James took a deep drag of his cigarette and laid down in the soft grass. Remus looked down at him from his position on a moss covered rock to his right and was opening a bottle of Firewhiskey. It was Friday evening and tomorrow would be the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term. They had snuck out of the castle onto the ground to enjoy the warm weather and had sat down under their favourite elm tree.

'Where are Padfoot and Wormtail?' he asked Remus. 'They were supposed to be here ten minutes ago.'

'They are in detention,' said Remus who had finally pried open the bottle. 'Sirius picked a fight with Avery shortly before dinner and Peter was dragged into it. McGonagall caught them. They have detention for week starting tonight.'

'Right,' said James. 'Padfoot just can't resist the chance to hex some Slytherins. Well, I guess it's only you and me then.'

'That's not too bad,' said Remus, taking a deep swig of the bottle. 'Sirius can get a bit overenthusiastic whenever he drinks and I just want to relax.'

'Yeah, me too,' said James. 'I am still sore from Quidditch yesterday and I need to clear my head for tomorrow. Pass the bottle, will you?'

'Looking forward to your date with Amber?' asked Remus and passed to bottle to James. James took a swig before answering.

'Yeah, even though I am a bit surprised. In the beginning this felt like some desperate idea to get over Evans, but now I think this could be something real. I mean, I do not know her very well, but she seems to be fun to be around. She just seems to fit me if you know what I mean.'

'I think I do,' said Remus. 'I don't know her, but I have asked around a bit. From what I have heard she is quite popular and quite a good Quidditch player even though she just plays reserve. Also, she is a pure-blood.'

'I don't give a bleeding fuck about that,' said James darkly.

'I know you don't,' said Remus. 'I simply meant that the two of you will probably have a lot in common.'

'Not all pure-bloods are the same, you know,' said James, though he had to admit that Remus had a point. Amber came from a well-respected and quite rich pure-blood family similar to James's. She would probably understand him better than a muggle-born witch. Still, James did not like to be reduced to his blood-line. 'I have very little in common with gits like Avery.'

'Fortunately,' said Remus dryly. 'Hand me the bottle. Still, I feel that this is a good move. You should try to make it work James. You have been fixated on Evans for too long.'

'Don't I know it,' said James and passed the bottle back to Remus. 'She seems to be even more miffed with me than usual. I can't figure out why. I have barely talked to her all term.'

'She is probably still sore about the incident at the lake,' said Remus. 'As far as I know she is no longer friends with Snape. Maybe she blames you for it. It would be understandable, but foolish. Nobody calls his best friend a mudblood just because they are angry with someone else.'

'It is good that she is done with this greasy git,' said James. The mere thought of Snape caused his blood to boil. 'It would be fitting that she took her anger about Snape out on me. Sweet Merlin, why couldn't I have fallen for a different girl? She seizes every excuse just to hate me.'

'She just needs some time, James,' said Remus. 'She is obviously quite hurt about Snape's betrayal. Maybe it is just easier for her to hate you for the loss of Snape's friendship than to accept the bitter truth: After all, he chose the dark arts over her.'

'That's probably it,' said James. 'But that does not mean that it is fair. She should be angry with Snape, not with me. After all, I have been very well behaved this term. We are almost three months in and I have yet to receive a single detention. She should be happy, but instead she is even more suspicious than usual. I am so done with her, Moony.'

'I understand, James,' said Remus. 'You need some time away from Evans and she probably needs some time away from you. Therefore, it is a good thing that you are taking Amber out to a date. She will help take your mind off the toxic relationship you and Lily have at the moment. Where are you taking her, anyway?'

'Well, she told me not to bring her into the bleeding tea shop,' said James with a smile.

'That definitely a plus,' said Remus, smiling as well. 'They serve great hot chocolate in there, though. You should try it sometimes.'

'And how would you know that?' asked James, raising an eyebrow. 'You never take someone to Hogsmeade and I doubt that you just strolled into this shop on your own.'

