A/N: Sorry the update took me so long. I had a lot of stuff to catch up on and then I went to visit family. I hope I make up for it by virtue of the fact that this chapter is 20 microsoft word pages long…Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Finally
James swung open the huge doors of the Great Hall rather loudly, and all eyes turned in silence to look at him. There was not one voice talking in the entire hall. Even the teachers were completely silent. James led the other two into the Great Hall, trying to ignore every pair of eyes in Hogwarts which were set upon him and the others.
The walk across the hall seemed to take an eternity with everyone in the school watching them. Mercifully, they eventually reached their friends and slid into space created for them on the benches. "What happened?" James asked looking at Olivia who was seated across the table from him.
"You know Crabbe, the one who always used to be hanging around with Snape and Sirius' brother?" Sirius, James and Lily nodded, and she continued. "He was expelled this morning for using an Unforgivable on Kingsley Shacklebolt, that Gryffindor first year."
James and Lily exchanged a horrified glance. They had spoken to Kingsley on the train. He had been a soft-spoken young boy. Surely he hadn't done anything to provoke Crabbe. James shook his head to clear it of such ridiculous thoughts. Of course Kingsley hadn't provoked Crabbe. Since when did Slytherins need provocation to curse young students? But an Unforgivable? That was below the belt, even for Slytherins.
Lily voiced the question James had been about to ask. "Which one?"
Olivia grimaced. "Two, actually." As James' eyes widened in shock, he wished he had been there to punish Crabbe. Since both the head students had been gone, James knew that they were lucky that someone had caught it all. James caught Olivia's eye and urged her to continue. She did. "He cast the imperious curse first, James. According to the rumor mill, Kingsley was walking along with a friend, Martha Hermes, who's another Gryffindor first year. Well, Crabbe jumped out from behind that creepy statue of Marvin the Marvelous on the second floor and cursed Kingsley. We're all lucky that he chose Kingsley. So anyway, Crabbe cursed Kingsley and then tried to make him turn around and perform the Reductor curse on Martha."
Lily gasped in horror and then slapped her hand over her mouth and silently motioned for Olivia to continue. Olivia smiled slightly and then did so. "Well, Kingsley apparently raised his wand to do it, but then he came to his senses. He threw off the curse, but the after-effects weakened him too much to perform enough magic to disarm Crabbe. Crabbe got over the shock of Kingsley resisting the curse and used the Cruciatus on him."
This time it was Sirius who gasped before turning around and examining the Slytherin table. When he turned back around, Olivia was glaring at him. "Are you quite through?" she asked. "May I continue with my story?"
"My deepest apologies, Miss Chase," Sirius responded with a cocky grin, although it looked somewhat forced. Only James noticed, and he made a mental note to talk to Sirius later.
Olivia smiled. "I guess Martha screamed, and some prefects were patrolling in the area, so they came and stopped the nonsense."
James grimaced as he surveyed the Gryffindor table for either Kingsley or Martha. "Are they okay?"
Maggie jumped in. "Well, physically Martha's fine, but I heard that she's an emotional wreck. Wouldn't you be if Morgan tried to kill you, even if it was under a curse?"
"Absolutely," James said. He turned to Lily. "Martha said she was muggle-born, didn't she? She's probably so confused right now. You and I should talk to her. What about Kingsley?" he asked, directing his question to the entire group.
"Well, he's apparently an emotional and physical wreck. The cruciatus is kind to no one, but especially not 11 year old children," Morgan put in.
"This is sick," James said, rubbing his hands over his face before looking up at Sirius. A disgusted expression momentarily crossed Sirius' face and for some reason it reminded James of something. He shot out of his chair and looked around as though searching for answers. Finally he said one word, "Kelsey."
Sirius shot up too, as though remembering something. Then suddenly they both turned and dashed out of the Great Hall, leaving their bemused friends to stare at their backs along with the rest of Hogwarts. "What?" Maggie finally asked, looking at Remus and Peter for information.
"James' sister's name is Kelsey. That's probably who he was talking about," Remus said.
"Sister?" Lily asked. "He has a sister?"
"Wasn't she at the funeral?"
"No," Lily said, piecing it all together. In the sadness and confusion of it all, James and Sirius had even noticed.
On the second floor James and Sirius finally slowed to a walk. For several moments they walked along in complete silence until Sirius spoke. "Where are we going?"
"Our room," was James' short reply.
"I can't believe she wasn't there," Sirius said. "Do you think she's okay?"
"I don't know," James snapped.
"Whoa," Sirius said, backing off. "I'm sorry; I'm just as worried about her as you are, James. She's my little sister too."
James looked at Sirius, and his expression softened. "I'm sorry, too. I know you love Kelsey. I'm just so worked up and worried about her."
"You and me both, James. Chaser," he said to the Fat Lady.
"Sorry, boys. That's not the password."
James sighed. "Merlin, this day needs to end."
Sirius agreed wholeheartedly, and the two sat down outside the hall to wait for someone to come and give them the new password.
"What are you going to do when we finally get inside?" Sirius asked, shooting a pointed glare at the Fat Lady.
"Write to my Mum," James told him. "Ask her if Kelsey's okay. God, she has to be. I can't do that again for a family member so soon. And she's so young. Plus with this stuff with Kingsley and Martha, I'm just so stressed out, Padfoot."
"Well, how about a good, old-fashioned prank on Snivellus to cheer you up, mate?"
"I can't," James moaned miserably. "Lily would kill me, and I don't think I have the time. We have to plan Halloween still, and we really should talk to Martha about the whole incident. It's our job as Head Students. Hey, I wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot," Sirius said, shrugging agreeably.
"When we were down in the Great Hall just now and the girls were telling us about Kingsley and Martha, you said something to Liv, and that cocky grin came into place." Sirius nodded. "It looked forced," James told him. "Is everything okay?"
Sirius scoffed. "Are you serious, James? You're like a friggin' girl."
"Look, Padfoot, I'm just worried about you. I want to make sure you're okay. So, I'll ask again: Is everything okay?"
Sirius shrugged more submissively this time. "Not really," he admitted. "I mean, those kids who attacked Kingsley and Martha hang out with Regulus, and that's really hard for me to admit to myself. Regulus has been hanging out with really bad kids. I know he's in Slytherin and all, but you know how Andromeda was in Slytherin?" James nodded. "Well, she turned out like me. You know, different from the family. I kind of hoped Regulus would be the same way."
