3. A Cold Wind Blows (James)

The afternoon sunlight hit James in the face, as it shone through the high windows running along the classroom walls. He had already tried to wiggle around in his chair in an attempt to find a shadowy spot, but there was none. The hot air was heavy to breath. Opening a couple of windows to let fresh air in seemed like a good idea.

It was only their second day of school, but James was already impatiently waiting for the lesson to end, so that his weekend could start. It was probably because Fridays were his longest days in school. That, along with the stuffy classroom, made him long for some free time.

Sirius, sitting right next to James, was balancing his chair on two of its legs, while steading himself with a hand on the desk in front of him. Remus and Peter sat in the pair of desks on the other side of the aisle.

"As you may notice, the bar to be able to take this class was set lower this year," said Professor Prequan, looking out over the class from where he was standing to the right of his desk, in front of the black board.

He had just finished his introduction of himself, which James hadn't exactly been paying attention to. Now, the professor caught his attention. James stopped sketching on the piece of parchment lying in front of him on the desk, and looked up.

"In the end, school isn't about getting good grades or passing your N.E.W.T. exam," Professor Prequan continued, as he stepped down from the dais at the front of the classroom. "It's meant to prepare you for the real world. At Hogwarts, we feel it's especially important in these times that everyone has knowledge of how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts. Therefore, I have accepted students who have received any of the passing grades. And as you all know, anyone who got a failing grade can retake the O.W.L class. Although that doesn't apply to anyone of you here."

James, Sirius and Remus had all gotten an Outstanding on their O.W.L:s, and Peter had got an Acceptable. Along with Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts was the only class all four of them attended together.

"Before we get into more advanced areas, I will start this course with repeating some basic knowledge that you all need to be able to move forward. Today, we will go over spells covered in your O.W.L. class."

James and Sirius sighed in unison, as Sirius let his chair fall down on all four legs again. James turned his head to look at Sirius, and they shared a quick grin.

James didn't need to go over any old spells. He already knew all of them perfectly.

"This is not meant to take up a large part of this course," Professor Prequan continued, as if he had heard James and Sirius expressing their disapproval. "If anyone have troubles mastering these spells, they will have to practice them outside of class."

Professor Prequan instructed everyone to stand up and form groups of four. James immediately locked eyes with Remus and Peter, who crossed the aisle and joined James and Sirius. Professor Prequan wrote a number of spells with white chalk on the big blackboard, which they were supposed to quickly go through. James, Sirius and Remus had no problem doing so, but Peter struggled with a couple of them. It wasn't like had forgot them over the summer; he had never really managed to get the hang of them the first time around. James, Sirius and Remus spent the rest of the lesson trying to help him, and at the end of it, he had at least been able to cast all of them once.

When the lesson was over everyone started packing up. James fumbled with his bag while keeping his eyes on Lily. Her red, shiny hair was shielding her face from view, as she leaned forward over her bag, putting the school book, her quills, and a bottle of inc inside of it. Her black robes were unbuttoned, and showed off a light-blue sweater and the muggle jeans she was wearing beneath.

"Mate, could you hurry up?" Sirius said quietly, leaning in close to James. He sounded more entertained than annoyed though.

James gave Sirius a playful push before giving his bag his full attention.

James was determined to make Lily like him, but he didn't want to annoy her by keeping on talking to her when she clearly didn't want him to. The problem was that he had no idea how to pull that off if he wasn't allowed to talk.

Lily's read hair disappeared through the doorway.

"Shall we go?" Remus, with Peter by his side, was standing next to James' desk.

"Yep," answered James. He grabbed his bag, and they four of them left the hot classroom.

"Anyone coming with me to the Quidditch pitch?" James asked, as they walked along the corridor.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team had decided to start practice as soon as possible, which happened to be this Friday afternoon.

"Studying," said Remus, to answer his question.

Remus enjoyed Quidditch, and did come to James' practice sessions once in a while, but he probably had plans to continue his attempts casting the multiplying spell.

"I'll come with you," said Peter.

James gave him a small smile. "Sirius?"

Sirius, who was walking alongside James, turned his head to look at him. "Prongs, I have better things to do than watching you score hundredths of goals while fighting an imaginary enemy."

"So you admit I'll score hundreths of goals?" James gave Sirius a teasing smile.

"Did I say score? I meant miss."

Peter laughed.

They had reached the gigantic stairwell, with staircases running along every wall, and several ones moving around in the middle. They walked to a staircase which lead into thin air, and stepped on. Slowly it started to move across the room.

