A/N: G'day mates! Right, so . . . no idea where that came from. Ahem. Anyway. Thanks to SeriouslySiriusBlack, HerHeadsInTheSky, SecretBlack, (hope your exam went well!), BrokenFaerie16, dancer987, .forever2116, leeease, skazmi, emotionsonhold, swimer123, ottoismydog, Lexi Roxi Lauren Chipsterz xxx (random, two of my cousins are named Lexi and Lauren, and I def. thought of them when I read your name), Silver Scorpion, EchoNightFall22, Cassie Weasley, Evisawesome, jak23, Alice Demer, Ami Ukiyo, DarlingILoveYou, Bittersweet x, angiedotdotla, and Elless for reviewing last week!

Some people wondered what Lily's 'feeling of regret' meant at the end of Ch. 18. Since she's going to figure it out herself, but not really in a specific sense, and not for . . . some more time ;) I thought I'd step in as the omniscient author and explain. She was (in my mind, anyway) regretting ditching James, as well as (to some extent) hating him for so long.

Well, onward!

Chapter 19: Release

Considering how badly yesterday had turned out, I decided not to skip breakfast the next morning just in case that would jinx it, despite the load of homework I'd left undone the night before. In the Great Hall, Mary split off to go sit with Andrew at the Ravenclaw table—the pair hadn't seen much of each other over the past few days, so they'd arranged a breakfast date this morning. I didn't mind; I could eat alone without feeling self-conscious about it.

As it turned out, I didn't have to eat alone after all, because Potter waved me down as I reached the Gryffindor table.

"Where're Remus, Sirius, and Peter?" I asked as I sat across from him. "Aren't you all joined at the hip, or something?"
"Ha, ha. No, Remus was still feeling tired from the full moon,"—this in a low voice, to ensure no one would overhear him—"so he's have a lie in. Peter had to finish up homework, and Sirius was the lucky one enlisted to help him."

My insides squirmed guiltily as I was reminded of my own unfinished work. "I should probably be up there doing the same, but . . ."

James raised an eyebrow. "Lily Evans, are you skipping out on homework two days in a row? That's almost worse than me! In fact, I don't think I've ever done that."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yeah right, I'm sure you have."

"No, really, I haven't! Coincidentally, if you're not opposed to copying, you can borrow mine before class."

"I might take you up on that, actually."

Potter sat back, pretending to be shocked. "Sorry, but did you just agree to cheating?"

I threw a sausage at him—he caught it, of course, and popped it into his mouth with a grin. "I'm not a complete swot, you know."

"Not anymore," Potter agreed, and I glared at him for the hidden implication. He just grinned wider.

"Though I'm not sure I should since you just insulted me, I wanted to thank you for last night—and don't interpret that how I know you want to—I meant for the food and everything."

"No problem."

"So, how did you get it all up there?"

Potter raised an eyebrow. "You really want to know?"

I thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Yes, I really do."

"Okay." He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and lowering his voice conspiratorially. "I flew."

I frowned. "What?"

"I flew," he repeated. "Strapped everything to my broomstick and flew up to the dormitory window—Mary let me in."

I stared at him. Then I grinned. "You're putting me on."

"No, I'm not! It's how we've always gotten up to the girls' dormitories."

"We?"

"Sirius and I."

"I should've guessed. Well, so much for our supposed security measures to prevent exactly that."

"I figure the founders couldn't have actually meant to keep boys out—I mean, they must've thought of brooms. I just look at the 'security measures' as a way to ensure only the most worthy members of the male species can enter," he said with a wink.

"Or at least only those with untrustworthy intentions."

Potter grinned. "One of the two. Luckily for Padfoot and me, we're both."

I raised my eyes to the ceiling, but couldn't help smiling a bit.

"So, would you prefer a quick death then? I think that would be the most merciful way to do it."

"What?" I said, completely bewildered.

"You know, since I've told you the secret, I've got to kill you now," Potter replied matter-of-factly.

"Hey, now, that's not fair!"

James shrugged. "Sure it is. I did give you fair warning, after all. And yet you asked anyway."

"Then you shouldn't have told me! You don't want me to die, do you?"

