A/N: I wasn't expecting to be able to post a new chapter before January, but for some reason I managed to finish this one quite early and my beta did a stellar job at going through this one.

I want to formally thank Shawn Mendes for all his support - meaning, without his music I wouldn't have been able to finish this as quickly - so if you aren't familiar with his music go give him a listen! He's a sweetheart and a total babe. I'm in love.

I really hope you enjoy this chapter! I'd also like to wish you all happy holidays, and I hope you have an amazing new year! x

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own any of the characters or the world. Props to JKR for that.


Chapter Eight

Or

Bird Set Free


It was already the end of November, and the holidays were only a couple of weeks away. Thus it was prime exam season, and so the students were facing tests and quizzes on a roughly daily basis – not to mention, of course, the numerous practical demonstrations in nearly every subject.

In fact, a few of the Gryffindor sixth years were spending – although Sirius would argue they were wasting – their Saturday in the library, revising for the upcoming Defence Against the Dark Arts exam.

"Which two spells," Remus began, reading from a piece of parchment, "if mixed, cause the victim to sprout little tentacles?"

"I know one of them is the Jelly-Legs Jinx…" Marlene replied absent-mindedly. She'd been at it the whole afternoon, and her lack of attention had become most acute, Lily noted, since Bertha and Lucinda had shuffled into the already crowded library.

"Oh, I know this one! It's Furnunculus, right?" asked Peter.

"Correct, both of you!"

"I think we should focus a bit more on nonverbal spells. I'm not sure what kind of questions Hatheway is going to come up with." It was her first year as the Defence teacher – the position was jinxed, it seemed – and, as it was only the first written exam, their concerns were only natural. "Marlene?"

"Uh… Yes?"

"Do you want to take a break, maybe?" Lily offered, with a smug smile dancing on her lips.

"Sure. That'd be nice."

"I'll come with," said Sirius, standing up. "I know it all already."

"Cocky, aren't you, Sirius?" chastised Lily, to which he responded with a wink.

Sirius and Marlene began packing away their things, and Lily promptly picked up her notes, and began to read, "Some spells, such as Levicorpus…" - although her voice didn't falter, she could feel the way that James' gaze dropped to the wooden desk - "…are easier to perform nonverbally than others. Most spells, however, seem to be less effective than normal when the incantation is not spoken aloud."

"Ah, Evans," said James, leaning forward in his seat. "I love it when you talk technical to me."

"I'm not sure your girlfriend would be too fond of that, mate," Peter piped in, allowing for a subtle blush to creep up James' cheeks.

"I guess old habits die hard, huh? Sorry."

"Don't be. Susan is really nice," Lily replied, smiling.

"She is!" Mary exclaimed. "Except for that one time when she got blue paint on Colonel Fitzwilliam." Pouting, she added, "He stained my white blouse."

"Oh, I liked that blouse," complimented Peter.

"Thank you, Peter," Mary added.

Lily, however, wasn't convinced, as she argued, "Well, it's your damn fault for keeping that menace of a cat in the dorm." Then, she sighed "We're not going to get any more studying done, are we?"

"No," James replied, sporting his usual boyish grin. "I daresay we aren't."


Precisely one week later, the same sixth year Gryffindors were down by the Quidditch Pitch, as it was match day.

Ravenclaw was playing Hufflepuff, and it seemed as though Gladys Barker – the Hufflepuff Seeker – was more affected by her parents' disappearance than she was letting on off the pitch. She was uncharacteristically distracted, failing to tail the Ravenclaw seeker when the Snitch was first spotted, thus resulting in the quickest win of the last three seasons.

Barely twenty minutes had gone by, and, if Lily didn't love being outside as much she did, she might have regretted getting dressed for such a short outing.

It was just as well – the holidays were coming up and, as Lily was going home for the festivities, she had better start gathering her things together. Lily was fully aware that if she left packing until the last minute, it would never get done and she would end up owling her mother to let her know that she would be staying at Hogwarts, after all.

How she always managed to make such a mess of her dormitory in such a short amount of time, Lily had no idea.

After a few moments of silent deliberation, Lily decided she'd start by emptying her trunk. Not everything needed to be brought home – the holidays were, after all, only a short two weeks long.

She settled on some nice Muggle clothes to take with her and then set about gathering the books that she'd need. In Lily's humble opinion, literature was one of the few things Muggles had done better than wizards. (It was that, electricity and pens. The novelty of candle-lit corridors, ink pots and quills had long ago worn off.)

For this term, she had brought some of her favourite romance novels to Hogwarts. Now, she'd return them to their home and bring back some new volumes after Christmas.

