From First to Last

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What is genius but the power of expressing a new individuality?

--- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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'I found an empty one, Sev,' called Lily as she slid open a compartment door and led Severus inside.

She sat down upon a seat near the window and Severus sat across from her, pushing back his overgrown hair tiredly.

'Did you get your Hogsmeade form signed, Sev?' asked Lily.

Severus nodded. 'Yeah, it wasn't easy. I don't think my dad wanted me to go.'

'Why not?'

'He's not - well, he doesn't like magic very much. He didn't even want me to come to Hogwarts. That's why he doesn't pay for my books or cloaks or anything. He didn't even come to see me off today,' he added, his voice taking a glum tone.

Lily made a sympathetic face. 'He didn't?'

Severus shook his head. 'Nope. Only Mum came.' He pressed his nose against the window and peered outside in an apparent search for his mother. 'Oh, hold on... no, I think she left.' Severus broke his gaze from the window and shrugged at Lily.

Lily's frown deepened. Her best friend's parents hardly got along and weren't the least bit supportive in their son's endeavours. Severus had probably grown up alone. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he was constantly getting picked on, especially when Lily wasn't present to help him. This was the greatest motive for Lily's dislike toward Potter and Black. The two of them always managed to make the situation worse. Lily felt a rush of loyalty as she decided to be the best friend she possibly could be to Severus - it was the least she could do, after all.

As the train began to move, Lily glanced out the window, watching the figure of her own parents, waving up at her, became more and more distant. She gave them a final wave before the train turned a corner and the disappeared from view.

Finally, they were off to Hogwarts...

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'Anything from the cart, dears?'

James jumped out of his seat and approached the cart with a grin of anticipation.

'I'll take this,' he said , picking up a box of Chocolate Frogs, 'and this,' a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans now, 'and this, and this, oh and this one too.' He picked up more sweets, rummaged through his pockets for gold, placed the coins into the witch's hand and plopped back down onto his seat.

'E'ry flayer beans annvershry,' mumbled Sirius after awhile, with his mouth full of at least three chocolate frogs at once.

Remus looked at him, disgusted. 'Honestly Sirius, would it kill you to swallow before you talk?'

Sirius grinned toothily, revealing a pair of Chocolate Frog legs stuck between his teeth. James winced. 'Shawree, Reemus,' said Sirius. He swallowed.

'Right,' he said, once he had done so, 'I said, 'Every Flavour Beans' is having its twenty-fifth anniversary.'

'Oi, Sirius,' said James, getting off his chair and stretching. 'Want to go for a walk? Check out the other compartments? My leg's falling asleep. Maybe we'll see Snivelly on the way,' he added with a grin.

Sirius returned it as he got to his feet lazily.

'Come on, Pete,' he said, motioning with his hands. 'Time for some exercise.'

'Har, har,' said Peter humourlessly. 'That better not have been another fat joke, Sirius.'

Sirius grinned in response and turned to Remus. 'Coming, Remus?'

'No thanks,' said Remus, not taking his eyes off the Animagi book in his hands. 'I think I'll just stay here.'

'Alright... he probably wants to finish the book before us,' muttered James under his breath. Sirius and Peter laughed.

'I heard that,' said Remus, succeeding in stopping the laughter immediately.

James slid the compartment door shut behind him and muttered, 'I wonder if werewolves have super-hearing.'

'I heard that too,' called Remus' voice from inside the compartment. James and Sirius exchanged bewildered glances at the call and Peter's mouth was a perfect 'o'. They heard Remus chuckle from inside.

'So,' said James conversationally as they walked down the train corridor. 'How are things at home?'

Sirius made a face. 'You mean with little goody-good Reggie? Perfect. Absolutely brilliant.'

'So how are things really like?'

'My mum was at a right state down at the platform. She can tell who's got Muggle parentage just by looking at them. Apparently, too many of them are coming to Hogwarts this year. She's counting on Regulus to be a Slytherin and bring honour to the Black family name.' He said the last few words with a mocking tone of voice.

'Regulus' real happy too. He kept going on about Hogwarts at home. He'll be jumping at the chance to befriend the Malfoy's, I expect. And you know how Malfoy's whole family's real close to You-Know-Who.'

Sirius paused, and then tilted his head slowly to one side.

'What is it?' asked James. Sirius was peering into a compartment through its window. He turned to James and Peter, a smirk growing on his face.

'Snivellus.'

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Lily gazed out the window of the Hogwarts Express as she bit upon a toffee. They were at least halfway through their journey to Hogwarts by now. Lily glanced at Severus, then back out the window. She wondered briefly what Kalah and Alice were doing now. Lily had invited her Gryffindor friends to her compartment, but they had politely declined, and Lily knew it was because of Severus. They never did understand why she was his best friend, and why she continued to speak with him. But it didn't bother her. Although her friends did not like Severus all that much, they weren't rude to him, and this suited Lily just fine.

This was most definitely not the case with Potter and Black.

Suddenly the compartment door slid open. Lily and Severus both looked up to the new arrival. Lily scowled. Severus scowled deeper. Standing at the entrance of the compartment was Potter, Black and a small boy who Lily knew was Peter Pettigrew.

'What do you want, Potter?'

He seemed to have ignored her as Sirius advanced toward Severus.

'All right, Snivellus?' he asked menacingly.

Severus whipped out his wand, but James already had his out.

'Expelliarmus!'

