Golden Years

“Evans, wake the hell up,” Dorcas said as she shook Lily.

“It’s no use,” Alice said as she studied her reflection in the mirror and adjusted her robes. “She might as well be in a coma. Even Mary woke up before her.”

“Hold on, I got this,” Marlene said as she came out of the bathroom. She knelt next to Lily’s bed and put her hand on Lily softly. “Lily?” She said quietly. “The Marauders are gonna blow up the Slytherin’s table.”

“NOT ON MY GODDAMN WATCH” Lily screamed as she launched out of bed.

The other girls fell over laughing as Lily looked around wildly only to realize she was still in her dorm and the Marauders were, in fact, nowhere in sight.

“That was the opposite of amusing,” Lily said to Marlene, who was still shaking with laughter.

“You’re gonna be late for breakfast if you don’t get ready,” Alice stated as she grabbed her bag.

“Where are you rushing off to?” Lily asked as Alice left.

“Frank and I are reviewing our schedules together before class,” Alice called over her shoulder.

“Nerds!” Marlene shouted after her. Dorcas giggled.

Lily rushed to get dressed and then the three headed down to breakfast. Marlene plopped down next to Sirius and stole a piece of toast off his plate.
Dorcas and Lily sat across from them.

“How dare you, Micks?” Sirius feigned outrage as Marlene bit into the toast. “You humiliate me in front of a crowd and have the audacity to commit thievery against me now?”

“Sirius?” Remus said from his other side.

“Yes, Remus, darling, light of my life, my moon and stars?”

“Shut up.”

“Yes Remus.”

“Whipped,” Dorcas said as she stole some sausage from Lily’s plate.

“Excuse-moi?” Sirius answered, looking offended.

“You heard me,” Dorcas challenged.

“Now now, let’s not throw such dangerous accusations around,” a new voice said from behind Lily. She turned around.

“Hey Evans. Wolfstar. Marly, Cas,” James Potter nodded to everyone as he sat next to Dorcas.

“Potter,” Lily responded cautiously. He might be trying to improve, but that doesn’t mean he actually will.

“Everyone have a decent summer?” James asked as he grabbed some food.

“Yep. Hey, didn’t you make Quidditch Captain this year?” Marlene asked.

“Uh huh. Tryouts will be in two weeks, but you don’t have to bother. You’re the best beater in Hogwarts, you’re already in,” James replied. Marlene pumped her fist in the air.

“I thought I was the best beater?” Sirius pouted.

“You’re passable,” James responded. The girls snickered as Sirius’s pout deepened. Remus kissed him on the cheek and then he brightened up.

“So what’s everyone got today?” Sirius asked.

“Potions, Charms, Herbology, Transfiguration and then Defense,” Lily answered.

“Same here,” James answered, “minus the Herbology.”

“Damn, I was hoping I’d never see you,” Lily joked. James laughed.

“Can’t get rid of me that easily Evans,” he said.

Lily all but slept through Potions. The work was incredibly easy, but she kept one eye open because Snape kept sending her furtive glances. She had avoided him all summer since the Incident but now that they were back in school that would be far more difficult. Luckily she only had Potions and Defense with him, and in each class she had someone to watch her back. Although she almost regretted that as she had to coach Alice through not blowing up her 2nd cauldron of the day.

“Hey, what was up with you and James earlier?” Marlene asked as she and Lily made their way to Herbology. “You two were joking around like old friends. I thought you were pissed at him?”

“I was,” Lily answered. “But he came to me and apologized for the Snape Incident. He made an effort to get past it, and when I told him to stay away from me for awhile he respected that. Plus Remus told me he’s trying to get better.”

“Yeah, Sirius has been on about that too. Something about James being on a lonely road to redemption.”

“Sirius doesn’t feel the need to redeem himself?”

“I doubt it,” Marlene responded. “You know how he is with Slytherins, and especially bigoted ones. He knows he was in the wrong, but he thinks he was less in the wrong than Snape.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Lily said, thinking back to the time she found Sirius crying silently in the common room as he ripped up a letter from his family and threw the pieces in the fireplace. Lily had comforted him, and it had been the beginning of a tentative friendship.

Herbology passed quickly and easily, much like Potions and Charms. Dorcas was also in their Herbology class, and she all but saved Marlene from a Venomous Tentacula that had grabbed her ankle and caught her unaware.