Lily's mum was a secondary school English teacher and so the house was filled with all the best classics, which was always a source of immense joy for her friend, Remus.

That got Lily thinking. Would any of her friends be staying at Hogwarts during the holidays?

She knew Marlene and Mary would go home – they did have plans to meet up at Diagon Alley – but what would the Marauders do? Probably go to James' house. Sirius lived there and, where the pair went, Remus and Peter usually followed. But maybe this year they wouldn't. Susan rarely went home for Christmas, and James would like to see his girlfriend over the holidays, wouldn't he?

Sparing a glance at the old clock mounted on the wall, Lily sighed. Once again, she'd wasted too much time pondering over nothing and now it was too late to sort her things. She had tutoring to go to.


(Hogsmeade)

Despite it being almost Christmas – or perhaps, because of that fact - the Professors had allowed for one extra Hogsmeade trip.

Marlene was supposed to go with Lily – because that was usually the way things were – but she had been forced to change her plans, as Lily had been asked out by Victor Goshawk, a Ravenclaw and fellow prefect.

She was actually considering opting out of going to the village entirely, when Lucinda – with whom Marlene found herself spending more and more time – asked if she wanted to go with her and Bertha. A dozen excuses started forming in Marlene's mind, but in the end, she agreed to it.

One, because she didn't really want to refuse Lucinda's offer, and two, because she was starting to have an increasingly large amount of difficulty in saying no to a pretty face, or at least, one in particular.


December was cold, with frequent wintry showers and heavy layers of fog. At least, Severus mused, it wasn't raining. He was so, so sick of the rain.

In fact, if one were to compare the current weather to that of the previous few days, one would conclude that it was actually a very agreeable day outside. Some might even use the word lovely.

Severus went down to breakfast, and then he decide to take a carriage to the village. It wasn't like him to indulge in such festivities but he was running out of quills – they were always breaking, or disappearing – and he didn't feel like ordering some by owl.

When he arrived, he noticed Lily hanging around Victor Goshawk, a sixth year prefect who, for some reason that transcended Severus' comprehension, had somehow been sorted into Ravenclaw.

He also saw Talkalot, who was accompanied by Jorkins, as usual, and McKinnon. None of Severus' housemates could possibly fathom why Talkalot would want to hang around such a lowly crowd, thus besmirching the image of Slytherin house, but with a Mudblood mother like hers, Severus couldn't say he was surprised.


It was only their first date and he was late already. Of course. James fumbled around the dormitory, trying to find everything; first his socks, then his jumper, and finally his scarf. (For James, finding his scarf was imperative, because it was extremely cold out and his mother would have him beheaded if he got sick just before the holidays, his father's ability to cook up a Pepperup Potion in a few minutes notwithstanding.)

And so, James was late. So, so, so incredibly late. Part of him suspected Sirius had hidden all of his stuff. He'd done the same thing to Peter that time he'd gone out with Helena Hodge in fifth year.

When he finally found his things – already a tortuous ten minutes after he was supposed to be meeting his girlfriend – he positively sprinted to the Great Hall, where Susan would, no doubt, be waiting for him. Or maybe she had left.

James couldn't get there sooner.

Except, when he did arrive, she was still there. Smiling, as warm and bright as always, chatting animatedly with Charity Burbage, a fourth year Hufflepuff.

"Susan!" said James, still out of breath.

"Oh, hello, James." She reached out and, hooking her arms around his neck, planted a feather-light kiss on his lips. "Everything okay?"

"Of course," he heaved, "now that I'm here. Sirius hid all my stuff away. Couldn't find anything. Sorry."

Upon finally noticing his frazzled state, Susan inquired, "Did you run here?"

"It was more of a relaxing jog."

"Oh, James, you didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

Then, James reached out to tuck a stray piece of golden brown hair behind Susan's ear, and after one more gentle, tender kiss, the pair made their way to the carriages.


It was much colder down by the village, Lily noticed. The warmth of the castle had fooled her, and Lily, lulled by the soothing atmosphere that was so typical of Hogwarts, had forgotten to layer. If her mother could see her, she would be very disappointed, no doubt.

"Layer, Lily! Never forget your layers, you hear me?" she'd say, in that firm but loving voice that all mothers should employ when advising their children on one matter or the other.

She had accepted Victor Goshawk's date proposal and, despite the confirmation she felt that her feelings towards the Ravenclaw prefect were purely platonic, she didn't have it in her to refuse when Victor offered her his cloak. Lily was freezing and, after all, she was no saint.

