Chapter 6: Confessions and Mysteries

"And then Mary stunned Mulciber, who was about to attack James…" Sirius was saying animatedly. I tuned him out, letting my thoughts wander. We were down for breakfast and Sirius was dramatically retelling every last detail of yesterday's fight for Peter's benefit. Peter was a good audience; he eagerly took in Sirius' words, his blue eyes bright wide with amazement and envy. Remus was sitting a bit farther away from us today; he didn't approve of our decision not to tell Dumbledore about the attack. Since no one was hurt, and it had been an easy fight, I thought it would be unnecessary to involve teachers. James and I were the top students in our year, and Mary, it had seemed, was a good dueler. I thought Sirius could do with more focus, but still he was more than a match for the Junior Death Eaters we'd faced. Yes, it'd been an easy fight.

Still…despite that, I wished I could've wiped the memory of the battle from my mind, because honestly, I was pretty terrified. We were students of Hogwarts; I didn't think we would ever be attacked. Sure, there were disappearances and deaths reported in the Prophet, but they were out there, in the real world. Weren't we supposed to be safe? We were in the safest place the Wizarding World had to offer! We were under the roof of the castle Dumbledore protected. Surely, as long as Dumbledore was around, we were completely, one hundred percent safe!

"Oh, Peter, you have to listen to this, this is the best part," Mary chipped in. "Go on, Sirius!" she nudged him. I sighed, putting my fork down in defeat, and decided to listen in, too. I finished eating and had nothing else to do. I moved closer to James, who was between me and Sirius. He responded by put his arm around my waist, and we waited while Sirius drained his Pumpkin Juice so he could tell the rest of the story.

"So, we were turning around to leave, showing mercy to Ol' Snivellus. But he decided to be a coward and try to curse Prongs while his back was turned. But, courageous Lily here noticed and dived in front of Prongs!" I rolled my eyes. He was so melodramatic.

"Go on!" Peter said, now leaning in.

"So, the curse hit her stomach and she fell to the ground, bleeding. Soon her entire body was covered in blood. Prongs couldn't stand the sight of his poor Lily-flower practically bleeding to death due to this slimy Slytherin. So, he leapt on Snape, practically clawing him to death! But then, Lily here somehow realized Snivellus knew how to fix it. Crazy girl," he added, "managed to think with barely a quarter of her mind. Anyway, so she realized he knew how to fix it, and she yelled at Prongs 'HE KNOWS THE COUNTERCURSE!' So, Prongsie decided to take a chance. He let the greasy git try to fix the mess he made. Snivelly scurried over to her, murmured the counter curse, "Vulnera Sanentur", and she was healed. She'd scoured her robes, and she was as good as new. But Prongsie-wongsie, overcome with relief, tackled her and practically shagged her right then and there," Sirius finished with a grin.

"It was nothing like that!" James objected, color rising in his cheeks. Remus chuckled, joining us again now that Sirius had finished his 'thrilling' tale.

"Sure it wasn't," Sirius teased.

"I didn't hear the counter curse at the time…" I said thoughtfully, changing the subject. "Vulnera Sanentur…We need to keep that in mind for future reference." Remus nodded.

"Yeah, we should. We need to build up as much of a defense as an offense," he agreed.

"Defense?" Sirius responded dismissively. "Lily and James' shield charms combined are as good as Flitwick's! And that's saying something. He used to be a champion dueler!"

"But with them using their energy on the shield, they can't go offense, and these two are the best we've got," Remus countered.

"He makes a good point, Sirius," Mary agreed.

Sirius sighed, "I guess you're right…"

We were all silent for a moment, thinking of death eaters and curses, and whatever was to come. Sirius was the one to draw us out of the reverie:

"So what are we going to do today? It looks great outside," he pointed out.

"We could go to the lake," Peter suggested. I noticed James winced at the suggestion.

