Hi, everyone! Hope you've had a good week and a relaxing Sunday. I'm very excited because my favourite band's releasing new music on Friday!

For the record: I'm aware there are too many parties on this story, but since it's just a story, I took the liberty to change it according to what I thought was needed to fit my timeline.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this! See you next Sunday!


James was slightly surprised when he saw that that Fenwick bloke was sort of cool. And he even knew quite a bit about Quidditch. And even then, he didn't try to get autographs or pictures with the players; he just sat on the stands with Marlene and Remus, while Sirius and Peter were on the grid near the field cheering rather loudly.

"So you like Quidditch, Fenwick?" James asked as he joined the others when the practice ended. Fenwick grinned and nodded.

"It's the best sport there is, ain't it?" Benjy replied with a smile. James grinned right back.

"The Aurors working on security will be allowed to watch the games?" James asked.

"Thanks Merlin, yes. It'd be torture to be here so close and not be able to watch."

"I just don't get why there are so many Aurors…"

"Well, it's not really that much. Most of the department stayed behind in London, but in events this big we've got to work, primarily to keep the secret and such."

"I'm sorry to ask, but how old are you?" James questioned curiously. Fenwick couldn't be much older than him, but he sounded like he was. Fenwick grinned.

"It's alright. I'm 25. Why? Wondering if they've handed you an inexperienced agent?" he joked.

"Nah, just curious. You sound older when you speak."

"Suppose it's all part of the training…" Benjy said, receiving a grin from James, "stress situations, and Moody demands this from us. Look at Lily, for instance. Everyone looks at her and sort of doubts that she's actually an Auror, because, well…" Fenwick didn't finish, but James got his point. Aurors usually were not such pretty girls, "that is, until she talks. Then everyone questions what the bloody hell they're doing with their lives and how a woman like that can be so young and yet sound so…"

James chuckled.

"Well, she's always been sort of like that, so I'll take a bit of the Ministry out of this…"

Fenwick grinned and put his hands on his pockets as they walked ahead. The others seemed to be a bit behind, and they used the memento to talk.

"That is true. I vividly recall her first day, everyone doubting her. Me included. At the end of the day, tho, I asked Moody to train her, and today… well, let's say she's the hero and I'm her sidekick," Fenwick sighed and lowered his voice, "I get that you're worried about Lily leading the investigation, with all the past Marlene has told me but… Lily won't… she's completely…"

"Yeah, I know," James interrupted, resting his broom on his shoulders as they approached the accommodations, "it's a knee-jerk reflex. I was just curious about how fast she's grown, not where she is right now."

"You figured she'd be one of the best of the department?" Fenwick asked.

"Are you joking? I was at the end of her curses for almost seven years!" James cried and turned to his friends who walked a bit behind. "One of these arses counted the number of times I've been ridiculously humiliated by that bird!"

The others laughed and when James turned, there was Lily, frowning at what looked like notes.

"Hey, partner," Fenwick called. Lily turned at once, and smiled as she saw the group, "alright?"

"Lily!" Marlene exclaimed. "Are you feeling better?"

Lily waited for them to approach.

"Yeah, I'm better. I found some medicine on the bottom of my trunk and was instantly better, so I reckoned I should look around, help Benjy…"

"When were you going to tell me that you used to practise curses on a Quidditch star, Lily?" Benjy asked. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm not proud of some of my past, Benjy," Lily justified for Sirius's amusement.

"You're not proud of when you got caught, more likely," he input.

Lily shrugged and smirked.

"News?" Benjy asked.

"Not really. But we've got a better timeline now, a few from your files to be looked into and a few more interrogations…"

James looked at Lily and noticed that this sort of work was exactly what she wanted. To most people, the steps listed could be a reason for frowns and whining, but she had a shining on her eyes, an aura of brightness, that clearly stated that no matter how hard she would do it.

"Alright..." Benjy said, frowning. Lily handed him a few pages, "transcripts from the questioning? Great. I'll look it over and try to get more stuff done. We'll talk later, partner. Guys, see you soon. Potter, thanks for inviting me."

James nodded and watched the Auror walking away.

"Prongs, you've got a press conference later today, yeah?" Sirius let him know, while they walked back to the room.

"Does it really need to be today?" James asked. "I'm completely knackered."

"Yes. You're the star of this Cup, James. Everyone wants to talk to you first. You'll be playing in a couple of days. Tomorrow is press-free. We'll shield you from it."

