Chapter Twelve:

The Pride of Gryffindor

James awoke in the early afternoon. He was wrapped in a tight ball with his blanket covering him entirely. He lay awake but in the same position for an hour or so. When he finally felt ready to get up, he slowly pulled back the covers and looked out. The beds were empty. All but the vacant one on the end were extremely messy, especially Sirius's, which was completely stripped of its blankets and sheets, which were on the floor next to it.

James got up and got dressed alone, then made his way down the stairs to the common room. He felt horrible, both physically and mentally. Dumbledore had ordered all the students present be given a sleeping draught immediately and be carried off to bed by the teachers present.

As appreciative as James was of that, it didn't stop that his entire body ached, and it didn't erase the memory of Firmus's death. Sirius, Remus, and Frank Longbottom were seated in the common room chairs, around the empty fireplace, staring into nothing.

Lily was at the common room desk working on something. The others were not around. James sat in a chair between Remus and Sirius.

"Morning." He said weakly. Remus and Sirius grunted in acknowledgement. Remus and Frank looked as sullen as Sirius; he must have told them. Of course, the entire school was awoken by, and thus aware of, the dragon at Hogwarts, though James didn't know Firmus's death had been leaked to the entire school. After a few moments of silence, James got back up.

"I'm going to get something to eat." He said. Sirius and Remus nodded and got up to follow and Frank came along as well.

The Great Hall was silent except for the sounds of eating and a low whisper. The Slytherin table was empty. At the Gryffindor table, Peter and Mary were eating sandwiches. Sirius and James came to sit next to them, but saw Frank go over to the Hufflepuff table. His Gryffindor friend, Alastor Moody had taken a seat there. Marius

Constance was eating in silence, with his head down.

Marius turned his head up slightly and saw Frank.

"Hullo Frank." He said, barely audibly. Frank sat next to Sarah Neville, another one of his Hufflepuff friends.

"Hello Marius. How are you doing?" He said. He nodded slightly.

"I...I guess I'm doing alright."

"Come 'ere." Said Frank, getting up. Not knowing exactly what he wanted, Marius got up as well. To his shock, Frank stepped forward and embraced Marius tightly.

"I'm very sorry about your brother." Frank said. Marius began to cry again.

"He was a good person. No one deserved it less." Marius nodded, and quickly returned to his seat to avoid a scene. Frank returned to his as well.

That night, Sirius returned to the common room. He found James asleep in one of the chairs, and Lily still at the Gryffindor desk.

"Lily, what have you been doing all day today?" She turned around. It looked like she perhaps had cried all day. The wastebasket was full of tissues.

"Homework." She said and turned back around.

"We didn't have that much homework..." Sirius said, approaching the desk.

"Well, I've been doing other people's homework as well." Sirius scoffed.

"Lily Evans? Doing others' homework? Who forced you to do-" But he stopped when he reached the desk. There, in three piles on the desk were stacks of completed homework in all subjects, with small slips of paper on each. They read "James", "Sirius", and "Remus".

"Why, Lily...thank you..." He said. Lily shrugged.

"I'm sure all of you are too beat to do anything this weekend."

"This goes against your moral code!" Sirius said. She shrugged again.

"I'm sure you all would have done as well as me anyway." Sirius chuckled a bit, said thank you again, and went to his dormitory. He was stopped on the way up the stairs, however, by Frank Longbottom.

"Sirius, what is this?" He asked. He was holding a goblet, with flames pouring out of it. Sirius's eyes widened.

"Wait right here, Frank." He said, and went into the dormitory. Sure enough, on the four trunks there sat three goblets filled to the brim with fire. He grabbed his own and went back into the stairway with Frank.

"Follow me Frank." He said, and went down the stairs.

"Lily." He said once he reached the common room. She turned around and saw the goblet. She nodded, got up, and went to her own dormitory. The chair James had been sleeping in was now vacant.

Frank didn't ask Sirius a question until they reached the first shortcut.

"Dissendium." He said, activating its secret entrance.

"Whoa!" Said Frank. "What is all this?" He asked.

"You'll see." Said Sirius.

"What about Alastor? There was one on his trunk as well." Sirius smiled.

"He'll run into Lily or Remus and they'll bring him. Just follow me. Watch your step." They stepped into a dark, secret stairway and made there way up to what they referred to as the Society corridor. They approached the portrait of Miss Vi, the entrance to their Society Chamber.

"Gwabble-Quob." Said Sirius. Miss Vi smiled and swung down on her track. It exposed the magical barrier.

"Listen to me, Frank." Sirius said. Frank looked intently at him.

"This won't burn you. It's a drink." Frank suddenly held the goblet a bit further away from him and looked at Sirius.

"A drink?" He asked. Sirius nodded.

"It's also your way in." Frank cocked his head to one side.

"My way in where? There?" Sirius nodded.

"Just know that it won't hurt you. Have faith. Drink it all without fear, then you can enter." Sirius quickly swigged the entire goblet's worth, and turned to Frank.

"See? Harmless." Frank looked apprehensively at his own goblet.

