“What?” James asked, obviously confused. He couldn’t see anything that reminded him of Australia, particularly in the cool weather of early October. He was sitting with Alice in the court yard, before dinner, watching the sun set. It was the first night he’d actually had free since the pie incident, as he and Lily had spent almost every night that week in detention. Despite the fact that he had really enjoyed his time with Lily, it was great to have a moment just to sit and relax.
“Even better, India.” She pointed over to some boys across the way. “Ouch, too bad his friend is Greenland.” Alice nodded at a few boys in the distance. “There is Cuba hanging out with France.”
“I’m confused,” said James, still looking around wildly. “Since when are you so interested in geography?”
Alice shook her head dejectedly. “Lily, I am very disappointed in you. Maybe all those detentions have been playing with your brain. We are playing the game.” James stared at her blankly. Alice rolled her eyes. “You know, when you categorise boys based on their looks, and name them after hot or cold countries? The hotter the boy, the closer to the equator he is.”
James grinned. He couldn’t wait to teach the game to Sirius. His smile got wider as he saw Rodger passing in the distance. “Antarctica.”
Alice laughed. “You were the one who went out with him, not me. Mmm, check Bali over there.”
James turned to see Sirius and Lily in the distance. However, before he could agree, he noticed that Alice wasn’t looking at Lily at all. “Sirius?” he spluttered when he realised what she meant. “A Bali? You have got to be kidding me!”
Alice shrugged. “I thought you said he was better looking than James.”
James felt as though he’d been slapped. “No, I would never say that. Tell me I never said that.”
Alice looked at James as though he had gone mad, which in light of recent events, seemed to be a common occurrence. “I suppose it could have been the other way around,” she conceded with a sigh. “I can’t be expected to remember these things.”
James relaxed. “It was the other way around, trust me. James is hot.”
“Okay, crazy lady,” laughed Alice. “It was the other way around. Actually, you may have labelled them both Iceland. Oh my,” she gushed, her eyes going wide, “check out the Jamaica! I’d take a holiday there!”
James didn’t even bother to turn his head. “Frank?” he reminded her.
“Don’t worry,” Alice giggled, hitting James lightly on the shoulder. “I’m only sightseeing. Frank is my homeland. Forever.”
Suddenly, James wanted to understand. He’d been pining after Lily for years, but he still wasn’t sure. He’d never brought it up with his friends, half because he was afraid they’d mock him, but more because he was afraid of finding out the truth. Yet, Alice was a girl who quite clearly knew what her position was, so before he could stop, he found the words spilling out. “How did you know? When did you figure out you were in love?”
Alice sighed. “Love is such a strange thing. You see, everyone has a different way of falling in love. Some people fall in love slowly, some fall head over heals. Some people know from the beginning who they will fall in love with and to others it comes as a total shock.”
“For you?” James asked, eager to know.
Alice stared off into the distance. “I never believed that I would fall in love with Frank until it happened. I mean he was a great guy, strong, brave, smart and kind, but I didn’t expect to do anything more than casually date him.”
Watching her relay her story, James realised that she was no longer with him, but had slipped back to some previous summer.
“Yet,” Alice continued absentmindedly, “It all changed in one single moment. It was right before Frank left for the summer holidays and he was trying to convince me to come and meet his family before Christmas. We started arguing and I went to walk away. He tried to follow me and tripped over the rug and landed on his face. Horrified, I bent over to see if he was okay. He looked up at me, his nose bleeding and bent, and laughed. He then steadfastly refused to be taken to the hospital wing until I agreed to meet his parents. In that moment, I don’t know why, but I knew in that moment that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.”
For a moment, the two of them watched the last rays of sunlight flitter below the horizon. Then Alice turned to James, looking him directly in the eye. “You see, everyone has a different view on love. For some people, it’s all consuming, damaging even, but for others it completes us. Good people, people like you and me, know how important love is. Because everyone has a different view on love, everyone has a different way of falling in love. It doesn’t matter if you realise after a romantic gesture, or if you discover it in the most unconventional of ways. You’ll know when it happens.”
James leaned back against the wall. “I want that to happen to me.”
“It will, Lily, it will. Besides, I believe you now.”
“About what?” James asked, surprised.
“About what you said at our little party, in truth or dare. I thought you were lying, but I believe you now.”
James racked his brains, but didn’t remember what she was talking about. “Sorry, Alice, I’ve forgotten.”
Alice grinned. “Don’t worry, because I have a good feeling it will work out.”
