The morning of the Quidditch final is overcast with dull, grey, heavy clouds. Lily, looking out her dormitory room window, scowls a bit at it.

"Don't worry. The clouds will burn off before the match," Glynis says, from across the room and without so much as a glance at the window, and in that cheerfully sure way she has of being certain of things she can't possibly be certain of.

Glynis is almost invariably correct, however, about things she says in that particular manner, so Lily turns her attention away from the sky and to the three of her roommates who aren't on the Quidditch team. Cliona was gone when Lily woke up, though whether there actually was some sort of planned dawn team meeting or she just couldn't sleep, Lily doesn't know.

She is not, however, at all surprised to discover that while the Gryffindor common room is practically vibrating with energy and the hum of voices, there's no sign of Cliona, James, or their teammates.

They've been fairly scarce these last few weeks, as the final gets closer and the practices get longer. Lily has mostly seen her boyfriend in classes, at meals, and on the handful of occasions they've managed to be in the common room at the same time. (And if Lily has, once or twice, taken advantage of those occasions to slip completed copies of some of the more time-consuming Potions assignments into James' bag, well, what of it?)

But it's finally here, the last match of the year, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, with the Quidditch Cup on the line. One way or the other, it'll be over and done with in a few hours.

It's felt different this year than it did last year, the run-up to the final game. Partly because, while Gryffindor and Ravenclaw both want to win (and both can reasonably expect to), and while each house is perfectly capable of being a bit snide about the other when the occasion calls for it, it's not like it is with Gryffindor and Slytherin (but then, what it?). And partly because, Lily thinks, it's all so different between her and James this year. There's been no grand promise to win the Quidditch Cup for her this time around, and she's glad. Because the game has enough riding on it in and of itself, and because while Lily definitely wants James to win, she wants James to win for himself and his teammates and Gryffindor. Not for her.

The clouds have, as predicted by Glynis, burned off by the time the students reach the stands and it's a perfect day for a Qudditch game. Lily takes a spot between Mary and Remus, which cannot properly be called a seat because none of them do all that much sitting during the match. It's not the sort of match you sit through.

Because it is, as the teams mount their brooms and the Snitch darts out of sight, really and truly anyone's game. Gryfindor and Ravenclaw are fielding incredibly good and evenly matched teams. Gryffindor has the better Chasers (of course), but Ravenclaw has the more accomplished keeper. If Ravenclaw has more precise Beaters, Gryffindor has more creative ones, and both teams use the Bludgers very effectively. And as for the Chasers . . . Raquel Clayworth and Ellery West are often little more than blurs of red and blue (respectively), weaving in and out of twelve other players, a referee, and three darting balls in pursuit of what appears to be a particularly elusive Snitch.

It's not just a good game, it's a great one, one for the record books, and so good in fact that Lily keeps finding herself watching the game instead of watching James. (And watching James is easily one of her very favorite ways to spend her time these days.) The team trades goals, and the lead, and the occasional foul for the better part of four hours. And the students watching the match cheer and gasp and occasionally hold their breath.

And like all great Quidditch matches, it ends abruptly and spectacularly, with Raquel Clayworth diving fifty feet almost impossibly vertically to close her hand around the Snitch. And there's a proper explosion of noise Gryffindor's end of the stands, and no one actually hears the announcement that Gryffindor has won 470-310.

But that's exactly what they've done.

James, Quaffle still in hand, spins 270 degrees in the air and looks straight at Lily -- never mind the distance from him to her -- with the Jamesiest of all Jamesish smiles. And for one second, Lily thinks her knees might have forgotten how to work.

Then James vanishes into a scarlet-clad, multi-armed, tangled mid-air hug of Quidditch players.

"Come on," Remus says, pulling her attention back to her immediate area. "We should move away from Sirius before we hear any plans for this evening's celebration which we cannot, as prefects, condone."

(And if that takes them down closer to the field and the players, well, again, what of it? There are congratulations to give, after all.)

"Nobody's going to sleep tonight, are they?" Lily asks, as they weave their way through a sea of cheering Gryffindors.

"Not a chance," Remus says.

Because Gryffindor -- and James -- just won the Cup.

And a celebration is definitely in order.

"So, how'd it go?" Lily asks, as they make their way back to Gryffindor tower.

They've been at a brief, post-Easter-holidays meeting the Head Boy and Head Girl have held with the prefects, which can be summed up, Welcome back to Hogwarts. We really hope the two weeks away have dissipated the tensions that defined last term, but we're not counting on it. Good luck!

Remus frowns at her. "The meeting? You were there."

"Not the meeting, silly, your date. With Angela?"

"How d'you know I had a date with Angela?"

Lily looks at him and waits for realization to dawn.

"James," Remus says, when it does.

"That, and I heard Black talking to you about it on the train. So, how did it go?"

"It was nice," he says, after a moment. "I liked her. I had a good time, I think she did, too."

"Did you kiss her?"

"I fail to see how that's any of your business, Evans," Remus says, mock prefectorially.

"And a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell?"

"Exactly."

"Ah, so you did kiss her, then. Must have. Or there wouldn't be anything for you to not tell," Lily says, cheerfully. "Plus, you're blushing."

"I am not."

"Touch of the sun, then?"

"Yes."

"In a corridor?"

"Yes."

"At half nine at night?"

"Yes."

Lily laughs, and a second later, Remus joins in.

"Well, whether you kissed her or not, I'm glad you had a good time."

"Thank you. And thank you for your help the other afternoon."

"You're very welcome, Remus. So, are you going to see her again?"

Remus shakes his head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. Just ... we had a good, but not really a good enough time to ... "

"To try to keep something going long distance?" Lily asks.