"What's wrong with the lake?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Well Lily," Sirius began, surely to start some long-winded overdramatic story, "I'm sure you remember a few days ago, when our O.W.L's ended, and we played a couple of harmless practical jokes on Snivellus out by the lake. Well, a few things happened there that did deeply hurt Prongs. First, you rejected him again. Second, you told him you'd rather go out with the Giant Squid - ouch. And third, Snivellus called you a -"

"Enough, Padfoot," James said abruptly, his tone sharp.

"So basically," Sirius continued, unfazed, "he thinks if we go there, you'll notice how much more appealing the Giant Squid is than him!" Sirius finished. I eyed him skeptically. Only Sirius could come to that conclusion.

Mary raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?" she asked him. Sirius gave her a wild grin and his grey eyes lit up.

"As a matter of fact, I am Sirius!" he stated proudly. I groaned at the pun, smiling slightly.

"Not what I meant, you twat!" Mary laughed, reaching over the table to whack him.

"Something you should know about the Marauders, Mary; never ever, use the word 'serious' in a sentence. We will make it into a pun," Remus advised, his eyes twinkling in amusement at his friends.

Remus always seemed more mature than the other three; the level-headed, logical one of their group. It always surprised me that he didn't have girls on his tail, like Sirius and James. His light brown hair and intelligent, blue eyes, in my opinion, made him a complete package for girls who like sensitive guys. But his 'furry little problem', as James told me to call it, made him a little insecure.

"James, if I promise not to ditch you for the Giant Squid, can we go?" I asked, giving him my pouty face. He stared down into my eyes and ruffled his hair. As he looked at me I felt a kind of jolt in the pit of my stomach, and my expression faltered. It suddenly felt as if the air between us was full of electricity.

"Alright, fine," he said, breaking the tension. I smiled widely, getting to my feet.

"I've never seen Prongs give into someone so easily, Evans," Sirius informed me, seemingly irritated. He turned to Remus, "Moony, we may have a problem. What if she starts to tell him not to prank anyone? Ickle Prongsiekins will turn into a goody-two shoes, like Evans." His expression was revolted. "And then…and then they're going to be Head Boy and Head Girl together," his pitch escalated in panic, "and my best friend, oh, my best friend will be gone FOREVER!". It really did seem as if the boy had a permanent sonorous charm on him. I made a mental note to ask him sometime.

"Sirius, there's no need to worry," I reassured him. "Despite what you may think, I do happen to enjoy those pranks - only the ones which target the Death Eater Slytherins, of course." Everyone always thought I was uptight, no fun; a stick in the mud. I only really disliked the Marauders' pranks if they involved me, my friends, or meaningless bullying. Other times, I had to admit, they could be quite amusing.

"Prongs, I now approve of your girlfriend," Sirius told him. My heart fluttered at the word. It seemed so odd, just last week I thought I despised James. Yet somehow, in just a few days he managed to turn all that around, leaving me 'smothered under his undying love for me', as Mary put it.

"Thank you for your blessing," James replied dryly.

"Guys," I interrupted. "You know we still haven't left to go to the lake yet?"

"Impatient, this one," Sirius grumbled to James.

"Let's go," Remus said, rising from the table, with Peter closely following him. I'd always wondered about Peter. When I first met him, I thought he was scrawny, small, and nerves emanated from him in waves. His dirty blond hair lay flat on his head and he had deep, ocean blue eyes. Over the last five years, he hadn't grown any taller, rather wider.

"Sirius, get up!" Mary screeched. I looked over at the two of them, and saw Sirius was sitting absolutely still, presumably pretending to be a statue. He truly did have the maturity of a three year old, I thought in wonder.

"Allow me, Mary," James said quietly. He then raised his voice, "Padfoot, look! There's Minnie coming down from the staff table!" Sirius suddenly sprang up lithely and sprinted for the doors of the Great Hall, the rest of us in tow.

"Who's Minnie?" I asked hesitantly, wondering whether I'd regret it.

