Hello everyone! Sorry for taking an unplanned hiatus. I thought about posting something, but I didn't want to raise your hopes for an A.N.

As an excuse, I've been working and looking for apartments for next year (and holidays!), but really, I've been having a bit of writer's block as to what happens between now and the end of the school year (in the story). Now that I've got it sussed out, I just need to get to writing it!

Unfortunately, my writing hasn't really been up to par and so you get this kind of mismatched outtake thing, where the P.O.V switches between Emma and James within the same part. Just a bit of fluffy drama, hence the different type of title. Hope you enjoy!

As usual, thanks so much to my reviewers: ollietrombone, MyNightWish, Guest, Patrick, lizyeh2000, SNicole25, Ruby Meadowes, Blueocean, , Mistycharming, Seifer of Magic, , C.B. Weasley, idly daydreaming and of course xXRosexScorpiusXx, Blue Luver5000, Cae-Leigh Anne and creelluka!

Thanks again for being so patient!

James rubbed his hands with glee. The prank had gone as planned, funnier in fact. He hadn't expected Lockhart to manage the spell on such a grand scale, even if he had help from the Marauders.

Funnily enough, it had been Peter to suggest the spell. James took it as a good sign. With Sirius and himself distracted, the smaller boy usually so easy to miss had really stepped up to the plate. He was proud of the little guy. Of course, Sirius had to go and ruin it with his teasing, but from the glow on Peter's face, the latter knew he had pulled off a Marauder-worthy joke.

It was a shame they couldn't take credit for it. Once the Arithmancy professor had linked it to the Dark Mark, no one in their right mind would claim that prank. Just another thing this "Voldemort" has ruined, James thought. He was of the mind that whoever needed to stick a title in front of their name probably didn't deserve it.

The one down point in his morning was that Sirius had given him a meaningful look when Emma had taken down the head. James would never admit it, but he was relieved he wouldn't have to stare at Lockhart's face all day. However, there was no one more self-involved that Peter could find. He should have asked Sirius, James snorted. No, it wasn't the end of the prank that had dampened his mood – it was the fact that his best friend was clearly insinuating that his sister knew something about the Dark Arts, just because she had figured out the counter-spell for the Dark Mark-like construction.

Really, if Sirius was going to be so paranoid, maybe he should have asked Peter how he had come up with the idea in the first place. Picturing Wormtail as a Death Eater was almost as laughable as Emma taking the Dark Mark. His second snort in as many minutes had Moony giving him a strange look.

'Don't you think Wormtail's prank was hilarious?' James asked, shaking the absurd notion from his head.

Moony just gave him one of his half-grins – the ones that said "I actually found that prank very funny but I'm trying to keep a straight face lest I encourage you and that would be bad because I'm a Prefect". James was pretty good at deciphering Moony's expressions, if he did say so himself.

Satisfied, James checked his watch – the one with gold Snitches embedded around the clock he had received for his seventeenth birthday, not the one Sirius gave him that spurted out random spells on the hour – and realised that he still had half an hour until Potions started.

Moony still took Potions, but because of conflicting schedules, he had to take the class with the Ravenclaws. James wondered if he ever felt left out, remembering the shy first year who hadn't wanted to make friends, so scared he was of hurting them. He felt a rush of affection and pity for his friend that had gone through so much, yet who never complained.

'Let's get some chocolate,' James suggested.

Moony looked as though he would protest, but his stomach then gave a long rumble. He was always hungry after the full moon.

'I guess my excuse of going to the library isn't going to cut it anymore,' Remus said ruefully.

'You can always finish up your Astronomy essay in the kitchens,' James suggested.

He knew how much Moony liked the class, the idea that everything had a place and a time to happen. Even though he had to be extra careful about his excuses for the full moon, Remus always maintained that it was worth it. James always privately thought the class helped Moony keep as calm as he was.

Bouncing along the corridor, to the amusement of his slower friend, James hummed a little tune.

