One morning in May, James walked down to Potions, their first lesson of the day, with the rest of the Marauders. They were running rather late, but James suspected that they were going to get there just in time. However, his mind was not on the upcoming lesson. Instead, he was still mentally digesting an article about modern Quidditch training which he had read hurriedly over breakfast. As he was back to his full health by now, he had started playing Quidditch again. He was training ferociously for their last match of the season which was schedules to happen this month. He wanted the Quidditch Cup badly. He had only won it once during his time as an active player, back in his third year. It was about time that he did it again. While he had become a much better player during the years, it had not been enough to earn the coveted trophy. As much as James liked to pretend, it simply was not possible to carry the whole team in Quidditch. They had been rather unlike, both in and outside matches. This year, however, things were looking good. Their final match was against Slytherin and while the enemy team was strong, they had been playing much weaker than James had anticipated during their last match versus Ravenclaw. Slytherin had to win by fifty points against them to win the cup. James could not let that happen. He had been drilling his team harder and more often than usual and while some had grumbled about the extra work so close to the exams, all were willing to do whatever was necessary to bring the cup home. He was still unsure whether adding some assistance exercise, as was suggested in the article, would be a good idea. He ought to talk it over with Sirius later.

'Oi, what do we have here?' said Sirius suddenly, when they rounded the corner leading to the classroom. 'This looks like trouble.'

James glanced up and saw immediately what Sirius was talking about. Lily was glowering at Avery and Mulciber, while Mary was standing next to her, looking close to tears. Lily, Avery and Mulciber had all drawn their wands. The rest of their classmates were keeping their distances. James eyes searched for Snape. He expected him to be part of the commotion, but to his surprise, the Slytherin was at the very back to the throng of students, obviously trying very hard not be seen. He wondered what that was about. Snape had been more than willing to bully first years together with the rest of the Slytherins some months back. He had become soft all of a sudden? Or was he just trying to stay out of trouble because his mates were messing with Lily? James was convinced that Snape was heading for a career as a Death Eater like Mulciber, Avery and possible Rosier. It did not make any sense that Snape was now trying to distance himself from his future allies. Interestingly, Evan Rosier had also opted not to join in. He was standing a few feet away, with a rather haughty expression on his face.

'Looks like we have to hex some Slytherins,' said Sirius gleefully. 'Ah, this never gets old.'

Before Sirius could do anything though, Mulcibers's voice rang to the corridor.

'Do you think I am afraid of you, you Mudblood slag?' he snarled, glowering at Lily. 'Maybe when I am through with you, you are going to know your place.'

'You are welcome to try,' said Lily angrily. 'I have seen what you can do with a wand, Mulciber, and you are more a danger to yourself then you are to me. You are scum who likes to hurt other people, but I am not going to let you get away with this.'

'We should probably break it up,' said Remus. 'This is going to get ugly soon.'

'Yeah, I have got a clear shot at Mulciber,' said Sirius, 'I am going to hit him with a stunner and then we can take care of Avery.'

'Don't,' said James. 'We are not going to interfere unless we have to. Let's get a bit closer, so that we can react quickly if things get ugly.'

'What?' asked Sirius. 'James they are threatening Evans! I thought you of all people would be first in line to save her. You know, be her knight in shining armour.'

'Lily can take care of herself,' said James. 'She does not need protection, nor does she like to be protected. Remus is a prefect, he is going to break it up and we are going to help him if necessary, but we are not going to hex anybody unless we are attacked.'

Sirius grumbled for a moment, but lowered his wand slightly. Remus looked pleasantly surprised. He probably had expected James to lose his temper. A fairly accurate assumption, after all James was furious with the Slytherins. However, he kept his fury in check. He had tried to fight Lily's battles for her quite often in the past and usually, it had backfired spectacularly. He still had to wince when he thought about his attempts to make Snape apologize for calling her a Mudblood. No, she would want to defend herself on her own. Also, not attacking the Slytherins on sight kept him out of trouble and worked nicely with his father's attempt at appearing neutral in the brewing civil war. They approached the group of students still eying each other warily. Neither Lily nor the Slytherins had made a move so far which surprised James. Lily was not known for her patience after all and Mulciber and his crew were obviously itching for a fight.

'Ah, here comes Potter and his gang,' said Avery. 'Looks like you are in luck, Evans: Your knights in shining armour are here.'

