I'M BACK! Yes, I have risen from the dead and am finally updating this story. Hopefully you all aren't too angry with me. I hope you like this new installment and, as always, please drop a review if you'd like. It's been a while since I've heard from most of you. Happy reading!:)

Snow settled over the Hogwarts grounds as November arrived and drove out any remnants of autumn. The large drifts hid the ground from view and made walking outdoors nearly impossible. Howling wind licked the castle walls and rattled the castle's windows as winter descended upon Hogwarts with vengeance.

Wrapped up in cozy jumpers and not caring in the least what the weather outside the castle walls looked like, Lily and Mary sat at a large table in the library. Parchment, textbooks and spare quills covered nearly every inch of the workspace. The two witches both had blank rolls of parchment in front of them, with a quill poised to begin writing.

"I just don't know," Lily moaned, leaning over and smacking her head down on the table. Her red hair fanned around her, covering several books. "I don't know what there can possibly be to say about Gamp's Law."

"Come on, Lily," Mary chided, gently pulling Lily's shoulders back so she sat up. "It's not too terrible. Look, we found this section here on the laws."

"But how are we supposed to write an entire roll of parchment on them?" Lily asked, glaring at the blank sheet in front of her as though it had personally insulted her. "Honestly, that's just ridiculous."

"I know," Mary sighed, pulling one of the open textbooks forward and idly flipping through the pages. "But we have to do it. Even a D is better than a zero."

Lily just groaned in response. She propped her chin in her hand and began gazing aimlessly around the library, hoping watching other students work would motivate her to do the same. A group of third years sat at a nearby table, chatting idly. In the corner sat several seventh years, all hunched over their notes and writing fervently. Lily's eyes flickered to the group of tables along the opposite wall and sucked in a breath when she found herself staring into the black eyes of Severus. He opened his mouth and hastily gestured towards the open seat beside him, clearly wanting her to go to him. Lily shook her head sharply and averted her eyes, turning back to her work.

He didn't seem to understand that she didn't want to talk to him.

"You alright?" Mary asked, peeking up from her book.

"Fine," Lily muttered.

"You really should start your essay," Mary said, glancing at Lily's empty roll of parchment. "It'll be awful if you wait until tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right," Lily conceded, still fighting the urge to look back at Sev. She leaned over and dipped her quill in an inkwell, before scrawling the date on the top of her parchment. "Wait a minute," she said, staring at the paper.

"What?" Mary asked absently without looking up from her textbook.

"Sirius's birthday was this week."

"I know," Mary said, staring at Lily as though she had lost her mind. "It was three days ago. We all wished him happy birthday at breakfast. Don't you remember that?"

"I do," Lily said slowly. "But we never really celebrated it."

Mary shrugged. "I suppose we didn't."

"Don't you think that's odd?"

"Why would it be odd?" Mary asked, sighing and returning to her book. "Maybe he wanted a quiet birthday this year."

"Sirius Black wanting a quiet birthday?" Lily asked in disbelief. "For this seventeenth birthday?"

"Maybe they all thought it would be too awkward," Mary suggested. "What with them only just being back on speaking terms and all that."

"But even still I can't believe we just didn't celebrate it." Lily sat back and bit her quill.

Mary shrugged again and flipped a page.

"We should plan something," Lily said. "For this weekend."

Mary raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"I don't know," Lily continued chewing on her quill and wound a piece of hair around her finger. "A party or something. But just with us, you know, the boys and you and me and Marley. And Alice and Frank, too."

"Are you, Lily Evans, suggesting we throw a party with the Marauders?" Mary laughed, flipping the book shut and smirking.

"No," Lily snapped. "Just—just a small celebration in honor of Sirius turning seventeen."

"A small celebration?" Mary repeated, the corner of her mouth twitching up.

"Yes." Lily sniffed haughtily. "Exactly."

"Well," Mary grinned, "if we want to have a 'small celebration' for Sirius I think the best thing to do would be to go find Marlene and talk to her about it. She'll probably plan the whole thing."

Lily nodded. "Yes, that would be good." A smile broke out over her face. "Oh, I can just see her reaction; she'll be absolutely thrilled with the idea."

"Shall we go find her, then?" Mary asked, already scooping up the textbooks and stacking them on the table.

"Absolutely," Lily agreed.

The two girls hurriedly collected their things and put their books back. They were on their way out of the library when Mary suddenly jolted forward and fell with a thud to the ground.

"Mare!" Lily cried, dropping down to help her friend up. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I don't know," Mary said, getting to her feet and looking around in bewilderment. "It felt like I tripped on something but I don't—" she trailed off and her eyes widened as she stared at something past Lily's shoulder.

Lily turned around and saw Mulciber saunter towards them, twirling his wand at his side.

Without thinking, Lily drew her own wand and pointed it at the boy's chest, her mind racing through the various hexes she'd learned.

"Put your wand down, Evans," Mulciber snorted. "It was only a trip jinx; I could've done much worse."

"Walk away, Mulciber," Lily said, trying her best to sound threatening though her voice wobbled and cracked uncontrollably. "Walk away or I swear I'll—"

"You'll what?" Mulciber barked out a laugh. "Hit me with a jelly legs jinx?" His face twisted into a sneer as he stepped forward. "Maybe put me in a body bind if you're really angry?"

"Maybe," Lily said, more confidently than she felt. She tightened her grip on her wand and lifted her chin. "Or maybe I'll do worse."

Mulciber's eyes narrowed. "And what kind of curses could a little mudblood like you possibly know, Evans?" he spat. "I've learned spells that would give you nightmares for weeks. I've mastered curses they don't even teach at Hogwarts."

