this holiday?” Mr Potter said. “You can all Apparate, and I’m sure he’ll be much better by now, and love to have your company for a while.”



“Yeah, let’s do that!” Sirius said. “Can we go tomorrow?”



“Of course, dear,” Mrs Potter said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. Poor old Remus. He’s such a sweet boy. I do hope he’s all right. What a horrible thing to go through. I don’t know what the world is coming to, but it’s not something I want my boy growing up in.”



“I’ll be fine, mum. We already proved that, didn’t we?”



“Now don’t go getting ahead of yourself, James,” Mr Potter said. “You-Know-Who is not to be taken lightly. I want you all staying out of trouble form now on. It’s just not worth it.”



“I know, dad, we’ll be careful, I promise.”



“Good,” Mrs Potter declared. “Now, that’s enough of that. Who wants dessert?”



***



The next morning the three of them got ready to Apparate back to London. Mrs Potter made them all a large breakfast of pancakes, and packed them lots of food for the day. She also sent them off with a bottle of her grandmother’s Freeze, a cream which cooled the skin immediately for the relief of chafing skin. They were to give it to Remus in case he had regained consciousness.



They left around ten o’clock, and Lily found it easier to Apparate the second time around. They turned up as Mr Potter had directed them, in front of a dingy old run-down clothes shop in a busy London street.



“Are we here?” Sirius asked.



“Yeah, this is the place. I had to visit my uncle here once when I was a kid,” James replied. He walked forwards and peered into the glass. “Uh, can we please see Remus Lupin?” he asked the glass wall.



One of the mannequins turned its head towards James and the others. It slowly nodded and then beckoned them forward with one finger. James looked around at the others. “I think we just walk in,” he said. He took Lily’s hand in his and they stepped forward into the glass. Lily knew a moment of feeling as if she was walking through cool water, and then they had stepped out and into the warm, dry reception area of St. Mungo’s.



Lily looked around. There were rows of old wooden chairs with an aisle down the middle that led to a desk. It was fairly quiet for an Accident and Emergency, Lily thought to herself. There didn’t seem to be many people waiting to be seen, and the queue to check in was small. “This is efficient,” Lily said.



“I don’t think it’s always like this,” James replied. “At least, it wasn’t when I came here last.” They walked through the rows of chairs, where only a few people were sitting, some with apparently nothing wrong with them, perhaps waiting to see friends or loved ones, others with signs of injury. One man had a light bulb sprouting out of the top of his head, which lit up every time he sneezed, something that seemed to happen every few seconds.



James, Lily and Sirius approached the desk of the Reception Area and joined the small queue.



The woman in front of them, whose ears had grown to the size of small pumpkins, stepped up to the receptionist once the man in front of her had been sent to sit down in the waiting area. The receptionist glanced at her once before declaring, “Spell Damage, Fourth Floor.” James moved forwards.



“We’re here to visit someone,” he said to the particularly haggard looking receptionist.



“Name,” she said nonchalantly, whilst continuing to scribble on a piece of parchment in front of her.



“Well, I’m James Potter, and this-“



“Not you, who are you visiting?”



“Oh, sorry. Uh, Remus Lupin.”



“Lupin… Lupin…” She stooped to flip through a file in a drawer below her. “Ah, yes,” she said, straightening up again. “Mr Lupin was in the Critical Injury Ward-“



“Critical?” Sirius asked, aghast.



“If you’ll let me finish,” the Healer said, looking down her glasses at Sirius. “Mr Lupin was in the Critical Injury Ward, but was moved this morning to the Franklin Rein Ward. If you will proceed to Spell Damage on the Fourth Floor, a Healer will direct you to his room.”



“Thank you,” Lily said.



“Visiting time ends at four this afternoon,” she continued.



“Sure,” Sirius said. “Thank you. Let’s go, guys.”



They took the stairs up to the Fourth Floor, where a sign above a double door read:



SPELL DAMAGE



Unliftable jinxes, hexes, incorrectly applied charms etc.



They passed throught the double doors and along a narrow corridor, where they were confronted with a completely different sight to the calm Reception Room on the Ground Floor. “Wow,” Lily said. The corridor was bustling with people of all different situations. Many drifted along on stretchers magically led by Healers in lime green robes that bore the emblem of a crossed bone and wand. There were people nursing an assortment of different injuries and disfigurements, wearing hospital robes and following Healers on foot or in wheelchairs to various different parts of the ward or hospital. Other Healers were bustling around with clipboards or equipment, rushing from one room to another.



“Excuse me?” Sirius asked a passing woman wearing uniform. She stopped and smiled at them. “Can you tell me where Remus Lupin is please?”



“Mr Lupin? Ah yes, if you’ll follow me I can take you there now.”



“Thank you.”



She strolled off towards the other end of the corridor, weaving her way in between other busy people, and they struggled to keep up with her. She led them left round a corner and then right, along a narrow corridor with portraits of famous Healers lining the walls. They reached a double door on the left hand side with a brass sign on the wall next to it that read Franklin Rein Ward. Underneath that, a handwritten card in a holder read Healer-In-Charge: Rector Goodge, Trainee Healer: Rosier Flint.



“His ward is just through here,” she said, pointing her wand at the catch so that it clicked and the door swung open. She entered and they followed her through to a calm and quiet corridor with many doors. “It’s this one here,” she said stopping at a door with another handwritten sign that read Lupin.



“Thank you,” James said, turning the handle. “Is there someone we can talk to? I mean, about how he is and everything.”



“Of course. I will alert his Healer to your visit. But I think that if you go inside, Mr Lupin himself will be able to tell you how he is.”



“He’s awake?”



“He has made a significant improvement. I think you will be surprised. Your Headmaster certainly was.”



“Professor Dumbledore was here?” James asked, incredulous.



“You missed him by about an hour. He was here this morning.”



“Thank you.”



The three of them entered Remus’ room together. There was a window in the opposite wall that was emitting a bright light that filled the room. Remus was sitting up in his bed with bandages wrapped all around his chest and arms. He looked up in surprise when they walked in. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?”



“Nice to see you, too, Moony,” Sirius said as they approached his bed. “How’re you feeling?”



“I’m… wow I wasn’t expecting you at all!” He was grinning widely.



“You didn’t think we would leave you here without coming to take the micky out of you, did you?” James said. “What are all these bandages for?”



“Well my skin looks pretty horrible right now. They put all this on this morning when they moved me here, to stop it from chafing.”



“We hear you were on the Critical Injury Ward,” Lily said, pulling up a chair and sitting down on it.



“Yeah well I don’t really know too much. I only woke up from the coma yesterday. It all feels a bit surreal to be honest. But Dumbledore came to see me this morning once he heard I had woken up. He filled me in on lots of details.”



“Like what?”



“Like what happened to all of you and what happened to me while I was still in school. The Healers are really nice here. They said I shouldn’t be here for too much longer if I keep improving like this.”



“That’s great news!” Lily said. “What about your N.E.W.Ts?”



“Lily,” James said. “He doesn’t want to be thinking about those things right now.”



“I know. I only wondered whether he was in a fit state to do them.”



“Well, Dumbledore said I don’t have to do them if I don’t feel up to it. But I think regardless of how I’m feeling or how much revision I’ve managed to do, I’ll do the exams if I’m let out of here by the time they start.”



“Good choice,” Lily said.



“So do they know anything about what happened to you?” Sirius asked. “All I remember was a blast of purple light and then you just stopped moving. I thought you were dead.”



“I suppose we’re all lucky not to be. My Healer said it was a curse that went wrong. It was so powerful that it knocked me out and put me in the coma. My brain just sort of stopped responding for a while. But the fact that it was an incorrect curse caused the calluses on my skin. It’s awful, everything itches all the time.”



“That reminds me,” James said, reaching into his bag and pulling out the bottle of Freeze. “This is from my mum. It’s a cream. I think it’s supposed to help your skin condition.”



“Well I’ll try anything,” Remus said, taking the bottle and putting it by his bedside. “I’ll ask the Healer to put some on when they next change my bandages.”



There was a moment’s silence. “So, “ Remus said. “Tell me the gossip.”



James smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that. You’ll never guess what Sirius did!”



“What?”



“He asked out Ellie!”



“Did you really? Well I’m sad to have missed that!”



“She was going to do it anyway!” Sirius protested. “Besides, it’s about time I asked someone out. It’s always the other way around.”



“Don’t we know it,” Remus said. “So how’s that going?”



They spent a good hour talking about what Remus had missed from school since the battle. Once they had run out of things to tell him, Sirius pulled out his Travel Wizard’s Chess and they played a game in teams: James and Remus against Sirius and Lily.



None of them realised how much time had passed until the Healer-In-Charge, Rector Goodge, came to do his rounds. He told them all he could of Remus’ condition as he inspected his day’s progress and changed the bandages around his chest and arms. The Healer looked sceptically at the bottle of Freeze but consented to applying it to the calluses. Remus was very surprised at how much it reduced the itching and sent his thanks to Mrs Potter.



Once Healer Goodge was finished, he informed James, Lily and Sirius that visiting hours were over. He gave them a few minutes to say goodbye.



“Well, see you, Moony,” Sirius said. “You can keep the Wizard’s Chess, it’ll give you something to do. Well do I know how boring it can be to lie in bed all day long.”



“Thanks, Padfoot.”



“See ya, mate,” James said. “If you’re discharged before the end of the holidays, you’re more than welcome to stay with us.”



“Cheers.”



“Bye, Remus!” Lily said, giving him an awkward one-armed hug so as not to annoy his raw skin. “See you really soon, get better!”



“Thanks, Lily. See you soon.”



And they left, James and Lily hand in hand, and Sirius humming to himself, the three of them feeling all the better for having come, and much encouraged that Remus was conscious and looking like he was well on the way to recovery. As Sirius paused to look at a painting of one of his ancestor’s, who had been a Healer at St. Mungo’s, Lily turned to James.



“You don’t know how pleased I am that it’s not you in there,” she said.



James smiled. “Me too. But I feel bad for Moony. He was cursed because he came to help me.”



“It’s not your fault,” Lily said. “But this might make you feel better.” She stepped up on to her toes and kissed James’s nose lightly.



“That helps a bit,” James replied. “But not as much as this.” He grabbed her round the waist and pulled her into a proper kiss, his other hand round the back of her neck. He didn’t care who was watching, until an old woman in hospital robes trudged past and muttered, “Youth of today. I’d have had my lips sealed for a week if I did that at their age. A whole week…” She tottered off, shaking her head and still muttering to herself, just as James and Lily fell about laughing.

Chapter 25: NEWTs



James, Sirius and Lily spent the rest of the Easter Holidays enjoying their freedom before the exams started. They spent a few hours each morning revising hard for the NEWTs, which were due to begin the week after they returned to Hogwarts. But the remainder of each day was spent in jovial companionship with each other. Lily got much better at flying on a broomstick, although she was not cut out for Quidditch, as James and Sirius continually pointed out to her during their frequent visits to the field at the back of the grounds in James’ home, which had been turned into a makeshift Quidditch pitch.



Lily also found herself more at home with James’ parents as each day progressed. His mother was exceptionally kind to her, and greeted her each morning with a hug, as she did James and Sirius. James’ efforts to avoid his mother’s embraces were futile, but Sirius loved the maternal attention he got from his foster mother. Mr Potter was equally as kind, and spent the weekends when he was off work playing Quidditch with them and helping them with their revision.



In the evenings, they would eat out in the secluded garden behind the house, which looked onto the grounds and the river, behind which was the Quidditch pitch. Lily and the boys would help Mr Potter collect wood for a fire, which he then lit with his wand so that a comforting heat was emitted during the ever-warming spring nights. Then Mrs Potter would bring out all sorts of wonderful dishes to eat and they ate and laughed in contentment.



All too soon, it was time to Apparate back to London for the Hogwarts Express. James’ parents went with them to see them off and spread the weight of their cases, and wished them all good luck for their exams. Lily was invited back for the summer holidays, and given a big hug by both Mr and Mrs Potter.



They boarded the Hogwarts Express and waved goodbye until the train was whipped out of sight to take them back to Hogwarts. Lily would have rather stayed at the Potters’ than face the upcoming exams. The night the students returned was a hectic one for all concerned with OWLs and NEWTs. The OWLs were beginning the next morning, and the Seventh Years had a week to prepare for their exams. James, Lily and Sirius met up with the other Gryffindors after dinner, and they all went to the library to work harder than they ever had before, until Madame Pince threw them out at ten o’clock. This didn’t hinder most of them, who returned to the Common Room to take up camp there for the night. The last thing Lily remembered was listening to James reciting the correct ingredients for The Draught of Death, and the next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by Yves.



“Lily! Wake up, it’s time for History of Magic.”



“What?” she replied sleepily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up from the desk she had fallen asleep on. “Is it morning?”



“Yes. Here, I got you some toast from breakfast. We didn’t want to wake you.”



“Thanks,” Lily said, taking the toast from Yves and nibbling it as she hurried to get her things together for History of Magic. “How come no one woke me last night?”



“You and James were the only ones left when I went to bed, and James said he didn’t want to disturb your sleep.”



“I wish he would have, I’ve got an awful crick in my neck now.”



They walked together to History of Magic, all the way testing each other on various aspects of the subject that were likely to come up in their exam the next week.



“It’s ok,” Yves said, when Lily forgot the names of the goblins that had fought for equality in the War of 1045. “We’ve got a week to learn all that stuff. That’s loads of time.”



But the time went far too fast for any of their liking, and sooner than was comfortable, the NEWTs were upon the Seventh Years. Monday morning was History of Magic and Divination, and the afternoon consisted of Arimancy, which only Sarah and Frank took from the Gryffindors, and Care of Magical Creatures.



“Not too bad, you know,” Sirius said, once the first day was over. “I mean, I mucked up History of Magic, but then when has anyone excelled at that pile of rubbish?”



“I quite like History of Magic,” Ellie said. “You just say that because you always fail at it.”



“Hey!” Sirius protested. “You’re supposed to be nice to me now that we’re going out!”



“What do you mean ‘now that we’re going out’? I’ve always been nice to you, you just never noticed it before.”



“Did too!”



“Not from what I could see.”



“Well,” Sirius said, putting his arm around her shoulder. “How about starting now?”



“Don’t worry, you’ll get your dues.”



‘When you two have quite finished,” James cut in, “I’m off to start revising for Potions, if anyone wants to help me.”



“You’re a bit keen,” Sirius said. “We only just finished today’s lot!”



“I already told you, I need to get good grades if I’ve got any chance of becoming an Auror.”



“Well I need a break,” Sirius said. “Care to join me, Ellie?”



“Where are you going? And don’t say Quidditch!”



“Would I?” Sirius replied, with a falsely innocent expression on his face. “Ok, ok, how about a stroll in the sunshine?”



“Sounds great. See you, James.”



“Bye,” James replied, before heading up to the Common room to start on his Potions revision.



