"When the feathers hit the fan, they were chopped up and spewed into little bits of fluff throughout the whole classroom. The air was so thick with them it was hard to see. James had charmed them so they would not settle to the ground. Obviously, the exam had to be postponed. That got us six detentions." Sirius grinned.

Beth snickered, her hands gently running through Sirius' hair. They were on their favorite couch in the Common Room, Beth sitting in the corner with Sirius comfortably sprawled across the couch, his head in her lap. The March day was warm and the mid-afternoon sun brightened the windows. Sirius was counting down his and James' top ten pranks for her.

"You're being ridiculous!" Lily's voice carried across the room. Beth's head snapped to the side and Sirius lifted up to peer across the Common Room. Lily had just entered followed by James and she stomped across the room and flounced on to the couch adjacent to Beth and Sirius' couch. James was close behind, his brow furrowed and his mouth a hard line.

"He's a Death Eater, Lil." James' voice was harsh. "This isn't a normal class project. You'll have to meet with him for weeks outside of class."

"He is the best potions student in the school besides me," Lily pointed out. "Not only will we learn together, but we have a good chance of coming up with a potion that will matter together."

"I know that," James growled. "It doesn't take away from the fact that he's one of Voldemort's top recruits. You know—the lunatic who wants to eliminate muggleborns from the wizarding world!" Beth and Sirius exchanged a guarded look.

"Don't be fucking condescending with me, Potter." Lily's voice was ominous.

James had the grace to look abashed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that." He sat next to Lily and took her hand. "Don't you see that he's dangerous, Lil?"

"Not to me," Lily shook her head stubbornly. "Not here at Hogwarts. Seriously, James, what do you think he's going to do to me in the library?"

James ran his hand through his hair. "You won't just be in the library. You'll have to use the potions classroom to brew your project. You'll be alone with him in a deserted classroom!"

Lily sighed dramatically and purposefully made her voice sound calm. "He's not going to hurt me, James. I know Severus well enough to know that."

James shook his head, his jaw still clenched. "I don't trust him. He's become more obsessive and dogmatic over the last few years, Lily. We don't know what he's capable of."

Lily threw up her hands in frustration. "We don't know what any of us are capable of, James! We're in a crazy situation with wizards lining up on different sides and families split apart in this awful war."

Beth felt Sirius' muscles tense. He shifted to his side, his head still on her lap so he could watch James and Lily.

Lily put her hand on James' arm and looked into his eyes. "Severus won't bother me, especially at Hogwarts. You're being overprotective."

James stared at Lily, his face stony. Beth moved her hand from Sirius' head to his back. She ran her hand over his tense muscles. She could see he was clenching his jaw to keep from speaking. Beth didn't need him to tell her that he was firmly on James' side. Only respect for Lily and the fear of making their argument worse kept him silent.

"Are you sure you're not just jealous?" Lily asked.

"No, Lily!" James sounded defensive. "It's more than that!"

Lily bit her lip seeing James was deeply disturbed. "James," she said her voice conciliatory. "You're going to have to trust my judgment on this. I know Severus better than you. Nothing will happen."

"You don't know that," James said angrily.

She sighed. "There's probably a miniscule chance something will happen." Lily conceded, but before James could jump on that she continued. "Most likely it would be that I burn my finger accidentally touching the cauldron or the potion boils over. You can't protect me from everything. This is really important to me and I want to do it."

James rubbed his forehead. He was quiet for a few minutes, staring at the fire cheerily burning in front of him. "Fine," he finally said mulishly, sounding like at ten-year-old. "But I don't have to like it."

Lily bit back a smile and took his hand. "Duly noted." James kept his hand in hers but he remained stiff, sitting unnaturally upright on the comfortable couch.

Sirius sank back on Beth's lap again although Beth noticed he, like James, had an uneasy look on his face. Her fingers took up their soothing motions in his hair and he slowly relaxed.

Lily put her other hand on James' arm. "James?" she said tentatively.

"What?" James replied sulkily still refusing to look at her.

"I have a confession to make," Lily told him, her voice low.

James turned to look at her, his face still guarded.

"Even though in this case it's a bit irrational, I love that you try so hard to do everything in your power to keep me safe no matter what." Her eyes were bright on his.

"So now I'm irrational?" James tried to sound put out, but his voice was less sullen and more natural.

Lily scooted over on the couch so she was plastered next to his side. "Maybe just a little," she said, rubbing his arm.

