'He obviously is a rotten liar,' said Sirius at breakfast on the next day. Rather than in the great hall, they were in the Hogwarts kitchen as James had wanted to talk without fear of getting overheard. Other than them, only the Hogwarts house elves were in the kitchen and they were far too busy with preparing food to pay their conversation any attention. Also, it was considered rude in house elf society to listen to human conversation. Hence, James had told his friends all about his nightly encounter with Rosier without having to whisper.

'While I would not put it that crudely, I do agree with Sirius,' said Remus. 'It is hard to believe that someone as young as us could be a fully-fledged member of the Death Eaters. He was probably just messing with your head, James. Rosier is rather clever in a twisted sort of way. Maybe he just wants to rattle your cage a bit.'

'That would be a very bold thing to lie about, though,' said Peter ponderously. 'I mean, what if the Death Eaters find out that he is pretending to be one of them? I doubt that they would react kindly to such bragging. And I doubt that the teachers will be pleased if they learned about Rosier being a Death Eater either. There is a lot if risk involved and very little reward. So, I think that Rosier is at least well-connected to the Death Eaters if not a member of already.'

'Dragon dung,' said Sirius, scowling. 'Rosier is seventeen and not even out of school. Sure, he is big enough of a git to actually join these nutters, but why would a group of dark wizard terrorists accept someone so young? What could he possibly bring to the table? Every additional member is also a risk, don't forget that! Someone as young as Rosier probably is not very careful and could endanger other members very easily.'

'Exactly,' said Peter. 'This is why it may be a good move. Nobody would even consider that someone as young as Rosier could be a Death Eater. Hence, he runs little risk of being discovered and still can move around freely at Hogwarts. He could gather information about what Dumbledore is up to as well as recruit other students. And if you don't tell him anything worthwhile, he is no risk at all. It is an easy move with no downsides at all for the Death Eaters.'

'That's a very good point, Peter,' said Remus, obviously thinking hard. 'When you phrase it like this, I think Rosier might have told the truth or at least alluded to it.'

Sirius made a disbelieving noise.

'Why Rosier, though?' asked James, before Peter could say anything to Sirius. 'I mean, I get that he is from a traditional family and probably has quite a lot of prejudice, but he is much better than Avery or Mulciber. I have never caught him hexing or bullying any Muggleborn at all. Why should he bother to join the Death Eaters and what could he possibly have done so that they have accepted him?'

'Maybe we just never caught him,' said Sirius. 'Rosier may be much smarter than Mulciber and Avery, but he still is a slimy snake. My mother is very fond of his father. According to her, he is everything a pure-blood should be. And if my hag of a mother likes someone, you can bet that he is scum. Maybe Rosier is just better at hiding his deeds.'

'Maybe,' agreed Remus. 'But we are probably not going to pierce that mystery today. The much more important question is, what are you going to do about it, James?'

'Nothing, I guess,' said James.

'What?' said Sirius, sounding scandalized. 'Prongs, you can't be serious! You are just going to let this git get away with either being a Death Eater or claiming to be one? You have to tell the teachers about him! No wait, let's just prank him until he can't walk.'

'Don't be silly, Sirius,' said Remus. 'What exactly is James going to tell the teachers? Rosier has not openly admitted to being a Death Eater, he has just alluded to the fact. If James tells one of the teachers, Rosier is just going to deny everything and they will have to let him go.'

'They should just check his arm for the Dark Mark,' said Sirius. 'Everyone knows that each Death Eater has a bloody mark. All he has to do, is to roll up his ruddy sleeve. I think that is not too much to ask in that situation.'

'Rosier does not have to agree to have his arm checked,' said Remus. 'There is no rule in the school that demands that a student has to present his arm to a teacher. And even if he has the mark and someone found out, there is no school law against being part of a criminal organization outside of the school. They would have to proof that he violates school rules during his time here to expel him. Of course, they could hand him over to the Ministry, but they can't act on their own.'

'That's our solution then,' said Sirius. 'We just tip off the Ministry that Rosier is a Death Eater and they are going to take care of him. They are desperate for information leading to more captured Death Eaters. They even introduced an anonymous post owl box, where you can drop any information without anyone knowing. We just have to write a letter and we will be able to get rid of this scum.'

'We could,' said James. 'But I doubt that the Ministry is going to take it seriously. They are most likely going to think that Rosier is too young as well. Also, his father is a rather important member of the Department for International Magical Cooperation. They are going to be hesitant to investigate his son without hard proof. But what is even more important: As soon as we tip someone off, Rosier is going to know that I was the one giving the information. If he gets into trouble soon after telling me, he will know that I am not trustworthy. And this information is going to spread widely and quickly in the Death Eater circles.'