"More or less."

Lily stops walking and studies him for a moment, debating. When he stops, too, and turns back to look at her, she asks, and "D'you want to talk about the more or the less?"

"There's nothing much to say, Lily. She's pretty and charming and I had a good time, but she's in London and I'm here, and she's a Muggle and I'm a Wizard. I don't see a lot of future, there."

"Can I ask you something that might be a bit rude?" Lily asks.

"If I said no, would it stop you?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Go ahead."

"Do ... d'you like girls, Remus?"

"What? Of course I do."

"Well, I'm not trying to offend you, it's just that I've known you for what, six years now? And I've never seen you so much as ask a girl to go to Hogsmeade with you. I can't even remember any real gossip or speculation about your fancying anyone. A couple of girls who fancy you, sure. But not the other way around. And I get that long distance is hard, and I get that the Muggle-Wizard thing is complicated, trust me, but ... I dunno. The way you said 'more or less' it just ... it made that sound like those were more excuses than reasons. And you are a -- "

"The word you're looking for is werewolf."

"Actually, I was thinking I would say bit of a catch, but -- "

"I'm really not."

"You're clever, you're kind, you're thoughtful, you're brave, you're resourceful, you're reasonably handsome -- "

"'Reasonably'?"

"Well, you're not James, but I'm a bit biased. All in all, though, you're a good bloke, Remus."

"And a werewolf."

"That's not who you are, though."

Remus' smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, it is." He hesitates, then nods toward the empty classroom behind them. And since Lily can see where this is not a conversation to have in a corridor, she nods, and then follows him in, pulling the door shut behind her.

It takes him a moment to start speaking again. "I've never told anyone."

"What d'you mean? You just told me."

"No, you already knew. You worked it out. James and Sirius and Peter worked it out. All I had to do was confirm it. Or even just not deny it. Telling someone would be ... I'm not sure I could. And I don't really need to invite any further scrutiny of the pattern. I mean, it is supposed to be a secret, after all. D'you think a girl I was going out with wouldn't notice?"

"No, she probably would. Unless you were dating someone incredibly thick, but I don't think that would make you very happy."

"Right. Besides, wouldn't exactly be fair to her, is it? Let her date a Dark Creature unawares."

"That's not what you are."

"Yeah, Lily, it is. Look, I know you mean well, and I know you're trying to reassure me that there's more to me than the wolf, but the thing is ... I know that. But it's still a part, a significant, immutable, inevitable part of who I am. I'm in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I answered a question on my Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL about how to identify myself. Signs of a werewolf: he's sitting in my chair and he's wearing my clothes."

"Fine, it's part of you. But you know, Remus, you may find that there's a girl out there who would decide that the clever, thoughtful boy that's the rest of you is worth it. After all, James and Black and Peter, they've known for years, and as far as I can tell, there's not a damned thing on Earth they wouldn't do for you. They've decided the boy's more important than the wolf -- "

"Yes, and that's three more people than I ever thought would make that decision."

"But it doesn't mean that they're the only three who ever will. In fact, clever lad that you are, you should have spotted that there's at least one more person who feels that way, or I'd hardly be having this conversation with you."

Remus actually smiles. "What is it Cliona's fond of saying?"

"'Fair enough'."

"Right. Fair enough, then."

"Just think about it all, all right?"

"Fine. I'll think about it. But for now," Remus says, opening the door back to the corridor, "what I'm going to do is get you back to your boyfriend before he sends out search parties."

"Don't be ridiculous. James wouldn't send out search parties. He'd come looking himself."

"Probably with Sirius in tow."

"Can't have that," Lily says. "Besides, we've got class in the morning and I still need to unpack."

"Back to Gryffindor Tower posthaste, then," Remus says. "And, Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Lily smiles. "Any time."

Something is very wrong in Marauderland.

James and Black haven't spoken to each other since James' birthday. Peter has been going around with a nervous expression (not totally unlike the one worn by a kid whose parents are fighting). Remus seems to be spending an inordinate amount of time in the library, and she's starting to think he's deliberately avoiding her, too.

Of course, Lily is still less than completely well-pleased with any of them (especially Black). But this is not the natural order of things, and she'd have to be incredibly stupid not to realize that she's at the center of it, whether she wants to be or not.

"You look like you think I'm here to slap you," she tells Remus on Tuesday evening, sitting down at his table in the library without asking.

Remus looks down at the table and then back to her. "I wouldn't exactly blame you if you did."

"If I didn't slap James, I'm not going to slap you," Lily says.

Remus smiles a little. "What about Sirius?"

"Haven't decided yet," Lily says. She's mostly kidding.

Mostly.

"Still," Remus says, "I'm very sorry for my part in what happened. We all should have known better."

"Thank you," Lily says.

"I know you know this," Remus says, "but James knows how lucky he is."

Lily almost laughs. "Thank you," she says again. "How are things, with the four of you?"

She could ask James -- she has asked James -- but she'd like the impression from someone slightly removed from the blast site.

Remus shrugs a little. "A little cool."

"How much of an understatement is that?"

"A pretty significant one," Remus admits.

"I just don't understand why Black did what he did," Lily says. "I mean, I understand why he did it to me; he doesn't like me. I don't understand why he did it to James."

Remus sighs. "It's not that he doesn't like you, it's that he's scared of you. Or, I guess, he'd scared of what you represent."

"And what's that?"

"Lily, nothing in six years has ever taken James' time or attention away from us -- from Sirius -- the way you do."

"I'm not trying to take James away from any of you."

