Sirius skipped past James, singing, "End of the year tests, end of the year tests!"

James looked up from his study sheet, "Sirius, you're the only one excited, have you noticed?"

"Yeah, but one left. Just one! And then they're all over."

"Actually, Sirius, you still have the NEWTS next year."

Sirius glanced over his shoulder at James, looking worried.

James smirked, "And all your Auror training and stuff."

Sirius put his hands over his ears, and ran around in a circle, yelling; "Shut up! Don't tell me that!"

James grinned at him, "But, you're right, Padfoot. Only this last test for this year and then we have holidays. Nice, long holidays."

Sirius's face darkened, "Yeah, home again."

"Padfoot, you know you are always welcome at my house… it's fine with my folks." James assured him.

"Yeah but I don't want to intrude." Said Sirius, "I don't like doing it."

James rolled his eyes, "You know you're welcome; I think they like you more than me!"

"If that's even possible."

James grinned, "Perhaps it is. But they enjoy your company, Padfoot."

"I make them laugh."

"You make everyone laugh," Remus pointed out, climbing through the portrait hole, "It's your one good point."

Sirius grinned at him, "I have many." He said airily.

James sniggered.

"Oh, come on!" Sirius said, "I'm good-looking and-"

"And vain to boot." James interrupted, "Moony, you just made his ego a whole lot worse."

"No worse than your own, Prongs." Remus said and Sirius grinned.

James looked crestfallen, "That's what Lily said." He said dejectedly.

Sirius's ears pricked up, "What happened that night anyway? You've been rather quiet about it."

James looked down, and opened his mouth. Then looked at Remus, "What's the time?"

Remus raised an eyebrow at him, but checked it, then blanched, "Late. We need to go." Sirius hesitated, about to ask James again, and Remus snapped, "Now!"

Sirius shot a concerned look at James as he past him. He was worried about his best friend; even if he was a love sick git. Then he shook his head and followed his friends out of the common room. They were halfway down the corridor when a puffing Peter caught up to them.
"Since when do you run, Wormtail?." Sirius asked.

Peter glared at him, "Since this exam. How soon do we have? What exam is this?"

Sirius laughed, "Don't fret, Wormtail; it's the last exam for the year. And how could you forget? This is the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam. Easy. We know everything."

Wormtail looked up at Sirius, "Yes," he mumbled, "Dark Arts."

They looked up as the professor supervising them opened the door and filed obediently through, sitting at the back.

James picked up his quill and looked up in time to see Lily. As she sat in her seat, a ray of sunlight shone through the window and illuminated her hair, making her skin glow. He sighed.

A bell rang and he shook his head: back to the test! He looked down, skimming through the questions; he had seven minutes reading time. One particularly drew his eye; Short Answer 13. What is the incantation of the Capital Unforgivable Curse? He looked up, pondering this. Another bell rang, and he put his quill to the parchment, the scratching sound of the other student's quills in his ears.

Chatter filled the hallway. James breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at Sirius who was (again) bouncing around singing, although the words had changed a little. Now they were more along the lines of; "No more exams! No more exams!" James grinned and added, "Except for the NEWTS and work tests!"

Sirius, still in the same sing-song voice yelled, "I know! I know! I'm choosing to ignore the small insignificant detail!"

People around them laughed; obviously as happy as Sirius to be out of the stress of exams for a whole year.

"Come on, my young buck!" Sirius bounced around to face James, "To dinner! Let's celebrate!"

James looked at Sirius warily, "You're not going to spike the Pumpkin Juice, are you?"

Sirius looked offended, "What, share what precious alcohol I own with this, rather ungrateful mob? Never!" he winked and bounded off. James laughed and followed, keeping a look out for Lily.

Remus waved them over to where his was sitting in the Great Hall, and they wandered over.

"How come you always finish first?" Sirius complained as they got within earshot.

"I don't finish first," Remus retorted, "I just know the answers better, so I work faster."