And it wasn't as though he was completely unfortunate-looking; despite not being enormously tall, he was still a sight taller than Lily, and he had the most impeccable skin she had ever seen on a sixteen year old boy – a lovely shade of brown, spotless, almost radiant. Plus, he was an excellent conversationalist. A bit shy, yes, but still.

There was just something. Lily couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, but there was something missing.

The pair headed to Scrivenshaft's, as Victor needed to pick up some more parchment and, afterwards, they made their way to The Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer.

As it was much warmer inside, Lily pulled off Victor's blue coat and found them a table. Victor, on the other hand, walked over to the counter to order the drinks.

She had just started to drum her fingers on the wooden table – the queue was long and she needed some way to pass the time – when she felt someone sit down in front of her. However, when she lifted her head, instead of finding Victor, as expected, she found James.

"Traitor."

"Hello to you, too," she said. "Oh, hello, Susan."

"Hi, Lily. How are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

Sneaking a glance at James, she replied, "Couldn't be better. Did you do well on the Transfiguration exam?"

"Why aren't you answering me?" interjected James, looking tremendously offended by Lily's lack of response.

"I think I did okay. I totally butchered the last demonstration, though."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Lily. I'm sure you were lovely. Personally, I'm just glad to have gotten it over with."

"Why isn't anyone here listening to me?"

Finally, Lily looked over at James, then turned to Susan to say, "Susan, I'm so sorry about your boyfriend."

"What for?"

"He's got the attention span of a goldfish." Turning back to James again, she added, "Potter, go back to your date."

"You still haven't acknowledged your treacherous nature. I'm bothered."

"Well, can't you go be bothered somewhere else?"

"No, I most certainly cannot, you filthy traitor."

"Come on, James, don't be crass-"

Shaking her head, Lily finally asked, "Wait, what are you on about?"

"Goshawk."

"What's Victor have to do with anything?"

"Ravenclaw," he replied, as though it was obvious. Lily simply rolled her eyes.

"James, you're ridiculous. Please leave."

Immediately after, James' expression turned sour and, when Lily turned around, she finally saw her date approaching from the bar.

"If I had known we'd have company, I would have brought more drinks," said Victor, wearing his best smile – which Lily knew for a fact to be forced, but was still grateful for.

"That's okay, we were just leaving," replied James, his voice tense.

"Thank you." With one last goodbye, Susan and James both made their way to the door, though James couldn't help but turn around to mouth 'Traitor' at her one last time.

"What was that about?"

"Potter's insane, and Susan is too nice to say anything."

"Ah," said Victor, nodding in agreement.

"Indeed." She picked up her Butterbeer and drank.


The grounds looked incredible. Despite the cold, which Mary wasn't overly fond of, the wintry showers had made the grass a vibrant shade of green, and so it was a really lovely day.

She and Bertram were walking hand in hand through the Hogsmeade high street. They'd been to Zonko's already, and to Gladrags, in spite of Bertram's incessant complaining.

"Bertram, honey?" Mary said, from behind her floral printed scarf.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind stopping by Honeydukes? Mum's asked me to get her some more crystallised pineapple. Personally, I don't know how she stomachs it. She and Slughorn have terrible taste when it comes to sweets."

"Sure. And after that, we'll nip over to Tomes and Scrolls, yes, pumpkin?"

"Of course! I've been itching to get my hands on the latest Witch Weekly. Now that they've stopped owl deliveries, I've been feeling terribly out of the loop."

Slowing his pace, Bertram asked, very carefully, "Mary, sweetie, have you ever thought about reading, you know, real books?"

Now, Mary stopped in her tracks altogether.

"What's wrong with me liking magazines?

"Yeah…" He shook his head in a dismissive manner. "I guess it's good that you're reading at all."

"Bertram, dear," Mary started, pursing her lips, "I think you should think very carefully about what you're going to say next."

"Don't be such a spoilsport, honey. I was just joking!"

"Well, it wouldn't kill you to be a little nicer, you know. I'm so tired of having to defend you in front of my friends all the time."

"Ah! I knew they didn't like me!"

"Well… maybe they're right." Mary shook her head. "Look, I don't want to fight, Bertram. I'll just head back to the castle, okay?"

Shrugging, he said, "Suits me."

"I'll see you later."

Then, for the first time in what felt like forever, Mary turned her back to Bertram and began walking. It was cold and so, even though the trip to the castle was a short one, Mary decided to take a carriage. She stepped inside and the carriage was just about to leave, when Susan and James swooped in.

"Do you mind sharing?" Susan asked.

"Not at all!" It was true; Mary welcomed the company. She was prone to reflection when in solitude and Mary didn't feel like thinking. "How was your date?"

