From First to Last

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In order to make my story seem more authentic, I have literally cut and pasted direct scenes from Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. These scenes are clearly italicized, and are properly referenced that the end of the chapter.

"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of."

- Jane Austen

As Hallowe'en approached, James found himself busier than ever. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, having lost no members to graduation the year before, got right down to Will Johnson's strict training regime. With the news of the Slytherins having bought new brooms circulating the castle, Will was training his team with a vengeance to be reckoned with. James found that the professors did not help him adjust much either, as they were a lot tougher this semester than the last. Professor McGonagall had taken to assigning essays weekly and homework for every class as well now. She never failed to remind students (Peter always seemed to be one of these students) that if they did not study hard that year, they would fail their O.W.L.s. To his delight, however, McGonagall had mentioned that Peter's Transfiguration had greatly improved from the last year. ('You're welcome, Wormtail,' Sirius had muttered during said class.)

Despite the fact that he was never really fond of Potions, James seemed to enjoy it that year. Of course, he'd never admit that this was partially due to the fact that Lily Evans sat right in front of him in that class, whereas she sat about four rows up in Transfiguration.

It was a particularly interesting Potions class when Professor Slughorn introduced the Polyjuice Potion.

'This, my friends, is the Polyjuice Potion,' said Slughorn, indicating to a large vat of dark, thick, mud-like substance. 'Anyone know what this does -? Ah, yes, Miss Evans can tell me, of course!'

Slughorn bowed his head in Lily's direction.

'It transforms you into someone else,' said Lily. 'Or it changes your appearance, at least.'

'Quite right, my dear, quite right. Five points to Gryffindor,' said Slughorn brightly. 'Now, today we'll be learning potions that are similar to Polyjuice Potion. They don't necessarily change one's entire appearance as the Polyjuice Potion does, but they do change a specific aspect. The potion we'll be making also doesn't last quite as long as the Polyjuice potion, but I'm sure you'll all find it quite interesting all the same...

James put his head in his hands miserably as he sat surrounded by Sirius, Remus and Peter that day; they had taken refuge in the common room.

'She's going out with Diggory,' he muttered. 'She's going out with Diggory and she likes him.'

'Don't worry, Prongs,' said Sirius bracingly. 'Didn't you hear her in breakfast this morning? She was telling Kalah Ramnath that Tight Pants Diggory was a bit of an odd fellow.'

James tilted his head up to show Sirius the defeated look on his face. 'Well I also heard he was 'brilliant' and 'kind'.'

'Not to mention 'good-looking',' piped Peter.

'I don't think you're helping, Wormtail,' said Remus gently.

'But I'm smart!' exclaimed James. 'And nice! And come on, can you say 'no' to a face like this?' He grinned charmingly.

'I'm sure Evans could,' said Sirius fairly.

James' face fell. 'Bloody git, that Diggory,' he said darkly. 'Stupid wanker... why, I've got half a mind to hex his lights out.'

'I'm impressed, Prongs,' said Remus. 'It only took you a week to hex Aubrey after you found he was dating Lily. I figured you'd have already hexed Diggory by now.'

'I would have,' groaned James. 'Trust me, if I had my way, Diggory would have left her alone ages ago. But Evans warned me about a million times already. If something happens to that berk, she'll know it was me. And she'll hate me more than she already does.'

'She doesn't hate you, James,' said Peter.

James scoffed with disbelief. 'Oh, yeah, I'm sure you can tell by the way she gets that disgusted look and tells me to bugger off every time I get near her,' said James sarcastically.

Sirius chuckled, stopping only when met by the disapproving expression on Remus' face.

'You know, I'm surprised too,' pondered Sirius out loud. 'Diggory was there when we hexed Aubrey. You'd think he'd have gotten the message by now.'

'Yeah, well we've already established that Diggory doesn't have brains like the rest of us. He's got a death-wish,' muttered James.

'James, you can't -' exclaimed a startled Remus.

'Yeah, yeah,' grumbled James. 'Murder will probably get me expelled,' grumbled James. 'I'm not going to attack him.' There was a pause and then, quite unexpectedly, a slow grin appeared on his face.

'Really?' asked Peter, sounding disappointed.

'Really,' affirmed James. His grin had stretched across his face. 'I'm going to break up with Evans for him.'

'You're kidding, right?' said Sirius; his voice was filled with skepticism.

'He's finally cracked,' muttered Remus, shaking his head.

'No,' insisted James. 'Two words, you lot: Polyjuice. Potion.'

'Oi, Lily,' called Amos, as he walked toward the portrait of the Fat Lady from which Lily had emerged. He glanced past her nervously.

'Morning, Amos,' said Lily brightly. She faltered slightly, following Amos' gaze through the tunnel into the Gryffindor common room. 'Er - are you alright?'

'Huh? Oh - yeah, I am.'

Amos led Lily through the corridor as they began to walk to no particular destination.

'So,' said Amos, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. 'Are you coming to the Quidditch match this Saturday? It's Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor, you know.'

'I wouldn't miss it,' replied Lily with a beam. 'My friend's on the Gryffindor team. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to root for red and gold,' she added jokingly.

Amos chuckled. 'Understandable,' he said. 'I won't take personal offence to that. Even though I'm on the Hufflepuff team.' He stole a glance at Lily from the corner of his eyes.

'I saw you play last year,' commented Lily with a nod. 'You're really good.'

'Yeah? Thanks!' Amos appeared rather pleased with himself. 'Would you say I'm better than Potter?'

Lily shrugged noncommittally. 'Well, as I'd said - I'd have to say Gryffindor is best. But why do you ask about Potter?'

Amos shrugged casually. 'I don't know, I just want to know what you think of him,' he replied.

Lily halted in her tracks and let out a frustrated sigh. 'What is the castle's obsession with James Potter?'

'What do you mean?'

Lily gave him a pointed look. 'Well, haven't you noticed that Potter gets away with anything and everything? Detentions don't even bother him anymore! It's as though he and his mates can do anything they want because - well, I'm not sure why, but it's infuriating! Not a single day passes without Potter and his mates having done something completely rubbish and for some mad reason, everybody loves him for it!'

Amos sighed, and regarded Lily with a pitying look. 'Looks like you're the one who's obsessed,' he said quietly.

Lily blinked.

Amos shook his head in a pitying manner.

'Excuse me?' demanded Lily, her voice dangerously low.

'Well,' said Amos, entirely oblivious to Lily's seething annoyance, 'you're always talking about him, aren't you? And everyone says he fancies you! I'm not sure I'd like to have some stupid, big-headed Quidditch hero stalk my girlfriend all the time!

'Potter does not stalk me,' hissed Lily. 'And I'll have you know, Amos, I'm very capable of taking care of myself. After all, I'm not the one looking past a shoulder anticipating an attack!'

Amos' face flushed red and he opened his mouth to retaliate.

'I'm not -'

But Lily cut him off. 'Look, I've got a Herbology essay to finish. I'll talk to you later, alright?' she said, sounding suddenly tired.

She turned round and headed back toward the portrait of the Fat Lady before Amos could reply, leaving him to gape like a fish out of water.

'Prongs, mate, I don't think this Cloak can hold all four of us anymore...'

'Yeah, well, it's dark... our feet won't show.'

'Fine, fine - ow! Wormtail, that was my toe!'

'Oh, sorry, Padfoot...'

'Will you lot shut it?'

'Oh, well isn't Moony the expert in breaking and entering!'

'No, I'm not the expert, Sirius. But I am smart enough to know that you ought to be quiet when you're doing something that could probably earn you a detention.'

'Point well made.'

'Thank you.'

'We're here.'

James held his lit wand up so that the door to the Potions dungeon was visible. James was certain that Slughorn kept his Polyjuice Potion somewhere in there.

'Padfoot - knife?' he whispered.

Sirius reached into his robes and pulled out a silver knife. He ran it down the space between the door and its frame: the result was a 'click', after which the door swung open.

Sirius gave his mates a smug grin, to which Remus waved his hand impatiently, urging him to proceed into the dungeon.

As soon as the four had crept into the dungeon, James whipped off his Invisibility Cloak, Peter took a breath of relief--James had always suspected he was claustrophobic. Remus headed straight toward the ingredients cabinet. Sirius strayed around at the edge of the classroom. There was quiet for a bit as Remus rummaged through the cabinets.

'Oi, look what I found,' said Sirius moments later, picking up one particular vial and holding it up for James and Peter to see.

James recognized the liquid inside instantly. It had a gleaming surface and steam was rising in spirals. A light scent was wafting through the room -vanilla and water lilies--Amortentia.

'I'll bet this'll give you the edge you need with Evans, Prongs,' said Sirius, his tone thick with implications as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

'Ha ha,' replied James humourlessly. 'Thanks, but I think I'll pass. It's dangerous, that love potion stuff. I once had an Aunt Glenda who swallowed a vat of love potion and ran away with a chiropractor.'

'What's a chiropractor?' inquired Peter.

'Dunno,' replied James. 'We never talk about Uncle Stu.'

