Lily was enjoying the warm sun on her face. She was studying with Mary, Marlene, Alice and Frank outside. "I will never be able to remember all of this!" Mary complained. "How can Flitwick expect us to remember all these spells, wand waving and their history? I might go crazy as well, just like Greta." Greta Catchlove from Hufflepuff was the first student who broke down crying during Transfiguration. She was yelling she was never able to pass all of this, she was too dumb and she should just quit now and drop out. Lily felt so bad for her, but she was happy that she was not worried at all. Next week they had their exams and she felt more than confident that she would pass them all. She made a schedule and she was following it strictly. Most of the other students were a bit panicked that the exams were this close, so they were studying all night and quizzing each other. Alice and Frank were quizzing each other right now on Potions, since Frank was having some problems with this class.
"Lils!" Said Mary with a sweet voice. "Yes, Mary?" Lily grinned. She knew that Mary needed something when she spoke in that tone. "Could I borrow your notes on History again, pretty please?" Lily sighed. "You do have your own, right?" Mary pouted. "Yes, but yours are way better!" Lily laughed. "Are you trying to suck up to me right now? I might need more this time then just a compliment." Mary pretended to be begging on her knees. "Whatever you need, Ms. Evans! Anything!" Everybody laughed. "Well, you can copy them if you want. But you have to buy me chocolate on the way back to London." "That is a deal!" Mary grabbed Lily's parchment and started to copy down her notes. Marlene sighed. "Well, I think I know Transfiguration now. I only need to study Potions. Thank Merlin that is our last exam! I still have some time."
Lily closed her eyes and lay down on the grass. It was mid-May and the weather was amazing this week. It was a shame they had to study. Suddenly the sun was blocked by a shadow. She opened her eyes and saw Sirius standing above her. "What do you want, Black?" She said harsh. "Oi Evans, good to see you too. I was just wondering if you had seen James, Remus or Peter." Lily sat up right. "And why, in Merlin's name, would I know where they are?" Sirius grinned knowingly. "Just a questions, Evans. But apparently you do not know where they are." Sirius was about to walk away when Mary said: "Hey Black, is Remus back again?" Sirius turned around. "Yes, he came back last night." Mary nodded. "Why does he keeps going home? Is everything okay?" Sirius looked thoughtful. "Well, I do not know if he wants other people to know. But somebody back home is very sick and sometimes he needs to return to help out or check-up. I think one time it was even to say goodbye, but she pulled through." Mary's eyes became big. "She? So is it his mum?" Sirius cheeks flushed. It was clear that he misspoke. "Yes, but that is all I know as well. He is very quiet about it and barely speaks to us. But I do not think it is going that well, since he comes back thinner every time he returns." Mary nodded. "We will not say a word to anyone." Sirius nodded and turned around to walk off. Lily felt bad for Remus. She could not imagine her mother being sick or close to dying. Remus was a very nice person and did not deserve this. She had also no idea why he would want to hang out with Sirius and James. He was never bullying anyone or interrupting class. He was the complete opposite of James and Sirius.
Soon the group returned to the castle for lunch. Sirius apparently found his friends again. Remus looked indeed thinner and tired. He had bags underneath his eyes and was staring into the distance. Peter gave him a nudge and he looked at his friends. They said something to him and he nodded. "Hey Lil, can you pass me the syrup please?" Alice asked interrupting Lily her thoughts. Lily handed her the syrup and focused on their own conversation.
Before they knew it the first exam was there. It was History of Magic and everybody was trying to do some last minute cramming before the start. "How do you remember all those Goblins? All of their names are almost the same." Mary complained nervously. "Just write something with Axl the Axer or something and you are probably right." Frank said. Everybody started laughing. "Yeah, you are right! I have nothing to be worried about. The names you can just improvise." At that moment the doors opened up and showed a lot of tables in rows. "Good morning students. Welcome to your first exam. Please find your name on the table and sit down." Professor Flitwick said. Everybody walked inside and Lily found her name in the third row. She scanned the room while sitting down. Two rows on her right were Frank and Mary. A few seats further were Alice and Marlene. On her left was Sirius and he grinned at her. "Nervous, Evans?" Lily looked him in the eye. "Not at all, Black. You?" He shook his head. "Even with all the detention James and I had we still managed to study. This will be easy." At that moment professor Flitwick said: "Silence please, ladies and gentlemen. It is time to start your exam. Eyes on your own paper, use your own quill and it better be a normal one. If we find out you use self-spelling quills you will fail all of your exams." Lily turned her paper around and read the first question. She knew this! Her confidence grew and the upcoming two hours she was busy with answering the questions.
