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Chapter 1

James Potter was in high spirits as he picked up his Transfiguration book and rose to his feet, satisfied that he would destroy his transfiguration NEWT so thoroughly at the end of the year that the test proctor would swoon. He tossed the book in his bag, stretched, and left the shade of the beech tree, heading for the enormous double doors that opened on to the Great Hall. He hadn't gone more than a dozen steps, however, before a gleam caught his eyes and he noticed a lovely mane of red hair glinting in the sunlight only a few yards in front of him. The owner of that hair presently had her face inches from a potions book, and was so concentrated on what she was reading from it that it was a miracle that she was able to navigate her way around the many students outside enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Perfect.

James picked up his pace and angled his approach so as to come up right behind the girl, and then suddenly snatched her from behind, causing her to drop her book and let out a small shriek. He drew her back toward him until his mouth was next to her lightly freckled ear.

"Hey, don't tell my girlfriend, but I've had my eye on you for a while." He whispered with a light kiss to that same ear.

"James!" the girl sputtered, trying to sound indignant, but failing to keep the smile out of her voice. "Damn it, how am I supposed to get any studying done if you can't keep your hands to yourself for five minutes?" But she turned and softened her words with a kiss and a playful glint in her green eyes. "I appreciate that it turns out that you were a wet-eyed romantic all along, but really, every once in awhile you're going to have to give me some peace." And with that she expertly ducked out under his arms and bent to retrieve the book that she had dropped.

"Oh, done with the romance are you, Lils? Well then—"

And while she was still bent over, he gave her butt a firm smack, and he was rewarded with a surprised squeal.

"Nice ass!"

Before he could blink, she had spun around and had her wand pointing at him, but there was still a half smile on her face.

James, for his part, gave her his most winning smile and wink.

"I am warning you, Potter, you can't take me in a fight and you know it. You remember what I did to Barty Barrons last year…"

"Ooh, are you threatening to hex me? Now, love we shouldn't be getting into the kinky stuff in front of the first years—"

"James!"

He laughed and ducked the playful smack aimed at his head from Lily's offhand, rolled to grab her book, and smoothly sprang to his feet, transitioning into a run.

"It is nice, love!" he yelled over his shoulder, as Lily regained her bearings and chased after him, laughing.

But he didn't make it far before—CRASH!

He was knocked sideways when something collided, hard, with his left side. Dazed for a moment, all he could figure out was that someone was laying on top of him and that they were letting out the fakest, loudest girl-giggles he had ever heard. When he finally recovered from the blow, he looked up at the person's face and found his best friend Sirius lying on top of him, an awful red wig sitting lopsided on his head and his chin cradled daintily in his hands.

Sirius continued to giggle girlishly and to bat his eyelashes.

"Oh Jaames! You're so rooomantic!" He batted James's nose flirtatiously with one finger.

"Geroff Padfoot!" James gave a great heave and threw his friend off from him, going for the book, but Lily had already beaten him to it.

She was laughing, but James looked sternly back at his friend. "See what you've done?"

Sirius was unaffected by his friends admonition and still lay comfortably on the ground, elbows on the grass supporting his hands which framed his face, and his feet moving back and forth in the air daintily.

"You were just so cute and impulsive, James, a girl couldn't resist." And with that he jumped up, swept the wig off from his head, and leaned in towards James, whispering conspiratorially: "Yeah, stealing a book and playing tag on the lawn, real smooth, Prongs. I really need to teach you some moves." Then he slapped the wig on James's head and casually grabbed the lapels of his own vest jacket.

As James tore the bright red monstrosity from his head, Sirius smiled with his best lazy charm at Lily and said, "I apologize for my less romantically-advanced marauding-compatriot, lovey, I've done my best to teach him some moves, but—" and here he grabbed James tightly with one arm and gave her a long-suffering face—"it's all been in vain. He seems resistant to learning the suave manliness that I have been naturally endowed with. In fact I suspect he sadly may be mentally challenged in some mann—" But he was cut off by James tackling him to the ground.

"Geroff, geroff Prongs! Remus, help me, he's jealous of my good looks!"

