Part 2: But Let Them Go


“YOU KNOW WHAT, POTTER, I AM SICK OF THE VERY SIGHT OF YOUR STUPID FACE!”

“OH YEAH? WELL WHAT DO YOU THINK IT’S LIKE FOR ME? I HAVE TO LOOK AT YOURS ALL THE TIME! WHY CAN’T YOU JUST STOP BEING SO BLOODY PERNICKETY ALL THE WHILE AND TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR OWN �“”

“WILL YOU PLEASE JUST BOTH BE QUIET?” Izzie screeched. Lily and James turned to look at her, bemused that anyone would dare interrupt them while they were in full flow. “Look,” she went on, now that she had their attention. “People �“ well, some people �“ are trying to study. And you two are supposed to be setting an example. Think of the firsties, guys! Think of Little Billy Firstie here,” she said, grabbing a random First Year, and holding him in front of her for Lily and James to see.

“My name’s Joseph Hughes,” the boy said, nervously, but was ignored.

“Little Billy Firstie is going to spend the whole year listening to you two fight,” Izzie said. “And you’re meant to be his role models. If his role models are fighting all the time, what’s that going to do to him? Eh? Little Billy Firstie is going to think it’s okay to just fight with people all the time, because of you two.”

“No I won’t,” the boy said, affronted. “I’m not stupid.” The Marauders and Henrie, who were sitting in armchairs at the side of the scene, began to laugh.

Izzie carried on regardless. “Little Billy Firstie is going to think that’s what people do, and that will lead to him being constantly in detention. He’s going to get into fights, and eventually Little Billy Firstie will end up turning to crime and going to Azkaban.”

“No I won’t.”

“And it will be all your fault! Both of you! Little Billy Firstie will be sitting in his damp, rotting cell, wondering why he’s in prison when all he did was follow the example set by his superiors.”

“Seriously, I won’t, I can think for myself,” the boy tried again. But, being a First Year, he might as well as not have bothered saying anything. It wasn’t personal. It was just how things worked. Everyone had to go through First Year being treated like the underdog, it was a simple right of passage. That’s why they always stuck together in such tight groups. You had to be something pretty exceptional if you wanted to be acknowledged as a First Year.

“And anyway,” Izzie went on, “aren’t you meant to be patrolling corridors or something?”

Lily’s hand flew to her face, as her eyes widened in shock. James’s reaction was much less civilised, as he swore loudly, then eyed Little Billy Firstie (or rather, Joseph Hughes) warily. “You didn’t just hear that, did you?” he asked.

“Everyone heard it,” the boy said. James looked guilty.

“Don’t go repeating it, okay? I don’t want to blamed with you going to Azkaban ...”

“Oh, come on,” Lily sighed, marching over to the Portrait Hole. “Let’s just go, all right?”

James looked around, panicked at the thought of being alone with the one girl he could never get on with �“ despite a brief infatuation with her for a year or two ago. “Help!” he squeaked.

“You’ve got duties, mate. You should be proud to fulfil them,” Sirius said, grinning.

“Come on, guys, give me an excuse!” he hissed, looking more and more afraid every second.

“James!” Lily barked from across the room. “Are you coming, or not?”

“You should go,” Henrie told him. “You wouldn’t want her to get mad at you ... again.”

This thought seemed to scare James even more. He gulped, and then stood tall, bracing himself. Like a man walking to his execution, he strode over to the Portrait Hole, and followed Lily out of sight.

“Poor guy,” Remus said, looking up from his Potions textbook, and shaking his head. “I think he might have some kind of seizure one of these days.”

“We should really do something to help him,” Henrie said, thoughtfully. She was slouching lengthways across the armchair that Sirius was sitting in. All was well, you could say, in Paradise.

“Like what?” Sirius asked. “What could we possibly do to get them to shut up and get along like human beings should? I mean, that was an impressive lecture, Izzie, we’re all grateful, but we all know it won’t last long. Come tomorrow and they’ll have forgotten all about Little Billy Firstie.”

“My name is Joseph Hughes!” came a shout from a few metres away, but this was generally ignored.

“You know what we could do that would work?” said Peter, grinning.

“We could sell James to passing slave traders. They wouldn’t be able to argue any more that way,” Remus said, chuckling to himself as he continued to read his large textbook avidly.

“They’d find a way,” replied Peter, darkly. “No, what we should do, is we should make them go out.”

There was silence for a moment.

Izzie, ever the vision of charm and eloquence broke the stunned hush. “Are you nuts, Peter?” she asked, looking sceptical.

“It’s a great idea,” Remus said.

“What? It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! How in Hell would we pull that off? And even if we did ... how long would it last? No more then a minute, surely? You can’t be serious?”

“If I was in the mood, I would make a hilarious pun right now,” Sirius said. “As it is, this arguing of theirs is really staring to grate on me, so there will be no mention of the comment, ‘Peter may not be “Serious”, but I always have been’.”

“No one ever found those funny anyway, sweetie,” Henrie said, grinning up at him as he pretended to look hurt.

“Yeah, fine, but do you really think making them into a couple is going to stop the arguments?” Izzie asked, rolling her eyes at how happy her twin sister was with Sirius. It wasn’t anything personal, of course, but Izzie was a little cynical when it came to love. Sure, she had no problem with steamy romances over the summer with hot Italian guys named Antone, but that was as far as it would go ... she could never be with a boy for over a week, and that meant her reputation was growing fast. In fact, her and Henrie were complete opposites, apart from the looks.

“I think with people like Lily and James,” Remus began, thoughtfully, “they’ll either be the greatest, fiercest, indomitable twosome you’ve ever met, or they’ll hate each other so much that they ... well, act like they do. There’s no in between, it’s just a matter of tipping the scales ...”

“How would we do that?” Henrie asked, sitting up properly on the arm of the chair and leaning forwards.

It was Sirius’s turn to speak, as a devious grin passed across his face. “With a little thing called trickery, lies and deceit ...”

“Uh, Sirius,” Peter said unsurely. “That’s three things.”

*~*~*

James was tired. Not tired �“ exhausted. Shattered. Weary. Worn out. Knackered. Fatigued. Drained. It wasn’t particularly Lily’s fault, he thought. Some people just weren’t compatible. Of course, patrolling the corridors had gone as appallingly as he had expected. Utter silence for most of it, apart from the odd sniping comment or criticism. Their round of the school had been a quick one �“ in fact, James had found it hard work to keep up with her fast pace �“ and now he was dragging himself up the long staircase to the Seventh Year Boy’s Dormitory.

He heard voices inside, and was about to enter and ask what was so interesting that they were up at �“ he checked his watch �“ quarter to midnight talking about it, when he heard his own name mentioned, and stopped to listen.

“She definitely said James?” came Peter’s voice.

“What else would she have said?” asked Sirius.

“Um,” Peter replied, “Maybe ... Lames?”

Sirius snorted with laughter. “So, Lily said to Henrie, ‘I’m in love with Lames’. Of course, Wormtail. That must have been it. You dunce.”

“So having established that it’s most likely to be James she was speaking about, what do you think we should do?” asked Remus.

“Apparently she said that she would never admit it to him,” Sirius went on. “Because it would break her heart if he scorned her.”