'So is that a no on the Amortentia?' clarified Sirius.

'That's a definite no, mate,' came the affirmation.

Sirius shrugged, examining the vile. 'Suit yourself,' he said, pocketing the vile.

'Padfoot!'

'What? It'll come in handy one day!'

'I thought you were going out with Florence Finnigan,' said Peter.

Sirius made a face. 'Florence? Nah, we were never together.'

Before James could make a comment, an excited yelp came from inside the cabinet room.

'Found it!' Remus appeared at the doorway with a flask of thick, muddy substance held in his hands.

James grinned. 'Brilliant. Let's go.'

'I think I can't stand him, you lot.'

'Silly Lily,' said Kalah, in the midst of a Charms essay, 'we already knew you can't stand James Potter.'

'Not Potter! Amos!'

Alice raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. 'Is he still paranoid?' she asked.

'You lot saw him at breakfast,' said Lily in a small voice. 'I told you about how we got into an argument yesterday, right? It happened again this morning.'

'What happened this time?' asked Kalah.

'Potter told me good morning!' said Lily hysterically. 'And then Amos flinched and glared--I don't understand him; one second he'd be bold and tell me that he doesn't appreciate Potter's attention, but then the next, he'd get scared and hide!'

'If you want my opinion,' said Kalah thoughtfully. 'I think Potter's scared everyone away.'

'What do you mean?' asked Lily.

Kalah turned to face her. 'Well, last year, you went out with Bertram Aubrey. James and his mates hexed his head twice its size and he's a year older! You can't be so blind, Lily, the rumours have been going round since James' Quidditch match--'

'--that's right, his accident--' mused Alice.

'--everybody thinks he fancies you!'

'That's rubbish!' sputtered Lily.

Alice shook her head. 'You've got to admit, Lily. When he hexed Bertram, it really just sent the message that--'

'--that what!' exclaimed Lily, sounding frustrated.

Kalah and Alice exchanged glances. 'That... you're his,' said Kalah slowly.

Lily's jaw dropped and she stood up abruptly. Kalah shielded herself immediately in defence.

'That's not true!'

'Oh, of course it's not,' said Alice comfortingly. 'But they're blokes. That's just how they think.'

Lily sat down grumpily. 'I think it's rubbish.'

Alice gave her a rueful smile. 'Are you going to break it off with him?'

Lily shrugged helplessly in response.

'Alright, you lot,' said Alice, packing her things to depart. 'I've got to go.' She was tutoring Frank Longbottom again that evening.

'Thanks, Alice,' said Lily. 'I'm so sorry, I know I said I'd help Frank, but I've got a Prefect meeting in a bit and--'

'Don't worry, Lily,' said Alice with a smile. 'It's fine. Besides, Frank's not so bad--he's a quick learner.'

'He is,' agreed Lily.

'See you all in a bit!' called Alice, and she disappeared out the door, just as Marlene strolled in casually.

'Oi, Lily,' she said, smacking her lips on Drooble's Best Bubble Gum, 'Diggory's outside the common room. He says he wanted to discuss--er--I believe it was Potter's last... Quidditch game?' She trailed off sounding confused as she headed toward the bathroom.

Kalah gave Lily a meaningful look, to which the latter jumped off her bed promptly.

Lily was muttering, 'the last straw' as the dormitory door slammed shut behind her.

'Got it!' cried Sirius triumphantly as he strolled into the boys' bathroom with Peter to find James and Remus standing in front of the large mirror. Sirius held up a single strand of blond hair; James grinned at the sight.

'Where's Diggory?' asked Remus suspiciously.

'In a broom closet,' answered Sirius simply.

'Should I ask how he got there?'

'I wouldn't,' replied Peter.

James chuckled.

'Right,' said Remus, sounding disconcerted. 'Bring it here, then.'

Sirius handed the hair to Remus, who carefully placed it into the potion that he had poured into a goblet that James had stolen from the Great Hall.

The effect was immediate. The potion hissed loudly and frothed madly. A second later, it had turned into a light bronze colour.

James wrinkled his nose. 'I've got to drink that?' he asked.

'Well, technically you don't have to drink it,' said Remus fairly. 'You could just let Lily keep going out with Diggory--'

'--and then they'll grow up and have little Diggory clones--' interjected Peter.

'--who all wear the same tight pants--' added Sirius.

'Give it here,' grumbled James, holding his arm out for the goblet.

Remus placed the vial in his hand, and James brought it close to him, disgusted. He pinched his nose and drank the potion down in two large gulps. It tasted like rusted copper.

Immediately, James' insides began to write. He doubled over, feeling as though he was going to be sick. Then a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes. He collapsed onto all fours and felt a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over his body bubbled like hot wax. James could feel his mates' eyes on him, but he could not stop looking at his own hands. They began to grow; his fingers thickened, his nail broadened. His shoulders stretched outward a bit and James felt his hair shrink in.

There was a silence after the transformation in which Sirius, Remus and Peter gaped at their mate. Finally, Sirius spoke: 'That was bloody brilliant.'

James had not realized that he had fallen to the ground. He stood up, wiping his brow.

'How do I look?' he asked, his voice cracking with an entirely different tone.

'Exactly like Diggory,' said Peter, his eyes as wide as Gobstones. 'This stuff really works!'

'Of course it works,' said Remus brusquely. 'How do you feel, James?'

'I'm alright,' replied James. He glanced down at his new body. 'I've only got an hour, right?'

'Yeah,' replied Remus. 'Lily's in the library. She just told me she was working on that Herbology essay.'

'Right,' said James, pulling off his glasses and stowing them in his pockets. 'I'd better go, then.'

James--Amos--strolled out of the lavatory with a special kind of strut.

'Amos? Amos--!'

James froze at the sound of Lily's melodic voice in the air.

Amos? Oh, right. He was Diggory. James whirled around to find Lily standing between two rows of bookcases. His hand instinctively jumped to his hair.

'Alright, Ev--er--I mean, er--hi, Lily.' James felt a smile plaster itself onto his face, feeling oddly scandalous for calling her by her first name.

Lily regarded Amos--James--with a nervous look on her face as he approached her.

'Look,' she began, wringing her hands anxiously. 'I know we're broken up now...'

James started at the news. Bloody hell, they were broken up? James felt a sort of relief wash over him with the coupled annoyance that he was stuck in Diggory's body for another forty-five minutes.

'Er--Amos?'

Who was she calling--oh, right. He was Diggory.

'Sorry--er--Lily. What was it you were saying?'

'Well, I said that I was hoping we could still be mates,' mumbled Lily, looking at the ground. 'Because, as I had said, I think you're still a great bloke--just that we weren't--er--we weren't very much suited.'

James chuckled. What would Diggory do in this situation?

'Yeah, of course,' he said. He'd see to it that the two remained relatively friendly, anyway. Padfoot could do wonders with his wand.

'Great,' said Lily, dusting her hands on her skirt. 'I'll see you, then.'

Lily's shoulder brushed against the bookcase next to her and knocked to the ground a thick, yellow book.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was in a disguise. But suddenly, James' inhibitions, the ones that prevented him from doing anything truly rubbish (his generally pathetic behaviour was omitted), had disappeared, leaving him with an unexplainable boldness.

One second, James was reaching down with Lily to pick up the book, and the next, his lips were smashed against hers, one hand in her dark red hair and the other against the bookshelf behind her.

It was quick and fumbling, and there was a slight awkwardness about the situation, but it was something James had not experienced before. Perhaps it was the novelty of it--the fact that he was snogging Lily Evans, and she had not yet pushed him away--that had appealed to him. But for that moment, their blunders didn't register. It was natural, as easy as breathing, as though his mouth was made glide over hers like this.

Her hair smelled of vanilla and water lilies and James was reminded briefly of Amortentia, because it smelled just like her. But the Amortentia didn't matter--nothing mattered at that moment, except Lily Evans, whose fists had curled into the material of the front of his robes. An unfamiliar giddiness bubbled up from James' core.

When he finally broke away, he was facing a rather flustered and astonished Lily. She opened her mouth several times to say something but then closed it when she realized she didn't know what to say.

'Sorry,' he apologized quickly, if only for custom. He wasn't sorry--far from it, it fact. 'It's just that I've always wanted to do that.' James ran a hand through his hair again. 'Don't worry, though,' he added, remembering his identity as Diggory in an afterthought. 'I know we're broken up. I won't do it again. I--er--I've got to go, alright? See you later, Lily!'

In fear of risking his identity and ruining perhaps one of his best memories, James rushed past her and round the corner, hiding the grin that just may permanently be etched onto his face. .

Lily didn't move for a good few moments after he rounded the corner, her heart pounding rapidly. She'd always expected her first kiss to be with someone she truly cared about, not the paranoid boy she'd broken up with the day before--her family's old-fashioned beliefs had been deeply instilled in her.

Yet, a smile inched up her face as she glanced past her shoulder at the spot round the bookshelf where Amos had disappeared. If anything, that Amos Diggory was one damn good snog.

'Prongs? Prongs. Oi, Prongs. PRONGS!'

