Okay, folks here's the deal: I'm going on holiday next Sunday, so I'm going to do my best to get the next chapter (the one after this one, which is here, obviously) up and written and stuff by then, because it's a pretty hefty one and it'll have a good cliffhanger and whatnot. But that might not happen, because life gets in the way and all that.

But, either way, wish me luck!

Peter was very nearly late for the feast.

It was bloody ridiculous, if you asked him, he thought as he moved quickly and loudly through the deserted corridors, listening to the vague noises of people in the hall and drinking in the smells that came – oxymoronic – from the other direction, where the kitchens were. He had been the first there, so why should it be him that went to fetch the map from the dormitories.

It was Remus who left it there, it was Sirius who wanted it and it was James who had been the last to arrive, and therefore on his feet when they noticed their lack of equipment. And yet it was Peter – the slowest of the lot and the one who often forgot where the shortcuts started – who had to get up, giving up his precious seat near where the turkey would appear – to get it. By some divine right of being the only one doing what he was supposed to.

Ridiculous.

But whatever, there was no point complaining about it, he grumbled internally. He was there now anyway.

Sneaking in through the open double doors, Peter spared Dumbledore – at his golden podium and booming some sort of inspirational nonsense at them all – barely a glance as he scurried down the back and then down the far aisle.

"I have it," he hissed, crouching awkwardly behind James and Sirius' backs. Some fourth years gave him dirty looks (apparently some people listened to what the old headmaster said) but his two friends swivelled immediately, faces lit up with pride.

Well, kind of.

"That's cool mate, pipe down, yeah?" James mumbled, eyes fixed on Dumbledore and a slight frown gracing his face.

"Give it over and shhh," Sirius responded at the same time, gesturing quickly and looking around furtively – both to check no one was watching the passing of the map, and to pay more attention to what was going on.

Remus smiled at Peter briefly, but otherwise ignored the exchange.

To be fair, what Dumbledore was saying was probably very interesting, wasn't it?

Peter squeezed into the space between Sirius and Mary, both of whom looked a little disgruntled at the intrusion, and again James made noises to encourage them all to be quiet.

Peter never received the chance, really, to know what Dumbledore was saying that had them all riveted, but he did manage to hear his favourite words of every welcoming speech the old man gave: "Eat." And, with a solemn raise of his arms, food swelled on the plates magically, and Peter dove in.

"It's good to see you, Mary," he could hear Sirius saying above his head, and the brunette on his right replied cheerfully, but he paid little attention.

In fact, he had barely noticed that it was Mary, but now that he thought of it he could feel the warmth of her slim thigh close to his own, and her hand brushed his arm as she reached for the pumpkin juice, and he liked that.

"Hi Mary," Peter's voice jumped nervously, a slight laugh throwing it a little too high to seem casual, his smile a little too wide to be considered friendly.

Mary blinked, a little shocked by his very speedy abandoning of his food to talk to her so urgently, "Hi there, Peter." She gave Hayley, sitting opposite her, a confused look, and the much smaller girl was laughing when Peter looked over.

"Do I get a greeting too, Peter, or is it only lovely Mary who does," she asked, silky sweet and with casual vindictiveness in her eyes.

Peter's heart stuttered, blood rushed to his face and – after a pause that could not be ignored – he proceeded to turn away from the amused girls and face Marlene instead.

The blonde girl looked much more sympathetic to Peter's plight, and with the candles flickering high above, turning the locks to golden and shimmering, and catching in her baby blue eyes, she wasn't a bad option herself. But she was taken, unfortunately, by Will – Peter gave him a look, and he smiled back awkwardly, pretending he hadn't just witnessed the little scene.

That said, Mary was taken too, – still? – but Peter was pretty certain that he could take Reginald Bloody Cattermole if it came down to it. He just didn't think that Mary, or his friends, would be that impressed.

"How were your holidays, Peter?" Marlene asked him, as she helped herself to a generous helping of roast potatoes.

Peter shrugged, "Pretty good. We all stayed at school, and we didn't really do much, but...you know..." He shrugged, not sure how to explain.

