Sriaper&Serotser
James stirred; judging by how long he had slept he guessed it was about 9:30 in the morning.
"Hey, you. I was just going to wake you."
"Lily?"
"Duh! Who else?"
James laughed.
"Oh, then hey, I'm coming back to our rooms tonight. Well, just as long as Madam Pomfrey gives me the all-clear."
A sharp but kind voice cut in.
"You seem well enough to me. I'll help you pack up your things when you get up. Miss Evans, don't you think that it's time you went to class?"
"Not today, Madam Pomfrey, Professor Dumbledore's given me the day off."
James looked confused; Lily rarely missed her classes for anything.
"Is everything ok?"
"It's more than ok, now that you're well again."
Lily gave James a quick kiss and turned to leave. Finally things would start to get back to how they should be. She and James were together and, from the shrieking she had heard coming from her friends' dormitory last night, Rose and Sirius had finally got together. If Cady were anybody else Lily would worry that she might feel left out. However, she knew Cady better than anyone else did and she knew that Cady wouldn't mind. Besides, Rose had told her that Cady had her heart set on Remus next and God knows he wouldn't be able to escape from that. Once Cady set her mind to something it was bound to happen, whatever the cost.
***
Sirius and Remus were busy in the Head's Room, setting up tables for food and drink and making sure all the decorations were in place. Peter was nowhere to be found, but they had just put it down to eating or sleeping. All the invitations had gone out, most Gryffindor in their year had got one, a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, no Slytherins though.
As Sirius had put it, "James has been ill enough recently, having Slytherins at his party might make him worse and we wouldn't want that."
Lily strongly disagreed with this idea of division and prejudice between the houses but she and Sirius rarely agreed on anything so she let it lie. If it made James happy then it was fine by her.
"I can't believe that Dumbledore gave us the morning off for this. That man never ceases to amaze me," Sirius said, bringing out a hundred or so butterbeers from under the bed.
"Me neither, I'm just amazed that he trusts you not to skive off or something."
"Are you implying something? Besides he doesn't trust me as much as Lily, she got the whole day off."
"I never imply, Sirius," Remus said, smiling slightly. "By the way, where is Lily? I thought she was going to help us."
"Maybe she's skiving off!" Sirius replied, laughing at the thought.
***
Lily had just arrived in Hogsmeade, escorted by Professor McGonagall. She carried in her hand a bag full of splintered bits of wood: James' broom. When she had used a Summoning Charm to find it, a few days after James was admitted to the Hospital Wing, it had come back in shards. James tried to shrug it off but she could tell that he was upset; it had obviously meant something to him.
She entered a small repair shop that not many people knew about called 'Sriaper&Serotser'.
"Hello?" she called nervously to the seemingly empty shop.
"Hello my dear, Lily Evans, am I correct?"
"Yes, I sent you an owl. Are you Mr. Sriaper or Mr. Serotser?"
"Neither dear, I am Mr. Brown. The shop isn't named after people; it is the words restores and repairs backwards."
Lily blushed at her own stupidity. She placed the bag on the desk and drew five shiny, gold galleons from her pocket.
"I'll be back in one hour, ok? I really appreciate you doing this at such short notice."
"Ok, dear."
She made her way down to The Three Broomsticks for a drink while she waited. Hogsmeade seemed surprisingly empty without all the Hogwarts students milling around. The only people at the bar were a middle-aged witch who gave her a dirty stare as she sat down and a man whose face was barely visible beneath scratches and bruises.
"Are you ok?" She asked him as she collected her butterbeer from the bar.
"Fine. What's it to you anyway?" he replied gruffly.
"Just wondering," she said, making a mental note never to talk to a scary stranger in a bar again.
The man laughed to himself as he exited the bar, everything was in position, now all he had to worry about was Peter doing his job.
***
Lily spent the next hour drinking Butterbeer and window-shopping in Hogsmeade. When the time came to pick up the broomstick she felt anticipation clench her stomach.
Please God let it work, please God let it be fixed!
She walked into the shop and waited for Mr Brown to appear with the finished result.
"There you are, good as new. I took the liberty of giving it a polish as well."
Lily peeked into the bag he had given her. It was good as new. She took out another galleon from her pocket and placed it into Mr Brown's hand.
"Thank you so much," she said, walking out of the shop.
***
As she made her way back up to Hogwarts she took a closer look at the broom. It was a favourite rumour amongst the seventh years that if you touched this broom then your team would catch the Snitch every match of the season. She ran her hand against the smooth, polished wood and came across the inscription. She read it and took a sharp intake of breath. Now she knew why James loved this broom so much. It was all he had left from his father, the man James has admired the most.
She returned to the Heads' Room later that night. Everything was perfectly set out and the Marauders stood staring at her curiously. She showed them the broom and they seemed to understand. Sirius gave her a respectful nod and Remus smiled; only Peter seemed not to care.
"What's up with him?" Sirius asked, as he ran from the room.
***
Peter ran, down corridors and passageways, down staircases and by portraits. He had made his choice; there was no going back. Slowly, he reached up and knocked and the door creaked open to the Hospital Wing.
A/n What did you think? Did you like that chappie? Was that an ok cliffhanger? Please please please give me feedback, positive or negative I just want to improve. Also, if you have any spare time could you let me know what your favourite chapter so far has been and who your favourite OC is, my email is m.moo.moo@gmail.com. Thanks!