Previously: It's been a year since Stoughton's death. Terry Abbott reveals to Lily that he had sent her the anonymous poem on Valentine's Day, and he asks her out. Lily accepts, silently promising Stoughton that she'll live for both of them – she has finally come to terms with Stoughton's death. James and Sirius are attacked by Snape, but they quickly retaliate. Snape loses, and James finds the list of Snape's invented spells, which he gleefully pockets before taunting Snape more. Lily shows up and interrupts them. She forces James to release Snape. Lily realizes that the James who comforted her on the beach is gone and that she needs to accept that he and Sirius have turned into bullies. Also, Sirius's dislike towards Lily deepens as a result of her jinxing him when his back was turned and threatening him with his own wand.


Chapter 44: An Invitation and a Departure

"Holy shit!"

Despite the fact that Lily probably could have woken to something much more pleasant, those were words that rudely jerked her from some much needed sleep.

Grumbling, Lily blearily opened one eye that, while still hazy through her eyelashes, could clearly make out Alice's form holding a letter. Her friend was already dressed for the day in a Holyhead Harpies T-shirt and faded jeans, meaning that Lily must have already missed breakfast – oh, well. She would have a huge end-of-term feast later on anyways. But with missing breakfast, she must have also missed the mail, and Alice had clearly waited until she was back up in the dorm before opening her letter.

"What?" mumbled Lily.

She opened both eyes, though she still did not feel like propping herself up into a sitting position yet.

"Good, you're awake," said Marlene's voice somewhere from the foot of Lily's bed. "Here's your paper – oh, and Terry Abbott asked me to give this to you."

Something landed on Lily's pillow behind her head, ruffing her already messy bedhead, and she knew even before turning over that it was indeed her morning copy of the Daily Prophet and another one of Terry's poems. The other Gryffindor girls had seemingly given up on trying to get Lily up at a reasonable time (reasonable to them at least, thought Lily when Marlene had finally explained it back in first year), so unless they had something going on that weekend that Alice wanted Lily to join them for, they usually consented to let Lily sleep in while they went down to breakfast. Since Lily was not down there to get her newspaper on the weekends, her friends had fallen into the habit of giving her mail to her when she was finally awake – though it was still a weekday technically, final exams were all finished, so Lily had seen no reason to get up any earlier than she felt like.

"Holy shit," repeated Alice, still staring at the paper in her hand as if she could not believe her eyes. "My – my mum just won that Daily Prophet drawing for those tickets to World Cup final – in the Top Box."

Lily rubbed her eyes and sat up before saying, "Really? How many?"

Even though Potter had made going to the Quidditch matches at Hogwarts painful to watch, what with his giant ego and all, Lily still had not lost her interest in Quidditch and such was well aware that the 1974 Quidditch World Cup would be taking place this summer, this time in the Gibson Desert. However, she had long ago accepted that the tickets would probably be too expensive for her parents to even consider letting her go, but that did not stop her from feeling happy for Alice since her friend was about as big of a Quidditch fan as one could get.

"Six," answered Alice, still getting over her surprise. "Mum, Dad, my two cousins Fabian and Gideon, me – and mum said I can choose someone to go with us."

Here, she looked up at all of them, and Lily guessed that she really wanted to ask one of them but did not want to leave any of her other friends behind. She still did not sound certain as she feebly asked, "Would – would any of you like to go?"

Marlene gently held up her hand as she said, "My family already got us tickets – they're not in the Top Box, but I'll still be there. It's up to Lily and Mary."

Mary shook her head at that.

"Lily's a bigger Quidditch fan than I am – I just watch the games for something to do."

Alice gave Lily a hopeful look and begged, "Please, please, please, Lily? Otherwise my mum and dad are going to invite one of their friends, and then it won't be nearly as fun as it would if you were there – please?"

"Well, I – I would have to check with my parents to see if I can go, but otherwise … yeah, I'd love to go," said Lily, momentarily stunned. There were not many things that could have made Lily's day so early in the morning, but an invitation to the Top Box of the Quidditch World Cup final definitely counted.

