.

With a Little Help From My Friends: March 1977

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Emmeline…"

"It'll be fun, I promise!"

"I don't doubt that, but what if Black starts handing out firewhiskey to the first years again? It could kill them and he doesn't know that-"

"Don't worry, I promised to hex him if he does anything stupid."

"I thought we'd been over this Em? Never assume that Black knows that there's a line- he crosses it far too often without realising."

"You're right, we did discuss it. That's why I also promised to hex Lupin if he lets him do anything stupid."

Lily gave up. To be honest, she was actually quite impressed that her friend had listened to her at all. Clearly, she wasn't great at hiding her surprise though, because Emmeline folded her arms and frowned. "I'm not completely daft, you know."

"I never said that. I think you're very good at hexing people."

"Just not very good at being responsible?" Lily bit her lip and cursed inwardly. She hadn't wanted an argument, not after the nail-biting Quidditch match that had almost given her a heart attack on at least three separate occasions. She wasn't particularly fond of the game, or its players, but even she had let out a small scream when one of the Slytherin chasers had grabbed Hestia Jones' head and smashed it against the goal hoop. After two hours of that kind of behaviour, anyone's nerves would have been shot to pieces, especially if they knew they would also have to deal with the post-match party once Gryffindor finally claimed the victory.

But Emmeline was smiling, a gleam in her eye. "Don't worry Lils, I'm only pulling your leg. But you do need a break. Leave our illustrious Head Boy to deal with it for once- it's his job, after all."

Lily snorted, thinking that the chances of Tiberius McLaggen actually leaving his little den of blankets, N.E.W.T. revision notes and half-empty vodka bottles were very slim. Even Professor Slughorn had been finding it difficult lately to drag him away from the stacks of parchment and if McLaggen wasn't attending "Old Sluggy's little dos" then he certainly wasn't going to pay any attention to the party raging around him, not even if the whole Common Room ended up being set on fire (which had actually been looking increasingly likely when Lily had been dragged out of the portrait hole). Eventually, though, Emmeline's hopeful expression won her over and she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, then- what's the surprise? And why are we down here- it's boiling."

Emmeline only grinned and reached up behind her head. As Lily ducked out of the way, the other girl stretched out a hand towards a painting of a fruit bowl which hung, seemingly at random, on the wall behind. Then to, Lily's amazement, the pear upon which Emmeline had rested her hand, let out a giggle. "What-"

Her disbelief only increased when the pear turned into a door knob, which Emmeline pulled open and stepped through the door that had appeared, waving for her to follow. Curiously, Lily obliged and found herself-

"Oh my giddy aunt. Is this the kitchens?"

The room was huge and positively bustling with floating pots and tea trays and strange utensils of all shapes and sizes. At the far end stood a gigantic fireplace, from inside which bright blue flames roared and spat whilst several house elves turned food on spits. And speaking of food, it was everywhere: golden platters filled with sausages and chicken drumsticks and various cold hams, five different varieties of fish sizzling on the fire that the mere sight of made her stomach rumble, and great wobbling jellies in a hundred different colours. It was just so ridiculous that somewhere so large and busy and simply astonishing could exist, and yet one could go through one's entire school career without even noticing it.

"I love Hogwarts sometimes."

"Told you it would be fun."

"You were right. But how did you know how to get in?"

Emmeline's grin grew wider. "I got Remus to tell me. And Merlin, you should have seen Black's face when I asked to talk to him alone…"

"Oh my God, the poor things! You're evil, you really are."

Emmeline had been helping Remus Lupin with his Potions work since the start of the year, but, as a result of various encounters which were not entirely a coincidence, Sirius Black had gained the impression that the two were, to put it mildly, having relations of a more intimate kind. And, after witnessing both the sheer horror and disgust on Black's face at the thought of his friend doing that with a girl, and Remus' obvious distress upon being tackled about the affair, it had become Emmeline's favourite hobby to find new ways of embarrassing them both about it on a regular basis.

One would have thought, of course, that Sirius Black, with all his bravado and arrogance, would have been rather less easily unsettled by the thought of the dirty deed. Or perhaps it was just indignation that Lupin seemed to be seeing more action than him. In any case, it made the whole situation ten times funnier. Even Lily, though she felt a bit sorry for Remus, always seemed to find herself helpless with laughter every time Emmeline winked at him from across the room, or deliberately leaned across him in Defence Against the Dark Arts when she knew that Black would be peeking through his fingers in terror from the seat behind.

