[A/N: Are you guys even there? Do you even want our groveling apologies? Thank you so much to all of you who are still reading! And reviewing! And adding this to your favourites or alerts list. It means so much. I'm not going to go through and thank each of you by name, but let me say again how much I appreciate the reviews that you leave. Knowing that you are all still reading even when we're failing helps us to not give up. Not that we're planning on it EVER.

We do not own Harry Potter]

Chapter 32: Changes

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," Filch breathed, not bothering to mask his excitement, "students out of bed, and on a Monday night."

"Terribly sorry, Mister Filch," Sirius said, his speech still slightly slurred, "we didn't realise it was a Monday, Sir. We would have never been out if we had... ow!"

Sirius turned to glare at Remus. The shorter boy didn't even make an effort to look ashamed as he rolled his eyes.

"Here are three of you," Filch continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "Where is the fourth? Black without Potter? Now, that cannot be. Where is the Head Boy hiding?"

"Nowhere," Peter blurted out unconvincingly, "He's not hiding anywhere!"

"He's in our dorm," Remus added, looking directly into Filch's eyes and willing his own to not give him away as they were apt to do.

"I see," Filch answered. "And, well, we'll just have to see what the Deputy Headmistress has to say about this. Come along, now."

He turned and began to lead the three boys through the corridors away from Gryffindor Tower and towards his office. James, going against what common sense told him, trailed behind, making as little noise as possible.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter were quiet as they followed Filch through the castle. Their stumbling footsteps echoed through the dark and empty halls.

At long last, they reached Filch's office. The old caretaker ushered the three boys through the door and followed them in, shutting the door before James had a chance to sneak in. Frustrated, James pressed his ear against the door, trying to hear what was going on.

It was useless. While he could hear Filch's rummaging through his desk and the muffled protests, James was unable to discern what was actually being said. It was maddening not being able to know what was happening on the other side of the door. What was worse was that James knew that he should be with his friends getting an earful from the ornery caretaker. It wasn't fair that he wasn't being punished when his friends were. The only thing keeping James from stripping of his invisibility cloak and storming through the door to join his friends were Sirius' words: we need you as Head Boy, mate. As much as James hated to admit it, Sirius had been right; James couldn't afford to get detention.

With a sigh, James leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. He could still feel the effects of the firewhiskey and butterbeer. Though he was relatively clear minded, the floor seemed to be tilting and the room spinning.

James opened his eyes and the spinning stopped. He could still hear muffled voices coming from the office and wished that he knew what was going on. Could Filch tell that they'd been drinking? Had Sirius mouthed off and gotten them in worse trouble? Were his friends going to be suspended? James hoped not; being sent away from his friends was the last thing that any of them needed, especially Peter.

"You three stay put," Filch's voice came clearly from the office.

James started and stood up straighter, turning to look at the office door. It was open and Filch was stepping out. James made sure that his cloak was completely covering him. How much time he had spent standing in drunken musings, James wasn't sure of. But, Filch had evidently had his fill of berating the Gryffindor boys.

"I'll be back with McGonagall shortly, so don't get any funny ideas," Filch continued. He stepped completely out of his office and shut the door smartly behind him. As he stalked down the corridor he patted his vest pocket proudly.

As soon as Filch had rounded the corner and James was sure the caretaker wasn't going to return immediately, he stripped off the cloak and burst into the office. The atmosphere that greeted him was far from the careless joy he'd felt just an hour previously. All three of James' friends looked worn and beaten; only Peter had raised his head upon James' entering the room. And, upon seeing that it was James and not Filch, Peter had let his head drop and returned to gazing at the floor dispiritedly.

"What's happened?" James demanded, looking at each of his fellow Marauders in turn. When none of them answered, James turned to Sirius who looked, if possible, more upset than the other two. "Sirius Black, what has happened? How much trouble are you in?"

"He took it, Prongs," Sirius whispered, not lifting his eyes to meet his best friend's.

James swallowed hard. He had a horrible idea of what "it" was and he didn't really want to find out, lest his misgivings were accurate. But, he had to know.

"What did he take, Padfoot?" James asked, desperately hoping that his suspicions weren't true.