“That poor girl,” Peter sighed. “What a lonely life.”

James had lost all feeling in his body. Everything had gone numb. Even his mind. The only words crossing it �“ although they were doing this repeatedly �“ were ‘Lily loves you. You. James. Lily loves you.’

On the other side of the door, Remus, Peter and Sirius were huddled in a circle on Sirius’s bed, with the Marauders Map in the middle of them, which showed that James was just outside the door, and not moving.

Sirius winked at his friends, and, voice just that bit too loud for it to be a normal conversation, said, “Well, he’s so inconsiderate towards her, that he’d just stomp all over her. He’s better off not knowing, I think.”

“WHAT?” James burst out, before clasping his hands to his mouth and swearing loudly in his head. There was a pause.

Inside the Dormitory, Sirius and Peter had both had to be non-verbally silenced by Remus so that James didn’t hear their howling laughter. He took it upon himself to save the situation. “Did you hear that?” he said loudly, whilst signalling desperately for Peter and Sirius to calm down. “I can’t just talk to myself!” he hissed at them, keeping his voice low, before raising it again to decide out loud, “It must have been a bird.”

Peter and Sirius, having composed themselves, signalled for the spell to be removed, and Remus flicked his wand at them again.

“You do get some strange creatures in these parts,” Sirius said. “It could have been some demented hybrid, bird-crossed-with-a-frog thing, and no one would be that surprised.”

“You’re right,” Peter said, winking jovially, his thoughtful voice not matching his grinning face. His voice raised a little higher. “Hey, James should be back soon,” he declared. “We wouldn’t want him to hear what we’re saying. Let’s try and go to sleep.”

“Good idea,” Remus said. “Classes tomorrow, after all.”

As he listened to his friends climb into bed, James closed his eyes a moment, and tried to calm down his heart, which seemed to be in his ears. Lily ... loves ... you?

It wasn’t possible. They fought all the time. The practically hated each other. He remembered a scene by the lake around a year and a half ago, as fifth year had drawn to a close. It had been the end of his infatuation. He hadn’t been able to stand her ever since then, they had never stopped bickering and irritating each other ... not a very mature attitude, of course, but one which they had both participated in. You idiot, James. She’s been in love with you all that time. What do you think it’s been doing to her? You ass. She’s probably been crying herself to sleep because of you! For a moment, James wondered exactly who the voice in his head was, but decided to write it off as his inner conscience, before he thought too hard about what it meant to have voices in your head yelling at you. You need to make it up to her, the voice seemed to say. And you know how to do that, don’t you? I mean, she’s in love with you, right? So ask her out. Go out with her for a while. She’ll either get sick of you and realise that you’re not the one for her, or ...

James nodded to himself. He took a deep breath, and walked through into the dorm.

“Hey guys,” he said. “Asleep already?”

As James got ready for bed, Sirius smiled to himself. It was a smile seen many times before. It was a smile signifying that everything had gone according to plan. It was a smile of triumph, victory and success. It was a smile symbolising a job well done. It was a smile that meant Mission Accomplished.

*~*~*

All was quiet in the Girl’s Dormitory at five o’clock the next morning. Louise and Ruby were asleep, Ruby snoring softly and peacefully. Izzie had her arms wrapped around herself, and sighed contentedly as she rolled over in her sleep. Henrie was in a tight ball, breathing slowly, and Lily had somehow managed to kick all of her covers down to the end of her bed, and was hugging her pillow to her.

However, the peaceful scene was soon disturbed when Izzie’s alarm clock shrilled into life.

“Bugger!” she exclaimed. This unladylike outburst was how she woke up most mornings.

Henrie yawned, and began to say “What time is �“” but then stopped, looked over at Izzie, and they both grinned identically, before looking over at Lily.

On hearing the alarm, Lily had woken with a start, but hadn’t moved. Her eyes were open for a moment, but they then closed again. She shifted slightly, and tried to go back to sleep. It wasn’t time to wake up yet. Her movement was carefully observed by Henrie, who nodded to Izzie to confirm that their plan should go ahead. The night before, they had put magical sound barriers around Louise and Ruby’s beds, and made sure that the alarm would go off at such an ungodly hour, so that they �“ and Lily �“ would be woken early.

“Is Lily awake?” Henrie asked in a stage whisper. Lily stiffened �“ why would Henrie want to know that? She lay still, hoping that she might find out.

“I don’t think so,” Izzie replied, winking unbeknownst to Lily.

“Good. I need to tell you something �“ something Sirius told me. But you can’t tell her, all right, Isabella?”

“Yes, yes, of course I won’t. What is it?”

Henrie sat up straighter. “Well. We were talking about how they fight all the time, and I asked Sirius if he knew why that was.”

“Right ...” Izzie said, concentrating hard �“ as was Lily.

“And he said, ‘Well, I do, but you can’t tell Lily.’ And, you know, everyone’s getting sick of the arguing, so I thought that if we knew why, we might be able to stop it.”

“Of course, that makes sense.”

“Well, according to Sirius �“ well, do you remember in fifth year when James kept asking her out?”

“Are you joking? Those were the loudest months of my life ...” Izzie muttered, grinning. Lily smiled to herself at this, but then quickly went back to listening as hard as she could.

“Well, remember how after they had that huge argument, it all kind of stopped and he seemed to get over her?”

Lily smiled again. How happy she had been when she had realised that ...

“Apparently ...” Henrie faltered deliberately.

“What?” Izzie asked, enjoying herself immensely.

“Apparently he didn’t,” Henrie whispered.

“No ...” Izzie breathed.

“Yes,” Henrie replied.

“All this time ... all this time, and he’s been just as in love with her as ever? But we all thought he was faking it ... and why hide his feelings and pretend not to like her?” Izzie then asked, as rehearsed. They knew that this is what Lily would probably be thinking �“ and, indeed, she was, and now shifted a little so that both ears were in prime position.

“Well, Sirius said that after that fight, James realised she’d never like him in that way, if he carried on the way he was. He just gave up hope, apparently, and didn’t ask her anymore, because ... this is the awful part ... because it hurt him too much when she said no.”

Izzie gasped. “Really? That’s so tragic! And kind of poetic. Who knew James Potter would be a tortured soul, full of unrequited love and sexy, mysterious angst...?”

Henrie gave her sister a weird look at this last comment, but Izzie just winked back.

Lily was appalled. Sexy, mysterious angst indeed ... as if James Potter could ever be anything close to tortured, poetic, tragic or mysterious. The very idea was ridiculous. A load of old nonsense. She didn’t know what those two twitty twins had been smoking of late, but it had done something to cloud their judgement. Unrequited love ... ridiculous ... not even possible ... the craziest thing she’d ever heard ... and devilishly attractive.

She groaned inwardly. What would happen if he asked her out again? Would she be able to break his heart again and refuse him, knowing the pain it would cause? Of course she wouldn’t. But if she couldn’t say no ... would she have to say yes?

“We’d better get to sleep,” Henrie said. “Try and grab an hour or two before classes start ... and remember, to the grave, okay?”

“Yes, okay. You just go back to your sweet dreams about snogging Sirius, and rest assured that the secret’s safe with me.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Isabella. Although that should probably be good morning.”

