"…And there's no password to the tunnel, either, I stood there for nearly five minutes saying 'open sesame' like an imbecile before I realised, so thanks for that —"

"Well, Snivellus, I can hardly be blamed if you're too stupid to look with your eyes and see the tunnel laying right there —"

"You tried to kill me!"

"YOU WANTED TO BE KILLED!" bellowed Sirius. He and Severus were standing at opposite ends of Dumbledore's office, shouting at each other. The headmaster was watching the exchange from behind his desk, his hands clasped calmly and his eyes flicking back and forth as if following a lively sports match.

Sirius jabbed a finger at Severus. "You noticed something was dodgy with Remus, and instead of minding your own damn business like a normal person, you stuck your great greasy nose in it! You started snooping around for clues, figured out he's a werewolf, and then decided you wanted to see for yourself? None of that is my fault!"

"No," sneered Severus, "your fault lies in telling me how to get past the protections designed to keep students safe from that monster, just because you thought it would be funny if I got injured, or killed —"

"Well, I wasn't about to cry over it. I can see the epitaph now: 'Here lies Severus Snape, who walked into a werewolf den and was surprised when he got bit. Rest in bloody peace.'"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," said Severus drily. "You're acting like a proper Black now, getting an inhuman monster to kill a half-blood for your own amusement. I should tell Bella — I'm sure she'd be proud."

Sirius lunged at Severus, but Professor Dumbledore waved his wand and Sirius went flying backwards into a chair at the far end of the room. Sirius struggled to rise from the chair, but it was no use; he seemed to be bound by invisible chains. Eventually, he stopped flailing and resorted to glaring at Severus, too angry to speak.

"Mr Potter," said Dumbledore, startling James, who was slouched in a chair across from Dumbledore's desk and trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. "Is what Severus claims true? Did Sirius purposefully tell Severus how to get past the Whomping Willow, with the intention that Remus Lupin harm him?"

"I don't know, sir," said James, crossing his arms. His shoulder throbbed where the Whomping Willow had cut him. "You'll have to ask Sirius what his motivations were. I definitely don't know what he was thinking."

Sirius gaped at him. "James," he said. "You know I wasn't trying to — I would never —"

"I don't know anything about you." James kept his eyes on the floor.

"He was following us!" exclaimed Sirius, a pleading note in his voice. "He wanted to get at us, at Remus — wanted to know how to get past the tree — I only thought…"

Professor Dumbledore eyed Sirius gravely. "Remus Lupin spends the full moon in the Shrieking Shack because it is the only place able to contain him during his transformation. He voluntarily isolates himself, both for his own safety and the safety of all those at Hogwarts. Regardless of Severus Snape's machinations, Remus' secret was not yours to give away."

Sirius paled. "I never meant to — I wasn't thinking about Remus…"

"That much is obvious," said Dumbledore softly.

Severus' expression had grown increasingly sullen as Dumbledore spoke. Apparently unable to contain himself any longer, he burst out, "So you knew what Lupin was, and you let him attend Hogwarts?! The danger he poses — any one of us could be killed —"

"You are quite right," said Professor Dumbledore, cutting Severus off. "I allowed Remus Lupin a place at Hogwarts. He deserves an education just as much as any other student in this castle. It is for this reason that you must not reveal his secret."

Severus stared uncomprehendingly at the headmaster, as though Dumbledore had just informed him that Potions classes were being replaced by ballet lessons. "Do you mean to say," he said slowly, "that you expect me to — to cover for that… monster?"

"That is exactly what I expect." Professor Dumbledore looked pleased that Severus had grasped the matter so quickly.

Severus shook his head in disbelief, his stringy hair falling across his face. "And if I refuse?"

"Then you shall be expelled."

"No," said Severus immediately. "You can't be serious."

"I am quite in earnest," said Dumbledore. "And if you feel that you are incapable of discretion on this matter, there are ways to compel your silence. I am not opposed to modifying your memory so that you forget you ever took an interest in Remus Lupin. There are also Unbreakable Vows — though I must confess I find it distasteful to threaten you with silence or death, so I hope you will agree that such drastic measures are unnecessary."