'Well, what does that matter?' asked Peter. 'Everyone knows that you don't agree with the Death Eaters. This would only tell them, what they already know.'

'Think, Peter,' said Sirius impatiently. 'Mr. Potter is trying to steer the family on neutral grounds. If James walks around exposing Death Eaters, this is not going to work.'

'Oh,' said Peter. 'Right, I had forgotten about that. Well, that solves the issue then, doesn't it? You are not going to do anything.'

'Looks like it,' said James, gruffly. 'Doesn't feel right, though. I am going to keep an eye on Rosier from now on. He probably is more dangerous than I thought.'

'And I am keeping an even closer eye on you,' said Sirius. 'I don't like it that the Slytherins pay so much attention to you, Prongs. We know that the Death Eaters have plans for you and now Rosier seems to be their look out at Hogwarts. That's not a good sign in my book.'

'I am fine on my own, Sirius,' said James. 'But feel free to keep close if it makes you feel better.'

'These are strange times,' said Remus, shaking his head. 'I never would have thought that we are going to keep quiet about a potential Death Eater rookie at Hogwarts.'

'Strange times, require strange actions,' said Peter wisely.

'Amen to that,' said James, emptying a glass of pumpkin juice which had been all that remained of his breakfast. 'Come on, we have to go or we are going to be late for Defence.'

Amber giggled as she pushed him against the tiled wall of the showers in the Quidditch changing rooms. Compared to the hot water flowing over them, the wall was quite cold, but before James had the chance to complain, her mouth was on his and stifled any words he might have form. Grinning against her lips, he put his hands on her firm bum and pulled her even closer. He was in a great mood: They had just won the Quidditch cup in their last match of the season against Slytherin. Thanks to their dedicated training and James's brilliant form they had demolished Slytherin today and won with a margin of more than two hundred points. The rest of the team were already up in Gryffindor tower, celebrating their victory. James had lingered behind, both because some over exuberant Gryffindors had insisted on carrying him on their shoulders around the stadium and because he had wanted to put everything in order before getting smashed at the party. Amber had decided to put his lingering to good use and had quickly joined him under the showers. Fortunately, they were all alone and had all the time in the world to celebrate on their own.

'That was some impressive flying today,' she whispered in his ear as she nibbled on his neck. 'I think you are growing better and better each day.'

'Thanks,' said James, inhaling sharply as her small hand travelled further down and gave him a slow stroke. 'I thought you would be upset about Ravenclaw's poor performance this season, though.'

'I am,' said Amber, 'but we lost each game fair and square, so there is nothing to be angry about. Besides, how can I be disappointed if I have you to take my mind of things?'

'How indeed?' asked James with a smirk and kissed her again. He was glad she was here. Their time was running out; only a few more weeks until school ended and they would have to part ways forever. He was determined to make the most out of it. A part of him suspected that he should try to slowly increase the distance between them, so ending things with her would be less painful, but instead he was delving in deeper than ever. It was foolish and greedy, but he did not care at all. Amber was a great girl and he wanted to enjoy her while he still had her. They lost themselves in each other. At one point during their celebration, James thought he had heard a low moan which had come from neither of them. He broke his kiss with Amber and glanced up, but could not make out any details without his glasses in the rather dark room. However, for a brief moment, he spotted something red which quickly disappeared out of the doorway leading to the showers. James knew that particular shade of red very well. After all, he had spent a lot of time staring at it during lessons. Rather than embarrassing him, the thought of Lily Evans sneaking a peak at him only excited him further. Before he could ponder this thought any longer, Amber pulled him back into a kiss and wiped Lily Evans from his mind again.