Marlene understood though, "Every day's good when you're with friends," she assured him.

Sirius snorted, and then covered it with a cough.

Peter blushed.

"So you didn't go out at all?" Marlene – bless her – attempted to distract him from this new humiliation.

Peter shook his head, "Only to Hogsmeade a few times. And once to Diagon Alley, with Lily."

Marlene's eyebrows shot up, but it was Will that spoke, in low tones of incredulity, "You went out with Lily?"

Peter nodded, a little confused.

Sirius cut in, "We all went out with Lily. It was a group thing, not just those two," he explained to the confused duo. Both sets of shoulders, both sets of eyebrows, sagged. "It wasn't a date."

"Oh," Peter attempted to salvage his pride, accidentally lost, "no, it wasn't a date, I didn't mean that."

"I didn't think it sounded right," Will chuckled.

Marlene smirked.

"Well," Sirius reasoned, "can you imagine Lily going for Peter?" He raised his eyebrows pointedly, and this time Marlene joined in the hushed laughter, too.

As a block they looked over at the ginger, chatting enthusiastically to James – who she sat opposite – and completely oblivious to their discussion. Peter, with his head ducked and burning, missed when they looked, too, to James, and assumed they were mocking his not-as-good-as-Lily-looks.

Lily was gorgeous, of course, and he wasn't; but there was no need to be obvious about it, was there? Whatever, they probably had a reason.

"What did you get up to in London?" Hayley inputted, apparently as irritated as Peter by the irrelevant gossip. "Did you tell Lily that I was invited but couldn't come?"

Sirius looked at her pointedly, "And how was Kingsley?"

Marlene and Will looked between the two in confusion, Peter didn't even bother, and Mary, vaguely clued in, looked nervous.

Hayley didn't colour, but she looked abashed despite her resolutions to never be ashamed of herself, "He's great. Really...I really like him."

Marlene filled the awkward pause, "Look at you, talking about feelings! Why the change of heart?"

Will was the only one who laughed at the pun.

Hayley shrugged, "And how were your holidays, Marlene? Sleep with any more Blacks?"

.

The silence that followed wasn't awkward.

It was easy.

It wasn't filled with the electricity of the moment.

And her words didn't hang in it, between the now fully silent group (even James and Lily had heard that one, and were also in shocked silence). They had been sucked straight in by Will, who looked like he wasn't sure if he'd been punched in the face.

"Hayley!" James reprimanded finally, a hiss between the members until it reached the angry looking girl.

"What did she mean?" Will turned to Marlene, before Hayley could defend herself. His face was so scrunched that his glassed were digging in a little, his pale, freckled cheeks had gone even paler. He let go of her hand to wipe his hair from his forehead, mouth pinched down at the corners. "Which blacks have you slept with?"

Marlene opened her mouth hopelessly and, because it was inevitable, with him sitting diagonal, her eyes slid, ever so briefly to Sirius.

Tiny as it was, Will caught the movement, and followed her look to the boy opposite, who definitely looked like he'd been punched in the face.

"Oh," Will said quietly, "it's not a black you've slept with, it's a Black." His face tightened with hurt.

"Look mate," Sirius began quietly, but James silenced him just as Marlene began to speak.

"Will," she begged, seizing hold of his arm desperately, "we didn't sleep together."

The couple – the couple who had already battled through so much together – locked eyes. The tension flickered outside of the group; Reginald – looking over at Mary – had noticed, as had the fourth years, as had Dumbledore.

"Okay," Will said, turning away, back to his plate.

Marlene looked around, but found no answers, "Okay?"

"Okay." Will repeated, glancing back at her with a slight smile. "If you say you didn't, I believe you."

Marlene swallowed, "You forgive me?"

Will rolled his eyes, "There's nothing to forgive. Him" – he gestured to Sirius with a snide sniff – "Him I'm going to poison his food, but I could never blame you anything. I love you!"

Marlene flung her arms around his neck – accidentally hitting Lily in the side of the face – and squeezed her face into his neck. She mumbled something that might have been a promise of love, but they couldn't really hear.

