10

'It's the moooooost wonderful tiiiiiiiime of the yeeeeeeear…' James sang at the top of his voice.

'It's not Christmas for a few months yet,' Lily said in confusion from where she sat by the fireplace, loading her schoolbag with books for the day. It was the early morning, and James was relatively sure that she was stunned that he was so chipper after having gotten to bed so late. She didn't look any the worse for wear either, though.

'Who was talking about Christmas?' James asked flatly, causing Lily's facial expression to become even more confused

Frank chuckled as he finished sticking his note to the notice board in the Gryffindor Common Room. James beamed happily at it, and Lily finally seemed to get it. 'Ah…Quidditch season is upon us, I see,' she said dryly.

Alice Dearborn grinned as she bounded down the stairs from the girls' dormitory. 'Yes, the time to play the lovely game is almost upon us! It's been far too long since we mopped the pitch with Slytherin tears,' she said happily.

Lily pursed her lips and James laughed. 'Oh come on, Evans, not every slight against Slytherin is a slight against Snape,' James said.

'I suppose not,' Lily replied, looking somewhat placated.

'Although humiliating him on the pitch is about as good as it gets,' James added, causing Alice to burst out laughing as Lily's eyes narrowed at him, a renewed look of coldness on her face.

She sniffed. 'You really shouldn't be so cocky. It'd make you look awfully foolish in the event you lost,' she said in a slightly cool tone.

'Who said anything about losing?' Frank asked diplomatically as he packed his books into his bag. 'We have Zharkov first this morning, if we don't move now we're going to be late. Aren't we, ah, missing a few members of our party?'

As if on cue, the door to the boys' dormitory opened. Remus emerged looking sharp and alert for the day. He practically dragged a semi-comatose Sirius and Peter behind him as they mumbled their protests. 'Can't I call in sick just this once?' Sirius moaned. He was an amusing sight, with his hair looking utterly dishevelled.

'That's hardly the kind of influence I hope to have on you,' Remus replied with an air of superiority.

Sirius' eyes suddenly seemed to snap awake as he saw something from across the room—Marlene had just emerged from the girls' dormitory, and she was taking him in with an air of amusement. 'Is it even possible?' she asked sarcastically. 'Sirius Black, not looking immaculately well put together?'

Sirius snorted. 'Is it nice waking up at four in the morning?' he asked.

Marlene frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'Just that you look great,' Sirius said nonchalantly.

Everyone exchanged surprised looks, and Marlene wasn't able to mask hers completely. 'I—well—thank you,' she said.

Sirius grinned. 'It must have taken you all morning,' he added dryly, causing Marlene to flush. Remus grimaced as she stormed out of the room in a huff.

'Nice going,' Remus muttered.

'Oh come off it, Moony. She had a go at me first,' Sirius said irritably.

Lily sighed. 'Alice, shall we go catch up with her?'

'We'd better,' Alice said and the two of them walked quickly to the portrait hole and exited.

Frank cleared his throat. 'Well, we'd best get a move on,' he said slowly and they all moved as one through the portrait hole and began walking down the hallway.

'You alright?' James asked.

Sirius shrugged. 'Why wouldn't I be?' he said. 'So, Zharkov up first, guess we should all look alive,' he said.

'He's a pretty dramatic improvement over Fletcher, that's for sure,' Frank said. 'He's one defense professor I wouldn't mind seeing stick around.'

James chuckled. 'Almost seems to alternate, doesn't it?' he asked. 'First we had Bowen, who was nice, then we had Mondego, who was…'

'…a git,' Sirius provided. 'Not meaning to speak ill of the dead, but a spade is a spade.'

James nodded. 'Then we had Madam Bones, who I think was pretty good. Then we had Fletcher, and now Zharkov.'

'Well, hopefully he sticks,' Remus said firmly. 'You'd have to figure this jinx will be broken at some point or another. How long has it even been going for?'

Peter looked aghast. 'You're asking us? If you don't know, there's no hope for anyone,' he said, causing them all to chuckle. They arrived not long thereafter at Professor Zharkov's classroom. James noted that Lily and Alice were sitting in hushed conversation with Marlene, while Mary McDonald lounged easily behind them. She glanced over at James and caught his eye, her face beaming. James waved tentatively and sat down on the floor on the opposite side of the room.

'Looks like someone's still fond of you,' Sirius said as he yawned.

'Understatement,' Peter replied. 'She reckons this is her year; with Dorcas off the team, she's hoping to make it as Keeper and spend more time with you.'

James shook his head. 'She doesn't give up, I have to give her that,' he said.

'Sounds like someone else we know,' Remus said with a sidelong glance as Professor Zharkov walked in the door to the classroom, shutting it behind him, thus preventing James from retorting. He silently strode to the front of the room before turning to face them all.

'Good morning,' he said crisply. 'I'll collect your parchments on Grindelwald's systematic takeover of branches of government now,' he added, waving his wand and sending all the parchments neatly onto his desk. 'Snape,' he added, looking over at the cluster of Slytherins who sat together away from the Gryffindors. 'Where did we leave off last class?'

