Sixth Year – Part One

"I got fifteen O.W.L.s!" gushed Lily, as she hugged Alice at King's Cross. "Can you believe it? FIFTEEN!"

"Lily, calm down," laughed Alice. "It was obvious that you'd get the highest number of O.W.L.s. Be happy that you don't have to take the N.E.W.T.s this year." She made a face.

"And you made Head Girl! That's wonderful!"

"Yeah, but guess who's Head Boy?"

"Who?"

"Longbottom! As if he hasn't already caused me enough pain, the git."

"Are you still going out with Sturges?" asked Lily nervously.

"Well, duh. I really like him. I mean, I know I'll never be able to love him like Frank, but he's all right."

"So will you say 'yes', if you asks you to marry him?"

Alice furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. "Maybe."

"Oy, Lils!" cried Arabella, waving her arms wildly at her friend. "Alice! C'mon, the train's leaving in five minutes!"

The three girls hurriedly went through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten, and hopped onto the scarlet train just in time. They found Jennifer and Violet already in a compartment, and joined them.

"Fifteen O.W.L.s, Lily?" cried Jennifer excitedly. "Oh Merlin, that's fantastic! I got twelve."

"That's great. What about you, Vi?"

"Eleven. I didn't get an O.W.L. for Transfiguration, Divination, or Potions, though."

"We get to choose our classes this year," continued Lily, her green eyes sparkling with excitement. "I'm going to choose Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Potions. I am so glad that I can ditch Divination."

"I'm not taking Potions or Transfiguration," said Violet dismally. "But I got high grades in Care of Magical Creatures, and that's perfect for working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"That's what Amos is going to do, too," said Arabella disgustedly.

Violet turned white. "Well—er—that doesn't mean I like him, you know," she responded quickly.

"Of course you don't. Who would?"

"You did," she pointed out.

Arabella scowled. "Yes, well, I did. I don't anymore, now, do I?"

"Of course not. You love Sirius. And now you can't say that you only like him; he said himself that he loved you."

A warm flush rose to her cheeks. "Yes, I love Sirius. Jen loves Remus. Lily loves James. It's all good, right?"

Lily choked on the sandwich that she had brought from home. "I love Potter? As if!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Not this again. Anyway, how many O.W.L.s did you get, Bella?"

"Twelve, like you. I'm going to work at the Department of Magical Games and Sports. What about you?"

"Department of Mysteries. I'd love to be an Unspeakable, you know. It sounds fascinating, and you get to learn all sorts of, well, mysteries that are concealed to normal witches and wizards."

"That's very dangerous," warned Alice. "Many an Unspeakable are being killed by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I hear that the Dementors from Azkaban are also his followers."

"You're going to be an Auror," Jennifer pointed out. "That's even more dangerous. You're going face-to-face with Voldemort himself, or along those lines, at least."

"Yes, but the best thing about being an Auror," interrupted Lily, "is that you get the pleasure of knowing that you can save many lives by risking your own. It takes a lot of endurance through the training, but it's worth it."

"It's a great sacrifice," said Violet softly. "Are you sure you want to become one, Lily?"

"Of course, Vi. It's been my dream. Too bad I have to go through training with Potter."

Arabella laughed. "Go through training with him? You'll be married to him by the end!"

Lily shot a look at her best friend. "Will not."

"'Course you will. You're destined for each other, and you know it."

"I know it, but I'll do anything to prevent it from happening."

"What about poor Harry then, huh? Will he never live?"

"He may as well have a different Mum, if I'm concerned," she snapped back.

Alice looked taken aback. "Oh, so you want James to marry someone like Deanna?"

"Her? I don't give a damn—"

"Ha!" cried Jennifer triumphantly. "And you call us with bad language!"

Lily glared at her. "Oh, shut up, Jen."

"I won't!"

"Jen…"

"Oh, shut it, both of you," said Arabella wearily.

"May we join you beautiful ladies?" said a familiar voice from behind them.

The five girls turned around and saw the Marauders and Frank standing right outside of their compartment.

"Sirius!" Arabella flung herself into her boyfriend's arms, and crushed his body onto hers painfully.