Once she was done she proof read all her answers, corrected a few mistakes and put her quill down. She looked around and saw that a few other students were done as well. Some looked happy, some looked scared. There were still 15 minutes left and Lily waited patiently. After 15 minutes professor Flitwick said: "Time is up! Put your quills down! I will summon your exams now. Mr. Dearborn, I said that time is up. Put down your quill! Accio exams." All the exams rose up in the air and flew towards Flitwick. He gave a small sweep with his wand and the parchments stacked themselves up on his desk. "You are free to go now. Good luck with the rest of your exams." The chairs were scraping on the floor when all the students stood up. Lily waited by the door for her friends. "Oh my God!" Mary said. "I think it went quite well. And with you guys?" Everybody had a good feeling about their first exam. "I am just glad that the first one is done. At least I know what to expect now." Alice said. Marlene nodded. "Same, indeed. Let's go eat now and then study for the one tomorrow."
The rest of the exams were passing by quickly. Lily had a good feeling about all of them, especially Potions and Transfiguration. Her Ocolus potion had the right color, smell and did indeed enhance the eyesight of professor Slughorn for five minutes. "Very well done, Ms. Evans. We did a simple version of this potion. If we continue for six more months with the exact same thing we just did we could restore my eyesight completely probably. But this version is only for a few minutes and yours is so far the best, I dare to say. Maybe I am not allowed to say anything, but you got nothing to worry about. The limit for restoring my eyesight was one minute and you reached five." Lily left that exam feeling happy and it was the last one.
They had still one week left at Hogwarts before they had to return home. On the last day of school they got their results in the afternoon. Lily and all of her friends passed. "Yes! I was so nervous!" Marlene said. "Why? You had nothing to worry about!" Alice said. "In the end not, no. I was still nervous though! Now I can enjoy the feast tonight fully." When they all went down to the Great Hall for the final feast they were chatting about their summer plans. Mary was going to Denmark with her family, Marlene was staying in England and Alice was discussing with Frank if they could meet up in London at one point. Lily had no summer plans. Usually they decided to go somewhere last minute with the car and that was not going to be different this year.
The feast was the best one yet. With their stomach full they returned to bed. The next morning they found an empty carriage in the Hogwarts Express and sat down. "Well girls, how did you like your first years?" Lily asked. "It was everything I hoped for and more!" Alice said. Marlene and Mary nodded. "I totally agree! It is hard to think about the fact that I was afraid to fit in since I did not know anything about the wizarding world. But look at me now, I felt never more at home." Mary said: "Well Lily, considering you are the best of all of us first years, you are allowed to feel that way. You had nothing to worry about!" Lily's cheeks flushed red, but she was beaming. Her grades were indeed outstanding. "Thank you, but that is too much. I am just happy that I passed. You guys did just as well as I did!" Everybody disagreed and they all laughed. The train ride flew by and Lily was picked up by her parents from the station. "Where is Tuney?" Lily asked. Her parents first looked at each other before answering. "She did not want to come this time. We forced her during Christmas, but now she stood her ground." Lily nodded. It still hurts her, but she was not going to let Petunia notice. "Well I am ready to go home!"
"Remus, where were you?" James asked. "You left again without a word. Are you alright?" Remus jumped when he heard his name. It was already passed midnight and he expected that either everybody would be asleep or that James and Sirius would walk through the castle. "I- I eh… It was my mom again, guys. It was going really bad and she just needed me there." James looked at his friend. "I am sorry, mate. How did you manage to get permission to leave school?" James asked. "Professor Dumbledore understand my situation. He said something once about having a sick family member as well and wishing he would have done more." James nodded. "Is she better now?" Remus shrugged. "Compared to before, yes. But not better that she is healthy again. I am exhausted. Do you mind if I go to bed?" James shook his head. "Of course not, mate. Happy you are back! You can copy my notes from the classes that you missed tomorrow." Remus smiled at James. "Thank you!" James got into his bed again. He felt bad for Remus. He did not deserve all of this. He had to leave school several times now the past year. Now that James thought about it for the past 10 months Remus had gone out for almost every month. And it was never longer than two or three nights. Remus said it was usually a last minute decision. He was like: "Hey guys, it is going really bad with my mum and I have to go home for some time." But it was approximately every four weeks. It was a bit weird, but maybe Remus had a deal to visit every month. But why would he not tell this?
