Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights. I retain ownership of all original material.
- - January - -
"Morning Padfoot," said James cheerily as he sat down next to Sirius at breakfast the Friday after he had left Lily.
"Hey Prongs," replied Sirius uneasily as he continued to stare at his lumpy porridge.
"What got up your arse so early this morning?" questioned James as he poured himself a cup of the bitter black liquid that the older trainees somehow believed was coffee.
Cutting to the chase, Sirius looked up at his friend and said, "Are you sure Lily agreed to marry you for the right reasons?"
"What?" spluttered James as some of the "coffee" went down his windpipe.
"I mean, you were just saying the week before that there was no chance you would ask her because you didn't think she would say yes and you told me to stop spreading the rumor because it would upset her because she didn't want to marry you yet and then you go ahead and ask her and she just up and says yes? That seems a bit out of the blue. So are you sure she really meant it when she said yes?" said Sirius really quickly and without much forethought.
James almost laughed. "Mate, don't be worried about it. I know what I said and I know what she said about it at Christmas time, but that all changed when she decided not to go back to the Institute; which she did on her own mind you, I tried to convince her to go back. She finally chose me over everything else, including herself. That's how I finally knew that she was really serious about our relationship. She has finally moved on from her past enough to make a solid commitment. I think going away to school was good for her, but one semester was enough to get her to where she needed to be emotionally. That was one of her major reasons for going you know. What made you think of this anyway?"
"I had a nightmare last night that she left you at the altar. It was horrible!"
"That would be horrible," agreed James. "But I'm not worried about it. She wouldn't say yes if she wasn't ready to at least accept the concept that we will eventually get married. It will take her a while to come to terms with the full meaning of it all, but at least she is finally ready to start the process. And we're not going to rush into this; I don't want to get married until we get out of here. How weird would it be to be married and not be able to live with your wife?"
Sirius chuckled. "That would be strange indeed!"
James laughed along and turned the conversation to a less intense topic as Alice and Frank joined them for breakfast.
"Hey I heard that they're bringing in an expert duelist to help us train after that humiliating defeat against Lily over the break," commented Frank.
"Anyone you've heard of?" asked Sirius.
"Nah, I couldn't catch a name," responded Frank. "But I also heard that the duelist is starting today so it won't be long before I find out; I have dueling right after breakfast."
"We don't even have dueling on Fridays," said Alice sadly. I guess we'll just have to find out who it is second hand."
Just then one of the first year instructors entered the mess hall and announced to the immediately silent and captive audience, "Today, and for every Friday from now on all first year trainees will report for extra dueling practice at five o'clock on training field three. That is all."
After the instructor had left, the mess hall was ablaze with rumors as those who had not previously known about the new duelist were quickly informed. As the day progressed the rumors got more and more extravagant and to the frustration of the first year trainees, none of their older counterparts would say anything that even remotely sounded like the truth. Some claimed that the new duelist was a dragon, others stated that it was a mermaid to teach them underwater dueling. James and Sirius, more than ever, missed the days when they basically ran Hogwarts.
Finally five o'clock was quickly approaching. All of the trainees ran from their final classes and were on the appointed field several minutes before they had to be. Out of instinct they formed a defensive huddle when their instructor didn't immediately show himself. The seconds ticked by and tension mounted. Everyone had their wands at the ready and were going over spells in their heads, some mouthing the words silently. This heightened state of readiness exploded when a red beam of light cut through the darkness and one of their comrades sank to the ground. Spells abounded and by the time the trainees realized what was happening, two-thirds of the group had been felled by friendly fire.
Stepping away from the fallen, the survivors reformed their defensive circle. They were summarily disposed of as well, though at least this time it wasn't by the hand of their fellow trainees.
"What the bloody hell?" asked Sirius as he rubbed his head once he came to. Those around him were similarly grumbling.
Their mumbling and groaning came to a sharp halt when a magically amplified voice barked, "Get up you pathetic excuses for auror trainees! We have work to do! The next person to moan, groan, or grumble will have to answer to me."
The trainees, silently and very rapidly jumped to their feet and faced the source of the voice, a tall and slim woman who looked to be about twenty-five with long and straight black hair and light grey eyes. She didn't look to be that formidable, but the trainees had not forgotten their very recent encounter with the frozen ground and so didn't dare laugh or relax.
"Are you auror trainees or flobberworms?" She barked again. "Fall into line!"
The aurors did as they were told, but not without a bit of difficulty.
The woman grimly surveyed what she had been given to work with and decided that they weren't half bad. "Ok," she started, a hint more civilly than her previous addresses. "Here's how this is going to go. On Fridays you will come to me and we will practice your dueling skills. Your regular instructor will continue to lecture you on form and formalities and train you in maneuvers authorized by the department. I am here to train you for the real world. This is not playtime! WE ARE IN A WAR AND IF YOU WERE OUT IN THE REAL WORLD YOU WOULD ALL BE DEAD RIGHT NOW!"
