The new term at Hogwarts started off much like any other. For the seventh years, however, the piles of work they were already getting had some students floundering for help just a week into the term.

"How do you guys do this!" wailed Avery, sitting in the common room with her friends. "I just don't understand the boiling charm!"

"It's simple, really," said Lily. With a flick of her wand, the pot of water sitting between the girls began to bubble and hiss. "Concentration is key."

"Easy for you to say, though, isn't it?" said Mariel, who looked just as put out as Avery. "Charms happen to be your forte!"

"You okay, there, Avery?" said Nate as he came up behind her. Nate and Avery both adjusted to life at Hogwarts surprisingly quickly; this may have had something to do with the fact that they were both seamlessly accepted into the two most popular cliques at Hogwarts (although they themselves didn't know it).

"No, I'm not alright, you idiot! While I sit here feeling like a failure because I can't do a simple nonverbal boiling charm (A.N. not really sure why I made a boiling charm nonverbal, but oh well), here Lily sits, looking all high and mighty, like she can do anything! Oh, the horror. I'm put to such shame." Avery pretended to wipe a tear from her face and laid her head on her arms just as the rest of the marauders filed down the stairs from the boys dormitory.

"Well, Avery, if you want help, I could always tutor you. Lily would be up for it of course, too, but charms are, as Mariel said, my forte as well," said Remus, looking a little shy. "I'm sure it would be… um… fun for us both."

Nate, Alex, Lily and Mariel snickered. To nearly everyone except for Avery, it was obvious that Remus already had a crush on her.

"Yes, Avery. Remus should tutor you," said Alex, sharing a smug look with Nate. "He's a really good CHARMER."

"That would be great, Remus. Thank you." said Avery a little quietly, with a blush rising on her cheeks.

While this exchange was going on, Sirius and James had migrated to the other side of the room to watch the girls from afar.

"She has to go out with me this year, Padfoot. I mean, I patched everything up from last year, and now it seems like I really have a chance with her," said James in a bit of a panicky tone. "She's so beautiful and smart, and just perfect, really…" He trailed off with a sigh. James had, in all honesty, been obsessed with Lily since the beginning of first year. Lily herself had hated James until the end of last year, until James promised to shape up over the summer.

"Well, mate, she certainly looks like she approves of you, now that your head is out of your-"

"THANK YOU, Sirius!" said James just as Lily sent a smile and wave his way.

"I, personally, want to get a serious girlfriend this year, myself." said Sirius nonchalantly. James' jaw dropped. Sirius was, to the knowledge of the whole school, a player. He lived to see how many girls he could snog in a week, and this accounted for the presence of his 'fanclub', or the group of hormonal girls who followed him endlessly.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sirius Black?"

"What?" said Sirius. "Why does the subject of me wanting a serious relationship always throw people for a loop?"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Pads, but you are the school player. Have you- dare I say it-finally grown up?" said James with a shocked look on his face.

"I'll try not to take offense to that," said Sirius. "What we should be doing now, Prongsie, is planning our first prank. We missed it at the Start-of- Term feast, so we'll just have to make up for it with something exceedingly brilliant…"

James let his mind wander while Sirius listed possibilities for the first prank of the year. His eyes wandered to Lily, and then to Mariel, who was now talking animatedly to Nate and Remus. He couldn't help but notice that Sirius' eyes kept darting to her during their past conversation. Could this be the girl that Sirius saw himself having a 'serious relationship' with?

Dinner on Friday was a decidedly animated affair, as everyone was talking about how their first week went.

"Well, I had a rough time with the DADA essay on Vampires," Alex was saying. "I don't know, I was just having a mental roadblock, or something."

"I am terribly sorry to hear about your rough attempt at Baldwin's vampire essay, but I, on the other hand, have some wonderful news for all of you," said Avery, looking extremely pleased with herself. "Thanks to Remus, I can now successfully make water boil, using the nonverbal boiling charm." The marauders and 'marauderettes' all laughed and jokingly clapped for her, with Remus wearing his charming yet shy smile, and Nate and Sirius saying, "Hear, Hear! all the while. The eight friends failed to notice, during their animated discussion, that three Slytherins had strutted up to their table.

"Well, well, if it isn't the siblings grim, Andrews and Andrews," said Severus Snape, looking a little uncomfortable. "How's your Dad, eh? Trying to corrupt our government as well?"

Nate stood up quickly, fingering his wand. Avery put her hand on his shoulder, forcing him to sit, then spoke to Snape.

"Keep your greasy nose out of places it doesn't belong, Snape," she said in a clipped tone. "Our parents have done things to benefit all wizards, even slimeballs like you."

"Oh, look, the widdle blood traitor speaks," said Bellatrix Black. By this point, James and Mariel had risen as well, with Sirius and Lily, respectively, trying to control them. "Filth! You're just as bad as you friend here, the mudblood Evans."

"Don't talk about Lily that way!" an enraged James, now flicking his wand back and forth between Snape and Bellatrix, shouted.

"Let's all just go back to what we were doing," said Alex. "They aren't worth getting into a fight over." James just nodded as the Slytherins walked back to their table, looking very pleased with themselves.

"What did Snape mean, 'your parents corrupting the government'?" asked Lily. Nate and Avery just looked at her with sad looks on their faces, while the others listened in.

"There are many people who don't understand the importance of the work our parents do," said Nate, with a nod from Avery. He turned to address the six others. "I don't know about Avery, but I'd feel best if we don't elaborate more on the subject just yet." Avery nodded, looking as though she agreed. The siblings waited for the sign of approval that they so desperately needed from their new friends. James was the first to speak.

"We all have secrets, guys. We'll all be here when you're ready to let us in on yours." Lily looked on with approval, and almost pride.

"I agree with James."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"I trust you guys, too." added Mariel. Avery looked at Remus pleadingly. She had the feeling that he was hiding something as well, so she was nearly begging that he'd understand.

"Remus? Are you okay with this?"

He sighed.

"Do what you need to, Avery, Nate. Just know that what your parents do definitely won't change the way we feel about you."

Avery and Nate smiled. Nate gave a sigh of relief, while Avery went to hug Remus.

As they walked up to the common room, James fell back to talk to Lily.

"We have to patrol tomorrow, remember?"

"Of course I remember!" snapped Lily. "I'm surprised you did, honestly."

"Hey! Give me a little faith, won't ya?"

"Sorry James. I'm really excited, honestly. Will you be okay to patrol, what with Quidditch tryouts starting tomorrow?

"Yeah, I'll be fine." At this point, they were in the common room. "What are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked. She was so beautiful. He was surprised that he hadn't let 'I love you, Lily Evans,' slip out in one of their past conversations.

"Oh, I'm just going to be in the library for a better part of the day." She said. Lily looked like she wished she had something else to do.

"You should come watch tryouts! It would be fun for you, I know it. You have to get into Quidditch this year, I honestly don't know how-" She held a finger to his lips and smiled.

"I'll be there James. It'll be fun for me to finally see you play." An infectious grin spread on James' face. Lily was happy and a little surprised that she could still get this sort of reaction out of him. After all, for the better part of the last six years, she had gone around calling him a bullying toerag.

"Okay Lily. I'll hold you to it." Lily smiled, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss James softly on the cheek.

"Goodnight, James."

"Goodnight Lily."

James looked more than a little dazed as he walked up the stairs to his dormitory, rubbing the cheek that Lily Evans' lips had touched not minutes before.

When James slept, his dreams were filled with the infectious laugh and sparkling eyes of certain green-eyed, redheaded girl.