Previously on The Sun Still Rises:

"Your job," said Voldemort, suddenly business-like, but still soft. "I want you to watch and learn. Keep tabs on potential allies and future enemies. I don't care about the imbeciles that don't know anything and have nothing to offer, but the powerful ones," Voldemort slid up to Mulciber so their noses were almost touching. Severus had not realized how tall Voldemort really was until he was close to a giant like Mulciber.

"Practice for the future. When I have deemed you worthy enough, I shall send either Bella or Lucius to talk. I want monthly updates." Voldemort stepped away then twisted so fast that he was almost invisible with speed.

"As for the practice," Voldemort smiled evilly, a menacing glower so awful Severus was temporarily paralyzed with fright, "use your imagination."

With a twirl of his black cloak, he was gone, leaving six boys standing alone in the middle of the forest.

A Betting Game

"Come on, Lily!" said Marlene. "You're going to miss Alice play if you don't put that book down right now!"

"Coming," said Lily, still trying to read the last page of her Muggle novel. Marlene was not feeling patient, however, because she grabbed Lily's bookmark, slid it into the page, and jerked it from Lily's grasp.

"Hey! I was reading that, Marlene," said Lily.

Marlene didn't respond. Instead, she held out Lily's cloak and Gryffindor scarf, hat, and gloves. "It's cold out. Be thankful you aren't Alice."

Lily scowled. "I can perform Heating Charms, you know. I already did that to Alice's Quidditch robes."

"Good, then put them to use."

Lily noticed Mary wisely staying out of the conversation with a Gryffindor lion painted on her cheek, pretending to roar while it clawed at a cowering serpent.

"Fine. When does it start?" asked Lily.

"Thirty minutes," said Marlene. "We're late."

"What? It only takes ten minutes to walk down to the pitch. What are you playing at?"

"We need to wish Alice good luck. Duh," said Marlene. "She's at breakfast with the rest of the Quidditch team."

"Plus we need good seats," piped up Mary.


"Cheer up, Prongs. We can beat those bloody cowards in out sleep," said Sirius as the four Marauders walked down to the pitch, the chilly November air biting at their ears and noses.

"No, but they've been trying to intimidate Rosie ever since she made the team, and both Rosie and Alice are a lot smaller than everybody else on the Slytherin team. They'll be easier targets."

"Are my ears deceiving me, or are the Marauders doubting my Seeker abilities," said Alice, coming up beside Remus with her corkscrew curls tied back into a tight ponytail. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and James noticed Frank heading off towards the stands with Lily, Marlene, and Mary slightly ahead.

"I'd be more worried about Rosie than you. You've already been in several fights with those snakes, but she's only thirteen, and seventh years have been trying to hex her."

Alice grinned. "You didn't hear that Rosie sent Goyle and Flint to the Hospital wing earlier this week? I taught her some useful hexes, and she rose to the occasion magnificently."

Sirius' eyes widened. "A seventh year and a fifth year? What happened to O'Connor?"

Alice's grin widened. "They were tormenting a second year from Hufflepuff, and Rosie hit Goyle with a Bat-Bogey Hex, and it took Madam Pomfrey a week to get rid of Flint's boils. Apparently he complained to his older brother who graduated years ago, but he's just angry they couldn't take down a third year."

"Well, I believe a 'Congratulations' is in order for young O'Connor. We've been bad influences," said Sirius as they spotted Rosie skipping down with Max, Nathan, and Simon with their broomsticks over their shoulders. James watched as Sirius strutted over to where Rosie was walking and picked her up, giving her a big hug.

"Egotistical much?" Alice whispered in James' ear.


"Potter passes to O'Connor, a great find this year by the Captain." Booing and jeering from the Slytherins drowned out Remus as tiny Rosie sped past with the Quaffle under her arm.

"O'Connor takes the Quaffle, passes to Cringle who passes it back to O'Connor- OUCH! That had to hurt!"

Lily gasped as Crabbe's Bludger smacked Rosie squarely in the arm. She dropped the Quaffle and pulled her arm closer to her body.