'Prongs, you prat, quit staring at Evans--I've been trying to get your attention for about five minutes,' said Sirius, sounding annoyed as he fell on the sofa across from James in the Gryffindor common room.

James blinked. 'No, you haven't, Padfoot, you just got here. I saw you come through the portrait hole just a few seconds ago.'

'Shut up,' said Sirius curtly, 'and get that stupid grin off your face already. You've been like that for weeks and it's starting to bug me. Especially since you won't even tell us what happened with Evans in the library.'

Lily turned her head from across the common room at the sound of her name. When Sirius only grinned and waved at her, she gave him an annoyed glare and then returned to her conversation with Marlene Sanders. James knew she was helping her with the Potions assignment due the next day.

Sirius had just returned from a detention he'd had with Professor McGonagall. He'd jokingly called the Transfiguration professor 'mum' in class. This did not go over very well, especially considering the fact that Sirius had cursed his mother's name the day before at breakfast. He had received a Howler from her for jinxing the Slytherin table's pumpkin juice and having every Slytherin speak in a feminine, high-pitched voice for the rest of the day. Because it had been plainly obvious that he did not think too highly of his mother, Sirius was assigned two days of detention for addressing McGonagall by that name.

'What were you saying then, Padfoot?' asked James, turning his attention towards Sirius and away from Lily Evans.

'Oh, forget it,' said Sirius, sounding grouchy as he pulled out a quill and parchment from his robes.

'No, really, what's wrong? Is McGonagall really ticked off?'

Sirius snorted. 'Mum? No,' he said, starting to grin now; James followed suit. 'I just saw Reg hanging out with those Slytherin blokes just now.'

'Ah...'

'He's such a stupid berk--doesn't know what he's getting himself into. Mum's thrilled, obviously, knowing that he's made plenty of pureblood mates.' Sirius said the word 'pureblood' in a particularly scathing tone of voice.

'And then there's Snivellus,' continued Sirius. 'Have you noticed how he's been following us around lately?'

James' eyes lit up. 'Yeah! During the nights, mostly.' James dropped his voice. 'Do you think he knows? About Moony?' he asked.

'Snivellus? That greasy-haired slime doesn't have a clue,' assured Sirius. 'I'll bet he wishes he knew what we were up to. And wouldn't that be fun--finding out that Hogwarts hides a werewolf in the Shrieking Shack.' Sirius grinned mischievously.

James laughed. 'The prat would be scared out of his flobberworm boxer shorts!'

Sirius choked with laughter. 'I can really picture it!'

'Remus, are you all right?'

Lily leant forward across the Gryffindor table to examine Remus with a concerned look on her face.

Remus sat up straight and displaced his gaze from his cold porridge to Lily. 'Er--of course, Lily. I'm fine.'

A furrow appeared between Lily's eyebrows. 'You look sick... are you sure you're okay?'

'Yeah, I've just been--'

'Oi, Evans!'

Lily's head turned instinctively towards the sound. When she registered the new arrival, she shook her head in an exasperated manner, waved goodbye to Remus and then got up off her bench to leave the Great Hall.

Moments later, James joined Remus at the table.

'Oi, what'd I say?' he asked, putting his hands up in a defensive manner.

Remus chuckled. 'I think you scared her away...'

'What else is new... So, Remus, I was thinking... hey, are you alright?'

Remus sat up straighter. 'Of course I am,' he said quickly.

'But you look so-- it's the full moon, isn't it? Three more days, is it?'

'Yeah-don't worry, James, I'm fine.'

'Right, well I was thinking - this time when you transform, do you think we could do a bit of exploring?'

Remus looked confused. 'What do you mean, exploring?'

'Well, you know... get out of the Shrieking Shack. Go see Hogsmeade.'

'James...'

'I know what you're going to say... It's dangerous. But look, you'll have me and Padfoot and Wormtail. Between Sirius and I, there's no way you could do anything dangerous--we're fairly big when we transform. Besides, it'll be fun. Wouldn't you love to see Hogsmeade at night?'

Remus appeared tired as he shook his head slowly. 'I don't know, James. It's too soon. I mean, you lot only just became Animagi. A lot could go wrong.'

'Yeah, but -'

'-how about next time, then?'

James considered him. 'Well, alright, then,' he said finally. 'I'll hold you to that. Next month it is.'

'I'll see you later, Severus!' Lily called as she left Potions with Kalah and Alice--she had Charms immediately afterward. Severus gave a half-hearted wave as he watched her disappear round the corner.

'Alright, Snivellus?'

Severus jumped and whirled round to find Sirius and Peter exiting the dungeons after him. He sneered at them. 'Don't you have somewhere to be, Black? Babysitting, perhaps? Though, now I think about it, I don't think it's a baby you watch over once a month.'

Sirius blinked and turned to Peter. 'You know, Pete, I don't quite like his tone.'

'He's very rude,' agreed Peter, inching forward in eager anticipation for what appeared to be a conflict.

'He is, isn't he?' mused Sirius.

Severus slowly began to reach into the pockets of his robes.

'I wonder, Snivellus--' said Sirius suddenly, holding up his wand so abruptly that Severus froze--Sirius had performed a full Body-Bind curse. '--I wonder if you're curious about where we go.'

Severus started, attempting to free himself from the curse. When he realized that he couldn't, he licked his upper lip slowly. 'Yeah, I am. Why is it that you, Pettigrew and Potter sneak out every night of the full moon?'

Sirius gazed idly at his wand, turning it over in his hand. 'Observant, are we?'

Severus' lips curled into a sneer. 'And what happens to Lupin every month? You know, I saw him crossing the grounds with Pomfrey last full moon. I've come up with a little theory, you see...'

Peter glanced nervously from Severus to Sirius, troubled by the amount of information that the former had discovered.

But Sirius only laughed. 'You're delusional, Snivellus. The potions fumes have muddled with your greasy little head.'

'I'm not delusional,' growled Severus through gritted teeth.

'Besides,' added Sirius, with a carefree laugh. 'It's fairly obvious that following us isn't working out for you. You sure get lost quite a bit in this castle, Snivelly.'

Severus glared at Sirius and made another attempt to move.

'In any case,' added Sirius, tossing a grin at Peter next to him, 'if you really wanted to find out, you'd have to go straight to the Whomping Willow. It covers a tunnel that leads to where we go... And all you'd have to do is prod the knot on the tree with a stick to get it to freeze.'

'Sirius...' mumbled Peter next to him, appearing more nervous than ever.

'Though,' Sirius pressed on maliciously, 'it's probably true what they say--that Slytherins are nothing but cowards. Won't risk their necks for anything. I'm sure even you don't want to find out what we do that bad.'

Sirius let out a loud, bark-like laugh. He walked past Severus, pounding his shoulder against his as he did. Peter followed quickly behind. Sirius flicked his wand before he turned the corner and Severus collapsed onto his knees, his hands supporting him on the ground in front of him.

'Sleep well, Snivellus.'

'The knot, prod the knot,' said James desperately. It was a cold November night and outside the castle by the Whomping Willow James and Sirius waited underneath the glowing orb in the sky for Wormtail to freeze the tree.

'Hur--ry, damn--it,' pressed Sirius, the words coming out chopped through the chattering of his teeth.

Finally, there was a 'pop'; moments later, the Whomping Willow froze--Wormtail had accomplished his task.

James and Sirius crawled through the tunnel quickly, eager to escape the harsh wind, to reach their goal inside.

'Just think,' said James, clenching and unclenching his fists as he began to thaw. They were beginning to climb upward. 'This time next month, we'll be going to Hogsmeade.'

Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'No joke?'

'Yeah,' said James, starting to get breathless. It appeared as though the tunnel were getting longer and longer each time they crawled through it. 'Moony's agreed. Think about it, when we're Animagi, we can control a werewolf easily. And because we're there, Moony'll be able to think straight as well. So why keep ourselves cooped up in that hut when we can explore Hogsmeade? I've always wanted to see what the village looks like at night, anyway.'

Wormtail squealed next to him, still in his rat form--the small size helped him move faster.

They were nearing the shack now.

'Excellent,' said Sirius, eyes glittering excitedly in the dark. 'I was getting tired of the boring old scenery anyway.'

James chuckled as he pushed open the door to the Shrieking Shack. Inside, Remus was sitting on the nearby sofa, or what was left of it, reading a book casually. James surveyed him.

'Moony, you're about to turn into a murderous werewolf, and you're reading?'

Remus smiled but didn't take his eyes off his book. 'Hold on, I want to finish this chapter first.'

Sirius rolled his eyes as he looked around. 'Oi, this shack gets shabbier and shabbier every month.'

'Five minutes,' said Wormtail, his voice carrying a high-pitched residue immediately after transforming back into his human form. He glanced up from the oversized, rather deformed-looking watch on his wrist.

Finally, Remus stood up and closed his book. He walked over to a cabinet, bent down and opened a hidden drawer. He slipped the book in and closed the flap shut.