Emmeline scoffed. "It's their own fault, they both know full well I'm not interested in blokes. Just because Black can't come clean about fancying Lupin, doesn't mean the rest of us are going to hide away-"

"Alright, no more, I'll rupture something," Lily clutched at the stitch in her side as she steadied herself against the wall. "You still haven't said why we're here."

Emmeline simply tugged at her arm again. "This way."

In one of the quieter corners of the kitchen, two house elves in neat green tea towels were milling around a pile of plum-coloured cushions. In the middle, Mary MacDonald sat cross-legged, looking very stiff and self-conscious every time she was forced to address one of the house elves. In her lap sat a large ceramic mixing bowl, the contents of which she was prodding suspiciously with her wand. As they drew closer, she looked up in relief. "Ah, you got her. Thank God, it feels like you've been gone for hours."

"It's been fifteen minutes, Mary. How's the cake coming along?"

"Cake?" Lily interjected, curiously. "Emmeline, what is this?"

But it was Mary who replied. "Em thought- and I agree- that since it's almost exactly a year since we all became proper friends, and also since we never celebrated your birthday, we should have a wee party to ourselves down here."

"You've been so stressed lately- what with your Dad being ill," Emmeline added. "I was going to invite some others at first- you know, Mariam Shafiq and the Changs and Esther MacMillan- but Mary thought it would be better just the three of us."

"Oh," Lily wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or cry. "Thank you both so much. You're right I-" She broke off, overwhelmed. How on earth was she supposed to express how grateful she was to them both, how amazing it was that, though they'd only been close for a year, they each were prepared to support each other in every way possible? And that they were always honest with her, when she asked them to be?

Luckily, she was saved from having to find words, as something prodded her elbow, and a small voice asked, "Tea, miss?"

She stared at the house elf and stammered. "Er, I- I couldn't possibly bother you-"

"It is no bother, miss." Said the elf, already in the act of filling her a mug. "Milk? Sugar?"

"Just milk please, but- oh." Having added the milk, the elf pushed the tea into her hands with a smile and disapparated. Lily turned to her friends helplessly. "Em, we can't- surely they're really busy…"

"Tch, what is it with you muggleborns and house elves? Mary's the same," Here she indicated the mixing bowl in the girl's hands. "Thought she had to make the cake herself. They're quite happy to help."

"Still…" Lily tried not to feel guilty as she sank down onto the cushions. "Anyway, what are we going to do?"

"Well there are the obvious things," Emmeline said happily as she flopped down next to her. "Mary brought games- Basilisks and Broomsticks, Exploding Snap. And we have loads of food. You know those new sweets that change your voice? Yeah, Primrose Brown's got her own stash which I may have paid Quinta to raid, so there's those. But I thought that first, since it's a girls' night in," The Irish girl's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper as she grinned round at them all. "We should have a talk."

"Why is it that whenever you say it like that I get the feeling that it's going to end badly for me?" Mary grumbled as she used her wand to levitate clumps of cake batter into paper cases.

"Because you're too stupid to lie whenever someone asks you a personal question. Oh come on, we never get to have a proper talk. And besides," The gossip-loving girl gave her a particularly devious look. "There's always Truth or Dare."

"Not. In. Public." Mary growled, flushing. Lily decided to intervene before a fight broke out.

"Alright, let's humour her Mary." She laughed. She had actually grown quite fond of Emmeline's talks over the past year- there was something about people actually being interested in her deepest secrets and yet knowing that they would never divulge them that she had begun to enjoy. "But don't be too cruel Em, you know Mary won't lie. And you have to answer truthfully too."

Emmeline squealed and threw her hands into the air. "Thank you God! Let's get started! Evil questions first right?"

"Give me a minute I just need to put these in the oven- oh, ta." As Mary awkwardly handed the tray of cakes to a house elf, Emmeline tore into a chocolate frog and looked around at them eagerly. "Go on then. Who's first?"

"Mary?"

"Ye whit?! Why?"

