Disclaimer: Y'all know what I don't own. JKR and Suzanne Collins are far more talented than I.

A/N: So you can pretty much never expect updates this close together, but this is kind of a filler chapter. Then next sections are going to be difficult to write, so I thought I'd get this up as soon as I could. I pretty much outline the next three or so parts in this. I hope you all still like where I'm going with the story.

Minor announcement, but there may be some companion pieces to this coming up. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to stick to James' perspective, but there's at least one story I really want to tell about Lily, so I'll be writing it as a oneshot (though there may be more than one, if I'm so inclined).

HUGE HUGE HUGE shoutout to fanficsunderthestairs for boosting this fic after the last update. That's probably why half of you are here. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Seeing your reactions is incredible.

Enjoy! - Sie

Part 5

November seemed to fly by. Evenings came too quickly, giving way to the next morning too easily. The castle grounds were suddenly coated in a fine layer of frost that had no intentions of fading.

James felt himself growing more powerful. Lucius hadn't been wrong about the benefits of returning to basic spell work. His wand control was better, his spells more precise. Even the muggleborns were making progress; after two weeks, Reg could finally conjure a corporeal patronus. Lily had been tackling transfiguration and was now transfiguring small animals. Everyone was immersing themselves in magic and, with a few exceptions, the twenty-four champions were becoming powerful wizards.

All of this, just so twenty-three of them could die.

"Some important events are coming up for you in the next few weeks." Lucius gathered the champions at the end of a training session in late November. The Cup started in a little over a month, just after the new year.

"Until now, you have been focused on expanding and perfecting your magical abilities. But previous years of the House Cup have proven that it will not always be the most powerful or talented wizard who is victorious.

"There are three events you must prepare yourselves for. The first of these is the Yule Ball. It is there that you will reemerge into the student population and celebrate the achievements of your training."

James shuddered. The Yule Ball was uncomfortable enough as a student – he could hardly imagine it as a champion.

"Next will be your interviews with the Daily Prophet. As you know, the House Cup is broadcast across much of the wizarding world. Many like to participate in the games by sponsoring their favorite champion. They can send you food, magical items, or spells and these gifts can be the difference between life and death. Your interview with the Prophet is crucial to gaining sponsors.

"Finally, to sum up your training, you will perform in front of a panel of judges. They will score your abilities, so that sponsors – and your competitors – will have some understanding of what you are capable of.

"I hope you will take each of these events seriously, as they can all have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the House Cup."

James swallowed hard.

"You are dismissed."

The champions filed out into the corridor, forming groups to discuss the up-coming events. Reg caught up to James. He supposed that they were friends now, despite James being hesitant to label them as such.

"Have you thought about who you're going to bring to the Yule Ball?" Reg asked.

"Not really. I think the idea is fairly awful."

"What do you mean?"

James sighed. "I mean, forcing us to dance and put on a smile…and to bring dates who will feel too guilty to say no because for all they know, we might die soon. And for what? Voldemort's amusement? The whole thing is just fake and horrible."

Reg turned the thought over in his mind a few times. "I guess the way I see it, I'd never get to bring a pretty girl to a dance before. And now I have my choice of the lot. And maybe…well, maybe the joy I feel then won't be so fake. Dancing with the girl of my dreams? I don't know. I think that'd make me happy enough for a thousand Patronuses."

The pair reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories. Reg lifted his hand in a small wave before disappearing into his common room.

He's idealistic, James thought. He had little patience for idealism.

James doubled back to Gryffindor Tower. He wondered who he might ask to the Yule Ball, despite his reservations. There were plenty of girls in his year who would kill (Merlin, they needed a better saying for that) to go out with him. But under these circumstances? James could hardly manage the thought of that look, the pitying "chances are you're going to die, so sure, whatever you want before then" look. On the b-side, though, were the girls who were determined to date the winner-to-be. Most of these girls were in Slytherin, but every house had its own share of attention-seekers. He noticed several of them in Gryffindor already.

Surprisingly, at least to him, James had gained a lot of support. When he'd enter the common room, voices would hush and a mixture of sympathetic and hopeful glances would be directed at him. He remembered doing the same to the champions before him, but this felt different. He was scared of letting them down.

This time he entered a nearly empty common room. Lily, having beaten him there, was nestled into an over sized arm chair with a spell book, light from outside pouring over her through the window.

"You know we're not supposed to train outside of our sessions."

"It's not training, it's reading," Lily replied flatly.

"Reading about magic before a magic competition is kind of training, Red."

"It's studying –"

"Semantics."

"– besides," she continued, raising an eyebrow at him, "if you think Regulus Black isn't throwing killing curses at spiders in his room right now, you're lying to yourself. I don't need to be any further behind than I already am."