Snape glanced up. 'Grindelwald had constructed Nurmengard,' he said slowly.

'Another similarity between how he and Lord Voldemort operate,' Zharkov said, causing a slight murmur in the class. Zharkov cocked an eyebrow. 'You disagree?' he asked.

Lily raised her hand. 'I'm just not sure I understand,' she said. 'Voldemort hasn't constructed a prison. At least, not that we know of.'

'He has not had to. Your Ministry has already done that for him with Azkaban.'

James glanced involuntarily over at Snape—at the same moment, Snape turned his gaze to James, his black eyes narrowing and his lip curling.

'But Azkaban is under the Ministry's control…' Frank said with a frown.

'For the moment. To assume that it will remain as such would be optimistic to the point of foolishness,' he said. 'Your Ministry has fallen prey to the same mistakes that many others did, and that was allowing the Dementors to guard their prisons. The Dementors are natural allies for tyrants such as Grindelwald and Voldemort—tyrants who are able to give them a far broader scope to use their abilities.'

Peter looked terrified. 'You think that's going to happen?'

'If it is not already happening, Pettigrew, I guarantee it will soon,' Zharkov said ominously.

They carried on in much the same vein for the rest of the class. Zharkov used the fact that the giants had flocked to Voldemort's side as evidence that the Dementors would soon follow. He also pointed to their utilization of the Inferi during the previous year—a moment which had caused Peter to become quite faint as he no doubt remembered having the Cruciatus Curse placed upon him—as further support of this.

'It's all rather grim, isn't it?' Sirius said dully as they headed off to Transfiguration.

'Our Ministry has to be working on preventing that from happening, doesn't it?' Peter asked.

Frank shook his head from where he walked next to them. 'The Ministry is already spread to its virtual breaking point,' he said. 'I doubt the Dementors and Azkaban are high on their list of concerns. Although you can be sure if Zharkov knows, then Dumbledore is going to be in Bagnold's ear.'

'Oi, what was Snivellus glaring at you for?' Sirius asked suddenly.

James frowned. 'I dunno. Just Snape being Snape, isn't it?' he asked.

'Sirius is right,' Remus said uncomfortably. 'He was looking at you rather intently today. Did something happen?'

'No,' James said with an incredulous laugh. 'If something did, you think I wouldn't tell you?'

Remus shrugged. 'Perhaps not if you worried we might tell Lily…' he said.

'Which we wouldn't do because we're Marauders,' Sirius said forcefully with a glare at Remus. 'Right, Moony?'

'I'm not saying I would have ratted,' Remus replied diplomatically. 'Only that James might have feared we would.'

'It's a non-issue,' James cut in as Sirius opened his mouth to reply, 'because nothing happened. He probably just daydreamed a particularly fascinating way of removing my head from my body and he wanted to give it a good look,' he said, causing Sirius to laugh darkly.

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a haze—with the announcement of Quidditch Trials beginning the following week, James could scarcely stop himself from staring out the window at the skies and envisioning himself ripping through the air on his Nimbus 1500.

This, of course, lead to an entirely different string of daydreaming centering on the fact that Lily Evans was riding on the back of his broom, her arms wrapped around his waist, her breath on his neck—

'Are you with us, Prongs?' Sirius asked jokingly. 'You've barely touched supper.'

James shook his head—they were now eating dinner. Or rather, everyone else had been, apparently, he was just staring out the window.

'I knew they should have kept the Quidditch announcement from you,' Lily said slyly from the other side of the table. 'You've been thinking about it all day, haven't you?'

Sirius barked with laughter as James smirked. 'On the contrary, Evans, I was daydreaming about you,' he said earnestly.

'Oh do sod off,' she said, but her chinks were pink.

'You must get awfully tired from running around in my thoughts all day,' James went on as Sirius, Remus and Peter chuckled.

Lily sighed. 'Well, it's good to know it's not all Quidditch in there, I suppose,' she muttered.

James chuckled. 'We still have our little wager, remember? About who scores the most on OWLs?'

'Yes,' Lily said. 'One that I look forward to winning.'

Now, James was grinning mischievously. 'I remember another wager you looked forward to winning, Evans. Involving a date?'

Lily dropped her fork as Sirius 'oooooh'd'. 'I'd forgotten that,' she said hastily.

'How sad. Fortunately, I did not,' James replied as he puffed up his chest. 'And I think it's high time you held up your end of the bargain.'

Alice was grinning now as she watched the back and forth. 'How romantic—your first date,' she said in a husky voice, causing Lily to whip her hand out. Alice's Seeker reflexes came to her defense and she dodged it. 'You'd make a terrible Quidditch Player, Lily. Reflexes like a sloth.'

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling, as if searching for divine inspiration. 'You say you love us all equally,' she said to no one in particular, pointing at the sky. 'But you don't, do you? Hm? I'm onto you.'