"I know that," Remus says. "But the simple fact of the matter is, well, sometimes you do. I'm not saying that you shouldn't. I mean, you're his girlfriend, you're entitled to some evenings and lunches with James. But I think Sirius worries that you could take all of James' time if you wanted. And that scares him. And even at the best of times, Sirius doesn't always think things through to their logical conclusion before he does them." Remus looks down for a moment, and Lily gets the feeling that they're not just talking about her and James' birthday any more.

"He doesn't always see what comes after the brilliant idea he thinks he's had," Remus continues. "It just doesn't occur to him that there will be repercussions, especially not if they'd be for people other than him. Sometimes I think ... I'm not sure anyone ever told Sirius where the lines you don't cross are, that there are things that are just beyond what you do, that there are limits. He didn't mean for James to get hurt. I don't think he even really meant for you to get hurt. I think he just wanted what he wanted, and he didn't think further than that."

"So he's six," Lily says, and Remus laughs.

"In a lot of ways, yeah. He's six."

It's not anything she hasn't kind of already worked out for herself, but it's nice to have someone else's opinion. Especially someone who knows everyone involved better than she does.

She's going to have to have a talk with James' best friend. She knows that.

But it takes her another day to actually go looking for him.

She finds him sprawled on a couch in the common room, flipping through a Quidditch magazine and managing to project that aura of Any second now, I will realize how bored I am and how boring all of you are and I will go some place where everyone is much more interesting and fabulous, and where I will realize that I am still bored and they are still boring because I am Sirius Black and the rest of the world isn't.

Lily's never been a fan of it.

But James is at tea with Dumbledore, and Peter and Remus aren't around, so it's probably as good a time as any to talk to Black.

Not that she knows what she's going to say, even after thinking about it since she talked to Remus.

But she'll figure it out, right?

"Black, have you got a minute?"

The hardest thing to get at Hogwarts is not, contrary to popular belief, an overt sign of approval from Professor Grindstaff.

It's privacy.

With hundreds of students living four and five to a bedroom, even a castle as big as Hogwarts can feel pretty crowded.

Still, most students have at least one place they go when they want fifteen minutes alone (or alone together), though not all of these places are as private as would be ideal.

Lily has a windowsill in a little niche in a stairwell. She and Mary found it as first years, after a series of wrong turns it still amazes Lily that they could recreate well enough to find it again. It's a stairwell that doesn't seem to be the most direct route to anywhere, so it's generally (but not always) a place that no one else will be.

It's where Lily's headed this evening. Not because anything is wrong, but just because she wants a few minutes to herself.

At least, that was the plan.

Before . . .

"Please, just leave me alone."

It echoes off the walls, from up ahead and around the corner.

And the slight distortion from the echo isn't enough to disguise Mary's voice.

Or Mulciber's.

"You can't go yet. You just got here."

Lily has her wand out before he's finished speaking. Just ahead, at the corner, she can see what she knows is Mary's wand, cherry and unicorn hair, lying on the stone floor, where it was dropped or, more likely, where it landed when Mary was disarmed. Lily moves as quickly as she can without letting her footsteps make any sound – surprise is one advantage she doesn't want to give away, here. She stops just long enough to collect Mary's wand, and then steps around the corner, her own wand level and ready in her left hand.

Mulciber is a few yards ahead, his back to her. At the other end of the short corridor, twenty-five feet or so away, is Avery. And trapped between them is Mary. They're not aiming spells quite at her – not yet – but a few feet to either side, watching her scuttle and twist to get out of the way of the bright green sparks that instead hit the stone walls.

It's worse, somehow.

And Lily just might be angrier than she has ever been in her life.

"That's enough," Lily says, in a loud, cold, steady voice.

Her wand is pointed at Mulciber – he's both a better wizard and a worse person than Avery. But she's not an idiot, she's expecting the curse Avery sends from his end of the hall. "Protego. Impedimentia," she says, and has her wand pointed back to Mulciber to block his spell, even as Avery hits the floor, struggling against the jinx. "Protego. I said that's enough," Lily says, moving toward Mary without ever taking her eyes off Mulciber.

"Evans," Mulciber says, with a leering sort of smile that makes Lily's skin crawl. "If you wanted to play, too, all you had to do was ask."

"We're leaving," Lily says, reaching Mary and handing her wand back to her. "You'll want to get out of our way now."

"Don't think I do, actually," Mulciber says.

"Then you won't like what happens next," Lily says, her eyes and her wand never leaving Mulciber.

Mulciber starts laughing. "Was that a threat, Evans?"

"Yes, it was. We both know you're not the best duelist in this corridor, don't we?"

"Maybe," Mulciber says. "But I'm not the one who's outnumbered."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily sees Avery getting to his feet again.

"I don't think you can take both of us at the same time. Not for long. Not alone," Mulciber says.

"She's not alone," Mary says, though her voice isn't quite as steady as Lily would like.

Mary has many wonderful qualities, but this is not really her strong suit.

Lily can probably beat Mulciber or Avery, but Mulciber and Avery can probably beat Lily and Mary. Especially as she and Mary are stuck between them, a single target to the double one presented by the Slytherins.

Avery laughs, and those same green sparks shoot past them, a foot to Lily's left.

Mulciber doesn't waste his time with sparks. "Confringo."

"Protego," Lily counters, though she's going to have to get off the defensive to have any chance of getting out of this.

Especially if Mulciber is breaking out curses like that.

Spells flash up and down the corridor for more than a minute, leaving a scorch mark up the wall, blasting a suit of armor's arm off.