Emma tucked into her beans on toast. She had guessed correctly, Regulus and Rabastan were both currently sulking in the kitchen. Regulus, because Rabastan wouldn't tell him what he was doing in the Forbidden Forest, and Rabastan, because apparently whatever he had been doing hadn't turned out in his favour. Emma had wisely stayed out of it for once – siding with Regulus would just make Rabastan say that she had taken her best friend's – boyfriend's – side again, whereas siding with Rabastan would make Regulus give her that hurt look she had come to recognise and abhor.

'Look,' Regulus sighed. 'I believe you about the Lockhart thing, okay? I only asked about it in the first place because he certainly didn't do it by himself and I couldn't think of anyone else it could be, alright? I should have known that after last week that you would never risk a stunt like that...'

It was a tribute to what Rabastan's friendship meant to him that Regulus was justifying himself with so many words. Emma suddenly felt uncomfortable, as though she was intruding upon something. She got up to scrape the rest of her baked beans into one of the bins before a house-elf all but wrenched the plate away from her, somehow commanding her in a servile tone to leave him to take care of it.

By the time the tussle with the little creature was over, Regulus and Rabastan seemed to have moved on, Rabastan telling Regulus some kind of joke whilst the latter smiled and basked in the attention. In fact, they seemed closer than they had in weeks. She was loath to interrupt the moment, but her watch was an uncomfortable reminder that they were going to be late for Potions.

'We should get going,' she tapped Regulus on the shoulder.

'Sure,' he replied, a flurry of looks crossing his face until he settled on his usual faint smirk.

Leaving them to sort out the uncomfortable atmosphere, Rabastan went to open the door, sure that he could catch the fruit in some compromising position or other. As usual, he was disappointed. But that was more than made up for when he found himself face to face with James Potter. Taken aback, he searched for something nice to say.

'Hi,' he stated dumbly.

James just stared at him.

'Come on, James, we don't have long until we're late for Potions,' an impatient voice came from behind the Gyffindor.

James moved his arm so that Remus could see his fellow Slytherin.

'Ah, it appears that we weren't the only ones in the mood for a second breakfast,' the Prefect said light-heartedly.

Rabastan felt an arm drag him out of the doorway.

'Now, now Rabastan,' Emma said laughingly. 'Don't stand in the way of a Prefect and his breakfast. You know how Regulus gets, and he's in a friendly House!'

Regulus just shook his head, shrugging his book bag onto his shoulder.

'We should probably go,' he said, nodding to the two Gryffindors. 'I'd advise you to be quick about it, Potter, Slughorn wants to start the exam this week so the last week of term is free for his Slug Club.'

It was probably one of the most cordial conversations in Slytherin-Gryffindor history.

'Did you have something to do with Regulus acting strangely this morning?' Emma asked under her breath.

Technically they were only allowed to say things like "pass me the silver knife", or "can I have the chopping board?", but Emma had decided to risk a simple question. Regulus had been having problems with his potion – not anything major, but Emma had noticed that he was reading instructions twice over, or almost letting his cauldron overheat. It wasn't the calm, focused Regulus she was used to seeing.

'I may have mentioned that it was time he acted like you were his girlfriend, not just his friend,' Rabastan grinned back.

Emma flushed scarlet and pretended to read the blackboard over again. She met James's stare just as he turned back around with a frown. What's that all about then?

Rab could really give Reg a break, she thought. It's barely new to us anyway; it wasn't our fault he walked in on us... even if we were in the common room.

Suddenly, her quill started moving across her parchment of her own accord. Startled, she looked around, only to see Rabastan concentrating on her Potions book. She hastily placed her had around the quill as though she was jotting down notes. In actual fact, she was reading the words forming in handwriting different to her own.

Look, I didn't want to mention everything in front of the house-elves...

Plus, I know Reg would have been angry with me when he's done his fair share of stupid things this past week...

And it wasn't stupid.

Emma rolled her eyes, get to the point already, Bast.

I tried to get rid of Amelia Bones.

I think she's onto us.

There was a long pause, during which Emma could hear her cauldron bubbling, signifying the water was ready.

I'm scared of being caught, Emma.

She lifted her eyes from the parchment to meet Rabastan's. The omnipresent flecks of laughter had disappeared from his eyes. He was serious. He nodded back towards the parchment.