"Is now the wrong time to tell him that she slept with you, too?" Lily turned to James teasingly.

Will snorted, with his hair buried inside his girlfriend's hair.

"Is now the wrong time to tell him she slept with you?" James muttered back, acting abashed. He dipped two slender fingers into his glass, and flicked the water up into her face. Lily laughed.

"Don't give me ideas," Will giggled, pulling away from Marlene. Marlene rolled her eyes.

Sirius looked dumbfounded, "William Selwyn, are you being...kinky."

Will pulled a face.

Later, the meal vanished and the younger students gone, there was more room to lounge around.

Remus had left, gone to see McGonagall to discuss something or other; James had gone over the top of the table, and was sitting upon it with his legs on the opposite bench; Lily leant against his shins, and Mary sat by Lily's feet, with Reginald on the Hufflepuff bench opposite; Marlene and Will had vanished discreetly (and because of this, the three Marauders remaining weren't very eager to head back up to the dormitories); Hayley had slid away to talk to Kelt about Quidditch, and Sirius had come around the side to sit on the floor beneath James' feet. Peter hadn't moved, except closer to the mashed potato.

"What did you do in the holidays, then, Reginald?" Lily asked the shy boy gently, well aware that often it was easier to answer the girls' questions than the Marauders' (understandably, if you were a weedy Hufflepuff who had more than once been on the end of Sirius and James' cruelty).

Mary touched his hand, coaxing words out of him with the confidence she gave.

"Good, thank you," Reginald nodded solemnly. "I spent most of it with my grandparents in Wales."

"Sounds like a ball," James commented easily; partly sarcastically but mostly affectionately (though it took someone who knew him well to understand the difference).

Sirius nudged him, reproaching, "Just because your parents were your grandparents too!"

Lily chuckled, and James jerked his knees to dislodge her, causing her to nearly collapse on Sirius, who allowed her to hang (his face a picture of innocent ignorance) for a moment before helping her back onto her pedestal.

"Just because your mum likes to chat with strangers out of her window at night," he muttered, a little smirk playing at the corner of his mouth as he looked down into her indignant eyes.

For a second, it seemed like something might happen, with the two heads peering at each other serenely, matching expressions of deep affection on their faces and their bodies gently inclined towards one another, but the moment wasn't right, and James turned away first with a sad shake of his head.

Lily's eyes followed the movement, tracing his features.

"How was the weather in Wales?" Peter broke the silence with a meaningless question (entirely for the purpose of breaking the silence, which was something he had never been entirely comfortable in).

Reginald fixed the boy with his eyes, and answered with unnecessary and apparently unprovoked hostility, "Fine."

Everyone looked at him and, upon the realisation, he blushed and turned to Mary, "Shall I walk you back to Gryffindor?"

Mary acquiesced, with no little curiosity to her boyfriend's strange actions, and the two headed off (she took his hand and he, blushingly, held hers back, to Sirius' catcalls) towards the far doorway.

"What was that?" Sirius asked, turning first to James – who knew nothing – and then to Lily, given that Remus wasn't there.

Lily shrugged, opening her mouth to talk, but Peter beat her to it: "Do you think I could take him?" He mused, looking down the corridor between the tables to where the two had left.

James snorted, "I don't think you could take her."

Peter shot him a look, "What do you mean?"

"Well," James tried to explain, only a little more tactically, "if you tried to mess with her bloke I don't see her taking it lying down. She's the volatile one in that relationship isn't she?"

"And you don't think I could fight her? I'm stronger than she is!" Peter insisted, chubby face squeezed into anger.

James stared, "Mate...you shouldn't want to fight her..."

Leaping to his feet, the smallest and least talented marauder turned away, stalking down, away from his friends and away from James' comments, leaving behind a slew of confused teens.

James turned to the pack: "Was I being unreasonable?"

Sirius, automatically, shook his head.

"I don't think he was really talking about fighting her," Lily said quietly, looking sadly after Peter. "And you were quite rude to him earlier."

James raised an eyebrow, "When?"

