I'll Take it Shaken, Not Stirred

Chapter 19: The Snitch Snatch

History: I am to Harry Potter as... damn it, I suck at analogies. I don't own anything but some ice tea and a jar of olives (for which I am very grateful).

The Much-Loved Recap: (Chapter 6) Eden's father comes to Hogwarts and Lily sees that the two are at odds. (Chapter 10/11) James and Lily suspect respectively Praedam and Silth of being death eaters, but the pair searches their offices, which is inconclusive of Silth, but brings them to believe Praedam is not in Voldemort's services. (Chapter 12) Lily flashes back to second year when she first started to hate James and remembers circumstances with her first almost-date. (Chapter 18) Lily begins to regain some of her memories from the forest, as does James (slightly).

Long Chapter alert!
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"Be careful that victories do not carry the seeds of such future defeats." –Ralph W. Sockman

"What if we lose?"

"We're not going to lose."

"Right. But what if we do?"

"We won't."

"I know, I know, but if we do...?"

"Damn it, Worms. With that attitude, we will! Merlin, you're a pessimist."

James and Peter sat by the lake on the very last day of April. Flitwick had let them out early, they still had half an hour till dinner, and the two Marauders were spending it in the speculation that had occupied so much of the school's thought lately. The Quidditch Final was only a few weeks away and a constant, nervous sort of thrill had settled in James's stomach. This made the wait only more nerve-wracking; if Gryffindor won, James knew that he would look back on the feeling with fondness. If Gryffindor lost... well, they weren't going to lose. He wished he could make himself feel as confident as he sounded.

"Prongs!"

Sirius came rushing up to the two Marauders a moment later, looking a little flushed form the run. "What is it?" asked James quickly, seeing the urgency in his friend's face. "What's the matter?"

Breathing loudly, Padfoot sat on the grass, facing James, and said: "Well, Moony and I were stuffing Filch's bag with dungbombs (y'know... just to stay on our toes), and I had a thought..."

"My God, you're kidding me!"

"Oh sod off. I meant that I had a thought that... well, I'd never even considered it but... well..."

"Spit it out, you great prat."

"What if we lose, Prongs?"

James groaned. "We're not going to lose!" he said at the exact same time as Peter. "Now go back to your old ways of 'not thinking' before you get yourself in trouble. Besides, stupidity suits you."

"Har, har," said Sirius sardonically, standing and walking over to the tree James was propped up against. He jumped and grabbed hold of one of the thicker branches, from which he began to swing. Remus appeared walking towards them a short distance away, and Peter was quick to point it out.

When the fourth Marauder came up to them, he sat in Sirius's former patch of grass. He was laughing loudly. "Merlin, Padfoot!" he said, composing himself ever so slightly; "Why'd you leave? It was a classic Filch moment!"

"I had to counsel with Prongs," replied Sirius with dignity.

"His face... Merlin, his face, Padfoot!" gasped Remus, as if not having heard his friend. "Priceless! Golden! Classic—I'm telling you!"

"Go on then," urged Peter. "What happened?"

Remus then related the entire story, from the prank itself, to the point where Filch had nearly punished a fourth year for the whole thing. "And then," Mr. Moony went on, "I turned up and since you two—" (here he nodded to James and Sirius) "—weren't there, he assumed I was perfectly respectable, so I told him the fourth year had been helping me carry books to the library, and therefore couldn't have put the dungbombs in his bag... and, believe me, Filch was about to explode So, when Filch made off to get detention forms, the fourth year and I thought it was best to get out of there, but... Merlin, the expression! Classic!"

The Marauders laughed appreciatively at the mental image of Filch exploding (figuratively and literally), and then Remus continued: "So what 'counsel' did Padfoot need?"

"He was worrying about the Quidditch cup," said Peter at once. Sirius kicked him.

"Pansy," observed Remus.

Sirius scoffed. "I'm the least pansy Marauder there is," he told them. "Worms squeals like a girl, Prongs is a sucker for them, and Moony reads like one. You're pansies, the lot of you!"

"Shut up, Padfoot," scolded the three, mostly amiably.

"I'm just saying, is all," Sirius replied, as he swung all the way up the branch and stretched out on it. Resting his head against the branch, he stared up at the branches directly in front of him, and at the sky he could see through them.

Remus, meanwhile, also stretched out, though on the grass. He put his hands behind his head and said: "So, guys... with all this hype you lot are spreading about the Cup, I kind of have to wonder... what if we lose?"

"We won't lose," chorused the other three immediately.

"Of course not," Remus sighed. "If you say s..."

"You two!" shrieked a girl's voice suddenly. All four Marauders looked up to see Eden Dearborn standing over (or in Sirius's case, under) them, hands on hips and a stern expression on her pretty face.

"'Ello, E," said James good-naturedly.

"You two!" she repeated, casting chilling glares at James and Sirius. "You two!"

"Say that one more time and I swear I'll hit a bludger at you during the Final," Sirius warned cheerily. "Us two. Yes. It's established."

"You guys are dead," Eden informed them.

"Ha, ha, you're dead!"

"Shut up, Moony."

Eden cleared her throat.

"Alright, E," said James diplomatically. "What is we've done now?"

"You've put guards on me!" the blonde cried angrily.

"For your own safety, Dear," Sirius assured her jovially. "You're the star beater of the Gryffindor team—besides me—and any Slytherin might have a go at you at any time."

"So you've appointed the two idiots of the century to keep guard on me?" Eden demanded, pointing to the two hulking Gryffindors who stood ominously about twenty yards away.

"They're sixth years," informed Sirius unimportantly.

"They're completely incompetent and stupid!" continued the infuriated girl. "They wouldn't let Rian near me! It's your fault that my boyfriend is currently in the Hospital Wing with a black eye!"

"No, no," scoffed Sirius. "It's not our fault. It's your fault for having a boyfriend who's a complete..."

"Pansy."

"Thank you, Moony."

"Any time, Padfoot."

Eden made a noise of disbelief. "I'd like to see one of you two take on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum over there!"

"We did. Twice."

Eden rolled her blue eyes irritably. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

"Awww... c'mon, E," pleaded the Quidditch Captain. "Just let those guys stick around. They're really very nice chaps, once you get to know them." The girl looked at James skeptically. "I'm serious."

"Actually, I'm..."

"Shut up, Sirius. Really, E. I just don't want to see you get hurt because of a Quidditch match! I didn't know those two would hurt Rian. I swear!" James gave the blonde such an earnest look that she sighed.

"Alright, alright," she grumbled. "But tell them to lay off a bit, alright? I mean, I'm fairly certain that Rian isn't going to attack me."

"Oh but E, the just don't want you to get pregnant is all," Sirius said, most unhelpfully. Eden glared at him so coldly that just about anyone else would have cowered.

"Sirius, shut up before we all kill you," Remus advised carelessly.

"Don't kill him just yet, Remus," Eden said, still glaring at Sirius. "I don't want Rian to have died in vain, and we will need two beaters for the match. But I'm warning you..." She pointed a threatening finger at them: "If we lose..."

"We're not going to lose!" said the Marauders with certainty.

Eden folded her arms. "I hope not." And with that, she stalked away. Her two guards followed presently, apparently unaware that she knew they were following her. When Eden was gone, Jams looked up at his best friend in the tree branch.

"Padfoot," he said. "Did you tell Stivey and Slate to attack Orlando if he got near Eden?"

Sirius, who was still staring up at the sky, made a disbelieving sound, not unlike Eden's. "Now, Prongs," he began innocently, "would I do something like that?"

"Eden," whined Alice to her friend, as the two, as well as Lily, walked to the Owlry one afternoon, a few days into May.

"Yes, Al?" replied Eden.

"What's up with Lexi?"

"I can't tell you."

"But why not?"

"Because I promised I wouldn't."

"C'mon," Lily pleaded. "Tell us! She'll tell us soon enough anyway. Why don't you just tell us? Save time and all that?"

"Because I promised not to!"

Alice sighed. "It's hopeless," she said dramatically. "Our friends are just mean and secretive!"

"Now, Al-lice, do you really think you can guilt trip me of all people?" scoffed Eden. "Please." The arrived at the Owlry, but Lily and Alice had still learned no new information from their friend.

"But why did she tell you but not us?" Lily wanted to know.

"Oh, well, it's nothing personal," Eden assured them, waving towards her owl. "Come here, Blue! There's a good girl... c'mon! yeah, good girl..." The owl swept down and landed on Eden's arm, and the blonde continued to her friends; "Lex only told me because I was right there and she needed someone to vent to in the immediate aftermath."

"So it was bad?"

"Oh no, not at all," Eden said quickly, tying her letter to the owl's leg. "Good, actually. Very good."

Lily and Alice let out irritated exclamations, and the blonde smiled knowingly. "Don't worry about it. She'll tell you soon enough... and speak of the devil!" For at that moment, Lexi herself had entered the Owlry, carrying a brown paper package.

"Oi, Greetings, You Lot," said the girl, a little surprised at the sight of her friends. "We're sending a present to Mary-Alice—the little sister. It's her birthday tomorrow. What are you all doing here?"

"E's sending a letter and Al and I are interrogating her," pouted Lily.

"Oh? Sounds lovely. What are you interrogating her about?"

"You," Alice told her. "But she wont spill anything, so don't worry."

"Won't spill what?"