For Remus had just arrived and now stood next to Lily, giving her one of those looks that they often shared when his friends were being insufferable—which was more often than not. (Other than those few gloriously peaceful hours last week when he had bewitched the two of them to spout Shakespeare whenever they spoke, causing them to initially be too embarrassed to speak, but which eventually backfired when they discovered that it was very amusing to interrupt class with heartfelt monologues about things like the pickled toad's buttocks on Slughorn's desk or the unmatched beauty of McGonagall's hair bun).

When the two finished their wrestling, (which ended with them breathlessly laying side-by-side, muttering half-hearted insults at each other—"prat" "wanker"—), Lily and Remus gave them each a hand up.

"Now, I don't know about you two, but I'm a little bit more concerned about getting some food in my belly than acting out my homoerotic fantasies." Remus said with a cheeky half-grin and turned on his heel and led the way toward the doors.

Lily giggled, but the other two were too winded to do more than wheeze out a few half-hearted protests as they leaned on each other for support, following Lily and Remus toward the Great Hall.

As they found there seats at the Gryffindor table, Lily looked up and down the table and observed, "Quite a few people are gone for the Autumn Break. Peter left too, didn't he?"

"Yes, he went on a trip to visit his aunt with his mum," Remus said, spreading marmalade on some toast.

It was five in the afternoon and they were some of the first to come in to eat. Studying in seventh year was a year-long exhaustion and they needed all the fuel they could get. But being part of that early crowd, they also were some of the first to see things go wrong.

They had all just finished filling their plates and Sirius was reaching for the jug of pumpkin juice when three bright flashes lit up the ceiling. They didn't have time to see the first two properly, taken of guard as they were, but by the last one, the eyes of everyone in the Great Hall were turned upwards: A flash of fire, about a yard in diameter, in the center of the ceiling. But before even the second flash had flared, Dumbledore was on his feet. By the time the last had faded, he was already bellowing orders into the dead silence, loud and urgent.

"Heads of houses, retrieve any students remaining outside and bring them here; Head boy and girl and prefects, do the same for any students elsewhere inside the castle. Do not worry about finding students from your own houses, bring anyone you find here, immediately. I beg you to stay calm, but to do this as quickly as possible."

Lily was on her feet almost before Dumbledore was finished speaking, dragging James with her. Remus and the other prefects, along with the teachers, followed suit. The Great Hall had exploded into whispers at the end of Dumbledore's curious and unnerving announcement, but no one questioned Dumbledore, who for his part sat back down at his chair, closed his eyes, and began muttering to himself.

It wasn't long until the teachers, prefects, and Lily and James began to return to the Hall with hordes of very confused students in tow. When more than half of the student body seemed to have taken their seats (although there was still a steady tide moving in through the doors), Dumbledore ceased muttering to himself, stood, and gave his wand a complicated little flick. Nothing seemed to happen, but he nodded to himself and looked around once again into the faces of the students as more and more of them streamed into the hall, herded by teachers and prefects.

"I do not wish to alarm any of you, but I have strong reason to believe that the school may currently be in danger, and therefore, I am enacting a lockdown of sorts. The fire that you saw minutes ago was a signal that I put into place long ago in order to forewarn me of danger in just such a situation. I have no idea what has set off the alarm. As far as I can tell, there is no identifiable source of the disruption. However, the signal is unlikely to be fooled by tricks or malfunction and while I hope that this is only a mistake, I find that possibility unlikely. Therefore, until we can determine the nature of this disturbance—"

BOOM

The candles in the Great Hall went out in an instant, along with the sun on the bewitched ceiling, and even the real sunlight filtering in through the tall windows. In a moment, the world went dark.

BOOM

The walls and floor shook.

BOOM

A flare of green light, much larger than Dumbledore's signal, flared in the center of the floor. It crackled and grew larger, expanding rapidly until it reached almost twenty yards in every direction as students fell over and jostled each other, instinctually trying to get out of its way. Then there was a blinding flash of white light, the candles came back to life all at once, and where the green flare had been, there lay instead about a dozen people, many in cloaks.