Chapter 3 - Today Will Shape Tomorrow

Disclaimer: While I am super cool, I am not JK Rowling. If you are dumb enough to think I am, please shoot yourself. Also, snatches of Dumbledore's speech are from LOTR (and the "wise man" he quotes is Gandalf). Oh I should shoot myself.

James smiled upon seeing her there, laughing and smiling as though she had no care in the world, as though she didn't utterly despise him.

Lily had turned her head slightly to share her laughter with Alice sitting next to her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw James Potter, his laughter showing in his eyes, while his face remained solemn as he stared at her. For a moment she forgot that she hated him, that he was an utter git, and looked right back at him. Then she recalled exactly where she was and what he was. Her smile faded and she looked down at her empty plate, frowning.

After another moment, during which the student body began to gain control of itself, Dumbledore stood up. He waved his wand in the direction of the Slytherin table and the eight red- and gold-colored students returned to their natural appearances. He held up his hand for silence and slowly the laughter in the Great Hall receded and everyone turned their attention to the Headmaster.

"Yes, yes, very exciting, I know, but before I can allow you to return to your dormitories there are some start of term notices that I would like to make. All years are reminded that the Forbidden Forest is, as its name implies, forbidden." He winked at the marauders. "Our caretaker would like to mention that the list of banned items has been updated and the list now hangs on Mr. Stime's door. I'd also like to congratulate Dorcas Meadowes of Gryffindor and Sebastian Braddock of Slytherin for making Head Girl and Boy. Finally, Quidditch tryouts are to be held in two weeks; please see your House captain for more details." James puffed out his chest.

"Lastly, I have something of a more personal matter to say to you all. The dark lord, Voldemort-" Teachers and student flinched. James noted that only he, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, and Lily did not. "-has been gaining more and more power as of late. Perhaps some of you think to join him, whether because you agree with his policies or because you believe there to be no other way, but there is always a way. There is always some good left in the world, and it is always worth fighting for.

"Do not feel that you are alone in your struggle against Voldemort. I encourage all of you to band together to fight this evil. For only when we are united will be able to flout him. For the rest of you: do not think that this war will not affect you; it affects us all. It takes but one side to kill, and even those without wands can still die upon them. Voldemort is testing us. He tests our abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and above all, our convictions and alliances. Now is the time when you will discover who you are, and who you will be.

"I will not tell you not to fear what may happen - it is a natural thing to feel. But it is not so complicated as you would believe. A wise man once said, 'All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.' If you decide to stand against Voldemort, you will find yourself facing greater terror and evil than you could ever imagine. But you must be strong, you must never give up, and always stand up for what you believe in. Terrors such as Voldemort must be faced, because what we do today will shape tomorrow.

"I leave you with these thoughts to sleep to. I pray that if you have any questions at all, you will feel free to come to my office." With that Dumbledore nodded and sat down again. The students began moving toward their dormitories as McGonagall stood up.

"Misters Black, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew?" The four boys in question grinned at each other and stayed back as McGonagall came up to them, half seething.

"You will each serve a detention with Professor Arnest this week on separate days. Also, five points from Gryffindor will be taken from each of you. I had hoped this behavior would have died out over the course of the summer."

"Aww, come on Professor. Think of how boring life would be if it had!" Sirius grinned at her.

McGonagall scoffed and strode away with a, "Get up to the tower."

"Well, I think that went rather well," Remus commented as they strode through the now almost deserted corridors.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Did you see Bellatrix? She was screaming like a banshee! Mind you, I've always thought of her as one…" The others laughed.

"Snape was glaring at us the whole time. He was probably upset that the coloring didn't accent the grease in his hair enough," James commented, causing more laughter to erupt.

"You know, James, Lily looked like she was amused…" Peter teased.

"Oh he knows," Remus laughed. "He was staring at her the whole time. Until she realized what he was doing and stopped laughing."

"What you lot fail to realize," James said in a dignified voice, "Is that when she turned away, she didn't glare at me!"

"Is this supposed to signify something?" Sirius asked, genuinely perplexed.

"Isn't it obvious?" They stared at James. "I'm making progress!"

"Because she didn't glare at you?" Peter asked.

"Exactly."

After looking at him for a moment longer, the three shook their heads, said the password Remus had told them, and strode into the common room.

Almost everyone was either talking about the prank or Dumbledore's speech. As Sirius and Peter sat down to a game of chess (Sirius was already losing), Frank and Edgar came over to talk to them.

"Nice job on the Slytherins there. That beats even last year's!" Edgar exclaimed.

"Yeah, even Alice thought it was funny," Frank put in. James' head shot up at this.

"What about Lily? I saw her laughing; did she feel the same way?" he asked quickly.

"Well," Frank began, sitting down next to them, "She was amused, that's for sure, but it's sort of complicated. It was more like she thought the prank itself was funny, but she didn't like how selectively it was placed."

"Or whom it came from, I imagine," put in Edgar as Frank nodded.

"So, what, she would've liked it more if all the Slytherins had been pranked?" James cried out indignantly.

"Well, that probably still would've pissed her off. If you had done it to everyone in the Great Hall, she might've approved. Well, maybe not the teachers." Frank grinned while James looked contemplative.

"Well, better luck next time, mate," Sirius said.

"I keep telling you, I'm making progress!" Everyone laughed.

"Anyway, Frank and I are going to head up to bed. We want to be well-rested in case we've got Double Potions tomorrow." All six boys grimaced as Frank and Edgar left.

As soon as they were relatively alone in their corner of the common room and Sirius had lost to Peter twice, Remus said, "Interesting speech of Dumbledore's this year, wouldn't you say?"

