A/N: An update ahead of schedule! It's been a good week. I was hoping to have this finished by Tuesday, but it's done early so here you go. You're welcome.

I'm going out of town next weekend, so probably will not be updating again until the weekend after; if I can get something up sooner, I promise I will.

On another note, I now have a tumblr account; it's scared-of-clouds (.tumblr .com) FF won't let me post the link.

It's very recent, and very much a work in progress, but I will post teasers and updates, so if you want to know how long you're going to be waiting for a chapter, or if there's just a question you want to ask, feel free!

Feel free to PM me on here for that matter, if there's anything you want to know, and I will do my best to answer!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter, I'm actually pretty happy with it for a change! Usually I'm hyper critical of my own chapters.

I'll shut up now.

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The last few days in February turned cold, as if winter couldn't go without taking one final swipe. Lily shivered in her place at the front of one of the stands at the Quidditch pitch, wrapping James' Quidditch scarf more firmly around her neck. The second Gryffindor game of the year, against Ravenclaw, was due to start in the next few minutes, and the teams were both already out and flying warm-up laps. Even though she couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, she could hear James yelling at his teammates as they flew. He'd been insane for the last two weeks, forcing his team into practicing every day for at least two hours, and when challenged about his behaviour by anyone, he would immediately point out that Slytherin had won both their matches so far, and if they lost to Ravenclaw they would almost certainly slip to third place. The Gryffindor team had never been in third place in all the time James had been on it, and he'd be damned if he allowed it to happen now. Therefore, he'd ignored every complaint and doggedly continued with his pursuit of Quidditch glory.

There was a commotion in the crowd around her and Alice and Peter arrived, shoving their way through to the railings at the front. Remus obligingly moved over to make room for the new arrivals, throwing apologetic looks at Emma and Mary as they were forced into a rather small space in the very corner of the stand.

'Has anyone hit him yet?' Asked Peter as James and Sirius flew past, James yelling last minute instructions into his best mate's ear as he gesticulated wildly with one hand.

'No.' Lily answered. 'But I reckon it's only a matter of time. You'd get pretty even odds on whether it'll be Sirius or Marly who does sock him one though, they both look pretty hacked off.'

'Smart money's on Marly. She reckons she has frostbite in unspeakable places from spending so much time practicing in this cold weather.' Remus put in conversationally. 'I didn't ask for details, but I can imagine which parts are sore, and it would make me want to hex him too.'

Lily let out an unladylike snort of laughter, then frantically tried to block the mental images Remus' words had conjured up. James flew past again, this time flying next to Frank and making sweeping arm gestures as he spoke rapidly to his fellow chaser. Frank nodded good-naturedly and James slapped him on the back before noticing that Kenneth's pace was flagging and zooming off to remonstrate loudly with him.

'Your boyfriend is mental.' Peter raised an eyebrow at Lily, who shrugged unconcernedly. He turned slightly to make eye contact with Alice. 'And yours is the most even-tempered bloke I've ever met.' Alice's face melted into a goofy grin as Frank looked over at her from the other side of the pitch and sent her a mock salute. She waved madly back, leaning out over the railing and completely ignoring the fact that she was crushing Emma and Mary further back into the corner.

Lily elbowed him in the side. 'You'll get no sense out of her. She's in love.' She drew a heart shape in the air with the index fingers of both hands.

'You're one to talk.' Peter snorted. 'Honestly, I don't know what's the matter with you all. Even Moony; he's been sending Julia these goofy looks for weeks. There must be something in the bloody water.' He moved slightly to allow someone to squeeze past him. 'I'm happy to report that I remain immune to the outbreak of slushiness.'

'I don't think you could suggest that Marly and Sirius are slushy.' Lily mused quietly, watching Sirius deliberately knock sideways into Marlene as he flew past her, earning himself an extremely rude hand gesture from the lady in question.

