Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Chapter Six

He's a Marauder

The following Tuesday found Camille and Lily sitting in one of their favourite classes, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Archer was a wizened wizard, strict, but fair, and extremely knowledgeable when it came to defending yourself. Apparently, he had once worked for the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable, whether this was true or not, nobody ever knew. He would never tell, after all.

For the first few years of the lesson, Archer had taken a more text book approach to the subject; however, as the students grew older, practical sessions became more and more common, even resulting in a duelling tournament in their sixth year (James and Sirius coming first, with Lily and Remus a close second). Camille had been knocked out of the tournament by Remus, who to this day still apologised profusely for causing her to spend the week in the hospital wing whenever it was brought up. Camille didn't mind, it had been a nice break from things for her.

Right now, however, discussion in the class had turned to the ever present topic of the Unforgivable Curses. Seventh year was really a year of revising everything they had ever learnt, and so, this lesson they were taking notes on the Imperius curse, with the promise that next lesson the students would be practicing them on themselves, a new tactic set by the Ministry to ready the teenagers for life in the outside world. There had been some scepticism as to whether this was a good learning device, however Dumbledore had made it perfectly clear the students were being taught to fight it, not cast it.

So, after finishing their notes and starting on the questions, Camille and Lily decided to have a little break and chat about the upcoming event on everyone's mind; the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.

The reason this particular Hogsmeade visit was so looked forward to? It was the very first of the year; that was why. It revealed who liked who, who was still going out with whom, and who had dumped who, which of course, was just as important a topic than Lord Voldemort himself, to a teenager anyway.

Lily always dreaded Hogsmeade weekends. About a week before them, James would start asking her, sending her gifts and trying desperately to charm his way into her good books in the hopes she would accept. And this year surely wouldn't be any different...would it?

"He hasn't even hinted towards asking me?" Lily whispered, shooting a look to check that Professor Archer was still occupied with one of her fellow students, "I mean, what is he up to?"

Camille set down her quill, and frowned, "Up to? Lils I don't think he's up to anything...maybe he just gave up?"

Much to Camille's surprise, Lily didn't seem all too happy about this. A small frown appeared on her forehead, her lower lip pouting slightly.

"Lily, didn't you hear me? I said James may have given up on you...where's the fan fare...the balloons...the joyful cheering?"

"Ha ha," Lily drawled, "No, he's up to something. Potter always asks me out at least a week before Hogsmeade. He's planning something, I know it".

Camille rolled her eyes, and glanced over to where James and Sirius were floating an ink well just above Slytherin seventh year Laura Thomas' head.

"Really Lils, I don't think he's planning anything, not for you anyway. Like you said, he's changed. Maybe he's going to try a better approach".

Lily seemed to brighten up a little, and nodded.

"Yeah...yeah that must be it. He's still going to ask me out, as bloody usual," she added for good measure. Camille snorted, and shook her head, wondering just how long it would take Lily to admit something Camille had seen coming for quite awhile. The poor girl was clearly in denial.

"What about Sirius," Lily's voice snapped Camille from her musings, "Has he said anything about Hogsmeade?"

Camille flushed a little, "What makes you think he would?"

Now, it was Lily's turn to snort, "Oh come off it, anyone with eyes can see he's after you. Plus, if I'm correct, you two have been spending some cosy nights in the library...I didn't even think Sirius knew where the library was".

"Shut up," Camille hissed with a slight smile, "Lils, we're just friends, alright. Nothing more, nothing less".

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to her work, "Sure, whatever you say Millie".

Across the room, James carefully pointed his wand, tipping the ink in the ink pot ever so slightly over Laura Thomas' head. The black ink seeped into her wispy brown hair, unbeknownst to her or Evan Rosier who was sitting beside her.

"So how're things with Lilyflower?" Sirius asked as James floated the ink pot back over to the desk.

"Alright," he shrugged, "I haven't mentioned Hogsmeade yet, I think I'll ask her at tomorrow's prefect meeting".

"Well, no matter how you go about this, she won't say yes. You'll lose the bet".

Sirius chuckled, twirling his quill in his hand. He hadn't bothered taking any notes; he already knew everything there was to know about the Imperius curse anyway.