"Look," said Sirius, leaning his arm against the parapet. "I like seeing you play, but I can't really imagine anything more boring than watching a practice session."

"Studying with Remus?" James suggested.

"Perhaps," laughed Sirius.

The staircase stopped with a little shake. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter stepped off, and immediately started to climb the stairs along the left wall.

"Your not going to join me in the library then?" Remus asked Sirius. "You could need some practice as well, you know."

Sirius shrugged. "Sure."

"So you admit you prefer my company?"

"Yeah." Sirius lay a hand on James' shoulder. "Sorry Prongs."

When the four of them reached the Gryffindor Tower, James picked up his team robes and broom, before leaving for the Quidditch pitch together with Peter. The two of them parted outside the dressing room, where James snuck in to change into his scarlet team robes. The rest of the team heartedly greeted him when he entered.

It was just as hot as yesterday. The sun temporarily blinded James when he left the dressing room and stepped out in the bright sunlight. Peter was sitting in the otherwise empty stands, looking out over the the team below. James reached up his hand and waved, and Peter waved back.

Luke, on his knees in front of the chest containing the four balls, was fiddling to get it open. James boarded his broom and kicked off into the air. His other teammates, except Luke, followed him. A refreshing, soft wind swept by James' face as he ordered his broom forward and shot away across the pitch.

James loved flying. It was amazing. The speed gave him a kick, filling him with excitement. Above that, he really enjoyed playing Quidditch. He was one of the team's three Chasers. Their job was to earn the team points by throwing the red Quaffle through one of the opposing team's goal posts as many times as possible. James would love to score enough goals during a game to ensure the Gryffindor team a victory even if he other team's Seeker catched the Golden Snitch. Otherwise, the Chasers job felt kind of meaningless.

James halted at the other end of the pitch and turned around on the spot. Luke had now joined the other ones in the air. He passed the Quaffle to the Chaser Alexandra before disappearing upwards on his hunt for the Snitch. One of the Bludgers suddenly changed course mid-air, and started rushing towards James. Immediately he set off to the left to avoid it, and quickly flew back to his teammates. Their Keeper, Robert, had positioned himself by one set of the golden hoops, and together, the three Chasers started to throw the red ball between them while moving closer to the hoops.

Luke was circulating somewhere above them.

It must be quite boring being a Seeker. James did get the appeal of hunting and catching the Snitch, but the Seeker was separated from the rest of the game. A big part of Quidditch was the team spirit and the interaction with other players. All the encouraging comments screamed to be heard over the loud wind, and the sly taunting between the competing teams. The Seeker missed all the action.

The training continued for an hour. James was soaking with sweat when they were done. He made his way inside the changing room and jumped in the shower. Luke was satisfied with the practice, and gave everyone an encouraging patt on the shoulder as they left and stepped back outside in the bright sunshine.

James and Peter found Remus and Sirius in the library, seated next to each other at one of the dark oak tables. They were the only one there - a luxury they seemed to have taken advantage of, since opens books and piles of buttons was spread all over it.

The library seemed to be rather empty. It was usually later in the year flocks of students flead here, when they, panic-stricken, realized they should have done what Remus and Sirius was doing - started studying from the start of the term.

"I see you made some progress." James nodded towards the identical buttons on the table, as he stepped closer.

Remus smiled. "Mostly Sirius, I'm afraid."

"C'mon Moony, don't be modest," said Sirius, shoving a couple of buttons in Remus' direction. He left them in front of Remus, where some of them balanced on the very edge of the table before falling to the floor with a soft clatter, and disappearing under various bookshelves. "You did some of them."

A more genuine smile filled Remus face. "Well, it's definitely an improvement," he said, sounding pleased.

"Yeah," James and Peter agreed.

James, still standing, leaned in over the table; his hands grabbing the edge for support "I got something for tonight," he said in a hushed voice, even though no one could probably hear them.

Peter, on James' right, leaned in as well.

The four of them had planned to sneak up to one of the towers in the evening, and sit on the roof.

"Yeah?" said Sirius eagerly.

Remus, who had been twirling around the buttons on the table with the tip of his wand, stopped and looked up at James. His eyes contained a flicker of excitement.

"I have some firewhisky."

Peter's lips formed a small smile, as he looked at James; impressed.

Sirius face lit up. "Where did you get that?"

"Might have stolen it from my parents." James grinned.

Remus stared at James with a blank expression. "So, just to be clear: You want us to get drunk on a roof?"

James paused for a moment and shifted his weight. "I admit it's not my brightest idea-"

"And that's saying something", Remus cut him off. "Since your 'bright' ideas really aren't that bright."