"The map," Peter said in a small voice when Sirius didn't answer. "He took the map."

"Bloody hell," James swore. "We cleared it, didn't we? I could have sworn we cleared it. God damn it. How did this happen?"

"We did clear it, James," Remus answered. "But we forgot to put it away. He saw it in Sirius' hand once we got to the office..."

"...and he took it from me," Sirius finished. "I should have put it away, Prongs. I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. And I didn't give it to him, I swear. He pulled it right out of my hands before I could do anything."

"He seemed really pleased with himself once he had it," Peter added. "Kept on rambling about how it was sure to be dark magic and how he was sure we'd be whipped or expelled for it."

"But, he doesn't know what it is," Remus assured James, who at this point had paled and resorted to leaning against the dank wall for support. "I doubt he'll be able to do anything with it or find out what it is."

"But..." James started, casting a glance at Sirius, "But..."

"I know," Sirius said. "He took our baby. We haven't even had it for a year, and he took it."

"We'll get it back," James assured him, pushing himself into a standing position and straightening his glasses. "It's our creation. We deserve to have it. We'll figure out how to get it back."

"I don't know, Prongs," Peter lamented. "He said he'd make sure we never saw it again."

"Since when do we listen to what Filch says?" James demanded, turning to stare intently at Peter. "We'll get it back. It's imperative that we get it back."

"We can try, at least," Remus agreed. Then, biting his lip, he turned to the door. "James, put your cloak back on. I can hear Filch coming."

James sighed and, rolling his eyes, threw the invisibility cloak back over himself and retreated into the corner furthest from Filch's desk. A couple moments later, the office door opened and Filch entered followed by an irritated-looking Professor McGonagall.

"Here they are," Filch said proudly, gesturing at the three boys who sat forlornly in front of his desk, "the trouble makers Lupin, Black, and Pettigrew."

"Yes," McGonagall stated shortly, "I can see them, Mr. Filch."

"They claim that Potter had nothing to do with their night time wandering, but I'm not so sure. Where Black is, Potter usually follows."

"So you said on our way down here," the professor said. Filch opened his mouth to continue, but McGonagall cut him off. "And, Mr. Filch, I also remember what you said about suspicious bits of parchment and dark magic."

"We weren't doing dark magic, Professor," Sirius blurted out, uncharacteristically worried. "I swear we weren't doing anything illegal. We-"

"I don't doubt that Mr. Black," McGonagall interrupted him.

"But, I showed you the parchment! I know it's more than a bit of spare paper!" Filch exclaimed, pulling the wiped map out of his pocket and waving it in her face. "I know these four. They are up to no good!"

"True as that may be, I highly doubt the three of them were doing any sort of dark magic," the Head of Gryffindor House continued. "There's a difference between mischief makers and dark wizards. Furthermore, as I told you before, I couldn't detect any traces of dark magic or wrongdoing on that parchment. If you don't trust my abilities, I advise you to go to the Headmaster and pester him with outrageous claims. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to speak with my students in private to discuss their punishments. Shall I do so here, or shall I take them back to my own office."

"Here will do," Filch muttered, his glee and satisfaction from earlier fading. "I have duties to finish." And, with one last glare at the three boys, Filch grabbed his mop and stormed out of the office.

"Now," Professor McGonagall said once the door to Filch's office was shut and she had taken a seat in his old rickety desk chair, "I believe that we have the matter of your punishment to discuss. While I do believe that you three weren't doing anything illegal, the fact remains that you have broken curfew exceptionally well this evening and I hardly enjoy being woken up by Mr. Filch leering and informing me that he has caught wandering miscreants."

She paused for a moment, surveying their faces as though contemplating something before turning suddenly to Remus.

"Mr. Lupin," she demanded, "where is Mr. Potter?"

"He's, er," Remus said, taken aback by the unexpected interrogation, "He's asleep. In the dormitory."

"And if I were to go there right now, where would I find him?" She asked.

James held his breath and stood exceptionally still, trying to avoid making any sort of noise or disturbance in the air that would give him away.

