It didn't seem right that there was nothing in the Statute of Secrecy to forbid James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew from attracting so much attention to themselves in Kings Cross so late at night. The Hogwarts Express had brought them to London late in the afternoon, and since then they'd been tearing all over the city, in the Christmas lights and crowds, having a noisy, barely legal time.

They were back in the station, bound for the Floo network buried in the sub-basement, off to James's family's house in the country. They had come skidding across the floor, jostling each other at the top of the concrete stairwell when Sirius howled for quiet.

"Shame on you, James," he said. "Rushing by without a word. How could you miss it?"

James shoved Peter away from where he was crowding him in the stairwell doorway. "What are you on about?"

Sirius sniffed deeply at the rich mess of smells in the station. "Right, your sense of smell is rubbish."

James huffed. "Maybe compared to rats and dogs it is, but - "

Remus hushed him. "I smell it too. But it can't be," he said, looking at Sirius. "It's been hours since she arrived here on the train with the rest of us."

"Oh, but it's her for sure," Peter added, a bit smug about being able to sense what James couldn't for once. "Right this way."

He set off, making his way to a bench screwed to the floor, out of the way, where a trunk and a small figure, hunched over in a dark wool, coat sat alone.

"Pete, wait up," Remus called. "Don't embarrass - "

But James had seen her now, and he was calling her name. "Evans!"

There was no hint of surprise on Lily Evans's face as she sat up to look at them. Of course she had seen them when they first came roaring into the station, but she hadn't wanted their pity so she'd just continued to sit. She raised a hand and waved now, cringing slightly as they came toward her. Sirius hopped up to perch on her trunk, James slid onto the bench beside her, Peter stood behind her, looking over her shoulder to where Remus crouched in front of her on the floor, speaking kindly into her face.

"What's happened, Lily?" Remus asked. "No one's come for you? Do you need help getting home?"

She shook her head and shoulders, fighting to smile as if it didn't matter. "It's my sister," she said. "Our parents are in Switzerland until Christmas Eve, so Petunia and her boyfriend were supposed to pick me up tonight and bring me home in his car. But, as you see…" She waved a hand at herself, abandoned at the station.

"Oh," Peter chirped. "Well, we're just about to take the Floo - "

"Shut up, Pete," Sirius snapped. "She lives in a Muggle house. They won't have a Floo."

"Mind your manners, Sirius," Lily rebuked him. "Thank you for the offer, Peter. But it's not that. I have an apparation license and I could always stash my trunk here and head home on my own. But if Petunia's at home with her Vernon and they don't want me there - well, I don't want to be there either, do I?"

Sirius shuddered. "I suppose not."

Remus was getting to his feet. "Well, even so, you can't just stay here."

She shrugged. "They'll show up eventually. In the wee hours of the morning, when they think I've had enough time to sit here reflecting on how unworthy I am of their help and their company."

Dog or not, James growled. "No. No more of that, Evans. Let them show up here and find you long gone. Let them know you had a better offer."

Sirius was cackling. "Yes, James," he said. "Bring her with us."

"What, just show up at Potter's house in the middle of the night?" she said.

Sirius stooped to speak into her face. "Of course. We're all going. It's a huge place and, you see," he almost whispered, "my parents disowned me ages ago. And to keep me from getting too melancholy about it at Christmas, this lot all goes to Potter's house leading up to the holidays, as if they don't have perfectly lovely families of their own."

Remus rolled his eyes. "What he means to say is, it's a tradition of ours, and the more the merrier. It would be no trouble at all, right James?

For the first time since he'd sat down at her side, Lily turned to look at James, who had been staring at her profile. Her movement was careful and slow, as if held in deliberate, delicate control.

He nodded at her. "Right. You don't even have to ask," he told her. "You know I'd be delighted. Anytime. Just come."

He didn't even blush anymore when he said things like this to her. They had become a habit, something like a running joke, only not a joke at all.

