Here it is! Just like i promised. This chapter is longer than any other chapter so far, with 6,307 words! Okay, so i'm immensely tired from writing a super-long chapter in the future, so i'm not gonna say much.

Disclaimer: Take any disclaimer from any HP fanfic and put it here.

Recap: Turing went out to save the Minister for Magic's manor with her old auror buddies. The manor burned down. She's badass. Read chapter 9 if you forget it all. Marlene and Sirius heard Turing talking to Slughorn about a sleeping potion on the same day as the manor thing. Lori Timmon and Dale Marshfield are new on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. James and Lily made a bet that if Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup, then Lily has to kiss him. Eli broke up with Jack. Everyone made up except for Lily and James. She's still pissed at him.


On Monday, Lily, Marlene, Eli, and Maria were having a completely normal breakfast. That is, until Sirius walked up to them, the other Marauders in tow, triumphantly holding up a copy of The Daily Prophet with a grin on his face.

"What?" Marlene asked.

He looked at Lily and Maria, now sitting down across from them. "Did you hear about the Minister's house?"

"That's hardly something to be happy about, Sirius," Maria said.

"No!" he said annoyed. "This is the proof!"

"What proof?" Lily asked.

"On Friday, during a perfectly normal class with third years, Professor McGonagall ran into Professor Alluring's class, told her Dumbledore had some important business with her, and Alluring just ran out, dumping everything on Mcgonagall," he explained.

"So you think she's involved?" Lily asked.

"Of course she is!" he said, eyes wide. "It's all right in front of you."

"Black, that hardly proves anything," Lily said, rationally. "What do you think she did? Destroyed the Minister's house?"

"Of course not!" Sirius said, shaking his head, very annoyed. "Did you even read it? Merlin, 'Special aurors were called to Minchum Manor to help defend it…' Obviously, she's one of them."

"You don't know that," Maria said. "And even if it was her, that doesn't mean it's some conspiracy studpidity you keep going on about. It just means that the Minister wanted the best aurors to defend his manor. Not out of the ordinary."

"I hate to agree with them, Black," Marlene said, "but we saw her Friday night."

"You did?" Lily and Eli asked in unison.

"Yeah, when Sirius and I went to the dungeons for our detentions, she was talking to Slughorn."

"Did you eavesdrop?" James asked.

"Of course I did," Marlene said, as if it should be obvious. James smiled, approvingly. "She was asking him for some sort of potion to keep her awake."

"That makes sense," Remus said. "She did seem very tired last week."

"Okay, sure, but that was after everything with the Manor. That was way after!" Sirius tried to defend. "She still could have been there."

"Give it up, Black," Lily said. "She's just another professor. Just because she is young, pretty, and happened to have been an auror does not mean she has some other reason for being here."

"Oh, I'll show you. All of you," Sirius said, biting into some toast.

xoxo

The first Quidditch match was scheduled for the day before Halloween, it being on a Sunday that year. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were expected to be evenly matched, and the bets were being made throughout the day.

Remus and Peter moved through the halls holding notepads the entire weekend, taking down bets and making sure the Marauders would get money, no matter who won. This was a regular occurrence.

The Gryffindor team was being carefully watched at breakfast by James, making sure they looked well-rested and were eating properly. He particularly watched Dale Marshfield, as this game would be his first game and he was young. However, Dale seemed perfectly fine. In fact, the entire team seemed to be perfectly fine, which was unusual.

"Marlene, is everything alright?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," Eli agreed. "You seem unusually calm." Her eyes grew wide and she gasped. "You're not drunk are you?!"

Marlene glared at her. "No, thank you very much. I'm just feeling good about today."

"Don't jinx us McKinnon," James called to her, overhearing her from a few people down.

Marlene just rolled her eyes. "Trust me," Marlene said, quieter so that James wouldn't hear. "We'll win."

Soon after, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams headed to the pitch to warm up and get ready before the game.

xoxo

Almost the entire school sat in the stands, with Marc Strain—a fifth year Gryffindor—sitting with the professors so they could keep an eye on him while he commentated.