"I'd assume in his own bed, Professor," Sirius replied cheekily. "Though, sometimes I swear that he prefers my bed, so you may find him there. But he's really quite cranky when woken up mid dream, especially if he's dreaming about-"

"That's enough, Mr. Black," McGonagall interrupted curtly. She perused their faces once more and James had never been so glad that he and Sirius had forced the other two Marauders to improve their bluffing faces.

"These are dark times," she continued after a moment of silence. "I know you three are acutely aware of the outside world, of what has been happening. But, when you leave here you'll see how much worse it is. Despite everything that has happened, you've been sheltered within the confines of Hogwarts. I understand your need to relax and have fun. But in less than eight months you will leave here, quite possibly forever, and you will be forced to enter into the real world out there: you will have to be adults. Wandering around late at night is never safe. You are young and too clever for your own good, but you are not invincible."

"We know that, Professor," Peter said, biting his lip and not looking her in the eye. "We will act more like adults, if that's what you want."

"I'm glad," McGonagall answered. "But, as satisfied as I am and clever as you may be, you still broke the rules and must be punished duly. Each of you three will receive a detention for this coming week, when I've arranged the exact time and place, I'll be sure to let you know. Furthermore, I am going to deduct twenty-five points from each of you. Though I feel that I ought to be deducting a sum total of one hundred points, I have no tangible proof besides my intuition and past experience, and so Mr. Potter can rest assured that he won't lose his badge."

James almost thanked her aloud, but closed his mouth just in time. As stern and cold as the Head of Gryffindor could appear, she was fair, and James did like her.

"Yes, Professor," Remus said with a small nod. "We'll inform him as such."

"Very well," McGonagall said. She pushed back the chair and stood up. "Now, off to bed you three. I trust that you can find your way back to your tower without getting lost?"

"Of course," Peter answered.

"Very well. Expect owls with the time and place of your detentions in due course." She opened the door and watched as the three boys filed out. James managed to slip out of the office unnoticed. Standing behind Sirius, he watched as the professor shut the door and nodded their dismissal.

"Oh, and one more thing. If I ever encounter you boys within the walls of this school reeking as strongly of firewhiskey as you do right now, you will be suspended. You may be of age, but in this castle, you are still my students."

True to her word, Professor McGonagall sent owls to Sirius, Peter, and Remus detailing their detentions. As had become common practice since their second year, the three boys were given separate detentions. Sirius had been subjected to a long Wednesday night in the dungeons with Professor Slughorn. Remus had been assigned to sort files for Professor Hewn who, despite his stern and no-nonsense take on class, was quite messy when it came to filing and grade keeping. And, while he was no Professor Mansfield, the new DADA professor was much more personable on a one-on-one basis, Remus found. Not to mention, he had exceptionally good tea and biscuits. Peter had been placed, once again, with Professor McGonagall sorting broken matches from ones usable for 1st year Transfiguration.

Other than the detentions, however, the week that followed the boys' night in Hogsmeade was as average as it could have been, given the circumstances. Things in the castle were almost back to normal. All the Gryffindor seventh years were soon back in the rhythm of classes and studying and – at least for some – snogging. Helping this transition was the excitement over the quickly approaching Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

But nothing seemed to shock the remaining mourners back to normalcy so much as the reappearance of the House Banners in leu of the black Hogwarts ones. As the 7th year Gryffindor girls walked into the Great Hall that Saturday, they couldn't help but notice the difference. The entire room looked brighter and more welcoming than it had the previous two weeks, but the old familiarity wasn't quite as comforting as they'd have thought. It was strange, the hustle and bustle of lives going on around them. People were laughing and talking as though the previous weeks' losses were but a distant memory.

Lily sat down next to James, leading the other girls to follow in suit and sit with the 7th year boys. While Lily kissed James good morning, Maia glanced across the hall to make eye contact with a dark haired girl at the Hufflepuff table. Emmeline smiled broadly and mouthed 'meet me after breakfast.' Maia nodded enthusiastically before looking at Allie and Kate to see if they had noticed the interaction. For reasons she wasn't quite sure of, Maia felt oddly relieved to see that they were engaged in their own conversation.

"Notice Heather's not sitting with us today," Kate whispered to Allie, nodding towards the blonde girl who was eating her eggs and sausage with Kristi and their group of Gryffindor 6th years.

