Chapter 3- Halloween

It was almost October and the castle was noticeably quieter. The marauders were finally beginning to study and actually work at their magic. However the primary reason that nothing had happened was because James had been out of sorts now for weeks.

No one knew why, he received weekly owls from home as usual, yet they just seemed to upset him, and even Sirius had trouble getting anything out of him. James had taken to being alone more now, convinced that in some way it would make whatever he was going through easier.

"JAMES POTTER GET OUT OF THAT DAMN BED! WE HAVE TO BE IN SLUGHORNS CLASS IN 20 MINUTES!" James rolled over,

"Shut up Sirius, wake me up in 15" he groaned burying his head in the pillow, Sirius intern looked at Lupin who nodded and with that James was hanging upside down almost comically

"James we have been letting you get away with this for far to long now, its October, Halloween is coming up, and the full moon isnt to far away, now get your head in the game we have a lot to accomplish, and besides Evans is never gonna look twice at you if you smell like a bloody troll" with that James dropped to the ground, looked at Sirius laughed and started getting himself ready

"Good Morning Class" Slughorn greeted,

"Good Morning Professor Slughorn" the class groaned,

"As we have already reviewed from your previous years here, we will now begin harder potions, two in fact, you will work with a partner on" the class exchanged looks,

"Partners" he added "that i will select" the class collectively groaned again "We will begin making two incredibly hard potions, Polyjuice Potion, and Veraseterum" the students all perked up a bit, these weren't just any old potion, these were potions that had the potential to be quite entertaining.

"Now for your Partners, Mr Rosier and Mr Snape, Miss George and Mr Maldive, Miss Evans and Mr Black, Mr Lupin and Mr Potter, Miss Stewart and Mr Pettigrew" he continued on failing to pair and inter-house couples which was good considering the two houses in question were Slytherin and Gryffindor.

The class moved desks to sit with their partners and Remus and James found a place directly behind Sirius and Lily.

"Alright Black, lets get a few things straight, i refuse to do poorly on this just because you are too pigheaded to pay attention, you will do your part of the work or i can guarantee that some of that Veraseterum ends up in your pumpkin juice" Lily said venomously

"Aw Lily, you act as though i have something to hide, but don't worry dear your grade will not suffer because of my incompetence" Sirius said smiling

"You are insufferable, I'd almost rather work with Potter-" Sirius smiled and glanced at James who looked up

"That can be arranged he would only be too happy -"

"I said ALMOST" the class went on and Lily gave Sirius little chores while she began to brew, and tried to not notice the fact that James kept looking at her and tossling his hair, over and over and over.

"Prongs will you pay attention please, I'm not that good with potions, not to say you are entirely brilliant with them, but at least pretend to help" James nodded

"Alright Moony lets get this over with"

They left potions nearly completely drained, and headed off to lunch in the Great Hall, Peter looked especially baffled,

"I hate potions, i always leave with cuts on my fingers and a burning sensation in my no-" sirius interjected

"Eghm, Peter we do not want to hear about any sort of burning sensation your having"

The boys laughed, and their morale was up once more, they sat at their table in the Great Hall, waiting for the mail to arrive, Remus received a letter from his parents and a copy of the Daily Prophet, while James received 2 letters, one from home and one from Lily?

He read the first and its contents must have not been too appealing because he closed his eyes inhaled deeply and then opened the next letter.

"James,

We need to have a meeting to discuss how we are to handle the Halloween celebrations amongst the common rooms and orchestrate a menu for the house elves to bring each dormitory. Please meet me tonight in the Common room at 8 'o' clock.

Don't be late.

Lily "

James smiled at Lily's sterness, hard as she tried she was not as tough as nails. In fact this was the first time that she had ever referred to him as James.

James arrived in the common room with the Marauders at 7:30. Fifteen minutes later, after much argument over which one would have the easiest time whooping Snapes arse, it was finally decided Sirius could do it best, they then decided to leave James for the next fifteen minutes and allow him to prepare.

He was nervous. There was no denying it, he felt slightly agitated, he ruffled his hair in an attempt to calm himself. Quiet chaos, that was the best, he had brought Quidditch Through the Ages for some light reading, but he couldn't focus.

Lily walked through the portrait hole and James' heart skipped a little beat, it sped up and he did all that he could to not let his nerves show on his face.

"Early? That's a nice adjustment" she smiled,

"Anything for you Lils" he wasnt sure if it was just the light but it was almost as though she had blushed, and he had to admit it calmed him to make him know that he was able to make her feel nervous.

The rest of the evening was surprisingly pleasant, the plans seemed to coordinate well and it was sure to be a pleasant Halloween despite all the crazy stuff going on in the outside world.

Over the next few weeks potions was grueling, transfiguration was tedious and Professor Kelpy (DADA) had been piling up the homework. Halloween was a week a way and the celebrations were being looked forward to immensely.