'Just because I don't take a different girl during every date like Sirius, does not mean that I have never had a date in Hogmeade,' said Remus. 'I went there last year with Sasha Collins, remember?'

James racked his brain for a moment.

'Collins? The black haired Hufflepuff a year our junior?'

'That's the one.'

'Right, I remember you and her, but it only lasted a month or so. What happened between the two of you anyway? She seemed like a nice girl.'

'She is,' said Remus. A strange look passed over his face before it became expressionless again. 'I ended it, because she was getting too close.'

'Too close to what exactly?' asked James.

'Finding out that I am a werewolf of course,' said Remus.

'Oh,' said James. 'Listen, I know that you have to protect your secret, but you should not refrain from ever falling in love, just because you are afraid of her finding out. You are only punishing yourself.'

'We have talked about this before, James,' said Remus, trying to close the subject.

'I know we have,' said James. He sat up from the grass and grabbed the bottle again. He took another deep swallow before continuing. 'And I get it. Well, as much as I can. I am not telling you that you have to share your secret with every girl you snog, but one day you are going to find someone special. Someone who will accept you for who you are.'

'Have you not been listening to Sirius?' asked Remus. 'There are no special girls. They are all the same.'

'Maybe, maybe not,' said James. 'You will never find out unless you give it a try.'

'Would you play a game of Quidditch if you knew that you were going to lose?' asked Remus. 'I am cursed, James. Every girl I date is either going to find out the truth and will break up with me afterwards or will become fed up with all the lies I have to tell her. There is no way I can actually have proper relationship in this circumstances.'

'You don't know that she will break up with you,' pointed James out. 'We did not abandon you when we found out.'

'You three are different,' said Remus simply.

'And thank Merlin we are,' said James. 'Alright, I get it. Just think about it, will you? Your situation is not as grim as think.'

James sat back down on the grass and something clinked in his pocket during the process. Confused he reached into his pocket and searched it for the cause of the noise. His fingers closed around something hard and cold and he pulled out a ring. It was a small band of rose gold with small jet black letters graved into it. James recognized it immediately. He had forgotten that he had placed it in this pair of pants.

'Is that the ring?' asked Remus interestedly.

'Yeah,' said James. 'That's the blasted ring. The ring of the heir to the Potter family. My father wears the proper one, the one marking the leader of the house. It contains the seal of our family. Mine is only a promise of things to come.'

'I have never understood why you hate the ring so much,' said Remus. 'You are part of a rich, well respected family full of decent people. You should be proud to be part of your family.'

'I am,' said James, turning the ring over and over in his hands. 'I know that I am extremely lucky. That it is a privilege to be born a Potter and that I should be happy about it. I get it. But I don't want to be seen just as the heir to the Potter fortune. There are all these expectations of how I should be and how I should behave and it is driving me crazy. Sometimes I envy Muggle-borns. They are blank slates in the wizarding world and how they are seen only is determined by their own action and not their family. Am I making sense here?'

'Yeah, I understand,' said Remus. 'You have to understand James that nobody can really control how society sees him. The Muggle-borns have to struggle with prejudice even if they prove themselves on a daily basis. I have to deal with being a werewolf and you have to deal with being the heir to a rich pure-blood family. I think your situation is not that bad.'

'Yeah, you are right,' said James. He felt ashamed for bugging Remus with his small problems. After all, his friend was not even considered human by most of the wizarding world. 'I am being a prat about this.'

He slipped the ring on his left ring finger and watched it glimmer in the artificial moon light. The gold was colder than he had expected.

'I am surprised that it fits you,' said Remus. 'You have very slender fingers.'

'It is enchanted,' said James. 'It will adapt its size if necessary. The ring is very old, three hundred years at least. There is a ton of protective magic on it. Otherwise it would look much worse.'

'What is written on it?'

'The Potter family motto,' said James. 'Family, Loyalty, Honour.'

'Quite the statement,' said Remus.

'Indeed,' said James. He took another mouthful of whiskey. He felt the buzz now and he probably should take it easy if he wanted to be well-rested tomorrow. However, the conversation with Remus was much more serious than he had expected and he hoped that some alcohol would make it lighter. 'What do you think about our lack of pranks?'