"After that cheating snake- sorry, Professor- after Crabbe hits Rosie in the arm, she drops the Quaffle. Flint takes the Quaffle now-no! Potter grabs it! GIVE HIM-" McGonagall yanked the microphone from Remus as he shouted. "-SO HA! TAKE THAT, CRABBE!"

James flew up alongside Flint and punched the Quaffle out of his grip. Flint tried to elbow James in return, but James was already speeding away.

"Potter with the Quaffle now…careful, careful…Crabbe's aiming another Bludger. Duck, James! He shoots, HE SCORES! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!"

The crowd was indeed going wild. Lily laughed as she caught sight of Peter shooting sparks out the end of his wand and accidently hitting a fourth year in front of him. Marlene rolled her eyes and pulled Peter down before a fight ensued while still jumping up and down.

Meanwhile, the Slytherins were booing Remus, but the Marauder was finding his own retorts.

"You know what? Screw you, you slimy snakes. Maybe if you weren't-"

The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs roared, though Lily couldn't tell if they were cheering for James or laughing at Remus' antics. Lily herself was enjoying one of the few times she had seen Remus shake free the quiet prefect persona, but McGonagall did not share Lily's views; she removed the microphone from Remus' grasp and didn't give back until he was done shouting at the Slytherins.

"Let's see. Where was I? Oh, yeah! Slytherin is failing to keep up with the fantastic team Gryffindor has this year, and if they want to win they will have to resort to the cowardly little strategies their so fond of. Cringle with the Quaffle now!"

Max zoomed towards the Slytherin goals with both James and Rosie flanking him. One Beater sent a Bludger pelting towards him, but Nathan was already there. Max passed to Rosie who didn't have a Slytherin covering her, and she caught it.

"Cringle to O'Connor. O'Connor with the Quaffle now- WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? YOU SLIMY SHIT! FOUL!" Remus screamed, and McGonagall was too angry to correct him. Flint has collided with Rosie, and grabbed her head, shaking her violently. She dropped the Quaffle, and Madam Hooch blew her whistle to award Gryffindor a penalty, but it was too late; Rosie had fallen off her broom as Flint dragged her by her head.

Rosie screamed as she plummeted to the ground. Madam Hooch was speeding towards the third year, but she was too far away. Lily watched, horrified, with her hands covering her mouth, as the girl was less than fifteen feet from splattering against the pitch.

Suddenly James was there, dangling Rosie by her arm, five feet from the ground. Nathan appeared next to her with her broomstick and flew off to help Sirius who was clobbering Flint in retaliation. Everybody cheered and returned their attention to the game while Remus was screaming obscenities into the microphone until McGonagall once again was in possession of the microphone.

"Of course after Flint's cheating, disgusting…" Remus was very likely to earn a detention from McGonagall after the game was over.

James leaned down and whispered something in Rosie's ear. She nodded determinedly, and the two flew back onto the pitch. James followed quickly, but Lily had the feeling nobody else had seen it.

"Potter and O'Connor are back now. Let's see if they can get some payback- sorry, Professor- let's see if Gryffindor Chasers can't show the Slytherins how wrong the snakes were for thinking they could beat Gryffindor's amazing team. 220 to 70, Gryffindor."

The Slytherins were resorting to nasty measures to try to keep up with the Gryffindor team, but they were failing most of the times.

"Flint passes to Rosier, another Chaser for Slytherin. Let us all congratulate him for managing to remember where the Quidditch pitch was. Rosier flying towards the Gryffindor hoops. Breeland bracing himself for Rosier- FOUL! PATHETIC, COWARDLY, BLATANT FOUL!" Remus screamed as Crabbe flew, took Simon's neck, and slammed his head against the middle hoop. Madam Hooch's whistle blasted loudly, and Simon's broom dropped several feet while he blinked, confused and dazed.

Max scored when Gryffindor had been awarded a penalty, but the Slytherins had quickly retaliated with their own goal. Simon had been unable to block it through his haze.