'I've got to keep it in a safe place,' he explained, shrugging at a wide-eyed Sirius. 'In case I damage it, you know. It's the library's book. Do you have any idea what Madam Pince would do to me if she found out I damaged it?'

'Murder,' put in Peter.

Sirius grinned. 'Oi, Prongs, but did I tell you? I ran into Snivellus the other day!'

James grinned, turning to him. 'And? Curse him to oblivion, did you?'

Sirius chuckled. 'No,' he said. 'I wanted to, though... the nosy git was wondering where we went every full moon night.'

Remus stood up straight. 'Really? Does he know? What did he say?'

'Don't worry, Moony, he's too thick, the berk,' said Sirius airily.

Remus began to shudder now. James, Sirius and Peter stepped back instinctively. They had started to get careless with their Animagi transformations, changing into their forms thirty seconds or even a minute into Remus' werewolf transformation. There had even been an occasion when Peter almost got attacked, becoming too terrified to transform. If it hadn't been for James and Sirius, who had stepped in and bought him some time, Peter would not have been there with them that month.

As though remembering the incident, Peter transformed into a rat with a shudder.

Sirius laughed and turned his attention toward James. 'Oi, Prongs, remember a while back when we were talking about Snivellus? About how hilarious it would be if he were to find out about Moony?'

James paused, a sense of dread filling him. He glanced at Moony, who was starting to growl now, and nodded numbly. 'Yeah? What about it?'

Sirius laughed. 'I told him about the Whomping Willow.'

The colour drained from James' face. 'What?'

'Yeah,' said Sirius, laughing lightly and watching in amusement as James' face changed from indifference to horror. 'I told him to prod the knot and follow the tunnel if he wanted to see what we were doing so badly.' Sirius' face became concerned. 'What's wrong, Prongs?'

'Do you hear yourself?' demanded James. 'What do you think is wrong? Snape's going to crawl through that tunnel and meet a werewolf!' James indicated to Remus frantically--he was halfway through his transformation.

'But, Prongs, you said -'

'It was a joke, Sirius!' said James desperately. 'Look, I hate Snape as much as you do, Padfoot, but I don't want him dead!'

Sirius blinked. 'Well, I don't think he's actually going to do it, James,' he said quietly.

'Snivellus? Are you kidding me? He's 'too thick', remember? He probably doesn't even realize that he's running to his death!'

It was as though Sirius had woken up from a trance, because a moment later, he had a look of horror on his face. 'Bloody hell.'

James pivoted on his heel abruptly. 'I've got to go back,' he said.

'But James, Moony's almost done his transforma -'

A loud howl filled the room.

'Quick,' yelled James. 'Turn into your Animagus form!'

'What!' yelled back Sirius. 'What about you?'

'Just do it!'

There was a 'pop'--Sirius had transformed into a great, big dog.

Wood was cracking across the room now; Moony was destroying chairs. One chair whizzed right past James, grazing his left cheek.

Moony continued his rampage, working his inexplicable rage. But a moment later, he paused, a sharp odour filling his nostrils. He smelled blood. Human blood. Moony turned slowly, focusing his bloodshot eyes on a very pale James.

James' mind was racing. He had to move fast. His best mate had made a stupid mistake; his enemy was climbing through a tunnel to meet his death at the hands of his other best mate--and James had to save him. But he would have to be in his human form to do so. Prongs was too large as a stag to fit through the tunnel, and Wormtail was nowhere to be seen at the moment to do the task for him. Now Moony was looking at him with murderous eyes. If James didn't get away fast enough, he would be dead before Snape.

Before James could take a breath, Moony charged. James whipped out his want, ready to jinx him long enough to get himself out the door. Only now did the exit door appear so far away.

Before James could do anything to stop Moony, Sirius appeared in his path. There was a large growling sound--James sprinted to the door, but a loud slashing sound, followed by a roar, made him turn round again. Padfoot had a scar across his right arm. It was gushing out blood. The werewolf began to drag the dog toward the door where James stood frozen.

'Padfoot,' croaked James. But the dog, which appeared limp for only one moment was back on its feet the next. It lunged at Moony, holding it back in restraint. It barked once--James took this as his signal to leave.

He wrenched the door open, preparing himself for escape. But what he saw on the other side made his blood turn cold.

Severus Snape was a mere feet away from the shack, his eyes goggling at James, the large, dangerous-looking werewolf, and the large, black dog holding it back.

Moony was out of control now. It swung an arm out at Sirius, smashing him against the wall. It began to advance upon the two humans before him, the scent of human blood driving him to madness--James and Snape began to back away, both brandishing wands.

Suddenly, Moony howled in pain, retreated a few steps and whipped round. James caught sight of Wormtail hanging from the werewolf's tail. Moony whipped around rapidly and Wormtail lost his grip, smashing against the opposite wall.

'Sorry, Moony,' whispered James, holding up his wand--a red jet of light hit the werewolf square in the face. Moony recoiled immediately, giving James the opportunity to shut the door and charm the door, making it impenetrable.

Without hesitation, he turned round and ran in the other direction, pausing only to shout over his shoulder at Snape: 'Hurry up!'

Snape did not need to be told twice. He followed James immediately, eyes agog.

'I knew it,' he said breathlessly as he jogged labouriously. 'I knew you were hiding a werewolf. Just wait until Professor Dumbledore finds out.' Snape's face had become oddly glee at the thought of James and his mates getting into trouble.

'Dumbledore knows, you gormless codger,' said James briskly. He avoided his gaze from Snape. This was bad. Everything had gone wrong. No one was supposed to find out about Moony. Yet, the one person James wanted least to find out about the secret had witnessed it all. Did he know that James, Sirius and Peter were all Animagi? Had he realized that Sirius was the great, black dog, that Peter was the rat? No one had transformed in Snape's presence, so there was no way Snape knew about their Animagi at that moment. But how long would it take for him to connect the dots?

'Dumbledore knows?' gasped Snape, appearing absolutely dumbfounded. 'How?'

'He knew when Remus was admitted to Hogwarts,' spat James with a scathing tone of voice. 'Why do you think the Whomping Willow was planted here? It was to keep away nosy berks like you.' James' mouth ran on its own; his mind was still back at the Shrieking Shack. He had left an injured Padfoot and Wormtail there with Moony. Were they alright?

James shook his head, banishing the dreadful images at the forefront of his mind. Surely they were okay now. After all, once he and Snape left, Moony would have stopped sensing human presence--he'd have returned to his proper state of mind.

But poor Moony. James was sure that tomorrow morning, Remus was going to beat himself up about that night's events. And now, there was no way he was going to agree to leave the shack next month...

James pushed aside his disappointment grudgingly. Going to Hogsmeade didn't matter anymore. First, he had to get out of this tunnel. Snape was sure the tell Dumbledore about what he saw--James with a live werewolf. But as long as Snape didn't know about their abilities to transform into Animagi, James could always pass Padfoot off as a pet dog--one he'd found in Hogsmeade and decided to smuggle into the castle.

James glanced past his shoulder at Snape--he'd been silent for a while now, looking dead ahead with the same, pale, mildly-shocked expression on his face.

'What were you doing over there anyway? With that thing?' demanded Snape finally.

James cringed at the word. 'Don't call Remus that,' he spat sharply. 'And I--I wanted to check up on him,' he lied. 'Remus wasn't feeling well this past week and I figured it had to do with his transformations. I just wanted to make sure he was OK.'

Snape scoffed. 'How thick can you get?' he hissed. 'Honestly Potter, I knew you had a big fat ego, but even that's being a bit optimistic. You thought you could take on a werewolf, you mindless bloke?"

'Shut your mouth, Snivellus,' barked James. 'At least I've got mates to look after.'

Snape tensed and opened his mouth to retort. James cut him off.

'--all you've got is your pure-blood obsessed Slytherin buddies who tend to look after themselves rather than their so-called mates.'

'Shut up, Potter.'

James smirked, knowing he'd hit a nerve. They were nearing the Whomping Willow now.

'The professors even find you annoying. The only person who can stand to even associate with you is Evans,' he added bitterly. 'And that's only because she's nice to almost everyone.' Almost. James himself was the sole exception to that statement, a fact that irked him further. 'And you know what?' he pressed on viciously. 'You don't even deserve her being your mate--she ought to drop you like a rat.'

There was a pause on both sides.

'You take that back, Potter.' Snape's voice came out low and harsh, his had gripping his wand tighter.

James grinned mercilessly, brandishing his own wand. 'No.'

They'd stopped walking now. Each pointing his wand at the other maliciously.

'Is there a problem, boys?'

James and Snape whipped round, pointing their wands at the source of the noise immediately. But there was no need, because it was Professor Dumbledore who was smiling pleasantly back at them.

'Well,' said Dumbledore, surveying both James and Severus over the top of his half-moon spectacles. They were at Dumbledore's office and Severus had explained what he'd seen. James had told Dumbledore that he had been worried about his mate, and although he had felt as though Dumbledore may not have believed him, the Headmaster did not press the matter any further.

'Mr Snape,' said Dumbledore. 'I'm going to need for you not to repeat what you saw to anyone.'