'I think it is a nice change,' said Remus. 'Pulling them was fun, but spending all the time in detention was not. Also, some of our pranks were really immature and mean.'

'Hm...,' said James. 'I suppose you are right, even though most of our victims deserved it. Still, not being in detention all the times makes a nice change. I hated having to skip breakfast to finish a due essay, just because I spent every evening of the week in detention. However, life is a bit boring without sneaking around, isn't it?'

'Yeah, I suppose it is,' said Remus snatching back the bottle and taking another gulp. 'Padfoot is getting restless. I think he is going to do something stupid soon.'

'That isn't good,' said James. 'Whenever Padfoot gets bored and pulls some prank on his own, mayhem ensues. Do you remember the bouncing ball incident in fourth year? It took McGonagall a bloody week to get rid of the things.'

'We should pull some harmless prank then,' said Remus. 'It will keep Sirius in line and if we plan it together we can prevent it from going completely over the top.'

'Sounds like a plan,' said James. 'And we should try not getting caught. I have to keep my record clean, remember?'

'It still feels weird that you are worrying about getting caught,' said Remus, smiling. 'You never cared about detention before, you even liked the attention.'

'Times change,' said James. 'Also, the whole Marauder thing is getting old. I think it limits us in a way.'

'What do you mean?' asked Remus, interestedly. 'You wanted to be the greatest prankster in Hogwarts's history since you stepped of the train during first year.'

'Yeah, and I succeeded,' said James. 'Not that it was really hard, mind you. Most of the past students were not really creative. Anyway, I have succeed, but it came at a cost. I am not talking about the detention or the trouble with my parents. I am talking about our reputation, Remus. People see us as this group of jesters, performing for our mutual amusement. Everybody likes a jester, but very few people take him seriously. I feel that Evans has a point in distrusting us so much. After all, we have spent the last five years presenting us as pranksters without a care in the world. We even call ourselves the bleeding Marauders!'

'Is this about Lily?' asked Remus. 'You should not try to change who you are just to appeal to her.'

'No, this is not about Evans,' said James. 'Not really. I just don't want to be reduced to a label. I am more than just a pure-blood, more than a simple prankster, more than a talented Quidditch player. These are parts of me, but they are not me.'

'Ah, so you struggle with your identity,' said Remus sagely. 'Well, I guess this is what being a teenage boy is all about.'

'Oh, shut it,' said James with a smile. 'You are as confused as the rest of us.'

'Maybe, maybe not,' said Remus airily. He grabbed the bottle again and drank the rest of Firewhiskey. 'We are all out of whiskey. Should we get something from our stash?'

'No,' said James. 'I should not be hung over tomorrow. I need to be charming.'

'You will blow her away,' said Remus dryly. He fumbled in his pocket and extracted a small bundle. 'Should I roll a spliff?'

'You know I don't smoke weed, when I drink,' said James. 'It makes me throw up, remember?'

'Right,' said Remus, but he opened the bundle and rolled a small spliff anyway. 'Well, you will just have to watch me get high then.'

'I still think it's weird that you smoke weed,' said James. 'When Sirius first got a hold of this stuff back in fifth year, you went berserk.'

'I changed my mind,' said Remus. He stuffed the spliff in his mouth and lit it with his wand. 'I am not ashamed to admit that I like it.'

'We had to smoke it secretly for two months,' said James.

'Yes, I then I tried it and changed my mind.'

'You only changed your mind because you were drunk and Sirius managed to convince you that it was a normal cigarette.'

'Details, details,' said Remus, blowing out some smoke. James did not particularly care for the taste of burning weed. He much preferred regular cigarette smoke. 'So, I am not as straight laced as one might think. You are a pure-blood and listen to muggle heavy metal. Now that is something you don't see every day.'

'Right,' said James. 'I guess we are all more than one might think.'

'Amen to that,' said Remus and took another drag on his spliff.

Silence settled around him and James finally was able to relax.