"Because you threatened to use my head as a doorstop this morning and I think that was very rude."

"I'm still considering that actually," But the blonde shrugged easily, plastering her best bored expression across her face, as if that would somehow ward off Emmeline's evil intentions. "Go on then, do your worst."

"I will. To whom- or to what thing- did you last say I love you?"

This seemed like an innocent question but Mary, much to Lily's surprise, went slightly green and didn't answer. Emmeline cackled. "I thought you didn't have anything to hide, MacDonald?"

"I don't, I just- look if you already ken, why d'you need to ask?"

"Never mind, you promised."

"You besom. Alright, it was my pillow but- NO- WAIT- SHUT IT-" Mary fumed as Lily choked on her tea and Emmeline let out a scream of laughter.

"Knew it, I knew it! And you tried to pass it off as a sneeze!"

"You don't understand! I had no idea anybody was around! It was a mistake! I was thinking of something else!"

"Really, Mary? Just thinking? Not doing something else as well?" Here Emmeline made a frankly obscene hand gesture, scandalising a passing house elf, and then dissolved into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

"You just have a dirty mind, Vance! I don't have to answer that- Lily stop laughing and tell her to leave me alone. Lily!"

"Hey, you made your bed and now you can- oh, wait, are there pillows in this bed?"

"I'm going to kill you." Mary muttered through gritted teeth and Lily, feeling both slightly intimidated and a bit sorry for her now, tossed her another chocolate frog.

"Oh come on, Mary, it's not that bad," And then, taking a deep breath, she added in a lower tone. "If it makes you feel better, everyone does it. It's nothing new."

"Everyone does what?" Came a voice from behind them, and the three girls shrieked.

Lily whipped round in horror to see James Potter and Sirius Black standing behind her. "What in heavens' name are you two doing here?" She yelped, though as their hands were rather obviously filled with food for the party upstairs, it was a bit of a silly question.

"Could ask the same of you," Potter smiled round at their scarlet faces. "Sorry, just wondering why you three aren't upstairs enjoying the fun. Primrose just jumped McLaggen. I'm told it's very romantic."

"I'm sorry, Potter, but watching two people sucking on each other's faces isn't exactly my idea of fun." Lily shot back, slightly surprised that she was actually able to get any words out at all. Mary, after all, was simply opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish.

Potter shrugged. "Fair enough, we weren't too keen on it either were we, Padfoot?"

"Nah, but I'm much keener on this conversation. What does everyone do, then Evans? Wait, can I guess?"

"No, you certainly cannot!"

"So it's that then. Well, if you ladies ever need any help-"

Lily shoved her fingers in her ears, mentally cursing the unfortunate fact that it just had to be then that, for the first time, Black's dirty mind had come horribly close to the truth. "I don't want to know Black." She pleaded, but this only made him grin wider. "Well, MacDonald, how about you?"

Mary made a noise that was probably supposed to sound threatening, but ended up being about as scary as an angry baby rabbit.

Luckily, Emmeline seemed to have recovered herself enough to come to their aid.

"I don't know about that, Black," She remarked, pretending to consider the matter deeply. "I'd have to ask Remus. I'm sure he won't mind sharing-"

It did the trick. Black's grin froze and immediately he turned on his heel and stalked off. Lily thought she heard him give a small whimper as he went.

James, on the other hand, still had to be dealt with, and he seemed to take great delight in his friend's distress. "When are you going to tell him, Vance?"

"Probably never. Why? Is it working that well?"

"I should say so. He's been trying to get tips off Moony for weeks now- won't take no for an answer, thinks he's hiding something." The three girls laughed at that, starting to feel more at ease again, though Mary still looked a little shell-shocked.

James- wait, no, Potter- smiled at them again. "Mind you, could you tone down the imagery a bit? I don't need to think about two of my best mates- well, you know-"

"Oh sorry, if it makes you uncomfortable," Emmeline couldn't resist pushing him that bit further. "But don't tell me you've never thought about it? Have you seen the way they look at each other? There's a whole world of desire there that you wouldn't even believe."

Her victim gulped and swayed a little. Then he went white as a sheet. "I think I'm going to vomit-" He mumbled and backed away, still limping slightly from his Quidditch injury. "Er, enjoy your night, then. Evans." He nodded to her and she half-raised a hand to wave, before he fled.