Banners and flags flew in the wind as the deafening roar of the crowd blocked any and all sound around them. The James Potter Fan Club had started its semi-famous chant:

"James will win!

How can he not?

He will win,

Because he's hot!"

The chant usually made most students lose their minds and cast a silencing spell on them, but that day, the chant was picked up by students outside of the JPF, even outside of Gryffindor and made into something better:

"Lions will win!

How can we not?

We will win,

Because we're hot!"

In the locker rooms, everyone grew more and more excited, listening to the crowd above them.

"Hey, James," Sirius said, laughing with a few of the other Gryffindors, "looks like they replaced your theme song."

James shrugged. "At least there still is a chant. And it sounds like more people."

"Yeah, it's not just the JPF anymore," Marlene said.

The others looked at her, confused. "What?" James asked.

"Oh, right. Well, that's the name we gave your fangirls' club. The JPF—the James Potter Fan Club."

"You and who thought of this?" Sirius asked, grinning at the fact that there were so many admirers of James that one could make a club for it.

"Eli, Lily, Maria, and I," Marlene said. "But Lily was the one who first came up with it."

"That's probably because she's their leader," James said. Before Marlene could say anything, he called out, "Gryffindors, huddle up."

They huddled around him quickly. "Alright, first match of the season. Ravenclaws are usually fair, but they're smart. I want a quick game. Bradley you have to catch the snitch as soon as humanly possible. If we win early, we can show the other teams what they're up against. I'm confident in our team this year. And to our newest players," he looked at Lori and Dale, "kick some ass." They nodded. "One last thing, remember: In Quidditch We Trust!"

"In Quidditch We Trust!" Everyone yelled back.

"What the hell is that?" Lori asked.

"Oh, it's our team-motto-type-thing," James said. "Our old chaser made it up last year. Or maybe she stole it from some muggle thing…? I don't know, but we like it."

Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement, until Bradley said he saw Madam Hooch walking onto the pitch.

"Alright, everybody," James continued. "Line up."

They broke from their huddle and moved towards the entrance to the pitch. Ravenclaw won the Cup last year, so they would be introduced first.

"You seem like you really want to win," Sirius said to James.

"I always want to win," James said.

"I know, but is there no other reason to win?" Sirius asked nonchalantly.

"Is there another reason, Padfoot?" James asked, annoyed.

"Well, for one, Petch is on the Ravenclaw team," Sirius said.

"Why do I care?" James asked.

"Because, you want to beat Lily's boyfriend," Sirius said, matter-of-factly.

"Yes. Of course I do. I want to beat all of them. But him being her boyfriend has nothing to do with it," James said, getting more annoyed at how ridiculous Sirius was being.

"Okay, then what about the bet? Between you and Lily?" Sirius said.

"What about it?" James asked.

"You want to win it."

"Of course I do! I want to shove it in her 'better-than-everyone' face that we won, and make her pay for doubting me. But I don't need her to kiss me. That was just an added bonus, to make it more fun for me. She's embarrassed in front of the entire school, she learns not to doubt my abilities, and I'm happy."

"Sure, James, sure," Sirius said, sounding not convinced.

James opened his mouth to argue but Madam Hooch's voice rang out, bringing the crowds volume down considerably, though not quieting it.

"Our first team, led by captain Jack Powell, and last year's champions, RAVENCLAW!"

The crowd became louder in one second than it had been the entire day.

"That's a lot of people cheering for them," Lori said, bitterly.

"Ah, don't worry, Timmons," James said. "It's just the Slytherins. They don't root for us."

"My name's not—"

"And our other team, led by captain James Potter, GRYFFINDOR!"

The crowd erupted as the Gryffindors mounted their broomsticks one by one and followed James into the pitch, flying in circles past the stands. James was happy to do tricks and show off in front of everyone, causing the crowd to get louder and cheer for him.

The chant started up again as the players slowly started to land on the pitch in the center.