Lily opened her mouth to reply but stopped when she felt something on her arm. Looking down, it was Mary's hand, gripping Lily so tightly that her fingers had turned white. Lily looked up and saw Mary's white face staring at her in horror and frantically shaking her head. "Don't," Mary whispered, closing her eyes and clutching Lily's arm painfully. "Don't let him—"

Lily clenched her jaw and slowly lowered her wand.

"Decided you don't want to play?" Mulciber taunted. His wand was still raised, still pointed at her. "Did Evans realize there's no Remus Lupin or James Potter here to save her?"

"Leave us alone," Lily whispered through clenched teeth. "We've not done anything to you."

"I'll be the judge of that," Mulciber sneered. He twirled his wand again, though this time dropped it with a clatter onto the stone floor.

Without a thought, Lily used the few seconds Mulciber spent retrieving his wand to grab Mary's hand and half-run down the corridor, praying Mulciber wouldn't decide to follow them.

"Don't worry though, girls," he called after them, the glee evident in every syllable. "When the Dark Lord comes to power all you mudbloods will be in the ground soon enough."

Lily shivered but didn't stop as she rounded a corner and flew up a flight of stairs. Mary's nails dug into her skin and her chest was beginning to burn from lack of oxygen but she didn't stop until she stood breathlessly in front of the Fat Lady. "Sternumenta," she wheezed.

The portrait swung forward and Lily climbed into the common room, still dragging Mary behind her.

Marlene, Sirius, and Peter sat at a table near the portrait hole, playing exploding snap. Peter looked up as Lily and Mary stumbled in and offered a friendly wave before he took in Lily's shortness of breath and Mary's white face.

"What happened to you two?" he asked, laying his smoking cards on the table and jumping up.

At his exclamation, Marlene and Sirius both glanced up and immediately rushed over.

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"Do we have to duel someone?"

"What happened?"
"We're fine," Lily muttered, pushing past everyone and leading Mary to a sofa, where they both sat down. "We ran into Mulciber while leaving the library and he was—"

"Horrible," Mary whispered.

"What did he do?" Marlene asked, sitting down beside Mary and putting an arm around her. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No," Mary said faintly. "He just tripped me. But he—what he said—"

"I tried to hex him and he told me he knew curses so bad they don't even teach them at Hogwarts," Lily said.

"I'll bet he does," Sirius muttered as he and Peter sat on the sofa facing the girls. "His whole family's in with You Know Who. I'll bet his parents have taught him all sorts of dark magic."

Lily nodded and glanced at Mary. She was still very pale, but with her head leaning on Marlene's shoulder, she looked much more relaxed since coming back to the common room.

"Did he say anything else?" Peter asked, furrowing his brow and looking at Lily. "You two looked awful when you came in. Was it just because of the dark magic?"

"No," Lily said quietly. "As we were getting away he said once You Know Who is in power, everyone like us will be in the ground anyways."

Sirius inhaled sharply and shot up off the sofa. "He said what?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

"You heard it," Lily said. She sank further into the cushion and put her face in her hands.

"I'm going to curse him next time I see him," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down. "I'm going to go into the restricted section and find something so terrible—"

"Sirius, sit down and be quiet," Marlene snapped from beside a still very pale Mary. She glared at Sirius with unusual ferocity and reached out to run a calming hand through Mary's hair. "You'll do nothing of the sort."

"Marls—"

"I said sit down and shut up!"

Sirius frowned but took his seat, watching Marlene pat Mary on the shoulder and whisper something.

"I was only trying to help," Sirius said at last.

"Then you and Peter go down to the kitchens and fetch us some hot chocolate."

Sirius' frown deepened but he stood up without a word and started towards the portrait hole, gesturing for Peter to join him.

"He's such a prat sometimes," Marlene shook her head once the door had slammed closed. "Honestly, I don't know what he was thinking, going on about cursing Mulciber like that."

"I just want to never think about him again," Mary whispered, looking from Marlene to Lily with wide eyes. "After last year—I just—"

With a jolt, Lily remembered what had happened to Mary last year. A wave of shame washed over her. She hadn't even thought about that. She had been so caught up in what Mulciber had said, and her own fear, that she hadn't remembered how much worse the scene must have been for Mary.

Scooting closer towards her friend, Lily put an arm around Mary and whispered, "It was him, wasn't it? That attacked you last year?"

Mary nodded. "It was right by the library too," she murmured. "I had stayed late finishing an herbology essay and they cornered me and it—" she broke off and buried her face in Marlene's shoulder.

"Shh, don't worry," Marlene said, running a soothing hand down Mary's back. "Mare, it's alright, they're not going to do anything to you again."

"But he almost did!" Mary cried, sitting up suddenly. "He almost did today! And the things he says, just because he knows they'll get to me—"

"Mary, I'm sorry," Lily broke in, her face burning. "I shouldn't have engaged with him like I did. We should've gotten out of there once we realized who it was."

"Have you gone to Dumbledore?" Marlene asked. "Maybe he could do something."

"I don't think so," Mary shook her head. "What is there to do?"

They sat in silence for a minute, pondering the truth in Mary's words. There really was nothing to do, Lily thought bitterly. They could make sure Mary never left Gryffindor tower alone, but look how well that had worked tonight. They could take Sirius' suggestion, and find a horrid curse to use on Mulciber, but that would only serve to get them in trouble and make him and his friends even more intent on hurting them.

The portrait hole opened and the smell of hot chocolate wafted in, followed by Sirius and Peter's footsteps.

"Here you go," Sirius said as he offered a steaming mug to Lily. "Fresh from the kitchens."

"Thank you," she said, giving him a small smile. "It smells delicious."

They sat on the sofas and sipped their drinks in silence, all absorbed in their own thoughts. Lily glanced up and saw Sirius staring at the ground, his empty mug at his feet.

