Author's Note: Hello! Trying a new chapter format. Thinking of doing longer chapters from now on, focusing on a month in the life of Hogwarts students, taking different points of view. Let me know what you think of this experimental chap, or if you prefer the short ones! Reviews always appreciated xx

It was a Sunday morning in early October, and Emma was hustling to the owlery to see what her mother instructed for the week before she gathered with the other purebloods for church. Her thick heeled boots clicked across the stone steps as she approached the landing. When she entered into the owlery she saw James Potter, dressed in Sunday clothes as she was, locked into conversation with Lily Evans, who was still clad in pajamas.

Lily peered around James' shoulder and caught Emma staring. Emma nodded and moved toward her owls' perch, where she saw two letters and a long, broom-shaped package. It was Lewis' old Nimbus 1970 that she would use for the Quidditch season, since she had taken the role of Ravenclaw seeker.

"New broom, Em?" James asked, his voice a little strained. Emma could tell she'd walked in on something tense.

"Sort of. Lewis's old one, he's playing beater now so he upgraded to a heavier broom." She replied. If they were alone they would have exchanged the customary bows and curtseys, but Emma had been taught never to do them in the presence of muggleborns. Not projecting superiority was important to her father, as a political motive.

"I'm Lily Evans." The redhead said boldly.

"Emma Howard-Shelley. I've been in private tutorials with the professors for the past month to make sure I'm aligned with Hogwarts standards. I learned all French magic at Beauxbatons and required remediation to translate my skills." Emma said simply. She had a quiet, understated manner in contrast to Lily's moxie and openness.

"Emma is a cousin on my dad's side, her mum's a Potter by birth. We grew up together in a way." James added awkwardly. It seemed he was trying to make clear to Lily that she wasn't a threat, Emma thought to herself.

"Yes. Are you coming to mass, James?" Emma asked.

"Mass?" Lily repeated, confusedly.

"Yes," James began, gesturing to his own sweater and slacks, and Emma's emerald green dress, "Most purebloods are Catholic, and our parents arrange for us to attend services at St. Ignotus in Hogsmeade with one another." His face was red, and Emma saw that this wasn't something he told many people.

"I didn't know. I assumed you were indifferent CofErs like the rest of us." Lily replied.

"Its tradition." was all Emma offered. She nodded again to James and left the owlery with her mail.

So, he's meeting with Lily in secret but dating Gen. I won't tell Mother yet, lest it amount to nothing. She might think it's trivial gossip. Emma thought to herself.

She read through her letter from Mother, which only asked her to send more frequent missives and reminded her of the All Hallows Eve Ball at the Lestrange's in Yorkshire in a few weeks,

Walburga has written to Sirius and asked him to escort you. Wear your silver gown.

Mother

Emma returned her things to her room in Ravenclaw Tower and joined the other pure-bloods assembled in the entrance hall. Most of Slytherin house, and a smattering of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws were waiting. She saw James and Sirius descend the grand staircase, looking a little annoyed. Emma joined Genevieve who was taking attendance of all assembled with Professor Slughorn.

"That's all Howard-Shelleys, Potter, and both Blacks." Gen handed the list to Professor Slughorn.

"Oh! Thank you dear. Quite right, that's everyone," He took the parchment from Genevieve, and turned to address the group, "All right fellow Papists, let us get to church! First years lead the way."

Emma waited to file in with the rest of the fifth year. While they stood, Professor Slughorn addressed her,

"Miss Howard-Shelley?" He said

"Yes, Professor?"

"I've spoken to the headmaster and your head of house and they wished me to tell you that you can begin attending classes with the rest of fifth year effective tomorrow. We are very impressed with your work at Beauxbatons." The Professor told her.

"Thank you sir." Emma said, and began walking towards the village.

Mother would be pleased to hear of her rejoining the student body completely after a long month of boring tutorials where she time and again proved to be a skilled witch, only in french. Now her real work could begin.

First thing Monday mornings was fifth year potions. Lily was always early to class and sat at the front of the room, chatting away with her friends. Marlene McKinnon, Clara Prewett, Denise Shacklebolt, and her fellow muggleborn, Laura Chumley. The Gryffindor Girls, they were called around the school, and Lily was proud of them. Popular, beautiful, skilled, open-minded and outgoing. They were the epitome of all their house stood for. Lily watched the Ravenclaw girls walk in and settle to their left, taking the other front tables. She noticed that for the first time all term, Emma was amongst them. Lily didn't dislike the Ravenclaws, but she found them to be a bit stiff and serious. Especially James' girlfriend, Genevieve Belcour. But at least they were better than the Slytherins, who were overly self-important. Finally, the stragglers affectionately called The Marauders sauntered in an uproar of laughter, plopping at the back of the room.

