Disclaimer: The characters are the property of the amazingly talented J.K Rowling! I'm only borrowing the characters she has so brilliantly created.

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Beta by: ilovethedotgame

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Chapter Two: Engagements and Betrothals

Dear James,

Your mother and I trust that you are enjoying the start of term. As this is your last year at school, I must impress upon you the seriousness of your schoolwork. Now is not the time to be playing childish pranks and such – as I'm sure you are aware, your duties as Head Boy and Quidditch captain are not matters to be taken lightly.

In regards to Hestia Albright, you have a duty there as well. Believe me; I will know if you are not being attentive towards her. I expect you to ask her to the next Hogsmeade outing.

Have a pleasant term,

Charles Potter

L … J

James crumpled the letter in his right hand and slammed the parchment down on the table, nearly upsetting Peter's goblet of juice.

"Careful, Prongs!" Peter snatched away his goblet and moved it to the other side of his plate.

"Sorry, Peter," James smoothed out the letter and passed it to Sirius. "Father sent me a letter," he said by way of explanation.

"Oh," All three boys said simultaneously, understanding at once.

L … J

James anxiously paced his dormitory trying to rally the courage to seek Hestia out and ask her on a date. Needless to say, he was failing miserably.

Even though he never complained much about his arranged marriage, James felt that things had gone too far. When he had come of an age when most boys started to take an interest in girls, his father had taken him aside and explained to him that he was not allowed to date because of his betrothal - it would be disloyal to Hestia and her family to do so.

James had never minded much, except for a few times when he saw his friends going on dates to Hogsmeade or when he had taken an interest in a girl. At age seventeen, James had no dating experience whatsoever.

Hestia was a perfectly nice person, about as nice as they came, but she just didn't spark any romantic interest in him. He wanted to date someone that he genuinely cared about in a romantic way. And Hestia wasn't that girl.

"Are you going to go ask her? Or should I go and get her?" Sirius asked, peering over the top of The Beater's Bible with a more than amused expression.

After throwing Sirius a look, James took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He was going to do it. Right now. He boldly walked to the door and flung it open.

James stood still for a moment, staring at the blank wall opposite the doorway. Suddenly he felt the courage deflate out of him like air out of a balloon. He strode back into the room, slamming the door behind him.

L … J

Hestia sat in the common room, pouring over her History of Magic text, looking for the answer to question number seven. (In your opinion, which leaders of the goblin rebellions was the most effective in persuading wizarding officials to form a compromise?)

"Mind if I sit down?"

Hestia looked up to see a very nervous looking James Potter standing in front of her.

"Well, Lily's sitting in that chair; she just ran up to the dormitory to get her notes, but you can sit in this one," she motioned to the chair on the other side of her.

"That's fine," James pulled out the chair. "This won't take long…errr…" he stopped, turning red and looking extremely flustered. "What I mean is I can't stay long."

"Oh, okay."

James took a deep breath and clasped his hands together on the table in front of him. "Hestia, I was wondering…um…would you like to accompany me to Hogsmeade next Saturday?"

Hestia smiled knowingly. "You got a letter from your parents too?"

"Yes," James admitted, thinking of the letter he had received that very morning from his father. "But I was going to ask you anyway. I take my responsibilities seriously."

Footsteps could be heard coming from the girls' staircase and James stood up quickly. "Well, I'll see you around then."

"See you," Hestia smiled, giving him a small wave.

L … J

James breathed a sigh of relief. He'd never asked a girl out before. It was a whole new experience for him. Granted, Hestia had known he was going to ask her, but all but all the same, he felt much better now that it was done.

"Did you do it?" Sirius questioned with a hint of laughter in his voice as James stepped into the dormitory and threw himself on his bed.

"Course I did," James replied. "Did you think I was going to chicken out asking the girl I'm going to marry to go on a date with me?"

Sirius grinned, gray eyes sparkling. "Not really, but you must admit, it would have been rather funny."

"Prat."

L … J

"Sorry I'm late!" James apologized as he skidded into the prefect's meeting room. "Quidditch practice ran a little late."