"It was lovely. James here decided to bother Lily and Victor back at the Three Broomsticks, but they didn't seem to mind," she said, coaxing a laugh out of her boyfriend, who put his arm around Susan's petite frame and placed a gentle kiss on her temple. For Mary, it was just short of bittersweet. "How was yours?"

"It was fine." Desperate to change the subject, she added, "Marlene came with Lucinda and Bertha. Have you seen Sirius and the lot?"

"Actually, they've been uncharacteristically quiet today."

"Suspicious," said Mary, which prompted James to nod.

"Very. It almost makes me scared of what they might come up with."

"It can't possibly be worse than that time back in fifth year. Sirius was in detention for a full three months!" responded Susan.

A dark look passed over James' face and Mary felt the atmosphere shift.

"No," he said. "It can't be."


Despite it being quite early, it was already extremely dark outside, and so the professors urged the students to return to the castle. Never had the security measures been as tight as they were that year; earlier curfews, chaperoned Hogsmeade visits, you name it.

They were back on the school grounds now and, with a knowing glance, Bertha had swept ahead of the other two back to the Hufflepuff common room. Lucinda and Marlene were walking through one of the many, many corridors on the lower floor, because for some weird reason – chivalry, according to Marlene – the Gryffindor insisted on walking Lucinda back to her common room.

It was only when they arrived at the entrance to the Slytherin Dungeon that Lucinda really registered just how good Marlene's skin looked under the dim lights of the corridor.

(Of course, she'd noticed that already, but she was actively trying to repress it. The back of her mind had turned into an archive of interesting facts about McKinnon, Marlene.)

The two of them stood in silence, facing each other, without knowing the proper way to say goodbye. Then, Lucinda noticed Marlene glance at her lips. After a split second of consideration, she made up her mind that she would kiss Marlene, once and for all.

And then, Marlene kissed her.


Marlene stood there, completely dumbfounded, eyes wide open and lips parted. She was just about to regret it when she felt soft, warm lips touch hers again.

Lucinda kissed her until her mouth was sore. She pulled back and Marlene reached out, capturing her lips between her own once more. Marlene's hands were everywhere; on Lucinda's hips, in her hair, on her back, everywhere. They didn't kiss like they wanted to, they kissed like they needed too, like kissing was all they knew how to do.

Marlene didn't think about what it would mean, about what would happen once she returned to her dorm. All she thought about was Lucinda. It was like she was filling every available space, in her head and in her heart, until there wasn't room for anything else.

"What are we doing?"

Marlene shrugged. "I don't know."

"I thought you were straight."

"What gave you that impression?"

"I've never seen you with a girl."

"Well, that means shit. I don't go about and flaunt my sexuality. If people ask me whether I like girls or not, I'll tell them. I don't need to shout it from the top of the Quidditch pitch for my feelings to be valid."

"I know."

"So could you please- please, go back to kissing me?" She did. After a few seconds, Marlene pulled away, just a tad, to mouth "Thanks" into Lucinda's lips.


(Contemplation, meditation, all that jive)

She was sitting atop the Astronomy tower, with her feet dangling over the ledge, and clutching a bottle of amber liquid in one of her hands.

"The Astronomy Tower," she heard someone say. "Probably not the best place for drinking."

Mary didn't bother turning around to look at the person, as she already recognized the voice; it was Remus.

"Hello, Remus." She wasn't drunk. In fact, the alcohol seemed to be in her hand more for show than for consumption. "What brings you here?"

"Rounds. You?"

"Oh, you know. Looking at the stars. The moon's almost full." When he didn't reply, Mary added, "Do you ever come here outside of patrolling?"

For just a few seconds, Remus paused to think. After that, he took a step forward and sat next to Mary, feet dangling over the railings.

"I come here to think."

"It's nice. Quiet, quieter than my head. Makes us feel smaller than what we are." The pair sat in silence for a while, until Mary said, "Bertram doesn't love me."

"What?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head, just the tiniest bit.

"He doesn't. What he really likes is having a girlfriend. A pretty thing to parade around with. Not me. I'm too tall, and too feminine, and I prefer magazines to novels. I'm the shiny new toy he shows off to his friends. Fun for a while, but he'll get bored of me eventually."

"Don't say that."

"No, Remus, it's the truth. And I don't love him, either. I thought I did, though."

"Why are you together, then?"

"I don't like being by myself. My thoughts get too loud."

At first, Remus did not respond, but that didn't frighten Mary. In a way, the silence was comforting. She was just getting used to it, when he replied.

"I don't like being by myself, either."


A/N: Once again! Happy holidays everyone! Don't forget to tell me what you thought of it! I'm super excited to see everyone's response to this chapter x