"When he went to get the map," Lily said sternly, pointedly, looking between the two best friends and lowering her voice slightly so that Hayley and Kelt – not talking any more, but just sitting silently and easily, watching the moon cross the sky – didn't hear.

James pulled a confused face.

Expanding: "He went all that way to do you a favour, and then you shushed him," Lily pointed out. "It was hardly fair!"

"He was interrupting Dumbledore's speech!" Sirius defended them.

"And it's not Peter's fault he wasn't around!"

"We were trying to listen!"

"He deserved better." Lily closed the argument with a huge sigh. She got to her feet, "You two are so ridiculously fantastic...just remember that some other people aren't, yeah?" She made a vague movement as if to touch James' face, and decided against it. "Goodnight," she bid instead, backing away with a smile and a small wave.

James watched her go, and Sirius watched James.

"You really do love her," the handsome boy commented quietly.

James smiled, "She's so bloody..."

"Argumentative, controlling, pushy?" Sirius offered, laughing. "Or are we going pretty, clever, funny, quirky?"

James shook his head, "She's so bloody Lily. She's unforgettable..."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Well after her you go, then," he gestured to where James still watched.

The Quidditch player tore his eyes from the door, eyeing his best mate with worry, "Will you be ok?"

"Will I be alright?" Sirius scoffed, messing James' hair as he heaved himself to his feet. "You egotistical shit, of course I'll be alright!"

James laughed and, at a jog, set off after his girl.

Sirius, not one to dwell too much on loneliness, meandered over the remaining two in the hall.

"Kelt, Hayley," he greeted. "What is this rousing conversation you're having."

Hayley rolled her eyes, and Kelt looked back at him apathetically, "I'm going to bed." The brawny Quidditch player, who had shared a room with Sirius for years and yet had never really bonded with the boy, got down from the window sill he had been sitting upon and, with a nod to Hayley, moved off.

"Was it something I said?" Sirius mumbled dryly, taking the vacated position, "So what about you H-dog?" He commandeered James' nickname for the sarcastic girl, mocking.

Hayley gave him a dirty look, "Don't call me that."

"James calls you that..."

"You aren't James...and anyway, James doesn't really call me that anymore," Hayley pointed out, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice.

Sirius heard, obviously, "Why the tone?"

"What tone?"

"That tone."

"There is no tone," Hayley rolled her eyes, increasingly frustrated.

Sirius knew it, too, "Of course there's a tone."

"Merlin's sake Black!" The girl cried, finally, cracks shattering apart in her frigid veneer, "What do you want me to say? You know why there's a tone!"

Sirius, triumphant, waited.

"What do you want me to say?" Hayley demanded again, "What are you trying to achieve?"

Sirius met her eyes, "I know what it's like to be head over heels in love with him, Hayley, that's what I want to say. Just because I'm straight doesn't mean I'm not in love with him, and just because he's in love with Lily, doesn't mean he doesn't love me, too. I realise it's a different situation to yours, because you...well... and I love him like a brother, but I just want you to know that he can't help it; and that you shouldn't be ashamed of your feelings."

Hayley gave him a scathing look, "You don't have a clue, Black. You're not being replaced."

"You're not being replaced," Sirius replied, his voice low, "because he never loved you."

Hayley looked like she'd been punched in the face.

"Now," Sirius continued, "from what I can tell, Kingsley does. And I know him a little – he's a good bloke."

Hayley jerked away from him, face a picture of fury, "You have no right to meddle in my affairs. Who I like, and who I see, are none of your business. Back the hell off," she hissed, stalking away.

"My advice?" Sirius called, stilling her, "is to do whatever you can to get over James...and be good to Kingsley even if it's not the best thing for you."

Hayley continued walking.

By the time New Year's Eve rolled around the drama in the group had largely passed over; James – taking Lily's advice – had both apologised to Peter and taken pains to keep the pressure of excelling off his shoulders; Mary and Reginald continued their serene and adorable relationship; Will and Marlene were as utterly in love as ever.