"Oh, Minnie. We gave her that name in first year. It's Professor McGonagall," he explained as we walked. My jaw dropped. The nerve of them! Calling Professor McGonagall by her first name…and it wasn't even her first name, it was a nickname! "We called her that on the first day of class. Padfoot pretended not to know her surname, so he waved his hand in the air, pretending to be a small, timid first year, and asked, 'Professor Minnie, where are the bathrooms?'"

"How many days did he get for that?" I asked wryly.

"Well, McGonagall still had a humorous bone in her body in the early days," James said conversationally. "You know, before we started to grate on her nerves. So she replied, 'Mr. Black, I'll show you where the bathrooms are tonight, because you'll be scrubbing them every night for the next week!'"

"You guys were pretty obnoxious then," I told him knowingly. I was the victim of several pranks since first year because that was James' way of dealing with his crush on me. They'd happened on each of my birthdays. There was the green hair in first year – "To match your eyes, Lily pad," James later explained to me. Then in second year, my robes became blue and black, because James thought I had to belong to Ravenclaw; how else could I be the only student to beat him in the Transfiguration exams? In third year, he decided to make the "secret" that he fancied me public, and I walked around all day with a sign above my head that flashed and said, "PROPERTY OF JAMES POTTER" It started to ring and make a siren noise if a guy came within three feet of me. It took a while for me to forgive him for that. Fourth year was better, almost sweet. It was a 'sorry' gift for the year before. He had the house elves put flowers, lilies namely, around my dormitory room, and they followed me around all day. Fifth year was of course, the banner.

"Hey, guys," Remus motioned for us to sit down. We were at the lake already. I looked at James. He was standing close to me, and I noticed his arm was around my waist. I could feel my cheeks turn pink with the observation and I felt a swooping sensation in my stomach. I sat down on the grass next to Mary, and James sat down next to me.

"Can you believe how fast this year went?" Mary asked, picking up a blade of grass.

"It feels like just yesterday we got to Hogwarts," I agreed. The year had indeed gone fast. Between studying for O.W.L's, Prefect duties, classes, Hogsmeade trips, the betrayal of former best friends, dates with former sworn enemies and impromptu death eater attacks, I'd barely had time to stop and think this year.

"Those patrols were killer," Mary replied. Remus raised an eyebrow at her.

"Mary, you only had to do that once…" I said slowly.

"Still, I was exhausted," she said defensively.

"I had her cover my patrols that one day, when Sn—uh, when the O.W.L's were finished," I stammered.

"I can't believe tomorrow we'll be back on the train home," James said, perhaps in an effort to change the subject. I was relieved. No need to bring back unwanted memories, especially those involving a certain slimy Slytherin git.

"What are your plans?" Sirius asked.

"We don't plan on doing much, Padfoot. My parents have to lay low, you know." He whispered. Sirius gave him a knowing nod. I looked at him questioningly and he gave me look that clearly said 'tell you later'.

"I think I'm going back to the castle," Peter said randomly. "I'm hungry."

"Wormtail, we just ate!" Remus objected. Peter shrugged his shoulders and rose to his feet.

"I wonder what's gotten into him lately," Sirius murmured. "He's been eating so much…too much, actually."

"I'll have to talk to the House Elves…" Remus frowned, his eyes on Peter's retreating figure.

"Remus," a girl's shy voice came from behind me, drawing his attention. I turned around to see Katherine Wright, a fellow fifth year Gryffindor. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked him. She ran a hand through her chocolate brown hair, - I smiled slightly at the gesture- and batted her eyelashes. Some of these girls were crazy. They absolutely adored the Marauders, and Remus was the only one still single. Well, Peter was too, but he started stuttering and sweating whenever a girl was in the vicinity, so really it was only Remus who was available.

"Er, sure?" Remus replied, sounded uncertain, getting up to join her.

"So Mary," Sirius slided closer to her. "How 'bout we go find a nice cozy broom cupboard for two, eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows. She giggled and nodded. He stood up, offering her a hand, and they left together, leaving me and James alone.

"Crazy, those two," I commented, watching them go.