And then Avery manages to hit Mary with the same clothes tightening curse from last year, and Lily has to turn away from Mulciber to break it, because that spell will kill her, and it's all looking very bad until …

"Petrificus Totalus," says a voice behind Avery, and he falls forward to reveal Remus Lupin, wand already leveled at Mulciber. "Good evening, Lily. Mary. Mulciber. Avery," he adds, stepping over the fallen Slytherin and into the corridor.

Mary's sitting in the floor, catching her breath, but with the spell broken, Lily can turn her wand back to Mulciber as well. "Remus," she says. "Thank you for stopping by."

"Heard a commotion," Remus says. "Thought I'd check things out. Since I am a prefect."

This last is less conversational and more pointed, a reminder to Mulciber (and the still fallen Avery) of exactly who, and what, they're dealing with here.

"Yes," Mulciber says, with a sneer. "The Mudblood bitch and the half-blood freak. Is that really the best Gryffindor come up with for prefects?"

"Is that really the best you can come up with for an insult, you slithy frumious Bandersnatch?" Lily asks. "Fifty points from Slytherin. Each. For the most repulsive display of disrespect for a fellow student I have ever seen. Even from you. And please rest assured that Professor Slughorn will be hearing about this. Now take Avery and get the hell out of here."

Behind her, she can hear Remus break the jinx on Avery. She doesn't take her eyes off Mulciber, though. "This isn't over," he hisses, as he passes her and Mary.

"Yes, it is," Lily says.

Even though she's fairly sure it's not.

Remus follows them down the hall to the corner, wand still drawn, probably to make sure they're not planning to turn around and come back. Lily turns her attention to Mary. "Are you all right?"

"I'm not hurt," Mary says, which doesn't quite answer the question.

Lily hugs her, gently. "We should go to Slughorn," she says. She looks over Mary's shoulder at Remus. "Right now."

"I – " Mary says. She didn't want anyone to, in her words, 'make a big deal out of it' last year, and Lily suspects she'd like to just pretend this didn't happen, too.

"Mary," Lily says, "we have to. They're getting worse."

After a second Mary nods. "You'll come with me?"

"Both of us," Remus says, coming back over to join them.

"Thank you," Mary says.

"Of course," Remus says.

Professor Slughorn opens his door already in his dressing gown, takes one look at the three of them, and ushers them promptly into his large and not especially office-like office, sends for tea from the kitchens, and listens as they explain what has happened.

He summons first Professor McGonagall and then Madam Pomfrey, as "Suffocation Curses are nothing to take lightly, my dear girl."

Lily sits on the couch in the corner while Madam Pomfrey and the teachers fuss over Mary. Remus comes over to sit beside her. "Are you all right?"

"Me?" Lily asks. "I'm fine. Regretting that I didn't hex something off Mulciber that he'd miss while I had the excuse, but fine otherwise."

Remus smiles, just a little, just for a second, then his expression grows sober again. "What were you doing up there, anyway?"

Lily sighs. "There's a window in that stairwell. Mary and I both go there, when we need a place to think. Or we did. I suspect it's lost its appeal. What were you doing up there?"

"Nearly Headless Nick pointed me in your direction, actually. And then as I got closer, I heard the dueling."

"I'll have to thank him. It's a very good thing you showed up when you did," Lily says.

"You're welcome." There's a second of silence, and then Remus says, in a somewhat lighter tone, "What did you call him, again?"

Lily smiles faintly. "A slithy frumious Bandersnatch."

"Not what I was expecting," Remus says. "Probably not what he was expecting, either."

"Did you think my repertoire was limited to 'arrogant toerag'?" Lily asks.

"You were holding back on James, then."

"A little, maybe," Lily says.

"That's 'Jabberwocky,' right?"

Lily nods. "Yeah. He's lucky I didn't go for Shakespeare. There are some fabulous insults in Shakespeare."

"Save it for next time," Remus suggests.

"You think there'll be a next time?"

"You know there will," Remus says.

Lily looks over at Mary. "She doesn't go anywhere alone for a while," she says. "Not till Easter, anyway. Maybe for the rest of the year."

Muggleborn, Gryffindor, and not a terribly strong duelist. Lacking prefectorial authority, and shielded by neither a friendship with Snape nor a well-known connection to James Potter. Mary is the most obvious target.

She always has been.

Remus nods. "I'll tell the others."

"Good."

Madam Pomfrey decides Mary should spend the night in the hospital wing. Lily thinks she might be better off with her friends in Gryffindor Tower, but there's no sense arguing with Madam Pomfrey. She and Remus walk down with them, leaving to Professor McGonagall's assurances that the Headmaster will be hearing about this -- and handling it -- as soon as he returns to Hogwarts.

They pass a few other students on the way, and from the reactions, Lily is willing to bet that word has started getting around.

Madam Ponfrey throws them out after about twenty minutes, claiming that Mary needs to rest, and on that, at least, she and Lily are in complete agreement. Her own anger and the adrenaline are starting to wear off, and the exhaustion is starting to sink in. And Mary was the one who was properly attacked.

James reaches the hospital wing just as she and Remus are leaving, with an expression on his face that isn't quite like any expression Lily has ever seen there before.

Not that she takes long to study the expression on his face.

She doesn't even take the time to greet him.

Right now, Lily just kind of needs her boyfriend to hold her for a moment.

Lily Evans' seventeenth birthday begins with an enormous party in the Gryffindor common room.

Of course, this party has nothing at all to do with Lily's birthday. It has, in fact, been going on for several hours when Lily's birthday begins, because Gryffidor had completely annihilated Slytherin in their Quidditch match. (Final score: 390 to 80, meaning Gryffindor would have won even if Raquel Clayworth hadn't beat Regulus Black to the Snitch, which she did, with a little help from some remarkably accurate Bludger batting by Sebastian Edeson. Word is that Regulus Black might have a broken nose. Again.)