"Oh!" Lily cried, straightening in her seat as everyone looked at her in surprise. "I've just remembered," she began sheepishly, "the reason Mary and I left the library in the first place was because we had an idea, and we wanted to just tell Mar but I guess we'll tell everyone. Sirius, we never celebrated your birthday."

Sirius glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean we didn't celebrate my birthday?"

"Er, well," Lily muttered, her face warming up. "I just meant—you know—usually there's a party and—people—and there wasn't any of that—"

"Oh, Lilybean," Sirius chuckled, moving a piece of hair from his face and leaning back on the sofa. "There was no official party with music and loads of people, but there was an unofficial party with the marauders."

"Oh," Lily said, deflating under the new information. "So you did you something after all?"

"We went to the Hog's Head," Peter said, grinning. "Padfoot bought the lot of us firewhiskey and we got pissed."

Lily raised her eyebrows and looked to Sirius, who nodded in confirmation.

"Well," Lily said, "I think you should have another party. A proper one, with all your friends there."

"Meaning the three of you?" Sirius asked, gesturing towards the girls.

"And Alice," Mary added, sitting up straighter. "But yes."

Sirius looked between the two of them, a smile tugging at his lips, and finally threw his head back and laughed. "Well, girls," he chortled, "I've never been one to turn down a party. Especially one held in my honor."

"Oh, lovely," Lily said. "Mar, what do you think?"

"I think it's a grand idea," Marlene answered. "I told them it wasn't fair to just have a private little celebration. Especially for a seventeenth birthday party."

"We didn't think it'd have to be anything enormous," Mary said, looking nervously at Marlene. "Not like the—er—more famous—marauder parties. Just something where all of us could celebrate."

"I think that sounds great," Sirius said gently, giving Mary a smile. "Really," he moved to look at the girls, "I wasn't sure anyone would really want to celebrate after—"

"Don't be silly," Lily interrupted, waving her hand airily. "Of course we want to."

They chatted about the party then, and decided it would be best to wait and ask James and Remus what they wanted to do before deciding anything. After a bit, Mary shrugged off Lily and Marlene's arms and rose from the sofa, declaring she was going to bed.

"Er, Mary?" Peter's voice squeaked uncertainly.

"Yeah?" Mary asked, turning around and raising an eyebrow.

"Just—I know you're feeling better now," Peter muttered, his face turning red. "But, er, I don't think you should go anywhere alone from now on. You too, Lily."

"That's ridiculous," Lily snorted, shaking her head.

"No, it's not," Sirius said quickly, giving Peter a pat on the shoulder. "Pete's right. And I agree. And I think James and Remus would too."

"Well, I appreciate it," Mary said quietly. She glanced at Lily and added, "I think it'd be for the best if we always had someone with us, too."

Peter nodded and muttered something indiscernible. Mary, after a momentary pause, turned around and ascended the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Well," Lily murmured, standing up and stretching. "I think I'm going up too. Goodnight all. Pete, Sirius, thank you for the hot chocolate."

"Goodnight," Marlene chirped at the same time Sirius and Peter called out, "You're welcome."

Lily smiled and skipped up the stairs to her dormitory.

The next morning in potions, Lily sat hunched over her notes, writing furiously as Slughorn droned on about the properties of bezoars. Next to her, James appeared to be working on quidditch strategy as he charmed his doodled quidditch team to run different plays, scratching notes in the margins.

Lily rolled her eyes and returned to her notes, rushing to write down what she had missed in the seconds she had spent watching her partner. She had gotten nearly all of it written down when something sharp poked her violently in the head.

"Ow!" she hissed, glaring at James. "Whatever you did, stop it."

"I didn't do anything," he whispered, looking at her in confusion.

"Then what—" Lily waved a hand behind her head and closed her fingers around the offending object. It was a small paper airplane with her name written on one of the wings.

"Who's it from?" James asked, leaning towards her to try and examine the note.

"I don't know yet," Lily said with a frown. She quickly unfolded the paper airplane and found on the opposite side a short scrawled note.

Need to talk to you. Urgent. Meet me in library at 8pm. S.S.

"Is that—" James hissed, reaching out to take the note.

Lily quickly balled the paper up and shoved it in the pocket of her robes. "It's none of your business."

"It is my business when he's threatening—"

"He's not threatening me, James. He's just asking me to meet him—"

"The day after Mulciber nearly cursed you and MacDonald—"

"He didn't nearly curse us!"

"He wanted to."

"That's not the point!" Lily huffed and took a deep breath. "I don't even know if I'm going to go."

"You shouldn't." James gave her a pointed look. "You've already told him to sod off and really, you don't even know what he wants from you at this meeting."

Lily swallowed and bit her lip. "Maybe he just wants to talk," she said feebly.

James raised an eyebrow. "In the library at night?"

"Maybe he doesn't want his friends to know—"

"Lily, if a bloke has friends who are so bad that he has to sneak around just to talk with you then maybe that should tell you something about the bloke."

Lily didn't say anything, only turned back to her notes. Without looking at James she picked up her quill and began scrawling down the notes Slughorn had written on the blackboard, not taking in a word of it.

After a minute James sighed and put a hand on her arm. "Listen, Lily, I know you and Snape were friends—"

"Just leave it alone, James," she whispered. "Please, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

James snapped his jaw shut and removed his hand from her arm. "I'm just trying to keep you safe," he murmured.

Lily didn't answer. The note in her pocket felt as though it weighed ten pounds.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Lily went from class to class, all the while self-consciously thinking of the crumpled note sitting in her pocket. After dinner, when everyone retired to the common room, she found Remus in one of the armchairs and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Wha—oh, hi, Lily," he said, his surprise melting into a smile when he saw her. "How are you?"

"Been better," Lily muttered as she dropped into the chair next to him. "I have, er, something to ask you about, actually."

Remus's eyebrows rose. "Oh? What's that?"