***



A few hours later, Lily lay slouched across the floor with a book open on her lap and her eyes closed. Her head was resting against James’ knees, and her auburn hair lay sprawled over his legs. James sat on one of the armchairs, ticking off the ingredients in a Love Potion on his fingers.



“Lily?” he questioned.



“Mmm?” came the response from a half-dozing Lily.



“Is it five and a half millilitres of powdered unicorn horn or seven and a half?”



“For what?”



“Love Potion.”



“Oh… uh, I think it’s seven and a half. It’s five and a half millilitres of crushed lizard’s bone.”



“Oh yeah. I always get those two mixed up.” He pulled his parchment onto his lap and scribbled down some new notes.



Lily picked up the book that was lying across her. “I can’t even remember where I was when I put this down. I’ll probably have to start reading all over again.”



“Remus!” James said suddenly.



“What?”



“Remus!” he repeated, moving Lily’s head so that he could stand up. Remus was standing in the entrance to the Common room, looking pale and weak, but definitely improved. “You’re back!”



“Looks like it,” Remus said, walking forwards to meet James, who clapped him heartily on the back. “I just arrived on the Knight Bus. I’m knackered.”



“I bet you are,” Lily said, rising to meet him. “Why don’t you get some sleep?”



“Nah, I’ve spent too much time in bed these last few weeks. Besides, if I’m to catch up on NEWTs I’d better get revising.”



“Revising?” James repeated, shocked. “You aren’t really going to take the exams are you? You’ve been in hospital for weeks!”



“I know. But I don’t want what happened to me to get in the way of my future. I’ve spoken to Dumbledore, and he’s fixed it so that I can catch up on History of Magic and Divination during the rest of this week. I think I can do it so long as I work really hard.”



“You’ll put yourself back in hospital, mate,” James warned.



“I’ll be all right. Just make sure you clue me in on some important revision items. I’m going to need lots of help.”



“Sure,” Lily said. “You can borrow my notes if you like.”



“Thanks Lily.”



“No problem. So they let you out! Are you fixed?”



“Pretty much. The Healers found this antidote to the blisters, although my skin is still quite raw. And I have full brain activity again, which is really good.”



“Again?” came the voice of Sirius from behind them, as he came through the portrait hole with Ellie at his side. “I’m not so sure you ever had full brain activity, Moony.”



“Sirius!” Remus exclaimed. “Good to see you.”



“And you. I did wonder when you’d be back. This is a cause for celebration. What do you say, a night out in Hogsmeade, anyone?”



“No!” they all shouted, as Sirius laughed.



***



Remus worked harder than he had ever done before. He was still weak from the effects of the Death Eaters curse, but he refused to relent until the week was up. The Gryffindors hailed him as a hero and were all extremely glad to see him back in one piece. The Seventh Years, whilst still keeping up with their own tough revision plan, did all they could to get Remus up to speed with everything he had missed. Lily shared all her notes with him, and the other Marauders stayed up all hours of the night with him, testing each other on the upcoming exams.



The week went slowly, and the Seventh Years collapsed into bed late every night to fall into an exhausted sleep. But eventually, Friday came, bringing with it the last of the exams. Defence Against the Dark Arts came first. The practical exam had taken place on Wednesday afternoon, and the Marauders had felt sneakily confident about that, due to their victory over the Death Eaters. But the written paper on Friday morning was a different matter.



The questions were difficult, and as James sat staring at the paper, his brain went blank as he read the question ’Describe the three stages of the wand action taken during the blocking of the ‘Fragmenti’ Curse’. His mind raced. ”What’s the Fragmenti Curse?” he thought frantically. He looked around to where Sirius was sitting, scribbling away. He looked like he knew what he was doing, but then Sirius always looked like he knew what he was doing. James looked over to Lily, sitting near the front. She was twirling her quill between her fingers absently as she thought. Her hair was tied back casually to be kept out of her eyes. As James watched her, she reached her hand back to rub the back of her neck from the aches of being bent over a desk for too long. ”Stop it!” James commanded himself. “Stop looking at Lily and concentrate on the Fragmenti curse!”



The rest of the exam wasn’t so bad, and once he had started concentrating again, James was able to apply himself and answer questions sufficiently. However, the end of the exam came too fast for James, forcing him to rush some of the questions that he would rather have had more time to elaborate on.



“How was that?” Lily asked, as the Seventh Years filed out of the Great Hall. “I had to guess a few answers, but I think that mainly it wasn’t too bad. If things go well, I could just scrape an O for that.”



“An O!” James said, shaking his head. “I’ll be lucky to get an A.”



“I’m sure you were fine. Things always seem bad when you first come out of an exam. Don’t worry.” She put her arm around his waist. “Besides, there’s only one left now. How’re you feeling about Transfiguration?”



“Better than I thought I would. The written paper wasn’t so bad yesterday, and I always find the practical exam easier. I just want the NEWTs to be over.”



“I don’t,” Lily said as they began climbing the stairs in the Entrance Hall.



“You don’t? You want to the torture to continue?”



“Well not the exams, necessarily, but NEWTs finishing signals the end of Hogwarts for us. I don’t want to leave. This is my home.”



“I hadn’t really thought about leaving here. When I think of next year, I’ve thought more about what I want to be doing than what I’ll be leaving behind.”



“Including me.”



“What? I’m not leaving you behind, Lils,” James replied, incredulous.



“You say that now, but our futures look set to move in completely different directions.”



“Oh no you don’t. You haven’t been talking to Professor Palmer have you? You know how much I hate that Divination rubbish.”



“No, I haven’t. I wasn’t talking about telling the future. I just meant that with you so set on becoming an Auror, and me … well I don’t even know what I’ll be doing next year.”



“We’ll find a way, Lils, I promise. I’m not leaving you behind.”



Lily smiled. “Well let’s hope so. I don’t even want to think about not having you in my life, James Potter.”



“By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be so bored of me you’ll pack my suitcases for me!”



“Never,” she replied. “Never ever.”

Chapter 26: The Order of the Phoenix

The week after NEWTs finished found Seventh Years basking in the freedom of the end of lessons. The summer holidays were fast approaching, but until then, they were free to do what they wished with their time. Each year after NEWTs, the school set up a programme designed to help the Seventh Years finalise their plans for the upcoming year. Attendance was voluntary, but most students found it very helpful to go to these sessions. None more so than Lily, who still wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do with her life.

“Relax, Lily,” Sirius said one afternoon, as the Gryffindors lay sunbathing by the lake. “You’ll be fine, you always are.”

“Easy for you to say,” Lily returned. “You know what you want to do.”

“All I’m saying is you have the whole summer to really decide what to do next year. And if you still don’t know, then take a year out. See the world. It might help you to decide.”

Lily was lying with her head on James’s chest, and Sirius was sitting to her left, leaning back on his hands. To her right were Remus and Peter, who were playing a fiercely competitive game of Wizard’s Chess. Yves and Michael Younge were canoodling nearby in the shade of a tree, and Frank and Alice were sitting talking to James on his right side.

“I might have to,” Lily said. “But I don’t know what I’d do with myself. My parents are dead and I’m certainly not relying on my sister for any support. Not that she’d give it.”

“What’s this?” James said, turning to the conversation as Frank and Alice said goodbye before Alice left for lessons.

“We were talking about next year,” Sirius said. “Your girlfriend was worrying. Again. Deal with her, Prongs.”

James looked down at Lily lying on his chest. “I’ve already told you,” he said. “You’re not allowed to worry!”

“I can’t help it.”

“I can!” He sat up and tickled her.

“Stop it!” she screeched, curling into a ball and fighting James off her. “James Potter! Stop it!” But she could barely get the words out she was laughing so hard.

“Say you’ll stop worrying,” James warned.

“Ok, ok! I give!”

James stopped tickling her and she sat up to get her breath back. “You horror,” she said, pulling grass out of her hair.

“Ah, you love me really,” James replied, smiling and pulling Lily back towards him. He put his arms around her so that he was giving her a backwards hug.

Sirius looked at them. “Where’s Ellie got to?” he yearnfully asked no one in particular.

“She went to that Healer training session,” Lily replied.

“Yeah, but that was over an hour ago. It’s almost two o’clock now.”

“Is it?” James asked. “We’ve got to go! The Auror one starts at two!”

“Oh yeah,” Sirius said. “Frank, you’re coming, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Moony, Wormtail, you coming?”

“Got you!” Remus exclaimed happily, as his queen smashed one of Peter’s bishops to pieces. He looked up at Sirius, Frank and James, who had stood. “Sorry?”

“Are you coming to the Auror session?” Sirius repeated.

“Oh, yeah! Is it now already?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Remus and Peter rose and followed the other three, who had begun striding off towards the castle.

“Wait!” Lily said, standing and rushing over to them. “I’m coming, too.”

“You are?” James asked.

“Well, what have I got to lose? I might as well try everything.” She put her hand in James’. “Bye, Yves!” she called behind her, before turning back and starting off towards the castle with the others.

Professor Almony and Professor McGonagall were in charge of the session. They handed out information booklets to all the students entitled Becoming an Auror: What You Need To Know.

“Looks hard,” Sirius said, flicking through the booklet and stopping at a random page. “Look at this: ’The Ministry of Magic employs new Aurors once a year, based on a vigorous and challenging month-long exam’! Can you imagine?”

“Yes, Mr Black,” Professor Almony said, having finished handing out the booklets. He took his seat at the front of the classroom next to Professor McGonagall. “It is not an easy ride, becoming a Ministry Auror. It takes determination, perseverance, and a great deal of talent and hard work.” He paused and looked around. “However, it is an extremely rewarding job, and a great ambition to set your sights on. Professor McGonagall and I have considered each of you in this room very carefully, and while some seem more likely to succeed than others, we believe you all have it in you to make it as Aurors, so long as you work hard enough.”

“Now,” Professor McGonagall said. “The first half of this session will be spent on informing you of the necessary action to be taken next year. How to begin your training, what to expect, and so forth. Then, at a quarter to three, a Ministry Auror is arriving to answer any questions you may have, and, I believe, give you a taster of the kind of work Aurors are expected to do.” At this, there was a sudden outbreak of excitement from the gathered students. Professor McGonagall raised her voice. “If you will turn to page five of your booklets, you will begin by talking about how to get involved with Auror training. Now I don’t claim to be an expert in this field, so I will hand over to Professor Almony, and return later with our guest from the Ministry.” She rose from her chair. “I hope you all find this a productive session,” she said, before leaving the room.

And indeed it was. As stated, Professor Almony talked for the first forty-five minutes about how to start training to become an Auror. He gave them all forms to fill in from the Ministry, as applications for the training scheme set up by the Auror Office. Then, at a quarter to three, Professor McGonagall returned as promised with the Ministry Auror. He was dressed in a dark green robe and cloak, which bore the Ministry emblem in gold on the left breast.

He introduced himself as Auror Marcus Weatherhill, and began by stressing the importance of Aurors in the Ministry and in society, and the difficulty levels of succeeding. They learnt that only twenty candidates were selected at the end of the first year of Auror training to continue into the second year, and even then only an elite handful were hired by the Ministry at the end.

“Not that I want to put you off,” Mr Weatherhill said, smiling. “For it is a most rewarding job, being an Auror. Now, I would like to get down to some practical work, which I am sure you have all been looking forward to greatly. I assume you all take Defence Against the Dark Arts, as it is a compulsory NEWT for Auror training.” At the vigorous nodding from the students, he continued. “If you would like to get into pairs and move these desks out of the way, we will begin with some exercises.”

***

Later that day, the Marauders, Lily and Frank all collapsed into sofas in the Gryffindor common room, exhausted.

“Wow,” Sirius said. “That was amazing. I’m definitely sending that form off to the Ministry.”

“Me too,” James said. “That confirmed my hopes about what it’s like to be an Auror. Did you see that thing he did with his wand?”

“Yeah, he was pretty cool,” Remus said. “And that thing he taught us, to sense when someone is creeping up on you… I’m definitely using that again!”

“That put tingles up my spine,” Lily said. “When Martin sprang at me and I knew he was coming … weird.”

“It’s going to be hard, though,” Peter said. “Didn’t he say that out of the twenty of us that were there only five would probably make it?”

“They’re only statistics, Wormtail,” James said. “What if we’re all really good at it?”

The portrait hole opened at that moment, and Professor McGonagall entered the common room. She scanned the students in the room, her eyes finally landing on James. “Potter,” she said, “come with me, please.” James looked quizzically at the others, before rising from his armchair and following McGonagall out of the portrait hole.

“Where are we going, Professor?” he asked as she led him down the long corridor and down a flight of stairs.

“I’m taking you to the Headmaster, James,” she replied. “He wants to see you.”

James blinked. He racked his brains for anything he had done lately to break the rules. He couldn’t think of anything. Had he cheated in an exam? Failed, maybe. Yes, that would be it. He had failed all his NEWTs and Dumbledore was going to tell him he had to do the year again. He would never become an Auror.

They reached the entrance to Dumbledore’s office, and McGonagall cleared her throat. “Murray Mints.” The gargoyle leapt to the side, revealing the opening to the moving spiral staircase. They stepped onto it and rose silently together up to the Headmaster’s office, where McGonagall knocked.

“Come in,” came the voice of Albus Dumbledore. McGonagall pushed to door open and motioned for James to enter before her.

“Ah, James, do sit down,” Dumbledore said, pointing to an empty chair in front of his desk. James took it, and saw McGonagall conjure one with her wand, before sitting next to James. She looked as if she were being interviewed, sitting on the wrong side of the desk, James thought. Why did she have to be present when James was about to be humiliated?

“Now, James,” Dumbledore said, clasping his hands together. “I suppose you are wondering why I have called you to my office. Well let me tell you, first, how much you impressed our Ministry Auror this afternoon.”

“I - what?” James blurted out. This didn’t sound like the lead up to being told he had failed his exams.

“Mr Weatherhill came immediately to tell me,” Dumbledore continued. “He was sincerely impressed with your ability at Defence Against the Dark Arts, and how quickly you picked up the exercises he set the group. Did you find them easy?”

“James was taken aback. “Uh, well, I suppose… I didn’t know they were supposed to be challenging.”

“I am told that you showed the most natural ability he has seen for some years now, and Professor McGonagall can support this.” McGonagall nodded to this, but kept silent. “Now, James, I know how desperately you want to be an Auror, but I have something else in store for you, something I think you will much prefer doing.”

What? James thought desperately. Something else? I thought he just told me I had natural talent?

But if Dumbledore noticed the expression on James’ face, he didn’t let on, but continued. “I am sure you remember, after your run-in with the Death Eaters before the holidays, that I mentioned, in passing, the name of the Order of the Phoenix.”

James took a sharp intake of breath and sat up further in his chair. He had not forgotten, but spent his nights frantically trying to work out what the Order of the Phoenix could be. He nodded that he remembered.

