Chapter 32 – Wildfire

We were going way too fast
Chasing down the hourglass
Running from the past
Headed out with no direction

I look into your sunset eyes
Waiting for the moon to rise
So I can feel your heat
This love is so completely crazy

As the evening stretched into night, the group of ten whiled away the hours around the bonfire, chatting away for perhaps the last time they would ever be gathered as such. In a weird way, it reminded Janey of Rosewood, except their lives were no longer at risk, the threat of imminent danger wholly removed, despite how on edge Sam continued to be. She didn't want to draw attention to it, but the way he stared into the depths of the flames that continued to flicker in front of them was slightly unnerving.

It was like he was looking for some kind of meaning in it, searching for answers to some burning question. Or even, she considered, like he was reliving something horrible. Something that played out in his mind with fearful intimidation.

Perhaps he was remembering Rosewood too, Janey considered. She had been a little blasé about the situation, and it was almost humorous now that they knew Piper slightly more personally, but for one horrifying second, Sam's life had genuinely seemed to be hanging in the fray. Janey wasn't sure she was ready to admit it even to Sam, but she thought that moment might have been the most afraid she had ever felt in her whole life.

The fear she had felt as Sam had been held in Piper's grip, the blade pressing into the base of his throat, and the sheer terror that had shone in his eyes, had perhaps been more of a motivator than anything else that she very much wanted to start being nicer to him. Much, much nicer. Even when she herself had been held in the cell in the basement, she hadn't felt that much terror. She hadn't truly feared for her life, and was more irritated that she was being held against her will—and in Jinx's company no less—more than anything.

But seeing Sam so helpless, and knowing she couldn't do anything about it, had sent Janey's stomach plummeting through the forest floor, her heart racing with anxious adrenaline the likes of which she'd never previously experienced.

And she had told Piper to kill him. An impulsive bluff that she now realised could have backfired horribly and she alone would have been responsible for.

Janey turned her head to try and get Sam's attention, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty for any role she might have played in the fear he was seemingly reliving—if that was even what was on his mind—but his gaze was transfixed by the dancing flames.

"Sam," she said gently, and he finally broke free from the trance. Their hands were still clasped, so she gave his a reassuring squeeze to ground him.

He offered a weak smile in return, and Janey sensed he wasn't going to open up about whatever was on his mind.

Sudden raucous laughter broke out from the other side of the circle, drawing both of their attentions to the conversation that had been occurring between James, Ebony, Gwen, and Mason. Janey noticed, with great amusement, that Taylor gave a start, awoken from a slumber she hadn't realised she was in.

Her keen eye also noticed that Rose and Scorpius dropped hands, either unaware they had been unsubtly clasped beneath the blanket they were sharing or just suddenly aware other people might start to notice.

"What's so funny?" Janey demanded, hating to miss out on anything. Especially when those moments would be scarce and fleeting going forward.

Gwen looked a little hesitant before answering, which only succeeded in making Janey feel uneasy. She thought she might dismiss it, keeping the joke to themselves, but finally she said, with a small smile, "We were just thinking about earlier—with Fred."

Janey felt Sam's hand tense slightly within her clasp, but he didn't drop it.

"Why?" Janey asked suspiciously.

This time it was James who answered. "About how you were his first kiss and you can't even remember it! Way to crush a man's ego, Janey."

Janey was just glad Fred hadn't joined them around the bonfire. "Hey!" she protested. "Like you can remember every single girl you've ever snogged."

"I remember my first," James said defensively.

"Well, it's not like he was my first," Janey reminded them.

"Who was?" Taylor demanded, taking them all by surprise. She was now awake and alert, very much absorbed in the turn the conversation had taken.

Janey felt scrutinised as her group of friends all looked at her with deep curiosity, Sam included. She wondered if she should dare indulge, given how jealous and upset Sam had gotten earlier over the whole Fred debacle. But he seemed calm, and a little interested himself.

Amused, Janey asked, "As in—first kiss or first snog?"

"Both," James said wickedly.

Janey cast her mind back. "My first kiss," she said, "was with a Muggle boy at my first school, but it was just a peck. I'm pretty sure he's gay now."

"I thought you went to an all-girls school?" James asked suspiciously, though his eyes seemed to have lit up.