Next morning, after breakfast, James was waiting for Amber just out of the great hall. It was a windy, overcast and cold day. James was not really in the mood to make the trek to Hogsmeade in this weather. If he were on his own, he would take one of the passages leading to the village rather than the direct route, but as he was on a date, he did not have that option. Granted, it may even impress Amber, but he did not like to share Marauder secrets with other people. He waved to Sirius, who was already leaving for Hogsmeade accompanied by some girl James did not know. It amused him that Sirius had no trouble finding a date even though it was well known in school that his idea of a date was getting drunk on Firewhiskey and making out in a dark corner. Well, at least she knew what she was getting into. James checked his watch. Amber was five minutes late. He rolled his eyes. He had very little patience for playing waiting games. If she did not show up during the next five minutes he would go into Hogsmeade on his own and would join Remus and Peter. Fortunately, she arrived merely a minute later. She was looking very pretty today, even though her figure was barely visible under the thick coat she was wearing.

'Sorry, I am late,' she said breathlessly as she arrived. 'Sophie was hogging the bath room.'

James dismissed it, even though he was quite sure that this was not the reason for her tardiness. They got out of the castle and started their journey to Hogsmeade making light conversation about the most recent results of the English Quidditch league. Talking to her felt surprisingly good. James's past few dates had been quite awkward whenever an actual conversation was involved. It was a nice change. When they had arrived in the village, the topic had shifted to their house quidditch teams.

Amber had took James advice to heart and had tried out as a chaser on her Quidditch team. To her great surprise, she had gotten the spot and was now playing Quidditch as a regular player for the first time of her life. She was very excited about this and James could not help grinning at the enthusiasm. She was still gushing about how brilliant it was going to be when they arrived in Hogsmeade.

'Where do you want go first?' asked James.

'Honeydukes,' she answered straight away. 'I need to refill my stock of marzipan. Honeydukes is one of the few placed in Britain where I can get high quality marzipan.'

'Marzipan?' asked James, raising an eyebrow. Isn't that usually used to cover fruitcakes?'

'Yes, but I can be eaten as a regular sweet too,' she explained. 'My father used to travel to Germany a lot and he always brought back copious amounts of marzipan. I have gotten hooked years ago and now I need my fix. Have you ever tried it?'

'I don't think I have,' said James. 'It's made of almonds and sugar, is it not? I am not too fond of sweet stuff.'

'Yes, but it is not that sweet,' said Amber. 'I think you will like it. You can try some of mine.'

'Alright,' said James. 'Lead the way. Maybe I will pick up some chocolate for myself.'

'But you just said that you don't like sweets,' said Amber. 'Why are you getting chocolate if you don't like it?'

'I like dark chocolate,' clarified James. 'You know, the one with at least seventy percent of cocoa. The regular one is too sweet for my taste.'

'Hm...,' said Amber thinking for a moment. 'I have never met a teenage boy without a sweet tooth. All other boys I know will demolish a pile of sweets within minutes.'

'I am not like most boys.'

'I figured as much,' she replied, smiling slightly.

They arrived at Honeydukes a few minutes later. The shop was packed with Hogwarts students. James waved at Marlene who was eyes the sugar quills with interest. He wondered whether Remus and Peter had already been here today. Both were very fond of sweets of all kind. The stockpile in their dormitory had grown rather small over the last weeks.

They would have to refill it soon if they wanted to keep up their level of consumption. It did not help that Sirius tended to steal stuff from the pile without ever replacing it. Remus and Peter had complained about this countless times, but Sirius had just ignored him. James had stayed out of this argument. He knew that Sirius was wrong, but he did not care enough about the sweets to argue with his best mate. Sirius was as stubborn as a mule and convincing him to change his behaviour was very difficult. Therefore, one had to pick his battles wisely so that one does not waste all his energy.

'I am going to grab that marzipan,' said Amber. 'Do you want to buy something as well?'

Yeah,' said James. 'Grab me a bar of the eighty percent one, will you? It is called Black Velvet.'