"Think she's okay?" Allie wondered, furrowing her brow in concern. Heather was smiling and laughing with her friends, but even from this distance, it wasn't hard to tell that she wasn't completely enjoying herself. Her smile was too cheerful and the bags under her eyes were more pronounced than ever.

"I dunno…" Kate admitted, keeping her voice low. "I know she and Peter were together last night, so I think she's trying to make it work. I think maybe he's pulling away from her…"

"That's…." Allie sighed. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say. Horrible? Understandable? Unfair? But Kate seemed to know what she'd meant, and the taller girl nodded in agreement.

"I know. But I doubt there's anything we can—" Kate stopped talking abruptly as Maia gripped her shoulder in excitement.

"Allie!" Maia interrupted with a loud squeal, catching everyone's attention. "Look up at the staff table! I think you have a visitor."

Confused, Allie turned her head to look at her professors' table. Standing there, finishing up a conversation with Dumbledore was…

"Josh!" Allie exclaimed, her eyes wide with delighted surprise. Ignoring everyone else in the room she stood up and raced down the aisle between tables.

"Allie," He turned to face her, his brown eyes shining in excitement and… something else… maybe nerves?

Allie jumped into his arms and he swung her small frame around in a circle before kissing her lovingly. The two of them pulled apart at the sound of applause and Dumbledore's chuckling, but they couldn't force themselves to separate completely and compromised by continuing to hold hands.

"Oh, don't be shy on my account," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "Young love is sweet. I'll let you be on your way."

"Thanks so much, Dumbledore," Josh said, sincerely. "I owe you one, for sure."

"Not at all," Dumbledore shook his head and walking back to his seat at the Head Table. "Oh, Josh? Good luck."

Josh nodded quickly and turned back to face his girlfriend.

"Hey love," He kissed her again, lips touching again. It was like a string of magic kept pulling them closer to each other, making it impossible for them to stay apart for more than seconds. "Miss me?"

"More than should be humanly possible!" Allie wrapped her arms around his torso and looked up at him. "And did you miss me?"

"More than you know, Allie," He pressed his lips gently against her forehead, breathing in her light flowery scent. "Did you already eat breakfast?"

"Well…" She looked sideways. "Not exactly. But that's okay, I'm not-"

"No, you go back to your table and finish breakfast," Josh chuckled, tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear. "The Ravenclaws are looking at me funny. I should probably go say hello and explain why I'm here."

"Oh?" Allie tilted her head in curiosity. "Why are you here?"

"To see you," Josh laughed. "Why else?"

With that, he kissed her one more time before they went to separate tables. Allie shoved her food in her mouth at record speed, almost forgetting to chew. Lily, Maia and Kate had to force her to swallow before she got up again. As soon as she was done, she went over to the Ravenclaw table, where Josh was still standing and slid in under his arm.

"Hi," She turned her head to look up at him, her heart glowing.

"Hi," He couldn't help it; he leaned down to kiss her again. Josh's friends all rolled their eyes, but refrained from commenting. As Josh and Allie started walking out of the Great Hall, however, James stood up.

"Hey, mate!" he called across the hall. "You coming to the Quidditch game to tonight? It's Gryffindor vs Slytherin."

"Of course I'm coming!" Josh announced. "It's been way too long since I've seen a game."

James sat down looking content, but Kate stood up and added her two pieces.

"You do know you have to stand in the Gryffindor stands, right? If only so that you can be with Als."

"Don't worry. I'll be cheering for you. I mean, it's not like you're playing Ravenclaw." Josh nodded, solemnly. He smiled, chagrinned, at his old team mates who rolled their eyes understandingly.

Allie still under his arm, the couple exited the Great Hall.

"Shall we enjoy the day? Or would you rather stay indoors?" Josh suggested as the two of them stood in the Entrance Hall between two sets of staircases.

"Let's go on a walk," Allie answered.

Josh nodded and pulled her towards the large front doors and out into the chilly December air.

"Rather cold, isn't it?" Allie commented, snuggling closer against Josh's soft blue sweater. He nodded and rubbed his hands over her robed arms, feeling thick layers of clothe on her skin.

"Do you want to go back inside?"

"No," Allie shook her head. "Just keep holding me and I'll be fine."

