Because We Are Made Of Dreams

Pranks And Broomsticks

The crucial day had finally arrived. Quidditch tryouts... s**t! Why was she inflecting this on herself really? Clara put more water on her face and breathed deeply, before looking at her reflection again. She felt nauseous, more nervous than she had ever felt in her life, and a terrible lump was stuck in her throat. But when she stared at her own eyes, her expression was determined. She wanted to play Quidditch. She had been working hard for more than two years now to be part of the team, and this year, she felt ready. She was ready to play on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and no one was going to stop her. She checked her braid one last time, and left the bathroom. She took her broomstick and smiled encouragingly at Marlene, who was sitting on her bed, looking very pale.

"I can"t do this," Marlene stated.

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can"t!"

"Marlene, get up! Get up and come with me show all these idiots how to play Quidditch."

"They"re not going to take us Clara! We"re not good enough!"

"Marlene, we"ve worked hard for it, and we"re ready. You"re a Gryffindor, for Merlin"s sake! So act like one, and fight!"

Marlene stared at her, breathing heavily, clearly fighting against herself. She wanted to go, but she was terrified to do so. Clara held out her open hand to her friend.

"Come on, let"s go kick an arse or two!"

Marlene smiled and took her hand, rising. She took her broom, and strode out of the room. All the way to the pitch, Clara repeated her encouraging words. They were going to win, both of them. And Marlene believed her, and as long as Clara was talking, she felt like she had a chance, but she didn"t dare imagine how she would feel when she would be alone on the pitch, without her friend by her side. When the two girls entered the pitch, many people were already there, waiting for the Gryffindor team to arrive and start the tryouts. Many spectators had also filled up the benches, coming to see the tryouts. Or the players more likely, for the majority of them were impatient girls...

Only five minutes after they had arrived, the team came out from the changing room, all dressed up in the gold and red uniform of the Gryffindor house. They looked amazing, strong and proud, and many of the spectators applauded. None of the team members paid them any attention though, and with James and Sirius at their lead, they all strode towards the potential new players.

"Hello everyone!" said James loudly, and the second he opened his mouth, all the students went silent. "Thanks for coming today. We have three posts to fill this year: two Chasers, and one Beater. We"ll start with the Chasers, so please, everyone who came to try for Beater, you can sit on the bench please. Come on, hurry up! Everyone in the air, and form a line."

Clara sat on the border of the pitch, alongside the six boys who had come to try for Beater too. She looked at them carefully, quite worried. The youngest was probably in his third year, and he was already as tall as her. The fifth-year boy who was sitting at her right had shoulders twice has big as hers, and his arms could have been compared to her thigh. He looked like a bloody titan next to her. She wasn"t feeling that confident anymore, and she tried to focus on Marlene instead. Ten people had created a line in front of the goal post in front of her. She was at the back of the queue, looking extremely nervous. She threw a terrified glance at Clara, who replied with an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up. But it didn"t work very well, and she was still desperate on her broom. It was only then that Clara noticed that they were the only girls at the tryouts...

"Okay, easy first. I"ll pass you the Quaffle, and you"ll have three shots, stationary. The first one without keeper, and then Caradoc we"ll defend. Go on you, you go first!" James commanded.

Clara couldn"t deny that he was impressive as a captain. James was a leader, and he had the stern charisma that could drive a team through the hardest match, in the worst storms. Sirius was like his shadow, helping him to command his little army, and Clara clearly understood how the team was working: they were nothing without James, and James was nothing without Sirius. Two boys tried to score, the first one was terrible and missed all three shots, but the second only missed one. Clara heard someone call her name from the bench above her and she looked up, to discover Lily, Alice, Remus and Peter.

"You"re gonna be brilliant, I"m sure of it!" Lily encouraged her.

"Thanks!" Clara answered with a smile.

"Do you think we should encourage Marlene, or will it disturb her?" asked Remus.

He had completely recovered from the full moon, and looked very excited to watch the two girls fly.

"We have to encourage her! And Clara too of course," answered Alice.

"It"ll help her, for sure," confirmed Clara.

The students passed one after another in front of the three rings, and only one had managed to score three times when it was finally Marlene"s turn. The Pitch had remained quite silent all along, for much of the supporters were either girls wanting to admire the boys, or Quidditch fans who didn"t know any of those who were attempting the tryouts. But when Marlene finally flew towards the goals, shouts exploded across the Pitch.

