~Jen's POV~
"Jenny! Wait up!"
I rolled my eyes as Sirius fell into step beside me. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Jenny? I hate that nickname."
"You can tell me as many times as you want," he grinned. "But I'm still going to say it. Jenny."
"Ugh," I groaned and switched my broom to the other shoulder. "Why are you walking to the Quidditch pitch anyway? You're not on the team? And I'm sure James would have a word or two about having distractions at the pitch on our last practice before we play for the Quidditch Cup."
"James has other words, too," my brother said as he appeared on my other side. "Words like: Who the hell gave you the bracelet and the flowers for Valentine's Day. And: When were you going to tell me you broke up with Hale. And perhaps: Who's this new guy that you're with?"
"Oh, so that's it," I said, keeping my eyes straight ahead. "This is an interrogation."
"Sure is," my brother nodded. "Fess up."
"No."
Sirius and James both froze, so I sighed as I did, too. "What?"
James was staring at me, mouth open. "What do you mean: No?"
"I mean 'no'," I said simply. "I don't have to tell you anything that I don't want to tell you."
Remus and Peter chose that moment to jog up to us.
"I told you," Remus said triumphantly.
"Shut up, Moony," James muttered, eyes still locked on me.
"Jenny," Sirius said, but there was a serious note in his voice. "You know we're only concerned for your well being. You're our sister. We just want to make sure that you're not with some rat's arse of a bloke that isn't going to treat you right."
He's not a rat's arse. He's your brother. And I love him. And I wish you knew.
I directed my next statement at James. "You didn't even want me to date Hale."
"At least I knew who you were dating!" he said. "And I was kind of starting to warm up to the kid, to be honest."
"We need to get to practice," I said.
I'd been in a much better mood since I'd broken up with Hale – not including the awkward passing glances and the curious whispers. The Marauders were ruining it and I wouldn't have it.
"I'm the captain," James reminded me. "If I need to, I can push the practice back. Or, if I need to, I can schedule another practice. We still have a few days to go before the Cup."
I rolled my eyes. "I'll call your bluff. There's no way that you would mess up the practice schedule this close to the most important match of the year. You're way too dedicated for that."
"I'm not just dedicated to Quidditch, you know," he said as he shifted from one foot to the other. "I'm dedicated to you. I'm your older brother. It's my responsibility to make sure that you're safe and that any guy you're involved with is treating you right. How can I do that if I don't even know who he is?"
"Trust me," I breathed. "You don't need to know. Just trust my judgment for once, okay?"
"No!" he shouted.
"James," Remus warned.
Peter looked like he would rather be anywhere else.
I didn't blame him.
"No!" James said to Remus and then turned back to me. "Why didn't you tell me that you'd broken up with Hale?"
"I was going to!" I said defensively. "But I couldn't find you directly afterwards and the next morning it seemed as though everyone knew already."
"Why did you two break up?" he asked.
Sirius, who had been studying me this whole time, asked, "Was it because of this other guy? Because you'd developed feelings for him and couldn't be with Hale anymore?"
Reluctantly, I nodded, figuring that the more I gave them, the less suspicious they would be. "Yes."
"You seemed… different this morning," James said softly, staring down at his shoes. "I've been asking you what's been wrong lately and you've told me nothing every time. But it was obviously something, because you seemed really happy this morning. More alive."
I said nothing.
James' eyes finally met mine again. "Is that because you feel better not having to live some sort of double life anymore?"
"Kind of," I sighed. "Now can we please get to practice?"
"You know we're not giving up," Sirius told me, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're not going to stop trying to figure out who this guy is. Not until you cave or we find out his name."
"I thought you might," I said softly. "But you forget that I'm a Marauder, too, and I know how to sneak around."
"We have the map, Jen," Remus reminded me gently. "We've already talked about just using that to track your movements."
James was grinning triumphantly.
"You don't have the map," I said. "I switched it with a blank piece of parchment during one of my breaks today."
All of their faces fell.
"Jen, just tell me!" James insisted. "Don't keep secrets from me!"
"You just don't understand how much I have to," I said and then turned and jogged down the hill, towards the Quidditch pitch.
~James' POV~
"It was kind of wrong of you to tell Jen that you were just going to track her every movement," Lily said diplomatically.
Practice had gone about as well as could be expected, under the circumstances. Jen had avoided me as much as she possibly could and as soon as the practice had been over, she'd fled from the field and disappeared to her room before I could pull her aside and try to drag the name out of her again.
So I'd gone straight to Lily to talk it all over with her.
"Well I can't do that anyway," I huffed. "Since I checked and it turns out that Jen did, indeed, steal the map."
"I can't believe you guys made a magical map of the castle in the first place," she said, not masking her amazement. "How, exactly, did that work?"
"Focus, Lily," I said, harsher than I'd meant to. "My sister could, at the moment, be shacking up with some… handsy Hufflepuff or something!"
She sighed and put her hand over mine. "Jen is old enough to make her own decisions about who to date, James. Maybe it's time to accept that and respect Jen's decisions. If she doesn't want you to know, that's her choice."
"It's killing me." I was begging her to understand. "You don't get it. When she was first born, I was only a little over a year old, but I can remember looking at her for the first time and feeling this… unbreakable bond. I knew, even then, that she would be one of the most important people in my life and that I had to take care of her."
"James-"
"I'm not done," I said. The words were rushing up my throat and pouring out of my mouth so fast that I didn't even have time to think about them before they jumped right off of the tip of my tongue. "And then at the beginning of this year, I suddenly realized that she'd grown from a little girl to an incredibly beautiful young woman and Sirius told me that other guys had noticed it a long time ago. And I made a vow then that I was going to look out for her and protect her from the guys that only want her for her body. She deserves a guy that realizes how intelligent and compassionate and loving and kind she is. Not just someone that notices her looks."
Lily smiled gently at me and reached out to grab my hand, lacing our fingers together. "I always wished that I had an older brother to take care of me sometimes. And if I did, I know I'd want it to be one who's as dedicated as you are to Jen."
I smiled back at her.
"But," she said carefully. "I stand by what I said earlier. Jen is a very smart girl, and she's quite capable of making her own decisions regarding her dating life."
"I can't just-"
She held up a hand to silence me. "For the time being, James, maybe it would be best to let her have her space. Let her know that you're always there for her if she needs to talk, but also let her know that you respect her wishes to keep her relationship to herself for a while."
"I would, Lily," I said slowly. "But I'm a Marauder. I'm an expert at hiding things. And I know that the things that people hide are either dangerous or embarrassing. And I don't like either of those mixing with my sister."
"I know," she said softly and moved closer to rest her head on my shoulder. "I know."
