Sunday 1st May 1977

Library, 15:00

Tonks gave Remus an awkward wave as he left her in the library. He had Prefect duties to get to. She still couldn't get used to the fact that he was tutoring her in Defence. Remus Lupin. She hadn't been able to concentrate at all the first few times because she was utterly distracted by him just being close to her. How pathetic was that?

But she had got over that. Sort of. Out of pure necessity. As long as his arm or hand didn't come into contact with her at all. And Merlin help her if she felt his breath on her neck. See? She said she was pathetic.

But the tutoring was going well. Actually, it was going really well. Remus was really good at explaining things simply and it was easy to understand him. He made the material interesting again for her - like it had been a year or so ago, before things started to get confusing. So, that was definitely a win. And she supposed being able to spend time with Remus was a win too. Well, it would be a win as soon as she could act like an actual human around him. That would be nice.

It would also be nice if she could finish her Defence homework without breaking any quills in frustration. And she might just manage that this time. Like she had said, Remus had really explained things well. The essay question actually made sense, for a start.

She hadn't got that far into said essay before she was interrupted. Because of course she was.

"Told you that would work," Sirius said smugly, slipping into Remus' abandoned seat.

Tonks had no qualms about giving Sirius a shove so that's what she did. She managed to catch him by surprise and he actually fell to the floor.

"What was that for?" he complained, making no effort to stand up again.

"Lots of reasons," she replied. "But they all boil down to the fact that you're annoying."

He huffed at her. "You should be nice to me, you know."

"And why's that?"

"Because I am obviously the best cousin anyone could have."

Tonks crossed her arms. "And how did you figure that out?"

Not to say that he was a bad cousin. He was a good one. Not that that was hard when the rest of your cousins were Blacks. Oh, Sirius was a Black too but you know what she meant. But still.

"Well, I've managed to help you their different ways by just doing one thing."

She didn't even bother saying anything to him, she just raised her eyebrow the way she had seen her mother do it.

"Well, one, I managed to help you with your Defence issues."

"Remus is," she had to interrupt but, of course, Sirius ignored her.

"Two, this means you're less stressed because you don't have to work as hard."

She stayed quiet because that, at least, was true.

"And finally, three, I got you spending time with Remus."

Sirius even had the gall to wiggle his eyebrows at her.

"You're lucky you're still on the floor or else I would have shoved you again," Tonks informed him, neither confirming or denying the points that he made.

"So, how was it?" He asked as he stood up and settled himself into the chair opposite her.

"How was what?"

"Spending time with Remus?"

And now red was the dominant colour from her neck up.

Another waggle of the eyebrows from Sirius. "That good, huh?"

Him being opposite her meant that she couldn't shove him to the floor again but that didn't mean that she couldn't kick him. So that's exactly what Tonks did.

"Ow!" Sirius howled, clutching at his shin. "Are your feet made of steel or something?"

Tonks didn't even deign that with an answer.

"All I wanted to know how your time with Remus went," he said petulantly.

She wasn't going to be able to do her essay when he was like this, was she? One look at his pouting face co firmed that. Argh. Tonks let out an exasperated noise which cheered Sirius right up.

"So, was he a gentleman? Of course, he was, this is Moony we're talking about. I bet he was real patient. And kind. And helpful. That's just the kind of person he is, you see."

"It sounds like you're the one that has a crush on him," Tonks teased.

Sirius didn't look embarrassed (at all - frustratingly) as he waved his hand dismissively at her.

"I just happen to notice attractive people."

"Uh huh. And Remus is attractive."

"Obviously. Even you see that."

And that got her blushing again. Great. It also put an image of Remus' firm muscles being very evident against his school shirt in her head. Fantastic. It was a good thing girls didn't get boners, put it that way.

"Well, at least we've got you talking to him again..." Sirius missed and then stopped to give her a critical look. "You have been talking to him, haven't you?"

"Yes," she said defensively.

Getting tutored kind of meant you had to talk to your tutor.

"Now, what else can we do about this?" Sirius wondered mischievously."

"Nothing, we are doing nothing."