"She won't tell what's going on with you," replied Alice with an unusual testiness in her tone. "You've been acting differently all day, and Eden knows why and she's not telling."

"Well," said Lexi, tying her own package to a school owl. "We think we know what you are referring to, but it's nothing so very earth-shattering as to merit the interrogation of Eden. We would hate to disappoint you two."

"Tell us!"

Lexi sighed as she sent off the owl. "If you really want to know, certainly. But we hope you don't have false hopes. It's not extraordinary, to be sure."

"Stop stalling," complained the Head Girl, placing her hands on her hips.

"Go ahead, Lex," smirked Eden; "they've been so patient, after all."

"It's glorious fun torturing them," observed Lexi. "But..." she added, as Lily and Alice both opened their respective mouths to shout their objections... "We'll tell them anyway."

"Any time, Lex."

"Well," said Lexi slowly. "If you must..."

"We must..."

"Well... Paul Montreal asked me out."

"Lexi..." said Lily.

"Si?"

"That counts as earth-shattering!"

"It certainly does!" screeched Alice. She threw her arms around Lexi's neck in a breath-abating hug. "That's... that's wonderful! Perfect! Lovely! Darl... wait... you said 'yes,' right?"

Lexi nodded casually, and Alice continued hugging and praising. Lily looked at Eden, who was grinning. "Did I call that one or what?" the blonde asked victoriously.

"I called it too," Lily reminded her. "Ever since third year."

"Oh, please. I've known since second year at least."

"E, you didn't even know Lex till third year."

"Shut up, Lily."

And suddenly (or at least over the course of the next six hours), it seemed that everyone who cared knew that Lexi Shaw was going out with Paul Montreal. The sixth year girls found this both undyingly fascinating and unspeakably unfair. Paul, after all, was handsome, athletic, and very popular, and Lexi, while neither unattractive nor an outcast, was not equal in looks or popularity to Paul's previous girlfriends (Rachel Brossle, for example).

However, while the sixth year girls mourned in jealous rage the loss of an eligible male, anyone who had less selfish motives thought that the Paul and Lexi couple-hood was good, if a little Cinderella-esque. Lily, in addition to believing that Lexi and Paul fancied each other, thought their going out was even better, because of the wrath of the sixth year girls.

The only person that really worried Lily in regards to the situation was Frank Longbottom. Lexi was Frank's ex-girlfriend, and Paul was Frank's best friend. The number of problems that could have arisen was endless. However, a day after Paul and Lexi's "couple-hood" (this was rapidly becoming Lily's favorite word) came about, Alice was able to put the redhead's mind at rest concerning Frank.

"He's happy for them," Alice told her at breakfast. "I was a little worried at first that he would be upset, but honestly, I think he's known as long as everyone else that there was Paul-and-Lexi chemistry." For some reason, Alice did not look as cheerful as Lily would have expected.

"I hope you're right," she said, pulling apart a piece of her orange. "He's had enough bad turns lately. But how come he's not sitting with Paul if he's not mad about it?" Indeed, Frank was sitting not far down the table with Gwen Avarius, a cute fifth year with curly blonde hair and big brown eyes. "Does Frank fancy Gwen, I wonder."

Alice flushed and mumbled something about "how should she know?" before returning to her breakfast. Lily thought she had found the reason for Alice's mood. She also thought that her friend was not a very good actress.

"Twenty-nine... thirty..."

Eden's arms gave out under her, and she landed gently, stomach down, on the dormitory floor. With a sigh, the blonde looked up at her redheaded friend, who sat on Alice's bed, flipping through "Teen Witch" casually.

"Lily, I'm a failure," stated Eden, from her spot on the floor.

Lily did not look up from the article on the clothing preferences of singer Iseult Dollywright. "How's that, E?"

"Thirty push-ups. Thirty bloody push-ups!"

"Don't knock that," reprimanded Lily, observing a particularly ugly set of yellow dress robes in the magazine. "I do sets of thirty, after all. It's not that pathetic, is it?"

"No, no," said Eden distractedly, getting up and hugging her legs. "It's just, I used to be able to do thirty without breaking a sweat... now my arms are sore!" She had a very disgruntled look on her face.

"Maybe you're just tired," suggested Lily innocently.

"No, no," repeated the blonde. "And how can I be out of shape? I work out more and eat healthier than before! So why am I weaker now?" She let out a sigh of frustration while feeling the muscles in her arms with dissatisfaction.

"Maybe you're just not pushing yourself hard enough," said Lily, putting down the magazine. "Try again, Gorgeous."

Eden shook her head. "No, she said resolutely. "What's the point? But it's just as well. The Quidditch season is almost over and then I'll only need my arms for writing."

"What do you mean?" The Head Girl wanted to know.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Eden looked shocked when Lily shook her head. "Well, I sent in an application and The Daily Prophet accepted me as soon as school's over. I'll be writing."

Lily slid off the bed. "Are you serious? Well, E, that's great!" she leaned over and hugged her friend briefly. "You're going to be a reporter!"

Eden grinned. "We'll see. Dad's in a state, of course. He wanted me to go into the Ministry; 'looks like he's lost both daughters to The Prophet. Oi—turn the WWN on, won't you, Red? I need some music. Something to take my mind off this stupid Quidditch match. Merl, Red, I'm nervous."

Lily got up to turn on the radio-esque WWN, which was currently resting on the window seat, where Rachel had left it earlier. "You'll be wonderful as always, E," Lily declared. "Even if you can't do sets of fifty push-ups like you could before." Reaching the WWN, Lily switched it on and the chorus of one of her favorite songs could be heard.

However, while Alex Pendragon's voice sang: "You had him and I had The Wanderers," over the airwaves, Eden let out a shrill cry and jumped to her feet, covering her ears dramatically. "Turn it off! Turn it off, Lily!"

Lily turned it off resentfully. "I like that song!"

"So do I," said Eden, sitting down on a bed. "But don't you realize who singsthat song?"

Comprehension dawned on the Head Girl. "Snitch Snatch," she said knowingly.

"Exactly," Eden agreed, with a nod. "No Quidditch."

"No Quidditch," consented Lily.

Unfortunately for Eden, however, Quidditch was all that anyone at Hogwarts seemed to want to eat, breath, or talk. None of the team could so much as walk to classes without either a "Good luck!" from supporters or a "Watch your back!" from the opposition.

The weeks became days, and quicker than anyone could have anticipated, the Quidditch Final was practically upon them. The day before the match was a Friday, but hardly anyone was paying attention to class. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Praedam gave up trying to teach anything and gave everyone seatwork which they were supposed to complete silently. About half the class was actually working on their assignment, and about three students were working on it silently.

Lily, who was sharing a desk with Frank Longbottom, finished most of the class work in the first fifteen minutes or so and devoted the rest of the double period to whispering with either her seatmate or someone else around her.

"So, Frank," she began, after a little while of silence; "Excited?"

"Nervous," was Frank's earnest reply.

"Don't be. If you're rotten, at least there are two other chasers to score for you."

"That's not encouraging."

"If you want encouraging, you shouldn't be sitting with me." Frank laughed, and after a moment of silence, Lily began again: "So are you going out with that cute fifth year girl?"

Her companion looked confused. "What cute fifth year girl?" There was a slight blush in his cheeks.

"Gwen," the redhead reminded him. "Gwen Avarius. You've eaten just about every meal with her for weeks. Are you going out with her, or are you just tampering with her affections?"

"T-t-tampering with her affections?" Frank looked quite frightened merely saying it.

"Calm down!" whispered Lily, smiling. "I was only joking. You're the last person on the planet I would suspect of that."

"Well... we're... we're not going out," Frank assured her. "She just always comes and sits by me no matter where I sit at the table, and she's very nice, so I don't want to tell her to move along or something."

Lily grinned. "Do you fancy her?" she asked, conspiratorially.

"Oh, no!"

"Well then who do you fancy?"

Frank looked hesitant.

"Oh, come on! Humor me a bit, won't you? I'm a girl... I need news and I've heard nothing but Quidditch for a month. I love it as much as the next guy, but really..."

"Well, I don't really fancy anyone."

The Head Girl sighed. "That's very dull of you, Frank."

"I'm sorry."

"I'll forgive you if you promise to win the match for us tomorrow."

"I can't promise."

"Why not? Everyone else has. I won't hold you to it, I swear."

"I'd still rather not promise. I'm jinxed, y'know."

Lily put an arm around Frank's shoulders. "Mmmm... I believe it. But I think you've only jinxed yourself."

Meanwhile, two rows down, James Potter was having a very dull time. He was about halfway done with his class work, but, then again, he'd only been paying about half of his attention to it. The other half of his attention had been devoted to scribbling notes with Remus, who was sharing the desk with him. The content of the notes was of a sensitive nature, and James didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands. They were writing about the next full moon, which was only a few days away.

Two full moon expeditions this year had already been devoted to the Forbidden Forest (at the request of Mr. Prongs), but James was more eager than ever to try for a third time. With his memories returning, he thought he might be able to find the clearing he had been to with Lily and Peter in September.

Remus slid over the parchment they were writing on, and James read it.

"C'mon, Prongs. We've already been to the Forest twice this year, and we pretty much explored that place to death in fifth year anyway. Padfoot wants to see if that tunnel near the east wall leads into the castle."