"Bellsies—can't breathe—"

"Oh, right." She let go looking flustered and ignored the snickers that followed. "Hi, Frank." She waved to the gangly-looking Head Boy behind Peter.

"Arabella," acknowledged Frank with a nod of his head. "Lily, Jennifer, Violet…Alice." His eyes darkened.

"Well, I'd better get to the prefect carriage," said Alice quickly, standing up and letting her loose golden curls fall onto her shoulders. Her blue eyes scrutinized Frank carefully. "You'd better go, too, Longbottom; you're the Head Boy."

"Right." He nodded and followed her out of the compartment, waving after the eight sixth-years.

"Poor guy," sighed James, shaking his head slightly. "His heart's breaking every moment of this."

"Didn't know you cared, Potter," said Lily coldly.

James turned his hazel eyes onto Lily's green ones with a fixed look that made her shiver. "I'm not as cold-hearted as you think, Evans. I have compassion, and I have care. Frank has been my neighbor and good mentor and friend for nearly my whole life. I care about how he feels; and right now, he's feeling terrible and guilty all at once."

The girls stared at him in awe, while the other three Marauders exchanged approving looks with each other and simply beamed at James, who was still staring at Lily intently.

"Stop staring, Potter," she ordered, after a while.

"Why?"

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Because you're beautiful." James smiled sadly. "Can we share this compartment with you?"

"There are others. Why don't you share one with your fans? They'll be more than willing to make room."

He shook his head again. "I don't care about those girls; they're idiots with empty heads, all of them. Besides, we let you share our compartment last year on the train ride back home, remember?"

Lily did indeed remember, and she silently cursed James for remembering as well. However, it wasn't only his sharp memory that she was in a quandary about; it was his attitude itself. He no longer had that egotistical and condescending personality, which usually made people around him feel more inferior. No, he had a brisk and genial air about him now. He walked confidently, yes, but didn't have that cold stare when passing by people who dressed shabbily; in fact, he had something in his eyes whenever he passed the less fortunate ones—pity. Lily found it exceptionally hard to adapt to this immediate change.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly.

"Doing what?" said James, looking thoroughly confused. "I didn't hex Snape or anyone coming here, if that's what you mean."

"No, no." She shook her head firmly. "Why aren't you acting all snooty and patronizing?"

James blinked. He knew that he had this question coming. But what really puzzled him was the realization that he had acted all bratty throughout his last five years at Hogwarts. And that people expected it of him as well. A guilty feeling spread through him as he saw Lily, the love of his life, thinking how he had suddenly turned nice. But hadn't he always been nice? The Marauders liked him—and many of the girls at Hogwarts had crushes on him. But he realized that the latter only liked him because of his looks. He sighed dismally.

"What's wrong?" Lily pushed.

"I just…never knew that I've acted like such a prat for the last five years. I mean, you've told me that I've been a prat for hundreds of times, but those comments just bounced off me. And now I guess I'm more sensitive."

She snorted. "You, sensitive? I highly doubt it." But Lily regretted saying it when she saw the apparent hurt in James' eyes.

"Well," said Sirius, breaking up the "moment", "can we share this compartment with you or what?"

"Yes," said Lily, her eyes still glued to James' sad eyes.

"Thank you. My legs were about to fall off."

Arabella punched his arm. "Don't be so tactless," she hissed. "Can't you see that Lily and James are having a moment? It hasn't happened since first year!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "They were snapping at each other again. Some moment."

Remus gave Arabella a "don't even bother" look, inclining his head toward Sirius.

"I don't like you," said Lily flatly.

"I know you don't," replied James airily. "Why should you? I've been an arrogant and bullying prat for the last five years. I'm surprised that Remus and Peter can still handle Sirius and I." He winked at his best friend.

She narrowed her eyes. For a minute there, she had thought that James had changed. But he had that same egotistical aura.

"You haven't changed a bit," she spat.

He merely shrugged and smiled again. "You can't expect me to be studious and staid all the time, do you? We Marauders need to have fun in life…and I intend to have it while my life lasts. After all, I only have five years left of my life."

