Disclaimer: I own nothing (still). All things Buffy belong to Joss Whedon just as all things Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling. Smells Like Teen Spirit belongs to Nirvana… and a whole generation of teens in the 90's. But legally, Nirvana.

A.N: SO SORRY! It's been months and I'm a horrible author, I know! But this renting business is harder work than you'd think, with the bills and the cleaning and the spending time with housemates who never leave you alone long enough to write, and then the uni starting back up… Anyway, I really appreciate the support throughout this whole story. Thank you all so much, you've kept me going, and now there's only one chapter to go! Oh my God! The end is nigh! And then I'll have to get cracking on that sequel I've promised. It's been a helluva ride, I'm so glad you've all shared it with me. XX00

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Dawn still hadn't forgiven Sirius and James by the time the next full moon rolled around. Picking on Snape had made her angry, but after she and Sirius had almost been caught in a very compromising position by Professor McGonagall when he was trying to make it up to her, she had been livid. She was civil to both boys, but barely so. None of James' jokes could draw even the tiniest smile from Dawn, and Sirius wasn't allowed to lay a hand on her for nine days straight.

As the sun sank below the horizon on the night of the full moon, Dawn smirked evilly at Lily, who pressed her lips together to try and pin back the smile. This was the boys true punishment; Sirius was frustrated to the point of insanity with Dawn's refusal to let him touch her in any way (she'd quite spectacularly sat him on his backside when he'd casually tried to slip an arm about her waist on day five). And both girls knew that Padfoot was bound to very violently take his anger out on Prongs that night. And Moony, confined to the Shrieking Shack for the duration of the full moon once more, wasn't likely to let up on either of them for most of the night. Remus had promised so.

Dawn and Lily spent their homework-free evening playing Wizard's Chess and listening to music in the Common Room, which was always quieter than usual when the male Marauders weren't about. They settled into bed at about eleven, leaving their hangings open so they could chat until sleep slid over them.

"So, you are going to let them off the hook in the morning, aren't you?" Lily yawned. "You've been tougher on them this time than even I would be. Well done."

"Oh, depends on how bruised they are," Dawn said airily. "Although I have to say, who knew withholding sex could be such an effective way to control men?"

Lily laughed. "Well I don't have that card to play myself, so I guess I'll just have to stick with the yelling next time they do something moronic."

Dawn couldn't help but laugh, too. "What are you on about, Lil? You're permanently withholding sex – just ask James!"

"Oh, shut up!" Lily pelted a throw cushion at Dawn's head and yanked her curtains across.

"'Night, Lily," Dawn called sweetly, receiving only a muffled, "Screw you," in response.

Dawn woke up early the next morning, showered and dressed in the bathroom while the other girls were still sound asleep, and was waiting in the boys' dorm when three of them limped back in. Remus had been taken to the Hospital Wing by Madam Pomfrey while the others had watched from beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Peter looked exhausted, Dawn bet he'd spent the night scrambling for cover, he only grunted at her and stumbled right to bed. Sirius and James looked much the worse for wear – there was a cut on James' cheek and Sirius' lip was beginning to swell already. They stopped short and stared at Dawn, perched on the edge of Sirius bed. She paused a moment, then stood up and walked a few steps closer.

"Rough night?" she asked, her expression giving nothing away.

"Makes you say that, Kitten?" James lobbed back in a dry, tired voice.

And at long last, Dawn smiled just a tiny bit at him. "No reason. Learned your lesson about being horrible buttmonkeys yet?"

Both boys gaped. The second she'd spoken those words, it had dawned on them exactly what she'd done, how she'd set them up to punish each other for her.

"You little witch," Sirius muttered.

James just shook his head. He'd been played, well and truly, and he was too tired and sore to hesitate in admitting defeat. "This round to you, little sister."

He went to bed without another word. When they were alone, Dawn lifted a hand to inspect Sirius' lip, but he stepped deliberately away from her reach. She blinked. Her script said he would leap enthusiastically into her arms, apologizing a thousand times over and begging her to forgive him.

"Hey, don't think you can get away with playing me like that, Dawn," he snapped. "I'm not a bloody puppet, you know."