When they were done, they showered properly and put on fresh clothing. They wanted to head to the party after all and while most people could guess that they had been shagging, they did not have to advertise it. James briefly considered asking Amber whether she had noticed Lily as well, but decided against it. Like him, Amber was clinging more tightly the nearer the end of the school year got. James had caught her starting rather darkly at Lily whenever the redhead had a longer conversation with James. Her budding jealousy rather amused James, as Amber was normally very relaxed, but he had refrained from commenting on it. He doubted that Amber would appreciate getting called out like that. He wondered what Lily had been doing here. What reason could she possible have had to enter the changing rooms? Had she been looking for him? That was possible, but rather unlikely. They were friends, but did not spend a lot of time together. Maybe she had wanted to congratulate him on the match, but she could have easily done so at the party. There must have been some other reason. He doubted that she was into watching other people shag. Sirius found it amusing to dramatically break up couples during the act, but that certainly was not Lily's style. What had she thought about Amber's and his little display? She probably had not seen much. Amber's rather pretty backside must have blocked most of his body from view. Not that James would have minded Lily seeing more of him overly much. While he sometimes felt self-conscious when he compared himself to Sirius - his rather lanky build simply did not compare well to the stockier, athletic one of his best mate - most of the time he was more than fine with how he looked. For a moment he allowed himself to indulge a fantasy where Lily had not run away, but rather joined Amber and himself under the hot water. He could feel his desire rise at the thought and was rather glad that was dressed already. Then, he pushed the thought away. Lily was still out of reach and was not the kind of girl to cheat on her boyfriend or to have threesomes with another girl and a bloke. At least what was what he believed. Of course, it was entirely possible that Lily was doing all depraved things in the world with her git of a boyfriend - he felt sick in the stomach at the thought -, but if that was the case then she was very good at hiding it. No, he was pretty sure that Lily was rather innocent, probably a virgin. Nevertheless, he had to decide what to do about Lily's peeking. Should he say something? It would be ridiculously easy to make up some cheap pick-up lines with that information. Sexual innuendo had served him well at various points in the past. But Lily did not strike him as the type. She probably would just be embarrassed and lash out at him for being a pervert. If she did not just deny everything. Also, it would probably make things very awkward very quickly. They were friends by now and while James was by no means satisfied with being just friends, he also did not want to push her away by making too many crude comments. No, it probably was not a good idea to talk to her about the incident at all. Instead, he was going to let the experience simmer in her mind for a while. Maybe something would grow out of it on its own. He was just going to pay closer attention to her in the future and look for any changes in her behaviour. Yes, that was the way to go.

Amber interrupted his Lily Evan's filled thoughts, by kissing him softly on the lips, before pulling him to his feet. James suddenly remembered that they still had a party to get to and they hurried out of the changing rooms and up to the castle.

On the very last day of his sixth year James was sitting on the soft grass on the Quidditch pitch. Tomorrow, he would travel back to London. It was nine o'clock and a warm summer night. James had snuck down here after having finished preparing his trunk to have some time to think. The year had been a hell of a ride, but all in all, he was rather content. He had probably done well in his exams, had won the Quidditch cup, had made some progress with the ever elusive Lily Evans and had spent wonderful hours with Amber. At the thought of her, his good mood turned rather bittersweet. They still had not broken up, but he knew that it was overdue. Maybe he should have already ended things with her, but he still lacked the courage. Well, he supposed that she was going to make the cut for him. At the latest during the train ride tomorrow. Despite knowing that it was the right thing to do, he was still dreading the moment. He was afraid of how much it was going to hurt. Sirius had tried poking at his feelings about Amber from time to time, but James had shut him out resolutely. He was not ready to talk about it yet. Still, he supposed that Sirius's inquiries were better than Remus's pitying looks. His werewolf friend had warned him after all not to get too involved with Amber and as usual James had not followed his advice. Fortunately, Remus was too good a friend to tell him 'I-told-you so'. James did not think that he would be able to take such a comment without hexing its source. Sighing, he pulled a package of cigarettes out of his pockets and lit one. He would have preferred a spliff, but their supply had run out last weekend and they had not bothered to refill it for the last few days. James only smoked that stuff at Hogwarts as he did not dare bringing it back home. His parent's would raise hell if they ever found it. As he blew some smoke in the still light sky, he noticed footsteps leading towards him. He frowned. The other Marauders knew that he was out here. Had they decided to join him after all? Or was Sirius just checking up on him? His best mate probably had an eye on the map anyway as he was still worried about Rosier. While James had been rather unsettled by that encounter as well, he had by now calmed down completely as neither Rosier nor any other Slytherin had approached him again. They had not even bothered Lily again. Sirius was sure that this was all part of an elaborate plan and that the Slytherins were only biding their time, but James found that hard to believe. By now, he was quite sure that Rosier had only been pulling his leg and that the Slytherin was not part of the Death Eaters at all. Still, it did not hurt to be prudent, so he turned his head to catch a look at whoever was coming his way and put a hand on his wand as well.

It was neither a fellow Marauder nor one of the Slytherins. Instead, Amber was slowly walking his way, looking very pretty in the evening twilight. James was not sure how he felt about her joining him. He doubted that they were going to have a pleasant conversation, but he also knew that talking to her was way overdue.

'Hey,' she said, when she had reached him. She nudged his legs apart and said down between them. Then, she slid down a bit, so that her head leaned against his chest and was tucked beneath his chin. Her soft hair tickled James a bit, but he did not complain. The position was eerily familiar. They had spent a lot of time snuggled together like this during the school year. His heart ached a bit at the thought. Nevertheless, he relaxed at her presence.