"I wasn't planning on letting go."

The couple walked aimlessly through the Hogwarts grounds until they found themselves behind the greenhouses. The entire school, it seemed, had opted to spend the morning before the Quidditch match inside. Josh took the private moment to pin his girlfriend against a reinforced glass wall and kiss her without interruption.

"Josh…" Allie sighed, as they sat against the wall. The silence was comfortable as they listened to their shared breath become slower.

"Allie?" Josh answered in question, his face perfect in relaxed bliss. His hair was messy and his eyes were closed, the yellow sunlight reflecting off his long eyelashes.

"Why did you come today?"

"I needed to see you. It was no easy task coming to the school. Good thing Dumbledore knows me so well and understands what I'm doing-"

"Dumbledore knows you well?" Allie interrupted as she moved to sit facing him. "I never noticed you even talking to him when you were in school…"

"Well, I didn't. Not a lot at least. Just once, actually…" Josh sighed. He sat up a bit straighter and opened his eyes to look into hers. "But I needed to see you… after the attack I had to leave right away and I never got to, well… I never got to make sure you were okay. And Pettigrew… Peter's little sister. I realized how much danger you could be in, too."

"I'm perfectly safe," Allie smiled reassuringly. "I'm at Hogwarts. And they are taking measures to make further Hogsmeade trips safe – that is, if we even have any more. You don't need to worry."

"I trust that," Josh almost blushed. "I'm nothing if not logical. It's just… it made me realise how little time we might have."

"Josh," Allie took his hand in hers and squeezed. "What are you talking about?"

"I need to tell you something,"

Allie didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

"The Order of the Phoenix is real," he continued, watching her expression shift from confusion to understanding and then back to confusion in a matter of seconds. "I'm in it. I'm not as active as Kingsley has become, but I'm in it. That's part of why I'm here. I need you to know this."

"Because you're putting yourself in danger?" Allie asked, trying to make sense of such ridiculous information. "Because… it's real. And you're in it."

"Well, yes," Josh said slowly. "But that's not all…"

"Wait," Allie interrupted. "Stop for a second. Just… I need to think."

Allie was in shock. She needed Josh to slow down. It seemed obvious now, that the Order was real, but that Josh was in it? The Order of the Phoenix was supposed to be made up of highly trained witches and wizards, not boys fresh out of Hogwarts. Wasn't Josh just a kid? Weren't they both just children? Yes, they were both of age, both very mature… but they weren't even out of their teenage years. How could Josh be in the Order of the Phoenix? It simply didn't seem real.

"No, Allie, let me finish. That's not all I need to tell you, all I need to say." He clasped both her hands in his and looked into her slightly dazed eyes. "Allie… I want you to marry me."

Silence.

Silence.

"You want…what?"

"I want you to marry me. Allie Korrets, I want you to be my wife. I want to be with you forever."

"Marry…"

"Marry me. I love you. Marry me."

Allie couldn't breathe. Josh's hands were so warm on hers. His eyes so sincere it felt as though she was melting in a pool of deep, dark chocolate. Her mind was on fire and her heart pumping blood faster than it had even moments before when they'd been lost in physical passion. Dark brown hair shone golden in the winter sunlight, his lips moving forming words that just couldn't be real. But it didn't feel like she was dreaming. The wind was freezing against her cheeks. Her hair flew in wisps out of her barrettes, getting stuck to her wet lips.

"Allie?" Josh's voice was almost muffled against the rushing blood in Allie's ears mixed with the sound of wind whistling against the castle and grounds. "Please answer me…"

"Josh."

Allie found her voice and her mind started to function again.

"Josh, I love you. But I'm seventeen years old. I'm still a student at Hogwarts."

His face fell, but he nodded.

"I'm sorry… that makes sense."

"But so does marrying you. You're right. I want to love you until I die," Allie spoke fast now, the words coming out almost as if she was solving an arithmancy problem aloud. Her eyes were lit up with excitement, but she spoke with a logical, reasoning tone.

"Allie," Josh leaned toward her, tucking her hair away from her face. He kissed her wind burnt lips with his own, but she pulled away.

"Just… ask me in a year, okay? I'm too young…"

"I hate saying this, but we might not be alive in a year, Als."