"What about you and Camille? Still adamant she'll fall in love with you?" James smirked.

Sirius didn't look worried, "Of course. In fact, I have quite a surprise in store for Miss Bellegarde. There's no way she'll be able to say no".

James rolled his eyes, and scanned the room for something to do, looking thoroughly bored.

"When's the next full moon?" he asked quietly.

Sirius, who was doodling on his parchment, shrugged.

"I think it's the twenty sixth, Moony's got it marked on his calendar".

James nodded, "Weekday, that'll be fun. I'll have to make sure me and Moony don't have patrol, actually".

Sirius' head shot up, his eye lighting up as they normally did when he had an idea.

"I'll cover for Moony the night before; you know how he likes to spend the night before a full moon with Poppy. Pair me with Camille!"

James snorted, "I'm not helping you win this bet, I want to win, remember".

Sirius pouted, putting on his best 'puppy dog' face, "Please, Prongs. I thought we were friends!"

James laughed, punching Sirius in the arm, "No, I'm not losing thirty galleons to you. Do your own dirty work...in fact; I think I'll pair Camille with Lily that night, so you can't work your magic".

"Weak joke, Prongsie," snapped Sirius, "Why am I friends with you?"

James shrugged, scrunching his parchment into a ball, "Cause you love me," he tossed the paper ball across the room, hitting Snape firmly in the back of the head.

"Piss off, filth," the greasy haired boy sneered.

"Ooooooo," James and Sirius mocked in high voices, before doubling up with laughter.

~*~

"I need to talk to you".

Camille felt her arm being tugged, and allowed whoever it was to pull her into an empty classroom. Turning around, she saw it was James, looking slightly anxious.

"Yes James?" she asked.

James smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I...uhh...I want to ask Lily to Hogsmeade...but...I want her to say yes too".

Camille quirked an eyebrow, "Asking for a bit much there, aren't you Potter?"

James rolled his eyes, and collapsed into one of the chairs behind him.

"You're her best friend, how can I get her to go out with me?"

Camille leant against one of the stone walls, examining her finger nails interestedly, "Depends on what's in it for me," she shot him a sly grin.

"My undying adoration and everlasting friendship?" James said brightly. Camille snorted.

"Don't ask her, not yet anyway".

James frowned, "But...why?"

Camille exhaled loudly, and took a seat next to James, folding her hands in her lap.

"I have reason to believe Lily likes you, James," she held her hand up to silence James, who looked ready to kiss Camille, "But, you need to give it time. She's hated you for nigh on six years now, and three weeks of acting mature isn't good enough to change her mind, though you are changing it".

"So...what should I do?" James asked, though he didn't look too happy about the plan. Camille offered a reassuring smile.

"Go with her as a group, I know Theresa was planning on asking you lot to come with the girls anyway. Be her friend, James. Keep the arrogance to a bare minimum, and try to act mature. I dunno what you've been like around Lily, but its working. The lack of pranks and hexing are paying off too".

"Really? You think I have a chance?"

He looked so hopeful; it almost broke Camille's heart. She nodded, barely suppressing her grin.

"You have more of a chance than you did last year, trust me, keep doing what you're doing, and she'll say yes. Just don't ask her to go with you, wait until the next one, alright?"

"Right," James stood up, ruffling his hair, "Keep on this track. She'll see I'm good for her, she'll say yes," he turned to Camille, "You're alright Bellegarde, you know that".

Camille chuckled, and stood up too, "So I've heard. And James, I am rooting for the two of you, I think you and Lily would be perfect together".

Camille was confused to see a rather guilty look creep into James' eyes. In response, he merely nodded, and offered a weak smile. Thinking nothing of it, Camille crossed the room, glanced out into the corridor, then slipped out, hoping her meetings with James in empty classrooms weren't misinterpreted.

Camille finally caught up with Lily heading into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Where'd you disappear to," she asked, leading her friend to the Gryffindor table. Camille shrugged.

"Left my quill back in the classroom, where's Isla and the others?"

"Mary and Theresa went to the loo and Isla said something about the library," Lily replied absently, flopping down in a seat and pulling everything in reach towards her.

"Hungry?" Camille observed.

