James Potter stepped unto platform nine and three quarters with a spring in his step. It was the first day of his sixth year at Hogwarts and he was certain that it would be a good one. He was looking forward to seeing all of his close friends again. He had only managed to see Sirius a couple of times during the holidays and he craved the dynamic of the full Marauder set. His parents appeared behind him and let the gaze roam over the platform. Richard and Victoria Potter were both in their seventies and prominent figures in the wizarding world.

'Well, here we are,' said Richard in his deep voice. 'And we are even fifteen minutes early for once.'

'I wonder whether Sirius is already here,' said Victoria. 'He is such a nice boy, I hope he is well. He will probably be happy to return to Hogwarts. After all it can get a bit stuffy in his family home.'

James rolled his eyes. He had never understand why exactly his mother liked Sirius so much, but his mutt of a best friend had his mother wrapped around his finger.

'Speak of the devil,' muttered Richard as he had just spotted the Sirius together with his family. 'We should avoid them if possible, I am not in the mood to clash my wits with these people.'

'Be nice Richard,' chided his wife. 'It is important to remain civil, you have said it yourself.'

'Yes, and I will be very polite, but only if I have to,' said his father, before addressing James. 'Can you make it on the train yourself? Then I have a chance to escape the Blacks.'

'Sure,' said James. 'No problem.'

'Good boy,' said his father and squeezed his shoulders. 'Remember what I told you over the holidays. You are almost a man now and have to act appropriately. You are the heir to the Potter family after all. So, I expect you to behave yourself.'

'Alright,' said James. He had made promises like this at the beginning of each school year, but this time he was actually serious. The events of the summer had added a new grimness into his reality. It did not seem right to walk around pranking people when the world outside was slowly slipping into civil war. Also, he still remembered the telling off Lily Evans gave him back in June. She had told him what a vile person he was and after some reflection during the summer, he had to admit that she had a point. He had not always behaved properly in the last years at Hogwarts. Both these experience had motivated him to stay out of trouble as much as possible during the year.

'Very well then,' said his father and pulled him into a hug. 'Stay safe and remember what I taught you over the holidays. The world is not safe anymore. And wear the ring. Be proud of your heritage.'

James hugged him back before moving on to his mother. She hugged him tightly and kissed his check.

'Stay save Jamie,' she said. James rolled his eyes. He hated that nickname. 'And watch out for Sirius. He is even better at getting into trouble than you are.'

James had to agree with her. His best mate was bold and often ignored the consequences of his behaviour. When unchecked Sirius and he could amp each other up until they did something very stupid. Fortunately, they usually had Remus to keep them in line. James bade goodbye to his parents and stepped onto the train. He had seen Sirius slip into one of the most forward compartments and made his way there. When he was halfway there, a compartment door opened and a girl stepped out without looking properly. James promptly ran into her, but managed to prevent both himself and her from falling.

'Are you alright?' he asked her.

'Yeah, I am so sorry,' she said swiping her long blonde curly hair out of her eyes so she could see properly. James took a good look at here. She was a bit older than him and almost as tall as he was. She had a pretty face, with large blue eyes, high cheekbones and plump lips. Her body was trim and firm like an athlete. Did she play Quidditch? He could not remember ever having played against her. 'Thanks for catching the two of us,' she continued.

'No problem,' said James.

'You are James Potter, are you not?' she asked, eying him closely.

'Yeah I am,' said James feeling defensive somehow. 'And you are?'

'Amber Marchbanks,' she said. 'I am a seventh year Ravenclaw. Well, I have to get going. I will see you around, James.'

She wandered off with her long blonde hair swaying behind her. James stared after her for a moment, before snapping out of his daze and continuing his way to the compartment.

When he arrived, his three best friends were already all present. Remus looked well. His family had spent the last two weeks in Brighton and some sun had help him get rid of his usually too pale skin. Peter was a bit chubbier than James remembered. Maybe his mother had fattened him up again. Sirius looked as he always did: handsome and slightly haughty, even though a smile was currently playing on his face.