The three made their way back up to the castle for lunch, Lily and Dorcas snickering at Marlene’s upset grumbling.

“Hey guys. Herbology was alright?” Remus said as he sat beside them at the table.

“Yep. What about you? Who’s the new Defense professor?” Lily asked. Marlene and Dorcas stopped squabbling over the necessity of the Tentacula rescue to listen.

“A guy by the name of Jackson Rein. He’s an international Auror supervisor. The Ministry asked if they could send him to teach because the war is getting worse.”

“He said that?” Dorcas asked.

“No, but it was between the lines. He seems ok, if you pay attention you should be fine.” Peter Pettigrew said as he sat next to Remus.

“Hey Peter, didn’t see you this morning. How was your summer?” Lily asked.

“I had breakfast with Mary this morning. My summer was good, you?” Peter responded.

“We all had a decent one,” Marlene answered.

“Hey everyone,” Sirius said as he plopped down onto Remus’s lap. Remus wrapped his arms around his waist to stabilize him.

“Siri. Good classes so far?” Marlene asked.

“Yep. James and I have the next two periods with you guys, aren’t you just thrilled?” Sirius grinned.

“As thrilled as McGonagall will be when she sees that you’re back,” Dorcas remarked. Marlene almost choked on her water as she laughed.

“Unnecessary, Dorc,” Sirius responded.

“Fight me, Siri,” Dorcas said.

“Now now, children, let’s behave,”said Alice as she sat next to them.

“Says the girl who once tricked a house elf into supplying firewhiskey for a party,” Lily challenged.

“You’re grounded,” Alice replied serenely. Lily sputtered indignantly.

“Is Alice being a mom friend again?” Frank Longbottom asked as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Yes. And she’s smothering us,” Sirius replied. Alice scoffed, but sank back into Frank’s embrace. Lily made a gagging noise and Peter snorted.

“Shut up you two,” Alice said.

“Yes mum.”

“Sorry mum.”

Dorcas’s prediction proved correct as McGonagall all but sighed in disappointment as Sirius and James entered. Marlene and Dorcas snickered as they visibly pouted.

Transfiguration was almost the same, Lily thought. Not her best subject, but she did well enough to make it to NEWT levels. She watched as James completed the assignment almost effortlessly. He then started transfiguring Sirius’s stuff into giant beetles.

As chaos ensued, Lily remembered that James Potter, no matter what else, was first and foremost a Marauder. And that was one of the things she disliked about him. He was incredibly talented and clever, Lily wasn’t too proud to acknowledge that, but he used it for jokes rather than anything useful.

McGonagall finally turned the last beetle back into Sirius’s inkpot and said, “Mr. Potter, if you think causing a mess in class is so amusing, perhaps you should take an hour to clean the classrooms tonight. Detention, come to my office at the end of the day.”

“Anything to spend more time with you, Minnie,” James smirked. Lily considered smacking him.

“Call me that again and you’ll find yourself cleaning the trophy room without magic for a month, Mr. Potter.”

“Yes Professor,” James said quickly. Marlene and Dorcas laughed quietly along with Sirius.

“I just don’t get it,” Lily said to Dorcas as they walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts. “If he’s so clever, why waste it on dumb pranks and jokes?”

“Bored, I suppose. Quidditch, pranks, I imagine he likes them for the adrenaline rush,” Dorcas responded. “Since when do you care about why James Potter is the way he is?”

“I don’t. It’s just infuriating. He could be really good but instead he’s just a prick.”

“Well, maybe now that he’s trying to get better he can be reasoned with,” Dorcas said as they arrived at the Defense classroom. “After you, Your Highness,” She gestured at the door to Lily. Lily laughed and stepped through. The two took their seats next to Marlene, who was almost falling asleep. Lily smacked her head and she shot up, making the other two girls laugh.

“Welcome, class,” a deep voice sounded from the front of the room. Lily looked up.

“I’m your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Jackson Rein. I don’t particularly care what you call me if you do well in my class.”

“Ok Jackie,” Sirius said from his desk next to James. James sniggered as Jackson stared at them.

“Mr. Black and Mr. Potter. I was warned about you two,” the tall professor said. He was about Remus’s height, but not as skinny. He also had much darker hair.

