A/N: Okay, so, this isn't a full chapter. I'm going to call it a 'Jily-focused interlude.' James' scene was getting too long, so I gave the end of it to Lily and split it off into its own chapter. I hope you find this as cute as I do.

Also, not to sound needy, but if you're still reading this, I'd really love to hear from you :)

Saturday, 27 January 1973

In the week since reading the hidden Journal entry, James and Peter had slipped away to classroom 12c to practise channelling a total of four times. The first time they visited, the relief at the rush of magic flowing through him had weakened James' knees so much he'd had to sit down. A deeply hidden and perpetually ignored part of him had believed he'd never feel it again, and it was such an integral part of his being that the idea of being without it was unbearable. It had taken considerable effort to gain control over it, though. The castle's magic felt vastly different from his own.

If he were ever asked, James would describe his magic as similar to the whoosh of air as it passes your ear. Depending on the power of the spell he was casting, it could range anywhere between a gentle summer's breeze and a raging hurricane (that may be an exaggeration, but one day…). Hogwarts' magic was something else altogether. He'd felt other people's magic before, of course. His parents' was much like his own; Sirius' had the whoosh, but with additional warmth, like taking the lid off a bubbling cauldron. Remus' magic was more of a crackle than a whoosh, but it had the same heat as Sirius' in a slower, more considered way—more like breaking open a freshly baked loaf of bread. Peter's magic was different. It oozed, slow and pondering, but it was powerful and thorough when it reached its target.

Hogwarts', though. Hogwarts' magic was everything. All of it. Whooshing, crackling, oozing, rushing. Hot, cold, dark, light. It was like being in the Ritual clearing but a million times better; completely overwhelming and thoroughly addictive. James couldn't get enough of it.

Which is why he'd been such a scattered mess all morning, unable to think about anything but the fact he'd be spending a full two hours there that afternoon, overseeing the first Creature Hunt lesson. His body thrummed with energy fighting to be released and he couldn't keep still to save his life.

'Do you think we should change the plan? James is a bit…'

James stopped practising dramatically spinning on his heel while unsheathing his wand and glared at Remus. 'James is a bit what?'

'Energetic,' Remus said.

'Over-excited,' Peter said.

'Insane,' Sirius said.

'I'm fine.' James shoved his wand back into its holster. 'It's too late to change the plan now, and we don't have time to argue about it, anyway. Are these for me?' He pointed to the three vials of Polyjuice potion Peter had laid out on the brewing station.

'Yeah,' Peter answered. 'Take one every thirty minutes to be safe.'

James slipped them into his pocket with a nod. 'Understood. Shall we go?'

They'd staged a minor argument at lunch, with Remus expressing his disapproval to James and Sirius for not attending the Creature Hunt lessons, while James and Sirius loudly crowed about how skilled they were and how unnecessary it was for them to go. It had made James feel like a right prat, honestly, but it was the only logical excuse for them not to be there.

So they said goodbye to Remus and Peter outside the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, and James and Sirius headed through the Common room, up the stairs, into their dorm, donned the invisibility cloak, and flew out the window, leaving it open so they could get back in later. How Fab and Gid had kept their identities a secret without an invisibility cloak, James couldn't imagine. The thing was invaluable.

Swooping down until he was level with the third-floor windows, James flew along until they found classroom 12c, stopping at the next window along so Sirius could unlock it before flying inside.

After dismounting from the broom and propping it against a wall, they quickly changed into clothes that would fit Peter's cousin. Sirius had chosen a knee-length dress in pale blue, while James had gone for a more practical flared jeans and t-shirt combo.

Finally ready, they both pulled out a vial of Polyjuice and grimaced at each other.

'There must be a less painful way to disguise ourselves,' James said.

Sirius smirked, which lost some of its effect due to the oversized dress he was wearing, but what came out of his mouth more than made up for it. 'Coward.'

'Fuck you.' James uncorked the vial and downed it in one, pulling a face at the awful taste before sticking his tongue out at Sirius. 'Who's the coward now?' Then he gasped as the pain overtook him and his legs buckled.

He vaguely heard the sound of Sirius' chuckle, slightly distorted by his transforming ears, but he paid it no attention, concentrating on breathing through the pain. Objectively, the entire process was horrific, but James hated the few seconds it took for his heart to transform the most. Feeling the reassuring beat stutter and stall before doubling its speed to make up the missed time made him think he was about to die every time. It didn't matter that he was expecting it.