James sighed. "I know you did Sirius. You've told me that before, but you have to remember that it's not your fault that Regulus is hanging out with those kids. You did everything you could up until you ran away. Hell, you even offered to let him tag along when you ran away. It's not your fault."
Sirius nodded but didn't reply as someone rounded the corner. Neither of them had ever been so pleased to see Dylan Finch in their lives. James jumped up. "Dyl, you're my savior. What's the password? They changed it while we were gone."
Dylan grinned. "It's Ice Mice. How you doing, Captain?"
"Pretty well. It was a rough weekend, but I'll live."
"It's good to have you back." Dylan grinned and disappeared through the portrait hole. James smiled and followed him through. He and Sirius made their way directly to the boys' dormitory. The moment they got there, James pulled out a piece of parchment and began to compose a letter to his mother. By the time he had finished, Remus and Peter had returned from dinner and joined Sirius in the dormitory. James stood and walked toward the door. "I think I'm going to go find Lily and mail this." He said, waving the letter in front of him.
The others didn't acknowledge him, as they were too busy laughing at some dirty joke or another that Sirius had cracked. James shrugged and left the room. Walking through the common room, he looked for Lily's red hair. Luckily, she was sitting near the fire. He made his way over to where she, Olivia, Maggie and Morgan were seated. "Hey girls. What's up?"
Lily and Olivia, who were sitting with their backs to James, swiveled around and grinned at him. "Hey James."
"Lily, do you think I could have a word?" he asked.
Maggie and Morgan glared at him, but Lily nodded. "Sorry to tear her away, girls," James apologized, "But we do have some heads business to attend to."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Potter," but she was grinning.
Lily stood. "Come on, James. This is a tough crowd. What do you need?"
James grinned a good-bye at the girls and followed Lily through the portrait hole and into the corridor. "Walk with me to the owlery. I need to mail this letter to my mum."
"Sure," Lily agreed. "What's the letter about?"
"My sister, Kelsey. She wasn't at the funeral. I'm really worried about her." James grinned at Lily.
"I'm sure she's fine," Lily tried to reassure him.
"Yeah," James answered, but worry still was evident in his eyes. As was something else: guilt.
"James, it's not your fault. How could it be your fault? Anyway I'm sure she's fine."
"I didn't even notice that she wasn't there. She's my sister, for Merlin's sake. How could I have not even noticed her absence? Some brother I am."
"You were really worked up. You were going through a terrible ordeal. It makes sense that you were too distracted--".
"Too distracted, for what? To not notice that my sister wasn't there? That's inexcusable, Lily."
He sighed wearily as he swung open the door to the owlery. "Let's not even talk about it anymore," he told her as he fastened the letter to the owl. "My mum will owl me back and tell me about it as soon as she gets this."
He turned to look at her again. "Look, we need to plan the Halloween feast, the Hogsmeade trip and meet with Martha and Kingsley. We have a million things to do, and there's nothing more I can do about this without a response from my mum."
"Okay, well, where do you want to start?"
James sighed. There was so much to do.
Much later that day, Lily and James were together in the heads' common room in the antechamber off the Great Hall, awaiting the knock that would signify the arrival of Kingsley and Martha. James was lying down on his side on the couch, facing Lily across the coffee table. She was sitting in an overstuffed armchair staring distractedly at a point slightly above his head. Several times James had tried to get her to snap out of her reverie and speak, but he couldn't attract her attention.
"Lily?" he asked. "Hey, Lily."
She continued to stare straight ahead as James became slightly worried for her health. "Lily, I really don't think it's good for you to stare so resolutely at a spot like that. Do you want to talk?"
Lily blinked distractedly but shook her head negatively and didn't speak. James shrugged and looked back at the flames, thinking about his father. The silence descended again upon them, but it didn't even possess an uncomfortable element. They silently went about their own thoughts, each immersed in their own world until a soft knock sounded. At first James wasn't sure if he'd heard it, but the second time it sounded he was reassured and jumped up to let Kingsley and Martha in.
When he swung the door open, James had to bite back a laugh at the looks on Kingsley and Martha's faces. He had never seen two people look so terrified at the prospect of speaking with him and Lily. James tried to place a comforting smile on his face. "Hi Kingsley, Martha, come in."
The two significantly smaller students walked into the elegant room with James swinging the door shut behind him. Lily, thankfully, was no longer staring deep in thought at the wall but was ready to greet the two first years with a relaxed smile. "Hi Kingsley and Martha, take a seat."
Kingsley and Martha did as they were told, sitting together on the red couch where James had been seated before. He shrugged slightly and went to sit in an armchair next to Lily's.
There was a moment's silence before James realized just how terrified Kingsley and Martha were and finally spoke. "Okay, before we start, I just want you two to know that you aren't here to be disciplined by Lily and me. We actually just wanted to talk to you."
Lily nodded. "We heard about the incident with Mr. Crabbe while we were gone. First off, James and I wanted to apologize for not being here to help you two out. We were off school grounds and unable to return."
"That's okay," Martha offered. "I'm sorry about your dad, James."
James smiled at the younger student. "Thank you, Martha. And thank you for understanding why Lily and I couldn't be here." Turning his attention to Kingsley, James continued. "Kingsley, how are you doing?"
Kingsley shot a look to Martha before speaking. "I'm okay. I already talked to Martha about it. We're okay."
"Are you sure, Martha?" Lily asked.
Martha smiled sweetly at Kingsley before looking at Lily. "I'm positive. King and I are best friends. He wouldn't hurt me on purpose."
James cut in. "I'm sure you and Kingsley both know that, Martha, but Lily and I called you hear tonight to explain something to you. Kingsley had the Imperious curse placed on him. This is illegal and very harmful. This curse controls the find of the person whom it is cast upon. Kingsley had absolutely no control over his actions. In fact, it's very impressive that he was able to stop himself from performing the curse at all.
"Additionally, Crabbe is part of a group of wizards trying to 'purify' our world. Or that's what they think they're doing. They are trying to eliminate all half-blood and muggle-born witches and wizards from our society by either killing them or intimidating them into returning to the muggle lifestyle. Despite that, purebloods aren't safe either. I'm pureblooded, and I'm sure you know what happened to my dad."
Lily grimaced. "We can't really tell you anymore than we already have. If you have anymore questions you can ask Professor Dumbledore. We wanted to give you some background on what happened though. Also, please don't mention this to your other friends, okay? We're trying to keep this quiet in the school as much as we can."
