“Remus and Peter still in detention, then?� James asked, replacing his glasses after taking them off to pull on his nightshirt.

“Must be,� Sirius said, pulling on his pyjamas as well.

“It's a bit funny, isn’t it?� James mused. “When it's them in detention and not us?�

“Yeah,� Sirius agreed, chortling. “Nice to have it on the other foot every once in a while, especially for Remus. Maybe now he’ll let up on the telling-off a bit.� He began pulling down the comforter of his four-poster.

“Speaking of things on the other foot,� said James as he clicked off the light and walked carefully back to his own bed in the semi-darkness. “Did you see the look on Lily’s face when I snogged Mary?�

“Yeah,� said Sirius, suddenly immersed in making sure his hangings concealed his bed just so. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see James watching him, clearly expecting him to say more on the subject. Resignedly he added, “She looked pretty shocked.�

“Not just shocked – jealous!� James said, seeming to relish the word. “She was jealous that I was kissing Mary.�

Sirius was silent. There was something he desperately wanted to say – something he felt he needed to say, but he wasn’t sure how to go about doing it. It was much more Remus’s territory. He decided to start with the obvious. “Er... so you like Mary, do you?� he asked.

He heard the posts of James’s bed creak as he shrugged. “I dunno,� he said. “She’s nice to look at.�

Sirius couldn’t help but agree on this point. She was pretty. That, however, was not the point of the conversation he was trying to have with James. He refocused, trying a new tactic instead.

“So I guess that whole thing with Lily is done?� he asked.

“What d’you mean?� James asked quickly, and Sirius heard him sit-up and the sound of him feeling around on his bedside table for his glasses. “Done? Of course it’s not done.�

“Oh,� said Sirius, attempting a politely confused tone. “I just thought that since... you know, you were going around snogging some other girl, that – �

“You realise you’ve snogged nearly every girl in our year, and then some?�

“What’s your point?� Sirius snapped.

“That if you’re going to lecture me on the ethics of snogging random girls, your credibility is shattered.�

“Well, my point is that going around with other girls probably won’t make Lily like you any more,� said Sirius stoutly.

“She’s gone around with other boys,� James pointed out. While this was true, Sirius didn’t have the heart to tell him that Lily probably dated other boys because she genuinely liked them, not in an attempt to make him jealous.

“Look.� He sat up and wrenched his hangings apart so he could face James’s outline in the dark. “All I’m saying is that maybe the best way to win Lily over is to... to grow up!�

He heard James get out of bed. A moment later, the lights flicked on. Sirius groaned as the light hit his dilated pupils and shut his eyes immediately. “What’d you do that for?� he demanded.

“Just wanted to make sure I was talking to you and not Remus.� There was a cool note in his voice as he walked back to his bed and sat down, contemplating Sirius with his arms crossed.

“Meaning?� Sirius asked, somewhat heatedly. He stood up.

James stood up as well. “Meaning,� he said, “that you’re the last person on earth I would expect to be having this conversation with.�

“So?� Sirius asked. He was really starting to get annoyed now. All he had wanted to do was make the simple point that James might actually consider taking Remus's and Peter’s well-meant advice and grow up a bit. James had no right to be cross with him, especially when he’d never been cross with the other two about the subject. All Sirius was trying to do was help.

“Looking at your track-record, I’d say you haven’t got the authority to go around dolling out dating advice,� James said, his voice rising. “When was the last time you were in a relationship, rather than just snogging some girl whose name you don’t even know?�

“We’re not talking about me!� Sirius snapped. “My love life doesn’t concern you.�

“But mine concerns you?� James shot back.

Sirius had nothing to say to this. It was true what he said, that his love life didn’t concern James, but only because he didn’t have one – not in the way James meant, anyway, because he was right. He wasn’t sure he had ever been a relationship before – a real one, where you actually cared about the other person. He’d never felt about any girl the way James felt about Lily. He wanted desperately to convey this to James somehow, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. Instead he retorted in anger. “Yeah, it does!� he shouted. “I’m sick of you moaning about how Lily never gives you the time of day, and it’s time you got it through your head that it’s because you’re such a prat that no one in their right mind would ever consider dating you!�

James looked shocked at this, and Sirius himself knew that he had crossed a line.

“Just shut up, okay?� James shouted. He was red in the face and angrier than Sirius had ever seen him, even when he was dealing with Snape.

“I’m trying to help you!� Sirius knew he should apologise; he had gone too far, but he couldn’t help but think that for the first time in their entire conversation that James was actually listening to him.

“Yeah, well it’s different for you isn’t it?� James said, and Sirius was surprised to hear the resentment in his voice.

“What’s that supposed to mean?� Sirius asked.

James opened his mouth to respond, then closed it, apparently unsure of how to proceed. “Just that – it’s different for you,� he said finally, staring at the floor.

Sirius stared at him. “Different?� he asked, bewildered. “What are you on about?�

James flushed deeper, but continued looking determinedly at the ground. “All the girls just love Sirius Black, don’t they? They just sort of fall into your arms because your good-looking and – and funny. But it’s not like that for me.� He stopped here, looking confused and Sirius knew somehow that these thoughts had been lurking in the back of James’s mind for sometime, but he had never really considered them before now. Finally doing so seemed to baffle him as much as it was Sirius. “I mean,� he continued finally, still looking at the carpet, “they like me, but they don’t fall at my feet they way they do for you.� James looked up at him quickly, and then at the floor again, his face redder still.

