Disclaimer: Characters and settings are property of J.K. Rowling. What you don't recognize is mine. And I wish I owned the Marauders (specifically Sirius and Remus) but most unfortunately, I do not.

X-X-X-X-X

"This looks questionable to me," Remus said dubiously, poking what was – supposedly – a simple meal of rice and chicken. It looked fairly normal, but it smelled strange.

"It's the spices," returned Jen knowledgeably.

"I still say it looks questionable." He glanced up into her hazel eyes – they were dancing. He frowned. "You put something in this," he accused.

"Now, really, Remus. Would I do that?"

"Don't trust her," advised Sirius from farther along the table. "I've always thought she was a shifty girl – and I swear I saw her reach over while you were in the loo."

Remus pushed the plate away, scrunching up his nose. Quite happily, Sirius reached across the table and began to dig into it with his fork. Remus shot him an annoyed look. "You said she'd done something to it, and there you go, eating it!"

"It's not my fault you believed me," retorted Sirius with a grin, still shoveling food into his mouth. Janine wrinkled her nose.

"Ugh. Sirius, eat like a proper wizard, would you?"

"Why? I think eating like an animal results in a special sort of animal magnetism, don't you?"

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"You're only saying that because you know I'm right."

Jen giggled. "They're cute together, aren't they?"

"They act like they're six, not sixteen," retorted Remus, turning to her. They locked eyes for a few moments; he looked away first, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "So… erm… dating anybody?"

She gave him an amused smile. "That's a rather pathetic attempt at a conversation-starter, considering we go to school together," she pointed out. "You'd know if I were dating somebody, don't you think?"

Remus flushed, and she laughed. "Sorry. I've just… been out of it, is all. I haven't paid attention to anybody's love life – well, except for Sirius's, but his is rather hard to miss." He glanced down the table; Sirius was attempting to feed Janine some of Remus's chicken; Janine was pulling a madly grotesque face and trying to shove the fork away.

"Very true. And how fairs our brave Sir James and his Lady Love?"

"Not well, from where I'm standing…" Lily had placed Peter between herself and James; James was pleading with Peter to switch seats with him, while Lily was threatening Peter if he made any move to do so.

"You should hear her complain about James. One of us even mentions him – and poof! She's off again. She usually repeats herself, though, so we just stopped listening."

Marlene leaned over from Remus's other side, her face curious. "Well, well, well. Mr. Lupin is a good friend of James's. Perhaps he can tell us what the dashing Mr. Potter sees in the lovely Miss Evans."

"You're nutters, both of you," Remus mumbled, sinking into his seat. Both girls pounced for the kill.

"Ooh, you have to tell us-"

"-Come on, you're one of his best friends-"

"-We're dying to know-"

"-We won't tell anyone, we swear-"

"-Please?" They were staring at him adoringly.

Remus scowled and looked at his feet.

"Oh, tell us!" said Jen impatiently. "Come on, who are we going to tell?" Remus scowled at her, too. "Besides Lily," she added quickly. Another scowl. "And Alyssa, of course." One more scowl. "Well, I suppose we can't tell Janine either, can we?"

Remus sighed. Marlene gave him an inquisitive look. "Oh, come on, just tell us. We really won't tell; we swear."

"I don't believe you."

"Smart move," muttered Jen. Marlene kicked her.

"Tell us," she ordered. He said nothing. "Please?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

"He…" Remus sighed, and groaned into his hands. Stupid women. Stupid women and their stupid charms and their stupid 'pleases' and their stupid eyelash batting… thing. Stupid me. He continued, voice muffled. "He likes Lily because she holds out. I mean, it started as a stupid dare, but then she actually refused him. I think that surprised him, and it made him respect her for being the only one to say no."

Jen's scoff caused him to glance up from his hands. "Yeah, right. Lupin, we're not that stupid. I don't think there's a single girl in the world that James Potter respects, aside from his own mother."

"He respects Janine, and you, and Alyssa, and Marlene, and-"

"Oh, we're not falling for that one," said Marlene with a smile. "Come on, now. James doesn't really respect us. Not even Janine, and he's known her longer than he's known the rest of us."

Remus frowned. "You really don't know James as well as you think you do."

"Do you?"

"Beg pardon?"