The woman let her words take their full effect as they rang out across the field and washed over her pupils. Then she began again. "There are only a few rules. Number one: do not kill anyone and that includes me, not that any of your sorry arses could. Number two: any spells you learned in your first three years of Hogwarts are not to be used here. Number three: you do what I say when I say it not matter how stupid you think it is. Number four: don't do anything that could land you in Azkaban because I will send you there and I don't care who your father is or if your uncle plays Quidditch with the Minister on the weekends. Number five: you will get hurt on this field. If you need medical attention get some; if you don't then I don't want to hear about it. Number six: leave everything behind you when you step onto this field. I don't have any room for drama or petty arguments or lifelong friendships in my class. The moment you step onto this field you are completely alone unless I say otherwise. Understood? AM I SPEAKING JAPANESE OR ARE YOU ALL JUST STUPID? NOD YOUR HEADS IF YOU UNDERSTAND!"
The trainees nervously nodded their heads as the crazy woman instructed. Those who knew Alastor Moody were somewhat convinced that he had a daughter he had never mentioned before and she was standing in front of them. Then they dismissed that thought because who would ever even hug Moody, never mind have a child with him?
"Good. Now I'm going to go easy on you since it's your first day. We are going to start with a pop quiz. Now who can tell me how it happened that you were all disarmed and knocked unconscious five minutes ago?"
No one volunteered to answer the question.
"No volunteers eh? Well I'll just have to pick someone then won't I? You- man with the green robes and blonde hair."
"Uhhh… I don't know," he said as firmly as he could.
"Of course you don't! If you knew better I would expect that you would have done better! That will be today's lesson: ambush and how to combat it. Now if you somehow managed to make the enormously stupid mistake of gathering in an open and flat field surrounded by trees, you will probably be ambushed. If that happens you can't just curse yourselves for falling asleep during that particular lecture you will have to deal with it. Now I am going to split you into two groups. Everyone to the left of the woman with blue robes and brown hair, come with me, the rest of you sit here and figure out your strategy because you are about to be ambushed."
The drill ran anything but smoothly, but the instructor hadn't expected it to go well. She wanted to challenge the trainees and the fact that there wasn't a single team who was able to survive on the field for more than two minutes showed her that she had achieved her goal. After running the students ragged for almost two hours, she gathered them together for a few parting words before she released them.
"Well you survived," she began somewhat encouragingly. "But that was all you did. I expected better of the students working towards being released into the middle of a war. At this rate you'll never make it. You may think you only need to start fighting when you get out of here, but I am going to make you fight now. We'll start with the same drill next week and I expect that by then you will have devised a better strategy. Dismissed."
"That was ridiculous," spat Sirius as soon as he was sure he was out of earshot of the instructor. "Who was that bitch?"
"It was Lily you idiot," laughed James.
"What?" gasped Sirius and Alice at the same time.
James chuckled. "Who else would it be? She is the only one talented enough to bring in here and she was basically offered the job when she dueled Mick last month. And everything she did was obvious: the way she walked, the words she used… I'm surprised by you Alice; you lived with her for seven years. How could you not know?"
"I suppose I was too busy not getting my arse handed to me to pay attention," grumbled Alice irritably.
"You're off your rocker mate," said Sirius dismissively. "Lily is going to the Healing Academy; there's no way she would have time to spend time here too."
"Well, we can find out pretty quickly. We're off at eight and I'm going home, which is where Lily will be and we can ask her," said James confidently.
"I'll going to be staying here this weekend, things are too crazy at home, so send me an owl and let me know please," requested Alice.
Sirius ran from the apparation point to the Potter's front door where Lily was waiting for her boys. "Are you the dueling instructor at the Auror Academy?" asked Sirius breathlessly.
"Who else would it be?" asked Lily rhetorically.
Sirius looked puzzled and then slightly irritated. "I can't believe that I didn't figure it out! How could I miss that?"
"Well, I must say that I did a superb job disguising myself; voice altering charms aren't easy you know!" laughed Lily. "Don't be too hard on yourself Sirius; I tried to make it so that you wouldn't be able to figure it out."
"You couldn't fool me though," said James as he sauntered up to the door.
"That would have taken much more work," admitted Lily. "Welcome home," she added with a kiss.
"Thanks," said James with a face splitting grin. "Now tell me what happened with the Healing Academy?"
Lily explained the whole story to James and Sirius and then listened to the tales of their week. Despite such a bad start to the week, it had ended perfectly in Lily's opinion.
- - February - -
Many weeks passed in this same manner. Lily got a part time job at St. Mungo's making healing potions, a job she despised but knew was desperately needed, and continued making life hell for the trainees at the Auror Academy once a week. Alice, Sirius and James were all blossoming at their training and enjoying the classes much more since the topics began to get more interesting. Alice and Frank's relationship was also blooming as their four and a half month anniversary (their friends found the bimonthly celebration as nauseating as it sounds) came and went. Vicky was doing well at the Institute and wrote Remus, who was still chugging along at his job and barely managing full moons by himself, daily. For Remus, the daily letters from Vicky became his only sunshine. Peter and Beth were still slowly building their relationship and both were doing a decent job at the Ministry. Marlene was winning hearts left and right with her tight robes and flashy smile; her work performance sometimes suffered, but it wasn't anything a coy smile and fluttering eyelashes couldn't handle.