"As do I," said Lily in a hard voice. "But I prefer spending my life on grades."

He stared at her in disbelief. "That's boring!"

"Oh? And I suppose you find it great entertainment to be torturing Snivel—Snape."

James grinned roguishly. "Nah, torturing Snape doesn't mean much to me now. Why bother the git? He'd be wasting my time anyway."

"Since when have you been so philosophical?"

"Will you guys shut up?" growled Sirius, rubbing his forehead. "I never knew you were so boring, Prongs. We should be talking about those hot girls from Hufflepuff."

James rolled his eyes. "First of all, Padfoot, you have a girlfriend. Second of all, there are girls here, and I'm sure they wouldn't take too kindly, hearing us talk about girls. Third of all, I've no interest in those girls that you call 'hot'. You know my heart belongs to one beautiful Gryffindor, and her only."

Remus, though keeping a calm composure on the outside, was grinning like mad on the inside. James was doing a wonderful job not being so arrogant, that the former actually wondered if James had really changed, instead of just keeping an affected personality to gain Lily's love.

"Has my best friend gone mad?" whispered Sirius, poking Remus.

"He's changed," said Remus softly, "for the better. His love for Lily made him more humble."

"But—but—" spluttered Sirius. "Prongs isn't supposed to be humble! The Potters are one of the most prominent and wealthiest pureblood families in the Wizarding world. He has everything he wants. Why is he humble?"

"Because Lily's unrequited feelings for him is making him realize that even the wealthiest people cannot get what they want all the time. He wants Lily to love him, but Lily's playing hard-to-get. That's what's making him be—well—like a normal guy, instead of stuck-up like you, Padfoot."

Sirius scowled. "Hey! I'm not stuck-up!"

Jennifer snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm not! And you belong to Remus."

She raised a blond eyebrow. "Is that so? I'm a piece of property, like a wand? That's nice to hear."

Remus couldn't restrain himself any longer; he burst out laughing before all eight of them.

Peter looked positively alarmed. "Am I missing something?"

"Moony's gone mad," said James in wonder.

"I have not!" exclaimed Remus, still chuckling.

"Then why are you laughing?" asked Violet skeptically.

"Can't a wizard laugh once in a while?"

"If he has a reason, yes," said Jennifer coolly.

Remus promptly shut up. "I'm laughing because of you, Jen."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, yeah? So you're laughing because I'm hurting. Thanks, Remus."

"No, no! It's not like that—"

"Than what is it like?"

"I love you," he said quietly, that they could barely hear.

The Marauders' jaws dropped open, while the girls' eyes shined with tears.

"Wait to go, Moony," muttered Sirius. "Announcing your undying love in broad daylight. Such a romantic."

James worked very hard at keeping a straight face after that comment.

"You don't," said Jennifer, her blue eyes filled with tears.

Remus looked highly alarmed. "W-What? Of course I do! How can you say that, Jenny?"

She flinched at his pet name for her. "Don't call me that," she said in a steely tone. "Why did you break up with me? So you can go for another prettier and smarter girl in Ravenclaw."

"How can you even imply—"

"How can I?" she nearly screamed. "How can I? You broke my heart, Remus, with your stupid letter. I'm sorry that I sent you a Howler; I really am. But is a stupid envelope really worth a break-up?"

Remus hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Jenny. I just got carried away, I guess. But I guess we're a perfect couple now, since we've had a fight of our own." He smiled slightly.

Jennifer returned the smile and went over to hug her ex-boyfriend (or, rather, boyfriend). There was a chorus of "Aww's" and sniffles between the other six friends who watched the scene with great interest.

"Moony's lucky," said James to himself. "He has the girl of his dreams. So does Sirius. Only I don't."

"Who is the 'girl of your dreams', Potter?" asked Lily curiously.

"I don't think you'd care if you knew," he replied. "You'd laugh."

"No, really."

"I won't tell. It's a secret between us Marauders and Frank, though your friends could probably guess within a nanosecond."

Lily leaned over to Violet and whispered, "Who does Potter like?"

