Summary: Sometimes life was sweet, but with a bitter ending. Sometimes it was the opposite. Just like butterbeer.

Full Summary: James Potter was in his prime. He was Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor, he had become Animagus to help Remus, and his group of friends were at their height in their pranking career. Now all he had left was to woo the girl. Lily Evans. But of course, James doesn't do things halfway, and all he needed was someone to help him. Now who fit's the role? Only, Olivia Grey. Of course, Slytherin's aren't always the most helpful type, and Sirius Black knows so. Could she be hiding any ulterior motives?

Author's Note: If Harry Potter were mine, there would be a whole entire book series dedicated to the twins time at Hogwarts. By the way, filler chapters are for real.


Vanessa's POV

I was staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Why? My parents had taken a trip to Japan to study the ancient and mysterious Mahoutokoro. It's a school for witches and wizards there, and apparently, it's really small and has made a reputation on it's Quidditch team. I have no idea why my parents refused to bring me along, but Amelia Bones said they probably want 'alone time'.

Sounds fishy if you ask me.

But that's fine, who wants to go home for the holidays anyways? I mean, if Amelia was staying this year, so would Edgar - her older brother. Now, I know what you're thinking, and no. Just no. The real reason having Edgar around was a win was because of the fact that he - I kid you not - was a friend to the whole student body. And I have my eye on a few… but that's all I'm saying.

I thought that staying at Hogwarts would be good food and good fun. Nothing more, nothing less. There might be a few rare sightings of good looking students, but I wasn't expecting much. Jianyu, however, had other plans.

"Amelia, you're my savior! And yes, I will get them back to you before the break."

"Okay, see you, Nessa. By the way, is Alice here?"

"Alice? Nah, she went home for the holidays. Do you want me to send an owl to her? I'm sure she'd be happy to help, as long as it's not Charms."

"It's fine. See you later!" Amelia gave me one of her delicate waves and shot me a dazzling smile. She walked off with a small group of friends, her yellow and black scarf secured around her neck. I couldn't blame her for wanting to leave, all of the hot chocolate was gone and the Great Hall's deathly cold in the winter. Couples tried to use that as an excuse for PDA, but Professor McGonagall didn't approve. That scared most, save only Sirius Black. He would just call her 'Minnie' and argue with her in a loud voice. Trust me, some days the whole Hall could hear it.

I tried to keep all of my body heat in the contents of my sweater, but the cold still seeped in, making it difficult to copy Amelia's notes properly. Not to mention her handwriting is so elaborate that it's almost illegible. I mean, I'm not judging, but a 'c' should not be allowed to have 4 different curves to it! Not to mention that an 'I' shouldn't have any curves at all!

"Vanessa, care to help me?" Jianyu slid into the seat next to me, almost tipping over a goblet of cold pumpkin juice, but he caught it before it could fall. Good of him, too. If the goblet would've fallen, my notes (along with Amelia's) would've been drenched with it. And that probably wouldn't help the budding friendship between the two of us.

After a sigh of relief, I looked at Jianyu and saw that he had one of those looks on his face. What look? You know, the look that says 'I-already-know-are-going-to-help-me-ruin-someone's-life-and-am-only-asking-to-look-like-a-gentleman'. Oh no, this wasn't going to end well. "Does this have to do with Vance?"

"Vance?"

"Yeah, just last month Amos said you needed help to win over Emmeline. Haven't forgotten about her, have you?"

Jianyu shook his head and gave me a look that was anything but positive. "That was almost two months ago! Keep up, Nessa. And besides, Thomas is a far better choice - don't tell him that, though." Of course, because a couple weeks really made a difference. I rolled my eyes and laughed, but Jianyu wasn't the least bit distracted. "No, I need help with a much more pressing matter. One word: Simbre."

"I beg your pardon?"


Jianyu's POV

Her words were clearly coated with confusion, and I couldn't help but smile. It was just one of those moments, y'know? What? I'm a Ravenclaw! I love to tell people new information and come with a solution! The adrenaline rush is real!

"Simbre." Vanessa looked at me like I was on something, and - to her credit - I probably did look like a madman. What can I say? I ship it like Owl Post! "Sirius and Embre, duh. Simbre? Get it?"