Severus's wand flew out of his hand and into James' outstretched one. Sirius laughed and pulled out his own wand. Peter gave a shrill laugh but maintained his position near the compartment door.

'Give him back his wand, Potter,' shouted Lily coldly. 'And get out.'

Sirius surveyed her. 'And if we don't?'

Lily pulled out her wand from the pocket of her Muggle jeans. James and Sirius exchanged glances and raised an eyebrow at her.

'Are you sure you want to do that, Evans?' asked Sirius.

'I'm sure I will if you don't give my friend back his wand and get out!'

James and Sirius both stared at her for a moment, and Lily stared back. Finally, James sighed and tossed Severus his wand.

'James!' came Sirius' indignant voice.

Severus caught his wand eagerly and brought it up in preparation, his mouth half-open to shoot a curse at James.

'Sev, don't,' said Lily softly. Severus put his wand down immediately.

James glanced from Lily to Severus curiously before Lily spoke again.

'Get out, all of you!' she demanded, glaring at James again. 'Or I'll report you to Professor Dumbledore.'

'Er, I think we should go,' said Peter, his eyes going round with fear. If there was anything at all he feared, it was authority.

'Come on, mate,' said James to Sirius tiredly. 'We'll get Snivellus later.'

Sirius paused. 'Or, we could just get him now...' He raised his wand slowly.

'Come on, Sirius.'

Sirius sighed too and with one more glare toward Severus, followed James and Peter out of the compartment.

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Lily sorted the books in her trunk, pulling out the textbooks she had purchased in Diagon Alley. This year she was taking newer subjects. There were five elective classes for third year: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Muggle Studies. From these five, Lily had settled for Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures.

Muggle Studies was not one of her choices; she was a Muggle-born, after all. The decision to not take Divination, however was a rather hard one. Lily had always been quite interested in fortune-telling. The thought of someone being able to tell the future and foresee its events was an intriguing one.

But after much consideration, Lily had decided that Ancient Runes and Arithmancy were both very strong options. Lily's father was an accountant, and he was rather attached to mathematics. Because Arithmancy was perhaps the closest thing to Muggle math, he had been hinting all summer for Lily's enrolment in that class. Ancient Runes, however, was a choice Lily had made herself. She had read the Ancient Runes information package the year before and it was perhaps even more intriguing than Divination. Of course, it was known to be rather hard, but Lily was ready for the challenge.

Care of Magical Creatures was the first elective Lily had chosen. The logic behind this was simple: if plants in the wizarding world were extraordinary, what would animals in the wizarding world be like? Pure curiosity drove her toward this course option, and when Lily discussed her course options at home, even Petunia sounded somewhat fascinated.

'Lily, you coming?'

Lily glanced up at Kalah, who stood with Alice by the dormitory door, ready to make their way down to the Great Hall to pick up their timetables. Lily stowed a couple of large textbooks into her rucksack.

'Yeah,' she replied, throwing the sack over her back. 'I'm coming.'

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'Get up, you two! McGonagall's going to give us detention if we're late on the first day,' said Remus sternly, standing in between the foot of both James and Sirius' beds. Peter stood beside him, yawning, but ready for class himself.

James slowly sat up, his eyes still closed as he stretched.

'Doesn't matter, Remus,' he mumbled, yawning. 'We get detention on the first day for Dungbomb-ing Filch's office anyway.'

Remus sighed and Sirius got up too, stretching his arms.

'That's true,' he agreed. 'By the way, I've got a couple of dungbombs left from last year, mate. We could do Filch's office today.'

Peter chuckled while Remus glared.

Once they had gotten dressed, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed down to the Great Hall to retrieve their timetables. James knew this year would be a lot different than the last two. The classes, for one, were more varied and presumably harder. But, as though to compensate for the workload, third-years were allowed trips to Hogsmeade Village. And on top of that, there was the Quidditch team, for which James had already made plans to try out.

James had decided to take three new subjects this year: Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. Arithmancy was one of his mother's brilliant ideas; Mrs Potter had figured that Arithmancy would be extremely useful in the long run and unfortunately for James, Mr Potter had agreed.

But Arithmancy was only a minor setback that was quickly made up for by Care of Magical Creatures. James had purchased 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' during the summer, and the more he read it, the more he wanted to meet these fantastic beasts.

His last elective, Divination, was chosen through a process of elimination. For James, it was a choice between either Divination, Ancient Runes or Muggle Studies. Ancient Runes was out of the question; James had decided that there was no way he was going to spend countless hours of classes learning a number of symbols he couldn't care less about. Although his mother had also advocated for this class, James had put his foot down on the matter. As for Muggle Studies, just thinking about the class caused horrid scenes of what Muggles called football to flash through James' mind. And the thought of a game in which players had to stay on the ground and use a ball that couldn't move on its own was far too unbearable. As a result, Divination was the only class that James was willing to take. In any case, he couldn't pretend that the idea of fortune-telling didn't interest him even a little.

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Quidditch Try-outs

Chaser and Seeker Wanted

This Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m.

On the Quidditch Pitch

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'Right. Sirius - you've got the dungbombs?' asked James.

Sirius held up a small box. 'Right here.'

'Good. Remus - where's Filch?'

'Near the Transfiguration office.'

'Awesome. Peter - where's Peeves?'

'Knocking down suits of armour near the Transfiguration office.' Oddly enough, most of James' pranks seemed to involve Peeves, though the poltergeist was not helping voluntarily. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were in the midst of their annual 'Toss Dungbombs in Filch's office' operation, though, it was in fact a rather simple procedure. The four friends were currently stationed at the corner around Filch's office.