"You're sure?" He asked. Sirius nodded. Frank gulped and looked into the flame.

"Alright." He said, and quickly gulped the entire thing. He smiled widely.

"Good!" Sirius smiled as well and nodded.

"Let's go." He said, turned and hopped up into the entrance tunnel. Frank came right behind him. James and Mary, the honorary king and queen, were already seated at their thrones, with their crowns already on. There was no light other than that emitted from the large, central fire in the middle of all the chairs.

Sirius smiled widely at James, and took his normal chair. Frank stopped outside the ring.

"Where should I-" Sirius quickly pointed to one of two seats new to the circle. He sat down, and put his hood up like everyone else. In a few more moments, Lily and Peter came, then in a few more, Remus and Alastor Moody. Once all were seated, and James's watch struck 12:48, he spoke up.

"Let the sixty-third meeting of the Society of Lion's Fire commence, ante diem sexis, Nonas Martius, 2722 ab urbe candita. We were unable to meet on our standard night, last night, for...obvious reasons. But this meeting is very important so I did not cancel it." He nodded towards Remus, who stood.

"First on our agenda is the admittance of two new members, Francis Longbottom and Alastor Moody."

"What is this?" Asked Alastor, who had been skeptical the entire time. James smiled.

"Sirius? Care to read our mission statement?" Sirius smiled and stood.

"Certainly, James." He said. "The mission of the Society of Lion's Fire is as follows; to excel in the four categories of achievement of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: academia, Quidditching, troublemaking, and being the all around most popular and best loved students of the school." Sirius nodded and sat.

"Well said, Sirius. Now, do you two accept the membership we have offered?" Asked James. Frank and Alastor looked at each other.

"Do we have choice?" Asked Frank. James chuckled.

"Not really."

"Alright, then, I guess we shall!" Said Alastor. Frank and Alastor chuckled for a bit, and then there was silence.

"Er...we wouldn't happen to have any sort of initiation ritual, would we James?" Asked Sirius. James, looking at the floor, shook his head.

"Well I guess you two got off easy. I suppose we ought to devise something for future members."

"Speaking of future members," said Frank, "what about our other friends? You know, Gus, and Sarah, and Marius? They're all plenty good at Quidditch, and troublemaking, and academics...." Sirius looked to James. James looked back.

"I...er...well, they're Hufflepuffs." Frank looked dumbly at James.

"So?" Frank asked. James turned to Sirius.

"Well...this is the Society of Lion's fire. It's sort of a Gryffindor thing..."

Frank humphed.

"So, that doesn't mean we can't have a few Hufflepuffs! Hufflepuff was Gryffindor's loyal companion!" James looked down in thought for a moment. Mary spoke up.

"I move that we allow Hufflepuffs into the society." Said the queen. Lily raised her hand.

"I second that." She said. Peter quickly thirded. Frank and Alastor raised their hands.

"That's a majority!" Frank said. James looked up.

"New members can't vote." He said and returned his gaze to the floor. He looked to Sirius, then to Remus. It was clear they supported whatever he said. His vote would be the deciding one, then.

"I'll think about it. For the moment, let's move on." He said. The members murmured in agreement, and Remus stood again to present the next note of business.

"About yesterday's occurrences, and Professor Krupp." James nodded as Remus seated himself.

"Despite many proofs seemingly vilifying Krupp, it would appear that Professor Velemonde is the sole culprit. The reason Sirius saw him going into the forest with Firmus was because of Polyjuice Potion prepared by Velemonde. It was found in his office and identified as a potion pertaining to Krupp. It appears Krupp very well may own an Invisibility Cloak, but that it was coincidental." James said, nodding.

"So, he's not bad after all?" Asked Lily. James sullenly nodded.

"It appears not. As much as he might hate us, he...certainly would not want any of us to die." James said, almost disgusted at himself for the concession.

"Well, that's settled." Said Mary. "Anything else, Remus?" Asked Mary. Remus shook his head. She turned to her brother.

"Well, I guess that brings us back to the matter of Frank and Alastor's friends." James looked up, then at Mary. He looked down.

"Fine." He muttered.

Lily was sent for Sarah, and Frank and Alastor for Marius and Mundungus. Lily took the Invisibility Cloak as well. When they returned, three new goblets were waiting behind the portrait of Miss Vi.

James and Sirius waited behind the large wooden gate that led to the pitch. They had gotten dressed before anyone else had, and were now waiting before anyone else. They were not wearing pads, and were holding school sticks to replace their own broken Thunderbolts.

Had today been a day of importance, they might have hurriedly ordered new brooms, something the Gryffindor house would have been happy to pay for, and they might have been nervous. But today, they were resolved to go out and do their job.

Today was the Quidditch season finale. They were scheduled to play Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw had beaten Slytherin by a surprisingly slim margin; 240 to 200. This meant that Hufflepuff only needed to win by 120 to get the Quidditch championship.

A few minutes later, the rest of the team lined up behind Sirius and James. Evus stepped in front of them, with no broom, but rather the Quidditch Championship Trophy.