“In that case, good morning, Henrietta.”

As the twins drifted back off to sleep, thinking happy thoughts of their success, Lily stayed wide awake. In fact, she doubted that she would ever sleep easily at night again.

*~*~*

“Did you do it?” hissed Sirius into his girlfriend’s ear during Breakfast at a more acceptable hour.

Henrie nodded. “You?”

“Of course.”

“Excellent.”

Lily was watching the two whispering to each other with a mixture of feelings. Awkwardness, for one. Not only was Henrie a very good friend of hers, and protective feelings meant she didn’t relish watching her so close to Sirius, but also James was right next to her, unusually quiet and not eating much.

Their elbows bumped together, and they both jumped a mile in the air. “Sorry!” Lily gabbled.

“My fault,” James replied quickly, and they both looked away again. “Do you �“” he began.

“What?” Lily asked, with baited breath. There was another pause.

“Nothing,” James replied, and looked away again. They both continued not eating.

Izzie watched all this with an amused expression on her face. She winked at Peter, then grinned conspiratorially with Remus. Trickery seemed to worryingly suit her, but as she looked over at Henrie and Sirius, her spirits suddenly dampened, and she sat back a little. It had been a month since Italy and her fling with Antone, and to be honest, she was pining for a little romance of her own. Or at least a good snogging session with someone to get it out of her system ...

Over at the Slytherin table, Sirius’s cousin Bellatrix was also watching the happy couple at Gryffindor, a sour expression on her face.

“It makes me sick,” she muttered.

“I know, doesn’t it?” replied Snape. “Wait, what does?”

“My rabid dog of an estranged family member and that vacuous bint he’s drooling with.”

“I heard that they’re going out,” Snape said, trying to be helpful. She looked at him with disgust, but left the sarcastic reply to her long term partner, Rodolphus.

“That’s because you have ears, Severus,” he said, sneering.

“People like him don’t deserve to be happy,” Bellatrix said. “Just look at them. It’s obscene.”

“Maybe, we should ... stop this display of animal filth. For the good of the school,” Rodolphus said, smiling slowly.

Bellatrix grinned maliciously. “Of course ... the good of the school ... absolutely.”

“But how would we do that?” asked Snape.

Bellatrix thought for a moment, and then noticed Henrie’s identical twin looking wistful and far away. “A little thing called trickery, lies and deceit.”

“That’s three things,” Snape pointed out, but unlike Peter the day before, his observation was not met with laughter but with a contemptuous stare that caused him to apologise quickly and eat his breakfast in silence.

*~*~*

AN: Oooh, getting interesting, huh? Leave me a review, tell me what you think! How’s the story working out for you ...?

AN: I’m not sure exactly how old Bellatrix is supposed to be, so for the purpose of this fic, she is the same age as the Marauders and Co ... it’s just easier that way, so sit back and enjoy it! =D


Part 3: And Be You Blithe And Bonny

Izzie was dawdling down a corridor, not really having much to do considering it was the weekend. Lily and Henrie were in the Library, and �“ she smiled at the thought �“ James probably wasn’t far behind. Sirius and Peter were eating their dinner late after spending all afternoon in detention. She wondered how Sirius and Henrie had taken being apart for the afternoon �“ it was the first time in a while, she thought. All those romantic feelings were getting a little tiresome. It was only because she was tired of being single herself, she realised.

“You’re Isabella, aren’t you?” a leering voice said from behind.

“Izzie,” she corrected. Only one person could call her Isabella without it being weird, and that was her sister. She turned to see who wanted to know, and was surprised to find that it was Severus Snape.

He smiled, and took her hand. “You know,” he said slowly. “You’re the only Gryffindor girl who I could ever stand to be seen with.”

She smiled at this flattery. She had always had some sympathy for Snape. He couldn’t help it that the Marauders chose him to bully a couple years ago. Of course, all that was over now, but still ... she glanced around. There was no one there. I can think of a way to get all this pining out of my system ...

Rodolphus, unbeknownst to Izzie, had been watching this exchange with amusement. He put a note in the beak of the jet black owl on his arm, and it took off down the corridor to find his girlfriend, while he slipped into the shadows once more and disappeared.

*~*~*

Down in the Great Hall, Bellatrix was watching her cousin with contempt. She normally tried to avoid looking at him, but if this was to go as planned ...

The owl, Coal, arrived, and dropped the note onto Bellatrix’s lap. She picked it up. ‘Now. Third Floor.’ Smiling to herself, she stood and made her way over to Sirius and Peter.

“Cousin of mine,” she simpered. “I think I have something to show you.”

“I don’t care,” Sirius replied. “Nothing you can say will interest me.”

“Not even if it involves your precious ...” her lip curled a little, “... Henrie?”

Sirius looked towards Peter, who shrugged. “What about her?” he asked, stiffening his back in automatic defence.

Bellatrix just shook her head. “That’s not how it works. Follow me.”

Not knowing quite what else to do, they stood and followed her out, although made sure their wands were at the ready.

Wondering what she could possibly have to say for herself, Sirius quickened his step, as curiosity began to get the better of him. As he sped up, so did Bella, smiling maliciously to herself.

However, as they neared the corridor on the third floor, she slowed down, and put her finger to her lips. She pointed down towards a couple, making out against a wall.

Snape, who was making himself feel ill just touching this girl, had whipped out his wand behind her back, and pointed it upwards. Her hair shortened a little, and straightened out, causing her to look �“ at least from Sirius’s position �“ more like her twin than herself.

Sirius felt rage bubbling up inside him �“ there were no thoughts running through his head, just shock, anger, hurt and disbelief, all cumulating together to make his stomach churn, and his hands shake. As Remus had pointed out on their first day back, he had always been one to jump to conclusions a little. Words began to creep into his mind like poison. Snape. With Henrie. You should have known. The signs were all there ... Except that they weren’t. Never, never in a million years ... never would you have thought ... and yet ... and yet ...

“I’ll kill him,” Sirius hissed. Peter, almost instinctively, grabbed his arm.

“No. There’s another way,” he said.

Sirius looked towards his friend. “I don’t care. I’ll kill him.”

“But why him?” Bellatrix whispered in his ear. “You never trusted him anyway. It’s not him who betrayed you.”

And with that, she slipped away, satisfied that her job was done.

*~*~*

Meanwhile, the real Henrie, Lily and James were sitting in the Library.

Henrie was frowning in thought at James as she watched him scribbling a way on a piece of paper, crossing things out, and occasionally throwing it away and starting a fresh. Sometimes he would look up to Lily, who was completely unaware of his strange behaviour, and then start writing again. “Why are you even here?” asked Henrie finally, in the nicest way she could, although she already knew the answer �“ and it wasn’t the one he was about to give.

He went red. “Um ... I, uh ... I need to ... study?”

Henrie smirked. “Right. Okay. You know, I need to find something in the ... uh ... that aisle all the way over there.”

“Henrie,” Lily growled under her breath, catching her friends arm. “Henrie, don’t go, don’t leave me, Henrie, Henrie!” It was too late.

James still looked rather red. “Um ... I supposed you worked out that I’m not actually here to study. See, I was ... I was trying to write you a ... a ... a poem.” He hung his head.