'Even better. OK, let's go.'

Sirius moved in front and the four of them strolled casually to the front of Filch's office door. Sirius bent over the doorknob and worked at it for a few moments before it clicked open. Remus and Peter both found their positions at the corners on either side of the hallway, ready to intercept any interference. When Sirius had managed to unlock the door, James stood at the entrance, looked round the office, and then promptly threw the dungbomb in.

The effect was immediate. There was a small 'bang', and then a horrible stench filled the air. Looking immensely satisfied, James shut the door, trapping the odour in the confines of the room.

Remus poked his head from around the corner.

'Filch's coming!'

James whipped out his invisibility cloak immediately and beckoned for his three friends. He had only just enveloped them all when Filch came bustling around the corner, cursing.

'Bloody Peeves, good for nothing - if he weren't dead already, I'd murder the little -'

James silently motioned for his friends to walk backwards to a safe distance as Filch approached his office door and made his way in, still muttering.

James waited for a few moments for the full effect to take place. Then...

'POTTER! BLACK!' Filch had rushed out, red in the face and looking as though he were about to burst a blood vessel.

'Scum! Good for nothing scum's all that's in here! I'll get you, you bloody hooligans!'

Yelling and cursing, he shuffled round the corner to where James suspected was Dumbledore's office. Once he had disappeared from view, James and Sirius burst into laughter. James took off his invisibility cloak.

'Did - you - see - his - face?' choked Sirius through bits of laughter. Peter was rolling around the floor, pounding his fists at the ground. Even Remus, who usually didn't approve of the small pranks James and Sirius came up with, was laughing, as though appreciating the simplicity of the prank.

'What do you think he'll do when he finds us?' asked James, still laughing.

'Oh, I expect at least a week of detentions,' responded Sirius. 'Either that or we'll be subjected to the Cruciatus Curse. Then again... Filch is a Squib!'

James and Sirius burst into more fits of laughter.

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On Saturday morning, James and Sirius made their way to the Quidditch pitch; James was sporting his brand new Nimbus 1500. As he had expected, it seemed as though half of Gryffindor house seemed to have turned up: from shifty-eyed, nervous looking first years to the tall seventh years, at whom the first-years were glancing fearfully.

After awhile, when a rather large crowd of people had formed, the fifth year Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Will Johnson, stepped forward.

'Right,' he said, surveying all the people. 'I'll start with a basic test. Get into groups of ten and fly once around the pitch.'

James tightened his grip on his broom and mounted it immediately, adrenaline pumping through his veins already in anticipation of a competition. He kicked off the ground and followed several other people who were now circling the pitch. Many of the first years below were glancing from their brooms to the airborne people above them, realising that they had made a mistake in arriving to the tryouts.

Once the basic test was complete, Johnson decided to hold the tryouts for the Seeker position, followed by the tryouts for the Chaser position.

'Well done, Potter,' said Johnson gruffly as James landed on the ground after having completed his trial; he had been last to try out. Half the students that had arrived that morning for the trials had disappeared.

'Right,' said Johnson, addressing the remaining students in a loud voice. 'A lot of you flew really well today. I'll post up the new Quidditch team in the common room in a week.'

James felt slightly crestfallen, having expected an answer today. Sighing, he made his way toward Sirius, who was sitting in the stands with Remus and Peter; they had come to watch his tryout. Sirius jumped down and clapped James on the back.

'Did he name you the new Quidditch captain?' asked Sirius with a grin. James rolled his eyes.

'Great flying, James!' exclaimed Peter.

'I'm impressed,' added Remus.

James grinned at them appreciatively.

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'Oi, I think Johnson's posted the new Quidditch team!' exclaimed James as he thundered down the boy's dormitory staircase.

'Yeah, yeah... That's what you said yesterday,' replied Sirius, evidently taking his time as he descended.

'No, really he has!'

'Correction. That's what you said yesterday.'

'Sirius, he's right!' said Remus, looking rather amazed.

'Yeah?'

James had rushed toward the bulletin board that hung on the far end of the common room and was examining it as Sirius, Remus and Peter joined him.

James read the note posted on the wall:

Gryffindor Quidditch Team

Returning Players: Will Johnson - Chaser/Captain (fifth year)

Dorcas Meadowes - Chaser (fourth year)

Gideon Prewett - Beater (seventh year)

Fabian Prewett - Beater (seventh year)

Kingsley Shacklebolt - Keeper (fourth year)

New Players: James Potter - Chaser (third year)

Marlene Sanders - Seeker (third year)

Practice begins Monday morning on the pitch at 6:30 a.m.

'YES! I made Chaser!'

James began to jump up and down, attracting a rather large amount of attention. Several students in the common room looked around at him with peculiar expressions on their faces. Remus nudged James hard in the ribs and the newly appointed Chaser cleared his throat.

'Er - sorry,' he said. There was some nervous giggling, and then everyone seemed to return their attention elsewhere. James turned to Sirius, Remus and Peter and in a loud whisper, exclaimed, 'I made Chaser!'

'Yeah mate, I think everyone heard,' said Sirius, grinning and patting him on the back.

James returned the grin. For the rest of the day, that grin was stuck on James' face and his walk became something more of a strut...

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'I didn't know you tried out for Seeker, Marlene!'

Marlene grinned up at Lily as she sprawled across the floor on her stomach, completing the day's homework. 'I wasn't sure I'd make it.'