Sirius, who was feeling a little hot on the face himself, took a moment before answering; he’d never seen this side of James of before – a side that was, unless he was mistaken – jealous of Sirius. Somehow it didn’t compute with the James he knew; his ever-confident best friend, and now he couldn’t seem to reconcile these two sides. Finally, he said, “I doubt Lily would fall in love with me any quicker than she would you.�

“Well, maybe not at first,� James said, and he looked him in the eye once again. “But it might – � he stopped, looking for the right words – “even the playing field a bit. I mean, you’ve seen her. She belongs more with someone who looks like you than me,� he added, resuming his staring match with the floor.

“James, you’re being stupid,� Sirius said. He hadn’t meant to come off so bluntly, but those were the only words that could sum up what was, in Sirius’s eyes anyway, James’s completely irrational thought-process. “Lily hates me just as much as she hates you – more, probably – and looks have got nothing to do with it.� Part of him wished James would meet his eye, especially because he had a nagging feeling that they were having one of those moments that would further define their friendship; that would prove that they were in fact maturing, that they could talk about these things, but another part of him felt that it might make this conversation even more awkward. “You just need to grow up, James,� he said, finally, looking at the top of James’s head, the closest he could come to looking him in the eye with his head bent. “We both do, don’t we?� he added, struck suddenly by the fact that he’d do well to take his own advice.

James was silent at this. He was still staring at the floor, but Sirius had a feeling he could no longer see it, lost in thought as he was. His eyebrows were knitted and he was frowning slightly, apparently thinking over what Sirius had said. He looked up at him abruptly. “Thanks,� he said.

“No problem,� Sirius replied, a little thrown off by James’s rapid change in attitude. He had, after all, been yelling at him not three minutes ago.

“Shall I get the lights then?� James asked.

“I s’pose,� Sirius said, slipping back under his blankets.

James got up and crossed the room once again, turned off the lights, and settled into bed himself. Neither of them said a word that night (or ever again, for that matter) to each other about the conversation they’d just shared, but Sirius couldn’t help but notice a few marked differences in James’s behaviour. In fact, the next morning at breakfast, James asked, after a very pleasant, “Good morning, Lily,� if she’d mind if he took the seat next to her, quite a change from his usual presumptuous habit of simply sitting down beside her and trying to interest her in a retelling of some of his latest Quidditch feats. Lily was too surprised to do anything more than return the greeting and somewhat dazedly allow him to sit next to her.

And there were other things too. Later that same morning he held open the door to their first class for her, and was quickly making a habit of it. He abandoned his tendency to sidle up to her in hallway, speaking loudly so the rest of the school was sure to see that they were talking, choosing instead to simply smile at her when their paths happened to cross. Of course, being James, and so ingrained in his old habits as he was, he did slip up more than once, but Lily seemed more inclined to overlook these mistakes the fewer and farther between they became. In fact, a month or so after their conversation, when James pulled out a chair and gestured arrogantly for Lily to sit – a practice he had been working hard to prune – rather than shouting that he was a conceited prat to assume she’d sit anywhere near him, Lily took the seat with a smile and the two ended up having their first real conversation in six years of schooling.

“What on earth has gotten in to him?� Remus asked a few days later, as he, Peter, and Sirius neglected their Transfiguration homework, choosing instead to watch James and Lily talking from across the common room. By Sirius’s count, it was their third conversation this week.

“I may have said a few things to him,� Sirius said with a shrug, returning to the book spread between them.

The other two looked surprised. “What did you say?� Remus asked.

“Just that he’d do well to grow up.� He chose not to elaborate. The details of their conversation had been a private – and important – moment between the two of them, and he doubted James would thank him to repeat what he’d said in the dead of night all those weeks ago.

Remus’s surprised expression was now mingled with exasperation. “I’ve been telling him that for years! He’s never once listened to me!�

“Yeah, well maybe that’s the problem,� Peter piped up. “You’re always going around telling us to grow up, and to do our homework. To be completely honest, we sort of tune it out,� he added apologetically. “I think it sort of hit a nerve, you know, hearing it from Sirius.�

Remus, looking further agitated at Peter’s comment about ignoring his advice, merely pulled the book away from Sirius, who had resumed pouring over it, muttering something about “whatever works,� but Sirius could see the smile he was trying to hide, and knew that Remus, like himself, was simply happy for their friend.

James’s real triumph, however, came on the train ride back to Kings Cross.

“Look!� he said. He was panting slightly, having just run back into their compartment after Lily had asked for a private word. He was brandishing a scrap of parchment under their noses.

“Well, if you’d stop waving it around we might have the opportunity to,� Peter said, looking faintly amused.

Sirius however, took a more direct approach and snatched the parchment from his hand. Holding it at arms-length, he read, “Lily Evans, 1261 Prattle Way, Watford.� He looked up. “She gave you her address,� Sirius said, impressed, handing back the slip of parchment.

“Said she wouldn’t mind hearing from me over the summer,� he told them in a modest tone that didn’t near cover the grin on his face.

“Slow and steady, Prongs. That’s all it takes,� Remus said, smiling slightly.

“Who would have thought,� James said, a look of sheer wonder on his face as he considered the parchment once again. “Lily Evans – asking me to write her over the summer.�

“Always knew you had it in you,� said Sirius, clapping him on the shoulder.

James beamed at him. “I suppose I did,� he said. “I just had a bit of growing up to do, is all,� he added, giving Sirius a rather meaningful look that lasted for the blink of an eye.

He tucked the parchment safely away in his pocket and the four settled into a game of Exploding Snap, congratulating themselves on making it through yet another term, and imagining what their seventh and final year would hold in store for them. Somehow, Sirius knew, for James at least – and hopefully for all of them – that they were great things indeed.