The following Friday afternoon Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry was once again abuzz because of the Marauders. On Tuesday and Wednesday the hallways were frequently clogged with small notes desperately seeking the students to which they were directed. All had been cleverly charmed to take the shape of different creatures – some arrived at their target as a galloping centaur, others flew in proudly in the form of a hippogriff, while still more leapt their way about like a more sophisticated chocolate frog. Due to their varying methods of transportation, they vexed professors by crawling under classroom doors to interrupt lessons and, in the case of the frogs, caught some recipients quite off guard when they sprang down a sweater or up a robe.
Still, these minor disruptions were nothing compared to the chaos that ensued when multiple dungbomb-like contraptions filled the hallways outside the Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts classrooms with a frothing mass of bubbles. It was for this reason that James Potter and Sirius Black, the proud planters of said devices found themselves about to enter the office of their Head of House, Minerva McGonagall once again.
"Potter. Black. Take your seats," the aging Transfiguration professor said curtly as she stopped pacing behind her desk.
Silently, the two boys took their places in the dark wooden chairs in which they had been lectured so many times before.
"Before this latest series of incidents, I had quite foolishly begun to believe that perhaps the two of you were growing up," she stated, fixing them with a steely gaze and one of her trademark expressions of displeasure. "I think you made it, let me see…one month and twenty-nine days this year. Quite cleverly I see you've timed this list of transgressions to come just after Monday's Halloween feast…"
Sirius was the first to speak. "Well, Professor, you see it was really in the school's best interest, waiting until after the feast to clean–"
"Cleaning?! Is that what you call trapping entire classrooms full of students behind walls of bubbles, Mr. Black?" she interrupted.
"Professor, if I may, I think what Sirius was getting at is that Halloween tends to be a messy time…" James spoke up. "All the melting chocolate, the crumb-dropping treats…especially in the dungeons where the Slytherins are concerned…and we thought that after centuries of abuse, perhaps the stones–"
"Quiet, Mr. Potter!" the furious woman barked. "This is to say nothing of the constant interruptions to my lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday. You do realize that I will be forced to give the both of you a significant number of detentions. The interruptions, immense delays, not to mention the use of unsanctioned, improvisational charm work…"
"Speaking of the charms, Professor…what did you think of them?" Sirius asked hesitantly.
"Quiet, Mr. Black!" she yelled again.
"No house points for ingenuity then…" James muttered to Sirius, who struggled to suppress laughter.
"Ahh, yes. Thank you for bringing that to my attention as well, Potter! As I'm sure you are aware, before these incidents, Gryffindor was in the lead for the House Cup by some forty points. In light of recent events however," she glared, "I will be forced to deduct thirty points from Gryffindor for each of you."
"You're giving the lead back to Slytherin!" Sirius protested.
"No, Mr. Black, I'm afraid that responsibility lies with you and Mr. Potter," she frowned. "Potter, you will spend the next two weeks assisting Professor Slughorn in cleaning the cauldrons during your free period. As for you, Mr. Black, I think you'll find that there are quite a large number of cleaning tasks facing him that our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would love your assistance in resolving during the same stretch. You'll begin on Monday."
With their sentence apparently delivered, both boys rose from their seats and made to exit the office.
"Ahem. Black. Potter," McGonagall started. "I will be checking on your progress throughout this period and I can assure you that if it is in any way inadequate," she warned, "or if there are any further toes put out of line…I will be revoking your traveling privileges for the first Hogsmeade weekend."
"I think you'll find the cauldrons sparkling soon," James quickly volunteered, trying his best to appear contrite.
"And I'll make sure Filch spends the next two weeks whistling," Sirius added.
"See that you do," she finished.
As the boys departed and the door to her office closed again, Minerva McGonagall finally allowed the hint of a smile to cross her face briefly. There was no question the ringleaders of the so-called Marauders created trouble, but despite her reputation as a strict enforcer of the rules, their professor could not help appreciating their pluck and innovative spirit. And she thought, as she regarded the notes they had sent her via parchment-cat, their charms work.
Lily Evans looked up from her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook at the arrival of her friends, Marlene McKinnon and Alana Hooper. As they shrugged off their cloaks and continued their conversation, she snuck the unfolded bit of parchment that had been lying beside her underneath the large book.