'I'm really glad you did,' said Kalah. 'There were too many boys on that team.'

'James made Chaser, did you hear?' said Alice, flipping through the newest edition of Witch Weekly.

Lily made a face. 'Who hasn't heard? He was practically announcing it to everyone he saw at breakfast this morning. Didn't you see him? Strutting around like he owned the place,' said Lily distastefully.

'Is he any good, Marlene?'

Marlene shrugged and her hair bobbed up and down. 'I left right after my tryout. I didn't see him fly.'

'Who cares?' said Lily, distaste still clear in her facial features. 'It's just Potter...'

The door swung open right then and a teary-eyed Mary stumbled into the room.

'Mary?'

'What's wrong?'

Mary burst into tears and Lily led her to the bed where Kalah was sitting. Kalah crawled over to her and put her arm around Mary's shoulder comfortingly. Mary's sobs filled the room and no one said anything for a while.

After a minute's silence, Lily spoke.

'Mary? What's wrong? What happened?'

Mary replied between sniffs. 'A - Avery - and - M - Mulciber,' she choked. 'They - they called me a m - mudblood!'

Alice gasped. Marlene clapped her hands over her mouth. Kalah looked outraged.

'They what?' exclaimed Marlene.

'Mudblood?' repeated Lily blankly.

Mary nodded and began wiping her eyes.

Lily was still confused. 'Er... what's a mudblood?'

Everyone looked at her, bewildered. After awhile, when they decided that Lily wasn't joking, Alice answered.

'A Mudblood's about the most insulting thing you can say,' said Alice.

'It's a really foul name for someone who's Muggleborn - you know, non-magic parents,' continued Marlene.

'And there are some wizards - like Avery and Mulciber -' Kalah said their names with a tone of utter disgust, 'who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pureblood.'

Lily looked shell-shocked. She had discussed the pureblood/Muggleborn issue with Severus, but he had assured her that being a Muggle-born did not make her any less than a pureblood. Because of this, Lily had no idea this sort of discrimination existed at Hogwarts.

'So,' said Lily, looking deep in thought as she digested the new turn of events, 'that means... I'm a Mudblood too, right?'

Kalah looked horrified. 'Lily, don't call yourself that! It doesn't matter what kind of blood anyone has!'

'Because everyone at Hogwarts can do magic,' said Alice, her voice low as she directed her speech toward a sobbing Mary. 'Being a Muggleborn doesn't mean you're not a witch.'

'Avery and Mulciber are gits, is all,' said Marlene. 'They don't know what they're talking about.'

'And they'll be failing their O.W.L.s in two years' time, purebloods or not,' said Kalah.

Mary laughed through her tears and nodded. 'Thanks, you lot.'

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'Mr Potter, why don't you give it a go?'

James' head shot up.

'Huh?'

'Answer the question, please.'

'What question?'

There was yet another new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Cornell, who had replaced last year's Professor Jenkins. Professor Jenkins had acquired a Charms teaching position last year and had jumped at the opportunity to teach at Beauxbatons Academy.

Professor Cornell gave James a stern face.

'What is a Boggart, Mr Potter?'

Beside him, James could see Remus's hand, still and unwavering in the air. But he needn't pass this question; he knew the answer.

'A shape-shifter,' said James easily. 'It takes the shape of whatever scares us the most.'

Professor Cornell looked satisfied at the answer and continued talking. James smirked smugly. Of course he knew the answer. He just hadn't heard the question. He was too busy looking at... what was it exactly? James distinctly remembered the colour red...

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'Lily, get up!'

Lily groaned as a pillow hit her on the face. She opened her eyes slowly. Kalah was standing over her with a grin plastered on her face.

'What is it, Kalah?' mumbled Lily, grabbing hold of the intruding pillow and adding it to her collection of pillows Kalah had thrown at her. 'What time is it?'

'Almost nine-thirty,' said Kalah brightly.

'Am I late for Charms? I'm late for Charms!' Lily bolted upright in sitting position immediately.

'It's a Saturday, Lily.'

Lily collapsed back down on her bed.

'Why'd you wake me, then?'

'Er - the Quidditch match? Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff.'

Lily bolted upright again. 'Right! I forgot!'

'Come on,' said Kalah. 'Marlene went down to the pitch with Mary and Alice is saving us a seat at breakfast.'

'Why didn't you wake me sooner?' asked Lily as she rummaged through her trunk.

Kalah rolled her eyes. 'I wake you up and you complain. I don't wake you up and you still complain.'

Lily smiled sweetly at Kalah from the bathroom doorway.

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James looked out at the large crowd. He hadn't expected this many people to show up. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Will was standing behind him, attempting a smile that only looked like a grimace.

'You know, Potter, I say this to every first timer at the beginning of a match,' he said, his tone serious. 'Winning isn't everything.'

'Yeah?'

'You bet. But that doesn't mean we're here to lose. Don't make the last few weeks a complete waste, yeah, Potter?' He clapped James on the shoulder.

'Er - thanks, Will,' said James as his captain made his way to his position at the front.

Will began to walk out onto the field and James followed him with the rest of his team, the sound of cheers echoing through his ears.

Madam Knight was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.

'Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you,' she said, once they were all gathered around her. 'Mount your brooms, please.'

James clambered onto his Nimbus 1500.

Madam Knight gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.

Fifteen brooms rose up into the air and the game began.