'No, but they are still disgusting to be around. Just in a different way. Too handsy by half.' He shuddered dramatically. 'And the point stands; I can't get a word of sense out of any of you.'

Lily laughed again and linked her arm through his as down on the pitch the referee whistled for the players to position themselves for the start of the match.

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The first hour had been fast and furious. The score was 90-120 in Ravenclaw's favour, and the battle was becoming increasingly frantic. The Ravenclaw chasers were no real match for James, Frank and Gregory on their own, but their beaters were phenomenal; they had superb aim and worked seamlessly together to target players. Both new recruits this year, no-one had seen much of them in the match against Slytherin last term, but they'd really upped their game for this one. James had been hit by bludgers twice and was having to dodge regularly to avoid further injury, preventing him from taking the initiative with the scoring runs as he normally did. He was favouring his right shoulder and Frank had blood pouring from one ear.

Alice was biting her nails down to the quick as she watched Frank seize the quaffle and dive his broom diagonally towards the ground, narrowly avoiding taking another bludger to the back. The noise in the Gryffindor stand was deafening as students screamed encouragement, cheering as Frank passed to James, who looped round another Chaser and threw a high overhead pass back to Frank. There was an enormous groan from the stands when the well-aimed quaffle was saved by the Ravenclaw keeper.

Play resumed, and the cheers of encouragement continued until there was a collective intake of breath as a bludger collided with Gregory's leg and it bent backwards at a sickening angle. He lost control of his broom as he clutched at his injured limb with both hands; without him steering, the broom began to drift at high speed towards the hard wood sides of the nearest stand.

Lily and Remus both moved their hands to their wands, ready to use them at a moment's notice, but James was there faster than either of them could have reacted. Reaching out a hand he seized the front of Gregory's broom and fought it for a moment until he gained control, towing it towards the ground behind his own broom, signalling a time-out with his other hand. As soon as Gregory's good leg made contact with the ground he toppled off his broom and rolled onto his back. The rest of the team landed around him and rushed towards them. There was a brief cry of pain as Frank gestured his wand at Gregory's leg and the broken bone visibly jerked back into line, but then he was up and joining his team mates in the huddle as if nothing had happened.

'That's another one that's mental.' Commented Peter. 'Bet he gets Captain once Prongs leaves. He shares that "injury? What injury?" attitude with him.'

Lily slapped him lightly on the arm, then turned her attention back towards the pitch where the team were rising up into the air again.

'Marls, sweetheart…' James began as he rose up into the air alongside her.

'I know, I know.' She interrupted crossly. 'Get the snitch and get it now. Keep those damn beaters off of me and I might have a chance.' She shot off across the pitch at high speed, leaning almost flat along the length of her broom as she scoured the air for that elusive flash of gold.

'Pads!' James flew over and caught up with his best mate, pulling in close to him. 'Stay on Marls. Ignore everything else, just make damn sure she doesn't have to worry about anything but that sodding snitch.'

Sirius shot him an incredulous look and James rolled his eyes. 'I know, I know it sounds mad. But we have to get that snitch, their beaters are too good and their Keeper's better than ours too. Wood is doing well but it's still his first season and the inexperience shows. Steele on the other hand…' - James nodded towards the beefy seventh year hovering around the Ravenclaw goal – 'has been keeping against me for three years now, and he's doing a damn good job of it today. We can't score enough goals, we have to focus on keeping their score down and finding that bloody snitch. Marls is our priority.'

Sirius nodded his understanding and shot off after Marlene, flying a defensive pattern round her. Phillip Gordon – who was trying his best to be impartial while commentating on his own house – noted this change in approach almost immediately and announced that Gryffindor had obviously stepped up their search for the snitch in an effort to end the game before Ravenclaw could make too much of their advantage.

There was an enormous cheer from the Ravenclaw stands and James spun around in the air just in time to see one of their chasers sink another goal. He groaned inwardly. 90 – 130. They needed that snitch before the score line got away from them. Noting the troubled look on Wood's face, James flew over to console his keeper; he was doing well after all, Ravenclaw were just a little too strong today.