"But — why?" spluttered Severus. "Why go through all this effort to protect a —"

"A human being," said Professor Dumbledore. "A person much the same as you or I, who was bitten as a child through no fault of his own, and has since suffered in ways I would not wish upon my worst enemy."

"But he's dangerous. The other students deserve to know — "

"I see I will not convince you on this matter," said Professor Dumbledore sadly. "Luckily for Remus Lupin, I am the headmaster of this school and you are not. As such, he will remain a student at Hogwarts, however much you may disagree with my decision. Now, do I have your word that you will not tell a soul what you saw tonight?"

Severus and Dumbledore stared at each other for a full minute. Sirius took the opportunity to nudge James' chair with his foot, trying to get his attention, but James looked away, pretending to be supremely interested in picking the dirt off his robes.

At last, Severus nodded sullenly. "Fine."

"I am relieved to hear it." Professor Dumbledore smiled, seeming to relax a bit. "On that note, the hour is late. You have my permission to return to your respective dormitories."

James didn't need telling twice. He jumped from his chair, and Sirius made to stand as well, but Dumbledore shook his head. "Mr Black, I'm afraid I must ask you to stay awhile longer, so that we may talk privately."

Sirius glanced desperately at James, who responded with the most disinterested shrug he could manage.

When James left the headmaster's office, he descended the spiral staircase three steps at a time, wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and Severus.

"Here's hoping he's expelled," came a drawling voice behind him, echoing off the stone walls.

James grit his teeth. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"It's no less than he deserves, luring me to that monster —"

James drew his wand and whirled around, advancing on Severus. To his gratification, there was a spark of fear in Severus' black eyes.

"I'll give you one warning, Snivellus," he said in a low voice. "If I catch you so much as looking at Remus sideways, I will Transfigure your vital organs into sandbags and drag your body to the Shrieking Shack at the next full moon. I swear on my wand."

Severus' mouth curled into a sneer. "And they say Slytherin is full of sadists."

"I'll make Whoever-He-Is look like Helga Hufflepuff," said James. "So I suggest you keep your greasy trap shut." He pocketed his wand and strode away from Severus, who was standing very still in the middle of the corridor. "By the way," called James over his shoulder, "you're welcome for saving your life."

It was nearly midnight by the time James got back to the boys' dormitory. He pulled his robes over his head and collapsed onto his bed, sighing deeply.

Peter rolled over in bed to face James. There was a little scab on his lip, as though he'd been worrying that spot for hours. "What happened?"

"Well, Snivellus is still with us, unfortunately." James yanked off his socks and hurled them to the floor. "Though not for lack of trying on his part, mind you."

"Did he get past the Willow?"

James nodded. "He saw Moony."

Peter's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "And — did you…?"

"Yeah," said James. "I saw him too. He was… Merlin, Pete, the wolf had Remus' eyes. It was horrifying."

"It didn't get you, though?" asked Peter, gesturing to James' shoulder.

"Oh — no, I'm fine." James touched the long gash in his shoulder and winced a little. "This was from the Willow, I'll get Poppy to look at it in the morning."

Peter exhaled, reassured. "And Sirius…?"

"Still talking to Dumbledore," said James, pulling on his pyjamas. "Looks like he might be expelled."

Peter's jaw dropped. "Expelled?!"

"Don't look so shocked, Pete. It's what he deserves, and good riddance."

Peter stared at James aghast, as though frightened that James might say 'good riddance' to him, too. "You don't mean that."

James sighed. "No, I suppose I don't. But I —"

Just then, the dormitory door swung open, and Sirius entered the room. His dark hair hung limply around his face, and his eyes were red.

James crossed his arms. "So?"

"So I'm staying," said Sirius hoarsely. "We just talked. He told me —" He stopped himself and lifted a shoulder. "It doesn't matter. No detention. He didn't even take points."