'And the Quaffle is taken already! By, er... I forget his name; some tall, lanky fellow -'

'BLACK!'

'No, Professor, I'm Black...'

'Black...'

James chuckled and peered up at the podium to see a grinning Sirius Black doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

'Sorry, a little joke, see... Er... Johnson... Right, Will Johnson! Johnson's passed it onto Meadowes - nice catch, Meadowes - and - no, Hufflepuff Chaser Amos Diggory's got a hold of the Quaffle now, passes it onto Diggle - Diggle's shooting upwards now - OUCH - that's got to hurt - nice Bludger attack by the Prewett brothers - Whoa - James Potter's got the Quaffle now - if I might bring your attention to the brand new Nimbus 1500 Potter's sporting right now... amazing agility and speed and -'

'BLACK!'

'Oh, right. Sorry Professor. Potter's off now toward the goal - he's really flying - dodges a speeding Bludger - the goal posts are ahead - come on, now, James - get this and I'll buy you a Chocolate Frog - Keeper MacMillan dives - misses - GRYFFINDORS SCORE!'

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air and Sirius was jumping up and down with the magical microphone in his hand.

James grinned as Madam Knight threw the Quaffle into the air again. He waited in his position, preparing to execute one of Will's new strategies. He was to fly backward and wait for Dorcas to pass the Quaffle to him. In the meantime, he scanned the crowd. There didn't seem to be so many people in the Quidditch pitch anymore. In fact, James was starting to wish that more people had shown up.

James glanced toward the Gryffindor stands, keeping tabs of all the people who had shown up. There was Barney Brown in the fourth row and Will Johnson's sister in the seventh row. Peter and Remus were sitting in the fifth row, their eyes following the Quaffle's movements. Evans and her friends were in the second row. Evans was talking animatedly to Ramnath next to her. She had a Gryffindor red and gold striped scarf wrapped around her neck and there was a high flush on her cheeks from the cold October weather.

'Johnson's passed it to Meadowes now - Meadowes dodges a Bludger - passes it to Potter - who's just floating there - staring at - er - Evans? ... What the hell is he doing? Watch out, James!'

A Bludger made contact with James head. He felt a sharp pain near his temple and his view started to blur. The last thing he saw was a confused look on Evans' face before everything started to spin and turn black...

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'Merlin, he's alive.'

'I thought the poor bloke kicked the bucket for sure.'

'He was just floating there mindlessly...'

James' eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, splattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Sirius, Remus and Peter were also there, looking rather pale.

'James!' exclaimed Will, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. 'How're you feeling?'

James head was aching so much he could barely talk. 'What happened?' he managed.

'You fell off,' said Fabian Prewett. 'Must've been - what fifty feet?'

'We thought you'd died,' said Dorcas Meadows, who was shaking.

Peter made a small, squeaky noise. His eyes were extremely bloodshot.

'But the match,' said James. 'What happened? Who won?'

It was now that the faces of the team members broke into a grin. Marlene held up a Snitch, struggling in her hands.

'We won?' James felt a rush of relief.

'Yep,' said Kingsley Shacklebolt proudly. 'A hundred ninety to forty. We had to play our sub, mate. He didn't look so great either. Poor bloke was nervous; we thought he'd fall of his broom with fright. Marlene caught the Snitch just in time.'

Will clapped Marlene on the back proudly, and she flushed.

'Amazing...' was all James could say.

'Right,' said Gideon Prewett, getting to his feet. 'We'll leave you to rest now.'

The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Lambridge shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Sirius, Remus and Peter moved nearer to James's bed.

'So,' said Sirius grinning at James after awhile. 'Just out of curiosity... what were you doing just floating up there like an idiot?'

'Huh?' James ran a hand through his hair. 'Er - nothing. I was just, er, looking around, you know?'

'At Evans?'

James' head shot up. 'No!' he spluttered. 'No, I was just looking around at the Gryffindors... see who came and all...'

'Oh, please. Half the school saw you gazing at Evans like a mindless dolt.'

Sirius' grin grew wider and now even Remus was smiling at him sympathetically.

James flushed. 'What are you lot talking about?'

'You like her!' said Sirius. 'Just admit it, you git.'

There was a silence as everyone looked at James intently. After awhile James shrugged casually.

'I don't know,' said James honestly. 'Maybe...'

'Hah!' Sirius got up triumphantly and pointed at Remus. 'Told you!'

Remus smiled at him and Peter looked a bit conflicted, unsure about whether he should appear amused or disgusted at this new turn of events.

There was a knock on the door. The assistant nurse Madam Pomfrey rushed to open it and in came Lily, Kalah and Alice. Sirius' grin grew wider.

Lily looked as though she didn't know what she was doing there.

'Right,' said Sirius, eyes twinkling with apparent delight. 'We'll leave you lot alone now.'

'No,' said Lily quickly, before she shot Alice an annoyed glare. 'We're not staying.'

'We wanted to make sure you were fine, James,' said Alice softly, completely impervious to Lily's glare.

'All right, Potter?' asked Kalah with a jerk of her head toward his injuries.

James grinned at her. 'I'm alive, aren't I?'

'See, he's fine,' said Lily, sounding rushed and business-like. 'Can we go now?'

James smirked. 'Were you worried about me, Evans?' he asked smugly.

Lily regarded him and scoffed. 'Don't flatter yourself, Potter. I only came along because Alice made me. And now I think it's time to go.'

And she turned on her heel and strolled out of the hospital wing, the sounds of James and Sirius' laughter drowning out the slam of the door.

