DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.

It was the third day ever since NEWTs had ended. James and Lily had gone on a date on the first day of the week. On the second day, they had all flown in the quidditch stadium and had played a game of quidditch, with James as the captain and seeker of one team and Sirius as the other captain and keeper of the other team. For chasers, Severus and Lily sided with James while Peter and Remus sided with Sirius. Marlene played keeper for James' team and Emmeline played seeker for Sirius' team. Although Lily was not really a quidditch person, she had decided to play along, not wanting to be left out.

Severus had also noticed that Marlene had been looking at him on and off ever the start of the second term. He had found himself growing interested in her, but had avoided asking her out so far with NEWTS to study for, pushing all thoughts of romance out of his head.

Now, he was sitting under a beech tree by the lake with James. The two of them had become really close friends by now, a complete difference to the previous year when they had been bitter rivals.

James said, "Severus, what are you planning to do now that we're done with Hogwarts?" Severus replied, "Potions has always been my favorite subject, apart from the dark arts but I'm also good at defense. I wanted to become a potioneer, but with all that has happened, especially with Uncle Ken and Aunt Wendy, I don't think that's enough."

"I originally wanted to be a quidditch player, but now I feel like I need to do more. I want to be a part of the fight against Voldemort, not sit back and do nothing while people live in fear."

"I suppose the others intend to join the fight as well."

"Yeah, in fact, Sirius and I have decided to become aurors. I also heard of some organization that Professor Dumbledore runs, but not much. I hope to be able to join it because it's dedicated to fighting Voldemort from what I've heard."

"An auror, that sounds interesting. Perhaps I shall consider doing the same."

"I think you'd make a really good auror Sev. You know a lot about the dark arts, so that should help. Plus, you're really good at charms and defense, not to mention the spells that you secretly made and showed Lily and I the other day."

Just the previous day, Severus had shown James and Lily the spells that he had invented during his previous years at Hogwarts. Lily had found one of them, 'Sectumsempra' to be morbid, but other than that, they had all been interesting. James had suggested that he try and come up with some new spells. Severus had decided that he would definitely do so in whatever spare time he got.

James continued, "The other thing I'm planning to do is to ask Lily if she'll marry me."

Severus looked at James and firmly said, "You'd better take care of her."

James replied, "I surely will, even if I have to die for her."

Severus said, "I trust that you will."

Just then, Sirius turned up saying, "Hey Cobra, I've noticed you looking at Marlene for the past few days. She's right down there by the lake. Why don't you go and ask her if she'll go out with you to Hogsmeade or something?"

Sure enough, Marlene was standing by the lake, a little distance away from them.

Severus replied, "Well, I admit, I quite like her, but I really don't know if…"

But before he could go on, James and Sirius grabbed him by the arms and dragged him over to where Marlene was standing, shouting, "Ask her, ask her, ask her…"

Just as they reached Marlene, she turned around and started laughing at the sight. James and Sirius left Severus and dashed off to hide behind the beech tree, eager to see what would happen from a distance.

Marlene looked at Severus and asked, "Hi Severus, what's going on? What do you want to ask me?"

Severus looked all around, but could not see James or Sirius around. He had no idea as to how he would ask her to go with him, right on the spot. He swallowed and decided to go ahead and try anyway.

He slowly said, "Uh, Marlene, I like you very much."

Marlene smiled and to his surprise said, "I like you very much too. You've been a good friend to me."

"You've been a very good friend to me too Marlene, despite me being a Slytherin."

"You're a good man Severus. That's what matters."

"So, I was wondering… err, would you perhaps like to, uh, go out with me to Hogsmeade, tomorrow?"

Marlene looked at him and laughed before smiling and saying, "You know what, I'd love to. What time should we meet, after breakfast in the Great Hall?"

Severus said, "That should be perfect. I wonder what Lily will have to say when she finds out I'm going on a date." Marlene simply blew a kiss at him in response.

Behind the beech tree, James and Sirius were observing the scene, holding their sides and laughing.