He sighed melodramatically. "I'll admit, it'll be a heavy loss, but I'll manage somehow."

Before I could reply, A.J. plopped down beside me. "Good morning, beautiful," he greeted me, planting a kiss on my temple.

"Hey gorgeous," James replied with a sultry wink.

I snorted, but A.J. just gave him a stern look. "James, I told you, it's over between us."

James's eyes widened. "You can't mean that!"

"I do, though." And just when I thought I'd been weirded out enough, A.J. grinned suddenly and said, "Unless Lily's open to a threesome?"

I honestly felt my breakfast come back up slightly. "God, no. I can't believe you would even ask!" I said, shooting A.J. a revolted look.

"And on that strange and disturbing note, I've got to go," Potter announced, standing. "Gotta make sure Remus is awake, and see that Sirius hasn't gotten completely frustrated with Peter and just finished his homework for him. He'll never learn that way, after all," he added with a smirk. "I'll see you at practice, Rookie, if not before, and Evans—see you in class."

"See you," I said.

"Bye, love," A.J. added, earning another smirk from Potter.

"Seriously, stop that would you?" I said.

He laughed and started in on his eggs again.

Glancing up and down the table, I said, "Now that James has left, we're one of those weird couples who sit on the same side of the table."

"And is that a problem? You have to admit, it makes it much easier to do this." He turned my face toward him and gave me a quick kiss.

I fixed him with a considering look when we broke apart. "Well, that's true. Still, most people don't appreciate witnessing public snogging before at least noon—trust me, I used to be one of them."

"Fine," A.J. said with an exaggerated sigh. Then, with far more grace than I could have managed it, he slid under the table and popped back out on the opposite bench.

OOOOOOOO

I met up with Mary just outside our Defense classroom. "So, how's the boyfriend?" I asked, linking my arm through hers.

"He's good—and yours?"

"As infuriatingly cute as ever—though remind me to tell you later what he said about Potter." We sat down next to each other towards the center of the room.

Mary raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, intriguing."

"No, not really—more disturbing, actually."

"Disturbing and Potter? Never," Mary said sarcastically.

"I resent that, Miss Macdonald," the subject of our conversation said as he slid into a seat behind me, followed closely by Remus, Sirius, and Peter. Reaching around me, he set a piece of parchment on my desk. Glancing down, I saw it was our homework for today.

"Oh, right—well, I don't think I really have time to copy it, but thanks anyway," I said half-turning in my chair to hand the paper back.

Potter shrugged. "Suit yourself. But Galbraithe isn't exactly one to let you off easy."

I wrinkled my nose. "Yeah, I know."

"Evans, you should have let me know you hadn't done your homework yet," Sirius said. "You could've joined the I-like-to-leave-my-homework-til-the-morning-before-and-then-force-Sirius-to-help-me-with-it club." He shot a glare at Peter, who shrank slightly in his seat.

I rolled my eyes. "First of all, that is an absurdly long name for a club. And second, don't give Peter a hard time—you know it's hardly an effort for you to help him, since you already know it all."

Sirius gave me a surprised look. "Did that—are you complimenting me?"

"You're welcome," I said.

Sirius didn't have a chance to reply, however, because Galbraithe entered at that moment to begin the lesson.

"Good morning everyone—if I could have your homework first, please?" There was a scraping of chairs as the class queued in front of the professor's desk to hand in their papers.

I joined the back of the line, and when I finally reached Galbraithe's desk, I said sheepishly, "Er, I didn't get a chance to complete my homework, Professor."

She raised her eyebrows. "Indeed, Miss Evans? Well, if you could stop by to see me after class."

"Of course." This can't be good.

OOOOOOOO

"I can't believe she gave me detention," I said for the third time at lunch that day. I wasn't as disappointed with myself as I'd have expected for my first detention; I was more pissed at Galbraithe for what I saw as a highly unfair punishment. "I mean, she knows I'm a good student! Right? Don't I get some sort of grace period, just this once? She's still making me do the homework—I think that should be good enough."

"Well, she has to treat everyone the same, Evans," Sirius said condolingly, though his tone didn't convince me. He and James had looked extremely amused when I'd shared the news after class. "She can't play favorites."