Lily, meanwhile, was so shocked that she forgot to be embarrassed. “You can write?” she asked.

“Apparently not,” he muttered, staring downwards at the mess of scribbling and crossing out.

“Can I see?”

“I’d rather you �“” she took the parchment from in front of him without waiting for an answer, “... didn’t.”

The Lily Beautiful Amazing Lily

She looks like a flower and is called one too
A lily is a beautiful thing, like a Snitch on a sunny day
This is a beautiful opening sentence, it reminds me a bit of you
I hate poetry Come on James, you can do it

She grins smiles at me when I see her
And quickly turns looks away
I want to make her dream come true alive true alive
I want her us to be her to smile always
Almost as much as I want to win the Quidditch Cup this year
I can’t get away from those eyes.

Lily smiled. “It’s beautiful,” she said, and her throat seemed to close up.

“It’s utter crap,” he muttered.

“That too,” she giggled, and then stopped to meet his gaze.

“I can’t get away from those eyes,” he whispered under his breath.

Henrie, who was hiding behind a bookshelf, but watching everything very carefully, punched the air in victory. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a gaggle of First Year girls staring up at her.

“What?” she asked.

They seemed star struck. “Are you going out with Sirius Black?” one of them asked.

She smiled. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

A girl with tight blonde curls sniffed. “What makes you so special?”

Henrie frowned. “If you’re going to be like that, you can shove off, midgets.”

The girls scattered.

*~*~*

Much later on that day, the Marauders, the twins and Lily were sitting in their favourite armchairs. The atmosphere was a strange one. Lily and James were awkwardly happy. Sirius and Peter were sitting there brooding and glowering at anyone who laughed, or smiled, or showed any sign of happiness at all. Izzie was riddled with guilt about what had happened with Snape, because she knew her friends all hated him, and what they would think if they found out. Remus and Henrie were just confused.

“Look, Sirius,” Henrie began, leaning forwards. “What’s wrong?”

“Yeah, guys,” chipped in Remus. “What’s with all the glaring?”

“What’s with all the glaring?” repeated Sirius. “What’s with all the glaring?”

“That’s what he said,” Izzie replied, irritably. “What’s with all the �“”

“How about betrayal? How about thinking you trust someone and finding out that she’s no different to anyone else, she’s just another stupid, trashy wretch who takes your feelings for granted and then just rips them up right under your nose, laughing at you all the while behind your back, but pretending to be so pretty and innocent when you’re around. Pretending to be concerned with how you feel?”

“Sirius,” Henrie said slowly. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act all naïve!” he yelled. “I saw you! With him! Your boyfriend, your buddy, your bit on the side!”

“What are you talking about? You’re my boyfriend,” she said, laughing nervously.

“Oh yeah? Well, you wouldn’t think it, would you, if you go around snogging Snape all over the place!”

As her twin sister screeched at Sirius to take it back, that it wasn’t true, Izzie felt crushed. It was all her fault. All her fault. What had she done? How had she let it happen? Why did she have to be such an idiot when it came to a guy’s flattery? She was about to stop them fighting, to confess, when Sirius, Peter, and even James left in disgust, as Henrie sobbed hysterically, the whole of the Common Room staring at her.

“Oi!” Lily snapped at them all. “What do you think this is, a show? Get lost back to your own lives, or you’re all in detention!”

They got lost back to their own lives.

“Oh, Henrie,” Lily whispered. “What was that all about?”

“I don’t know!” she sobbed. “Why would he think that? I’ve never given him any reason to �“ I’ve always �“ I thought �“ oh Merlin, Isabella, I thought we were happy!” She threw herself at her sister, who could do nothing but hold her, rocking her slowly, staring sadly at Lily over the top of her head.

“You know,” Remus mused. “I’ve always said that Sirius jumps to conclusions too easily. This could be another incident of that. After all, this basically has trick written all over it.”

“You’re probably right,” Lily said, while Izzie kept quiet. “What should we do?”

Remus thought for a moment. “If Henrie just stays out of the way for a while ...”

“And what?” Lily cut in, “Wears a bag over her head every class she has with him? Which, by the way, is all of them?”

“Just keeps a low profile. Izzie �“”

Izzie looked up, alarmed. “What?” she demanded. Remus looked confused at the panic in her voice, but didn’t comment.

“You could just make sure that you stick with her at all times. Really give them all the message that says ‘touch her and you die.’ You know?”

Izzie shrugged. “I can do that.” It would, at least, take her mind off her guilt.

“And, Lily, you do the same. Although you could also try and get James on your side, since you’ve buddied up and everything.”

“We haven’t �“”

“Not the time, Lily,” Remus said, smiling to himself. She sulked for a moment, until another thought crossed her mind.

“And you, Oh Great Organiser? What will you do?”

Remus thought for a moment. “Well, I do have a talent for nonentity. I could follow Snape for a while, try and find out what’s going on. In fact ... Lily, if you could get James on our side, I would be able to follow them very easily ...”

Lily snorted, and said light-heartedly, “What, because James will act like a prick to distract them?”

Remus laughed. “There are some things about James you may find surprising, you know.”

“His talent for prickability?” Lily asked, laughing. “No, Remus, that stopped surprising me a long time ago. In fact, I’ve come to accept, and even embrace it. Well. Not quite.”

Even Henrie, wiping the tears from her eyes, was forced to laugh.

*~*~*

“So,” began Remus, grinning, as he and James stood cramped together under the invisibility cloak outside the Slytherin Common Room early on Sunday morning the next day. “How exactly did Lily persuade you that Henrie was innocent?”

“Well,” James mumbled, flustered. “She was very ... she can be quite ... if she wants to be ... very persuasive ... I mean, obviously I had the upper hand ...”

“Obviously,” Remus repeated, trying not to fall over, laughing.

“Shut up, Moony, it’s none of your business anyway.”

“Right. Okay. If you say so.”

“Stop looking at me like that!”

“Wait,” Remus whispered, holding his hand up. The two boys leaned forwards, as the entrance opened. As Snape came out �“ along with Sirius’s younger brother by about two years �“ they exchanged triumphant, excited glances, and set off behind them.

“So, what do you think there’ll be for Breakfast this morning?” asked Regulus. Snape looked at him disdainfully, and the two continued to walk forwards in silence, James and Remus not far behind.

It was halfway to the Great Hall when Snape said, “Hey, you’ll never guess how I spent yesterday afternoon ...”

James looked at Remus, who nodded, and they tried to get even closer.

“Um ... I don’t know.”

“Well, you know your brother’s girlfriend ...”

“That Henrietta girl?”

“Let’s just say they won’t be so sickeningly happy together anymore.”

Regulus gasped, in his annoying little boy way. “I knew it wouldn’t last! What happened?”

“Well, I �“”

“Severus!” barked a chilling female voice, and Snape stopped talking. As if from nowhere, Bellatrix slid into view, curling herself around Snape, and saying into his ear quietly, “You wouldn’t be boasting about your latest adventure to this little boy, would you?”

Snape nearly choked in his hurry to say, “Not at all! What do you take me for?”

Bella stepped back, and sneered, nastily. “An idiot.” She smiled sweetly again. “Do you have a problem with that?” she simpered, before slipping away again into the growing crowd.