James sighed and scribbled his response:

"We can do that next time!"

Remus's reply took a long time to come back.

"But we might not be able to. If you guys are too busy with N.E.W.T.s to come to next month, than this will be the last full moon!"

James looked highly disgruntled, but his friend was right. This could very well be the last full moon that the Marauders spent exploring Hogwarts. Remus returned to his work, and James turned over the parchment. He scribbled a note to Peter on the back:

"Worms—have any of your memories from the Forest come back? –Prongs"

The Head Boy placed the note on Peter's desk, which was just next to his own, and signaled for Wormtail to read it as inconspicuously as possible, for he was sharing a desk with a Ravenclaw girl. Wormtail read the note, then dipped his quill into the inkwell and replied hastily:

"No. None of them. Have yours?"

James read the note with disappointment, but masked this from the other. He shook his head in response, then, tapping the parchment with his wand once, ignited it instantly. When all that was left of the parchment were a few ashes, he vanished these, and began to work on his assignment with disinterest.

The minutes dragged on, and James, almost finished with the work, grew tired of it. He leaned back in his desk, looking around.

Remus was still working diligently, Peter was trying to get the Ravenclaw girl to "help" him, and Sirius, who was sitting in the desk in front of James, was in avid conversation with his seatmate and girlfriend, Rachel. It was a moment before James realized that the two were arguing in heated whispers, but when he did, he listened in.

Being Sirius's best friend, it was practically his job to eavesdrop, after all.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sirius was whispering ferociously to the pretty brunette next to him.

"Oh of course not!" snapped Rachel, also whispering. "You're perfectly innocent as always. And I suppose you haven't pranked Severus Snape once this year, either!"

"I did," was Sirius's reply. "I did when he referred to you as a 'mudblood,' but if you don't want me defending you..."

"Oh yes, right and noble you are!"

"This has nothing to do with Snape," the Marauder returned angrily. "If you've got a problem, say it right out and don't beat around the bush!"

"My problem is her!"

"Who?" Sirius barked, but James thought it was a lost cause. It was pretty evident to every party about whom Rachel was speaking.

"You know, Sirius Black, don't bother pretending. I think I'm pretty patient with the flirting and all that—it's part of your personality, and I can deal with that. But when you start actually cheating on me..."

"I never..."

"No? And if I asked her that, would she say the same?"

"As a matter of fact, she..."

"I'm not going to make a big deal out of this, Sirius. Just tell me the truth, and I'll be alright. I'll forgive you..." The confidence in Rachel's brown eyes faded momentarily. "Unless you want to break up..."

"Rach, you've got it all wrong..."

"Tell me the truth, Sirius. That's all it's going to take."

"I never cheat..."

"The truth, Sirius."

"I swear it!"

Rachel leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. Sirius, on the other hand, leaned forward, resting his forehead in one hand and running the other through his thick black hair.

"Y'know what," he continued at length, sitting up and facing the girl beside him. "Maybe it's better if we took a break. You won't even listen to me, so why should..."

"Well if that's how you feel about it..."

"It is."

"Well fine."

"Alright."

"Great."

A rather geeky looking Ravenclaw boy was sitting alone in the desk diagonally in front of them; Rachel got to her feet, picked up her books, bag, quill, ink, and parchment, and walked over to join the boy, who looked as if he could not believe his luck. Sirius picked up his quill, dipped it in the inkwell, and pretended to be doing the work. James did the same. He figured that that was one conversation Sirius would not have wanted anyone else to be paying attention to.

With a glance at Remus, however, James saw that he was not the only one who noticed. The two Marauders exchanged looks of apprehension, and then started to work again. The class had not been as dull as expected.

Eden Dearborn was sitting in the desk just in front of Lily, and though she had not heard the particulars of the conversation, she could guess, from the pantomime she had seen, what had happened. Eden had never liked Rachel, and she had never liked the fact that Sirius and Rachel were going out, but for some reason, she felt nothing short of terrible. In a sorry attempt to take her mind off all this, she turned around quickly and said in a whisper to her best friend: "Do you have the answer to number sixteen?"

Lily noticed her friend's pale complexion, but said nothing. "I couldn't find it, but Lex said it was in the book on page three ninety-two."

Eden nodded, but did not turn around just yet. "Lily," she whispered; "Do you think... well, do you think that I..." She broke off and shook her head in a distracted manner. "Never mind. Thanks for the answer..."

"No, what is it?" Lily asked, curiosity teeming from her.

"Nothing... oh, could I borrow your book? I left mine in the dormitory..."

Lily handed her the book, but as Eden took it, the redhead pressed: "Talk to me, E."

"Nah, never mind. It was nothing. I swear." Eden waved a dismissive hand as she turned around and continued to work on her assignment.

Lily sighed; she looked over at Alice, who was sitting in the seat next to her. Sharing the desk with Alice was Eddie Bones, and the Head Girl realized as she saw this that she had not had a proper conversation with him in weeks.

"Hey, Al," Lily whispered to her friend, who looked up from the assignment she was working on. "Can I switch seats with you for a little while? I want to talk to Eddie."

Alice glanced over at Lily's desk partner, then shook her head and continued on her seatwork. Lily looked over her shoulder at where Frank was also doing seatwork, though there was a faint coloration in his cheeks that had not been present before. Lily looked back to Alice, then picked up her quill and scribbled on a spare piece of parchment: "Are you angry with Frank?"

She set the parchment on Alice's desk. Alice read it quickly, then replied in her loopy script: "No, of course not."

Reading this, Lily wrote back: "Are you angry with me?"

Alice's response was quick. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Then why won't you sit with Frank?"

"I'm sure he doesn't want me to."

Lily looked over at Frank, rolled her eyes, then looked back over at Alice. "Who wouldn't want you, Al?"

"He wouldn't. I have to work, Lily."

The Head Girl crumpled up the note, shaking her head disbelievingly. Once the evidence was properly disposed of, she peeked over Alice's shoulder; the brunette seemed to be filling in the answer to number twenty. She had been doing just that for the last two minutes.

Lily exhaled dramatically and, propping her elbows on her desk, rested her face in her hands. People were stupid, she decided, and there could be little debate on the matter.

The Marauders walked down the corridors Friday evening to a torrent of whispers. James and Sirius were on their way to the last Quidditch practice, and the other two were accompanying them. At the moment, however, Hogwarts seemed to be primarily composed of gossips. The circumstances were still in debate, but the fact that Sirius Black and Rachel Brossle had broken up somehow managed to reach every girl in the school, and the vast majority received the news with absolute glee.

"Can't they find something else to talk about?" grumbled Sirius to his friends, rolling his eyes as a flirty blonde passed by and winked at him. "I don't think it's any of their business, and there are a million more interesting things to twitter on."

"Not to sixth year girls, there aren't," James told them wisely.

"What about Quidditch? A few hours ago there was nothing in the world but Quidditch to them."

"No," corrected Remus; "There was nothing in the world to them but male Quidditch players. That's still true, it just so happens that though one of the male Quidditch players got a girlfriend, one male Quidditch player just ditched his."

"Lovely for them," barked Sirius. "But there's no reason to queue up in the halls about it."

"I thought you'd be happy about that," mused Peter aloud. "'Seems like something that would brighten your day."

"That's not helpful, Wormtail," James snapped.

Peter mumbled something in reply, but none of the others heard, for they were just coming into the Entrance Hall, where a group of post-dinner students had gathered and were talking quickly and seriously. Sirius grumbled something about "idiot gossips" but James did not think that this conversation was about his friend. Among the group were Lily Evans, Paul Montreal, and Lexi Shaw, all of whom were generally levelheaded.

"What's going on?" the Head Boy asked, stepping forward into the group. At first, everyone was too enthralled in their various conversations to answer, but then, Lily turned and said: "Have you heard the news?"

James shook his head quickly. "No, what news?"

Lily's bright green eyes expressed grave seriousness. "Praedam's been sacked," she murmured.

The Head Boy stared at her for about ten seconds, too surprised to react immediately. He ruffled his hair with one hand and shifted his weight. "Sacked," he repeated presently.

The redhead nodded.

"When? What for?"

Lily shook her head. "Everyone's saying different things about why Dumbledore sacked him, but he did it just this afternoon. We must have had one of his last classes this morning..."

"What are people saying about why he's been sacked?" asked James hastily.

The Head Girl paused and looked about to make sure no one was paying attention to their conversation. "I've heard a lot of things," she said, once satisfied that they were speaking confidentially; "One of the more popular theories I heard—but Merlin knows how reliable it is—is that Praedam was caught trying to steal something."

"Trying to steal something..." repeated James, bewildered.

Lily nodded quickly.

"As in, trying to steal something from another teacher?"

"Well that parts unclear," Lily continued slowly; "But when I was searching his office there were books all about Hogwarts and all the valuables that were here. I can't remember the specifics, but there were prices put on all sorts of things here—the Sorting Hat, a book in the library, a couple of the paintings..."

"You think that's why he took the job of Dark Arts teacher in the first place? To steal from the school?"

"Well he must have had some qualifications," Lily reflected, "or else Dumbledore wouldn't have hired him. But it fits—he acted suspiciously, but he didn't react to you at all, so he couldn't have been a Death Eater, or else he would have known you as the bloke from the forest, and would've had a keen interest in you."

"I don't know," said James, with a bit of a smirk playing on his lips; "Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions?"