He had just managed to offer a few words of encouragement when a loud crack caught his attention; Kenneth had swung his bat and hit a bludger so hard that when it made contact with the back of a Ravenclaw beater's head it knocked him off his broom entirely. One of the chasers dived to catch him and the two of them landed safely; James shot a quick glance at the referee who was waving play on. Ravenclaw were down a beater, and at least for the next minute a chaser. This might be their only opportunity to try and get the match back on a more even footing. He was still convinced that a snitch catch was their only hope of winning, but more goals would improve their standing in the overall race for the cup.

He scanned the field for Frank and found his fellow chaser already heading directly for the Ravenclaw chaser who was in possession of the quaffle. As the chaser tried to offload the ball to his only available teammate, Frank flew between them and snatched it out of the air, flying straight down the centre of the field towards the goalposts. Gregory arrived alongside him and the two of them began to weave their way through the opposition players. Steele was so focused on the two approaching Gryffindors that he failed to notice their Captain making his way up the other side of the pitch. As they approached the goal, Frank swung his arm as if he was about to pass to Gregory, then suddenly switched directions and hurled the quaffle directly at James, who had slipped unnoticed behind the keeper. The quaffle was through the hoop before Steele had even turned. 100-130.

The third Ravenclaw chaser was back in the air, but the beater was still down receiving medical attention. James chanced a look around the pitch for Marlene; he located her easily, Sirius still flying lazy loops around her to allow her to focus on her search without fear of being hit. At first glance he thought she was flying her usual search pattern but then he registered a subtle difference. Following her eye line he thought he saw a flash of gold near the Ravenclaw seeker; she'd seen the snitch, but was trying to position herself for a catch without giving away the location of the snitch to the opposition seeker who was much closer to it than she was. Grinning in appreciation of her tactics, James turned his attention back to the rest of his team and was pleased to see Wood make an excellent save from a well-aimed shot and then send the quaffle directly into the waiting hands of Gregory.

Kenneth was flying loops around the pitch, engaged in a fierce battle of bludger hits with the remaining Ravenclaw beater, and Frank had joined Gregory as they made their way up the pitch again. James urged his broom on faster and dropped in on Gregory's right. The three of them continued their advance, passing the quaffle and weaving round the opposition chasers who were doing their best to defend in the absence of their beater. Frank threw the quaffle to Gregory, who was forced to dive to one side to avoid a bludger; as the quaffle began to drop James pushed his broom faster and snatched it seconds before it dropped out of play. He looped round the Ravenclaw who was marking him and aimed his broom forwards, relying on its faster acceleration to outpace his opponent and headed straight for the goal, aware he was being tailed by at least two players. As he drew level with the posts, he slowed a little and waited for Steele to begin to drift towards him, as he knew from experience he would. Once he saw the keeper move away from his posts, he hurled the quaffle backwards, throwing it high over his head and hoping like his hell his teammates had been following his play.

Swinging his broom around to look, James punched the air as he saw the quaffle sail into Frank's waiting hands, which touched it for barely a second before he'd hurled it through the far left goal. 110 – 130. Hearing the crowd gasp and the commentator's voice rise with excitement, James turned on the spot, scouring the pitch for the cause of the commotion until he caught sight of Marlene far below him, diving almost vertically down, Sirius following her and blocking both Ravenclaw beater's as best he could; James hadn't even realised that their opponents were back to a full complement of players.

Realising that play was continuing around him, he pulled his eyes away from Marlene and tried to direct his team, but his focus was on the voice of Phillip Gordon as he reported Marly's progress, his ears straining as he listened for the one phrase he was hoping to hear…

'McKinnon's got the snitch! It's a Gryffindor win!'

And there it was. Seeing Marly flying towards him, arm outstretched as she waggled the snitch she was holding out for him to see, he was so happy he went with his instinct and dive-bombed into her. The rest of his team followed his example and they all collided in mid-air, laughing hysterically as they sank to the ground in an odd sort of victory huddle.

