Disclaimer: Don't own. Deal with it.

This is the first chapter I wrote after I posted Chapter 1. Woot!

As always, read Jelly Is Good! and other offshoots, they're good.

The next day, Peter watched as Sirius ran around the dorm, worrying. It wasn't so much that he was worried about having a good impression on Lily because he liked her, but because he was scared of what Caroline would do if he didn't.

'Remus! Peter!'

'Yes?' said Remus, and Peter just looked at him.

'Should I wear this,' he said, holding up a blue sweater, 'or this?' He held up a black sweater.

'The black one,' said Remus, at the same time as Peter said, 'The blue one.'

'Ah! Not helpful!' fretted Sirius, 'The red one!'

'No, definitely don't wear the red one;' said Remus, 'it looks like you've poured a can of tomatoes mixed with leaves on yourself.'

Sirius sighed, and pulled out a grey sweater, 'Is this one OK?'

'Yes, it's good,' said Peter.

'Prongs?'

James was sitting on his bed, doing homework, which was a sure sign something was wrong. He had been ignoring the three of them to this point, but now he looked up.

'What?'

'What do you think of the grey sweater?'

James sighed, and said, 'It's fine, Sirius.'

'Yes, but… look, James, I'm sorry.'

James gave him a look, but then put on a grudging smile, 'Forgiven. It's all Hawling's fault anyway.'

Sirius beamed at him, and asked, 'You seem to know Evans, James, could you tell me what she likes?'

'What?' mumbled Peter to Remus, 'James doesn't know Evans well!'

'Well, Padfoot,' said James, sitting up, 'You see, our dear friend Evans enjoys midnight trips to the kitchens. She loves sneaking out to Hogsmeade after dark, and she adores plotting and pulling pranks on the Slytherins.'

Remus opened his mouth to comment, but while Sirius looked down, contemplating James' information, James did a slashing motion over his throat. Both Remus and Peter decided not to say anything.

'Interesting, interesting,' said Sirius, 'I never would have thought that of Evans.'

'Yes, well, she's a closet rule-breaker,' said James, 'When does your date start?'

'Six. I was thinking of taking Evans out to the grounds for a bit, and then I'll use your suggestions.'

'She'll have the time of her life. And Padfoot, you are going out with her, so call her Lily.'

'Of course,' said Sirius, pulling some black trousers out of his trunk. He turned to Peter's bed, and held them up. 'Good, bad, OK?'

Remus put his thumbs up, and Peter said, 'It's fine, Sirius.'

Sirius quickly changed, and displayed the finished product for all to see. Peter and Remus nodded approvingly, and James grinned.

'Perfect then!' said Sirius, delighted, 'See you later, Prongsie, Moony… er, Wormtaily?'

'I'd prefer Wormtail.'

'But it doesn't rhyme!'

'You can call me Wormtaily if I can call you Padfooty.'

Sirius scowled, 'OK. Wormtail it is then.' He grinned widely, then waved, grabbed the Invisibility Cloak off the pile of clothes near James' bed, and marched down the stairs singing an unrecognisable tune. Peter, Remus and James looked at each other, and followed.

'Why were you saying that stuff to Sirius?' asked Peter as they went out, 'About Evans liking pranks and stuff?'

'I have loved Evans forever. Padfoot wouldn't suit her. I was acting in her best interests!' replied James, 'And if it had really bothered you two, you would have stopped me, despite my warnings.'

'I suppose,' said Peter, and they peered around a corner in the staircase to see what was happening. Lily and Sirius were standing by the portrait exit, Sirius gallantly offering Lily his arm, and Lily smiling and taking it. Peter and Remus could hear James gagging.

'James! It's one of your best friends! You should be happy for him!' said Remus, slightly irritably.

'Yes, well, I'm not,' said James, and, seeing the portrait shut behind Sirius and Lily, the three burst into the common room. To their surprise, a minute later, three girls burst in as well, from the girls' staircase.

'Potter! Lupin! Pettigrew!'

'Gibson! Hawling! Davies!'

Having recited each others' last names, they looked at each other awkwardly.

'You made up with Black, Potter?' asked Sarah.

'Um… yeah…' said James. Remus was going to say something, but James bopped him, 'Evans pleased about the date?'

'I should expect so. She did accept after all,' said Caroline. Seeing the heartbroken look on his face, she added, 'She only accepted because we pushed her to, so… maybe not.'

'Why are you so intent on setting them up, Hawling?' asked Peter.

'No reason,' said Caroline nonchalantly, shrugging, 'Anyway, we're waiting down here for their date to end, you're welcome to join us if you wish.'