"Captains," Hooch said, looking from James to Jack. "It's the day before Halloween, make it a good game. Play fair. Have fun."

With that, the Quaffle was thrown into the air. Aurora Prime—Ravenclaw—was the first one to get it, snatching it away from James and immediately handing it off to Grace Bell. She sped down the pitch fast, towards Lori.

Marlene shot a Bludger at her, only to have Valerie McKinnon fly in front and beat it out of the way. Marlene rolled her eyes. However, Valerie nor David were able to catch the Bludger flying at Grace from the other side, shot by Sirius. She had just enough time to move before it grazed her arm knocking the Quaffle out of her hands.

Angela Rodwell—Gryffindor—and Tony Core—Ravenclaw—both made a mad dash for the Quaffle, but it was Angela who caught it and immediately started flying as fast as she could to the other end of the pitch. Halfway there, attacked by two Bludgers simultaneously being shot at her, she threw the Quaffle to James.

James flew down the pitch, until Grace Bell got in his way, and he handed it off to Dale.

Dale flew as fast as he could, his heart beating faster than he thought was possible—or healthy, for that matter. He was acutely aware of everyone in his surroundings. Angela had caught up to him after coming out unscathed by the Bludger attack. James was behind him. Valerie and David McKinnon were both avidly shooting Bludgers at him, only to have them constantly be beaten away by Sirius and Marlene. One Ravenclaw chaser was above him, and one to the left of him. The last was to the right in between him and Angela, putting her out of reach.

As he got closer to the Ravenclaw goalposts, the two chasers on either side of him started to get closer. They were boxing him in. He knew he wouldn't be able to get to the goalposts in time, so he took a chance. He looked back, James was behind him. He threw the Quaffle a few feet into the air, still below the chaser above him. He dived as soon as he could and looked up just in time to see James catch the Quaffle, the two Ravenclaw chasers now ahead of him.

James flew easily past every chaser and Bludger that was in the way. He made it down to end of the pitch and faked a shot before throwing the Quaffle through the left hoop. The crowd roared.

Ravenclaw now had possession of the Quaffle. Aurora Prime flew lower to the ground as she made her way down the pitch. She usually flew lower than most due to her falling almost fifty feet her first year after being hit with a Bludger. Halfway down the pitch, she gave the Quaffle to Tony Core.

He, like Dale, was only in his first year of being on the team, however, he was less experienced. And, when Tony threw the Quaffle to Grace Bell, it was met with much cheering when Dale intercepted it and easily turned around, heading back to the Ravenclaw side.

Dale threw it to Angela, who was very cross when she had to give it James again because two Bludgers came at her from either side in unison.

James flew down to the Ravenclaw goalposts and shot at the center hoop, but Tommy Petch snatched it out of the air and threw it to Grace Bell.

She flew easily down the pitch, even making it to Lori, but when she made a shot, Lori successfully blocked it.

Angela Rodwell-Gryffindor-now had possession of the Quaffle, but when she tried to throw it to Dale, a Bludger—sent by Valerie—was able to hit her arm as she released it. It flew at an odd angle and landed in the arms of Grace Bell.

Immediately, she turned and shot it at the right Gryffindor hoop. Lori, caught by surprise, saw it a little too late. She dove for it, but it went through, evening the scores.

The match went on for another half hour before James called a time-out. The score was 40-10, Ravenclaw.

"What the hell, guys?" James asked, as they huddled around him. "We started so strong. I don't know what the hell is going on, but we need to fix it. Marlene and Sirius, keep a better eye on the Bludgers. Dale, Angela, focus on speed. It's our best weapon. Lori, watch. Be more focused. I've literally seen you do better, so stop holding back. Bradley, catch the damn snitch. And for the love of Merlin, don't let them win!"

As the teams rose into the air, Gryffindor was given the Quaffle. James raced to the Ravenclaw side of the pitch, handing the Quaffle off to Dale, who dodged a Bludger and raced to the goalposts. He took a shot on the right hoop, but Petch caught it. He threw it to Grace Bell, but it was intercepted by Angela Rodwell who immediately took another shot at the right hoop. This time, it went in.