Dawn went crimson, her hand dropped back to her side and she turned to slink out of the room in defeat. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but Sirius had never snapped at her like that before, not when they were together. Maybe she needed to reconsider the brilliance of her revenge scheme. But before she could escape, Sirius caught her wrist.

"Oi, what are you doing?" he blurted.

Dawn looked back at him. "But you just said–"

"Bullocks to what I just said, baby. Of course I'm your bloody puppet, you can play me any way you want as long as you get your arse back over here and give me a kiss. That was just a lame attempt to try and salvage some of my dignity from the wreckage."

She giggled and turned to slot herself into his arms. She kissed the side of his face that wasn't turning blue-black with what looked suspiciously like a stag hoof imprinted on it, trying to be gentle but Sirius was urging her to up the intensity. When he pulled her down onto the bed with him, she held him at arms' length.

"Baby you need to rest."

"I need to Dawn," Sirius mumbled, but his voice was lazy and his eyes were bleary.

"Rest."

Dawn held firm, and after only a bit of arguing Sirius was snuggling down with her and snoring slightly, the way he always did when he was overtired. She let the boys sleep for a couple of hours, then woke them all and made sure they were at least beginning to move before she went to get some breakfast to share among them.

They were late to Defence Against the Dark Arts, but they were usually late to the first class of the day after a full moon. Besides, it was only ten minutes or so… Maybe twenty. The Professor glared as they trudged through the door, unapologetic, and lounged in the seats Lily had saved.

"Excuse me, you four, where have you been?"

"Sleeping," James shrugged.

"Not on my time, Potter. Don't think you can slack off now just because your exams are finished, remember your final reports haven't been issued yet."

The Marauders nodded obediently and half-heartedly joined in the game of 'Identify that Dark Creature', too tired to make any ruckus about it. Dawn looked across at Lily and rolled her eyes. The redhead was reading a NEWT preparation textbook under the table. Trust Lily to break the rules in the squarest way possible. Dawn took out some parchment and a quill and began doodling aimlessly.

When the bell rang at last and they were all streaming back into the halls, Dawn looked at her friends and gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Why do we even have to show up for this?" she mumbled. "This is valuable lying-on-a-beach-somewhere-doing-absolutely-nothing time they're wasting!"


"Come on, Dawn," James whined. "It's the last Hogsmeade weekend of the year, we have to do something!"

Dawn held her hands up in surrender. "I'm not disagreeing with you on that, I'd just prefer it if we left the Uncontrollable Bowel Movement Powder out of it."

"B-but we've still got half a packet of it left over from the prank we pulled on the Hogwarts Express over Christmas and it won't keep over the Summer," Peter said.

"So we'll dump it in the Syltherins' food at the Leaving Feast," Dawn argued. "I just don't want to have to ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes getting back to the castle afterwards."

Remus snorted.

"Ok," Sirius relented. "So we'll go with the Gas-Mate potion and we've got three possible targets – The Three Broomsticks, Madame Puddifoot's, and The Hog's Head."

"I think we can leave out The Hog's Head," Remus countered.

"Why?" demanded James.

"Because you and Padfoot are the only dolts in the school stupid enough to go in there," Remus explained mildly.

"Dung Fletcher used to go in there all the time," Sirius argued.

"And if Dung Fletcher threw himself off a cliff, would you follow?" Remus wondered aloud.

"Might throw you after him if you're not careful," Sirius muttered, for which Dawn smacked him and he hastily got the conversation back on track. "Ok, so it's just Puddifoot's and Rosmerta's we'll hit, then. Who wants to do Puddifoot's?"

"Not me."

"No, thanks."

"Hell, no!"

Dawn sighed. James, Remus and Sirius had all leapt right out of the running, leaving her and Peter to tackle the frilly little café themselves. "Fine," she huffed. "At least some of us aren't afraid of a little lace, right Petey?"

Peter beamed.

"Oh, we're not afraid of the lace," James promised. "Just of what it'll do to our manly images."

Peter's cheeks brightened.

"Hear, hear," Sirius chimed in, raising a watergoblet to James' sentiments.

"Well now that I know how you really feel about lacy things, I guess I can cancel that shopping trip to Victoria's Secret," Dawn murmured.

Sirius leaned over and kissed her neck. "I never said anything againstyouin lace, Kitten. Besides, don't they have satin and leather, too?" he whispered.