"Teddy," sighed Vicky as she heard the telltale swish of extravagantly expensive robes. She had been writing a letter to Lily at a table in the library when, due to her finely tuned sense, she had felt another human presence. She quickly turned her head, but her stalker was quicker and dove behind a bookcase; unfortunately for him, he had become far too predictable to avoid detection. "She is not going to answer your letters and for the last time, she is not coming back."
Teddy stalked out from behind his poor hiding spot and pouted. "But-"
"No," said Vicky, cutting him off. "She is doing what is best for her right now, not what you think is best for her right now."
"But she is just so powerful and great and the only one who can really even attempt to keep up with me around here," he began pitifully.
Vicky scoffed. "You are not anywhere near being number one here and she wasn't that close either. What is really going on? You have asked me about her twice a day for the last six weeks and have written her over seventy letters, all of which have gone unanswered."
"I may be in love with her," said Teddy monotonously. It was the most pathetic announcement of passion Vicky had ever heard, or heard of.
Vicky snorted, trying to contain her mirth, but when that failed she let it out in full-blown chuckles. If it had been anyone else, Vicky would have tried to spare his/her feelings, but this was Teddy, the man who had tormented her friend for as long as he had known her, both in person and via owl. In her opinion, he didn't deserve her courtesy. When she finally calmed down and his complexion had reddened significantly, Vicky attempted to set him straight for the last time.
"Look, maybe you are in love with her, I don't know. But what I do know is that you love her talent, her magical and physical abilities, but she is so much more than that and you never took the time to get to know the rest of her. James loves all of her; I've seen it. So just let her go and find some other talented woman; there are plenty of them here."
Teddy nodded curtly and stated, "I will never find another like her. If I cannot have her, I will have no one."
Vicky just watched him leave with a confused expression. Once he was out of earshot she mumbled, "drama queen" and resumed her writing.
In the afternoon of the last Saturday in February, Lily was in the Potter library writing reports from the previous class, when Sirius, proverbial tail between his legs, sat down across from her.
"Hey Sirius," she said, too distracted to notice his distraught expression.
"Lils, I screwed up and I mean royally screwed up," he began.
Immediately Lily put down her quill and said, "Like Azkaban screwed up?"
Sirius shook his head. "You know Tina?"
Lily nodded and said, "What happened?"
"I kinda slept with her… Wednesday night… in the locker rooms of the training gym. We were the only ones left there and it just sort of happened… And now she won't talk to me."
Lily was genuinely surprised. She and James had joked and teased Sirius about the sexual tension between the two of them, but she never thought it would go anywhere… Tina just didn't seem like his type.
"Well…" Lily started slowly. "Was it good?"
Sirius frowned. "Of course it was! I am incredible in bed… or in this case floor. Just ask Marlene!"
"Marlene…? I think you just let a cat out of the bag because she never told me about that," said Lily calmly.
"Oops," said Sirius sheepishly. "She did mention that I shouldn't tell anyone…"
"Christmas eve right? During the party?" As Sirius nodded, Lily continued, saying, "I thought as much. You do know she was pretty intoxicated by then right?"
"Yeah but I didn't realize it at the time because I wasn't doing much better," said Sirius defensively.
"That's a whole other issue," sighed Lily. "Let's talk about the current one. What happened with Tina afterwards?"
"Umm… we got dressed. She told me not to follow her to closely and we went back to the barracks."
"That was it? Ok then what about the next morning."
"I had breakfast with Prongs, Alice and Frank as usual."
"Did you say anything to Tina?"
A light dawned in Sirius's eyes. "I didn't! I should have invited her to breakfast with us because it was after that that I tried to talk to her and she yelled at me. So now what do I do?"
"I would start by apologizing to her. But there's a bigger issue here. Do you want either a romantic or purely sexual relationship with her?"
Sirius thought about it. "Not really. It kinda seemed like a one-time thing."
"Well you'll have to find a nice way to tell her that, and also ask her what she wants or expected. Maybe go with that first," suggested Lily.
"No wonder you got into genius school," joked Sirius. "Thanks for the advice!"
- - March - -
The next week brought Alice furiously knocking on James's bedroom door, interrupting a very pleasant snog. "LILY! I NEED YOU!" shouted Alice.
Eventually Lily emerged, looking somewhat presentable and only slightly furious. "Come on Alice, let's go in my room and we can talk. What's the matter?"
"Frank and I had a fight today!" cried Alice. "And I don't know what to do."
"What did you fight about?" asked Lily sensibly.