The Quaffle was given to Grace and she sped to the Gryffindor side. About halfway, a Bludger that neither of the twins could get to hit her. The Quaffle went flying and landed in James's arms.

He flew back to Ravenclaw side, giving it to Angela. She took a shot, but Petch deflected it, allowing Tony Core to grab it. The chasers flew back toward the Gryffindor side.

Tony threw it to Aurora, who threw it to Grace. As they neared the Gryffindor goalposts, she threw it back to Aurora who took a shot. Lori deflected it, but immediately after, was hit by a Bludger. It knocked her off her broom. She fell thirty feet to the ground.

The game continued. Grace Bell grabbed the Quaffle out of the air and took a shot on the hoops.

James watched with a heavy heart as the Quaffle perfectly went through. However, at the exact same time, he heard Marcus Strain call out, "Bradley McKinnon has caught the Golden Snitch! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

The Gryffindor team flew to the ground cheering, except James. He looked to Madam Hooch. She shook her head. "NO GOAL!" she called out. The crowd roared louder, the Gryffindor chant being revived. James landed with Madam Hooch, however Jack Powell was there less than a second later.

"That Quaffle was through the hoop before he caught it!" he said, angrily.

"No it wasn't," Madam Hooch said, sternly. "I had enough time to see Bradley catch the Snitch and look back to see the Quaffle go through. The game was over before it went in. If you have any arguments, I'd love to talk about it in detention." With that she walked away.

"Oh, it's alright," James said to Jack. "I understand your anger after a couple losses."

"A couple?" Jack snarled.

"Yeah, you know, losing Eli, and now this…" James taunted. "Must be hard."

Jack put his hands on James's chest and shoved him back a few feet. "Get the hell away from me, Potter."

Immediately, both teams surrounded them and the attention of the entire crowd was directed at the fight.

"What's wrong Jack? Don't want to lose in fight with me, now?" James said.

"Challenging yourself? You'd be more evenly matched with that short idiot who always follows you around like one of your fangirls," Jack spat.

Both Sirius and James lunged forward at that. Marlene grabbed Sirius's arm and pulled him back forcefully while Angela caught James's arm just before it would have connected with Jack's jaw.

Jack laughed. "Good thing you have the girls to keep you in line."

He opened his mouth to say more, but, at that moment, Madam Hooch appeared. "What's going on?" She looked from James to Jack, both glaring at each other.

James threw Angela's hand off of him. "Nothing," he said. "Come on." He turned and walked away, the Gryiffindor team following.

When they got to the locker room, they saw Lori with Madam Pomfrey. James grinned at her. "Congratulations on your first injury."

"Gee, thanks," she said, sarcastically.

"No, no," James said, as seriously as he could. "It actually is a pretty big thing here. By the way, we won."

"I know, I saw. I wasn't unconscious," Lori said, grinning.

"Well, doesn't look like anything was seriously injured, except for that leg," Madam Pomfrey said. "Just be careful walking on it for a week or so." Lori nodded.

"Okay, team," James said, once Pomfrey left. "This game was a rough start, but it was still good. I know what we need to practice and what we need to talk about. Overall, good job today. Dinner is in less than an hour, then party in the common room right after. Invite anyone. Except Slytherins. No Slytherins. Or Ravenclaws. Just Hufflepuffs. Only invite Hufflepuffs."

Everyone disbanded, not caring about what James was saying anymore. Marlene walked up to James.

"Hey," she greeted, with a small and very fake smile on her lips.

He carefully looked at her. "What's up McKinnon?"

"I'm really sorry," she said.

He laughed a little, then, realizing she was serious, "Wait. About what?"

"I was really off today, and I don't know why," she said, as if it was obvious. "You should yell at me."