“Well, then, you will also remember that I promised one day to tell you what it was. That is what I am here to do now. The Order of the Phoenix is the organisation set up by myself to stop Lord Voldemort in his tracks. It is, if you like, a rebel force, unprotected by the Ministry, but run by great witches and wizards who believe not enough is being done to stop the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. Professor McGonagall is one of the members.” James looked to his left where she was sitting, and she inclined her head to him. Dumbledore continued. “As are many Ministry Aurors. Therefore, I do not wish to completely hinder your dreams of becoming an Auror by asking you to join the Order. It will in fact be very beneficial for you to start your training next year with the Ministry.”

James’ mind raced. “Join?” he said. “Me?”

“Yes, James, you. You are a trustworthy, honest, and reliable young man. And as I said, you have a natural talent. One that we need. One that I suspected you had the day you hit Sirius and the Death Eater with a very advanced curse.”

“But I didn’t know what I was doing. I don’t even remember doing it.”

“The fact remains that you did. And it is proof of your talent that you did it on the spur of the moment, without training. Expertise and control come later. Furthermore, it was used in a form of self-defence, not as a weapon as the Death Eaters practise their magic.”

“I don’t know what to say. What will I have to do?”

“Nothing, to begin with. It will be many years before you are fully incorporated into the Order. You will start your Ministry training in September, something you will have no trouble completing, from what Mr Weatherhill has told me. Meanwhile, you will attend occasional Order meetings with the other members, so that you are kept up-to-date with the goings on. When you are ready, and we are talking long-term aims here, you will perform top-secret missions for the Order.”

James was stunned. He had not seen anything like this coming. Dumbledore looked at him deeply. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? To be involved in the resistance against Lord Voldemort? Such was what you told me after Lily’s parent’s were killed.”

James nodded. “Of course. I want to help.”

“Good. Then that’s settled. I will inform the other members of your position, and over the summer, you will be introduced to them all.”

“Yes sir.”

“This is not to be taken lightly, James. I want you to know that. It isn’t a game; it’s life and death we are playing with. For now, I will not do anything to put your life at risk, but there will come a time when you must make difficult decisions, and face your darkest fears. You must be ready for this.”

“I will be.”

Dumbledore smiled. “And now, I think that is quite enough for one day. You need time to mull over what I have told you. If, at any time, you have doubts about anything we have discussed today, please come and talk to me, or indeed Professor McGonagall. This is a heavy responsibility to place on such young shoulders, but I have every confidence in you.”

“Thank you, Professor. I won’t let you down.”

Professor McGonagall stood then, and James followed suit. “James,” she said. “If you wouldn’t mind, I have some things to talk to Professor Dumbledore about, and so I must leave you to walk down to dinner yourself.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Oh, and James?” Dumbledore said, as James was walking towards the door. He turned. “I am sure you may wish to talk about this with your friends. It is up to whether you do or not. However, I ask that it be with complete confidence in their discretion that you do so. I am sure I needn’t tell you of the high-risk the members would be at if the security of the Order is breeched. Please choose your confidants wisely.”

He nodded to James, who returned the gesture. “Yes sir, I will.” He left the office, where Dumbledore and McGonagall were already talking intently across the desk, and made his way down to the Great Hall. His head was swimming with thoughts. The Order of the Phoenix. It was such a grand name, such a grand idea, that he, James Potter, could be a part of something so important. He was going to make a difference. He could feel it.

Chapter 27: Goodbye to Hogwarts

James spent almost the entire night telling his friends about the Order for the Phoenix. He had taken Dumbledore’s warning and considered whether they were trustworthy or not. He decided, with not much need to think about it, that the Marauders had always been there for him through everything. He had never needed to lie to them about anything serious before, and he wasn’t about to start. And as for Lily, James couldn’t bare the thought of keeping anything from her.

So, after dinner that evening, the five of them stayed up until the early hours of the morning, talking over what had happened.

“I can’t believe this!” Sirius said for the twentieth time. He put on his deepest voice. “James Potter, Order of the Phoenix.”

“I know, it’s bizarre,” James replied. “It’s big stuff.”

“I always knew Dumbledore would be involved in some sort of Anti-You-Know-Who organisation. I can just see him sneaking around in secret hideouts. Sounds a lot like us, actually…”

“Except you practice trouble-making, not ridding the world of evil,” Lily pointed out. “Slight difference.”

“Still, I think we’d make a good addition to the Order of the Phoenix,” Sirius continued. “Do you think Dumbledore will let us join in a few years time?”

“I have no idea,” James said, still phased by the whole thing. “I don’t really know how it works.”

“So you’re still going ahead with your Auror training?” Remus asked.

“Definitely. We’re all going to need those skills in the future, no matter what we end up doing. Things are still going pretty badly for us. I don’t think we quite realise, being locked up safe in here every day of the week.”

“Yeah,” Lily said. “As soon as we’re let loose into society, we’re going to get a big shock. It’s not as pretty as it is in here. I’ve seen it. Death hurts.”

Sirius yawned. “An on that cheerful note, I’m heading up to bed. Anyone joining me?”

“I will,” Peter said, standing up and moving towards Sirius. “Night, guys.”

“I’ll be up soon,” Remus said.

“Night,” Lily called as they climbed the stairs.

“So…” James said. “There’s a lot happening around here.”

“Tell me about it. It’s been a tough few months, and it’s going to get even tougher once the summer is through,” Remus said, lying back into the space where Sirius had been sitting. “Life would be so much easier if I wasn’t a werewolf.”

“You mean for the future?” Lily asked.

“Yeah. I’m going to have a hard time finding a decent job.”

“No way,” James said. “A great guy like you? They’ll lap you up.”

“Thanks, Prongs, but I doubt it. It’s ok though, that’s my lot in life, I guess.” He smiled weakly. “Still, I have you guys.”

“Always,” Lily said. “We love you, Remus!”

“Thanks, Lily.” He yawned. “Right, I’d better go to bed before I fall asleep here.” He rolled off the sofa and stood up.

“Sleep well, Moony,” James said.

“Night, Remus.”

“See you tomorrow.” He left for the dormitory.

“Well, just us, I guess,” James said.

“Just us.” There was a pause. “James? Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that Dumbledore has asked you to join this organisation that you know nothing about, at the age of eighteen, with no experience whatsoever?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence!”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Lily said, getting up and climbing into James’ lap. “I’m very proud of you. It’s just … odd, that’s all. I don’t want you in danger.”

“I won’t be. Not for a few years anyway. Besides, it’s like what you said before. It’s tough out there. Whatever happens, we’re all in danger as soon as we leave Hogwarts. I might as well be with people who know how to fight it.”

“I suppose.” She sighed. “Just, don’t you go running into any battles, James. I almost lost you once. And too many people have died in my life. I won’t have it happen again.”

“No, you won’t. Dumbledore’s looking after me, Lils. He’s the greatest wizard alive. Greater than You-Know-Who. We’re on the winning side, trust me. I’ll be fine.”

“Good, because I love you, James Potter.” She turned her head to look at him properly. “I mean it.”

James blinked, taken aback. “You … really?”

“Yes, really. I don’t know why it took me this long to tell you.”

James smiled. “Well, you could always make up for lost time…”

Lily chuckled. “How many times do I owe you?”

“About two hundred. You should get going, you know, it’s late.”

Lily leant forwards, smiling, and kissed James briefly before sitting back up. “I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you …” she trailed off.

“Hey, that was only five! I said two hundred, Miss Evans. Keep going.”

He put his hands behind his head and sat back just as Lily grabbed a cushion from the chair next to her and hit him across the head with it.

***

The rest of term zoomed by for the Seventh Years, and before they knew it, the last week was upon them. As Lily moved round the castle slowly, breathing in the distinct scent that was only Hogwarts, she found herself in parts of the castle that she had never seen before in all seven years at the school, places she was sure had not existed. Everything was suddenly magnified, so that an old rusty suit of armour became the shining memorabilia of the place she had experienced her first kiss, or a small, dingy classroom turned into the place where she had first used a wand.

It was a sad week for Lily. Hogwarts was the place where she had grown up; it was where she had found herself. The future was so uncertain for them all that it felt even more poignant that they were leaving this safe haven.

There were no more lessons for the Seventh Years, but the teachers hosted a Farewell Dinner, in which the whole year and all the teachers said their goodbyes to each other and celebrated seven years of excellence and inspiration. It took place on the last night of term.

As the Seventh Year Gryffindors descended the Staircase into the Entrance Hall, there was a sense of great anticipation. No one wanted to leave; least of all Lily, but the feeling that the future was out there to be taken was a feeling that couldn’t be shaken off.

James was the most excited. “Just think,” he said to Lily as he took her arm and led her into the Great Hall. “This will be the last time we are ever in this room.”

“Don’t say that!” Lily said. “Besides, what about breakfast tomorrow morning?”

“Oh yeah… well, this will be the last Feast we ever attend at the school.”

“James, stop that! You’ll make me cry!”

They took their seats along the single table that had been set in the middle of the Hall for the meal. Many smaller tables were positioned around the Hall, so that the teachers and students could sit and talk once the meal was over.

Sirius and Ellie sat opposite them on the long table, with Peter next to Ellie. “Where’s Remus?” James asked.

“Over that end of the table, with Frank and that Hufflepuff girl with the curly hair.”

“Stephanie Myres?” Lily asked.

“That’s the one. I’ve never been able to remember her name.” He chuckled. “Oh well, now I won’t ever have to!”

“Look, he’s coming over now,” Lily said, as Remus stood from his seat and wandered over to where they were sitting.

“Nice of you to join us!” Sirius said, making room for him to sit down. “I thought you were going to abandon us!”

“On our last ever Feast as the Marauders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? You must be kidding me!”

“That’s what I thought,” James said. “This is most certainly the end of an era.”

“Speaking of which,” Remus said, “are we going through with the plan for the Map?”

“What plan?” Lily asked.

“Well,” James said. “We don’t need the Marauder’s Map anymore, seeing as we’re leaving, so we thought we’d hide it somewhere safe for some future mischief makers to discover. To their great advantage, of course.”

“Really? I would have thought you’d want to keep something as special as that.”

“Well, we talked about it,” Remus said. “But then we’d have to split it four ways and besides, this way someone else gets to carry on our legacy.”

At that moment, Professor McGonagall seated herself next to James. “Good evening, Mr Potter,” she said, just as the Divination teacher, Professor Palmer, took his seat on her other side.

“Good evening, Professor,” James replied.

“And how are you today?”

“Not bad.”

“Sad to be leaving?”

“I guess. It hasn’t really hit me yet. I don’t suppose it will until we actually leave.”

Professor McGonagall nodded, as Professor Dumbledore stood up from his seat at the end of the table. “I have a few words to say before we eat,” he began, as students and teachers alike quietened down. “This time of year is always a very sad one for me, as I watch my students leave to conquer the world. But it is also a time for a great celebration of all that you have achieved during your time here, and all you will achieve in your lives to come.

“Who knew, seven years ago, that we would have such a diversely talented group of students entering these walls? For that is what you are. Each and every one of you has the potential and the ability to do great things, and I do not doubt that you will. You have a future to look forward to, and that is something you have given yourselves, by your hard work and dedication to your studies. With, of course, much support from your excellent teachers!” At this, there was a general roar of agreement from the students gathered. “So, I wish you all the very best of luck with your NEWT results, and with the future. You have been a pleasure to know and it has been a great honour to call you my students.” He paused and looked at them all, his eyes beaming from behind his half-moon spectacles.

Next to James, Lily sobbed silently. “You big softie,” James said, putting his arm around her.

“And now,” Dumbledore continued. “Let us enjoy what time we have left together!” He clapped his hands and the plates filled up before their eyes.

“Food!” Sirius exclaimed happily, pulling the nearest dish towards him.

“Do you ever think of anything other than your stomach?” Ellie asked, laughing at the sight of Sirius.

“Yesh,” he replied, before swallowing his mouthful and taking another. “I fink of you shometimesh.”

“How romantic,” Ellie said, looking sceptically at Sirius as he tore another bits out of his chicken leg.

The evening passed pleasantly, with cheerful banter from everyone at the table, even the Slytherins. James saw Bella Black sneak a swift kiss on this cheek of a rather startled looking boy, and down at the other end, even Severus was smiling as he sat talking to Professor Almony avidly, most likely about how he pursue his career as a teacher.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, people began to drift off to the smaller tables to chat. Many people were mixing houses, saying their goodbyes now to people who they might not see the next morning. James took Lily outside into the night for a last stroll around the grounds. They talked amicably, walking first to the edge of the forest, and then following it round until it met the lake, who’s perimeter they then followed. The night was still and a little chilly, despite it being summer, and the sky was clear and full of stars.

Once they had been round the lake twice, a feat that took over an hour, they ambled towards the Quidditch pitch. “We should turn in soon,” James said. “I don’t want you getting cold.”

“I’m not too cold,” Lily replied.

“Your arm’s covered in goosebumps.”

Lily shivered. “I suppose, now that you mention it, it is chilly out here. What time is it?”

“Five past twelve.”

“Have we been walking for that long?”

“Apparently so. Do you wan to go in?”

“Not just yet. I don’t want tonight to end.”

They reached the Quidditch pitch and stood together, hovering at the edge of it. “I’ll miss Quidditch,” James said. “I was a bloody good player.” He laughed at his own vanity. “I don’t suppose I’ll get to play it much anymore.”

Minutes passed in silence. Lily turned to look out at the Hogwarts Grounds. It wouldn’t be long now before they would leave this all behind. She looked back on her years at the school with happiness, and knew that she would never find another place in the world like Hogwarts. Unless she was able to take James with her wherever she went. She sighed.

Behind her, James leant to kiss the side of her neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her to him. His body was snug and inviting. She turned her head to meet his kiss. In the chill night his mouth was enticingly warm. She broke the kiss and looked up into his large brown eyes. For an instant, just looking at him was all she needed in the world.

“James?” she queried, making up her mind.

“Mm?”

“Take me away, James.”

He played along. “Where would you like to go?”

“Anywhere. Just the two of us. I want you to take me away.”

“Of course. I’m not going anywhere without you, Lils.” He kissed her cheek gently. A tear ran down the side of her face. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just sad to be leaving.”

“I know. But I won’t abandon you. Whatever it is Dumbledore wants me to do, I’m not jeopardising our relationship, you know that, right?” She nodded. “Besides, I’ll always be close by.”

Lily sighed. “No, you don’t get it. I want to be a part of it as well.”

“A part of what?”

“The fighting. The Order of the Phoenix. Whatever it is you have to go away and do.” Thoughts of her parents, dying at the hands of Death Eaters, suddenly filled her mind.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m going to do the training at the Ministry at the very least.”

“Auror training?”

She nodded again. “If you’re in danger, I’m right there with you. We’re a team, remember? I’m not losing anyone else I love.” Tears began to flow down her face silently. She lowered her face as if in embarrassment.

“Hey,” James said softly, lifting her chin up until her eyes met his. “You wont lose me, I promise.”

He put one slender finger to her cheek and touched the spot where one of her tears had stained her face. Then he leant in and kissed them all away.

Chapter 28: Twice Defied



A year passed. Life went on.