'Hey,' said James and flopped down into a free seat after having stored his trunk.

'Prongs!' cried Sirius. 'It is marvellous to see you mate. I need some help to convince these two killjoys. I have this great prank idea...'

'Which obviously is completely stupid,' said Remus. 'Hi James, did you enjoy your summer?'

'It was too quiet for my taste,' said James. 'Too little action leaves too much time to think.'

'Indeed?' said Remus, raising an eyebrow. 'And what have you thought about exactly?'

'How he is getting into Evan's knickers, of course,' said Sirius. 'Is this the year Prongs? Are you going to get here this time?'

'Not really,' said James. 'I am done with Lily Evans.'

'Like hell you are,' snorted Sirius. 'You are way too stubborn to give up now.'

'Are you serious Prongs?' asked Peter. 'And don't say it Sirius.'

Sirius had just opened his mouth, probably to make another stupid serious-Sirius-joke, but Peter's comment ruined the moment for him and he just closed his mouth instead.

'Yes, I am,' said James. 'I kept thinking about the trouble at the lake at the end of last year. I cannot deny it any more. Lily hates me. There is no point in chasing her at this point.'

'And it took you this long to figure that out?' asked Sirius. 'Merlin, you are dense. I have told you hundred times that she hates you and that you are wasting your time with here. Well, at least you are wiser now. That is big news. James Potter is back in business! If the two of us work together mate, we can drop the panties of any girl in minutes, mark my words.'

'Yes, I am sure you two will kill it out there,' said Remus, rolling his eyes. 'I think you are doing the right thing here, James. Lily and you have never gotten along and you chasing her has made the whole relationship even more awkward. Backing off and having some fun with other girls is a good idea. It will help heal the wounds.'

'Yeah, I know,' said James. 'It feels weird, but I have to do it. But I am not exactly great with girls, so I have no idea if I will find a girlfriend.'

'Not great with girls?' asked Peter incredibly. 'James, you have shagged Emily Towler and she is gorgeous.'

'That doesn't count,' said James. Emily had been one of his fellow chasers in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She was two years older than him and had finished Hogwarts last year. 'It did not even do much, she started the whole thing. And she was on the rebound because her boyfriend had dumped her.'

'Well don't worry about this mate,' said Sirius. 'Fortunately, you have me to give you advice in picking up girls. After all, everybody knows that I am Hogwarts's greatest ladies man.'

'Oh yeah,' said Remus dryly. 'I remember you trying to get into Hestia Jones's pants last Halloween. She slapped you so hard you nearly fell. James will do great with your help, I am sure.'

'Oh please Remus,' said Sirius. 'Hestia was just in bad mood that day. Anyway, who will be your next target James? Now that you are done chasing Evans, you can pick any witch in Hogwarts.'

'I dunno,' said James. However, a brief image of the girl he encountered in the corridor flashed through her mind. She seemed... interesting and was also very pretty. 'But I think I will stay away from Gryffindor girls for a while. The drama hits too close to home. It is not worth it.'

'That's probably a good idea,' said Remus with a small grin. 'It will certainly make my life easier.'

'How so?' asked Peter. 'Usually it was just Prongs acting like an idiot around Lily. How does this affect you?'

'She tended to glare at me whenever James or Sirius pulled a prank, apparently expecting me to stop them. Also, she more than once complained to me about Prongs's way to ask her out. If all of this stops now, I will be much happier.'

'There is no way we are stopping our pranks,' said Sirius sounding horrified. 'We are the Marauders after all.'

'Actually, that is something I wanted to talk about,' said James. 'Have you been reading the papers? Have you noticed what's going on?'

'Yeah,' said Sirius grimly. 'Bloody lunatic called Voldemort running around murdering people. My bloody parents are over the moon.'

'What?' asked Peter. 'Whatever for?'