Lily thrust a sheaf of papers and a calendar into James's hand. "Don't you run practice, being the quidditch captain and all?"

James colored and shuffled his feet a bit. "Er…yes, technically, but Adella wanted to go over some of the flying formations."

One of his fellow chasers, a sixth year named Adella Thompson, had wanted to do some extra practice. Since they did need the practice, James had found it hard to refuse. He rarely passed up an opportunity to play quidditch and tonight had been no exception.

"Ah, I see. So is it always going to be like this James? Will quidditch always come first?" Lily's voice was low and laced with anger, her eyes dark.

James hung his head. "I'm sorry Lily, really I am. From now on I'll schedule practice and meetings on different days."

"You do that," Lily hastily stuffed pieces of parchment into her shoulder bag.

It was then that James realized that he and Lily were the only ones in the room. "Where is everybody?"

"They left," Lily answered coldly. "The meeting ended five minutes ago. We waited for you, but when you didn't show, I made your excuses and we started without you."

"Lily…I truly am sorry…I forgot…I know that's not a good excuse, but before this year, I never had to worry about prefect meetings," He paused and his shoulders sagged. "This is what I was worried about. I've let you down…. I'll go now."

He turned to make his way toward the door when Lily stopped him by grabbing him gently by the arm.

James turned to face her, a questioning look on his handsome face. "Yes?"

"You haven't disappointed me."

"No?"

"No, you haven't. I was angry about something someone said to me earlier and when you didn't show up it just added to my frustration. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you, and for that I owe you an apology."

James smiled slightly. "You don't owe me an apology, Lily. I owe you one."

"Just do one thing for me."

"Anything," James promised.

"The next meeting is the same time next week. Do try to be on time," Lily requested with a hint of a smile.

James grinned. "For you, Lily, I'll even be early."

L … J

"Potter catches the quaffle and passes to Thompson. Thompson passes back to Potter, Potter passes to – oh no! The Slytherins take possession! Nott passes to Zabini, Zabini passes to – POTTER TAKES REPOSSESION OF THE QUAFFLE!"

Lily watched as James flew towards the Slytherin goal posts, scarlet and gold robes flying behind him. He looked very nice in the house colors, she noted.

"POTTER SCORES! 70 TO 60! GRYFFINDOR TAKES THE LEAD!"

The four girls cheered and clapped, jumping up and down. Remus clapped in a far more dignified manner while Peter waved a small Gryffindor pennant.

"Black almost unseats Nott with a bludger…Slytherin takes possession…IS THAT THE SNITCH!"

Both seekers were neck and neck flying at breakneck speeds after the tiny golden snitch. Suddenly, one of the Slytherin beaters, a surly looking seventh year, hit a bludger towards Gryffindor's seeker. Fortunately, it was a bad hit and he nearly took out his own seeker as well as his opponents'.

"PARKINSON NEARLY KILLS PERKS!" the student commentator yelled, pointing frantically at Thaddeus Nott, the offending Slytherin beater. "FOUL! FOUL!"

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and awarded Gryffindor one penalty shot while throwing Nott a disapproving look.

"Looks like James is taking the shot," Remus commented to Lily, who was to his immediate left.

"How do they decide?" Lily asked as she watched James fly to the line and catch the quaffle thrown to him by Madame Hooch.

"In cases like these where the player who was fouled isn't one who uses the quaffle, the Chasers decide amongst themselves or the captain picks."

"And since James is the captain, he gets the shot?"

"Not necessarily –" Remus was cut short by crowd's cheer as the quaffle sailed easily past the Slytherin keeper.

"POTTER SCORES AGAIN! 80 TO 60 GRYFFINDOR!"

"As I was saying," Remus said as he removed his hands from his ears, "just because James is the captain doesn't necessarily mean he takes the penalty shot. They all have to agree on who should take it. Apparently, they thought he was the best man for the job."

"He's our best chaser," said Peter.

"And he keeps his head in tough situations, which is highly important in this game," Remus agreed.

"Thompson passes to Potter, Potter passes to Spencer, Spencer passes to Thompson, SLYTHERIN STEALS THE QUAFFLE!"