Lily rolled her eyes, repressing a smile. "Shut up, Potter."

"Jay!"

Redival had arrived and James turned around quickly to speak with her. Lily moved towards Lexi, in order to have a word with her, but did catch a bit of the conversation behind her.

"Jay, is it true what they're saying? Have Sirius and Rach really broken up?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. She had forgotten: Rachel and Redival were best friends. The Head Girl did not wait to hear James's response, but instead moved further into the group of students and listened to what Eddie Bones was saying he had heard concerning Praedam's dismissal.

A minute later, however, James moved away from Redival and said in a loud, authoritative voice: "Gryffindor Quidditch Team, come with me!" Lexi, Paul, Eden, and Sirius were all there and stepped forward immediately. "We have practice now," the Captain reminded them, and they reluctantly followed him out of the Entrance Hall. Out on the pitch, as the team (joined presently by Mackey Simpson and Frank Longbottom) put on their gear, they discussed the news at a whisper.

James put his gear on a short distance away. He did not pay much attention to the others. His mind drifted to his trunk upstairs and what was kept there—two of his most prized possessions: the invisibility cloak and the Marauders' Map. He strapped on his arm guards and a slight grin came over his face. He turned to look at the rest of the team.

"Hurry up. We don't have all night."

The team finished up strapping on their respective protections, and got up.

"Mount."

They did so.

"We're going to start out with individual critiques, which means we're going to..."

"Scrimmage."

"Thanks, Black."

"No problem, Potter." Sirius flashed him a smirk, which James met by rolling his eyes.

"We've all got a lot on our minds right now, I know," the Quidditch Captain continued, with a particular look at his fellow Marauder; "But if we're going to win tomorrow, you're going to have to suck it up and fly right, okay? After that, I really don't give a damn what you do. In the air, everyone."

"Touching speech there, Potter," said Eden, as she kicked off into the air with everyone else.

James mounted his own broom. "I do my best."

The next three hours passed quickly for the Head Boy. As distracted as he was with the various plans and ideas floating through his head, it did not escape him that this would be his last Quidditch practice ever. When he finally called for everyone to land and grab some water, there was an odd feeling inside his chest at the thought that it was for the last time. He shook the feeling. Sentimental was something he was not.

Yet, the team had flown better that night than James thought he had ever seen them fly, and he didn't mind telling them so as they walked back to the castle a little later.

"Thanks, Potter," said Eden with a grin, slinging an arm around his waist, since she couldn't quite reach his shoulders comfortably.

"I'm sweaty," warned the Marauder.

"So am I," Eden replied with a shrug.

The two walked in silence for a moment, but James's mind was very busy. There was a question burning in his mind, but he wasn't sure if it would be alright to ask it. For one thing, he thought it was an effeminate trait to pay attention to gossip, and for another, he thought Eden might be offended, or at least embarrassed. Then again, there were times when she acted more like one of the guys than... say, Redival, and it was generally hard to embarrass Eden Dearborn.

"E," he pressed on, making up his mind.

"Yeah?"

"You've... you heard about Sirius and Rach, right?"

Eden nodded slowly, as if not sure where this conversation was going. James glanced about to make sure none of the other teammates were listening, before continuing: "So, er... did you hear why that was?"

The blonde smirked and rolled her eyes. "I've heard every reason imaginable, James—from Sirius dumping her because she wouldn't sleep with him (which I highly doubt), to Rachel dumping him because he's secretly married to a witch from Austria (which I also doubt, though it seems more likely than the other)."

James grinned awkwardly. "Well... er... they broke up in the middle of Defense Against the Dark Arts, actually," he said uncomfortably. "I was sitting behind them."

"Alright...?"

"So, I sort of heard the argument."

"James Potter, you gossip." And yet, while she said it, James could tell that she was secretly eager for him to tell her all he'd heard.

"I wouldn't tell usually," he assured her hastily; "but, I wanted to ask you about it." Through the dark, he could see Eden's features grow stony, or perhaps merely a little worried. He did not continue on immediately, as he was still unsure of exactly what he was going to say.

"Well, go on," Eden eventually pressed.

"I don't believe it, E. Honest I don't—but..." And he thought he was an absolute cad for saying it— "...I wanted to know for sure."

"What is it, James?" Her voice was surprisingly understanding and nonjudgmental.

"Rach thinks Sirius was cheating on her."

Eden paused. "With me?" she added, after a shortly lived silence.

James nodded.

"Well I'll tell you," Eden said, breathing heavily; "I didn't."

The Quidditch Captain gave a barely audible sigh of relief. He didn't need anymore convincing. "Thank-you."

Eden grinned as she said: "For what? For telling you, or for not being with Sirius?"

"Either. Both."

She laughed a little, and another silence of short duration followed. "You're sweet, y'know James," the girl told him at length, shaking her head. "I don't know why you pretend to be such a git sometimes."

James shrugged. "Well there you go. You're not really a slut and I'm not really a git. Such is life."

Eden withdrew her arm as they reached the castle. "I've got to run," she said cheerily, though there was an odd, indefinable note in her voice; "I don't want Lexi to beat me to the good shower! See you tomorrow..."

And with that, she hurried on. James hung back with the rest of the team.

"What was that about, Prongs?" Sirius wanted to know, as he fell into pace with his fellow Marauder.

"Just catching up... haven't talked to her in forever. She wanted to say thanks and all that for the coffee thing."

"She's only done that seventeen and a half times, right?"

James grinned and he walked with the rest of the team up to the dormitory. An hour later, he was clean (having argued for ten minutes with Sirius over shower preferences) and dry. However, he waited until Sirius had climbed into his four-poster bed and closed the curtains before he himself changed from the towel wrapped around his waist into actual clothes.

He did not get his nightclothes from the dresser, but rather pulled out blue jeans and a "Snitch Snatch" t-shirt. From his trunk, James obtained the silvery invisibility cloak and the apparently blank parchment that was the Marauders' Map. Once dressed, he climbed into his bed and shut the curtains around him. All he had now to do was wait.

Paul and Frank came from the showers presently, and once James was sure they were in bed and probably dosing, he (as quietly as possible) opened the hangings around him and climbed out of bed. He pulled the invisibility cloak over him and walked slowly out of the room. He was not afraid of Remus or Peter finding out he had gone when they came to bed, for they would most likely assume he had gone to sleep early and would not bother to check.

The Common Room was busy, for it was only about half past ten, but every member of the Quidditch team was noticeably absent. Many of the other Gryffindors were occupying themselves with the construction of signs for the next day. One of the largest signs was propped against the wall near the corner of the room, and it simply bore the word (in bold black writing): "Potter" with a small golden snitch drawn on the "O." Redival and Remus were arguing about it.

"But don't you think we could... embellish it... a little?" Redival pouted, folding her arms.

Remus sighed. "It doesn't need any embellishment, Redival! That's all that needs to be said: 'Potter.' That's it. It's all-encompassing!"

James grinned and continued through the room, glancing at the other signs as he passed. Everyone was so absorbed in their own occupations that they did not notice the portrait hole open a little as the invisible James snuck out. The Fat Lady did call out "Who's there?" a few times, but James did not answer.

He crept down the corridor. When he was a safe distance away, the Head Boy sat down next to a suit of armor and pulled out the folded Marauders' Map from his pocket. He also withdrew his wand, tapped the parchment once, and muttered: "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

It occurred to James, as the lines of ink spread across the parchment, that he wasn't sure if that statement was true or not. Once the map was completely formed, James scanned it with his eyes for signs of anyone in the area. The corridors were empty tonight, which James—as a frequent wanderer—knew to be rare. Even Filch and his nasty cat Mrs. Norris were absent, and he honestly couldn't remember the last time that was true.

He scanned the usual rooms to see where everyone who usually made sneaking about a challenge had gone. No one was in McGonagall's office, and even Dumbledore was absent from his. James checked the staff room and saw a collection of black dots all labeled with the names of his professors.

He grinned a little and tapped the map with his wand, muttering: "Mischief managed!"

Once the Marauders' Map was back in his pocket, blank again, James got to his feet. As he did so, however, he noticed the invisibility cloak was caught on the suit of armor he had ducked behind. Swearing under his breath, James slipped out from under it and began to work on detaching it.

However, just as he found where it was stuck, James heard a noise from somewhere down the corridor. He looked over his shoulder quickly. There was no one there, but the sound of footsteps sounded from around a corner.

James swore once again, pushed the invisibility cloak under the suit of armor, hoping no one would notice it, and then hurried in the other direction down the corridor. There were no closets in which to hide in that particular strip, but James knew the broom closets in the area fairly well, and happened to remember one in an adjacent passageway. He swerved hastily, but stopped at the corner. He peered around the edge and saw a dark figure that might have been Filch a short distance away.

"Shit, shit, shit," whispered James to himself. "He was in his office... how'd he get here so fast?"

But there was no time to speculate on that, for the Maybe-Filch figure was approaching. James spun around and hastened down the corridor until he came to a broom closet just on the other side of an old stone statue. He ducked inside and shut the door as quietly as possible.

He held his ear to the door for a moment, listening to the approaching footsteps. It sounded as if whoever it was had a limp. Filch.