In response, Lily took the note from her pocket and handed it to him. Remus opened it and read its contents, his brow furrowing. "I take it this is from—"

Lily nodded and sighed. "I don't know what to do. I know everyone is going to tell me not to go. I know I shouldn't go. I mean, I've told him to leave me alone and just yesterday Mary and I had that run in with Mulciber and I shouldn't be wandering around by myself at night."

"But?" Remus prompted.

"But what if it's really something important?" Lily burst out. "Or what if he's trying to apologize and ask for help ditching his horrid friends? I can't just ignore it!"

Remus opened his mouth and then paused, his eyes dropping to the note again. "Lily, I don't think you should go," he said at last.

Lily's stomach sank and she nodded dejectedly. "Okay."

"However," Remus continued, "if you really think you should go, then go. I'm not in any position to tell you to abandon your old friend if you think it's important."

"Really?" Lily asked, her eyes widening. "I—"

"Just don't go alone," Remus said, his face suddenly becoming very stern. "I mean that. If you're going to go, then that's alright; it's your choice. But take someone with you. I can go if you'd like. I'll ask James for his invisibility cloak and just wait nearby to make sure nothing happens to you."

"Are you sure?" Lily asked.

"Of course," Remus answered, smiling and giving the note back. "I just want to make sure you're safe."

"That's what James said when he told me not to go," Lily sighed.

"James saw this?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Sev sent it during potions," Lily said quickly, an inexplicable flush rising to her cheeks. "I didn't mean for James to see it."

"I'm sure he reacted well," Remus said dryly.

"As well as can be expected when it comes to Severus." Lily shook her head and dropped her eyes to the floor. "Er, I would appreciate it if you came. But, Remus, could we—could we not tell anyone about this? At least not until I actually talk to Sev." She looked up and caught Remus's eye. "Just in case it's not really terribly important."

Remus nodded and leaned forward. "Of course, Lily."

At ten minutes to eight Lily met Remus outside the portrait hole, nervously glancing at the piece of parchment in his hand.

"Do you think we'll need that?" she asked.

"Dunno," Remus answered, tucking the map in his pocket. "I figured I'd bring it just in case.

Lily nodded and they began walking down to the library. When they reached the doors, Remus gave her one last encouraging smile and threw the invisibility cloak over himself. Lily watched him disappear into thin air and took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders as she opened the door and walked inside.

It wasn't hard to find Severus. Not many students remained in the library at this hour. Lily only had to scan the room once to find her old friend hunched over a table in a corner near the restricted section. Taking another deep breath, she walked over to him. He looked up at her arrival and his face twisted into something resembling a small smile.

"You came," was all he said.

"You said it was important," she replied evenly, crossing her arms.

"Er, yes, I did," Severus mumbled, his eyes flickering from her face to his hands. "Why—how about you have a seat?" He gestured towards the empty chairs around him.

"No thank you," Lily said. "I'd rather stand."

"Er, alright."

"Well?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows. "What's so important that you had to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to say I'm sorry again," Severus said quietly.

"You've already said you're sorry and I've already told you that it doesn't make everything okay if you're not going to change anything—"

"I have something to give you too," he interrupted, one hand delving into the pocket of his robes. He rummaged around for a moment and then extracted something small and shiny. "Here." He thrust the object towards Lily. "Take it."

"Where did you get this?" Lily demanded, her jaw falling open as she took the silver charm bracelet from him. "I lost it ages ago—hold on—" she looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. Severus turned his gaze sheepishly towards the table. "You took it didn't you," Lily said. "At Slughorn's party."

"I meant to give it back," Severus muttered to the table. "I noticed you left it and summoned it from the table and was going to give it back to you when I saw you—"

"But you didn't." Lily ground her teeth.

"Well I was going to over the holiday and then your sister was so horrible to you and I just—I just thought maybe it'd be better if you didn't have the bracelet—it'd help you sever ties—"

"Sever ties?" Lily repeated incredulously, her eye sparking viciously. "Since when has it been up to you to decide who I do or do not sever ties with?"

"Never, never!" Severus backtracked, his face turning a faint beige color in what could only be a flush. "It's just—you were so upset and really, she didn't deserve to have you care that much about her—"

"She's my sister," Lily snapped, biting down hard on her tongue to stop herself from screaming. "Of course I'm going to care about her!"

"Well you shouldn't!" Severus bit back, his color rising. "She's a rude, ungrateful muggle who doesn't understand her place!"

Lily sucked in a breath. Her mouth opened and closed, unable to find words in her shock and rage. At last she choked out, "Shut up." She took a step back. Severus made to stand up, but then seemed to think better of it.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore," Lily said, her voice coming out in a strained whisper as she stared at the unrecognizable person who used to be her best friend. "I don't want to even see you. Stay away from me."

"Lily," Severus croaked, leaning forward and catching her arm, his eyes wide. "Please, wait, I didn't mean it like that. I just—I gave you the bracelet because I thought it would show you I—"

"You should have given it to me a year ago when I lost it," Lily hissed, wrenching her arm from his grip. "And not as a last resort to try and get me to accept an apology for something you shouldn't have done in the first place."

With that, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the library. As the heavy door closed behind her, she became aware of footsteps coming from the empty space beside her.

"Remus?" she asked tiredly.

Remus appeared, hastily stowing the cloak in his pocket.

"Did you hear the whole thing?"

He nodded, putting a sympathetic arm around her shoulder.

"I'm so stupid," Lily shook her head, shame burning her cheeks. "Everyone knew he wouldn't change and I thought—"

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to give someone another chance," Remus said quietly. "But there's also nothing wrong with refusing to give any more chances. I think Snape's used all of his."