Janey rolled her own in response. "Alright, pervert, I did. But there was an all-boys school down the road that we all used to hang around with."

"Geez," James said, impressed. "How old were you?"

"I don't know—ten? Haven't you ever played Kiss Chase? It was all the rage at Muggle schools. Bit creepy actually."

"No," James said, looking thrilled. "But I'm loving the sound of it."

Janey grinned. "My first snog," she went on, "was when I was in Third Year. It was your roommate," she said excitedly, remembering it all as she nodded to James and Mason.

"Who—Mark?" Mason asked in surprise.

Janey nodded.

"Well, he kept that to himself," James said.

Janey shrugged. "It was a one-time thing. I kind of dared him to—I didn't realise he had a girlfriend," she said sheepishly.

Rose was now staring at Janey with deep disapproval, as though she was her mother. Although, in truth, Janey's actual mum would have taken a sick delight in this revelation. She daren't even look at Sam, but she felt no hostile energy from his direction.

"What about you?" Janey urged, not wanting the heat to remain on her any longer.

"Me?" James asked. "My first snog was with Jessie Hughes." He smiled at the memory.

"The Head Girl?" Rose asked sharply.

"Well, she obviously wasn't Head Girl at the time—we were in Third Year too. She taught me everything I know," he said wistfully. "I wasn't her first."

"She's not Head Girl anymore," Gwen piped up, smiling at Ebony, who was much more relaxed in that scenario than she had been when Bobbin had been present. She had since removed herself from James' lap, but their legs were still so interlocked from their own separate seats that they as good as were still.

"No," James agreed, beaming at his wife. "But I guess I have a type."

"Who was yours, Ebony?" Taylor prompted, delighting in the conversation.

Ebony looked away from James, breaking out into a sly half-smile. "James," she said sweetly.

Scorpius let out an involuntary snort, drawing everybody's attention to him. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms casually folded, no longer holding Rose's hand.

The redhead, in particular, was looking at him with distrust. "Well, we all know that's not true," she said delicately.

Everyone in that circle had, after all, seen Scorpius and Ebony snog, and that had been before James Potter had ever looked her way.

Scorpius looked mortified, realising what they were all thinking. "Hey, it wasn't even me," he insisted. "Ebony's not been shy," he said, looking to his friend and ex with suggestive eyebrows.

Ebony stared back at him with a smirk. "Thanks, Scorpius."

"Am I lying?" he challenged, his tone playful.

James looked thrilled by it all.

"Okay, fine," Ebony conceded. "I was fourteen. He was an older Slytherin guy."

"Please don't say Deneb," James said, his amused demeanour slightly wavering.

"Oh, Merlin, no!" Ebony cried. "Never!"

James looked relieved.

"No," Ebony went on, casting her mind back. "Oh gosh, it was a really pretentious name—typically Slytherin."

"Kovu Woods?" Scorpius suggested.

"Yes!" Ebony cried triumphantly. But her excitement quickly faded, and she looked a little disgusted. "But he was absolutely awful. He was all tongue. Lots of saliva." She seemed to shudder, and everybody was laughing, James included.

"I think I snogged him too," Janey said thoughtfully and then wished she hadn't because everybody was looking at her again. "What about you, Gwen?" she said quickly.

Gwen turned to look at her ex-boyfriend and now friend, warmth shining in her eyes. "Mason," she said without an ounce of regret.

Mason gladly returned her smile.

"But he can't say the same," James interrupted the tender moment, smirking as he so often did.

Mason rolled his eyes. "I had a girlfriend when I was in Fourth Year," he explained to the group. Janey had already known this, of course. "It only lasted a few months though."

James' eyes hungrily travelled around the circle, very much enjoying this game. His eyes settled on Rose and Scorpius, his amusement further growing. "Well, there's no point in asking you two."

Rose and Scorpius both went red. They shared a small smile with each other.

"Didn't you kiss Lily Potter first?" Janey piped up.

James' face fell, as did both Scorpius and Rose's. Janey tensed. She had merely been thinking out loud, assuming this had been common knowledge—she hadn't wanted to start any dramas.