"Do you?" Marlene repeated. "Do you know James as well as you're telling us you do? Honestly, Remus. Does he really respect Lily? Truth, please." Yes, he does. Why doesn't anybody ever believe a word I say? Honestly, you'd think I spent all my time lying to people or something… Remus opened his mouth to answer, when–

"I heard my name mentioned." Remus blessed Lily in his mind, although, from the looks of Jen and Marlene, they didn't. "What about me?"

"Nothing."

"We were talking about…"

"…Alyssa's new perfume." Remus fought to keep from smirking. Alyssa was definitely not wearing any new perfume, because if she had been, he would have taken note. Lily seemed to realize that the two girls were lying, and it didn't even take a werewolf nose like he had.

"Right," she replied unconvincingly. "Sure. Anyway, I'm going to the loo."

"I'll go with you," said Marlene quickly, standing up. "I've got to go, too."

As the two girls walked off, Remus was fairly sure that Lily was firing questions at Marlene, who just shook her head and jerked her head towards the rest room. He shook his head.

Females and their damned gossip.

X-X-X-X-X

"We'll meet you in a bit, all right?" Alyssa said, glancing at her watch. "Give us an hour or two before you decide to come looking for us."

"Fair enough," agreed James. "Where will you be?"

"My aunt's shop. She wanted us to drop by."

"Okay. We'll be in the apothecary if you finish early. I've run out of unicorn hairs."

"All right, then." Janine nodded at them. "See you." She winked at Sirius, a silent promise to meet up with him later, alone. James rolled his eyes, thinking, Most people at least attempt to be discreet, but nooo…

Remus tugged on his arm. "Come on." The girls were walking away. James jerked his arm from Remus's grasp and watched Lily until the girls turned a corner and disappeared down Regalia Lane. "You're really quite pathetic, staring after her like that," Remus said with a smirk.

"Nobody asked your opinion, Lupin."

"But he was happy to give it anyway," said Sirius, clapping him on a shoulder. "Mate, seriously – this is getting ridiculous. I dared you to do this in the fourth year. That's two years ago."

"Over," added Peter.

"Just give up on the girl and go on with your life. I have it on good authority that Lisa Kellerman has a crush on you. You know, from Hufflepuff?"

"Don't tell me you've joined the gossip chain of Hogwarts," Remus muttered, looking faintly disgusted.

"Don't be stupid. There is no gossip chain of Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a gossip chain."

"Or, you know, we could go back to the old-age idea of it being a school."

"Well, I guess there's that, too, but really, it's mostly a gossip chain."

James smoothly cut off whatever Remus might have replied. "Moving right along. I've dated Lisa before."

"No, you haven't," Peter said, looking briefly amused. "You dated her sister. Year above us; Ravenclaw."

"Same thing."

Remus looked annoyed. "No, it's not. James, you've got to start respecting women more. That's one of the reasons Lily doesn't even like you." Sirius, Peter, and James stared at him in disbelief. He shrugged. "It's true, you know."

"And how do you know this?" asked James, raising his voice slightly.

"I'm no stupid. Anybody with eyes can see that that's part of the reason she doesn't like you."

"Oh, and what's the other part?" James definitely sounded pissed off now.

Remus shook his head. "You'll get mad if I tell you."

"It's bit late for getting mad."

Remus gazed at James levelly. "Let's be clear on this, all right? I'm going to be perfectly honest with you – because that's what friends do. Lily doesn't like you because you're a bully. You step on people you deem less worthy than you. And then there's how you don't respect women – although you're no worse than Sirius (who glared at this point of Remus's narration) – and she wants someone who's going to take her on dates and be romantic, but not careful around her. That's the sort of person she is."

"And how do you know all that?"

Remus paused, and frowned. "Because I've noticed it. And I'm not the only one. I hear other guys talking about. And," he added, as he turned around, heading into the apothecary, "if you like Lily as much as you say you do, you would have already known all this without me telling you."

"Wait, wait!" James ran to catch up with Remus; his anger had faded into curiosity. "What exactly are you saying?"

"People are going to tell you that, if you really want to go on a date with Lily Evans, you're going to have to change for her. It's not that simple. The first thing you have to do is know what sort of person she wants. I suggest you watch her when she doesn't realize you're watching. No showing off or walking up to her. Just watch, and get to know what she's like." He ducked behind a shelf.

"You're making her sound like a lab rat, Moony," said Peter, who grinned. Remus was pushing aside ingredients; he peered through the shelves at his friends.

