Chapter Eleven – Moving Forward

Running was a wonderful thing. Early Saturday morning, when James was making his usual jog around the Quidditch Pitch and Hogwarts' grounds, his head was perfectly empty of any idle thoughts. He was fully focused on the moment: the brisk October air, the grass below his feet, the wind blowing across the lake, mussing his hair even more than usual. But by the time he made his way down for breakfast, that calmness had left him, and the tension settled on his shoulders. He looked at the food piled on his plate and pushed it around, managing only a few strips of bacon and a slice of toast. He felt much like he did before Quidditch matches: on edge with half-nervousness, half-anticipation.

Sirius and Peter, sitting across from him, were brimming with excitement and making a list of everything they wanted to get from Zonko's. It was quite amazing, really, that they'd still get so worked up over going to Hogsmeade after all the private expeditions the four of them had made. But then, Hogsmeade weekends were always different. As fun as rule breaking was, it was nicer when they could officially visit the village together with most of the student population. James was still anxious; though he'd always got along well with Dana and was certain they'd have a good time today, he hadn't been out on a date since he'd agreed to go with Irene Selwyn last February just to piss Sirius off. The memory of that day still turned his stomach, having to spend half a day with Selwyn and her elitist arse hadn't been worth it, even though Sirius had been wroth with him for weeks.

With a sigh, James set down his fork and downed a cup of tea. He'd had as much breakfast as he could manage, so he got up and told his friends he was going back to the dormitory.

Half an hour later, he was waiting out in the courtyard, taking deep gulps of the clean Highland air. A flash of red caught his attention and he saw Lily parting from the company of her friends and walking over to Connor Matheson. The two left together, and James' gaze followed them as they walked up the path, heading towards the school gates.

"Hi!" a cheery voice greeted right behind him.

James turned quickly and offered Dana a sheepish, lopsided grin.

"Hi," he replied.

"All set?" she asked, beaming.

James nodded and they joined the groups of students making their way up towards the gates. Soon enough, they were already fully engaged in conversation about Quidditch.

"Which team do you support?" James asked.

"Puddlemere United. You?"

"Tutshill Tornados."

"Tornados, really?" Dana's lips quirked.

"What's wrong with Tornados? Sure they haven't won in a while, but they still hold a record for taking the Cup five times in a row."

"That's true – and impressive," Dana admitted.

"Plus they're my home team, so growing up I didn't really have a choice," James added.

"Well that makes sense," Dana smiled. "I'm a bit jealous, really; it's a shame Liverpool doesn't have their own team."

"At least you have Puddlemere to root for. And they have a good lineup."

Like that, their conversation continued: they started compiling a list of the best current players in the league, then they moved to reminiscing their favourite moments from last season's games. They were in Hogsmeade sooner than James realised, and stopped to stand on the High Street as their talk came to a halt.

He turned to Dana, offering her a crooked grin. "So what's the plan?"

"I'm not much of a planner," she replied with a half-shrug. "Where do you want to go?"

"Well Zonko's and Honeydukes are the staple of every Hogsmeade visit."

"Can't miss those two," Dana agreed.

"But actually," James said slowly, "I do have one errand to run. I need to find a birthday present for Mum."

"Maybe we could try Gladrags, then?" Dana suggested.

"Sure," James said, though once they actually got into the shop, he felt rather out of his depth. Clothes shopping was something he usually did at Muggle shops, his mother was still the one who bought him his robes. But thankfully, he had Dana to help him choose a gift, and after a bit of pondering they left the shop with a scarf, which James was confident his mother would love.

After Gladrags they went to Zonko's, where they met Peter and Sirius and exchanged a few quick words with them. Honeydukes was next, and after they had stocked up on sweets, James and Dana decided to go have lunch at the Three Broomsticks.

The pub was busy, as it always was during Hogsmeade weekends, but thankfully it wasn't crowded and they found a free table easily. Once they had settled down with their Butterbeers and sandwiches, their conversation picked up again, flowing just as effortlessly as it had done while they had been walking to the village. They talked about their lessons and their aspirations and then, inevitably, the topic turned back to Quidditch.

As James listened to Dana's story of how she had caught the Snitch in a record time in their opening match last year against Hufflepuff, James spotted a familiar figure over her shoulder.

Lily Evans stood by the counter, waiting to order, and by her side was Connor Matheson, his hand casually resting on the small of her back. James' fingers tightened their grip of his pint glass and his stomach gave one half-hearted lurch.

"That sounds brilliant," he told Dana, determinedly ignoring the tight feeling in his chest. "I would've loved to see it."