"McKinnon. We just won. I'm not going to yell at you. I might during practice if I have to, but not after a win." He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. "You weren't as bad as you think. Don't beat yourself up."

She rolled her eyes. "Merlin, you're useless. Black!" she called out.

Sirius turned to look at her. "What?"

"Yell at me, I played horribly," Marlene said.

Sirius looked at her for a moment before saying, "Nope, can't do it. You look too good with your hair pulled back."

Marlene rolled her eyes again. "Honestly, what are you two good for?" With that, she walked out.

xoxo

Jack o' lanterns levitated above the heads of the students, cobwebs were strung on the walls, fake spiders—or what most hoped to be fake—crawled on the walls, and the ghosts were getting a kick out of scaring the students.

The older Gryffindors were not eating much, anticipating getting drunk later. Meanwhile, the students were all talking about the match, congratulating James along with the rest of team, and gladly listening to James's stories of what he told the team during their time-out.

Marlene, on the other hand, was still trying to get people to yell at her. "Lily, please!"

"No, I'm not doing it!" Lily said, sternly.

"I'm begging you. I need this," Marlene whined.

"This sounds very interesting," Sirius said, sitting down across from them and parting the students who were glad to make room for him.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Black," Lily snapped.

"I need someone to yell at me!" Marlene told him.

"Still on that, are you, Love?" Sirius said, shaking his head. "Why is it so important?"

"Because, I can't go to a party and get drunk feeling like this! I feel like I let everyone down. And if I'm yelled at, I feel properly punished and that the universe is balanced," Marlene explained.

"Well if it's punishment you're looking for, then—"

"Black, stop that sentence right there," Lily said, holding up her hand. "I don't even want to know."

"You can join too, Lily, if you want," Sirius grinned.

"I feel sick," Lily spat. Sirius winked at her.

As Eli and Maria sat down next to Sirius, Marlene brightened up.

"Eli, you're mean!" Marlene said. "Yell at me!"

Eli put a piece of pumpkin pie on her plate and looked at Marlene like she was crazy. "Uh, why?"

"Because I played horribly and I need to be reprimanded," Marlene said quickly.

"Oh, okay. Hang on let me think." Eli sat for a few moments in silence, choosing her words carefully. "Marlene McKinnon. What the hell do you call that? What you did out there today, that was shit, how can you call yourself a Quidditch player? You think this is like when you were younger and points didn't matter and no one was trying to hurt anybody else? You think you can just walk onto the pitch and swing that bat around like some muggle kid and hit only a few Bludgers and expect no consequences. You are a fucking disappointment and I hope you never pick up a broom again." All this she said with an angry face, and a loud voice.

Marlene had sat through it with a straight face, but when Eli finished, she closed her eyes. For a split second, Eli worried she had gone too far, but then Marlene opened her eyes and sighed contentedly. "Thanks, Eli. I feel better."

"I don't think this is healthy," Lily told her.

"Psh, please," Marlene said, waving a hand at Lily. "This is fine. It helps."

xoxo

James was not surprised when Sirius got on top of a table in the common room to stand above the students. He was also not surprised to see a drink in his hand. The students in the common room quieted, expecting him to say something important.

"Now," he started, surprisingly sober-sounding. "I just want to say that you're all lucky to have witnessed such a good match, but believe me, it would not have been possible without James, so get up here!"

Everyone cheered as James got up on the table. "Okay, okay," he said. "I know, I am pretty amazing. But the team is as well. We are celebrating a victory not only for me and the team, but for the house as well." Everyone cheered. "This year, we're winning the cup. Why? Because our team is better than anything the other houses have. Now, please. Get drunk and enjoy yourselves. Same rules: alcohol will only be provided if you're fifteen or older."

Everyone's cheers and music being started drowned out his last sentence.

James walked over to where Remus was managing the drinks table. "Moony," he said, "have a little fun. Drink, dance, snog."

"Do you think younger students won't drink alcohol?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Of course they will!" James said, grabbing a drink off the table. "But that's not our problem!"

"I'm a prefect," Remus defended.