Lily nodded, "I have patrol tonight, so I'm gonna have to skip dinner to do my homework".

"I'll bring you something," Camille assured, ladling soup into a bowl for herself, "Are you patrolling with James again?"

Lily nodded, but didn't speak. Camille merely shook her head, and watched as James, Sirius and Peter entered the Great Hall, talking loudly amongst themselves. They took seats opposite Camille and Lily, James winking at Camille as he pulled a plate of chicken pie towards him.

"All set for patrol tonight, Lily?" he asked conversationally. Camille pressed her lips together, biting back a smile. Lily glanced up from her meal, and nodded, a strange look creeping into her eyes.

"Good, oh by the way, I hope you don't mind, but I need the twenty sixth off. I wanna get the team together and go over some plays before the first match," James adopted his most charming smile, and waited for Lily to respond. Lily set down her fork, and nodded.

"Alright, James," she paused, "Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"

James looked as though her were pondering this, his eyes darting towards Camille.

"No, I think that's it. Nothing else coming up that involves me and you, anyway".

James grinned again, and began shovelling down his food. Beside him, Sirius and Peter were having a rather heated discussion about the rumour whether the bloody Baron and the Ravenclaw ghost were having an affair.

"Ghost's can't do stuff like that," Peter protested, his plate of stew untouched for once.

Sirius shook his head with a cocky grin, "And how would you know? Been spying on them, Wormtail. I didn't know you were into that stuff".

Peter reddened a little, but his face remained defiant, "I'm telling you, ghosts can't have...you know, that".

"Sex, Wormtail, is the word I believe you are looking for," smirked Sirius. Camille rolled her eyes, and glanced back at Lily, who looked stunned beyond words.

"Lily Evans, you prude," teased Camille.

Lily started, and shot a confused look towards Camille.

"What are you on about?"

Camille rolled her eyes and returned to her meal, "Nothing, you just seemed a little shocked".

"Can you blame me," Lily muttered darkly. Camille quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing more. She already had a good idea what was going on anyway.

~*~

At the end of the school day, Camille found herself thoroughly exhausted. The professors had made it quite clear their final year would be the toughest of them all, Camille was sure she'd never finished the endless piles of essays she'd been assigned. Because Lily was on patrol tonight, and Isla was off doing god knows what, Camille, Theresa and Mary decided to spend the evening taking a break from the mountain of homework to spend some relaxation time in the common room.

Sitting in their favourite armchairs near one of the common room windows, the girls passed the time gossiping about various things, playing wizards chess or the occasional game of exploding snap. The girls looked up as the portrait hole opened, and a rather flustered looking Isla clambered through.

"Long time, no see," commented Mary, pushing out a chair for the exhausted looking blonde, "Where have you been lately?"

Isla jumped a little, and shook her head, "Nowhere important, please tell me we aren't studying".

Camille shook her head, "Taking a break, I don't think I can handle much more homework, and it's only been three weeks!"

"It's only going to get worse," Theresa predicted darkly.

Mary rolled her eyes, "Thanks for that Theresa, as if we need reminding, so," she turned clapped her hands together, "Do we all have dates for Saturday?"

The three other girls shook their heads in unison, and Mary gaped.

"Honestly? You realise we only have four days, right?"

"Yes Mary, we do know the days of the week," sniggered Theresa, "No one's asked me yet, so I asked James and the lads if they wanted to tag along with us".

Mary snapped her mouth shut, and huffed, "Who am I supposed to gossip with now? Potter had better bloody manage to woo Lils before Saturday; I'm not being the only one without a date".

Camille rolled her eyes, tilting her chair a little, "Hardly a date if he's already your boyfriend, besides, we can never get a word in edge ways when you bang on about your dates".

Isla and Theresa chuckled, and Mary tossed chocolate frog at her friend.

The laughing stopped when three more students entered the common room, laughing a joking with one another. The three boys took seats on the chairs surrounding the fire, and began to talk in hushed whispers.

"Wonder what they're planning?" Mary mused thoughtfully.

Isla shot a furtive glanced towards the boys, "They haven't pulled a prank since they got back, I'm beginning to worry a little".