September of the year 1979 found James pacing up and down the Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts. He hadn’t been in here since that day when Dumbledore had asked him to join the Order of the Phoenix. The room hadn’t changed at all: it was exactly as he remembered it from his years as a student. James’s life, however, was somewhat different from those days.



He had finished his initial Auror training over Christmas, along with Sirius, Lily, Frank and Alice. Peter, who hadn’t received the grades needed for any trained work, was now working in the cauldron shop in Diagon Alley. Remus had pulled out of the Auror scheme after discovering that most people didn’t take lightly the fact that he was a werewolf, however he had joined the Order of the Phoenix along with the others. Dumbledore had told James’s friends that it was their decision, now that they knew about the Order, to join if they wished, seeing as they were of age. They had all signed up immediately.



The door opened behind James, and Dumbledore entered. “James,” he said, not at all surprised to see him there. “So good to see you again. Please, take a seat.”



“What happened?” James asked, following Dumbledore to the desk and sitting opposite him. “Where is she?”



“Safe, James. She’s back at Headquarters.”



For the first time since hearing that Lily had been sent out on a mission for the Order, James was able to relax slightly. He put his head into his hands and sighed out his relief. She was ok.



“What happened?” James repeated, calmer this time. “Did she find anything out?”



“Not much that we didn’t already suspect, although our theories have been confirmed. Lord Voldemort intends to attack at the Ministry. When, however, still remains clouded.”



James nodded. “Do the others know this? Have you alerted the Ministry?”



“I am on my way now to speak directly with the Minister. If this can be stopped in its tracks, then I will make sure we do everything in our power to do so.”



“Why did Lily have to go?” James asked, not satisfied. “You said when she joined the Order that she wouldn’t be sent on missions until she was a more senior member. She’s still young-“



“She's well over nineteen. The same age as you, I believe,” Dumbledore cut in. “Two months older, in fact, if my memory serves me.”



“Well, yes but… it was meant to be only me joining the Order, and I don’t want her getting hurt, that’s all.”



“I understand your concern, James, and if any of the others had been around, then they would have gone in her place. As it happens, our two principle missions are still in operation, so we are scarce on the ground at the moment. Lily was at Headquarters when I needed someone.” He tilted his head as he looked at James. “Lily is perfectly capable, James, or I wouldn’t have allowed her to join the Order. You have nothing to worry about.”



James personally thought he had everything to worry about, but he decided not to pursue the subject just yet. He stopped thinking about Lily and concentrated.



“Ok, so what’s next? How do we find out where this is going?”



“Well, ideally we need to plant someone as a spy. If only Dredge was back from-“



“I’ll do it.”



“No, James, I can’t ask you to do that.”



“You asked Lily.”



“That was at a much lower risk level. This requires a more senior member of the Order. Perhaps Barnabus…” He trailed off.



James let him think. He had some thinking of his own to do anyway. Being in the Order of the Phoenix was hard work, harder than he had thought it would be. But it was also everything he ever wanted to do with his life. Since they had left school, Voldemort had gained more power than James ever thought was possible. Lily had been right, all those months ago: they had been wrapped up in the safety of Hogwarts and not realised just how ugly things were outside the castle walls. Everything had escalated. The Order of the Phoenix was doing its best to stem the bloodshed, but Voldemort was always one step ahead. Sometimes James wondered whether Dumbledore knew more than he was letting on, whether he had his own plan that he was carefully unfolding. Even if he didn’t, James had every confidence in his old headmaster to lead them towards victory.



Dumbledore looked up. “I’m sorry, James, I have been lost in my thoughts. I didn’t mean to keep you so long.”



“It’s fine. I think I may go and see Lily now at Headquarters.”



“I doubt she’ll be there anymore. She mentioned that she would only check back, and then head home for a nice long soak in the bathtub. Not a bad idea, I think I could do with one of those as well.”



James had a brief, bizarre vision of Dumbledore relaxing in a hot bubble bath, before realising he had stood up, and followed suit. “Well then, I must meet with the Minister. Let us walk together into Hogsmeade, shall we?”



***



James arrived in his flat half an hour later. He and Dumbledore had Apparated their different ways, Dumbledore to the Ministry of Magic, and James to his new home.



His parents had bought him and Lily a flat to live in together. James had been surprised at this unexpected gift, more so because it meant that they had come around to the idea of James and Lily living together. James had stated quite insistently, once they had left school, that he was going to live with Lily, much to his parents’ surprise. They had tried to dissuade him from this drastic move, saying that they hadn’t lived together until they were married, and that James and Lily should at least wait until they had been seeing each other on a more long-term basis, to which he replied that there might not be a chance for long-term with Voldemort on the move. After much discussion, his parents had consented to having Lily live with them instead.



So it was with great shock that James had received this rather large present from his parents just over a month ago. “You have proved your maturity, James,” they had told him with smiles on their faces. “Besides, you can’t live with your parents the rest of your lives!”



That was a week before they had died. Hunted down like animals by Death Eaters-the loved family of a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Nothing was sacred anymore. But now was the time to concentrate on his new life. That was what they would have wanted.



“Lily?” James called as he turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open. There were still a few boxes in the hall waiting to be unpacked, but generally it was a neat and homely place to live.



“In the living room,” she called back. It was so good to hear her voice coming from within their shared home. He walked down the hall and into the room on the left, where Lily was sitting cross-legged on the carpet with a photo album open at her feet.



“Hi,” she said, as James leant down to kiss her. He sat down next to her.



“Are you ok?” he asked, scanning her face for signs of distress or injury. “I thought…”



“I’m fine. Made of strong stuff, you know.”



“I know, but when I heard you’d gone after Treggar, I couldn’t help but worry. He’s fierce, remember how he killed the Morrisons?”



“I remember. But I was disguised and protected by Dumbledore’s charms, he wouldn’t have let me go into too great a danger.”



“Still,” he put his arm around her and kissed her forehead gently. “It’s good to see you.”



“Isn’t it always?” Lily teased.



“Always,” James agreed. “So what’s this?” he asked, looking at the album in front of her. “Is that us?”



“Yes. At the Christmas Feast, remember? The night when we first kissed.” She smiled reminiscently for a moment, before turning the pages forward. “And that’s last Christmas at your parents' house, with Remus and Sirius, and there’s Peter’s leg, remember he fell over just as the photo was being taken?” She smiled fondly and shook her head. “I never did really understand Peter.”



“What are you doing with all these photos?”



“Putting them in an album, silly! My parents taught me never to leave photos lying about, because they’ll get lost. And photos are important, they track what you’ve done with your life.”



“What have you done with your life, Miss Evans?”



“I found you.” The corners of her mouth twitched in a smile, and she pulled James towards her by the edge of his jacket. As she leant in for a kiss, however, they were dazzled by a blinding silver light that came streaming into the room, and they separated.



“Fawkes,” James said, as his face fell. He put his hand on Lily’s.



The Phoenix Patronus spoke, and the voice of Dumbledore echoed throughout the room. “Barnabus has been murdered. We need reinforcements urgently in Diagon Alley.” The Patronus spread its wings immediately and soared out of the room, leaving behind a trail of silvery dust.



James stood. “Barnabus…” he said, pausing for a second to remember the man who had on more than one occasion saved him from a tricky situation. Then he took Lily’s hand and pulled her up. “Come on, Lils, let’s go.”



“Okay, just hold on,” she said, running into the hall. She returned seconds later with three cloaks: two of them ordinary, and she threw one to James who swung it around his shoulders, and the third one his Invisibility Cloak, which she stuffed into her bag. “Just in case,” she said, picking up her wand from the table as James took her other hand. They turned together on the spot and Disapparated into the darkness.



Immediately they found themselves outside The Leaky Cauldron. James led the way through the virtually empty pub and into the courtyard beyond, where he tapped the relevant brick with his wand so that the wall opened onto Diagon Alley. They could hear straight away the signs of battle, as the Order of the Phoenix fought against Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Just as James was about to rush to join in, someone called his name from behind him, and he turned to see Sirius rushing into the courtyard to meet them.



“Got the message?” James asked.



“Obviously,” Sirius replied. “Shall we?”



James nodded and the three of them stepped out into the street and hurried along it towards the other end, where Gringotts stood apart from the other buildings, tall and glaringly white, even in the failing light. As they approached the battle, James could see Dumbledore duelling with four Death Eaters at once, his wand seemingly with a mind of its own as it swished and twisted in a hurry of curses. James also spotted Frank locked in a duel with another hooded Death Eater.



He gave Lily’s hand a final squeeze before throwing himself at a Death Eater who was poised to curse Frank. “Stupefy!” he yelled, hitting the man square in the chest and not pausing to watch him keel over. He caught a glimpse of Lily ducking two simultaneous curses before issuing one of her own, and then he swore at himself for being distracted as a jet of green light shot past his ear, singeing his hair. He turned to face the oncoming Death Eater, narrowly avoiding another Killing Curse, and as he did, he saw about a dozen more hooded figures appear.



“We’re outnumbered!” he called to the others, as he hit his opponent with a Body Binding Curse. “There’re more of them coming!”



He found himself fighting side by side with Dumbledore, who looked perfectly calm as he hit three Death Eaters simultaneously with one swish of his wand that sent them flying through the air. “If my estimations are correct,” he said to James, deflecting a curse back at its originator, “the others should arrive at any moment.”



“The others?” James asked, but Dumbledore had disappeared to reduce the number of Death Eaters duelling with Artus Popp.



Sure enough, just as James found himself surrounded by three Death Eaters whose eyes shone menacingly from behind their black hoods, they were hit from behind and sent sprawling into the hard ground. Two figures stepped out into their place, and James immediately recognised them as Alastor Moody and Augusta Flint. “The trick,” Moody said, as he began deflecting spells, “is not to let them corner you. Always harder to duel when you’re surrounded.”



“Cheers,” James said, smiling despite the situation. “I’ll bear that in mind.” And he jumped over an unconscious Death Eater to attack the one duelling Lily, just as more Order members arrived.



“James!” she said, not taking her eyes off her attacker. “Stupefy!” Her spell missed by an inch as the Death Eater ducked and shot one back at her, which James deflected. “Are you alright?”



“I’m fine,” he replied, pulling her out of the way of another spell that came from her right. “We were outnumbered, but I think we’ve got most of … “ he trailed away.



“James! Watch out!” Sirius said, running to his defence as the Death Eater duelling Lily tried to take advantage of his momentary hesitation. Sirius pushed James out of the way and shot a successful curse at the hooded man, who crumbled and fell to the ground. “What are you doing?” he said, grabbing James by the arm. “You can’t… what?”



James was staring down the street into the darkness. Sirius followed his gaze and his jaw dropped for a second, before he shouted. “He’s here! Dumbledore!” James grabbed Lily and pushed her behind him protectively. He had never seen Voldemort in person before. He was as intimidating as his name, tenfold. His cloak was high-collared and of the deepest black, so that his skin looked deathly by comparison. He was probably once handsome, but for the cold fury etched on every crevice of his face.



Dumbledore turned his head at Sirius’s call. “Ah, so he is. This should be interesting.” He moved to stand in front of the Order and raised his wand defensively as Lord Voldemort walked slowly down the cobbled road to meet them.



There were only four remaining Death Eaters from the battle, and they moved towards their master cautiously. They didn’t seem to have known of his plan to join them, for James saw them giving each other furtive looks as he approached. But Lord Voldemort did not acknowledge their presence, instead moving solidly and determinedly towards where the Order stood huddled together. James could have sworn that he saw a flicker of doubt cross the pale and ghostly face of the Dark Lord when he recognised Dumbledore among them. But the next second, he had regained his composure, and he stopped a few feet from them. “You are foolish, Dumbledore,” he said, raising his own wand.



“I am often foolish,” Dumbledore said, not taking his eyes off Voldemort or lowering his wand. “But tonight, it is you who are foolish, Tom. You are appallingly outnumbered.” James looked around. There were indeed close to twenty people standing ready to duel from the Order of the Phoenix. James had not noticed them all arriving, or indeed seen them fighting when he had arrived.



“We shall see,” Voldemort countered, before he brought his wand crashing down.



“Avada Kedavra!"



The strength of his Killing Curse was such that the green light emitted form Voldemort’s wand almost blinded James. He threw his hands over his eyes, but Dumbledore had been too quick. He deflected the curse like a shot and in the next moment, he had created a defensive barrier around the Order.



“I want to fight!” Moody yelled, breaking himself free of the barrier and shooting curses in all directions at the four remaining Death Eaters. James was mesmerised by the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort, but was shaken out his stupor by Frank shouting “No, Alice! Come back!” Alice had followed Moody out of Dumbledore’s protection and was rushing towards the Death Eaters to his aid. “Alice, be careful!” Frank called, before following his fiancé along with most of the others. James looked around. Only he and Sirius remained in Dumbledore’s protection. “Where’s Lily?” he asked frantically.



“Out in the action,” Sirius replied. “Come on mate, she’s got the right idea!” And without further warning, he sprinted off to join the others. James took a breath, raised his wand and stepped out of the bubble.



Not a moment too soon. Just as James was about to rush to Lily, Dumbledore fell next to him. “NO!” he shouted, but the next moment Dumbledore was back on his feet. “My fault, James,’ he said.



But James, shocked at seeing his hero on the floor, abandoned Lily, who had been joined by Sirius and Alice, to help Dumbledore. He managed to deflect another of Voldemort’s curses back its creator. Voldemort shot it off to his left, where it hit the Death Eater battling Moody and Kingsley. "Cheers!” Moody said, turning to join in the duel with Voldemort. It was now four against one, and as the remaining Death Eaters fell to the Order, the numbers against Voldemort only grew and grew as the seconds ticked on. He was spinning round madly, trying to keep up the spells being cast in his direction. It would have looked comical, had the situation not been so serious. James saw Smith fall, followed by Artus, and hoped that they were merely unconscious.



Lily fought her way through to James, and gripped his hand urgently as they fought side by side against Lord Voldemort. Her face was shining with sweat and shot with an earnest and fiery concentration. He had never loved her more than at that moment.



There came a high-pitched and excruciatingly piercing scream from Voldemort. For a moment James thought that someone had hit him with a curse, but at the next, he saw Voldemort jump several feet in the air and spin on the spot. He was gone.

Chapter 29: Mr and Mrs

A deathly silence fell over the remaining fighters as everyone looked up at the spot where Voldemort had Disapparated. James looked around. Only a dozen of the Order was left standing. The others lay scattered amongst the Death Eaters.

Sirius spoke first. “Did we win?” he asked, looking directly at Dumbledore.

“This is not a case of win or lose just yet, Sirius. We held him off, we captured his Death Eaters, and we forced him back. I am very proud of you all.” He looked around as James had. “How many survived?”

Lily, who had immediately gone to check on the state of the fallen, replied, somewhat somberly, as she returned to the huddle. “Five Death Eaters are dead, eleven unconscious.”

“And of us?” Kingsley asked, counting heads. “There are only about half of us left standing.”

“Artus is dead. So is Philomena.” She paused.

“Go on,” Dumbledore said.