Martha and Kingsley nodded and stood, following James to the door. He opened the door to the dark Great Hall and let them out. "It's after curfew," he warned them. "If you see any teachers, just tell them that you were meeting with us. They should know that anyway."
The two younger students nodded and set off through the dark Great Hall. James waited to hear the huge oak doors click shut before he returned to his and Lily's common room. He collapsed back on the couch, in a position very similar to the one he was in before Martha and Kingsley had appeared.
Lily was much less distracted than she had been before, and it made her much easier to talk to. In fact, she struck up conversation. "They were so cute, weren't they?"
James nodded. "Martha kind of reminded me of my sister, Kelsey. They looked kind of alike."
Lily smiled. "They'll end up together. They were so close."
James' facial feature sorted themselves into a cocky smirk. "Like us, you mean."
He had been joking, but Lily considered this thoughtfully, finally saying, "Yeah, James, like us."
The smirk dropped from his face. "We are close, aren't we?"
Lily nodded again. "Yeah, we are. I tell you more than I tell Liv, Maggie or Morgan."
"Well that makes sense since we spend so much time together," James told her with a smile.
"That trend isn't going to end anytime soon, James," Lily informed him. "We still have to plan Hogsmeade."
James sighed and slowly stood. "Another task for another time, my lady," he said in a mock noble voice. Dropping the charade, he spoke again. "I'm too exhausted to plan anything else tonight. We have the chance to go to sleep at nine thirty. Let's take advantage of it."
The next day brought more trials for the group of seventh years from Gryffindor, starting early in the morning. As the nine of them entered the Great Hall in a large pack, Severus Snape called out to them from the Slytherin table. "Oy Potter, Evans!"
James had been planning on ignoring Snape, but Lily threw a wrench in those plans by turning around. "Mr. Snape? Is there something James or I could assist you with?"
Snape smirked maliciously and spoke, his tones sarcastic. "I just wanted to tell you how nice I thought it was of you to meet with Martha and Kingsley last night. You know, how you met with them to explain Crabbe's actions."
"Thank you, Mr. Snape," James said in a low, threatening voice. "Now if you'll excuse Miss Evans and me, we're going to go eat our breakfast."
The heckling from the Slytherins was consistent all day, but by lunch Lily and James and learned to ignore them and had instructed their friends to do the same. Despite the harassment the Slytherins were providing, the day was not going badly, although James did discover that he had an amount of work to catch up on which should have been illegal.
That evening he entered the head's common room sighing, only to become more depressed when he discovered that he was alone. He threw his bag down on the couch and sighed again, looking around the room for something to distract him from his thoughts of his father's death. James had been holding up rather nicely for the past couple of days, but he hadn't told anyone that it was a false front. He had been smiling and laughing with the others, but it had all been fake. He was sure that Lily and Sirius weren't buying it, but he couldn't even muster the energy to care about that.
He collapsed on the couch with his face in his hands and tried to blink back tears. It was at stressful times like these that James had known that he would miss his father the most. Whenever he was feeling lonely or had too much work to do, James could always write his father. Now he could no longer do that. Letting the tears fall, James sat there and stared into the fire for a long time before he heard someone crossing the Great Hall. He quickly wiped his eyes and pulled his charms essay out of his bag so that he looked like he was doing something constructive. Lily let herself into the head's dorm and collapsed on the armchair opposite James. "Hey," she greeted him. "How do you feel about planning Hogsmeade?"
"What's there to plan, honestly?" James asked with his eyes shut.
"Truthfully, not much," Lily told him. "But we have to plan what there is."
"Okay, so it will be Halloween, which falls on a Friday this year. Students can leave at nine o'clock at the earliest and must be back by five o'clock. Does that sound okay?"
Lily momentarily frowned in concentration before agreeing. "That sounds great. I'll run it by Professor Dumbledore tomorrow and then you and I will make the signs."
Not surprisingly, James found himself in the same place the next night making signs for the Hogsmeade visit. He and Lily had agreed to make a sign for each of the common rooms as well as one for the Great Hall and the Prefects lounge. As they wrote the signs, James kept thinking of his father. Once again he couldn't contain his tears only this time he wasn't alone. As he scrawled a word on the sign that was to be posted in the Ravenclaw common room, James felt a hot tear descend his cheek. He swiped at it angrily, but his movement made Lily look up. Immediately she stood and came around the table to sit next to him. "What's wrong?"
James sighed and studied his hands. "Nothing. I'm fine."
Lily frowned. "Are you sure? Because when I'm fine, I don't cry."
James glared at her and sighed again. "I just miss him. That's all."
Lily looked at him closely. "Of course you miss him, James. He's your father and he only died a week ago. No one expects you to be just fine. You've been doing great."
James met her eye miserably. "It's all been a charade. I thought you were seeing through it for sure. I think Sirius and Remus are too."
"I thought something was up," Lily admitted, "but you seemed to be doing so well that I didn't want to change that."
"I wasn't doing well," James smiled emotionlessly. "I didn't want anybody to know. When we came back and heard about Kingsley and Martha and then I thought of everything else you and I had to do, I knew that I had to push my own emotions aside."
Lily grimaced. "I could have done some of the work on my own. I thought you were okay because we usually talk. Since you didn't say anything, I figured everything was fine."
James smiled a real smile this time. "It's getting better, Lily. I promise that. Do you want to go get a house elf to hang these signs?"
Lily nodded. "Sure, let's go."
When Lily and James returned from finding a house elf, James found his owl sitting patiently on the windowsill outside the heads' common room. James hurried to the window and threw it open. "Come in, Toby," he pulled his owl in through the window. Setting the bird down on the table, James untied the letter from its leg. He quickly unfolded it and began to read.
Dear James,
I'm so sorry. I forgot to even mention Kelsey to you. I sent her with my friend Lena to Greece for a vacation. She said good-bye to your father before she left. I didn't think she could handle the whole ordeal, and she said that she was afraid to go to the funeral anyway. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you didn't ask either. However, I know that you and Sirius must have been worried sick when it occurred to you. Again, I'm so sorry.
Kelsey is home now and is doing just fine. You'll see her when you come home for Christmas.
Love,
Mum
James looked up from the letter. "She's okay," he muttered to Lily. "My mum sent her to Greece with a friend."
"Oh," was all Lily said. She didn't know how to react.