James smiled in return. Even though she was confusing, it had been all too easy to become friends with Alice.
“James ‘Prongs’ Potter, do you know why you are here?”
“N-no?” Lily stuttered. After three nights of consecutive detention, McGonagall had calmed down enough to listen to reason. Once she was listening, James had managed to convince her that their behaviour for the previous days had been the result of a bad potions accident that altered their sense of right and wrong. McGonagall had picked up that it was the truth (even though she didn’t realise it wasn’t the whole truth), and convinced the rest of the teachers to let them out of their remaining detentions. Of course, as James looked like Lily, the excuse seemed much more plausible than if he was in his in his own body. It was great to finally have a night off.
Yet, standing in the dark secret passageway, Lily was beginning to wish that she still had detentions to do. Something about the situation screamed bad, very bad.
“I call judge!” Sirius suddenly yelled.
“No fair! I’m never judge!” whined Peter.
“Tough,” Sirius replied, casually flipping his hair. “Wormtail, you’re defence. Moony, you’re prosecution.”
As though a penny dropped, Lily realised that they were creating some sort of a crazy trial. This probably affirmed her ‘bad’ feeling. “Can I be jury?” she asked hopefully.
“No,” the three boys called in unison. “You are the defendant.”
Sirius flicked his wand twice, conjuring a lectern and a small hammer. He then stood behind the lectern. Remus sat down in a chair to Lily’s left, while Peter came to sit beside Lily. “Mr. Prongs,” Sirius started in an official voice. “You stand accused of the heinous crime of missing full moon without due provocation. How do you plead?”
“Not guilty,” Lily quickly replied. It was a rather stupid thing to do, seeing as she had deliberately missed full moon, but for some reason the words came straight out of her mouth.
Sirius coughed.
“Not guilty, your honour?” she tried.
“Thank you.” He turned to Remus. “Prosecution?”
Moony got to his feet and cleared his throat. “Defendant deliberately provoked a volatile teacher during good behaviour week. Such action was guaranteed detention, thus wilfully removing himself from activities regarding full moon.” Remus shot a wink at Lily before he sat down again. Lily tried her hardest not to burst into laughter. Everyday she had been in James’ body she told herself that nothing else could surprise her. She’d been wrong.
“Defence?” Sirius continued without batting an eyelash.
Peter got to his feet. “We plead for leniency due to the awesome nature of the prank.”
Sirius covered a chuckle with a cough. “Duly noted, you may sit. Any other points from the prosecution?”
“Yes,” Remus replied, standing up and beginning to pace. “Defendant has been especially secretive over the last two and a half weeks regarding the nature of his relationship with one Lily Evans.”
“Objection!” called Peter. “Not relative to case.”
“Overruled,” Sirius called, with a little rap of his hammer. Lily rolled her eyes. Could James’ friends get any stupider? “Moony has a point. What is going on between you two?”
“Nothing...,” Lily started automatically.
“Objection,” Sirius interrupted. “You are lying.”
“Judges can’t object,” Lily felt the need to point out. A small smile escaped her lips. The whole situation was ridiculous, but she found that she was quite entertained.
“They can now,” Sirius replied stiffly. “Answer the question.”
“Defence would like to make a deal,” Peter interjected, before Lily could open her mouth. “Full details on what is going on between my client and Lily Evans in exchange for acquittal.”
“Objection!” called Lily. “Lawyer did not consult client.”
“Overruled!” Sirius interrupted with a grin. “Deal accepted!”
“Hold on,” asked Lily. “What’s the punishment if I don’t tell?”
“Same as always,” said Peter, surprised. “As the Marauders, we only have one punishment; running from our passageway to the Astronomy tower at midnight. Naked.”
Lily froze. “No, that’s ridiculous. I’m not doing it.”
“But you made…”
Lily gritted her teeth. “Let me guess, I made that one up?” she said, cutting Remus off. So much for James’ detention plan. He’d probably known all along. She was going to kill him.
“Sure did,” said Sirius, rapping his mallet on the lectern. “The punishment deals with the crime. If you let down the team, you have to run. It ties in with our motto, ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’.”
“That’s not our motto,” cut in Remus with a grin. “It’s ‘We solemnly swear we are up to no good.’”
“Whatever,” said Sirius, rolling his eyes. “They are along the same lines. Either way, we are a brotherhood where everyone is equal and thus everyone gets the same punishment.” He pointed his mallet at Lily. “So, James, what is going to go? The secrecy or the clothes?” He paused and thumped his hammer for effect. “Tell us the full extent of what is going on between you and Madame Evans.”