“Today we’re going to go over the plan for the year and some basic skills. I hope you’re all ready, because NEWT preparation means a heavy workload.” Professor Rein sat at his desk and looked out at the class. “Question in the back?”

“Is it true the Ministry sent you here to teach us because the war is getting worse?” Benjy Fenwick, a Ravenclaw that Lily knew, asked.

“Hopefully the war will be over when you finish school,” Rein replied.

“And if it’s not? We’ll learn to defend ourselves, right?” Dorcas said. Dorcas was a muggleborn like Lily, so both were very invested in the war.

“Well, it’s not like any of you will be on the front lines. You’re children. You’ll learn basic technique and useful spells, but the Ministry doesn’t see the need to create child soldiers. If there are no more questions, I’d like to proceed,” Rein responded coolly.

The lesson continued without anything interesting happening. Lily found herself thinking about what Rein said on the way back to the common room. How were basic spells and techniques going to be enough? Maybe they wouldn’t be on the front lines, but everyone was in danger as long as the Death Eaters were running amok. Lily hated even thinking of them, especially their leader. Hundreds of people had already died thanks to them destroying bridges and buildings, and in some cases whole towns. And all we’re going to learn is a few useful spells, she thought bitterly.

“Hey, Evans. Earth to Lily,” Alice said, snapping her fingers in Lily’s face.

“Huh?” Lily came back to reality. She was already sitting at her table in the common room.

“Where did you just go?” Alice asked.

“I was thinking about what our Defense professor said,” Lily answered.

“What did he say?” Alice inquired.

“That the Ministry isn’t going to create child soldiers by teaching us to defend ourselves,” Marlene said, dropping into the seat next to Lily.

“You’re kidding,” Alice said, obviously upset.

“They’re not.” Dorcas appeared at Alice’s side. “Apparently they’re expecting the war to be over by the time we leave school.”

“That’s optimistic,” Alice snorted.

“If by optimistic you mean batshit crazy,” Marlene responded.

“Can we talk about something else for now? Marlene, who do you think will make the Quidditch team this year?” Lily asked. The others groaned as Marlene lit up and began to ramble.

“Well, obviously James is seeker, Sirius and I are back as Beaters, and Frank will be back as Keeper, but one of our Chasers graduated and another is dropping in favor of focusing on classwork-“ here Marlene made a face of disgust “- so we’ll have to hold tryouts for Chasers.”

“Who’s the returning one?” Dorcas asked, as she was the only one who was still listening.

“McLaggen, but he’s an awful team player. James is trying to replace him as well.” Marlene responded. She continued to drone about Quidditch prospects and gear and how the professional season was shaping up almost until it was time for dinner. Dorcas was the only one who even pretended to listen.

At dinner, Lily somehow ended up getting hit with a turkey leg by Peter as he gesticulated wildly while telling a story. The other girls giggled as he apologized profusely.

“So sorry-“

“It’s fine, Peter. No harm done. If it was Potter it’d be a different story.” Lily responded, a gleam in her eyes.

“Why Evans,” James gasped, “do you hold a bias against me?”

“Does anyone hear something?” Lily said, looking at Sirius and Remus, who were all but on top of each other.

“Not a thing, Lily,” Remus answered. James looked offended.

“Must have been the wind,” Sirius grinned, and James shoved him in the shoulder. “A very strong wind.”

“I’ll show you strong-“ James cried as he catapulted a spoon of mashed potatoes at Sirius.

“A wound, a wound! My curse befalls you from my last breath! Sweet Remus, I look upon you for my last, and pray we will be united again,” Sirius cried out dramatically as the potatoes struck him in the chest.

“Get off me you greasy lump, you’re getting potatoes everywhere,” Remus said, but his eyes were shining as he kissed Sirius’s cheek.

“You two really don’t hide shit, huh?” Marlene said as Sirius climbed off Remus’s lap.

“Why bother? We’re stronger than all the homophobes here put together,” Remus answered.

“Cheers to being stronger than bigots,” Lily said, raising her glass.

“Cheers!” A chorus of voices responded. Except for Peter, who had already begun to drink.

That night as Lily climbed into bed, she didn’t bother reflecting on her day. She fell asleep quickly, happy to be back home and getting back into routine.

That wouldn’t last long.