"Slughorn does," I muttered. I knew that sounded snobbish, but I couldn't help thinking about how he'd have handled the situation—he probably wouldn't have made me hand in the work at all, and I was sure the words "detention" and "Lily" would never cross his lips in the same sentence.

"I've never really understood why he likes you so much anyway," Mary mused, almost to herself.

I glared at her. "Wow, thanks."

"Well, Evans, I have to say I'm impressed—getting detention all on your own, without me having to help you along," James said with a smirk.

"Yes, welcome to the realm of the normal," Sirius added.

I sighed. "How many times do I have to say it? Never getting detention is not abnormal."

"Of course it is," Sirius said, frowning at me as though I'd suggested the sky was green.

"Even Moony's had detention," Peter put in, as though this settled the matter.

"He has a point," Remus said, lips twitching.

"Oh come on, Remus, I thought you, at least, would be on my side," I said.

"Never trust a Marauder, Lily," A.J. said wisely.

James shot him a warning look. "Watch yourself, Rookie."

A.J. grinned. "What? I thought you all prided yourselves on not being trustworthy?"

"Untrustworthiness is kind of suggested by the name 'Marauder' itself," Mary added.

James pretended to look thoughtful. "I suppose," he said slowly after a moment. "Well, no wonder Filch didn't believe me last week when I swore I hadn't hung Mrs. Norris from the chandelier in the teacher's lounge."

OOOOOOOO

"So, if I could have your wand, Miss Evans, just to be sure you won't be tempted," Galbraithe said, holding out her hand.

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes, and couldn't quite hold back the annoyed sigh that escaped my lips as I handed it over.

"Thank you. I'll be back in an hour."

I nodded, and my professor left the room. Turning resignedly towards the task before me, I picked up the bucket and sponge she'd left behind. For my detention, I'd been assigned to clean the ink stains off the desks in our Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Without magic, naturally. Having been raised as a Muggle, I'd had my fair share of experience with mundane, non-magical cleaning. But that didn't mean I liked it.

Knowing just standing there staring at the desks wouldn't help them get clean, I sighed again as I knelt before the desk in the front left corner of the room. My arm started aching before I'd even finished the first row. I paused to shake it out and stretch my back, which was getting cramped leaning over the desks. As I bent back over to start on the second row, the door opened, causing me to look up. Not seeing anyone, I'd nearly decided Galbraithe must simply not have closed it properly when suddenly my head snapped up again.

"Potter?" I asked, knowing he was my best guess for an invisible intruder.

He pulled of his invisibility cloak, grinning. "You're good, Evans."

"Well, I don't have that many choices for invisible friends who would stalk me to my detention."

"I'm not stalking you," James protested. "Honestly, how many times have you accused me of that?"

"Which tells you what?"

"That you're paranoid."

"Fine. Then how did you know I was here? I didn't even know where my detention was going to be—Galbraithe just told me to meet me in her office." I crossed my arms and fixed him with a challenging look.

To my surprise, his expression suddenly turned serious. "Before I tell you, you have to swear you're not going to share what I'm about to show you with anyone. Not even Mary. Or A.J."

Sure he was joking, a hesitant smile spread across my face. "What?"

"I'm serious, Evans. This is one of our biggest secrets. And most incriminating."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming that by 'our' you mean you, Peter, Sirius and Remus. And if that's so, I'd say that being illegally unregistered Animagi is probably more incriminating than whatever this is." James didn't answer, just continued to look at me intently. I sighed. "Okay, I promise I won't tell anyone."

Potter nodded and walked towards me. He laid a wrinkled, old-looking piece of parchment on one of the desks I'd recently cleaned. I glanced skeptically up at James, but he was concentrating on the parchment, placing his wand tip against the paper. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said, sounding as though he was intoning a religious vow.