There was a pause and then the three girls screamed with laughter.

"You are evil." Lily squealed, as Emmeline, with a look of grim triumph on her face, reached for another chocolate frog. "Me, evil? I just saved your necks!"

"I'm pure mortified, so I am." Mary whispered, not even complaining as a house elf handed her a mug of tea and a blanket.

"Ah you brought it on yourself, Mary," Emmeline teased. "No, I'm sorry. I promise never to ask something like that again. But as for you-" Here she waved the chocolate frog at Lily. "What wasthat?"

"What? Oh," Lily shrugged as Emmeline imitated the weak hand wave she had given Potter a few moments before. "I don't know, a reflex. Poor sod looked like he needed it. He's not been quite such a prat lately. Anyway, I thought it was my turn to ask the question?"

A glance at the still dazed Mary confirmed that she was in no position to argue for interrogation rights and so Lily settled herself back on her cushion as she considered her question. Then she frowned and swirled her tea around in her mug, suddenly feeling very awkward. "Ok Em, there is actually something we'd like to know. But you don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's quite personal-"

"Really? You think it could be any worse than her sick sense of humour?" Mary muttered from behind her tea.

Emmeline folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at her friend. "I said I'd answer anything, I keep my promises."

"How come you stopped being friends with Skeeter? I mean I know she's a bitch," Lily added hastily. "No offense, it's just that back in second year you seemed really close. I just…" Here she trailed off and took a gulp of her tea. "As I say, you don't have to answer."

Emmeline had become very stiff, her face falling into the cold, pureblood mask she only broke out very rarely. "You were right, she's a bitch and she always has been. But you have to understand… my sister's a lot older than me. I never really had anyone to talk to before Hogwarts. So Rita, well she was really nice at first. Or maybe she was always a cow, I'm not really sure."

Mary had wandered off to check on the cake, but Lily could tell that she was still straining her ears, trying to catch the conversation from amidst a group of bustling house elves.

Emmeline leant in and hissed quickly. "I mean technically it was about Lupin, you know? He's always been really nice to everyone and then Rita made a crack about him in front of Potter and I sort of lost it. But," She cleared her throat loudly as Mary returned to the group and straightened up. "She'd had it coming for months. She- er- she seemed to work out how I felt about her before even I knew and she was always- well I was a bit of a doormat, let's face it. Rita knew she could get away with anything- she's a lot cleverer than you'd think you know. And then she saw me in the library with- when I finally started to work it out, that is, she kept making all these snide comments about how no-one would talk to me if they found out and how she was the only one who understood-"

She broke off, lost in thought. "I suppose I was just fed up being blackmailed you know?"

There was another brief silence and then Mary's blunt voice broke in. "Well, that was deep."

"You wanted to know!" Her friend replied indignantly, stuffing chocolate in her mouth.

"Sorry," Lily found herself going red. "Just so you know Em, we completely agree with you, Skeeter was a right cow-"

"Lils, how do you manage to achieve such a beautiful shade of magenta? Really, it doesn't clash with your hair at all. Oh don't go feeling guilty," Emmeline was grinning again, albeit rather weakly. "It's your turn now. Mary, would you like to do the honours?"

"Eh naw, you can leave me out of this."

"Oh come on, you know she'll take it better from you. And anyway," Emmeline assumed a saint-like expression. "I made a promise not to bring it up myself, and I always keep my promises."

"Oh for goodness' sake, just get to the point!" Lily snapped. Was she really so intimidating?

Mary huffed and put down the sprinkles, rolling her eyes. "Alright, so Emmeline's had this theory for a while, and I'll admit I didn't really agree with it at first, but you know I wouldn't be saying this if I wasn't a wee bit suspicious. Basically, we think you might actually fancy James Potter."

For a moment, Lily felt as if she could quite cheerfully strangle the girl sitting in front of her. But, as Emmeline had correctly predicted, she couldn't very well take it out on Mary for telling the truth. Wait, the truth? So she liked Potter's hair that didn't- shut up, shut up, shut up, she told her brain furiously. And then, to her utmost horror, she felt her face betraying her as, for the umpteenth time that day, it moved a bit closer to its lifelong dream of becoming a radish.