"Yeah," James stared at the parchment in his hands for a moment before looking up, fire snapping in his eyes. "How could she do this? Kelsey didn't get to go to the funeral, and my mum claims that Kelsey didn't want to, but I bet she only wrote because she knew I'd react like this. She was right that Sirius and I were worried sick. Kelsey could have been anywhere. We had no idea where she was, and what's worse is that we didn't even notice. How could we be such horrible brothers?"
"Oh James," Lily sighed. "You aren't horrible brothers. You were grief stricken, and it distracted you. Don't blame yourself."
James nodded. "Okay, I'll try not to, but it's really hard."
Lily nodded as well. "I know it is, but you've got to believe that it wasn't your fault, and nothing happened. Kelsey's okay, and you'll see her at Christmas. It all worked out fine, James."
"I know, and I'm so grateful."
The two lapsed into silence as they both scribbled away at unfinished homework. When she began it, Lily discovered that their charms essay was mindless work. Because she didn't have to think about it, Lily's musings drifted to James Potter. She knew she liked him. She had realized that at Mr. Potter's funeral when she saw how kind James was to his family. These past few days with everything happening had forced Lily to see the real James Potter. She also realized however that James had always been more mature than he had let on. When she had told them, Olivia, Maggie and Morgan had thought that her change from hating James Potter to wanting to date him had been rather abrupt, but in truth, Lily's opinion of James had been changing ever since the day he saved Severus Snape's life. When she had heard about James' venture to face a werewolf in order to save his sworn enemy, Lily had been tossed into a pool of second thoughts about James. As she had sorted out these thoughts, Lily had realized that James wasn't nearly as bad as he came off as. Looking back, she could pinpoint that day as the one which held the moment that she began to think of James differently.
It was Friday, October 31, and Lily was sick of school. Needless to say, Halloween brought her and her friends a short and much needed break from classes. She and her friends had already laid out an elaborate plan of the day's events beginning with Morgan and Olivia's attendance at Quidditch practice. James was a maniac about winning the Quidditch Cup, and as a result, his team was practicing at every moment they could be on the pitch. He was requiring his team to meet in the common room half an hour before practice so that they didn't miss a moment of it. Lily thought he was obsessive, but what did she know?
So Morgan and Olivia had Quidditch all morning, and while they did that Maggie and Lily were heading to Hogsmeade with Remus, Sirius, Peter and Andrew. At noon Lily, Maggie and the boys were meeting James, Olivia and Morgan at a new restaurant called The Magic Touch. After that, Lily and James, despite their friends' protests that they were sucking the fun out of Halloween, were going back to the castle to do homework and study.
Therefore on the morning of October 31, when Lily woke up, she was excited and bounced out of bed, fully energized. She quickly showered and then slipped into the clothes she had carefully chosen for the day. She wore mostly black in spirit of the day. She had considered wearing orange as well, but the color clashed so horribly with her hair that she didn't dare, especially not in her quest to impress James. It was a habit that she had picked up since she had discovered that she liked James at his dad's funeral. She wasn't sure she was thrilled with it either. She had never changed anything for a boy until now, and she didn't know why James was having this effect on her. The uncertainty was not something she enjoyed.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Lily slipped from the dormitory and into the common room. Lily made her way down to the Great Hall where she sat down between Olivia and Morgan a across from James who was deeply immersed in a conversation with the people sitting next to him. Lily recognized them as a fifth year prefect, Dylan Finch, and a third year, Bridget McEnberg, both members of his Quidditch team. "Hey Liv, Mags," she greeted as she helped herself to a blueberry muffin. She smiled and nodded at James as he looked at her. He barely acknowledged her with a small nod. She made an aggravated face at him after he returned to his conversation. She slowly ate her muffin and fumed internally at James. He had barely glanced at her, and that made her angry. She liked talking to him because his charisma and character charmed her. She didn't have anything she particularly wanted to talk to him about, but she did want to talk to him. She was glad that she knew that the Marauders didn't date below fourth year, or else she would be sure a 13 year old was stealing James from her. She shook her head; she had serious issues.
James apparently had wrapped up his conversation because he spoke to her. "Is everything alright, Lily? You seem distracted."
Lily grinned. "Yeah, everything's fine."
"Well good. Then I can tell you to calm down because I do have other people to speak to."
Lily grinned sheepishly, and her cheeks tinged pink. Had she been that obvious? "Hello to you too, Potter."
"Potter? We're back to last names now, Evans? I can do that too."
Lily grinned widely. She loved this playful banter with James. It was something she had missed out on while she was busy hating him. "I know that," she answered, the grin still firmly plastered in place. "We managed the whole last name thing for six years, didn't we?"
James smiled and took a sip of his tea, never breaking his eye contact with her. After swallowing, James spoke, "But I like being on a first name basis with you."
"So do I, believe me," Lily smiled, thinking about just how true that was.
"Dyl, pass the juice," James requested. After he took the pitcher of orange juice from Dylan, James poured some into his glass and then offered it to Lily. She nodded, her mouth full of sausage. He poured some in her glass and then set the pitcher down between them. He quickly drank his orange juice, glanced at his watch and then stood. "We have the pitch in 15 minutes. Let's go. Is everyone here? Johnny? Ethan? Dylan? Bridget? Liv? Morgan?" Without waiting for anyone to answer, he continued, "Excellent, let's go."
He counted heads as his team filed past him. Then, as they were marching across the Great Hall to the door, James looked at Lily. "Well, I'll see you later then, Lil."
"See you later," Lily echoed.
He smiled at her. "I feel badly leaving you all alone. Do you want to come along and watch for a while?"
"That's alright. I'd better go and wake up Maggie. We're going to Hogsmeade with your friends this morning."
"Sirius will like that," James smirked. "Feel free to drop by if those two become intolerable."
"I would," Lily grinned, "but I wouldn't want to leave the rest of the boys to fend for themselves."
"Okay, well, I'd better go," James motioned at his team. "They're waiting for their captain to lead them into battle."
Lily laughed and looked where James was pointing. This was true. The team was assembled, broomsticks in hand, waiting for their captain. Lily laughed out loud at the sight of James running through the Great Hall toward his waiting team. She turned back to her breakfast and finished the sausage and eggs she had just served herself. After this she idled and stalled for as long as she could before heading out of the Great Hall to wake up Maggie. She always put off this task because it was so difficult. Since it was almost 9:30, Lily dragged herself up to Gryffindor tower to wake up her friend.