"Yay!" squealed Alice, and she leapt onto Lily's bed to give her a tight hug, which Lily did not hesitate to return. "Thank you, Lily – thank you, thank you, thank you!" She finally got off the bed, allowing Lily to rise and get ready for the day, and still beaming, added, "We're going to have so much fun!"

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1974 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

"Where is it?" whispered James. "We're on a tight schedule here."

Since Sirius had outright refused to time their prank around the end-of-term feast, the four Marauders had all agreed to finish their preparations before the feast ended instead so that none of them would miss it. James did not mind the change in time. It was a beautiful June day after all, and his time had to be spent doing something productive.

The only thing was that the bright daylight seemed to juxtapose their need for stealth as they approached the carriages that would soon be taking students to the where the Hogwarts Express waited in the Hogsmeade station. The Invisibility Cloak would not do them much good either since this prank forced them move around a little, and Remus had pointed out that the cloak would be redundant anyways since everybody was still either packing or already sitting in the Great Hall, waiting for the feast to start.

Peter opened the giant gallon jug of Spellmer's Glue that they had bought at Zonko's Joke Shop several weeks ago. Thankfully, Remus had the sense to bring along one of James's bags that they had also used during the prank at the beginning of their second year that had involved transfiguring Nose-Biting Teacups into Hogwarts goblets, so they had eluded the suspicions of Filch when sneaking it back into the castle because, while Spelmer's Glue was not by any means banned, with their reputation, Filch would have immediately known they were once again up to something and set Mrs. Norris the task of following them around until they were safely on the train.

"Excellent," whispered Sirius, and he handed them all paintbrushes so they could begin.

They set to work immediately, Remus and Peter on one side while James and Sirius finished the other side. James had expected the air to only be filled with a relatively lightweight conversation, but Sirius must have had other thoughts because it barely took him ten seconds before he started questioning James on a topic he had not been expecting to discuss at all since it was so close to summer and fun without worrying about prefects and Filch prowling the halls at night.

"So is your little Evans crush over and done with, or are you just going to start up again next year?" asked Sirius, dipping his paintbrush once more into the barrel of glue. He still had not forgotten their less-than-cordial encounter with Lily.

"Um – well … yes? I dunno, mate, what do you expect me to say," evaded James, choosing to focus on getting the entire door edge covered.

"You're going to ask her out next time you see her again, aren't you?" asked Sirius, deadpan.

"Well … maybe – but you can't talk either, Sirius! I've seen the way you look at McKinnon," James pointed out, hoping to turn the conversation away to somebody else's girl problems that were not his to deal with.

"But McKinnon wasn't the one who told me to 'sit my sorry ass back down', James," snorted Sirius. "You're mistaking coy teasing for actual dislike. If I had a Knut for every time Evans insulted you, I could buy half of Scotland – honestly, it's like Wizard War II whenever you two are around each other."

"Not always," murmured James, more to himself rather than to Sirius. He could still see the beach, flickering somewhere in the back of his mind, and a warmth touched his chest as he remembered the smile that Lily had given him and the hug, however brief, that followed – in that moment, he and Lily had shared something together, something that just belonged to the two of them, and James could never forget that.

But Sirius did not know that, and neither did anybody else for that matter – though James did not actually know Lily as well as her other friends, he felt certain that she had not shared that moment on the beach with anybody else either. Though he could not be sure if Lily felt it was too private to share or something else, James was positive beyond any doubt that for whatever her reasons were, Lily had not wanted to tell anybody else about the end of last year.

His friend had not heard James's muttered words and so continued on as if nothing happened, "Besides, I don't want you turning into a prat just to impress Little Miss Perfect, James – prats are no fun to be around."

James rolled his eyes and pointed out, "I'd still be me, Sirius. You act like this is worst idea I've ever had, but c'mon! We're best mates, aren't we? So perhaps a little support on this, huh?"

He gave Sirius a very pointed look, to which Sirius just sighed and responded, "Fine, fine, fine. I won't say anything – though no promises if she does something I don't like."