James rolled around on the floor, rubbing at his eyes and gagging. Peter suddenly seemed very interested in the Honeydukes-wrapper tapestry hanging from the dorm room wall, Remus threw his hands up.

"Why can we never organise anything anymore without somebody grossing somebody else out? Or with Padfoot and Kitten either fighting or snogging… Usually both?"

Dawn and Sirius broke apart sheepishly and James picked himself up off the floor.

"We'll behave now," Dawn promised.

They finished making their plans at last and after breakfast on the final Hogsmeade visit of the year, they sprang into action. Remus and Peter, each with a backpack full of the Gas-Mate potion slipped into the Honeydukes passage to get the not-exactly-permitted substances out of the castle without Filch catching them. Dawn, James and Sirius, however, wandered casually down the drive with the rest of the students. Experience had taught them that five missing Marauders was likely to be far more suspicions than two missing Marauders, especially when James and Sirius were both in plain sight. They met up near the Shrieking Shack and split into their groups before sneaking off to their respective targets. The Three Broomsticks was far busier and much bigger than Madame Puddifoot's so James, Sirius and Remus were taking the Invisibility Cloak with them.

Dawn and Peter, however, were relying on stealth, nerve, and luck. Mostly luck. It was a quirt day at the café, so there were only a couple of young, blank-looking witches holding down the fort. The two Marauders took a seat at one of the tables, Dawn ordered a cup of coffee and Peter a triple-choc milkshake, and for ten minutes they did their best to blend into the sparse crowd while they checked the place out.

Dawn arched her neck to see through the little glass panel in the door to the kitchen, but from what she could see it was empty. The two witches on duty, with nothing better to do, were leaning against the counter, chatting. Dawn nodded her head in their direction.

"Distract them," she mouthed to Peter.

"How?" he mouthed back.

Dawn used her foot to slide Peter's backpack full of supplies over. "Talk – say anything, just keep them facing away from me."

Peter frowned, but finally got up and wandered over to the counter, leaning in a spot where the girls would have to turn away from Dawn, and the kitchen door, to speak to him.

"Uh… Who made my milkshake?" he blurted.

One of them raised a lazy eyebrow. "Why? What was wrong with it?"

"N-n-n-no, nothing," Peter stammered.

"Then what's the problem?"

"No problem," Peter mumbled. "I just wanted to say… That it was good. The best one I've had in ages, actually."

The girls straightened a little and gave Peter their full attention. Dawn didn't hesitate, she slipped behind the counter and darted through the kitchen door, catching it before it could bang closed and give her away. She pulled two bottles of a thin, faintly pink potion from the pack and then took out a syringe. She filled the syringe with the potion and emptied it into the milk bottle, sure no-one would notice such a slight pink tinge in it. She did the same to all the flavouring bottles, then to as much as she could get her hands on in the fridge. That finished, she slipped back out into the main part of the café, crouching behind a ridiculously frilly curtain while she injected all the cheesecakes and tarts in the display window.

She could hear Peter talking animatedly with the two witches about how he understood how unappreciated they must feel in their minimum wage jobs as she packed up the evidence and sidled towards the door, unnoticed. She caught Peter's eye just before she left, and five minutes later he was strolling out to meet her.

"Did you do it?" he asked, his face shining with excitement.

"Yeah- thanks to your diversion. I think I got nearly everything, it's going to be hilarious in there come the lunch rush!"

Peter laughed for a bit longer than necessary, and then they set off to see how the others had fared. They got their answer before they even found the boys – Hagrid was ambling along the street and when Dawn and Peter called out their hellos, Hagrid's reply was a loud belch full of huge orange bubbles. The half-giant threw a hand over his mouth, blushing beneath the forest of hair on his face, and hurried on. Peter and Dawn shared a smirk. The other boys materialised beside them, wearing identical smirks.

"Shall we check it out?" Remus grinned.

They poked their heads through the doors of The Three Broomsticks, burst out laughing, and then pulled away again. There were little clouds of bubbles rising up all over the pub to a symphony of belches. All the colours of the rainbow were being burped by the patrons, who looked horrified, but couldn't speak as every time they opened their mouths they'd begin burping bubbles again.