James raised an eyebrow. "Pity."

Sirius nodded, looking miserable. He headed towards his bed, but James stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"You're not sleeping here," he said. "You think Remus is going to want to share a dormitory with you when he finds out what you did?"

Sirius grimaced, but he didn't look particularly surprised. "Let me get my stuff, at least."

James made a show of checking his watch. "You have three minutes."

Sirius was gone in two.

The next morning, James was up before Peter. He dressed quickly, ignoring his aching body, and went to the hospital wing. He sat on the nearest cot, listening to the clicking of Madam Pomfrey's shoes as she approached him.

"Potter," she said, sounding exasperated, "You know Remus isn't supposed to have visitors —"

"I'm here for myself, actually." James undid his robes to expose his injured shoulder. "Well, and I also wanted to see Remus, of course."

"He injured himself worse than usual last night, I'm afraid," said Madam Pomfrey as she examined his shoulder. "He needs rest, not you boys working him up —"

"I'm a healing presence, Poppy."

"Five points from Gryffindor for cheek," she said, and James grinned. She pressed her fingers into his shoulder, and it throbbed suddenly with pain. She tutted. "Someone got too close to the Whomping Willow."

"Sirius dared me," he said. Madam Pomfrey merely raised her eyebrows and pointed her wand at the long, thin cut. Immediately, his skin began to itch as the wound knitted itself back together.

"Thanks," said James, re-buttoning his robes.

"You have several bruises, as well," she said pointedly.

He shrugged. "I can live with those. Can I see Remus now?"

Madam Pomfrey hesitated, but she inclined her head towards the familiar, curtained cot at the end of the room. "If you upset him, Potter, I'm throwing you out. Consider yourself warned."

"Noted," said James, smiling at her.

Behind the curtains, Remus was lying on his back on the cot and staring at the ceiling. His bloodshot eyes flickered towards James.

"Something happened last night." Remus' knuckles were white as he gripped the sheets. "I broke my collarbone trying to — to get at something. I think it was a person. James… tell me the truth, did I —"

"Everyone's okay," said James, sitting at the foot of Remus' bed. "Nobody got hurt. But Moony — Snape saw you."

Remus' bloodless face somehow paled even further. "Saw me? How — I didn't —"

"He opened the trapdoor at the end of the tunnel. I managed to close it, but he caught a glimpse of you."

It took Remus several moments to process this. "So… does that mean — did you…"

James nodded. "I saw you too."

Remus shut his eyes tightly, as if he was in pain. "James," he rasped. "I'm so sorry…"

"It wasn't your fault," said James. "You've got nothing to apologise for. Don't you want to know how Snape got past the Whomping Willow?"

Remus opened his eyes, nonplussed. "I know he tried following us last month…"

"It was Sirius," said James. His best mate's name sounded harsh and foreign in his mouth, like a curse. "Sirius told him how to get to the tunnel. How to find you."

Remus' expression was blank. "I don't understand," he said slowly. "Why would he do that? During the full moon… he knows — of course he knows —"

"What seems to have happened," said James, balling his hands into fists, "is that Sirius figured giving Snape the information he wanted would get him off our back, one way or another. I'm under the impression he didn't much care about the outcome."

"But I could have killed him," said Remus. "I could have killed you. Surely Sirius didn't mean —"

"I don't think his intentions matter, much," said James. "What he did crossed a line. He betrayed your trust. You get to decide the consequences for that."

Remus considered this, pulling a thread-worn blanket around himself. He closed his eyes and was silent for so long that James thought he might have fallen asleep. When he finally stirred, there was a hardness in his face that James had never seen before.

"Sirius will probably beg me for forgiveness," said Remus, "but I'm not ready to give him that. So I'd like you to keep him away from me. Can you do that?"

James put a hand on Remus' shoulder. "Consider it done."

Lily arrived early to Potions class that afternoon. She set her bag on the chair beside her and opened her textbook, taking notes while the other students trickled in. She kept her head down as a swirl of shabby, patched robes entered her peripheral vision.