"Come on, Chase, hustle." James shouted. He had his team in a 3 versus 3 scrimmage. It was Dylan, Ethan and Olivia against Bridget, Morgan and Johnny. James had made it a simple game: Three chasers against three chasers, no keepers, beaters or seekers and normal Quidditch rules with only the quaffle in play. It was a fantastic exercise because it helped everyone see the field from a chaser's point of view. In James' opinion, chasers were the most important players on a Quidditch pitch. The score was 30-20 with Olivia's team in the lead. While refereeing the game, James was carefully watching his team's progress. He had never realized how much potential his team possessed. They all had natural talent, and Bridget was developing hers especially quickly. James grinned as he thought about his youngest player and her amazing development into a talented chaser after only a month of serious practice. His eyes scanned over the pitch looking for the quaffle. Dylan had it and was in the process of passing it to Olivia. When she caught it, she turned and faked past Bridget before passing to Ethan and streaking off to receive the ball back in a give and go and score.
"Fantastic play, reds," James shouted to Olivia's team. He had split them up into the Red and Gold teams. "Great way to get everyone in involved in the play. Liv, that's the way to move with and without the ball. The give and go was perfect. That's what I was trying to convey to all of you earlier. Did you all see Liv just then?"
The team nodded giving James their utmost respect. "Liv got away from Morgan, creating separation from her defender. She got the ball from Finch and pulled a fabulous move on McEnberg. Liv gave the ball up to Ethan and received it back in a give and go and scored. That was fantastic. She was selfless and gave the ball up and then got it back. Great play, Liv." James was hardly ever the complimentary, and he must have been particularly impressed because 10 minutes later at 11:05, he blew his whistle and led his team down to the ground. "Okay, Gryffindors," he began, "That was a fantastic practice, really it was. There were a couple mistakes, but we'll work on improving those. I'm ending practice early more because I have an important commitment at noon in Hogsmeade than because I'm rewarding you."
"Did you get your date with Evans?" Dylan asked as the group broke up.
"Not yet," James grinned. "I'm working on it. We're friends."
"Let me guess," Johnny snorted in laughter, coming up behind them. "Friendship is the first step to a good relationship. Is that her motto?"
"More like mine," James told Johnny with a glare.
Johnny laughed even louder and harder, and James threatened him with another glare. "It's a long way around the castle 10 times, and I wouldn't be afraid to make you run that."
Johnny stopped laughing and James smiled before running to catch up with Morgan and Olivia.
Exactly at noon, according to James' watch, he, Morgan and Olivia filed into The Magic Touch, looking around for their friends. "Hi, can I help you?" asked a clerk with bright pink, curly hair.
"Yes," Olivia spoke up. "We're looking for a bunch of Hogwarts students?"
"Party of…" the woman trailed off, letting Olivia fill in the blank.
"Nine," Olivia said.
"Abbott, Christopher?"
"No," James said. "Is there a Lily Evans?"
The woman scanned the list, tracing a long, manicured nail down the parchment. "Yes, follow me. You're seated out on the deck over looking the river," the clerk told them, leading the three through a smoky section of the restaurant and out the door. James saw Lily, Remus, Sirius, Maggie, Peter and Andrew sitting around a large, circular table. James and Olivia sat on either side of Lily and pulled out menus. "Anybody want to share the deluxe nachos with me?" James asked, his eyes still fixed on the menu.
"What's in it?" Lily asked.
"Corn chips, peppers, cheddar, monterey jack, and mozzarella cheeses and a choice of ground beef or chicken with guacamole."
"If we can get it without the guacamole, I'll share with you," Lily offered.
Just then a waitress appeared next to the table. "Welcome to The Magic Touch, my name's Kristina, and I'll be your server today. Can I start you off with something to drink?"
"That would be great," Sirius exclaimed enthusiastically. James and Lily exchanged a glance. His tone was too enthusiastic. "Can I get an Ogden's?"
"Yeah right," Kristina scoffed. "You're from Hogwarts. I'm afraid it's business policy to monitor what is ordered by and served to Hogwarts students. I was in Hufflepuff myself, but I recognize that shirt you're wearing as a Gryffindor shirt, and you're two friends here are wearing head student badges."
"Fine," Sirius muttered under his breath. "Then can I have a butterbeer please?"
"Butterbeers all around," James said and nobody objected so Kristina took that as their order.
"Do you need a few minutes to decide on food?" she asked.
"That would be fabulous," Olivia told her with a smile. Kristina smiled and walked off.
"She's cute," Peter commented blandly to no one in particular.
"I guess," James muttered noncommittally, glancing at Lily as he did so. All of his friends except Lily noticed this, but no one chose to comment, instead staring resolutely at their individual menus.
Just a few minutes later, Kristina reappeared next to their table. "Are you ready to order?" she asked brightly.
They all answered her with variations of a positive response, and she smiled again. "Excellent, why don't we start with you?" She pointed to James with her quill and smiled.
James placed his order. "I'd like the deluxe nachos without guacamole with two side dishes: chips for me and…"
"I'm sharing with him," Lily continued. "I'd like a side salad please."
"Okay, next." Everyone at the table ordered, the only incident coming after Peter blushed furiously when Kristina smilingly asked for his order. He stammered out what he wanted, but Kristina quickly became uncomfortable under Peter's obvious admiration. "He just thinks you're good looking," Sirius said charmingly, the infamous grin firmly in place. "And I have to say, I agree. Would you like to join me?" he asked suggestively, still grinning in his charming way.
Kristina blushed furiously and vehemently shook her head before hurrying away from their table. As soon as Kristina was out of earshot, Remus rounded on Sirius, quiet, but harsh all the same. "Do you have to hit on employees wherever we go?" he asked in a harsh whisper with an expression on his face to rival McGonagall's strictest.
"Oh come on, Remus," Sirius whined, still with a half-smile on his face despite Remus' scolding. "I was just having a little fun with Peter here, and I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"
"Not physically," Remus snapped, his gaze moving from the door through which Kristina had disappeared, to Peter who was flushed bright red and back to Sirius' face. "But Kristina was very, very embarrassed, as was I. I assume Peter was as well."
"Yeah," Peter said, looking down at his plate. "I was."
"So was I," James added. Everyone else agreed quietly, seemingly not wanting to make Sirius angry since they weren't nearly so close with him as the James, Remus and Peter were.