"Absolutely not," Scorpius denied profusely, his face having paled from the blush it had turned whilst looking at Rose. "She kissed me," he said after a moment's hesitation. "And it wasn't—it was like a second, and she only did it to make—"

"Me jealous, yeah, yeah, yeah," Rose finished for him, rolling her eyes. "Even though at the time you told me nothing had happened."

"Nothing did happen," Scorpius protested. "I don't consider that a kiss at all."

"Mhmm," Rose said, lips pursed but her eyes shining with mirth. "It was your very first lie to me," she said sweetly.

Scorpius shot daggers at Janey who offered a guilty smile in response. "Somebody else go," he said irritably.

James, who had remained silent through it all, looked thoughtful but chose not to comment. He rounded on his younger brother instead. "Albus? Still waiting?"

"No," Albus said furiously. "I have a girlfriend," he reminded them, despite the fact that they hadn't seen her all summer.

Janey assumed that meant the Hufflepuff had been his first, and given that he'd only started dating her since the summer began, it had only been a recent milestone.

James looked at Taylor who, despite her enjoyment, now looked to be trying to sink into the shadows, free from scrutiny.

"I haven't kissed anybody yet, alright?" she burst out before James could interrogate her.

Janey felt her heart go out to her roommate. It must have felt a little intimidating, hearing them all talk about their snogging experience when she herself, at seventeen, had never shared a kiss in any form. She looked mortified, the low light of the fire illuminating her reddened cheeks. Even Albus had more experience than her, regardless of how recent it had been.

James didn't look at her with cruelty but with genuine surprise. "Really?" he asked kindly. "I thought you and Sam—?"

"No, we never—"

"Ew, gross," Taylor cut across Sam's hasty denial of his own. "You know, no offence," she said, and Janey couldn't be sure whether she was speaking to her or to Sam, but she smirked nonetheless.

"We never kissed," Sam mumbled. "It wasn't like that."

Janey could tell how much he really didn't want to go into it. Firstly, because it hadn't even really been a real relationship at all, but also perhaps because the only reason it had existed had been a weird ploy to try and make Rose jealous. Janey shifted awkwardly in her seat. After the day they'd had, rife with jealousy and anger, she too didn't want to delve into that chapter of their past. It was hard enough when she'd thought he was chatting up Dominique, she didn't want to think about Sam having feelings for or relationships with either of her friends, no matter how long ago it had been.

"So who was your first then?" James pressed on, Sam being the only one who hadn't participated.

Taylor looked relieved that the revelation she was yet-to-be-kissed had passed by with little fanfare. Sam, however, looked like he wanted to throw himself into the fire.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said quietly, refusing to look at Janey, which only confirmed the suspicion she'd had.

Although her stomach seemed to have dropped to the ground, she forced herself to remain calm and understanding. "Isabella?" she was the one to ask, trying her best to keep her tone even and kind to let him know that she was okay with it.

Sam cast his eyes toward her, looking rightfully wary. "Yeah," he said eventually, after having apparently gauged the situation and realising that she wasn't going to blow up at him again.

Janey was actually relieved. As much as she loathed the Ravenclaw girl, if he'd said someone else then she would have been wholly unprepared. She smiled at him to let him know she was okay with it. She'd have been a hypocrite not to have been anyway.

"But she sucked," Sam assured her, breaking out into a shy grin of his own. "I've had way better since."

Janey felt so warm and light inside that she considered leaning over to kiss him right there and then, but then remembered that all their friends were watching them. She made do with giving his still-clasped hand a squeeze instead.

"Aw," James said in an exaggerated tone, breaking them out of their little bubble. "I always knew this day would come."

Janey regarded him with suspicion, still holding Sam's hand. "What day?"

James looked proud of himself for some reason. "The day you two would finally admit how you felt to each other and stop pretending that what we could all see was true was—well—true!"

"Alright," Janey said furiously, finally dropping Sam's hand. "This is the second time today you've said this, and I refuse to believe that you knew anything about how Sam and I"—she glanced nervously at her boyfriend—"felt about each other."

Sam looked bemused too. "We didn't even know," he pointed out, agreeing with Janey.

"Did anybody else suspect?" Janey demanded of the circle, greatly amused. She wasn't going to let James get away with his all-knowing bullshit. Sam and Janey's relationship had surely taken them all by surprise.