Snape stood for a moment, looking flustered, then bowed his head and followed the crowd into the Great Hall.

Remus and James stood, still concealed by the Cloak, and unaware of the various people bumping into them.

“I think we need to bring him in for questioning,” James said.

“I heartily agree.”

“How are we going to do that without anyone noticing?”

Remus thought for a moment. “A really, really big lasso?”

“This is serious, Remus!” James protested. Remus nodded.

“Okay, okay. Don’t worry. I have the perfect plan ...”

*~*~*

AN: Dun dun dun! =D Hope you’re enjoying it, please review!

Part 4: Converting All Your Sounds Of Woe

“Tell us again what you did!” James shouted.

Snape merely spat at him.

“You �“ you disgusting fiend! Were you not taught manners, Snivellus, when you were young? Would you like me to teach you some? How about this: If someone asks you a question then you bloody ... well ... answer ... it!” With each of those final words he took a step closer, until they were nose to nose, glaring at each other.

“You’re pathetic,” Snape sneered. “Can’t you figure it out? It’s obvious.”

They were in the Room of Requirement, after Remus and James had lured Snape there with an owl message, promising a secret and exclusive club for those interested in the Dark Arts that afternoon. Naturally, Snape had not hesitated to attend, and it was there that Remus and James had been waiting to pounce, before tying him to a chair and interrogating him.

Now, Remus stepped forwards, before James had a chance to do something stupid.

“If it’s that obvious, why don’t you tell us?” he suggested, calmly, but with a forceful note in his voice.

Snape leered. “I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out. If I wasn’t with Henrie, but Sirius believed it was her, how could we possibly pull that off?”

James gasped. “Polyjuice Potion! So who played Henrie in your scheme? Not Bellatrix, if there’s one thing sane about her it’s that she could never bring herself to touch something so slimy. It wasn’t Regulus was it? He’s desperate enough to be in with the cool guys ...” James was pacing up and down as he thought all this aloud. “But no, why would you be boasting to him, then? If I’d made out with a guy, I wouldn’t be able to stand to look at them, whether they looked like a girl at the time or not. Hey, was it Narcissa Black? I hear she’ll grope with anyone in exchange for some of Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum. And if you throw in the added luxury of ruining someone’s life, she’d be your tart any day!”

James’s flippant vulgarity never quite ceased to amaze Remus. However, he felt it was the time to point out the flaw in his friend’s theory before a definite conclusion was reached. “It couldn’t have been Polyjuice Potion, Prongs,” he said.

James looked defensive. “Why not? It would certainly fool Padfoot easily.”

“Anything would fool Padfoot easily. But the point is that they haven’t been together long enough to brew the potion in time. And it’s all a bit elaborate isn’t it, when there’s someone at hand who looks very similar to Henrie.”

James blinked, as Snape started chuckling to himself.

“Almost identical, in fact,” Remus emphasised.

“No,” James breathed. “You don’t mean ... it couldn’t have been ... she would never ...”

But even as he said it, her not totally undeserved reputation with the boys at Hogwarts came into his mind.

“Izzie,” they both sighed.

*~*~*

“Sirius! Sirius! Padfoot!”

At the sound of his nickname, Sirius turned, knowing it must be one of his three closest friends. Therefore, he wasn’t really surprised to see Remus sprinting towards him, as Peter was already by his side, and James would just hex him to get his attention, without bothering with all that shouting malarkey.

“What is it, Moony? And where have you and James been all day, you must have left the Dorm pretty early for a Sunday ... like, before noon, even!”

Remus panted, having finally caught up with them. “You wouldn’t believe,” he muttered. “It was hours before noon ... we knew Snape would be up early, see ... he’s the type to go out catching the worm before anyone else gets a look in ...”

Sirius and Peter looked at each other, confused. “I think all that exercise has gone to your head, mate. Would you like to sit down? What’s got you in such a state that you had to actually pick up the pace beyond a stroll anyway? You know we only do that in emergencies.”

“It’s Henrie,” Remus said.

“What about her?” Sirius demanded, sharply, his reasonable mood suddenly being replaced by a fire of hurt and anger roaring to life in the pit of his stomach, just at the mention of her name.

“She ... she’s ... Padfoot, mate, she’s innocent. It wasn’t her you saw with Snape yesterday.”

“What are you on about?” Peter scoffed, taking over from Sirius, who didn’t appear capable of coherent language.

Remus shook his head. “Follow me,” he told them, and turned back the way he came, back towards the Room of Requirement, where he knew James was waiting, probably very impatiently, for them all to return.

*~*~*

“I can’t stand being cooped up in here, not knowing what’s going on,” Henrie was saying at the other end of the school.

“Remus said to keep a low profile,” Lily said once again, after repeating it a million and one times throughout the day. “And that’s what we’re doing ...”

Izzie smiled half-heartedly. The guilt she was feeling seemed never ending. Her part in her sister’s misery was grating away at her all the while, but the longer she didn’t say anything, the harder it got to speak up. In a way she almost didn’t want James and Remus to succeed. She was ashamed at herself for being so naïve, but the thought of everyone finding out, everyone judging her just made her want to be sick. Yet to see her twin sister so sad, made all the feelings of love inside her cry out. She decided that maybe she could distract Henrie from the situation, just by being loud and funny. Maybe eventually Henrie would move on from Sirius, and it would just turn into one of those crazy unsolved mysteries. She forced a genuine smile on her face for Henrie’s sake.

“Should I go to the Kitchens and steal a load of puddings? That might take our mind off things for a while,” she suggested. “And it will distract us from being stuck in the freaking dormitory all day ... especially as it’s possibly the last nice day we’ll have free until next Spring.”

Lily sighed, and started up her routine again. “Remus and James promised us they’d figure it all out ...”

“If they don’t smooth it over by the end of today, this next week’s going to be hell,” Henrie muttered to herself. “Especially once the school find out I made out with Snape.”

“But you didn’t,” Izzie said, sharply. “So you can just keep to your story that it’s all a lie.”

“They’re not going to believe me over Sirius,” Henrie whispered, then sucked in her breath as if trying to keep her emotions pushed down inside her.

Lily and Izzie exchanged worried glances. “Remus and James promised ...” Lily began to repeat, but Izzie got an idea of the perfect way to distract her sister for a moment.

“Well, if we have James’s word on the subject, I’m sure we’ll be fine, won’t we? A noble guy like that? Hey, Henrietta,” she suddenly changed her voice from sarcastic to thoughtful, “have you noticed how quiet it’s been lately?”

Lily narrowed her eyes, but Henrie grinned. “You know, Isabella, you’re right. There’s been a certain lack of ... what’s the word ...”

“Um ... I know what you mean ... it’s like there’s so much less ...” they both flapped their hands around as if trying to grasp the perfect word that was just out of their reach.

Henrie snapped her fingers in mock realisation. “Childish, relentless, never ending, positively grating, continuous, non-stop bickering. I haven’t heard any of that, lately.”

“I wonder why that is, do you think? You would have presumed that with all this stress and tension, such squabbling would be amplified.”

“Yet I’ve barely heard a peep from the two main culprits for a while, now!”