"May I?"

Severus was standing in front of her table, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He gestured towards her bag on the chair beside her.

"That seat's taken, actually," said Lily coolly, returning to her book.

Severus couldn't take a hint, apparently. "No, it's not. We're assigned partners, Lily."

She raised her eyebrows. "And since when has that mattered to you? You've seemed perfectly happy to share a cauldron with Mulciber lately."

"I — I told you, he made me —"

"Of course he did," she said flatly. "That's your relationship with Mulciber all over, isn't it? He's always forcing you to do things you don't want to do. Always bullying you, isn't he?"

Severus' dark brow furrowed over his hooked nose. "What are you insinuating?"

"Why don't you read between the lines and figure it out?"

"How can I figure it out when you're being deliberately obtuse —"

"Saved me a seat, did you, Evans?" asked Sirius Black. He slid into the chair beside Lily, knocking her bag to the floor. "Oops — my mistake..." Leaning over, he picked up her bag and tossed it carelessly onto the table.

Severus' mouth opened and shut several times before he found words to speak. "You're — you're working with him?"

"No, I'm not." Lily turned to Sirius. "That seat's for Parvana. Get out."

Sirius examined his nails. "Parvana's working with James today, actually."

It was Lily's turn to gape at Sirius. "Why?"

"Because I paid her ten Galleons to partner with him," said Sirius, shrugging. "Looks like you're stuck with me."

"Lily doesn't want to sit with you," said Severus immediately.

She bristled. "Don't put words in my mouth, Sev."

"But you… but he —"

"You heard her, Sev," said Sirius loftily, as though addressing a house-elf. "Go on, then. Looks like Mulciber's missing you." He jerked his head towards the back of the room, where Mulciber was struggling to set up his cauldron.

Severus looked like he desperately wanted to curse Sirius, but he focused on Lily with a Herculean effort. "After class," he said. "You need to tell me what's going on."

"Looking forward to it," said Lily frostily. As soon as Severus had stalked off, she asked Sirius, "Did you actually pay Parvana ten Galleons to sit with James?"

"Nah," said Sirius, pulling a set of delicate silver scales from his bag. "I paid her twenty."

"But why —"

"I was feeling like a change of pace." Sirius squinted at instructions on the board. "Now, to business. Would you rather extract the Billywing venom or gut the Flobberworms?"

Lily eyed him suspiciously and glanced behind them. James was indeed sitting with Parvana, who was giggling at something he had said. He noticed Lily watching and blew her a little kiss.

She turned back around, sighing heavily. "I'll gut the Flobberworms."

Working with Sirius ended up being more pleasant than she had originally anticipated. Despite his feigned indifference, he was sharp, and at one point he even stopped her from adding shaved Gurdyroot to the cauldron three steps too early. Their Calming Draught may not have turned the exact shade of periwinkle Lily could have achieved with Severus, but it was close. And not even Severus could save Mulciber from himself: their potion looked like a sampling of sludge from the bottom of the Black Lake.

Slughorn had barely dismissed them before Sirius grabbed his bag and hopped out of his seat. He planted a loud, smacking kiss on Lily's cheek, then sped out of the dungeon.

Lily touched her face, grimacing. Mercurial didn't even begin to describe Sirius Black. She noticed Severus staring at her, appalled, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"I can't believe he kissed you!" said Severus, following her out of the classroom. "The nerve of that arrogant, presumptuous —"

"Oh, spare me," snapped Lily as they entered the courtyard. The sun was warm on her back, but she felt as if the air had gone several degrees colder. "Don't pretend like you care more for me than he does."

Severus looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Lily… how can you… in case you've forgotten, you didn't want to sit with me!"

"And have you figured out the reason why yet?"

"No, I have no idea! I thought we were supposed to be friends. Best friends?"

"We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What d'you see in him, Sev, he's creepy!"