"I didn't," Scorpius was the first to say.

"Me neither," Rose added. "But now I look back and I think the signs were there."

"That doesn't count," Janey said furiously. She turned to Gwen and Taylor, eyebrows raised.

"Well," Gwen said, surprising Janey, "James told me and Mason, but I don't think I ever actually believed him."

"Told you what?" Sam asked, confused. There surely hadn't been anything to tell—nothing had ever happened between him and Janey since that first kiss in the Manor. She had literally been telling strangers to kill him just days before.

"I don't know," Gwen said, amused, glancing at the boy in question. "He was just acting like he knew something we didn't. That the two of you actually secretly liked each other."

James spread his hands, leaning back in his chair. "See? Verified," he said confidently. "I always knew."

"Yeah, but knew what, exactly?" Janey asked.

"That you two would eventually get together. That you—or at least Sam—liked each other."

Sam frowned. "What?" he demanded. "Why me?"

"Why you what?" James asked.

Janey was now, surely as much as everybody else, baffled by the conversation.

"What do you mean that you knew I liked Janey?"

James leant forward, staring at Sam with sudden incredulity. "Sam, are you kidding?" he asked.

Sam now looked further confused, as well as somewhat nervous. "No—why?"

James just stared, wide-eyed, like he couldn't believe the other boy could be so dumb. "You told me."

Everyone in the circle seemed to have a unified feeling of surprised revelation, but none more than Sam and Janey. The latter turned to look at the former with a sharp twisting of her head, delighted amusement on her face. He had certainly never revealed that before.

But Sam looked just as surprised by this reveal, furrowing his brow in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he snorted, like it was some kind of weird joke he didn't quite understand the punchline of. He was the only one looking at James, whilst everybody was intently staring at him.

Janey's mouth had not yet closed from the surprise of it all. Sam turned to meet her gaze, bewildered, before he turned back to James.

James looked thrilled by the reaction to him dropping this bombshell. Janey couldn't fathom why he would possibly lie about it, given that Sam could very much dismiss it as being truthful, but her boyfriend looked torn between amusement and deep confusion, like he genuinely had no memory of doing such a thing.

"You told me," James said assuredly. "Almost a year ago now."

"A year ago," Janey cried out, revelling in giddy delight.

"What?" Sam asked sharply, still staring at James.

"You liked me for a whole year!" Janey goaded.

"I—no," Sam said, though he didn't look so sure anymore. "No?"

"Why would James lie?" Janey said.

"I'm not lying," James said calmly, a smug, knowing look in his eyes. "You told me a year ago that you liked Janey, and I didn't tell a soul—true to my word."

Janey swatted the back of her hand against Sam's chest, absolutely thrilled, her mouth still agape. "Sam!" she accused.

"But I… I didn't," he said weakly, his eyes swimming with confusion. "Did I?" he asked, looking at James with desperation.

James smirked. "Early November."

Everything in Sam's demeanour seemed to drop, his smile fading, his face paling. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Oh, God," he whispered, like he was suddenly remembering a memory he had determinedly tried to repress. But he recovered, still looking uncertain, though now much more nervous. "You're joking," he said, but he didn't seem at all convinced anymore.

James, refusing to be beaten, maintained his assured, calm, confidence. "If you like, I can absolutely prove it, though I'm not sure you'll be proud of yourself."

"How?" Janey asked eagerly.

That there was supposedly concrete evidence of Sam having said the words out loud almost an entire year ago that he actually fancied Janey was irresistible to her. She wasn't denying that she herself hadn't also reciprocated the attraction, but she'd be damned if she'd ever voiced it out loud or outwardly revealed it in any slight way prior to throwing herself at him in the Manor. She had always assumed she had been the match that had lit the fuse to them actually being honest with each other, by kissing him in the aftermath of the brutal and exhausting battle, but Sam had been openly telling people of his feelings for her already?

"How?" Sam echoed, looking concerned.

"My dad has a Pensieve in his office," James said casually. "And oh, how I remember it vividly."

"Oh my gosh," Rose said excitedly. "I want to see this!"

"Yeah, me too," Taylor added.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up," Sam cut them all off. "This… didn't happen," he insisted, but he was struggling with his own conviction.