"Yeah…" James responded, distractedly. "Anyway, Lily, what are your plans this summer?" he asked, looking down at the grass.

I shrugged. "I'm at home all summer. Mary's visiting for a few days, and I'll be spending a week at her house."

"I was wondering," he hesitated, looking slightly embarrassed, "whether you would come to my house…meet my parents…" He avoided meeting my eye again; staring down at the grass he was picking at. I looked away and gulped. Meeting parents? The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. We'd only been on one date for crying out loud…and that was yesterday. Then again, we'd known each other forever - since the first day on the Hogwarts Express. And it wasn't as if my parents hadn't heard of him. I fought a smile; I had mentioned him in almost every one of my letters to my parents. My mum was absolutely delighted with him; calling him 'sweet' and always encouraging me to agree to go out with him whenever I told her that he asked me. My dad never really objected to James, but he wanted me to wait a while. He saw how much James apologized the summer after third year; we'd had dozens of owls in and out of the house that summer. I remembered Petunia shrieking every time she saw one, complaining about my "freaky" school and hiding in her room for hours. I wrenched my mind back to the present, realizing James was waiting for my response.

"Sure, James," I smiled. "And if you don't mind, you can meet my parents, too," I told him, smiling sweetly. His eyes widened in terror.

"Meet your parents? Like your mum…and your dad!" Clearly, he feared my father. Probably wise.

"How'd you know I'm daddy's girl?" I asked curiously. I knew I'd never mentioned that to him.

"Oh, it's just one of the random things I know about you…" he trailed off, turning very red.

"What else do you know about me?" I asked, intrigued.

"Um…" He seemed hesitant.

"Please?" I begged. He sighed.

"Promise you won't get mad and call me a stalker?"

"Promise," I said earnestly. I just needed to know how much he knew about me. He gulped, his adam's apple bobbing in his throat.

"Well…" He took a breath. "When you're nervous during an exam, you bite on the top of your quill and it calms you when you tickle your nose with it. You only have 10 pairs of socks, and one of them is a pair of lucky socks you save for the first and last days of school, and also during exams. You use magic to clean them if you need to wear them two days in a row. Severus Tobias" He stifled a small laugh, "Snape was your best friend even before Hogwarts and you used to sneak out every other night for three hours to see him. You'd sit by the lake and watch the stars and just talk. During winter, you'd talk in an empty corridor. Very, very rarely, you would talk in public. Your favorite food is chocolate frogs. Very healthy," he added with a grin. "You only pretend to dislike Quidditch because I play it. You think you always look like you're celebrating Christmas because of the red-green thing you have going on there. You sit in the common room until ten, either doing homework or if you're finished and don't want to start doing an assignment we've yet to be assigned, you'll just stare at the fire. You like the fire because it's all in your control, how big or small it is and when it can be put out, and you often play with it when you feel like you're no longer in control of your life. You used to be afraid of knives, but in first year, when we started using them to make potions, you made yourself get over it. I'd go on, but I'm afraid of scaring you," he finished. I sat through his entire monologue, gaping like a fish out of water. How on Earth did he know all that? Some of those things, I never even told Mary. And apparently he had more on the list.

So, he did care about me. A lot more than I'd thought, actually, if he'd paid that much attention. He'd been crazy about me since first year. He had to have been if he knew about the knife thing. I didn't admit that to anyone.

"Wow," I recovered. "That's…That's really sweet that you know all of that about me, James. I'm really…touched," I managed. His cheeks gradually turned red, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe we should head back to the castle," he suggested gruffly. I nodded and we stood up together. As we walked back to the castle, hand in hand, I wondered, how did he know all of that about me? I shook my head. Maybe it was best not to know…ignorance was bliss…well, only in some cases.

A/N: Well, end of another chapter! This one was just a bit of a filler really, not much going on.

REVIEW PLEASE? Button's right there. All ya gotta do is click it…and then write stuff. Hopefully, I'll be able to update again soon!

AND A THANKS TO MY BETA READER, crushed_lilyflower!

Sam Storsky