Violet looked at her with interest. "Oh, you mean love?"

She rolled her eyes. "Potter can't love."

"Yes, he can."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Who is it?" demanded Lily impatiently.

Violet gave a toothy smile. "You."

"Excuse me?"

"James loves you, Lily. Has ever since our fifth year, when you told him to stop hexing Snape in the corridor, and when you accidentally told him that you 'liked' him."

Lily's mouth dropped open in surprise, as her green eyes widened. Whatever Violet was about to say, she was definitely not expecting this.

Potter likes me, she thought dully. Out of all the girls he could've fallen in love with, he chose me. Bookworm Lily Evans, who studies too much for her own good. He just had to choose the girl who hated him.

"Lily?" Violet peered at her. "Hello?"

"Wha—What?" Lily jerked out of her daze, startled. "Where's the Snitch?"

"Excuse me?" She laughed. "Were you thinking of Jamie dearest again?"

"I'd never!"

The compartment slid open, revealing a handsome boy, whom they vaguely recognized as the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, and in the same year as themselves. He smiled at the girls, but his warm gray eyes were fixed steadily on Violet with a look of admiration.

"Hello, Violet," he said, his eyes still fixed onto hers. "Would you like to—maybe—go out with me sometime?"

Violet's eyes widened. "You mean…like a date?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Er—yeah. Will you?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "You're Jackson Bradley, right? Sorry, but I'm not too good with names."

Jackson grinned widely. "Yeah. You will? Really?"

Violet shrugged again. "Sure."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" He looked as if he were going to burst out singing, but decided against it after seeing the Marauders in the same compartment. He didn't want to tempt blackmail from the pranksters.

"James," he said, with a slight incline of his head.

"Jack," greeted James cordially. It was obvious that they were good friends.

Lily smiled at her friend as Jackson left with a huge grin plastered on his face. "See, Vi? What did I tell you? Lots of boys like you! Jackson's had a crush on you since fifth year."

"Well," she said dreamily, "I guess you're not the only ignorant one."

"What's that supposed to be?" asked Lily with a frown.

"Nothing." Violet gave James an encouraging nod of her head as the train continued to move steadily.

***

Lily, to her horror, found herself staring at James Potter for the past ten minutes in the library. She scolded herself mentally for not paying any attention to her Transfiguration essay, and continued to read the extremely tedious passage about human transfiguration and how to transfigure your head into that of an animal.

"I'm glad you find me extremely charming, Evans," said James with amusement, as green eyes met his hazel ones.

She flushed. "Well, I am extremely sorry, Potter, to say that I don't find you attractive at the least."

James turned crimson. "Are you having trouble?" He changed the subject abruptly.

"I am, as a matter of fact. Are you here to taunt me of my poor Transfiguration skills?"

"Nah. I was just wondering if you need help. I mean, I'm fair at Transfiguration, since I have a fortunate wand."

"Fair? You get top grades in it in our year, and you've never hesitated to tell everyone that."

"Well, it's not too nice, is it? Bragging about one's accomplishments and making people feel bad."

Lily frowned. "But that's what you're all about, Potter! You've been showing off all your life."

He was starting to lose his temper. "Oh, so that's what you think of me, eh? Someone who lives in this world just to show off his achievements and accomplishments? Well, let me tell you something, Evans. I happen to care about my family, friends, and grades as well. Sure, I don't look as if I care about my grades, but I do. I guess I just don't study too much because all this stuff comes naturally to me, as my parents and teachers say. I care about my mum and dad, and I care about Sirius, Remus, and Peter. They're like my brothers, especially Sirius, who's living with us from now on. And I care about y—" He stopped, his eyes widening and his cheeks flushed.

"Me?" said Lily gently.

James shook his head vigorously. "It doesn't matter."

"Violet said that you love me. Is it true?"

"What's it to you? You hate me."

Those words tore at Lily's heart more than she had imagined. She was hurt that James thought that she hated him…but she did, didn't she? But recently, James' unusual behavior went out to Lily; maybe the arrogant derk really did change for the better.

"I'm sorry."

