Lily sat back and reread the letter she had just written.

Dear Mr. Prongs,

As you well know, I have been receiving letters from you (a total of eleven, now) for well over a month and a half. You have given me no means of replying to your letters, and so, up till now, I have remained silent. After your last letter, I find it impossible not to reply.

There. That would have to do it. It was by no means as beautiful as his, but it would do. Just then, the bell rang. Oh, bugger. She’d just have to go to the Owlery this evening. She’d be late for class if she went now.

Stuffing the letters hastily into her copy of Advanced Potion Making, Lily hurried to the dungeons.

“Lily m’dear!” said Professor Slughorn happily as she took a seat. “Doing well, I hope?”

“Very well, Professor,” said Lily smiling. She had always liked Professor Slughorn, even if he was a little odd at times.

Soon the dungeons were filled with chatting sixth years. “Welcome, welcome,” said Slughorn, beaming at them all. “I think today we might have another shot at that Combusting Concoction --”

Several students tittered, remembering the incident earlier that week in which Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew’s Combusting Concoction turned a bit too literal.

“Though I think, perhaps, we’ll try different partners this time. Miss Green, if you’ll just move over here and work with Mr. Pettigrew…” Lily watched sadly as Harriet, her former partner, walked to the other side of the classroom where Peter Pettigrew sat. “And Mr. Black, you can work with Miss Evans.” Lily bit back a groan. Sirius Black was dreadful at potions. Not to mention a bit obnoxious.

“Hello, partner!” said Sirius brightly. Sure, Lily thought bitterly. Easy for him to be happy. His new partner doesn’t have a habit of exploding potions and setting things on fire…

“Sorry, Lily,” said Professor Slughorn as he passed. “But I know you’re one of the few who could put up with this one, here.” He winked at her. Black grinned.

Lily just sighed and pulled out her textbook. She flipped open to page sixty-two of Advanced Potion Making, wiping a bit of ash off the title, “Combusting Concoction.”

“Alright,” said Lily bracingly. “This is a pretty complicated potion -- though you probably already know that -- so, if you’ll just work on the first steps, I’ll prepare for the rest.”

“Okay,” said Sirius indifferently, leaving to go get supplies. Lily was heating the cauldron to the appropriate temperature when he returned, dumping the supplies on the table.

“You forgot the fire seeds,” Lily said.

“I’ll get them in a bit,” Sirius shrugged.

“You’ll get them now,” Lily demanded, glaring at him.

Sirius relented. “Alright, alright. Calm yourself, Evans.”

Lily rolled her eyes, and continued to prepare the potion. She would not have her grade killed by some pyromaniac half-wit.

“Now, chop the fire seeds with a silver knife -- a silver one, Black,” she said exasperatedly, as Sirius reached for a pewter knife. “And cut them carefully,” she stressed. “They need to be of equal sizes. As small as possible.”

“Yes, m’am,” said Sirius.

Soon, between their work, the potion had turned a fiery red color, precisely the hue it should be. Lily was pleased.

“Okay, work on step five, if you would.” She had been having him only work on chopping various ingredients, and Sirius was clearly getting bored, as his work grew steadily sloppier.

“Alright, lend me your book a minute, would you?”

“I need it…Where’s yours?” Lily asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah, about that…I don’t have one,” said Sirius carelessly.

“Pardon?”

“I lost it about a month ago.”

“What have you been doing this whole year?” asked Lily incredulously.

“Using Pete’s. C’mon, just let me use yours for a minute.”

“Fine,” said Lily, handing him her copy of Advanced Potion Making rather grudgingly. She resumed carefully stirring the potion.

She heard a thud. She turned around to see Sirius leaning down to pick up the textbook.

“I dropped it, sorry!” he said defensively. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Lily just rolled her eyes, and began to turn back around, but froze midway.

As Sirius picked up the book, several pieces of creased parchment fluttered to the ground. Without noticing Lily’s horror, Sirius leaned over and grabbed them, stuffing them back into the book. But then he caught sight of Lily’s expression, and the nosy git, giving her a curious look, unfolded a piece of parchment. His curious expression changed to delighted glee as he read the first few words.

“What’s this?” he asked, laughing. “Lily Evans keeps love letters in her textbooks?”

“Give me those,” Lily said quietly and fiercely.

Sirius, however, had other plans. To her utmost horror, he began to read one of the letters. “Dear Lily,” he said, in a rather supercilious voice. “I thought of you again this afternoon, not that I don’t every day…”

“Give it back, Black!”

“I was flying, both literally and figuratively…The sky was the most brilliant hue of reds and oranges…of your hair…”

“I’m warning you --”

“And though it must have been one of the coldest evenings I have been out on in a while, a sudden warmth overcame me -- How sweet…”

Lily had her wand out, and was ready to hex the idiot to smithereens, but suddenly, Sirius unexpectedly stopped. He stared at the bottom of the letter, glancing from Lily to the letter with a shocked expression.

