A/N: Thanks to Nauze, as always, for his tremendous beta and counsel. I appreciate your continued assistance even though I didn't take your suggestion to have Luna's soul sucked out by the dementors. Luna is adorable, Nauze! I can't understand why you despise her so much.

Lily groaned as she picked herself up off of the floor yet again. Despite the cushioning charms Remus had placed on the classroom, her inability to concentrate enough to silently cast Protego meant she had landed on her backside repeatedly over the last sixty minutes. Given everything that was swirling around them at the moment, she wasn't sure how James was managing to concentrate on the lesson so well. Throughout the class, he had performed spectacularly and had seemed only to be excited and energized by their Peter Pettigrew adventure.

After getting over the shock of learning that she was magical, Lily's transition into the Wizarding World had, for the most part, been structured, orderly, and Severus' rivalry with the Marauders notwithstanding, relatively uncomplicated. But since their sojourn into the future, the number of thoughts consuming her brain besides her studies seemed to increase exponentially by the day. And all the thoughts were complicated.

They were three weeks into term, and her original plan to dive into how and why they had gone forward in time hadn't even begun to be addressed. Between her studies, Head Girl duties, and tracking down the person responsible for her murder, all her well thought-out plans had gone pear-shaped. But as much as the capture of Peter had consumed her thoughts over the last week, there was one other unaddressed topic that weighed most on her consciousness; her son.

With everything going on, it had been easy to not think about his shoddy clothes and the headmaster's cryptic comments about his childhood, but last night's conversation with Harry brought all of her worries and fears back to the forefront. Her thirteen-year-old son had not only expected to take part in their attempt to capture Peter, he'd been disappointed when they declined… as if he had let them down. The small gap in their age had served to make the fact that Harry was her child feel slightly less tangible, but seeing how willing Harry had been to risk his own safety stirred something in her, and to her shame, she'd pushed back on it once again. She'd had the perfect opportunity to finally have a real conversation with Harry away from his friends, but instead of broaching the difficult topics floating in her consciousness, she'd taken the easy route once again. The best she'd been able to manage was an innocuous question about his first Arithmancy lesson. As Harry and James exited the room she resolved to stop being a coward and really talk to Harry once they handled the rat.

"You all right, Lils?" James asked as he approached. She could tell he'd purposely done poorer during the session once he'd picked up on her struggles.

"I'm fine, just a bit distracted."

James nodded in understanding before turning toward Remus.

"Professor Lupin, is it all right if Lily and I switch up? I'd like to get some extra practice in working on my shield."

Lily fought the urge to grin at James doing the perfect thing to endear himself to her. She was still annoyed with him, and when he did something caring and thoughtful it was slightly infuriating. As the days had gone on, and the seriousness of what they were doing had settled in, Lily had begun to see things from James' perspective more and more. Her logical side now realized that it was totally understandable that he hadn't told her about his meet-up with Sirius, and worst of all, her emotional side was coming around as well. There was still a small sliver of stubbornness that still refused to let him off the hook, but James and his sodding charm were making it exceedingly difficult.

Remus nodded his agreement and they switched up roles. Before they began, James leaned in and spoke in a hush. "I know why you're distracted. Just go ahead and mouth the spell under your breath. We can put in a bit of extra practice later to catch you up."

The idiot gave her a supportive smile and she fought the urge to scream. She'd seen a similar scene play out with James and his friends so many times over the years; picking each other up and coaching them to do better. In her weak moments, those were the times she'd allowed herself to be charmed by James Potter. And now he was doing it with her at the precise moment when she was trying to remain annoyed with him.

It was absolutely infuriating.

"That would be cheating," she replied.

"It's fine," James reassured. "Remus won't say anything."

"How could you possibly know that?" she asked.

James looked embarrassed. "We have a signal if we need the other person to trust us and go along with what we're saying. I gave him the signal, and he signaled back that he understood."

Lily's first thought was to wonder when she would be allowed into the Signal Club. Her second thought was how much she hated the thought of using a shortcut to get by in class. As a muggleborn, she had taken pride in how hard she had worked…how she outpaced her pureblood peers in spite of how many shortcuts they had at their disposal. But if there was any time to do it, it was today. What they needed to speak about after class was infinitely more important, and her preliminary invitation into the Signal Club had been a kind gesture by James.

"Fine," she replied, causing James to break out into another sodding grin.

The rest of the session passed by uneventfully as she attempted, and failed, to silently cast the disarming spell. Occasionally, she gave herself a bit of assistance and muttered the incantation under her breath. She was fairly sure Remus could have caught her out several times but, as James had promised, he had remained quiet.