'I don't need anyone to protect me,' said Lily. 'And you still have not apologized to Mary, Avery. You better do it before Slughorn gets here or things will get complicated.'

'Why on earth would I apologize for telling her the truth?' said Avery. 'She is a filthy mudblood like you and both of you are going to be gone when the Dark Lord takes over. I am just giving you a little preview. And there is nothing you can do to make me apologize to scum like you.'

'We will see about that,' said Lily and threw a curse at Avery. Suddenly, the Slytherin was dangling upside down in the air by his ankle. James recognized the spell immediately: The levicorpus curse which he had used on Snape close to a year ago. He was impressed that Lily had managed to cast the spell that quickly and without shouting the incantation.

'Oh dear,' said Remus and brandished his own wand. 'All of you, stop it! I am a prefect! Slughorn is going to be here any minute and you are all going to be in a lot of trouble.'

His calming words were ignored.

Mulciber let out a howl of rage and shot a nasty looking orange spell at Lily which she deflected with a shield charm. Before he could cast another spell, she hit him with a body bind hex. He went down with a crash. Lily looked around wildly, trying to spot any further attackers, but nobody dared to move.

'Right,' she said. 'Does anyone else have something to say to Mary and me? No?'

Silence followed her rhetorical question.

'Very well then,' she said, pocketing her wand again. She looked up at Avery who was still dangling in the air. 'You lot have big mouths and are bigots, but you are not Death Eaters. Keep that in mind when picking fights with people more powerful than you are.'

James had to stifle a smile at the look of outrage on Avery's face. He certainly was not taking that defeat well. 'You just wait, you dirty Mud…,' said Avery, but he was interrupted by Slughorn's arrival.

'Good gracious, what is going on here?' said Slughurn as he waddled towards them, his big belly leading the way. James resisted the urge to pull a face at the sight. Slughorn was a good teacher, but James had never cared much for his appearance. Being as fat as Slughorn was, clearly reflected a lack of control over his own appetite. Most pure-bloods were very conscious of their appearance and would never let themselves go like this. Sometimes, James wondered whether Slughorn truly was a pure-blood as he claimed to be. James had not recognized the family name. While it was possible that the Slughorns were just a small family which went by unnoticed, it was rather unlikely as most pure-blood families were always on the lookout for suitable matches for their children. Maybe it was one of these fringe cases where the blood line was almost pure and in a few generations the family would be considered pure-blood. Maybe when he got bored the next time, he would look into this.

'Evans hexed me, Professor,' complained Avery in a rather undignified voice. James admitted that it was difficult to appear dignified when hanging upside down in the air, but Avery did not have to whine about it that much.

'Yes, I did,' said Lily. 'But I only did it because you were about to hex me instead. And you made Mary cry by telling her that she and her family were going to get killed by Death Eaters very soon. Don't try to pretend that you are innocent.'

'My, my, what troublesome behaviour,' said Slughorn. 'What about Mr. Mulciber? He seems to be in a body bind.'

'I got him as well, because he attacked me after I hexed Avery,' said Lily defiantly. James was surprised at the fire in her eyes. Lily normally shed away from all trouble and she highly respected Slughorn. She must be really angry for be that impertinent with him.

'Dear, dear, Miss Evans, you seem to be on rather angry today,' said Slughorn. He whipped out his wand and undid the body bind as well as the levicorpus. 'Now, five points from Slytherin and Gryffindor for duelling in the corridors. Get inside, all of you.'

'Can you believe that?' hissed Sirius. 'Five ruddy points for hexing each other? If that had been us, we would have lost fifteen points each and be put into detention. Slughorn is only being so merciful because his darling Evans was involved, I am telling you.'

'Probably,' said James. 'Don't forget that Avery's father is rather well-connected as well. This is probably what protected him from a worse punishment.'

'Bloody favouritism,' grumbled Sirius.

'Oh come off it, Sirius,' said Remus impatiently. 'If you had that kind of pull on Slughorn, you would abuse it day and night. Lily does not even like the attention in the first place and she was only defending her friend. I think it is quite alright that Slughorn went easy on hear.'

'What's that?' said Sirius. 'Are you, our darling prefect, claiming that the rules are not the same for everyone? I am shocked, Moony, shocked and appalled!'