"He wants me to meet his mother," sobbed Alice. "And I don't see why I have to! Why can't we just keep going to way we are?"
"Well Alice," said Lily soothingly as she fetched her a tissue. "You've been dating him for a while now and it's understandable that he would want to take your relationship to a more mature level. And I'm sure Frank's mother is a wonderful woman who will love you."
"She's a horrible woman!" spat Alice. "She's a crotchety overbearing old bat! No one will ever be good enough for her perfect prat of a son!"
"Now who told you that? That sounds like a vicious rumor to me," countered Lily.
"Everyone knows it!"
"And who is everyone?"
"James, Sirius, Marlene…"
"Have any of them even met her?" asked Lily skeptically. "I don't recall Mrs. Longbottom being at either of the Potter Christmas Eve balls that I've been too."
"That's because she's an old hag and no one wants her."
"Alice, for Merlin's sake pull yourself together and be reasonable. What is the real reason you don't want to meet Frank's mum?" she asked as she shook her friend gently.
"What if she doesn't like me and tells Frank to stop dating me?"
"I don't think Frank will do that," said Lily kindly. "And you have to realize that the horrible person you have described certainly could not have raised an amazing person like Frank. Plus, she will love you just because Frank does."
"I don't know Lily," sniffled Alice as she moved away from Lily and began pacing. "The way I see it is that we could just go on being perfectly happy and I don't meet his mum, or I could meet his mum and there's a very real chance that we would break up. I think I'll stick with the guaranteed happiness."
"But," said Lily interrupting her. "That was all before Frank asked you to do this. Now he isn't going to be happy unless you do meet his mum. The way I see it now is that you can continue to refuse to meet his mum and he'll think you aren't serious about the relationship and you'll break up, or you could meet his mum and only maybe break up."
"Why couldn't he have just let things be?" shrieked Alice. "It was all going so smoothly and then he just ruined everything."
"Alice! Alice! Alice!" called Lily to no avail. Alice was hysterical. "You are being ridiculous!" shouted Lily.
"I am not!"
"You are," confirmed Lily softly. "I was really scared to meet Mrs. Potter, but I did it anyway because it was important to James and James is important to me. And now that I've done it, I'm much happier. You'll be terribly frightened beforehand and probably during it, but then it will be over and you'll be very relieved."
Alice sat on the floor and sobbed some more, but it was clear that she was calming down. Lily sat down with her and rubbed her back, not saying anything.
Eventually Lily stated, "You talked to Marlene about this first didn't you."
"How did you know?" asked Alice as she wiped her nose.
"Because I'm guessing that it was Marlene who put all this nonsense into your head. She can be such a jealous ninny sometimes."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as I'm sure she's told you, she has had plenty of suitors in the Ministry lately, too many in my opinion, but that's irrelevant. But, she hasn't found anyone special enough that he would ask her to meet his mum and when she heard that Frank was that serious about you, I'm sure that she was probably really jealous and lashed out, telling you how horrible it would be and what a hag Frank's mum is. It's much easier for me to be happy for you because this happiness is something we share. I think it's hard for Marlene, maybe that's why she has been sleeping around so much…" Lily mused.
"I think it's also because she isn't interested in her job," said Alice. "She's always complaining about how boring it is and you know how Marlene can't stand to be bored."
"Yeah I got the feeling it was just a game for her. So I'm guessing that Sirius on Christmas Eve wasn't her first," said Lily with accusing undertones.
Alice confirmed Lily's suspicions by nodding. "How did you find out? Sirius?"
Lily nodded.
"It's not that she didn't want to tell you Lily…" said Alice in defense of her absent friend. "It's just that you can be… well you can be judgmental sometimes and she knew that if you knew the full extent of what she's been up to you would disapprove and make her feel badly about it."
Lily sighed.
"You know it's true," said Alice, pushing just a bit too far.
Lily snapped. "So what? Doesn't she realize that she's playing a dangerous game?"
Alice raised her voice saying, "Not everyone ends up like your sister Lily. Marlene says she's being very careful; she's on the potion and everything."
Lily took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's get back to your problem. What are you going to do?"
"I guess I'll meet his mum. I suppose I'll have to do it eventually because I'm starting to think Frank could be the one," she admitted shyly.
"Oh?" asked Lily was a supportive grin. "Do you love him?"
"I think so…" said Alice slowly. "How do you know?"
"You'll know," said Lily confidently. "There was just one day when he looked at me and I just knew. This is why you're so freaked out though, isn't it?"
Alice nodded her head.
"That's understandable," said Lily sagely. "The stakes are higher because you like him and maybe even love him. I think he's telling you that he might love you too if he's asking you to meet him mum. He's serious and he's probably just upset that you didn't seem as serious. Just explain it to him and he'll understand."
Alice sighed and agreed. "Thanks Lily! Sorry I interrupted earlier…" she added sheepishly.
"Not a problem," said Lily dismissively.