"Fair point." James sat on the floor in front of her chair and wrapped his arms lazily around his knees. "So how're you feeling?"

Lily closed her book and stared instead out of the window, her lips forming a small, thin line. "Nervous," she answered.

"About doing magic? You've been studying day and night and you can tell in training that you've improved a great deal fr –"

"It's not that," she cut him off.

"Then what?" he asked.

She paused, a tiny quiver on her bottom lip. "It's just that, I've been thinking about my family a lot. My sister, mostly."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah. She's not like – well, she's a muggle."

"Oh."

"But when I got my Hogwarts letter, she was jealous. She thought that I bested her again, that I got to be even more special. Of course, neither of us knew what was going on in the wizarding world or what my being a witch meant. And now her stupid, special sister is going to be killed for being what she is."

James reached up and placed a hand gently on her leg. She placed her hand over his.

"Are you nervous about dying?" The words came out of James' mouth more easily than he had hoped.

"No, it's not that." She shook her head, her hair falling long waves around her face. "I guess I've reached a sort of peace with the idea, though who knows how I'll actually feel when I'm staring down the end of a wand.

"It's just...well, Mary MacDonald and I had a deal that if either of us got picked, that we'd tell the other's family. Voldemort doesn't seem the type to politely inform muggle families about the deaths of their 'magic-stealing' children, y'know?" Lily's eyes still hadn't met his. "I don't know what she'll tell them or if she'll even tell them the truth, but I'm scared for them. I'm afraid they won't believe her. And Mary! What was I thinking, putting that kind of weight on her? I wouldn't blame her if she didn't do it at all. If I were her..." She closed her eyes and they let the silence pass between them.

A group of fourth year girls came in through the portrait hole, laughing exaggeratedly until they took notice of James and Lily. James hastily removed his hand from her leg.

The girls walked past the pair, heading up to the dormitories. One girl paused as she passed James, her fingers grazing his back. All she said was "Hi, James" and touched him so gently he wasn't entirely convinced that he hadn't dreamed that detail. But her voice and her eyes were filled with more sadness than James had ever experienced. He focused on the impression of Lily's hand that he felt on the back of his own until they left.

"It's real now, isn't it?" Lily said quietly after the room was emptied. "Before, I could just focus on the fact that I was finally learning magic, but with all of these events coming up…it's really real."

She was right.

James was struck with a determination to no longer be pitied. "I've got an idea."

"Oh?" Lily appeared curious.

He thought carefully about each word. "This is what we're supposed to do, right? We're supposed to accept that we're going to die. That's how the House Cup survives – we allow it to." He was on his feet now. "I say, let's throw out the script!"

"Are you suggesting a revolution?"

"Well, no, but…but we don't have to be so passive about our fate. If we're going to die, let's resist! Let's show Voldemort that he can't just use us and makes us do whatever he wants."

Lily laughed. He knew that standing up to Voldemort seemed daunting – absurd, even.

But he was James Potter. He had a secret identity under Voldemort's nose. He had given his wand to a muggleborn so she could learn magic. He'd been fighting back this whole time. He volunteered himself for death to save his best friend. That tiny act of defiance was the spark of a fire telling him to fight.

"What are you thinking about, James?"

In order to stand up to Voldemort, they needed something public and something people would support, so that Voldemort couldn't retaliate. That's why volunteering for Sirius worked.

He had an idea.

"Evans, what do you think about going to the Ball with me?"

He was positively mad.

"What?"

"Think about it – we'll be united as Gryffindor, a pureblood and a muggleborn! Voldemort will hate it, but the students will love it! He won't be able to do anything about it."

Lily bit her upper lip. "Is that even allowed?"

"It's not forbidden, which is really just –"

"– semantics."

James grinned so wide that it hurt. "C'mon, Red. What do you say?"

The corner of her mouth was curling in and out of a smile. Her big, green eyes locked onto James' and a second laugh broke her worried expression.

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, okay!"

He bent down and kissed the top of her head without thinking. "Lily, you're brilliant."

"Get out of here before I change my mind, Potter," she said, swatting at him with her book. As he walked away, he swore he saw her smiling into the pages. Before he reached the stairs leading to his room, he turned back to her.

"Oh, and Evans?"

She looked up at him expectantly.

"I'll be wearing gold."

James climbed the stairs, her laughter washing over him. He was fighting back against Voldemort. He was going to the Yule Ball with Lily Evans. Despite any other circumstances, James was happy and he felt alive.

He reached his room and fell carelessly onto his bed. Replaying the rush of events from the day, Reg's words came back to him. James threw his hand into the air and pointed his wand to the ceiling. A silver stag seemed to form out of the depths of his soul and pooled out of his wand. It circled his room and James felt himself grow lighter.

He was being idealistic.

For the first time, he didn't care.