"So is Evans, and you don't see her running around everywhere, slapping drinks out of underage people."

"Lily has better things to do than try stopping the inevitable," Remus said, watching a seventh year take a shot of firewhiskey.

"Speaking of Evans," James said, nonchalantly, "I haven't seen her. Do you know where she is?"

Remus looked at him. "No. I don't keep tabs on friends."

James narrowed his eyes at Remus. "You're lying."

"What?" Remus said. "No, I'm not."

"Fine, you don't want to tell me where you and Evans are hooking up," James said. "I get it."

"About as much as you 'get' potions," Remus snapped. "And Lily and I are not 'hooking up.'"

"Then why won't you tell me?" James asked.

"Because maybe she wants privacy, or to be alone," Remus said.

"Ugh! You are such a kill joy!" James said, walking away.

He took to dancing in the now-clear space in the middle of the common room with everyone else. As usual, it was Arabella Layfield who took up the position of dancing opposite. However, about five minutes in, Arabella was quite literally (and quite brutally) pushed out of the way by Eli.

"Hey," James greeted, as he continued dancing with Eli.

Eli grinned, dancing with James, much to the horror of Arabella. "Hey," she yelled. "Didn't mean to interrupt your dance, but I just wanted to thank you."

"You didn't interrupt anything," James assured her. "And what for?"

"Beating Jack," she yelled. "My only complaint is that you didn't punch him."

"Nah," James said, "We would have been disqualified if I had."

"Then, promise to do it some other time?" Eli asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Well, how could I live with myself if I disappointed you!?" James joked. "Besides, I did try to punch him. Angie held me back."

"Next time make sure there are no girls stronger than you around," Eli said laughing.

"Hey!" James said, mock-offended. "I let her hold me back. I knew we would lose if I hit him. But I will do it some other time. He deserves it."

"Cheers to that!" Eli said. "Speaking of which, I need another drink. Want anything?"

"Nah," James shook his head. "Hey, while your over there, snog Remus for me."

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I want him to have some fun tonight. At least get him with some girl!"

"Maybe Remus doesn't want to be with a girl," Eli suggested.

"Well, yeah, he keeps saying that. But he just doesn't want to get in trouble," James said.

"No," Eli said, shaking her head at his stupidity. "Maybe he doesn't want to be with a girl."

"What are you—?"

Eli sighed. "I'll explain when you're older," she said, patting his arm and walking away, leaving a very confused James behind.

It took less than a minute for Arabella to see that Eli had left, but when James saw the tall blonde approaching, he immediately turned and looked for anyone to talk to. He spotted Maria.

"Hey," he greeted, "I haven't talked to you in forever."

"Who are you avoiding and why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Arabella."

"Say no more," Maria said, scanning the pit of dancers. She spotted Arabella in the middle of the crowd, where James had been a few moments ago. "I'm surprised you didn't bring a date."

James shrugged. "Too last minute. But why are you standing here all alone?"

"I'm waiting for Al," she said.

"Al who?"

"Fulker? Hufflepuff? In our year?" she said.

"Oh!" James said, overdramatically. "You mean Bert! So you've got your eye on him, eh? Well, Maria, in the spirit of friendship, I will help you. Ol' Bert is fun, outgoing, attractive, and wanted. You're going to have to shovel through some girls to get to him. However, it can be done. See, you're more quiet, more bookish. You'll have to muster up courage and really win him over by being funny. He likes funny girls."

Maria blinked. "Okay, first of all, his name is Al. Second of all, we're dating. It's been months."

James nodded his head slowly. "Well, this just got extremely awkward. Oh, thank Merlin, Bert's coming! Talk to him."

Without another glance or waiting for Maria's reply, James turned and went to where Sirius was flirting with Ann Sharp, a Hufflepuff.

"Hullo, Annie," James said, walking up to them with a grin on his face.

Ann, whose face had been less than an inch from Sirius's, turned around with a scowl on her face. "What do you want, Potter," she spat out his name.