Dawn couldn't resist sidling up to the window for one last peek at the hopelessly confused look on Rosmerta's face before crashing against Sirius in another fit of evil giggles. When they had all finally calmed down, James dusted his hands off, pleased with their morning's work.

"Well now I'm hungry," he said. "Let's hit Honeydukes."


They bought bottles of butterbeer and pumpkin juice from the uncontaminated supply at Honeydukes, along with a few bulging bags full of sweets and pastries and made a picnic of it out in the paddock by the Shrieking Shack. It was quiet there – nobody was really game enough to go near 'the most haunted building in Britain', and the Marauders lazed away the hottest part of the late Spring day in the cool grass. They waited until a little of the bite had gone out of the sun before Vanishing their mess and heading back towards the populated areas of the village.

They were talking, laughing, so wrapped up in their own fun that they didn't realise that the side streets and alleys of Hogsmeade, usually bursting with life in the early afternoon, were empty.

It was only when they hit Main Street, a burst of noise in the eerie quiet, that they noticed anything out of the ordinary. There weren't many people outside at all, and everybody was in a rush, students were clumping together like besieged meerkats, there was a weird tension in the air.

"Paranoid much," Dawn muttered, but she herself was starting to scan the street for possible threats.

"Don't like this at all," James said quietly, then he spotted something across the road and bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, Evans?"

She was just coming out of the bookstore and jumped at least a foot and a half in the air when James yelled, but Lily just settled for a quick glare and hurried across the street to join the group.

"What's going on?" Lily and James asked each other at exactly the same time.

James chuckled, Lily coloured and looked away. She chewed her lip thoughtfully.

"Doesn't it seem a bit… Quiet to you?" she asked the Marauders.

WHOOSH!

They threw themselves to the ground as a gigantic fireball tore through the air, shattering the fragile calm. People screamed a d scattered and another fireball erupted from the opposite end of the street. Two groups of Death Eaters were closing in from both sides. There were too many to fight, about thirty in total, and the students and civilians in Hogsmeade were already in hopeless hysterics.

All those left on the street scrambled for the nearest door, but the owners of the shops and homes lining the street had bolted and sealed the doors in a heartbeat, leaving handfuls of people exposed to the attack.

"Get to work," one of the Death Eaters barked, Dawn felt a swoop of sick anger in her stomach when she recognised the voice as belonging to Rabastan Lestrange, her still at larger torturer.

"Take as many of the students as you can, dispose of the villagers."

"Dispose?" Lily murmured, as if confused by what Lestrange could mean by that.

Then the spell came.

"Avada Kedavra!"

It hit an old man, frail and hunched over a walking stick, in the stomach. He keeled over, dead. The screaming, the jostling, everything stopped, all eyes were fixed on the body and the knowledge came to everyone that they would all end up the same way.

'So this is what genocide feels like,' Dawn thought in a distant part of her brain.

The Death Eaters were drawing closer, beside her Dawn heard Sirius send up a quiet prayer that somebody locked safe inside had at least scrounged up the courage to floo the Auror Department, because he didn't like their odds against thirty murderous psychos. They were completely trapped by now, one of the Death Eaters reached out to take a couple of third years hostage.

"We can't let this happen," James said in a raspy voice. He'd drawn his wand with movements almost too quick to catch.

"Expelliarmus!" he cried.

The Death Eater's wand flew from his hand and he stumbled back from the third years in shock. He growled, but the other Death Eaters found it hilarious.

"They want to duel!" Rabastan crowed. "All right then, let's give them a lesson on it."

Spells flew thick and fast at the Marauders and Lily from both sides; Peter screamed and transformed, unnoticed in the melee, and the others hastily threw up shield spells to ward off the blows. The Death Eaters didn't let up, the Marauders were trapped under a relentless barrage of fire, all their energies focused on keeping their shields up. Dawn grunted as a particularly heavy spell (she thought maybe a Cruciatus or even an Imperio) thudded into her defences; it was like a sword of violent light glancing off her shield. It pushed her back into Remus, but she scrambled to regain her lost ground and redoubled her defence.