"Come one Marlene!"

"You"re the best; go on!"

And her five friends went on and on. She blushed slightly when James flew towards her, handing her the Quaffle.

"At least you already have a fan club!" he joked, amused.

She smiled nervously and took position in front of the three high rings. She wasn"t ready. Oh Merlin, she wasn"t ready at all! She wanted to hide, to fly far away from Hogwarts, from Britain even. Maybe she could manage to get to Australia or something. Yes, Australia was good, on the other side of the planet, and with an infinite desert where she could disappear forever...

Clara could see her friend would not do it if she didn"t help her a bit. She would look quite ridiculous howling what she was about to say, but she knew the only encouragements that really worked on her were the violent ones, the ones that would make her react. She took a deep breath, and said goodbye to her credibility.

"Come on Marlene! Don"t you dare throw this Quaffle like a bloody Hufflepuff! You"re a Lion, so act like one!"

Everyone suddenly looked at her, and she summoned all her will to ignore them, but she felt herself blush anyway. Marlene slowly turned her head towards her too, a blank expression on her face.

"If you"re not even able to score without a bloody Keeper, then you really are the worst thing that ever rode a broom since this school opened, McKinnon!"

Marlene"s jaws set, and her cheeks turned red as determination ignited her eyes. She turned back towards the goals, took aim, and scored.

Her five friends cheered like mad. But it wasn"t over, and now an amused Caradoc Dearborn had taken his rightful place in front of the loops. Marlene seemed anxious again and so Clara cleared her throat, wrapping her hands around her mouth to shout even louder.

"Are you really afraid of him? It"s just Caradoc, for Merlin"s sake! Kick his arse!"

Marlene smiled, took aim on the left loop, changed at the last second, and scored in the ring on her right. The five Gryffindors howled with joy again.

"Is that really the best you can do?" Clara continued, as James was handing her the Quaffle again, trying to fight his laughter. "You should be ashamed! Even my Grandma has more strength than that! You"re slow McKinnon!"

As a response, Marlene readied her arm and moved so quickly, with so much strength, that Caradoc didn"t have the time to reach the right loop. Again the Gryffindors cheered, and Clara rubbed her sore throat.

James eliminated half of the students and made the others fly across the Pitch, passing the Quaffle, asking them to score... Marlene was confident enough by now to play without encouragements, and Clara"s dry throat was grateful. She only dropped the Quaffle twice as Sirius, Caradoc and Mike Craig, the Seeker, were trying to take the Quaffle from them and delay their progression. At the end, James seemed quite satisfied, and told the students he would give them his decision next Monday, taking a bit of time to talk with his teammates. The aspiring Beaters were finally called, and Sirius took the lead.

"All right. James is going to release a Bludger, and you"ll start by simply hitting it as hard as you can, in any direction as long as you don"t target anyone. Make a line, I"ll send it over to you in turns. Understood?"

They all nodded, taking position and Sirius made a sign to James, who released the Bludger. Clara tightened her grip on her bat. She was third in line, right behind the Titan. But it only motivated her to have to battle with someone who looked as strong as he did, and she knew strength wasn"t everything. You needed to be fast, and precise as well to be a Beater, focused and mobile. And she was lighter, which meant faster, at least that"s what she was repeating to herself as she was trying to remain calm and swallow back the lump in her throat... Titan hit the Bludger so hard, it went out of the Pitch, and Caradoc had to go and get it so that it would come back faster. She took up her position in front of Sirius, and she could hear her friends encouraging her from afar, but she still felt like she was going to throw up.

"All right, here it comes, as hard as you can, yes?" said Sirius as the Bludger was rushing towards them.

She nodded, unable to talk. She raised her arm, ready to strike. Sirius sent the Bludger towards her, and she hit it with all her might. The vicious ball was sent flying almost out of the Pitch, above the bench.

"Really good Clara!"

He grinned at her, and she sighed heavily, smiling. She felt herself relaxing and as she did several exercises with the boys, she felt more and more comfortable. She didn"t think she had done badly at the end of the tryouts, and so she came back to the dorms with her friends, joyful and satisfied.

"Well at least, we can"t say we could have done better!" said Clara.

"You"re right, if we lose, we"ll lose without regrets," answered Marlene.