"Yes a problem!" joked James as he entered the room clad only in his pajama pants. "I was having quite a nice time when you just had to borrow my girlfriend-"
"Fiancée," corrected Lily.
"I keep forgetting that," smiled James as he glanced at the new ring that rested on her left hand. "Anyways, I am here to reclaim my fiancée."
"You can have her," said Alice. "I was just leaving anyway."
"Thank you," said James with finality and a smug smile as he threw Lily over his shoulder and, ignoring her half-hearted protests carted her away.
- - April - -
"Oh hey Marlene!" called Peter as he saw his classmate in the Ministry Atrium at the end of the work day.
Marlene spun around and waved to her friend, waiting for him to catch up to her. "Haven't seen you in a while Peter, how are you?"
"I'm good. I've been working some long hours, my supervisor has me doing some pre-t-ty imp-or-tant assignments lately," he answered, stressing the vast importance of his work. "But I'm taking off early tonight because I have a date with Beth at McGibbon's."
"McGibbons is a great restaurant," said Marlene nodding. "Their stew is particularly good, especially on cold wet nights like I'm sure tonight will be."
"Well I heard that you're seeing Charlie O'Neill from Sports, how about the two of you join us?"
"Oh I don't know… I have to…"
"Did I hear my name?" asked a tall and wiry man with immaculate fuchsia robes and wavy blonde hair, as he approached and kissed Marlene on the check in an ostentatious manner.
"Yeah, Charlie you remember Peter Pettigrew? He was a Gryffindor in my year."
"Of course!" said Charlie boisterously. "I'm only five years older than you two. Honestly Mar-mar sometimes you make me feel so old!"
"Well, I was ju-just wondering if you and Marlene wanted to join my girlfriend and I for a double date tonight at McGibbon's," Peter said, addressing the flashy and attractive wizard with only a slight stutter.
"Sounds like fun!" he announced boldly as he showed Peter a toothy grin.
"G-great!" said Peter with a smile of his own, though somewhat less self-assured. "I'll see you both there around seven?"
"Yes," said Marlene with something less than extreme enthusiasm.
Peter nodded and then parted from the pair, a smile on his face. Charlie glanced at his watch and noted that there was a significant amount of time remaining before the appointed meeting time.
"So want to go back to my place until then?" asked Charlie with a tell-tale grin. Charlie was many things, sneaky not being one of them. As his co-workers often said, he is a transparent cauldron.
Marlene looked to be debating the proposition for a moment or two but then smiled and said, "Sure why not?"
Approximately an hour later Marlene and Charlie arrived at the pub looking rather disheveled and joined Peter and Beth in a cozy booth.
"Charlie, I'd like you to meet Beth, my girlfriend. Beth this is Charlie, he was a Hufflepuff a couple of years older than Marlene and me and now he works in the Department of Magical Games and Sports," said Peter grandly. Peter liked this feeling of being in charge; he was quite proud of himself for seeking Marlene out and arranging a double date and it actually happening.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Beth softly as she shook Charlie's hand. "And a pleasure to see you again Marlene."
"It's nice to see you too Beth, it's been far too long," replied Marlene politely.
Conversation soon came to a silent standstill.
"So how about … that Quidditch game… a few months ago," said Peter as he grasped at straws. Pride had quickly dissolved into anxiety and shame.
"You must get great seats to all the games Charlie," said Beth as she attempted to pull Peter out of the hole he was digging.
"Well I wouldn't say great seats," began Charlie. "But they are better than the average citizen I suppose. Are you a big Quidditch fan?"
"Absolutely," said Beth, her whole face lighting up. "I've never actually been to a game because my mother never wanted me to want to fly so I couldn't go. But I have listened to just about every game since I was ten on the wireless and I read the sports section of the paper religiously."
"She knows more about the game and the league than I do," chuckled Peter cavalierly as he boldly put his arm around his girl.
"It's such a shame that you've never been to a game though," said Marlene with a hint of haughtiness. "My father always gets season tickets to a box and I never really learned to appreciate it until the last couple of years. It's quite the experience, nothing like listening to a game."
"I'm sure," said Beth politely but curtly.
"Well there aren't any games until the weather gets nicer but I could see about scoring you a pass to watch one of the teams practice if you want," offered Charlie. "There are only a couple of old geezers in the office with me and they, and everyone that they know, have been to so many practices and games by now that they don't even bother opening the owls that contain the passes."
"That would be amazing," said Beth a bit more warmly. "Thank you."
"My pleasure," said Charlie sweetly. He was one of those people who really liked to do favors for other people only when it cost him almost no effort and when he could be assured that it would enable him to request a large favor sometime in the future.
After the Quidditch discussion, conversation flowed more smoothly, though it never felt quite natural. But Peter still considered the night a success because the quartet were among the last to leave the pub (though that was mostly due to the fact that Charlie, once he was a bit past tipsy insisted on buying everyone drinks continuously and neither Marlene nor Peter were ones to turn down free drinks). Beth, who didn't drink anything stronger than Butterbeer, because of the earlier snub from Marlene, she didn't much care that Marlene was extremely intoxicated and allowed her to go home with the also smashed Charlie. However, she did supervise Peter and returned him to his house safely.