'Thank you for your invitation,' said Remus, taking a seat around the fire, 'We accept.'

'Excellent,' said Caroline in a posh accent, 'Care for some tea?'

It was nearing midnight, and the six Gryffindors were still around the fire, waiting. The boys had snuck down to the kitchens, using the Marauder's Map and avoiding people, and brought up a feast, much to the delight of the hungry girls. As they sat there, munching on various desserts, their conversation, which had at first been silly, was now moving onto more profound subjects.

'So what are your plans for when you're older?'

Sarah looked thoughtful. 'I don't really know. I'm hoping to be an Auror, but that will take a lot of work… Get married, maybe – hopefully – have a couple of kids. You know, the usual.'

'Basically the same,' said Remus, 'But I'd love to work in the Department of Mysteries.'

'Auror for me,' said James, 'I'd love to have loads of kids with Ev – I mean, my future wife as well.'

Peter, having spotted the 'Ev', looked around to see who else had spotted it. Suzie caught his eye and they gave each other knowing looks, before snorting and casting non-verbal Silencing charms on each other to control their laughter.

'Yep, it'll be Auror, then the brood,' said Caroline, 'Suzie?'

She, along with everyone else, turned to Suzie. Being unable to talk, Suzie gave Peter a desperate glance, and he looked sheepish and took off his Silencing spell.

'Suzie… Are you too tired to stay up past seven thirty? It's past your bedtime, honey,' said Caroline.

Suzie rolled her eyes, and said, 'No, I'm fine, Caroline. Anyway, I don't want to be an Auror. I'm going to be a Healer, I think.'

'Maybe you could Heal Caroline's verbal diarrhoea with a Sealing Solution, so that she will be unable to talk, and we can entertain ourselves,' suggested Sarah, 'Anyway… you, Pettigrew?'

'Yeah, Peter, we don't know either,' chipped in Remus.

Peter didn't know what came over him, but he decided to announce his secret ambition, which he had had ever since he had come to Hogwarts, to the group. He had always been scared they would laugh at him.

'I… I want to be the History of Magic professor.'

Varying degrees of laughter passed through the group, most prominent in Caroline and James. Peter's heart sunk; he had known that would happen. He sighed sadly, and looked at the others. Remus and Sarah were chuckling slightly, both wondering if Professor Binns, who had not let death stop him, after all, would ever retire, while Suzie wasn't laughing at all. In fact, she looked angry.

'Why on earth are you laughing!' she shrieked, 'He has every right to be a History of Magic professor if he wants to! Just because you – Caroline, Potter – find the subject boring or you can't stand the idea of teaching a bunch of, in your opinion, 'brats' – again, you, Caroline, and you, Potter – doesn't mean you should laugh at him for wanting to! You can't see past the end of your nose, can you, the lot of you?'

Caroline and James stopped laughing instantly, as, like Caroline and Lily the previous morning, they were stunned into silence by Suzie's outburst. Sarah blinked at her, bewildered, and Remus just looked at the ground. Suzie, after saying this, looked down too, biting her lip, and Peter just stared at her, willing her to look at him, but she didn't. They stayed like that for a moment, until Remus pulled out the Marauder's Map and gasped.

'Sirius and Evans are returning!'

The girls squinted at the back of the parchment, trying to discover what it was, but Remus had murmured something and, when he put it down, they saw it was just blank parchment.

'How do you know?' asked Sarah, but the boys all ignored her question. The six got up and moved closer to the portrait hole, to greet the new arrivals. As they went there, chatting and wondering how the date had gone, Peter caught up with Suzie.

'Gibson?'

'Mmm?'

'What happened there?'

'I don't think there's anything wrong with your ambition to be a History of Magic professor,' said Suzie, shrugging, 'I've read the textbook and it's actually quite interesting when Professor Binns isn't teaching it. You'd probably be a greatprofessor.'

'I'd never told anyone before because that is exactly what I feared would happen,' he said.

'Well, they're idiots then,' said Suzie, 'There was no reason to laugh at you, so I defended you. And besides,' she smiled slightly, 'you noticed my braids.'

She wandered off to speak to Sarah. Peter stood there, feeling awed and slightly embarrassed. He had never known Suzie to get angry like that before. She must really have felt strongly about it.

As he considered this, suddenly the portrait opened. The six looked on in horror as Lily came through, her clothes charred and dirty, and anger written all over her face.

'School clocks' is your topic. If you're stuck on what to say about them, then ponder this question: Why do they always break?

Hepsa