James shook his head ruefully and putting his arm around her, pulled her against his chest. "I can't help it, Lily. You're everything to me."

"You are to me too, you know." She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. "I promise I'll always be as careful as possible. Okay?"

James sighed. "Yeah, okay."

Lily clambered onto his lap. "I love you, James," she touched his face tenderly. James finally smiled and he lowered his mouth to meet hers.

Beth bent down so that her face was close to Sirius' and whispered, "I think they forgot we're here."

Sirius grinned, his voice as quiet as hers. "They're pretty oblivious. What do you think we can do without them even noticing?"

"I'm suspect you have an idea," Beth said and Sirius' smile widened wickedly. She added, "but then we'd be descending to their base level."

"I can be base," Sirius told her in a confidential tone. His hand reached up to the nape of her neck and pulled her down, but before their lips met they were interrupted by the sound of James clearing his throat. They looked up to see Lily grinning and James shaking his head at them.

"Do I need to hose you down to cool you off, Padfoot?" James asked.

"You're one to talk," Sirius retorted but his lips were twisting in a grin. "Are we fucking even yet?"

James snorted. "Not even close, you git."'

"So competitive," Lily sighed. "These two never stop," she told Beth.

"Speaking of competition," Sirius knew a perfect segue when he saw it, "how about we play a game of cricket? I've worked with Beth on her batting and she hasn't had a chance to play a game yet."

James grinned. "I'm always willing to take you on and teach you a well-needed lesson, Padfoot."

"Why don't we mix things up," Lily suggested. "Girls against blokes?"

James and Sirius looked almost comically shocked. "You two against us? Are you sure?" James asked.

Beth and Lily's eyes met. "Why not?" Beth answered.

"Well, we might slaughter you," Sirius pointed out.

"It's just a game," Lily said. "Our egos can take it if you beat us."

"Just a game?" Sirius sounded offended. "How can you ever win anything if you go in with that attitude?"

James raised his eyebrows at Sirius. "Maybe we should give them a handicap."

Sirius shrugged. "Okay by me. Five points enough?"

"Some wizards think awful highly of their playing abilities," Lily huffed.

"If you really want to spice it up," Beth suggested off-handedly. "We could put a bet on it."

"A bet?" James asked intrigued, his eyes brightening.

"We play Hearts tonight if we win, Beth and I get to be partners and you two have to go to the kitchen and get us snacks of our choice," Lily stated. She and Beth had discovered a shared love of card games and since they overwhelmingly won when partnered, James and Sirius did not let them team up.

"And you have to do another activity of our choice to be identified later," Beth piped in.

"If we win, Truth or Dare with drinks of our choice." Sirius proposed. Neither he nor James ever chose "truth" and both knew exactly the best ways to dare each other—and their girlfriends. "We also get an activity of choice."

"Deal," said Lily and Beth nodded. James and Sirius looked delightedly at each other.

An hour and a half later, they were far less delighted as they walked up the staircase towards Gryffindor Tower. "Bloody hell, Sirius," James shook his head at his best mate. "I can't believe you didn't know your girlfriend could bowl that well."

"Shit," Sirius retorted. "I can't believe you didn't know your girlfriend could hit that well."

"I know." James frowned and stared at Lily. "Lily, why aren't you playing Quidditch? You have amazing hand to eye coordination."

"People trying to ram into me flying through the air? I don't think so." Lily sniffed disdainfully. James threw his hands up in frustration.

Sirius was scowling at Beth who grinned at him. "Did I forget to tell you Diane and I used to play baseball with my brother and his friends?" Beth asked him innocently. "I've always had a good arm."

"Still, how did you learn to bowl?" Sirius asked. "You haven't played cricket before."

"I may have had some help," she admitted a smile still tugging at her lips, her eyes downcast as she assiduously contemplated a spot on her shoes as they stopped in front of the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower.

"What kind of help?" James asked suspiciously. He opened the portrait hole for them after giving the password.

"Remus practiced with us," Beth's eyes lifted to them and her grin widened. "Several times."

Sirius looked at James as they stepped through the hole. It was dinner time and the Common Room was empty apart from a small group of first-years in one corner. "Our mate Remus, who plays cricket in a league every summer, helped them."

Beth nodded. "He helped me find my sweet spot to aim at for the best bounce when bowling."

Sirius' eyes gleamed and he leaned close to Beth. "It's a good thing you're only referencing cricket," he whispered.

Beth blushed and shoved Sirius in the chest. "You're taking this base thing to a new level," she muttered.