"Then you won't mind me showing everybody the memory," James pointed out. "If you think it doesn't exist."

A bead of sweat was forming on Sam's nervous brow, which Janey suspected had nothing to do with the heat of the fire.

"I would very much like to see this confession," she said.

"If this memory exists," Sam said, his voice getting a little shrill, "then why don't I remember it?"

James, for the first time, looked a little guilty. "You were incredibly, incredibly wasted."

Janey's jaw hung down in shocked delight once more. "What?"

"No…" Sam said slowly, the anxiety growing in his eyes.

"I'd be impressed if you did remember a single thing you said to me that night," James snorted.

"When were you and I… ever…?" Sam trailed off, but the slight widening of his eyes let them all know that, even if he couldn't necessarily remember what had transpired during his state of inebriation, he could at least remember the circumstances in which he had apparently been getting so wildly drunk with James Potter.

"Oh, God," he said again, looking deeply uncomfortable.

"What?" Janey asked, hating feeling like she was missing out on something. "What happened? When even was this?"

James met Janey's gaze, his eyes swimming with apology. He seemed to brace himself before saying, like he was sorry for ]having brought it up, "Well… it was that night."

Janey's entire body went ice cold, her heart surely ceasing to beat for a few dreaded seconds. Early November.

Ah, Janey thought, her mouth suddenly dry, that night. She knew immediately what he was referring to. The night no one was ever allowed to mention. And, since then, nobody ever had.

The feeling James' words had ignited within Janey extended not just to Sam too, but the entire group of teens gathered around the dwindling fire. Ebony and Scorpius alone looked clueless.

Every one of them there had been present and formed a silent truce never to speak about the events of that night ever again. No one had breathed a word of it since last November, treating the memory with the careful fragility it so required and, in essence, them all acting like it had never even happened.

In fact, Janey had so desperately repressed the memory of it that James speaking it so painfully back into existence, temporarily disabled any ability for rational thought. She just felt shell-shocked, numb, and hollow as it all came rushing back to her. The screaming, the accusations, the tears, the slap. It all echoed in her mind like a war flashback. She had shut it out of her mind and heart so effectively that now, reliving it, somehow it did not feel real.

But James had acknowledged it, and by the shock emanating from not only Sam but everybody else too, she knew it was painfully real.

"Oh," Janey gulped, she and Sam refusing to look at each other for their own shame.

But with this painful reminder of what had surely been the worst night of both of their lives, her curiosity and intrigue grew. After everything that had happened, everything that had been said, when James had dragged Sam away and they had apparently gone and gotten wasted together, Sam had actually confessed that he liked Janey? That made less sense than anything she'd ever heard before. Not after the vile things he had roared at her in front of their classmates. Their entire house, she remembered. Even Professor Longbottom.

"What night?" Scorpius asked, oblivious to the tension surrounding him.

Rose shot him a desperate warning look, but he only looked more baffled.

"We don't talk about that night," Sam said quickly, staring into the depths of the fire. He noticeably gulped, and Janey suspected he might never look at her again.

Scorpius remained obediently silent, the look of intrigue only growing further.

"We won't talk about that night," Sam said firmly, looking back up at James with hard determination in his eyes.

The older boy remained calm. "Fair enough," he said kindly.

But Janey wasn't letting it go. "No," she pleaded. "I… I want to see it."

Sam finally looked at her, a pained look in his eyes. He looked haunted, ashamed, and she didn't blame him. She wasn't proud of herself and how she'd acted that night either.

"It's not going to change anything, is it?" she assured him. "It's already happened."

Sam didn't say anything, searching her eyes for hidden meaning—for forgiveness maybe. But he knew he wouldn't forgive himself in that situation.

"Let's take a vote," Albus suddenly declared, oblivious to the couple's stolen moment of unspoken sincerity. "Who wants to see Sam get wasted and tell James he fancies Janey an entire year before he did anything about it?"

"I do," Rose said without thinking and then flashed Sam an apologetic look.

"Merlin, yes," Taylor enthused alongside Gwen's own affirmation.

"If anyone gets to see it then it's me!" Janey pointed out aggressively.

Scorpius and Ebony still just looked baffled by the topic of conversation, and Mason had opted not to participate, though he certainly looked intrigued by it all.