And any Gryffindor victory requires a party, but that kind of victory, and over Slytherin requires a party. One that James is more or less stuck at the center of, as Captain and Star Chaser. Occasionally, he manages to escape his friends and fans and admirers long enough to talk to his girlfriend for a few moments, and the rest of the time, Lily is more or less gracious about having to share him with the rest of their House.

(Well, all right, so Serena Keddle might have had a little help spilling that butterbeer all down the front of her dress and fleeing in mortification, but, honestly, the whole giggle-and-hair-toss routine was annoying enough when James wasn't actually dating anyone. Now that he is ... )

It's a very nice way to begin a birthday, even though, looking at her watch at two past midnight, Lily suspects she's the only person in Gryffindor Tower who realizes it's the thirtieth already.

But of course she's wrong about that, because she's barely finished the thought when someone says, "Happy Birthday, Lily," from just behind her right shoulder, and she turns to find James there, with one of those very Jamesish smiles of his. It doesn't quite surprise her at all, not really, that he's been watching the clock all through his party for his win, so he can be the first person to wish her a happy birthday.

There's another party on Sunday, smaller and quieter and properly for Lily's birthday, with her roommates and James', after lunch (when they've all had the morning to recover from the late night before). James takes over the chairs in front of the fireplace (running off a couple of second years) and produces a cake that he no doubt talked Milty into making for him and a small box wrapped in gold paper.

"It's from all of us," James says.

"Even Sirius," Cliona puts in, cheerfully.

"Oy," Black objects, from the chair farthest from Lily's.

Lily opens the box to find a deep gold, oval-shaped locket on a long chain. There's a delicate, almost lace-like etching of links around the perimeter. It's got the same look as the hairpin she wears more days than not: simple, elegant, well-made -- James' style.

"It's a tradition," Perdita says, and Lily forces her attention from the locket to her friend. "When a witch turns seventeen, she gets a locket."

"Just like a wizard gets a watch," Peter adds.

"It's usually from your parents, but we didn't know that they would know," Glynis says.

"So James had the idea that we should do it," Remus says.

"It's beautiful," Lily says, carefully lifting it from the box. "Thank you." She's a little overwhelmed. "All of you."

"Open it," Mary says.

It takes Lily a second to find the rather cleverly hidden latch on the side. When she does, though, she finds tiny pictures of her parents looking up at her. And, small as they are, she can tell they're wizarding photographs, because the smiles shift a little, and they keep blinking.

Lily looks at James, stunned. "How on Earth did you ... ?"

"It was easy," says James with a grin. "Honestly, it didn't take much to get your parents involved; they were happy to do it. Just a quick trip out, a couple of bent rules and a prefect on our side." He exchanges a glance with Remus, who smiles innocently.

"Can't have an empty locket after all," Cliona says. "And it'll keep expanding, too," she adds, demonstrating with her own locket, which opens like an accordian, to reveal pictures of her parents, her sister, all her brothers, and her niece. "How ever many spaces you need or want, later."

"It's perfect," Lily says, slipping the chain over her head, then looking down at the locket again. "It's just perfect. Thank you."

Sirius clears his throat loudly and straightens. "Right, well. Now that that's done, can the lot of you stop acting like a bunch of girls and get on with the cake?"

There's is still a part of her that wants to go to Dumbledore and tell him everything.

There's even a part of her that thinks (or maybe knows) that that is exactly what she should do.

Because what James and the others are doing is, in Lily's perhaps not entirely objective opinion, the most stupidly dangerous thing she's ever heard of anyone doing anywhere.

And no matter what James said, she's not sure it's necessary. She's quite sure that Dumbledore knows Remus is a werewolf and no doubt came up with thoroughly sufficient precautions to make sure he didn't run off and murder someone every full moon. And it seems arrogant -- maybe even toerag levels of arrogant -- to assume that a bunch of half-trained Hogwarts students are better equipped to deal with this than the Headmaster.

Werewolves may prefer to target humans, but Lily's fairly certain a wolf can rip a deer's throat out if it is so inclined.

Really, is it too much to ask that if he has to do this, James turn into some kind of carnivore?

So, yes, she ought to go to Dumbledore, tell him everything, and put a stop to all this before Peter Pettigrew comes running up to the castle some morning, shaky and pale and wide-eyed and says that Remus-the-wolf has killed James-the-stag.

In fact, the only way she talks herself out of telling Dumbledore that first night is the lateness of the hour. It's nearly midnight by the time she finishes alternately resolutely ignoring and obsessively evaluating her options here, and since it's still a week till the full moon, there's no point in disturbing everyone in the middle of the night.

Monday morning, she can almost convince herself that she dreamed the whole crazy thing. After all, Peter got a D on his Transfiguration OWL and could barely transfigure a biscuit into a bumblebee, so it's hard to believe he could turn himself into a rat.

Except that things with James are just a little ... off-kilter. It's not exactly awkward, it's certainly not uncomfortable, but there's a certain level of ... of cautiousness. Like he's paying just a little more attention to her than usual, or maybe it's just a slightly different kind of attention. More ... watchful.

She thinks that's the word she wants.

Watchful.

Neither of them mentions their talk in the Clock Tower, but that night she beats him at chess, easily and for the first time, and she wonders if it's because his mind's not entirely in the game or if it's some kind of apology in the weird non-language of boys.

It's not that she doesn't trust James, because she does. She can certainly appreciate how much he must trust her, to tell her all this. And, perhaps more significantly, to do so without extracting any kind of promise that she'll keep it all a secret, just an assumption that she will.