"I didn't mean it that way," he said with a half grin.

"One would hope not," agreed Sirius, picking up a jar from nearby. He opened it and sniffed; then he sneezed and coughed. James glanced at him, concerned. "Pixie dust," he grunted.

"Don't sniff it, idiot. You'll sneeze it all over the place," Remus said from the other aisle, shaking his head. "Oh, gross. Frog liver? Who the hell wants that?"

"You'd be surprised at the number of animals that eat that," Peter said.

"It's still gross." Remus paused, and said, with a grin in Sirius's direction, "I bet dogs eat it."

This, of course, began a full-scale argument of sorts between the three. Fortunately, this left James to his own thoughts, contemplating Remus's words.

X-X-X-X-X

A bell tinkled softly as Alyssa pushed the door open, peering around the shop cautiously. Although there had been a CLOSED sign on the door, Alyssa had revealed that she had a key hidden deep within her purse. "Auntie?" she called throughout the empty shop. "Auntie Cecilia?"

"Hello, girls!" The five of them jumped and stared up to the second layer of the shop – Cecilia, with layers of fabric draped across her shoulders, waved down at them. "Come upstairs, please!"

Chatting to one another about what this was all about, the girls went upstairs and entered Cecilia's second-floor workshop. Mannequins were swathed in multicolored fabrics; some of the dresses and robes were finished, others were not. "Auntie, did you want us for something? We promised to meet the boys in two hours, and-"

Cecilia cut her niece off, launching into a hurried explanation. "Well, we could do with a bit more publicity in this shop – all I ever get are the well-to-do purebloods and some of their friends in here, and they're such sticklers – so few of them spend money." She shook her head. "Anyway, I want to appeal to the masses, so I'm having a huge summer sale, and I want to get ready for it."

"Er… you do realize it's January, don't you? And that summer is a good six months away?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Cecilia said distractedly, dusting the skirt of a pale pink dress. She looked at them. "Like I said, we need publicity, and we need to start now. I've just put in a reservation for six pages in next month's Witch Weekly, and I need models."

Lily grasped where this was going the fastest. She gasped. "You want us to be your models?"

"Sure, why not? You're all lovely young ladies, and I will pay you, not to worry – it shouldn't take more than a few days of your time, and it'll all be over this holiday, of course – I can hire more models later, but I need to put out ads in the Daily Prophet – oh, will you girls do a lady a favor and help me out?"

"YES!" they screeched in unison. Cecilia smiled in satisfaction.

"That's the spirit. Now, let's get you girls started. Let's begin with this one – hmm, Marlene, I think it will be perfect for you…"

X-X-X-X-X

"It's been two hours," Peter said, stifling a yawn.

"Two and a half, actually," corrected Remus. This earned him a glare for his friend. "Or two, whatever you prefer," he added hastily.

Sirius stuffed his hands in his pocket. "I hope they didn't actually go into the apothecary looking for us."

"Of course they did. We told them to, didn't we? If you and James hadn't dragged us off to Quality Quidditch Supplies when you spent half the morning there…"

"Well, you dragged us into Gambol and Jape's, and you went there earlier, too!"

"Yes, but we never bought anything!"

"Well, neither did I! Besides, there was this perfect Quidditch jumper-"

"-Which you didn't buy anyway-"

"They're not there, mates." Peter, Remus, and Sirius glanced at James, who had just run from the apothecary. "Must still be in Alyssa's aunt's shop, eh?"

"S'pose so," agreed Remus.

"What can girls do in a clothing shop for so long?"

"They're probably off with other guys," finished Sirius with a mournful air. This was normal for them. If, for any reason, they went shopping with girls, this always happened – the two sexes separated, and promised to meet up later. And, as usual, the girls never showed up on time.

"Don't be stupid; of course they didn't," Remus retorted, and then said with his own mournful air, "They're probably trying on clothes."

"Yeah, probably," agreed Peter. "Maybe we should just hang around here and wait…"

"No, the longer we hang out here, the longer they'll try on clothes that they don't plan on buying," said Sirius stubbornly.

"Sounds like somebody I know," muttered Remus. Sirius elbowed him.

"Let's go find them. Maybe we can drag them out of there and spare ourselves the torture of loitering about until dinner. Which," he added in an even more mournful tone than before, "Is five hours away."

"Don't sound so miserable, Padfoot," said James with a grin. "If you're that desperate for food, we could always go get some frog's liver from the apothecary."