"Slytherin scores! 70 to 80, Gryffindor still leading!"

This statement was received with much booing and hissing from the Slytherin section of the stands and a rousing cheer from the Gryffindors.

"Potter calls time-out!"

The Gryffindor team all flew towards the center of the pitch where James was waiting. They all faced their brooms inwards and huddled close for a few seconds before breaking and sending up a cry of, "Go Go Gryffindor!"

Heartened by the team's new found spirit, the Gryffindor students took up the cry as well, cheering on their team. "GO GO GRYFFINFOR! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!"

Madame Hooch blew the whistle to resume play and the game picked up with earnest. Slytherin managed to score twice more, but James scored three times for Gryffindor, keeping Gryffindor ahead by thirty points.

There was suddenly a collective gasp from the crowd as the seekers went into a steep dive. Everyone in the stands and even the players on the pitch seemed to hold their breath as the seekers continued to dive deeper and deeper. They were nearing the ground at an alarming rate; both had their arms outstretched…

"PERKS GETS THE SNICTH! 260 TO 90! GRYFFINDOR WINS! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

The entire Gryffindor section exploded with cheers as Susanna Perks rose in the air with the snitch clutched triumphantly in her small fist. Even Remus was jumping up and down, any and all dignity forgotten.

The Gryffindor team landed in a tangle of bodies, everyone slapping each other on the back and hugging each other. As the team touched ground, the student crowd swarmed down to the field to meet them and offer their congratulations.

L …J

"Hey, Prongs?" Sirius called to James as he pulled off his sweat soaked quidditch robes.

"Hm?" James responded, throwing his arm guards into his locker in a haphazard manner.

"Can I borrow your cloak?" Sirius asked, placing special emphasis on the word cloak, meaning James's heirloom invisibility cloak. One of the secrets of the four boys' mischief was the invisibility cloak, which allowed them to move through - and even outside of - the castle undetected.

"What for?"

"Lily asked me to get some treats for the girls from Hogsmeade. I guess they're having a talk session tonight."

James stared at Sirius. "A what?"

"A talk session," Sirius shrugged. "You know - where they sit around and talk about which blokes they all fancy and hair, makeup and that sort of girl stuff."

"Why'd Lily ask you?" James frowned slightly.

"Oh, come on, Prongs, everyone in Gryffindor knows we sneak off to Hogsmeade and get food for victory parties. Who else would she ask?"

"Go ahead," James replied as he shut his locker with more force than usual. "But make sure you get us something while you're there."

L … J

James sat on his bed, his hazel eyes quickly skimming a book about quidditch strategies, his keen mind absorbing the information.

The door to the boys' dormitory opened, revealing Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Remus was carrying a rather large Honeydukes shopping bag. Noise from the growing victory party in the common wafted up the stairway and into the room.

James looked up from his book and glanced at the bag. "Did you buy half the shop?" he inquired with a laugh.

"Very nearly," Remus lifted the bag onto the end of his bed with a small grunt.

"Where's Frank?" Sirius asked, referring to the other occupant of the dormitory.

"Downstairs, hoping to see Alice, I expect," Peter replied as he emerged out from under his bed, where he had been looking for one of his textbooks.

"Why doesn't he just ask the girl on a date if he fancies her so much?" Sirius unfastened the hooks on his cloak and threw it on the bed next to the Honeydukes bag.

"Maybe he's nervous about asking her out…" James shrugged. "So what did you bring us?"

Digging into the large bag, Remus drew out a number of boxes of chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, a package of licorice wands, and a large assortment of other treats.

"Did you already give the girls their stuff?" Peter asked, getting up off his bed to rummage through the pile of candy.

Sirius nodded in affirmative. "I saw Alice downstairs so I gave it to her."

"So," James began, opening the box of Every Flavor Beans that Remus tossed to him, "We've been back at school for about a month and half now and we haven't pulled any pranks or stuff of that general nature. I think it's about time we did something to liven things up."

"Here, here!" Sirius intoned heartily.

"Anyone have any suggestions?" Remus asked through a mouthful of chocolate.

"We could explore that cave we found at the end of last year," Peter suggested. "Throw me a licorice wand or two, will you, Remus?"