'Of course you are,' said Remus, rolling his eyes. 'You know Sirius, if I were a proper prefect, I would try to stop the pranks rather than be part of them. James and you have corrupted me and a little prefect's badge does not change that fact.'

'And we wouldn't have you any other way, Moony,' said Sirius reaching over to ruffle his friend's hair. Naturally, Remus did not like to have his hair ruffled at all, so a small skirmish broke out between them until Slughorn noticed and made them stop.

James hardly paid attention to what Slughorn was telling them about general purpose antidotes. His mind was racing with what had just happened. He glanced at Lily and could instantly tell that she still was upset. She sat stiff as a poker in her seat and paid an almost indecent amount of attention to Slughorn. Mary was staring into space looking rather dazed a few seats away. James wondered whether he could help. He doubted it though and he would not be able to show open support if he wanted to follow his father's strategy. It galled him to just watch as even Hogwarts became a battlefield in this conflict, but he did not dare disobey his father. His only had his parents after all and he was not going to risk antagonizing his only living family. Also, he had to admit that his father's plan was rather well-crafted if also rather cold. Well... if he was not allowed to openly help Muggleborns like Lily he was going to it in secret. Not that she had needed his help today. In fact, he had been very impressed with her spell work. Still, he was going to speak to her about today as soon as he caught her alone. He did not want her to get the impression that he was suddenly supporting the purists. He also should make sure that she was alright. Lily was rather tough and had enough experience with scum like Avery to not be overly fussed by their insults, but he should double check nevertheless. James was not too sure about Mary, though, who had always been rather emotional. James supposed that he could try to cheer her up, but they were not close enough that he felt comfortable doing so. Maybe he should ask Lily about that too. Just as James was about to return his attention to the ongoing class, he noticed something strange. Evan Rosier was staring at him. James was used to Slytherin glaring at them, but Rosier's expression was not overly hostile. In fact, he rather looked puzzled and interested. James wondered what that was about. Rosier was not as bad as Avery and Mulciber, but James strongly suspected him to be another Death Eater in training. It probably was not a good sign that Rosier paid him so much attention. James tried to catch the Slytherin's eye and when he succeeded, Rosier hastily looked away and focused on Slughorn. Peculiar. James stowed that information away in his mind and turned round to look at Slughorn. It would not do to land himself in detention, because he was not paying attention in class.

When they filed out of the dungeon after the lesson, James skilfully placed a little note in Lily's hand as he left. It told her to meet him in a certain corridor close by in five minutes. James told the other Marauders that he would join them again later and made his way to their meeting point. When she showed up a few minutes later, he pulled her behind an alcove which was hidden by an old and rather moth-eaten tapestry. He cast a quick silencing charm, before turning his attention to her.

'You came,' he said, unable to keep a grin from his face.

'Of course I did, you asked me to,' she said. 'Why wouldn't I come?'

'I was not sure that you are interested in secret rendezvous with me yet,' said James, unable to help himself.

Lily rolled her eyes.

'If you have only asked me here to get smart with me than I am going to leave,' she said.

'Actually, I have asked you here to find out how you are,' said James. 'I did not see everything, but Avery and Mulciber were foul to you.'

'It was nothing,' said Lily. 'It is hardly news that they are bastards.'

'Nothing?' said James, raising an eyebrow. 'Lily you hexed both of them and were caught by a teacher. That hardly seems like nothing to me.'

'Don't tell me you would not have jinxed them,' said Lily. 'They deserved every hex I threw at them.'

'Of course they did,' said James. 'I am just trying to make sure that you are alright.'

'I am fine, James,' she said. 'I don't need you to babysit me.'

'I noticed,' said James. 'I was about to hex them myself, but I thought I should let you deal with it yourself first.'

'I am grateful, you did,' said Lily. 'This is my fight, not yours. I am glad that you want to help me, but I cannot keep hiding behind your protection. You are a pure-blood, not a Muggle-born.'

'I am on your side in this conflict, Lily,' said James. 'Don't forget it.'

'I know you are,' said Lily. 'But you don't have to worry about me. I can deal with scum like Avery just fine on my own. I am, however, rather worried about Mary. She was very upset.'

'What did they do to her?' asked James.