“I don’t know how I feel,” Lily said with a truthfulness that shocked her. What was going on between her and James? It was strange, but the last three nights she had spent in detention, two of them with James, she found that she had really enjoyed herself. James had this ability to make her smile and laugh and his humour was infectious. She had no idea how she had never seen it before.
“Sure you don’t want to add anything?” asked Sirius, obviously frustrated. “I mean come on, you chase the girl for years and now that you are spending time with her you’ve gone all silent?”
Still lost in her thoughts, Lily nodded. Could it be possible? Could she be developing a crush on James Potter? The situation was absurd, beyond absurd. After all, who developed a crush on someone when they were in their body? But then again, he was good looking and they would switch back eventually…
“Prongs,” sighed Sirius, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, but that information is not good enough to acquit you. As awesome and memorable as that prank may have been, there is no reason that it could not have waited until the next day. You’ll have to tell us about Lily eventually. The punishment will have to stand.”
To Lily’s dismay, he rapped his mallet on his lectern before she could protest.
“Sorry, mate,” said Peter, slapping him on the back.
Sirius, obviously having the time of his life, threw a small black cloth at Lily. To her horror, she realised that it was a balaclava. They couldn’t possibly expect her to run could they?
Sirius, as though answering her question, nodded his head, an evil grin spreading across his face. “Looks like you have a race to run, Prongs old pal. The time is five minutes to midnight.”
Seeing that Lily hadn’t moved, Sirius pulled out his wand. “Lose the clothes.”
“Lily, wake up.”
“Huh-wah?”
James opened his eyes to find Alice staring at him. “I can’t sleep,” she whispered. “Will you come get a warm drink from the kitchen with me?”
James didn’t really understand why girls had to go everywhere together, but he nodded anyway. Maybe it was a safety in numbers thing, but James was fairly sure if he had woken up Sirius for any reason other than Voldemort himself attacking, there would be hell to pay.
The trip down to the kitchens passed in relative silence. James was too tired to really take notice of anything, except for vaguely recognising that Alice was acting strangely. He pushed the thought from his mind as the house-elves offered him some cake. There was nothing like a midnight snack.
However, after exiting the kitchens, they found that they were not alone in the corridor. Three Hufflepuff girls from sixth year were giggling and making their way to the entrance hall.
“Wonder what that’s all about,” asked James, watching the girls sneak around a corner.
“No idea,” said Alice, looking away. Once again, James was confronted with the sensation that Alice was up to something.
They walked in silence for a while with Alice leading the way. James was about to confront her, but as they rounded a corner, they bumped into Arty.
“Oh, hey Lily, Alice,” he grinned. “Finally come to see what it is all about? I’m taking bets. Any takers?”
“A Galleon on James,” said Alice, pulling out a coin from her pocket. James stared at her in shock. At James’ expression, Alice blushed slightly. “Okay, I didn’t really want a drink, I just wanted to come.”
“What?” James asked, fear building in his chest. They couldn’t mean what he thought they meant.
“Well,” Arty replied, barely able to contain his excitement. “Word is that the Marauders are holding a trial again. You know what that means.”
James looked shocked, so Alice interrupted Arty. “In fact, Lily has no idea what you mean. She likes to remain ignorant of these things.” She turned to Lily. “I don’t know why, but once in a while, one of the Marauders run to the Astronomy Tower, completely naked.”
“That’s why we mortals gather to watch.” Arty smiled and took her coin. “James hasn’t done the run in a while, but I hope that you are right, for Lily’s sake anyway. Either that or Sirius. What a babe. Last time it was Peter. Urgh, his is so not my type.”
“You’re taking bets?” James finally struggled out. “How many people come and watch?”
“It grows every time. Obviously not too many, or the teachers would probably cotton on, but a fair few do come. Used to be only a select few, as it was hard to find out when they were going to do the run. But now it seems more and more people are figuring it out. You ladies better find yourselves a good spot…”
Somewhere in the distance, James heard a clock chime.
“Too late, that’s midnight,” whispered Alice, pulling Arty and James behind a suit of armour.
“Boys…are…such…imbeciles…”
Lily turned another corner, wearing nothing but a balaclava. Who on earth had come up with such a ridiculous punishment? Oh, yeah, James Potter.
Shivering slightly, she quickly ducked behind a statue as a few ghosts drifted by. Hogwarts was cold at night. She supposed the rumours were true and the cold definitely did have an effect on…
“What have we here?” cackled a voice, causing Lily to jump.
