A/N: To my dearest and most amazing readers. I beg your forgiveness. I prostrate myself before you and pray that you will not hate or flame me for the lack of contact over the past several months. I know, I know… I am a crappy updater. BUT the truth is that there were a lot of circumstances that were out of my control. I won't bore you with them, as no doubt to you all, an excuse is an excuse no matter how true… but I can assure you that I have very legitimate reasons for not having updated before now.

However, behold! A chapter. I am now somewhat settled once more, and though I have moved countries from Australia to Scotland, I have much more regular access to the internet and far more inspiring surroundings- hopefully both these things will mean more updates for you all.

As it HAS been a while, may I recommend you begin reading this fic from the beginning again, just so that the events of chapter five are fresh in your mind when you read this one, and I assure you that chapter seven is pretty much good to go, it just needs editing. So you should get it very soon.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for staying with me, and especially to RTK whose concern prompted her to PM me and check that everything was ok, and that I hadn't died. You are amazing; you are all amazing… and with that final amount of groveling, I give you Chapter six.

-Nashi

Chapter Six

JAMES

An extraordinarily loud bang wracked the ears of a one James Potter, and he groaned and mumbled incoherently where he lay. The remnants of last night's revelry were strewn around him haphazardly, yet they might as well have not been there at all, because he couldn't remember a thing.

Squinting, he peered through the haze of his hangover to take in his surroundings. It appeared that he was in Sirius' lounge room, sprawled on his sofa. Peter and Remus were there too, which surprised him as from what he recalled, they hadn't taken part in the activities of last night. Peter was curled up awkwardly on the armchair, looking uncomfortable, even in sleep. Remus was lying on the floor in front of the fireplace, on Sirius' best rug, despite the fact that the fire was now dead.

The 'bang' it appeared, had come from Sirius. He was standing in the doorway, which had swung open and smacked against the wall. Sirius looked how James felt.

That is to say – dreadful.

James groaned and lifted his hand in greeting. Sirius looked at him and repeated the gesture. Then, stretching, he waved his wand and managed to say "Sc-scourgify" whilst trying not to yawn. Half of the mess in the room disappeared and Sirius shrugged as though he had given it his best shot. With several moans and grunts, James pushed himself into a sitting position and flicked his wand at the fireplace, causing a roaring blaze to appear there, radiating waves of warmth and life back into the stale room. Peter and Remus began stirring. Sirius strode into the room and sat on the sofa beside James. "Fifi!" he bellowed after a moment, causing the other three men in the room to cover their ears and protest loudly. There was a loud crack (and another round of protests at this noise) and a small, female house elf appeared wearing a tea towel. "Yes master Sirius?" it squeaked, bowing low. Sirius rubbed his hand over his face and considered his three friends. "We're hungover Fifi, you know what to do." The elf nodded and disapparated. Said three friends began their grumbling again at the loud 'crack' of disapparation but were quieted quickly enough with a look from Sirius. He sighed and considered them all once more.

"Ok…so what happened last night?" he asked the room at large, as though this was a perfectly normal question, and indeed one that they may have heard many times before. Three blank faces stared back at him.

"What day is it?" Peter asked. Sirius groaned and put his face in his hands in frustration. Remus exhaled loudly. "Honestly Wormtail, how much did you drink last night! It's Saturday." He said wearily.

Meanwhile, James' head felt numb. His memories from the night before were hazy, limited, and barely existent in the first place. He looked groggily up at Remus. "Last night…" he muttered. Sirius turned sharply to study him closely, a curious look on his face. James was clearly deep in thought as a small frown had appeared on his face. "Wait a sec… he continued, glancing up quickly at Remus and Peter. "What in the name of Merlin are you two doing here? We were out for work drinks!" Remus stood up groggily and went to sit on Sirius' foot stool. "We had an order meeting at the Prewetts', Sirius owled us to let us know where you guys were. We thought we'd meet you for a nightcap or two."