It felt like they were under fire for hours on end, but it eventually began to let up and they realised that other people in the street had finally come to their aid. Frank and Alice were duelling a fierce cluster of Death Eaters along with Emmeline Vance, the Head Girl, and a couple of boys from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Hestia Jones was there fighting, too, along with some people Dawn didn't know by name and didn't have time to think about it. Even the third and fourth years, although they didn't have much class experience in the way of duelling, were Disarming and Stupefying as best they could.

Now that they weren't quite so besieged, the Marauders and Lily began to fire back. It was a scrappy, desperate fight and it was clear from only a few minutes of it that the Death Eaters were too quick and too powerful for them, even as James watched Hestia was taken down by three Stunners hitting her from behind at once.

Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn saw a jet of purple light heading right for her, but a pair of hands shoved her aside and it exploded against the side wall of Zonko's. When Dawn looked around, she realised that Sirius' quick thinking had saved her, but it had also separated them. What had been a tight defensive circle had been penetrated, Lily, Dawn and the boys all stood alone now. She tried not to think about it too much, just concentrated on dodging the spells that seemed to come from everywhere at once, but she knew they wouldn't last much longer without help.

Lily was gasping for air as she duelled, a combination of fear and exertion working to make sure she wasn't getting enough oxygen into her lungs.

"Impedementa!" she roared, but her adversary side-stepped it.

She wasn't prepared for it when he attacked her physically, one blow sending her crashing to the dust. She heard a roar from nearby, like an enraged bull, but didn't have time to process it. The Death Eater had thrown himself on top of her, a mess of hot breath and hands and crushing weight smothering her. She fought against him, but couldn't get free. She couldn't win.

A whirlwind of fury came out of nowhere, tackling the body off her and when it came up for air it took the form of James Potter, eyes firing, wand tip poking into the ribcage of the Death Eater.

"Stupefy!"

The blast was so great that it even knocked James back a few steps, but he regained his balance quickly as Lily instinctively scrambled to his side for security. He put an arm about her, shunting her to the side of the fray.

"What?" she puffed.

"Run!" he screamed. "Get out of here, get Dumbledore, just – RUN!"

A spell blasted the beams of a front porch above their heads, they dived for cover but ended up separated by the rubble. James winced as a plank of wood hit his ankle dead on, then realised he'd lost sight of everyone he cared about in the ruckus.

"No!" he screamed, trying to climb to his feet.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

It was the loudest, dingle most terrifying voice Sirius had ever heard. It froze him in his tracks and took out three Death Eaters at once. Luckily for Sirius, that included the one that had been about to Crucio him from behind. Dumbledore glared around, a host of Aurors and Professors were at his back. The Cavalry had arrived.

It wasn't long after that that the Death Eaters were retreating. They weren't stupid enough to risk a prolonged shoot-out with both Dumbledore and Moody on the scene and they fled after six of their ranks had been detained and bound. Quiet reigned on the street once more, though this time it was punctured by sobbing and ragged breathing. Peter popped out of thin air, nobody seemed to notice that only a chubby rat had inhabited that spot only a second before.

Everybody who was still standing looked around at each other, awed by what had happened in only the space of half an hour. Dawn shivered in Sirius' arms as she thought about it. She'd seen people die this afternoon, she'd seen people hurt, and trying to hurt her and her friends, and she had hurt people herself. Not innocent people, but still, on some level, people. She felt Remus reach for her hand and squeezed back, drawing comfort from being tangled amongst her friends.

James finally managed to struggle to his feet and looked wildly around.

"Evans!"

She was trying to wriggle out from underneath some of the wreckage. She looked battered and bruised, but relatively unhurt. She was shaken, though, pale and wild-eyed. James limped over and pulled her free, catching her tight in his arms and staring desperately at her.

"I'm alright," she puffed. "I'm – "

He kissed her.

There was a very persistent voice in the back of James' head telling him he was an idiot, but he was determined to ignore it for now. Something inside him was singing, he felt immortalised to know he was kissing Lily Evans, pushing his mouth gently against her soft lips and tasting her and knowing that she would be alright and… She was kissing him back. James was kissing Lily and Lily was kissing James.

It was the shock of that knowledge more than anything else that made James retreat. He pulled back and then there was staring and gasping and confusion. He looked down.

"I'm sor-"

"James!"