It's just that James can think things are eminently reasonable that are a little ... daring. Perhaps even foolhardy. She might go as far as reckless. Black's involvement doesn't help, because while James is reckless, Lily has occasionally wondered how Black managed to survive childhood. Or First Year. Or Second. Or ... well, you get the idea.

Remus, though ... Remus is someone Lily knows to be cautious and thoughtful and slightly less impulsive than his friends. He's someone Dumbledore trusts enough to give him the same shiny silver badge she has, after all. He knows far more about the situation than she does, or really than she ever could (if even less objective about it than she is). So Lily decides, somewhere around the time Monday becomes Tuesday, that if Remus is going along with this, if he's allowing it, then he must be reasonably certain of his own and his friends' safety. Even if she's frequently called his ability to influence the others at all into question, for something like this, with the stakes as high as they are, surely he'd put an end to it if it really were as dangerous as it sounds to Lily.

(Years from now, shortly before Harry is born, she and Remus will get onto this subject one afternoon, and he'll tell her about the guilt and the misgivings and the worry he ignored each month at Hogwarts. It will be the first, last, and only time Lily ever slaps him. But that's years from now.)

Besides, she has told James that she won't say anything. And she meant that. It's not her secret.

So she won't say anything about the Secret Animagi of Gryffindor Tower.

James stays watchful for another day or two, but by Friday he's back to flirting with her at lunch and beating her at chess, and on Saturday they finally make it into Hogsmeade on their first not-at-Hogwarts date. They wander in and out of shops, where Lily does some of her Christmas shopping and James insists on carrying her bags. They wind up at a crowded table with their friends at the Three Broomsticks.

It starts to feel like just one of those things about James that make him, well, James. He's a Gryffindor, and a Quidditch player, and an amazing kisser, and a bit of a showoff. He's got messy black hair, and beautiful hands, and a smile that could make gardenias bloom, and glasses that he wears because he's horribly farsighted. He's fiercely loyal, and frightfully clever, and devastatingly charming, and maybe just the tiniest bit mad. And, once a month, he turns himself into a stag, to keep his werewolf best friend company during the full moon.

But it's very hard to see that last as 'just one of those things about James' on Monday evening. If you can even really call it an 'evening.' It's nearly the Solstice and they're so far north. The day is short, the sun sets early and the full moon is waiting.

Lily sits in window in her room, with her knees drawn up to her chin. Her view is mostly of the lake, though she can see one small part of the Grounds that she'd expect people to pass through on their way to the Whomping Willow. She's been sitting and watching for maybe half an hour when she finally sees three figures, wrapped in cloaks and moving quickly, headed away from the castle.

After that, she discovers that she had no business using the word 'finally' after only half an hour.

She manages to at least hold her Charms book to make it look like she's revising, while her roommates are still awake. "The moon's full, there's plenty of light, I'm be fine," she tells Glynis, when Glynis asks if she wants a candle. "I won't be up much longer," Lily adds. "I just want to finish this chapter." Glynis looks at her for a second and then nods.

After they've fallen asleep, Lily gives up the pretense of the book and just sits in the window, wrapped in one of the blankets from her bed. She watches the moon make its way across the sky and watches its reflection make its way across the lake. It's a very clear, very still night.

And it's long. It's very, very long.

Finally (and this time, she thinks the word is earned), the moon sinks out of view and the eastern edge of the sky begins to grow lighter.

Some time after that, four figures make their way across that same bit of the Grounds, moving more slowly than the group that left.

Lily sighs, and slides down out of the window.

Her roommates will start to wake up soon.

Lily throws the covers back on her bed (so that it won't be completely obvious she hasn't slept at all, or even tried to) and then very, very quietly opens her trunk, lifts the trap door, and climbs down to the door to Milliways.

With any luck, she can get enough of a nap to make it through her classes today.

It has been what must be considered a perfectly lovely weekend. And even the prospect of having to return to classes in the morning can't dim anyone's good mood this evening.

It's time for the annual Hallowe'en feast.

The Great Hall is, of course, decorated fantastically, with great swooping clouds of fluttering bats, flaming orange streamers that twist and wind their way around the ceiling in ever-changing patterns, and jack-o-lanterns. Dozens and dozens of jack-o-lanterns, bobbing above the four House tables, candles flickering atmospherically.

The first years sitting just down the table from them stare around, wide-eyed and gaping, nudging each other to point out this detail or that. Lily smiles, remembering when the Great Hall was not only impressive but new, and things like Hallowe'en were times to be wonderstruck.

She turns to Mary, sitting next to her, the only other Muggleborn Gryffindor girl in their year. "That used to be us, you know," she says, nodding towards the younger students.

Mary doesn't answer. She's busy staring, wide-eyed and gaping, at the carved pumpkin bobbing in front of them.

"Mary?" Lily says. "Everything all right?"

"Look," Mary says. "Look at the pumpkin."

Lily looks up, briefly, and turns back to Mary, "Yes, I know, it's ... "

And then her brain catches up with her eyes, and she looks back up at the glowing, candle-illuminated face that is unmistakeably Professor McGonagall, carved into an orange squash.

"Oh ... my ... "

Lily turns quickly to look at the other pumpkins. From where she's sitting, she can make out Flitwick (slowly revolving, a few yards away and just above Cliona and Fenton), and Slughorn (slightly off-kilter, floating above the Hufflepuff behind her), and even Grindstaff (scowling down on the first years, looking not at all amused about having been rendered in squash).

"It's the professors," Lily says. "They're all ... they're all the professors."

"I know," Mary says.