'But sir -!' exclaimed Severus.

'Listen to me, Severus. I was well aware of Mr Lupin's state when I admitted him into this school. It would not do to invite unwanted disorder into an already disorderly castle.' Dumbledore was still smiling pleasantly.

Severus opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it an instant later, appearing dejected. 'Yes, sir,' he said.

It was only when they'd left Dumbledore's office that James allowed himself to grin broadly. Snape was brooding behind him, glaring at the back of James' head while wishing him a painful death. James disregarded it; he had to go back to the Shrieking Shack and see how his mates were doing. Now, if only the greasy-haired bugger would stop following him...

It was six-thirty in the morning. Sirius and Peter had hidden on the upstairs floor of the Shrieking Shack while the nurse's assistant, Madam Pomfrey, arrived to fetch Remus' unconscious body. The transformation into a werewolf was always so tiring that Remus ended up passed out on the Shack floor the next morning. McGonagall had arrived early that morning to deliver him to the Hospital Wing. Sirius and Peter arrived there themselves shortly afterward, just in time for Remus to come to. Remus was paler than ever.

'What happened?' he gasped immediately, his eyes agog as he recovered from the depths of unconsciousness. 'S--something went wrong--wha--where's James!'

Sirius was silently brooding, and it was Peter that spoke, his voice thick with a tone of bitterness. 'He's with Snape.'

'Snape!' hissed Remus, as though his memory had been sparked. Peter could practically see the gears shifting in his friend's head as he attempted to put together the events of last night. 'What the bloody hell was Snape doing over--'

The door to the infirmary slid open and a steely-faced James Potter stormed in. He didn't acknowledge Remus or Peter's presence. Instead, he headed straight towards Sirius, wound up his arm and--

WHACK.

Sirius' head snapped back as his jaw made contact with the force of James' knuckles. He didn't even put up a fight; rather, Sirius stared at the ground with a fixed sort of gaze, his own knuckles white against the backdrop of the Hospital Wing's floor. The expression on his face was more serious than anyone had ever seen it.

Peter jumped up from his seat at the shock of seeing Sirius decked soundly by his best mate.

But James paid no attention. He was livid. It'd taken him ages to finally rid himself of Snape after the incidents of the night before, and he had serious doubts whether he was going to keep his mouth shut about the whole thing.

'You bloody fool,' whispered James.

Finally, Sirius lifted his face, and pain was etched over all his features. 'I--I wasn't thinking--'

'Damn right you weren't thinking!' bellowed James, and the volume was so high that the nurse, Madame Lambridge appeared from the edge of the curtain separating Remus' bed from a nearby patient's.

'Oi, you lot!' she said sternly. 'Mind your voices else I'll have to make you leave! I've got patients trying to rest!'

Peter gave her an apologetic grin and nodded his agreement, but James and Sirius ignored her entirely. Remus waited until she disappeared before fishing his wand out from inside his robes and muttering a spell under his breath--the area was now sound-proof from the outside.

James lowered his voice anyway, but it still carried the same venom. 'Don't apologize to me,' he spat. 'Apologize to Remus. It was him you almost got killed. Do you realize that if Moony had hurt Snape, the Ministry could have him put down? Did you stop to consider that your actions have consequences that affect the rest of us? At least if Moony had attacked one of us, we'd have kept our mouths shut! But Snape, Sirius?'

Sirius had grown incredibly pale. He swore under his breath.

'That's right,' agreed James, his expression cold.

'What happened?' asked Remus, his voice business-like after having witnessed the conversation between his best mates.

James scoffed at turned away. Remus' expression became panicky in response. 'What happened, you lot?'

It was Peter once again who finally spoke up. 'Snape knows.'

'No!' Remus whipped his head about, looking from Peter to James and then to Sirius. His mates did not contradict him.

Sirius collapsed into the chair next to Remus' bed, sunk his face into his hands and swore. 'I'm sorry,' he croaked. 'I wasn't thinking.'

James ran a hand through his hair, his back still facing his mates.

'What's going to happen?' asked Peter after awhile. He was pacing back and forth in the small section of the Hospital Wing.

'Is he going to talk?' asked Remus. His voice seemed to have gained its usual tone of rationality.

James finally turned back tot hem and shook his head. 'No. Dumbledore found us. He's ordered Snape to keep his mouth shut.'

Sirius' head snapped up in shock. 'Really?' he whispered. Peter had stopped his pacing; his face had cracked into a grin.

'What about--' Remus hesitated, a furrow still between his eyebrows. 'What about your Animagi?'

James shook his head. 'He doesn't know,' he said, and Remus sighed with relief. James turned to Sirius. 'You hear that, you git? You got lucky. Nobody's hurt.'

Sirius nodded slowly before turning to Remus. 'I'm sorry, mate,' he croaked. 'Merlin, I'm a rotten blighter.'

Remus nodded his acknowledgement. 'I forgive you, Sirius.'

Sirius gave him a small smile.

'Although...' continued James loudly. Sirius' straight face returned. 'Snape's told Dumbledore that he's seen a black dog.' Sirius blinked. 'I've told him that I've adopted a pet dog from Hogsmeade and have smuggled it into the castle. So--' The expression on James' face transformed in such rapid speed from seriousness to wicked hilarity. '--Welcome home, Snuffles, you big ol' mutt, you.'

Peter let out a whoop of laughter and Remus let out an appreciative chuckle.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Sirius' lips. 'Snuffles, eh?' he asked dubiously, to which James only grinned back. 'I suppose I had that one coming,' he said, shaking his head slowly, the expression on his face cracked into a wide grin.

James took a step toward him. 'Damn right,' he said, holding out a fist to Sirius against which the latter smashed his own closed fist.

Remus watched the exchange from his bed, his small smile taking over his face at the comforting knowledge that James and Sirius could never be cross with each other for very long.

'What's happened to your cheek, James?'

James' head snapped up hopefully at the sound but his heart sank when he saw that it was only Violet Summers who was addressing him.

'Oh, nothing,' he lied. 'I fell.' That morning at breakfast, James was sporting a grazed cheek, Sirius had a bandaged arm and a bruised chin, Remus had scratches all over his face and Peter had a tooth that was looking oddly wiggly.

James was almost certain now that they would never be allowed into Hogsmeade during full moon nights. Not after the fiasco that had been the night before.

Of the four of them, Remus' countenance was the worst--he'd allowed his best mates to become Animagi for his sake, and he'd allowed them to come to the Shrieking Shack where he transformed every night of the full moon. And now they were all injured and it was his fault. After that night's events, guilt and regret formed his entire person. Remus had spent the morning apologizing to his mates, who insisted they were fine.

'Whoa, what's happened to you lot?'

Lily, Kalah and Alice had arrived at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. It was Kalah who had spoken.

James shook his head noncommittally. 'Brawl in the boys' dormitory,' he muttered under his breath. It was partly true anyway. James caught Lily's eyes briefly; she had a curious expression on her face, one that James spent the next thirty seconds examining. Was it concern?

'What are you gawking at, Potter?' demanded Lily after awhile, appearing a bit flushed. James snapped out of his transfixed state. 'Stop staring at me like that. It's creepy.'

'Sorry,' apologized James automatically.

By the end of that day, the news had spread that James Potter had saved Severus Snape from the ghosts and monsters that resided in the Shrieking Shack. James never knew how this information had been circulated, but Sirius had confessed that he suspected Wormtail.

'That Transfiguration midterm was hard,' mused Lily as she passed through the Entrance Hall with Severus.

Severus nodded in agreement. 'But I bet you did really well anyway.'

Lily smiled. 'I hope you're right. How did you do?'

Severus made a face.

'Not too well,' he said. 'You know Transfiguration isn't my best subject.'

Lily shrugged. 'Well, that's okay, Sev--nobody's good at everything. I'll tell you what--I'll give you a few pointers. Transfiguration isn't so hard, you know. Anyone could do it if they tried. Look at Potter--he's a complete idiot most of the time, but he and Black are at the top of our year in that class!'

Severus flinched. He abhorred it whenever Potter was mentioned--the incident occurred nearly everyday. And after what had happened by the Shrieking Shack a while back, he hated Potter even more. If only Dumbledore hadn't forbidden Severus to tell everyone about what he'd seen...

Lily and Severus continued their slow pace as they left the castle--they had no particular destination in mind.

'We have a Potions assignment coming up soon,' said Severus. 'Do you want to be my partner?'

Severus had begun to sit with the Slytherins in their Potions class more often now after habing being forced by Slughorn to do so one day when Lily was sick in the Hospital Wing. The next class, they'd been working on an extremely hard potion, and Kalah had asked to be Lily's partner. Lily had obliged, noting that Severus did not seem to mind working with his fellow Slytherins anyway. Soon, it'd become routine, and Lily found herself working with Kalah every Potions class.

'Well,' she replied. 'I would, but I've already promised Kalah that I'd be her partner...'

Severus pouted. 'But we haven't worked together for such a long time.'