"Did you catch the part about how we should band together? Good luck getting the Slytherins to come around to that idea," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair and eyeing his defeated chess pieces with disgust.

"Maybe some of them would if we didn't alienate them so much," James said quietly, studying Sirius carefully.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You sound like Evans now. You've really got a jones for her, haven't you?"

"This isn't about Evans at all, Padfoot. It's about Voldemort-" Peter jumped, "-and I'm trying to be mature."

"Since when are you worried about maturity? Dumbledore was just saying that for us to keep in mind when we graduate."

"I think James is right," Remus piped up. "Even if Voldemort - oh for goodness sake Wormtail! - even if he doesn't directly effect us here, you can bet that certain Slytherins are thinking about joining him."

"Well, why should we make efforts to get them on our side then?" Sirius began angrily.

"Not necessarily on our side, Sirius. Just not on his."

Peter nodded. "Besides, hasn't You-Know-Who been reported to be expanding his numbers?"

James said resignedly, "Yeah. Dad's been working overtime a lot lately. He says that it's becoming a huge problem. Before we left for the station he warned me to look out for anyone who seemed suspicious and to report it straight away to Dumbledore."

"Oh yeah? How's the Ministry holding up these days? With attacks on the rise and all that?" Remus asked.

James shrugged. "I know the Auror department is having a tough time. They haven't got the manpower to deal with all the Death Eater attacks. I told my dad I wanted to join up and he nearly had a heart attack."

Sirius laughed. "You should've seen him. His eyes bugged out and everything. I thought he was going to keel over when I said I was going to also."

"So you guys are both going to be Aurors?" Peter asked, looking a little worried.

Sirius and James looked at each other. "Yeah, we are," Sirius said, turning back to Peter and Remus. "I figure we're going to have to deal with them in one way or another, like Dumbledore said. We might as well be in the thick of it and at least do some good while we're at it." Remus nodded but said nothing. They all knew it would be hard for him to get a job, given his condition.

"Mom said she didn't want us to become targets too. I told her we already were. And besides, I'm used to it. We've been hiding out ever since Voldemort came to power. It'd feel weird if I wasn't constantly looking over my shoulder," James joked.

"She's afraid we'll end up like your aunt and uncle," Sirius said quietly.

"That was different. I mean, they weren't on Voldemort's high priority list. Dad says it was probably just because they were close to us. Which makes me worried about anyone else who gets close to me," he looked significantly at Remus and Peter.

There was a small pause until Remus asked tactfully, "Have you heard any specifics about what the Aurors have been doing?"

The next hour was spent with James telling everyone the information he had managed to garner from his parents, with Sirius piping in with what he'd heard every now and then.

At around eleven they all agreed that it was time for bed. There were only one or two other groups still up, and they wanted to be awake for their N.E.W.T. classes in the morning.

After crawling into bed and closing the hangings of his four-poster, James lay awake thinking over the day. He didn't know what was wrong with his friends - he was sure that Lily's disposition toward him had improved. While she wasn't about to jump into his arms, at least he had shown himself in a more positive light (he hoped).

Sirius wasn't angry with him, he knew. He was just a little offended by James' sudden maturity and blamed it on Evans, though that was to be expected. He was glad that Remus had allied with him. He had already been planning on asking Remus for advice. Peter was… well, Peter. He bent with the wind and would support James no matter what he did.

As he fell asleep, James had a boisterous feeling in the pit of his stomach - this was going to be his year.

Oh man I am so good. You love the fact that I update quickly. However, there are concerns. WHAT IS WITH THIS LACK OF REVIEWS?!?!? I am disappointed in you people. Don't you realize that reviews make me update faster? Honestly, what other fanfic could you be reading and reviewing instead of this one?

I have good news. Last night I thought up this GENIUS plan for a part of the fanfic. It kills FOUR birds with one stone. Oh goodness gracious it is so amazing. My beta is stupefied it is so great. Dahahahahah.

Seriously though, I would like to hear what you have to say, even if it's just a simple "Nice story." It makes my day. And gets my writing juices flowing! ::hint hint:: REVIEW!!!!

Laura Kate: Maybe you should shut up. What is this "sexually ambiguous" WTF? What a crazy guy. You know your mother told me I should bring a guitar and "a cute guy" to your birthday party. How insane is she? You know, I actually put a lot of thought into the disclaimers. Not so much on these things, unless they're to other people. Hahahaha, when my job starts I'll be playing DDR all the more. How how lovely. Playing DDR at 12 AM. I cannot wait. I totally remember that episode!!! That was so great! I love it. Hopefully I didn't delete it. Anyway, thanks for the super long update… I don't know why I'm typing this out, I'm going to see you today anyway.

Irgova: Lol, isn't James supposed to be obsessed? There's got to be a reason he asks her out all randomly in the fifth HP book! And thank you for the "different and funny" comment, that's exactly what I was going for (though my beta suggests we should go more on the different and cut back on the funny, which is what this chapter is).

Meliara: I hope you can't review. Because then you can never again review "your story is stupid as all hell." I still hate you for that btw. Not that I was ever mad about it… Oh holy crap Karin is coughing. Now I won't be able to sing at the concert!

Pokemon Master: First of all, love the name. Second of all, thank you for taking the time to not only review, but also critique it. Your compliments mean a lot, since that's what I've been trying to go for - ahh that ever evasive canon. As for the sappy romance: well, I'm a sappy romance kind of girl, but I promise there will be plot development and actual things happening besides Lily and James getting together. I would shoot myself if it were otherwise. Hopefully it will be enough of both worlds. Thanks again!

Annmarie Aspasia: Nothing bad! WHOOT! I hope that means you have many good things to say. Thanks.