"I am bright," James defended himself. "I bet I could multiply one of those buttons right now if I wanted," he added, nodding at the table.

"We're discussing common sense here-"

"But by all means, Prongs," said Sirius cockily, putting his finger on a single button and pushing it towards James. "Go ahead." He raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Okay," said James, being just as confident he would succeed as Sirius was he would fail.

James brought out his wand, pointed it at the button and uttered the spell. When nothing happened Sirius made a mocking laugh.

"I hardly believe Sirius managed on the first try!" James defended himself. "Right, Remus?"

Remus, who had been watching James cast the spell, smiled wryly. "Your putting me in a complicated position", he said. "I don't wanna enlarge Sirius' ego, but on the other hand, I don't wanna encourage your showing off."

"He totally didn't manage on his first try," James decided, tapping his wand against the button. "Plicamini."

Nothing happened. Annoyed, James sighed and sent the button flying across the room with a flick of his wand. It crashed into a bookshelf and dropped onto the floor.

"So back to the being-drunk-on-a-roof-thing." said Remus, sounding like he had to restrain himself from smiling.

"Yes," said James, his gaze leaving the lonely button on the wooden planks.

He was sure he'd get it right soon enough.

"You all in?" James asked.

"Yep," answered Peter.

"Yes!", Sirus excitedly exclaimed. "And Remus you're in too", he declared, turning around in his esat to look at Remus.

Despite trying to hid it, Remus looked rather tempted. "Okay.", he said after a moment's hesitation. "But if we die, remember I told you so."


Another, cold, fresh wind hit James in the face, making his short, black curls flap around his head. He gazed out over the grounds. The setting yellow sun, hiding behind the clouds, painted the sky a gentle tint of orange, which was reflected in the lake below. The castle and its surroundings had all gained different shades of brown.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had chosen the astronomy tower - it being the highest of the whole school. They were not sitting on the plattform meant for astronomy lessons, however. That would be a cop out. The top of the broad tower ramified into several smaller extensions, so there was several roofs for them to choose from, and they had picked the only one with a somewhat less steep gradient.

"So tell me," Remus suddenly uttered, leaning closer to James, where he was sitting to his left.

James turned away from the beautiful sunset and looked at Remus. His cheeks were coloured soft pink. If it was an effect of the firewhisky or the wind, James couldn't say.

On his other side, James felt Sirius moving closer as well, to hear what they were talking about.

"Why Lily?" Remus continued. "Don't get me wrong, she seems like a nice girl. But she... well sorry, but she kinda detests you. So why do you like her so much?"

James was quiet for a moment. "Remember how she acted around me before that thing with Snape?"

"Could you talk louder?" Peter interrupted, peeking out behind Sirius.

James shot him a glance. "Sorry, Pete."

Remus shifted his eyes. "Was there a difference?"

"Well at least she talked to me."

"It's been two days, Prongs. She might still talk to you," said Remus reassuringly.

The look in Lily's eyes at the end of last year had suggested otherwise.

"I don't think she will." James turned his head to look out over the grounds again.

"So how did she act before?"

"Well," James started, keeping his gaze forward. "Even though she made it clear she thought me to be an arrogant douchebag, we'd have these conversations. More like banters. We actually have a lot in common, and it's so easy to talk to her... I enjoyed it. It was fun. And, she's clever..."

James hadn't thought Lily to be interesting during his first two years at Hogwarts. She was just some girl in his year. But at the end of their third year she caught his interest. She wasn't impressed by him, as many others were, but they started talking; during lessons, a comment here and there as they passed each other in the hallway. They never hung out after school, since Lily stood by the fact that she disliked him, even though she clearly in some way enjoyed their relationship. But then, last year it had all ended.

Despite a, at least, five year long friendship, Snape must never have told Lily about his ongoing conflict with James and Sirius. Thinking back, James ought to have considered it obvious. Lily and Snape had seemed pretty close, so she probably wouldn't have wanted anything to do with James if she'd known. Or, James knew that would have been her reaction, since that was exactly how she felt now. Her playful hate had turned into actual hate.

James looked back at Remus. "I don't know, but... I kinda fell for her. It's not like I'm madly in love or something. I just like her."

"And also, you think she's hot," Sirius smirked.

"Obviously." James sighed. "But now she hates me. And I don't know how to fix that."

"Not getting at Snape seems like a good idea," Remus suggested.

"Well it's too late for that now, isn't it?" James said sarcastically.

"Maybe she's not mad about Snape anymore though," said Peter. "Since she's not friends with him anymore."

"I don't think that matters. It's the principle of it."