'Her mother died a month ago,' said Lily quietly. 'She had been sick for years and now finally passed away. Somehow Avery and his crew knew about it and told Mary that she would join her mother very soon as the Dark Lord was going to rise to power. Mary had been devastated by her mother's loss and their crude comments picked at the wound.'

'Bloody hell,' said James. 'These pricks! Is there anything I can do for Mary?'

'I don't think so,' said Lily. 'I mean, you two are friendly enough, but she did not even tell you about her mother yet, so it is probably not a good idea for you to say anything to her. I will keep a close eye on her, though. Mary is a sweet girl, but she is no fighter. Not like Marlene.'

'Or you,' said James.

Lily said nothing, though James thought she looked a bit pink in the face.

'In the meantime, you should probably be careful,' continued James. 'Avery is not going to let this rest. You have humiliated him and he is going to seek revenge. You probably should not be wandering around on your own in the meantime.'

'I am not the one wandering the school after ours, James,' said Lily. 'And I can take of myself. I don't need anyone's protection.'

'Of course, you don't,' said James. 'But I doubt your boyfriend would like it if you got attacked by some Slytherins. He is probably going to have words with you about today.'

'Hardly,' said Lily, rolling her eyes. 'He probably will not even know about the trouble with the Slytherins and I certainly will not tell him.'

'Why not?' asked James. 'I would want to know if I were your boyfriend.'

'Well, you are not,' she said briskly. She sighed when James gave her a hard stare. 'Fine, Luke has not really understood how serious the conflict with the Slytherins is and how it is connected with Voldemort.'

'What?' asked James. 'He is a Ravenclaw, isn't he supposed to be smart? And he is a half-blood, so not exactly in the clear from a Death Eater point of view. He should know.'

'He is very smart and studious, but that does not mean that he can read people very well,' said Lily. 'And from what he told me, his family is not like yours, James. He has never placed the game of power you grew up with. He believes that the trouble will just blow over and that the Ministry will take care of it all. I can't rob him of that hope, can I?'

'Alright, alright,' said James. 'Don't tell him, but do me a favour and be careful. Things at Hogwarts are not as save as they used to be. For both of us.'

'I will try, if it makes you feel better,' said Lily.

'It does, thank you,' said James.

'You're welcome,' said Lily. 'I am going to check up on Alice before going to lunch. Are you coming with me?'

'No, I am starving, I am going to see you later,' said James.

'Alright, James, bye.'

She walked away. James look after her for a while. He had a bad feeling in his stomach. Lily was being way to cavalier about her brush in with the Slytherins. He just hoped that she did not have to learn to take them seriously the hard way.

Two days later, James was climbing to the very top of the astronomy tower, because he wanted to smoke a cigarette. He had ditched Sirius, who usually insisted on accompanying him whenever he walked around the school outside of lessons. Clearly, Sirius was taking the promise to James's father very serious. Sadly, it was driving James up the wall. He loved Sirius like the brother he never had, but he needed some time on his own from time to time. So, he had told Sirius to bugger off. Naturally, his best mate had protested heavily, but James had insisted. In the end, Sirius had let him go grudgingly, but told him that he would hex him himself if James found himself in any trouble. James was strangely tense. So far, the Slytherins had not bothered Lily since she had hexed Avery and their lack of action made James nervous. Neither Mulciber nor Avery were forgiving or patient, so their retaliation clearly was overdue. He knew that it was not his place to be overly worried over Lily, as he only was a friend rather than her boyfriend, but he could not help it. The other Marauders were of little help in that regard. Sirius was all for pre-emptively hexing the Slytherins to keep them from doing any harm. Naturally, that was out of the question. Remus had pointed out that they were not able to do anything if Lily did not want their protection and if the Slytherins were staying in line. Peter had agreed and told James that he needed to put it out of his mind. James knew that they were right, but he could not stop worrying anyhow. He could not talk with Amber about this either. She had other things to worry about and he doubted that she would be overly interested in Lily's wellbeing. He had the distinct impression that she did not like her very much. The two had hardly ever spoken to each other, but James knew Amber well enough by now to read her facial expressions perfectly. There was a repressed dislike there which he could not properly explain. He suspected jealousy, as Amber knew how he felt about Lily, but that was a line of thought he was not overly comfortable exploring.

'Well, well, well,' said a voice to his right. 'If it isn't James Potter.'