James barely had time to register his father's voice before he was firmly collected by Harold's arms; a moment later Dawn, a graze on her temple and an ugly welt that looked like a rope burn across her collarbone, crashed into the family hug. Harold squeezed so tight he almost cut off their circulation.

"Merlin you two give me a heart attack sometimes," he thundered. "Why can't you just stay out of trouble for five minutes?"

James laughed at his father, but there was no humour in it. Harold ruffled his hair and kissed the top of Dawn's head before releasing them at last and James sneaked a glance over his shoulder at Lily.

He half expected her to be waiting patiently to break his nose the second she had a chance, but one look at her in that moment had James doubting she'd even be capable of it. She was still white, in shock, Professor McGonagall was helping her to sit down on the rubble of some steps. There were Ministry officials all over the street, Medi-Witches swarming on the most battered looking people, and reporters buzzing around like mosquitoes, dive-bombing as many ears as they could with questions. Remus and Sirius were standing side by side where Dawn hand left them, wands still in hand, staring dazedly at the carnage.

FLASH!

They blinked, but otherwise barely managed to react as the camera went off right in their faces. Then McGonagall was shooing the photographer away and hustling all the students who had been involved and were capable of walking away from the scene.

"Where are we going?" Sirius asked.

"To safety. Keep up," McGonagall snapped, her wand in hand and her eyes darting everywhere.

Sirius heaved a dejected sigh and followed obediently. He didn't have the energy or the will to argue.


They were sequestered in the Hospital Wing all afternoon, subjected to the overprotective mothering of Madam Pomfrey until Dumbledore finally managed to get back to the castle. He brought a handful of Aurors and Ministry officials with him, along with a Psychological Healer, the students were all separated and made to give official statements before being strongly advised to speak with the Psychologist about what had happened before they were free to go.

Dawn was the only Marauder who chose to visit the Psychologist. She spent almost an hour locked up in a little office near McGonagall's quarters talking to the old Wizard. She didn't know why she'd been so affected about what she'd seen in Hogsmeade – she'd seen far worse battles in Sunnydale (hell, she'd even been the object of an Apocalyptic battle once) but it seemed like for the first time in her life when she'd been able to fight back during something so important. She'd fought, she'd stood up for herself and her friends, but people had still died. She hated that.

She skipped dinner, dealing with all the new thoughts bouncing around inside her head, but when she got back to the Common Room James and Lily were still out giving statements. The other boys wanted to know what had taken her so long, but Dawn wouldn't answer. She just shook her head and curled up on Sirius' lap so he could hold her while she stared into the fire.

James stayed back after he was finished making his statement so that he could talk to his father for a few minutes. He didn't have anything he really wanted to talk about, but just hearing Harold's voice after such a gruelling day was calming. There was something in his Dad's voice, something strong and rich and warm that reminded James about everything he wanted to be. And deep down he knew he was stalling so that he wouldn't have to run into Lily. He blushed at the thought – it wasn't the hordes of Death Eaters that had attacked him that frightened him, it was whatever Lily must think of him now that made his palms sweat.

Harold chuckled, picking up on the vibe all too easily. "As far as making the big move goes, your timing is… Interesting, son."

"Ha ha," James said sourly. "She'll never give me a chance now."

"Stop being so dramatic, you're a Potter for Merlin's sake," Harold said, rolling his eyes. "You were worried, you acted thoughtlessly (as usual) and yet you didn't get your balls hexed off for it. at the end of the day, I'd say you did pretty well out of it. if you're that worried, apologise to the girl and then try not to act like a git around her for at least a week and a half. If you can manage that."

"Gee, thanks Dad."

Harold smiled blandly. "You're welcome. Now get out of here already."

James smirked. "Anything else while you're at it?"

"Yeah. I love you, James."

"Love you too, Dad. See you soon."

With that, James walked out of the little makeshift interview room, and walked straight into Lily, coming out of the one next door. He groaned, then hastily turned it into a "Hi," then groaned again because he sounded exactly like the thug she always accused him of being.

Lily didn't say anything, just fell into step beside him because she didn't want to walk all the way up to the Common Room alone. Somehow, she knew she would be safe with James. Potter. Safe with Potter, and only because it was a well-known fact that Gryffs stuck together no matter what. No other reason. None at all.

