Chapter 24 - Everyday Life
Sunday
The Marauders were hanging around near the lake talking when Sirius brought up an interesting topic that hadn't been discussed for quite sometime. "So guys when's our next Hogsmeade trip?"
"I don't think we should have our trip on a week night," said James.
"Same here," Remus agreed. "The teachers are already suspicious of you mate. They have been since the end of November."
"Since weeknights are out, how about Saturday night?" Peter piped up.
"Brilliant mate!" Sirius grinned at them and was about to continue when James stopped him and motioned towards Lily and Carly who were walking towards them.
Lily and Carly sat down with the Marauders and smiled. "So what have you guys been talking about?" Carly asked them.
"Oh just how gorgeous you look today," James cooed at her.
"Aww that's so sweet," Carly replied while Lily was gagging.
Lily scooped up some of the snow. As James and Carly were about to kiss Lily said to them, "You guys are so sickeningly sweet. It's making me nauseous." Lily then threw the snow at them. She jumped up and began to run anticipating James and Carly's retaliatory actions. It erupted into a snowball war and the six friends ended up soaked to the bone.
Monday
James, Remus and Lily were bored out of their minds. They were listening to Litana drone on about something called electricity. "Okay class. I've decided who will have what parts in A Streetcar Named Desire," Litana announced unexpectedly. Lily, James and Remus all sat up straighter and were suddenly very attentive.
"As I call out the parts make sure you write them down. Stanley will be played by James Potter and his wife Stellar will be Lily Evans." At this remark there were some catcalls and wolf whistles. Lily and James both glared at the people doing it while Remus looked slightly amused with the whole situation.
When everyone had calmed down again Litana continued. "Blanche will be Alisa Redcliff, Mitch is Remus Lupin, Eunice will be performed by Belle Parle, Marc Stewart will be playing Steve, Michael Andersen is Pablo, Edgar Soto is the Doctor, Julie Matthews will be the Matron, Cathie Mills will play the Spanish flower seller and William Bard will be the paper boy. Anyone who doesn't have a part will be helping out behind the scenes with costumes, props and backdrops. We will only be working on the play one lesson a week so make sure you learn your lines and do the work asked."
As Litana moved onto another subject Lily whispered to James and Remus, "Wow guys we got three of the biggest parts in the play. But eww I have to James' wife?"
"Hey I'm very marriable," James protested.
"Sorry but I just can't picture you as married Prongsy boy. And I don't wanna have to kiss you. You're dating my best friend."
The bell went and everyone stood to leave. "Well see you guys," said Lily, "I gotta go have fun in Arithmancy. A nice fun sleep."
Remus and James laughed at her and then began walking to Care of Magical Creatures.
Tuesday
"Please Lily. Come on please let me do this," James pleaded.
"No. How many times do I have to say this James? It's a team training session. You practice by yourself another time."
"Lily don't be so mean. Please just let me train with the Gryffindor team."
Sirius then joined in. "Yeah Lily. We haven't had a decent game of Quidditch in ages. If you let us train with the team we'll be able to keep our reflexes sharp."
"Oh so it's all about you?" asked Lily. "The universe revolves around you does it?"
"Yep." Sirius smiled his 'charming' smile.
"My answer is still no."
"But Lily-"
Lily sighed. "You know what? Fine. If it gets you to shut up then fine you can. But just you two and only this one time."
"Great!" exclaimed James. "We'll be there on Thursday."
James spotted Carly coming down the stairs into the common room. "Hey babe!" Carly looked up and smiled sweetly at him. "Come with me." James took her hand and grabbed his broomstick from the floor.
James and Carly walked outside into the cold, wintry night air. James wrapped his arms around Carly's waist and from behind he whispered in her ear. "Care for a moonlight ride my sweet?" he said huskily.
Carly shivered with delight. She left the warmth of James' embrace and climbed onto the broom. James slipped on behind her and took control of the broom. Carly leant back against James' chest as they flew above Hogwarts. Carly felt so comfortable and content in James' arms that she secretly wished that it could always be like this.
"It's so beautiful up here James," Carly whispered so she wouldn't break the spell that had fallen over the world.
"I know," he replied. "I sometimes like to come up here to think."
Carly looked at James' face in the moonlight. She smiled softly. "Thank you for showing me."
Wednesday
Lily and Carly were mixing their Veritaserum in Potions when Lily felt someone watching her. She looked around and saw Lucius Malfoy staring at her. Lily scowled at him then turned back to her potion. She turned slightly to Carly and whispered from the corner of her mouth, "Is Malfoy still watching me?"