Hayley glared at Sirius every time she saw him, and refused to have conversations with him, but that wasn't unusual enough to cause a stir.

For the first time in a long time, everything seemed...easy. There were no building tensions; there were no topics that needed avoiding.

"If only it would snow," Lily commented on the subject, on one of her 'rounds' with James, in the room of requirement, "everything would be perfect."

James, who was scrawling a letter to his mother, snorted, "How romantic."

"You don't like snow?" The redhead asked, curling her feet beneath herself as she watched his awkward inscription increase. She had always assumed that – given the obscene amount that he seemed to throw around every year – he loved it.

"I love it," James replied honestly, "but only when there's enough to have a good time."

"There's always enough to have a good time, around here," Lily pointed out, "we're in Scotland."

James laughed hoarsely, dryly amused, "Don't be so scathing about Scotland, you redhead, you."

"I'm not Scottish!" Lily defended herself, rolling an offending coloured lock around her finger with a snooty sniff. "My folks come from Ireland."

"Land of the gays."

"Land of the free!" Lily threw a pillow at him.

James, face lit by laughter, caught it and tucked it behind his head, "Oh, sure, whatever you say!"

"You and your Black are so judgemental," Lily grumbled. "Homophobes."

James rolled from his place to crouch at her feet, resting his cheek on her knee with the sweetest smile she had ever seen him give, "I'm not a homophobe. The gays and I have a mutual love for one another, promise."

Lily swatted him away, "You're impossible."

"That's not what they said," James quipped.

"What did they say?" Lily teased. "Oh, James, take your top off?"

James shook his head, "That was your mum."

Lily shoved him off her leg, laughing along despite herself, "You're impossible."

"You're repetitive!"

"You're a twat!"

"You're a prig!"

"You're an arrogant, immature tosser! Who smells!" Lily shot, pulling her final syllable out in faux irriation.

James laughed, "Evan's...you're so weird!"

"But that's why you love me," Lily quipped, without thinking.

The word bounced off walls, ricocheting through their hearts as they tried not to make eye contact, not sure what to say and terrified that the other could hear their own increased heart rate. James' hoarse laughter may as well have been an answer, and Lily's blush was as much a giveaway as anything else.

"So what are you doing tonight?" James asked finally, because sometimes even he couldn't take the silences.

Lily, still red, shrugged silently, "One of the girls will have alcohol, I assume we'll share it and bitch about our lives and make promises to do better next year and stuff."

"Resolutions?"

Lily did have one, in fact; if you could call it that. It wasn't something she'd specified, something she'd planned. It was just that when people asked her...she thought about James. Nothing specific. Just...just him. He was her New Year's Resolution.

Of course, she could hardly tell him that.

"None, really. And you?"

James looked at her, "I vant to leaaaarn hhhow to chaahhchah."

Lily snorted, "Was that meant to be Russian?"

"Slovakian. Or Romanian, I'm not fussy."

"But definitely the cha-cha?"

James pulled a face, "Actually, I can already cha-cha. That's a skill my house elves taught me."

Lily laughed loudly, "You cannot cha-cha. That's such a lie!"

James made a motion of crossing his heart, and yanked her to her feet. In the corner, a turntable materialised, and a box of records, and James yanked her over, rifling through the disks quickly and selecting one without conferring with her.

"I am not dancing with you!" Lily giggled, covering her face, "there's no way!"

James didn't reply, setting the volume to loud and dragging her to the space at the side (she wasn't even sure if it had been there before). Roughly, he positioned her shaking body.

"Follow my lead," he instructed cheerfully, and clicked.

The music swelled around them, and James was moving, feet taking quick little steps and hips shifting rapidly to the beat, rolling her body with him, and she found herself moving automatically: awkwardly, half a beat behind him and completely out of step, but moving with him. Dancing with him.

She didn't care; she was laughing too hard, collapsing only a few seconds in against his chest in a fit of giggles; he held her there, his own body shaking, growling, with deep laughter that pulsed through her.

"You're shocking, Evans," he whispered into her ear.

"Who can still cha-cha these days!" Lily howled, head flying back to better laugh.