'They think he has the right ideas' said Sirius disgustedly. 'They think the wizarding world is too nice to Muggle-born and Muggles. They want back to the days when the pure-blood families reigned supreme and everybody else was serving them. And they want to ban Muggle-borns from attending Hogwarts and from having kids with pure-bloods. Voldemort is a saviour to them.'

'That's sick,' said Remus.

'Yeah, I know,' said Sirius. 'But Regulus eats it all up. He is stupid enough to get tangled in the conflict and join the bad side.'

'I am sure he won't,' said James reassuringly. He often forgot how bad Sirius's parents were. He wondered how his best mate could bare it. 'In each case, this conflict is getting worse. Two family friends were murdered over the summer.'

'Who?' asked Sirius.

'Richard and Margaret Bones,' said James. 'They were old friends of my parents. I last saw them when I got back from school in June. They were attacked by Death Eaters and killed in their house.'

'Shit, James,' said Sirius. 'I am so sorry.'

'Don't be,' said James. 'I am okay. I did not know them that well.'

'But this is very close to home,' said Remus. 'I think, I remember these names. They were pure-bloods, were they not?'

'Yeah,' said James. 'They tried to change the legislation so that Muggle-borns get more support after school. Many of them can't get proper jobs in the Ministry as they lack the necessary connections. I guess the Death Eaters did not like it.'

'That's scary,' said Peter. 'I thought they did not target pure-bloods.'

'They do if they consider you a blood traitor,' said Sirius. 'James and I are way worse in their eyes than half-bloods like Remus and you. James, are your parents save? Everybody knows that they oppose this pure-blood mania.'

'As safe as anybody is these days,' said James. 'My father has reinforced the protection around our manor and has gotten us emergency portkeys. I think we will be okay. He also taught me some duelling techniques over the summer, because he says I have to be able to defend myself.'

'Indeed?' asked Sirius intrigued. 'You have to show us what you have learned Prongs. Your father knows his stuff, this could be very interesting.'

'I will mate, don't worry,' said James. 'Anyway, my father also used the opportunity to give me a lecture about how I have to behave myself. He reminded me that I am heir to an old and noble family and that I have to act like one. He said that in these dangerous times we have to be very careful and have to think about consequences of our actions before taking them. The same old rubbish he told me hundreds of times already.'

'I do not get it,' said Remus. 'I mean I get why he wants you to behave. You are high society after all and I wager that it is an embarrassment for him if you spent half of your time in school in detention, but why does he bring it up now?'

'Because he wants to keep a low profile,' says Sirius gruffly. 'The Potters are known for their sympathy for Muggles, but they are still a very rich and respected family. This means that Voldemort may be interested in recruiting them.'

'Are you serious?' asked Peter, before realizing what kind of pun he had enabled. 'Wait, don't answer that. I mean everybody knows that Prongs would never join You-Know-Who. They would be foolish to try to recruit them.'

'Sirius is right,' says James. 'Even if they only see a slight chance, they will try to recruit me or my family. They have a lot to gain and very little to lose by trying it. I am sure they know about my behaviour at Hogwarts. Father wants to confuse them by being hard to figure out. His reasoning is that they will not hurt us as long as they view us as possible allies. Therefore he wants me to play the proper heir to the Potter family. Most of Voldemort's supporters are probably old stuck up pure-bloods. They will be more willing to consider recruiting my family if they see me as a well behaved wizard who does not spent his time pranking the Slytherins.'

'Being hard to figure out is a good idea,' said Sirius. 'And you are probably right. Most pure-bloods expect from their children to be snobby, cold, stuck up fools. You do not fit any of these categories and have been hexing more than a few good pure-bloods in the last year. So, for this move to be a bit more credible, you have to change your behaviour. You are not going to do it though, are you?'

'Yes, I am,' said James. 'Well, not all the way of course. I am not going to become some wanker, who cares about blood purity. But I am going to lay low on the pranks.'

'WHAT!' shouted Sirius. 'Come on mate, you can't be serious!'