"Well, obviously I wouldn't have sat with him if you had let me be your partner. You know you were my first choice."

"As if you haven't been spending every spare minute with Mulciber anyway," said Lily. "And I don't believe for a second that he's bullying you. I think you want to be mates with him. D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?"

Severus paled. "That — that was nothing. It was a laugh, that's all –"

"I was there, Sev. It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny –"

"What about the stuff Potter and Black get up to?" he blurted.

Lily blinked. "What — we're talking about Mulciber! What's Potter got to do with anything?"

"They sneak out at night, you know they do, they had that party… flagrantly breaking the rules... and that's not to mention Lupin! I told you, he's a —" Severus broke off, breathing hard. "You know there's something weird about him. He leaves the grounds —"

"He's ill," she said. "We've been through this, they say he's ill – "

"Every month at the full moon? Too ill for the hospital wing?"

They'd stopped walking in the middle of the courtyard, other students streaming around them. Lily crossed her arms and tilted her chin defiantly. "I know your theory, and I think it's bunk."

"It is not —" Severus stopped himself, nostrils flaring.

"Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?"

"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are."

"Just because Sirius kissed me doesn't mean I think they're wonderful," said Lily, but she felt heat spreading up her neck.

"You prefer them to Mulciber and Avery, though, don't you?"

"Of course I do! Potter and his mates don't use Dark magic!" Lily glanced around the courtyard to make sure nobody was listening, then dropped her voice. "And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there —"

Severus pulled away from her, his mouth contorting with disgust. "Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to — I won't let you —"

"Let me? Let me?"

Severus held up his hands. "Look, I didn't mean… I just don't want to see you made a fool of — He fancies you, James Potter fancies you! And he's not… everyone thinks… big Quidditch hero —"

Lily raised her eyebrows. "I know Potter fancies me. I don't need you to tell me that. And I know he's an arrogant toerag. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humour is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them."

Her condemnation of James seemed to make Severus relax a bit. "Mulciber and Avery are alright when you get to know them —"

Lily felt like she'd just swallowed a rock. "I can't believe you're actually defending them."

"I'm not! I'm just saying —"

"That they're not that bad?" Lily's eyes were blazing with fury. "Mulciber set an undead kitten on Mary because her cat is missing. What part of that scenario do you find not that bad?"

"That's not what I —"

"Don't lie," she snapped. "You knew about it. You said it was a laugh." A thought occurred to her, and she narrowed her eyes. "I bet you know what happened to Fletcher, too, don't you?"

Severus looked at her imploringly, but she didn't back down. "Well?"

Slowly, he nodded.

"Did Mulciber kill Mary's cat, Sev?"

The gutted expression on his face was all the confirmation she needed.

"Was that a laugh, too?"

"Lily," he said pleadingly. "Come on. I didn't know what to do. I'm in over my head."

Lily regarded Severus critically, taking in his greasy black hair, his flushed, pale skin, and his knobby limbs. He looked just like the Severus she had grown up with. Even so, she couldn't help but feel that the scrawny boy she'd befriended as a child was gone, and in his place was a stranger.

"You know the most disappointing thing about all this?" she said. "You don't even say you're sorry. You just make excuses."

By the time Severus opened his mouth to respond, she had already walked away.

After eating their traditional post-full moon dinner in the kitchens, James and Peter accompanied Remus back to Gryffindor tower. To James' great relief, the dormitory was empty; Sirius had clearly gotten the message that he was not welcome.

James caught Remus' eyes lingering on Sirius' empty bed. "Alright, Moony?"

"Ah — yeah, fine." Remus smiled thinly and pulled his robes gingerly over his head.

"Did you tell Sirius to bugger off, then, James?" asked Peter.

James shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "Haven't seen him, honestly. I think he knows he's not wanted."

Remus raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He crawled into bed and drew the curtains, shielding himself from view. No more noise came from Remus' corner of the room, but as James lay awake that night, he suspected that he was not the only one having trouble sleeping.