James spent most of the walk clearing his throat and then failing to come up with words. But as they were approaching the final flight of stairs before their floor, he made one last-ditch effort.

"Um… Evans?" he tried gingerly.

"Hmm?"

"I wanted to apologise for what happened this afternoon. I shouldn't have kissed you like that."

"Then howshould you have kissed me?"

There was a second of silence, then Lily smacked a hand to her forehead. "I did not mean that the way it came out."

James grinned, but didn't dare push it. "Look, I really am sorry, ok?"

Lily looked at her shoes. Was that a little sting of disappointment pricking at her stomach? No, it couldn't be. That was ridiculous. It had nothing to do with the fact that nobody had ever kissed her so sweetly before, so gently and adoringly that not even Chase What's-his-face could compare, she was just embarrassed over her dumb kissing remark. Yes, that was it. she was too tired and drained to think straight. She just nodded, deciding not to risk it by saying something even stupider.

James let his breath out in a whoosh of relief. No broken glasses tonight.

"Thank you," Lily whispered.

"Huh?"

"You saved me… That guy…"

He nodded, understanding. "Yeah. You're, um, you're welcome. I saw him all over you and I guess I flipped out a bit. I mean, if not me, then it has to be someone better, alright?"

Lily laughed, amazed. "Was that the great James Potter admitting there just may be better men in the world?"

"Maybe," James admitted slyly. "The Wizengamot's still out on that one."

Lily shook her head, but she was smiling. James was wearier than he'd ever been, he was sore and tired but he just wanted to dance along the corridor because he was walking along with Lily and they were talking. Just talking. Like they were friends. Lily caught his eye and grinned a bit awkwardly, like she was thinking the exact same thing.

"Lion's Den."

The Common Room was dark and still, the fire had died and the only sound was the soft, even breathing coming from the couple fast asleep on one of the couches. Lily watched while James tossed a blanket over Dawn and Sirius and settled himself in an armchair facing the blackened windows. She arched an eyebrow.

"Not going to your dorm, Potter?"

"Nah," he shrugged. "Too many thoughts for sleep. I'm just going to watch the windows, make sure the sun comes up and all that. Sweet dreams, Evans."

Lily smiled. "Goodnight, James."


A large photograph of Remus and Sirius, grimy and blinking stupidly around at the destroyed Main Street in Hogsmeade greeted the Marauders on the front page of the 'Sunday Prophet' when they arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast the following morning. Remus barely glanced at the picture and began scanning the article, but Sirius pouted at it over his pumpkin juice.

"But I'm usually so photogenic," he moaned.

Dawn rubbed his leg. "'Course you are, baby."

A few minutes later, they heard a scoff coming from somewhere behind Remus' paper. "I don't think this idiot has reported one actual fact about what really happened in this whole article. Apparently all us Hogwarts students involved are nothing but out of control delinquents meddling in things over out heads and its clear Dumbledore can't keep us in line."

"We didn't need the Death Eaters to attack to tell us that, but they make it sound like a bad thing," James muttered to Dawn and Sirius.

"Who reported that load of bullocks?" Sirius asked.

Remus scanned the credits. "Um… Some woman named Rita Skeeter."

James shrugged. "Never heard of her."

"Well hopefully we won't have to hear much more from her if she keeps printing rubbish like that," Lily piped up over her toast.

"Let's hope," Dawn added.

The whole school seemed to be following some sort of unspoken agreement – they all spent the next few days relaxing, trying to get back to the normalcy of classes and hanging out and not dwelling too much on what they now knew could happen to them out in the real world. Then, on Wednesday evening, Locky appeared in the Gryffindor Common Room with a list of names and an invitation from Dumbledore to attend a special meeting in the Great Hall. All five Marauders were included, they went with Lily and Frank to their destination while Locky visited the other three Common Rooms and the Library to round up the other students on the list. They stepped into the Great Hall and looked around, unsure of what to expect.

"Dad?" Dawn blurted.

Harold was in conversation with Dumbledore, McGonagall and Mad-Eye Moody, he looked up at the sound of his surrogate daughter's voice and winked.

"Hi, kids. Go an and take a seat, we'll get started as soon as everyone's here."