'Alright,' she said. 'See you in a bit.'

She took her place in queue and left James to himself for a moment. He took the opportunity to carefully look at her body. She really was very good looking. Her slender body looked tight in all the right places even though her ridiculous coat blurred most details. Her breasts were rather small but James expected them to be quite perky. Sirius was very fond of large breasts, but James had never seen much appeal in truly big breasts. He cared more about a nice firm arse and a cute face anyway. Fortunately, Amber had both these things. James scanned the crowd of students in the Honeydukes and spotted Snape standing in the right hand side line. It was weird to see him doing something as mundane and ordinary as buying sweets. James had seen him as a dark wizard in training for so long that he half expected him to turn into a bat any moment. He could not picture Snape eating chocolate frogs like a normal person. He eyed Snape suspiciously for a few more moments, but the Slytherin seemed not have a hidden agenda at the moment. James wondered where the rest of his clique were. Avery and Mulciber were quite nasty people and James did not like the thought of them running around Hogsmeade on their own.

Granted, it was highly unlikely that they would cause too much trouble, but James would still be more comfortable if these two gits were back in school. Or preferably, in a faraway country.

Amber re-joined him only a few minutes later with a plastic bag bulging with sweets. She fished his bar out of the bag and gave it to him. James stashed it in the pocket of his coat.

'Is that all marzipan?' he asked, surprised at the huge amount she had bought.

'Most is,' she said. 'It needs to last for a few months and there is a lot of different variants to choose from. I am very bad at picking what to buy so I simply buy one of each.'

'Sounds like a good idea,' said James chuckling. 'If you are all done, we should get moving. It is far too crowded here.'

'Alright,' she said. 'Where do you want go?'

'I need to buy new Quidditch gloves,' said James. 'Let's stop there and then have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.'

'Actually, I would rather prefer grabbing a drink somewhere else,' she said.

'Oh?' said James raising an eyebrow. 'Madame Puddifoots then?'

'No way!' she protested and James burst out laughing.

'I was only joking,' he said. 'I know that you hate the place.'

'You are a git,' she scolded him lightly.

'Why don't you want to go to the Three Broomsticks?' asked James, curiously.

'It is packed with other Hogwarts students so we are bound to run into somebody we know,' said Amber. 'I rather prefer some privacy.'

'Okay,' said James who considered this titbit of information very interesting. He was fairly certain that she was not trying to avoid his friends. Something was going on here. 'Have you ever been to the Hog's Head?'

'No,' said Amber. 'It does not look very welcoming and it has quite a nasty reputation. Why?'

'Because it is a great place to have a private conversation,' said James. 'Almost no other Hogwarts students and very few other visitors. Let's go there for a drink.'

'You have been there before?' she asked, surprised.

'There is no place in Hogsmeade where I haven't been,' said James cockily.

Amber rolled her eyes at him, but smiled.

'Okay, the Hog's head it is then,' she said. 'I hope it is not as bad as I expect it to be.'

'Would a gentlemen like me drag you into a shady tavern?' asked James, grinning toothily.

Amber snorted.

'You are many things, but not a gentleman,' she said. 'You and your friends call yourself the Marauders. So, yes, that's exactly what I expect you to do. And to try to get me drunk on Firewhiskey.'

'Guilty as charged,' said James. 'Let's go.'

Half an hour later, they were sitting at one of the cleaner tables in the Hog's Head. The tavern was empty except for them and the grumpy barkeeper whose name James did not know. He had gotten his new gloves at the Quidditch store and the package containing them now rested on the centre of the table. James had just returned from the bar and had gotten two butterbeers for them.

'Here you go,' he said, handing one bottle to Amber. She eyed it suspiciously as a copious amount of dust covered the bottle.

'He does not seem to sell butterbeer very often,' she said. 'Are these still good to drink?'

'I think so, I checked the label,' said James. He opened his bottle and took a swig. 'Tastes normal, it should be safe.'

'Well, here goes,' said Amber, taking a swig herself. 'I still can't believe that you have gotten the Troll Grip gloves. Everybody knows that they are overpriced and don't really work.'