James made a mental note to ask Remus tomorrow about this. For now James just wanted to go to sleep. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep. The next morning James, Sirius, Peter and James walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. "Did someone do the homework for Charms?" Peter asked. Remus shook his head. "I had no time! Was it much?" Sirius answered: "Not really, but quite difficult. It was about a new spell we will learn soon. The classes were quite boring. I fell asleep in the last one." James laughed. Sirius got into serious trouble because of that and had to face a 4 weekend detention. He was just done with his second weekend, only two left. "Well, we better do it this afternoon then. Tomorrow is the class already. By the way, are we going to the Quidditch match this Friday? I know Gryffindor is not playing, but if Ravenclaw loses from Hufflepuff we still might win the cup this year." Peter said. James helped himself to some porridge. "Of course we go. I would not want to miss a single Quidditch match. I am for sure going to try out next year to make the team. I am still bumped with the fact that first years cannot try-out. Such a shame. I would make a great addition to the team." "Well, James. You probably have a better chance getting into the team next year. There are four people leaving after this year, they are all in their final year." Remus said. James snorted. "I would have beaten them all, I know that for a fact! I was born on a broom. But you are right, Remus. As always." James winked at his friend.
The next class was Potions. James comment to the Slytherins costs Gryffindor 10 points, but it was worth it. "James, you should watch out. Not only did you cost us 10 points, but they might seek revenge." Remus said to James after Potions. "I do not care! They can come for me if they want. I will take them on." James said bravely. "And you will not stand alone, I will be there as well." Sirius slapped his friend on the back. Just then they heard an icy voice behind them. "Well, well, well. There we have the two bravest Gryffindors Hogwarts probably ever had. Bragging about taking on several Slytherins at once. You know what happens if you do and I catch you, right?" It was Lucius. "Well, the new have to make sure that you will not catch us." James said cheeky. "Do not take that tone with me, Potter. You better watch your mouth or I will give you detention." James snorted. "You are not a Headboy, you cannot give me detention." Lucius smiled slyly. "But I know the Headboy and I know that I can easily convince him to do so. So the four of you better keep walking." He gave them one last look and turned around. "I can still hex him, if you want me to mate." Sirius said while his hand travelled to his wand. "Sirius, please no!" Remus begged him. "You will bring us all in trouble." Sirius hand stopped, but he did not bring it back next to his body. "James, again watch out. I will stop nagging you now, but please think about it." Remus said.
They went to lunch. After their classes in the afternoon they sat down in the Common Room with their homework. "Look at the weather outside. It is the first nice day in months and we are stuck inside." Sirius complained. "But we have to finish this essay. 5000 words on the incantation of Alohomora." Peter said. "It is just a spell that opens the freaking door, how can you ever write 5000 words on something like that? I write what I know and I go outside. Are you joining me, James? I bet these cowards over here wants to finish their essay." "Yes, I am in. Let's write what we know and then leave." They both wrote about a thousand words before they went outside. The rest of the afternoon they spend lying in the sun next to the lake.
Around dinner time they made their way back to the castle. Along the way Sirius nudged James in his ribs. "Look who are sitting over there, James?" James looked to his right. There was a group of Slytherins including the boys who laughed at Lily being from muggle parents. "Let's hide and hex them." James said. The Slytherins were sitting under a tree. James and Sirius hid behind a rock. "Snivellus is among them as well." "Okay, let's hit as many as we can with the Jelly-Fingers Jinx. If we are lucky they will run to the Hospital Wing and we can hit them with a Jelly-Leg Jinx as well." James whispered. Sirius laughed softly and gave him a thumbs up. "You will hit Snivellus, I can hit Avery or something. After that we have to be quick and hit at least one person each more. Then we have to sit quiet and let the confusion do its work. If they stand up and walk to the castle we hit two with the Leg Jinx." James nodded. "Let's do this!" They pointed their wands at the group and said the incantation.
Severus and Avery were hit by the Jinx and immediately their books fell down. "What the …" Avery yelled. "My fingers!" He tried to grab his wand but he was unsuccessful. Severus turned around, his fingers drooping and eyed to the rocks where the spell came from. He could not see anything, since James and Sirius had ducked down. "We have to wait now! Snivellus is looking right at us." Sirius said. "Do you reckon he can see something through that greasy hair of him?" James snorted. Sirius carefully looked up, but immediately put his head down. "They are still watching us." He hissed. They waited for a minute and looked up. The group was slowly packing their backs to go back to the castle. "We have to swing by the Hospital Wing." Avery said. They walked up to the castle and Sirius and James sat up. They pointed their wand at two others and whispered: "Locomotor Wibbly." The two Slytherins immediately collapsed on the floor on each other. Since they were also carrying the bags from Avery and Severus they were buried now under all the bags and ropes. "What is going on? Where is this coming from?" The fifth Slytherin yelled. "Instead of just standing there, Bertram. Why don't you help us?" Yelled on the guys on the ground. "Yes, of course. Here we go Evan, you are up again. Oh no, you are not." Bertram Aubrey tried to help Evan Rosier with standing but Rosiers legs were not done being jelly yet. "Damn it!" Rosier yelled. "Let's go to the Hospital Wing now. Severus, Avery help Wilkes and me together with Evan." The Slytherins helped each other and scurried away to the Hospital Wing. James and Sirius were rolling around on the ground of laughter. "I cannot breathe anymore! Did you see Wilkes and Rosier fall on each other?" After a few minutes they slowly got their breath back again. They held their stomach and were breathing heavily. "We should get back inside to go eat. I cannot wait to tell Remus and Peter." Sirius said. "Yes, same! We got them good! Great revenge for being stupid gits during Potions." They returned to the Great Hall and told Remus and Peter what happened. They both laughed pretty hard about the story, but Remus seemed uncomfortable again after the story was finished. "You two were lucky, so lucky. What would you have done if you were discovered?" Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come on, we got away! It is fine! Just stop worrying, okay? Enjoy that we got some revenge on those dung heads." Remus could not hide is smile. "You are right! You two got them good!"