Izzie grinned, wickedly. “Maybe they’ve been helping each other relieve their stress in a different way entirely!” She and Henrie started snickering as all thoughtful pretence was shattered.

“I hope you’re not implying what I think you’re implying,” Lily warned, her narrow eyes glaring at the both of them, in a startling imitation of Professor McGonagall.

“Not what you think I’m implying, Lily ... what you know I’m implying!”

Lily picked up a pillow and threw it across the room, as Izzie shrieked, and laughed, all guilty feelings temporarily forgotten.

*~*~*

After they had managed to extract the whole story from Snape, Sirius felt his world caving in, and he rested his head in his hands.

“I’m such an idiot!” he burst out, whirling around to face Snape, but then giving up on the stream of abuse he had been planning before it even started. He fell backwards onto a chair that was conveniently in the right place, and Remus marvelled once again at the power of the room they were in.

“You couldn’t have known,” James said, gently, and surprisingly comfortingly.

“I should have known,” Sirius replied. “I’m such a terrible guy. What have I put her through? She’ll never be able to even look at me, I’m such a fool!”

“Don’t beat yourself up. We couldn’t have known,” Peter pointed out again.

“Remus knew!” Sirius protested. “And James realised it too!”

“Yeah, but mostly because Lily made me,” James said, shrugging, and was thrown a couple of amused looks.

“She’ll never trust me. She won’t even want to come near me,” Sirius moaned.

“Can I go now?” asked Snape in a bored voice.

“You’ll be lucky,” James snapped at him.

Sirius groaned, “What am I going to do?”

*~*~*

The girls were working their way through a variety of puddings that Izzie had scrounged, when James’s owl began pecking on the glass of the window.

Both Henrie and Izzie noticed Lily’s eyes light up when she saw it, they both noticed how quickly she rushed towards the window to let it in, and they both noticed the huge grin that appeared on her face before she’d even read the letter. They looked towards each other with raised eyebrows, and knowing smiles, but didn’t comment, because at that moment, they too wanted to know what the letter contained.

Lily’s eyes scanned the parchment for a moment or two, before she grinned again, dropped the letter, and ran out of the dorm and down the stairs.

“Lily �“ LILY!” Izzie called after her.

“Read it!” came the far away reply, and she was gone.

“Blimey,” Henrie muttered. “What do you think it said?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?”

Lily �“

It’s okay, we found out what happened. You were right, and Henrie is innocent. I owe you a chocolate frog!

Sirius was horrified when he found out the truth. Come meet me outside by the lake, we need to discuss our next move �“ and I’m sure you want to know how they pulled it off, too.

Love,

James

“No way!” Henrie cried. “She gets to find out before us? Whose heart got broken, anyway?”

“Sirius’s,” Izzie replied, and Henrie glared at her. “And yours, obviously. Look, Henrietta �“ the thing is ... I know how they did it, too.”

Henrie blinked. “What?” she asked. Her face was blank. There was no emotion in her voice. But her eyes blazed with shock, and �“ Izzie’s heart was breaking now �“ hurt.

“Well, the thing is ...” her voice trailed off.

“You either know, or you don’t, Isabella, which is it? And if you do know �“ why didn’t you say anything? Why would you keep it a secret? And how do you know? What happened?” her voice was becoming borderline hysterical.

Izzie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “It was me.”

*~*~*

“James! James!”

“Lily?”

She threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him backwards, but then let go, embarrassed, before smiling warmly.

“What happened?”

“Uh ... let’s walk. I’ll tell you then.”

As they began to stroll around the lake, James repeated the days events to her, explaining at length everything that had happened.

Once he had finished, they walked for two minutes of silence, until Lily said thoughtfully, “What did you do with Snape?”

“Left him there,” James replied shrugging. At her look, he held his hands in the air, and said, “He’ll find his way out eventually! What, did you think we’d let him go free after that? Don’t worry about him, he’ll make his way out eventually!”

Lily sighed. “So ... it was Izzie?”

James nodded.

“Why wouldn’t she say anything?”

He paused, before saying, “She probably knew what would happen if she did.”

“But ... oh, James, don’t judge her on this, please! She must have felt awful when she realised, and �“ Merlin, I can’t believe it!”

“I know. But we understand �“ well, we don’t. But that’s not the issue, and she’s still our friend, she didn’t do it deliberately ... there are bigger issues at the minute.”

“Like what?” asked Lily, still trying to fully digest what they had found out.

“Well, for starters �“ what are we going to do about Sirius and Henrie? They belong together, that much is obvious, but ... there’s going to be so little trust left. We need another master plan.”

“All right, fair point ... but that’s only one issue. What else is more important than Izzie’s mistake? Because that’s what it was, James, a mistake, I’m sure of it.”

James looked at her, and smiled, before taking her hand.

“Well, I can think of one or two things.”

*~*~*

AN: *Squee* I love Lily and James! They’re so adorable together! Only one chapter of this left, guys, it’s gone by so quickly! But it was never going to be novel length. Still, I’ve really enjoyed it, and I hope you guys have too ... why don’t you let me know in the happy little review box down there? =D

Part 5: Into Hey Nonny Nonny

The discussions had gone on into the night. Everything was being meticulously planned, down to the very last detail, as the embers in the fire began to fade, and even the House Elves had come out to clear up as it was so late.

The three plotters sat back for a moment of reflection, as they each went over the plan in their minds, trying to think of any stone that had not been overturned, or any detail not yet accounted for.

Lily’s eyes were closed, out of tiredness and concentration, and her legs curled around her, as she held a warm mug of hot chocolate to herself, one of the three which the House Elf who had come to tidy up had fallen over himself to make for her and her comrades when he had realised that there were still students out of bed.

Opposite was James, watching her, but as he took in her features, he wasn’t really seeing them properly �“ what he was seeing was the whole reason they were up at such an hour, everything they had been planning, coming into motion.

And, completing the triangle was Remus, watching the glowing in the fireplace slowly fade, as he too tried to process everything that they had decided.

“Wait,” he said, sitting bolt upright. “How the hell are we supposed to convince Sirius?”

James groaned, tearing his eyes away from Lily, as her own eyes snapped open.

“Dammit!” she exclaimed. “Any fresh ideas anyone?”

Something told James that the night was not over yet.

*~*~*

“... See the thing is, Professor McGonagall, we really believe it’s in the best interests of everyone if you move the date of the Hogsmeade forwards to Saturday,” Lily concluded, as James nodded determinedly by her side.

McGonagall’s eyes flicked from one student to the other, taken aback by the way they had approached her after class first thing on the Monday morning, especially as they were not known for their compatibility. Had Dumbledore appointed wisely after all? She had had her doubts, but would reserve judgement for the moment. “And you’re advising me this as Head Boy and Girl of the school, as the representatives of the entire student body?”

Lily faltered for a moment, and James jumped in to cover her. “Absolutely, Professor. May I say that your hair looks particularly ... uh ... authoritative, today?”

Her eyes narrowed, as Lily grimaced, and shot him a look which said ‘You blew it’.

“I’ll ignore that, Potter. What reason, exactly, do you give for this decision to be implemented?”

Lily and James glanced at each other. “Um ... We ...” James tried desperately for an excuse, and cursed himself for banking on McGonagall allowing their wishes purely because they were Head Boy and Girl. “Because of ...”