And to my extreme surprise, dark lines of ink began to spread across the previously blank parchment. As I watched, the seemingly random lines came together to form what I soon realized was a map of Hogwarts. And not just a map—looking closer, with increasing amazement, I saw that the parchment was covered in small, individually labeled black dots. Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Mary were all in the Gryffindor common room. A.J., shockingly, was in the library. Dumbledore was striding along the third floor corridor, while Galbraithe was stationary in her office. Probably sitting at her desk, I thought absently. Finally, my eyes found the Defense classroom, and the two dots labeled 'Lily Evans' and 'James Potter.'

I raised my eyes to James's face again to find him grinning once more, while I was pretty sure my face was approximately akin to a deer in headlights. "Where did you get this?" I finally managed to ask. In answer, James pointed to the top of the map, where its name was scrawled in fancy, swirling letters. Distracted by the intricacy and brilliance of the map itself, I hadn't noticed it before. Reading it now, I actually laughed out loud in shock. "'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map,'" I read aloud. "You made it."

"Yep," James said proudly.

"How?"

"That, I'm not going to tell you. Suffice it to say it couldn't have been accomplished by anyone less brilliant than us," he added with a wink.

"I believe it," I said sincerely, and James's grin widened. "I mean, it's actually very impressive—though I have to say it makes all your pranks less so."

James's grin slipped and he frowned at me. "Why?"

"Well, I guess it's not really the pranks themselves, but how you all always seem to get away with them so easily. That's not as remarkable now I know you've had this map the whole time."

"We haven't had it the whole time—just since last year."

"Oh." I narrowed my eyes. "So, that wouldn't happen to coincidentally line up with when you became Animagi for any particular reason, would it?"

Potter's grin returned. Instead of answering, though, he just said, "So, what's Galbraithe got you doing in here?"

"Cleaning the desks without magic. And before you say it, no, being raised as a Muggle hasn't given me an upper hand in that regard—I'm rubbish at housekeeping chores." I smiled a little. "My mum always complains it's not fair that I can use magic now to cheat."

James turned to contemplate the desks. After a moment, he raised his wand, muttered something, and waved it across the room. Instantly, the ink stains on the desks disappeared. Smirking at me, Potter said, "Well, looks like you're done with detention. Which leaves you with, what, half an hour to kill?"

"So it would seem," I agreed. "Though I do have to be back here at the end to get my wand from Galbraithe."

"And to convince her you were actually here the whole time," James added, raising his eyebrows.

"Right, that too," I said with a sheepish grin. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your rescue?"

James shrugged. "Just bored, I guess. Plus, I rather enjoy sneaking people out of detentions, and, as I trust you can easily imagine, I've had loads of practice over the years."

"I'm sure," I muttered. "Well, what do you suggest we do now, since you're such the expert?"

"Want to see some of the secret passages out of Hogwarts?"

To my surprise, I hardly felt guilty at all as I considered going along with Potter's suggestion. Of course, that probably had something to do with the fact that I hadn't thought this detention fair in the first place. "Sure, why not?"

"I must say, you are developing a shocking disregard for the rules, Evans," Potter commented as we left the room—after checking the Marauder's Map to make sure no teachers were nearby, of course.

"I blame you."

"I don't think I can take all the credit—I had nothing to do with you getting this detention in the first place, remember."

"True, but exploring secret passageways out of the school when I'm supposed to be in said detention is definitely more rebellious, and that is all on you."

"You didn't have to come with me," Potter countered.

Well, can't argue with that.

"So, there are seven passageways out of the school," James continued when I didn't answer.

"That you know of," I cut in.

Potter gave me stern look. "There are seven passageways out of the school," he repeated, and I rolled my eyes. "Or, I suppose I should say 'were.' One of them collapsed at the beginning of the year—luckily we weren't in it at the time—"

"Or unluckily, depending on your perspective," I interrupted again. "Sorry, old habits and all that," I said when Potter glared at me again.

"Anyway, there's a second one that Sirius is pretty sure Filch saw him coming out of last week, so it's been relegated to emergency use only. But the other five are fair game. So," he said, stopping in front of a tapestry of several stuffy-looking, eighteenth century wizards just to the right of a suit of armor, "this is the one we use most often—comes out just beyond Hogsmeade, so it's unlikely anyone will catch you on that end." He pulled the tapestry aside and beckoned me into the small opening it concealed. James knelt down in the cramped space, and I copied his actions.

