"…I can't believe you just ditched me when the bell went!" cried James, as he flung himself down at the Gryffindor table.

Matt looked at his friend, and opened his mouth to offer a half-hearted apology, but lost his train of thought as Emily burst into the hall, frantically searching for something, or someone. James and Ali, having their backs to the door, were unaware of the new arrival, but Ali was astute enough to register Matt's renewed laughter, and glance over her shoulder to see its source.

Fighting the urge to join the boy's laughter, Ali glanced over her shoulder again, only to see Emily walking towards them with a look of sheer determination on her face. She turned to the boy next to her who was glaring defiantly at the plate before him – he really does look quite shaken by the whole situation, she realised.

Rolling her eyes, she took pity on the boy, and, checking that Emily was now close enough to hear her, she giggled. "Oh, James," she managed between her giggles, before smacking him lightly on his arm, and then – to the shock of everyone – leaning over to kiss him on his cheek.

Everyone seemed to freeze for a moment, and with a smirk, Ali returned to her lunch as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and watched their reactions.

Emily was clearly seething. She had stopped in her approach and was glaring dangerously at Ali. Finally, she turned on her heel, and stalked back towards her own table.

Matt had also frozen. With his mouth hanging open, and his fork halfway to his mouth, he looked torn between wanting to say something urgently, and returning to his previous laughter. One look at James' face was enough to ensure that the latter won out.

James, for his part, had turned positively scarlet. He was looking everywhere, except at Ali, and spluttering indignantly. The boy looked so uncomfortable; Ali almost felt that she should have left him to Emily's devices. Finally, just as Emily turned on her heel, James managed to form a coherent sentence.

"What was that?"

Ali just smiled knowingly, and motioned towards Emily. James turned to see what she was motioning to, and, upon spotting the retreating figure, spun back to face the table.

"So you kissed me?" he spluttered – clearly he wasn't going to let this drop.

"Well," Ali began, the smirk having returned to her features, "I wouldn't have bothered if I'd known you'd rather have dealt with her on your again." She looked at the boy next to her, and raised an eyebrow. The blood drained from James' face as he recognised what she was implying.

The three of them fell into an uncomfortable silence, which Ali broke.

"Besides, I could have kissed you on the lips, but I thought that might have been overkill."

This was apparently too much for Teddy to bear. He had, miraculously, managed to remain silent as he watched the scene unfold before him from his seat beside Matt. The seventh year caved to the threatening giggles, and joined Matt in laughing at his 'brother's' obvious discomfort.

Victoire meanwhile, simply leant around her boyfriend to raise her eyebrows questioningly at Ali. Ali meanwhile simply smirked, shrugged, and slipped her arm around James' waist.

James jumped in his seat, and turned to glare at Ali, who merely winked roguishly at him, and quirked an eyebrow, clearly questioning whether he really thought she was being serious.

Looking at the four laughing students that surrounded him, James fought the infections sound. But, as he finally gave in, it had been rather amusing…

The three friends had finally sobered up by the time double Herbology was part way through. The 'incident' had kept them in good spirits for the rest of their lunch hour, and they had only just managed to stop giggling every time they caught one another's eye.

Professor Longbottom, meanwhile, was regarding the three of them grouped around the table, as the class read the first couple of pages of their textbook. Boring though he knew it was, he knew that it was essential that they were made properly aware of any potential dangers in the greenhouses.

The three of them reminded him rather forcefully of another group of friends that he had known. However, as he studied them closer, he didn't fail to notice the differences between them. These three had formed a clear friendship much sooner than their counterparts, and, Neville suspected, they would most likely have a much happier friendship, without the pressures that had been piled upon their predecessors

A whispered exclamation drew his attention, and he turned to the other side of the room, where the slytherins in the class had grouped themselves. However… he mused, his gaze alighting on one student who was glaring venomously at James' bowed head. He would have to keep an eye on Ernst Nott…

James couldn't focus on the words on the page before him. The back of his neck was prickling uncomfortably in a way that had become all too familiar to him. Tearing his gaze away from the page, he sat up, and cast his eyes around the greenhouse. It didn't take him long to find the source of his discomfort. A slight slytherin boy was glaring at him with unbridled hatred, but, unlike many of the others who had stared at James previously, he didn't look away when James met his gaze. James offered a weak smile, but it only appeared to annoy the boy further, and his eyes narrowed to little more than slits.