"Whoa, why so much hostility?" James asked.

"Well, let's think. There's the fact that you always call me 'Annie.' Or perhaps it's because of that time when you asked me to Hogsmeade in fourth year and then ditched me!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," James said, laughing a little.

Ann looked ready to kill, but Sirius interrupted her before she could say anything. "Ann, why don't you go get drinks? I'll dispose of James."

Ann gave one last "humph" and glared at James before walking away.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius asked James.

"Avoiding Arabella," James said.

"Why?"

"She's annoying."

"Okay, let me tell you something," Sirius said, slinging an arm around James and turning him. "Look at Arabella. Look at her, Prongs. She is hot as fuck. She can make a guy very happy, even for just a night. And she is throwing herself at you."

Normally, James would agree. Hell, he had spent countless nights with Arabella before. But tonight, he wasn't feeling it.

James sighed. "I'm gonna go take a walk," he said.

"Alright," Sirius said shrugging. As Ann came back, he took the cup she offered him and put it in James's hand. "I won't be needing this. Are you gonna take the Cloak?"

James shook his head. "Nah, I don't care about getting in trouble."

"Great, now leave," Ann said, her voice sharp.

James sighed and walked through the room—ignoring Arabella—and out the portrait hole.

He walked around the corridors aimlessly for a while. Eventually, he grew bored and went to the Astronomy Tower. Usually that's where couples would make out, but on party nights no one was usually there.

He made his way up quietly, so as not to make his presence known to any couples that might be lurking up there. But as he rounded the corner, he saw only one figure. A silhouette against the dark sky. It leaned on the parapet, a bottle of firewhiskey next to it. James could tell, just from the figure, who it was.

"Evans?"

Lily jumped at the sound of his voice, turning around to see him. James heard a faint "Lumos," before he was blinded.

He put his arm up to shield the light from his eyes. Being half-drunk made the light so much worse.

"Potter?" Lily said. "What the hell are trying to do, kill me?"

"Could you put the wand down, Love?" James said, closing his eyes entirely.

"Don't call me that," Lily said, but she did whisper "knox," and put her wand away.

James walked over to her and leaned against the wall with her. "Sorry for scaring you, but what are you doing here?" he asked.

Lily shrugged. "I usually come here during your parties. I have Remus give me a bottle or two of firewhiskey, I come up here, hex any couples that come along, get drunk. It's nice."

"Okay," James said slowly, "but why?"

Lily shrugged, which James could barely see in the dim light. "I don't know, your parties are just…" she let her voice drift away without answering the question.

"What?" James joked. "Can't handle the party scene?"

"No, it's not that," Lily said.

"Then what? Our parties are amazing, why don't you want to go?"

"Well, Tommy couldn't go tonight anyway. Sometimes I'll go if he does," she said.

"Wait," James said, realization dawning. "Are you meeting him here? Should I leave while it's still non-christened in here?"

"Shut up, Potter. No, he's not coming. He was upset by the loss today."

"Glad I could have such an effect," James said, smugly.

"It's not just you, you know," Lily said, annoyed by his arrogance. "It's an entire team. You always act like it's just you out there, scoring points, winning games. Only when you lose does it suddenly become 'us' to you."

"That's not true," James defended.

Lily didn't answer.

"So," James said, semi-awkwardly. "Why here? There's a whole castle, you know."

"The view," she said.

"Um, Evans, I think you've finally lost it," James said, looking out at the pitch black grounds. "You can't see anything."

"Earlier you could. And in summer when the sun's out longer. Oh, and when the moon is fuller, you can see the grounds pretty well."

James stiffened. He cleared his throat, anxiously. "Do you, um, ever come out, here, during a, um, a full moon?"

"I don't know, to be honest," Lily said, not noticing his odd behaviour. "I don't think so. You never have parties on full moons, and those are usually the only times I come up here."

James sighed in relief. "But why here? Other than the nonexistent view."

Lily sighed, too tired to argue with him. "I don't know. It's quiet. And really cool."