Lily appeared apologetic. 'I know, Sev, but I've already promised, you see.'

'Well, just tell Ramnath you want to be my partner.'

Lily sighed with exasperation as she walked across the threshold of the castle to the cool air outside. 'I can't, Sev! She helped me with my DADA essay last week, even though she had to help her sister study for N.E.W.T.s. I can't just tell her I won't be her partner!'

'Well then, why don't you just sit with me?' demanded Severus. 'You never sit with me anymore.'

Lily hesitated. Severus often sat with his mates in Slytherin, who Lily admittedly did not like. They were shady characters, she'd come to realize, and there had been many rumours circulating about their experience with the Dark Arts. In any case, Lily would rather sit with her fellow Gryffindors than with the Slytherins. 'I--'

'--But I thought we were supposed to be friends?' cut off Severus. 'Best friends?'

'We are, Sev,' insisted Lily, 'but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with!' Severus appeared taken aback by her statement. 'I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary MacDonald the other day?'

A few days earlier, Mary had burst into the girls' dormitory in tears. Avery and Mulciber had caught her in the corridors and called her all sorts of horrid names. Lily was aware of term 'Mudblood', and while to her, a Muggle-born, the word did not hold any particular negative connotations, in the environment of Hogwarts, it was seen as quite insulting. When Mary had attempted to leave the Slytherins' company, Mulciber had conjured a large snake, scaring her half to death.

Lily reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face.

'That was nothing,' said Severus, though he knew it wasn't. 'It was a laugh, that's all -'

'It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny -'

'What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?' demanded Severus. His colour rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment.

Lily blinked. It was beginning to irk her how everything was about Potter. Every conversation, every matter, every problem, every conversation. It was the reason she'd broken up with Amos in the first place.

'What's Potter got to do with anything?' said Lily.

'They sneak out at night.' Severus paused, debating whether or not to tell Lily what he'd seen the other night. 'There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?' said Severus carefully, hoping Lily's interest would be piqued.

'He's ill,' said Lily. 'They say he's ill -'

'Every month at the full moon?' persisted Severus.

'I know your theory,' said Lily, and she sounded cold. Indeed, Severus had confessed his suspicions to her weeks earlier. Lily didn't care whether it was true or not--sometimes she felt as though Severus' prejudice against Potter and Black extended too far. After all, Remus had never done anything wrong to harm either Lily or Severus. 'Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?' demanded Lily.

'I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are,' he said, gazing at her intently.

'They don't use Dark Magic, though,' said Lily desperately. She dropped her voice, remembering a particular bit of information that had spread through the school days earlier. 'And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there -'

Snape's whole face contorted and he sputtered, 'Saved? Saved?' he demanded, outraged. As far as he was concerned, James Potter was the most self-obsessed berk ever to have existed--hah, as if he was going to get off looking like the saviour! 'You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to - I won't let you -'

'Let me? Let me?' Lily's bright green eyes were slits. Severus backtracked at one.

'I didn't mean - I just don't want to see you made a fool of - He fancies, you, James Potter fancies you!' The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. 'And he's not... everyone thinks... big Quidditch hero -' Severus' bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were travelling farther and farther up her forehead.

Severus' ramblings were rubbish. Surely he knew that Lily loathed the very essence of James Potter?

'I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag,' she said, cutting across Severus. 'I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humour is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them.'

Severus blinked, and his whole body relaxed. As they continued walking across the castle grounds, the talk slowly turned to the upcoming Christmas holidays, and Lily and Severus began to discuss the sorts of chocolates each enjoyed best during the soft, snowy season.

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 355-356]

Very soon, the snow had begun to fall gently upon the castle. Everyone was talking about what they were going to be doing during the Christmas holidays, and students were discussing whether or not they were going to stay at the castle.

James' parents were visiting friends in Australia that Christmas, and James, who did not feel like travelling, decided to remain at Hogwarts for the break.

It was just as well, because Sirius had finally managed to convince his parents to allow him to stay at Hogwarts for the break. Staying at home had become unbearable during the breaks, especially in light of Regulus' gaining popularity amongst the Slytherins. Sirius had noticed his younger brother changing throughout the years, no doubt due to the influence of his fellow house mates.

It began innocently enough, with Regulus going quiet whenever the names of the Muggle-borns in his year were mentioned, but soon, many Christmas and summer breaks later, Sirius found him wrinkling his nose in disgust, or even tossing a derogatory comment or two alongside his mother.

Sirius often wondered whether the transformation was partly his fault, whether his avoidance of Regulus and his fellow Slytherins had pushed his younger brother to seek acceptance elsewhere. He never thought too much of it, though--he was careful to stop before he got carried away. So often at night, when he stared up at the ceiling of the boys' dormitories, when he wondered whether Regulus was changing, transforming at the precise moment, whether he could have--could still--do something to prevent it, he'd call out Prongs' name.

James was always the last one in the dormitory to fall asleep, so his reply was always clear and loud. Then they'd have a nonsensical talk about their favourite sweet at Honeydukes or the flavour of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans that they would pay to see Filch eat, or the prank they were going to launch during the Christmas break... finally, Sirius would drift off to sleep, and the thoughts of his younger brother and his progressive descent into the depths of Slytherin ideals, would all be forgotten.

Unlike James and Sirius, Remus and Peter were going home for the holidays. Remus' mother got rather depressed during the Christmas time (it was then that Remus had been bitten), and had always insisted Remus coming home for the break. Peter's parents were heading off to one country or another during the holidays; this time, they were heading to Russia, and Peter, who always loved to travel, was eager to join them.

Lily, having promised Petunia that she wouldn't be home for the Christmas break, was experiencing a mild depression. Her favourte holiday of the year was Christmas, and she didn't think it'd be the same without her family. Severus was going home for the break; he'd offered to stay behind and keep Lily's company, but she'd refused. After all, there was no sense in him ruining his holidays just for her. Marlene and Alice weren't staying behind at the castle either. When Lily had asked Alice about it, Alice had gotten quite jumpy and insisted that she was going home to spend some time with her family. Alice had been quite jumpy for the past few weeks, but Lily assumed it was because of the upcoming O.W.L.s. Alice came from a whole family tree wizards , was expected to excel in the exams, considering the fact that she came from an ancient, well-known Wizarding name. It was quite a bit of pressure on her.

On a positive note, or so it was to Lily, Kalah was staying behind at the castle as well. Her older sister, Neera, was studying for her N.E.W.T.s to be taken later that year and her parents, who'd always been a special sort of strict and overprotective, had not allowed Kalah to ride the train home alone.

On the last day before the Christmas break began, Professor Slughorn announced that he was going to hold a special Christmas party on Christmas Eve for his students that were staying for the holidays. Marlene had suggested that he was holding this get-together for the sole reason that Lily was not going home for the holidays--an idea that the latter was quick to deny vehemently.

On the second morning of the Christmas break, Kalah Ramnath was the first student at breakfast, a fact that alone should have been very telling of her distressed state of mind. It was even more telling, when she didn't immediately pick up the chocolate chip muffin that she always ate every morning.

Sirius made it down to the Great Hall shortly after Kalah to find her at the table, with her head in her hands. He was quick to comment.

'Oi, dying there, Ramnath?' he asked, his tone light and conversational.

'Oh, yes,' murmured Kalah, and then, as though she'd awaken from a trance, glanced up at Sirius. 'What do you want, Sirius? I'm having a midlife crisis.'

Sirius took a seat across from her at the table. 'A bit too young for that, don't you think?'

Kalah gave him a wry smile. 'Not with my incredibly reduced life span.' Then, she jerked her head towards the empty space next to Sirius. 'Where's your mate? Not joined at the hip as usual, I see.'

Sirius ignored the jibe. 'Sleeping in,' he said with a shrug. 'James is a right prat in the morning, and I was hungry. So what's this about a reduced lifespan?'

Kalah nodded. She'd always had an openness about her, one that made her rather comfortable in discussing her problems with her peers. 'I reckon my parents are going to kill me. Or drop me out of school.'

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. 'Failed History of Magic, did you? Figure Hogwarts's going to chuck you for that?'

Kalah grinned momentarily at that before tossing him a reproachful look. 'I did not! And if I were going to get chucked, it'd be for plagiarism by association, you rotten prat. I saw your last Herbology paper, it was almost word for word what I'd written!'

Sirius tapped his temple with an index finger knowingly. 'Great minds,' he hummed.

Lily chose that moment to stroll into the Great Hall, alongside a small, sandy-haired Hufflepuff boy, who was clutching his elbow and gazing up at her bewilderedly. She parted with him with a wave before she reached Kalah, and he rushed off to the end of the table, where a group of his mates were calling to him.

'Morning,' chimed Lily as she sat at the table next to Kalah. She gave Sirius a customary nod of the head, to which he raised a hand in acknowledgement.

'What was that about?' he asked, nodding toward the Hufflepuff boy.

Lily made a face. 'He got into a scuffle with a bunch of older kids near the Entrance Hall,' she said flatly. 'I saw them when I was coming in after visiting Hagrid.'