Once at his home, Beth checked in with his mom, who still waited up nights for him, and then sat him on the edge of his bed. As she was taking his shoes and socks off (this wasn't the first time they had been through this routine and she had learned that he preferred to sleep without socks), he happily told her, "Beth, you are the prettiest, nicest, most awesome, beautiful, nice, lovely girl I have ever met!"
Beth blushed and quietly answered, "Thank you Peter. I think you're pretty great too."
The first time Peter had drunkenly declared such things, Beth had been a little off-put because how could she believe him when he was drunk? She had thought he was making fun of her. But then over the following few days, he had said the same things to her, albeit a bit more suavely. Once she began to trust his seemingly outrageous declarations, she enjoyed the few minutes she would spend tucking his drunken self into bed every once in a while. It was a side of Peter few got to see and even she only saw rarely- he was unguarded, unafraid of what other people were thinking about him and expressing himself freely. She loved it.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked her as she gently laid his head on his pillow, his big blue eyes more prominent than she had ever noticed before.
"I really should get home," she said unsurely.
"Please?"
Beth couldn't resist. She smiled and said, "As long as there's no funny business Mr. Pettigrew."
"No funny business, got it," said Peter, trying and failing to look serious.
"You are just too cute," said Beth as she laughed delicately (like the sound of fairies playing among crystal bells, as drunken Peter once told her). "Scoot over and make some room for me."
There wasn't much room to be made in Peter's twin bed, but somehow they managed. And there wasn't any funny business… until the next morning…
"Good morning angel," said Peter softly as he gently smoothed stray locks of hair away from Beth's face.
"Good morning," said Beth very quietly. According to her romance novels, morning breath could be quite the mood killer and she was sure that the amount of garlic she had eaten the past night made her breath able to repel more than vampires.
"I think I love you," said Peter, sleep still in his eyes, but his expression sincere.
Beth looked at her companion long and hard and when his expression didn't waver, she realized that, "I love you too."
Peter grinned as widely as he ever had. Not only had he just done the bravest thing in his entire life, more courageous than running around with a werewolf in his opinion, but she had said she loved him back! High on the magical moment, Peter decided to go for the home run.
"Beth," he began slowly. "We don't have to if you don't want to, but do you want to have sex with me?"
As soon as the words were out of his uncharacteristically impulsive mouth Peter regretted them. Beth's surprised and a little horrified expression was enough to act like a cold bucket of water and wake him up completely.
And the stuttering apologies began.
Beth let him go on for a moment as she thought things through, but then came to a conclusion and placed a hand over his mouth. "Yes I would like to have sex with you."
Just as elation had crossed Peter's features a few minutes previous, Beth was overjoyed by her daring decision and was grinning from ear to ear. Both halves of the couple had gone so far outside of their comfort zones it was remarkable to themselves and their partners, and even more remarkably neither regretted the jump.
In those few moments Beth and Peter had learned a rare and important thing. Love isn't about perfect choreographed moments or dramatic gestures; it is about communicating with, and challenging your partner to grow into a better, happier version of themselves. Also importantly, they realized that physical intimacy is just another road in which that end can be accomplished.
- - May - -
"Wow that was a close one," Lily gasped to her companion as she placed a heavy hand over her rapidly beating heart as if that could somehow slow it down.
Frank Longbottom sank back against the stone boulder on the outside of Hogsmeade next to her and let his head hang loosely. "I'll say," he remarked grimly. "I told you that your red hair would be a dead give-away! I mean really, who walks into a known death eater hangout looking like the most well-known muggle-born around?"
"I got us out of there didn't I?" snipped Lily, who was still breathing raggedly.
"Barely! Just barely! That was a reckless slip up that we can't afford."
"I thought we were going to be dealing with an older crowd of men so they wouldn't recognize me. How was I supposed to know that Lucius Malfoy was going to show up in the middle of our assignment?"
Frank, always a rational being, sighed. "You're right; you couldn't have known. I'm just saying that we have to be more careful. You can't just change a few facial features; you should be changing them all, especially your hair."
"I know, I know," sighed Lily. "Moody will have my ass on a plate when he hears about this one."
"Speaking of your face, how is it? What exactly did Malfoy do to you?" asked Frank cautiously as he sat up straight to get a glimpse of Lily's wound.
Lily instantly turned away from him, knowing that he would feel guilty for not having her back and protecting her as a good partner should. "It's not a big deal. You got to him before any serious damage was done. After he counter-acted my disguising charms and revealed my true identity, he started a burning curse of some sort. It's doesn't feel like dark magic though, so a simple salve will be fine."
"I am sorry I didn't catch him before he got to you Lily," said Frank shamefully. "He shouldn't have been able to sneak up on you like that."