The next morning, James rose early for Quidditch practice. Slytherin had lost badly to Hufflepuff, which meant Gryffindor had a chance at winning the Cup if they could beat Ravenclaw, whose team was speedy and hard-hitting.

As he pulled on his Quidditch uniform, he couldn't help but cast a glance at Sirius' side of the room. The robes which had lain haphazardly across Sirius' trunk were missing, as were the textbooks on his bedside table. Apparently, Sirius had visited in the middle of the night to grab some essentials.

James padded down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, pausing at the notice board. An announcement about career counselling had appeared there overnight. He scanned the list of appointment times beneath the notice; apparently, he was scheduled to meet with Professor McGonagall after the Easter holidays.

"Reckon we've got a chance against Ravenclaw?" rasped a voice. Sirius sat up from the sofa in front of the fireplace, shrugging off a thick red blanket.

"Sirius," said James wearily. "I'm not going to talk about Quidditch with you."

"Why not?" There was a note of defiance in Sirius' voice. "Remus isn't around, is he?"

"It's more than that," said James. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up in all directions. "I need a bit of space from you, too, mate, alright?"

Sirius' expression darkened. "So you expect me to mope around by myself, then."

"If you want to mope, that's your choice. I don't much care what you do, honestly. Just don't do it around us."

"Us," spat Sirius. "How quickly the circle closes."

Anger flared inside James, hot and urgent, and he took a step forward. "You nearly had someone killed," he said. "You nearly had me killed. I think spending some time alone is the least of all the things you deserve to have happen to you."

Sirius blinked. "Alright, mate. Point taken."

"Great," said James. They looked at each other for a moment.

Sirius broke the silence first. "How long —"

"Merlin's arse, Sirius," said James. "I'm not doing this with you." He shouldered his broom and made for the portrait hole, half-expecting Sirius to argue the point, but the common room behind him was quiet.

In Herbology that afternoon, James Vanished the fourth chair at the table where they usually sat, forcing Sirius to work with a group of twitchy Hufflepuffs who seemed to be unravelling now that O.W.L.s were less than two months away.

"Got something fun planned for today," said Professor Sprout, rubbing her forehead and leaving a smudge of dirt there. She gestured at the bucket of sticks on each table. "Who here has heard of xylomancy?"

A few students raised their hands, Peter included. "Xylomancy is the art of predicting the future from the arrangement of twigs," he said.

Professor Sprout pursed her lips and nodded approvingly. "Very good, Pettigrew. Two points to Gryffindor. While most wizards consider xylomancy to be a frivolous pursuit, using scrapings from wand wood trees can improve the accuracy of your readings. I thought it would be a fun Friday activity, as I know your O.W.L.s are looming. If you consult page fifty-three of your textbook, you will find instructions on basic xylomancy readings."

James kicked Peter under the table. "Since when do you volunteer in class?"

Peter gave James a smug look. "You lot always take the mickey because I'm in Divination, but the joke's on you now. I'm going to blow your readings out of the water."

"Wish she'd have just cancelled class, if she's so worried about our mental health," said Remus, grabbing a handful of sticks out of the bucket. "This isn't exactly a valuable use of time, if you ask me.…"

"I'm sure my twigs will say I'm going to be wildly successful." James spread out the sticks on the table. "This one looks like it's forming a seven — is that the number of O.W.L.s I'm going to get?"

Peter snorted. "Not likely. Divination is more concerned with the detection and forewarning of tragedy. I've yet to hear a single positive prediction in Vablatsky's class."

"Yeah, but this is twig magic," said James. "Hard to find anything threatening in a bunch of old twigs."

"Peter might have a point," said Remus, poring over his book. "Looks like there's all sorts of ways for a pair of sticks to spell death and destruction. This arrangement means 'trials ahead' though, that's not too bad —"

"Nah, that's even worse." Peter shook his head. "It's too vague. You want to know exactly what sort of misfortune is going to befall you, so you can prepare for it."