As the students were gathering their things and preparing to leave, James turned back toward Remus. "Do you have a minute to speak with us, Professor? We're both having some trouble with the shield spell."

It had been obvious to Lily that James had purposely done poorly at casting a shield when they switched up and had chalked it up to him trying to make her feel better. Now she realized James was just setting up a plausible excuse for them both staying after class. The boy was so good at scheming.

Lily noticed that James scratched his temple as he asked his question and felt like an idiot. The Marauders had used that signal all these years and she had never cottoned on until now. When Remus rubbed his nose in reply she forced herself not to grin. She was still meant to be annoyed with him after all, and not smiling was most likely a key principle of the Signal Club.

Remus nodded casually and James began explaining his struggles as the rest of the students exited the room. Once the last student disappeared from sight, James cast Muffliato while she closed and locked the door.

"I know why you're here," Remus began. "I know I've been a bit standoffish these first few weeks of term, but I've still been wrapping my brain around you two being back and-"

"Moony," James interrupted, "that isn't why we're here. It's about Sirius. He's innocent."

At James' words, Remus' expression morphed back into his piteous look from the train. Despite their history it was clear that, at that moment, Remus thought he was the reasoned adult dealing with two naïve and emotional teenagers.

"James is right," Lily replied. "We've spoken to Sirius and his story checks out."

"You what?" Remus nearly screamed, very much assuming the role of disappointed adult.

Before Remus could begin his lecture on how irresponsible and foolish they had been, James pulled out the Marauder's Map, effectively silencing his friend.

"We have proof, Moony. We have proof and we need your help."

Lily wasn't sure if it was the reappearance of the map or James' calm reply, but Remus remained silent and nodded for him to continue.

She'd expected James to grin…or perhaps make a funny comment, but he looked deathly serious. She took a breath as James uttered that utterly moronic activation phrase.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

As Lily hid outside Hagrid's hut under the invisibility cloak with James, she fought to keep a level head and not panic. Even James seemed on edge now, a coiled spring ready to leap at any moment. She'd felt the seriousness and weight of what they'd been working on during the week, but now that it was actually happening, the stakes of having the fate of Sirius' life in her hands and coming face to face with a murderer were utterly terrifying. For the first time, she truly felt a bit of what Harry had dealt with over the last two years.

For all intents and purposes, if the operation went according to plan, their work was done. They'd snuck out of the castle during supper to make sure that Peter hadn't disappeared and that he would be stuck in the confines of the hut if he sorted out what was happening; all windows had been charmed shut and there were no other obvious means of escape beside the front door.

The only wrinkle in their plan was the hippogriff tethered outside, but after showing themselves briefly and making the requisite bow, Buckbeak accepted their presence. After they'd finished their inspection and settled under the cloak near the front door, Buckbeak had lied down directly behind them, making a point of leaning into their backs just a bit. Lily knew little about hippogriffs, but it appeared Buckbeak's confinement had taken a toll and was grateful for their invisible company.

As expected, Remus had arrived with Hagrid after supper. Based on her experience with the caretaker he never turned down company, most especially when there was a potential for enjoying a few drinks as well.

It felt like an eternity had passed since the pair had disappeared into the hut, but apart from the distant sounds of the Forbidden Forest's inhabitants, silence reigned. Finally, she heard a yelp of surprise from Hagrid and Lily's nerves increased, her wand hand trembling as she pointed it toward the door. After several more minutes, a shaken Remus and Hagrid emerged. Relief washed over her as she spotted the small cage in Remus' hands.

"You two can come out," Remus informed, drawing panicked squeaks from the rat as they appeared from beneath the cloak.

"I canno' believe it," Hagrid muttered, barely taking notice of their appearance. It was clear he was still processing what had happened and Remus' explanation of how they had arrived at that point. Lily had a week to reconcile Peter's machinations and still hadn't fully wrapped her head around everything she had learned.

Lily glanced at James, and his entire demeanor had changed. Until that point, he had been focused on helping his best friend, but now it was clear that the weight of Peter's betrayal had hit him full force. She'd never seen him so enraged. And the more the rat squeaked, the angrier James became. She could tell he was on the verge of doing something, and whatever that something was, it wasn't part of the plan.

"Stupefy," she incanted, effectively silencing Peter for the remainder of the trip

"James," Lily said as calmly as she could manage, "the hard part is over. We're almost there and we need to keep our heads."