"You're what?" repeated James in disbelief.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? What for?"

"For hating you," she replied softly.

His angry expression disappeared. "You don't have to be sorry for hating me. I mean, I never apologized for hating you, did I?"

"No, but you've fallen in love with me."

"Don't bring it up, Lily…please."

"Why not?"

"Look, it's hurting me enough that you don't love me, or even like me, back…"

This broke Lily's heart even more, for unknown reasons. Why was she feeling this way? She hated James Potter…or so she thought. But it hurt her to hear James suffering through all this, thinking that she didn't care at all.

"Look, James, I love you," she began, "as a friend," she added, as she saw a glimmer of hope in his beautiful hazel eyes.

James smiled. "It's all right, Lily, I understand. After all, I've been a great prat; who wouldn't hate me?"

"You can have any girl you want, Potter. Why me?"

He opened his mouth, prepared to give a whole hour speech, but Lily sensed that he was going to talk a lot.

"Look, don't answer," she said hastily. "I know you're going to tell me stuff about my eyes and smile. I'll think of your offer if you can prove that you love me."

"Huh? What offer?"

"You always ask me out, silly." She winked.

His jaw dropped open and he looked as if he was going to faint.

"Prongs?" said Sirius urgently, looking at his friend in alarm.

"What?"

"You look like you're going to faint, mate. Need me to help escort you to the Hospital Wing?"

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"You're not fine, Potter," snapped Lily.

"Oh?" He sneered. "And how do you know, Ms. Evans?"

"Because I've known you for the past five years, and I know when you're not fine."

"She's right, Prongs," said Sirius.

"I'm fine," he said, yet again. "Leave me alone!" He jumped up and ran out of the library, to Gryffindor Tower, no doubt.

Sirius looked critically at Lily. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing!" she exclaimed. "I just told him that I'd consider his offer if he'd stop being a prat."

"What offer?"

Her cheeks turned pink. "When he asked me to go out with him numerous times last year."

Sirius grinned widely. "Oh, you are falling for my best friend, Evans. Now, don't deny it; it's so obvious. You are head-over-heels for James Henry Potter!" He said this a bit too loudly, and everyone in the library turned to look at him, including Madam Pince, the strict librarian.

"So," said Juan Demise, raising an eyebrow, "don't think I'm good enough, eh, Evans? Going for the purebloods, are you?"

"Oh, shut up, Juan," snapped Lily impatiently. "I'm not falling for Potter! Sirius is just being—well—Sirius. And when have you ever asked me out?"

"Last year," he replied brusquely.

"Oh, that. Well, it was because you couldn't get my best friend, so you decided to ask me, so that you can get Arabella."

Juan blushed, cringing at Sirius' cold gaze. "You're lying."

"I, a Gryffindor Prefect, lie? I though you knew me better, Demise."

"Go out with my best friend."

"What?" Lily was taken aback. "Who's your best friend?"

"Frank Longbottom. He's just broken up with his girlfriend of two years, Alice, and he's feeling awful."

"He's with Trish Vance," said Lily pointedly.

"So? Alice is with Sturges Diggle and Frank's about to dump Vance anyway. Since Alice is going to marry Diggle, you may as well be with Frank. He's a nice kid, he really is!"

"You're mad, Demise," commented Sirius in awe.

"Thank you, Black." He smirked. "'Sides, Evans, Frank fancies you."

"He does not! He loves Alice, and I think that they should get together. If you were his real best friend, you'd think so too."

This struck a chord in Juan, for his face turned pale white. "I've been his best friend for seven years."

"Potter's known him since birth, and has been a better friend to Frank than you."

Sirius cracked a smile. Lily is sticking up for Prongs…that's definitely a first. Wait until I tell him!

"What are you grinning at, Black?" said Juan sharply. "Find this discourse funny, do you?"

"Leave him alone!" shrieked Lily. "He didn't do a thing to you!"

"Oh, I thought you'd never cheat on your best friend, Evans. Now you're going out with Black?"

"I am not," she said coldly. "Sirius is my friend and nothing else."