James sighed and went to one of the bathrooms while Marlene occupied the other. Lily threw herself on the sofa besides Remus and Sirius, and Peter laid down on the carpet next to them.

"Any evidence incriminating Prongs?" Sirius asked. Lily narrowed her eyes.

"Can't divulge this information, Black, sorry."

"Reckoned so. Will you question us again?'

"Probably..." Lily hesitated, "I'll need you to distract Marlene while I talk to Potter. I need to ask him some stuff."

Sirius nodded and Remus appeared to want to say something, but was interrupted by a moan from Peter.

"Stop whining, Wormtail," Sirius told him, "when we get back you'll have TV again. Enjoy the Cup."

Lily raised her eyebrows. Peter was missing television?

"He's completely addicted to a TV show," Remus explained when he noticed Lily's face, "something about a doctor…?"

Peter sat at once, glaring at Remus, who had a small smirk.

"You know pretty well it's way more than that!" Peter cried and turned to Lily. "Do you know Quincy ME? It's simply the best show ever."

Lily couldn't hold back her laugh. She had never imagined that Peter Pettigrew enjoyed Muggle TV shows, even less a cop show.

"I do know. I watch it sometimes, but not all that often."

"Muggles are so interesting," Peter said, "the way they investigate stuff…"

"Guess you'll be glad to know that I use quite a few Muggle quirks on my investigations…"

When Lily revealed that, Peter almost jumped out of excitement, and pushed Sirius to the end of the sofa, stealing the place right next to Lily. She laughed, but the question that was obviously about to be voiced by Peter was interrupted by James walking into the living room.

"Er, something's going on?" He asked, using a towel to dry his hair.

"Peter finally found someone who likes Quincy," Sirius explained, indicating Lily with his head. She shrugged.

"I watch it with my father," she told them, rolling her eyes, "he's a coroner, and he's thrilled to point out the show's mistakes. He gets so mad sometimes that he turns the TV off, then on again, just to be sure he got it right from the beginning."

By then Peter fixed Lily with an admiring look, and started asking countless questions about her father's job, how it really was, if the wizards did anything that remotely resembled Quincy.

Lily replied to every question patiently, which surprised James a bit; none of them had the tolerance for this discussion with Peter. Lily, who was simply acquainted with him, explained everything calmly and serenely.

"Your job seems to be so cool, Lily," Peter said, when he finished his questions. Lily grinned.

"It really is. Well, there're some downsides…"

"Like insane hours and constant risk of death?" Remus input, chuckling. She nodded.

"One can get used to the insane hours," she replied with a shrug, "to be honest, this aspect bothered more A- I mean, people around me than it bothers me," Lily explained with a bit of flush on her face, "the constant risk of death is bad, but most of times it's not that dangerous."

"Like in that writer business?" James asked. He had followed, just like everyone on the island, Lily leading the case against Atticus Clastor, a wizard writer who kidnapped people and made them write for him, while he got the credit for the books. Remus, already too familiar with the story, left to get ready.

"Exactly. There was almost zero risk to me in there," she agreed, "of course it doesn't mean it wasn't important to the victims, but honestly, he was worse than Bertha Jorkins with a wand. I didn't need ten seconds to restrain him."

"And did you really say, 'your life's getting new chapters now, Clastor'?" Sirius asked with a smirk. Lily blushed furiously.

"I hate Rita Skeeter," she mumbled, making the others chuckle, "that's the sort of thing that's supposed to be kept a secret. I still have no idea how she got this info."

"She's probably a gossip, just like Jorkins," Sirius guessed, "remember when she tried to create a 'newspaper' and would only write inane chit-chat?"

"I remember the rumours she created," Lily said and James laughed.

"There was a month that, according to her, Sirius went out with seven different girls," James exclaimed.

"Pity. It was three, and only because we had Hallowe'en, Quidditch and Hogsmead," Sirius explained, shaking his head, "she also made up an entire relationship between Dumbledore and McGonagall."

They chatted a bit more, until Remus vacated the bathroom and Peter occupied it. It was amazing how Lily could get along with the boys, even Potter. Well, he was a bit quiet. Probably thinking about the press conference.

Marlene only finished her preparations when Peter left the bathroom as well.

