Chapter Two

That weekend, Lily and James were sitting at the breakfast table, eating toast and reading the Daily Prophet, when they heard a tapping on the glass. Lily looked up and saw a tawny owl sitting on their window ledge, two very official-looking letters on it's leg.

"Oh, terrific, our N.E.W.T. results are here," she said, hopping off her stool to let the bird in. James looked less than thrilled at the prospect of seeing his test results. Lily untied their envelopes and the owl took back off out the window.

Lily took her own letter and handed James' to him. She held her finger under the edge of the flap and breathed in deep. "You ready?" she asked James, who now looked like he might be sick.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked. Once they found out what their test results were, recent Hogwarts alumni would also find out whether their grades were up to par for their expected jobs. James already had a spot in the Ministry as an auror, but if his potions grade wasn't an O, he knew his offer would be revoked. Lily had offers from several school as a teacher, as well as at the Daily Prophet as a very high-ranking editor for the company and her backup was opening her own company down in Diagon alley.
She smiled at James in what she hoped was a convincingly confident way and began to tear open her letter. "Here goes nothing!"

James slid his finger across the top of his envelope and pulled out the parchment. It was only one page of paper, but it felt like lead in his hands. he took a few deep breathes and unfolded his test results.

Before his eyes had even had a chance to fall past the top lines ("Dear Mr. Potter, We are pleased to say that your results have arrived...) and then down to where the scoring was explained -same as with their O.W.L.'s- he heard Lily let out a shrill scream of delight as she read her grades.

"Oh, James! I've got perfect marks! I can't believe it! How have you done!" she came running over, her grades still clutched tightly in her right hand, to read behind his shoulder.
"I haven't had a chance to look yet..." he muttered, now turning back to his parchment and letting his eyes travel down to his marks.
"You've got an O in Herbology," Lily muttered behind his head. "Not that you wouldn't've...but you know, that's really good."

Astronomy: O
Ancient Runes: E
Charms: E
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O
Herbology: O
History of Magic: E
Study Habits: A
Potions: O
Transfiguration: O

James breathed a sigh of relief as he finished scanning the list. Lily was congratulating him on a job well done and kissed him on the cheek.
Wait a second...James thought to himself, and he quickly scanned back over the list, finally reaching it at the very bottom. Potions: O? I got an outstanding in potions! He knew it was what he had really needed to have locked in to earn his spot in the ministry, but somehow he just couldn't believe he actually had.
"Lily, I got the 'O' in Potions!" he exclaimed suddenly.
"I know, it's amazing! Well done! Aren't you glad you studied so hard, now?" she replied, grinning brightly, happy that her nudging had paid off.
"But, that means.." he started, but at that moment another owl soared in through the still-open window and dropped two more letters on the table. James grabbed his and ripped it open.

Dear Mr. James Potter,

We at the Ministry of Magic have recently received your N.E.W.T. results and are very pleased to announce that you have been asked to join our team in the Auror division here at the Ministry!

Congratulations, Mr, Potter. The Minister of Magic requests a meeting with on Friday, the 2...

James stopped reading the letter and jumped up from his seat. "I did it! I'm doing it; I'm going to be an AUROR!" he yelled in excitement. Lily beamed at him from where she sat, her large pile of acceptance letters lying have opened in front of her. She stood up and walked over to him, placing her arms around his neck.
"I know, it's amazing," she said, staring up at him with her luminescent green eyes. "I mean, we're all going to be doing exactly what we always wished we could. Remus and I will be teachers in the fall, you're going to be my very own auror, and I've just got a letter from Sirius saying he's got the grades to do almost whatever he wants, but he's been offered that spot on the Chudley Cannons and the Belsize Boomers. He thinks he'll go for one of them instead of a regular job. And all my friends got their early acceptance letters before school ended, like Remus."
"Oh, this is so- wait, what about Peter?" James asked.
"Don't know. I haven't gotten anything from him. He's probably celebrating with his sister...I'm sure we'll hear soon," Lily replied, not too worried about Peter's grade results. "Oh," she said, suddenly remembering something. "I'm going to write to Sirius and Remus and Carmen and Liz and see if they all want to come to dinner tonight...a little celebratory feast I think?" she grinned.
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Ms. Evans," James said, kissing her lightly.
"Why thank you, Mr Potter. You know, I have a lot of good ideas up my sleeve," Lily cocked an eyebrow sexily.
"I bet you do. But right now," James stopped and grabbed Lily up into his arms, "I think we have some celebrating of our own to do." James kissed Lily's neck and began to carry her towards the stairs.
Lily put on her best southern-American accent, "Oh, Mista Potter, you are a bad , bad man!" and squealed as he raced up the stairs and down the hall to their bedroom.

That evening, Lily and James put on some fairly dressy clothes, Lily got a nice dinner ready and guests began arriving at 7 on the dot. James answered the door to see both Sirius and Remus standing on the doorstep, grinning at him. They had been sharing an apartment in London since the end of school, working part time to pay for rent.
"Hey!" they all cried when they saw each other, and James stepped back to let them into the house. Sirius looked around, surveying the house.
"I see you've redecorated a little," he said, motioning to the living room furniture and all of the windows.
"Well, Lily decorated...I just watched," James replied, smiling a big smile. Lily emerged from the kitchen, her apron still on and greeted the boys merrily.
"Sirius, James! How have you been?" she asked, happily. They each hugged and kissed her and assured her they were doing very well indeed, especially now that their qualms about their grades had come in.
"Oh, we brought you this," Remus said, handing Lily a bottle of very expensive white wine.
"Oh, thank you. But you shouldn't have," Lily said. "Really you shouldn't have. You two are both 17 still!" she chastised them, but accepted the wine all the same.
"Well, he got you that," Sirius interrupted, jabbing his thumb at Remus. "I got you this," and he handed James a fresh bottle of vodka. "A house warming gift, if you will," he smirked.
"More like a 'Sirius Warming Gift'," James joked, patting his friend on the back.

The rest of the evening was a smashing success, and ended with all six of them curled together in front of the television and the slowly-dying fire, passed out from too much drinking and sleeping soundly from a very, very good party.

Sosrry I haven't added in agessss…I meant to and..well..it's up now..enjoy! lol

Jes xoxoxo

oh, ps. here's the scoring system so you don't have to look it up

Outstanding: O
Exceeds Expectation: E
Acceptable: A
Poor: P
Dreadful: D
Troll: T