I tried luring her into a trap and it almost worked. Thanks to that Hufflepuff dunderhead, I'm back at square one with a witch on the lookout for dark magic.

Emma snatched the quill away, Rabastan's magic only giving the slightest resistance. She turned over the page and applied fresh ink to the feather.

She's on the lookout for dark magic from me, Rab. We'll discuss this in the girl's dorm, tonight. Bring Reg, he'll understand, you know he will. I'll make sure Helen and Sophie are indisposed. In the meantime...

A second's pause.

In the meantime... Stay on your guard.

And she would make sure that her friends would stay safe.

James cornered Emma later that day to do some revision for the N.E. . This alone should have triggered an alarm bell, but he had spent so much time recently studying with Lily that it seemed normal. Plus, it seemed like a delayed reaction to try to reconnect, the way Emma had after their parents had died and James had pulled away.

'So,' he said after a while of scratching away at essays on Animagi. 'I know that you know this subject by heart, and so do I. I think I'll be finished in about five minutes, and the snow outside is just itching for me to turn it into caricatures of the Heads of Houses.'

Emma cracked a smile at that, imagining a glacial McGonagall. It was surprisingly easy.

'Go ahead,' she replied. 'I have a ton of Arithmancy to do, anyway.'

'Before I do,' James hesitated, and it was then that Emma realised that they weren't there to do their homework together. 'I wanted to ask you about something.'

'Go on...' she said slowly, running the multitude of possibilities in her mind.

What did he find out? Studying his uneasy expression, she decided that he couldn't have found out about anything important. He would look angry, unhappy at least. Now, he was twirling his quill between his fingers, trying to choose the right words to say.

'I know it's early,' he began. 'But I was thinking... We should have Christmas at home, one last time. Before you go off to break curses and I – hopefully – start Auror training and won't know when Christmas is anymore.'

'You mean -'

'Godric's Hollow.'

James waited with bated breath as Emma's features arranged themselves into a doubtful expression.

'I don't know, James...'

'It's what Mum would have wanted,' he said, looking at her with big hazel eyes, like when he asked their mother for an extra Troll Toffee. His glasses slipped down his nose a little, but he made no move to adjust them. The quill stopped turning as his attention focused on his sister.

'Mum's not who I'm worried about,' Emma replied quietly.

'Emma -'

It was her turn to interrupt him. 'What if Dad's placed some sort of enchantment there keeping me out?'

'Come on, that's -'

'Ridiculous?' Emma finished James's sentence heatedly. 'James, he disinherited me. He tried to drive a wedge between us; he probably would have tried to Obliviate me from his memory if it weren't so dangerous. He hated me, James.'

'So I'll check the house. I'm not Dad. Would you do it for me? So that we can have one moment in our final year without having to deal with all of this House rubbish?'

James looked so forlorn that Emma couldn't help but let a crack enter her defences.

'If I did... Would Lily be there?'

'I'm not sure,' James replied with a frown, taken by surprise. 'I can ask her if you'd like. Why?'

'Well, I'm guessing Sirius will be there...' she pulled a face.

Here James took a deep breath. 'I was thinking... I know you're not on the best of terms with Sirius, so what if we invited Regulus too?'

'I don't know that his mother would like being alone,' Emma replied, thinking of the ominous Grimmauld Place and the frenzy of Mrs Black after having lost her husband. On the other hand, she was sure that Regulus wouldn't object if Kreacher was allowed to come too. 'On second thought, he probably wouldn't care.'

'Does Regulus not get along with his mother?' James asked curiously. 'Sirius always spoke as if his little brother could do no wrong.'

'It's complicated,' Emma replied tersely, thinking of a similar remark made by Regulus about his older brother. Tentatively, she pictured the scene in her mind. 'Would you mind me inviting a second guest?'

'I draw the limit at your boyfriend,' James frowned, his eyebrows nearly meeting. 'I couldn't handle that, even if we do get along better than before.'

Emma didn't understand.

'But you just said you wanted to invite Regulus!' she raised her voice slightly. 'Besides, you don't know who it is yet.'

'Of course I do,' James replied immediately. 'I pay more attention than you think. You know that I saw you in the kitchens this morning, and besides you spend all of your time practically attached at the hip.'