'Ah, Hagrid!' echoed Sirius joyfully. 'How is he, the old chap?'

Lily didn't answer him, but rather regarded Kalah next to her, who had her head in her hands and was gazing at the table. Lily raised an eyebrow and gave Sirius a look so as to ask him what had happened.

'Midlife crisis,' he said tonelessly.

The corners of Lily's mouth twitched and Kalah lifted her head, as though she'd just noticed her presence. 'Morning, Lily,' she groaned. 'Have I ever told you what a brilliant mate you are?'

'You could stand to mention it more,' responded Lily cheekily.

'I just thought I should tell you before I drop out of Hogwarts.'

Lily scoffed. 'No, you're not, Kalah, don't be ridiculous--'

Kalah let her hands fall from her head and bang onto the table loudly, startling the group of Hufflepuffs sitting at its end. She tossed them a sheepish apologetic smile before turning back to Lily and saying with an entirely serious tone of voice: 'My parents are pulling me out of Hogwarts.'

Lily had gone pale, but Sirius merely scoffed. 'Impossible,' he said lazily, pouring himself a goblet of pumpkin juice and holding up the pitcher inquiringly. When both Lily and Kalah shook their heads, he shrugged and put it down. 'It's Hogwarts. It's mandatory. You can't just--drop out.'

'Sure you can,' muttered Kalah. 'Both my parents are magical, to an extent. If they wanted to give us magical education at home, they're well within their rights.'

'Why?' whispered Lily. She'd always known that Kalah's parents were strict. She hadn't been able to visit over the summer holidays, and it had taken her ages to convince her parents to buy her and her older sister an owl. But to pull her out of Hogwarts halfway through a semester?

Kalah tugged on the end of her long, black hair miserably. 'My stupid bloody sister, that's why.'

'The seventh year?' inquired Sirius, eagerly leaning forward. 'She's got eyes to kill, that one. And I've always found myself partial to older women...'

'If you're done lusting over my sister,' said Kalah, rolling her eyes and shooting him a pointed glare. 'My sister's gone and found herself a boyfriend.'

Lily blinked. Sirius blinked. Kalah wrung her hands in a panicked fashion.

'That's hardly a crime, Ramnath,' said Sirius, leaning back casually.

'She is a seventh year,' said Lily unsurely. 'Isn't that... normal?'

'No, it isn't, because you lot don't know my parents! I supposed it's never come up, but you've met my parents, Lily, on the platform--'

It was true. Lily had never met more cool and calculating people.

'--and neither of us has got permission to date!'

'Permission!' scoffed Sirius, his eyes agog. 'You're pulling my leg!'

Kalah shook her head sadly. 'Neera told my parents she was staying to study, but I only found out yesterday that she wasn't preparing for any bloody NEWTs at all! She stayed so she can spend time with her sodding boyfriend.'

'Who's the lucky bloke?' asked Sirius with a smug grin.

Kalah glared at him. 'That bloke in Ravenclaw. Padman Patil.'

'Ah...'

'Do your parents know?' asked Lily.

Kalah shook her head. 'Not yet. But they're my parents. The two of them can smell deceit from miles away. I'm still waiting on the Howler that's going to order us to pack our things and get home so they can ship us off to the old country.'

'You're not getting shipped off anywhere,' said Lily soothingly. 'Don't panic just yet. Maybe they'll understand.'

Kalah scoffed at this. 'Yeah, right. And I suppose Professor Dumbledore was understanding when Gellert Grindelwald was running round murdering Muggle-borns for the common good?'

Sirius paused to consider her. 'No, I'm fairly certain Dumbledore sent him to Nurmengard for that.'

'Exactly!' said Kalah, with an exaggerated wave of her hand. 'To be locked up!'

'Having a boyfriend is hardly murder, Kalah,' reasoned Lily.

'It's no fair,' grumbled Kalah. 'I'm always left to clean up Neera's messes. She's supposed to be the older one, the responsible one. I shouldn't have to nag her. I should be the one snogging blokes in broom closets--'

Sirius gave a low whistle.

'Is that where you found her?' asked Lily, biting her lip to hide her amused grin.

'Filch asked me to fetch him a mop,' grumbled Kalah.

Sirius leant forward and propped his elbows onto the table. 'Well, love, if you're looking for blokes to snog in the broom closet--'

'--do you see what I mean?' said Kalah incredulously, indicating Sirius to Lily with her palm. 'My sister gets to be irresponsible and have fun and what do I get stuck with? This joke!'

Sirius appeared affronted. 'Oi, who are you calling a joke?'

Kalah grinned and reached for the chocolate chip muffin on Sirius' breakfast plate, digging into it promptly.

'Oi!' cried Sirius indignantly. 'That was mine, I bloody love those!'

Kalah tapped her temple with her index finger. 'Great minds,' she hummed and both Lily and Sirius had quite a laugh about that.

Two days before Christmas, the entire castle was decorated with holly, wreaths and decorations. On top of the custom decorations prepared by the teachers of the castle, James and Sirius had cast spells that had the school echo Christmas carols that were previously sung by Peter--he was the only of them that had a half-decent voice. Of course, the Christmas carols they had chosen to project across the castle has of modified variations and Professor McGonagall was forced to remove the charms, deeming the lyrics, 'Jingle bells, Snivellus smells', as inappropriate.

That morning, Lily arrived to the Great Hall to find very few people having breakfast. There was a single table arranged in the middle of the room, and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Slughorn and Flitwick were seated there, along with Filch, who was wearing an unusually bright and clean coat in exchange for his usual dusty and grimy coats.

'Ah, Miss Evans, good morning!' exclaimed Professor Dumbledore.

'Morning, Professors,' chimed Lily cheerfully. She really was quite fond of the Headmaster.

'Why don't I draw some more chairs?' Dumbledore raised his wand in a flourish. 'We have a couple more students coming to breakfast.'

Lily was buttering her toast when the doors to the Great Hall burst open, revealing James and Sirius.

'Morning, Professors!' exclaimed James, with a wide grin on his face.

'Good morning, good morning,' chuckled Professor Dumbledore. 'Now, boys, I must applaud you on the clever charm you'd cast across the castle.'

'Really?' asked Sirius in wonder.

'--though the lyrics were quite unfortunate,' cut across Professor McGonagall, her voice curt.

James gave her a bright smile as he winked. 'We'll work on that, Professor.'

'Why don't you boys take a seat,' suggested McGonagall.

'Right you are, Professor,' said Sirius, plopping down onto the seat across from McGonagall and beside Lily. He glanced up briefly, caught James' warning glare and instantly slid over, leaving a seat between Lily and himself.

'Oi! Prongs!' said Sirius. 'Over here, mate.' Lily watched in horror as she realised Sirius was indicating to the seat next to her.

James gave Sirius a grin and took the seat beside him, giving Lily his characteristic lopsided grin that always seemed to last longer than it should.

'Where's your mate?' he asked, indicating to the empty seat on the other side of Lily.

'Sleeping,' responded Lily shortly. There was always something about Potter that made her want to cut conversations short.

Lily carried on with her breakfast in silence, mildly aware of James was describing a Quidditch strategy enthusiastically to Sirius, who seemed more interested in the food in front of him, but was listening all the same. Professor Dumbledore was engaged in a discussion with Professor McGonagall, about which Muggle chocolate company was better - Hershey or Cadbury. In this conversation, Professor Dumbledore was speaking quite zealously, while Professor McGonagall simply nodded her head exasperatedly here and there, every time the headmaster paused to take a breath. In the comfortable buzzing environment of that morning's breakfast, it was quite jarring when James suddenly stood up.

Lily started instinctively.

'Something wrong, mate?' asked Sirius, appearing concerned.

James blinked. 'What?' he asked, sounding confused. 'Oh--nothing. I just wanted the syrup.'

Sirius chuckled and Lily scoffed, raising her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation as James leant over her slightly to grab the syrup.

Lily was suddenly acutely aware of the small bit of mistletoe hanging above her head--no, hanging above both her and Potter's head as he leant over to fetch his syrup. She jumped from her seat in panic, getting to her feet quickly.

James turned his head toward her, appearing entirely taken aback.

'What's wrong?' he asked, his voice sounding confused.

'N--nothing,' said Lily hastily, grabbing a nearby apple from a basket on the table. 'I'm just not very hungry, is all.'

'You just picked up an apple,' pointed out Sirius.

Lily glanced at the apple in her hands. 'It's for Kalah,' she said.

Before Sirius could make a retort about Kalah still being asleep, Lily had turned on her heel and had strolled out of the Great Hall.

There was a moment of silence in which James was frozen in his stance, his arm in midair, holding a bottle of syrup, with a dumbfounded expression upon his face.

Everyone, it seemed, was too preoccupied in what their own conversations to notice a particularly bright twinkle in Professor Dumbledore's eyes.

'Prongs, would you stop gawking at her and bloody ask her already?' said Sirius in an exasperated voice, as they passed through the large doors of the castle onto the grounds. They were on their way to visit Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.