Peter leaned over. 'Is she taking the mickey?' he asked quietly.

'She's talking to God,' Remus said.

'Oh, that's nice,' Peter said happily, but then he looked bewildered. 'Who's God? And why is he in the ceiling?'

After finishing a hearty fill of dinner, they made their way back up to the common room. James had managed to stuff himself with some of the potatoes, roast and beans, and everyone was moving rather sluggishly. That did not stop Sirius from whooping with joy, however, when he spotted a plate of éclairs next to the fire.

'Bless those House Elves!' he said as he bounded across the room, gaining his second win as he happily plucked one from the plate and shoved it into his mouth. 'Fey freally far food fo fe,' he said.

'What was that, urdu?' Remus asked incredulously as he sat down, rubbing his own stomach as Sirius helped himself to seconds. A scowl crossed his face and James turned to see Marlene coming through the door, talking with Mary as she did.

'You know,' Sirius grunted as he swallowed. 'I've got this figured out. I'm going to become a monk.'

Remus snorted. 'Really?'

'Well, maybe not a monk—but a love celibate,' Sirius said. 'All girls are good for is trouble,' he declared as he helped himself to thirds.

James chuckled. 'What happened to being extremely good looking and having your pick of the litter?' he asked.

Sirius shrugged. 'Look, but don't touch,' he said coyly.

'You are going to die of a heart attack before we even graduate if you don't slow down eating those,' Remus said in a somewhat revolted tone.

'Well, you're all welcome to some,' Sirius said, offering the plate to Peter.

'No, I'm stuffed from dinner,' he said.

James frowned. 'So how long have the elves been bringing éclairs up here for you?'

Sirius shrugged. 'They haven't been,' he said.

James and Remus exchanged a confused look. 'Then how do you know they're for you?'

'Who else would they be for?' Sirius said as if he were explaining something to a very small child. 'But anyway, like I was saying—I've decided that being a love celibate…is…the…' he trailed off, a funny look now on his face.

James blinked expectantly. 'Is…? What?'

Sirius looked mournfully at his plate.

'Had your fill?' Remus asked scornfully.

'Got gas?' Peter offered.

'It's no good,' Sirius mumbled. 'I love her.'

James blinked again, this time in surprise. 'I—well—you do, eh?' he said in surprise as Remus and Peter looked at him with equally flabbergasted expressions.

'She doesn't even realize it though,' Sirius said sadly.

Remus cleared his throat. 'Well, maybe you should sit down and tell her,' he said. 'I mean—sure, you insulted her just this morning, but if she knew you were sorry—'

'Insulted?' Sirius suddenly roared, causing the other three of them to jump. James saw heads from all around the dormitory suddenly turn to look at them. 'I would never dare,' he said in an extremely strange tone of voice. 'Anyone who insulted her would have me to deal with!'

Now Remus looked utterly bemused. 'Who…who are you talking about?'

Sirius blinked. 'Who are you talking about?'

'Marlene McKinnon,' Remus said slowly. 'Sirius, are you sure you're—?'

'Marlene McKinnon?' Sirius said incredulously. 'I'm not talking about Marlene McKinnon. No, the love of my life is that wildest of flowers, that thorniest of roses…'

Peter looked terrified. 'Maybe he's gone sugar crazy?' he whispered.

'It's not insanity,' Sirius said fiercely. 'My love for her is like a breaking dam, gushing water forth…'

James struggled to maintain a straight face. 'Alright, Sirius. Just who are we talking about?'

'Lily Evans,' Sirius said glowingly.

There was a moment of silence, and then Peter laughed nervously. 'Right. Well—good one, Sirius, you had us going, there.'

'LILY!' Sirius shouted suddenly, causing Peter to jump so hard that his knee smashed the table. He cried out in agony as he clutched his leg, the combined sounds drawing stares from everyone. From across the room, they saw Lily look up from her studying in alarm. Sirius leapt to his feet and bounded over several chairs, scattering younger students in his wake before arriving in front of her. Her face was a combination of amusement and confusion. 'Lily, I love you,' Sirius gushed in a romantic voice.

Lily's eyes flicked to James. 'Is this some kind of prank?' she asked.

'I would never joke about my love for you,' Sirius said earnestly as he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

'OI!' Lily said, withdrawing her hand and smacking Sirius on the nose with a roll of parchment. 'Just what do you think you're doing?'

Sirius had recoiled, now. 'It's someone else, isn't it? ISN'T IT?' he shouted.

Lily looked incredulously at James, who had been frozen to the spot during this whole ordeal. He looked over at Remus incredulously, but Remus was staring from the plate of éclairs to Sirius rapidly. 'James, I think—' Remus began, but Sirius suddenly turned and pointed at James.

'IT'S HIM, YOU LOVE, ISN'T IT!' Sirius shouted, turning to look beseechingly at Lily and causing some of the other students to back up several paces. He turned to James once more, his eyes alive with fury as he screamed, 'JAMES POTTER—I'LL KILL YOU!'