'Think about this Sirius,' said James. 'We have spent a lot of hours of our life in detention in the last few years. It was fun in the beginning, but I am quite done with scrubbing cauldrons. My father has been telling me to better my behaviour for years now and I have always ignored him. But now, things have changed. I find it hard to care about pranks if good people get murdered in their beds. My family could be next. I just can't disobey my father in this point, just to terrorize a few Slytherins.'

'I think this a very good idea,' said Remus. 'You have a certain responsibilities towards your family and you should not let them down.'

'Of course this does not mean that we cannot do any pranks anymore,' said James while grinning slightly. 'It just means that I must not get caught. As long as I can credibly deny my involvement, it does not tarnish my reputation. And it means we cut down on the time spent in detention.'

'But taking credit for it is half the fun,' protested Sirius.

'Well, you can take the fall for the pranks then Padfoot,' said James. 'I need to be the good boy this year.'

'Alright then,' grumbled Sirius. 'At least this is for a proper reason and not to impress a stuck up girl like Evans.'

'I still can't believe you are doing this,' said Peter. 'Why do participate in this strange mind games?'

'This is the way it is, Wormtail' said James. 'The pure-blood elite spends most of each day in a power struggles with each other. We constantly try to best our foes and keep our friends close. Most of it is pointless manoeuvring about petty advantages which nobody out of our close circle even notices, but over a longer time it determines the state of your family. Why do you think over eighty percent of all Minsters for Magic have been pure-bloods even if only five percent of the Wizarding population is pure-blood? It is all about getting the lion's share of the power and the wealth. It is the price we pay for our privilege. You are a half-blood and your mum is not part of the elite. Therefore, you do not see what is going on the very top.'

'James is right,' agreed Sirius. 'Why do you think James and I always get into trouble at school? It is the only place, where we can be young for a change. While we are with our parents, we always have to keep the family's reputation in mind.'

'You care about your family's reputation?' asked Remus with a raised eyebrow. 'I can image James behaving in certain situations, but you got drunk during a family party and hexed the pies so that they flew into everybody's faces.'

'Well, I never said I cared about it,' said Sirius grinning. 'I just said that I kept it in mind, just to know how I can damage it best.'

James laughed.

'Listen mate, you know that you will always have a place in my family if things get tough, right?' he said to Sirius. 'I know your parents can be a bit difficult.'

Sirius snorted, but smiled gratefully at James.

'It's interesting how the life of an elite pure-blood differs from the one of a normal wizard,' mused Remus. 'I mean my father is from a respected, but poor pure-blood family and he never told me about all this.'

'He married a Muggle-born witch,' said James. 'That is an express ticket out of the elite.'

'Unless you are very rich,' added Sirius. 'Some hard core purists may sneer at you, but as long as you have enough money, they will still suck up to you.'

'Well, my family was never rich,' said Remus. 'I never realized that marrying a Muggle-born is such a big deal.'

'It is not just marrying a Muggle-born,' said James. 'Half-bloods are frowned upon too. Most purists will try to marrying only other pure-bloods. They want to preserve their blood purity. Of course this does not work as there are way too few pure-bloods around. Nevertheless, almost all pure-bloods are related to each other. Sirius and I, for example, are related, albeit distantly.'

'Yes,' said Sirius. 'And my family does not oppose a little incest to keep the blood line pure. Moony and Wormtail are lucky in a way. Their families never had a high status which they could fret about. They are free Prongs, much more than we are.'

'Oh sure,' said Peter, rolling his eyes. 'It must be horrible to have a ton of money and connections. You two will never have to work in your life if you have to and can get almost any witch just because of your status. Remus and I are not so lucky.'

'You are right of course, Pete,' said James. 'I am just saying that it comes with advantages and disadvantages.'

'What does?' said a voice from the door. The four Marauder's looked around and saw Marlene McKinnon standing in the doorway. Marlene was a small girl with wavy brown hair, a curvy figure and blue eyes. She and James had been friends since they had been small kids as their parents were friends. James noticed that she was much more tanned than usual.