'I don't understand,' Emma matched her twin's frown. 'Do you want to invite Regulus or not?'

'I just said that I would, didn't I?' it was James's turn to raise his voice. 'I just don't want your boyfriend coming along. I know that we aren't in fifth year anymore and I don't have the right to question who you do and don't date, but I don't trust him. Sure, he looks out for you, but I can never tell if he has an ulterior motive.'

He adopted his most disapproving look, even though he knew it would wind Emma up. He just wanted Emma to admit that she was seeing Lestrange, the way he had opened up to her about Lily. He was slightly hurt that despite his best efforts to bridge the gap that had opened up between them these past few years, Emma was still stubbornly pretending that he knew nothing about her and her friends.

However, seeing her open her mouth angrily made him realise that he was achieving the opposite of what he came to the library with her for. Taking a deep breath, he spoke over whatever Emma was saying.

'Honestly, I never thought I'd say this, but why don't you want to go out with Regulus? At least he's in love with you.'

Emma immediately fell silent. James regretted his outburst. He had just been making progress with her closest friend and now he had gone and blabbed his biggest secret. One that Sirius, apparently, had been holding over him for years. Had he just alienated the one friend Emma had that James could trust?

'What the hell are you talking about?' his sister asked instead, nonplussed.

Well, I hadn't expected that, James thought. He gave her a strange look.

'You might not believe it, but Regulus fancies you,' he said. 'And I swear that if you give him a chance, I won't try to ruin it for you as... as I may have in the past.'

'Now you admit it,' Emma snorted, calming down a little. 'But James, I already know that Regulus fancies me. It would be a bit weird if my boyfriend didn't.'

That word again "boyfriend", Emma thought. It felt strange on her tongue, but gave her a thrill to say it, even if it was to James, who was the last person she had thought of telling – she wanted time to prepare Regulus for Stinging Hexes and numerous pranks before telling James.

'Wait...' James said, his features falling back into a neutral expression. 'So let me get this straight. Lestrange... isn't your boyfriend?'

Emma nodded.

'Regulus is?'

Emma nodded again, raising an amused eyebrow.

'Well that's a huge relief,' James let out a sigh for good measure, falling back onto his chair. He hadn't even noticed getting up.

Emma was shaking her head in disbelief.

'I can't believe you thought I was dating Rabastan,' she said.

'Well, how was I supposed to know?' James cried in mock indignation.

Emma just gave him a look. He laughed, half out of relief. A thought occurred to him.

'Wait, so if Lestrange isn't the second person, who is?'

'Kreacher,' Emma replied simply, so simply that James wasn't sure if she was joking or not.

He raised his eyebrows at her, but before she could explain her eyes were drawn to something behind her brother. James turned to see Regulus enter the row of bookshelves near their table, spot them, and walk towards them. Still giddy with relief that Emma's boyfriend was the only Slytherin James knew he had a chance of cracking – probably the only one who was halfway decent, although he tried not to act prejudiced – he heartily clapped him on the back.

'There he is!'

Regulus's back went stiff, but to his credit he merely looked towards Emma for guidance.

'So... My brother may know that we're together,' she said sheepishly, suddenly finding her shoelaces extremely interesting.

Regulus looked back to James, who was still grinning, and then to Emma again. He cleared his throat.

'Well... now that I know you're in the library, I guess I'll just... you know,' Regulus hemmed, pointing back the way he came.

'No, stay,' James said, pulling up a chair. 'Emma was just about to tell me who Kreacher was.'

'Sirius didn't mention –' Regulus broke off his sentence before it finished, muttering instead, 'no, I guess that would have slipped his mind, not important enough for him.'

'Kreacher is the Blacks' house elf,' Emma said, deliberately cutting Regulus off.

'Oh, well then,' James said with an air of finality. 'Of course he can come then. Well, I guess that's me done. I'll leave you two up to your kindling romance then. Cheerio!'

He gave them a half-hearted wave over his shoulder, mussing his hair up one last time on the way out. Meeting Regulus's questioning stare, Emma groaned and thumped her head on the table.