"Settle now, witches and wizards!" Professor Slughorn shouted over the hubbub in the room.

"What if I'm a unicorn? Do I have to settle?" A voice came from the back of the room.

"Especially if you are a unicorn, Mr. Black." Slughorn responded.

"Seeing as we completed our unit on medicinal remedies, I would like us to begin working on potions of espionage this month. I will pair you up at my discretion," the class groaned. Slughorn was always purposefully pairing up incompatible partners, "and you will make a rudimentary form of veritaserum. We've received special ministry permission to produce and test it under strict classroom surveillance."

Lily turned to Marlene, whose eyebrows raised. Veritaserum? This would be an interesting lesson for sure.

"Now, Miss Evans, you will partner with newly returned Miss Harper-Shelley. Miss Chumley, you are with Mr. Lupin…" Slughorn read the pairings but Lily was no longer listening. Her head snapped in the direction of her new pureblood partner.

Lily was a perceptive witch, but Emma Harper-Shelley was one girl she didn't know anything of. She vaguely remembered the dark-haired Ravenclaw from classes during their first two years, but even then, she spoke little and revealed less. She couldn't describe her any better than a stranger: a quiet, studious, strangely beautiful pureblood. She knew her father was a high ranking ministry official, and her brother a talented beater. Otherwise, the girl was a mystery. One thing troubled Lily: Emma's familiarity with James Potter. Lily knew she had no right to be jealous, as James was going out with someone else, after she'd rejected him last spring. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to be wary of his Ravenclaw cousin. It wasn't unheard of for Purebloods to marry their own relatives.

Lily was shaken out of her thoughts by the class exclaiming in outrage.

"What did he say?" Lily leaned over to Denise.

"He said these are our partners for the rest of the term." The witch grumbled. Denise picked up her books and cauldron and moved across the room to join a wiry Slytherin.

Lily laughed to herself. Poor Denise, she couldn't stand Mulciber.

Emma the Ravenclaw had silently appeared before her desk, giving Lily a small jolt. She peered down at Lily with her large brown eyes.

"Shall we begin?" Emma asked. Her simple speech and concealed nature was almost jarring, Lily thought. But she wouldn't let it intimidate her, she was a Gryffindor after all. She was Lily Evans. She was confident.

"Of course." Lily said a little too loudly. Professor Slughorn shot her a quizzical look.

The two witches worked silently for the better part of the hour. Lily found her match in potion making it seemed. They were a cohesive pair, handing one another ingredients the other needed, stirring at equal intervals, moving around one another with a precision that practiced potion masters would envy.

Finally Slughorn came around to inspect all the potions, declaring which were safe for consumption and which needed to be pitched.

"Miss Evans and Miss Howard-Shelley, this is exemplary! Now class, see how the frothing bubbles only touch the left hand-side of their cauldron! Simply splendid. Now, I will distribute a drop of the potion to each of you, and you may ask your partner one question. Nothing illegal, please, Mulciber." Slughorn instructed.

He then passed around small stoppers of the potion to the class. Emma drank hers first and stared into Lily's green eyes.

"Ask away, Lily." She said quietly.

Lily drew in a deep breath. She had scores of things she wanted to ask the elite pureblood, secrets of the wizarding world and such. But right now all she could think of was the mutual nods between James and Emma in the owlery. Her jealousy and curiosity got the best of her.

"Are you in love with James Potter?" She whispered intensely.

Emma smirked and laughed. Lily was taken aback, she had never seen the Ravenclaw laugh before. It was beautifully frightening.

"No." Emma said simply. She nodded her head towards Lily's portion of the potion, indicating that it was her turn now. Lily drank.

"Are you, Lily Evans, in love with James Potter?" Emma asked quietly, knowingly.

Lily let out a small gasp, and knew she had been beaten.

Narcissa Black had been nursing a hopeless crush on Lewis Howard-Shelley for years.

Lewis Howard-Shelley had been nursing a hopeless crush on Narcissa Black for years.

Neither of them knew what the other felt, obviously.