"Sorry," Sirius muttered, and although none of them believed his sincerity, they knew it was the best they would get. Sirius wasn't always mature and certainly almost never saw the error in his ways. He was like a five year old in a candy store when he came across women, often leading to inappropriate actions and remarks.
Soon enough they had all forgiven Sirius and were laughing, talking and smiling. "So, James," Remus asked, changing the conversation from stories of Sirius' summer fling (which was quickly moving into the realm of too much information) "How's the team looking this year?"
"Really good, actually," James grinned, loving every second of talking about his team. "I think we're going to be awesome this year. We have three seventh years, two sixth years, a fifth year and a third year, so we have ton of experience with only one new player."
"That's great, you three," Lily grinned. She liked Quidditch a lot. In fact, she was a fairly big fan for a muggle born, but she could never trust a broom to hold her up in the air because she had grown up thinking of brooms as only an implement to clean the house with. They had only flown in fairy tales. When she had arrived at Hogwarts all that changed, but she still couldn't develop a trust of flying brooms. Still, she was happy for James, Olivia and Morgan. They were all so good at Quidditch.
Broken from her reverie by Sirius' remarks ("Well, Maggie and I are out of here") Lily checked her watch and jumped at the time. It was already 2:50. "Yeah, so am I," she agreed, standing. "James, are you coming?"
He glanced at his watch. "Yeah," he stood as well. "I'm coming. See you slackers later. Lily and I are going to do our homework.
"Overachievers," Olivia snorted quietly, but James heard her and threw her a nasty glare.
"Come on, Lily, let's go," James commented, tactfully ignoring Olivia's remark aside from the rather childish glare he had given her. James and Lily followed Maggie and Sirius out the door. They turned different ways as they left the building, Lily and James exiting the town as Maggie and Sirius went deeper into the business district.
"So," James said breaking the silence even though it had been perfectly comfortable. "What kinds of things do you do at home?"
"I swim and sail. My house is on the beach, so I do a lot of water activities. I love to sit on the beach and read during the summer. You said you play soccer. Do you play well?"
"Yeah, I do," James answered indignantly.
"How well?"
"Well enough to play on the best junior league team in Manchester."
"Really well, then," Lily said, taken aback.
"Not to be arrogant, but yeah."
"Cool, do you have games?"
"Yeah, I do. I leave school this weekend for one."
"Can I come to one sometime?"
"Yeah, sure. But don't come to this weekend's. It's in America."
"Are you going to miss class?" Lily asked, worried.
James frowned. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Just Friday, though."
At this point they had stopped outside the gates to the castle. They stood very close together, looking into one another's eyes. James leaned down to kiss Lily, and just as their lips were about to touch someone shouted "James! Lily!"
The head students sprung apart until they were at least two feet from each other. James looked around wildly for the source of the voice until his eyes fell on Rubeus Hagrid. He rolled his eyes slightly but grinned nevertheless at the huge man.
"Yer not supposed ter be standin' out there," he continued. "Dumbledore's orders, I'm supposed ter let students in immediately."
James sighed but led Lily through the gate. Hagrid gave him a knee-buckling pat on the back as he passed, and he collapsed on Lily who pushed him back up to his full height with difficulty.
When they reached the castle, James restarted the conversation they had been having before they had almost kissed and Hagrid had yelled at him, sick of the awkward silence which had followed. "Have you ever played football before?" James asked.
"I wish. It looks like fun. I watch my cousin's games all the time, but girls just don't play."
"Why not?" James asked, genuinely confused.
"Lily knew why he was confused. In the wizarding community it was perfectly common—expected even—for women to lead career as successful as their husbands'. Kids all had the chance to play Quidditch whether they were boys or girls. It just wasn't the same in the muggle world. Girls didn't play sports, and they certainly didn't lead careers to rival their husbands'. Lily tried to explain this to James. "In the muggle world, women are expected to stay at home, have kids and take care of those children. They barely ever have careers, and if they do, they aren't as successful as their husbands'."
"What does that have to do with little girls playing or not playing football?"
"Girls don't play sports," Lily attempted to explain. "They stay home and learn how to cook and how to lead the life they're supposed to. That's why being a witch is such a fantastic opportunity for me."
"I see," James considered this for a moment before continuing. "Is that why you work so hard to be the best plus put up with all those bloody purebloods calling you…" James trailed off, not wanting to offend her.
"Mudblood?" Lily offered. James cringed and nodded. "Yes, well, I've never thought of it like that, but now that you point it out, that is probably my subconscious motivation to try so hard."
They lapsed into silence, James contemplating what Lily had told him, Lily considering James' quick grasp of what she had meant to say about muggle women and their opportunities. "Of course," Lily continued as they reached the entrance to the Great Hall and pushed open the big doors. "There are some assertive, very self-confident women who do lead careers which rival their husbands'." James pushed open the door to the antechamber off the Great Hall and held it for Lily.
"But you're not?" James asked as he followed Lily through the door.
"No," Lily smiled at him over her shoulder.
"Well, why not?" James followed her into the heads' common room.
"Because that's not my nature," she flopped onto a couch and James sat down next to her.
"Well, then what is your nature?" James asked, grinning sexily at Lily.
As her knees went weak at James' grin, Lily answered. "Well, I'm not necessarily assertive toward people I don't know well, so it would be hard for me to stick up for myself in the business world. If I know someone well, though, quite frankly, I'm a bitch."
James grinned the grin again, and Lily almost cried at the effect it was having on her. "Well, then, come on bitch," James said. "Let's bust out that homework."
Lily laughed lightly. "Can we do transfiguration? I need some serious help with that human transfiguration stuff."
"Sure, let me get my bag." James stood up and flashed his knee-weakening grin at her over his shoulder.
Lily almost passed out as James turned around and made his way to the study where he had left his bag. "What is wrong with me?" Lily wondered idly, not sure if she was opposed to the change in her nature. Every time James smiled, she went weak in the knees, and she laughed at any remotely amusing comment James made. She had no more time to ponder her problems though because James came back with his bag.
Sirius, Maggie, Andrew, Olivia, Remus, Morgan and Peter were in Hogsmeade still. Walking down the main street of the town, Remus brought up a subject they were all dying to talk about. "So," he began, "when does everyone think James and Lily will get together?"
Olivia spoke up confidently. "They're getting together right now. That's some serious sexual tension between those two."