"Well, you'll just have to start coming to my matches," she replied with a quick grin. "I can picture you cheering from the stands."

"I'm not going to start cheering for the rivalling team." James shook his head. "But I might start coming to see you play. Since they've gone and made me a Captain I probably should attend all the matches anyway, to know what our team's up against."

"You wouldn't be cheering for the team," Dana said, her lips quirking in a playful smirk. "You'd be cheering for me."

Up at the counter, Matheson picked up his and Evans' drinks and they turned. Evans' gaze swept over the room – looking for an empty table, no doubt – and then her eyes met with James'.

He nodded in greeting and she gave him a little wave in return, before following Matheson to a table near the corner.

James grinned and fully focused his attention on Dana again.

"You're still the Seeker from the rivalling team," he pointed out.

"I am, but surely you could still cheer for me when we're not playing against Gryffindor?"

"I suppose," James said. "If the choice is between Ravenclaw or Slytherin, I'd certainly cheer for you."

"I'll hold you to that, then," Dana said, her dimples flashing.

James chuckled and took a sip of his Butterbeer. Even though he was aware that somewhere across the pub Connor Matheson was chatting up Evans, he was having a good time. And he was definitely in good company.


"Well?" Gwen's eyebrow rose the moment Lily stepped into the sixth year girls' dormitory. "How did it go?"

Mary looked up from her book, and even Marlene perked up. Lily made note of her glum expression; she'd have to ask Marlene later if she and Benjy had managed to talk to Marcus.

"It was nice," Lily replied truthfully, thinking back to the engaging conversation, the kiss, his warm hand holding hers.

"Detailed, as always." Marlene rolled her eyes.

Lily ignored her grumbling and sank gratefully onto her four-poster bed. She kicked her shoes off with a relieved sigh – her poor feet hadn't appreciated all the walking.

Mary was watching her, a small smile playing on her lips. "Nice enough to go out with Connor again?"

Lily considered the question for a few stretching seconds, and then nodded: "Sure, if he asks me out again."

Gwen snorted. "No need to worry about that," she said. "He'll definitely ask."

Lily's eyebrows hiked up. "And how exactly would you know that, Gwen?"

"We saw you at the Three Broomsticks," she replied, as if that explained everything. It didn't, so Lily levelled a good long look at her until Gwen finally shook her head and bothered to elaborate.

"I saw the way he looked at you, Lily. He fancies you." She flashed Lily a knowing smile. "Trust me, he will want to keep seeing you."

Lily bit her lip and flopped onto the mattress, her hair fanning on the bedspread, red against red. She looked up at the canopy and hoped her friends didn't see the blush that had risen to her cheeks.

"I'm happy for you, Lily," Mary said, her voice soft and warm.

"Me too. Connor's a nice bloke," Gwen agreed.

"Thanks," Lily told them, her heart swelling in her chest.

"Who would've thought," Marlene teased, "that Lily Evans would get herself a boyfriend!"

"It's not official yet!" Lily argued, though her stomach fluttered wildly at the word 'boyfriend'.

"It will be, soon enough," Gwen said.

Lily didn't see her, still busy staring at the canopy and willing away the telling blush, but she could hear the grin in her voice.

"Just wait and see."


In Tuesday morning's double lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Lily found herself paired up with Remus when Professor Quirke told them it was time to put their knowledge to practice. She was only half-paying attention – it was difficult to commit to practising in earnest, when she had mastered a Non-Verbal Shield Charm weeks ago, as Snape had learned first-hand.

Her gaze flickered quickly towards her former friend, finding him across the classroom paired up with Adeleine Blastock. Neither of them seemed happy with the arrangement, but they seemed to have little other choice, being the only Slytherins in their year who had chosen to continue with Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Lily felt more than saw the jinx coming her way, and reflexively raised her wand, the incantation Protego flashing in her mind as her attention snapped back to Remus.

Her shield shimmered as Remus' spell bounded off it.

"Now that's just not fair," Remus complained, frowning at her. "You were distracted and still managed to conjure a shield on time."

"Yes," a voice near them agreed, making Remus and Lily jump in surprise. They both turned to stare at Professor Quirke. They'd seen her start to circulate among students but how long had she been there, standing right beside them?

"Miss Evans showed commendable reflexes, but a shield created in haste may not hold in a proper battle," Professor Quirke continued, looking at Lily. "Your shield just now would've been too brittle to withstand against a dark curse, Miss Evans. You need more practise."

"Yes, professor," Lily murmured, bowing her head to hide her flush of embarrassment.

