Every student at Hogwarts was discussing the attack the next morning at breakfast. Upon arriving in the Great Hall, James was mobbed by students who wanted to know everything about his confrontation with Voldemort. James ignored them as he searched the room with his eyes. He saw Lily's friend Candeline sitting on the very end of the Gryffindor table. Quickly he walked up to her. "Candeline, where's Lily? Is she all right?"

"She's not back from the infirmary," Candeline said. "I was hoping you could tell me if she was all right or not. I haven't been able to see her. What happened?" Candeline showed him the article in the Daily Prophet that she had been reading. The front page headline read:

ATTACK ON HOGSMEADE

CAN THE DARK LORD BE STOPPED?

Lower on the page, James read:

TWO HOGWARTS STUDENTS FOIL DEATH EATERS

"Oh no," James whispered. He looked up at Candeline. "I should try to find her before she sees this."

"Madame Pomfrey won't let anyone see her. You'll have to wait."

James sighed and went to sit with his friends. He and Remus read the entire article together while Sirius threatened curses on anyone who tried to come over and ask James about the attack. During breakfast, the mail arrived, along with a concerned letter from his parents. It said that Dumbledore had sent them an owl explaining what had happened, but they wanted to hear from him directly. James crumpled up the letter and put it in his pocket. "I can't deal with them now," he said.

"Keep staring and I'll make your eyeballs fall out," Sirius yelled at students sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

"It's okay, Sirius," James said.

"Come on, Sirius, Prongs doesn't need any more attention," said Remus.

James came across another letter. It had his name on the front and nothing else. Opening it, he read:

Mr. Potter,

I'd like to have a word with you and Ms. Evans in my office

as soon as possible. Please meet me immediately after breakfast.

Be sure to bring chocolate truffles.

Professor Dumbledore

"It looks like I'm going to Dumbledore's office," he said. James stood and made his way out of the Great Hall. When he reached the statue outside of the headmaster's staircase, he said the password, "Chocolate truffles." He walked up the stairs and knocked on the office door. When there was no answer, he slowly opened the door. "Professor?" he said into the room, stepping inside.

Dumbledore was not there. Lily was, however, sitting by herself in one of the chairs by the desk. She looked up in surprise when he came in the room. "James?"

Without thinking, he rushed over to her and gave her an awkward hug. "Lily! Are you all right?" She didn't return the hug he gave her. Quickly he let go. "What happened to you?"

Lily blushed. "Madame Pomfrey said I was in some kind of shock. From being so scared, I suppose. I feel rather ridiculous."

"You shouldn't. No one can blame you for being scared."

"You weren't scared. You didn't even blink." Lily looked at him seriously, like she was accusing him of something.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. But they were interrupted by Dumbledore entering the office. The two students quickly stood as he walked over.

"Please, have a seat," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the two chairs that sat in front of his desk. He moved around the desk and sat in his own chair. "That's much better. Now, I've asked you both here so that we may discuss the events of yesterday. But first things first, Lily, my dear," he said, turning to her, "how are you feeling today?"

"Much better, Professor," she said quietly.

Dumbledore looked at her closely for several minutes. Then he turned to James. "Please, I would like to hear of how you both ended up in Honeyduke's yesterday. I would read about it in the Prophet, but I'm sure your version of events is much better."

James told the story of how he had found Lily and they took refuge in the back of the store. He told him how they had taken out the Death Eaters together. "Interesting," said Dumbledore. "Please continue."

James looked at Lily. "Do you want to finish?" Lily shook her head, so he continued with how Voldemort appeared. He tried to tell Dumbledore what was said word for word. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lily with her head down. He finished with when Dumbledore himself entered the shop.

"I must say, James, that that is quite a story. I am impressed with how you both handled yourselves. Wizards much older and wiser than you would have found themselves unable to act in such a situation. I believe that Gryffindor should be awarded fifty points each for such good work." He focused his attention on Lily. "Fear can be just as helpful as it is harmful. Like love, or jealousy, or pride, it can help shape our choices. The trick is to allow fear to be just that: a choice."

Lily shook her head. Tears slowly came down her cheeks. "Professor, I don't deserve those points. If James hadn't been there, I'd probably still be crouched in the back of the store. I couldn't even move. He's the one who chose not to be afraid."

"And yet, even though you were afraid, you still acted. You still did the right thing. And now you've learned what you can overcome."

"I will never be scared like that again. I won't ever let myself feel like that." She looked over at James. "I'm sorry." James shook his head, surprised. He didn't know what to say.

Dumbledore stood. "With that, I send you back to enjoy the rest of your day. And may I make one more observation: the two of you make quite an excellent team. I must remember to call on you again when I have a difficult task to accomplish." He bowed his head slightly. James and Lily quickly stood and left the office. At the bottom of the stairs, they stopped.

They stood in silence for a few moments. Neither knew what to do. Finally, James said, "Lily, I don't know what all that was about, but—"

"Please don't," she said. "I still feel a bit ridiculous about how I reacted yesterday. So all I want to say about it is thank you for helping me yesterday."

James looked at her silently. "Say you're welcome," she told him.

"You're welcome," he said, smiling.

"No rude comment? You really have changed a lot."

James put his arm around Lily's shoulders and began to walk her down the hallway. "Now that we're such great friends, do you want to go out on a date?"

Lily laughed. "Don't press your luck." But she let him keep his arm around her. It was a start.