"Liv," Morgan laughed. "Sexual tension? Maybe regular tension, but I doubt it was sexual…"
"She the expert," Maggie whispered to Sirius. "You'd have to be blind not to see the sexual tension between her and Remus."
Sirius let out a bark of laughter which he quickly tried to stifle as Remus eyed him suspiciously.
"What's so funny, Sirius?" he asked in a would-be curious voice.
"Oh, nothing," Sirius said, his king of the cover story mask firmly in place. "Maggie was just telling me how good looking she thinks I am and how often she stares at me."
"You are so conceited. Why would you laugh at that?" Remus questioned, not believing a word of Sirius' story.
Sirius had admit the story wasn't his best, but he had to continue with the same one he'd started. "I laughed in disgust," he tried to explain matter-of-factly. Remus opened his mouth to protest, but Sirius cut him off by continuing. "I laughed in disgust," he repeated, "at the fact that I never noticed her staring." He looked Remus straight in the eye. "You know I'm good at that kind of thing."
Remus conceded that fact but still looked like he didn't believe Sirius. In fact, he exchanged a skeptical look with Morgan. Sirius chuckled softly and wrapped an arm around Maggie's shoulders, squeezing them in a one-armed hug. He steered her away from the others and into Madam Puddifoot's. "Ugh," Maggie complained softly to Sirius as they waited to be seated. "I despise this place."
Sirius looked curiously at her. "You're the first girl I've ever had say that to me about this place. Most girls beg me to take them here."
Maggie made a face. "Marcus Holcomb took me here in fourth year and tried to feel me up. It was vile."
She looked uncomfortable. Sirius looked into her face and immediately felt bad. "Hey, I'm sorry," he said gently, touching her face. "Do you want to go on a date with me somewhere else?"
She nodded, and he held the door for her as they left. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks. That's always a good place to eat. Madam Rosmerta will treat us well," Sirius told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Maggie was still quiet and upset after they were seated in the Three Broomsticks. "Wow," Sirius said, "being felt up by Marcus Holcomb must have been a truly traumatizing experience."
Maggie laughed and assured him that it had been. "He was a super popular Ravenclaw," Maggie pointed out. "He was supposed to be this great kid who could do no wrong. I was thrilled to be asked out by him. It was supposed to be this great honor. So we went to Madam Puddifoot's, and he was really sweet, ordered me coffee, paid for it. Then he leaned across the table to kiss me and felt me up. I was disgusted. I thought he liked me, but he just wanted to get in my pants because he thought I was pretty." She twisted a strand of long dark hair around her finger uncomfortably, as though she had said too much.
"You are pretty," Sirius assured her, leaning forward. "You're beautiful, gorgeous." He leaned forward even more so that their faces were merely inches apart. "But, that's not why I want you to be my girlfriend, not entirely, at least. Yes, I am physically attracted to you, that's the truth, but you fascinate me, and I want to get to know you better. Will you be my girlfriend?"
Maggie nodded, beaming.
"That was sweet," Madam Rosmerta said.
Sirius and Maggie both jumped; she had snuck up on them. "Do I get a discount for my sweetness?" Sirius asked, grinning up at her.
"Nope, I don't give discounts, Sirius,"
"Fine," Sirius pretended to be angry for a moment before turning back to Rosmerta and continuing. "This is my girlfriend, Maggie Correnti. She's a Gryffindor seventh year as well."
"Nice to meet you, Maggie. Sirius, call me when you know what you want."
"I think it'll only be drinks for us today, Rosie, unless you want something else, Maggie?" Maggie shook her head.
Sirius turned back to Rosmerta. "We tried out that new place, The Magic Touch, today. It wasn't nearly as good as the food is here. We won't be returning."
"Okay, Sirius," Rosmerta winked. "I'll get you two butterbeers, yeah? Okay, send James in soon."
Sirius nodded, and Rosmerta walked away. Sirius winked at Maggie, "She's always liked James the best."
Peter had long since separated himself from Olivia, Andrew, Sirius, Remus, Maggie and Morgan. He doubted that they were all together. In fact he had left as they departed The Magic Touch. He didn't think they'd miss him. He wanted desperately to have friends who valued him more than someone to be a decoy in an elaborate prank or someone to be the butt of their offensive jokes.
His beady black eyes darted around him, and when he was sure no one was looking, he ducked into a dark side alley which he had been curious about for a long time. As he walked down the mysterious street Peter was reminded very much of Knockturn Alley in London.
Peter entered a safe-looking shop, but was mistaken in his impression of it. As the bell on the door tinkled, he saw Severus Snape leaning on the counter examining a headless eyeball and talking to the man behind the counter. Snape saw him immediately. This put Peter in a sticky situation. If he left without speaking to Snape, Snape would tell everyone that Peter had been there. He didn't want to risk losing the only friends he had if the thing with the Slytherins wasn't going to work out. Snape raised his eyebrows in surprise upon spotting Peter. "Pettigrew," he greeted coolly, trying to avoid making a scene.
"Snape," Peter squeaked, beads of sweat already forming on his hairline.
Snape turned back to the elderly man he was speaking to. "Well, thank you, Mr. Spikes, do you think you could hold this for me? I won't be able to make it back until December, most likely."
"Of course, Mr. Snape."
"Thank you, sir."
Spikes nodded shortly, and Snape left. The bell tinkled as Snape said, "Pettigrew, a word, if you please?"
Peter nodded meekly and followed Snape through the door. As soon as the door shut behind them, Snape rounded on Peter. "What the hell are you doing here? Spying for Potter? God, you're just Potter's lapdog, aren't you? He just plays around with you constantly."
Peter tried to look intimidating by drawing himself up to his full height. "James doesn't know I'm here," he said proudly.
"Bully for you," Snape snapped. "So why the hell are you here then?"
"I was curious. Plus I'm sick of being decoy for James and Sirius, someone who makes them look good because they befriended pathetic little Peter Pettigrew. They made friends with me in first year because they felt bad and now they can't get rid of me."
"I'm glad you've finally seen the light, Pettigrew," Snape sneered sarcastically. "You've finally discovered Potter's and Black's true natures. Is there more?"
"I need to be around people who appreciate my talents instead of harping on my deficiencies," Peter told Snape, not sure why he was pouring heart out to his best friends sworn enemy.
Snape smiled. "Well, Pettigrew, we can find some use which takes advantage of your talents," he said, pausing before the last word. "Come with me. I need to stop by somewhere else before I can take you to talk to the others. Be patient."