"Even a brittle shield is better than none," Remus grumbled under his breath.

Lily shot him a quick, empathetic look; he had yet to manage the Shield Charm on time to stop her hexes, though last time he'd been really close.

"That's true," Professor Quirke acknowledged with a nod. "To maintain a proper shield, however, one needs both focus and strength of will. I believe your problems, Mr Lupin, lie in the former department."

"I'm trying to focus, professor, I just have trouble with Non-Verbal spells."

"There is no shame in that. Many adult witches and wizards have never fully mastered Non-Verbal spells. But you, Mr Lupin…" Professor Quirke looked at him, "You're a bright lad. You'll get the hang of it. After all, that is why you are here, the both of you: to learn."

Professor Quirke smiled at them, a kind smile that made her look younger – almost as young as they were.

"I suggest you focus on doing, Mr Lupin, not trying. And keep your shoulders relaxed, even when you're feeling frustrated."

With a final nod, the professor moved to observe next pair.

"She'd better not leave after this year like all the other Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers," Remus said, watching her go.

"Yeah," Lily agreed, feeling all new respect towards Professor Quirke. "I think she's the best one we've had in six years."

"Well, I guess we should get back to learning," Remus said wryly.

"All right," Lily raised her wand, deciding on a tickling hex. "Ready?"

Remus nodded, and Lily sent the hex his way with a wordless flick of her wand. She saw Remus grit his teeth but this time his lips were no longer moving to sound out the spell on his mind. At first it seemed he would be late this time, too; but at the last second his shield flared and blocked Lily's hex.

"Well done!" She grinned at him, genuinely happy that he had succeeded at last.

"Cutting a bit close," Remus commented, though he was grinning even wider than her. "I still need to practise."

"Me too," Lily said. She wouldn't want her shield to be brittle when facing an actual opponent wanting her dead.

Still, despite her renewed resolution, it was hard to pay attention – Lily's gaze kept wandering to a laughing pair of students, practising a few groups to their left.

"Guess I won't have to ask how their date went," she muttered, her eyebrows raised.

Remus followed her gaze with wry amusement.

"She's very forward, isn't she."

"No kidding," Lily smirked.

"I heard they talked mostly about Quidditch," Remus said.

"Figures," Lily hummed. "They do look good together, though."

"Yeah, they're pretty like-minded so I think they'll do well."

"You know," Lily said slowly, her green eyes pondering as they studied James Potter, his wand at the ready as he grinned at Dana Watson, "last week he apologised for being a berk and wished me a good date with Connor. I think he might actually be growing up a little."

"He has his moments, every now and then," Remus agreed with a half-smile. Then, he gave Lily a sly look. "Since you brought it up I guess I'm obligated to ask – was your date with Connor a good one?"

Lily's eyes brightened. "It was," she replied, a smile playing on her lips. "It may even have been the best one yet."


None of the sixth year Gryffindor boys had lessons after lunch on Wednesdays, so three of them went straight back to their dormitory after they had eaten their bellies full.

Remus had hoped to read through his notes before their Transfiguration lesson later that afternoon, but James had other ideas. The moment the dormitory door closed behind them, he rounded on his two mates, his hazel eyes unusually solemn.

"All right, gentlemen," James declared, looking from Peter to Remus. "We only have a week left so it's time to decide how we're going to celebrate Padfoot's birthday."

"Ohh, I had almost forgotten!" Peter squeaked, bouncing on the edge of his bed.

Remus frowned and stared thoughtfully out of the rain splattered window.

"Should we just sneak into Hogsmeade and have a boys' night out?" he suggested.

"Didn't we do that last year?" Peter asked, scratching his nose.

"We did," James said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He crossed the room and sat down next to Peter. "Besides, we need to think big."

"I suppose," Peter said slowly, his wide brow creased in thought. "After all, he is turning seventeen."

"Precisely!" James patted Peter on the shoulder, earning a grin from him.

Remus looked at the two of them and fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"So a party, then," he concluded.

"The party of the year! And it will be a surprise."

"Really? A surprise party in only one week?" Remus asked skeptically.

"We can do it," Peter insisted. "We've pulled big pranks on much shorter notice before."

"Yeah," James agreed. "We just need to have a solid plan and the rest will follow."

"All right," Remus nodded at James, though his voice still carried a smidge of doubt. "What did you have in mind, Prongs?"

"Wormy will have Serious Distraction Duty; we'll leave it to him to keep Padfoot busy so he shall remain blissfully unaware of the party."

"Sirius Distraction Duty, got it," Peter repeated.

"We should also make sure that Sirius won't have the map while we're setting everything up."

