A/N: This interlude was edited entirely on my phone, so I apologize for any errors that I missed. They're typically harder for me to spot on the phone (and sometimes auto-correct works against me). Word count: 1,634

Interlude 3

James Potter

Wanted: A New Best Friend

"Is this actually worth it?"

James rolled his eyes, continuing down the corridor without glancing back at Sirius trailing behind him.

"Maybe it is; maybe it isn't. We'll only find out if we go."

"No, it's only going to be worth it to you, Prongs," Sirius said with a snort. "I'm not getting anything out of this except a dinner I could have eaten in the Great Hall. Evans may have found something to like in old Slughorn, but it's Evans we're talking about. She was friends with Snivellus. She's not the best judge when it comes to worthwhile company. Merlin, James, he's going to keep us at this dinner forever. We'll never escape from his clutches."

James came to a stop until Sirius' shoulder was even with his.

"He won't," he promised. "We agreed: If we're still there in two hours, we'll tell him we have homework to do. He's a professor. He can't keep us if we say we need to study. What kind of precedent would that set?"

Sirius still frowned, but he had come along nonetheless. James continued leading the way to Slughorn's office with a slight grin on his lips. He'd been amazed that he'd convinced Sirius to come along. When he'd first mentioned the idea of actually attending Slughorn's dinner, Sirius hadn't been able to stop glancing at Remus, but with their friend's blessing, James felt little guilt over attending the dinner.

It wasn't as if Peter and Remus would be missing the party of the year. The only reason James was going was Lily, who had encouraged him to come the night before when she'd approached him to briefly confirm the next patrol schedule. Although it had been a passing comment, it was more than James had gotten before.

When they arrived at Slughorn's office, it was to find the place transformed. An elaborate table took up the center of the room, filled with various dishes cooked by the castle house elves. While it looked delicious, there wasn't anything there that couldn't have been found in the Great Hall, and as excited as James was for yet another opportunity to see Lily, he sighed internally over the knowledge that he'd have to put up with Slughorn at least for the next hour.

"Boys," Slughorn exclaimed in his booming voice, rising to meet them in the doorway. "You came! What a lovely surprise. Come in, come in. I knew you'd come! See, we've left seats for you."

Before he had comprehended what was happening, James was sitting in the chair beside Lily. His stomach twisted, and he swallowed, forcing his nerves down with the gesture as best he could. He glanced at Sirius, who had been sat in the chair on James' other side.

He offered Lily a sheepish smile and felt his hands tremble when she grinned back. Over her shoulder, James could see Snape scowling, and the knowledge that they were being watched made his skin heat up all over. He tugged at his collar, determined not to make eye contact with the Slytherin boy he was trying—and failing—not to despise.

There were enough students who were happy to suck up to Slughorn that avoiding conversation with the professor wasn't as difficult as James had feared. He rolled his eyes as Sirius began to eat as loudly and obnoxiously as possible, determined to keep Slughorn away from him by always having his mouth stuffed with food.

He reached over James for a platter of pork chops, not bothering to ask to have them passed to him, and Lily laughed at the disgruntled expression on James' face.

"Sorry," James muttered to her on Sirius' behalf. "He's not very happy about being here, and he wants me to know it."

"Damn right I do," Sirius said quietly, making Lily snort into her hand.

"I can't believe you came," she said, keeping her voice low and glancing around to make sure that Slughorn was preoccupied with a student who had a parent at the Ministry. "You've always acted like these parties are beneath you."

James frowned, momentarily forgetting about the carrot he had speared on his fork.

"Beneath us? It's not about that. It's just… Well, Slughorn's a bit obnoxious, isn't he? Collecting favourites for his own benefit and all that. Remus doesn't like it. Slughorn's never invited him to join; and he's better than Sirius at Potions and Defense."

"And you," Sirius muttered, which James chose to ignore.

Lily bit at her lip, watching Slughorn as he laughed.