The House tables had been pushed aside and there were blue mats laid down on the floor, an unhappy reminder of gym classes at Sunnydale Junior High for Dawn. They sat cross-legged on those and newcomers drifted in until Dumbledore was satisfied that everyone had arrived. He thanked Locky and told her she was free to head back to the Kitchens if she chose, then flicked his wand to close and soundproof the doors.

"Can everyone hear me without a Sonorous Charm?" the Headmaster asked, continuing only when those at the very back had nodded. "For those of you who don't know, this is Head Auror Alastor Moody and Deputy Head Auror Harold Potter. They have matters of grave importance to discuss with you and I suggest you give them your full attention."

Harold and Moody took the floor, out of the corner of her eye Dawn saw Peter subtly shift away as Moody loomed over him. James was studying his father's face for some clue as to what this was all about, but Harold was giving nothing away, he looked graver than James had seen him for a long time. It was like he knew what he was doing was right, but he was still worried about something. James didn't have time to contemplate Harold's expression further, because Moody's gravelly voice filled the room, commanding attention.

"First thing's first. Anybody here who doesn't believe that Voldemort needs to be stopped at all costs, leave now."

He paused and glared around. There was a lot of flinching at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but nobody left. McGonagall's face held a tiny smirk of pride. Of the seven Gryffindors present, only one had flinched. The other six had raised their chin's in defiance at the suggestion. They continued to hold their heads high as Moody continued to speak.

"Good," he barked. "Dumbledore's shown faith in you all by asking you here – I'm glad nobody's disappointed that faith so easily. Now, you're all here because we want your help. We're at war! The Ministry has done everything in its power to keep that from you, and look where it's got you. Attacked! Ambushed! You're in danger, make no mistake about that. You think you're safe, but you've got to know…"

There was nothing but the sounds of enraptured breathing throughout the Hall, the entire room was caught up in the magic of Moody's sermon and all eyes were on the grizzled, mismatched figure thundering up and down in front of them. The Auror seemed to reign himself in and continued.

"Last Saturday, you were all on the street when those scumbags struck. See how safe your Ministry kept you – "

"Mad-Eye," Harold muttered warningly.

"Right, right," Moody muttered distractedly. "Well, you were there. You saw. And you fought back. Each and every one of you survived that day, and you survived on your own wits."

At that point, Harold stepped in and picked up the thread at a much calmer pace. "What we've brought you here for is not only to congratulate you all on what you did – your bravery helped save lives that day – but also to ask you to join us. With your parents' permission of course, we'd like to enrol you all in an advanced practical defences course next year. One night a week throughout term we'll meet here and you'll learn more effective measures of duelling, of defending yourselves and also more about minimising the risks to others in a dangerous situation."

Sensing his cue, Dumbledore stepped in. "Of course, such a program will be considered extra course credit for all Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, not to mention placing you in good stead for your years after Hogwarts. Why, with this training any applicant for the Auror program will be looked upon favourably, and those of you who in any way, when of age, wish to join the fight against Voldemort will be welcomed with open arms. However, if not, you may simply feel more secure with the defences you learn in this course. Are there any questions?"

Frank raised his hand. "Sir, I'm not quite sure why Alice and I are here. I mean, we're seventh years and we've already got our acceptance letters for the Auror training program. We won't be here next year."

Harold grinned. "I can field that one, son. As part of your training, we're hoping to have the two of you come and help us out every week. It will help consolidate everything you'll be learning in your own training to teach others."

Frank nodded. "Cool."

"If there are no more questions, then…" Moody broke in a little impatiently. He was clutching a stack of parchments in one leathery fist.

"One more thing," Dumbledore called. "I want each and every one of you to understand that you are under no obligation to take part in this training. If you do join us, we expect you to do so only by your own free will. Those of you who may be interested, please come and collect a permission form from Mr Moody."

"Mr," Moody snorted at the title. Harold turned away to conceal the little grin he'd shared with McGonagall.

The Marauders and Lily shared a look. Peter was a little wide-eyed, but he looked determined to prove himself. None of the others had said anything to him about it, but he knew deep down that they all thought he was a coward for hiding while everybody else fought for their lives. Remus and Lily looked resolved, James and Sirius even looked haughty about the whole thing. Dawn couldn't help but smirk.

"Well? What are we waiting for?"