James grabbed the bottle with firewhiskey and took another sip. Sirius reached out his hand, and James handed it to him.

"I really wonder why she liked him," James absent-mindedly pondered. "He's a disgusting, racist You-Know-Who-lover. It feels like the kind of person she would dismiss on the spot."

"Do you really think he's a You-Know-Who-supporter?" Peter asked incredulously.

"You heard what he called Lily. And those people he hang out with…"

Snape and his friends didn't exactly keep their opinions or interest of the Dark Arts a secret. They went around the school calling muggle-borns mudbloods, declaring they weren't fit to learn magic.

"They are all totally going to become Death Eaters," James concluded.

"Maybe they already are," Sirius jokingly speculated. "They might be spying on Dumbledore for You-Know-Who."

It was commonly known that Voldemort feared Dumbledore. Killing him must be high on his to-do-list, and it wouldn't just be for personal reasons either. Dumbledore was a key figure in the fight against Voldemort, and he offered a lot of hope to people. Him dead would throw their whole defence off balance.

"In that case, they are not very good at being spies," Remus pointed out with a dry smile. "You'd thought they wouldn't parade their muggle-hate if they were undercover."

James laughed.

"Can I have the firewhiskey?" Remus leaned forward to look at Sirius past James shoulder, and Sirius passed the bottle to him. He chugged some alcohol down his throat.

"But Voldemort totally has real spies," said James. "Maybe not a couple of Hogwarts students, but they are out there."

"That scares me," said Peter in a small voice.

"Yeah, spreading distrust really works in You-Know-Who's favour," said James. "If we don't trust each other we fall apart. And if we do trust someone, but it's the wrong someone, we'll fall apart all the same."

"How poetic, Prongs."

"Shut up, Sirius."

The sun had disappeared behind the mountains, leaving the darkening sky with a hint of pink and yellow. James' body had turned rather stiff, and carefully he started to stretch out his limbs. Remus brought the bottle to his mouth again.

"What if he wins?" Peter's scared voice wasn't more than a whisper.

"He won't win," James declared determinedly.

"You can't know that. Sorry, Prongs, but some reassuring words aren't gonna help."

"I honestly believe he won't win."

When Jame pictured the future, he always imagined Voldemort would be defeated at the end. Dumbledore's side wasn't superior, so he didn't know why he felt that way. It was probably because all he ever tackled himself was the mundane problems in his normal life. His brain probably couldn't handle comprehending such a huge disaster.

"And why is that?" Sirius didn't sound very convinced.

"Grindelwald was defeated," Remus offered.

"Exactly!" James pointed at Remus, as to emphasize what Remus had said.

Sirius shrugged. "Second time's a charm."

"It's 'third time', you idiot," said James.

"Whatever. I'm not so sure we're going to win."

Was Sirius thinking about his family? Being one of the Blacks, Sirius had been presented with a quite different social circle then the rest of them. His family was one of the so called 'Sacred Twenty-Eight', which was the 28 families considered (by racist idiots) to be entirely pureblood. Not all the Sacred Twenty-Eight concerned themselves with their bloodstatus, but in the Black family, it was something to be proud of. They happened to detest muggle-borns, and even half-bloods didn't get a free pass. Sirius had told James, Remus and Peter how his parents, cousins, uncles, and aunts used the word 'unstained' to describe their inheritance. Holding these values as extremely important, the Blacks only socialised with relatives, and other families with the same view of the matter. Meeting all those people growing up, Sirius must feel like the world was crawling with potential Death Eaters.

James' family was different. He was pureblood, but didn't know any relative who was obsessed with making sure it stayed that way. His parents were definitely not Voldemort-supporters. James was happy the Potters hadn't made the list of the Sacred Twenty-Eight (or Sacred Twenty-Nine as it would have been called in that case). He saw how uncomfortable it made Sirius to be on it. Remus, being a werewolf and having a muggle-mother, and Peter, who was half-blood, had, just like James, grown up in more accepting families. To them, the world seemed to be filled with decent people.

Unfortunately, the attention to blood status had been more and more normalised over the years. Hostility against muggle-borns and condescending comments about muggles were becoming more common. In families like the Blacks, Muggle-borns were actually considered to be more of a disgrace than actual muggles. Those families thought wizards and witches to be superior to muggles, but were fine with muggles existing, as long as they stayed in their place. Muggle-borns, on the other hand, were muggles who had weaseled their way into the wizarding world. And that was something unacceptable.

James sighed again, sweeping his eyes over his three friends: a werewolf, a blood traitor, and one scared out of his wits.

"We'll just have to hope I'm right then."