"Oh, I think I've got it, then," said Remus. "These twigs are saying, 'you're going to graduate from Hogwarts just in time for wizarding Britain to be swept up in a massive blood war, good luck with the job market.'"

James laughed, and Peter nodded encouragingly. "See, doesn't it feel better to know what you're facing?"

"I've never felt so comforted," said Remus drily.

"You don't actually think there's going to be a war?" said a voice at the table next to them. Mary MacDonald was looking at them curiously, one of her xylomancy twigs tucked into her ponytail.

Next to her, Marlene yawned. "Of course there will be. Mulciber attacked you with an undead kitten because you're a Muggle-born, and we're at Hogwarts. Safest place in magical Britain, and all that. Imagine how much worse things are in the real world."

"Wait, Mulciber did what?" exclaimed James.

Lily looked up from her twigs at the sound of Mulciber's name. "It's true. We barely got to Mary in time."

"He also killed Fletcher, so we're not real chuffed with him at the moment," said Marlene.

Remus looked horrified. "Not Fletcher. Are you certain?"

Mary's chin crumpled. She nodded and looked down at her sticks, blinking back tears.

"That's sick," said Peter. "He was a really clever cat, too."

"He was part-Kneazle, for sure," agreed Marlene, wrapping her arms around Mary.

"Where did Mulciber get an undead kitten, though?" said James.

Marlene rolled her eyes at him. "You know that gang he goes round with all want to be Death Eaters. They probably thought it was funny."

"Who wants to bet they tell the examiners that during our O.W.L.s, too?" Peter dropped his voice to imitate Mulciber's slow drawl. "'Yes, sir, I've been up all night studying, What's-His-Name won't accept anything less than an E in Charms…'"

Mary cracked a smile at that, but James didn't laugh. Lily wasn't smiling either; she had snapped one of her twigs to bits and was frowning at the pieces as if they were personally responsible for Mary's attack.

After class, Lily caught James by the arm. "We need to talk," she said with a glance at Remus and Peter. "Just us, if you don't mind."

She took him behind the greenhouse and rounded on him, planting her hands on her hips. "You can't get revenge on Mulciber," she said firmly.

James raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because it's just going to escalate until someone gets hurt. Just like what happened with Severus."

"Some people deserve to get what's coming to them, though," James said. "I mean, Merlin's balls, Evans, a dead kitten…"

There was a knowing look on Lily's face. "Did Severus deserve what was coming to him?"

James might as well have stepped on one of Hagrid's rabbit snares; he realised at once that he'd fallen into a trap. "That — I mean, yeah, but…"

"But you saved him," she said. "Now's the perfect time to let things cool off between you two — which you'll do if you've got a fraction of sense. But if you jump right into making Mulciber your new target, or rival, or whatever…"

She was right, and James knew it, but he didn't want to concede the point. "If you're suggesting I just sit back and do nothing —"

"Don't put words into my mouth," she said. "I've had quite enough of that with Severus, thank you."

"Oh, er — sorry, Lily. Really. I didn't mean to."

"I know," she said. "It's alright."

The ease with which she forgave him made him need to do something with his hands, so he stuck them into his hair. "So what do you think I should do?"

"I think you should use that oversized brain of yours to do something good for once. Find a way to get back at the Slytherins that doesn't involve hexing them in the corridors. Show the other Muggle-borns at Hogwarts that bigots are the minority here. Do something, I don't know, uplifting."

James was still stuck on the fact that she'd called his brain 'oversized'. Was that an insult or a compliment? "Would you go out with me if I did?"

He barely managed to dodge her kick. "I'm kidding!" he said, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "But just to clarify, you're saying that you would be extremely impressed with me if I used my powers of mischief-making to do something good for the school."

"You're impossible," said Lily. "Don't do anything on your own. You've got no common sense, you'll ruin it. Get Remus' approval first, he's sensible."

James grinned widely. "Ah, Evans, you still have a lot to learn. Remus is even wilder than I am." And before she could respond, he began to stroll, whistling, towards the castle.