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and dropped his gaze back to his textbook. Matt, noticing his friend's shift, looked up, and caught the glare that was still being directed to the back of James' head. With a furrowed brow, he also turned unseeingly back to the text book. What on earth is going on…

James sat dejectedly in a corner of the common room, and stared at the carpet as though it might reveal the answers to the numerous questions that were buzzing round his head.

Matt shifted on his seat beside James. "It's just weird though, isn't it?"

"Hmm?" asked James, looking at his friend's equally thoughtful face.

"I mean, you say that you haven't done anything – and I believe you!" he put in hurriedly catching James' look, "And that's what makes it so weird."

"What are you talking about?" asked James, although he suspected that he already knew.

"The way everyone stares at you," Matt responded without preamble. He paused delicately, as though weighing up what he was about to say. "I saw the way that boy was staring at you in Herbology."

James looked up sharply, and met his friend's concerned gaze. He shrugged helplessly.

Neither boy said anything for a while, and were unlikely to have said anything further on the matter, if they hadn't been interrupted.

"Still fretting over that boy in Herbology?" asked Ali, flinging herself into the nonexistent space between the boys.

Both Matt and James turned to stare at her, shocked that she had noticed, although, James realised, I really shouldn't be surprised. She does seem to notice everything.

"Not exactly," he finally responded. Ali raised an eyebrow. "It's just - I want to know why everyone seems to stare at me."

"You don't know?" she asked in surprise.

"Why, do you?" asked Matt, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

"No," she began, and all three of them collapsed back into the sofa. At some point in the conversation, they had all sat forwards, excited at the prospect of solving the mystery. "I just thought that you might."

They fell into a silence, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Ali leant forwards, and pulled a pencil and a notebook out of her back, and turned business-like to James.

"Right," she began, opening the book to the first clean page. James was surprised that it was so far through the book – the term had, after all, only just begun. "Are either of your parents famous?"

James was momentarily caught off-guard by her question. "What? Why?"

"Well, if we want to work out what's going on, then we need to know where to start. You don't know what it is, so if we can narrow down the search, then it's going to help."

James looked at her, surprised by how logical it sounded, and wondered why this approach hadn't occurred to him or Matt sooner. "My mum played professional quidditch?"

Ali took note of that, and then looked up at James again. "And what does your dad do?"

"Nothing exciting. He's head of the aurror office now. He joined just after the second war, helped to make some of the reformations in the ministry. It's really not as exciting as people think – he's basically an office worker."

Matt and Ali both nodded. Despite being muggle-born they both knew enough about recent wizarding history to recognise the huge impact that the war had had, and to understand what an 'aurror' was. "Does your mum still play quidditch?"

"No, she's a correspondent for the Prophet now."

"Hmm," Ali looked down at her notes, and then put her book and pencil away.

"What now?" asked Matt.

"Now, we research."

Teddy watched the three youngsters from across the room. They seemed to be plotting something.

His brow furrowed as he considered the possibility that they were up to something, but he discounted the idea. They didn't have the air of mischief around them that one would associate with frivolity, just a kind of grim determination.

In fact, he realised looking at James, I recognise that look.

It was the one that had adorned his face for much of his first year, before he'd plucked up the courage to talk to someone about his suspicions. He watched as they rose from the sofa, and parted ways, heading up to their respective dormitories.

Teddy couldn't deny the fact that he was worried about James – the news had hit him hard enough, and Harry wasn't even his father.

Biting his lip, he debated whether or not to let Harry know, but he decided to leave it. He'd let him know if it appeared that James was upset over anything. Looking toward the point where James had disappeared from view, he pondered the possible outcomes of the situation. I really hope he doesn't get hurt by something he finds out…