“Smith is badly injured but conscious. Nigella and Alice have been Stupified. The rest, well, I can’t tell…”

“Thank you, Lily,” Dumbledore said, turning to Augusta. “If you could…”

“Of course,” she said, hurrying to the side of the first injured Order member and checking his pulse.

“And Alastor?"

“I’m on it,” Moody replied, levitating the unconscious Death Eaters and binding them together in a line. “These are going straight to Azkaban.”

“The rest of you,” Dumbledore continued, “thank you for your courage and help. We have much to talk about, but later will suffice.” He nodded as a sign that they were free to leave.

James, who had been watching Moody with the Death Eaters, now turned back to those who were not assigned anything. “Remus?” he said, spotting his friend. “When did you…?”

Remus stuffed his wand back into his robes. “Just after you, I think. I saw you three running down the road before me. You didn’t think I wouldn’t come, did you?”

James smiled. “I’m glad we’re all alright.”

“Except for Alice,” Lily said.

“She’ll be conscious again any moment now,” Sirius interjected. “Augusta’s just dealing with Smith, he’s pretty badly injured.”

“I can’t believe Artus is dead,” Lily said, sniffing and shivering slightly. James put his arm around her shoulder. “And Philomena. She was supposed to be getting married in December. What are we going to tell Brian?”

“He knew what sort of organisation she was involved in. She died fighting, and that at least is how she would have wanted to go.”

“Doesn’t make it any easier though…” Lily added, grabbing hold of James for extra warmth and comfort.

“Makes you realise just how little time we could have left,” Remus said, looking towards where Frank was embracing Alice, who had recently regained consciousness. “Those two will be eager to push the wedding forward, after what’s happened."

"They're not planning on getting married for at least another year!" Sirius said.

"I know," Remus shrugged. "All I'm saying is, things change in times like these. I reckon they’ll be married before the month’s up.”

And he wasn’t wrong. Frank and Alice had a simple ceremony not two weeks later. The only people present were close friends and family. Frank’s mother was there, as well as his Uncle Algie and Aunt Enid, and Alice’s grandfather. Alice had tears in her eyes the whole way through the ceremony, and when the priest talked of “holding on to one another in these dark and dangerous times,” she broke down into shuddering sobs, so that the priest had to pause whilst Frank comforted her.

James was sitting with Lily and the Marauders during the service. In the pew behind them sat Ellie and two of Alice’s trustworthy friends from Hogwarts. On the other side of the aisle, behind the relatives of Alice and Frank, were Albus Dumbledore and Augusta Clark, the only members of the Order apart from Lily and the Marauders that were invited to the wedding. Frank didn’t want to take too many chances of being hunted down by Death Eaters on his wedding day, and so these dozen or so guests were the only people present to witness their marriage.

James sat nervously throughout the ceremony. He couldn’t quite dispel the feeling that something was going to go wrong with his plans. He was fidgeting absently-mindedly with a church pamphlet, twisting it and screwing it into balls, when Lily put her hand on his and leant in to whisper in his ear. “It’s almost finished. No one’s coming, you can relax.”

“It’s not that,” James replied. “The security’s too tight, besides, we have Dumbledore.”

“Then what’s the matter?”

But the priest was now blessing the newly married couple, and James shook his head and gestured towards the alter, where Frank and Alice were now smiling to a round of applause from the guests. “It’s finished,” he said, more to himself than to Lily. He stuffed the crumpled paper into his pocket and joined in with the others as they stood to watch the new Mr and Mrs Longbottom process happily out of the church.

“Congratulations!” James said some twenty minutes later, clapping Frank heartily on the arm. “All went smoothly, you had nothing to worry about, after all.”

“Yeah, thank goodness,” Frank replied.

“So, where’s the grub?” Sirius asked, appearing behind James. “I’m starving. Oh, and congratulations and all that … “

“Through the door,” Frank replied, laughing, his hand protectively around Alice’s waist. He looked, James thought, as if no amount of Death Eaters could dispel his happiness today. James envied him that much, and he led Lily by the hand through into the reception room, where most of the guests were already gathered, laughing jovially and eating food off the platters that were being propelled round the room by House Elves.

“Food!” Sirius proclaimed happily, running after one of the platters eagerly. James and Lily took a step towards where Remus and Peter were standing, but were intercepted immediately by Dumbledore. He was smiling.

“Good afternoon James, Lily,” he beamed at them. “What a wonderful day in the midst of all this depression! Did you enjoy the service?”

“Oh yes,” gushed Lily. “It was beautiful. Small but intimate. Exactly how I would have done it.”

“Indeed,” replied Dumbledore. “Oh look, they have cream buns! How delightful! I wonder, Lily, whether I could steal Mr Potter for a few moments, perhaps while you sample the buns for me … “

He was not at all convincing, James thought, and he raised his eyebrows in an affectionate way at Lily, who was looking perplexed.

“Uh, sure,” she said, casting James a questioning look, but James merely shrugged and followed Dumbledore towards the far corner of the reception room.

“I’m sorry about that, James,” he said, laughing at himself. “Spur of the moment, you know.”

James smiled. “So?” he asked.

“I have it,” Dumbledore replied, extracting a very small box from within his robes and handing it to James, who merely looked at it in wonder without opening it. “It was a little harder than I imagined to procure, but, with a little persuasion … it is, after all, rightfully yours by birth.”

“Thank you,” James said, looking up and shaking Dumbledore’s hand vigorously. “I can’t thank you enough for this, it’s-“

Dumbledore waved away his thanks casually. “It was nothing, really. A few charms here and there.”

James let go of Dumbledore’s hand and looked again at the tiny box he was holding. It was suddenly very real, what he must do.

“Well,” said Dumbledore, “I think it’s about time to taste those delicious cream buns I saw, before Sirius consumes them all.” He smiled and left James to his thoughts.

He wasn’t alone with them for very long. “Guess who?” said a very familiar voice as a pair of hands covered his eyes. The breath was warm and sweet and tickled the hairs on the back of James’s neck. He didn’t need two guesses, but pulled Lily round to face him and enfolded her in his arms.

“I love you,” he whispered gently into her ear.

“Thank you!” she replied, pulling back to look at him. “Same goes to you, baby. What’s up?” There was a questioning in her eyes.

“Nothing,” James replied hastily. “Am I not allowed to tell you I love you?”

“Course you are. All the better for me, as I love to hear it.” She smiled widely and her eyes glistened. “You seem a bit on edge, that’s all. Like you were in the church.”

“Nah, I’m fine. Come on, let’s introduce ourselves properly to Frank’s mother, she’s all by herself.” And he led her over to where Mrs Longbottom was standing, absent-mindedly nibbling at a sausage roll.

***

Lily couldn’t quite place what was wrong with James. He had been acting weirdly all morning, but she had assumed it was worry over the danger the wedding posed on all of them. However, he was still looking shifty and fidgeting overly much. She knew that times were dangerous at the moment, but most of the Order had learnt to deal with the grief and depression brought about by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. They were fighters, every single one of them. Either James had succumbed to the pressure, or something else was bugging him.

Mrs Longbottom finally left to speak to the priest who had married Frank and Alice. Lily sighed out her relief: the woman was a little overbearing.

“James? Can we get something to eat now? I’m starving.”

“Sure,” he replied.

“James?”

“Mmm?”

“Are you sure you’ll alright? You seem a little … on edge.”

“Hmm? No, no I’m fine.” He smiled weakly and kissed her on the forehead. “As long as you’re alright, I’m alright.”

Lily decided to leave it for the time being. James had never been one to keep things bottled up: when his parents had died he had openly cried in Lily’s arms until the initial shock had passed. If something were wrong, he would tell her. Eventually.

“In fact,” James said suddenly, grabbing Lily’s arm. “Would you come with me a moment?” He seemed to have decided something. His eyes had a hard glint to them.

Lily hesitated. Her stomach was rumbling. But she softened and smiled. “Sure.”

James’s grip on her arm relaxed and his fingers slid down her arm to gently take hold of her own. The touch was comforting. He led the way through to the entrance, where they had greeted Frank and Alice, before turning the corner into a small and more private room. He took a look around the hall to check it was empty, before closing the door.

Lily had no idea what was going on. “James? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” he said for possibly the sixth time that day. “Look, Lily … “ he took her hand again and kissed it gingerly. “I just have some things I want to talk to you about.”

“OK,” Lily said, still puzzled as to what was going through his mind. “Shoot."

“Well, we’re in the middle of this … well, war, really, and no matter how hard we fight, we don’t ever get any closer to winning. It sometimes feels like everything’s falling apart around us. I mean, not even two weeks ago, some of our friends were killed, and then last week Nigella went missing and we still haven’t found any trace of where she might be.”

“So what are you saying? Do you want to leave the Order? Do what Yves did and run away to South Africa?”

James frowned. “No. No, you misunderstand me, Lily.” He felt around in his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. Opening it, he said, “I �“ I want you to marry me.”

He said it simply, as if he were asking if she wanted a cup of tea. Lily’s head buzzed. She wasn’t sure if she had heard correctly. She simply stared, until James finally said, “Lily? Lily, did you hear me?”

She nodded slowly.

“Oh. Well, uh, if you don’t want to, that’s �“ that’s fine. We're not even twenty, and ... ” Embarrassment was strewn all across his face. He shut the box with a snap, waking Lily from her shock.

James wanted to marry her. He wasn’t about to tell her he was fleeing to South Africa, he wasn’t leaving her at all. He was asking to marry her. Age didn't matter.

It sank in. Finally, gloriously, it sank in.

Lily halted James’s hand on its way to put the box back. “Say it again,” she asked.

James faltered. Lily resisted the strong urge she suddenly felt to kiss him. She couldn’t quite resist a smile, however, which James seemed to pick up. He returned it.

“Lily,” he said, opening the box again and revealing the most beautiful ring Lily had ever seen. “Will you do me the greatest honour in the world,” he began, stopping to take a deep breath, “and marry me?”

She didn’t need to answer. It was written all over her face.

Chapter 30: Twice Defied

Lily lifted her hand to her head, running it over her hair to check it was all still in place. One strand lay softly along her shoulder, so she picked it up and pinned it in place at the back of her head. There. It was perfect. Next she smoothed down the non-existent wrinkles in her silk dress, adjusting it at the back so that the lace veil that cascaded down from her head lay exactly central. She wanted everything to be perfect today.

Because today, this ordinary, late October day, she was going to become Mrs. James Potter. Lily Potter. She had been planning this day since she was twelve years old, and it was finally here. Nothing would spoil it. Nothing.

There was a knock at the door.

“Yes?” she called. Her voice sounded strange, as if she hadn’t used it in a while.

“Can I come in?” came the voice from the other side.

“James? No! You’re not allowed in! It’s bad luck.”

“Pft. I don’t believe in bad luck. Do you?”

She walked to the door and opened it. “No.”

And there he was. Her James, standing in front of her with the biggest smile on his face. It dropped when he saw her.

“What?” Lily asked quickly. “Is it my hair? It keeps coming loose … “

“No, no,” he said, pulling her hand down from her hair and kissing her fingers gently. “It’s just … I’ve never seen you look so beautiful.”

“Oh … “ Lily said, blushing despite herself. “Well, you shape up pretty nicely yourself, you know.”

James shrugged. “I know. I can’t help it. I tried to look a mess, really I did … “

“Very funny. Now was there anything you specifically wanted, or are you here to tell me you’ve changed your mind?” The smile on her face was growing with every second.

“I just … wanted to see you. To make sure it was real. That’s all.”

She bent her chin up towards him and kissed him softly. “Well, now that you’ve seen me, don’t you think we should get this show on the road? Sirius will have sent out a search party.”

James chuckled. “Yeah, probably. Well, see you in there?”

“You bet.”

***

Two weeks after the wedding found Lily rushing along Diagon Alley. She was in a great hurry. James had received a message the night before from Dumbledore stating that he and others were required immediately for an important meeting. Lily had been waiting for him to return all day, but no word had come, until ten minutes ago, when his Patronus had appeared in the living room in a great hurry, with the message that she was to meet James round the side of Gringotts as soon as possible.

She had known something like this would happen, sooner or later. Being a member of the Order of the Phoenix meant that life was never going to be easy, or safe, but Lily had hoped that they might make it through a couple of months as husband and wife before anything dangerous happened again. Goodness knows there had been enough of that lately as it was. Besides, she had wanted to speak to James tonight. She had important news, and she needed to tell him as soon as possible, now that every day was precious.

She turned a corner and found herself facing Gringotts, its huge boundaries shining down on her in all their strength and complexity. She took a breath and hurried forwards, turning left before the steps and making her way down the side of the wizard’s bank, which eventually led to Knockturn Alley.

There was no one here.

The message had specifically said to meet James here. And yet there was no one in sight. She remembered James’s panicked voice clearly, with the message:

Lily!
Come quickly, we need you. Meet me down the side of Gringotts, towards Knockturn Alley. No time to explain. Oh, and be careful. They’re around.

Lily continued walking, in case he was further down, or around a corner. Was it a trap? It couldn’t be, not when James himself had sent his Patronus to Lily. It just wasn’t possible.

Anything was possible, she reminded herself sternly, taking out her wand and looking around for signs of movement. But everywhere was deserted.

Then, out of nowhere, James came hurtling towards her, his legs moving so fast that Lily wasn’t sure they were there at all. He threw himself at Lily, nearly knocking her off her feet.

“James!” she cried, “What on earth - ?”

“Lily! You shouldn’t have come! I mean, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have sent for you, but we needed you, only now … look, just go! There are too many, and the others have managed to escape.”

“James, what - ?”

“I’m the only one left, I waited for you. I shouldn’t have sent for you, but I didn’t realise… we have to go, now!”

There were shots of green light coming down the road on their right. James took Lily’s hand and turned on the spot to Disapparate.

Nothing happened. Nothing except a crushing darkness and a pain in Lily’s head. James let go of her hand and they fell to the ground. There were footsteps. Dozens of people were headed their way. They were trapped. Lily held her wand between her two hands and muttered a spell under her breath, as the footsteps grew nearer. They were almost round the corner. Her wand shrank and turned into a small pebble, which Lily tucked into her sock, before standing up. She wouldn’t let them take that from her.

James was already on his feet, ready to fight. “They jinxed it, the sneaky little �“ “

“James, there are too many, and we can’t escape. You have to �“ “

“Of course there aren’t too many. Not for us.” But at that moment a flash of purple light came hurtling towards them, and knocked James to the ground. Stunned.

“James!” Lily yelled. But that was all she remembered, before everything went black around her.

***

A throbbing in the head. That was all. Nothing else had any feeling, just the throb throb throb of her head. She couldn’t even open her eyelids: they were too heavy.

Voices around her woke her to a more realistic consciousness. But she wished it hadn’t. It only increased her sense of pain, and there was plenty of that.

Listen, she commanded herself. Listen to the voices. They were blurry and far off, but she could just make out the words.

”’m tellin’ ya, ‘e wasn’t there! There was a bunch of ‘em, but not ‘im.”

