The Friday morning before the Hogsmeade trip found all the sixth years in transfiguration. They had finished revising course work from the previous year and were now moving on to the substantially more difficult sixth year work.

Today they were required to conjure a set of earplugs non-verbally. They had spent the first half of the class, copying out a long list of theoretical instructions for conjuring items non-verbally. Now that they had reached the practical component of the lesson, Lily's stomach squirmed uncomfortably with nerves. She had never been the star student of Professor McGonagall's classes, a title usually reserved for James or on occasion Remus. She had struggled with doing even the fifth year revision non-verbally and the thought that it would only get more difficult from here made her want to run from the classroom and hide in her dormitory. Beside her, she could hear Marlene whispering the expression under her breath. She took a deep breath and focused her mind on the object she was conjuring, then performed the wand movement required. Not to her surprise nothing appeared before her.

After a quarter of an hour of practice, Lily had still not been able to produce the earplugs. She glanced briefly around the room, most of the class had managed to conjure one but not two of the pair required. The exception to this was James and Remus who had all managed to produce both pairs in the first five minutes. Peter, Lily saw to her relief had not been able to conjure anything either.

As Professor McGonagall began to make her way around the room examining the work of her students, the marauders were having a heated discussion at the back of the class.

'No Sirius, I have said it once and I will say it again. It is not ok for James to follow Lily around tomorrow under the cloak,' said Remus sharply.

'But he needs the opportunity to scope out the competition, maybe push Prewitt into a few bushes by accident.'

'It wouldn't be by accident if he does it deliberately,' hissed Remus.

'Oh, who cares Moony,' exclaimed Sirius lightly.

'I'm not doing it,' said James quietly. 'We'll hear all about it anyway. I think I would be sick watching someone else snog her.'

'See what you've done Moony. My brilliant plan is ruined,' said Sirius dejectedly.

When Professor McGonagall reached Lily's empty table, she pursed her lips and said 'Extra work for you then over the weekend Miss Evans. I want to see those earplugs by in our next lesson.' Lily nodded without speaking but Marlene who had not managed the spell either objected.

'But Professor, Hogsmeade is this weekend and we both have dates.'

'Well, I hope your dates are more apt at non-verbal spell work than yourselves,' said Professor McGonagall. Marlene turned around to wink at Sirius, whose expression suggested that practising Transfiguration would be the last activity that they would be doing. Lily blushed and sank lower in her seat. As far as she knew Fabien Prewitt had dropped Transfiguration and would prove to be little help with the extra work she had been assigned.

'You should have gone out with Potter. He's excellent with this stuff,' whispered Marlene with a smug smile when she saw Lily's expression.

'I can figure it out on my own,' said Lily, as she pulled her books together.


The Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade weekend dawned overcast and misty. The Gryffindor girls dressed for the chilly weather in sweaters and jeans. Lily selected a cream sweater which set off her auburn hair and her favourite pair of jeans, then made her way down to the entrance hall to meet Fabien.

Lily had not expected much from her date with Fabien but was pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed herself. They visited Madame Puddifoot's teashop, where they had coffee and shared a slice of orange poppy seed cake. They talked easily of classes, their families and what they wanted to do after Hogwarts. The only awkward moment was when Fabien admitted that he had wanted to ask her out earlier but had been under the impression she was Potter's girl. Lily had blushed furiously at the thought and had denied ever considering James' offers when Fabien questioned her further on the subject.

Eventually it was time to return to the castle, Fabien held her hand on the walk back and they shared a short but in Lily's opinion very sweet kiss. All in all, she found Fabien to be a perfect gentleman and when he nervously asked if they could go out again she happily agreed.


Entering the dormitory, the evening after her date with Fabien, Lily found Marlene and Alice lounging across her bed. She had gone immediately to the library after her date to polish up some homework, and become so involved in her work that she had skipped dinner.

'Ah, here she is,' exclaimed Marlene, getting up to hug Lily. 'We were starting to wonder where in Merlin's name you could have gotten to. Alice had a theory that Fabien trying to kiss you and Potter had put him in the hospital wing.'

Lily smiled warmly at Marlene. At times, their relationship could be a little strained but Marlene's heart really was in the right place.

'I've just been working on some stuff in the library,' she said.

'So, Potter didn't put Fabien in the hospital wing?' asked Marlene eagerly.

'I didn't really say I thought that James would hex Fabien,' said Alice embarrassed. 'I just thought it would be odd if he didn't try to sabotage Lily's date somehow.'

'Well, I didn't see any of the Marauders all day,' remarked Lily.

'Hmm, they must be saving their revenge plans,' said Marlene with a twinkle in her eye.

'Or they've decided to take the more grown-up route and not sabotage Lily's love life,' Alice interjected.

'Unlikely,' replied Marlene. 'So, tell us all the juicy details Lil!'

'I don't know,' stalled Lily. 'There really isn't much to say.'

'Bullshit,' exclaimed Marlene.

'Well, where did he take you?' asked Alice.

'To Madame Puddifoot's,' answered Lily.

'Ugh that place gives me the creeps. Too many frills and way too much pink,' said Marlene in disgust.