"Purebloods," Sirius commented, from where he leant against the door. "We're a weird bunch."

The Gryffindors in the centre of the room turned together, arms still wrapped around one another, to speak to the boy at the same time.

"Speak for yourself," James said.

"You're telling me!" Lily laughed.

James nudged her in the ribs, and released her, turning fully to face his best friend, "Eh, mate, what are we doing tonight?"

Sirius ambled over to the chairs, taking the armchair and sinking into it before leaning over the map speculatively, "Trying to get Will drunk?"

Lily laughed, "Don't be mean."

"Trying to get Reginald drunk?"

James perked up, "Is Reginald coming?"

"Going where?" Lily asked, looking between them.

Both boys ignored her.

"I think we should do what we did in fourth year," Sirius said, cryptically, wiggling a single eyebrow. James smirked, and gave a look that distinctly checked whether he could speak in front of Lily. Lily shot him a furious look; he proceeded anyway.

"But maybe without the...animal?"

Sirius nodded emphatically, "No, that didn't go too well, did it?"

"Remus' eyebrows just wouldn't grow back!"

"Never mind Peter's...hairy regions."

James snorted, and Lily took his momentary distraction to leap in: "What are you two talking about?" She held up a hand before they could twist the conversation out of her control again, halting Sirius' sideways remark in its tracks, "Look, I don't want to know about 4th year, and the animal, and Remus' eyebrows; and I definitely don't want to know about Peter's 'hairy regions' and what Remus' eyebrows must have been doing near them" (the boys laughed appreciatively) "for them both to get singed off. Just tell me what we're doing tonight."

James ignored her (again), "So I'll see you there?" He asked Sirius, checking his watch and slinging his cloak over his shoulders.

Sirius saluted him as an answer, his handsome face crumpling joyously, hidden from the full light and his hair flopping sweetly into his eyes. Lily rolled her eyes at him.

Despite herself, her eyes followed the boy leaving the room (their room); when she looked back, Sirius watched her with a smirk.

"Shut up," she mumbled, turning red and reaching around him to fold up the map ("wipe it clean" Sirius ordered sternly, when she forgot, and she did so hurriedly) before resting with her hands on her hips, half defensive and all combative.

"So whose totes got a crush?" Sirius asked, his voice hitting falsetto as he hit the soft cushioned armchair that belonged to James.

She did not mind the invasion of space as much as she would have, were it anyone else, but she did mind the mocking, and she sent him a dirty look. Not to cover her guilt. "What are we doing tonight?"

"Who says you're invited?"

The red head pointed a threatening finger at the boy, "Just because I'm smaller than you, half your weight and have less testosterone, doesn't mean I couldn't kick your ass. Watch yourself."

Sirius raised his hands in supplication, and, forgiving him even though she knew he didn't mean it, she took a seat on the low sofa. The boy, after a few moments' relaxed silence, shuffled over to sit beside her, resting his head on her lap as he smiled serenely.

Lily looked at him accusingly, "What?"

"Nothing," Sirius promised sweetly, shaking his head and fixing her with his eyes, "I just thought I'd come over here to tell you that I know someone that has a crush on you, and if you break my boy's heart I'll break your face." He finished with the beaming grin that (she thought) meant he was joking.

He wasn't.

"No hearts are getting broken here," Lily promised, her own in her mouth. Hearts? Hearts? It wasn't meant to be a matter of the heart, not yet! It was just a physical attraction, it would go away, wouldn't it?

"I'm serious!" Sirius swore easily, sensing her hesitation and misinterpreting it. "I have far less qualms than he does about fighting girls."

"I don't doubt it."

"Because you think he's perfect."

"I didn't say that!"

"And handsome."

"You're making things up!"

"And funny."

"Really, Black?"

"And you want to tap that boy," Sirius lengthened his vowels lewdly.

..."Black?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

The boy lounging across her laughed, and sat up – thankfully, for her legs were beginning to tingle with blood loss, and she wasn't entirely sure that she wouldn't need them to escape from the crazy person she was sharing the room with.