Carly glanced subtly over her shoulder and then nodded in the affirmative. "What's going on Li?"
"I don't know. All lesson it's felt like someone was watching me and when I looked around I found out it was Malfoy. What the hell is he doing?"
Carly glanced at Malfoy again. "Well he's still staring at you. He's not even blinking."
Lily shuddered. "That's just way too freaky."
"You should have finished your potion by now," Professor Wilson the Potions teacher called out. "Bottle it up and place it on my desk to be marked. Then wait for the bell to go."
"Hey James," Remus said to James as they bottled their potion, "did you notice anything about Malfoy during lesson?"
"No why?"
"He was staring at Lily the whole time."
James almost dropped his vial. "What!"
"I know. Weird. And Lily looks a bit freaked out by it."
"I wonder what's up with Malfoy. He must be planning something. Why else would he stare at Li?"
The bell went and Lily and Carly gathered up their stuff and left to go to Ancient Runes. As they passed Malfoy they both gave him the finger and glared at him. All Malfoy did in reply was smirk at them.
While Professor Miller was explaining about the original Celtic runes, Carly looked over at Malfoy. 'Shit,' she thought when she saw him staring at Lily intently. 'What the hell is he trying to do?'
'Lily, Malfoy is still watching you' Carly wrote on a scrap of parchment then slid it across the desk to Lily. Lily's expression darkened and she glanced up to find Malfoy watching her again. Malfoy raised his eyebrows at her but didn't look away. Lily found a spare piece of parchment and wrote 'FUCK OFF' on it then held it up for Malfoy to see. Malfoy simply sneered at her.
When the bell went to signal the beginning of lunch Lily escaped the classroom as quickly as possible. She practically ran to the Great Hall to find the Marauders deep in discussion. Lily heard a few words and realized they were planning a trip to Hogsmeade for Saturday night. She stormed over to them and flopped down into a seat next to James. The boys looked at her startled.
"You know guys," Lily said, "I've been having a really crappy day. First Malfoy stares at me all through Potions and Ancient Runes and now I find out that you four are planning a trip to Hogsmeade without informing me and Carly. You know it's not a smart idea to get on the wrong side of your only friends. Cause you know Carly won't be happy when she hears about this. She'll be especially pissed at you James."
"Oh ah I guess we just thought that you and Carly wouldn't want to come," Peter improvised.
"I don't really care what you thought. You four are gonna take me and Carly out to Hogsmeade with you because Sirius and James owe me for letting them train with the Gryffindor team tomorrow."
"What's this I hear about going out?" Carly asked as she sat down.
"The guys are taking us to Hogsmeade on Saturday night," Lily replied.
"Groovy. I can't wait. I know exactly what I should wear."
The Marauders sat there gob-smacked. They weren't quite sure what to say about anything.
Thursday
Lily was giving her team the pre-training psyche-up speech when James and Sirius arrived. Lily heard them approach and turned to tell them to get into line. What she saw left her stunned. James and Sirius had arrived with the rest of the previous Gryffindor team.
Lily walked up to them and said, "What are you doing? I said you two only."
James and Sirius both looked incredibly sheepish. They glanced at each other before James replied, "Uh yeah about that. Well me and Sirius were sort of talking about coming to training and a couple of the guys overheard and word got around. They all asked if they could come and I kind of said yes."
Lily grunted in exasperation. "Fine they can stay. But I'm captain so they do exactly what I say when I say it. If they don't want a girl telling them what to do or don't like it then they can leave. Got it?" Lily looked at all the members of the previous team. They all nodded slightly afraid of the average sized redhead.
Lily walked back to her team and the boys followed her. "Okay everyone start your drills." The girls mounted their brooms and began doing what they did every training session. Lily turned to the boys and said, "Right this is what's going to happen. Chasers and Keeper will go join my Chasers and Keepers. Beaters will join my three Beaters. The Seeker will join Carly and Anna with the golf balls. The girls will explain what you're meant to do. When drills are over the mock game will start. Now go." All the males except James mounted their brooms and went to join their female counterparts.
"Merlin Lily you're a bloody drill sergeant," James commented.
"Yeah. But my team's happy."
"How do you know that?"
"Take a look at them. They're happy and chatting and laughing and yet they're still going through the drills properly the way I want them to and they work hard. Now are you gonna train or are you gonna continue to question my methods?"
"Let's do the drills Sergeant Evans."