"I think you're right." Lily nodded. She paused for a moment and then withdrew the charm bracelet from her pocket, turning it over in her hand to inspect it. "You know," she said with a hollow laugh, "for a little while I thought maybe James took it as some sort of romantic keepsake."

Remus chuckled. "That's something he would do. Maybe he would've, if he'd found it before Snape."

"Maybe."

"I can't believe Snape kept that this whole time," Remus mused.

"Me either," Lily shook her head. "And he knew—he knew how much it meant to me. He knew how upset I was when I lost it. And he just—"

"Didn't care," Remus finished for her.

"Exactly," Lily sighed. "He didn't care at all."

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully. Friday evening after dinner, James found himself crouched under the invisibility cloak with Sirius, waiting patiently for Filch to walk by so they could make their way to the secret passage.

"Prongs, my legs hurt," Sirius whined, shifting his weight. Halfway down the corridor, Filch seemed to be walking in slow motion, inspecting every inch of the floor. If James didn't know any better he would think the caretaker was doing it on purpose, just to make their lives harder.

"Shut up," James whispered. "You'll get us caught."

"We should've gotten Pete to create a diversion," Sirius said in an undertone. "We'd already be halfway to Honeydukes by now."

"Padfoot, for the love of Merlin, shut up before we get caught!"

"Who's there?" Filch's voice rang out. James swore under his breath and stood still, glaring at Sirius.

Filch paused, his head swiveling around in search of wrongdoers. After a moment he must have decided it had been nothing as he resumed walking down the corridor. James held his breath as Filch passed, and didn't let it go until the caretaker had rounded the corner and his footsteps were fading.

"Let's go," Sirius said once Filch was out of earshot. He tore off the invisibility cloak and sprang up, taking his wand from his pocket. "We're going to be late meeting Rosmerta," he grumbled as he tapped the statue of the witch.

James groaned. "I didn't think of that." Madam Rosmerta, with her curly blonde hair and loud laugh and her uniform which showed off her curves, was a great favorite among the marauders. They had an unspoken, tacit competition among themselves to see who could win the barmaid's favor most often. As of now, Sirius was in the lead, with Remus as a close second.

They waited as the passage opened and then rushed inside. James stowed the invisibility cloak in his pocket as Sirius lit his wand.

"D'you know what we're getting at Honeydukes?" James asked.

"Mar gave me a list," Sirius nodded, producing from his pocket a slip of parchment covered in writing.

"Of course she did," James snorted.

They walked in silence for a minute and then James cleared his throat, glancing uneasily at Sirius. "So, er, about Marlene."

"What about her?" Sirius asked in a forced offhand voice, his shoulders tensing.

"What exactly is going on with you two now?" James asked, trying to keep his voice neutral. "You said before it wasn't anything much but it looks like—"

"Prongs, if I knew I'd tell you," Sirius answered. "I think she's my girlfriend. But she's never actually said as much and I don't really want to ask."

"Well why not?" James grumbled, running a hand through his hair. "It would make all our lives much easier if you just—"

"What if she says no?" Sirius said slowly. "I mean—I don't know—I know it looks like it's all—but then we've never actually done anything like—you know—like a—"

"Like a couple?"

"Exactly."

"Oh." James closed his mouth and adjusted his glasses, keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him. "Well, er, I suppose there's not much else to say."

"I suppose not," Sirius said.

"But," James looked up at Sirius, "I just—I'm okay with it. I know I wasn't always—enthusiastic—but—" he trailed off.

Sirius nodded clapped James on the shoulder, a small smile breaking out on his face. "Thanks, Prongs."

They arrived at Honeydukes soon after that and, after twenty minutes, had collected all the candy on Marlene's list. Afterwards they went to the Three Broomsticks to pick up the firewhiskey. Rosmerta, to James' dismay, offered Sirius a celebratory butterbeer and a kiss on the cheek. He sulked for the first half of the walk back to the castle through the passageway.

"Oh, cheer up, Prongs," Sirius said, smacking James on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get a kiss too on your birthday."

"I don't see why she couldn't have given me one today as well," James said, crossing his arms.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Are you really that upset about it? Come on, if you're this torn up about a kiss on the cheek we can stop here for a moment and I can give you one."

James glared at his best friend, but couldn't help a grin spreading over his face. "Nah," he said with a shake of his head, "I don't want a pity kiss from you, Padfoot. When you do kiss me I want it to be because you've finally come to appreciate my brilliance."

Sirius snorted. "Or, better yet," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "Maybe if Lily drinks enough firewhiskey tonight she'll do the honors for me."

James' grin disappeared. "Fat chance," he muttered.

"You said things were getting better with her," Sirius said.

"Yeah, better as in she will actually stand within five feet of me now," James said. "But I don't think she feels like—that—at all."

"Well she did at one point," Sirius murmured, nudging James in the arm. "There was at least one point in time when she liked you well enough to spend loads of time with you."

"It was over a year ago." James sighed. "And so much has happened since then."

"Prongs," Sirius said, his voice unusually sincere. He stopped in the middle of the passage and set down the crate of firewhiskey, reaching out and taking James by the shoulder. "Listen to me, feelings like that, feelings as strong as what you had for Lily and that she, I'm very confident, had for you, don't just go away."

"Sirius, were you not here last year?" James asked incredulously. "I'm pretty sure all feelings we had for each other were completely wiped out."

"But you still fancy her," Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Well that's different," James mumbled, turning away. "And I don't even fancy her that much! I just think she's fit. And smart. And wickedly funny."

"Mhm," Sirius murmured, rolling his eyes. "Sure. But, Prongs, my point is, if you still fancy her, even if it's not that much then who's to say she still doesn't fancy you a little bit too?"

"I'm saying it. She's made it very clear that we're just friends."

"Well, have you tried doing anything for her to make her change her mind?"

"Like what?"