"Now, Tonksie, you'll never get anywhere by doing nothing."

"Tonksie? Really? And that's fine by me."

Sirius tsked at her and shook his head sympathetically.

"Now, that's not the right attitude at all. Then he grinned. "Don't worry I'm here to help!"

Tonks groaned and buried her face into her hands.

"That's what I'm worried about."

Wednesday 4th May 1977

Great Hall, 20:30

The Prefects had just split up into pairs to do their evening patrols. Well, they were all in pairs except Lily. She had volunteered to have Remus as her partner for this shift- she knew he wouldn't be here and that would stop someone else complaining about him again.

Anyway, she had an easy section of the castle tonight. It wasn't a hotspot for people making out in cupboards or even people sneaking around. It was the corridor leading to the Hospital Wing and the Hospital Wing itself. Easy enough. No one dared to mess with Madam Pomfrey. And maybe she would be able to sneak a glance at Remus to see if he was okay.

Potter chose this moment to come to a skidding halt right in front of her, making her jump. What on earth was he doing?

"Potter!" she said sharply. "Watch where you're going."

He could have caused an accident.

"Sorry, sorry! Am I late?" He gasped out.

He must have been running for quite a while to get that out of breath. His chest was actually heaving. And what was he talking about? Late for what?

"Excuse me?"

"Late for your Prefect round. Have you just started? Or is this the middle of it."

The suspicious tone not leaving her voice, Lily replied, "It's just started."

Potter heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Merlin. I thought I was going to be late and that wouldn't be any good because -"

"Potter," she interrupted. "What on earth are you talking about? Actually, what on earth are you doing here?"

"I'm being the sixth year Gryffindor Prefect. Well, one of them."

"But you aren't a Prefect."

And thank Merlin for that. Lily thought she would resign if Potter was her partner.

"I am though. Sometimes. Well, minimal times."

"What?"

Potter normally didn't make much sense to her but this really took the cake.

"You know, because Remus is sick," Potter said matter-of-factly. "He can't do any of his Prefect duties."

"So, you're doing them?" Lily asked sceptically.

"Yes."

He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world but it really wasn't.

"You've never done them before."

"Well, not patrols and stuff, I kind of forgot about those," he said sheepishly. "But I've helped out with the tutoring and stuff he does though I'm probably not as good as he is at that..."

"Seriously?"

Okay, that came out as really sceptical but she just had a hard time believing it. Potter, as nice as he was sometimes (sometimes) was ways up for joking and messing around. She had never seen him be serious.

He nodded vigorously. "Yes. Just some of the urgent stuff because unless it's Transfiguration I can't really explain the in-depth bits. I do what I can."

"Oh."

Well. That was oddly sweet. And surprising. She supposed that even Potter wasn't one dimensional.

"Soooo," Potter said, bringing out of her thoughts. "Your patrol?"

Lily sighed and thought for a moment. Did she really want Potter with her? Could she put up with him the entire time? Then again, it might make time pass quicker... and he did look awfully earnest about this whole thing...

"I suppose it's our patrol," she replied, garnering a cheer from him. "Just for this evening anyway."

Potter didn't seem to mind if his cheer was anything to go by.

"Potter."

He instantly quietened down.

"Right. Serious. I'm supposed to be serious."

"I thought that was your best friend?" Lily asked innocently, unable to help herself.

It took a second for what she said to sink in and for his mouth to slowly wooden into a gape.

"Evans, did you just?"

She gave him an innocent look and he burst out into laughter, making her jump. He laughed at the same volume he would in the Common Room. Loud. Warm.

"It's ways the quiet ones," he told her.

"Yeah, yeah," Lily rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go on this patrol."

She was going to be late finishing if she kept talking like this and she would like to get a little bit of revision done tonight.

So, the two of them went on patrol together. Surprisingly, it actually wasn't that bad. Lily didn't know what she had been expecting but it certainly wasn't this. Potter asked her a few questions on what they should be looking out for and then actually followed her directions? It was rather odd.