“Little Billy Firstie!” Lily blurted out, and then looked horrified at herself. What had possessed her to say the ‘name’ of the boy Izzie had used in her demonstration against their fighting, when Sirius and Henrie were first going out �“ a lifetime ago, it seemed.

James, too, looked shocked, and as he stared at her in disbelief, not even he �“ the master of spin �“ was able to think of a way to salvage this situation.

“I mean, um,” Lily took a deep breath, and plunged straight in. “Joseph Hughes. In Gryffindor, First Year. See, his, uh, his cat died �“ no, not died, poor thing, it’s just ill �“ and he wanted to, um, get it looked over, in, um, Hogsmeade.”

McGonagall said nothing, and Lily took that as an indication that she should continue.

“But, obviously, he’s a First Year, so he couldn’t go into Hogsmeade, and so me and, um, James, we offered to, uh, do it for him! You know, because it’s ... it’s ... our ... responsibility ... you know, as representatives of the entire ... entire student body. And obviously, the sooner the better, because, why wait a few more weeks when the thing’s ill ... you know?”

“What, may I ask, is wrong with our Care of Magical Creatures teacher?”

“It’s ... it’s a special kind of poorly,” James answered, and then blushed furiously.

“A special kind of ... poorly,” McGonagall repeated, and they both nodded. She sighed, and leaned forwards on her desk. “Mr Potter, I have been a teacher at this school for many years, now.”

“Admirable,” James said, and Lily kicked him discreetly, before smiling widely at their Head of House. McGonagall, however, ignored them.

“As a result of this, I have seen many students come and go, many like yourself, talented with a lot of potential, should you wish. And many of these students have tried to lie to me to cover up their ulterior motives. Some, naturally, were more skilled than others, and some were easily spotted.

“As you know, Potter, you yourself have committed falsehoods to me many times in your years here. You have always proved rather more skilful than your latest display, however, and I suppose that comes down to nerves. Also, taking into account your new accomplice,” she nodded at Lily, who looked at her feet, “I have deduced that whatever the real reason you wish the Hogsmeade weekend to be brought forwards for is, it is of importance. I am willing to allow the change if �“ and only if �“ your behaviour and conduct on the day is admirable and within the rules of this school.

“Should you break this agreement you will both be punished severely, do you understand? And I also expect that your current cooperation continues throughout this year ... hopefully, however, you will direct it towards more appropriate uses of your time. Do you understand me?”

“Absolutely,” James said.

“Without a doubt,” Lily agreed.

“We won’t let you down.”

“You can count on us.”

“If ever there were more trustworthy �“”

“Just go,” McGonagall sighed, waving her hands. James turned and fled.

“Thank you, Professor,” Lily stammered, before racing after James, yelling at him to wait.

*~*~*

Sirius rubbed his brow as he and his three friends headed across the Grounds towards the gate. “Remind me again why we’re going to Hogsmeade today, instead of three weeks time?” he asked Remus.

“Because it was moved due to unavoidable circumstances. Also, we set you up a date.”

“I don’t want a date,” Sirius protested, monotonously.

“You have one,” James insisted, then added, “Oh, and it’s a blind date. You both have to wear masks.”

This seemed to catch his attention. “What in Merlin’s name is the point of that?”

“She says she’d rather you got to know each other without judging by looks,” Remus replied.

“That’s stupid,” he pointed out. “If she doesn’t like that sort of person, and I was one of them, she wouldn’t want to date me anyway. Wouldn’t it make more sense if I saw what she looked like from the start?”

James patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t think like that, mate, you’ll give yourself a headache. And don’t worry, we both have to be masked too, and her friends, so you won’t look completely stupid.”

“How come I didn’t know about any of this?” asked Peter, offended at the way both Remus and James obviously knew what was happening.

“Sorry, Wormtail, we wanted to include you, but the girl in question asked for us two specifically.”

“So what will I do?” asked Peter.

“Uh ... get drinks?”

As they began to bicker, Sirius sighed. He didn’t want to be doing this, he didn’t want to be going anywhere. He’d only come because he’d been literally man handled out of bed and out of the dormitory that morning, and had decided it would be easier to just get on with whatever came next. He wasn’t in the mood for shouting, or causing a scene, or anything at all. The whole week he had tried several times to talk to Henrie and apologise �“ he just wanted to apologise, that was all. But every time he had come near her, suddenly Lily and Izzie would appear, and whisk her away without a backwards glance. And then one of his friends would always find an excuse to drag him in the opposite direction. He had somehow been prevented of any contact with her at all, despite his best efforts.

Well, he thought, as they entered Hogsmeade and went heading towards The Three Broomsticks. At least it will be over with soon.

*~*~*

Meanwhile, Henrie was already inside, along with her twin sister and Lily. She had not wanted to come, although she had forgiven Izzie for what happened with Snape. It had taken all of her will power when she was first told, not to scream at her sister, not to yell or cry, or throw things. But when she saw how sorry Izzie was, when she realised how much she regretted it, she had stopped herself. That whole night she had lain awake, thinking things through (while, although she didn’t know it, Lily, James and Remus were planning their scheme) and had accepted that her sister had not knowingly caused the disruption. What happened between her and Sirius was not her sister’s fault, and she had told Izzie of this at four in the morning, so as to get it off her chest. Izzie, who was having trouble sleeping also, had been relieved, and proud of Henrie for coming to such a mature decision, when she knew that she herself would not have been so reasonable.

But what to do about Sirius, Henrie hadn’t known. The trust she had felt was gone, whether she liked it or not, and it pained her to see him everyday �“ although somehow, this had not happened as often as it normally would. She wanted to trust him, wanted to forgive him, but was not sure entirely if he wanted the same thing. After all, he had not spoken to her all week, and she knew he was not a coward, so his silence could only mean one thing. If only she could talk to him, she decided, then she would know what to do. As it was, she had not had the chance.

“Henrie,” Lily said, interrupting her thoughts. “I know you’re not going to like this, but I set up a date for you. They’re on their way right now. Here, put this on.” And she handed Henrie a plain white mask, covering around her eyes.

“What? Why?”

“Don’t worry, it’s totally cool,” Lily said. “You’re date’s will be white, too, so you’ll know it’s him. Meanwhile, I will wear this red one, and Izzie here will have a black one. Tie your hair back, that way it will be harder to recognise us.”

“Why can’t we just look at each other?” Henrie asked, confused beyond belief, while Izzie eyed Lily suspiciously.

“Shush, they’re coming. Masks, masks, masks!”

As the three girls struggled, the Marauders entered the pub, mostly feeling like idiots. They sent Peter off to get seven butterbeers, and made their way over to the table. Remus, with his black mask, sat opposite Izzie, closest to the door. James, in red, sat next to him, opposite Lily, and Sirius and Henrie were on the end, both in white.

“Right,” Lily said, brightly. “Everyone just talk, and get to know each other.”

She leaned in close to James, and began whispering the days events so far, making sure only he could hear her, while Remus �“ as planned �“ filled the silence with murmuring the plan to an amused Izzie, explaining �“ quite rightly �“ that if it looked like those two pairs had hit it off straight away, it would encourage Sirius and Henrie to talk, also.