"An excellent point, Moony," James said, flashing him a cheerful grin. "And Wormy, could you also take care of the music? Remember to get Sirius' favourites."

"Sure, you can count on me!"

"I know I can, Pete," James said, and gave him another pat on the shoulder. "Next, there's the decorations and the food and drink. Which one do you want to handle, Moony?"

"I'll take the decorations, thanks. You're better at supply runs, anyway."

"All right. Any opinion on the drinks?"

Peter shook his head.

Remus pursed his lips. "This will be a big party, yeah? Open for everyone?"

James nodded. "Gryffindors only, since we'll have it in the Common Room, but yeah."

"Better stick to Butterbeer, then," Remus decided, a bit regretfully, "since most people there will be underage."

"Will do. Though I'm getting Sirius a bottle of Firewhisky."

"Go ahead," he shrugged, "it's his birthday."

"And he won't be underage," Peter added.

James shook his head.

"They grow up so fast!" he lamented with a fake sniff, earning a guffaw from Peter.

"Where is Sirius, anyway?" Remus asked, frowning.

"I don't know," James said with an unconcerned shrug. "I asked Wormy to get rid of him."

"I told Sherry Spriggs that Sirius was into her and waiting for her to make a move," Peter reported. "By now they're probably in the Astronomy tower."

"Nice job, Wormy," James grinned, earning a smile from Peter in turn.

Remus' lips twitched.

"So now that the drinks have been decided, what did you plan for food?" he asked James.

"I need to go raid Honeydukes and get some sweets and chocolate. Then of course we need a cake."

"Where are you going to get a cake?" Peter blinked.

"From the kitchens," James replied. "Where else? Did you think I'd bake one myself?"

Remus snorted. "Now there's something I'd like to see."

"I'm sure I'd look fetching in an apron, but I think I'll pass," James retorted, his hazel eyes laughing.

"Mhm, probably for the best to leave the baking to the house elves," Remus agreed. "At least then we know the cake will be edible."

"Oi!"

"I'd side with you, Prongs, but I still have nightmares about that time you decided to make an omelette."

"You too, Peter? And I'll have you know that making an omelette is much harder than it looks! Besides, there weren't that many pieces of eggshells in it," James added defensively.

"The eggshells were the least of my worries," Remus retorted. "Just hone your Quidditch skills, Prongs, because you'll never be a chef."

"Bah, you two wouldn't recognise gourmet food if it smacked you in the face," James pouted.

"Moving on," Remus said briskly, "what about the guest list?"

"All Gryffindors welcome?" Peter shrugged.

"That's what I was thinking, yeah," James said, folding his arms across his chest. He glared at Remus, annoyed that he had so blatantly ignored his brilliant comeback.

"They'll need to be invited and let in on the secret," Remus reminded them.

"I know. I'll take care of that," James promised.

"I guess I'll inform the other prefects," Remus said. "If there's going to be a big party in the middle of the week they'd appreciate advance notice."

"All right."

"See?" Peter grinned, his gaze flicking between his two friends. "I told you we can do this."

"Well, we have a plan now," Remus said, nodding at Peter. "All that's left to do is the actual preparation, though that's plenty of work in itself."

James jumped off from Peter's bed and turned to look at Peter and Remus. His eyes were alight with excitement, his lips drawn in a smirk. "Don't worry, lads," he told them, his easy confidence already winning them over. "We have a whole week. Now let's get to work!"


Lily sat between Mary and Marlene at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, trying to decide if she had enough room left for a slice of treacle tart.

"I'm full," Marlene declared, leaning back in her seat.

"A rookie mistake," Gwen grinned at her from across the table. "You need to leave room for the feast in the evening."

"The feast is hours away," Marlene said, slanting a quick glare at Gwen.

"That's true," Lily said, cutting right through the potential argument brewing between the two. "By dinnertime, she'll be ready to eat her fill again."

Marlene had been in a bad mood since last weekend and had been picking fights throughout the week. Lily wanted to sit her down for a talk, but given her state of mind, it was better to wait for Marlene to come to her.

"Do you know if Dana Watson and James Potter are seeing each other now?" Betty asked, peering over toward the Ravenclaw table.

"I haven't heard anything," Lily said, reaching for the treacle tart.

"I don't know for sure either, but it seems like they are," Mary said. "They've been together a lot, lately."

"Yeah, yesterday when we were getting back from Quidditch practise, she was waiting for James in the Entrance Hall," Gwen said, and took a sip of her tea.

"Black must be feeling lonely," Lily quipped.