"Is James okay with this now?" Lily asked suddenly, as the thought occurred to her. "With me and you being alone in a room together?"

Sirius snorted, "He's getting over that particular paranoia, thank Merlin, because I couldn't tease you if he was here." Lily punched him lightly, and his face twitched without looking at her at her pathetic strength. "No, he's alright with it all, now; there's only a little bit of him now worrying we're going to elope together, and the next time he sees us there'll be a whole herd of little Black-Evans sproglets." He grinned at her.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Well we'll have to cancel that plan."

"Or be really quick about it," Sirius laughed loudly. Lily rolled her eyes.

With a sigh older than his age, and the pose of an old man that did nothing to change his natural born grace, Sirius staggered to his feet, wheezing a little. From above, he peered down at the lovely girl, and pouted dramatically, "Look, Evans, do you want to know what we're doing tonight or not?"

With her mouth hanging open slightly (she was never quite used to his blatant shamelessness) Lily followed the boy (he walked much faster than her, and didn't care to slow down) out of the room and down the corridor.

"Are you going to tell me now or is it-" Lily ran a little, skidding as she slowed down beside him, and ignoring his playful whistling.

"It's a surprise," Sirius confirmed with a sharp nod. "Consider tonight your initiation."

Lily smiled, touched although she pretended not to be, "I thought London was my initiation?"

Sirius pulled a mocking face, "London was a test, but tonight's when the fun begins," he turned his head to wink at her. "Watch yourself." He mimicked her earlier words.

Lily noticed, and scoffed loudly. As a new thought occurred to her: "So what about everyone else? Do they just get in automatically?"

With an almost horrified gasp, fake tears sparkling in his vivid grey eyes, Sirius allowed a fluttering hand to rest over his heart, "Just get in automatically? Why would you even say something like that?"

"Well-"

Apparently, it was a rhetorical question, because Sirius continued talking without regard for what Lily was trying to explain, "This is not some little childrens club, where you can pick and choose who enters and kick them out when they don't fulfil! Oh no! This is the Marauders, and no one unworthy should even think of the inner sanctum! Once a Marauder, always a Marauder, far beyond until death do us part and into the very core of what makes" – he jabbed himself in the chest – "you" – jab – "you." Jab.

Lily swallowed, "Holy moly."

"No! No holy moly! Nothing, except Marauders!"

"I get it, I get it!" Lily insisted, raising her hands against the onslaught (when had they stopped walking) of his eyes and his protective anger.

He fixed her with a piercing glare, "But do you?"

With the flickering torchlight the only thing between them and the night, and the outside world just beginning to pierce through the happy mood James and their room put her in, and the angry man before her and the enormity of his love for his friends, Lily couldn't think. She didn't understand what it was, and she didn't understand why it was important, and she didn't know if she wanted it.

"No," she admitted, "No, I don't."

Sirius seemed to deflate, "Good, because, no offense, Evans, but you'll never be a part of us. Not properly. You'll only ever be..."

"James' bird," Lily concluded dryly for him.

Sirius winced, but agreed, "It's nothing personal: and you're the best I can think of for him, not least because you make him happy, but we're too individual, you know?"

Lily smiled, hurt only a little and much more concerned with making sure he knew she held nothing against him, "So what's tonight really then, if not an initiation?"

Sirius blinked, "It's still an initiation."

"Even though I'll never be a part of you?"

Sirius barked a laugh, "Oh, Evans, for a clever girl you're stupid. It was never an initiation into the Marauders...this is your initiation to being James' bird!"

Lily's mouth fell open, "Sirius Orion Black don't you dare try anything!" She raised one hand warningly, and sparks cascaded from her pocket, where her wand was.

The boy was already walking, cackling madly in a way that did not entirely fill her with ease.

Shit.

Several hours later, Lily was not entirely sure where she was.

Neither could she remember why she was there, or how she got there. The various twists and turns that they had been shepherded through were lost on her, and the happy, bubbly warmth in the pit of her stomach was telling her not to care.

She giggled at the thought.