"And you say I'm vain." Sirius remarked to James. James laughed and sat down next to Remus, beckoning to Sirius and Peter to join them.

"So," James began as he loaded his plate, "How soon 'til we go home?"

"Just two days now. First we have to wait until the Seventh Years finish their NEWTS, then we have the End of the Year Feast. After that all we have is the train ride, and then all we have to do is laze."

"Brilliant." Said James.

Two days passed, and they were at the end of the year feast. A sudden thought occurred to James and he turned to Remus, "We're going to catch up during the holidays, right?"

Remus snorted, "Try and keep him away." He said, jabbing a thumb at Sirius, who just grinned.

"Hey," he said, "Where else do I go? I don't want to go home with their 'pureblood' rules and all that codswallop."

Peter cast him a look of sympathy. Sirius continued, "Besides, I'm gonna see what I can do to-"

Dumbledore stood up, and all the hubbub died away, effectively stopping Sirius. "Well done!" he said, beaming at them, "Well done to all the years who have now completed their tests. I bet that you are all breathing a quiet sigh of relief," his gaze flicked over the Marauders, "Or perhaps not so quiet, in some cases.

I believe you are all very curious about the Head Boy and Girl selections." A sudden, very interested silence followed. Dumbledore beamed, "Unfortunately, as usual, I will not tell you this year. The candidates will be assessed and selected over the course of the holidays. Those chosen will receive a badge and instructions sent to them before the beginning of term. Thank you, and tuck in."

Noise gradually rose again, punctuated by silences as the students shovelled food into their mouths. James glanced around at his friends and smiled happily. His gaze drifted along the table to Lily, and his smile faltered. His face became pensive for a few minutes before he caught Sirius's eyes on him. Quickly, he pasted a smile onto his face. Sirius frowned, but remained silent. He stayed silent for the rest of the night.

Lily yawned and stretched leisurely. She looked over to her trunk; it was gone. She started, then remembered that it was the last day here before her seventh year began. She sighed and got dressed before making her way downstairs.

She turned the last spiral of the staircase up to the Girls dormitory and, quite literally, bumped into James Potter. He spun around and, once again, they were nose to chin. Both tried to move out of the other's way. It didn't work. They had both moved towards the east wall. They both moved the opposite way, then back towards the east. They both stopped, and Lily, blushing furiously, placed her hand on James's waist, to guide him the opposite way so she could go around him.

James felt as if a jolt of electricity had gone through his veins. He felt frozen to the spot. He blinked and opened his mouth to ask Lily something, but she was already gone.

Lily felt her cheeks. They were burning. So was the hand she had put on James's waist. Her step quickened even more, carrying her speedily to the Great Hall. She sat down with a plonk on one of the seats.

A shadow appeared next to her. It paused, then sat beside her, "Go away, Potter." She snapped, her cheeks still red.

"I am not Potter, Evans." Came a cold voice. Lily looked up, startled, into a pair of icy grey eyes. Sirius Black's icy grey eyes. He glared at her, "And why did you want him to go away? What happened at the Astronomy Tower?"

"That, Mister Black, is none of your business." She spat.

"It is when it concerns my best friend." Sirius's voice was under tight control; only the clipped delivery of the words betrayed how angry he was.

Lily's eyes narrowed, "What do you care, Black?"

"You're breaking his heart, Lily."

She scoffed, "James? He cares for nothing except Quidditch and pranks!"

Sirius's eyes were unreadable, "Do you really think that?" he asked. He seemed about to say something more, before he cut himself off. He stood and left, going back up to Gryffindor Tower, leaving Lily very confused.

She cradled her head in her hands, pondering what Sirius had said. Again she asked herself why had she pushed him away. Again, she couldn't find why; not completely in her heart. She sighed and sat up. She nibbled at her breakfast for a couple of minutes until she decided that she could not stomach any more and left, taking the horseless carriage to the train, and home.