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 1974 ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

"Make sure to bring your omnioculars to the World Cup. I mean, they sell plenty of them there, but those things are ridiculously overpriced …"

Alice blabbered on as they finished packing the last of their things into their trunks. Lily had yet to even get permission from her parents, but already Alice was making plans for the World Cup. However, Lily did not feel like stopping her friend, partly because she had no idea what to expect for the Quidditch World Cup since she had never been to one before and partly because that was just Alice, and Lily loved her for that.

"I doubt she'll be able to remember half of that, Alice," interrupted Marlene. She looked over to Lily, who was searching the drawers of her nightstand for anything she might have missed, and calmly explained, "Pretend it's like you're traveling to see a regular game of Quidditch and camp there overnight – bring whatever you would if that was the case."

"It's hardly a 'regular game of Quidditch,'" mumbled Alice, going slightly pink in the face.

"I know, honey, but that's only so Lily knows what to pack," soothed Marlene.

After a couple more minutes of feeling all the little nooks and crannies for things that might have fallen between cracks, the four of them finally conceded that they had retrieved everything from around their dorm. Most of their things such as their enormous trunks had already been loaded onto trolleys to be carried to the train a couple hours ago, so they grabbed what remained and descended the staircase – Crackerjack was not at all pleased that he had to spend the next hour in a cage until Lily could let him out after they were safely inside a train compartment, but a couple of treats poked through the thin bars had pacified him for the time being.

Alice chattered away as usual, and Lily was at first content to simply listen like she and the others usually did – until her friend said something that totally caught her off guard, bringing her to a complete as she stared at Alice.

"What? What do you mean 'You're sad to see Rawlings go?'" demanded Lily. "What happened?"

Alice looked surprised. "Nothing happened, Lily," she said, giving her a quizzical look, "Dumbledore just gave the announcement at breakfast this morning –"

"I wasn't at breakfast, Alice! She's leaving? Why?"

Even Marlene looked a little startled that Lily had not heard that their teacher was leaving, and she said, "Rawlings was only going to be here a year, Lily. That was –"

"Here, watch my stuff," interrupted Lily, handing Mary Crackerjack's cage and Alice her little satchel.

"Where're you – wait, Lily! Lily!"

But Alice's shouting fell on deaf ears. Lily was already racing off to Rawlings's office, praying that she would not be too late. On her way, she spotted Peeves scrawling bad words on a suit of armor with red paint that spelled out phrases such as "Run away, little firsties" and "Don't stay a minute longer – nobody wants little coggins spoiling this place." Lily was not even sure what coggins meant, though she was certain that Filch was not going to be happy. However, Lily could not care less about Peeves at the moment.

Before she knew it, Lily was standing outside Rawlings's office and banging on the door.

"Come in," a voice answered.

Lily flung it open without hesitation, but all she saw were trunks and bags that clearly indicated the room's owner would soon be moving out. In the midst of it all stood Rawlings, who had just finished charming the last couple of pictures into a bag that dutifully zipped itself up before plopping motionless on its spot, and Lily could not help the sinking feeling in her stomach – sure, they had good Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, but after Rawlings, nobody could ever live up to the standard that the young Auror had set after only one year here.

"So it's true – you're leaving," whispered Lily after a minute. "Why?"

Rawlings sighed and took a moment to think before answering, "There are many reasons I'm leaving, Evans. I'm not going to insult your intelligence by insisting that you just couldn't understand them yet, but some of them I can't tell you regardless." She paused to give Lily a kind, comforting smile and added, "Don't worry too much, Evans – you'll see me again, I'm sure."

"Where will you go?" asked Lily in a quiet voice. "Back to the Auror Office?"

Rawlings let a knowing smile briefly grace her lips as she responded with a cryptic, "Oh, I'm sure Dumbledore will have plenty of things to keep me busy without the Aurors."