The game continued with Gryffindor scoring some more goals, but the Slytherins had used the absence of a Gryffindor reserve Keeper to their advantage, and were quickly catching up.

"Both Prewett and Harvey are still looking for the Snitch, but no luck," said Remus.

Alice was indeed circling the pitch aimlessly, alert for the tiny ball of gold. She needed to catch the Snitch fast, or Slytherin could win since the Slytherins were up 110 points.

"Rosier with the Quaffle now. Avoids Gibbs, avoids Black: he shoots- DAMN! He scores," said Remus gloomily.

120 points.

"C'mon, Alice," muttered Marlene, leaning forward.

Alice suddenly shot forward, a red and gold blur against the blue sky. Harvey, the younger brother of Delran Harvey, the Slytherin who had assisted in Stoughton's cruel murder and Lily's torture, had also seen the Snitch and was tailing Alice by barely a foot.

"What's that? I think Prewett's seen the Snitch… she has! GO, ALICE, GO!" Remus yelled into the microphone, and everybody was cheering on their favorite team.

Harvey had flown up to Alice so they were now neck and neck. Harvey elbowed Alice hard, but she ignored the jab in her stomach and stretched out her arm with everybody leaning forward in anticipation; Mary was chewing her nails furiously.

"PREWETT CATCHES THE SNITCH! 310 TO 280, GRYFFINDOR! WAY TO GO, ALICE!"


The party was wild; the Marauders had nicked some food from the kitchens, but Lily recognized some things as being from Hogsmeade; she knew that she didn't want to find out how the Marauders had managed it.

Everybody was cheering for Alice, patting her on the back and hugging her. Frank had to scare off a couple of boys who looked like they wanted a little more than a quick embrace, and he was fairly successful after he brandished his wand threateningly at a fifth year who had started leaning in to kiss Alice.

Rosie was quickly becoming a celebrity with all the goals she had scored, almost as much as James – Sirius had insisted on hanging up a large poster of each member of the team until Remus had convinced him that there wasn't enough room.

Sirius suddenly jumped up on the windowsill that was only two windows down from Lily's favorite little cove. He let loose two loud bangs, effectively quieting the cheering Gryffindors and drawing everybody's attention to him.

"I think it goes without saying: those slimy snakes sure got their asses handed to them," he yelled, and everybody roared in response. "It's going to take a lot more than a couple of cowardly fouls to bring the lions…"

"He certainly likes the spotlight," said James, appearing silently at Lily's side. She jumped, startled that he could just materialize out of thin air.

"I'm surprised you're not up there with him, Potter," she said in response. "I would have that since you're the Captain, you would've taken advantage of your status."

She eyed James critically, but he just shrugged and flashed her a smile.

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just feeling a little tired," he said lightly, and there was a renewed course of cheering at something Sirius was saying.

Lily noticed Alice staring at them, and she silently mouthed, what? Alice shook her head and laughing, continued to kiss Frank.

"How far do you think they'll go tonight?" James asked, leaning close to Lily and whispering in her ear; she ignored the shiver running through her.

"Well, I – Potter – what?" Lily spluttered. "I'm not going to bet with anyone on how far my best friend goes. Who does?"

"The Marauders."

"On who?"

James chuckled and said, "Padfoot."

Lily stared at him, and James continued, "I always win the bet with Peter."

"Is there some sort of trick you use for winning?"

"Yeah – just say all the way for every girl."

This was the filler chapter, and I should have the update up soon since I have the entire weekend free.

If any of you are wondering about the title change: when I first started this story, I just wanted a catchy title, but now when I'm writing, I didn't think that the title related that well to the story. The Sun Still Rises corresponds much better to the story.

So please review review review! If you guys like my story, it would be fantastic if you guys would let me know. I dare you to get up to 190 reviews, and if I get up to 200 reviews, I'll work extra hard to get two chapters up by the end of the weekend. It's hard for me to see over 150 visitors to my last chapter but only 5 reviews :(

Thanks to BethMalfoy4922, lily617, Sarahrules336, twilightstargazer, and lynnnnyl. Love you guys so much :D

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