"Don't give it a second thought, things happen; all that matters is that we survived. Now if you're sufficiently recovered, it's about time that we headed to Hogwarts and reported to Dumbledore," said Lily crisply. As much as she wouldn't admit it aloud, her inner thoughts were pure screams concerning her charred cheek and she wanted to see Madame Pomfrey as soon as magically possible.
"I just have one question before we go," began Frank uncertainly as he put a gentle arm out to restrain Lily from rising from the ground any farther.
"What's up?" she asked nervously.
"How do you live without telling James about any of this? How will you look him in the eye and not tell him that you almost faced torture and death tonight? How can you go back to him and lie to him about where you've been all night?" asked Frank with an almost frantic energy. "I find it so difficult to face her on Monday mornings and tell her that I spent all weekend placing chess with my mum when actually I nearly willing put myself and her best friend in mortal danger."
Lily took a deep breath. "I'm not going to lie to you, it's incredibly hard and it's a struggle all the time, a struggle that has not yet gotten any easier. But I lie to him because I have to; if he knew about any of this, he would join up in a second and I can't let him do that, not yet. He's still so… so good inside. I'm sure you've noticed that this work alters you, puts a little bit of blackness inside of you. You can't see the things we see and know what we know about the evil in this world without absorbing a bit of it. I want to keep that blackness away from him for as long as I can, so I lie."
"On a side note, you know that Dumbledore is getting impatient. James is a good person but he's also a good duelist and a strategist and a soldier. He would be good at this job."
Sharply Lily retorted, "So would Alice, but I don't see you putting her name on the recommended list!"
Frank opened his mouth to respond, but then shut it in defeat. Alice's name had remained absent from the list of recommended members, mostly due to the efforts of Frank.
"Sometimes lying is good," said Lily hesitantly. "If you lie for the right reasons, it can be good. You're keeping her safe, and preventing her from worrying, those are good reasons."
"I think you're wrong," said Frank firmly. "I need to tell her. I can't live like this; it's coming between us since we've taken on more frequent partner missions, not that we'll likely be trusted out on our own again after tonight…"
"She'll want to join," Lily pointed out emotionlessly.
"I know," sighed Frank.
"She could be killed…"
"I know."
"Or worse."
"I know. But she deserves to know the truth and we can handle any consequences that come after that."
"Good luck," said Lily sincerely. She then stood up, carefully concealing her wound, and extended a hand to help Frank up. They then progressed through the sleepy village and towards Hogwarts silently, keeping to the shadows as often as possible.
- - June - -
A few days after Frank graduated from the Auror Academy with high honors, James and Lily hosted a small gathering of their close friends in the gardens of the Potter Estate. It was a joyful gathering full of many laughs, cool drinks, and happy reminiscing. Alice, finally having met the feared Mrs. Longbottom at the graduation was aglow with the gossip that she had met with the crotchety old woman's approval, well she at least wasn't hated so Frank interpreted that to Alice as meaning she had been well liked by his mum.
When Marlene appeared late to the party she seemed to be surrounded by a very different glow.
"Oh no you don't!" said Marlene as she slipped in between James and Lily as they seemed to be headed for a romantic stroll. She then caught hold of Alice's arm as she attempted to join a new conversation. "Neither of you are going anywhere. James get the hell away from here before I blow your balls off!" she fumed loudly.
"What the hell crawled up your bloody arse?" James yelled back.
"None of your business Potter! Just get out of here!" she screeched.
"Please James," requested Lily.
"But I wanted to go snog you senseless behind the rose bushes," he grumbled.
"There will be plenty of time for that late," said Lily softly with a sweet smile.
"Fine," he stated dully.
"Thank you," she said as she kissed his cheek and he let go of her hand and allowed her to be dragged away..
Once they were well out of earshot of the befuddled party, Lily slowly asked, "Marly, what is going on?" Her voice betrayed her feeling of being overwhelmed.
"I'm pregnant!" Marlene wailed as she sank to the ground.
"You're what?" gasped Alice. "But the potion!"
"I forgot to take it for a couple of days in a row," said Marlene angrily. "I don't know how I could have been so stupid! I was just busy… And then I was drunk that night with Charlie and I couldn't remember if either of us did any back-up charms the second time around and I guess the answer was NO!" wailed Marlene.
Alice sat down next to Marlene and started murmuring soothing and nonsensical words to her. Lily stood frozen; she hadn't moved a muscle since Marlene's announcement. She wanted to throttle Marlene so being so reckless, but she also still had Alice's warning of her being too judgmental imbedded in her memory from the last time they had spoken about Marlene.
"How do you know?" asked Lily, her voice cold and controlled, sharp against the quiet mumblings of Alice.
"I took a test from the apothecary obviously," spat Marlene as she glared up at Lily.
"Well maybe it's wrong," said Lily, still emotionless. "You have to get tested by a healer."
"I can't go to a healer!" shrieked Marlene as if Lily had suggested that she eat her own hair. "Then my mother will find out!"