Later at the Halloween feast, everything seemed to be back to normal. Other than the fact that Sirius and Maggie were dating, nothing had changed since the morning.Fr one night they could relax, and everyone took advantage of it.
The Gryffindor seventh years as well as Veronica, Remus' girlfriend, sat together in their closely knit group, gathered in the middle of the Gryffindor table. James served himself some dinner and leaned back in his seat. He looked around and snorted. Peter was shoveling food into his mouth so fast it looked as though he was trying to occupy himself so much that he wouldn't have to talk. There were mashed potatoes and gravy around his mouth, and cranberry sauce was on his shirt, just to the left of his tie.
Much later, James picked up his last bite of food, and his plate instantly cleaned itself. Just then, Nearly Headless Nick squeezed himself between Sirius and Maggie who had been sitting very close together. Everyone leaned in except Veronica. Over the years the nine Gryffindors had become very close with Nick. He told them everything he heard from the other ghosts and professors. They were eager to hear his news.
"Hello," he greeted them, seemingly ignorant of their impatience to hear what he had to say. "How are you?"
They all scooted forward in their seats to hear Nick better.
"Hi Nick," Olivia said. "We're all doing well. How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you, Olivia. I know you're all impatient to hear what I have to say, so I'll fill you in.
"Yesterday I was floating through Professor Dumbledore's corridor when I heard him holding one of his meetings with Professor McGonagall, so I floated outside of the door, listening carefully. They were talking quite seriously about Lord Voldemort." He glanced quickly around and saw curiosity and dread on the faces of everyone in the group except Veronica who wasn't really listening. Remus looked annoyed with her and was sliding over as close to Morgan as he could. Everyone in the group was curious to hear news about Voldemort and his destruction of their world.
"Come on, Nick. We're all nervous. Do share," Sirius encouraged. They were all eager to hear what Nick had to say, none more so than Sirius. He always took the news of dark activity hard because of his family's involvement.
Nick smiled patronizingly at Sirius. "All in due course, tonight you are in luck, though. I'm ready to tell you right now. Voldemort attacked a small wizarding village to get at one of the Order of the Phoenix members." Nick paused momentarily to check for eavesdroppers. "It was Emmeline Vance's family." The entire group glanced over at Emmeline, who was surrounded by her friends. Her face was ashen, and she was staring blankly ahead.
"Happy Halloween, indeed," James muttered, his face almost as stricken as Emmeline's. The rest of the group exchanged glances. James' family was very close with Emmeline's. Lily glanced at Sirius' brooding face. She knew it broke his heart to see his classmates and best friend hurt by what his family had done. She also barely heard him mutter, "trick or treat?" sarcastically.
James looked over at Emmeline again. He felt terrible and knew he would have to talk to her at some point. He looked back down at the chocolate cake on his plate, which, moments before, he had been thrilled to eat. Now he felt sick with disbelief. Everything had been going so well and now his world seemed to be collapsing about his ears. He looked slowly around at his friends. Olivia, Morgan, Maggie and Lily were talking quietly. Sirius and Remus were quiet, waiting for James, their unnamed but undisputed leader, to talk. Peter was also quiet, but instead of sitting stock still like Sirius and Remus, he was fidgeting frantically with seemingly everything he could reach. James cleared his throat. "I'll talk to her."
Remus leaned forward clearly not pleased with James' answer. "She keeps looking over here. You're the only one who understands what she's going through. Both of your parents were totally devoted to the Order of the Phoenix. You both knew that your parents were directly in danger's path."
Sirius continued, "You lost your Dad because of his devotion to the cause. You need to remind Emmeline that even though she lost her parents, she is still on the right side. She needs to stay on the good side. For what your parents told me, James, the Vances were good people and devoted members. Remind her what she wanted before their death, and remind her that she needs to keep living her life, the life she wanted to live before her parents died. Remind her that nothing has changed even though everything has."
James nodded and stood. He set his eyes straight ahead, ignoring the whispers. He tapped one of Emmeline's best friends on the shoulder. "May I sit here for a moment?" The brunette glanced at Emmeline and then back at James and then nodded slowly.
James thanked her as she stood. Quickly, he took her seat and put his arms around the back of Emmeline's chair. "Emmeline?" James asked. She didn't respond. "Em? Hey, will you talk to me?"
A blonde girl across the table from Emmeline looked at James. "She won't talk to anyone."
James grimaced. "Does she have a boyfriend?"
The blonde girl shook her head. James swore softly under his breath before turning back to Emmeline. "Em? Can we take a walk? Is there a place you want to go?"
Emmeline turned to face James, not a single tear track on her shock filled face. He knew the tears would start sooner or later. "My common room," she said so quietly James almost didn't hear her.
"Your common room?" he asked. "Well, may I walk you there?"
She nodded. They exited the Great Hall, and James put an arm around Emmeline's shoulders in a platonic manner and pulled her close to his body.
"Em?" James asked quietly. "Was it your whole family?"
Emmeline nodded and James sighed. "I'm so sorry. I know you don't want to hear that right now. You just want everything to be back to normal, don't you?"
Emmeline nodded again. "Yes," she said, and James noticed that the tears had started.
"I understand," James said sympathetically. "But you need to remember that you can't change the past. What you can do and what I'm planning on doing is remember this awful feeling and put it toward improving life for other families who protest Voldemort after us.
"I know your parents were heavily involved with the order. You have to remember that Voldemort didn't go after them because they were a part of the order. He doesn't know who's in the order and who isn't. "Please stay with us, and stay with our side."
Emmeline stopped and James noticed they were outside the Ravenclaw common room. She looked up at him. "I'm not switching sides. I don't blame the order for my family's death. The only thing to blame is Voldemort."
"I'm glad you think that way," James said. "It's a good mindset."
Emmeline nodded her thanks and let them into the common room. She sat on the couch and James stood next to it awkwardly. "I'm going to go to sleep," Emmeline said. "I'm exhausted."
James nodded. "Do you want me to stay?"
"Yeah," Emmeline nodded, lying down and closing her eyes. "Please."
Not five minutes after Emmeline had fallen asleep two people burst into the Ravenclaw common room. James recognized the girl as the brunette who had been sitting with Emmeline before. Remus was with her. "James," Remus exclaimed. "This is Dorcas. She'll stay with Emmeline. I need your help in the Great Hall now."
James took one look at the panic and fear written all over Remus' face and followed him out of the common room.