A pumpkin carved to look like Dumbledore goes careening cheerfully down the length of the table, and the other pumpkins move respectfully out of the headmaster's way.

Mary and Lily look at each other for a moment, and then they start to laugh.

Maybe Hallowe'en still has a little wonder to strike after all.

There's another faint burst of giggling from the stacks to her left, and Lily looks up from her essay (two rolls of parchment on the effect of the stage of the moon on medicinal potions), again, annoyed.

People are trying to work here.

And yes, there's a time-honored Hogwarts tradition of flirting and even stealing a kiss or two in the library, but Black and Perdita are taking it to ridiculous extremes.

But then, that's been the theme of their whole relationship, hasn't it? Ridiculous extremes.

Lily takes a breath, counts to ten and turns her attention back to her essay.

The new moon frequently has a beneficial effect on ...

More giggling, the thud of a book hitting the floor, and a 'whoops.'

Lily takes another breath, and tries to resist the temptation to go hex them both into some time next month.

Lily Evans suspects she has just disappointed her Head of House.

But the simple fact of the matter is that she has only vague notions of what she might want to do after she leaves Hogwarts, and reading a few dozen careers brochures has done more to muddy those waters than make them clearer.

In the end, about all she'd been able to say with certainty was that there were six subjects she'd like to continue at NEWT-level, if she can -- Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

And at least that would leave her options fairly open.

Finally, after a half an hour, Professor McGonagall sends her on her way, telling her she needs to give serious thought to her future.

Lily emerges into the corridor to find a worried-looking Peter Pettigrew, clutching a handful of brochures, waiting with Remus Lupin.

"It's not that bad," Lily tells him, and he nods and scurries into Professor McGonagall's office, the door closing behind him.

"That was kind of you," Lupin says. "But I had mine yesterday, and it is that bad."

"Yeah, I know," Lily says. "It was awful, but what good would telling him that be?"

Lupin smiles. "Are you headed back to the Tower?"

"Yeah."

"D'you mind if I walk with you?"

"No, that's fine," she says.

The hallways are largely deserted. A number of classes are in session, and the students who are free are likely taking advantage of the fact that it's a nice day, and escaping out of doors.

Unless, of course, they are fifth or seventh years. In which case, they're probably studying.

She and Lupin round a corner and --

"What the hell is that?" Lupin asks, wand appearing in hand.

Up ahead, a figure is dangling upside down in midair, like she's caught in an unseen snare around one ankle.

She's eerily and unnaturally silent.

Lily, her own wand in hand, approaches her, and then recognizes the Gryffindor second year. "Oh, God, it's Elinor Perks."

Closer now, she can see Elinor's tears, running down her forehead and splashing onto the floor.

"It's going to be all right," Lily says. "We're going to get you down, okay?"

Elinor sniffs, and manages to nod.

"Can't talk?" Lily says, and Elinor shakes her head.

"Silencing charm, maybe. Unless it's part of the other ... " Lupin says. "Did you see who did this? Or hear anything?"

Elinor shakes her head again.

"Okay," Lily says. "Just give us a minute, and we will figure out how to get you down." Elinor nods again, sniffling, and Lily takes a few steps away, Lupin following her.

She drops her voice, so that Elinor won't be able to hear. "Have you ever seen anything like this, Remus?"

"No, never."

"What do we do?"

"Finite Incantatem, I guess," Lupin says, raising his wand.

"And if that brings her tumbling down onto the stone floor?"

Lupin looks over at Elinor. "Well, I guess you're going to have to break the spell, and I'm going to have to try to catch her." Off Lily's incredulous look, Lupin says, "Don't worry, I'm stronger than I look, and I room with James and Sirius, so I've got very good reflexes."

"Or we could cast a cushioning charm on the floor," Lily says.

"That's a better plan," Lupin says.

"Maybe I should go get McGonagall," Lily says.

"We can't leave her here, Lily, and I think we should stay together until we know what's going on. Just in case this is some kind of set up."

"Need help?" a voice asks.

Lily, startled, turns to see Severus coming down the corridor.

"Sev? What are you doing--?"

"I just finished meeting with Slughorn," he says. "What's going on here?"

"We were about to get try to get Elinor down," Lily says.

"Have you tried the counter-jinx?" Severus asks.

"There's a counter-jinx?" Lily asks.

"Of course."

"We don't even know what the jinx is," Lily says. "Do you?"

"Well, yeah," Severus says. "It looks like Levicorpus." And then his eyes dart from Lily to Lupin.

"What's the counter-jinx?" Lupin asks, speaking for the first time since Severus arrived.

Sev clears his throat. "Liberacorpus," he says.

"Let's try it, then," Lupin says, briskly. "Lily, could you take care of that cushioning charm?"

A moment later, Sev casts the counter-jinx, and Elinor Perks tumbles down to land on the cushioned floor, bouncing lightly like she's landed on a mattress. Lily sits down next to her, and quickly has a slightly hysterical second year sobbing into her shoulder.

Behind them, she hears Lupin use Finite Incantatem to break the silencing charm and braces herself for Elinor to get a lot louder.

But Elinor doesn't, just goes on crying into Lily's shoulder, and occasionally hiccoughing.

"Remus, I think you'd better get McGonagall now," Lily says.

Lupin looks at Severus, then back to Lily.

"We'll be fine," Lily says, before he can object, and Lupin nods, and goes.

Lily spends a moment trying to get Elinor to calm down, murmuring It's okay and you're safe.

Severus leans back against the wall. Lily looks over at him, over the top of Elinor's head.

"It's a good thing you were here," Lily says to him. "And knew the counter-jinx."