'Mar,' said James, standing up and hugging her. 'You are looking good. Did you have fun in Spain?'

'Oh yes,' she said. 'It was great. Wizarding Spain is very different from Britain. People are more relaxed. Probably because of the weather. Father was very busy setting up this business deals, but my mother, Henry and I had a great time. We even visited some Muggle landmarks.'

'Sounds like fun,' said Sirius. 'I have wanted to visit Spain for some time. I have heard that the Spanish birds are spectacular.'

'Of course that is what you care about in a vacation,' said Marlene, rolling her eyes. 'But enough chit-chat. What were you talking about, when I showed up? Something about upsides and downsides?'

'We were talking about the upsides and downsides of being a pure-blood,' said James.

'Yeah, Sirius and James were wallowing in self-pity over their hard lives,' said Peter, rolling his eyes.

'Hard lives?' said Marlene raising an eyebrow. 'Have your parents finally arranged a marriage for you, James? I thought they had reconsidered years ago.'

'Of course they haven't,' said James.

'What do you mean reconsidered?' asked Remus. 'Was it ever an option?'

'Oh, yes,' said Marlene grinning. 'At one point James's and my parents even plotted marrying us to each other. Fortunately, they changed their mind. Imagine being stuck with this oaf for life.'

'Hey!' protested James. 'You would do just fine with me, thank you very much. I could do a lot better than your useless prat of boyfriend.'

Marlene had been going out for more than six months with Charlie Davies who played chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

'You just do not like Charlie, because he almost as good as chaser as you,' said Marlene.

'Almost as good?' said James incredulously. 'I am a much better chaser and everybody knows it! I have wiped the floor with him in every Quidditch match we played against Ravenclaw.'

'But he still holds the record for the highest amount of goals scored,' said Sirius. 'Remember the one in fourth year against Hufflepuff? He demolished them.'

'Yes, because it was a bloody three hour match,' grumbled James. 'Everybody can score a ton of goals if the seekers do not do their jobs.'

'You are so cute when you get defensive like this,' said Marlene and ruffled his hair. 'I am sure that one day you will score just as many goals as Charlie.'

James threw her a nasty look, but did not say anything.

'James is right, though,' said Sirius. 'Davies is a bloody wanker. A pretty bird like you can do much better.'

'Like whom?' asked Marlene. 'And has anyone ever told you that calling a girl a pretty bird is not the way to her heart?'

'Like me,' said Sirius. 'And I am only stating the obvious dearie.'

'Bugger off,' said Marlene. 'I am not interested in becoming your flavour of the week. Besides, Charlie is a much nicer person than you are.'

'Well, I never,' said Sirius in mock indignation. 'This is slander! Slander, I say. I have had relationships which lasted more than week, thank you very much.'

'Yeah, two,' said Remus. 'And you were done with most girls you shagged after a single night.'

'There are girls you shag and girls you date, Remus,' said Sirius. 'Surely, you know the difference.'

'Ugh, disgusting,' said Marlene. 'You are a pig, Sirius, I hope you know that. Well, I have to move on. The rest of the ladies are waiting for me. I will see you at Hogwarts'.

She stood up and made her way over to the compartment door.

'Oy, Marlene,' said Sirius. 'A little bit of truth is no reason to get you knickers in a twist.'

'Well, you don't have to worry about this,' replied Marlene sweetly. 'I am not wearing any.'

With these words she slipped through the door and slammed it shut. Sirius stared after her with his mouth open.

'Close your mouth Padfoot, before something flies in,' said Remus with a smile.

'Do you really think she is not wearing any knickers?' said Sirius, in a slightly dazed void. 'No knickers under a skirt. Bloody hell, that's hot.'

'Will you stop lusting after her?' said James annoyed. 'It's gross.'

'You are only saying that because you have known her for too long,' said Sirius. 'You may have trouble seeing it Prongs, but she is very fit. Damn, I have to shag here if I ever get the chance.'