That was one of the best training session either team had ever had. The girls had worked harder than ever to continue to prove that they were just as good as the boys and the boys had simply been happy to play a good game of Quidditch again.
"You know we should do this again guys," Lily said at the end. "Not a regular thing but every once in a while to keep all of us sharp. Males and females."
Friday
As James was walking to lunch he happened to see a blonde head up ahead. "Oi Malfoy!" Malfoy turned around and smirked at James.
"Potter. How very unpleasant to see you."
"The feeling is mutual Malfoy believe me. But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to know why you were staring at Lily on Wednesday."
"Can't a guy look at the girl he's dating? I'm sure you stare at your girlfriend often enough."
"Except that you and Lily aren't dating Malfoy. So maybe the truth now? Oh that's right. You don't tell the truth."
"I have a way we can settle this Potter. Wizard's duel. Right here, right now, no seconds."
James hesitated slightly. "Scared Potter?" Malfoy taunted.
"You wish."
They both drew their wands and took five steps backwards. "Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!" Malfoy's spell bounced off James' shield then James yelled, "Tarantellegra!" Malfoy began dancing wildly and dropped his wand. "Petrificus Totalus," James said. Malfoy fell over backwards and James leaned down next to him. "I'm not going to kill you Malfoy. But remember this. Leave Lily alone. Otherwise next time I'll do something a whole lot worse."
Saturday
Lily stepped out of the bathroom into the girl's dorm ready to go to Hogsmeade. Carly glanced at her and groaned. "Oh Lily no you can't wear that."
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lily looked into the mirror to see herself looking normal in her blue flared denim jeans, purple t-shirt with the words 'My other car is a broom' written on it, denim jacket and black high heel boots.
"You're wearing that t-shirt again."
"It's my favourite top and I'm not changing now."
"You can be really stubborn you know that Lily?"
"Let's just go meet the guys."
Lily and Carly snuck outside to the Whomping Willow where the Marauders were already waiting. "What took you guys so long?" asked Peter.
"Carly didn't approve of my choice of attire," Lily replied.
"Why what's wrong with it?" Sirius inquired.
"I'm wearing my favourite top and it says 'My other car is a broom.'"
"That sounds cool," said Remus.
"It is. I made it myself. But for some reason Carly has always hated it. Haven't you Car? Car?"
Lily, Remus, Peter and Sirius looked around and saw Carly and James kissing, oblivious to the rest of the world. "Hey lovebirds," called Sirius. "If we don't go we're gonna get caught."
"Yeah we're coming," said James. Remus found the long stick lying on the ground poked the knot on the tree with it. The group walked through the gap, through the tunnel and into the Shrieking Shack.
Carly looked around and asked, "Where are we?"
"In the Shrieking Shack," replied Peter.
"What? Isn't this place meant to be haunted?"
"Supposedly yes. Come on let's get to the Three Broomsticks."
"Any particular reason why we're going there?" Lily asked.
"Because every Saturday night they hold a disco there," answered Sirius.
Lily face lit up with delight. "Then let's go already!" she ran through the house and outside to the road. When she turned back around the rest of the group was only just emerging from the Shrieking Shack. "Hurry up!" she called with glee as she began to meander down the road towards the Three Broomsticks.
When the group arrived at the Three Broomsticks they found it alive with music and people. The Marauders and Lily sat down at table as Carly went to get butterbeers. Lily was looking at the dance floor with excitement and was tapping her feet in rhythm with the music. "You're desperate to get out there aren't you Lady Lily," Remus said.
"It's no wonder why," James commented as Lily nodded. "Lily's one of the best dancers I've seen."
Lily looked at him in confusion. "When have you seen me dance?"
"Oh um at the uh Yule Ball?"
Lily looked at James skeptically but Carly came back with the butterbeers then and she didn't get the chance to think about it. Lily quickly drank her butterbeer then stood up. "Come on someone come dance with me," she stated. Carly sighed and quickly finished her drink then went with Lily to the dance floor.
The Marauders watched them dancing as they sipped their butterbeers. "You know I really missed those two when I was suspended," Sirius randomly announced.
"Hey what about the rest of us?" Remus joked.
"Yeah I missed you guys too but Lily and Carly have something about them. I don't know it's like a passion for life or something. But I missed all the little things that you take for granted. I missed hearing Lily complaining about homework and then not bothering to do it anyway. Or how Carly would roll her eyes and shake her head the next morning when Lily would come down to breakfast again with her work not done. Or how they both always seem to be smiling no matter what. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah," said James with a half-smile on his face as he looked at the two girls dancing. "Yeah I get it."