"I think your mother will figure it out sooner or later," snapped Lily. "Possibly when you swell up like a balloon!"
"No! No one else is going to find out; I'm going to get rid of it!"
Alice gasped. "Marlene! How could you think that? Don't even say that!"
"Why not?" said Lily snippily. "That's what I would do if I was knocked up by some bloke I didn't care about and probably can't even remember which of my many friends it is."
"Lily!" Alice gasped.
"I knew you would react like this! Well you know what Lily? Not all of us are stuck-up prefect little prudish virgins like you! Some of us actually have a little fun," retorted Marlene.
"And look where that got you!"
"Stop it!" cried Alice. "It doesn't matter how this happened, it just matters that it did. Now Marlene, Lily is right, you need to go get checked out by a Healer because if you are pregnant you need some potions or-or-or something. Now Lily you need to calm down and be a supportive friend because if you can't do that then we don't need you here."
That certainly got their attention. Lily hung her head and just barely nodded her assent. Marlene held her head high, her nose held primly in the air, but the tears streaming down her cheeks were a clear giveaway that she too was sorry for her behavior.
"Have you told Charlie about this?" asked Alice sensibly.
Marlene's wails could have put a banshee to shame. Accustomed to Marlene's dramatics, her best mates could somewhat easily decipher her message and learned that she had dumped Charlie soon after the assumed date of conception and that he had been very offended and even more so when she was seen with a second cousin of his the following week. Therefore, he wanted less than nothing to do with her and even went so far as to say that there was no way he could have impregnated a whore like her, so the baby wasn't even his.
"Ok, ok," said Lily as she sat down next to her friends. "That doesn't matter. What matters is you and the health of the little baby inside of you. So let's take this one step at a time. Marlene, you and I will go to St. Mungo's right now. It is a quick test that I know they have the potions for because I made a new batch two weeks ago, so I'm sure that they'll be able to squeeze you in quickly without an appointment. After we get the results we can progress from there. Alice, you need to get back to the party, it is in your boyfriend's honor after all; James can handle the hosting without me. Just tell him that I'll be back as soon as I can. He will understand."
Once Lily jumped on board, she did so fully and took charge as usual. She may not have agreed with Marlene's decisions or lifestyle, but she still loved her and once Alice reminded her of that fact, she was able to get over the surprise of the announcement and offer her talents for organization and cool thinking.
Alice returned to the party and communicated Lily's message to James and then almost completely tuned out, unable to even keep up a conversation with Frank. He then told her to go and be with her friends since he knew that's where her mind and heart were anyway. She looked at him lovingly, thanked him and quickly departed. She arrived at St. Mungo's just in time for the healer to announce that Marlene truly was pregnant. All three were in a daze as the Healer gave Marlene instructions to visit her usual Healer and what to do until an appointment could be made. Numbly Alice took the informational pamphlets and nutritional potion supplement samples for Marlene who couldn't even manage that simple action.
Lily silently took both of her friends hands and led them out of St. Mungo's and apparated all three of them to the only place she could think of- the gates of Hogwarts. As they moved through the archway and down the lane toward their childhood home, tears silently made their journey from the eyes of each young woman. Without even realizing it, they made their way to the tree by the lake where they had spent so many happy hours. Once the trio had collapsed to the ground, the sobbing began. Alice was the first to crack, Lily the last. They held each other and cried, wondering why things had happened this way, cursing Charlie O'Neill to the center of the earth and back, and knowing that things would never be the same again.
A/N. Hey readers! I hope you're excited by the short update time lag! There was a lot of stuff going on in this chapter and I am super excited to hear what you thought! I'm going to write a whole bunch of questions for you, and as usual feel free to answer some, none or all of them.
Who is your favorite character currently?
Do you feel like any character was neglected in this chapter? Would like to see him/her featured more prominently next time? In what way (dramatic situation, romantic scene, action etc)?
What surprised you the most in this chapter?
Do you think Lily said yes to James for the right reasons, or is Sirius right in thinking that it is still a bit unbelieveable?
What do you think of Lily as a dueling instructor?
Is Teddy in love with Lily? Should I continue working Teddy into the story or drop him completely?
Sirius and Tina: thoughts? Should they have a relationship or just meaningless hook-ups? Did she even allow him to talk to her?
Alice and Frank: was she overreacting to him wanting her to meet his mum, or was he asking too much too soon? How do you want their relationship to progress in the future? (slowly, quickly, dramatically etc)
Peter and Beth: thoughts?
What do you think of Lily and Frank as partners in the Order?
Do you think Frank is right and Alice should know about the Order and his involvement in it? Or is Lily right and lying for the right reason is the best way to go?
What do you think about Marlene's big news? And Charlie's reaction? (you could also include what you thought about Charlie in general here and if you want him to stay in the story or not).
As always, I really appreciate your feedback and I will try to be better about responding to reviews and updating more quickly!
-AAA