Since the beginning of the year, they'd been working together as Head Boy and Head Girl at school. It meant they'd learned to cooperate and listen to each other, to work together to help other people. Their school partnership was successful but it was an odd pairing. Most years, the headmaster avoided having both Head Boy and Head Girl from the same house. But this year, Dumbledore had appointed two Gryffindors all the same. The move felt charged with a significance Lily couldn't quite discern, and it kept her always slightly on her guard.

"Come on, Evans," Sirius cajoled her. "What can it hurt?"

"I'll get you back home in time for your parents on Christmas Eve," James promised, blinking his big brown eyes behind his glasses. Lily's guard slipped a little before she managed to look away from him.

"Let's get going, Lily," Remus added. "See how sleepy Peter is?"

Peter was faking an exaggerated yawn as Lily rose to her feet, sighing. "Just for tonight," she said.

It was all the consent needed for the tangle of long, boyish arms to gather up her things, bearing them away to the Floo.

James's parents were very old. They had long since given up waiting up for him to get home when he was out with the lads. The lavish old manor house of theirs was vast but dark and quiet, not sound or light but its Floo flaring to life as, one by one, the students tripped out of the fire and into the entrance hall.

"What's keeping Evans?" Sirius mused when everyone had arrived but Lily. "This dodgy old house doesn't have some blasted blood purity filter on it, does it?"

"Obviously not," Remus said, smoothing his hair back from his werewolf scars.

James was muttering, frowning, marching back toward the fireplace. He kicked at the grate, and was just about to stick his head inside when Lily emerged with a flash, knocking him onto his back and falling across his chest, her hands and knees on either side of his torso. The rest of them were laughing as she hopped back to her feet, beating the soot from her school skirt.

James didn't apologize.

"Perfect ending to a perfect day," Sirius said, gripping James's forearm and pulling him to his feet.

"We'll be heading up then," Remus said. "No need to play host with us, James. We know the way." He was saying it more for Lily's benefit than anyone else's, making excuses for leaving her and James alone while she got settled in.

She glanced around the vaulted ceilings and stone balustrades as the boys retreated. This was where Potter lived with two other people. Ridiculous. Though it explained a bit of his overblown sense of himself.

"James," Peter hissed as he got to the top of the stairs. "Make sure she's had something to eat."

Three doors slammed over their heads. Lily risked another glance at James. "Your parents can sleep through all of that?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Old fashioned construction. Very soundproof. Kitchen's this way."

He stood in the larder, sighing noisily as he pawed through the shelves looking for something to offer Lily to eat. He was muttering to himself as Lily came to help him look. "Cabbage, cabbage," he grumbled. "What is it with old people and cabbage - oh, here's turnip."

She pointed to a fancy cake plate topped with a ceramic dome. "There might be something nice under there."

James frowned at it. "There might be," he allowed. Gingerly, he raised the dome. "As I thought. It's Dad's favourite cake. Guess what gives it that green colour."

Lily smirked. "Some kind of amphibian?"

"Worse. Peas," James said. "It's called pea lime cake. No limes in it though. They just added them to the name to make you feel better about all the peas."

In the small space of the larder, her laugh seemed too loud, and she covered her own mouth with her hands. James smirked at her. "Go ahead and let it out, Evans. Oh, what's this - some cheese and a loaf of bread. Not even stale bread. Probably full of ancient grains though. You alright with spelt?"

"I have no reason to suspect I wouldn't be," she answered. "Stop fussing, Potter. I'll eat whatever you have. It's not like I'm a fancy guest."

He looked down at her, his eyebrows raised, as if about to correct her. Instead he shook his head and led her to the kitchen table. She tucked into her bread and cheese and he brought her a glass of milk.

"Petunia still hasn't let up on you?" he asked.

"No," she said. "Now that she's with Vernon, she's more hostile than ever."

He shook his head. "Sorry. Sibling rivalry - not my specialty."

She nodded at the ceiling. "Peter's got a big family, hasn't he?"