She wrapped an arm around Clara"s shoulder.

"Thank you by the way, I needed it," she whispered.

"Anytime Marlene, anytime."

They smiled at each other and both headed for a well-deserved shower.

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"So, who do you reckon we should take?" asked Mike to the Gryffindor captain.

The four boys were back in the changing room, and James sighed heavily.

"I don"t know really. The guy in fifth year, Thomson, he was quite good. Fast, steady, the kind of person you can rely on in a match. Now, the question is, do we take McKinnon or Barrow?"

"Barrow? Fourth year?" asked Caradoc.

"Yep."

"The girl seemed to be a better flyer," said Mike.

"She is, but she"s not confident, not at all. She looked completely terrified on the broomstick!"

Sirius shrugged, his back to the other boys. He took off his T-shirt, before answering his friend.

"It"s normal to be nervous at tryouts. And she got a grip on herself. She"s a better flyer, and I reckon that once she"s familiar with the team and the whole thing, she"ll be alright."

"You"re sure?"

"I am."

James thought for a moment again, standing, only one arm in his clean shirt.

"Let"s take a vote," he suggested to his teammates. "Who votes for McKinnon?"

The four boys raised their hands together, and James grinned.

"Perfect, we officially have two new Chasers in the team. Now, the Beaters."

"Jacobs is good," said Caradoc. "He"s the strongest, he"s reliable, and he won"t get panicked or anything. I vote for him personally."

"The girl was good too," said Mike.

"Yes, and she"s faster," agreed James.

"She doesn"t have Jacobs"s strength though," argued Caradoc.

James turned his attention towards Sirius, who was struggling with his tie.

"Well, you"re the Beater. Who would you take?"

Sirius thought for a while, lacing his shoes. He finally sat straight again.

"Jacobs has the strength, true, but he will need a lot of practise to be efficient. He"s not precise enough. And he"s slower. I"d take Clara."

James seemed lost in thought again, but nodded at last.

"I agree. Clearwater it is. Sorry "Doc."

The boy sighed dramatically.

"No problem. I know you never listen to me anyway."

"That"s because you"re always wrong!"

They left the changing room, laughing, and headed back towards the Castle. James let Mike and Caradoc go ahead and stayed behind with Sirius.

"When did Clearwater and you change for first names?"

Sirius looked warily at him.

"Tuesday, why?"

"Nothing. I"ve just noticed, that"s all."

"Don"t get any ideas. I get along well with her, that"s all. I reckon we"re becoming kind of friends."

"Friends? With a girl? Bloody Hell! That"s a first for you Padfoot, congratulations!"

James laughed mockingly, and Sirius hit him on the shoulder, laughing too.

"Shut up Prongs! I"m serious!"

"Just kidding. She"s great. I"m glad we can get along with the girls actually, they"re funny."

"True."

They smiled at each other, dreaming of food and a good night"s sleep.

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Monday arrived quickly, and with it the verdict of the boys for the new members of the Quidditch team. The girls nervously entered the Great Hall looking for James and Sirius, but they had not arrived yet.

"I just hope they"ve made a decision already," said Clara, biting her bottom lip.

The Slytherins laughed loudly, drawing the attention of the entire Hall towards them.

"Why are they all so happy? It"s not normal," said Alice.

Frank sat next to her, kissing her forehead.

"No idea. But it can"t be anything good for us," he answered, covering his toast with strawberry jam.

Liam wavered at Lily from the Ravenclaw table, and she replied shyly, blushing, but smiling. At the same moment, the Gryffindor boys entered the Great Hall and headed towards their table. James felt sick as he saw Lily waving back at her boyfriend. But soon his nausea was replaced by awe. She looked beautiful when she blushed... NO! Stop, right there James Potter! Lily belongs to the past! Lily belongs to the past. Lily... Merlin, she was so adorable, smiling shyly, pushing back a lock of her red hair behind her ear... James shook himself. The Marauders sat next to the Gryffindor girls. Marlene and Clara looked at each other apprehensively.

"Hey boys! How are you?" asked Alice merrily.

"Fine!" answered Remus.

Sirius and James laughed as they noticed the anxious expressions of the two girls.

"I guess we shouldn"t keep the suspense going on all day, should we?" joked Sirius.

"No, you shouldn"t!" answered Clara.