“How can you be sure? You are not the most reliable of spies, Hawthorn.”

“’M TELLIN’ YA!”

But that was all Lily heard, before the throbbing in her head took over, and she was forced to make the involuntary movement of reaching her palm to her forehead to try to cool it. It worked, and everything came into clearer focus. She could see light from under her closed eyelids, and she was suddenly cold.

But someone in the room had noticed her movement.

“Oi! She’s awake! She’s awake!”

Lily quickly laid still, her heart throbbing fast now as well as her head. The last thing she wanted was for these men to think she was conscious again.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Hawthorn,” the second man said, “Not with the amount of sedative she’s been given. She won’t stir for hours yet.”

“But I saw �“ “

“Exactly. Clearly, what you think you see or do not see is far from the actual truth. Which leads me to suspect, once again, that you are incorrect in telling me he was not there today, when other sources assure me he should have been.”

Lily ignored them. She needed to find her way out of here. Very slowly, and marginally, she opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor in a corner of a large room, which currently had three other inhabitants. Two were the Death Eaters arguing, seated on chairs by the door near where she lay, guarding the exit. The other, although Lily had not seen him at first, was a small yet chubby man, sitting hunched in the darkness of the other side of the room, so that Lily could not make him out clearly, especially with her eyes only open a fraction. And yet there was something distinctly familiar about his form that she couldn’t quite place.

She put her mind to the task. Her wand, she remembered, had been as a pebble in her sock before they had knocked her out. She couldn’t turn it back without touching it, as she needed physical contact with her wand to do any magic. But she couldn’t move to check if it was still there without giving herself away. So she reached out with her senses, desperate to feel if it was there. She moved her ankle slightly, rubbing it against the floor. Yes. There was something there, unless it was only because she willed it to be there so much. But why would they suspect a pebble of being her wand? It was harmless, as far as they knew.

The two men arguing were becoming so heated that she doubted whether they even remembered she was there. The man in the corner, well, she would have to take her chances.

In one swift movement, Lily reached down to her shoe and extracted the pebble, muttering the counter-spell that turned it back into her wand, and springing to her feet. The Death Eaters turned around, but Lily was too quick, stunning them both in under a second. They fell to the ground, unconscious.

She turned to face the other man. But he was gone, the door behind him that Lily hadn’t noticed was open, and she could hear frantic footsteps. Never mind, she thought, it’s time to get out of here. The door the two men had been guarding was clearly the way out, so she stepped over their bodies and turned the handle. It was locked. Just as she was about to whisper “Alohomora,” she heard the whipping of wind behind her that meant only one thing: people were Apparating into the room.

“Hold it,” one voice said. Lily turned around. Now facing her were six armed Death Eaters, with more and more appearing. The other man must have alerted them, she thought.

“So. You’re awake. And you’ve nicely dealt with our two guards, I see. Well, the game’s up. Drop your wand, you’re outnumbered.”

Lily panicked. She didn’t know what else to do. There were just too many of them for there to be any chance of survival. But she refused to drop her wand.

The lead Death Eater sighed. “If you’re going to be like that, then you may as well be useful. Where is he?”. His voice was low and gruff, and his wand was pointed at Lily’s heart.

“Who?” Lily replied.

“Don’t play games with me, girly. Albus Dumbledore, where is he?”

So that was the man the two Death Eaters had been arguing about. She decided to play it cool. “I suspect he’s at Hogwarts. He is Headmaster, you know.”

“Don’t you cheek me!” the Death Eater shouted. “You’re outnumbered. You’ll tell me where he is, or you’ll suffer.”

I’ll suffer anyway, she thought miserably, but I won’t let them take me.

“So what’ll it be?” he asked, his yellowing teeth showing from behind the hood as he smiled. “It’s twenty against one.”

“Two, actually,” a voice spoke from behind them, as a hand rested gently on her waist, and James stepped forward to take his place by her side, wand raised threateningly. Lily had no idea where he had come from, but she had never been more pleased to see him.

“WHO LET HIM IN?” the Death Eater shouted, turning his wand against his fellows in his anger. “HE WAS MEANT TO BE LOCKED UPSTAIRS!” In his moment of preoccupation, James and Lily quickly took their advantage.

“Stupefy!” they yelled together, James’s spell hitting the main Death Eater, Lily’s causing the one to his left to topple over with him.

A jet of green light flew past Lily’s right ear. She stepped aside and shot curses in all directions, not pausing to think. “Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus! Incedio!” Shot after shot, the Death Eaters fell. Their reflexes were far too slow, although the spells they did use would, Lily was sure, have been deadly if they had hit their targets. She didn’t even recognise most of the Dark magic, but her heart was beating too fast to pay attention.

Back to back with James, they fought their way gradually towards the door. There were still over a dozen Death Eaters against them, and suddenly it was all Lily could do to defend herself from being killed. From her left, someone shot purple sparks towards her, and as she jumped aside they missed their target but hit her left hand instead.

Pain shot up her arm in short spasms and she screamed out. She made to cradle it with her right hand, but James shouted, “NO!” Don’t drop your wand arm, Lily! Keep fighting!” He turned his back on her again to fight the man behind him, but as he did so, another Death Eater took turned his wand on James. Ignoring her pain, Lily pointed her own wand at the attacker. “Stupefy!”

He dodged the spell easily and cast his own at James’s back. “Avada Kedavra!”

“Impervius!” Lily shouted just in time: the Killing Curse rebounded back at its caster and hit him full in the face. He fell to the floor, dead. One more down, she thought, turning to face the next one and trying to push the dead weight of her painful left arm out of her mind. There were more important things to do.

James was doing well. There seemed to be only half a dozen left to fight. Some of the more stupid Death Eaters were getting in the way of spells, too slow to dodge the curses shot at them from their own side. Soon there were only two left standing, although one man lying on the floor tried to trip Lily up as she advanced towards the door, which was now almost reachable. She stumbled but managed to keep on her feet as she swung round and shot a curse at the man who had tripped her. He fell back to the floor, unconscious.

As she had stumbled, she knocked into one of the two remaining Death Eaters, whose hood had fallen back off her head. Once Lily had turned back to face her, she recognised the face as a fellow older Hogwarts student, Gwen. Determination flared up inside her. The thought of innocent school children with whom she had shared lessons and meals being twisted into malicious killers spurred her on to finish this war. She pointed her wand at the Death Eater, but was too slow and was forced to roll aside as Killing Curse flew past her ear. On her hands and knees now, she caught sight out of the corner of her eye of James and the other remaining Death Eater battling a few feet from her. They might not both make it out alive. No, she thought, I have to tell him! The thought spurred her on to stand and shout, “James! I’m pregnant!”

It wasn’t the way she had planned on telling him, she thought as she deflected curse after curse from Gwen. But then nothing was supposed to be this way. They weren’t supposed to be caught up in a war in their first month of being husband and wife. She had to tell him, just in case.

James, meanwhile, had stopped dead at the sound of Lily’s voice. “You what?” he called, utterly bewildered. But Lily didn’t have time to respond, and James was forced to duck as a Killing Curse whistled past him. Focusing on the task at hand, he turned back to the man before him and put Lily out of his mind.

Lily was finding it hard to battle surrounded by all the dead and unconscious bodies. She kept losing her footing, catching a foot on a robe or tripping over a protruding arm or leg. Gwen laughed maliciously. “Ickle girly can’t even stay upright! Shall I kill you now, ickle girly, or take you to the Dementors?” She shot a jet of purple out of her wand towards Lily, who ducked and tripped again, sprawling over the ground and badly hurting her knee. She could hear cackles of laughter from above her, and let her reflexes and instinct take over as she yelled “Avada Kedavra!” over her shoulder. The thud of the body hitting the floor resounded in Lily’s head. This was the worst part. Killing people. She wished she didn’t know Gwen’s name, it made it so much more difficult to turn around and look into the woman’s hard, expressionless face. “Sorry, Gwen” she whispered to the motionless body. “But it has to stop.” She wiped blood away from her knee and turned away.

A yell from behind her woke her to he situation. James was still battling one on one with the last remaining Death Eater.

“Reducto!” the man shouted from behind his mask, and the force of his spell, although badly aimed and hitting the wall instead of James, forced James off his feet as the wall was blown apart and bricks went flying everywhere. He was slammed into the ground, his wand falling in amongst the rubble. The Death Eater might have been a bad aim, but his reactions were fast, and he took advantage of the situation, sending rubble towards James and Lily, who had rushed to his side.

“Impedimenta!” she yelled, causing the bricks to slow down enough for James reach for his wand and shout “Evanesco!” over his shoulder, so that they disappeared.

“Good one, James,” Lily said, as he threw himself forwards towards the Death Eater, landing harshly on top of him so that they both fell hard on the ground, struggling against strength, rather than wands.

“Lily!” he yelled, between breaths as fists came rushing towards his face, pounding relentlessly. “Lily, I can’t hold him much longer!” The man got his legs up over James’s. Any second now and he would be able to flip them both over so that he was on top. “Lily! Now!”

Lily took one more step forward. She hated doing this.

“Lily!”

“I don’t want to hit you, James!”

The Death Eater’s foot found the back of James’s leg and dug in, causing James to buckle. It was now or never. She raised her wand.

“Avada Kedavra!,”

The struggling stopped immediately. Neither of them moved.

“James?” Lily asked hesitantly. Had she hit them both?

A groan emerged from the mass of bodies and rubble on the ground. “Good aim,” came James’s voice, weak but alive. “Help me up, would you Lily?”

She advanced on James and the dead Death Eater, taking James’s hand and pulling him up out of the rubble, before enfolding him in a warm embrace, “I’m so glad you’re alright.” She was trembling.

“Lily? What’s the matter?”

“I hate it. All of it.” She could still see the flash of green light emerging from her wand. It wasn’t the first time she had killed, and it wouldn’t be the last, but that didn’t stop her from shivering with regret.

“I know. But we have to battle on. It’s the only way at the moment.”

“What’s going on? Why didn’t they just kill us when they caught us the first time?”

“They wanted Dumbledore to come and rescue us, I suppose. I guess he’s not dumb enough to fall for that, though. He knows we can handle ourselves.” He grinned weakly.

“I don’t understand.”

“The whole thing was a trap, Lily. We were called away on an urgent mission, but it was all a trap. I should have realised. I shouldn’t have sent for you.”

“You weren’t to know, James.”

He shrugged, and looked at Lily, considering something. “Hey, did you mean that? When you said you were … “

“Having a baby? Yeah, I did. I’m sorry I yelled it out at you like that. It wasn’t supposed to be done that way.”

“I can’t say it wasn’t a big shock, whilst fighting Death Eaters, but … “ he smiled and put his arms around Lily. “We’re going to have a baby?”

“Yeah, I guess we are.” They looked in each other’s eyes, and saw the same expression reflected on both their faces.

Chapter 31: Thrice Defied

Lily proudly ran her hand over her expanding belly. Only one month to go now before she and James became parents. It was a strange feeling, that in only thirty days she would be a mother. She smiled to herself and settled into the sofa to read her book.

She and James had sold their flat and moved into a house soon after the wedding in November. Everything she had ever wanted in life she now had: the most wonderful husband in the world, a beautiful home to share, and a baby on the way. It was a dream come true. The only problem remaining was that the war with Voldemort meant normal life was hard to manage. Every other day there were reports of more missing witches and wizards, and deaths were becoming more frequent all the time.

Lily fiddled absently with the engagement and wedding rings on her finger. James had inherited the diamond engagement ring from his mother, but as she hadn’t left a will, the Ministry had taken it for death tax and James had had to enlist Dumbledore’s help in getting it back.

The front door opened and a voice called out, “Lily? It’s me.”

“In the living room,” she replied, putting her book back down on the arm of the sofa and sitting up just as James entered, looking tired and stressed, but smiling widely all the same.

“How was your day?” he asked, bending down to kiss Lily tenderly and sitting down next to her.

“Oh you know, didn’t do much. Relaxed mainly.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“How about you? What happened in your shift?”

James sighed. “We’re not getting anywhere at the moment. It’s really frustrating for everybody concerned. Even Dumbledore says…. Well anyway, let’s hope we have more luck tomorrow.”

“What’s Dumbledore been up to recently?” Lily asked. “I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“Well, he’s got the school to run, hasn’t he? I often forget he’s headmaster at Hogwarts, what with all this … it’s seems like forever since we were there … well anyway, last I heard he was holding interviews for a new Divination teacher.”

“What happened to Professor Palmer? I quite liked him.”

“Not sure. He was old though, probably retired.”

Crack.

Kingsley appeared in the room. He looked hassled and worried. “Sorry for the rude intrusion. It’s urgent. Minerva and Remus �“ no time to explain. We need you James.”

James stood hastily. “Remus? What’s happened to him?”

“He’s fine �“ come on!” Kingsley grabbed him arm and made to Disapparate, but Lily shouted, “Wait!”

“Lily, we have to go!” James said.

“Not without me.”

“Are you crazy? You’re eight months pregnant! There’s no way I’m letting you come.”

“He’s right, Lily. You should stay.”

“Think of the baby!”

“I am, James! I’m not letting this baby’s father go into battle without me knowing if he’s safe. I wont bring him up alone!”

“Look, we don’t have time for this!” Kingsley interjected angrily. “James, just let her come or we’ll never get out of here.”

“Fine! But you’re to stay out of harm’s way. A million miles out of harm’s way.”

“I wont even approach the danger. I promise.”

“Right, let’s go!” Kingsley put his hand over their upper arms and gripped tightly. “Is this safe for a pregnant woman?” he asked.

Lily nodded.

“OK then. One, two, three-“

The three of them turned on the spot and into the crushing darkness. They appeared in a dingy alleyway that smelt of old food and cats. Lily wrinkled her nose, frowning. “Where are we?”

“Near to where we think Minerva and Remus are being held hostage,” Kingsley answered, striding forward immediately. James and Lily followed.

“Hostage?” James asked. “Kingsley, what’s going on?” They turned left out of the alleyway, and continued down a narrow street, lit dimly in the evening night by lights from the houses and shops on either side.

“They were captured a while ago,” Kingsley continued. “Caught off their guards. Minerva managed to send her Patronus to Dumbledore before they must have taken her wand. He sent me to get reinforcements, but I don’t know what his plan of action is.” He turned right down another, narrower, street. “We’re almost there now…I think.”

They turned right again into a small square, with houses looking down on them on each side. Kingsley smiled as he spotted a figure leaning against the railings of one of the houses. “Ah, just where I left him. I’m back, Sirius.”

Sirius strode towards them purposefully. “Good to see you, Prongs. Even if it is to save Moony’s backside. Again.” He patted James on the shoulder. “What’s she doing here?” he added in an undertone that Lily heard nonetheless.

“Don’t ask,” James warned, rolling his eyes at his wife's stubbornness.

Kingsley looked left and right, as if deciding which way to go next. “This way,” he said suddenly, striding across the grass until they reached the other side, where a small alleyway appeared out of the darkness between two of the houses. “It’s down here. Quietly now.”