He didn't try to distract her from her duties once and when it came to their bit in the actual Hospital Wing, Potter was really helpful and even helped with bundling the stained sheets and such together. Sure, thanks to magic they didn't have to touch them but it still wasn't a pleasant task. But he did it happily and was also enthusiastic in his discussion about Healing Potions with Madam Pomfrey. Lily hadn't known that he had known so much about them.

"Dad needs to use them a lot," he explained upon seeing her bemused expression. "Mum describes his job as creating explosions for a living."

"Your dad works?"

She may not understand an awful lot how the Wizarding World nobility worked but she knew the Potters were one of them. Hell, Potter's dad's title was Lord, for Merlin's sake!

Potter shrugged. "Yeah. Dad likes to be kept busy and doing something creative. And he is really good at what he does."

"What does he do?"

"Brew Potions."

That was definitely not what she had been expecting. But before she could pry any further, Madam Pomfrey put them to work listing all the potions that she needed more of. By the time they were done, hands cramping, it was time to continue with the last half of her patrol and she had forgot all about asking him.

They didn't really have much else to say to each other so they walked along the corridors in silence. Lily couldn't help but wonder if Potter regretted volunteering but he still looked happy enough. He was even whistling.

"What song are you humming?" He asked suddenly.

She blushed, not realising that that was what she was doing. Probably trying to unconsciously match his whistling.

"Sorry."

Lily knew that some people found humming or singing under your breath annoying to listen too. Or creepy. Especially when you were walking around a mostly empty school.

"No, it sounded nice."

"It was tuneless."

"Better than my whistling. At least you can sing."

"That doesn't mean I can hum!"

As they bickered through the last bit of her patrol, Lily couldn't help but think that this had been the most fun she had had during one in ages.

Sunday 8th May 1977

Quidditch Pitch, 11:00

Regulus touched down on the ground, his fist firmly around the struggling snitch. It was a very satisfying feeling. The only satisfying feeling of this whole practice.

"What was going on with you up there?" Royce demanded, landing next to him.

"Nothing," he replied defensively.

"Don't give me that shirt, you were all over the place."

Did he really have to swear? His displeasure was coming through quite clearly without the swearing.

"I was just a bit off. I still caught all the snitches."

He really had. All twelve of them. That was his job, after all.

"Yeah, but you were paying no attention to anything else! You nearly crashed into the goal hoops and you actually crashed into Wilkes."

"Good thing you don't weigh much," the boy in question joked.

"He's all bones, though," Nott pointed out. "You're lucky his elbow didn't go through you."

Royce ignored all of this to narrow his eyes at Regulus.

"Well? What's going on with you, Black?"

"Nothing."

It wasn't like he had a lot to think about or anything. OWLs, Sirius, his family, Sirius, the Dark Lord, the War, Sirius. Well, you get the picture. He didn't need Royce breathing down his neck as well. Quidditch was the one thing that was going well for him. Until today anyway.

"Whatever," Royce snorted. "Just make sure you sort yourself out before next practice. I'm not having anyone mess up our team and that includes idiot teammates."

"I am not an idiot."

"You flew into someone."

"They were in my way."

Royce didn't even bother responding to him. Just walked away. But what else would you expect from a Royce.

Regulus kicked at the ground and glared at it. Whatever. There was nothing wrong with him. Everyone had bad days. If you, didn't you weren't human. Well, he wasn't supposed to act like everyone else, was he? He was supposed to be perfect. Not get into trouble. Do well in school. Have perfect manners. Make the family proud.

Perfection. Unattainable unless you put the work in. And he was putting the work in. He made sure his behaviour without fault, that he didn't do anything stupid. Next to Sirius, his behaviour really was perfect- not that that took much. Regulus, unlike his brother, had never had to serve even one detention. A record to be proud of. And, okay, sure he didn't find schoolwork as effortless as Sirius did but his marks were amongst the top in the year. The top three, of course, his parents would never be satisfied with anything else. Never mind the fact that for some subjects he was usually neck in neck with one Nymphadora Tonks... Anyway, he was currently ahead of her in Defence which is all that mattered. So, what if he had to spend an astronomical amount of time studying so he could retain that position. It was worth it to see the proud looks on his parent's faces.