"Huge," James said.

"Is that what's behind all those rat references you guys have for him?"

"Something like that." James was clearing his throat, changing the subject. "Yeah, Peter is a vanishing middle child. I'm not sure his parents will have noticed that he didn't pile into the Floo with the rest of them after the train arrived today."

Lily narrowed her eyes, thinking. "And Sirius. His younger brother is at school. Among the younger girls, he's considered rather dashing. Slytherin, right?"

"Naturally. Yes, that's Regulus," James said. "Sucky little blighter. He took the Dark Mark this year. Sixteen years old. Parents are thrilled."

Lily's huffed. "Are they? With that ridiculous tattoo? Severus has one now too. I've seen it."

"You haven't seen it very closely then," James said. "It's not a tattoo. Not ink. It's a brand, a burn."

Lily winced. "Hang it, Sev," she said, as if Snape could hear somehow. "What a lot of foolishness. And now he's stuck with a permanent, painful reminder of something embarrassing he thought was clever when he was a kid."

James's hands moved across the table, almost but not quite taking hold of Lily's. "Look, I wish it was all foolishness. But it's not. The stuff they've been pushing Regulus to do - he's balking at it. It's that awful, I guess. And since the Death Eaters' target is Muggle-born people - well, I can't help but be worried about you."

She sat back, her hands moving farther away from James's. "Please, Potter. I think I can handle Severus Snape and Sirius's kid brother."

James threw himself back in his chair, bracing his head between his hands. "Don't be like that, Evans. Think about how things are changing. Like, even with us. Head Boy and Head Girl from the same house - it's strange, controversial. It's not like no one's been complaining about it either. They must have had an important reason for doing it. And while I'd like to think it was a bit of cute matchmaking, it's more than that. I think Dumbledore wants you close to us - to all four of us."

She snorted. "Why? It's not like I'm a loner who needs the headmaster in charge of my social life."

"No, of course not," he said. "But the lads and I, we're - " he faltered, blushing. "It's embarrassing to say it myself but we're talented. Of all the other students, we're in the best position to watch over you, and keep you safe."

"Safe from what? Sneering and name calling in the corridors?"

James let out a long breath. "The Death Eater thing - it's not just a snitty club. It's not just driven by money and pride. There's dark magic involved. And it's like nothing anyone's ever seen in Britain before. Regulus already wants out. He's terrified. That Voldemort of theirs, he's a monster, a murderer."

From across the table, she watched James's face. He was so earnest - so uncharacteristically serious. And more than that. James Potter was scared - scared for her.

She reached out, taking his hand from where it lay clenched on the tabletop. "James," she said, her grip pulsing against his fist. "No one has tried to hurt me. No one has even threatened me. A little name calling, yes. But I'm not afraid."

James flipped his hand to hold onto hers. His palm hot, damp, as if he was agitated. "You're not afraid because you're not very well connected to the adult magical world. It's not your fault, and I can see how you could honestly mistake this for nothing but schoolyard nonsense. I wish it was, but it's not."

Both of his hands were closed around hers now, not seductively but desperately, imploringly. "Lily, you've got no wizard parents to properly warn you. That's part of why the Death Eaters have made you a target. They think it will be easy."

She huffed. "I'd like to see them try - "

"Well, I wouldn't," James said. "But they very well might. Even my old, cabbage eating parents upstairs are worried about all this Death Eater unrest. And Dumbledore - with respect and everything, he's rubbish when it comes to giving straightforward advice on anything. He should be stepping up to warn you, letting you know how dangerous everything is getting for Muggle-born witches. But instead he's just pushing me and the lads into your path."

She sighed and dropped her second hand on top of his. "What do you want me to do then? Be frightened? Hide here in this spooky old mansion of yours?"

He managed to smile. "For a few days, yes. Get used to being close to us, to letting us watch out for you, protect you if we have to. We'll even tell you our secrets."

She scoffed. "Your secrets. What, like a special handshake?"