Sunday
The Marauders were hanging around near the lake talking when Sirius brought up an interesting topic that hadn't been discussed for quite sometime. "So guys when's our next Hogsmeade trip?"
"I don't think we should have our trip on a week night," said James.
"Same here," Remus agreed. "The teachers are already suspicious of you mate. They have been since the end of November."
"Since weeknights are out, how about Saturday night?" Peter piped up.
"Brilliant mate!" Sirius grinned at them and was about to continue when James stopped him and motioned towards Lily and Carly who were walking towards them.
Lily and Carly sat down with the Marauders and smiled. "So what have you guys been talking about?" Carly asked them.
"Oh just how gorgeous you look today," James cooed at her.
"Aww that's so sweet," Carly replied while Lily was gagging.
Lily scooped up some of the snow. As James and Carly were about to kiss Lily said to them, "You guys are so sickeningly sweet. It's making me nauseous." Lily then threw the snow at them. She jumped up and began to run anticipating James and Carly's retaliatory actions. It erupted into a snowball war and the six friends ended up soaked to the bone.
Monday
James, Remus and Lily were bored out of their minds. They were listening to Litana drone on about something called electricity. "Okay class. I've decided who will have what parts in A Streetcar Named Desire," Litana announced unexpectedly. Lily, James and Remus all sat up straighter and were suddenly very attentive.
"As I call out the parts make sure you write them down. Stanley will be played by James Potter and his wife Stellar will be Lily Evans." At this remark there were some catcalls and wolf whistles. Lily and James both glared at the people doing it while Remus looked slightly amused with the whole situation.
When everyone had calmed down again Litana continued. "Blanche will be Alisa Redcliff, Mitch is Remus Lupin, Eunice will be performed by Belle Parle, Marc Stewart will be playing Steve, Michael Andersen is Pablo, Edgar Soto is the Doctor, Julie Matthews will be the Matron, Cathie Mills will play the Spanish flower seller and William Bard will be the paper boy. Anyone who doesn't have a part will be helping out behind the scenes with costumes, props and backdrops. We will only be working on the play one lesson a week so make sure you learn your lines and do the work asked."
As Litana moved onto another subject Lily whispered to James and Remus, "Wow guys we got three of the biggest parts in the play. But eww I have to James' wife?"
"Hey I'm very marriable," James protested.
"Sorry but I just can't picture you as married Prongsy boy. And I don't wanna have to kiss you. You're dating my best friend."
The bell went and everyone stood to leave. "Well see you guys," said Lily, "I gotta go have fun in Arithmancy. A nice fun sleep."
Remus and James laughed at her and then began walking to Care of Magical Creatures.
Tuesday
"Please Lily. Come on please let me do this," James pleaded.
"No. How many times do I have to say this James? It's a team training session. You practice by yourself another time."
"Lily don't be so mean. Please just let me train with the Gryffindor team."
Sirius then joined in. "Yeah Lily. We haven't had a decent game of Quidditch in ages. If you let us train with the team we'll be able to keep our reflexes sharp."
"Oh so it's all about you?" asked Lily. "The universe revolves around you does it?"
"Yep." Sirius smiled his 'charming' smile.
"My answer is still no."
"But Lily-"
Lily sighed. "You know what? Fine. If it gets you to shut up then fine you can. But just you two and only this one time."
"Great!" exclaimed James. "We'll be there on Thursday."
James spotted Carly coming down the stairs into the common room. "Hey babe!" Carly looked up and smiled sweetly at him. "Come with me." James took her hand and grabbed his broomstick from the floor.
James and Carly walked outside into the cold, wintry night air. James wrapped his arms around Carly's waist and from behind he whispered in her ear. "Care for a moonlight ride my sweet?" he said huskily.
Carly shivered with delight. She left the warmth of James' embrace and climbed onto the broom. James slipped on behind her and took control of the broom. Carly leant back against James' chest as they flew above Hogwarts. Carly felt so comfortable and content in James' arms that she secretly wished that it could always be like this.
"It's so beautiful up here James," Carly whispered so she wouldn't break the spell that had fallen over the world.
"I know," he replied. "I sometimes like to come up here to think."
Carly looked at James' face in the moonlight. She smiled softly. "Thank you for showing me."
Wednesday
Lily and Carly were mixing their Veritaserum in Potions when Lily felt someone watching her. She looked around and saw Lucius Malfoy staring at her. Lily scowled at him then turned back to her potion. She turned slightly to Carly and whispered from the corner of her mouth, "Is Malfoy still watching me?"