For a few seconds after it was over, he stayed where he was, just breathing, and then he looked over at Sirius.

Breathing heavily, but still standing, Sirius gave him a bright smile and offered him a hand. 'Want some help?'

'How are you still standing?' James asked, accepting the offer and allowing Sirius to pull him to his feet.

Sirius shrugged. 'Wanted to see if I could do it.'

'Pointless waste of effort,' James said. Then, after a pause, 'I'll stay up next time.'

'Course you will. Come on.'

The first thing James noticed when they entered the room was Evans' bright red hair, and he couldn't keep from smiling. She hadn't taken part in the Creature Hunt the previous year, but Professor Tenebris' duelling lessons must have given her more confidence because there she was, standing near the stage with Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas. Considering what the Marauders had done in their dorm room as punishment for messing with the Quidditch match against Slytherin, it was brave of them to be there at all. They clearly weren't Gryffindors for nothing.

This would be fun.

'Good afternoon, and welcome to the first Creature Hunt lesson,' Sirius called out as they walked up to the stage. The crowd of students parted to let them through, closing ranks again behind them. 'We all know why we're here. The youngest among us are in desperate need of knowledge and skill so they don't get torn apart by vicious creatures next month. So, a big thank you to our upper-year volunteers for coming to their aid.'

James took over the speech then. 'As our predecessors did, we take your safety seriously. Your professors have already told you of the dangers of draining your core, and we will begin today with a simple spell to test your power level and determine what spells it is safe for you to learn. So, if you could form a queue, we can start.'

Most of the students complied immediately, but the Marauders' Malediction hung back, waiting, before joining the queue at the back. As the first pair of students approached them, James opened himself up to the prickling power that had been creeping across his skin since he walked in, and allowed it to flow through him and down to his wand. It was harder than it sounded, allowing the foreign magic free passage through his body. Every instinct came to life, screaming at him to reject the violation, but James fought the impulse and welcomed the magic in.

They worked their way through the line of students quickly, each pair accepting their pronouncement without argument and wandering off to join the groups set up by the volunteers. Until, finally, Evans and Marlene stepped onto the stage; the last two in the line.

'Miss Evans,' James said, keeping his voice low. 'Brave of you to come. Did you enjoy our gift?'

She smiled sweetly at him. It made her eyes sparkle. 'Very much. Thank you. We appreciated the challenge of removing it. How long did it take, again, Marls?'

'About three hours, wasn't it?'

Sirius laughed. 'Impressive. We thought it would take you at least a day.'

'You'll find we're much harder to defeat than that,' Evans said. 'Are you going to test me, Miss..?'

James smirked. 'You can call me Sunshine,' he said, ignoring the choking sound coming from Sirius and smiling at her. She was actually talking to him! Pointing his wand at her, he cast the spell and checked the result. 'Fourteen,' he said, trying to keep the surprise from his voice. She was stronger than him. Despite all his Marauder related extra-curricular activities, she was still stronger than him. Damn, that was hot.

'Is that good?'

He hummed in the affirmative. 'You can learn any of the spells being taught here.'

She grinned. 'Wonderful.'

'While I have you here, Miss Evans, I've been hearing rumours that the Marauders' Malediction are planning something. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?'

'Oh,' she said, smiling sweetly again. Merlin, she was beautiful. 'We're definitely planning something. You didn't think you'd beaten us with that little mirror trick, did you? We're still going to figure out who you are, Sunshine.'

'If you succeed, Miss Evans, what do you plan to do with the information?' James asked, feeling like he might melt into a puddle of goo right there. Her confidence was enthralling.

'Well, that really depends on who you turn out to be, doesn't it?'

He chuckled and reached for her hand, fully expecting the move to be dodged, but she allowed it. 'In that case, I look forward to fending off your attempts, Miss Evans.' He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed the back with his lips, holding her gaze and very much enjoying the blush that stole its way up her throat.

'And I look forward to the look on your face when I call you by your real name, Sunshine.' She bit her lip, staring at him for a moment longer, before grabbing Marlene's hand and dragging her off the stage to join Mary and Dorcas.

James turned on his heel and widened his eyes in Sirius' direction. 'Did you see that?' he mouthed.