Professor Slughorn's Christmas party was the next day, and Sirius had spent the past week since James had received an invitation, attempting to persuade him to ask Lily Evans to be his date.

James didn't reply, but instead, ran a hand through his hair casually as he nonchalantly glanced back from the corner of his eyes at Lily Evans, who was discussing her Prefect rounds schedule with Betty Braithwaite's older sister, Marianne, who was the Head Girl.

James turned away from the pair to glare at Sirius. 'What makes you think she's going to say yes?'

'You never know until you try,' replied Sirius, with a shrug.

James shook his head. 'No, I think I know exactly what she'd say.'

Sirius leant forward. 'No, it's like this,' he instructed, tossing his head slightly to get a fringe of his hair away from his eyes. 'Just toss it out--make it a casual invitation, as if you don't even care about the answer. Don't makes yourself seem like a stupid git who doesn't even know what he's doing--'

'Gee, Padfoot, thanks,' muttered James.

'No, listen,' insisted Sirius. 'It's about the confidence. Birds love the confidence. Hm--let's see...'

Sirius scanned the grounds, but found that there were hardly any people outside in that cold weather. Finally, he spotted Stacey McKinnon and Daisy Dodderidge trudging towards the castle, bundled up in winter clothes and gossiping excitedly to each other.

'Oi, McKinnon!'

Stacey McKinnon's head snapped up at the sound, and her eyes swiveled round to find the source of it.

Sirius gave a wave. 'Slughorn's party with me tomorrow night?'

Stacey blinked and blushed furiously for a moment before giving Sirius a short nod.

Sirius beamed. 'See you then!'

Stacey shyly waved back and Sirius turned away to fall into step with James, completely oblivious to the sour expression on Daisy Dodderidge's face that her best mate had been asked out by none other than Sirius Black.

Sirius shot James a winning smile. 'See? It's that easy. Confidence, Prongs. Confidence.'

'Yeah, yeah,' muttered James, and he remained in a grumpy mood for the rest of the day. When Hagrid asked later on why he was so quiet, James lied and said that the weather was too cold to play Quidditch. He'd never tell that he was jealous of his best mate's ability to talk to girls. After all, the mutt would never let him live it down.

'Confidence, alright? You just need a bit of--'

'--confidence. Yeah, yeah, I got it, Padfoot,' interrupted James, sounding a bit peeved at Sirius' constant repetition of the word.

James and Sirius had just come from the Quidditch pitch after having flown a few after dinner rounds due to the former's complaints of going through withdrawals. Sirius was quite relieved to collapse onto a sofa in the warm common room, though he was mildly annoyed that the girls had taken his favourite spot by the fireplace. Mary MacDonald, who had also decided to stay at Hogwarts because her parents were visiting her sick grandma, was teaching Lily and Kalah how to knit.

'So,' said Sirius, orchestrating a conversation for James' benefit loud enough for the girls to hear. 'Are you going to Slughorn's party tomorrow?'

James was quick on the follow-up. 'Yeah,' he responded, with a smug tone of voice. From the corner of his eye, he saw Evans' head twitch up momentarily at the sound of his voice. He was feeling hopeful at the prospect that she might respond to something he said, but she made no acknowledgement, but instead leant toward Mary MacDonald to confirm whether she had made a mistake in her knitting.

'I'm going with Stacey McKinnon,' said Sirius unnecessarily. He knew that James was aware of this, but he needed a premise for their conversation. 'Have you asked anyone?'

James shrugged noncommittally. 'Not yet, I haven't really thought about it. Er--let's see--' James scanned the common room. 'Oi, Evans!'

Lily jumped at the sudden sound of her name, but didn't turn around.

'Evans--Slughorn's party with me tomorrow night?'

Kalah turned round in her seat, raising her eyebrows at James and giving him an amused smile and a questioning look.

James ran a hand through his hair, waiting for Lily's response.

A moment later, she turned round herself, and stared at him.

James mustered up the nerve to wink.

Finally, Lily blinked, and then burst into a fit of laughter.

James' grin faltered.

'Er--'

'You--you just--aha--' Lily barely got a few words in before she lost control in another bout of laughter.

James shot Sirius a nervous glance, but Sirius nodded his head in encouragement.

'Thanks,' said Lily finally, when she'd gotten control of herself again. 'Thanks, Potter--I needed a laugh.'

'What do you mean?' asked James, a pink tinge appearing on his cheeks. Mary MacDonald was giggling next to Lily.

'I mean--you can't be serious, asking me to Slughorn's party. Everybody knows we can't stand each other,' said Lily matter-of-factly, as though this were common knowledge. 'You'd never really ask me, and I'd never really say yes!' Lily started to laugh again.

'I--' James appeared flustered for a moment before he regained his composure. 'Well--of course I wasn't serious!' he said. 'I only meant that since you've got no one to take you--I figured I'd do you a favour, Evans,' he added airily.

The humour in Lily's face disappeared instantly. 'Excuse me?' she demanded, her eyes slits.

James leant back in his chair, continuing to speak as though he hadn't heard her. 'But alright, Evans, I suppose if you want to go alone...'

'Who said I was going alone!'

James sat up again. 'What?' he asked stupidly.

'Who said I was going alone?' repeated Lily. She had gotten to her feet and had put her hands on her hips. Her face was flushed in anger. 'I'll have you know I'm going to Professor Slughorn's party with Barney Brown!'

She didn't wait for James' response. Instead, she turned to Kalah and Mary, muttered, 'I'm going to bed,' under her breath, and then stormed off, carrying her knitting needles and ball of yarn with her. Kalah and Mary were now doubled over on the couch, failing miserably to hide their fits of laughter.

James sat astonished for a moment before he turned to Sirius and scowled. 'You and your rotten confidence,' he growled.

But Sirius too had put his face into his hands and was laughing silently.

'Barney Brown,' he choked out in between his laughter. 'You got beat out by Barney Brown!'

James made a mental note to hex Sirius in his sleep.

'Well, well, well, what do we have here?' inquired Sirius, as he descended from the boys' dormitories the next night.

'Hullo, Sirius,' said Kalah without looking up. She was packing up her chess set after having just finished a game of Wizard's Chess with Mary MacDonald. Mary had retired to the girls' dormitory for that evening. Kalah glanced up at Sirius.

'Ah... and what are you so dressed up for?' she asked with a grin, indicating to Sirius' deep blue cloak. It appeared as though he'd even made the effort to comb his hair, though Sirius' hair was always more yielding than his best mate's.

Sirius grinned, taking a seat on the couch in front of her as he helped put away her chess pieces. 'Got meself a date,' he said cheekily.

'Ah...' said Kalah, as though the answer had always been clear. 'Lucky you,' she added heavily. 'Though I hope you're not worrying your younger sibling with your dating habits.'

Sirius thought about this. 'Well, considering I'll be meeting Stacey McKinnon in the Astronomy tower in fifteen minutes and McKinnon's a Muggle-born, I'd say little brother dearest would be quite distressed. You know my family and its policy against Muggle -borns.'

Kalah wrinkled her nose at the thought of Sirius' family's ideals, but shook her head sadly at the parallelism between herself and Sirius' brother. 'Poor little Reg. I do sympathize.'

'Don't,' said Sirius with a casual shrug. Then: ''Cause Stacey McKinnon's quite the looker.' He grinned wickedly and Kalah chucked a bishop at his head. He ducked, shouting 'Oi!', to which Kalah cracked up entirely.

'Hold on, you're going to the Astronomy Tower?' asked Kalah. 'What about Slughorn's party? Lily left a while ago, and I just saw James go out the portrait door. He's taking Daisy Dodderidge, I heard.'

Sirius nodded in affirmation. 'But I've got no invite,' he said with a grin.

Kalah appeared confused. 'But I thought you told James that you were taking Stacey McKinnon to the party?'

Sirius hummed. 'I did. But then I realized I had no invite, so I asked Stacey to meet me in the Astronomy Tower instead. She seemed no have no problem with the change of location.' He was grinning like a Cheshire cat as Kalah rolled her eyes, muttering 'typical' under her breath.

'Right, I'd best be going,' said Sirius, picking up the bishop swiftly from the floor and passing it to her as he rose from the couch.

'Have fun,' said Kalah, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Sirius gave a loud bark of laughter at this. 'I intend to,' he replied, with an eyebrow waggle of his own.

He was almost out the portrait hole when he called at her. 'Oi, Kalah?'

'Hm?' Kalah looked up from her pieces at him. She could only see the shadow of his face, as the sofa in front of her had efficiently blocked the rest of the passage from her view.

'Don't--don't worry too much about your sister, yeah?'

Kalah blinked. 'What?'

'I've got a feeling it'll all work out.'

His voice had gone oddly deep; it lacked its usual airiness, which was instead replaced with an edge of sincerity. Kalah thought for a moment that it wasn't even Siruis who had spoken. But before she could get a proper look over the sofa at the passage, the portrait door had swung closed and Sirius Black had disappeared from sight.

References

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J. K. Rowling Bloomsbury, London: 2007.