James considered Peter's suggestion as he chewed on a spinach flavored bean. "Why don't we save that for a full moon? There's one coming up pretty soon, two weeks, I think."

"I was thinking something along the lines of some plants escaping from the greenhouse…" Sirius grinned, grey eyes twinkling with laughter. "Nothing that would hurt anybody, mind you, just something to give people a bit of a fright in the hallways."

"When?" James grinned, popping a few every flavored beans into his mouth.

"How about the Monday morning after the Hogsmeade trip?" Remus spoke up. "Say…six o'clock?"

"Perfect!" Sirius agreed, barely able to contain his excitement. "That way the plants will be out there, but Filch won't have a chance to get rid of them before classes start!"

"How do we sneak into the greenhouses?" Peter questioned as he stared up at the ceiling, drawing shapes in the air with his wand.

"Easy," Sirius waved hand in dismissal. "Crack the password, use the cloak and the map and we're all set."

"Excellent," James smiled thinking of his father's letter. "Now is not the time to be playing childish pranks and such."

On the contrary - now was the perfect time.

L … J

Lily sat in a circle on the floor of the seventh year girls' dormitory with her friends. In the middle of the circle was a large pile of assorted candy and empty wrappers. Much like Sirius had told James, the girls had spent the evening doing each other's hair, and talking about boys.

"Hestia, what's it like to be engaged?" Alice asked suddenly.

"What's it like?" Hestia pondered. "Well…it's not really like anything. I don't really feel engaged, I just…am."

"When did your parents first tell you?" Emmeline questioned, leaning against the back of her bed.

"It was so long ago that I don't remember," Hestia admitted. "I've always known that when I'm twenty I'm going to marry James Potter and raise a family. That's just the way it was. But we've been formally betrothed since we were two years old, if that's what you mean."

"It must be odd to have been engaged to someone for fifteen years," Lily mused. "I mean, most people are engaged for one or two years before they're married."

"I never really think of us as being engaged. In my mind we're betrothed."

"Why don't you think you're engaged? Aren't they the exact same thing?" Emmeline asked as she carefully opened a chocolate frog box. Taking out the card, she glanced at it and then threw it in the ever-growing pile of cards she already owned.

"Well…yes, technically, but to my parents and the wizarding world elite, being betrothed means having your marriage arranged for you and engaged means having been proposed to and agreeing to marry someone. I didn't have a choice, so I see myself as betrothed," Hestia tried to explain.

Lily made a face. "I could never have someone arrange a marriage for me. I want to fall in love and spend the rest of my life with that man. I can't even begin to imagine being told whom I was going to marry and raise a family with. That's not love," Lily said, a look of fierce resolute in her emerald green eyes.

"I know," Hestia smiled ruefully, "But I've had the fact that I'm going to marry James pounded into my head almost every day of my life so it really doesn't matter anymore."

"It should matter!" Emmeline protested. "Why did your parents betroth you to him anyway?"

"Well, I'm an only child and the last of my family line and James is the only son and also the only heir to the Potter family. We were betrothed to keep the family name alive."

"Why you though?" Alice asked. "I mean, there are lots of girls from Wizarding families out there to choose from."

"I was available," Hestia answered. "There aren't many purebloods left, so options were always slim. Our parents are friends, so that had a lot to do with it."

"Don't you ever wish that you'd been allowed to go on a date? I mean, what's the harm in letting you go to Hogsmeade with a boy once in a while?" Emmeline questioned, switching positions so that she was lying on her stomach.

"Sure I do," Hestia picked up a Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean and popped it into her mouth. "But my parents said no, and that was the end of it. I think they were afraid I would fall in love with someone else."

"But your parents aren't here. In all technicality, couldn't you have gone out with someone behind their backs? Not that you would, but couldn't you have?" Lily asked.

Hestia smiled wryly, but shook her head in the negative. "Growing up in the wizarding world is different, Lily. Everyone who grew up the way I did knows that James and I are betrothed. All the purebloods and a good number of half-bloods know. James and I are off limits, Lily, and everyone knows it."