Sirius nodded and moved closer, speaking quietly. 'Yeah, I did. I hate to break it to you, mate, but I think Lily might be into girls.' He nodded pointedly at James' body, which was currently Peter's cousin's body.

James frowned down at himself. Then looked back to Sirius. 'She could like both.'

Sirius cocked his head to the side in acquiescence. 'True. She could.'

'She was dancing with boys at the Christmas party.'

'I don't think that really means anything.'

'Yeah. Maybe not.' James was quiet for a moment, contemplating the problem. 'How do I find out?'

'I don't know? Talk to her?'

'Right. Yeah. Good idea.' James reached up to run his hand through his hair anxiously but stopped when he was met with the smooth, straight hair of Peter's cousin instead of his own coarse mop. Right. Not in his own body. Got to act like a girl.

'Start doing the rounds and head to her group after you've spoken to a few of the others,' Sirius suggested. 'Then it won't look like you're targeting her.'

James nodded and moved off towards the closest group, made up of the weaker second-years and stronger first years, including Regulus. He hadn't been entirely truthful when Sirius accused him of fancying his brother. He was no Evans, obviously, but there was something about him. Something James tried hard not to think about, because it was definitely weird to have those kinds of thoughts about his best friend's brother.

Regulus looked better than he had at dinner on Tuesday, but James was still concerned. Not that he could put his finger on why. Nothing about his outward appearance suggested anything was wrong. His skin was pale, but no more than Sirius'. He looked well-rested and was smiling at the girl beside him. Nevertheless, there was something. What was it?

'Hi, how's it going over here?'

James watched Regulus carefully as he listened to the volunteer working with the group—the Slytherin who wanted to know how dangerous the Creature Hunt really was—and assisted him with a demonstration of the Knockback jinx. It was something in his eyes, like a shadow lurking just out of sight. And in the way he carried himself; a slight loosening of his usual perfect posture. James didn't know what to make of his observations, but he resolved to bring them up with Sirius again at the earliest opportunity as he moved on to the next group.

He finally reached the Marauders' Malediction fifteen minutes later. The four girls were working together without an assistant. Lily and Marlene had a textbook open and were going over the theory of the Freezing charm with Mary and Dorcas. The scene was so similar to what you might come across on any given day walking into his dorm room that James couldn't keep the smile off his face as he approached.

'Need any help?'

Lily glanced up. 'We could use a demonstration of this spell, actually. Learning wand movements from a picture is hard, even if it does move.'

James was glad they'd learned all the spells being taught in these lessons in advance. How embarrassing would it have been if he were forced to call over one of the older students to do it? 'Sure, no problem. Which of you wants to be my target?'

The girls all glanced at each other, and Evans sighed, climbing to her feet. 'I'll do it.'

James positioned her a few feet away before softening the floor behind her so she wouldn't get hurt by the fall. After going over the wand movement at half speed a few times, James turned to Evans with a grin. 'Are you ready? This might sting a little.'

Lily met Sunshine's smile with one of her own. 'I can take it.'

Before she could move to cast, though, Sunshine's wand vibrated in her hand. 'Oh, sorry. One second.' She pulled a vial from her jeans' pocket and uncorked it, wrinkling her nose, before downing the contents with a shudder. 'Gods, that's disgusting. Right, where were we?'

'What was that?'

'Polyjuice potion,' she said, tucking the empty vial back into her pocket. 'Can't risk turning back into myself in front of you, can I? That would spoil all the fun.'

Lily frowned. She'd read about Polyjuice. You needed a body part from the person you wanted to turn into, and the Marauders had used this disguise multiple times. 'Is this person someone you know, then?'

Sunshine chuckled. 'You ask a lot of questions, Miss Evans. I hope this isn't your entire plan to work out who I am. I'm not just going to tell you, you know?'

'No, I suppose that would be too easy, wouldn't it?'

Sunshine moved back into an attack stance and raised her wand. There was something vaguely familiar about the way she moved, but Lily wasn't sure what it was. 'Feel free to defend yourself. Immobulus.'

'Protego,' Lily shouted, completely on instinct. Her shield burst to life in front of her, deflecting Sunshine's spell harmlessly. 'Jesus, a little warning next time?'

'You won't get any warning in a real duel, Miss Evans,' Sunshine said with a laugh. 'Aren't you going to fight back? Depulso!'