"I'm glad I could help you," he says.

"Very fortunate," Lily says, eyes on his face, "that you arrived when you did."

Severus shrugs. "Just luck."

"Of course."

And then Lupin returns with McGonagall.

It takes half an hour to get Elinor calmed down, to get the story from the four of them. Elinor neither saw nor heard who attacked her. She had not been there when Lupin and Pettigrew had passed through ten minutes before he and Lily did. And then Severus had arrived and known the counterjinx, they'd gotten her down, and gone for McGonagall.

McGonagall listens to the whole story, awards them each twenty points, and says she is going to take Elinor to the hospital wing. She sends them on their way, then calls back, "Oh, and Lupin? Tell Pettigrew I'll let him know when we'll reschedule our meeting."

"Of course, Professor," he says. And then adds, quietly, just to Lily, "Pete will be thrilled."

Lily smiles. The three of them walk down the corridor in silence, then pause where it splits, up and to the left for Gryffindor, down and to the right for Slytherin.

"Well, thank you for your help, Severus," Lupin says.

"You're welcome," Severus says, but his eyes stay on Lily.

"Yeah, thank you," she says.

He stands there for a moment, like he's waiting for something.

Finally, Lily says, "See you, Sev," and turns to go back to her dorm. Lupin follows her. There's no sound of footsteps behind them.

Lupin waits until they've reaches the stairs before he says, "Lily ... "

"You don't have to say it," Lily says. "I know. That was incredibly suspicious, Sev turning up like that, knowing the counter-jinx."

"A little bit," Lupin says.

"Maybe ... maybe he knew someone had done it, some other Slytherin or something, and he was coming to help. He just didn't want to get them in trouble or something."

"Maybe," Lupin says, but without much conviction.

Lily sighs and sits down on the steps. Lupin hesitates for a second, then sits down next to her.

"What do you do, Remus," she asks, turning to look at him, "when you're not sure you know who your best friend is any more?"

His eyes get very distant, and then he blinks, like he's bringing her back into focus. "You figure it out," he tells her, quietly. "And you remember that one swallow doesn't make a summer."

"What?"

"Look, Lily, we all make mistakes, and sometimes they're big and stupid ones. But you can't judge someone you've been friends with for years too harshly over one thing, and ignore everything else."

"One swallow," she says.

"Yeah, one swallow."

Lupin stands and offers her a hand. She takes it, standing as well. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The problem, Lily thinks, as they climb back to Gryffindor Tower, is that she doesn't have one swallow.

She has a whole bloody flock of them.

Lily looks into the mirror again, like she's checking her hair one last time.

Actually, she's wondering for the fifteenth time this morning why she thought this was a good idea.

She's barely knows Jeremy Flourish. And it's Valentine's Day.

And, yeah, all right, she's spent some time with him since he asked out, but mostly, they've studied together. They haven't had to talk.

God, what the hell are they going to talk about?

"You look fine, Lily," Mary says.

Mary is sitting cross-legged on her bed, braiding her hair. Cliona and Glynis and Perdita have already gone. Mary is, as Mary generally is, running just slightly behind.

Lily is just stalling.

"Thanks," Lily says, turning away from the mirror. "I guess I should ... unless you want me to wait for you ... " she adds, hopefully.

"No need," Mary says. "I'll be along in few minutes."

"Oh. Well, um, all right," Lily says. "I should go, then, shouldn't I?"

"Lily?"

"Yes?"

"Look, do you want me to tell him you're not feeling well and you can't make it?"

"That obvious, huh?" Lily says.

"To me, yeah. But if Cliona and Perdita and Glynis had noticed, they'd be here, right? Well, maybe not Cliona, what with Fenton waiting for her," Mary says, laughing a little. "But Perdita would be here."

"True," Lily concedes.

"I will tell him you can't make it, if you want me to."

"No," Lily says. "No, that's a fairly horrid thing to do to him at the last minute. It'll be fine, right?"

"Of course it will," Mary says. "Just forget that it's Valentine's Day and try to have a good time, all right?"

"Right," Lily says.

"Come on, I'll walk with you," Mary says, grabbing her cloak.

"Thank you."

Jeremy is waiting, when they get to the entrance hall. He comes over to meet them at the bottom of the steps. "Hi."

"Hi," Lily says. "Um, you know my friend, Mary, right?"

"Of course," he says. "Hello, Mary."

If he finds it at all odd that Lily has arrived for their date with her roommate in tow, it doesn't show.

Mary smiles. "Jeremy," she says. And then, "I'll see you guys later. Have fun."

She starts to move toward the queue of students waiting to check out and leave for Hogsmeade.

"Mary," Jeremy says, and she stops. "Will you be all right on your own?"

"Yeah, of course," Mary says. "I'm meeting Perdita and Glynis. Perdita says they'll be holding a table at the Three Broomsticks. Thanks, though."

Jeremy nods and turns his attention to Lily.

"That was nice of you," Lily says.

Lily worries, a little, about leaving Mary on her own, after what happened last fall. Mary thinks she's worrying needlessly, and has told her as much, but Lily worries anyway.

Still, it's unlikely anything will happen on a well-traveled path full of their fellow students, and she'll be coming back with Perdita and Glynis.

Jeremy smiles, looks down at his feet, and then back at Lily. "You look really nice."

"You, too."

"So, um, we should go, right?"

"Yeah," Lily says. "Yeah, we should."

"Right."

"Okay."

Oh, God.

It's the last thing either of them says, until they have to give their names to Filch.

And then ... well, at least walking in silence is slightly less awkward than standing in silence.

Sort of.

She'll think of something to say, right?

Before Easter?