Emmeline threw her hands up in the air. "See? What did I tell you? She's even blushing."

"No, we'll wait and hear what she has to say first." Mary cut her off, watching Lily curiously. "I'm honestly sorry, it's just you've been acting a bit funny around him lately and we wondered-"

"No!" Lily finally choked out. "I am not in love with Potter! I thought you'd stopped all that?"

Emmeline avoided her glare and looked pleadingly at Mary again, who sighed and clicked her tongue impatiently. "Alright apparently I'm to be the scapegoat here. What Emmeline wants me to tell you, is that I at no point said you were in love with him. That would just be ridiculous at this stage- yes, it would Em, don't you look at me like that. However, I do think it's possible that you could fancy him even if you don't want to- physically at least, ken? If not romantically."

Here she took a deep breath, looking very angry with herself. "Like, for example, I fancy Black and-"

She broke off as Emmeline made cooing noises but Lily folded her arms. "Well, I've never teased you for that…"

Mary simply ground her teeth. "Look, I'm not denying it- almost everyone fancies Black. Which is a real shame, seeing how he's such an awfy eejit. But it's unavoidable and it doesn't mean I'm dying to go out with him, just that he can be very attractive when he wants to be. D'you see what I'm getting at?"

Lily paused, wishing her face would stop burning. What Mary said had its merits and the other girl had been quite valiantly honest throughout her own interrogation. Still, Lily wasn't going to give in that easily.

"No," She muttered after a minute, hoping they wouldn't notice that it was said with rather less conviction than before. "No, I don't see. Look, Potter's been a complete git for years- at what point do you honestly think I'd decide that he was at all fanciable?"

"Well you did gasp when he got injured today-" Emmeline began but Lily immediately shot back. "Half the crowd gasped. His leg was on the other side of the pitch-"

"Hey, alright shut up a minute, the baith of youse!" Mary was growing visibly impatient now. "Right, first things first, Lily you said yourself he's been a lot better this year-"

"Great. So I'm supposed to be grateful that he's no longer a complete and utter arse?"

"No, and I think you'd be completely justified in never speaking to him again, if you ask me. But I do think that you've been a bit nicer to him over the past few months as well, ever since you found out about his mum. I don't know, maybe he looked vulnerable-"

Lily spluttered. "Wait, so his mother dies and suddenly I'm attracted to him? Mary do you even realise how twisted that sounds?"

"Oh for crying out loud, why did I get landed with this?" Mary wailed at the ceiling and fled in the direction of her cakes. "That's it, I've done my best. You're on your own now, Em."

Emmeline did not shrink under Lily's glare and polished off another chocolate frog before answering. "What Mary was not so successfully trying to get across, is that since he got his act together and since his mum passed, you seem to have started to realise he's a real person and not this one-dimensional, totally evil bogeyman you've had him pegged as for the last few years. Add to that the fact that you can be physically attracted to someone without actually wanting them to declare their undying love and it's completely possible that you could fancy Potter."

"Yes but Emmie…" Lily was running out of arguments now and twisted her hands in her robes. "Look, when have I ever given any indication that I might fancy him? Really? I mean, what have I done?"

"Well, that little wave back there notwithstanding, there's the fact that you left your Potions essay in the Common Room in full view of Potter and Black when you knew that Remus wouldn't let them copy-"

"-I just forgot it, I went back later-"

"-you went that exact shade of red when we met him coming in from Quidditch the other week-"

"-it was the cold, my cheeks were like ice-"

"-you bought him special chocolate for Christmas-"

"-no, I bought everyone chocolate for Christmas, I just thought the little broomsticks were pretty rad-"

"-you actually smiled when he hexed Mulciber rather than giving him detention-"

"-alright, we both know that Mulciber's a special case-"

"-you couldn't speak for exactly three and a half minutes when McGonagall paired you up with him for human transfiguration, I counted-"

"-I was concentrating, Transfiguration's hard-"

"-I saw you glancing at him when we were doing Amortentia in Potions-"

"-what, so I can't even look in his direction now-"

"-and you spent most of Charms on Friday staring at the back of his head."

"He has good hair." Lily hissed and then smacked a hand over her mouth. "No, I meant to say that Flitwick put him in front of us and so how could I- stop it! Stop!"