Her spell and her words broke James out of his trance. He looked into her eyes and calmed, nodding his agreement. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

She leveled her wand at the cage and began following Remus and Hagrid back toward the castle, ignoring the curious onlookers they passed along the way.

The next few hours passed by in a blur. Dumbledore had been shocked at their appearance but had quickly gathered himself and called Severus and McGonagall, as well as the head of the DMLE, to his office. The group was huddled around Pettigrew as a few Aurors surrounded the perimeter.

Dumbledore had asked Severus to bring Veritaserum but in the end it hadn't been necessary. After pleading his innocence for a few minutes, Peter's resolve crumbled and he admitted to everything: his betrayal of her and James, his intentional murdering of all those muggles, hiding with the Weasleys for the last twelve years…all of it. If there had been any remaining doubt, the faded mark on his arm had effectively put it to rest.

Knowing the facts of the situation was one thing, but hearing Peter, someone she'd thought to be a harmless, quiet boy mere weeks prior, confess to the despicable acts, had been horrific and unsettling. She'd expected James to be excited at their monumental progress toward clearing Sirius' name, but he looked the opposite. His friend's betrayal, not only of Sirius, but of him, was finally sinking in. There was nothing happy or exciting about this moment.

As the minutes had passed, and the truth of what had truly happened became clear, for the first time since they had arrived in the future, she saw the troubling signs from Severus that had driven her away in their fifth-year at Hogwarts. She had heard from Harry and some of the other students how awful he could be in class, but hadn't experienced it herself. Much like Remus, he'd seemed to go out of his way to avoid speaking to either of them in class. She'd caught him looking at her strangely from time to time but it had been rare and fleeting. He was timid, and slightly afraid, and nothing like she had expected or ever experienced from him.

But tonight, as Peter confessed to his crimes and it became increasingly clear that Sirius was going to be exonerated, the traits she had grown to loathe in Severus started to emerge. This was the angry, spiteful person that he had devolved into during their last few years at Hogwarts.

"Potter or Lupin have Confunded him," Severus blurted.

"Beyond petrifying Peter and placing him into the cage, I cast no other spells before we arrived at the Headmasters' office," Remus replied calmly.

"And I stunned him so he would be quiet," she blurted, feeling inordinately self conscious as all eyes turned toward her.

"Tha's right," Hagrid confirmed with a nod. Remus' reply and Hagrid's confirmation only seemed to spur him on more.

"What have I been telling you, Headmaster? Lupin cannot be trusted, and now that their other partner in crime has shown up, they've concocted this entire story to protect Black and-"

"Severus," Dumbledore interrupted, "you aren't thinking clearly."

"I am the only one thinking clearly!" he raged. "I'm the only one who sees Potter and his friends for what they really are, and once again you are going to let them get away with it."

She had expected James to speak up at some point, but Lily supposed he was used to Severus' ranting about him and his friends. His eyes remained glued on Peter.

"Enough!" Amelia Bones interjected forcefully. Unlike Dumbledore, who seemed to be trying to tread somewhat lightly, Madam Bones had no such compunction.

"I have no idea what personal motivations are blinding your judgment, Professor, but unless you can supply some actual facts I would suggest you leave this to the professionals."

Amelia Bones' words had only served to aggravate Severus further, but he remained silent. The woman turned her monocled gaze toward her and James.

"Based on what I've heard tonight, you two have withheld information regarding a wanted fugitive for the last week. Is that correct?"

Before she could reply, she felt James' hand on her arm. "Correct," he answered.

His brusque reply seemed to take the woman by surprise.

"Given your unexplainable reappearance, the Ministry is already keeping a close eye on you, Mister Potter. I would suggest you lose the attitude. Where is Mister Black?"

"I have no idea," he replied.

"It's the truth," she interjected before Madam Bones could retort, "we've only spoken to him once and it was only for fifteen minutes in a London alleyway. We didn't ask him where he was hiding; we only spoke about the facts regarding his innocence."

Madam Bones's brow seemed to be digging into her monocle as she scrutinized her. Clearly the woman did not appreciate having her own words thrown back at her.

"Do you have any means of contacting him?" Bones asked, drawing an affirmative nod.

"You need to contact him immediately and tell him to turn himself in."

"He's been in Azkaban for twelve years, for a crime he didn't commit. Why should he trust you?"

"I have just heard Mr. Pettigrew's full confession in front of my colleagues and seven other people. Even if I wanted to sweep this under the rug, which I don't, the sheer number of witnesses in this room would make that a virtual impossibility. I can't speak to how Mr. Black's original case was handled, but I assure you that my only motivation is to see justice served."