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Hogsmeade Trip

December 10

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'Look!' squealed Lily, pointing excitedly at the sign. 'That's next week!'

'Oh, finally!' said Kalah, peering at the sign from a couch in the common room. 'I was wondering when they would finally have the first trip.'

It was a cold, December afternoon. Lily, Kalah and Alice had just come back after a trip to Hagrid's and were beginning their homework for the night. Lily collapsed onto the seat across from Alice.

'You handed in your form, didn't you, Kalah?' asked Lily.

'Of course I did,' replied Kalah, reaching into her bag and pulling out a blank parchment. 'You?'

'Uh-huh. I almost thought Professor McGonagall wouldn't accept it, she stared at it for a long while before taking it. My sister accidentally spilt tea onto it,' explained Lily.

'Peonies!' blurted Kalah.

'Petunia,' corrected Lily with a grin.

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James woke up early on the morning of the tenth, the day of the first Hogsmeade trip. Both he and Sirius had plans to head straight to Zonko's Joke Shop; many of the upper year students had been talking about Zonko's as soon as the Hogsmeade poster had gone up, and the two wanted to know what the big deal was.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed down to the Entrance Hall after breakfast, where Filch was standing inside the front doors. He was checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going. James and Sirius walked right up to him.

'Hello there, Filch, old pal,' said Sirius brightly.

'How're you on this fine day?' asked James.

Filch gave them both a look of deep loathing.

'Oh, right,' continued Sirius. 'Checking off names, are you?'

'Just in case you don't know,' said James, 'my name's James Potter and this is Sirius Black. For the list, you know. I think you'd probably have us down as 'worthless scum'.'

'Or perhaps, 'bloody, good-for-nothing hooligans',' chimed Sirius.

'Just get out of my sight, you -' Filch was cut off by James' waggling index finger.

'Mind the language, Filchy. Why, in front of innocent third-years!'

'Very innocent third-years indeed,' added Sirius.

With one last wide grin at Filch, James and Sirius departed through the oak front doors, shortly accompanied by Remus and Peter.

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Lily entered Hogsmeade with Kalah and Alice, eyes agog. The High Street was full of students scattering up and down, peeking into the shop windows and trading sweets together on the pavements. 'This is amazing!' she exclaimed.

'Where do you want to go?' asked Alice, looking down the street.

'Everywhere.'

Lily, Kalah and Alice browsed around almost all the shops in Hogsmeade: Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, the Post Office, where what looked like hundreds of owls were sitting on shelves, waiting to deliver packages... Honeydukes was next, and instantly became Lily's favourite sweetshop (they were giving out free samples that day); cramped in a corner was Madam Puddifoot's, a pink little teashop that Alice doted on for a bit as Lily and Kalah rushed on. Finally, the three took a look at The Shrieking Shack, which was known to be haunted.

When it started to get cold, Alice led them to a warm pub called the Three Broomsticks.

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James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, once having completed their shopping at Zonko's, walked into the cold air outside, carrying boxes in their hands.

'This is good stuff,' Sirius was saying, gazing at the boxes admiringly.

'I have to admit, the magic is quite clever,' said Remus appreciatively.

'Right, where do you want to go now?' asked James.

'Er... somewhere warm?'

James looked round to see Peter shivering in the cold, his fingers white and numb-looking. 'Forget your gloves, Pete?' he asked.

'I'm f-fine,' stuttered Peter.

James rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand. He tapped Peter's hands and muttered a spell; colour returned to Peter's hands.

'It's a Warming Charm,' said James, stowing his wand away again. 'It should last long enough to get back to Hogwarts.'

Peter smiled sheepishly. 'Thanks, James,' he said gratefully.

'No problem,' said James with a grin.

'Let's go to the Three Broomsticks.' said Sirius. 'I haven't had a butterbeer in ages.'

'You've tried it?' asked James incredulously.

'We've got some at home,' supplied Sirius.

They walked up the street and pushed the doors open to the Three Broomsticks. As soon as James made his way in, he felt Sirius grab his arm.

'Look who's here, James,' he said, grinning wickedly.

James followed Sirius' gaze and grinned involuntarily. Sitting at one corner of the inn was Lily, Kalah and Alice, shaking slightly with Gryffindor scarves wrapped around their necks and butterbeer bottles in their hands.

James had the sudden urge to leap onto his broomstick and start flying. But then he remembered that there were three problems associated with that. One, his broom was all the way at the castle, and James had yet to perfect a Summoning Charm. Two, he was fairly certain that the barmaid, Madam Rosmerta didn't allow brooms in her pub. And finally, James' first Quidditch match embarrassment was still fresh.

James debated in his head for awhile whether he should go over to her and say something - something witty... something charming.

As he was undergoing this mental war, Lily caught his eye from the other side of the pub. Having gotten the distinct impression of being watched, she had looked up to see Potter and his friends at the Three Broomsticks' entrance. Lily shrugged off Potter's odd gaze and stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to her friends.

James winced. Of course, that was to be expected. Ah, well. He probably deserved that after the prank he had played on Snape last week. With one more glance toward Lily, he followed Sirius to the front, where his best friend was gazing admiringly at the new barmaid, Madam Rosmerta.

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James knew that the Christmas season was approaching when decorations began to appear in the Great Hall and common room. The teachers' became kinder and a lot more lenient toward James, Sirius, Remus and Peter's pranks. Another indication of the season approaching was Sirius' noticeably grumpy attitude toward everyone. Sirius, who was always the one making jokes and laughing, tended to become irritable when he had to return home.