James noticed goosebumps on her arms, dimly lit underneath the stars. He thought about giving her his jumper. But then he would be cold.

"Are you drunk?" he asked suddenly.

Lily looked at him, bewildered. "What?"

James grabbed her bottle of firewhiskey off the parapet. "It's not even open. Don't you come up here to get drunk?"

"I—well—usually," Lily stuttered out.

"Why not tonight?"

"I don't know, I just don't feel like it," Lily said.

James opened the bottle. He took a sip. "You're missing out," he said, putting it back down.

"I'm fine without," she said.

"C'mon, drink," James urged.

"Why?" Lily asked. "Why do you want me to drink so bad?"

"Because! We won! Everyone in Gryffindor, therefore, deserves a good time. I tried with Remus, but he was too stuck in his ways. I can't let you be bored up her all night, sober," he said the last word like it was something repulsive.

"I don't know if I want to be drunk with you," Lily said.

"Ha, ha," he said sarcastically. "At least have a little."

Lily sighed. "Will it shut you up?"

"Maybe," he said.

She grabbed the bottle and took a sip from it. She had to admit, it felt good. But she didn't have to admit it out loud.

"Are you happy?" Lily asked.

"No," James said.

"Big surprise," Lily muttered, but it was so quiet that James could hear her clearly.

"It seems I miscalculated. Here I am, trying to make you happy with alcohol. Maybe that's not what will make you happy!"

"Wow!" Lily said, with mock enthusiasm. "You're so smart, no wonder girls throw themselves at you!"

"So, Miss Evans, tell me how I can make you happy," James said.

"Leave the planet," Lily said, so seriously that James didn't know if she was joking.

"Anything more possible?" James said, uncertainly.

"Leave me alone," Lily said.

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" James suggested.

"You!" Lily yelled, turning to him. "You're what's wrong!" she opened her mouth to keep talking, but then she shut it. She turned away and leaned back on the parapet.

James stared at her, bewildered. "I would ask what you meant, but I fear you yelling at me."

Lily turned her head to the left, away from him so he couldn't see her face at all. "I have tried," she said, her voice so soft that James strained to hear, "to forgive you. I have. And I did. But you keep…being yourself. You keep being a horrible person, and I can't take it."

She paused and James spoke: "I'm sorry Lily." For once, he sounded like he meant it.

Lily continued, as if he hadn't said anything. "I trusted you. I tried to trust you. But you went and ruined it. For a while I thought that maybe I could even forgive you for what you did to Marlene, but…"

James was almost afraid to ask, but his lips formed the word before he could stop them: "What?"

"How?"

James was confused. "What?"

"How?" she said, slightly louder. "How did you know about my father? And why? Why didn't you tell the other Marauders?"

"Lily," he said, softly, "I am so sorry. When I said that at dinner I didn't mean to. It just slipped out. I didn't… I'm sorry."

"How did you know?" Her voice was so hurt, so lost.

"I can't tell you," James said.

He expected her to be furious. To yell and scream and throw him off the tower. He was quite wrong, actually. She didn't turn her head—or move at all—and when she spoke, it was soft and quiet like before: "Why?"

"Because then you'll really hate me," James said. "And I wouldn't be able to survive with my favourite red-head hating me."

There was silence for a while. Lily turned her head slowly, only to look at the firewhiskey and take a long drink from it.

After a few minutes of silence, James dared to speak. "Do you hate me?"

Lily took a deep breath. "I don't hate anybody," she said.

"But do you hate me?"

"No."

"I really am sorry."

Finally, Lily grabbed the firewhiskey bottle and turned to him. When she spoke, her voice was a harsh, cold whisper. "Too bad."

She turned and left, leaving James at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Alone.


Please review, follow, and favourite. Also, apologies for any typo's/grammar mistakes. I edited this in 30 minutes because it's 1:40 am. Thank God school no longer is a problem. Alright, see ya next time!

~Jill
MissSlytherinxoxo

XOXO