"Do you also play on a cricket league in the summer, Lily?" James said slowly, enunciating each word carefully to Lily who was diligently studying her fingernails.

"No," she shrugged. James waited, staring at her expectantly. There was a short pause before she continued nonchalantly. "My dad does. He likes to practice bowling with me at bat. He has told me I'm a better batter than most of his team." Her forehead furrowed as if she were in deep in thought. "Come to think of it, they have won the championship in their league several years in a row. And my dad is the star player." She gave James a deceptively sweet smile as he swore. "It's much easier to hit against you, James."

Sirius shook his head. "We were fucking set up, Prongs."

James shifted to stand much closer to Lily, towering over her. "Why didn't you ever mention this to me?"

"You never asked," Lily said pointedly. She lifted her chin to meet James' eyes, refusing to step back although he was crowding her space unable to get any closer without touching her. "You just assumed I wasn't good at sports because I wasn't interested in Quidditch."

"What about when we play Mugs?" Sirius spoke up. "You always complained how awful you were."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "Once I've had any alcohol, I have trouble with those light ping pong balls. Plus," she admitted sheepishly, "James likes spiked butterbeer so I purposefully miss some of the time."

James laughed and picking Lily up, lifted her up at the waist and held her above him. "Does it make me twisted that I'm proud that you were able to set us up?" He let Lily slide down and hugged her.

"I've always known you were twisted," Lily said winking at James.

"At least I've only been dating Beth for less than two months," Sirius grumbled. "I would be embarrassed not to know my girlfriend was an ace hitter after dating her half a year."

"Shove it, Padfoot." James' arm was able to reach around Lily and smack Sirius in the shoulder. "You knew Beth was a star water polo player and you still underestimated how good her arm would be in another sport. She bowled more than one peach at us."

"True," Sirius admitted. He picked up Beth's right arm and made a show of running his hands down her arm and over her biceps. Beth laughed and flexed for him.

"Make sure you get both sweet and salty snacks when you go bribe the house elves in the kitchen tonight," Beth's smile was bright. "That game made me hungry."

"What did you decide was the other activity we have to do for the bet?" James asked.

Beth and Lily exchanged an amused look. Lily pointed her wand at the ceiling and a mirrored Disco ball descended slowly, catching the light as it spun.

"Oh, fuck no," Sirius groaned as a look of utter horror came on his face. "I draw the line at disco dancing."

"You've got to be fucking kidding," James protested. His face was as appalled as if Lily had asked him to quit Quidditch. "I cannot even listen to that shite music, let alone dance to it."

Beth and Lily burst out laughing. While Sirius and James watched them in bemusement, they parodied a disco dance complete with fingers pointed in the air, laughing uncontrollably each time they looked at their boyfriends.

"We're not going to make you disco dance," Beth was finally able to sputter, wiping her eyes from the tears of mirth that gathered.

"That was totally worth it to see your faces," Lily still clutched her stomach. "Beth, we should have filmed that."

Sirius grabbed Beth around the waist, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder. "I can't believe how much you enjoyed my misery," he told her as he carried her to the couch and dropped her on her back. His hands tickled her and she shrieked, giggling and twisting.

James and Lily flopped on the other couch. It was apparent from Lily's hair that James had held her in a headlock and mussed it up. "That was cruel," James told Lily, shaking his head as he smoothed her hair back into place. He was unable to stop a huge grin from splitting his face. "Cruel but impressive."

Sirius sat next to Beth and pulled her onto his lap. "I think this has to go on our top pranks list," he admitted. "Even though it was pulled on us, Prongs."

James nodded. "It was just sadistic enough. Nice work, ladies."

Lily smiled at him. "I've been hanging around you long enough that you've rubbed off on me, James. Although it was Beth's idea for the disco dancing and she's only been around Sirius a couple months."

"I corrupted Beth very quickly. I'm more potent than James," Sirius said arrogantly.

James shook his head in mock shame at Sirius. "It's sodding sad what makes you proud."

"You should take it as a compliment that any besting of you makes me proud." Sirius smirked.

"Lily came up with the cricket challenge," Beth said. "She figured you'd underestimate us."

Sirius nodded. "We'll try not to do that again." He kissed Beth's hair and she cuddled against him, letting her head fall in the crook of his neck.

James' hand tracked the curve of Lily's shoulder. "Hopefully, I learned my lesson in humility."

Lily snorted. "I'm not counting on it."