Sam was furious though. "This was a—a private moment between James and I!" he declared. "I was incredibly vulnerable, and I do not give consent for it to be shared with any of you!"

Silence fell in the circle at Sam's savage declaration, the only sound to be heard being that of the continued crackling as the fire continued to burn.

Janey spoke to James with uncontained eagerness. "Can I see it?"

James deliberated for half a second. "Sure."

Janey sprung to her feet, and before Sam could protest further, they were all of them sprinting towards the house like their lives depended on it. James, being the quickest, burst through the backdoor with such vigour that he almost collided with his father, who had been innocently passing through.

Harry looked startled, but James, recognising who it was, looked only the more delighted. "Dad!" he exclaimed. "We need to use your Pensieve."

As the remaining members of the group arrived in states of eager anticipation, adrenaline-fuelled confusion, or in Sam's case, dreaded desperation, Harry Potter looked around the gathered group of teens with startled distrust. "Why?" he asked uncertainly.

"Because we need to see a memory," Albus explained frantically, panting a lot more than James was after their mad dash for the door.

Harry's hardened look seemed to soften as his younger son spoke, but he was still rightfully regarding his more untrustworthy son with suspicion. "It's not a toy," he told James warily.

"I know," James said impatiently. "I've used it before."

Harry seemed surprised. "You have?"

"Not yours—I've used the one at Hogwarts."

Harry only looked further confused. "Why on earth—"

James waved an impatient hand. "I was showing Rose the wedding."

Rose blushed as her name came up, not only Harry but all of their friends looking at her in surprise. Ebony, especially, looked intrigued by this reveal, clearly not having known this had happened.

Harry looked a little guilty, perhaps because he had been so unsupportive of his son's nuptials. "Oh," he said, taken aback. "Even still. It's a very powerful piece of magical equipment. You can't just mess around—"

"I'm not messing around," James said, his fury building up.

Janey felt a little guilty. She'd be mortified herself if her dad started talking down to her in front of her friends.

"It's not dangerous," James said, forcing calm into his voice. "I know how to use it," he assured him.

Harry still did not look entirely convinced.

Taking them all by surprise, it was Albus who spoke up. "Please, Dad," he asked, a look of childlike pleading in his eyes. "It's about matters of the heart," he said poetically.

James eagerly pointed to his younger brother and nodded. "Do you really want to stand in the way of young love?"

Janey felt herself blush this time and knew Sam would be doing the same, but she didn't want to draw any attention to herself. She had already unfavourably appeared on Harry Potter's radar more than enough that day.

Harry's eyes flickered between his eldest and youngest son, still deeply confused. Albus just nodded eagerly, perhaps sensing his appeal would have greater impact than that of James. And indeed, Harry seemed on the brink of caving. "I don't know…"

He looked unnerved as his eyes travelled over the group of kids, all of them staring at him with looks of eager, innocent, longing.

"We'll be safe," Rose promised her uncle in her sweetest, most assuring voice.

Harry seemed to decide, with his most reliable niece's approval, that what they were doing was indeed trustworthy. "Alright, fine," he relented, withdrawing a key from his pocket. Warily, he handed it to James, staring his son dead in the eye. "Do not touch anything besides the Pensieve," he instructed fiercely.

"Thanks, you're the best," James said in a rush, eagerly taking the key and racing for his father's office before Harry had the chance to regret it.

As Janey found herself in a new room in the Potters' house, she took in her surroundings with fascination. It was like a slightly more modern, much smaller version of Professor Bobbin's office. Whereas most people's home offices would be filled with mundane Muggle stuff like desks, and computers, maybe filing cabinets, the shelves in Harry Potter's office were lined with all number of bizarre-looking contraptions and pieces of equipment that could only possess magical abilities Janey wouldn't have been able to comprehend on her own.

"What's this?" she asked, eagerly picking up what appeared to be a thick, clouded mirror.

"Janey, put it down," Rose hissed.

Janey did so, but not without rolling her eyes.

"Alright, here we go," James announced, an edge of glee in his voice as he pulled the Pensieve towards the centre of the room.