"Not that lonely," Betty said, leaning forward in her seat. "Sherry Spriggs was bragging about hooking up with him."

"Who's Sherry Spriggs?" Marlene asked.

"Seventh year Hufflepuff," Gwen replied. "The leggy blonde."

"Sounds like Black's type all right," Marlene snorted.

Gwen drank the rest of her tea and set the cup down. "I need to get going," she said, as she gathered her things, "I still need to go over that essay for McGonagall."

"I'll come with you," Mary said, getting up. "I haven't finished mine yet, either."

"See you later," Lily told them.

"Only McGonagall would make us write an essay over the Hallowe'en weekend," Marlene grumbled. "I feel like I'm in over my head."

"You should ask Remus or Potter to help you," Lily suggested.

"Can't you help?"

"I'm sorry, but I really can't. I need to stay here once lunch is over and help decorate the Great Hall for the feast tonight."

"Oh, right. Prefect stuff." Marlene rolled her eyes. "Well, I'll go and see if I can pry James from Watson's clutches."

Marlene got up and headed over to the end of the table, where James sat with his friends.

Betty, too, slid off the bench.

"I'm going too, I promised to help Vickie with her Astronomy assignment."

"All right," Lily said, "have fun!"

Left alone, Lily took her time eating her treacle tart, and watched as students slowly trickled out of the Hall, leaving the long tables empty save for the few scattered prefects who, like her, had promised to give a hand with the decorations.

She had only two bits of the tart left, when Benjy Fenwick slid down to sit next to her.

"Hullo, Lily."

"Hi, Benjy. I didn't think I'd see you here."

"You doubt my generosity?"

"No, I figured you seventh years would be too busy to lend a hand," Lily replied.

"Some of them are, I'm sure. But I finished all my schoolwork yesterday, so that I could kick back and enjoy Hallowe'en."

Lily smiled. "Sounds like a good strategy."

"Remus didn't stay to help?" Benjy asked.

"We had a ferocious match of rock-paper-scissors," Lily shrugged. "I lost."

Benjy laughed.

Lily hesitated for a brief moment. She didn't want to pry into personal matters, but after struggling with her curiosity for a whole week, felt compelled to ask: "How's Marcus?"

"I'm not sure," Benjy sighed. "He hasn't talked to me much since he heard."

"Marlene's been glum all week so I figured he didn't take the news too well."

"Yeah… I'm glad we told him, though, it was getting so tiring to keep it under wraps."

"Don't worry about it too much," Lily told him. "I'm sure Marcus will come around."

Benjy nodded. "Thanks, Lily."

She offered him a small smile and finished her dessert. Movement out of the corner of her eye drew Lily's attention and she turned to see Connor Matheson getting up at the next table over.

"All right, people," he announced in a carrying voice as he scanned the hall, a small business-like smile on his lips, "let's get started, shall we?"

Lily looked aside, fighting a blush as she suddenly remembered how his lips had felt against hers. She hastily stood and busied herself by rolling up her sleeves of her robes. The next time she risked a glance to Connor's direction, she met his eyes and he winked at her.

Then, Connor fell back to his role as the Head Boy and began to assign duties to the remaining prefects. A few minutes later, Lily stood at the end of the Gryffindor table, levitating bright orange streamers towards the ceiling. She waved in passing to Hagrid, the groundskeeper, as he walked past her carrying another pumpkin to the Ravenclaw table where Connor and Benjy were carving them. A pair of fifth year Hufflepuff prefects were diligently placing candles into the carved pumpkins and so the pile of jack-o-lanterns steadily grew bigger and bigger.

Lily craned her neck and waved her wand, arranging the streamers now hanging up in the air. Around fifteen bright orange streamers later she started to roll her shoulders absently, trying to ease the tension building in her poor neck. Staring up at the ceiling wasn't a comfortable position to hold for an extended period of time, and Lily was sure she'd have a sore neck later. Such was the price of helping teachers, she thought wryly to herself.

A warm hand settled on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, startling Lily out of her musings.

"Sorry," Connor said, "I didn't mean to spook you."

"It's fine," Lily said, feeling a little breathless. "I didn't notice you."

"Why don't you switch out with me for a bit?" Connor suggested. "You look like your neck could use a break."

"It could," she admitted, glancing at him. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me." Connor smiled. "I like looking after you, Lily."

Lily bit her lip as something warm fluttered in her chest. She tucked her wand behind her ear and looked up at Connor.

"I think I like that too," she said softly. Then she hurried over to Benjy and the pile of pumpkins, before Connor could see the blush blooming on her cheeks.