Marlene nodded as Clara was biting her bottom lip again.

"So?" Marlene encouraged them.

James grinned.

"Congratulations girls! You are officially part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"

The girls squealed with excitement and high-fived each other.

"That"s wonderful!" Lily congratulated them.

"There was no suspense really, you were the best," added Alice.

As the Gryffindors were celebrating, the captain of the Slytherin team, Evan Rosier, approached the table, grinning cruelly. His face, twisted with malice, gave him the look of a vulture rushing upon his prey.

"So, you have your team made up, Potter?" he asked James bluntly.

The Gryffindors all went silent, and the atmosphere was suddenly filled up with electricity.

"Of course. I guess yours is ready too," James replied calmly.

His voice was cold as ice and his tone cautious, but he was making it clear that he didn"t fear him at all. To him, Rosier wasn"t more threatening than a kitten, and he showed it beautifully.

"Ready, indeed. You"ll be delighted I"m sure Black, your brother is going to play with us this year."

Sirius clenched his jaw, but his expression was neutral, and his voice low and frozen.

"Really?"

"Yes, he"s going to play Beater!"

Sirius"s right fist contracted under the table, but to Rosier, he was casual, annoyed at the most.

"Well, I didn"t know he could fly. It should be an interesting game, for sure."

"It should be indeed."

He focused his attention back on James.

"So, who did you take? You know who I have chosen for the only post I had to fill up this year. Surely you will play fair, and tell me who your new players are."

James smiled wryly.

"The two girls here, and a fifth-year, called Thomson."

Rosier looked at Clara and Marlene, and burst into laughter.

"Well, you"re making the job too easy for us really Potter! Aren"t you afraid they will run away at the last minute? After all, it"s a hard sport, and girls are so fragile and scared!"

He continued to laugh, not even noticing the two girls glowering at him. Before Sirius or James could answer though, Clara had blown up.

"You"d better shut your mouth!"

The Slytherin stopped laughing, and looked at her in dismay.

"And you"d better watch your tone," Rosier snapped back.

"I will use the tone I please with you," the Gryffindor girl replied. "Now leave us alone, I"ve heard enough bullshit for one day."

Rosier propped up an eyebrow.

"Do you know who you"re talking to?"

"Sure we do," Marlene fought back. "We"re talking to a baboon wearing the Slytherin uniform."

"And regarding the specifications needed to enter your house," continued Clara, "it is no wonder that an animal has been mistaken for a student."

"Now leave us alone, would you? Before we have to send you back in your natural habitat ourselves!"

The Slytherin glowered at them, his breathing suddenly quicker.

"You"re gonna regret this!" he promised angrily

Sirius and James stood up as one man.

"Are they really?" asked James, his voice full of threat.

Rosier breathed heavily, but started to go away.

"It"s not over," he added before turning his back to the Gryffindors and heading back to his house table.

"What a jerk!" Marlene groaned in dismay.

Sirius and James sat back, still glowering at the Slytherins. James put back his spoon on the table.

"I"m not hungry anymore. Let"s go to class."

The four boys rose and headed towards the doors without another word to the girls, who stayed behind, still fuming. As soon as the Marauders were alone, James turned towards Sirius.

"What a dickhead! We have to do something! And I reckon your brother has joined the Slytherin team..."

"To piss me off! Correct."

"What shall we do then?" asked Peter.

James and Sirius exchanged a glance, and smiled wickedly. James looked at each one of his friends, before speaking again.

"I guess it"s time for the first prank of the year my friends..."

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The three days that followed were extremely tensed. The whole school was aware of the animosity between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors, and everyone was dreading the confrontation. It was also quite obvious to the girls that the four Marauders were preparing something. They were in their dormitory most of the time, requiring Frank to let them alone as much as possible.

"They"re planning their first big prank of the year, no doubt," said Frank.

He was sitting on the sofa, Alice cuddled in his arms. Lily and Clara were sitting on the floor by the fire and Marlene had taken the comfortable armchair.

"I just hope they won"t do anything too stupid," sighed Lily.

"It"s the Marauders, of course they"re going to do something stupid!" replied Marlene.

"I"m sick of them getting in so much trouble for nothing."

"I"m sure they have their reasons," Frank answered, trying to calm his ginger friend down.

