Chapter 2

"No staying together at unnecessarily late hours, no going into each other's rooms except for cleaning unless your own room was blown to smithereens—scratch that, even if your room was blown into smithereens you still can't—" Mr. Evans was saying.

"No ritual animal slaughters of any kind, no drunken all-night parties—" Mr. Greenleaf added.

"Dad—honestly…" Nicole muttered.

James and Sirius nodded mechanically, as they had been doing for the past hour.

The lot had just been officially declared graduates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Their parents (except James's, who had already died, and Sirius's, who had disowned him years ago) had attended the momentous occasion. It was a reunion for James and the Evanses (they had gotten to know each other a few months ago after James crashed their house quite literally to ask help in courting Lily) but it was Sirius's first time to meet Nicole's Muggle dad. Fortunately for Sirius and Nicole, he and her dad had gotten along famously (they had already made plans for Sirius to introduce Mr. Greenleaf to some of the beasts in the wizarding world).

"Lastly," Mr. Evans began.

"If we get a call from any of our daughters about any poor treatment—" Mrs. Evans continued.

"We will get you," Mr. Greenleaf concluded pleasantly. "And don't think that just because we're Muggles, we can't do a thing to you."

"Hell hath no fury than a parent on a rampage," Remus quipped as he came up with his mum.

"The same goes for you, Remus—although I trust you," Mrs. Evans replied sweetly.

James sighed. "It hurts to be mistrusted by your girlfriend's parents."

"Be glad I'm not roasting you over a fire, James." Mr. Evans smacked a suddenly-uneasy-looking James on the back jovially. "So, George, how about a cuppa?" he asked, turning to Nicole's father.

"Why not?" Mr. Greenleaf patted Sirius one last time on the back. "See you Sunday, Sirius! And don't forget my puffskein!"

Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Lupin followed the men back to the castle, where refreshments were being served for family members who had come. The five teenagers sighed in relief.

"Alright, Sirius—did I hear my dad right? He wants you to get him a puffskein?" Nicole asked, looking amused.

"Well, I told your dad a little about the puffskein Andromeda used to have (before Bellatrix used it as a test subject for her potion) and your dad reckoned it sounded adorable. Besides, it's not a problem—puffskeins are not very expensive," Sirius replied, flipping his black hair out of his eyes.

They all strolled towards the lake, taking spots beneath the Marauders' favorite tree. Lily watched the giant squid poke a tentacle out of the water.

"You know," she began, a lump beginning to form in her throat, "I really am going to miss this place."

James put an arm around her shoulders. "We all are. I hung Snivellus upside down right on this very spot, you remember? Ahhh, what lovely memories…"

Lily glared at him. "Potter…"

"Yes, yes, fine."

"You guys want to take one last stroll around before we go?" Remus proposed.

They all headed back up the castle and visited the now-bare Gryffindor common room, with its familiar red-and-gold walls and squishy armchairs. The fire in the elaborate fireplace in front of which they'd loved to sit was now dead and the usually-raucous room was eerily quiet, but it had been, and still brought the feeling of, home.

Lily and Nicole lingered in the doorway of Lily's old dormitory, which still bore the faintest trace of the smell of roses. With a mischievous grin as she recalled the event that had led to her dormitory smelling like that, Lily surreptiously pointed her wand at James's head, on which appeared a wreath of huge tropical flowers. Nicole tried to stifle a chuckle, but it was not long before both girls were laughing their heads off.

They headed next for the grounds (James still wearing his highly-unusual Roman headdress while Remus and Sirius, never ones to spoil a good joke, sniggered from behind), passing the very hallway in which Lily had been attacked—once by a bee and another time by a swarm of ants—courtesy of James (as she reminded him).

"That was an accident," James said petulantly. "They didn't watch the chocolate." He shot a glare at his two best friends, who quickly rearranged their features into indignant expressions.

"Who told you to bewitch that chocolate?"

"Besides, we already got landed in the hospital wing for that, mate," Sirius grumbled. "Those bites hurt, you know."

"Serves you right." James retorted.

"Hey!"

As they passed the library, Remus threw himself at its doors. "Oh my love, I shall miss you."

The other four blinked.

"Once a geek, always a geek," Sirius muttered.

xxxxx

Nicole and Sirius had their moment on the grounds—mournfully saying goodbye to the plants that had brought them together in the first place.

Nicole stroked the leaf of a violet one last time before rising. A low crooning sound suddenly filled the air.

"Um, you guys hear that?" James asked uncertainly.

Lily and Remus were beaming. "Awww, the plants are going to miss you!"

"I feel so loved," Sirius sighed.

xxxxx

And of course, James was not able to keep from throwing himself upon the Quidditch pitch, which had for so long been his domain. He pulled Lily down along with him to lie on the fresh, dewy, sweet-smelling grass.

"Tsk, tsk, so uncivilized," Remus sighed. "Lily dear, good luck getting the grass stains out." With a wink, he went to join Sirius and Nicole on the bleachers.

"Who cares about grass stains?" James shot his most charming and irresistible grin at his girlfriend.

Lily had already sat up and was brushing blades of grass from her robes, but gave up and flopped back down into his arms when she was hit with that smile. Removing the wreath from his head, she beamed, her emerald-green eyes shining. "Not when you're around."

XXX

A/N: I would like to thank God for everything—especially helping me pass ALL MY SUBJECTS! Yay!

And many, many thanks to my reviewers Laura, Gemm, LupinLover99 (hey, nice to see you again!), Crimson Girl (ditto!), and Wilty