"Finally, Marls!" Lily cried out, standing up. Then she really looked at her friend's attire. "Are we going somewhere after the press conference?" She asked, turning to James, who cleared his throat.

"Well, there's this party, nothing fancy… just between us English players…"

Lily nodded and left to get ready. She would need to find another moment to talk to Benjy. She tried to be as fast as possible, but to her surprise, Sirius had yet to finish.

"I thought you guys were joking when you said Sirius is worse than a girl to get ready," she said as she returned to the living room. James looked quickly at her dress and immediately glanced away, forcing himself to not look again. It was unbelievable how much he still considered the redhead pretty.

"I wish," Remus grumbled. He stood up and smashed the bathroom door, "c'mon, Padfoot! We're only waiting for you!"

Sirius appeared a few minutes later, grinning. He had to look perfect, considering he was representing James and all. If James didn't preoccupy himself about being presentable, well, Sirius worried about his job! Lily, along with just everyone else, considered James suited for a press conference – buttons-down shirt and jeans with robes looked perfectly adequate.

When Remus pointed it out to Sirius, who was dressed a bit more to the formal spectrum, Sirius indignantly started a speech about the importance of dressing properly on the Quidditch world that lasted just about the time it took them to get to the barrier where they had to present their credentials – the moment James lost his mind.

"They couldn't care less about how I dress, Padfoot!" James snapped. "As long as I keep scoring and leading the team, I could be wearing Marlene's outfit and they still wouldn't mind!"

Sirius did a quick evaluation of Marlene's dress.

"You'd certainly be a hit with a different sort of public, Prongs," Sirius remarked with a smirk. James rolled his eyes, "it's alright. I'll just have to go with it because birds seem to dig it, and it doesn't hurt to have fans… McKinnon, Evans, is his outfit proper?"

The girls sighed and answered that, yes, he was adequate, and that Sirius should shut up before Lily lost her patience and showed just what she had done to arrest Atticus. Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"I managed to beat you back in Hogwarts, Red. I don't think that's changed so much," he replied. James snorted.

"Sirius, the last time you tried to beat Evans with a wand in Hogwarts, you were on the Hospital Wing for three days because they couldn't figure out what was wrong and Evans refused to save your arse."

Sirius considered the input for a bit and shrugged. The subject was dropped when they arrived at the tent where the press conference was to be held.

"Alright, you can go inside, but for Merlin, be quiet," Sirius asked Remus, Peter, Marlene and Lily. After they guaranteed silence, they entered and occupied the chairs Sirius indicated, beside a few reporters.

A few minutes later, James appeared, causing ruckus from the press and some fans. He grinned and waved to all, before sitting next to Clearwater.

"Potter'll answer a few questions, but not all of them," Clearwater said, "I'll indicate one of you, and the person can ask. No mess, yeah?"

There was a murmur of agreement, and Clearwater nodded in satisfaction, pointing to a man who appeared to be in his forties.

"Mr. Potter," the man started, "what can you tell us about England so far?" James grinned and shrugged.

"We're very focused on our goal. We flew pretty nicely today, we mesh rather well together, and our plays are working just like on the Classification."

"Is this goal to win the Cup?" A young woman asked, with a strong accent Lily judged to be Russian. Potter's charisma was really amazing. She would never be able to do that in a press conference.

"Of course. We're here to bring the Cup home, and I believe this is the general objective here."

Lily watched as James masterly answered the questions. It was a natural gift, laced with a lot of patience. Clearwater interrupted inquiries he didn't think should be asked. Lily started to get distracted, wondering about the case… until a familiar voice asked a question and Lily refocused.

"Potter," Rita Skeeter asked, with her usual fake sweet voice, "what's your view regarding captain's privileges?"

"I don't think there're so many of them," James replied simply, shrugging. The acid-green quill hurried to note down the answer.

"Really? Then how do you explain your bedroom being twice as big as your teammates' bedrooms?" She finished.

Lily knew the journalist's style, having been on the caustic end of it many times. Skeeter only considered a job well done if someone ended up embarrassed, self-conscious or bad viewed. Lily usually just got pissed off.

Potter, however, simply chuckled.

"Well, it's rather simple, actually. The room I was originally assigned had a leak that's still being solved, and my friends were wrongly assigned. They were about to be with the Bulgarians, and we all know how they feel about me. Organisation asked me if I minded sharing a bedroom that fitted all of us, and I was fine with it."