James drew his wand and pointed it at the door, muttering a locking spell. Then, he turned around to survey his surroundings. It was as he reeled around that he realized he was not alone. Sitting on a box of Magical Mess Remover, was the pretty but currently supercilious figure of Lily Evans.

"Holy Shit!" swore James once more, jumping back, evidently startled at the sight of her.

"Well hello to you too," replied Lily at a whisper, rolling her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" James inquired venomously, lowering his voice and stepping closer.

"Nothing," she answered, a little too quickly.

James raised an eyebrow. "Waiting for someone?" he teased, as he took a seat next to her on the crate.

"No."

"Oh, of course not. After all, who would want to closet with you?"

"You apparently, as you've taken up stalking me."

"I wasn't stalking you, I was running from Filch. How was I to know you lived in a broom closet? I love what you've done with the place, by the way—could be a little roomier, but the bigger models are selling for a ridiculous amount these days. "

"You could have knocked."

"You're joking, right?"

They waited in silence. The footsteps were still progressing down the corridor.

"And for your information," Lily added presently; "I have been invited to 'closet' as you so elegantly put it, on many occasions."

"Oh yeah, by who?"

"Well for start... no. Absolutely not."

"What? Ashamed, are you?" joked the Head Boy. "Who tried to get you into a broom closet? Geoff Haskell?"

"Oh, shut up."

"Dan Mash?"

"Potter..."

"Oh, I know! Snape!"

Lily just looked at him, and James had to exercise a great deal of self-control in order to stop himself from keeling over with laughter. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, though," James continued at length. "Who's asked you? Well, besides Johnny Sharp, of course."

Lily sent him a withering glare. "James, thanks to you, Johnny Sharp didn't speak two words to me until fifth year, when he decided that I had friends and a body enough to tempt him once again."

"Did you go out with him?" the Head Boy asked, a little too curiously.

"Are you joking? After that bastard stood me up? Of course not! But it's still you're fault. I mean, if we had gone out in second year, I might have fallen in love and married that bloke!"

James couldn't stop himself this time. He burst out into almost quiet laughter. Lily rolled her eyes again and pointed her wand at the door.

"What was that?" James asked, recovering quickly.

"So whoever is out there won't here you dying in here."

James grinned. "You would have married Jonathon Sharp?"

"Well, who knows? I might have reformed him... he's quite good-looking."

"Priss."

"Sod off."

"Well don't blame me because Sharp didn't think you were well-equipped enough to go out with."

Lily scoffed disbelievingly. "Potter, don't be stupid. You and I both know it was you who told Johnny some lie about me in order to get him to stand me up!"

"I did not!" defended James.

"You did. You as much as admitted it to me, James. Don't bother lying now... I've practically forgotten."

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"I didn't!"

"You di... have the footsteps stopped?"

James paused to listen as well. The footsteps had all but vanished; they were growing fainter and fainter by the moment.

"Well there you go," said James wisely. "But you still haven't told me what you're doing in here."

"Nothing!"

James gave her a look. "You realize you're in a broom closet, right?"

"Well," began Lily slowly; "if you must know, I was hiding too."

"From...?"

"Footsteps. Probably yours, now that I think about it."

"And what was our respectable Head Girl doing wandering about after hours?"

"Same thing you are, I'd wager," snapped Lily. "Praedam's been fired... something is going on."

James did not say anything at first, and when he did speak, it was seemingly unrelated: "Light up your wand, will you..." he said, pulling out the map from his pocket. Lily did so, and watched curiously as James tapped the parchment with his wand, muttering as he did so: "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

"What's..." began the Head Girl, but James shushed her.

"Just watch..." he muttered, as the lines branched out, forming the map again.

"It's a map," observed Lily, awestruck. James nodded. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," the redhead continued to read. "That's you and Sirius and Remus and Peter, isn't it?"

"Not in that order, but yeah."

"What do those names mean, anyway?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "'The Marauders' Map,'" she quoted. "Well, what are we going to do with it?"

But James wasn't listening. He was searching the map more carefully than before, until he came to the spot where he and Lily were.

"Oh my Merlin..." whispered Lily, but still James paid no attention. "That's... that's where we are... that's us!"

James was tracing the corridor outside with his finger, until he found the black dot he was looking for. It was the dot that signified whoever had been outside just moments before. It wasn't Filch. The dot was labeled with a name James didn't know.

"Who's... Donavan Gracechurch?" Lily asked, voicing James's question.

The Head Boy shrugged. "I don't know... but I have an idea. C'mon."

He unlocked the door, and glancing about to make sure that the corridor was indeed deserted (more out of habit than anything else, for the map had told it to be so), pulled Lily's wrist after him into the open. Lily followed, struggling with James's hand, but he did not pay any attention to this.

"James, let go!" whispered the redhead angrily.

"Shut up. C'mon!"

James led at a sprint down the corridor, till they came to the corner. He stopped and glanced at the map again. The only dot in the hallway was still "Donavan Gracechurch" and he—whoever he was—was walking farther and farther away. James released Lily and nodded for her to follow him, which she did, rolling her green eyes.

They moved quickly but quietly, glancing at the map every once in a while to make sure the mysterious Mr. Gracechurch was still moving forward. Soon, they were all but caught up with him. Still, all they could see was his back, and there was nothing recognizable about that, especially in the dimly lit corridor.

When the two paused in their pursuit as the other stopped suddenly at a split, Lily was hit with impatience and inspiration. She lifted her foot, which was shoed in black go-go boots and tapped the wall with her heel. The sound echoed, but Lily very quickly pulled James around a corner.

She peered ever so slightly around the edge of the wall and could see the figure turning around and coming closer.

Lily waved at James violently, hoping to get him to leave, but he would not comply.

"Who is it?" he mouthed.

Lily shook her head to signal she didn't know, then, very cautiously, peeked around the corner once more. This time, she caught sight of the stranger's face. She gasped. With no time to fill James in (for he was coming closer by the moment), she grabbed his wrist, and pulled him as she fled quickly back. There was a marble statue of a goblin, which Lily ducked behind, dragging James with her.

As they sat there, huddled behind a statue, James hit her shoulder and sent her a questioning look. Lily shook her head again, this time impatiently, then glanced around the goblin's ears to see what the situation was. The other was standing at the corner, peering down. He remained there for a moment, then turned around and continued in the other direction.

Lily sighed in relief.

"Who was it?" whispered James, unable to contain himself.

The Head Girl leaned back against the wall.

"It was Praedam."

James's eyes widened. He pulled the still visible map from his pocket, where he'd placed it moments before, and studied it for a second, before finding their location and that of Praedam—alias Donavan Gracechurch. Or vice versa...

"What's he doing here?" Lily wondered at a whisper.

James shrugged.

"Maybe," began the Head Girl presently, as James monitored the ex-Professor's movements from the map; "he was just getting his things from his office."

"Maybe," agreed James; "but if that's the case, why was he was heading away from his office empty handed?" Lily could not find an answer to this, so she joined in the observation. "Merlin, where are you going?" James whispered to the dot, as it took a little-used staircase to the second floor.

"Oh my... look, James!" muttered Lily, pointing to the staff room, where the other teachers were beginning to scatter. But James saw also what Lily was looking at. Professor Silth was moving especially quickly away from the room, but he was not heading upward towards his own office, but down the corridor, towards the stair that led to the Entrance Hall.

Silth did not go into the Entrance Hall, however. Instead, he veered off into a narrow corridor. Praedam—or Gracechurch—had meanwhile landed on the second floor, and, by no coincidence (as far as James was concerned), was in the same corridor as Silth.

James and Lily exchanged looks, then turned their watch back to the map.

Silth and Praedam had moved into an unused classroom and were apparently having a conversation in there.

"What do you think they're doing?" Lily murmured. James raised his eyebrows at her. "That's not what I meant."

"Hey, you never know... maybe Silth's his bitch or something."

"James, that is completely like something you'd say."

"Well I just said it, didn't I?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Lily sighed and added after a minute of silence: "Well, what now?"

James leaned back against the stone wall. "I don't know. We could wait... see where they go..."

"That could take all night," the redhead pointed out. "And don't you dare make that perverted."

"Me? Perverted?"

"Shock of the century, I know..."

"Can't even imagine why you'd think of it."

"We could tell Dumbledore."

"That you called me perverted?"

"No, you git, about all of this..."

James hesitated. "He just fired Praedam," the Head Boy said slowly. "Chances are he found out that Praedam wasn't Praedam."

"What about Silth? He might not know about Silth..."

"Dumbledore knows more of what goes on in this school than anyone else... you and me included." Lily looked at James curiously. "What?"

"Nothing," Lily stated quickly. "It's just... you're probably the last person I would expect to admit that."

James didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing, but looked down at the map. "Well... yeah... so, what do you think?"

"I think... I think we should..." Lily broke off, then continued on a different note. "Potter, have any of your memories from the forest come back?"

The question took James off guard. The honest (completely honest) answer was yes. He had had glimpses over the past few weeks of different spots in the forest—a tree here and a clearing there—but nothing concrete. Things he had discovered to be true in Dumbledore's office (the discovery of the Death Eater's wand, for example) still had not manifested themselves in his head.

"No," he said finally, and he wasn't sure why he was lying to her, except that he didn't want to tell anyone anything until he had all the facts. "Have yours?"

"Some of them," Lily admitted. "Not all of them, though. There are still some kind of big gaps... but a lot of the little things I can remember now. I mean, I can remember losing my shoes on the platform, and the whole image of the forest is a lot clearer in my head..."