But he needed to go one step further, didn't he? Simple pride in his schoolwork wouldn't get him very far once he had left school. Regulus was going to have to do something else to make them proud. Technically he could start making steps towards that now. Get ahead of the game a little. That's what him got all distracted today. He would have to be careful not to let that happen again. Mistakes weren't allowed. Would make him look bad.

But what would also make him look bad would be jumping into things without giving them due thought. That's why he was currently at odds with Mulciber and Avery. Those boys just didn't think.

He kicked at a stone. It didn't move very far. Nobody thought.

Wednesday 11th May 1977

Professor McGonagall's Office, 17:00

Lily clamped her hands together behind her back in an effort to stop fidgeting with them. It only sort of worked.

Why was it every time she was called to a Professor's office, she felt like she was in trouble? She didn't even get into trouble except for telling off about her cheek every now and then.

"Sit, Miss Evans."

She did as she was told. Being asked to sit was a good thing, wasn't it? You didn't get scolded when you sat down. You stood in front of her desk when that was going to happen. She was even being offered a biscuit! Ginger NEWTs as usual. That was an even better sign, right?

Professor McGonagall organised some parchmentwork on her desk while Lily bit her lip in anticipation. Why did adults do this? Say they wanted to talk about something and then drew it out? It was unnecessary. It was nerve-wracking. Just as she was about to ask a question, Professor McGonagall finally spoke.

"Miss Evans, I think you would be interested to know that there have been enquires being made about you."

Lily jerked her head up, startled. "Enquires? About me?"

Was that a good thing? Who was making enquiries about her? So many thoughts raced through her head.

McGonagall nodded.

"Yes. People from certain departments in the Ministry, amongst others."

Now that made her stop and stare. What did McGonagall just say? Her look got her a smile from her Head of House.

"Yes, I have multiple letters from different Ministerial departments that were enquiring about what you wish to do after Hogwarts."

Multiple? As in, more than one?

"Of course, that is quite impressive for any student. But especially for a sixth year with no connections in the Wizarding World," McGonagall told her quite bluntly. "It is actually quite an honour."

"Wow. Really?"

There was no way this was true. There was just no way. It wasn't like she played Quidditch or, like Professor McGonagall said, had connections to adults outside of Hogwarts. How did someone even find out about her?

Lily realised she hadn't asked the most important question yet.

"Who? Who exactly was making enquiries about me?"

She wasn't sure who she wanted to be. Actually, she didn't know who it might be. Seriously, who would be keeping tabs on her?

"Muggle Affairs Office, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes- they heard about your skills in Charms, the Auror Office and, most intriguingly, the Department of Mysteries."

Her mouth had to be somewhere near the floor, that's how much it was gaping open.

"The what?"

No. There was no way she heard that correctly. There was no way the Department of Mysteries wanted her. Asked for her. They were the most secretive Department in the Ministry. The country! No one really knew what went on down there or how you got involved. There were never any leaflets or anything when careers talks came around.

"The Department of Mysteries. That's where Unspeakables work, if you've heard of them."

"I have," she said faintly. "And they want me to be one?"

A frown appeared on Professor McGonagall's face.

"Yes. At least I think that's what they were saying in this letter," she handed it over to Lily who couldn't read a word of it, she was that bemused. "They aren't exactly known for talking straight."

Her lips pursed in annoyance at that and Lily fought the urge to giggle. This whole thing was ridiculous. And amazing. Kind of like a dream.

She read over the letter and Professor McGonagall was right, there really wasn't much to it except them voicing the fact that they were interested in what she was capable of and would be organising a meeting. It didn't say when or where so Lily assumed that there would be another letter to follow. It was all quite mysterious.

"Your original plan was to become a Healer, was it not?"

Lily nodded. "Yes. It meant I got to use my Charms and my Potions skills. And I do love Healing class."

For the same reasons, really. And the past few years all you read about in the newspaper was how people were getting hurt thanks to this maniac running around. And, well, she wanted to do something to help. She didn't think she would be a very good fighter but she could help patch those who fought back together, right?