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Alice twirled her wand between her fingers as she walked the well-trodden path back to the castle from the Quidditch pitch. After the match the majority of people had left quickly; the Gryffindors in particular had been anxious to get back to whatever party was bound to kick off in the common room.

It had been Frank's turn to stay after the match and deal with the equipment – James used a rota system so no-one could complain about doing it – and she had stayed to help him. When he'd realised how long it was taking him – it had been a rough match, so the equipment was a little more banged up than usual – he'd told her to head back without him and he'd come up as soon as he could.

So here she was, slowly making her way back to the castle and hoping that if she walked slowly enough Frank would catch up with her before she reached Gryffindor tower; it would be nice to have him to herself for a few minutes before he was engulfed by the victory party, as he inevitably would be.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the dark shadow detach itself from the trees at the side of the path until it appeared directly in front of her; she jumped violently and almost dropped her wand. Gripping it slightly more firmly she held it out in front of defensively as she looked at the dark figure blocking her path.

'Lumos!' She cast the spell and a flare of pure white light lit up the end of her wand, illuminating the pudgy face of Augustus Corbin, seventh year Slytherin. Despite the light from her wand, his face was still half in shadow, giving him an eerie, somewhat menacing look. He looked her up and down before his face broke into a cruel smile.

'A little blood traitor, all alone. Where are your friends girly?'

'Get out of my way.' Alice kept her voice low and steady, trying to keep any tremble of fear she might have felt from showing in it as she raised her wand a little higher.

'I don't think so.' Another voice came from behind her and William Stonevich, a Slytherin from the year below moved out of the shadows and stood behind her and Alice turned to the side slightly, in an effort to keep both of them in view at the same time.

'Your parents…' Corbin began, reaching out his wand and running the tip down the centre of her chest. 'Your parents turned down a very generous offer from the Dark Lord. That has consequences. For them, and for you. We're here to… explain that.'

Stonevich chuckled, a low throaty sound as he moved up closer to her. Alice gripped her wand more firmly as she registered her situation. Realising that she wasn't going to get out of this without a fight, she resolved her best chance was to make the first move. Trying to remember James' lessons on defence, she silently cast a shield charm over herself before quickly brandishing her wand in Corbin's direction.

'Expelliaramus!'

His wand flew easily out of his hand and towards her, but before she could grab it she felt a heavy weight hit her from behind. Stonevich pushed her to the ground easily; her shield would only defend against magical attacks and he was nearly twice her weight. As she hit the ground she rolled and came back to a kneeling position, groping around on the cold ground with her free hand to see if she could find where Corbin's wand had landed.

In the moment it had taken her to right herself, Stonevich had already thrown the wand back at Corbin, and it was two against one again.

Holding her wand out in front of her, she quickly scrambled got to her feet, being sure to watch both of them for any sign of movement. No sooner had she regained her footing than Corbin shot a hex directly at her; he was using a non-verbal technique, so she had no idea what he had used, but she very much doubted it was anything as harmless as a bat bogey hex. She deflected it quickly, staggering slightly as she fought to keep her balance, and it hit a nearby tree, blasting off a significant chunk of bark as it landed. A quick twirl of her wand sent a stunning spell at Stonevich, who had obviously been expecting her to retaliate at Corbin, because he grunted with surprise before he dived to the ground to avoid it. As he hit the floor she threw a quick incarcerous spell at him before darting round behind a tree in an attempt to shield herself from any spells that Corbin threw at her.

Stonevich wriggled in his bonds, trying to squirm his way free, and Corbin was momentarily distracted from her, giving her just enough time to aim a trip jinx at him. It missed and he turned his attention back to her, aiming spell after spell at her with furious speed.