"I believe we are overcomplicating the situation," Dumbledore interjected. "I would suggest Mister Potter send a note to Black asking to meet up in a few days. By then I would assume the Ministry could finish more of their investigation and publicize that Pettigrew is alive and the potential perpetrator of the crimes in question? Removing the 'kiss on sight' order would go a long way in reassuring Black as well."

Dumbledore waited for Bones' nod of agreement.

"I'm not setting up Sirius for an ambush on behalf of the Ministry," James replied in defiance.

"I was not suggesting an ambush, James; just you, Miss Evans and myself. We will speak to Sirius, give him all the facts, and let him make the decision himself."

"I'd like to be there as well," Remus interjected.

Severus had done his best to remain quiet but apparently the potential reunion of his three least favorite Marauders was too much. He muttered something akin to a growl as he glared at Remus.

"It will only be us four, and only Lily and I will know the location ahead of time. No tricks." James stated.

"I give you my word," Dumbledore answered while Madam Bones gave a reluctant nod of agreement.

James turned to her. "What do you think?"

The cynical side of her wanted to think that James was asking as a way to make up for not trusting her earlier, but it looked to her like he sincerely wanted her input.

She nodded her agreement, and for the first time since they had made their trek to Hagrid's hut, James managed a bit of a smile. "Yeah, that's good. We'll do it."

"So now that we are agreed, I believe you two should go back to your quarters for the evening," Dumbledore said.

"We will need to interview you both officially as well as Ron Weasley in the coming days. Someone from my department will be in touch," Madam Bones informed before they began their descent down the steps.

As they sat in the kitchen eating their late supper, Lily did her best not to think about how much James was rubbing off on her. It had been her suggestion that they ignore Dumbledore's parting instruction and sneak into the kitchen instead. In truth, it had much less to do with filling her belly and more to do with helping James. Coming face to face with Peter had clearly affected him, and their walk back to the rooms had been too quiet; strolls with James were never meant to be quiet.

Lily had always prided herself on her ability to help others; sorting out when a pep talk was in order…perhaps a bit of compassion and understanding…maybe a pointed lecture on how stupid someone was being; despite her young age she knew all the tricks. But while she knew what she should say to help James, she wasn't quite sure she could manage it. So many unbelievable things had happened in the last few weeks, but the fact that she was going to talk about this with James Potter topped them all.

"When I was young, I would have bits of accidental magic; making flowers bloom, bringing my toys to life; minor things that children in magical families would think of as perfectly normal."

James' eyes remained glued on his food, giving her a slight nod of understanding.

"When I performed magic around my sister Petunia, she was very cruel. I was too young to realize it at the time, but she was jealous, and she was taking out her insecurities on me. She knew all the right things to say to make me feel awful about this amazing gift…to make me feel awful about myself."

James was now more than curious. "Petunia's the one who Harry lives with?" he asked.

She nodded. Now for the hard part.

"But then I met a boy my age. I'd seen him around before…he'd even tried to talk to me a few times…but I avoided him. He was strange, wore odd clothes…the other boys in the neighborhood were ruthless in their teasing."

"But once I gave him a chance he became my best friend. We talked about magic…he told me all about Hogwarts…he made me feel special. He made me feel so good about myself that I ignored how cruel he could be to others. When I was eleven I was positive that I was going to marry Severus one day. I thought you and your friends were awful; just like all those other cruel boys who tortured him when we were younger."

"Gee, you really know how to lift a guy's spirits."

James was doing it again. He'd realized what she was sharing was difficult for her to admit, and he was lightening the mood.

"I spent the next five years slowly realizing how stupid I'd been; that Sev's cruelty outweighed his kindness. I'd built up a thick skin at the things I'd been called for being Muggleborn, but when Sev called me a Mudblood, it hurt me more than anything my sister or anyone else had ever managed. He was supposed to be my friend…my best friend; someone I could trust."

Lily felt the corner of her eyes begin to burn and did her best to blink the tears back, staring at the ceiling. She recalled how upset she had been that evening as she tearfully poured out her emotions to Alice and Florence. She'd been infinitely more frantic in expressing her feelings that night, and the tears had virtually flooded out of her eyes. But this moment, calmly talking to James with the busywork of the elves rumbling in the periphery, felt infinitely more meaningful and important.