Sirius threw his hands in the air. "Bloody hell, do I have to do everything here? I don't know, but just do something. Think of all those things you did for her at the beginning of last year—"

"But she hated me—"

"Merlin, you're thick," Sirius grumbled. "No wonder Lily doesn't want to go out with you. I'm amazed you got her to fancy you a year ago."

"I'm just saying," James began hotly.

"I know, I know, she hated you, you didn't speak at all last year, you're the reason her best friend called her the M word, blah blah blah," Sirius said in a bored voice. He stooped to pick up the crate of firewhiskey and gave James a pointed look as he began walking down the passage again. "All I'm saying is maybe just try to win her over again. Help her out when she needs it, give her things, don't act like a giant prat whenever she's around."

James nodded and sped up to catch up with Sirius. "Okay," he said. "I can do that. And what if that doesn't work?"

"Then you'll have to ask Remus for help."

James chuckled and nodded. After a pause he laughed again and said, "Padfoot, when did we become the type of blokes who talk about their feelings with each other?"

"I dunno, mate," Sirius answered, shaking his head. "But I think I need to go back to the dormitory and drink a bottle of firewhiskey and wrestle Wormtail to make up for it."

At eight o'clock sharp a knock echoed from the door of the boys' dormitory. James looked up to see Peter open it, revealing Lily, Marlene, Mary and Alice standing in the hallway, all grinning brightly.

"Hello!" Marlene called as she waltzed in the room.

"Hey, Marls," James answered, getting up from his bed and making his way towards the girls. "How goes it?"

"We're good, we're good," Marlene laughed. "I don't know about you lot but I cannot wait to open the firewhiskey."

"Of course you can't." James smiled wryly. "But we're going to wait for Sirius since this is, after all, his birthday party."

Marlene rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor, grabbing one of the many candy boxes and opening it.

James turned to greet the other girls but found them congregated around Peter. He watched as Lily threw her head back in laughter at something Alice said, the dark red waves rippling as her shoulders shook.

"James?"

He looked around and found Marlene still sitting on the ground, grinning up at him like a Cheshire cat.

"Sod off," he said, rumpling his hair.

Marlene said nothing more but continued grinning at him. James turned his back to her and went to join the other girls and Peter; he sincerely hoped Sirius and Remus would return soon so they could get started.

He only had to wait about five minutes before his two friends burst through the door, each one holding a large platter laden with all sorts of food.

"We convinced the house elves to contribute to our party," Remus said proudly, setting his tray down on the floor.

"Brilliant," James laughed. "And now that you two are here, shall we begin celebrating?"

Sirius took charge of the firewhiskey, conjuring goblets and pouring everybody healthy servings of the amber liquid. Remus sat next to Marlene and helped distribute the Honeydukes chocolate. Peter dug out the wireless and turned on a station playing the Weird Sisters.

When the music played at a level loud enough to satisfy Sirius and quiet enough to keep Alice convinced they wouldn't get caught, and when everybody held a glass of firewhiskey and a chocolate bar, they sat on the floor together, chatting merrily.

"I still can't believe you didn't invite us to go to the pub with you," Marlene pouted, addressing Sirius. "You know we would've had a brilliant time."

"Sorry, Marls," Sirius shrugged, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Had to celebrate with the boys first. And I'd say this little party is more than enough to make up for it."

"The food's much better at this one," Peter piped up, taking a large bite out of his chocolate.

"Agreed," Remus nodded. "And I much prefer drinking in the comfort of our dorm than in a grimy pub filled with miscreants."

"I thought you all enjoyed the pub?" Sirius asked, looking rather wounded. "You weren't complaining when we were there."

"You know none of us would turn down a chance to go to the pub with you, Padfoot," James said. "But I'm with Pete and Remus; it's much nicer drinking in here with good food. And," he glanced around the group, his eyes lingering for a moment on Lily, who was fiddling with the wrapper of her Honeydukes bar, "good company."

They sat on the floor and talked for the better part of an hour as they all made their way through their drinks. Sirius seemed to be aiming to set a new personal record as he drained one, then two bottles of firewhiskey by himself. To James' surprise, Marlene appeared to be trying to keep up as she tipped back glass after glass. Alice held her own, sipping her drinks daintily. And Lily, to James' surprise, wasn't far behind Marlene. She wasn't as obvious about it as Marlene, but James couldn't help but notice the number of times she had to refill her goblet. And, of course, the pink flush rising in her cheeks and how her voice got higher and higher as she talked.

As the night went on their small party got rowdier. After nearly an hour and a half Remus had the idea to cast a soundproofing charm on the dormitory, so they wouldn't attract any unwanted attention from the music and the increased volume of conversation. After they'd all drunk several goblets of firewhiskey each, Lily picked up one of the empty bottles and announced they were going to play a muggle game called spin the bottle.

"We all sit in a circle," she instructed, falling rather gracelessly to her bum and giving them all a pointed stare until they followed suit. "And then put the bottle in the middle," she set the bottle down so it faced her, "and then you spin it like this." With a sharp thrust, she sent the bottle spinning round and round.

"And then what?" Peter asked, his small eyes brightened considerably from the alcohol.

"And I have to kiss whoever it lands on," Lily giggled, her eyes dropping to the spinning bottle, which was starting to slow down.

James sat up a bit straighter and focused intently on the bottle. It was almost stopping now. It was pointed at Mary, then at him—drat! It kept moving. It nearly stopped on Sirius and a number of horrific images of Lily snogging Sirius erupted in his mind. But then—oh, thank Merlin—it kept moving and landed on—

"Alice!" Lily shrieked, nearly falling backwards with laughter.

"Alice's face turned scarlet as she stared at the bottle, pointing directly at her. "Do we still have to—"

"Yes!" Lily cried, sitting up and grinning wildly. "That's how you play the game!"