"Sirius says it's because James doesn't want to upset Lily, and that they can't pull a prank without all four there," Camille said without realising. She blushed slightly at the knowing grins on her friend's faces.

"Sirius says, eh? My my, we are getting close, aren't we," teased Theresa.

"Sod off," Camille snapped, though was unable to hide her grin. She liked to think they were getting close, anyway, despite her best efforts to convince herself she did not like Sirius Black in anything more than a platonic sense.

The girls stopped laughing as they noticed a rather pale looking Peter Pettigrew making his way slowly towards the group of girls.

Peter stopped next to Theresa, nervously wringing his hands together. The blonde girl shot another confused look towards her friends, then turned back to Peter.

"Hi Peter, you want something?"

Peter squeaked a little, his face reddening considerably. He cleared his throat, and Camille bit her lip, realising what was surely going on.

"Uhh...I...well, I was wondering....maybe...if you wanted to....you know, go to Hogsmeade with....uhh...well, with me, actually...I uhh..." Peter glanced back at Remus and Sirius, who were watching with half amused, half hopeful expression.

Theresa looked rather shocked, Camille noticed, as did Mary and Isla. Peter had never given any hint that he may have liked Theresa. Theresa closed her mouth, which was hanging open slackly, and managed to find her voice.

"I...uhhh..." she glanced at the girls, who were watching expectantly, "Actually, yes. Yes Peter, I'd love to go with you".

Peter looked positively faint. He swayed slightly, as if not quite believing what he was hearing. The girls stifled a chuckle, and Theresa gently laid a hand on his arm.

"Are you alright, Pete?"

"I'm fine," he replied in a squeaky voice, "Fine, perfectly fine...see you at Hogsmeade," and with that, the small boy scurried back over to his friends, who were clapping him on the back and congratulating him.

Theresa turned back to her friends with a happy smile plastered across her face. Mary was the first one to speak.

"You never told me you liked Peter!" she cried to her best friend, "When?"

Theresa shrugged, "He's different from all the other guys I've gone out with. He's sweet, and really nice, and funny".

Mary gaped at her friend, "No offence Theresa, but compared to your past conquests...well....Peter isn't exactly...well...you know..." she trailed off, frowning.

Theresa merely smiled, "He may not be the best looking, but looks aren't everything. Look at Billy, yeah he was good looking, but look what he did!"

Camille felt a wave of pride rush through her at these words. Theresa was right, looks weren't everything. Sadness crept through her, and she shot a glance at Sirius.

"I guess," Mary started, "Oh forget it, I'm happy for you. Peter's fun, and he's a Marauder, Billy'll go mental when he finds out!"

Theresa nodded excitedly, "Oh, I'm really glad I said yes, Peter really is lovely!"

"You'll have a great time," Isla assured her friend, "Well, one down, two to go".

Camille chuckled, "And who are you hoping will ask you out, Isla?"

Isla shrugged, her eyes flickering towards the boys, "Actually, I reckon I'll just spend the day with Lils...do you think the boys will still come now that Theresa is all loved up".

Theresa smacked her friend playfully on the arm, "Course he will, Potter wouldn't miss a chance to win over Miss Evans".

"What about you, Camille, are you tagging along with us?" Isla turned to her dark haired friend, who was still staring at the boys.

"What? Oh, yeah...looks like it. Should be fun".

Theresa, Mary and Isla exchanged knowing smirks, then began chatting about what Mary and Theresa would plan for their dates. Camille continued to ponder Theresa's words. Looks weren't everything, of course she knew that, but could she deny it when the personality seemed to be just as good as the looks?

~*~

Wednesday came, and Camille was delighted to find that she had the morning off. Though, because she and the girls had slacked off considerably the previous night, she was still required to get up early and get a start on her homework.

However, this morning was not going to be a normal morning; Camille realised this from the moment she awoke, and spotted the red rose petals scattered lightly over her bed.

"What the..." Camille climbed out of bed, staring incredulously at the flower petals. What on Earth was going on?

"Oh Camille! Who did this!?"

Camille spun around to see Isla and Theresa gaping at the rose petals, their eyes alight with excitement. Camille shrugged, her own eyes still wide with disbelief. She reached down, and picked up one of the petals, marvelling in the soft texture.