Agitation was leaving him, his cockiness returning to take its place. His upper hand was cool against her hand, and she drew back, away from him. "No, Like secrets worth knowing," he crowed. "You might be surprised."

She raised one eyebrow. "Right. So go on and surprise me with one of them."

He was stammering. "Well - I'll have to talk to the lads first."

"Oh, come on, Potter," she said. "You mean to say you don't have any good secrets of your own, nothing but what's shared with your mates?"

He raised his own eyebrow, a coy smile breaking over his face. "What you mean? Typical schoolboy secrets? Like who I fancy?"

"I said secrets," she smirked in return. "Not common knowledge, deluded as it might be."

He clucked his tongue. "Deluded, is it?" he echoed. It was his only answer. She waited for more, watching him across the table. He was looking for something, pawing through his robes, shifting fabric around himself. Then all at once, with a rustle and a flourish, he was gone.

She stood up. "Potter? Potter, you can't just apparate away."

"Right here." It was his voice, close by, but she couldn't see him.

She waved her arm toward the sound. He was chuckling, leading her closer. She inched along the edge of the table, feeling through the air ahead of her. "If you jump out and scare me, so help me, Potter, I'll scream loud enough to wake the whole house."

He was still laughing, with a muffled sound that had her peering underneath the table. "Potter?"

He wasn't hiding there. She couldn't hear his voice anymore. "If you think I'm going to chase you all over the house, you've got another thing coming." As she said it, she spun around to leave, taking one quick step, intent on leaving the kitchen, and leaving Potter to his games.

But the air in front of her was suddenly solid, stopping her with the sound of a thud and a grunt. The force of the impact had her reeling backward, about to fall back into her chair. Something clamped around her wrist, tugging and reversing her momentum. Her sight went dark and blurry, her hair pushed over her face, as if she was passing through a curtain.

For a moment, she lost her breath, and when she recovered it, she was blinking, realizing she was nose to chest with James. They were in a small, enclosed space that smelled, not at all unpleasantly, of him. He was standing as close as he could get without pressing himself against her, one hand still on her wrist, the other above his head, as if holding up the ceiling of a tent.

She spun around and found they were still in the kitchen. She could see the same cupboards and shelves, though a little more dimly than they had been a minute before. The view of them rippled in folds, as if printed on fabric. Then she knew.

"Invisibility cloak!" she announced, grazing the material with her fingertips. "Well, this certainly explains a lot. You've had this the whole time you've been at school?"

"That's right," James said, looking out at the kitchen from over her shoulder, his mouth nearly touching her ear as he spoke. "It's been seven years now and Dad still hasn't noticed it's missing from his desk in the study."

"I've read about these but - wow, Potter. Where did it come from before it was in that drawer?" she asked.

He shrugged, aristocratic enough to take marvelous magical family heirlooms completely for granted. "Dunno. It's just always been here. But how's that for a secret?" he beamed.

She tapped her finger against her jaw. "It is a high quality secret. I will give you that, Potter."

"A secret worth knowing, just like I promised, and just one of many. So you'll stay? You'll be with us here until Christmas Eve?"

Still standing behind her, stooped to bring his head nearly level with hers, his face was millimetres from hers. She could hear him breathing, taking in her scent. A shiver she would have to think about later ran down her neck.

She turned to face him, leaning back as he straightened to his full height. "Yes, fine," she agreed. "I'll let you boys take me into your secrets. Even though - secret invisibility cloak my eye. Admit it, Potter. You've snogged dozens of girls under here. There's no way you could have resisted the temptation."

He smiled, the whole cloak twisting around them as he shook his head. "Temptation, hm?" he said. "No. No girl has ever been under here with me until now, until you."