Sirius stuffed snow down James's shirt in response, and the first snowball fight of the New Year began.

X-X-X-X-X

Jen shot the boys a peeved look as they entered the shop, dripping wet. "You boys were supposed to come find us after two hours was up," she grumbled. "It's been nearly three."

"Eek!" Alyssa shrieked the moment she saw them. "You're dripping water all over my aunt's shop!"

"Where've you lot been?" demanded Janine. "You've been missing all the fun!"

"How do we look?" Marlene added quickly, striking a pose. Lily was the last to appear, peering around her curly-haired friend's shoulder.

It was then that the boys noticed that the girls were wrapped up in expensive outfits. Janine, too, struck a pose. "Ta-da!" she clicked her tongue, and twirled. "What do you think?"

"I think that it's a good idea you're not wearing the dress Jen is," said Sirius at last. "Because periwinkle is definitely not your color."

"What the hell is periwinkle?" muttered Peter. James shrugged. Janine was glaring at Sirius.

"And the green is very nice," continued Sirius. "But it's a Slytherin color. Why don't you wear red?"

"Pillock," Remus said with a grin. "She can't wear red. Marlene is wearing red! Heaven forbid that they wear the… gasp… same color!"

"Oh, the horror!" Sirius cried theatrically, catching on. "Two women in the same color! Whatever should they do?" Then he stared at Remus, his eyes going wide. "How dare you, Lupin! You dare to wear black the same day I wear black? I demand you change!"

"Oh, no! I was wearing this first! I demand you change!"

James rolled his eyes, smirking. (The girls were busy scowling at Remus and Sirius, looking indignant, as Peter sniggered behind a hand). "The world would be so much easier if women just all wore the same thing in the same color."

"I concur," Remus said, grinning, but Janine cut him off dryly, saying, "Oh, yes, that would be so wonderful. We could all wear thick, flannel pajamas, all the time. Oh well. There go your fantasies of Lily in lingerie, Potter. I suppose they'll just have to stay fantasies, eh?"

The smirk vanished from James's face immediately. Lily glowered at Janine.

"Don't you go giving him ideas!"

Sirius wrapped an arm about Janine's waist. "And what about me seeing you in lingerie?"

Janine glowered at him. Jen, smirking, answered for her. "Given your previous statements, I'd say the chance of that happening is less than zero right now."

"Well, that's all right. I can make it up to her later by-"

"Sirius, nobody wants to know this!" Remus interjected, looking disgusted.

"…Doing her homework was what I was going to say," said Sirius with a grin of pure mischief. Janine rolled her eyes and extracted herself from Sirius's arms.

"In your dreams, Black."

Cecilia appeared then, juggling a few wrapped boxes, a camera, and several other outfits. "Oh! Good; we're just about finished today. I don't need all you girls here at the same time, but d'you suppose you could come in tomorrow, too?"

James exchanged looks with his friends as the girls and Cecilia made plans to meet up at another time the following day. With that, Cecilia handed each girl a box with a smile. "Are we ready to go yet?" he demanded in a bored tone.

That was a mistake. Lily's eyes flashed angrily. "Nobody's making you stay!"

James felt his temper rise to the surface, but he stamped on it and forced it down. "Right," he finally managed tersely. Lily sniffed disdainfully and turned to her friends.

"Come on, then."

As they exited the shop, Sirius slung an arm around Lily and Janine's shoulders. "You know I was just kidding back there," he said to Janine, who rolled her eyes and marched ahead to chat with Jen. Sirius's arm dropped to his side; he turned to Lily. "Why, Lily Flower. Have I mentioned that you look positively radiant today?"

X-X-X-X-X

It took Lily several moments to answer Sirius. She had managed to, somehow, avoid being left alone with him so far, but she knew her good luck wouldn't end.

Janine was her best friend, meaning that there was no way she could go after Sirius, which was fine – James would probably pummel him if she had even tried to. He'd done it to other guys before.

That didn't stop him from looking good, though.

At long last, Lily came up with a reply. "Stop flirting with me and go back to your girl, Black. I've decided you're not my type." She shrugged his arm off her shoulders and marched ahead, squeezing between Marlene and Alyssa and linking arms with the two. She could hear Sirius laughing behind her, and from the corner of her eye, watched him run up to Janine and slide an arm around her waist.