"You are pathetic, Evans," spat Juan. "No wonder you've never gotten a boyfriend before. If it wasn't for Potter in love with you, you'd be even more down in the social status of Hogwarts."

"Out of my way, Demise." Lily pushed past him and ran to Gryffindor Tower, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Thestrals," she said to the Fat Lady, who allowed her entrance into the common room.

"Evans?" said James gently, as he saw Lily come through the portrait hole. "What's wrong?"

"Demise…" she began, but didn't finish; she started sobbing loudly.

"It's all right, Evans." James wrapped his arm around her and let her sob into his chest. "What did Juan do?"

"Being a prat again." Lily looked up and gave him a watery smile.

James chuckled slightly. "Figures. Don't let the git get to you."

"He said that I was pathetic, and that was the reason why I've never had a boyfriend in all my years at Hogwarts." She conveniently left out the part where Juan mentioned James.

"Don't mind him. He's just an idiot, is all. You're perfect, and I think that every guy is mad for not liking you."

She smiled. "He's right, though. I haven't had a boyfriend since…well, I've never even had a boyfriend before, period. Maybe it's time that I do loosen up and get one."

James' eyes widened. If he couldn't get Lily to be his girlfriend, then no other guy should have her, either. But before he could say another word, there was a blinding flash of light. The whole common room illuminated and three figures stumbled out of nowhere. The two sixth years stared in surprise and confusion as the light disappeared, revealing two boys and a girl.

"We're from the future," said one of the boys. "Dumbledore sent us along, 'cause—" He looked at the other boy for support.

"Because Dumbledore wants us to see the past, or something like that," said the girl quickly.

James raised an eyebrow. "Er—hello, then. I'm James Potter." He extended a hand.

"Lily Evans." Lily stuck out a hand as well.

One of the boys' eyes looked shocked. On closer inspection, James realized that he had the same startling green eyes as Lily.

"You're Harry Potter!" he exclaimed rather loudly.

Lily gasped and clutched James' arm rather tightly, though the latter secretly enjoyed it.

The redhead boy, whom they recognized to be Ron Weasley, looked over at the couple with a critical eye. "You two are supposed to hate each other," he said bluntly.

"Ron!" cried the bushy brown-haired girl sharply. "Excuse him; he's not much to manners. I'm Hermione Granger."

"We know," said Lily, nodding, "and the red-haired boy is Ron Weasley, correct?"

"How do you know all this?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Dumbledore told us," was said with brevity.

"How does Dumbledore know?" queried Ron, squinting. "You know, I don't think you're Harry's parents."

James rolled his eyes. "Oh? Then who is? Arabella Figg and Sirius Black?"

Lily snorted, while the other three stared in shock, and glanced at Harry nervously.

"Oh, sorry," said James, noticing the look on Harry's face. "Sirius died, didn't he?"

Harry nodded mutely. "He was like—like the father I never knew. He was both my mother and father, and my mentor. He was always there for me and never kept me waiting. And he was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in an attack in the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione gasped and put her hand on his mouth. "Harry!" she hissed.

"My best friend was killed by his damn cousin?" said James incredulously. "Well, then, we'll just have to Avada Kedavra Bellatrix the next time we see her."

"Potter!" exclaimed Lily. "It's bad enough that we know this piece information! But to actually change the future—?"

"All right, sorry. Anyway, I'm James Potter, and this is Lily Evans, my future wife. Need to know anything else?"

"Was it true, what Snape said before?" asked Harry quietly.

"Snivellus? That git? I don't know, what did he say?"

"You've always hexed him at Hogwarts," continued Harry, unfazed. "Was it true that Mum hated you?"

James glanced at Lily and then back at his future son. "Well—er—she still hates me at this moment, but—"

"I don't hate you," Lily interrupted, blushing.

"You don't?"

"No. I told you I loved you as a friend, didn't I?"

"See, Harry," said Ron, looking delighted. "I told you your mum and dad never hated each other. You're just worrying about nothing. See, your dad, he's a nice guy. Snape was just being a slimy git as usual."