The rest of the year flew by and the four of them had to study for the exams. James and Sirius decided to actually do something, since they needed good grades. "It is so unfair! You barely pay attention in class, if you submit your homework you barely have it complete and now you say you are already done with studying." Peter complained. "I work my butt off to pass." Sirius put his feet on the table. "Oh Peter! Let it go, man! You can always copy our notes." Peter looked up. "But you barely make any notes!" Sirius laughed. "Remus does! Copy his!" Remus now looked up. "Excuse me? I actually do pay attention in class and make an effort. But yes, Peter, you can copy my notes." Remus emphasized the 'you' in that sentence. "Remus, Remus. You will not get under my skin if you won't let me copy your notes. I will be fine!" Sirius closed his eyes and sighed. The rest of the afternoon they studied, quizzed each other and Sirius took a nice, long nap. James actually felt confident in all of the classes, but especially Transfiguration. Somehow that was his best subject and he barely put any effort in it. Charms, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts were his second best classes. The only thing he really needed to study was History of Magic. So he mainly focused on that subject during the studying.
The exams went by pretty smooth and quick. And before they knew it the last afternoon of the year was now there. "I do not know if I can look at the results." Remus said while passing up and down. "Take it easy, Remus. You are even making me nervous." James said. "You cannot change it anyway, so please sit down." Remus sat down and his leg starts shaking. James rolled his eyes and focused again on his game of chess against Sirius, who was humming a song. When they got their results everybody was relieved. Remus had the best grades of everybody, but Sirius, James and Peter also did really well. "Well, at least we can enjoy our summer now." Peter said. "Yes, but first we have the feast tonight and the train ride back home." Remus said. Sirius suddenly stopped humming. He looked a bit down. James said to his friends: "If you guys want, you are more than welcome to stay at my place. We can do a couple of days or weeks, or maybe even the whole summer. We have enough space." Sirius looked up. "Hmm, I might do that! For a while, we need to practice if we want to make the Quidditch team." James looked happy. He had the feeling that Sirius did not like being back at home at all, but he was just trying to act cool about it. He was glad that Sirius was at least accepting this offer.
They enjoyed the feast and the ride back home to London the next day flew by. When they arrived at Kings Cross James gave all of his friends a hand. "Let's write and see if can meet up somehow. Maybe for sure when we go to Diagon Alley for new school supplies." They all agreed on that. "Okay, bye now!" Peter said while waving. He walked with his parents through the wall to the muggle world. Remus was the next one to say goodbye. "I will see you guys soon! Enjoy your summer!" Remus walked off with his parents. "His mother does look quite good now, doesn't she?" Sirius said. James looked at Hope Lupin. "Yes, she does. There is something strange going on here. I do not think she is really sick." James said. But his attention was drawn to his parents who were walking towards him. "James!" Euphemia said. Giving him a big hug and two kisses. "Good to see you again, son. I cannot wait to hear all your stories." Fleamont said. "And you must be Sirius, right? Hi, my name is Euphemia and this is James' father Fleamont. Do you need a ride home, dear?" Sirius cheeks flashed red. "Yes, I am Sirius. It is great to meet you. Well, I think my parents should be here somewhere." Sirius looked around and his face became a bit darker when he found them. "Well, I am sure James already invited you, but you are more than welcome to stay with us over the summer. We can arrange it soon, probably!" Sirius smiled shyly. "Thank you, Mrs. Potter. I think I will do that. I will go now. Thank you again and I will see you soon, James. Bye!" He walked off towards a woman with a big nose, black hair and a man with black hair that looked around like everything around him was dirty. "Are you ready to go, James?" Euphemia asked. "Yes, mum. I am coming!" James walked behind his parents to the wall. He was ready for the summer to start!