"Or five." Interjected Peter.

"Or twenty." Agreed Sirius, grinning. James chuckled wearily.

"How did the meeting go then?" he asked.

"Fine." Replied Remus. "Of course, no one's ever really happy unless the entire order is there, but it's too impractical to have full team meetings all the time. And dangerous- it's better to keep some things between certain people within the group. I have to agree with Dumbledore's decision to include the smaller update-type meetings, like last night."

"You'd agree with anything Dumbledore said." Mumbled Peter.

Sirius roared with laughter. "Remus Lupin: Dumbledore's pet wolf." Lupin scowled at him. "Wouldn't you respect someone too if they let you go to school and be around other people when no one else would?"

Sirius chuckled "Of course, of course. No need to get your wand in a knot, I'm just pointing out the amusement that could possibly be found in that image." Remus' scowl disappeared slightly, but whether that was Sirius' placating remarks, or the loud 'crack' that announced Fifi's return with food, one couldn't be sure.

Fifi staggered slightly under the huge weight of the platter she was sporting and placed it on the coffee table as carefully as she could, revealing the steaming mounds of eggs, bacon, toast, sausages and a freshly brewed pot of coffee. There were mumbles of "thank you" directed at the elf before she disapparated again, leaving the men to tuck in. James heard his stomach growl at him threateningly and never one to not take a hint, he soothed it immediately with the largest mouthful of scrambled eggs that he could muster. The other three weren't dissimilar in their approach, and for a while, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of contented munching as the Maurauders ate to their heart's happiness.

After a while, and in between mouthfuls of toast and marmalade, James repeated the earlier question of what had happened the night before. His asking of it however received quite a different response to Sirius'. The other three stopped eating and looked at him, guilty and uncertain glances sliding between the three of them. James studied this reaction curiously. "What…?" he asked slowly. Remus cleared his throat.

"Well we were sort of hoping you could tell us Prongs." He said quietly. James' brow furrowed in concentration as he considered this statement. Sirius slid his plate onto the coffee table and re-arranged himself to look at James. "What Mooney here means to say is that there are a few things that may or may not have happened last night that we are all rather intrigued about. How much exactly do you remember?" James looked at his best friend with a blank expression on his face. He searched through the vague memories of the night before and was unable to come up with anything substantial, much less anything intriguing. Then, slowly, a few dreary drips and drabs started coming back, and James felt his temper flare up.

"What did you do with Lily!" he demanded, glaring at Sirius and suddenly on his feet. Peter scuttled out of the way, a shocked look on his face and Remus looked up at James in confusion. "What did Padfoot do with Lily?" he asked, incredulously.

Sirius merely rolled his eyes. "Nothing Prongs. It was all a ruse, which may eventually come back to your mind. The occurrences in question occurred well after that. Think later in the evening." James had opened his mouth to retort already but when he heard what Sirius had said he promptly closed it again, and resumed his slightly puzzled look as he trawled through his own brain again. He distinctly remembered Sirius turning up at work, and the suggestion that they all go out together for drinks. He had felt like he'd swallowed his own heart when Dorcas had asked Lily if she felt like joining them all. Waiting for her response had been painful. It was like he was the one asking her out… in a round-a-bout way, as he was going to be there too. He then remembered being astonished and furious when, just after Lily had agreed to come, his own friend, Sirius no less, had shown a small amount of interest in his Lily. For even though she wasn't his, he certainly viewed her that way. That feeling had continued all throughout the first few rounds of drinks as Sirius became more and more friendly with the lovely red-head. James had finally pulled his best friend over to the bar and confronted him, threatening him with all but death in order to get a decent and honest response. Sirius has laughed and pointed out how obvious the messy haired quidditch player's feelings for the girl were, and James, having had his bluff called… hadn't been entirely sure what to say. So he had said nothing, scowled immaturely at his best friend, and then positioned himself next to Lily once they'd returned to the table, in a further ruse to 'protect' her from Sirius. It was at this point that everything started to get a little fuzzy in his mind. James furrowed his brow further as he tried in vain to remember anything past that point.