'They are the best gloves for me out there,' said James slightly defensively. Amber had chided him for spending so much money on a pair of Quidditch gloves already in the shop. 'Of course the enchantments which are supposed to be on them are hogwash. Players would not be allowed to use them in the league if they really improved grip strength magically. I buy them because they fit my hands properly. No other brand which I have tried offers this snug fit and proper feeling.'

'Are your hands that different?' she asked. 'I can fit into most gloves just fine, but I tend to use fingerless ones.'

She grabbed James's right hand which had been resting on the table and took a close look at it. James was acutely aware of the ring glimmering on his finger.

His hands prickled when she touched him.

'They are too slender for most gloves,' he explained. 'I need my gloves to fit snugly otherwise I lose too much feeling. I could use fingerless ones like you do, but my hands get too sweaty during a match to use them.'

'Yes, they are quite slender indeed,' said Amber. 'Piano player hands, as my mother would say. I like them.'

'Er... thanks,' said James, slightly flustered. He had never been complimented for his hands before.

'Is this an inheritance ring?' she asked, touching the gold band with a finger.

'Yes, it is,' said James uncomfortably. 'It marks me as the heir of my house.'

'May I have a look?' she asked.

James nodded, pulled back his hand. He removed the ring and gave it to her. Amber studied it for a minute before handing it back to him. Rather than putting it back on his finger, James slipped it into his pocket.

'It is very beautiful,' she said. 'I have never seen you wear it before.'

'I have only recently started wearing it,' said James. 'I have never liked jewellery and it seems a bit much.'

'Ah,' said Amber sagely. 'Is the weight of the family weighing you down?'

'I am not quite sure what you mean,' said James, raising an eyebrow slightly.

'Do you feel a bit... pressured and locked in?' she asked. 'As a pure-blooded we have all these rules to follow, it sometimes gets a bit much.'

'Yeah, I guess I do,' said James surprised. He could not believe it. He thought his regrets about being who he was were rather unique. Granted Sirius had shared them, but he did not count. They were too much alike anyway. But here was yet another pure-blood with similar feelings. Maybe he had more in common with Amber than he had thought. 'People don't really see me. They see the heir to a rich and respected family. It can be tiring sometimes.'

'Are you parents very old-fashioned?' asked Amber.

'Not really,' said James. 'They mostly let me live my own life. I guess they are more relaxed, because their marriage was arranged and they don't want their son to experience pressure like this.'

'Your parents had an arranged marriage?' asked Amber, interestedly. 'What do you know about it?'

'Not too much,' said James, a bit surprised about her interest in this topic. 'I only learned about it a few years ago. Apparently my grandparents arranged the marriage when my parents were around fifteen. It was quite common to have an arranged marriage at this time, so they had expected it. Still, I image it was quite a difficult situation. As far as I can tell they are happy with their marriage, so they seem to have grown on each other.'

'That's nice,' said Amber. 'Mostly you hear about horrible, unhappy arranged marriages. It makes a nice change to hear about a happy one.'

James had rarely heard anything about arranged marriages. Maybe it was more common for a witch to dabble in this kind of things, but he nevertheless considered her interest in this topic extraordinary.

'Did your parents have an arranged marriage as well?' he asked.

'Oh no,' said Amber. 'No, my parents both work as Healers at St. Mungos. They met there when my mother started training. My father was already a junior healer at the time and helped her get settled in. And the rest is history. Did you parents already know each other before they were engaged?'

'Err... I think so,' said James. 'They were born in the same year and both went to Hogwarts. They even were in the same house. So, I guess they knew each other, but I do not know how close they were.'

'Must be weird,' said Amber pensively. 'Finding out suddenly that some acquainted student you barely talk to will be your future husband.'

'Yeah, I image it is,' said James. For a moment he thought about what would happen if a marriage between Evans and him was arranged. He shuddered at the thought. She would probably off him the moment she learned about the marriage. Fortunately, this scenario would never happen. After all, arranged marriages were on the decline and were mostly used between pure-blood families. 'Losing control over your life like this is very disturbing. I image it takes some time to get used to it.'