"Bloody hell, someone's taken a fancy to you!" Mary pulled back her hangings and stumbled out of bed. The noise awoke Lily, who eyed the bed with a knowing look which fortunately, the other girls missed.

"Is there a card, or a letter?" Isla asked, picking up a handful of petals and tossing them at Theresa.

Camille was about to answer when Mary prodded her, "Look, there's a bunch on your nightstand".

Camille's gaze snapped to her nightstand, where a bunch of red and white roses stood. Tentatively, she walked over to the flowers, and picked them up, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"Well?" pressed Theresa, "Who's all this from?"

Camille pulled a small white card out of the blooms, and opened it.

Mon Chéri,

Would you do me the absolute pleasure of accompanying me to Hogsmeade this weekend?

"Well?"

Camille turned to her friends, a broad smile plastered across her face.

"Who do you think would come up with something as over the top and cheesy as this?" she smirked. The girls frowned, then broke into identical smirks.

"Sirius Black," they said as one.

After hurriedly readying themselves, Camille and the girls raced down the stairs to the common room, where they expected to find Sirius waiting to hear Camille's answer. The girls had begged, pleaded and threatened Camille to tell them her answer, but she simply said they would know when Sirius knew.

Slightly put out, Theresa declared he must be at breakfast, so she, Mary and Isla barrelled out of the common room as fast as they possibly could, leaving an amused Lily and Camille in their wake.

"You know it's strange, I was under the impression boys couldn't get into the girls dormitories," Camille commented as the two friends made their way down to the Great Hall at a much leisurely pace.

Lily fidgeted next to Camille, "Yeah, strange".

Camille rolled her eyes, "You put the petals there for Sirius, didn't you?"

Lily stopped biting her lip and just managing to hold off a grin, "And what if I did?"

"You're meddling in my love life," Camille huffed, crossing her arms. Lily laughed, and linked an arm through Camille's, "Yes, seems there's a lot of that going on lately".

Camille paled, and chuckled nervously, "Yeah...I guess".

Lily rolled her eyes, and quickened her pace, "Come on, I want to see what you're answer is, even though I can already tell".

Camille giggled, blushing a little, "You know me too well Evans".

"Not as well as I know you, Bellegarde".

When Lily and Camille finally entered the Great Hall, they spotted Mary and Theresa berating Sirius, who was already seated with James, Remus and Peter. Camille noticed Isla and Remus talking quietly, whilst Peter was looking adoringly at an otherwise oblivious Theresa. James, it seemed, didn't look too happy.

"There she is!" cried Mary, shoving Theresa out of the way and running up to her friend, "Sirius is waiting!"

Camille quirked an eyebrow, and allowed Mary to pull her over to Sirius. Camille was very aware that several people in the hall were watching with interested looks, and fought the blush creeping into her face.

Mary sat Camille down next to Sirius, who shot her a charming grin. He turned in his seat to face her, and leant towards her.

"Did you like the roses?" he asked quietly, so Mary and the others had to strain to hear. Camille shot her friends a reproachful look, then turned back to Sirius.

"They were beautiful, thank you".

Sirius nodded, and grinned, "And, do you have an answer?"

Camille nodded, her own smile growing larger. She fought the urge to laugh when she realised all of her friends were watching with bated breath.

"And?" Sirius continued softly.

Camille bit her lip, then grinned.

"Yes, Sirius. I'd love to go with you".

A/N: And there's chapter six :)

I'm terribly sorry for the wait, I think it's been over a month! But, with it being the christmas season, I've been unbelievably busy, and getting to the computer is a rarity. That said, I do hope this chapter was worth the wait. Thing's are heating up between Mr Black and Ms Bellegarde, shame it's for the wrong reasons eh?

Thank you to all of my dear readers for reviewing and reading the last chapter, and continuing to read the story. It makes me so very happy to see people have taken the time to read something I'm putting so much effort into, so thank you very, very much.

Now, this is the last chapter of 2008. So, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I hope Santa is good to you all. And, of course, have a brilliant New Year. Don't get too drunk ;), and may 2009 and bring you all the happiness you deserve.

Until 09, have a good one guys :)