"You cursed Snape near the lake in fifth year for no reason," accused Harry, turning to James. "And Lily intervened, and she was yelling at you like mad. She tried to help Snape, but he called her a you-know-what."

James turned red. "I'm not proud of it, mind you, Harry. I'm sorry if that was the only memory that you've had of me. I'm sure I'll get better as the years pass. I'm not doing too bad myself right now."

Suddenly, the portrait hole swung open, revealing Sirius and Remus, grinning.

"Moony, Padfoot," greeted James.

"Hey, Prongs, you'll never guess what happened! Bella, Jen, and Vi all got a detention because of us! Oh, it was brilliant."

Lily sniffed indignantly. "Only you'd think that, Sirius."

"Oh, hello," said Remus politely, seeing the future trio standing beside his friends. "Are you new? I've never seen you in Gryffindor before."

"They're the future people, Moony," said Sirius, staring at Harry in awe. "You look just like your dad, Harry."

"Sirius!" Harry flung himself onto Sirius, and the rest of them snickered at Sirius' stricken face.

"Er—why are you so happy? Oh, I'm probably dead, right?"

Harry let go of Sirius and smiled at Remus indulgently. "Hello, Remus."

"Hi, Harry."

"Where's Wormtail?" spat Ron.

"He's in detention with the girls," replied Sirius, grinning once more at the memory.

"Good."

"Ron!" chided Hermione, yet again.

"You guys would make a great couple," said James, before he could help himself. "Fight all the time, just like Lily and I."

Harry laughed at the expressions on Ron and Hermione's faces. "That's what I keep telling him."

"Oh, yeah?" retorted Ron. "What about you and Ginny, huh?"

The Boy-Who-Lived turned crimson. "What about Ginny and I?" he said carefully.

"Oh, pur-lease, Harry! I see the way you look at my baby sister."

"Who's Ginny?" wondered Remus.

"Oh, she's my little sister," informed Ron.

"What does she look like?"

"Bright red hair, brown eyes."

Sirius cackled. "I guess the Potter men all go for the redheads. James' mum has auburn hair."

James and Lily glared at him. "Shut up, Sirius!"

***

"You're a very cool kid, Harry," said James reverently. "Youngest House player in a century? Unbelievable."

Harry blushed. "Thanks, James—er—Dad. What do you want me to call you?"

"James would be fine. Or Prongs. You know about the whole—er—thing, right?"

"Yeah. It actually saved Sirius from rotting in…"

"Harry!" said Hermione, glaring at the messy-haired boy.

"Sorry, Hermione," apologized Harry nervously.

Lily smiled. "How many O.W.L.s did you get?"

"I got fourteen," said Harry, "and so did Ron. Hermione got fifteen, the highest number."

"Oh, yeah," said James suddenly, "you're the future Evans."

"The future what?" said Hermione, confused.

"You're just like Evans: studious, top grades, perfectionist, stuff like that."

"You're a close second, Potter," teased Lily, grinning. "Top Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts in our year."

"You're top Charms."

"You two don't hate each other," said Ron suddenly. He had been silent the whole time.

Lily and James looked at each other and shrugged. "We used to."

"Why?"

"Hey, we were first years," said James defensively.

"We still hated each other in our fourth year, too," admitted Lily.

"But why?"

"I don't know! 'Cause we were stupid."

"We have to go soon," said Hermione sadly. "Dumbledore only wants us to stay for a few hours. Time-traveling is dangerous."

"Don't go!" said James, looking alarmed.

"We have to. I'm sorry."

"B-but you can stay here forever!"

"Voldemort's in full power now," said Harry softly. "We have to help defeat him. Or, at least I have to, in order to fulfill the prophecy."

"He's gaining power now as well," said Lily, her eyes darkening. "I thought you defeated Voldemort."

"Well, he was never really defeated when I was a baby; he just lost his body. And now that he got it back, the dark times of twenty years ago are back."

"I'm sorry," said James, "for ever being a prat. I'm really sorry, Harry. I gave you the wrong impression of how a father really should be."