"If you just push on this spot here," he said, giving the stone he'd indicated a firm shove. It slid back into the wall and to the side, leaving a small opening in its wake. Potter curled his fingers around the opening and pulled. A piece of the wall swung forward to reveal a dark tunnel beyond. "You sort of have to crawl along for a bit, but it opens up a little further on so there's room enough to stand." He sat back on his heels and looked at me to gauge my reaction.

"Well, I wish I had more time—I could really go for a butterbeer right now."

James grinned. "Next time, then." He pushed the door shut again, and the displaced stone slid back into place.

We straightened and pushed aside the tapestry—finding ourselves face-to-face with Mulciber and Avery. My first thought was, why does this always happen when I'm with James? It's like we have some sort of Slytherin magnet. Secondly, I remembered that I didn't have a wand, and the thought made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable. I took an unconscious step closer to Potter. Finally, I realized what was missing from the all-too-familiar scene: Severus.

Avery grinned evilly at us. "Didn't know you fancied Mudbloods, Potter."

I felt myself blush, as I realized how it must have looked to them, Potter and I emerging from behind a tapestry together.

I saw James's hand twitch towards his wand as he glared at Avery. Unfortunately, Mulciber noticed the movement as well, and he raised his own wand immediately. "Don't even think about it, Potter."

Avery mirrored his actions, though pointing his wand at me instead.

"Bit jumpy, aren't you?" James said, raising his eyebrows at the pair of them.

As he spoke, an idea struck me, and I moved slightly to my right, making as though to duck behind the suit of armor next to the tapestry concealing the passageway to Hogsmeade. Avery's evil grin widened. "That's not going to help you, sweetheart."

Potter glanced at me, then to the suit of armor, and understanding flashed in his eyes. With just the hint of a grin playing around his lips, he continued, "But I suppose you have reason to be nervous, don't you?" He was trying to keep Mulciber and Avery distracted, and it was working. Avery turned away from me to frown at James, and his wand lowered ever so slightly.

"What the hell are you on about, Potter?" Avery demanded.

"Well, way I hear it, your names weren't among those chosen for a certain group, which means you obviously messed up somehow, and I expect you've got to watch yourselves now."

Now I was frowning at Potter as well. What is he talking about?

"How do you know that?" Mulciber demanded with a snarl.

Potter shrugged nonchalantly. "So, what was it? He figured you were too dim to join him? Or too ugly—yeah, that's probably more—"

Without warning, Mulciber's fist slammed into James's face, and I winced as I heard a sickening crack. James stumbled backwards, clutching his nose, and I took advantage of Avery's now complete distraction to carry out my original plan, which was to shove the suit of armor away from the wall so that it crashed down on top of him. Pretty brilliant, no? Anyway, that effectively incapacitated him, and James, evidently recovering far sooner than Mulciber expected, made quick work of him with a Stunning spell. Even though it came out sounding more like 'Subefy' due to his recently broken nose, it still got the job done.

After ensuring that Avery had indeed been knocked unconscious—a suit of armor falling on them will generally do that to a person—I straightened and said, "Well, that was fun. Seems like you get punched in the face a lot when you're with me," I added conversationally.

James glared at me, and I had to admit his injury looked rather painful, what with all the blood that was streaming from his nose. "You're endoying dis, aren'd you?"

My lips twitched. "It's quite hard to take you seriously when you sound like that, you know."

"Dis isn'd funny, Ebans!"

I laughed—I know, horrible, but I couldn't help it. "Okay, I'm sorry. Let me heal that for you." I stepped closer and held my hand out for James's wand, but he shook his head and stepped back, putting a hand over his nose protectively.

"Doh," he said. "I don'd trust you."

I sighed. "I won't mess it up, I promise."

James shook his head again, and before I could protest, raised his wand, tapped his nose, and said, "Ebiskey." With a cracking sound that was almost as horrible to hear as the original break, his nose snapped back into place. "I'm perfectly capable of healing myself, thanks."

"Fine," I said, crossing my arms.

"I can't believe you laughed at me getting punched—that's something Sirius would do. I think he's rubbing off on you more than I am."