Lily took James’s hand and they followed Kingsley down the narrow, damp alleyway.

“Hold,” a voice called out from the darkness. Lily could make out a wand, but she couldn’t identify the person to whom it belonged.

“It is I. Kingsley. I’ve brought reinforcements, Albus.”

Dumbledore lowered his wand. “Good. Alastor has just arrived; he’s surveying the perimeter. I’ve almost broken through the barriers. Just give me a moment, and I’ll �“ Lily? What on earth are you doing here? This is no place for an expectant mother.”

“That’s what I told her!” James protested. “She’s�““ but one look from Lily and he changed his tone. “I’ll look after her, Dumbledore. There’s no dissuading her.”

“Well, in that case, let’s get going. I think I know how to break through. It’s definitely this house here on our left where they’re being kept. Voldemort is in there, and�““

“He’s here?” Kingsley asked. “This is his base?”

“Oh no, Kingsley. This is far too lowly a place for Lord Voldemort to call his stronghold. It is the house of one of his Death Eaters. Merely a prison camp, for the time being. Now, come.”

He proceeded to walk slowly forwards, the fingers of his left arm tracing the bricks on the wall as he went. He was muttering some incantation, but Lily couldn’t make out what it was. He stopped just before they reached the end of the house. “Here. There’s a door here on the other side. We just have to work out how to open it from the outside…” He twiddled his wand between his fingers absently as he pondered.

“Aha!” he proclaimed suddenly, having apparently decided something. But what it was he had decided, Lily couldn’t tell. He pointed his wand at the brick wall and the shape of a door was illuminated briefly, blinding them all in the dusk, before it became the same dull, dank shade it had been before. It then dissolved as if turned to liquid, disappearing as it hit the ground.

“After me, I think,” Dumbledore said, holding his wand aloft and stepping over the threshold. He paused. "Alastor will keep vigil out side, but I think we need another to guard this entrance. Seeing as you are hardly in a fit state to battle, Lily, and by the worried glances your husband keeps sending you, it had better been you.”

Lily nodded. She was starting to regret her insistence that she join James on this particular mission, anyway. The baby was pressing on her bladder so that she needed the toilet badly.

Dumbledore continued on his way, Sirius and Kingsley close on his heels. James gave Lily’s hand a squeeze. “If anything happens, I want you to run and leave me here. No, Lily,” he demanded as she tried to argue. “You and the baby are more important to me. Besides, I’ll be fine. It’s only Voldemort, right?” He laughed weakly at his own foolishness, before kissing Lily on the forehead and following the others into the darkness of the house, the entranceway sealing itself off as he did so.

***

It was cold out in the alleyway. Lily slid down onto the ground against the wall. She should have brought a coat, really, but there hadn’t been any time. There was never any time in these circumstances. One call and you were off to save someone, or to hunt someone down, or to fight to the death. That was why she had to come. She couldn’t let James go without her knowing whether he was ok. There was too much at stake.

She wasn’t much better off out here in the cold, though, she thought bitterly to herself. There was no noise coming from within the building, and as such no way of telling what was going on. What was being done to Remus and Minerva? And what was so important about their capture that had brought Voldemort to this house? Was it mere coincidence?

Lily hugged herself for warmth, her teeth chattering as the minutes trickled by slowly. Surely something should have happened by now? Five minutes passed, then ten, then -

A bang erupted from behind her, and she was thrown forwards as the force of the explosion blasted part of the wall apart above her. She scrambled to her feet, luckily unhurt but shaken and called out, despite the danger, “James!” There was no answer.

More shots of light escaped through the windows in the floor above, but Lily could only wonder at what was happening up there. A figure collided with her suddenly and she screamed in shock.

“Who’s that?” a gruff voice demanded.

“Alastor? It’s me! It’s Lily!”

“Lily Potter? What are you doing here? It’s dangerous!”

Lily disregarded his concern. “What’s going on?”

“I’m just about to find out.” And with that, he enlarged the hole in the wall above their heads with a blast of his wand, so that it stretched nearly to the ground, climbed through it, and disappeared into the dark house, no doubt following the signs of battle.

Lily paced up and down by the hole in the wall, battling with her urge to follow Moody into the house and find James and the others. But she knew she would be putting the baby in even greater danger than she already was by being here. So she waited.

He wasn’t gone long. Mere minutes later, two bodies scrambled out of the hole. Lily couldn’t immediately identify who they were, but then a voice shouted “Lily!” and Remus was upon her, clutching her desperately. “James - he’s coming, Lily, he told me to tell you!”

“Thanks, Moony, I �“ who’s that? He’s bleeding badly.”

The other body was lying sprawled across the ground. Remus stared. “Sirius? Are you alright?” But Sirius didn’t answer. “Sirius!” Remus repeated, crouching down and feeling his pulse. “He’s alive. I don’t understand, he was fine as we were running down the stairs…”

Lily pushed Remus aside and felt around in the dark for signs of injury. As her hand reached the left side of his chest, she felt a lot of a wet, hot, sticky substance. “He lost a lot of blood. We need to move him in case the others run over him. Help me, Remus!”

Together they lifted Sirius’s limp form and carried him towards the front of the house, where they placed him in the shadow of the garden wall so that he couldn’t be seen. Lily then stemmed the blood as best she could with her wand and cleaned up the wound. “Where are the others?” she suddenly demanded of Remus. “What’s going on?”

“Too much. They burst in a few minutes ago and Sirius grabbed me and we ran, but the others are still up there. James only had time to shout to me to tell you that he was coming.” They made their way back to the hole in the side of the house and watched hopefully for signs of the others. They were surprised, therefore, when another three people came hurtling towards them, not from inside but from the back garden. Minerva looked pale and shaken, but otherwise OK, and Alastor was supporting Kingsley, who was limping.

“Are we all here?” Alastor asked. “Where’s Dumbledore?”

“Where’s James?” Lily called out desperately. “Why isn’t he with you?”

“We got separated. We were cornered by six Death Eaters and only just managed to escape out the back window. James must be duelling Voldemort, with…” He stopped at the look on Lily’s face. “With Dumbledore,” he finished, putting emphasis on the last word. “He’ll be alright.”

“James!” Lily called out, but Remus was pulling her arm.

“Lily, we have to go. Right now. They’ll be after us.”

“No! I’m not going anywhere. You told me he’d be right out!”

“Yes, but-“

“JAMES!”

“Where’s Sirius?” Kingsley asked, and Remus took him over to where Sirius was still lying unconscious. Kingsley called over to them. “I’m taking Sirius back to Headquarters. Lily, come on, you have to come with us.” When Lily didn’t answer, he spoke to Remus. “Get Lily, we’re getting out of here. GO!”

Remus rushed to Lily and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards Kingsley. She struggled. “James!” she called out. “I can see him!”

Sure enough, he was running down the corridor in the house, towards the hole, where he jumped through and into Lily’s arms. He didn’t stop for long, but broke free. “He’s coming Lily. Voldemort. Dumbledore told us to go. We have to go, all of us!”

Lily saw Kingsley nod and Disapparate with Sirius over his shoulders and Minerva by his side. James pushed Lily towards Remus. “Take her home, Moony. Alastor and I will wait for Dumbledore.”

He had his back to the hole; he didn’t see what Lily saw. A dark figure rushing towards them, wand raised, poised to kill. Lily raised her own. “Expulso!” she yelled, and the wall exploded once more, causing rubble cascade over them all and to block Voldemort’s path.

They all ducked and ran with their arms over their heads as the bricks kept coming: the house was falling down. Lily thought briefly of Dumbledore, of whether she might have killed him with the explosion, but decided he was far too clever to let a house falling down finish him off. All she could do was hope he was ok. As they reached the front of the house, James took Lily’s hand and they turned on the spot, into the familiar suffocating darkness, vanishing from the scene.

***

Sirius’s chest wound kept him unconscious for a few days, and bed ridden for a week. He had lost a lot of blood, despite Lily’s attempt to heal him. Kingsley’s broken knee was healed almost immediately upon their return to headquarters. Many of the others had suffered bruising or slight concussion from the blast when Lily had forced the wall to explode, but they were minor injuries that were easily fixed. It was a lucky escape for all, especially the baby, who, after James had insisted upon calling a Healer once back in Headquarters, was deemed perfectly healthy.

Two more weeks passed, and the date of the birth drew nearer with each one. The 30th July saw James and Lily sitting on the sofa in their living room, listening to the wireless for news of more deaths, disappearances, and escapes from Azkaban. There came a knock at the door. “Who is it?” James called out, taking his wand out of his pocket as a safety precaution.

“Sirius,” came the muffled reply. James immediately got up and went to the hall to let him in.

“Lily!” Sirius exclaimed as he entered the living room. “Look at you, you’re massive!”

“Thanks” she replied sarcastically. “Just what every girl wants to hear…” but she was grinning. “So what brings you here? Shouldn’t you still be recovering?”

“Nah, I’m fine. Besides, I come bearing news. Frank and Alice have finally had their baby: early hours of this morning apparently. It’s a boy.”

“That’s brilliant news! She was almost two weeks late,” Lily said.

“The next generation is upon us... Scary,” Sirius interjected. “We don’t have an excuse to act like idiots anymore.”

“There’s always an opportunity to act like idiots, Padfoot,” James laughed.

“Has he got a name yet?” Lily asked.

“Neville, I think.”

“Neville Longbottom,” James remarked, trying it out. “Sounds like a strong name.”

“I hope I’m not far behind Alice, this is getting very uncomfortable,” Lily said, easing slowly back onto the sofa.

“Don’t worry,” James said. “Only a week to go.”

“Speaking of which,” Sirius put in. “Have you finally decided on a name yet? Or are you still running round in circles?”

“Well, it’s a tricky business, naming a child.”

“Which is why I have a solution. How about we cut to the chase and just call the baby Sirius. Strong, solid name, you can’t go wrong.” He was smiling slyly. “Let’s face it, it’s a sexy name.”

“What if the baby’s a girl?” James asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A girl? I hadn’t thought about that…” He stroked his stubble in consideration. “Well, if it’s a girl, you can call her Remus.”

James roared with laughter. “Moony will love that. Miss Remus Potter. Has a certain ring to it.” They laughed again.

Lily’s stomach lurched suddenly and she grabbed her belly. “James,” she called, but he was still laughing. She tried again. “James?”

“Miss Remus!” Sirius chortled, both of them unheeding.

“JAMES!”

They turned their heads. “Yes?” James asked, taking in Lily’s pale face and quickened breathing. “Is it the baby?”

“It’s coming. It’s time.”

Chapter 32: Harry Potter

Lily cradled her newborn baby. He was finally here, a symbol for all the world to see of the love she shared with her husband.

“He’s perfect,” she said to James, who was sitting next to her with his arm protectively around her shoulder.

“He looks just like you, James. He’ll be just like his father when he grows up. Handsome, successful, caring…”

“You flatter me, Lils. This is all your work. He’s all you.” He kissed her, and they continued to simply stare in wonder at the tiny baby.

“What do you think we should call him?” James asked. “Did we settle on Charles, after you father?”

Lily studied the baby, who was making tiny noises as he sucked his finger. His big eyes, already starting to turn the beautiful shade of green of his mother’s, were staring in bemusement, flicking between the adoring gazes of his parents. He had a small tuft of soft, dark hair that stuck up on his tiny head, and his button nose was still a little squashed. Lily took in all this in a glance, and sighed peacefully.

“I’m not sure,” she remarked to her husband. “He doesn’t really feel like a Charles. He feels like…” the baby sneezed. “He feels like a Harry.”

James smiled. “Harry Potter. I like it.” He kissed her again.

***

They spent ten months in perfect bliss.

At two and a half months old, the baby boy was christened Harry James Potter. Sirius was named as his godfather. Lily had always planned that Yves would be the godmother to her children, but they hadn’t heard from her in over a year, since she had had to escape to South Africa with her family. James and Lily couldn’t think of anyone yet suitable to be Harry’s godmother, so they decided that Sirius was more than enough. The ceremony was simply, with the same priest who had married them christening Harry, which seemed to fit nicely. Many of their closest friends were there, but some, such as Frank Longbottom, could not make it, and others who had died fighting for the cause were there in spirit if not in body. It was a perfect day.

Harry grew happy and healthy, loved by his parents and their friends. James was trying to teach the ten month old baby to walk one morning in the sitting room in their house in Godric’s Hollow, with Lily watching from the sofa.

“Come on, Harry, its easy. Stand up, that’s right.” He let go of the baby’s hands and held his own out, ready to catch him if he fell.

“Now, come on, this way.”

Harry smiled at his father’s encouragement, and took one enthusiastic step towards James, before promptly falling on his bottom.

Lily and James laughed, and James scooped up the baby in his arms, giving him a big kiss.

“One day, my boy. You’ll get there soon,” he said.

There was a knock at the door, and Lily went to answer it. She returned with Albus Dumbledore at her side.

“He gets bigger every time I see him,” Dumbledore said, his eyes sweeping over Harry.

“It’s scary how fast they grow,” Lily said. “James was just trying to help him walk.”

“Unsuccessfully,” James put in.

The old man smiled and nodded. “All in good time.”

James stood. “So, are you here on Order business, or is this a social call? Can I offer you a drink?”

“No, no, thank you. I’m here on some rather sombre business, I’m afraid. Why don’t we all sit down? May I?” he said, holding his hands out to Harry.

James lifted the boy to Dumbledore who took him in his arms. He lowered his half-moon spectacles and gazed down deeply at the baby, who began playing with Dumbledore’s beard. Dumbledore had always had affection for the boy, and all the children of Order members, but the way he was looking at Harry now was more than simple affection. It was as if he was trying to decide something important, just by staring at him. Lily had always felt her old Headmaster had a knack for searching your soul with a simple glance, but she felt rather uneasy watching him do it to her baby.

Finally, Dumbledore smiled widely and handed him to his mother, saying “such a happy baby. Do you know �“ it’s so nice to see you two settled down together. I do love a success story.” The baby yawned and snuggled into his mothers’ embrace.

“I need to put him down for a nap. I’ll be right down,” Lily said.

Once Harry was settled upstairs, and they were all seated, James spoke. “So what’s this sombre business all about? Has something happened?”

Dumbledore frowned slightly to himself, as if thinking where to begin. He sat up straight in the armchair across from the sofa, where the Potters were seated tentatively, and said, “do you remember, when Harry was born, I told you to stay away from the public eye?”

“Yes,” Lily said. “And we did just that. We haven’t been involved with the Order since that night when Sirius was hurt, just a couple of weeks before Harry was born.”

“That must have been … over ten months ago, now,” Dumbledore said. “And I thank you both for trusting me and following my advice, without questioning my judgement. I am deeply touched by it. I know it has been hard for you, James, to be away from the day-to-day involvement with the Order. And Lily, too.”

James put his hand on Lily’s. “It hasn’t been easy,” he confirmed. “But you had your reasons, right?”