She lifted her chin. "Well, keep on resisting then. Don't even think about - "

He gave a soft laugh. "Who's thinking of it, Evans? You're the one who's brought up snogging under here. I haven't said a word - "

She was sputtering, batting at his arm. "That's - that's just - "

"Look, there's no need to worry," he interrupted. "However I've imagined it - and you know I have imagined it - I've always told myself that when I kiss Lily Evans, it will be special. And no matter how nice things get, if they aren't special, I'll keep waiting."

He was lowering his arms, bringing both Lily and himself back into plain sight, into the cool air of the kitchen where they couldn't smell each other, couldn't warm each other anymore.

"This was nice," he said as he draped the cloak over his arm. "But just nice."

She let out her breath, annoyed with herself for letting him get to her. Like an idiot, she'd tripped right into it. Maybe it was the house, or the late hour, or something about spelt grain bread, but she felt more vulnerable to him here - more open to the influence of something almost charming about him.

"Tired?" he said.

She shook herself. "Yes, actually."

"I'll take you to your room."

She nodded, standing beside the table, hugging herself with one arm.

He shifted on his feet. "Er, you want me to help? You could take my arm, or I could carry you, or - "

"No," she hurried. "No, I'll just follow you. I'm coming. Thanks."

After showing Lily to a guest room, James came into his own bedroom to find all of the lads sprawled on the furniture in their sleeping clothes, waiting for him.

Sirius came at him first, sniffing deeply. "Progress, but not conquest. You've got her sweat on you, maybe some soap, but not her saliva."

"Will you stop that?" James said, shoving him away. "That's disgusting."

"I wish I could help it," Sirius laughed back at him. "Sorry, mate. Dogs make the worst gentlemen."

"Too right," James said, tossing his cloak on the bed.

"You showed her the cloak?" Remus asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. It was the only way I could convince her to stay until Christmas Eve," James said, scrubbing his face with his hands. "We've got to tell her the rest, all about us - the map, Regulus, Patronuses, the animal transformations - "

"But - but we're all unregistered," Peter said.

"Speak for yourself," Remus said.

"But," Peter went on. "But there are penalties. If we confide our status in someone, they'd have to be - "

"Exactly," James said. "Evans needs to be brought deep into our circle of confidence. If it's as bad a Regulus makes it seem, I can't see how else she can survive what's to come."

The laughing and teasing with which his friends had met James at the door had disappeared completely. They stood quietly, blinking at their feet.

"You really believe everything Regulus says about - about him?" Peter pressed. "You believe it enough to risk everything, for all of us?"

"She's got no one else," James said, his voice rising. "Everything good and precocious we've ever done came to us because we were being brave for someone else. That's why you're an animagus, Pete. Not because you were brilliant, but because Remus needed us. I'm asking we do it again, take another risk, but for Lily."

Remus was nodding. "Yes. It's the least I can do after all that's been done for me."

Sirius sank into a chair. "I like Evans," he began. "But the fact is, if I don't stand up to this Death Eater mess - " He paused, cinching his eyes closed. "If I don't do something, somehow, it's going to destroy my brother. I'll frustrate the Death Eaters for Regulus first, Lily second. Either reason is far more than enough to risk myself."

There was a moment of silence, a miserable tension. Peter sighed. "Well, I guess it's settled then."

"Is it?" James asked, staring him in the face. "Don't be forced, Peter. Don't just go along with it. You can go home to your family and leave us to it if you'd rather - "

He squeaked a joyless laugh. "Yes, wouldn't that be convenient for you."

"Come now," Remus said, throwing a long, skinny arm around Peter's shoulders. "It's not like that. The Marauders are nothing without a tail, our very finest Wormtail. Everyone knows that."

Sirius was bawling his agreement, clamping his arms around both Remus and Peter, trying to lift the pair of them off the ground. There was grunting, laughing, and protesting before the three of them tumbled to the rug at James's feet, hooting and swatting at each other.

"Alright, alright!" Peter said, shouting as he fought himself free of Sirius and Remus, clambering upright, standing with James, smiling as he rolled his eyes, pounding him on the back. "Go on then, Prongs. Do as you like."