"I hate you saying that," Allie agreed, her eyes wide. "Don't think like that. Just don't. Damnit, Josh."

"You swore." Josh almost laughed at Allie's expression.

"Bloody right I swore!" She said, her words falling fast and desperate. "We're not going to die, Josh. We're going to wait for me to finish school, then I am going to get my Healer training, then we'll get married and buy a house and maybe have a baby. All the while we'll be helping to get rid of You Know Who. And Lily and Maia and Kate will be in our wedding with pretty dresses. Then Lily and James will get married and I'll be in her wedding. Same with Peter and Heather. And Kate and Caleb. And maybe even Remus and Sirius. Then all of our kids will be best friends and go to Hogwarts and it'll be okay."

Josh's eyes widened considerably, but didn't say anything.

"Dying just isn't part of the plan, okay?" Allie sighed, leaning back against Josh. "I'm sorry for freaking out… I just… It's going to be okay. We'll be okay."

Josh's eyes still wide, he nodded and kissed her briefly on the lips.

"Better than okay," He said. "We'll be bloody fantastic."

Lily looked out at the pitch and sighed. Quidditch matches were usually fun. Even if Lily wasn't the hugest Quidditch fan, the group energy was always enough to get her excited. But, today, the enthusiasm and tension in the air didn't make up for the fact that she didn't have anybody to cheer and scream with. The match had started half an hour previously and the lack of foul-play was astounding, especially for a Gryffindor-Slytherin game. For some reason, the lack of outright violence was less than a comfort to Lily and she pulled her robes around her tighter as she shivered, not just from cold, but from nerves, too.

It was unusually late in the year for a Quidditch match, Lily realised. She wasn't sure why the Heads had scheduled this match for the first week of December. As she rubbed her hands together, Lily found herself wishing – not for the first time – that Gryffindor wasn't playing. As much as she'd grown to enjoy watching James on the pitch, Lily thought that the entire event would be more enjoyable if James arms were around her and not the Quaffle.

Remus and Sirius were standing in front of her, arms around each other, screaming for James and the rest of the scarlet-clad players. To their left stood Caleb, looking slightly out of place with one of James' red and gold scarves around his neck but still yelling enthusiastically whenever Kate saved a goal or the Chasers made it past the Slytherin team and scored.

Behind the rowdy Hufflepuff, Emmeline and Maia stood clasping hands. Emmeline had charmed her hat and mittens red and gold for the occasion and Lily had to admit, it was just as odd seeing the sixth year girl in Gryffindor House colours as it was seeing Caleb clad in them. Whenever Gryffindor scored, Maia would hug Emmeline and jump up and down in glee. Every time Maia did this, Emmeline would smirk and look sideways at her.

The first time that had happened, it had caught Lily by surprise. Quite frankly, she'd expected Maia to turn and hug her. The second time, Lily had seen Emmeline's smirk and had been extremely amused. The third time, Lily thought she saw something more than House pride in Maia's eyes. But, then Lily had blinked and the look she'd seen on Maia's face was gone, replaced by pure enthusiasm, and Lily shook her head and convinced herself that she hadn't seen anything.

"Gryffindor has really improved this year," Josh shouted to Lily over the roar of the crowd that had erupted when Louise Atwood, Gryffindor's new fourth-year Seeker, dodged a Bludger that was aimed for her head.

"Have they?" Lily shouted back. She hadn't really been able to tell.

"Look at how seamless their passes are," Josh answered, leaning closer to Lily so that he didn't have to shout as loudly. He let go of Allie with his left arm and gestured towards the Chasers. "Look how they seem to be reading each others' minds; they barely look at who they'll pass to. It's really great flying. James has done a first rate job as their captain."

"Better than you?" Allie asked, looking up at Josh from where she stood, still wrapped in his right arm.

"Maybe," Josh admitted. "He's a natural. And the new Seeker isn't half bad, either. Lily, do you know if he's planning on going pro?"

"I don't know," Lily said, frowning slightly. "He hasn't said anything either way."

"He definitely could. He more than has the talent," Josh replied, turning away from Lily to watch as James passed the Quaffle to Jade Verden and swerved to avoid a Bludger.