Alice made a face, but crawled forward so she was inches away from Lily. Lily, after a fit of giggles, leaned close to Alice. When their noses were nearly touching she looked over her shoulder at Sirius and winked, saying, "You might want to take a picture, Black, because this might well be the best thing you'll ever witness."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter and Lily quickly moved forward and planted a kiss on Alice's cheek. Alice, whose face was practically steaming, visibly relaxed.

"And that's spin the bottle," Lily said, beaming around the circle.

"Lils, I don't think any of us will be able to beat that performance," Marlene giggled, taking a swig of firewhiskey and dribbling some down the front of her shirt. "I mean—hic—you and Alice!"

"Well," Lily smirked, "I am a spin the bottle champion."

"Oh yeah?" Remus asked, one eyebrow raised and the corner of his mouth twitching. "You never told us that."

"You never asked," Lily sniffed.

"Yes we did," James said with mock solemnity. He hastily bit the inside of his cheek to stop a grin from spreading and widened his eyes innocently. "I asked you just a few weeks ago and you said you had never played before."

"I did not!" Lily cried, her eyes sparkling. "I did not say that, James Potter!"

The conversation erupted then, as Marlene and Mary both chirped that Lily had in fact said so, both of them barely able to get a word out through their laughter as Lily's face became redder and her voice became higher.

The night wore on and James meandered around the dormitory, laughing with Marlene and Sirius, playing a blitz round of exploding snap with Peter, and getting into a raging debate with Alice Fortescue over whether the Falmouth Falcons were going to beat Puddlemere United that year. After he and Alice agreed to simply acknowledge that neither one was going to back down from defending their team, James leaned against the wall and surveyed the scene around him. Marlene and Sirius had removed themselves to a corner of the room, taking turns drinking out of one of the remaining firewhiskey bottles. Alice and Remus had taken over the exploding snap game. James' head swiveled as he looked for Lily; he caught sight of her hair fanned out on the floor by the window. She was lying flat on her back next to Peter, her eyes shining and her face flushed as she talked animatedly.

James smiled to himself as he was inundated with memories of Lily's hair spread out just like that over Cokeworth grass, and how her eyes sparkled in the same way when she talked about her family and her friends and her hopes for the future. Even after last year, after losing her best friend and her sister and learning about blood supremacy, Lily hadn't lost that sparkle in her eye nor her light, bubbling laugh.

No, the only thing that made this scene different from the ones of last summer was that now he wasn't by her side.

"This is a nice party, Potter," a voice rang out beside him.

With a start, James tore his eyes from Lily and whipped around to find himself coming face to face with Mary MacDonald. "Thanks," he answered, running a hand through his hair. "My job was rather easy, though. I just had to go with Sirius to pick up the food and drinks."

"Well, you managed not to muck it up," Mary said with a wry smile. She paused, her gaze wandering to the person James had just been thinking about. Mary's expression clouded over and she bit her lip as she stared. "I'm glad she's happy," she whispered. James followed her gaze and saw Lily throwing her hands around in excitement, her fingers dancing to the sound of her laughter.

"Me too," he said quietly. He turned to Mary and added, "I'm glad both of you are."

"It's easy to forget about all the horrid things happening when you're surrounded by friends and have drunk enough firewhiskey," she shrugged. "But I meant in general. I'm glad Lily's happy. We were all a bit worried about her coming into this year, what with Snape turning out to be just as slimy a git as we thought and her sister freezing her out."

"And the fact I made her life so difficult last year," James supplied, understanding what Mary had left unsaid.

Mary raised an eyebrow but didn't contradict him "Yes, that too. Although," she gave him a sympathetic look and took a drink from her goblet, "I don't think anyone really blames you for that. And I've got to admit, you two are getting on famously this year."

"Yeah, well, I—" James paused, biting back the confession that was fighting to leave his mouth. "I guess we finally figured out how to be friends."

Mary nodded again and surveyed the room. "Well, I think I'm going to go crash Remus and Alice's game," she said, stepping away from him. "Maybe you can go see what's got Lily so wound up." With a small smile, she sauntered away.

James didn't move for a moment. He was debating furiously with himself over whether or not to approach Lily. On one hand, he reasoned, they were friends now, and rather good friends at that. It wouldn't seem suspicious at all for him to want to talk to her. On the other hand, though, approaching Lily after he had drunk more than his share of liquor and mere hours after he had admitted to Sirius he may still fancy her was dangerous. What if she didn't want to talk to him? Or, worse, what if he accidentally said something he shouldn't?

But then, he thought, what if everything was alright and they just had a nice conversation, punctuated by her pretty laughter and accented by her sparkling green eyes. It would be just like last summer.

"Sod it," James muttered, downing the rest of his whiskey and striding towards Peter and Lily as the warm liquid coursed through him.

"Hi P—hic—Prongs," Peter greeted James, giving him a small wave and sitting up slightly.

"Hey, Pete," James grinned, dropping to sit down between him and Lily. "Hi, Lilybean," he said, leaning over towards her.

"Hello, Jamesy," Lily said in a sing-song voice, smiling widely as though they were sharing some inside joke.

"What're you been doin' Prongsy?" Peter asked, flopping onto his back.

"I was just talking to Mary," James answered. "And she went to play exploding snap, so here I am with you two."

"There's exploding snap?" Peter shot up, wobbling a bit before he regained his balance. "Where?" he demanded.

James jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "Remus and Alice."

Without a word, Peter stumbled to his feet and teetered away, muttering about having to defend his title.

"I've never met someone so mad about exploding snap," James chuckled and shook his head.

"Mhm," Lily mumbled, having not moved through the entirety of James and Peter's exchange. "Me either."

"How're you, Lily?" James asked, leaning over her again and peering at her. "Are you alright?"