“Give me the letters, Black,” Lily said again. She knew what he was thinking. Of course, he was as surprised as she was that Mr. Prongs, one of the schools infamous pranksters, was writing to her. He was probably thinking of the Halloween prank…there would be rumors everywhere…

But then, thank goodness, he put the letters back into the textbook, and handed it to her, still giving her a funny look. Lily snatched it, glaring at him.

There was a loud bang behind her, causing her to jump. But it wasn’t a book this time; it was her potion.

“Oh no!” she cried, throwing Advanced Potion Making carelessly onto the desk. She had been completely distracted. “It’s too hot!” Lily was trying frantically to cool the potion.

“Not again,” moaned Sirius.

And with another bang, the potion burst into flame.

Professor Slughorn hurried over at the sight of the fire. “Dear me! I think this potion is just bad luck for you, Mr. Black,” he said, as Lily doused the potion with her wand, so as not to engulf the entire room in fire.

“It’s ruined!” she said angrily. “Professor, I cannot work with this -- this -- idiot.” Her anger was drawn both from the ruin of what would’ve been a perfect potion, and Black’s taunting over the love letter.

“Hey, it’s not all my fault,” said Sirius indignantly. “It was just as much your job to stop it from catching fire as it was mine!”

“Yes, but if you hadn’t been reading my…” her voice trailed off, not wishing to bring up the letter in front of the entire class.

Sirius seemed to realize this, and he smirked triumphantly.

Thankfully, the class was soon announced over, and Lily, furious at both herself and Black, stormed out of the dungeons.

Now was as good a time as any to post the letter. She wasn’t really sure whether she would be able to get it to him or not, seeing as the letter was addressed to “Mr. Prongs.” A part of her was quite certain the owl would bring the letter right back to her, unable to locate the recipient, but it was worth a shot anyway.

As she climbed the stairs to the Owlery, she passed James Potter, heading in the opposite direction.

“You have soot on your shoulder,” was all he said. She made a face at his back as he walked away.

Happy to find the Owlery empty, Lily coaxed a school owl down. Then she pulled her Potions textbook out of her bag, and flipped through the pages, looking for her letter. Neither her letter nor Mr. Prong’s where anywhere to be found.

Panicking slightly, she searched her other belongings fervently. Where was it? Surely she hadn’t lost it…

What if Black had taken it? What if he meant to show it to the whole school?

But she had seen him put the letters back into the book… she had seen him! They must have fallen out. Cursing herself, she hurried back towards the Dungeons, determined to retrace her steps and find that letter.

But she could find it nowhere.

She could easily rewrite it, of course, but she didn’t exactly want that letter floating around the school.

Dejectedly, Lily made her way back towards the dorms. She wasn’t hungry for supper, anyway. The common room, as she had expected, was generally empty. Only several people were present: A fifth year couple, snogging each other by the fire, a gaggle of seventh years studying for N.E.W.Ts, and, Lily was less than pleased to see, James Potter and Sirius Black. The two were having a furious yet hushed conversation, involving many scowls and angry hand gestures. Thankfully, they both ignored her.

Curling up comfortably in her favorite chair, Lily pulled out a book and began to read. She’d rewrite the letter later. She couldn’t deal with it right now.

“I will NOT!”

Lily jumped at the outburst, as did pretty much everyone else in the near-silent common room. She looked up from her book just in time to see James Potter stomping up the stairs, Sirius Black following at his heels.

Curiosity got the better of her. Under the pretense of looking at the notice board, Lily moved herself nearer to the boy’s dormitory stairs. Apparently Sirius had stopped his friend at the top of the stairs, because she could just hear their conversation.

“I won’t do it,” James said angrily, yet keeping his voice as quiet as possible.

“You have to! You’ll completely give us away--”

James hesitated. “What does it matter anymore?”

“What does it matter? Are you kidding?” Sirius said, incredulously. “James, you have to stop.”

“I can’t! I’m telling you, I’m in --”

“Just stop sending them! It never happened, ‘Mr. Prongs’ never existed.”

Lily’s breath caught in her throat. It couldn’t be…

“She’ll get over it, eventually. She‘ll think it was just a prank,” Sirius continued. “And then you can stop hiding behind these ridiculous letters --”

“I can’t, I’m -- I love --”

“You don’t,” said Sirius roughly. “You just think you do. You hardly know her. How can you?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Maybe not, but I understand enough to know that you have to stop sending those letters.”

James was silent. “I won’t send another,” said James after a moment. Sirius sighed in relief. “Because I’ve already delivered the last one,” James finished.

Lily heard no more. She walked, or rather, drifted back towards the dorms. She climbed the stairs slowly, as if in a dream. It wasn’t possible. James Potter was Mr. Prongs. James Potter. It wasn’t possible. He hated her! He teased her, he picked on her…He called her a swot! James Potter wrote the beautiful letters she had been receiving for over a month? Ridiculous. The most intelligent thing James Potter had ever said to her was “Pass the potatoes.”

No. James Potter couldn’t be Mr. Prongs. He just couldn’t be.

But, instinctively, when she got into the room, she slowly pulled back the bed hangings. A letter with a scarlet wax seal rested on her pillow.