Startles, James whirled around, grabbing his wand during the movement. He came face to face with Evan Rosier and immediately pointed his wand at him.

'Jumpy, are we?' said Rosier, raising an eyebrow. Evan Rosier was of medium height, with strawberry blonde, curly hair which framed his aristocratic face. His eyes were very dark, a stark contrast to his light complexion and hair. James was not exactly happy to see him. Rosier was more of a wildcard than Mulciber and Avery, but James knew that the Rosier family were very traditional and not fond of his family at all. Encountering some like him at this time of the night and all alone was not a good sign. James cursed his bad luck. If only he had not persuaded Sirius to let him go on his own, he would at least have him as backup.

'Just prudent, Rosier,' said James, lowering his wand slightly. 'These are dangerous times, as you should know.'

'Oh, I have noticed,' said Rosier, smiling even wider. 'But I prefer to see the opportunities in the current situation. Big changes will always be profitable for one knowing how to exploit them.'

'Naturally,' said James, trying to make sense out the current situation. Rosier hardly was the type to wax about the philosophy of change with whomever he randomly met on the Astronomy Tower. Something was going on here. 'But I have a feeling that you did not come here to talk with me about the opportunities.'

'What makes you think I came here to see you?' asked Rosier. 'I could merely be out for an evening stroll.'

'I am not a fool, Rosier,' said James. 'I am up here multiple times a week to have a smoke and I have never encountered you before. Either you have suddenly discovered your love for the night time sky or, what I think is much more likely, you came here to find me on my own.'

'Clever,' said Rosier with a sneer. 'You are right, Potter, I came here to talk to you, preferable on your own.'

'Just to talk?' asked James. 'Not to jump me with some of your mates? I am pleasantly surprised.'

'Just to talk,' said Rosier. 'You can put your wand away, Potter.'

James snorted. He lowered his wand so that the arm holding it was dangling loosely at his side, but he did not pocket it again.

'I may be more trusting than you, Rosier, but I am not that naive,' said James. 'You wanted to talk, then talk. I am going to smoke my cigarette and then I am going to leave. I don't mind listening to you while I smoke.'

James fished a cigarette out of his pocket with his left arm and put it into his mouth. It ignited immediately once he sucked on his and James blew a cloud of smoke into the nightly sky.

'Fine', said Rosier. 'I am going to be quick about this. You have changed, Potter. You have not pranked us Slytherins this year and you are no longer the knight in shining armour for all the mudbloods out there.

You are on a good way and from what I have heard, your father is busy making the right connections as well. Keep it up and maybe we can forget your blood-traitor status. Despite all your faults, you have a pristine lineage and it would be a shame to spill such noble blood.'

'Stop it, you're making me blush,' said James with a smirk. It did not surprise him that the best thing Rosier could find in him was his pure blood.

'Quit your childish jabs,' said Rosier, looking angry all of sudden. 'I know that you are neither as childish nor as dumb as you like to portray yourself, Potter. You know what it is at stake here and I hope that you are smart enough to see an opportunity when it finds you.'

'Oh, I see it clear enough,' said James, taking a deep drag on his cigarette to buy some time. His mind was reeling. Apparently, his father's plan was working. They had successfully confused at least some purists into thinking that they would be interested in joining the ongoing crusade for blood-purity. He would have to tread carefully now unless he wanted the whole plan to collapse. He did not want to appear too interested. Otherwise, they would just try to get him to join and he certainly did not want to become a Death Eater. But was he getting ahead of himself? After all, he was only talking to Rosier, who was seventeen like he was and not even out of school. James found it hard to believe that Rosier was a Death Eater already. Maybe he was just pulling James's leg. 'And who exactly are you representing? I am glad you agree of my choices, but I was not aware that you were involved in any kind of organisation, Rosier.'

'I am pretty sure that you know who I am representing,' said Rosier with a smile.

'I am pretty sure that I know who you claim to be representing,' said James with a matching smile. 'But I find it hard to believe that they would let someone as young as you join their ranks.'

'You are free to belief whatever you want, Potter,' said Rosier, who was still smiling. 'I was asked to deliver that message to you and I did just that. You are free to believe it or to dismiss it as you see fit. We will keep an eye on you and we will keep in touch. Enjoy your cigarette.'

He wheeled around and left the tower, leaving James behind with a half-smoked cigarette and a head full of thoughts.