Alice and Florence had taken turns telling her how awful Severus had been, tossing in a "you deserve better' or "we knew along' from time to time. But James, the boy who always seemed to have something to say, remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm sorry about Peter. He was supposed to be your friend…someone you could trust. I guess what I'm saying is I know a bit of how you are feeling, and I understand why you didn't tell me about your plans to contact Sirius. When you said we were in this together, it was the first time I'd allowed myself to really trust someone since Severus, and having it thrown back in my face like that- "

"Shit," James interrupted. "I am really sorry-."

She held up her hands and he instantly quieted. "It's really all right. Given the stakes of the situation, and how close you are with Sirius, I understand it. I still don't agree with it, and I wished you'd trusted me, but I understand it."

Lily's eyes returned to her food and she resumed eating, feeling as if several weights had been lifted. She idly wondered how she had confessed to James how scarred she'd been by Severus in their other timeline. Did she even share that bit of information? She hoped so. She finally chanced a glance at James.

His wheels were spinning, most likely thinking about what she'd said and trying to come up with the right thing to say to make her feel better. She smiled to herself, wondering if it would be sweet or moronic. She had a strong feeling it would be moronic.

"I think I can solve both of our problems," he began. Based on his tone and expression he seemed much more like himself, and she felt a sense of accomplishment.

"Go on," she prompted.

"While we could go on as a trio, The Marauders are meant to be a foursome. And everyone knows four is a much more powerful magical number than three."

"That's not even slightly true-"

"As I was saying," James continued, "we've had a recent opening on the team and I'd be happy to put in a good word on your behalf."

"Not interested," she replied in false annoyance. Unfortunately her grin wasn't helping to convey the sincerity of her words.

"I get it," James consoled as he patted her hand, "you don't want to get your hopes up for such a prestigious appointment, only to be rejected in the end."

Lily sat back and folded her arms. She'd missed this dynamic over the last few days more than she realized, and given the heaviness of the day, it was exactly what she…what they…needed.

"And why would I be rejected?"

"Well, it's not a simple process, is it? Decisions like this have to be carefully considered. You'd have to prove that you're up to the task and sufficiently clever, that you can learn and retain all of our secrets-

"I think I'll be able to manage it," Lily interrupted, purposely scratching her temple. James grinned.

"And of course you'd have to come up with an amazing nickname for yourself."

She scoffed. "We have a slightly different idea of what constitutes something being amazing, Prongs."

James clapped the table in triumph. "I knew you'd be a perfect fit! Insulting each other is one of the core principles of The Marauders, and Peter was always awful at that bit. But you, Miss Evans, are a natural."

Lily grinned.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to table any further discussions on the matter until I can consult with my colleagues."

"Any idea how long that will take? I'm on tenterhooks."

"A week or so," James answered casually, "we just need to tie up a few loose ends regarding an unfortunate misunderstanding about a mass murder. Nothing to be concerned about…just a few i's to dot and t's to cross." She laughed, which caused James to laugh, and she could feel the stress and awkwardness of the last week being washed away.

As they resumed eating in silence, a bit of the levity slowly seeped away as the struggles they had ahead of them came back to the forefront. They finished their meal and walked back to their quarters in silence. But whereas their prior silent stroll had felt oppressive and unnatural…this felt comfortable and right. Before she could think better of it she reached for James' hand. If James had been surprised he didn't show it, and that feeling of comfort and rightness increased tenfold when he interlaced their fingers.

Besides the muttering of the password to their quarters, they didn't speak for the remainder of the journey. She reckoned they were both talked out at that point and this moment of peaceful kinship was exactly what they both needed. She felt a keen sense of loss at the loss of contact as she headed to her bedroom.

"Lily?" James called, stopping her as she was about to close her bedroom door.

"Yeah?"

He scratched his temple.

"We're in this together, right? You and me."

Lily remembered back to her prior musings on whether James was going to be sweet or moronic to try and make her feel better. She should have known he would manage to do both in spectacular fashion.

She rubbed her nose.

"We're in this together. You and me."

Lily closed her bedroom door and sagged against the nearby dresser, simultaneously exhilarated and exhausted at everything that had happened over the last few hours. But above it all, not only getting back on track with James, but making a bit of progress in their relationship, consumed her thoughts. Their supper and moonlight stroll had given her a tantalizing preview of what an amazing and sweet moron James could be. And if he managed not to screw it up, he was going to be her amazing, sweet moron, very soon.

A/N: In case you haven't noticed, Lily has now successfully stunned three fourths of the Marauders. Watch your back, Prongs.