“What if they recognise each other’s voices?” asked Izzie, and Remus paled. “Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen.”

Henrie watched as her friends leaned in and started talking to their dates straight away, with a very worrying ease. She looked over at the boy in the white mask in front of her.

“Um. Hi,” she said, feeling herself blush. She glared at Lily for putting her in such an awkward situation. Her date wasn’t even looking at her.

“Oh, yeah, hi. Look,” he said. “I don’t even want to be here. Truth is, I love someone else, I’m just having trouble working it out with her. So don’t get your hopes up too high.”

Feeling a little hurt, Henrie nodded. “Don’t worry, I kind of like someone else too. I don’t know what Lily was thinking when she set all of this up, because she knows that perfectly well, too.”

Sirius looked up. Lily was the one in the red mask? He looked over at her. Of course it was her! He saw now her long red hair, pulled back in a ponytail, but still unmistakable. So if that was Lily, who was her friend? He pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes, but it fell straight back into the exact same place.

Henrie, who was watching all this, gasped. She leant forwards, looking for his eyes �“ those distinctive grey eyes. And there they were, looking back at her, her own recognition starting to mirror in his.

It can’t be, he thought, that would be impossible. Why on Earth would James go to all that trouble? He glanced at his best friend, as he spoke to Lily urgently, their eyes flicking towards himself and Henrie every now and then. He narrowed his own. Scheming little water rats!

“Henrie,” he said.

“Sirius?” she replied. They took off their masks, and each let out a relieved smile.

“This,” he said loudly, brandishing it in the air. “Was an utter waste of someone’s time and energy. If someone �“” he glanced meaningfully at Lily and James, who paled considerably “�“ thought that somehow it would cover up our identities, they were sadly mistaken. Now, if you wanted me and Henrie to talk, why didn’t you just let us?”

“Never mind that, Sirius,” Henrie told him. “Did you say you were in love with someone else?”

“Well �“ that was before I realised �“ I mean, I’m not �“ so did you!” he stammered.

“I was talking about you,” she whispered, her voice low, hardly daring to let herself hope.

“I �“ I �“ um �“ well �“ yeah,” he muttered finally, looking away. “Me too.” And then, as if possessed by a sudden spirit much bolder than he felt, he reached out and kissed her, before breaking away and grinning at her surprised, but pleased, face.

“I ... uh ... there was a long queue,” Peter said, levitating seven butterbeers in front of him, wide eyed at the scene in front. Sirius laughed, and started taking the bottles out of the air and handing them round.

“Sit down, Wormtail, for all is well!”

“Are you ... sure?”

Sirius beamed. “Perfectly.”

Peter sat down, and took a sip from his drink. “What did I miss?”

As James explained everything that had been going on to Peter, Izzie was starting to feel uncomfortable. She had not forgotten her own part in all the chaos of the last few weeks, and was waiting for the moment when someone remembered that. Eventually, after the plan had finally been merrily told to practically the whole pub, Sirius caught her eye, and sidled over to her.

“Hey, Izzie,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“Um,” she stuttered, looking anywhere but at him. “I’m fine. Listen, about the thing with Snape �“”

Sirius held up his hand to silence her. “It’s okay. Let’s just forget about it, yeah?”

She nodded, wanting nothing more, and he smiled warmly at her, before patting her shoulder, and bounding off in the opposite direction, back towards the girl he never wanted to let out of his sight again.

Later, they were still loudly celebrating, on their third round of drinks, when Sirius said, laughingly, “You know, there’s still one more scheme that we haven’t talked about.”

James frowned. They had discussed the whole masked charade of the Hogsmeade trip, and talked about how Bellatrix and Snape had managed to cause such confusion in the first place, and as far as he was concerned, those were the only ‘schemes’ that had been pulled off. Now, as everyone but he and Lily began to laugh, he started to wonder whether there was something they had been kept in the dark about.

“What?” demanded Lily. “What aren’t you telling us?”

And Henrie began to explain how they had each made sure Lily and James heard the discussions on the other’s apparent passion, smiling all the way, although the couple in question’s spirits were slowly deflating.

“So ... you were never completely in love with me?” asked James, astonished.

“No!” Lily scoffed. “What do you take me for, some kind of pathetic twelve-year-old writing ‘Mrs James Potter’ on all my possessions, waiting for you to realise my feelings for you? Not a bit! I thought it was you who was some kind of ... of mysterious, poetic, unrequited ...” she trailed off, and glared at her two best friends. “I hate you both.”

Meanwhile, James was laughing. “Me? Poetic and mysterious? You’re talking to the guy who thought Yeats was a kind of nose hair clipper!”

Lily wrinkled her nose. “Charming, James ...”

“Well, exactly! I don’t think you can get less poetic than that ...”

“So ... you’re not a tortured soul, full of unrequited love and sexy, mysterious angst?” she asked, quoting Izzie exactly. He burst out laughing, as did everyone else present �“ particularly Sirius, who had to clutch the table in front of him to stop himself falling onto the floor.

Lily frowned. “But ... if I was trying so hard to return your non-existent feelings, and you were returning my non-existent feelings, then ... what have these last couple of weeks been? A lie?”

In truth, Lily did not think they had been a lie at all. In fact, they had been anything but a lie ... they had felt real. She’d worked so hard to return his feelings that ... she had started to. At first she had forced herself to return his smiles, but as time went on it started to be hers that were returned, every time she laid eyes on him, not the other way around.

James was thinking along the same lines, and was therefore very surprised when she gulped, and whispered quietly, “Well, if you don’t really love me, and I don’t really love you, I guess ... I mean, it’s the logical thing to do if we just call the whole thing quits.”

James blinked, and, heart falling, nodded slowly. “Yeah. That’s ... that’s logical.”

While the others exchanged panicked looks, something caught Peter’s eye, and without explaining himself, he stood and left the group. No one noticed, as they waited with bated breath for either Lily or James to say that they didn’t care about logic, that they wanted to stay together ... but neither did.

In desperation, Izzie cried out shrilly, “When has either of you cared about logic? Come on guys, you know you love each other really. Why are you kidding yourselves? Just ... just say it, why don’t you?”

They stared at her. James came out of his trance first, and, quite bravely, said, “Lily Evans, would you care to ... um ... date me?” He cringed at his own stupidity, while she burst into the giggles.

“Go on, then,” she gasped, before clutching her sides, and cackling with laughter. Slowly, the others began to join in, and just when they thought they might die, there was a loud crack, and they caught sight of Peter across the other side of the pub, standing below three figures hovering in the air by their ankles.

“Gotcha,” he said, grinning, while Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Snape hissed and spat at him, trying and failing to reach their wands.

Sirius grinned. “You know what, Wormtail? We’ll deal with them later. Rosmerta, my dear?” he called across the pub to the barmaid. “You couldn’t bring us another round could you?”

Rosmerta smiled. “For you, Black? Anything.”

*~*~*

AN: Hooray! And, once again, we have come to the end of another fic. I hope you’ve enjoyed it, please leave a review, and remember �“ the plot to this was borrowed from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and I hold no claim to it, or the characters and places portrayed �“ they, my friends, as I’m sure you are aware, belong to JK Rowling herself.