Lily would have been really impressed with James's ability to control such a delicate situation had he not gesticulated in the direction where his friends were, causing Skeeter's eagle eyes to find Lily. The blonde raised an eyebrow and stared speculatively at Lily for a few seconds.

"Shit," Lily grumbled.

When the conference ended, Lily tried to hide between Peter and Remus. Remus knew all about Lily's hatred for Skeeter (the journalist who turned public most of Lily's cases), and helped as best as he could.

"We gotta get out of here as quickly as possible," she asked. Remus agreed and waved to Sirius, who indicated he had understood and would meet the others outside.

Lily sighed in relief as she felt the winds outside. Before she could explain why the rush to Peter, the reason presented herself.

"Auror Evans, I did not expect to see you here!" Skeeter cried in surprise.

Lily turned and faked a smile.

"I didn't expect to see you here either, Skeeter," Lily replied as politely as she could.

"What are you doing here? The Ministry finally decided to investigate how these players live such an exuberant life? Maybe you're part of someone's guard? Oh, perhaps a case?" Skeeter suggested. Lily clenched her jaw, but her reply was interrupted.

"Alright, Evans?" James asked, approaching them with Sirius and mistrust colouring his face. Lily smiled and indicated the player.

"I'm here with Potter, on vacation."

"He's invited you here, to his own bedroom nonetheless, and you're still referring to him by the last name? Interesting," she said, gesturing to her quill that wrote furiously, "care to give a comment regarding all that Atticus affair?"

"I believe you've got more than enough information, Skeeter. I'm on vacation and I'd really appreciate not to be bothered with work-related questions," Lily replied drily, "now if you'll excuse us, we've got a party to attend."

Lily proceeded to grab James's and Sirius's arms, and the others followed.

"For God's sake, I don't care where this bloody party is, just take me far from her before I jump on that shrew's neck."

Sirius laughed, but maintained his quick steps. Lily looked back once, and Skeeter was still there, looking at her while she whispered something to that hideous quick quotes quill.

James indicated the way to the party, which seemed to take place in an ordinary house. He gave his name, presented his credential, and everybody followed after him. Inside, Lily reckoned it looked like a common party. It was filled with people that were not team members, but she guessed they must have been invited by the players – just like herself.

"You won't find it weird for me to ask what's your deal with that reporter after this oh, so very graceful escape," James said. Lily sighed while Marlene and Remus laughed.

"She's the reporter that publishes all of my cases with some celebrity on the Daily Prophet. Every time there's something mildly interesting she appears, tries to invade the scene, blotches my investigation…"

"And worst of all," Marlene said with fake indignation, generating laughter from the others, "she always asks Lily for an… interview!"

Sirius laughed with Peter while Remus hid his grin. James, on the other hand, simply looked intrigued to Lily.

"Not a fan of interviews, Evans?" He asked, running a hand through his hair.

"No, but it's not only that," she tried to reason, "I'm just an Auror doing my job. Moody's already constantly after me. I don't want other people questioning how I do it."

"In other words, she doesn't like to be in the spotlight," Remus finished.

"Then what are you gonna do when you're head of the department?" James asked. All of the others raised their eyebrows while her chin dropped. "Well, it's obvious you're going to take in for Moody when he retires. You've always claimed responsibility," he said, shrugging.

"One problem at a time, Potter. Right now, I need to send a Patronus to Benjy. Is there somewhere a bit more... discreet?" She asked.

"You'll probably have to shoo away some hormonal couple to arrange something of the sort, but I think maybe outside?" Sirius said. "Prongs can take you, since you need to keep an eye on him and all. As for me, I think I ought to offer a drink to some pretty girl. See if my charm still works," he finished, smirking widely as he left the group.

Marlene joined Remus and Peter on the quest of getting a drink, and said she would wait for Lily next to the kitchen. James shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded to one of the sides of the house. Lily followed him until the back of the house, where some people were scattered around in pairs.

"It's still way too visible," Lily murmured, frowning. James smirked and pulled a kit of Dr. Filibuster's Firework. Lily rolled her eyes and hid her grin.

"Once a Marauder, always a Marauder, Miss Evans."

While James arranged the pyrotechnic spectacle, Lily considered what to say to Benjy – it couldn't be too clear about what or where.

"Whenever you're ready," James let her know. Lily nodded, "it'll last for about five minutes, so you may want to wait a bit."