Lily privately agreed with her but she didn't want to admit this, as she had mostly enjoyed Fabien's company. She also didn't want Marlene to spread gossip that the date had been a flop.

'I thought it was cosy,' said Lily nonchalantly.

'Did you kiss? Are you going out again?' Alice's questions came out in a rush.

'Yes, to both,' said Lily uncomfortably.

'Is pretty boy a good snog then?' asked Marlene.

'I guess so. I don't really have much to compare it with,' replied Lily.

'You guess so?' asked Marlene incredulously. 'Honey, if it didn't feel like Filibuster fireworks and a chocolate frog wrapped into one, you shouldn't lead him on.

'I guess it felt like a mini firework,' said Lily uneasily.

'Marlene, if Lily wants to go on another date with him, that is her decision,' said Alice, a warning tone in her voice.

'Fine,' Marlene huffed. 'But can I just say for the record that I think Lily and James would be better together. I mean Fabien is cute and all but if there isn't a spark, what's the point?'

'Why don't you date Potter then Marlene?' said Alice. Her tone was light but there was an undercurrent of caution to it that told Marlene not to push the subject further.

Lily left the conversation and got ready for bed feeling utterly befuddled. She knew deep down Marlene was right and that Fabien Prewitt though admittedly very attractive, would be better as her friend then her boyfriend. On the hand, for months since losing Sev she had felt empty and betrayed, it was nice to feel carefree and cheerful again. What was the harm in going on a few more dates with Fabien? No harm at all, she reasoned with herself.


James had loved the feeling being on a broom as long as he could remember. The wind flapping through his clothes, the feeling of weightlessness and the messy look it gave his hair. He looked forward to nothing more in his week than Quidditch practise.

As he entered the pitch for the night session on the Monday evening after the Hogsmeade weekend, the Ravenclaw team were just finishing their session. Most of the players had exited the pitch for the showers and only the seeker Fabien and the captain and keeper Abby remained. James watched them from the edge of the pitch, Abby was leaning towards Fabien, and both were smiling. If James hadn't known about Fabien's recent date with Lily, he would have thought that the two were together. Fabien's body language showed he wasn't at all uncomfortable with the closeness of Abby; he looked to be rather enjoying the attention. James' blood boiled, but he took a deep breath through his nose and strolled towards them.

As soon as they saw James approaching the pair jumped apart like they had been hit with a stinging hex. When he reached them, they both wore very guilty expressions.

'Well, I'll be going now,' said Abby hastily, walking off at brisk pace towards the showers.

'What was that?' James asked Fabien, an undertone of anger creeping into his voice.

'What was what?' replied Fabien coolly.

'You were flirting with her,' said James indicating in Abby's direction.

'Whoa man, she was flirting with me.'

'You didn't look like you were discouraging her,' James spat.

'I can't help it. Come on, you know how it is. Birds just dig us Quidditch players.'

'Aren't you dating Evans?' asked James, still furious.

'Yes but I… Wait you won't tell her will you?' Fabien was finally realizing the seriousness of the situation he had been caught in.

'Lily deserves better than a git like you,' said James coldly.

At that moment Sirius arrived on the pitch, closely followed by the rest of the team.

Fabien glanced at the new arrivals, and then said quietly to James, 'Look tell her. Don't tell her. Plenty more birds out there.' Before striding away into the dusk. James' cold stare followed him until he was out of sight.


'What a prat!' exclaimed Sirius in disgust, after James finished telling the marauders what he has seen before their Quidditch training. 'This is perfect though, you tell her, then she'll be upset, and you'll be right there as a shoulder to cry on.'

'You think I should tell her?' asked James doubtfully.

'Yeah, man. I mean aside from the fact she deserves to know if the prick is flirting with other girls behind her back, it also means she'll start to trust you again. It's win-win.'

'What do you guys think? Pete? Remus?' asked James.

'I agree with Sirius. You should definitely tell Lily,' Peter piped up.

Remus looked from Sirius to Peter smiling grimly before answering James. 'I ardently disagree with Sirius and Peter, Prongs.'

'What do you mean Moony? You can't possibly think that James should keep this quiet,' Sirius' voice was coloured with shock. 'I mean it would be another thing if we were mates with Prewitt, but Lily is his girl.'

'She's not exactly my girl Padfoot,' interjected James.

'She should be,' Sirius countered.

'I don't think James should say anything, Sirius,' Remus' voice was firm.

'What so he should just leave Evans to get involved with the arsehole?'

Remus sighed, 'You've only considered James telling Lily going so well that she falls into his arms. What if it doesn't happen like that? What if she's angry? It could feel like James has ruined a second relationship for her. She might not be angry with Fabien; she might be angry with James.'

'Well first off, James didn't make Snivelly call her a mudblood. So, he didn't ruin that relationship. And it's not his fault that Prewitt is cheating on her.'

'But Sirius, we don't know that Fabien is cheating on her,' said Remus patiently.

'It sure looked like it,' muttered James.

'They've had one date, it might not be exclusive,' Remus replied. 'I just think it's a very risky move telling Lily.'

'High risk, high reward,' replied Sirius.

'Ok, enough opinions,' James interrupted. 'I need to think about this. I don't know whether to risk it or not to get involved at all and let it play out.'