"'m fine." She pushed herself into a sitting position and gave James a pointed look. "See?"

"Why don't we move so you can lean against something?" James suggested, taking her gently by the shoulder and turning her so that her back was now against Remus's bed. "Easier to sit up now?" he asked.

"Yes, much easier," Lily sighed, leaning back contentedly. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." James raised his hand to muss his hair but then stopped, remembering she didn't like it when he did that. "Er," he said, awkwardly bringing his hand down to his lap. "You having fun tonight?"

"Mhm," Lily sighed, turning to look at him. "But why are you so much better than me?"

"I—what?" James furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I can't hardly sit up and—and you're just perfect!" she said, gesturing towards him vaguely. "Like you've not drunk anything."

"Oh." James relaxed slightly. "I've just done this a bit more than you, Lilybean."

"Well it's not my fault I've not had the chance to practice." She stuck her tongue out and then grinned. "But maybe I'll be better soon."

"Maybe," James laughed. "But I don't know," he raised an eyebrow and dropped his voice to a tone of false seriousness, "if you can't handle yourself we might have to ban you from firewhiskey."

"You wouldn't," Lily gasped, her eyes going wide.

"Oh, we would," James nodded sagely. "We had to ban Sirius for a while."

"But—but—" Lily sputtered, "I'm fine, James, honest."

James burst out laughing. "I'm just taking the mick, Lils," he chuckled. "You can have as much as you like. In fact, we encourage it."

"You prat!" Lily cried, smacking him in the shoulder. "You scared me."

"Oh, you're fine," James rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine but you're still a prat." Lily tossed her hair.

James laughed and moved so he was sitting beside her. "But really, Lily," he asked, putting an arm around her tentatively and smiling when she relaxed into him, "are you alright? I've never seen you like this."

"I said I'm fine," Lily mumbled through the curtain of hair that had fallen onto her face.

"Alright," James said. "I just wanted to ask. Because if you weren't alright you should tell me, you know that, right? Because we're mates now. And mates tell each other when they're not alright."

Lily didn't say anything. She reached up and tried unsuccessfully to brush the hair from her face, only managing to make it messier.

James watched her and finally reached out and brushed it from her face. "Better?"

"Much." She nodded and bit her lip. "James?"

"Yeah?" he asked, glancing down. Lily stared up at him, her eyes wide.

"I met Severus the other day," she blurted out. "Even though you said I shouldn't."

James raised his eyebrows and adjusted his glasses before clearing his throat. "You did?"

Lily nodded fervently and moved so she was leaning on his shoulder. "I did," she said quietly. "Remus did too. And—and you were right."

"I was?"

"I—I need to stop giving him chances."

James paused and then looked down again. Lily was staring at the floor, so all he could see was the top of her head. "Yeah," he murmured, tightening his arm around her. "You do."

"He took my bracelet," Lily mumbled.

"Your bracelet?" James asked, furrowing his brow. "What—oh." The bracelet. Of course, the charm bracelet. He remembered Lily showing it to him over the summer, beaming with excitement as she showed him the different charms and explained it had been a gift from her sister.

"He took it and he kept it," she went on, her voice wobbling. "And he only gave it back to try and make me talk to him again."

"I'm sorry, Lily." He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. "But you're not going to let him get to you anymore, yeah?"

"Yeah," Lily nodded against his shoulder. "Oh," she groaned. "And now I know he's the one who sent me that other bracelet last Christmas and now I can't wear it and I so do love that one—"

"Oh," James swallowed and chewed the inside of his cheek. "Er, Lily? Er—well—Snape didn't send you that—"

"What?" She shot up and stared at him, her green eyes almost glowing.

"Er—" James ran a hand through his hair and cursed himself inwardly. Bullocks. Why'd he have to go and say that. He felt his ears heat up and looked away hurriedly, staring at the floor. "That bracelet—I sent you that one—I—er—yeah." He ran his hand through his hair again and glanced at her.

Lily's eyes were as wide as dinner plates and her mouth was working furiously, though no words were coming out. "You—you?" she croaked.

"Er—yeah—me."

"But—but—" She stared at him. "Why?"

"Er—" James squirmed uncomfortably, his eyes not leaving the floor. His face felt as though it were on fire. "When you lost the other one you were so upset and—" he swallowed and turned to face her, taking confidence in the fact she hadn't gotten up and left yet. "I remembered you talking about that bracelet and how it was from your sister and—and when you lost it I just wanted help make it a little better. Even if we weren't friends then."

"Oh." Lily chewed on her lip and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Her face was scarlet.

James was about to tell her to forget it, that it was nearly a year ago and she could get rid of the bracelet if she wanted, when something soft collided with him.

"Thank you," Lily whispered as she hugged him, her hair covering his face. "I loved it."

"Er—you're welcome," James mumbled into the mass of red hair.

Lily detached herself and awkwardly sat back on the ground. James mussed his hair and looked uncomfortably around the room, trying to think of something to say to distract them both from what had happened.

He was spared the need to say anything by Marlene, who chose that moment to vomit rather loudly all over the floor.

"Mar!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping to his feet and picking her up.

"'m'lright," Marlene slurred.

"I think it's time for bed," Sirius said, setting Marlene down on a bed and summoning a rubbish bin with a flick of his wand.

Sirius got Marlene in bed and James watched as Lily got up and went over to her friend, tying Marlene's hair back and whispering.

James, after a moment, got to his feet and walked over to Sirius, who was laying down on the ground at the foot of his bed.

"Had a good party, Padfoot?"

"The best," Sirius mumbled. "Couldn't be better. H'bout you?"

"Pretty good," James nodded, glancing at Lily, who was now laying next to Mary MacDonald on the floor and attempting to enlarge one of Peter's pillows. "In fact, might've been one of the best nights I've had in a while."