And no matter how many times she wriggled away or switched spots with Jen, placing the other girl between the pair, he always managed to find a way to hang onto her again.

X-X-X-X-X

The troupe sauntered down Diagon Alley, occasionally stopping to peer into shop windows and gush over certain items for sale (an activity usually taken up by the girls). Instead, the boys opted to toss snowballs at one another and occasionally a chance passerby.

As the afternoon wore on, the girls bought more and more, and generally dumped most of their shopping on Remus and Peter. Janine once handed a bag to Sirius, who held it for a few seconds and then promptly dumped it in the snow in an effort to duck as a pound of slush came his way, courtesy of James. The bag ended up on Remus's growing pile of bags and boxes.

Out of the corner of his eye, at some point in the early evening, James spotted a store – Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. Not only did it have a handsome display of eagle feathers, but there were scrolls of stationary and notebooks in the shop. He tapped Sirius on the shoulder; his friend turned. "Just a sec," he said, and ran into the store.

Within moments, James had picked out a plain wine red notebook with crisp cream-colored parchment inside. He quickly went to the clerk and began rummaging around in his pockets for the correct amount. As an afterthought, he snatched up a new eagle quill – his old one was falling apart – and added it to his purchase, counting out money in his hands.

"Gift for a lady friend, eh?" suggested the clerk with a grin, looking at the red book.

"Sort of," replied James, handing over the money.

"Sort of?" she repeated, not taking the money. "It either is or it isn't."

"Well, she's not exactly a lady friend, and it's not really to give to her, it's… why the hell am I telling you this? It's none of your damn business. Now take the money and let me go."

"You're one grouchy customer," the clerk replied snootily. "I was just trying to be friendly." But she took the money anyway, and as he walked out, added in a frosty voice, "I'd tell you to have a good day, but I'm not altogether sure I want you to have one."

Ignoring her, James tucked the book into his pocket, leaving the quill in the bag for when the others asked what he had bought.

Remus had told James to observe Lily, and he figured the best way to do that was to make sure he remembered his observations by writing them down.

"Buy a diary, Potter?" Janine teased, looking at the notebooks in the window, her eyes lingering on a rich purple one.

"No," he lied quickly. "A quill."

"Right, right." She was still looking at the notebook. "You know, it's awfully nice. I could do with a diary."

"What for?" asked Lily. "You already have one, and you've written in it a grand total of two times."

"If I bought it for you, would you stop being a pain and let me hold you?" Sirius asked hopefully, looking at Janine, who was beginning to walk away.

"No."

"Feh." Sirius grunted. "Figures. Women are so hard to please."

"You're only digging your grave deeper," Alyssa informed him cheerfully. In James's absence, she had somehow acquired two more shopping bags, which she unloaded onto Peter, who was already holding seven others. "Now, come on. It's barely six o'clock, which means we have another two hours' worth of shopping to do before we have to meet for dinner. We can probably get around to another six or seven shops, if we hurry."

The boys groaned in unison.

X-X-X-X-X

When at last they trooped into the Leaky Cauldron for dinner (after numerous shops to numerous stores, where the girls did plenty more shopping and continued to drop their bags on poor Remus and Peter), the Garnets and the Potters were already seated around a large table. Interestingly enough, so were the Prewett brothers, along with a woman and two children that Lily didn't recognize.

Gideon was the first to notice them; he waved, his reddish-blond hair flopping into his eyes. "Hullo. Took you long enough. I've been starving, waiting for you lot."

"You're not the only one," muttered Sirius, as Janine asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

"Not that we mind having you here," Marlene added, sliding into a seat beside Fabian.

Ignoring Janine's question, Gideon gestured to the redheaded woman who was clutching the hands of the two young boys. "You remember my sister, don't you?" He nudged the woman, who turned around and smiled at the group of nine. "Say hello," he added to his nephews.

Janine stepped forward, smiling. "Hullo, Molly."

"Hello yourself. You look a mite bigger than the last time I saw you. You were a tiny thing back then."

"Only eight," said Janine, with a grin. "And, as I recall, you were pregnant." Then she grinned. "And you are now, too. How far along?"

"Not very," admitted Molly, patting her slightly round stomach. She dragged the two boys out from behind her, gesturing. "Bill and Charlie," she explained with a smile. "Bill's four, and Charlie's two."