"Well, I would definitely consider these options."

Professor McGonagall then handed her all the parchment that she had bundled together. Apparently, it was everything she had been sent for her. Lily automatically took them; they made a thick bundle - her hand barely went around it.

"Yes, ma'am," she answered in a distracted voice, standing up. "I will. Thank you."

Lily didn't see it because she was so engrossed in the parchment and leaflets in her hand but Professor McGonagall was giving her a proud grin. Lily, on the other hand, was feeling very dazed.

Oh, why couldn't the future be easy?

Saturday 14th May 1977

Fourth Floor Corridor, 11:00

"Hey, Moony! Moony!"

Remus turned around to see his ridiculous best friend waving at him next to a very embarrassed looking Tonks. He was looking for too excited about something which meant that Remus was automatically suspicious.

"What is it, Padfoot? Hello, Nymphadora."

"Hey, Remus," she said quietly in greeting, briefly looking at him before looking away again.

He would also be embarrassed if Sirius was making such a fool of himself next to him. And she was related to him too. Poor her.

"Hey! You didn't tell him off!" Sirius complained.

What on earth was Padfoot going on about now? It looked like Nymphadora didn't either as she was looking at him in confusion.

"What?"

"He called you by your full name and you didn't say anything! You always tell anyone else off or you don't respond to it!"

She spluttered and turned a deeper shade of red.

"I didn't notice."

"But-"

"Stop going on at her, Padfoot," Remus scolded.

Sirius sulked at him but he ignored it.

"What did you want?"

Sirius blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

"You called me over," Remus said impatiently. "What did you want?"

Sirius faced cleared. "Oh," then his pushed Tonks forwards. "Tonks was wondering something."

"I was not!"

"Sure, you were!"

"I wasn't," Tonks assured Remus, turning her back on her cousin.

"I believe you."

It was probably one or Sirius cockamamie schemes to embarrass her or something. He got into one of those moods every now and then. The Marauders tended to ignore him when he got like that now. Probably why he was targeting poor Tonks. Honestly, did he have no shame? She was younger than him and definitely not used to his antics.

"Want to go to the library?"

Sirius wouldn't dare follow them there. It was like he was allergic to the place.

"Oh, please," she said in relief, though she was still red.

"Maybe you could discuss Defence," Sirius threw in there.

"I got a high EE in my last homework," Tonks said to Remus. "Thank you."

"You did the work."

"Yeah, but you helped make it all make sense."

As he walked away with the younger Hufflepuff student, Remus didn't notice the smug smirk on Sirius' face.

Tuesday 17th May 1977

Hogwarts Grounds, 16:00

Frank couldn't help but stare at the sight in front him. Seriously, he rubbed at his eyes to make sure it wasn't his imagination and everything. Nope. It was still happening. A giggle reached his ears. What on earth? What was he supposed to do with this information? Ignore it? Question it? He was definitely confused by it.

Alice and Elsie were sitting side by side on a bench by the Lake. Together. Happily. What in Merlin's name...?

"Oh, look, there he is!" Elsie spotted him and pointed at him.

So, they had been talking about him.

"Hi, Frank!" Alice greeted, and patted the spot next to her. "Come and join us."

Both girls looked at each other and burst into giggles again.

Feeling slightly on edge, Frank took her up on her offer. He should be encouraging this sort of thing, after all. Shouldn't he?

He pressed a miss to Alice's cheek and smiled at Elsie.

"Hi, Alice. Elsie."

"We were just talking about you," Alice told him.

"Good things. I hope."

"Of course," Alice said quickly but it was spoilt by a snort from Elsie.

This was all so confusing. He didn't think they liked each other at all. He wasn't sure if he liked this development much better.

"See, that's the face I was talking about!" Elsie exclaimed.

"Oh, he's done that forever."

Thursday 19th May 1977

Gryffindor Common Room, 20:00

"Hey, Evans," Potter sidled up to her.

Her friends giggled and melted away, despite her throwing a pleading glance for them to stay. The traitors. With a sigh, she turned to him.

"Yes, Potter?"

"You're the best in our year at Potions, right?"