"You can start it then," Lily said. James winked at her and ignited the first firework – it formed England's flag. When she noticed people focusing on the sky, she conjured the Patronus, "Benjy, not today. Tomorrow, the same place where papers were exchanged."

James watched with wide eyes Lily's Patronus run away. He couldn't believe it. Was that really…? It couldn't. He had to be mistaken.

But there was no mistake. It was a doe.

Had this happened four, five years ago, James would be ecstatic. Lily Evans's Patronus matching his own Patronus, matching his animagus form, no less!

Today, James only felt dumbfounded, heart racing like crazy. He honestly hadn't expected this.

Lily turned to him and James cleared his throat, recovering from the surprise.

"Oh, thematic!" Lily exclaimed when she saw the England flag.

"It's a theme party," he answered simply, "can we get back in now?" He asked. Lily nodded and they entered the house again.

A lot of people greeted James excitedly, talking about the fireworks. He answered with his characteristic smirk, just as excited. She also noticed some people staring rather speculatively at her, as if they were wondering what James was doing with her.

"Hm, Potter, I'm gonna meet Marls," she said, when a pretty blonde eyed her up and down with disgust.

"Oh, okay."

"I think I'm getting in the middle of your…fun," Lily explained, with a half-smile and nodding in the blonde's direction. James grinned.

"She was intimidated. It's your badarse aura," he replied with a wink. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure she was. This dress screams 'Auror'," she told him ironically. James grinned more, but he kept to himself what exactly that dress screamed to him.

"Any orders, Auror Evans?" James asked with a smirk. Lily rolled her eyes once again.

"Have fun, Potter. I'll be watching," she warned him, making her way to the kitchen.

Marlene and Remus were still there. Lily grabbed a Butterbeer, trying to not miss Potter from his sight.

"Wanna know something interesting?" Marlene asked Lily with a grin.

"I don't think I do," Lily replied distractedly.

"I was asked who was the stunning redhead with James."

Lily snorted. One could trust Marlene to make up silly things.

"It was real, Lily," Remus confirmed.

"Doesn't matter. There's nothing stopping Potter to snog whoever he wants now that I'm away."

"What about you?" Marlene asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Marls..." Lily started pressing her lips together.

"It doesn't need to be anything serious, but look at that bloke…brown hair, blue eyes…" Marlene indicated.

"Go for it, Marls. Remus will make me company, won't you, Remy?"

Marlene shrugged and made her way to the man. Lily smiled when she saw her friend having fun. Remus sighed and looked at Lily.

"I'm really sorry you can't enjoy the party with Marlene," Remus told her, "that wasn't what I had in mind when I invited you."

"Don't worry, Remus, really," Lily said with a shrug, "it's my job. If you want to blame someone, blame your friend who's under investigation. Besides, I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. I'd never be on vacation anyway."


Lily wasn't surprised when James didn't want to go to the party or drink on the eve of the match. She followed football enough to understand the need for concentration.

And the nights before Gryffindor at Hogwarts were the few ones in which peace reigned on the castle.

The whole group had breakfast at the hotel then headed back to the room to rest. Lily reread the available data for the case, sitting on an armchair, while Marlene, Peter and Remus played Exploding Snap. James and Sirius were discussing tactics.

They had lunch in a restaurant still in the accommodations area, but didn't stay for long. Lily wasn't so surprised to see that Benjy had chosen the same restaurant as them, at the same time. With a small smile, she excused herself and made her way to her colleague. Marlene sighed.

"I think I'm going to have to hit Benjy," she commented. Remus chuckled.

"Don't blame Benjy. You know how Lily gets," he said in a conciliatory tone.

"I know. And so does he. The girl is on vacation, for Merlin's beard! She was in the kitchen the whole night, discussing cases with Benjy everyday…I wouldn't be surprised if Moody told Lily to help."

Remus and Sirius tried to change the subject, while James focused on his food. Peter didn't seem much interested in what was happening on the table, but he stared at Lily and Benjy curiously.

Lily also wasn't surprised when they went to dinner with James's parents that night. She considered Euphemia's and Fleamont's relationship with the Marauders so close that she was sure people could mistake them for a family.

Fleamont also talked with Lily and Marlene, asking about the boys and their lives in the Ministry until Euphemia insisted on no work-related conversation. Sirius announced then that James would have to leave, since James was his job. James replied by smacking him on the head.