"But you don't... you don't remember who actually did the erasing?"

Lily shook her head. "No, but I plan to go to Dumbledore the second I remember that."

"Why not before?"

"Well," said Lily, sounding a little embarrassed; "honestly, I'm a little afraid he'll try to extract it from me—and if not him, people from the Ministry. I wouldn't mind the risk of permanently losing my mind if it weren't that the other memories have come back by themselves, so maybe that one will too. I know it sounds stupid, but..."

"Dumbledore wouldn't try to force anything," James said thoughtfully. "But maybe that Korcesh bloke would, if he found out."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Anyway, unless you have another map, which can tell us what those two..." she nodded at the dots of Silth and Gracechurch "...are saying, then we should probably get back to the Common Room."

"Sadly, this is the only Marauder map there is." James got to his feet, and Lily followed the suit. They walked back towards the Common Room in relative silence, but James stopped at the suit of armor where he'd left the invisibility cloak.

Lily eyed it, then glanced up at James. "An invisibility cloak," she stated; it was not a question, but James nodded (a very little bit guiltily). She shook her head. "A Marauder—I should have known."

"And here we are at the final match of the Quidditch Season—the inter-house Quidditch Cup: Gryffindor verses Slytherin! What a match!"

Eddie Bones was born to be a commentator, James thought as he strapped on his arm guards and listened to Eddie's words from inside the Gryffindor locker room. They had about five more minutes until the team was to fly out for the warm up, and nerves were high among the seven Gryffindor players. James turned from his solitude and looked around at his team.

Paul was pacing on the opposite end of the room, looking nervous but driven. Lexi was sitting down, looking a little paler than usual, but also looking excited. At least, she looked excited to the extent that Lexi ever showed emotion. James glanced over at Frank, who looked decently composed, considering he was usually a bundle of nerves. He seemed to be muttering instructions to himself under his breath. Mackey Simpson just looked thrilled to be there, and James had to admire his excellent Quidditch nerves. Eden was handling her anxiety in a manner that was not usual for her. Instead of being noisy or hyper, she simply stood in a corner, looking thoughtful.

James glanced over at Sirius, who was sitting down also, but his forehead was resting in his hands. The Captain walked over to his best friend and sat down beside him.

"You ready?" he murmured.

Sirius nodded, but did not look up.

"You sure?"

Again, Sirius nodded.

"Good, because if we're going to win, you can't sit here feeling sorry for yourself."

Sirius looked up.

"I'm not kidding," James continued seriously. "We're going to need you playing your absolute best game possible. Alright?"

Sirius's mouth turned into a slight grin. "Aye, aye, Cap."

James grinned as well. "Ready, guys?" he said, loudly to everyone else in the room. Everyone looked up, and James rose. "Alright," he continued, in his best pre-game-speech voice. "This is it: the last game of the season. Are we ready?"

"Yeah," the others chorused, a little lamely.

James paused. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, as if he hadn't heard them. "Did you guys say something? Or didn't you hear me? Are we ready?" He gave them his most lethal looking stare.

"Yeah!" This was much louder.

"Are we ready?"

"Yeah!"

"ARE WE READY?"

"YEAH!"

"Then hurry the hell up and get your stuff."

The other six rummaged a bit for their brooms, but when they were ready, James walked up to the curtain that was still between them and the field outside. The others lined up in their formation in front of him.

"Alright then. Any time," muttered Sirius, and James wondered if he had the same excited ache in his chest.

"Aaaand..." came Eddie's voice, "the Gryffindor team!"

"That's you, Twenty-two..."

The already mounted Paul Montreal kicked off and flew out of the tent, onto the field, followed almost instantly by Sirius, then Eden, then Frank, then Lexi, and finally Mackey. James waited for Eddie to say "Aaaand..." once more, before kicking off, as Eddie's voice shouted his name "Potter!" and the Gryffindor supporters roared in recognition of the Captain and Seeker.

He followed Mackey in the formation flight twice around the stadium, and then, while the rest of the team (except Paul, who, being Keeper, went to the goals) circled up high in the sky, James landed on the ground, across from where the Slytherin Captain Mortimer Zabini had already landed. Jivé, the sports director and flight teacher, walked up to the two and ordered in his cool voice: "Shake hands, Captains."

James and Zabini gripped each other's hand very quickly, each doing his very best to inflict as much pain as possible on the other. Then the two stepped back.

"Captains mount," said Jivé shortly.

The Captains mounted their brooms and flew back into their respective spots in formation. Jivé kicked open the crate that carried the balls and the two bludgers flew out. Next, Jivé opened a smaller compartment and out flew the golden snitch. Finally, the sport director picked up the large, red quaffle, and clearly mustering all his strength, threw it high into the air.

The Chasers immediately broke formation, all six hurrying towards the Quaffle. Frank was easily the closest of the Gryffindor chasers, so Lexi and Mackey broke off and moved towards the wings to open up for a pass. Unfortunately, Zabini, who was a Chaser, got to the Quaffle first and took possession.

James automatically glanced at Sirius, who was heading for a bludger to send at the Chaser, and then at Eden who was doing the same much farther away. The Captain swore as Zabini made a rather exceptional pass to fellow Chaser and only girl on the team, Olivia Malfoy, who caught it and headed towards the hoops. Lexi was on her in a moment, at the very least deterring her from flying smoothly, and Sirius sent the bludger towards her a moment later.

Apparently seeing her plight, Olivia looped under Lexi and threw the ball towards the third Chaser on the team, Boris Montague. But Frank was quicker. He intercepted the Quaffle in mid-pass, and swerved, missing a bludger, before beginning the treacherous flight towards the opposing team's hoops.

James looked away quickly, not wanting to get sucked in. He rose higher into the sky and began flying over the rest of the game, in search of the snitch. He flew only in certain parts of the sky where the sun would most likely catch the light of the snitch. The Slytherin seeker, Delano Crouch, was not far off and had adopted the strategy that many of the other house's Seekers followed—tail James.

The Gryffindor Seeker had, however, trained himself very specifically not to pay attention to the other seeker beyond making sure that he had not caught sight of the Snitch. He turned his broom around and began to fly lower, listening to a bit of Eddie's commentary.

"Shaw with the Quaffle—Shaw to Longbottom—Longbottom to... no, Longbottom keeps it, dodges a bludger... dodges the other bludger... dodges the Beater, Horrowitz... passes back to Shaw—to Simpson... and Simpson scores! Ten to zero, Gryffindor!"

Mackey did a quick victory lap before returning to the game.

James kept look out for the snitch.

"Keeper Yaxley passes the ball to Montague... Montague up the field... pass to Zabini... to Malfoy... Malfoy up the field... oooh, a bludger from Dearborn of Gryffindor but... Malfoy dodges—she still has possession and... whoa! A nicely aimed bludger from Black—Malfoy loses the Quaffle... and... air ball—c'mon chasers... Shaw gets... no! Foul! Foul!"

Eddie had completely lost any unbiased tone he might have maintained before then, but James had to agree. Zabini had regained the Quaffle for Slytherin, but at the cost of an obvious foul to Lexi. Instead of grabbing for the Quaffle, he had grabbed for the front of Lexi's broomstick, trying to throw it off course. That had not been the smartest thing for him, for broomsticks were dangerous at times, but while he had been thrown slightly away, Lexi had been sent spinning out of control.

Jivé's whistle sounded, and Zabini relinquished the Quaffle to Lexi, who took the penalty. James did not wait and watch for what happened (he found this to be bad luck), but instead did a fly-by, in search of the snitch. Crouch, he noticed was doing the same thing, some twenty feet higher.

Lexi scored, and the game reset again,

Zabini got the Quaffle in a rather good pass form Yaxley, and, dodging Eden's bludger and Frank himself, zoomed towards the Gryffindor hoops.

"Zabini down the field... still going, fakes to Malfoy and passes... no, he fakes again and... ah shit... scores. Twenty, ten, Gryffindor!"

The Slytherin supporters cheered but James did not pay attention.

"Watch the fakes, Twenty-Two!" he shouted to Montreal, who nodded quickly. "Chasers—some defense would be nice!" the Captain added to the three players this applied to.

Frank got the quaffle and did a very nice dodge of Montague that James had remembered reviewing just the evening before. He got rid of the quaffle in a quick pass-off to Mackey, who then hurled it a risky distance to Lexi, who managed to grab it just before Zabini could intercept. She dodged a bludger, pushing her a little out of the way, but avoided having the quaffle stolen by Malfoy, who was attacking viciously.

Eddie Bones screamed for a foul, but Jivé would not hear it.

"No foul, no foul!" he cried to a protesting James.

Irritated at this loss, but glad Lexi maintained possession, he did a fly-by over the stands, partially to look for the snitch, but mostly because it brought attention to himself, and that would at least momentarily distract Crouch as Seeker, as well the two Slytherin Beaters, Harley and McMillan.

Lexi, having survived Olivia Malfoy, passed the quaffle to Frank, and as she did so, James caught sight of the snitch, flying near where Frank had received. Seeing the snitch sent an automatic thrill through James, but he knew he could not get it yet. It was too early, and they were not up by enough points to win the cup yet.

He had to make sure Crouch did not find the snitch now.