"Hello, boys." They both smiled shyly at her. She straightened up and glanced at Lily. "This is Molly Prewett – er… Molly Weasley. Fabian and Gideon's sister."

"It's nice to meet you," Lily said pleasantly, offering a hand to shake. "Lily Evans."

"And the girl who is sitting about making puppy eyes are your younger brother is Marlene McKinnon," added Jen helpfully. "I'm sure Fabian's told you all about his darling Marly." Both Fabian and Marlene glowered at her.

"Oh, my, yes, I've heard all about you," Molly said warmly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face." Lily noticed, with no small measure of amusement, that Fabian was turning a little red. "Fabian never shuts up about you," Molly continued cheerfully.

As she went on about how Fabian always talked about Marlene – he was getting redder by the second – Lily took the opportunity to take a good look at Molly. She was pretty, despite the slight bulge to her stomach. Molly's blue eyes sparkled with vivacity, and she seemed to a warm woman. Whoever she had married – Mr. Weasley, whoever he was – was clearly a very lucky man.

When at last they were all seated around the table – the shopping bags deposited in a corner – the families made no bones about digging into their food right away. Lily was content to simply eat and listen to the chatter around her.

"…Crazy, there's no way Puddlemere United will win this year, James, it'll certainly be the 'Pies…"

"You're off your rocker, Jeff!"

Quidditch, Lily thought dully, and stopped listening to them. Janine and Jen were also into a heated argument, although about an entirely unrelated subject.

"Rubbish," Janine said darkly. "McGonagall, leave Hogwarts? That'll be the day." She snorted. "Minerva McGonagall will be at Hogwarts 'til the day she dies."

"I'm just telling you what I heard!"

"And I'm telling you it's rubbish!"

"Look, I only heard-"

"Shut up, both of you," said Gideon from across the table. "That's a perfectly ridiculous argument. Besides," he added. "I doubt McGonagall would ever leave Hogwarts."

That was the wrong thing to say. "Hah!" Janine smirked triumphantly. "See, Gideon agrees! I'm right!" And they were off again.

Within an hour, with everyone being so ravenous, dinner was finished, but the chatter didn't stop. At least, not until Mr. Garnet tapped a knife against his empty wine glass. His nose was slightly red from the alcohol, just like Janine's got when she snuck some Firewhisky. Everybody hushed after several whistles and more taps against the wine glass. "I have something to say," he announced. He was looking directly at his children, holding each of their gazes in turn before speaking. Mrs. Garnet shifted. Lily glanced at her. She looked uncomfortable and a bit upset. Lily wondered why.

"What's up, Dad?" asked Jeffrey, leaning back in his seat.

Mr. Garnet cleared his throat. "I've decided it's time to… well, for lack of a better word, retire from the Magpies."

There was an instant uproar – "Dad, what's the matter with you?" Janine and Jeffrey demanded together. "Sir, you can't!" added James, his eyes widening. "You're the best captain ever of the 'Pies," Alyssa said pointedly. Sirius finished their protests, saying, "You can't leave!"

"I'm not finished." They quieted, although all seemed to be silently steaming. Lily, not being an avid fan of Quidditch, tried to assess Mr. Garnet's expression. He looked particularly somber. "As you kids remember us telling you, when I met your mother, I was in Auror training, although I dropped out to play Quidditch…" Lily guessed where this was going, but she waited for Mr. Garnet to drop the bomb. "Well, I've decided to rejoin the Aurors, effective immediately. I took a shortened version of tests, and the examination heads gauged me capable enough to skip the actual training." There was a very tense silence for several moments. Janine spoke first.

"I think it's a stupid idea." Everyone stared at her; she was red in the face, and it wasn't from Firewhisky. She looked furious. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Her voice was sharp.

"Janie, don't be rude," Mrs. Garnet said in a low voice, but for some reason, that made Janine angrier.

"Don't be rude. Don't be rude! Mum, you can't tell me you think this is a good idea!" Mrs. Garnet looked away. "You join the Aurors and you get onto You-Know-Who's hit list. It's like signing your own death warrant!"

"Janine, that's enough," Mr. Garnet said in a low voice. His face was pained slightly, but he looked stern. "Your mother's right, you're being very rude. And I'm not going to tolerate you speaking to me that way. Being an Auror is a noble profession…"

"A stupid one, you mean," she spat angrily. "D'you have a death wish, Dad?"