Wasn’t this bad enough already? “Please, go away Peeves,” Lily pleaded.
“It looks like someone stole your uniform. Perhaps you should make a report to Mr. Filtch.”
“I think I’ll be fine, thanks.” Lily attempted to go the other way, but Peeves cut her off.
“Are you going to battle?”
Lily sighed, “Yes, Peeves, I’m going into battle.”
“Are you Celtic?” Peeves asked, without moving.
“Why?” replied Lily, in exasperation. She knew Peeves was just stirring trouble, but hoped that if she didn’t rise to his bait he would go away.
“Because you should be blue.”
In one foul swoop, Peeves dropped a bucket of blue paint on her head. Lily tried to move after him, but blinded by the paint, she skidded across the corridor and crashed into portrait. With a clatter, the golden frame fell to the ground. The portrait began to scream, the sound filling the corridor. Lily struggled to get to her feet, wiping the paint from her eyes.
“Hey!” Lily turned in horror to see Fitch rounding the corridor. His hands were over his ears to cover the noise. “What are you doing?”
Lily didn’t wait to see what he did next, but sprinted down the corridor in the opposite direction. She wished that she had her wand to create some sort of divergence, but she’d given it up on her trial.
She turned her head just in time to see Filtch slip in the pile of blue paint and crash to the ground. Laughing, she ran straight into Professor Sinistra who, taking one look at Lily, fainted.
Deciding that it wasn’t the best time to show her more compassionate side, Lily stepped over the shocked woman and ran away as quickly as she could.
Five minutes later, James watched himself streak past.
“What a show, they’ve livened it up this year,” gushed Arty. “Great body though; I wonder which one it was. Do you reckon there is a reason for the paint?”
James sighed, wondering how long Lily was going to let him live. “That was James and I have no idea.”
Sirius laughed at her predicament. “Never do things by half, do you. May I ask about the blue paint?”
Lily had arrived at the Astronomy Tower to find Sirius the only one there. He had transformed into a dog, carrying her clothes and invisibility cloak in a small bag in his mouth. He'd left a few minutes before she had, so he'd be waiting for her to make sure she didn't cheat.
“No, you may not,” Lily replied, shivering. “Give me some clothes!”
Sirius laughed and tossed some clothes at her. Lily gratefully began putting them on and came to sit down beside him.
“Your shirt is inside out,” Sirius commented casually.
“Bite me,” Lily replied, smearing some left over paint in Sirius’ hair.
Sirius laughed and pushed her hand away. “Isn’t exercise meant to make you feel better?”
“Why am I friends with you?” Lily asked mockingly. In all truth, it had been all too easy to become friends with Sirius. She never thought she would miss anything about being James Potter, but she was coming to realise she would miss Sirius.
“Because I’m adorable?” he replied, putting a puppy dog expression on his face.
“Sure you are,” Lily laughed. “So, are we heading back?”
For some reason, Sirius’ face lost the humour of the previous moment and he stared out into the starry night. “Do you mind if we sit just a while?”
“Pretty, eh?” Lily commented. Away from all the Muggle pollution, the stars shone at Hogwarts brighter than any she had seen before.
Sirius turned back to look at her. “Prongs, I know sometimes I don’t say it, but I’m really glad you are my best friend.”
Lily was taken aback. If she had learnt anything about Sirius in the last few weeks, it was that he hardly ever showed his emotional side. Yet, Sirius didn’t look like he was going to stop with the one off comment. He looked like he was starting to say something he had been holding back for a while.
“Do you remember that day I arrived on your doorstep, oh man, it would have been over a year ago now?” Even though she didn’t remember, Lily just nodded. She knew from looking at Sirius face that it was something James would never forget. But if Sirius noticed her second’s hesitation, he didn’t say anything, he just continued speaking. “At the time, I was so lost and confused and overall I was sick of everything. I was sick of the madness, sick of the pure-blood mania and sick of the dark house that screamed Slytherin around ever corner.”
Sirius took a deep breath, and looked straight at Lily. Lily restrained a gasp; his face was alight with pain, something that ran very deep. Whatever he was about to tell her would be something very important to him. He turned back to look at the stars and let out a deep breath. There was a moment of complete silence, before Sirius started to speak.
“I never told you this, but the night I ran away, my parents called a special celebration dinner. It was supposably to celebrate both of us coming home from school, but really my parents didn’t give a damn about me. Even though they hadn’t seen me for a year, they were much happier that Regulus was home.”