'I think we should change the subject,' said Remus hurriedly, after seeing James's murderous look. 'Who do you think is going to teach Defence against the Dark Arts this year?'

'Hopefully, someone good,' said Peter. 'Last year was horrible. All we did was read the textbook. We need some practical training.'

James was thankful for the change of subject. It had taken him some time to accept that Marlene was dating boys and had probably shagged some of them in the past. However, accepting it did not mean that he liked it. Therefore, he did not appreciate Sirius lusting after her. Sirius was his best mate, but his interested in witches quickly waned after he had shagged them. Normally, James did not care about this, but he did not like the thought of Sirius using his best female friend. He hoped that the two of them would never hit it off. He would be forced to beat Sirius to a pulp if he hurt Marlene. For a moment, he pondered asking Sirius to stay away from Marlene, but he quickly reconsidered. It was pointless. Asking Sirius not to do something usually only caused him to do this exact thing. Also, Sirius would be ribbing him mercilessly if he knew how much the thought of him shagging Marlene bothered James. No, he would simply wait and only beat up his best mate if it became necessary.

'We should start some kind of duelling club,' said Sirius. 'This would make defence fun again. Imagine getting good marks because you spectacularly hexed Snivellus! It would be heavenly.'

'I doubt this will ever happen,' said Remus. 'Nevertheless, how about a round of Exploding Snap? We have a lot of time to kill before the reach Hogwarts.'

All agreed and soon they were lost in the game.

Hours later, the Hogwarts Express rolled into Hogsmeade station. James and the other Marauders had changed into their robes in the meantime and left the train together with the rest of the students. While the first years were packed into boats to sail over the lake, they made their way over to the horseless carriages which would bring them up to the castle. Suddenly, James spotted a glimpse of red hair he had been subconsciously looking for during the whole trip: Lily Evans. She was standing a few metres in front of them together with her friends Alice Macmillan, Mary Macdonald and Marlene McKinnon.

The last time he had seen Lily was at the end of last year. She had only glared at him before hurrying away, but even in this short time he had seen how puffy her eyes had been. It had only been a day after the incident at the lake, so her bad mood had not been surprising. The look on her face had haunted him all summer. She seemed much happier now. She was chatting it up with her three friends as if nothing had ever happened and fortunately Snape was nowhere to be seen. James hoped that the two of them finally were done. It would make his life much easier if he would not have to worry about Lily's reaction as well if he got in a duel with the greasy git. He wondered whether she still blamed him for the death of hers and Snape's friendship. Should he apologize for this behaviour back in June? It seemed so long ago, would it be appropriate for him to apologize now? Would it only open old wounds? Would she even take him seriously? Probably not. She had him pegged as a trickster and a horrible person. If he just approached her now and apologized she would probably take it as some kind of practical joke and would only get angry with him. Also, he was with his three mates and while Remus and Peter would be harmless, Sirius was sure to ruin the situation by making some crude comment. No, he would have to do this at some other time, preferably after she had warmed up to him a little bit. But he was already falling into his old patterns by obsessing about bloody Lily Evans. He had made the decision to move on, hadn't he? He would never think about a stupid apology this much if it was any other girl. No, he needed to be cool and detached. He had to treat her as any other girl. It should be easy. After all, it was only the opposite of his behaviour of the last two years.

Well, no time like the present to break his old habits.

'Enjoying the view, James?' whispered Remus in his ear, smirking knowingly. James glared at him and chose not to comment. Sometimes Remus was too observant for his own good. In the meantime Sirius had also spotted the ladies and had made his way over to him. James had a bad feeling about this. It was very rarely a good idea to let Sirius initiate a conversation.

'Ladies,' Sirius said as he had reached them. 'Did you have a nice summer? Oh, and McKinnon, you are a naughty girl. Your parting comment has occupied my mind for the whole train ride.'