The supper couldn't last long, as England played in the morning and they would need to be up early.

There were great expectations around the match, because it would be against Germany; they were not only old rivals, but had also gathered a pretty good squad. They were expecting a lot of news regarding the clash, so no one was surprised that Sirius went out to buy the Daily Prophet as they had breakfast.

They were surprised by his aggravation.

"Shit, shit, shit," he repeated with the paper folded, "bloody stupid reporter…"

"What's wrong, Sirius?" Remus asked with a frown. Sirius ignored him and threw the newspaper to Lily, who managed to catch it and groaned with the headline.

"What a hag!" Lily cried out. The others clustered around her to see the report about the game.

However, the news that filled the first page of The Daily Prophet had nothing to do with Quidditch:

SCANDAL ON THE WORLD CUP: NOT EVEN THE MINISTER'S SON IS SAFE

By Rita Skeeter

Marlene gasped when she read the article and unsuccessfully tried to take the paper from Lily's hand. Merlin, Moody would simply murder Lily.

While the Wizarding World prepares for the first match of the Quidditch World Cup, our Ministry is busy covering up a murder case that took place inside the squad's accommodations. Jack Allyson, 17, worked as an intern for the England Team until the early morning of the Saturday before the World Cup, when he was mysteriously murdered in his workplace.

This event's safety was something of notice, considering all the effort put on it. Everyone who can go inside these official team accommodations were previously registered in order to avoid unwelcome third parties, and yet… Jack was murdered.

What makes it all even more striking in this case is that Jack Allyson is, in fact, the son of the Minister Millicent Bagnold! The Minister kept her political name when she got married, but her son has his father's last name. The boy was bestowed, within many competitors, the mission of being one of interns for his mother's country squad.

When questioned about the case, the Minister's answer was, "we don't know much about what happened. There are no words to describe the pain I feel, and I'm sure that the Auror Department is dealing with this case with the same diligence as all cases. We ask only to respect our mourning."

Another safety measure was to use Aurors during the whole competition, from all of the participant countries. England's Ministry of Magic provided five Aurors. However, it was ascertained the presence of a sixth Auror on the World Cup: Lily Evans, the pretty but ill-humoured redhaired Auror, responsible for the Atticus Clastor case (of which she still refuses to talk about).

When asked, Evans affirmed to be on vacation with a group of friends invited by England's star and captain, James Potter; however, she had no further comments.

When contacted by the Daily Prophet team, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, chief of the Auror Department, didn't want to talk either, claiming only that "our department is aware and investigating the case, under complete secrecy". When asked about the reason to cover up the case, Moody affirmed that "we didn't try to cover up any case, we're only investigating the best we can, which in this particular case, is under secrecy". When questioned about Evans's presence at the event, Moody rudely said not to care where his Aurors spent their vacations.

Is Evans really only on vacation on the competition or is she a part of the investigating team? If she is not involved, how are the five Aurors, already focused on the competition, able to handle a case of such importance? How was it possible to have a murder inside the competition's accommodations? And worst of all, how aren't there any suspects, and why did they try to cover up the case?

Lily sighed heavily. Moody surely would have a lot to talk about the article. She would have to meet with Benjy soon, and somewhere they were not seen together – they couldn't raise suspicions about her involvement in the case. At least Skeeter didn't find out the primary suspect was James Potter.

"So that's what you've been talking about to Benjy!" Marlene exclaimed. "Lily, you're here for work! And how did everyone know that?"

"Jack was a big fan of James's," Sirius replied. James himself didn't seem to have recovered from the news yet.

"I wasn't allowed to talk about the case with anyone, Marls," Lily justified herself, rubbing her eyes on a clear sign of stress, "yes, I'm here for work. And at this moment I swear I could strangle Skeeter with my bare hands."

Marlene smiled tightly and went to the bedroom to get change for the match. Lily used the time without her to talk to the boys.

"Listen, Potter, your name was not on the article," Lily said, "there's no reason for suspecting you. Please don't blotch up the feint or miss the penalty or whatever, otherwise the viper might really get her eyes on you."

James didn't expect this from Lily, but he nodded and headed to the balcony. Lily sighed and joined Marlene in the bedroom, donning an English jersey to get in the match's mood.

"Do you ever stop working, Lil?" Marlene asked. Lily simply smiled and shrugged.

Not when she was needed.