'Hey, yourself,' he said. 'How did you know where to find me?'

'Sirius told me,' she said, without looking up at him. 'He also said that he was going to miss me during the next year. Apparently, I am a quite a fit bird and quite a good girlfriend to you.'

'That sounds like Sirius, all right,' said James, only slightly annoyed at his best mate's loose tongue. 'He has always been very approving of our relationship. He likes you.'

'I like him as well,' said Amber. 'He is quite fun to be around, is he not? But I could never date him: He is too much of a womanizer for anything serious. Alright for a night, but not great in the long run. Not a respectable boyfriend, like you.'

'Oh, so I am respectable now?' asked James with a grin, after having taken another drag from his cigarette. 'Well, there goes my reputation as a heart breaker.'

Amber snorted.

'Please, Jamie, you never were a heart breaker in your life,' said Amber. 'Sirius is the one shagging and ditching girls left and right, you are the slightly dangerous boyfriend excitable girls dream about. No one in their right mind would ever picture a relationship with Sirius Black, but you have just the right amount of rugged edges to make it fun.'

'Very flattering,' said James. 'But enough about me. I think you are a fantastic girlfriend. Fawley is lucky to have you.'

She looked up at him and James could see sadness in her eyes all of a sudden.

'I guess you know why I am here,' she said quietly.

'I guess I do,' said James, who suddenly felt cold despite the warm air surrounding him. 'This is the end, isn't it?'

'I am afraid, it is,' said Amber. 'We should not leave it until the very last moment. So we have some time to... collect ourselves before we get back to London.'

James was not sure how much good a few hours would do to cheer him up, but he understood were Amber was coming from. After all, she was supposed to get married in a week and was expected to be cheerful and upbeat about it. He did not envy her. At least he would be allowed to sulk for a bit, even if he would probably put on a brave face for his parents. He did not want them to snoop into this particular affair.

'You are right, we probably should not,' said James thickly. He felt his eyes prickling. Even though he had known that this moment was going to come, the intensity of what he was about to lose still hit him like a brick. He had been pulled in far too deep. But he was not going to cry about this, at least not in front of Amber.

'I am sorry, it has to end like that,' said Amber. 'If things were different, I think we could have been a long-term thing.'

'I think so too,' said James. 'And I am sorry that you have to get married to a men you don't love. If there was something I could do to help, I would do it.'

'You don't have to help me, Jamie,' said Amber. 'While I don't cheer at the thought of getting married to Peter, I have long ago made my peace with it. I am what I am and all the privileges of being pure-blood also have their price. You should know that by now as well.'

He hated how cool and collected she was. It was her ways of dealing with the arranged marriage, but it was so mechanical, so utterly pure-blood. He wished that she would rage and cry at the end of their relationship – he certainly felt like it –, but he knew that she would never do that. It just was not part of her personality. He could not fault her for being who she was and therefore decided not to push the issue. It would get him nowhere at all.

'I do know that,' said James after a moment, thinking back to the delicate balancing between loyalties his father was setting up and what it meant for him. He clearly remembered Rosier's words as well as the ominous threat of the Death Eater at the St. Mungo's fundraiser. 'I just wish that things had been different.'

'Don't we all?' asked Amber with a small smile.

'I guess we do,' said James pensively. 'But despite all, I don't regret a minute, I spent with you Amber.'

Her face broke in the first real smile he had seen on her face all evening. She closed the distance between them and pecked him chastely on the lips. Before James could use the chance to deepen the kiss, she pulled away again, leaving him feel rather disappointed and a bit hurt. He knew that things were over between them, but there was a difference between knowing something and experiencing it.

'I don't regret anything either,' said Amber. 'You are a great bloke, James, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.'

James did not know what to say about that. He took another drag of his cigarette as silence fell between them. There really was not anything left to say. Tomorrow, both their lives would go on and they would probably never see each other again. With time, everything they had had would fade into distant memory, only another small piece of the mosaic of experiences which made them what they were. James felt sick to the stomach at the thought.

'I thought, you wanted to quit smoking these,' said Amber, when James was done with his current smoke and immediately reached for another one.

'You wanted me to stop,' corrected James quietly, even thought that was not completely true. While Amber had pushed him regularly to kick the habit, he had sometimes wanted to quit himself.

Amber did not correct him. When silence stretched again, James continued.

'I guess some old habits, die hard,' he said.

'They do indeed,' said Amber with a rather knowing look on her face, which James did not understand.

They did not talk anymore after that point. James did not know how long they sat on the soft grass in silence. After some indefinite amount of time, Amber got up, kissed him goodbye and went back to the castle. James remained where he sat, his chest feeling like it was full of broken glass.