It looked like an old stone font with intricate carvings around the structure, and from within, something halfway between liquid and gas seemed to be gleaming. Janey had witnessed Rose use the Pensieve before—on an entirely different occasion to the one James had mentioned. It had only been a few months ago, when they had incorrectly discerned Professor Bobbin to be Ebony's aunt and sought answers for themselves.

Only then had Bobbin been forced to reveal the truth they had been so close to uncovering—that she was, in fact, Bobbin's birth mother.

But Janey herself had never used the fascinating artefact.

She watched in breathless awe as James set about withdrawing a memory, placing his wand tip to his temple and drawing out a long, silvery strand. With a flourish, he dropped it into the basin where it shimmered even brighter, the light from within bouncing off all reflective surfaces in the room.

Janey hungrily stepped towards the Pensieve.

"Wait," Sam burst out, unable to bear it any longer.

Janey felt guilty, knowing she was actively violating his wishes. But it was James' memory she was being shown, she reasoned, not Sam's. Even if it revolved around him.

"I want to see it first," he declared. "It's only fair. I don't feel comfortable with people being shown a memory about me that I can't even remember myself."

James nodded in agreement. "That's fair," he decided, looking at Janey to see what she thought of the request.

Janey's heart hadn't fully stilled since the mention of that night had first arisen, and she felt it picking up pace once more. As eager as she was to see it herself, she knew they were both right.

"No!" Albus groaned. "We all want to see it."

Taylor pledged her own enthusiasm too, but James was firm.

"We wouldn't all be able to use the Pensieve at the same time anyway," he said, the rare voice of authoritative reason. "Sam deserves to see the memory first, given that it is about him."

Sam looked at the other boy with gratitude.

James took a step back from the shimmering font, allowing Sam to take his place. "It's ready when you are," he assured him. "But," he said, and he looked a little guilty, "I also put the memory of that evening in there too."

Sam's eyes widened. "James," he said weakly, "I don't want to relive that."

Janey's heart was definitely thumping harder than it had been before.

"It's important," James said delicately, "to remind you of the context."

Sam looked traumatised, like he was suddenly rethinking this whole thing. But something in his eyes hardened over with steely determination, the Gryffindor in him taking control. "Alright," he declared, placing his hands either side of the Pensieve and staring into its entrancing depths, steadying himself before he took the plunge.

The last thing Janey saw before her boyfriend was about to relive the viciously cruel things they had mutually screamed at each other almost a whole year ago now, the most sadistically unkind they had ever been to each other in the entire six years they'd known each other, was his soft, brown eyes as they innocently met hers, the reflection of the silver memories shining in his pupils.

Sam looked anxious but assured. Still intently staring at Janey, conveying meaning so deep that she surely felt it in both her heart and her soul, he took one final, steadying breath. And then he plunged his head into the Pensieve.

Author's Note: Title and epigraph inspired by Demi Lovato's 'Wildfire'

As you can probably tell from this chapter, we are about to dive back into the past, so this feels like a good stopping-off point before Christmas. In fact, in my Google Docs, I have the entirety of the story up until this point labelled as 'Part 1' before we head into 'Part 2', so before we dive back in, I just want to take a few weeks out to enjoy the festive period around Christmas and New Year.

Have no fear, I will be back in January of 2025! That being said, last year I did actually write and upload a fifteen-chapter Christmas fic for this same Next-Gen series called 'Last Christmas' that takes place the Christmas of the year this part of Honeymoon Avenue is set in, so if you need a Christmas fix in my absence, that story can be read as a continuation of this one!

There's some overlap and references to both this story and 'Rose and Scorpius: A Forbidden Love', but I don't believe there are any spoilers for what's coming up in Honeymoon Avenue beyond this point, so check it out if you fancy. The story revolves around the Hogwarts gang as they celebrate their final Christmas in the castle, and has narratives following Sam and Janey, but also more prominently, Rose and Scorpius, as well as Ebony, Bobbin, and even James.

But anyway, thank you to everyone who has rejoined me on this journey this year—something I wasn't sure I would ever revisit but always felt hollow for otherwise having left uncompleted. It really means the world to me to know there are still people out there who are invested in my writing. I hope you all have a wonderful time over the Christmas period, however you choose to celebrate, and may your 2025 be beautiful and blessed! See you next year!

~ Ever