James bent forward on his broom, pushing it faster than before, and dipped into a neat, none-too-drastic dive, that would appear legitimate but not showy. Crouch was on his tail in an instant, and then slowly gaining on him. He was almost shoulder-to-shoulder with him, when the Slytherin let out a scoff that tempted James to look back, though he refrained.

"You haven't seen the snitch!" taunted Crouch's voice. "You're faking!"

The Slytherin elbowed James in the ribs, causing the Gryffindor to veer off course, as he himself smoothly rose higher. Paul Montreal screamed for a foul, but in doing so lost focus for a fraction of a second. Zabini shot the Quaffle in the left hoop, and Paul dived just too late. Slytherin scored, tying the game.

James did not say anything to Paul, as the Keeper reset and passed the quaffle to Lexi, who immediately tipped it over to a very open Mackey. The Seeker was too irritated with himself for allowing himself to be caught in an unconvincing feint. Though he had distracted Crouch long enough for the snitch to disappear from it's obvious spot in the middle of the pitch, he had not been good enough to avoid the foul, which Jivé had not called.

The Gryffindor Captain, now flying stably, did a lower sweep of the stadium, watching Crouch more intently than he looked for the Snitch. They had to be fifty points up before he could catch it, or they would win the match, but lose the Cup, something he did not want to happen. He did a fancy-looking, but actually simple, flip as he passed in front of the Gryffindor stands, causing the spectators there to cheer. As he did this, he caught sight of Silth, sitting with the staff not far off. James forced himself to concentrate on the game.

Crouch was flying higher, trying to distract Eden, but to no success, as she had just dived in between Lexi and a bludger, in an attempt to protect the chaser, who currently had possession.

Lexi was now close to the rings and made a rather nice shot towards the center one, but Yaxley saved it just in time. James swore under his breath, but, leaning forward on his broom, flew towards Crouch. As the Gryffindor Seeker caught the Slytherin Seeker's attention, Yaxley threw the quaffle to Olivia Malfoy, who passed it almost immediately to Zabini. He was zooming towards the Gryffindor rings at top speed. The bludger Eden sent towards him missed, and when Sirius regained control of the same ball and hit it again towards Zabini, the Chaser managed to swerve just in time.

A second later, he shot the quaffle towards the left ring.

Paul, who had been cheating right, tried to make the save, but too late.

"Zabini scores, bringing the score to thirty to twenty, Slytherin!" came Eddie voice, much louder than James would have liked, though the announcer did not sound too thrilled. "Montreal passes out to Simpson, who passes to Shaw, to Longbottom, back to Simpson, to... ah shit—sorry, Professor—Simpson intercepted by Zabini, who takes it back and... my bloody Merlin! Zabini scores again!"

Slytherin screamed. James shut his eyes briefly, opened them, then flew over to Jivé. He muttered something to the referee, who nodded briefly and blew his whistle. "Time out!"

James then flew over towards Paul at the goals. The rest of the team congregated there presently, and Jivé, with a wave of his wand, froze the bludgers in mid-air. Paul had the Quaffle.

When the team had gathered, James waited some ten seconds to say anything. This was for effect, but he could not wait much longer, for they only had forty-five seconds to talk.

"I'll be mad if we lose to Slytherin," he said at length; "but I'll beyond mad... I'll be beyond infuriated... in fact, I'll probably lose my mind, if we lose to Zabini alone! What the hell is your problems, guys? Eden, you haven't hit one person the whole game... every other beater on the pitch right now has stronger arms than you, but you've got better accuracy; I know it for a fact. Start playing like it! Sirius, you're next to useless right now... get your mind on the game. Montreal—don't cheat so much; you're flying more or less terribly, so unless you can start moving—y'know—quickly: stay center. All of the Chasers, watch the passes! Yours, theirs... watch them! Now c'mon, guys. Let's play Quidditch, not whatever the hell game you're attempting! Alright, Gryffindor on three—one, two, three..."

"Gryffindor!" everyone chorused, sounding determined.

They flew out, just as Jivé blew his whistle to signify the end of the time out. Paul took the Quaffle and made a strong pass to Lexi, who, dodging Olivia Malfoy, swerved and made her way up field.

James exhaled and, beginning a slow and low course around the stadium, looked about for Crouch once more. He spotted him near the Gryffindor hoops, and the Captain's heart skipped a beat when he saw what he was doing. He was moving very quickly and determinedly—he'd seen the snitch.

James saw it too—it was about fifty feet ahead of Crouch, but the Seeker was gaining on it quickly. James swerved upwards, dodging a bludger almost unintentionally, until he caught up with the Slytherin. For a moment, Crouch did not seem to notice that James was in hot pursuit, but when he was almost shoulder-to-shoulder with him, it was impossible not to notice.

Crouch tried to knock him out of the way, but James steered his broom downward so that he was flying just below his opponent. Crouch, slightly off course, did not have time to attack further, for he had to keep his eyes on the Snitch. James did not have that disadvantage. He did not even have to catch it, as long as the other seeker did not.

The Gryffindor rose again so that he was flying next to Crouch, who looked infuriated.

"You won't have this one!" he screeched, again trying to shoulder James out of the way. James swerved away from defensive tactic and leaned forward a little further on his broom. He sped up and brought his broom just slightly in front of Crouch's, so that it would count as a cut-off, and not as blatching.

Crouch had to swerve with him to avoid hitting him, but James was already flying forward towards the snitch. Crouch was on him in an instant, keeping very close to James.

"You can't catch it!" shouted the Slytherin; "If you do, you'll lose the cup! You and I both know it!"

"Thanks for telling me!" James shouted back, carefully moving so that he was very close indeed to the Slytherin; "actually I didn't know!" This was, of course, a lie, but it distracted the other for a moment. "I saw your girlfriend in the crowd over there, Crouch. She looked like she was getting awfully comfortable with Snape! 'Half expected them to start shagging right there..."

Angry, Crouch elbowed the very close James in the stomach, and the whistle sounded. Jivé had called the foul. Crouch was forced to stop.

"That," said James to Crouch, as Lexi took the Quaffle for the penalty, "is called 'cobbing.' It's a foul. Look it up."

Lexi scored the penalty, and James was surprised to hear that that brought the score to Gryffindor forty, Slytherin thirty. Evidently, the Chasers had been busy in the last few minutes. Gryffindor supporters cheered as Yaxley took the Quaffle for the reset. James glanced about at the crowd. His eyes, once more, fell on Silth in the staff area.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. His heart skipped a beat again, but this time for an utterly thrilling reason. Silth.

Last night, he'd seen Silth on the Marauder's Map; however, he had seen him as "Damien Silth" not as "Michael Anything"... his name couldn'tbe Michael... the Marauder's Map was always right. So why did Professor Grossman think it was?

But no, this was not the time to think about that. He had a Quidditch game to finish.

Yaxley passed the Quaffle to Montague. James thought quickly—he needed another few seconds to speak with his Chasers. He spotted Crouch not far off, looking for the snitch once more, and inspiration hit. But he needed for them to be at least twenty points up before he'd dare do it...

As if in an answer to his private prayer, Eden and Sirius—in a rather lovely demonstration (James thought) of the dopplebeater defense—hit one of the bludgers towards Montague, who tried to somehow roll away from the bludger, but ended up nearly falling off the broom and dropping the quaffle. Mackey was under him in a minute and caught the quaffle, passing it immediately to Frank, who brought it up the field.

He had scored a moment later.

James allowed himself a cheer, and Slytherin reset once more.

Montague had the Quaffle now, and James took the opportunity. He sped up to fall into flight with Crouch. Once next to him, he sped up a little more, which Crouch took as an opportunity to imitate.

"What are you doing?" he snapped to James.

The Gryffindor grinned, and glanced over his shoulder. Eddie was shouting his speculation that maybe the Seekers had seen the snitch, as they were apparently speeding up together. James looked at his Chasers, and sent each of them looks that seemed to say "keep scoring."

None of the three stopped to watch the snitch race, but did as they were instructed.

Then, James glanced around to find Jivé. He was watching them.

James grinned.

"This, Crouch," he said, turning to face forward again; "is called 'skinning.' Look it up." At that moment, he swerved his broomstick very quickly so that he collided with Crouch, before the other could move.

Jivé's whistle sounded, but James was far from annoyed. He glanced over at Paul, who looked prepared to stop Zabini's penalty shot.

"Slag!" shouted Crouch after him, but James was already flying towards his Chasers. All three gathered around them as Zabini flew closer to goals to take the shot.

"Mackey," said James to the Chaser, in a very rushed voice; "can you do a reverse pass?"

"Er..."

"Great. This is what we do..." Jivé was flying towards Zabini, carrying the Quaffle... "When Mackey has the quaffle, you two drop back. Lexi flies higher; Frank flies below her. Mackey does a reverse pass to Lex, who draws a defensive Chaser, and then does the Porskoff Ploy to Frank. Got it?"

"Right."

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

Zabini missed.

At least, Paul managed to spot the feint on Zabini's part, and saved the shot from going in. Mackey opened up left, and Paul passed it to him. Olivia Malfoy almost intercepted, but Mackey got there first. He immediately sped up field, bringing Malfoy with him. She tried to cut him off, but just as she did, Mackey threw the quaffle over his shoulder in a rather lovely reverse pass.