She turned to all her packed belongings and waved her wand in a small but definite arch. The trunks and boxes that had previously covered the office suddenly twisted and warped in the air before disappearing completely, no doubt to appear somewhere else. Pretty soon, the only things left in the office was the now bare desk, a lone bag, Rawlings, and Lily. Everything else that had given even the slightest hint as to who had previously lived there was now gone, waiting somewhere else to be taken to a new dwelling.

"Now," said Rawlings, hoisting the last bag onto her shoulders and nodding to a spot behind Lily, "You and Prewett should probably get going before the carriages leave without you."

Sure enough, when Lily turned around, Alice was waiting for her, holding the carry-on bag Lily had abruptly shoved into Alice's hands upon learning that their best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was leaving. Her still-brunette friend was looking in on the scene with a resigned sadness – Rawlings had clearly earned not only Lily's trust but the respect of the entire student population in her brief year at Hogwarts, and Alice was just as sad as anybody to see Rawlings leave.

"Mary and Marlene are saving us a carriage," explained Alice, almost hesitant to intrude on their conversation.

Lily nodded once before turning back around to face Rawlings, who was getting up from her long-claimed seat on her desk for the last time, and she choked back on a tear that had threatened to spill onto her cheek. She tried to speak, but when the words failed to combine to form a coherent sentence, Rawlings just put her hand on Lily's shoulder, giving her a comforting smile, before leaving the room. Lily stayed where she was, staring at her professor's retreating figure before it disappeared from view.

When Alice had finally managed to get her to accompany her to the carriages, Lily looked back to Rawlings's office one last time, new questions and fears buzzing around her mind that refused to be quieted. Who would be their DADA professor next year? Would she really see Rawlings again? Was it even possible for their next DADA professor to prove to be even half of what both Rawlings and Stoughton had been? The only thing that Lily could be certain of was that nothing would be the same next year.

When they finally reached the carriages, Lily was surprised to see that nobody had seen the need to get into them yet. Instead, they were all standing around, as if waiting for something. Many students looked annoyed while others were torn between anger and amusement. However, it was only after Alice and Lily tracked down Marlene and Mary that they discovered what exactly was happening.

"It won't op – ack!" yelped Mary as she lost her grip on the door handle she had been uselessly tugging and went sprawling. Beside her, Marlene looked unusually frazzled as she glared at the door.

"What's going on?" inquired Lily, giving all the assembled students a quizzical look.

"Somebody's glued this door shut, and it refuses to open for anybody," grumbled Marlene, still not taking her eyes off the carriage.

As she assessed the situation, Lily started to get a very shrewd idea of who exactly this "somebody" was. In her mind, she could just see how gleeful Potter and Black would be as they hampered everybody else but themselves on the journey back home. To confirm her theory, she cautiously pulled at the door handle Mary had spent the last ten minutes trying to open.

"What's the password?" chirped a jaunty voice as soon as Lily's hand touched the handle.

"Let us through!" yelled Mary.

"Wasn't asking you," replied the voice, far too peppy for Lily's liking.

"Open this damn door," growled Marlene.

"You already tried that," reminded the voice.

Lily rolled her eyes. Considering that she was positive who was behind this and how much they craved recognition, she figured that she might as well hazard a guess as to what those four boys would absolutely love to hear every single person in the school say.

"The Marauders," stated Lily.

There was a pause, and then the voice, clearly wishing for somebody to elaborate on those words, said, "And the Marauders are…"

Lily inhaled – the words felt like acid on her tongue, but she was willing to say anything if it meant she would not have to wait any longer than she had to.

"The Marauders are … awesome."

Another pause, and then: "Close enough."

The door clicked and swung forward, allowing the rather vexed Gryffindor girls entry into the carriage, which they did with much swearing and minimal thanks. Since Lily had not been forced to stand there with an uncooperative door for as long as Mary and Marlene had, she let her friends enter ahead of her. When it was her turn to clamber into the carriage, Lily did so with a sigh.

"See? Was that so hard?" taunted the voice.

Well, at least some things would still be the same next year.


Ta-da! That concludes Lily and James's third year! Fourth year is right around the corner. (Or rather, it's right on the next chapter if you prefer to get technical.)