"That's enough." His voice was tight. "You're not going to change my mind on this. Things are getting worse, you know that. It won't be long before the massacres start. The attack on Diagon Alley a week back was just the start. It's going to get worse. The more Aurors there are, the easier to protect people."

Lily looked around at the Garnet brothers. All of them – even Perry, who had surely known what was coming, what with his "talents" and all – sat in a stony silence, glaring into their plates. Lily knew that all of them probably wanted to speak out angrily, but they knew better. Only Janine, her father's little princess, would ever dare speak out against him.

"There are plenty of people to do that!" Janine cried. Their table was beginning to attract attention from others. Sirius and James glowered at the staring people until they quickly turned around. "Why do you need to?"

"Not everyone can become an Auror, Janine!"

"So what? That doesn't mean you have to do something that could ultimately lead to your death, and I think-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mr. Garnet bellowed, standing up. Janine didn't even flinch. Mrs. Garnet, Mrs. Potter, and Mr. Potter – who was also an Auror – looked away, as did Molly Weasley and her brothers. From the corner of her eye, Lily could see little Charlie clinging to Bill's arm. Bill was covering his ears and squinting his eyes shut.

Janine looked completely defiant. She stood up as well, placing her fists on her hips and giving her father her deadliest glare. It was a look he returned; now Lily knew where she had gotten it from.

"If you're going to continue acting like an obnoxious brat, leave the dinner table and go home. Don't come back until you're ready to apologize to everyone – to me – for this incident. I expect better of you."

There was a long silence. Had it been Lily – or, most likely, anybody else – they would have sat down and mumbled an apology while silently seething. Janine didn't do any of these things.

"Fine, I'll go home. Come talk to me when you've realized how stupid this Auror thing is. Until then, don't bother." She stormed to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder from the floo jar, and shouted, "Garnet Manor!" And she was gone with a whirl of green flames.

Mr. Garnet looked around. "I'm sorry about that," he said, mostly in the direction of the Potters and the Prewetts. He glanced at his four sons. "Anymore objections?" None of them looked at him. "Good." He sat.

The rest of the time spent at the Leaky Cauldron passed uncomfortably. At the end, the girls bid the Potters, the Prewetts, and the boys goodbye, and then left with the Garnets for the Manor.

Everybody went directly to their respective beds with terse "goodnights" to one another. Lily was about to crawl into bed, when she changed her mind and went to Janine's room. Her friend's bed was empty.

Lily walked into the attached study, and found her friend curled up in a chair, fast asleep, an open book in her lap. Lily glanced at it, noting that it was a picture album. She closed the book and observed Janine for a moment. Her friend was a very heavy sleeper, and on those rare occasions when one could wake her up, she wasn't happy about it. Lily made a compromise by dragging a blanket around Janine's shoulders, hoping she'd be warm. She left the room, blowing out the candles as she went by.

Then she went to her own bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

X-X-X-X-X

CHAPTER FINISHED!

There we go, all finished. Sorry it took so long. I've been exhausted, and completely unable to sleep. I'm leaving again on Sunday, for about a week. I'll see if I can get another update out by then… but don't count on it. Anyway, I hope this chapter is satisfactory. Because you had to wait so long, I made it extra long. Staring with the next chapter (I hope) I'll try to send them to my betas. I would have done so with this one, but you guys have been really patient, waiting for almost a month, so I figured I'd just belt it out now. All I did was finish the chap, anyway. And I know I said I'd start listing my reviewers, but I'm feeling sleep because of lack of sleep for the last… 72 hours or so, and so I'm too lazy to do it and I'll do it for the people who review after this is posted. But if you reviewed previously, don't think I don't love you – because I do! I'm just tired.

Okay, I have a few questions to address… some that I forgot about, some that were asked, and some that I formulated on my own.

First of all – why did the guys spend the night at Garnet Manor? Short of the fact that they're all asleep, they have been drinking, and their parents know it. I don't know about you, but if I were a semi-inebriated teen, I would not want to floo home. And they can't apparate… and in any case, it's not all that important. The Potters and the Garnets are friends, and it gives a reasonable explanation as to why they all go shopping together.