Lily wondered what it would be like to have her parents cast her aside. Having her sister hate her was enough, but her whole family disliking her would be excruciating.
Sirius sighed, caught up a million miles away. “So, we were eating dinner and my family was dropping hints about how much better a son Regulus was. I didn’t care; I mean that was nothing new, I’d been hearing that everyday since I was eleven. But just as I was daydreaming, I remember my mother asking Regulus about what he planned to do when he finished school.”
Sirius’ mouth grimaced in pain, making Lily long to put her arms around him. Yet she knew if she did, he would never finish his story. “I remember looking over to my brother, wondering what his answer would be. At one time in our lives we had been close, but I had hardly talked to him since he had been sorted in Slytherin. For the first time in the evening I paid attention to the conversation. I wanted to know what my brother was going to say.
“His face lit up when he answered her question. ‘I’m going to join the Dark Lord,’ he said boldly and proudly. Just as simple as that, seven words outlined the dark plans for his future. Seven words that outlined the murderer he wanted to be.”
“I’ll never forget how proud my mother and father looked at that moment. They looked at him with delight in a way I never, ever, had seen them look at me. I looked at Regulus who looked excited, actually looking forward to becoming a murderer. Something inside me snapped. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I dropped my knife and fork to the table with a loud clash. My parents looked at me, horrified, but I was already on my feet, screaming at Regulus.”
“‘Your life ambition is to become a murderer?’ I remembered yelling at the boy who shared my blood. ‘Are you going to kill your classmates? End their lives with a curse.’ Regulus said nothing, but his silence only fuelled my anger. 'Why are you better than them? I’ve slept in the same room as Alex Deakin for six years and he is one of the nicest kids I know. What about Lily Evans? She’s smart and kind; fifty times the person you are. Rebbecca Jones, Ian Cary, Kate Bridges, to you they are all acceptable targets, but to me they are good witches and wizards! What the hell makes you think you are better than them?’ ”
“My father just looked at me as though I was piece of dirt on the bottom of his shoe. ‘They are all Mudbloods,’ he said simply and clearly. 'Your brother, at least, understands that. Our family is above that filth.’ ”
“I looked at them one by one; my furious mother, my disdainful father and my shocked brother. I wondered how I could possibly be their son. Opening my mouth, I was surprised to find my voice completely calm. ‘I have no family,’ I said clearly, before walking from the room.”
Sirius turned his face towards Lily. It was dark, so she couldn’t tell, but it looked like there were tears forming in his eyes. “Yet, in the moment after I said it, I knew I was wrong. While those pure-blood fanatics were not my family, I knew where my real family was. So, I packed the few belongings I needed into my trunk and walked straight out of that house. I stuck out my thumb, climbed onto the Knight Bus and told the conductor your address.
“You see James, you are my real family. You, Remus and Peter are my brothers. In the moment you opened the door I knew I’d been right. As you stepped aside to let me in, I smiled for the first time since school had ended. That night you knew exactly what to do. You didn’t ask questions, or demand to know what happened. You just accepted me into your house without a word and your parents adopted me as a second son.”
Sirius looked out into the sky. “Later that night we sat on your roof and looked at the stars. As we stared, you told me stories that your parents had told you about the sky. Then you looked me in the eye and told me that they were watching over us. I laughed at you, but you continued anyway. I still remember the exact words. ‘Whatever happens’, you said. ‘Look up at the stars. Because whatever chaos is surrounding us, they will always be there, consistent, shining every night. Even if it’s cloudy and raining and we can’t see them, we know they are still there, temporarily invisible. The clouds will always clear and the stars will reappear to us. If something ever happens to one of us, we can look at the stars and know that somewhere out there, the other will be looking too. And the stars will be there, watching us from above.’”
“Ever since then, no matter how chaotic everything has seemed, I’ve always been able to find some comfort in the stars. It was something you gave me James, something that I’ll always be able to keep. It’s something that helps me get through the hardest of times.”
As Sirius finished his story, he looked over back at Lily. She was sobbing.
“Er, Prongs. For my sake, please man up.”
Lily continued to sob, and pulled Sirius into a hug. “You’re so beautiful, Sirius.”
Sirius patted her back awkwardly, before pushing her away. “Okay, Prongs, I’m going to let that slide, but if you don’t stop crying, I’m afraid I’m going to have to hit you.”
Lily wiped her eyes and sniffed. Sirius punched her on the arm. “Promise no more girly moments?”
“I’ll try, Padfoot, I’ll try.”