She was taken by surprise – Corbin had never seemed particularly skilled in class, but it seemed he may have been hiding his abilities. Either that or the anger caused by being attacked by a blood-traitor was pushing him to greater effort than normal, but whatever the reason, his hexes were coming hard and fast and she was starting to have to focus so hard on deflecting them that she was struggling to aim any back.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Stonevich manage to release a hand from his magical bindings and he began to reach for his wand which was lying on the ground near his head. As she tried to re-bind him, while watching for Corbin's attacks and maintaining her shield, she felt her foot sink into boggy ground and she lost her balance momentarily; it was long enough for Corbin to hit her with a flipendo.

She felt her body fly backwards, felt the jarring contact with the ground in every bone. Her head cracked on the frozen ground and her eyes began to water at the searing pain, but she kept her grip on her wand and held it defensively as she tried to regain her bearings. She dimly registered Stonevich being released and as her head began to clear enough for her to think properly again she became aware of both Slytherins standing over her.

Corbin raised his wand and pointed it at her. 'Imperio.'

She felt the curse hit, felt the nagging compulsion to obey burn its way down into her brain. While she'd never experienced an Imperius curse before, she knew how it had been described by others and somewhere in the part of her mind that was still conscious, still her, she knew this wasn't a particularly strong one; it seemed to lack the force necessary to make her obey. The compulsion to do as she was told was there, but the need to actually do it wasn't. She pushed as hard as she could against the fog creeping across her brain, against the pressure to do as she was bid. That little voice was running through her head, telling her to obey, to follow orders, to just give in, but Alice Fortesque was stronger than it, she was, and she wasn't going to give in.

She heard a shout of anger somewhere to her right, heard a familiar voice yelling in fury and then she felt the pressure release, her mind cleared and she was up on her feet, ignoring the ringing pain in her head and thinking of nothing but her own anger. She hurled a curse at Stonevich, who was stood still in shock, not looking in her direction, not even lifting a wand in his own defence. She saw the stunner hit, saw it lift him off his feet and he crashed backwards into a tree and then lay still.

She swung around to look for Corbin and saw him a few feet away, stumbling backwards as he scrambled to get away from an enraged Frank who was systematically stripping away his defences and firing hex after hex at him, his face a cold mask of fury. Uncertain as to whether she should intervene before Frank did something a little too permanent – she didn't want to, she wanted Frank to hex Corbin into next week, but she also didn't want Frank to have that on his conscience, or for him to get into trouble for it – she took a few hesitant steps towards them.

'Frank?' she kept her voice soft and low, recognising that his anger made him unpredictable right now.

Frank sent one last hex at Corbin, and it obliterated the Slytherin's hastily erected shield charm, knocking him onto his backside. Frank ripped his wand from his hand and snapped it in half with one hand before placing the tip of his wand hard into Corbins' fleshy throat.

'Did he hurt you?' Frank's voice was surprisingly quiet and calm for someone wearing that facial expression.

She swallowed hard. 'No. No, he didn't get the opportunity to.'

'But he was going to. He wanted to.' Frank's wand dug in a little tighter and Corbin let out a little whimper as he felt the pressure against his windpipe increase.

Alice's hand tentatively touched the back of Frank's wand hand. 'But he didn't. I didn't let him, and you didn't let him.' She felt the muscles in his arm begin to relax, saw the tension in his face withdraw a little. He pulled his wand away from Corbins' throat and turned his head to look at Alice. She offered him a small smile, then stepped up to his side and, without the tiniest bit of sympathy or remorse, she fired off a particularly brutal stunning hex and let out a little sigh of satisfaction when Corbin's head hit the ground with a thud.

Frank looked slightly shocked just for a moment before he laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. She curled into him, relieved he was there now that the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off, leaving the fear and exhaustion with free reign over her body and emotions. She couldn't stop the trembling - though it wasn't as severe as it might have been - but she kept her breathing even, just as James and Remus had taught everyone, and she leaned into Frank's side, feeling that warmth, that solid dependability that was just so very Frank.