Like I said before, the whole girls-being-models thing… it does have a purpose. You guys just don't know what it is yet. :)

Next question – Wouldn't Janine's brothers be mad if they knew she was snogging Sirius? Um, well, yes. But they don't know yet, do they? Only the gang and… well, Snape know… trust me, blows will be exchanged and heads will be knocked when the brothers find out about it. That'll be in one of the upcoming chapters. And now it's just occurred to me that I have no logical explanation to why Snape of all people knows about them. Oh well. So sue me. (Although you won't get anything 'cause I've got nothing).

Okay, as to Peter going evil… he will go evil, and I have a good explanation for it. But it's not going to happen for a while. I honestly don't believe Peter can be all that bad of a guy. After all, he was a Marauder once. So he must be pretty decent at some point of his life. And he'll get evil eventually, I promise.

Next – I'm going to say this for (hopefully) the last time. NO, NO, NO! Lily and Sirius are not going to have a relationship. I just love winding James up. And as for Lily kissing Sirius… well, he is sexy as hell. If I were dancing with him, I'd kiss him too. But they won't end up together. I'm not that mean to my characters – and the most action Snape and Lily will ever get is an innocent kiss that never goes anywhere because they become all shy and embarrassed. If that – it's not likely. Snape will most likely just have an unrequited love for her. And if you didn't catch that, I'm joking. As for Snape and Janine… they're just friends, for the time being. It'll probably stay that way. And the reason Snape has a crush on a pair of Gryffindor girls… there's a reason for that, too. See? I'm thinking ahead. You should be proud of me. And there is a reason I chose Janine and not one of the other girls. The only other option I could have had for him having a crush on one of the girls is Alyssa, and I figured she already had Remus after her, so she didn't need Snape, too. And there is a reason why Janine and Alyssa are the only choices… but I'm not going to tell you what it is! MWAHAHAHA! Yes, mean, I know. But you'll figure it out in the future… during the post-Hogwarts years. Long time coming, I know. Sorry, but you have to wait.

Okay. About getting Remus a girl. I really can't do that until he gets back to Hogwarts, which is soon. (Very soon). But I'll do it, I promise. I feel bad for him too.

I admit that if the girls are asking if Remus knows the "real" James, then Lily probably wouldn't know. And, well, she doesn't. And her friends know that, and try to tell her that. But Lily is a very stubborn person, and is not going to listen to the others. So she's just going to have to find out what a totally fantastic and wonderful, fuzzy guy James is (this is a joke, guys) on her own. And the girls telling Remus that he doesn't know James well enough… I probably should have phrased it better, but I'm not going to bother fixing it. What they mean is that no matter what Remus says, they're going to believe that James doesn't hold a lot of respect for women (as mention in the conversation) until he proves it, regardless of what anybody tells them. Which is why they question Remus about it.

And although this has nothing to do with the story – yes, I'm from India. Or rather, my parents were. In any case, I've been there five or six times, so I'm sort of used to being there and all. And yes, I had a great time. It was lots of fun visiting family and all that. And thanks for the birthday wishes!

Okay, now the questions posed by the new part of this chapter, the part you haven't read…

I know this might bother some people… why did I make Molly thin and curvaceous? I actually have a very good reason for it. But you won't find out what it is for a long time. And I realize how many times I've said this, but it's true. A lot of weird questions will be answered in post-Hogwarts time. But trust me, there's a reason I described her like this, and how she becomes the way JKR describes her in the book. And here's your hint: it has a lot to do with her brothers.

Why I made Mr. Garnet an Auror – Janine is a very sheltered girl. She's rich and lived her life in comfort. She's her Daddy's little girl, and is used to getting what she wants. For once, when her father does something she doesn't like, he refuses to change his mind for her, which, you probably will realize, is going to create some sort of rift, particularly over something this major. Keep in mind that she's only sixteen, and she doesn't want to lose her father. I'd feel the same in her position. And as for James's dad… James is used to it. Mr. Potter has been an Auror all of James's life, and so there's no concern of a sudden career profession that puts his father in danger because he's always been in danger. In any case, his profession change to that of an Auror set the scene for something important that happens in seventh year. Something very important. But you have to wait until then to see what it is!

I think that's all the questions – if there are more, please let me know. And leave a review, okay?

Next chapter (Whenever it comes): The gang goes back to Hogwarts; things in the outside world with Voldemort being to get more serious and hit closer to home; Bella is a pain in the ass; Remus finds a girl that has a crush on him; Janine realizes that she's in for a tough time when she and Sirius finally go public with their relationship; James begins his observations-in-a-diary about Lily Evans. Be on the lookout for it!