"Why can"t they just take it, swallow their pride for once, and act like grown-ups?"

"I think it"s more complicated than you think Lils."

She shrugged, annoyed. She was not going to let them get in any more trouble this year, she had had enough. She was a prefect after all, and it was also her role to stop this kind of behaviour. And if she had to, she was ready to use her prefect status.

James chose this very moment to run down the stairs and stride across the common room, heading for the portrait hole. He nodded to them, but Lily stopped him in his track.

"Where are you going? It"s late already."

"I"m starving, I"m heading to the kitchens."

He started to walk towards the Fat Lady again, but Lily stood up quickly, calling for him. She had to keep an eye on this band of monkeys...

"Wait! I"m coming with you."

James froze, propping up an eyebrow. It was the first time ever that Lily Evans wanted to go anywhere with him, and it was quite strange...

"Really?"

"Yes, I"m hungry too actually."

James shrugged, ran a hand through his messy dark hair, and they walked out of the common room, going down to the kitchens. Neither of them was feeling really at ease, and an uncomfortable silence filled up the air around them. After a while, James couldn"t stand it anymore, and he asked the first question that popped into his mind.

"So, have you done your Potions essay?"

"Yes, I finished it this morning."

"Is it long?"

"It was quite complicated indeed, and it required quite a lot of research too."

"I"d better start then."

"You should indeed."

As silence was settling between them once more, James spoke again.

"Have you ever been to the kitchens before?"

"No actually."

"You mean you"ve never sneaked out at midnight to have a snack? In five entire years?"

"No, never. You"re not supposed to be walking in the corridors so late at night, and you"re not supposed to get down to the kitchens either, in fact."

"Why are you going there now then?"

"I told you, I"m hungry."

James wanted to tease her, and say something funny, but he reminded himself of his resolution, and bit his tongue.

"I see," he simply answered.

They finally arrived at the kitchens, and James waited as the pear in the painting slowly turned into a doorknob. He opened the door, revealing the doorway. A house elf quickly appeared from nowhere.

"Good evening Mr. Potter. What can Ollie do for you today?"

"Good Evening Ollie," answered James kindly to the little house elf. "We"re starving, could we have a snack please?"

"Of course Mr. Potter. Just a minute, Ollie will bring you some cake."

The little creature disappeared again to the kitchen, humming softly in her high-pitched voice.

"She seems to know you quite well," Lily noticed.

"I come quite often, I have to admit."

"She"s really kind."

"Yeah, she"s an angel really."

Lily was dying to ask him about his plans against the Slytherins, and she was feeling like she couldn"t hold herself back any longer.

"Potter, I wanted to ask you something."

"Go on then."

"Well, I was wondering..."

But the house elf chose this very moment to reappear. She handed them two pieces of chocolate cake each on a delicate porcelain plate, and spoons so perfectly clean that they were shining brightly in the dim light of the torches.

"Thank you very much Ollie, it"s perfect," Lily complimented her.

"Yes, thank you very much Ollie," James confirmed.

Ollie looked in bliss, smiling widely, her eyes sparkling.

"Come back whenever you want, Ollie is always glad to help Gryffindor students. They are always very nice to Ollie."

"Don"t worry Ollie, with cakes as good as yours, we will come back for sure," answered James, smiling brightly too.

They walked out of the kitchens and sat in a deserted corridor to eat their cakes. The torches were lighting the alcove they had sat in with a dim red light, and James couldn"t help himself but marvel at the reflectionts of the flames upon Lily"s hair. He shook himself out of his reverie and took a mouthful of his delicious cake.

"What did you want to ask me?" he asked the girl.

"Well, I was wondering..."

She took a deep breath, before plunging in.

"What are you planning?"

James narrowed his eyes.

"About what?"

"About the Slytherins. It"s obvious you"re planning something Potter, don"t try to deny it. What is it?"

She gave him her prefect glare, and he fought against the smile that was forming on his lips.

"We"re not planning anything Evans."

"Potter, stop lying to me!"

Her cheeks had reddened, and she looked annoyed, almost angry already. He hated it when she was mad at him, though he couldn"t deny she looked amazingly beautiful when she was angry. He sighed.

"Nothing serious. Don"t worry. A little prank, that"s all."

"Potter, you have to stop acting like a child!"

"I"m not acting like a child."