Lily sighed again as she, too, turned her attention back to the match. Jade had passed to Kristi who flew to about five feet in front of the Slytherin Keeper – Andrew Flint – before passing the Quaffle back to James.

"Potter shoots," the commentary voice boomed out from a couple stands away, "and Potter scores! Fifty-thirty to Gryffindor!"

The crowd erupted in a mix of cheers and boos. Sirius planted a kiss on the cheek of a slightly embarrassed looking Remus and Maia, once again, hugged Emmeline and jumped up and down. Lily clapped and joined in with the screams of "Let's go, Potter!"

Once the Quaffle was back in play and the crowd had settled slightly, Lily returned to taking in her surroundings. Her attention was quickly drawn to the two students standing in front of Allie and Josh. It wasn't their enthusiastic ecstasy at Gryffindor's score that caught her attention. Rather, the tense postures with which they stood, the looks of severity on their faces and the urgency with which they were speaking made Peter and Heather stand out more than any display of rowdy house pride would have.

Against her better judgement, Lily took a slight step to the right towards the couple and strained to hear them over the cacophony of the crowd. Her efforts proved fruitless, however. In a momentary lapse in the cheering, Lily just managed to make out the faint but indistinguishable buzzing of Muffliato.

Lily swore under her breath. She'd never asked Snape what the countercharm for Muffliato was, never having had any reason to undo it. She wasn't usually the type to meddle in the affairs of others; she was content to live her own life and offer advice when people sought it out. But for some reason, she was intensely interested and mildly concerned with the scene that was unfolding before her.

Over the past year, Lily had gotten to know Heather and had come to think of her as a friend. Her feelings towards the younger girl had only grown since Helen's death two weeks previously. And while they were by no means close – at least, not like Lily was with Allie, Maia, and Kate - Lily cared about her and knew that relationship problems were the last thing that she needed.

Peter, Lily thought as she watched the two of them, didn't seem quite as concerned with Heather's emotional wellbeing. Lily watched as Heather's expression morphed from anxious to crestfallen. Peter took a step backwards, as far as the tightly packed Quidditch stands would allow, shaking his head. Heather reached out for his hand as he turned away from her, but he shook it off. A moment later, Peter had pushed his way between two eager Gryffindor supporters and had disappeared into the crowd. Heather stood staring at where he'd disappeared before she, too, pushed through the crowd after him.

The crowd roared in indignation when the commentator announced that Slytherin had scored a goal, but this time Lily didn't join in with the shouts. With a quick look at the Quidditch Pitch, Lily silently apologised to James for missing the end of his match.

"Excuse me," Lily said to Josh as she squeezed past him and Allie.

"Where are you going, Lils?" Allie asked, looking at her friend in confusion.

"I think something just happened with Heather and Peter," Lily answered quickly. "I'm going to go see that everything's okay."

"You'll miss the end of the game," Josh pointed out.

"James will understand," Lily argued. "I'm Heather's friend and Head Girl; I have to go." And, with that, she hurried after Heather.

It didn't take Lily long to find her. She was standing at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the Quidditch stands staring blankly over the grounds.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked the younger girl, trying to keep her voice as low as possible while still making it heard over the crowd above them.

Heather just shook her head as tears began to fall from her eyes, and she didn't even bother to wipe them away.

"What's happened?" Lily asked, frowning in concern and pulling her House mate into a tight embrace.

"I don't know what I've done wrong," Heather answered as a sob escaped her and she leaned into Lily. "I don't know what to do and I keep doing everything wrong!"

"Shhh, it'll be okay," Lily murmured into the sandy blonde hair. "It will all be okay."

"I just want to help and I keep making everything worse. It's so hard and it hurts so much," Heather choked out between sobs. "It hurts so much and I can't do anything."

"I know," Lily said, swallowing hard and thinking again of everything that had become so dark in their young lives. They were barely adults and almost still children. The rising darkness had eaten away at their innocence. And Lily feared that too soon it would all be gone.

The crowd erupted for a final time and Lily looked up to see seven red-clad figures flying in formation around the Pitch led by the small figure of Louise Atwood, her fist in the air. Gryffindor had won: 250 points to 40. A victory.