However, this winter, Sirius was rather looking forward to the break. He had finally gotten his parents to allow him to stay over at the Potters' for the vacation and even James had cleared it with his parents, who were more than willing to have guests over. James had told his parents quite a lot about Sirius and his father seemed to find him rather amusing, though his mother looked somewhat grim when she heard about their antics together.

James and Sirius headed toward Hogsmeade station together, Sirius humming 'God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs' as they walked. Remus' parents wanted him to stay at their home for Christmas because a full moon was to arrive during the winter break. And Peter was going to Australia with his family to visit relatives.

The four found a compartment in the train and waited for the train to start moving, waited for their Christmas break to finally begin...

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'This is brilliant,' Sirius was saying as he followed James into his room after dinner.

'Sirius, you've been here for at least a week,' said James, flushing slightly. 'Besides, it's nothing like your place. I mean, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Don't tell me that isn't brilliant.'

Sirius shrugged. 'It's big, but that's all. I always feel so stuffed in that house, especially with Mum and Dad and all their pureblood worshipping. And don't forget little Slytherin Reggie. You know, I bet that's the only reason Mum let me come here. She was so happy that Regulus was coming home and wanted to have some time alone with her favourite son,' added Sirius spitefully. 'I bet they're all having a nice chat about all the 'filthy' Muggleborns that go to Hogwarts. And the house elf. Merlin, one look at Kreacher and you want to bash his head in. Nothing like the house-elf you've got here, James. Ticky, was it?'

'Yeah,' replied James, collapsing onto his bed. 'She's a good elf, except she keeps calling me Master, even though I tell her to call me James. It's annoying, really. I told her I would stuff her in an oven the next time she called me that.'

'What did she say?'

'She said that she was used to death threats,' snorted James.

Sirius burst out laughing.

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When Lily returned to Hogwarts a week later, the weather was cold. The snow was falling hard and students had to trudge through at least four feet of it to the castle before Professor Dumbledore had arrived to clear it all up.

Despite the large amount of schoolwork that the teachers of Hogwarts did not hesitate to assign, most Gryffindors were excited for the next Saturday to approach; this was to be the day of Gryffindor's second Quidditch match. This time, the team would be up against Slytherin's best, and naturally, due to Gryffindor and Slytherin's age-old rivalry, many were eager to see the match.

James was particularly excited about the upcoming match, determined to redeem himself after the fiasco of his first match. When Saturday arrived, he woke early and lay for awhile, thinking about the coming Quidditch match, mentally preparing himself.

As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. Snow was falling gently down upon the stadium. James bid farewell to his friends as he entered the locker rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, and then sat down to listen to Will's usual pre-match pep talk.

'Slytherin's got better equipment than us,' he began. 'No point denying it, what with Malfoy's family being rich and all.' Lucius Malfoy was Slytherin's keeper. He had joined the team last year when his father had bought his entire team brand new broomsticks that even rivalled the brilliance of James'. 'They've got better brooms, but we've got better people on ours,' continued Will. 'We've trained harder than they have; we've been practicing every day since the break -' ('Too true,' muttered Gideon Prewett. 'I've got the bags under my eyes to prove it.') '- and we're not just going to win; we're going to bury them."

'Amen!' exclaimed Fabian. Will turned to Dorcas and James.

'You lot need to be in high gear. We need to show them that a Keeper has to have something more than a rich father. Score as much as you can and make sure Malfoy doesn't save any of them. We're going to win this one.'

James and Dorcas nodded uniformly.

'So no pressure, James,' said Fabian, winking at James, who was looking slightly more nervous than he did a while ago.

As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherins in the crowd made their 'boos' and hisses heard too. Madam Knight, the Quidditch teacher, asked Will and the Slytherin captain Jack Travers to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary. James found himself wincing as they crushed each others' fingers.

'And we're here at the second match of the year!' came Sirius' voice booming through the crowd's cheers. 'Ah, and not a bad turn-out, I see. Oh no, it's Evans! James, don't look at her! We don't want another run with the bludger, do we?'

There was laughing coming from the stadium and Lily looked up, both in horror and in disbelief at what Black had said. She leered at him loathingly.

'Oooh, if looks could kill... Evans just gave me dagger eyes...'

James turned a deep shade of red and looked firmly to the ground, where he mounted his broom at Madam Knight's signal. This wasn't how he had expected to start the match.

'On my whistle,' said Madam Knight. 'Three... two... one...'

With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the cloudy sky.

'Gryffindor versus Slytherin; I'm sure the lot of you know which team's going to win... Associated with red and gold, if you catch my drift -'

'Shut up, Black!' There were hisses coming from the Slytherin stands and Sirius' head shot toward that direction immediately.

'Who said that?' he demanded threateningly. 'Which one of you slimy gits, who's thick enough to think wealth's going to be able to beat skill -"

'BLACK!'

Sirius faltered and looked to his right. Where the seat next to him had been empty for quite some time now was now occupied by Professor McGonagall.

'Oh, hello there, Professor! I was wondering where you were at... Did you get held up at breakfast? You just couldn't stop yourself from getting seconds of the wizard waffles, could you? I know, I was the same way; that's why I've got more back in my dorm -'

'Black! The match!'