It had been years since they had seen one another, not since they were fourth years, beginning to understand themselves, their bodies, and their urges. After no word from Lewis during his days at Beauxbatons, Narcissa had given up hope. She'd been courted by Lucius Malfoy, and her sister Bella had urged her to accept before he moved on.

She might have been getting married in the summer, but Narcissa reasoned that if she was to spend the rest of her life in a loveless marriage to Lucius, she might as well seek what she wanted in her last year of freedom at Hogwarts.

Funny, she thought to herself. Some people's lives become more restricted at Hogwarts. Hers became infinitely easier. No House of Black to impress, no Lucius, nothing but school and friends to worry about. She knew that a marriage without love was something she could handle, but she wanted to know what it felt like to be loved before she signed it all away.

It was a Wednesday night in mid October, and Narcissa hadn't a bit of homework to do. But she knew Lewis would be in the library, so she packed her bags of meaningless novels, empty parchment for scribbling, and marched right in.

She spotted him alone at a back table, working furiously on what appeared to be some sort of essay. She had no plan, nothing to say. She wasn't bold like Bellatrix, or calculated like Andromeda. All she knew was to do what she felt was right.

"Is this seat taken?" She asked. Lewis looked up with shock.

"Uh, no." He said, and stared at his paper.

Narcissa took out a book and quill, reading and making notes in the margins. The two of them said nothing until the library closed and they bid goodnight.

But Narcissa fell asleep that night smiling. She would be happy. As long as she could.

James exclaimed loudly and dropped onto his mattress. He lay panting next to Genevieve, grateful for the silencing charms on his bed hangings. The naked blonde next to him curled up at his side and he put his arm around her. Their torsos were slick with sweat.

"Stay tonight." He said.

It was at this that Gen detached herself from him.

"Mm..Can't, sorry Potter. Prefect has to set a good example and sleep in her own dorm." She said, pecking him on the cheek and standing up to get dressed. He watched her slide his large red quidditch sweater on, and shimmy into her flared jeans.

"Let me walk you down, then?"

"Alright." She smiled.

James walked his tall girlfriend to the portrait hole, which she climbed through without a word or a look back at him. He sighed as the portrait closed again. Genevieve was lovely, beautiful, an excellent shag, always fun, but she wasn't what he would call "emotionally available."

"I say Prongs, she's got to be the worst faker I've ever heard."

James nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected voice, and saw Sirius sitting in an armchair by the fire, an unlit pipe between his teeth.

"Jesus Pads, what's with the pipe?" James asked, crossing the room and settling opposite his friend.

"Ah, I believe this is what those in the theatre refer to as a prop. Though I don't know anything about acting compared to Belcour…" Sirius chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" James said.

"Oh Jaammesss, yessss!" Sirius mimicked in a high pitched voice.

"Like you could hear anything. I had charms on my bed to keep our sound in." James replied.

"Ahuh, right. Unfortunately your sub-par charms last about 30 seconds, poor Remus had to take a walk around the grounds to cool off."

"Oh God." James groaned.

"See! Exactly what she sounded like." Sirius said with glee in his voice.

"How come I never hear you and that Hufflepuff? What's her name?"

"Cynthia." Sirius said simply, looking into the fire.

"Yes, her."

"Because we haven't."

"Haven't what?"

"We haven't done it." Sirius turned his gaze back to James.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am Sirius."

"Oh shut it. I mean, you're not a-?" James asked.

"No, but I'm just not sure about this one."

"Then why not save her the hurt and break it off?"

"Because she's a muggleborn, and there is nothing I love quite like giving Mother and Father cardiac arrest at the thought of a half-blood grandchild." Sirius chuckled.

"As much as I think all that blood purity stuff is rubbish, I don't think you should date Cynthia as some kind of political revenge against your parents. Anyway, you got a letter from Grimmauld Place today." James pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"Oh good," Sirius said drolly, "Burn it."

James ignored him and opened his letter, reading it aloud.

Sirius,

All Hallow's Eve Ball at your cousin Bellatrixes in a few weeks. Emma Howard-Shelley needs an escort and you are taking her. No questions. We will send a hippogriff carriage.

Mother

"Well, I suppose it could be worse." Sirius remarked. Secretly, he'd wanted to know more about the Howard-Shelley witch for some time, but had no Ravenclaw contacts to learn anything. A ball, even a horrendous pureblood affair, could be just the thing for him to escape Cynthia, and discover something about the dark haired witch with the big brown eyes.