For once Emmeline stifled her giggles and gave her a sympathetic look. "Ok, ok but we're agreed, physically at least, you do fancy James."

"Maybe." She wanted to sink through the floor. "But it'll go away soon, it's like Mary said about Black, he's just sometimes- ugh!"

She buried her face in her robes as Mary wandered back over, bearing a plate of undecorated fairy cakes and a tub of ice cream, the latter of which she dug into enthusiastically as she shot Emmeline a reproving look. "You just had to break her didn't you? Look Lily, it's no that big a deal. I get it, he's funny and good-looking but it might go away. And Pettigrew says that Potter disnae even fancy you anymore, so there's no need to worry about him asking you out- what?"

Emmeline had made a strange noise somewhere between a cough and a laugh and the two other girls turned to her expectantly. "You really believe that? My God Mary, did you believe me when I said Morgan le Fay was my mother too?"

"Well how does it change things anyroad?" Lily said weakly. "If he starts singing in the Entrance Hall again…"

"What? No, of course not! Lily, this is very different. He still likes you, he just doesn't want to admit it because he's finally realised that last year he was a complete prick about it!" Emmeline sighed. "I admit, they're a bit gallus, Potter and Black but…"

So he's changing, a little voice in Lily's head was arguing, drowning out the other girl. Am I meant to think that's attractive?

Although, to tell the truth, she actually did. Just a little bit. Maybe even flattered that someone would change that much just to impress her.

Oh God, where's your pride, Evans? Next thing you know you'll be making sarnies for him and letting people call you a 'bird'. Don't be such a ninny.

Emmeline was still talking as she shook herself out of her thoughts. "And no, I'm not saying you should be grateful. You're under no obligation to like Potter just because he's stopped yelling propositions at you over dinner. But you know me, I'm a bit of a romantic at heart. I think it's quite nice that he's really changing. Especially since he doesn't seem to know that he's doing it for you."

For the third time that night there was a long silence. Eventually, Lily let out a defeated sigh and clutched at her tea. "Maybe you're right, but it doesn't matter. So I maybe fancy him a little bit. I'm working on that. It's not going any further. Now can we leave it alone? End of discussion about James Potter."

Perhaps it was because she looked so exhausted or perhaps her arguments had finally gotten through to them but instead of commenting any further, they simply exchanged a glance and shrugged.

"Ok, end of." Emmeline said, patting her shoulder and handing her a chocolate frog.

"Cake's ready." Mary said, spreading the last of the icing with her wand.

"My turn." Lily said, giving the other girls her most menacing stare as she decided whether to attack the chocolate or fairy cake first. Eventually, she came to a conclusion.

"Mary MacDonald, is it true that you have, in your own words, a 'lumber' for next Hogsmeade weekend, and if so what exactly does that mean? Are you taking a tree?"

"Did you have to bring up the pillow?" Mary grumbled, as she gathered up the plum cushions and finished off the last of the fairy cakes. Their little party had gone on for four hours, during which time they had played three games of Exploding Snap, eaten their way through a small mountain of sweets, and discussed almost every aspect of their love lives in excruciating detail. Now, Emmeline having shooed Lily away to bed ("It's technically your party, you don't have to clean up"), it was just the two of them left behind. Well, and a hundred odd house elves.

"Well, you brought the bloody Malfoy wedding so I'd say we're even- and just so we're clear, I did not choose to wear that dress nor to be photographed," Emmeline shot back. "And besides, I'm rather more interested in what Lily had to say about Potter."

"Em you know she might just kill you if you ask her if she fancies him again. And I don't fancy watching what'll probably only be the second or third instance in history of a person being shouted to death."

"Hey, I'm not that stupid. And besides, we already established that she fancies him. Now it's just about moving it to the next stage."

"No bloody way. I refuse to be a part of any more of your daft schemes. Remember Valentine's Day? I was covered in that pink stuff for days and she didn't even notice a thing-"

"Don't you worry, Mary. I'm not going to push her any further than she's comfortable with. I have everything under control."

"Why does that not make me feel any better about this?"

Well, what did you think? There's a nice box down there that I would love it if you took the time to put your comments in :)

Chapter title (rather obviously) from the Beatles' 1967 song of the same name.