'Huh? Oh right. I forgot...' Sirius grinned sheepishly. 'Right. Er... it's Gryffindor in possession, Dorcas Meadowes of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slythering goal posts - brilliant, Meadowes! Argh, no - Quaffle intercepted by Walden Macnair, Macnair of Slytherin tearing up the field - WHAM! - Sweet! Excellent Bludger work there by Gideon Prewett, Macnair drops the Quaffle, thank Merlin, and it's caught by - Johnson, Gryffindor's back in possession, come on, Johnson - nice swerve around Crabbe - duck! Duck man, duck - there's a Bludger! - HAH! YES! HE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!'

Will punched the air as he soared around the end of the field; the sea of scarlet below was screaming in its delight.

'ARGH!'

Will was nearly thrown from his broom as Gary Goyle went smashing into him.

'Sorry!' said Goyle, as the crowd below booed. 'Sorry, it was an accident!'

A moment later, Fabian Prewett chucked his Beater's club at the back of Goyle's head. Goyle's nose smashed into the handle of his broom and began to bleed.

'Sorry!' said Fabian in mock concern. 'Sorry, it was an accident!'

The Slytherins started to hiss and boo, but Lily couldn't help laughing alongside the rest of the crowd as Goyle held a hand up to his nose in pain.

'Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!' shrieked Madam Knight.

'What!?' roared Gideon. 'That's not fair! Look at Will!'

The crowd was roaring with disapproval, but Madam Knight was bent with her decision. The Slytherins were all gloating when one of their Chasers, Nott came forward to take the Slytherin penalty. Kingsley Shacklebolt was hovering in front of the Gryffindor goal posts, sweat dripping down his forehead and his eyes narrowed with determination.

Sirius' voice began to crack through the crowd's roars again. He had finally gotten his microphone returned to him; Professor McGonagall had confiscated it after the penalty was announced, due to the profanity he was yelling through it.

'Come on, Head Boy, show those dirty, cheating, low-life-'

'Black...'

'- little slime - oh - sorry professor... Come on, Shacklebolt... YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!'

The Gryffindor crowd cheered and James zoomed forward and found himself with the Quaffle.

'Gryffindor in possession - nice pass to Meadowes - well done, James! Meadowes' streaking up the field - WHAT THE -!?'

'BLACK!'

'But Professor, that was bloody deliberate!'

Rookwood, a Slytherin Chaser, had swerved in front of Dorcas, and had grabbed her broom instead of the Quaffle, sending her flying. Dorcas managed to stay atop her broom, but dropped the Quaffle.

James looked down desperately toward Madam Knight, but she was in deep conversation with a student, Slytherin, by the colours of his robes, and seemed to not be paying much attention to the match.

James grinded his teeth together angrily. At this rate, they would lose the match. The Slytherins were resorting to every possible way of cheating and Madam Knight didn't seem to be noticing. James sought out Will in the mass of flying players. Will was hovering behind Rookwood, eyes tired while he watched Marlene rush to check whether Dorcas was alright. Fabian sent a Bludger toward Nott, who momentarily had the Quaffle in his possession. However, this proved futile as Slytherin's Beater Crabbe repelled it back in his direction.

The game was a complete disaster. Desperately, James inadvertently scanned the crowd. Bad idea. James spotted Lily in the crowd; intently watching the game with a furrow between her brows.

Averting his eyes quickly, James sought the Quaffle. Nott was still carrying it and had just gotten past Gideon. Gideon tumbled over as Nott ran into him.

That did it. James directed his broom toward Nott and zoomed forward. Nott turned his head slightly and smirked at James' sight. He dipped slightly, and James followed suit. The Beaters were starting to close in now. James' hands tightened over his Nimbus 1500's handle and he urged it forward a bit.

Having his broom move forward was exactly what Crabbe and Goyle were waiting for. They sped up toward James, who hovered there expectantly. At the last moment, when they were both a feet away from him on either side, James zoomed forward. He knew, even without looking back, that Crabbe and Goyle had crashed into each other and were plummeting toward the ground. James smirked. It was true. Crabbe and Goyle weren't exactly the brightest wizards at Hogwarts.

Nott's sneer, which had appeared when Crabbe and Goyle had begun to surround James, half-vanished, and he was beginning to notice his surroundings once again. He directed his broom up and this time, James did not follow. He remained low and headed toward the Gryffindor goal. Just as Nott began to descend toward the three hoops, James cut him off and circled him. Nott looked around desperately, and in a moment of weakness, had the Quaffle stolen from him.

James could barely hear the loud Gryffindor cheers and Sirius' wild commentary as he dashed across the pitch. Fabian appeared within his range, his bat held up high to protect him from any attacks.

It was like slow motion to him. James threw the Quaffle and watched as it came nearer and nearer to the middle hoop. Malfoy lunged forward. He was coming closer and closer to the Quaffle that was still in mid-air. His fingers stretched forward its tips touched the Quaffle's edges and...

'GRYFFINDOR SCORE! YEAH, JAMES!'

The loud roars from Gryffindor's were almost deafening. It took Marlene only a minute and a half longer to catch the Snitch and by then, all the Gryffindors were down on the field. James found himself hoisted up on Gideon and Fabian's shoulders and from the corner of his eye, saw a horrified Marlene attempt to remain on the ground as Will and Dorcas hoisted her up on top of theirs.

But James was searching for a familiar flash of red. Lily Evans was clapping, surrounded by her fellow Gryffindors; she caught his eye for a moment and James could have sworn, he could have sworn, he saw her grin at him.