Lily dodged the spell and raised her own wand. 'Flipendo! Depulso! Stupefy! Expelliarmus!' She fired in quick succession, adjusting her aim a little each time, making sure Sunshine had nowhere to go.

Or so she thought. Lily hadn't accounted for the possibility of Sunshine dropping like a stone to the floor, laying prone on her stomach as the spells flew past above her, laughing like it was the most fun she'd ever had. The sight made warmth bloom in her chest. And that sense of familiarity tugged at her again.

Sunshine cast a smokescreen to cover her while she got back to her feet. Barely a second passed before Lily had cast the counter charm, but by the time the smoke cleared, Sunshine was ready for her. 'Immobulus.'

This time Lily was too slow to deflect it and the spell hit her in the chest, freezing her in place, and she felt herself slowly toppling forward. With a mental flinch, she prepared herself for the pain of her face smashing into the classroom floor.

'Arresto momentum,' Sunshine's voice shouted. The words were followed by the sound of running feet and then the feeling of hands on her shoulders, pushing her back upright. 'Finite incantatum.'

Lily's body unfroze, and she looked up into Sunshine's eyes, which were frowning with concern. 'Thank you.'

'Are you okay? We got a bit carried away. I forgot I only softened the floor behind you.'

'I'm fine.'

'Are you sure?

Her concern was touching, and the warmth from before returned even stronger. Sunshine was adorable. Lily didn't know what she'd been so scared of. God, they'd been so worried the Marauders' hated them, they almost hadn't come at all. What a shame that would have been. Yeah. Really. You stopped me getting hurt.'

'Thank, Merlin.' Sunshine stroked a thumb down her cheek. 'I thought for sure you were going to smash your face on the floor.'

Lily stared at her, that feeling of familiarity still tugging at her. 'Do I know you? I feel like I know you.'

'Well, I do go to school here, so you've probably seen me around,' Sunshine said, smirking. 'And that's all I'm saying.'

Lily shook her head. 'No, it's more than that. You feel so familiar.'

Sunshine's smirk melted into a soft smile, and she moved her hand from Lily's shoulder and tapped her on the end of her upturned nose. 'And, on that note, I think it's time for me to move on to another group. See you next week, Miss Evans.'

'Yeah, bye, Sunshine.'

When Lily finally tore her gaze from Sunshine's retreating back, she met the eyes of her friends. God, she'd completely forgotten they were even there, never mind watching the whole thing.

'What was that?' Marlene asked, fanning herself as she walked over. 'The tension between you two!'

'I didn't imagine it?' Lily asked. 'She was flirting with me, right?'

'Definitely flirting,' Mary said with a grin.

'Do you even like girls?' Dorcas asked.

Lily shrugged. 'I don't know that they are a girl. They might be a boy.'

'They might be a seventh-year,' Dorcas pointed out. 'We don't know anything about them.'

'They only got the job at the end of last year, though,' Mary said. 'It wouldn't make sense to give it to someone who can only do it for a year.'

'I think they're near our age. Maybe a year older, but not more than that,' Lily said.

'Do you really think that? Or do you just hope it's true?' Dorcas asked.

Lily wrinkled her nose. 'Both?'

Marlene laughed. 'Well, at least they don't hate us.'

'Yeah. That definitely doesn't seem to be a problem,' Mary said. 'Nice job, Lils.'

Lily laughed. 'I didn't do anything.'

'Sure you did,' Marlene said, linking arms with her and tugging her back to their little part of the room. 'You made sure we can still play the Games. Now teach us that spell. We've got a Creature Hunt to win.'

By the time the lesson was over, they all had a good handle on the Freezing charm, and the girls were deep in conversation about what they were going to do for Lily's birthday on Tuesday as they approached the exit, where Sunshine was holding the door open.

'It's your birthday on Tuesday?' she asked.

Lily nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Well, I hope you have a lovely day,' Sunshine said, smiling. 'Birthdays are important.'

'Thanks. I will.' Lily bit her lip as she turned away, following after her friends. Her stomach was squirming oddly and her cheeks felt warm. 'We need to figure out who they are,' she said as soon as they were out of earshot.

Lily didn't think it was possible to be more determined than she already was, but that assumption was proven wrong when two owls landed in front of her on Tuesday morning. The first owl deposited an enormous box of Honeydukes' finest on the table, the second, an equally enormous bouquet, bearing a card that read,

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Miss Evans.

Sunshine.