"He's always been nice to me," she said. "Even in first year when I brewed my first potion. He didn't invite me into Slug Club right away, but he was never anything about kind."

James wanted to say that the niceties were only because Slughorn saw her future potential, but he didn't. He knew that such a comment would only serve to get himself back on her bad side, and he'd been doing so well in that regard.

"It must be strange," he said instead, "to come to Hogwarts right after learning that it exists in the first place."

She smiled and gave a short laugh. He waited patiently as she chewed on a bite of steak before answering.

"Strange is one way of putting it. I wasn't sure what to think of everything. Even though a lot of it had been explained to me, it was different to see it for myself, to be surrounded by magic everywhere I turned. It was overwhelming. But going back home that first Christmas was stranger than Hogwarts first was. I'd seen all of these things, and my family couldn't understand it in the same way I could. They still can't."

Her voice had taken on a sadness that tugged on James' heart.

"Do they know about the war?" he asked.

It was something he often wondered about the Muggleborns he knew, but he had never been brave enough to ask.

"No," Lily admitted. Though she smiled at him, it felt fake, and he hated that he'dashed something to prompt such a response. "My mother's sick, so I figured it was best not to make a big deal of it. There's nothing they could do even if they did know."

James nodded along as if he could understand, his demeanor calm, but inside, he was panicking as he tried to figure out what the correct reaction to learning of her mother's illness. He thought back to when Remus had first revealed to them at his own mother was sick. He'd had no idea what to say in response, and it had only been worse after Remus had revealed that they hadn't entirely been lies to hide is transformations. After so long, when they'd helped Remus through his mother's death, James felt as if he should have gotten better at it.

"I'm sorry," he said for lack of anything better.

Lily was quick to shake her head, waving one hand dismissively through the air.

"You shouldn't apologize when it has nothing to do with you. Some people just get cancer. She's fighting it as best she can."

Though she tried to keep her voice light, it wavered, and James felt tears prick at the back of his eyes that he refused to let fall. He'd had no idea that Lily was dealing with something so horrible at home while also dealing with You-Know-Who. He had a strong urge to hug her, to somehow protect her from reality, but of course, such a thing would never have worked even if she had allowed him to do so.

"I'm sorry to have—"

Lily cut him off with another shake of her head, her lips tight.

"What about your parents?" she asked. "They must be marvels if they've dealt with you your entire life."

James' shoulders straightened, and despite what they'd been discussing, he couldn't keep a smile off his face.

"My parents are great," he admitted. "They were already older when they had me. For years, they thought they'd never have kids, since they had trouble conceiving, but then I came along. I was their miracle kid."

"That explains so much."

If it hadn't been for her amused smirk, James would have felt defensive. As it was, he leaned back in his chair, putting on a show of arrogance.

"Maybe it does," he said with an exaggerated shrug. "But my parents really are wonderful."

"He's not lying," Sirius chimed in, leaning around James to get a good luck at Lily. He waved a spoonful of ice cream around in the air. "Mr and Mrs Potter took me in when my parents kicked me out. They didn't give it a second thought. And they were hardly angry when I accidentally dyed the bed sheets a bright yellow."

"He was trying to help with the laundry for once," James said with a laugh, pleased when Lily joined in.

"And got myself out of ever having to do it again," Sirius said, smirking in satisfaction. "I've been banned from all laundering in the Potter household."

"I'm sure you'll be well prepared for living on your own."

Sirius shrugged, not looking at Lily as he turned back to his ice cream.

"I'll manage."

Sirius' smile turned devious.

"You know, James isn't all that bad at laundry. He'll do quite nice on his own."

James' face burned, and he angled his face away as Lily stifled a laugh with her hand.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Sirius."

"Always here to help," he said with a salute.

James couldn't look her directly in the eye for the rest of the dinner, and was almost thankful when Slughorn accepted his and Sirius' excuse that they needed to study. Unfortunately, all Sirius did was laugh as James shoved him down the corridor.