After his meeting with Lily James had loosened up slightly and a few pranks had been played to merely loosen the tension between the students. The boys had prepared to head out to three broomsticks during the afternoon free period to stock up on butterbeer, Remus would stay behind and tell anyone who asked the boys were out studying… separately.

James, Sirius and peter got underneath the invisibility cloak while walking out of the school through the cellar in Honeydukes. When they arrived at the Three Broomsticks it was obvious Madame Rosmerta was not entirely surprised to see her favorite Hogwarts customers. This was certainly not the first time in seven years the boys had come to her pub on a non-Hogwarts visit.

"You boys," she smiled, "What can I do for you today?"

"Five cases of butterbeer" Sirius said deliberately

"Ten galleons," she said wondering which one would be handing over the money,

James pulled out the gold and slit it over the counter.

"You are awfully quiet today Mr Potter" Madame Rosmerta inquired

"Hes just mad because even thought he has been on his very best behavior the fair, Lily Evans has yet to show any sign of legitimate interest" James shrugged,

"Oh, Miss Evans, the read head who threw the-"she stopped herself, reminding him of the time she had thrown butterbeer in his face after a particularly bad conversation was probably not the best idea.

She handed over the cases and the boys headed back to the castle. When they arrived they threw the cloak over the cases, and levitated the cases until they arrived into back into their dormitory. There the cases were stuffed underneath the beds of the boys until Halloween.

October 31, had arrived and the feast was delicious, even James seemed to be acting more like himself. A little bit of a berk yet in a charming way.

Yet all changed after yet another owl had been sent to James and while he tried to pretend it had been nothing, there was no denying that he was noticeably upset by it.

The Gryffindor's headed back to the common room to be treated by the marauders and over one hundred bottles of Three Broomstick's finest butter beer.

While Lily looked at James slightly disapprovingly, she picked up a bottle and raised it to James.

The boys had a great time that night, laughing, and "hitting" on girls.

Everyone had always assumed the boy's were "lady's men", and if they had chosen to be that, then no doubt they would have been.

However Peter was small and meek couldn't find a date even if he tried, Remus refused to date because of his "furry little problem", Sirius surprisingly enough brushed off most girls, not because he was interested in them he was however jaded.

His family or lack there of had impressed upon him the importance of friends, he felt his loyalty while in school should be to his friends, for they were in fact the only family he had ever really had. He had dated here and there, but it was never entirely serious.

James had always been infatuated with Lily, and in fact they used to be friends back in first year. Then James developed a crush, and spent the next six years making a fool of himself whenever she was around.

The rest of the evening in the Gryffindor Tower was filled with laughter and slightly drunken students.

"Wells Gents," Sirius slurred, he was leaning against Remus and Peter who were attempting to deliver Sirius safely back into the dormitory.

James stayed behind. He sat on the couch in front of the fire; he had been doing this a lot lately the whole concept of being alone had appealed to him. For none of his friends, not even Sirius could understand what he had been going through the last few months.

Suddenly the door to the girl's dormitory opened and Lily Evans walked out muttering to herself about a potions book she had misplaced. He watched her quietly. She had yet to notice him as he sat there still watching.

She looked over at him.

"Oh, it's you" she stated simply.

He didn't speak he just gave her a half hearted smile and again looked at he fire.

"Oh come on Potter, being mean to you loses its luster if you don't retaliate at all"

James simply shrugged.

"Come on James what's with you these days?" she asked him now stopping to sit next to him.

"Nothing" he replied gloomily

"Nothing," she mimicked, "Something must be going on because you haven't asked me out at all this year and to be honest I had been growing rather fond of that particular pastime of yours"

"It's nothing" he said "Nothing I can do anything about"

"What's not?" she persisted

"Its my dad," he began, "he's sick, he's dying"

she looked at him, they sat in silence for a few minutes and then he continued.

"My parents are both really old, I was sort of a happy surprise for them, over the summer my dad took to bed rest, and now the healers at St. Mungos said its only a matter of time before-" he couldn't continue, the words just couldn't come to him.

Regardless of the fact that everything thought he was an arrogant prat most of the time, and he had not been the type of person his father was in school. He never stopped respecting his father; his father had fought along side Dumbledore to fight Grinwald. His father was an amazing man. The thought of losing him before James life began seemed cruel.

"James I…" Lily was at a mere loss for words

"Its okay, its been hard to talk about with the guys, I haven't told them anything about it"

"Not even Sirius?"

"No not even Sirius, he has enough of his own family issued besides he never has been very good with the whole serious feelings business"

"Right, well… thanks for telling me, I guess that makes me pretty special huh?" she said now smiling at him.

"You always have been," she blushed "but I think I'd better head back up to the dormitory, thanks Lily"

"Your welcome" she finished then without a second thought, reached over to give him a hug.

It was the first time she had ever done that to any guy, she had never reached out to someone. It was strange, her head fit so comfortably on his chest, and as his arms closed around her and embraced her, it was as though nothing could possibly harm her.

The warmth of that hug is what made her wonder what James Potter was really like.