L … J

"Come on! We'll be late for dinner!" Lily urged her friends as the four girls made their way down to the Great Hall the following Tuesday.

They were almost there when Lily tripped on the fifth to the last step. Arms flailing, she reached for something, anything, to break her fall.

Then suddenly, a pair of strong arms was there, surrounding her and setting her back on her feet. Opening her eyes, Lily found herself face to face with Sirius Black.

"You okay there, Lily?" he asked, concern evident in his smoky gray eyes and in his deep, warm voice.

"I…I think so," Lily stuttered. Sirius still had his arms around her.

Emmeline and Alice glanced quickly at each other, sharing a knowing look. Behind Sirius stood James, Remus and Peter and while Remus and Peter wore identical smiles, James was frowning slightly.

Lily began to grow uncomfortable. "Thank you, Sirius," she said politely, yet with firmness, trying to convey to him that she was safe now and that he could remove his arms.

Sirius seemed to understand. "You're welcome," he said softly, looking directly into Lily's eyes as he slowly released her.

L …J

Lily sat on Emmeline's bed in the girls dormitory watching as Hestia tried to decide how to style her hair for her date with James.

"Is this too off the face?" Hestia asked Lily, turning around and posing, hands holding her hair in place.

"Why don't you just wear it the way you normally do?" Lily suggested tentatively.

"Lily!" Hestia dropped her hands to put them on her hips and as she did so her raven black hair fell from her face, cascading over her shoulders. "This is my first date! I want to look nice for James!"

"It's just a date with James," Lily reasoned.

"Just a date?"

"Yes, just a date. To the bloke you're going to marry anyway. There's no need to impress him."

Hestia sighed and crossed her arms. "But I want to look nice for James. Just because he can't break up with me doesn't mean that I should look like a complete hag."

"You are not a hag. You're about as far from it as humanly possible. And I didn't say you shouldn't look nice, you just don't have to look that nice. This is only a trip to Hogsmeade. James won't wear anything particularly fancy either."

"Oh, fine," Hestia relented. "But what did you think of that hairstyle I showed you before?"

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.

L … J

"You should just stop while you're ahead," Sirius suggested as he rummaged through his trunk, apparently looking for something.

James scowled at his friend, but upon looking back in the mirror decided that Sirius was right. His hair was never going to lie flat in the back. It was just a fact of life. Giving his charcoal black hair one final brushing, he set the comb down on the dresser.

"Do I look all right?" James asked, turning around for observation.

"Suave. Debonair. Dashing," Sirius answered, his head still buried deep inside his trunk.

"You didn't even look! How can you tell if you can't see me?"

"I just know," Sirius waved a hand in James's general direction. "Ah ha!" He stood up with a bag of fireworks clutched in his right hand. "I knew they were in there somewhere."

"And just what are you planning to do with those?" James asked, folding his arms across his broad chest. He and Sirius had invented the fireworks Sirius was holding back in fifth year. They were more like sparklers in how much power they had behind them, but these fireworks were enchanted with something like tracking devices so that they followed the victim before being set off.

Sirius grinned. "They just might come in handy if I was looking to stir up some trouble with some Slytherins in our year. If you know what I mean."

James knew full well what Sirius meant, but the bag only contained six or seven fireworks and James had no doubt that if Sirius got bored with tormenting the members of Slytherin house that he would spy on his date with Hestia.

"I've got to be going," James grabbed his cloak from his bed and hurried out the door. He had told Hestia he'd meet her at the portrait hole and was glad to see that she had not yet arrived. The chivalrous Gryffindor in him felt that it would be rude to keep a girl waiting.

He stood near the tower entrance for a few more minutes, shifting nervously from one foot to another. A flock of butterflies must have taken up residence in his stomach because his insides felt rather jittery and he desperately wanted to retreat to the safety of his dormitory.

"Hi, James."

The voice made James jump and he turned to find Hestia standing behind him, looking rather nervous herself. Well, at least they were in the same boat, James reasoned.

"Ready to go?" James croaked, his throat feeling especially dry.

"Sure," Hestia replied with a small smile, and with that, they made their way through the portrait hole together.

L … J