Dumbledore considered them for a moment. Then he spoke. “I need to fill you in on some details. I ask, please, that you refrain from speaking until I have finished.”

***

It was almost an hour later that Dumbledore finished his tale.

James, who had stood and begun pacing round the room a while before, now stopped and looked to Dumbledore.

“So what does all this mean? This prophecy, it’s about Harry? It’s about our baby? This doesn’t make any sense.”

“As I said, the prophecy was not made specifically in reference to Harry. It needn’t have been anything to do with him, but Voldemort has interpreted the prophecy in such a way that places Harry at its centre. This puts Harry in great danger. You know very well the lengths that Lord Voldemort will go to in this war: he will stop at nothing to rid the world of any threat he sees, even a tiny, helpless baby, if he thinks he will grow up to defeat him.”

“Defeat him? My baby?” Lily said.

“I’m afraid there is no one on this earth who can fully predict Harry’s future. There is not magic strong enough to do so. But because Voldemort has assumed that Harry is the child referred to in the prophecy, Harry’s path is more marked out for him than any normal child. If he does grow up �““

“If?” Lily interjected, a terrified look on her face.

Dumbledore held up a hand of apology. “I will do my best to ensure his survival, Lily.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I get it,” James said, frowning with anger and resentment. “He’s marked, isn’t he?”

Lily looked from one to the other. “Marked?”

Dumbledore sighed. “Yes. I’m afraid to say that, because of this prophecy, Harry is now marked for death.”

“NO!” Lily screamed. She ran from the room and was heard rushing up the stairs to her baby. Moments later, the baby was heard crying, and she ran back down to the sitting room, clutching Harry in her arms.

“Take him!” she breathed, advancing on Dumbledore, who shook his head calmly and stepped backwards. “You must keep him safe! You have to help us! You said you would help him survive!”

James approached Lily and enfolded her in an embrace to calm her. “Lily, listen to me. This won’t help right now. The baby’s crying, Lily. Here, give him to me.” He took the screaming baby from Lily’s arms and held him close, whispering calmly in his ear and rocking him gently.

Lily looked to Dumbledore, her eyes red and puffy, but defiant and angry. ‘Tell us what to do!” she said.

”Of course,” Dumbledore calmly said. “If I thought for one second that my taking the baby would help him, then of course, I would offer my services as a babysitter. However, at such a time, he must stay in your presence, where he is loved and feels safe.”

He paused, and the baby stopped crying. Lily took him from James and cradled him.

James kneaded his temples. “So we’ll keep Harry safe.”

“Of course we will!” Lily interjected. “Its what we’ve always done. But I don’t understand how we can keep him away from the most dangerous wizard out there, if he has been marked for death! He’s just a baby! What harm can he possibly do?”

“Nothing, right now. But if the prophecy is true, there is one person who nicely fits Harry’s description who could be the one to stop Lord Voldemort. On the other hand …”

“What?”

“Neither can live while the other survives,” Dumbledore reminded them.

“But they’re both living now!”

“This doesn’t matter. You must remember that Lord Voldemort does not know the full prophecy, but only enough to make him suspect. As I said, he has drawn his own conclusions, and it is these that have put Harry in danger.”

“How do we protect him?” James asked.

“You must all be put under the protection of the Fidelius Charm.”

“The what?” Lily asked.

“It is a complex charm that allows someone to be hidden away for an indefinite period of time. The location of your whereabouts is a secret known only to one person, the Secret-Keeper: the only one with the power to divulge the information. Should your Secret-Keeper be trustworthy then you will be quite safe.”

“A Secret-Keeper…” James said.

“I must, of course, offer my own services here. Your secret will be kept within my very soul.”

“Thank you. For everything.” Lily said as she rocked Harry back and forth.

“I’m not sure,” James said. “It’s a little obvious, isn’t it?”

“What is?” Lily asked.

“Having you as our Secret-Keeper,” James replied, looking at Dumbledore. “Don’t you think, maybe Sirius-“

“This can be discussed later. I’m very sorry, but I must leave you, for the moment. There is something I have to do. I shall be back as soon as I can. Until then, stay inside at all costs. You must not leave this house.”

James nodded, a hard, determined look in his eyes.

“One more thing, before I go. I do not think it best that I be seen coming and going from here too often, especially before the Fidelius Charm is cast. I therefore ask your permission to Apparate within your walls, with, of course, a pre-warning from Fawkes to let you know of my arrival.”

“Of course,” James said, confused as to why Dumbledore would ask such a thing, but then he was, after all, the epitome of a gentleman.

“And now, I must go. Remember, be safe, and stay inside. The best to you all.” He nodded at Lily, who was still cradling Harry, and clasped hands with James, before swishing his long cloak round as he turned gracefully on the spot and disappeared from view.

Chapter 33: Love Conquers

The house was cold. Damp crept in from the corners of the rooms, and the windows let in a cruel draft. Winter was on the way early this year.

Harry was crying again. Lily cradled him to her chest, singing a soft lullaby. “Here, give him to me, I’ll have a go.” James stood from the sagging sofa and prized the baby from his mother’s arms. He joggled him up and down gently. “Hush, Harry, hush,” he whispered calmly in his ear. The baby’s crying quietened down and he hiccoughed. James sat back down on the sofa with Harry and continued to jig him on his knee.

“There you go. That’s better,” he said, as Harry put his index finger in his mouth and sucked it contentedly.

“Thanks,” Lily said, grateful for the sudden quiet and straining to produce a smile.

James returned it with a knowing look in his eyes. “It’ll get better, Lily. He wont be after us forever.”

“Are you sure? As far as I’m concerned, we have to stay locked up here until someone destroys Voldemort. And just look how far we’ve got on that count.” She sighed loudly.

Just at that moment, there was a loud crack in the hallway and footsteps made their way towards the living room door.

“Who’s that?” Lily asked suspiciously. She rushed to the door and held it shut, pointing her wand at the handle.

Sirius’s voice came from the hall. “Lily, it’s Padfoot. You knew I was coming. Besides, Voldemort can’t find you here.”

She let go of the handle and Sirius opened the door. He swept his friend up in a hug.

“It doesn’t hurt to be safe,” she cautioned him.

“I know, I know. But there are only a handful of people who know your whereabouts, and four of them are in this room now.” He let go of her arm and looked around the room, spotting James and crossing the floor to sit down next to him.

“Alright?” he asked nonchalantly, whilst ruffling Harry’s hair.

“As good as can be expected. It’s good to see you. It’s been a while.”

“Tell me about it.”

“But you know what Dumbledore said. It’s far too dangerous. If anyone noticed you coming and going from here too often �“ “

“They won’t. And even if they did, let them come for me. You know I’d die protecting you, Prongs.”

James smiled weakly. “Gone are the times when we could come and go as we pleased, eh Padfoot?”

Sirius laughed. “We’ll get there again, Prongs. It won’t last forever like this.”

“I certainly hope it doesn’t.” James lifted a fidgeting Harry from his lap and placed him on the carpet, where he immediately began crawling all about the room.

James took a deep breath, as if deciding where or not it would be best to speak, before saying quietly but determinedly, “I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t be our Secret-Keeper.”

“You know why, James. I’m a blood traitor, the easy target. They’re after me anyway, and that makes it all the more likely that they’ll find you through me. Peter is such an unlikely suspect. You’re safer with him, and that’s all that matters.”

“Then why are we hiding this from Dumbledore? He’s never given us bad advice before, and yet we shunned his own offer of being Secret Keeper in favour of you, only to then lie to him and switch last minute to Wormtail. It’s all a bit … shifty.”

“Isn’t everything, nowadays?” Sirius asked wistfully, sighing and sinking back into the sofa.

James laughed weakly to himself. “At least Wormtail’s uselessness is coming in handy finally. Back in school, if I’d known there would be a time when he would be useful simply because he was too dumb to be suspected of anything …. well, I guess I wouldn’t have been surprised really. Anyway, what’s done is done. I just hope it works.”

“We all do, mate. But Peter has never been anything but loyal to us all these years that we’ve been friends. We at least owe him some trust in return.”

“I know, I know.”

Lily gave James an encouraging look, as if willing him to speak about something. James cleared his throat. “Sirius. You know that Lily and I trust you with our lives, right? You know that we wanted you instead of Peter, and I understand the reasons why that can’t be possible, but, we wanted you to know that, if anything happens to us, we want you to take Harry.”

Sirius looked from one to the other, an expression of pure shock written across his face. “Me?” he asked. “I … I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes,” Lily put in for him. “You’re the best friend we have, and Harry’s godfather. He would be safe and loved with you.”

Sirius smiled. “Then of course I will.” He looked down at the baby, who was crawling around after a ball that kept escaping his clumsy fingers. “Let’s just pray that it never comes to that.”

They all kept a vigil of silence as they watched the baby happily playing with his toy ball, the child who was the cause of all this, and yet was so unaware of any of the danger he was in.

Sirius spoke first. “Well, much as I hate to leave you, its time I got back to Headquarters. There are things I should be doing.” He and James stood up and embraced like the brothers they had become after over ten years of solid friendship. They clapped each other on the shoulder, before Sirius swept Lily into a warm hug and kissed her on both cheeks. She smiled up at him, biting her lip. She hated saying goodbye to people nowadays �“ you just never knew when …. well, it was too horrible to think about.

Sirius gave his godson a kiss and ruffled his hair, before standing back up and turning to his friends. “Well, I don’t know when I can visit again, but I’ll try my best to see you some time before the weekend. Any messages?”

“Yeah, tell Moony that we miss him, will you?” Lily said. “I know it’s impossible for him to visit, but it would be lovely to see him. Things just aren’t the same …”

“I’ll let him know.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, until next time. Keep safe. And give that godson of mine a kiss from me everyday, will you?”

Lily smiled. “We will.” She blew him a kiss of his own, and he shut the living room door behind him, disappearing from their sights.

***

The sky was darkening as evening turned to night. Lily flicked her wand and the lights shone brightly from the walls of the living room. She left to do the same elsewhere. James picked up his son and swung him round and round, and Harry squealed with delight at his father’s affection.

James halted, his back sore from the game, and placed Harry back on his play mat. He stretched up and yawned widely. Harry reached up to his father, disappointed at having been put down.

“Here, Harry, look at this.” He took his wand out from his pocket as a distraction, and waved it in front of Harry. “Look what Daddy can do!” He flicked it so that puffs of purple smoke erupted form the end. Harry giggled with glee, his nose scrunched up in enjoyment, and clasped at the smoke happily, watching it disappear in his tiny fists.

Lily pushed open the door and watched the two loves of her life playing affectionately, wondering how long it could continue this way, before they were found out, before they would have to run.

The smoke faded and Harry gurgled for more, clapping his hands gleefully at his father. “No more tonight, my boy,” Lily said, “it’s bedtime.” She looked a little strained, the stress of their present situation showing on her beautiful face.

James picked Harry up off the floor and handed him to Lily. “I’ll make us some tea,” he said. “Night night, Harry,” he added, ruffling the baby’s jet-black hair and planting a kiss on his forehead. “Sleep well.” He leant in to kiss Lily, too, briefly, before she left the living room, absently picking up stray toys on her way through the hallway.

There was a creak of a gate outside. Lily held her breath. No one should be coming to see them. The Order always Apparated and James was in the house. She put a gentle hand over Harry’s mouth to stifle his absent-minded noises.

“James!” she whispered in warning, but it was too quiet for him to hear.

There was definitely someone at the door now. She could almost hear the fast, shallow breathing coming from outside. Not now, please not now, she thought desperately. Come tomorrow if you must, but give us one more day’s happiness together. Just go away.

There was a flash of light and the front door flew open.

James came rushing out of the living room and took in the situation at once.

“Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off!” He pushed her further up the stairs behind him. But he didn’t have his wand.

Lily longed to look at him, to take in every detail she could of him before it was too late: his beautiful face, his gleaming eyes, his strong chin, his muscular body, his loving soul. Just one more kiss, she thought desperately. Give me one more kiss.

Suddenly, without warning, a flash of green light lit up the entire house. It was followed immediately by a loud thud and a cold, high laugh.

He was dead.

Lily couldn’t watch. She had to get her son to safety. Head spinning, she ran up the staircase with both arms protectively around Harry. She looked desperately around for a safe place to hide him, but there was none. Defeated, Lily ran to the nearest room, Harry’s room, and slammed the door shut behind her, pushing an armchair up against the handle in a pathetic attempt to barricade Lord Voldemort out. She tried not to remember the sound of James’s body hitting the floor. But the green light that had killed him was penetrating her very soul, making it impossible to think of anything else.

Lily slid to the floor, cradling her son. He was dead. Memories flooded her mind: a small boy with messy jet black hair winked at her on her first journey on the Hogwarts Express; the same boy, taller now, asked her out on a date, only to be let down by her cruel rejection; James Potter, handing her a rose on Valentine’s Day; James Potter, telling her she was the only one for him; dancing at the Christmas Feast; the feel of his lips against hers; his declaration of love; his proposal; the day they were married; the birth of their son…

Her stomach lurched. It was too much. Like everyone else in her life, he was dead. But not Harry. Harry lived. She stood just as the door flew open. At the sight of Lord Voldemort, she placed the baby in his cot and turned defiantly to face the man who had murdered so many lives, so many loved ones. She threw her arms wide in front of the cot, shielding Harry from sight.

Voldemort raised his wand but did not use it.

“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!”

“Stand aside, you silly girl … stand aside, now!” he demanded. His voice was cold and high, not like a man’s at all. Not like James.

Lily stood boldly, her wand also raised, her trembling hands giving her away. “Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-“

“This is my last warning-“

Lily threw aside any attempt at dignity. Reduced to begging, she screamed out, “Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy … Not Harry! Not Harry! Please �“ I’ll do anything!”

“Stand aside �“ stand aside, girl �“ “

Death was staring her in the face, but all she could think of was her dead husband and her defenceless baby. If this was what love was, then so be it. She would rather die than let Harry be harmed. He was all she had left. He was her whole world.

Voldemort laughed, or rather, a cruel, piercing sound washed over Lily. He raised his wand above his head and whipped it down. “AVADA KEDAVRA!”

That split second it took for the curse of Lord Voldemort to reach Lily Potter was enough. This is for you, Harry, were her final thoughts.

***

Sirius Black stepped over the threshold of the ruin of a house in Godric’s Hollow.

It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. His best friend in the whole world, the only one who truly understood him, was gone. He saw James’s body lying in a heap at the bottom of the staircase. He suddenly didn’t want to go any further. A lump formed in his throat and he blinked back tears.

Not James, please let it be someone else’s body. Please let the rumours be wrong. They're not dead. They can't be dead.

All he wanted to do was find Peter Petigrew and kill him, like he had killed James and Lily.

But the baby was crying. His godson. The child was alone. A sense of responsibility gripped him. He had always loved Harry. He would take him and raise him in memory of his friends. The boy would live. Determination flooded him and he stepped forward. “I’m coming, Harry,” he said, more to himself than to the baby in the room upstairs. “I’m coming for you.”