She gave me one of those looks that say 'right-because-I'm-supposed-to-have-some-divine-knowledge-on-this-subject' I gave her on of my oh-so-smug smiles and she rolled her eyes."Okay, what about them?"

I sighed in an over-the-top way. I learned it from Grey. What can I say, she rubs off on me. I leaned in for dramatic effect, just the way that I had seen all of the Marauders do on multiple occasions. Yes, even Peter Pettigrew. Of course, when they do it they always make a big scene. I always shun them, but I have to admit that it's fun. "Embre already has a bet going on with him, and the chemistry is undeniable."

I leaned out and slowly saw the smile of a devil grow on Vanessa's face.

"I'm telling you, Jianyu. Mary is the best at forging handwriting! She sends secret admirer letters to Amos all the time! She does it with Severus Snape's handwriting."

"Snape? Why him?" I cocked an eyebrow and tugged on my cloak. Vanessa, Andrew, and I were all walking around the Black Lake, occasionally daring to take a couple of steps on the thin ice. Vanessa had almost fallen in once, but Andrew had saved her before she could fall in. Very gentlemanly of him, Vanessa can't swim. Neither can I, so she was lucky he was here. I might've let her drown.

Vanessa shrugged. "I don't know, probably because she has a sample of his writing to go off of. But she changes her handwriting so that Amos doesn't suspect that it's her writing the letters. I mean, her crush on him is crippling. It's almost as bad as James' thing for Lily, even. The only main difference is that if Amos ever found out, Mary would probably try and dig herself a shallow grave."

"You're sure Mary won't give us away?" Andrew turned to look at Vanessa with those eyes that could make any sane person go weak in the knees. "If we're going to bring her in on this we need to make sure that she's not going to sell us out. Embre will have our heads on a platter if she finds out. Or so I've heard."

Andrew passed me a side eye glance and I tried my best to but on an innocent look. So I may have rambled about Embre a few times. It's not like I did anything unspeakable, just made an offhand comment here, a simple observation there. I'm allowed to do that, right? Vanessa didn't catch the look, thankfully. She just went on with her rant, oblivious to us. "First of all, yes, Embre may push people's buttons at the wrong time, but she doesn't mean to. Besides, she'd rather resolve things by negotiating than have an actual fight. Secondly, Mary is one of the most loyal people I know. She wouldn't give us away for the world."

"I still think that we should just force them into spending time with each other. Like studying or something. This way is far more… risky." Andrew rung his hands and Vanessa shrugged. "What do you think, Jianyu?"

Did I mention that I love it when Andrew says my name? His accent (British mixed with a bit of something else) greatly enhances it. It's beautiful. But back to the decision. I always end up being the deciding factor, don't I? And both sides have their pros and cons. I mean, Embre has a temper, but only when you do something really incriminating. Which is exactly what we're going to do. Oops. "I think that we should risk Shines' wrath. I mean, there's only a small chance she's ever going to find out about it. Besides, Grey may look like her fuse is short, but she has the patience of an angel. Not to mention the fact that she'll probably just join us. And what are the holidays for if not to make your friends fall in love?"

Vanessa's POV

"You know, Olivia has some pretty interesting handwriting. I mean, there are a lot of different connected letters and such. She has quite a few loops too. Not to mention the smudges that are everywhere." We were sitting in the Hufflepuff Common Room, smothered in blankets and pillows. We had made a fort for the night, and it was slowly caving in. Or at least Jianyu, Andrew and I were. Mary was sitting at the table, writing an all important letter to Sirius Black… from Olivia Grey. I sipped on a cup of hot chocolate (courtesy of the house-elves) and Andrew had his stash of candy from Honeydukes. "Does she have any words she always uses? Or some kind of saying?"

I turned to Jianyu and he took another bite of chocolate before answering. "Sayings? Uh… not really I mean, she will sometimes say stuff like 'bless you, kind man', but other than that, not really. Are you just trying to personalize the letter?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Here, take a look at this."

Mary handed us a piece of parchment, and after reading it over a few times, I shared a look with everyone in the room. "Well, here's to Simbre and our highly probable deaths."

"Cheers."