'But you think one gets used to it?' asked Amber.

'I guess so,' said James. 'I mean obviously it depends on your husband or wife, but in general one can get used to a lot of things.'

'Yeah, I guess you are right,' she said slowly. 'But what if you are forced to marry someone horrible?'

'Well, normally your parents should pay attention to whom they are marrying you to,' said James.

'Obviously,' said Amber. 'But your parents could have other goals in mind then your happiness. Huge dowries were quite common in the pure-blood community in the past. Your parents might consider your unhappiness an acceptable price to pay for a huge amount of money.'

'That would be horrible, but it is possible,' said James. He shuddered at the thought of parent's using their children as bargaining chips in their struggle for money and power. He knew that most of his ancestors had lived in arranged marriages and he wondered whether the power and money of his family had been created by skilfully crafted marriages. It was an uncomfortable thought.

'You could always run away,' said Amber.

'You could,' said James. 'But the price would be horrible. Running from an arranged marriage is still considered a serious crime. You would get expelled from the magical community and your parents would have to pay a huge fine. They could go to jail if they don't have enough money. I think you even have to serve time in Azkaban.'

'That's correct,' said Amber. 'Five years, I think. Then you are free to go and may live your life as a Muggle.'

'You know an awful lot about this,' said James.

'I am merely curious,' said Amber. 'My mother has told me about my grandparents arranged marriage and I did some digging. Anyway, what do you think about our new defence teacher?'

James knew that this was a deliberate change of subject. Something was going on here. Still, he allowed Amber to steer the conversation in a different direction. He was going to find out what was going on soon enough.

Shortly before dinner, James and Amber were heading back to Hogwarts. James was holding her hand as they walked and smoked a cigarette. He was in a good mood. The date with Amber had worked well so far and he had even enjoyed himself.

'You should really quit smoking,' said Amber with a smile on her face. 'It is not a very nice habit.'

'When did you quit smoking again?' asked James, amused. He had never really understand the urge of every witch to change whatever boy she was interested in. After all, they like him enough to start dating him in the first place. Amber and he were not even a couple yet, but she was already starting her work. Fortunately, James was stubborn. His parents had tried to form him into a well behaved boy all his life. He had a lot of practice in ignoring other people's advice.

'Almost a month ago,' she said proudly. 'And it was one of the best things I ever did.'

'Good for you,' said James. 'I have tried quitting at least five times already and I have always caved in. It does not help that my best mate smokes like a chimney, though.'

'I can give you some pointers if you would like,' she said. 'It is all about the correct mind-set. I...'

She broke off in midsentence and focused on something to their right. They had not yet left Hogsmeade, but they were on the very edge of the small town. On their right a couple was kissing in the shadows of a small alley. James did not recognize them. Amber, however, apparently did, as her grip on James's hands tightened so much it hurt and James could see the tension building in her body. She had stopped walking and was glaring at them. James did not know what to do.