"Let's go." He said. The doors swung open and the Gryffindor team walked out onto the pitch. It was a strange sensation, walking on the pitch, a place over which James was always used to flying. They made their way to the center circle.

There, the Hufflepuff team was already lined up. Marius Constance took the place of his brother. Dumbledore was the honorary referee. The ball crate was sitting in the center. The Gryffindors lined up along the line as well. Dumbledore lowered his wand and magically opened the ball crate. The bludgers strained against their straps. The Quaffle remained where it was.

Remus Lupin walked up and bent down. He opened the small cover to the Golden Snitch. He pulled it out and held it in his hand. He walked up to Marius, the honorary Seeker.

"Marius, I'm sure this is no consolation, but it was the least we could do." Remus said. He handed the Snitch to Marius, who nodded. Marius and Remus stepped back to their respective teams. There was a smattering of applause.

Next, Evus stepped forward. Their team's captain, Leo Lumb, stepped forward as well. Any forfeit was recorded as a 150-10 victory for the team to whom the game was forfeited. This, of course, meant Hufflepuff was the championship winner.

"No one deserves this more." Said Evus, handing the trophy to Leo. Leo nodded.

"I appreciate your forfeit. This match could have gone either way." Leo said. They shook hands.

"There's a time for games, and there's a time to stop playing." Said Evus. Leo nodded and turned to the crowd. He lifted the trophy up somberly, and nodded towards the cheering crowd.

Leo shook hands with Dumbledore, lifted the trophy up once more, and led his team off the pitch. Evus lead his own off as well.

On the last day before exams, all second-years received a small card that listed classes they could take as third-years.

"It says select two." Said James. "Now let's see...what have we? Muggle Studies, Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination...and open to select students only, Advanced Magical Studies. What shall we select?" He asked the group.

"Divination! Telling the future? Sounds great!" Said Sirius. James and Lily quickly shook their heads.

"Divination is a shaky magic. Unreliable." The group murmured in agreement.

"What about Muggle Studies?" Asked Mary. "I think that's very interesting." She placed a small check next to it.

"I want to do Arithmancy." Said Sirius. "Scuro said it helps a lot with Potions." Lily and James nodded in agreement and the three checked it off.

"What about Care of Magical Creatures?" Asked Remus. He checked it off.

"That sounds good." Said Sirius. He selected it as well. "Well that makes two for me." He said. James suddenly put his head up.

"What? You mean you're not to take Advanced Magical Studies with me?" James said, as he and Lily checked it on their cards.

"Oh...well..."

"But then again," said James, "Runes sounds very interesting...as does Magical Creatures..."

"I'm definitely taking Runes." Said Remus, checking it off for himself.

"I think I'll make Magical Creatures my second." Said Mary.

"Oh well." Said James. "I guess I'll just have to take three extra classes." Everyone looked up.

"Three extra classes? The card says two." James smiled.

"It suggests two. Of course there's time in the day for more than two. Have you ever seen a seventh-year's schedule?" Everyone nodded.

"Now, the question is, Runes or Creatures?"

"In that case I think I'll take Advanced Magical Studies as well." Remus said, checking off his third.

"Me too." Said Sirius, checking Advanced Studies.

"Well, I don't suppose I shall allow Remus to take Runes alone. I'll select that, then." Said Lily.

"I shall as well!" Said Peter quickly.

"Runes, Peter?" Asked Remus. He gulped and nodded.

"I think Care of Magical Creatures shall be my third." Said James, checking it off.

"That's three for me." Said James.

"And for I." Said Sirius.

"Me too." Said Mary and Lily in unison.

"I've got my three." Said Remus. They looked at Peter.

"I've...got...one..." He squeaked.

"Why don't you take Muggle Studies with me, Peter?" Asked Mary. "Otherwise I'll be alone in it!" Peter blushed furiously, and nodded, scratching it off on his own card. Seeing he had fulfilled the minimum two classes, he filled out his name and was finished with it.

"Shall we hand these in, then?" They agreed to. James collected them to give to Professor Marus. He couldn't find him that day, so he prepared to give them to him after he took his Astronomy exam. His exams prior to that went well, and he felt confident after finishing the Astronomy examination.

"Professor Marus!" He said, approaching Marus as he left the tower.

"Yes, James?"

"Professor, I have the class applications for next year's classes, for me and my friends." Marus nodded and took them.

"Thank you, James." James nodded and began to leave.

"Mister Potter." He said. James stopped and turned around.

"Yes, Professor?" He asked.

"About your Hogsmeade shenanigans. As a result of your misbehavior, we have decided to move the year of allowed visits from second-years to third-years." James smiled.

"Ah yes." James said with an enormous grin. "Those second-years have no maturity. Third years such as myself, however, could handle the responsibility much better." James laughed.

"And one more thing James. Owing to your misadventures in Hogsmeade, you and your friends have also been banned from Hogsmeade for next year as well." James's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Marus smiled and chuckled.

"See you next year, Potter!"