They stayed there for a few minutes before Frank planted a kiss on her head and loosened his grip on her.

'We should get you to the hospital wing. You got a bump to the head, and there's no knowing what other after effects there could be.'

'What about them?' Alice asked doubtfully, peering at the slumped bodies of her attackers. Frank flicked his wand at Stonevich, levitating him until he was propped against a tree trunk; a further twist of his wand bound the boy's figure to the tree. He repeated the process on Corbin, then nodded, obviously satisfied with his work. He turned back to Alice again. 'They'll keep. We'll send someone.'

He snaked an arm round her back until it rested on her hipbone and tugged her into his side; her arm slipped easily into position round his waist and they began the walk to the castle, a walk they'd done hundreds of times in exactly same way.

'Alice?' Frank's voice was soft and quiet, but there seemed to be a burning curiosity behind it.

'Hmm?' She indicated that she was listening and waited for him to continue.

'Have you ever thought of being an auror?'

Alice laughed then stopped when he didn't join in. 'You were being serious?'

'Yeah. I mean, why not? You handled yourself brilliantly there, you're taking all the right NEWTs and you're going to get excellent scores. I just wondered if you'd ever thought of it.'

'Well, yeah I guess I have. It's a really worthwhile career, and it's a way of fighting all this blood purity shit but…' She trailed off.

'But?' Frank encouraged.

'It's just…so competitive. I never really thought I'd stand a chance.'

Frank laughed and squeezed her a little tighter. 'Believe me, you have a chance. A really good chance. And actually, while we're on the subject, Potter heard something really interesting from his dad the other day, about fast-tracking applications. I'm applying. You should too.'

Alice smiled up at him. 'Then we can be a kick-ass auror team huh?'

'Damn right.'

They continued their way up to the castle and Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing, identical smiles on their faces and a comfortable silence between them.

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'Excuse me Professor, but Professor Dumbledore would like to see the Head Boy and Head Girl as soon as possible.' The first year looked absolutely terrified about delivering such a message to Professor McGonagall, especially in the middle of her NEWT class of seventh years. She blurted out the message, looking down at the floor the entire time and bolting from the room the minute she was given permission to.

'Firsties! I'm sure they keep getting smaller!' exclaimed Sirius, who had been watching the girl with interest the entire time she'd been stood there; it was entirely possible that this had contributed to her nervousness.

'Thank you Mr Black, I don't believe we need your observations on the matter.' Professor McGonagall interrupted. 'Mr Potter, Miss Evans, on your way.'

The two Head students gathered their things and left the classroom, heading for Dumbledore's office at a relatively quick pace.

'Do you think it's important?' Lily reached for James' hand and clasped it in her own.

'Can't see him pulling us out of class unless it is.'

'Probably bad news then.'

James smiled down at her. 'You're such an optimist.'

She slapped him gently, a smile breaking out onto her face and he began to swing their clasped hands as they walked, becoming more and more exaggerated in his gestures until she laughed out loud.

When they reached Dumbledore's office they had a brief row outside about who was supposed to be keeping track of the passwords, but eventually they had to settle for listing off the names of sweets until they found one that worked – Peppermint Puffskeins. James knocked and pushed the door open without waiting for an answer, leaving Lily slightly dumbfounded at this apparent familiarity.

'James, Lily, please sit down.' The Headmaster placed the scroll he'd been perusing down on his desk and indicated the two armchairs that faced it. They sat and waited expectantly, but for a moment their headmaster just observed them closely.

He clasped his hands together and leant forward. 'I have just expelled Augustus Corbin from this school, and placed William Stonevich on permanent detention.'

James eyebrows had shot up so far they had almost reached his hairline. 'I'm sure both of their fathers had something to say about that sir.'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'They had rather a lot to say actually, just not a great deal that I would choose to listen to.' His face sobered. 'The attack on Miss Fortesque was unforgivable. I will not tolerate unprovoked violence - especially not involving use of Unforgivable curses - at my school, regardless of who is carrying it out. I would like to arrange for you to speak to some of the younger year groups to reiterate that point; a less formal warning than a teacher doing so, but a warning nonetheless.'