Carly glanced subtly over her shoulder and then nodded in the affirmative. "What's going on Li?"
"I don't know. All lesson it's felt like someone was watching me and when I looked around I found out it was Malfoy. What the hell is he doing?"
Carly glanced at Malfoy again. "Well he's still staring at you. He's not even blinking."
Lily shuddered. "That's just way too freaky."
"You should have finished your potion by now," Professor Wilson the Potions teacher called out. "Bottle it up and place it on my desk to be marked. Then wait for the bell to go."
"Hey James," Remus said to James as they bottled their potion, "did you notice anything about Malfoy during lesson?"
"No why?"
"He was staring at Lily the whole time."
James almost dropped his vial. "What!"
"I know. Weird. And Lily looks a bit freaked out by it."
"I wonder what's up with Malfoy. He must be planning something. Why else would he stare at Li?"
The bell went and Lily and Carly gathered up their stuff and left to go to Ancient Runes. As they passed Malfoy they both gave him the finger and glared at him. All Malfoy did in reply was smirk at them.
While Professor Miller was explaining about the original Celtic runes, Carly looked over at Malfoy. 'Shit,' she thought when she saw him staring at Lily intently. 'What the hell is he trying to do?'
'Lily, Malfoy is still watching you' Carly wrote on a scrap of parchment then slid it across the desk to Lily. Lily's expression darkened and she glanced up to find Malfoy watching her again. Malfoy raised his eyebrows at her but didn't look away. Lily found a spare piece of parchment and wrote 'FUCK OFF' on it then held it up for Malfoy to see. Malfoy simply sneered at her.
When the bell went to signal the beginning of lunch Lily escaped the classroom as quickly as possible. She practically ran to the Great Hall to find the Marauders deep in discussion. Lily heard a few words and realized they were planning a trip to Hogsmeade for Saturday night. She stormed over to them and flopped down into a seat next to James. The boys looked at her startled.
"You know guys," Lily said, "I've been having a really crappy day. First Malfoy stares at me all through Potions and Ancient Runes and now I find out that you four are planning a trip to Hogsmeade without informing me and Carly. You know it's not a smart idea to get on the wrong side of your only friends. Cause you know Carly won't be happy when she hears about this. She'll be especially pissed at you James."
"Oh ah I guess we just thought that you and Carly wouldn't want to come," Peter improvised.
"I don't really care what you thought. You four are gonna take me and Carly out to Hogsmeade with you because Sirius and James owe me for letting them train with the Gryffindor team tomorrow."
"What's this I hear about going out?" Carly asked as she sat down.
"The guys are taking us to Hogsmeade on Saturday night," Lily replied.
"Groovy. I can't wait. I know exactly what I should wear."
The Marauders sat there gob-smacked. They weren't quite sure what to say about anything.
Thursday
Lily was giving her team the pre-training psyche-up speech when James and Sirius arrived. Lily heard them approach and turned to tell them to get into line. What she saw left her stunned. James and Sirius had arrived with the rest of the previous Gryffindor team.
Lily walked up to them and said, "What are you doing? I said you two only."
James and Sirius both looked incredibly sheepish. They glanced at each other before James replied, "Uh yeah about that. Well me and Sirius were sort of talking about coming to training and a couple of the guys overheard and word got around. They all asked if they could come and I kind of said yes."
Lily grunted in exasperation. "Fine they can stay. But I'm captain so they do exactly what I say when I say it. If they don't want a girl telling them what to do or don't like it then they can leave. Got it?" Lily looked at all the members of the previous team. They all nodded slightly afraid of the average sized redhead.
Lily walked back to her team and the boys followed her. "Okay everyone start your drills." The girls mounted their brooms and began doing what they did every training session. Lily turned to the boys and said, "Right this is what's going to happen. Chasers and Keeper will go join my Chasers and Keepers. Beaters will join my three Beaters. The Seeker will join Carly and Anna with the golf balls. The girls will explain what you're meant to do. When drills are over the mock game will start. Now go." All the males except James mounted their brooms and went to join their female counterparts.
"Merlin Lily you're a bloody drill sergeant," James commented.
"Yeah. But my team's happy."
"How do you know that?"
"Take a look at them. They're happy and chatting and laughing and yet they're still going through the drills properly the way I want them to and they work hard. Now are you gonna train or are you gonna continue to question my methods?"
"Let's do the drills Sergeant Evans."
That was one of the best training session either team had ever had. The girls had worked harder than ever to continue to prove that they were just as good as the boys and the boys had simply been happy to play a good game of Quidditch again.