"Merlin, that's a terrifying thought," I said with a shudder. Looking down at the prone forms of Mulciber and Avery, I added, "What should we do with these two?"

"Oh, just leave them there," James said carelessly. "They might not be found for days, if we're lucky."

"Well, Avery wasn't Stunned, so he'll wake up eventually," I pointed out. "But yes, no good moving them anywhere, I suppose. It'd only be extra, unnecessary work for us."

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

We started walking back towards the Defense classroom, as my detention was almost up. "You realize you still have blood all over your face, right?" I asked Potter after a moment.

"Well, I figured this would make my return to the common room more dramatic. And you know how I love a dramatic entrance," he said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. After a pause, and knowing full well I would probably regret asking, I said, "So, what was all that rubbish you were coming out with back there?"

"Excuse me, but I never spout rubbish."

"Right, sorry—but I mean, what you were saying to them, you know, before Mulciber punched you . . . was that—did you mean Voldemort?"

He looked at me oddly. "Yeah," he said slowly. "You know, because Snape—wait, you don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" I asked, suddenly uneasy.

"I mean, why would you, I guess? I only know because Sirius—"

"Potter—"

"But why would he tell you? He was probably expecting me to tell you—"

"Potter!"

"What?"

"You have five seconds to explain what the hell you're talking about, or I'll break your nose again."

James's lips twitched up slightly at that, but he soon looked solemn again, which made me even more apprehensive to hear what he had to say. "He left."

"Left," I repeated. "As in—school?"

"Yes."

"And you know this because . . ."

"Because Sirius's brother Regulus left too. And I'm not exactly sure how he—Sirius—found out about Snape, but his brother's always been a rather sore subject, so I didn't really press him for details."

"When did he tell you this?"

"Last week."

"So they—they've gone to join Voldemort." I didn't really phrase it as a question, and James just gave me a what-do-you-think look.

I couldn't figure out how the news made me feel. Somehow, knowing that Sev was actually working for Voldemort now—that he'd dropped out of school, for Merlin's sake!—made it more real and disconcerting than simply knowing the path he'd chosen would eventually lead him there.

"I'm sorry," James said quietly after a moment.

"Don't," I said, a bit sharper than I'd meant to.

"Excuse me?" James said, eyebrows raised.

"Just . . . please don't."

"I thought we already fought about this," James retorted, his voice clipped.

"I know, but—"

"And I thought we were—you know—good, as far as everything with Snape was concerned."

"No, we are, but . . . that doesn't mean I want to discuss this with you."

"Right, got it," he said, still sounding annoyed.

We walked the rest of the way to the classroom in silence. I sat down on top of one of the desks, and James leaned against the wall near the door. He crossed his arms and stared towards the front of the room. After a moment, I said, "Can I please wash the blood off your face?"

James whipped his head around to stare at me, a surprised smile jumping to his lips.

"Sorry, it's just bothering me."

"Okay—have at it."

I hopped off the desk and grabbed the sponge Galbraithe had left for the desks.

"Wait," Potter said as I walked over to him. "That has soap on it—it'll get in my mouth."

"Then close your mouth. I know it'll be hard for you," I said with a smirk.

James glared at me, but he shut his lips tightly. I scrubbed the partially dried blood off his face, feeling a bit strange as I did so. "I sort of feel like your mum or something," I said jokingly.

Potter just raised an eyebrow.

"Right, you can't talk, sorry," I said with a grin. I finished cleaning his face and glanced up again to find Potter looking at me oddly. "What?"

"Shit," he said.

"What?" I repeated, confused and a little worried.

"Er . . . nothing. I, er, should probably go—you know, so Galbraithe doesn't know I was here. So, see you back in the common room."

As he left abruptly, I wondered if I'd ever fully understand the mystery that was James Potter.

A/N: So, I kind of pulled a cop out with the Snape leaving school thing . . . because for some reason I could not really get him to work into this story. I know, horrible, but I'm not perfect. I hope you can accept that ;)

As far as James's odd reaction...well, I'm gonna leave you guessing on that for a while ;)

And I really do not understand those couples who sit on the same side of the table. It's weird.