Lily's heart went out to him when he said this. She knew, finally, that James Potter had really changed, but she was still uncertain that she liked him, or if he liked her. Many people nowadays told Lily that James loved her, but she refused to believe it more than just a simple teenage crush. How little did she know that she was extremely mistaken, but it would be a year from now before she would even consider her feelings for James as love.

"It's all right," said Harry. "I'm sorry that I thought you were an arrogant person. I didn't think. But it was wrong of you to bully Snape like that."

"Yeah. It was. But I just can't help it sometimes. I mean, he's a Death Eater, for Merlin's sake…"

"He turns to our side," interrupted Hermione. "He's a double agent, spying for us."

"Really?" James looked amazed. "Never knew Snivel—Snape had the guts to do that. Wow. He should be a Gryffindor."

Lily giggled. "I never thought I'd see the day when you said that, Potter."

"We have to go now," said Ron, looking downcast.

Hermione smiled, taking a small square from her robes and held it to Harry and Ron. The three of them grabbed it, and the same bright light bounced against the room, and disappeared along with the trio.

"I'll miss them," said Lily, sighing.

"Yeah. It was great to see Harry. He looks just like me, but he's got your eyes."

"Hey, guys." Arabella, Jennifer, Violet, and Peter came into the common room, looking rather disgruntled.

"Hey. How was detention?"

"Boring and futile. What else? We did it with Wickham, so it wasn't so bad. But imagine if it was Hurst, though; it would've been hell."

"What did you guys do?" asked Violet curiously.

"Oh, nothing much. Just talked."

"Without any pranks or insults?" said Jennifer, looking surprised.

"Yeah."

"Whoa! That's way too much for me to handle."

"Oh, shut it, Bella."

"Where's Pad—Sirius and Remus?" growled Peter. "I need to get revenge on them!"

"Don't worry Peter," said James airily. "I'll help you."

Lily looked disgusted. "I thought your pranking days were over, Potter."

James tutted. "My, my, Evans, I thought you would've at least known that my prank days will never be over." With a swish of his wand, Lily turned into a toad.

"Potter!" screeched Jennifer. "Turn her back! NOW!"

"Don't be a spoil-sport, Jennifer. After all, the color suits her eyes, don't you think?"

Lily croaked loudly, her green eyes burning into James'. The latter could tell that she was angry, even if she wasn't human.

James laughed, and turned her back into a person again. When Lily was back to normal, she was about to through a diatribe at James, but seeing his head thrown back in laughter and mirth, she decided against it. After all, it would be a long time before they would be smiling again.

So instead, being the good sport she was, she laughed with him. This surprised their friends, who were expecting a full-blown tirade from Lily as soon as she turned back to normal.

"Well," commented Remus, "this is different. Lily Evans not yelling at James Potter for a prank."

"D'you know what it means?" said Violet, her eyes shining.

"What?"

"Things are looking up for both of them, just like we always wanted it to be."

Lily and James looked at each other again, fully aware of their friends' mutterings.

"Some things never change," said Lily to herself, smiling.

- - - - -

Disclaimer: I own nothing and J.K. Rowling owns everything

A/N: I am very sorry for taking longer than usual on this chapter. I also apologize for the bad turnout of it, too. I was hoping that it would be cute and fluffy, but instead, it was deep and angsty. If you hate it, at least spare me the flames, okay? And please don't kill me if the next chapter takes forever, because I'm preparing for my last SAT tests, so I'm busier than ever.

Thanks to my reviewers of Chapter 21:

Agloechen

Erynwen – I hope you liked James' so-called "deflating"! He's changed a lot, hasn't he? *wink*

NiNaPoP

K a w a i i - c h a n1

Wicked Witch of Slytherin

LynXkittY – Hey, you're not the only one who's impatient for Lily and James to get together! But hey, what can I say? They're stubborn :P

Kady Rilla Wholi – I know that I made Peter a bit out of character in the last chapter, but I guess I was in a good mood, LOL. And yes, I know that Trelawney was after the Marauder time, but I started this story in January, and that was before OotP came out. But I'm glad I made this story a love/hate one, or else it would be an AU.

Emily

Thank you to all my other reviewers of other chapters!