"You know we should do this again guys," Lily said at the end. "Not a regular thing but every once in a while to keep all of us sharp. Males and females."
Friday
As James was walking to lunch he happened to see a blonde head up ahead. "Oi Malfoy!" Malfoy turned around and smirked at James.
"Potter. How very unpleasant to see you."
"The feeling is mutual Malfoy believe me. But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to know why you were staring at Lily on Wednesday."
"Can't a guy look at the girl he's dating? I'm sure you stare at your girlfriend often enough."
"Except that you and Lily aren't dating Malfoy. So maybe the truth now? Oh that's right. You don't tell the truth."
"I have a way we can settle this Potter. Wizard's duel. Right here, right now, no seconds."
James hesitated slightly. "Scared Potter?" Malfoy taunted.
"You wish."
They both drew their wands and took five steps backwards. "Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!" Malfoy's spell bounced off James' shield then James yelled, "Tarantellegra!" Malfoy began dancing wildly and dropped his wand. "Petrificus Totalus," James said. Malfoy fell over backwards and James leaned down next to him. "I'm not going to kill you Malfoy. But remember this. Leave Lily alone. Otherwise next time I'll do something a whole lot worse."
Saturday
Lily stepped out of the bathroom into the girl's dorm ready to go to Hogsmeade. Carly glanced at her and groaned. "Oh Lily no you can't wear that."
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lily looked into the mirror to see herself looking normal in her blue flared denim jeans, purple t-shirt with the words 'My other car is a broom' written on it, denim jacket and black high heel boots.
"You're wearing that t-shirt again."
"It's my favourite top and I'm not changing now."
"You can be really stubborn you know that Lily?"
"Let's just go meet the guys."
Lily and Carly snuck outside to the Whomping Willow where the Marauders were already waiting. "What took you guys so long?" asked Peter.
"Carly didn't approve of my choice of attire," Lily replied.
"Why what's wrong with it?" Sirius inquired.
"I'm wearing my favourite top and it says 'My other car is a broom.'"
"That sounds cool," said Remus.
"It is. I made it myself. But for some reason Carly has always hated it. Haven't you Car? Car?"
Lily, Remus, Peter and Sirius looked around and saw Carly and James kissing, oblivious to the rest of the world. "Hey lovebirds," called Sirius. "If we don't go we're gonna get caught."
"Yeah we're coming," said James. Remus found the long stick lying on the ground poked the knot on the tree with it. The group walked through the gap, through the tunnel and into the Shrieking Shack.
Carly looked around and asked, "Where are we?"
"In the Shrieking Shack," replied Peter.
"What? Isn't this place meant to be haunted?"
"Supposedly yes. Come on let's get to the Three Broomsticks."
"Any particular reason why we're going there?" Lily asked.
"Because every Saturday night they hold a disco there," answered Sirius.
Lily face lit up with delight. "Then let's go already!" she ran through the house and outside to the road. When she turned back around the rest of the group was only just emerging from the Shrieking Shack. "Hurry up!" she called with glee as she began to meander down the road towards the Three Broomsticks.
When the group arrived at the Three Broomsticks they found it alive with music and people. The Marauders and Lily sat down at table as Carly went to get butterbeers. Lily was looking at the dance floor with excitement and was tapping her feet in rhythm with the music. "You're desperate to get out there aren't you Lady Lily," Remus said.
"It's no wonder why," James commented as Lily nodded. "Lily's one of the best dancers I've seen."
Lily looked at him in confusion. "When have you seen me dance?"
"Oh um at the uh Yule Ball?"
Lily looked at James skeptically but Carly came back with the butterbeers then and she didn't get the chance to think about it. Lily quickly drank her butterbeer then stood up. "Come on someone come dance with me," she stated. Carly sighed and quickly finished her drink then went with Lily to the dance floor.
The Marauders watched them dancing as they sipped their butterbeers. "You know I really missed those two when I was suspended," Sirius randomly announced.
"Hey what about the rest of us?" Remus joked.
"Yeah I missed you guys too but Lily and Carly have something about them. I don't know it's like a passion for life or something. But I missed all the little things that you take for granted. I missed hearing Lily complaining about homework and then not bothering to do it anyway. Or how Carly would roll her eyes and shake her head the next morning when Lily would come down to breakfast again with her work not done. Or how they both always seem to be smiling no matter what. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah," said James with a half-smile on his face as he looked at the two girls dancing. "Yeah I get it."