Imagine: your stomach telling you what to do.

"Imagine your stomach telling you what to do!" She enthused, turning to the person beside her – who turned out to be Remus.

He gave her a funny look.

"It'd be like," Lily continued, ignoring him and impersonating (well, in her mind) the voice she imagined a stomach would have; a growly, grumbling, yet cheerful sound, "hello person, eat food, drink drink." She snorted with laughter again.

"Ha!" Mary laughed behind her, "Drink drink!"

In a lot of ways, Lily was irrationally happy that someone seemed to appreciate her sparkling humour and wit on the lofty tower they found themselves; but a lot of her didn't care either way. Still – she wasn't completely in control of her actions – she turned towards her new friend (and, hahaha, also her old friend!) with a grin worthy of an award – uncoordinated and sloppy and lopsided but happy.

"It'd be like," Mary told Lily, "hello person!"

Lily giggled; she may have genuinely found nothing funnier in her life. "It'd be like 'Food good!'"

"Grumble grumble!" Mary mimicked the noises, her little hands fluttering around her stomach.

Lily roared with laughter, "It'd be like 'Must Digest!'" Through her giggling, she put on a robot voice. She spat out the mouthful of liquid she could not remember drinking, and it sprayed over them both, and over the walls, and over Reginald, who was pink in the face and had just appeared to burrow his face into Mary's neck.

Still laughing, Lily addressed the boy, "Hello, Reginald."

Reginald seemed to be more affectionate when he was drunk: he rolled his face along Mary's neck to peer at Lily, blinking alcohol off of his eyelashes and favouring her with a rare, beaming grin, "Hello, Evans."

Lily was aware enough to be affronted, "What are you calling me Evans for?"

"That's what James calls you," Reginald explained, and kissed Mary on the cheek, softly.

"What does James call who?" James appeared beside Lily, slinging his arm around her shoulder and pulling her tight into his chest. She buried her face there – inhaling the scent of him that was so forest-y and spicy and (and she would never have thoughts so soppy when she was sober) like sunshine – and missed Reginald's meagre explanation; but she didn't miss much, anyway.

Mary and James wondered away, and Lily pulled out of James' arms. She looked up at him. With the moon silhouetted behind him, focusing randomly on the curves of his glasses, and causing every single one of his impossible strands of hair to stand out, and throwing his face into shadow that only served to accentuate the smooth sharpness of it, Lily had never been quite so sure of him. There were more handsome boys (a fact to which Sirius served as a constant, comforting, bamboozling reminder) and more deserving boys (she actually missed the Remus Lupin fancying days) and boys that she could spend time with without the need to murder something every few hours (...and that was almost the entire male population) but there was no other James.

And she wanted James.

"What do you want, James?" Lily whispered, pressing her fingers to jaw line.

His face was frozen from the wind, up high, and her fingers were cold because she had forgotten her gloves; and the skin where they touched burned.

James, eyes crinkled in the corners with that indescribable emotion that scared her as much as it gave her hope, smiled. He ducked his head shyly, and then peered back into her face.

With Lily Evans in the moonlight; he wanted nothing.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" He asked her, lacing their fingers together.

Lily nodded, her voice caught at the roof of her mouth along with her heart.

Ask me, she thought – she begged – internally. Ask me, please.

James nodded, too. He looked upwards towards the sky, craning his neck backwards (she could see the shadow of stubble there) to glare at the moon, and the clouds coming quickly.

"It'll snow soon," he promised quietly, irrelevantly.

"I've been waiting for that for weeks," Lily replied automatically, quelling the disappointment inside of her. "So I doubt it'll happen this weekend."

James met her eyes, "It'll happen."

Again, Lily's heart staccato-ed; her eyes slipped shut, her head fell back, and James' lips brushed – ever so lightly, pleading and questioning and adoring, - against her cheek, resting just beside her mouth for a moment as he breathed in deeply.

"Happy New Year, Lily," James whispered into her ear, fingers feverishly warm on her collar bone.

There yis goes, hope you liked it! Reviews are always, always, always the bestest, so please review! ~Meli