"How's the studying, Lily?" Marlene asked brightly.
"Oh. Fine," the redhead replied. "The bit about in-flourish augmentation of spell strength has been rather tedious, but…" she trailed off, seeing from her friends bemused smile that she really didn't care in the least.
"Coming to dinner with us?" Alana asked. "There's supposed to be duck tonight!"
"I suppose. I was hoping to finish my essay on the many uses of the Protean Charm tonight, but I didn't get much done on so I guess it can wait."
"The Protean Charm?" Alana inquired, looking puzzled. "I thought you said you were writing about the many uses of Triggering Modifications."
"Yeah. You nearly drove us mad talking about how you thought it would be a brilliant topic on Monday," Marlene added. "Besides, we aren't even supposed to learn the Protean Charm until next year. And the essay isn't due for a couple of weeks."
"I know, I know, I just changed my mind," Lily defended. "You know how I am…"
"Of course. It has to be perfect," both her friends laughed back.
"Hurry up then," Marlene said as she and Alana headed downstairs. "We'll wait for you in the common room while you get into your robes."
Waiting for them to leave, Lily shut her book and looked at the parchment she had hidden. There, in James Potter's very distinctive writing, was another vexing change in his behavior. An actual compliment. She read the note again.
I wanted to drop you a note of thanks for pushing me to my absolute limit in Charms. I saw you practicing performing the Protean Charm in the common room the other night. It was bloody impressive. Seems I've still got a lot of work on to catch you this year.
Unlike previous occasions, it was left unburdened by any professions of superiority or crude innuendo. It also made no reference to their disagreement the other night, or their historically fractious relationship. Lily realized that it had been part of one of their pranks, but the prank in itself was even odd. From everything she had heard, it seemed the Marauders' notes were part of some sort of compliment campaign, with every student receiving one…even the Slytherins. As she pulled on her robes, she wondered if there was an ulterior motive. Perhaps delivering the notes was a means to an end? She would have to see if she could wheedle anything out of Remus…
Suddenly she heard footsteps on the stairs. "Lily?" a concerned Alana called out.
"I'm fine," Lily answered quickly. "Just found a stain I had to clean up first."
Pinning her prefect badge to her robes, Lily tucked the parchment back in her bag and headed downstairs to meet her friends for dinner.
"Aren't you at least going to tell us what it said?" implored Renee Haverford, the dark-haired Gryffindor seated next to Katie Wallenby.
"We shared what ours said!" Marie Thomas exclaimed in support. "It's only fair!"
"Yours were inch-deep and witless," Katie retorted.
"Exactly!" Marie begged. "Yours came from James Potter."
"You don't even know that," Katie said dismissively.
"Course I do," Marie huffed matter-of-factly, "I knicked a scrap of his parchment to see if he wrote mine."
"Fine. So mine came from James. What do you care what it said? It's not as if I asked to hear yours," Katie grumbled, turning back to her duck and potatoes.
"Isn't it obvious, Marie?" Renee muttered.
"What?" Marie asked earnestly.
Renee sighed. "I love you to death, but you're not the sharpest…"
"Shut it, Renee," Katie snapped.
"Ouch! Somebody's gotten herself twisted…"
"Shut it!" the attractive Gryffindor repeated, drawing the attention of the few other groups eating nearby. Looking down, Katie lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'll tell you later. I'm not about to get into this at dinner when he's feet away," she hissed.
"He's tables away, Katie," Renee grumbled as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, suit yourself."
"Who's tables away?" James Potter inquired as he strode toward the three witches.
Katie's eyes went wide at the sound of his voice and she felt the heat rising in her cheeks. With her fair complexion, she was sure she looked a foolish shade of red, despite her freckles.
"Oh, nobody," Marie volunteered. "Just some brutish Slytherin who was giving Katie trouble earlier."
Ignoring the obvious discrepancy in the described distance, given that the Slytherin table was practically a room away from where the girls were seated, James's expression soured. "What kind of trouble?"
"James it was really nothing," Katie interceded. "Some fourth year who was feeling bold. I don't even remember his name."
"Hmm…" James mused, his eyebrows still furrowed.
"James…" Katie said again, gently touching his arm, "…really, it's fine. Anyway, I could handle him myself if need be."