'Of course Professor. We'd be happy too.' Lily responded easily, while James frowned.

'Do you think that'll help Professor? I mean, there's been a lot of trouble in the school this year. I honestly think half the problem is that people are so jumpy they are flinging hexes before they've even thought about what they're doing. I'm not saying there aren't genuine problems of some students being violent – what happened to Alice proves that – but I doubt people who are that way inclined will listen to us of all people. I'm not sure we'll do much good in either case.'

Dumbledore surveyed him, a hint of something akin to sadness in his eyes. 'That's true James. Hatreds and prejudices are so ingrained in some that no words can root them out. That does not mean we should give up on them, that we should not try. If it prevents even one young person heading down that slippery path, it will be worth it. Mr Black would agree, I think.'

He leaned backwards in his seat. 'As for the other issue, I do rather agree with you. The students are aware that there have been some unsavoury goings on in the castle this year. It pains me that some of my students do not feel safe when they walk these halls, and they feel the need to attempt their own defences.'

He rose from his chair and wandered over to his bookshelves. 'What do you suggest James? What would make our students less inclined to er…hex first, ask questions later, to borrow from Mr Black's lexicon?'

James looked helplessly at Lily, who shrugged. 'Er, perhaps additional staff presence in the corridors between classes and meals?'

'Maybe we should extend the out of bounds areas.' Lily added in. 'People wouldn't be easy targets if we made sure everyone was using only approved routes and that those were well lit and patrolled.'

'Hmm.' Dumbledore removed a book from his bookcase and returned to his desk, flipping the book open and rifling through it quickly. 'Both very interesting suggestions, and I will give them due consideration. I do have one idea which I believe we will implement immediately.'

He beamed at them, and Lily and James waited patiently. Dumbledore gestured to the open pages of his book as he responded with two cryptic words. 'Emergency Prefects.'

Lily was the first to find her voice. 'I'm sorry Professor, we don't understand.'

'Not surprising my dear girl, it's a power that hasn't been used for, oh almost forty years now. In times of turmoil, the Headmaster can declare the need for the Head Boy and Girl to have additional help, beyond the usual prefects. The school may therefore recruit additional prefects, using any criteria the Headmaster wishes.'

Lily turned to look at James to find that he was already staring at her, somewhat dumbstruck. The Professor continued. 'I am happy for you to find me, say, an additional 12 prefects to help us provide more supervision; hopefully, we can make our school a safer place by doing so.'

James recovered first and leant forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. 'It's a good idea Professor, but should we really be the ones selecting them? I'm sure there are plenty of students – and staff for that matter - that would object to that.'

'Of course I will make the final selection.' Replied Dumbledore. 'I merely wish you to provide me with a list of suggestions; trustworthy people who can be relied upon to take action when necessary and who believe in the equal value of our students regardless of their background.' He paused again and regarded them both with blue eyes twinkling with barely suppressed amusement. 'I rather think that you might already have a list of such students.'

Lily drew in a sharp intake of breath. He couldn't mean what she thought he did; the list she'd made at the very first meeting all those months ago, the list that was only stored on the parchment she'd enchanted to keep the names of their friends safe. He couldn't possibly…

There was a brief moment of silence where nerves hung palpably in the air and then James started to laugh. 'I should have known we wouldn't be able to get anything past you Professor.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'Actually James, I believe you have managed to get a great deal past me during your time here, but I admit, I tend not to delve into your, er, activities. In this instance, however, I had more than one reason to be interested, and I indulged myself and my curiosity a little.'

Noting the curious expressions on the faces of the pair, he continued to speak. 'Let me be frank; yes, I know about your, shall we say organisation? And I have allowed you to continue for two reasons. Firstly, I was pleased and more than a little proud that students of mine believed in equality strongly enough to do something about it independently, and I wholeheartedly approve of the methods you have employed to try and keep each other safe.'