Lexi caught it, and Zabini was on her in a minute. She was swerving left and right as it was to avoid the bludgers, but the second Zabini tried to take the Quaffle from her, she darted upwards, and Zabini followed. Then, the Gryffindor dropped the Quaffle down to Frank, who caught it and zoomed right up to the opposing goals.

Yaxley, who had only just realized that Lexi no longer had the Quaffle was caught off guard, and Frank scored in the center ring.

James sighed in relief. Two more goals and they would be up by fifty; if he caught the snitch then, they would win the Cup.

Five minutes later, they had used the maneuver two more times, and they had the goals. James was flying high up, in search of the snitch.

"Gryffindor in the lead, seventy to twenty... Yaxley passes to Zabini... Zabini with the Quaffle... ouch! Zabini's been hit by a bludger from Black but... he still has the quaffle! Zabini heads downfield... a pass to Montague... pass back to Zabini... pass to Malfoy... pass to Montague... bludger from Black and Dearborn... Montague loses the Quaffle and... picked up by Longbottom... Longbottom... okay, Longbottom is hit by a bludger and Malfoy has possession... Malfoy heads downfield... dodges Mackey Simpson and... damn it! Er... that is, darn lovely pass to Zabini who heads towards the goals... dodges Black's bludger... dodges Lexi... dodges Simpson... whoa, okay... he's close. Montreal will have a time blocking... he shoots and... no it's fake... Montreal doesn't fall for it though... Zabini is well within the scoring zone, he... he's close and... if he scores, then Gryffindor will have to... oh my Merlin he's shoots and... oh Merlin! A gorgeous Bludger Backbeat from Dearborn... Zabini misses and..."

Eddie was interrupted by Jivé's whistle.

"Er... referee is calling something, I'm not sure what but..."

Jivé was waving his hands about dramatically shouting something.

"He's... he's calling game," said Eddie, bewildered. "I'm not sure why, but... oh. Oh. OH!" And suddenly everyone seemed to have noticed that one of the Seekers was waving something about in his hand and that that something was the small golden ball, and the whole thing ended in a mass of chaos.

James had caught the snitch.

"Drinks all 'round!"

Sirius reappeared with a great multitude of butterbeer and food, and everyone in the Gryffindor Common Room was groping for a bottle a moment later.

Remus tossed Lily one, and she smiled at him.

"Hey there, handsome," she said, as he came over to her. "Great match, huh?"

"Intense," agreed Remus, opening his bottle. The two struggled to get out of the mesh of people and to find a good corner. Once sitting comfortably in chairs, they began a conversation.

"So... we won," said Lily, a little awkwardly.

"Thank God."

"I know," laughed the redhead. "I could not have faced Slytherin if we hadn't."

"I couldn't have faced James," said Remus with a shudder.

Lily grinned. "Frightening prospects."

"You have no idea."

They watched the ensuing insanity for a moment; James and Sirius seemed to be doing some kind of dance on a table and everyone was singing what Lily called the "Gryffindor Drinking Song" and what everyone else called the "Quidditch Song." Two years ago, some now graduated student had invented The Quidditch Song when Gryffindor won the cup. Since the invention of the song was somewhat drink-induced, the lyrics changed every time it was sung, but most of the time, it went something like this:

"Ma la la
Ma la la
Potter caught the snitch, Potter caught the snitch!
Lions won the Quidditch pitch
Ma la la
Ma la la
It's Gryffindor for the cup
The cup for the Gryffindor
Slytherin was all shut up
With Ravenclaw we washed the floor
Ma la la
Ma la la
Hufflepuff never had no luck
Red and gold is where it's at
The others are all gone to chuck
Slytherins are slags
Ma la la
Ma la la!"

Admittedly, 'at' and 'slags' did not rhyme, but the overall rhythm was catchy enough, and everyone was usually too high on Quidditch-generated euphoria to notice or care.

"It's no wonder his ego was the size of Australia," laughed Lily, as everyone started up again for the second round.

Remus grinned. "Was?" he asked. "Since when was it 'was'?"

Lily shrugged. "Since he brought butterbeer, I guess." Remus hardly needed to point out that Sirius and James always brought butterbeer, so he didn't.

As the party progressed, Remus and Lily were joined by none other than the Seeker and Captain himself. James walked over, with Redival waiting a few feet behind him.

"Er... could I have a word with Evans, really quickly?" he asked, and Remus nodded.

"I'll get more butterbeer," volunteered the Marauder, getting up.

James took his seat, and when his friend was gone said: "This will just take a second, I swear." When Lily unexpectedly did not protest, he continued: "It's about Silth. When we looked at him on the map yesterday, he was labeled as 'Damien Silth.' Not 'Michael' or anything, like Grossman said."

"Could the map have been wrong?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"The map can't be wrong," James insisted.

"Alright, alright, so the map's right, and Grossman is wrong?"

"Must be. Why would she think that his name was Michael, though?"

Lily shook her head to say that she didn't know, but before any more speculation could take place, Redival's voice called James's name.

"Are you done yet?" she complained.

"You should go..." Lily told him, nodding towards Redival. "Might as well reap the benefits of your victory..."

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess... er... just thought you should know about that, though."

"Yeah, thanks." Then, she added in a louder voice so that Redival would hear her: "And thanks for telling me about McGonagall's scheduling change!"

"No problem." He added in an undertone: "See you, Red."

And then he rejoined Redival. Remus returned a moment later with butterbeer.

When Lily entered her dormitory much later that evening (or was it morning by then?), her first impression was that it was empty. A moment's observation showed her that this was not true, and that Eden was sitting on the floor, hugging her legs and leaning against the foot of her own bed. It now occurred to Lily that she hadn't seen Eden at all during the course of the party.

"Hey, E, how are...?" Lily broke off. She saw her friend's face clearly for the first time in the dimly lit dormitory. What little light there was reflected off where tears had streamed down Eden's pale face. Lily was at her side a moment later. "Oh my God! E, what's the matter? Eden?"

Eden slowly turned her head to face her friend. "Me, Lily," she whispered. "I'm the matter." Tears gathered in those bright blue eyes, but Lily grabbed the blonde's shoulders tightly.

"Eden," she said sternly yet sympathetically; "Eden, tell me what's happened!"

The tears fell again, but Eden said nothing. She was sobbing as she pulled her legs closer and rested her chin on her knees. Lily let go of her shoulders and sat down in the same suit. "E, talk to me."

Eden made a sound halfway between a sob a cough, but still said nothing. Lily remained silent also. They sat in that manner for about two minutes, but it was the blonde who eventually broke first.

"I've told you about my mum, Lily, haven't I?"

Whatever Lily had been expecting, it was not this. The prospects of what was now making Eden so miserable frightened the Head Girl, as her mind leaped to a thousand possible conclusions. "Yeah, E," she said calmly, not displaying her current worries in her voice. "You've told me."

Eden let out an unsteady breath, then continued in an attempted composed voice: "She was slut, Lily. Dad only married her 'cos she was pregnant... he didn't love her like he loved Marlene's mum."

All this Lily knew. Eden had told her in fifth year, under a similar situation. It was the reason for the disrespect with which she treated her father and the contempt with which she referred to her mother. But in fifth year, Lily had understood exactly what had triggered the confession in her friend. Now, she was at a loss to comprehend what could bring Eden to this rare, hysterical state.

"What's happened, Eden?" Lily repeated in a gentle whisper.

Eden sniffed, then said in a strangely even voice: "I'm like her."

"No. No, you're not E. She's dead. She doesn't have any effect on..."

"I slept with Rian tonight," interrupted Eden, as if she hadn't heard a word.

Lily paused. For about a minute, an internal war raged inside the Head Girl. She wasn't sure if she was surprised because Eden had done that, or if she was surprised because she acted as if this was the first time. She had never been entirely certain about Eden's virginity; sometimes she thought that surely a girl of her popularity and (often) lack of inhibition would have slept with at least some of her boyfriends, but sometimes, Eden left the impression that she was committed to maintaining her virtue and distancing herself from her deceased mother. Lily watched her friend steadily for a moment.

"What happened?" she asked at length.

Eden shrugged. "I don't know. it just happened. It wasn't forced or anything. I just... why do I feel like...?" She did not finish, and Lily did not answer the incomplete question. She supposed it was rhetorical anyway. Eden burst into a fresh wave of tears. Lily put an arm around her shoulders, and helped Eden to her feet.

"C'mon," she said, opening the other girl's trunk and pulling out the pajama bottoms and tank top that Eden generally slept in. "You should go to bed." The blonde, dressed in the sports clothes she'd put on after the match, took the clothes obediently and slowly walked to the bathroom to change.

Lily sat down at the vanity, running her hands through her hair until Eden came out. She set her clothes on the trunk and walked to her bed. Lily went to the bed also, and sat on the edge, till Eden was under the covers.

"You're all right," Lily told her, standing and loosening the curtain rings of the canopy. Eden, still tearstained, smiled sardonically. "Well," the redhead corrected herself; "You will be." She closed the curtains of the four-poster bed, then, after a short pause, went over the window seat. She sat ther for some time, until she heard the heavy breathing that told her Eden had gone to sleep. It began to rain outside, and Lily went to bed.

******************************************Many thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far. Chapter 20 is coming in all its glory, but I'm still in debate over the title. Love to reviewers!

Cheers,
Jewels