"Go on." Sirius said, looking at him. James realized that he had been relaying these memories out loud.

"Well you see Padfoot, that's just the thing. There's nothing after that. Nothing, I can't remember a thing." Remus, Peter and Sirius exchanged glances while James buried himself in his coffee. Sitting at the table had been nice, he remembered that much. Watching Lily talk and laugh among their colleagues. He never really got to see her like that; neither at Hogwarts or in the office. He found that he liked it, quite a lot. He liked the way that her face lit up, and the way that she absentmindedly flicked back stray strands of her fiery locks when they flipped forward over her eyes and/or face. He loved the sound of her laugh, and the way that when she knew she shouldn't be laughing at something, she'd reach up and cover her giggle with one hand, hiding behind it coyly. Yes, James thought. He certainly remembered sitting next to her.

He shook his head and came back to the present where his three best friends were discussing the full context of the meeting that Remus and Peter had had with Dumbledore the night before.

"He wants to recruit more members." Said Peter, with a sideways glance at Remus who pursed his lips slightly. Remus then sighed and looked at James and Sirius respectively. "You both know that I trust Dumbledore's judgment to the end of my life… but I'm not so sure about new recruitments. It's not Dumbledore that I don't trust on this, but the general wizarding population." Sirius listened to Remus with a firm line carving its way across his face. James repositioned himself.

"The wizarding population is far less united that the Ministry would have everyone think. Dumbledore is very trusting, for which I will always be eternally grateful on a personal level, but I worry that on this particular issue, he's being too trusting. There are too many spies out there. Too much information is already being leaked to enemy lines, and from Ministry departments in which we thought we knew everyone's motives. It's just… it's too risky." Remus stopped and visibly drooped. The recent happenings had already begun to take their toll in the Marauders' werewolf counterpart. Despite having been betrayed and backstabbed almost his entire life because of his condition, any new cases of deceit hurt him just as much as everyone else, if not more, because it was further confirmation to him of just how cruel his fellow humans could be.

James considered what Mooney had said and tried to formulate his own opinion. It was true that it was difficult to know who to trust. James knew this more than almost anyone, given his line of work, but still… their side needed all the help they could get. The Ministry was slowly being infiltrated, and he knew that, and that it was only a matter of time before there was a leak in the MLE… but surely that was all the more reason to be recruiting now? Before things got worse? And besides, at the present point in time, James trusted every member of his small team with his life. He took a moment to think about them each in turn: Benjy, with his quiet enthusiasm; Emmaline, with her intelligence and generosity; Dorcas with her devil-may-care way of living, her loyalty and her cracking sense of humor… and Lily. Lily with her… well with her everything. James struggled to find a single quality within his favorite red-head to hold higher than all her others. He let his mind wander, and he imagined working with her beside him as a member of the Order. As a crime-fighting duo; a Death Eater defying machine! The two of them working together, living together… being together. He allowed a small smile to grow across his features as he imagined them on missions. Hiding out and spying, calculating risks and debating techniques. Going out for drinks after winning a fight where he'd walk her out into the softly falling snow, turn to face her, pressing her up against the wall of the pub, and lean down towards those incredibly soft and inviting lips and…

…With a jolt James sat up straight. "Lily." He muttered, and the other three stared at him in silence.

That wasn't a fantasy, that was a memory.

"Oh f…"

"…lobberworms?" Peter suggested. Remus and Sirius stared at Peter in exasperation. James stared at the wall in front of him, the memory of Lily's lips far too close to his own than was appropriate playing again and again in his mind, to the backdrop of falling snow.

What in Merlin's name had happened on Friday night?

A/N: Yes, yes, yes I know... I'm incredibly cruel for leaving it here AGAIN, but I promise you, the lack of information is important. Thank you all once again for reading :)