Lily blinked at him. "Well, not the best..."

It wasn't nice to brag, after all. Anyway, she usually switched places with Severus with every class ranking. She might not be the best this month.

"Slughorn said you were and he doesn't lie about things like that."

She couldn't help but blush. It was always nice to hear someone compliment your abilities.

"Anyway," he continued. "I was wondering, only if you had time mind you," he added hastily. "Um, would you be able to tutor me in Potions."

"But you're not failing," she blurted out.

But it was true. Potter might not be top in the subject but he was still very good.

"No," he agreed. "But I'm stuck at an EE no matter how hard I study. My exam marks are fine but I need to improve my brewing to get a higher grade."

"Oh."

"Slughorn says that if I want to even get a chance of earning an O, I'm going to have to prove that I can brew one of the three he showed at the start of the year."

Lily blinked at him. "You mean Amortensia, Felix Felisis or Polyjuice?"

"Yes, one of those three."

"Do you even need an O in Potions to get into the Auror Academy?"

Potter shrugged. "It can't hurt, can it? They only take in a certain number and I want to be on that list."

What did it matter to her if Potter needed a top grade or not? She just had to help, well, tutor him. But did she really want to do that? James Potter? Tutor him? He was a Gryffindor student and she was a Prefect. This was one of her responsibilities. And he was being quite pleasant about it. Not demanding or anything. And she always did enjoy helping people though she had never tutored anyone in Potions before, just Charms...

"Okay," she said decisively. "What one would you like to try?"

He stared at her. "You'll help?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Woo hoo!"

He actually jumped in the air in joy, much to her amusement. It was kind of adorable that he got excited over this. Most people wouldn't think about getting excited over extra work. Then again, James Potter was always one to break the mould, wasn't he? He even grabbed her by the hands and spun her in a circle.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He said it so genuinely and eagerly that she just had to laugh.

"What one do you want to try first," she tried to calm him down.

She would have to review the Potion anyway. And maybe even try brewing it herself, just to make sure she knew what she was doing.

"Well, maybe not the lucky Potion, Felix Felisis" he said with that stupid roguish grin of his. "Because it's supposed to turn into a very unlucky one if you even make one slip up."

"Yes, I'd rather not be poisoned as well," Lily agreed.

The very thought of brewing that potion made her nervous. There were more warnings than instructions on it!

"That leaves Armortentia or Polyjuice."

"I am not giving you the opportunity to be anywhere near Polyjuice," Lily said quickly with a shudder.

Potter smirked at her. "I thought you'd love to have a lot of mess running about the place."

"That's the stuff of nightmares, Potter."

Who knew what sort of mischief Potter and his friends could get up to when they could have literally ready-made alibis? No. She would not be party to that. The further he stayed away from that Potion, the better.

"Amortentia it is then," he said happily.

At least this would be a challenge, right?

Wednesday 25th May 1977

Sixth Year Gryffindor Boys Dorm, 21:30

It didn't matter what age they were, there was always going to be some fooling around as they got ready for bed. Whether it was snapping at each other's naked bodies with wet towels or a pillow fight or even in one instance rubbing soap all over someone's sheet - nonsense was sure to go down in the Marauders' Dorm.

Case in point, Sirius currently didn't have any trousers one and was shaking his butt. It was his attempt at some sort of Muggle dance move that really wasn't working.

"Put your pyjama trousers on," Remus told him in exasperation. "No one wants to see you do that."

"You like my butt," Sirius said, giving the aforementioned part of his anatomy a wiggle.

"Sure, Padfoot," James said sarcastically with an eye roll.

"It's a perfectly good one, isn't it Wormy?" Sirius asked, looking over to their smaller friend.

It made Peter splutter and turn deep red in embarrassments. The topic of body parts did tend to do that to him. Sirius shook his head and then turned to him.

"Well, Moony, what do you think?" He even added a ridiculous waggle of his eyebrows.

Remus gave him a very deliberate look up and down, very much liking what he saw, and smirked.

"It's okay, I suppose."

That got him an indignant squawk as the rest of their friends howled in laughter.