'Only, because you have a one track mind, Black,' replied Marlene, while the rest of the girls looked at them quizzically. James managed to supress his groan. This was starting terribly. He was not ready for another conversation about Marlene's knickers or her lack of them.

'What are you talking about?' asked Mary. She was a tall girl with a long mane of black hair and blue eyes.

'If it has occupied Blacks thoughts for this long, it is probably some filthy rubbish,' quipped Lily. Her eyes were narrowed at Sirius and became even colder when she saw the rest of them approaching. 'Oh great, here comes the rest of the miscreants.'

'Hello to you too, Evans,' said James after he had closed the distance. It probably was a good idea to take control of the conversation before Sirius managed to make this conversation even more awkward. 'I hope you have all enjoyed the holidays. It know Marlene did, but Mary and Alice look well rested too.'

'I was in southern France with my family,' said Alice. She was petite, with should length dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. James liked her. Alice had always been polite to him, even when Lily had been mad at him. She was a romantic and believed that James and Lily would make a great couple. That made her more than alright in James's book. 'It was very relaxing and I got to practice my French.'

'Was Frank with you?' asked Remus.

Frank Longbottom was their dorm mate and Alice's long term boyfriend.

'Sadly not,' said Alice. 'He was in Germany with his family. Also, his mother said it would not be proper for an unmarried couple to travel together.'

She rolled her eyes at Frank's mother's old fashioned manners.

'Well, she has always been a bit stuffy,' said James. 'But you two get along?'

'Oh yes,' said Alice. 'Mrs. Longbottom is very happy that Frank is dating what she calls a proper girl.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' asked Lily. 'She hardly knows you.'

'It is code for rich pure-blood,' explained Sirius. 'She does not want Frank to date someone of lower status.'

'Wonderful,' said Lily bitterly. 'More people who care more about a person's blood than their behaviour.'

For some reason James bristled at the comment. He knew Augusta Longbottom. She was not a bigot. She had supported the Bones's efforts to help Muggle-borns. She merely wanted to keep the family's high status. Finding the right partner war extremely important in pure-blood circles and the higher one climbed the harder it got to find a good match. The Longbottoms were quite well of and highly respected, but not a wealthy as the Potter's or the Black's. The McMillians were a bit worse of, but had a good reputation and a pristine bloodline. It was not a great match for Frank, but it would do.

'She wants to keep the family status,' said James. 'This means marrying another wealthy pure-blood. Status and wealth is important in the pure-blooded elite.'

'Yeah, that's all these people care about,' replied Lily bitterly. 'Never mind that Muggles are getting slaughtered by Death Eaters right now. We have to make sure that our son marry a nice rich pure-blood girl.'

That did it. James was really angry now. Was this about Mrs. Longbottom or was she also accusing him of not carrying about Muggles enough?

'Evans, you don't know anything about pure-blood society,' he said coldly. 'You should not accuse all pure-bloods just because some of them are murderers. You are only alienating your allies.'

Before Lily could reply, it was their turn to enter a carriage. She entered one with her friends and threw him a nasty look before slamming the door shut. James sighed. He had not even entered the castle yet and he was already arguing with Lily. He should not think about it too much. After all, he had decided to give her up, hadn't he?

'Well, that was a charming conversation,' said Sirius, chuckling. 'I can see why you have been carrying a torch for Evans for so long, Prongs. She really has a sweet personality.'

'Shut it, Padfoot,' growled James. 'And I have told you, that's over. I am going to get it right this year and move on with my life.'

'I really hope you do,' said Sirius lightly. James was unsure whether or not he was being mocked. 'Ah, here is our ride.'

A carriage pulled up before them and the four friends settled inside. As James moved to close the door, he glanced to the crowd of waiting students behind them. He spotted Amber Marchbanks a few rows behind them. She did look very pretty in the light of the setting sun. Maybe he should get to know her better. Another girl would hopefully take his mind of Lily. James closed the door feeling a bit better. Maybe this year would not be so bad after all.