"Yes you are! You are going to plan a prank against the Slytherins, who are going to fire back, no doubt, all this because you can"t swallow your bloody pride for a minute!"

"It"s not about pride Evans. It"s more complicated than you think."

"Why can"t you let them talk?"

"Because if we let them talk about this, they will talk about something a thousand times worse next time. They"re not going to stop because we ignore them, they will only push us more and more until we can"t take any more and do something stupid. At least, by attacking first, we have a plan."

"Is it really worth all this animosity? All this tension? Why can"t you and the Slytherins make peace for once?"

James stared at her, his brow furrowed.

"There are things they have done, things they have said, that can"t be forgiven Evans."

"Everything can be forgiven."

"No, not everything. Have you forgiven Snape?"

She looked at him, frozen.

"Not yet. It doesn"t mean I will never forgive him though."

James shook his head.

"You don"t know what they"ve done, you don"t know what they are planning to do. Trust me, let us handle it."

"I"m not going to let you declare open war on the Slytherins!"

James stared at her and his gaze plunged so intensely into hers, it seemed to pierce her.

"It"s already war Evans, don"t you read the newspapers?"

She frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"It"s not only about what happened today. They all agree with Voldemort. Can"t you see that?"

She didn"t say anything, and so he went on.

"Snape finally let it out last year, but he"s not the only one to think that way. And he"s probably not the worst of the lot either. They"re dangerous, and just like their families, they don"t hide their support to Voldemort. We can"t let them think we don"t care. We can"t let them think we"re not strong enough to rise against them, and fight back. Rosier is an arse, and he acted like a dickhead today with the girls. And Regulus was taken onto the Quidditch team only to make Sirius pay, that"s all. They"re trying to get to him. They"re trying to hurt him, and I"m not going to let them. Do you understand?"

Lily remained silent for a while, before nodding slowly. She knew he was right about the Slytherins" beliefs, she had had enough proof over the years, often being the victim of their insults. And James was defending his friend, and she couldn"t deny that she would do the same for the Gryffindor girls.

"I think I do."

She looked down at her knees, looking extremely sad and weary all of sudden.

"I just wish we could all live together in peace for once. I just wish we could stop all this nonsense."

"I"m sorry Evans, but I don"t think it"s going to happen, unless we fight back."

She looked up at him, before standing up. He followed her back to the Gryffindor Tower, both wrapped in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

"So, are you going to give me detention for going to the kitchens at night?" James joked.

She smiled, stepping on the first step of the girls" staircase.

"Not this time. The cake was too good, it kind of smoothed my mood I think."

James laughed.

"I should give you more chocolate cake then."

"So I can become an ugly, fat old woman? No thanks," she laughed.

James smiled, but there was a sad expression in his hazel eyes.

"You will never be ugly Lily."

Before she could answer, he had climbed up the boys" staircase, and disappeared.

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The next morning, the girls were surprised to find the Marauders up so early. As they were sitting down next to the boys, they had almost finished their breakfast already. They stayed with the girls anyway after they had finished, chatting casually, but all four girls noticed the discreet glances they were throwing to the Slytherin table, and they expected the worst. When the Hall was full and all the students were eating, the four boys discreetly took out their wands under the table. A second later a cry came from the Slytherins, then another, and soon all of them were shouting and jumping from their seats, trying to get as far as possible from their table. On every plate, cakes and breads had turned into cockroaches, as tea and coffee had been transformed into big white worms. The students who had been eating choked back insects, spitting them onto the tables, dropping them on the floor with a cry as their toast were changing into a handful of insects. Some of them felt sick, all were scared to death and disgusted. The four Marauders laughed loudly with many other students at the sight of the panicked Slytherins. Through the Hall, Regulus glowered at his brother, but Sirius answered with a wink and a smile full of warning. If he wanted to fight, then Sirius and his friends were ready. As James finally turned towards Lily, feeling her stare, he expected her to get mad, to cry at him, to give him detention even. But as he met her eyes, she merely took up her cup of tea and sipped her hot drink, the ghost of a smile on her lips and a glint he had never before seen burning in her eyes. Mischief was finally making its way to her, and James grinned. She smiled and turned back to her breakfast. And when all the prefects started to rise to calm down the students and the teachers were taking care of the insects, she, like Remus, remained at the table, eating her toast as if nothing was happening.