James and Lily exchanged brief glances before turning their attention back towards the Professor.

'And secondly, it would be incredibly hypocritical of me to disapprove or to act to stop you considering I myself recently founded just such an organisation for those of us who wish to fight Voldemort.'

James blew out a long breath, while Lily remained frozen in her seat. Had that actually happened? Had Dumbledore just confided in them about the existence of a secret resistance to Voldemort?

'It's called the Order of the Phoenix, and it exists to resist the bigotry and malice of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Your parents are both members James. I'm sure they would not object to me telling you that.'

James nodded slowly, tugging his lip between his teeth as he tried to adjust his thinking to take in the new information that was screaming through his mind.

'When I deduced the existence of your group – your magical protection is excellent Lily, I was unable to find a shred of hard evidence to support my theory – I began to observe the behaviour of some of my pupils more carefully. What I saw gave me hope for a new generation to join us in the Order, to continue the fight when those of us who are older cannot. Even as some of my students began to be seduced by the lure of the Dark Arts, others choose to fight against it regardless of the cost.'

Dumbledore paused and took a breath before continuing. 'I would like to ask you not to speak of this to anyone until I say otherwise. It's essential for the protection of our members.' He waited until both James and Lily had nodded before he continued.

'I would also like you both to give some consideration to joining us when you leave school…don't answer now.' He held up a hand to forestall comment, obviously anticipating James' protests that he already knew he wanted to join. 'When you finish school we will revisit the question. In the meantime, I would like you to consider whether any of your friends would like to join; I will give serious consideration to anyone you recommend.'

'Thank you Professor.' James spoke for them both, since Lily seemed to be going into shock. Dumbledore nodded genially.

'I should be thanking you dear boy. You are both excused classes for the rest of the day; I shall expect a list of potential prefects by tomorrow morning. A very good afternoon to you both.'

James offered Lily a hand and when she took it he pulled her from her seat and tugged her gently from the room. They left the office and descended the stairs in silence. When they arrived at the bottom they automatically turned towards the Head's offices and wandered the corridor in companionable silence as they contemplated the events of the last hour. Lily finally broke the silence.

'I don't really need to ask what you're going to do, do I?'

James used their joined hands to stop them both and he turned to face her. 'Would it upset you if I did?'

Lily snorted. 'It can't be worse than being an auror. At least the Order membership wouldn't be a matter of public record.'

James' lips twitched slightly, but his expression turned serious again when he saw the look in Lily's eye. She seemed to be searching for words and he waited patiently. When she finally spoke, it was somewhat unexpected. 'Would it upset you if I did?'

He took a moment to phrase his response carefully. 'I'd be worried. I mean, you'd worry about me too right? But…I don't expect to dictate what you can and can't do Lil. It's your decision and I'll support it either way.' He bent his head down to kiss her cheek. 'Just…remind me I said that when I have hysterics about you going on missions. I can't promise I'll be this rational when it's really happening.'

Lily smiled at him. 'You know Potter, when you're using your brain and thinking clearly before you speak, you're actually quite decent.'

He smiled back at her. 'Is that right?'

'Yeah, I almost like you at times like these.' She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him gently, her arms rising up to twine round his neck.

'Good to know Evans.' He pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers, and they stood there in the empty corridor, wrapped up in each other until class finished and the corridor swarmed with pupils.

(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)

A/N: Thanks for reading; you guys are all fantastic, never let anyone tell you different.

If you have a minute to tell me what you think, please do.

Also, totally random question: I've been reading a few Harry/Ginny fics recently, and I've noticed that a lot of them have Harry as an animagus and he tends to be a panther. Did JKR ever say anything to suggest that Harry would be a panther if he was an animagus? I just thought it was weird for so many people to use the same idea if it didn't have any canon basis. If anyone knows, tell me!

Love always xx