Amber apparently had some kind of history with the couple. James had seen enough jealous witches in his life, mostly thanks to Sirius's dating behaviour, to know what was going on here. He was pretty sure that the bloke was either one of Amber's ex-boyfriends or was someone she had been interested in for a long time. He was not sure how he felt about it. Suddenly, the couple broke apart and seemed to glance at their surroundings for the first time in quite a while. They noticed James and Amber seconds later. The bloke flushed at being caught like he this. He looked a bit too old to be a student. He was handsome, with longish black hair and thick stubble on his cheeks. The girl, a pretty one with a blonde pixie cut, reacted quite differently. Rather than being embarrassed, she smirked at Amber and him with a look of triumph on her face. James felt Amber tense up even further. This was not a good sign. He had no desire to get involved in a fight between the two girls. However, rather than hexing the other girl, Amber spun around to face James again. He could barely see the determination and anger in her eyes, before she crashed her lips against his and wrapped her arms around him. It was a clumsy, angry kiss and James had not been prepared for it. For a moment he swayed, trying to find his balance before they would both topple other. Fortunately, he managed to stay on his feet. He tentatively was starting to kiss Amber back. She opened her mouth slightly and touched his lips with her tongue, asking for entry. James complied and open his mouth. Seconds later, her tongue was in his mouth. She was aggressive, kissing him like her life depended on it. One of her hands tangled itself in hair while the wandered to his lower back. It was too much and too fast, but James did not mind too much. He knew that she was probably only trying to get back at the other couple, but it was hard to concentrate on this fact when she was deliciously massaging his tongue. Suddenly it occurred to him that he should probably do something too instead of just standing here and taking it. His hands grabbed her hips and he pulled her even closer to him, so that her breast were rubbing against his chest and their hips were touching. He was already half hard and he was sure that she could feel his erection through his pants. Normally, he would have been embarrassed about it, but Amber left very little room for thought. It ended as quickly as it had begun. Suddenly Amber pulled away and took a step back. It took James's mind a moment to realize what had happened. Then, he took a look at Amber and at his surroundings. She looked quite flustered and the other couple was gone. James licked his lips, enjoying what remained of her taste. He did not quite know what to say, so he just looked Amber in the eye and raised one of his eyebrows. She blushed even more at his gaze.

'I think we should head back to school,' she said quietly. 'I want to get to dinner in time.

James was amused at her embarrassment. Amber normally seemed quite head strong and pushy, but at the moment she seemed quite out of her depths. James guess that this was not normal behaviour. He knew several rather promiscuous girls and judging from Sirius's and his own experience, these girls were hardly ever embarrassed about anything. He said nothing. Instead, he just held out his hand for her to grasp. She looked surprised at first, but then tentatively took his hand. They walked silently for a while. When they had passed half of the distance back to the castle, James spoke up:

'So, do you want to tell me what this was all about?'

'I'd rather not, but I guess I owe it to you,' she sighed. 'Listen, I am sorry for assaulting you like this. I was upset and did the first thing that came to my mind.'

'And the first thing you thought of was snogging me?' asked James, smirking. 'I guess you are quite popular if you get upset often.'

'Prat,' she said and hit his arm lightly, but she was smiling nevertheless. 'For the record, this is the first time that this happened to me. The bloke was my ex-boyfriend, Michael Knight. We had an ugly break up last summer. The girl is Laura, one of my roommates. We have never gotten along and she had been quite smitten with Michael for a while. I had heard rumours that the two of them had gotten together, but I had not wanted to believe them. Fortunately, Michael has already graduated from Hogwarts, so I don't have to see them during school. I had a feeling that he might be in Hogsmeade today. Therefore, I wanted to avoid the Three Broomsticks, as I did not want to run into him. When I caught the two of them snogging, I was quite overwhelmed with the situation.'

'I see,' said James. She had been upset that her ex-boyfriend had apparently moved on and used James to demonstrate that she did not care about it. It was quite messed up.

'Are you upset with me?' she asked. 'I know this all makes me look like some kind of petty girl on the rebound.'

'No, I am not upset,' said James, truthfully. He was a bit surprised that he was not angry with her. For a moment he thought about how he would feel about this situation if it was Lily rather than Amber. Instantly, he felt a wave of rage sweep over him. Yes, he would definitely be angry if Lily used him as a rebound. Sadly, he still cared too much about her to have some short-term careless pseudo relationship with her. But Amber was not Lily. He did not mind that she was using him. After all, he was kind of using her as well. He had given up chasing what he really wanted, so he settled for something he could have. It was terribly unromantic, but at least it was not making him miserable. 'I think I know how you feel.'

'Oh?' said Amber, surprised. 'Do you have some emotional baggage as well?'

'Something like that,' said James. 'But we should not worry think about the past so much. We all have regrets and constantly dredging those up will not help anybody. I think we should just go with the flow and see what happens.'

'I would like that,' said Amber, smiling. 'I think we could be good together.'

'I think so to,' said James.

He was surprised as he realized that he was telling the truth.