"Git–"
"So James…what brought you over?" Renee interrupted.
The boy's head snapped up. "Oh…err, I was just going to see if Katie might be able to help me settle a bet. Sirius has gone round the bend again with a friendly bet on Quidditch trivia…" he trailed off.
"What's the question?" Katie asked.
James looked down to notice his housemate's hand still touching his forearm, her eyes dancing brightly. He smiled and took her hand, "I'll lead the way. Sirius will want to put it to you just so..." he began and the pair made their way toward where the rest of Marauders were seated to decide the issue.
Later that night, James found that he and Remus were the only students remaining in the common room. Since seeing Evans perform the Protean Charm the other night he had found himself spending more time with books recently in an effort to keep pace and consequently spending more time with the more studious werewolf. He slammed his book shut in frustration.
Remus looked up in amusement. "Still chasing the perfect topic?"
"Forget it!" James exclaimed. "I'll stick with my original – the many uses of Triggering Modifications. Should be complex enough to keep pace, though it doesn't have the shock value…"
Remus looked at his frazzled friend for a moment before closing his book and allowing a silence to fall between them. Apparently lost in thought, it took a moment for James to notice his friend was giving him a meaningful look.
"Got something to say?" James inquired.
"I do."
"Get on with it then. I'm about to turn in."
"Well…I know unlike Sirius you prefer we don't intrude on this area too often, but I have to ask…" Remus offered, along with a tepid smile.
James smirked. "You need a double for Hogsmeade? Don't want to chance it coupling off with Padfoot and O'Donnell?"
The werewolf's expression immediately turned serious. "No, I'm afraid this is entirely about you, James."
James felt his pulse pick up bit. "Alright, Moony, spit it out."
Remus scanned the room to ensure no one was present to eavesdrop. "Who's the witch you're really after this year?"
"Pssh!" James scoffed. "You've turned all serious over that? I've already said at least–"
"And I didn't believe you then. I'm not sure whether I do now."
"Oh?"
"James, you've lived in the same town as Katie Wallenby your entire life. If she had really been your aim all along it would've been only too easy to get to know her this summer instead of at school."
"The idea came late…" James offered unconvincingly.
"The idea to sell it to Sirius perhaps…" Remus retorted. "But all the changes this year would certainly not be required to win over Katie Wallenby."
"Changes?"
"Don't fool around, James," Remus said warningly.
"I just got sentenced to two weeks cleaning cauldrons! What are you playing at?"
Remus looked down and shook his head. "And that proves it. You've hidden it well, I have to admit. If I didn't have such time on my hands…or a particular mutual friend…I may have started to buy it myself."
James looked away toward the window, remaining silent.
"You fancy Lily Evans," Remus stated simply.
"I–"
"Don't deny it," the werewolf interrupted, throwing his friend a stern glare. "What I don't understand then, is all this that's sprung up with Katie. Seems like a bit more effort than required to throw Sirius off the real scent."
"Look…" James began. "It's complicated. Do I fancy Evans? Absolutely. But she doesn't even see the effort. Not really."
"So it's too slow for you?" Remus bristled. "I know you. Lily doesn't. If you're honest, she's only ever seen your worst for five years. She's a careful witch, James."
"It's not that at all…" James growled defensively. "At first, everything with Katie was to occupy Sirius…but then I started to really notice her. I'm getting to know her and something feels good about it."
"Perhaps that it's coming easy?" Remus volunteered sardonically.
"Sod off!" James shot back. "You know that part of my reputation is absolutely undeserved."
"I do," the sandy-haired young man conceded.
"Look…I'm not stopping what I've started…changing I mean. That started for Evans, but it's bigger than that. When it comes to her and Katie though…I'm working through it. You'll know by Hogsmeade. Whichever way it goes…it's serious," James finished before marching upstairs to go to bed.
A/N: Again, a lot to cover here. Initially I thought about putting off the confrontation with Lupin, but I decided that we had reached the point in the year and overall story arc I have planned, that it was time to force a decision from James. Still, I think you'll actually see an increase in interactions between James and Lily though I will warn in advance that they will sometimes be frustrating. Keep in mind though that James and Lily's internal thoughts are still an enormous mystery to one another. It will all come around in the end.