Right after Christmas my lessons picked up. December rolled into January and each time I would spend just a little bit longer at Mr. Orson’s.

One day I was there for five hours. He looked at his watch then yelped. “Oh, my dear, look at the time!”

It was nearly nine o’clock.

“You’d better get home for dinner; I suppose that Remus and James have saved you some.”

When I reached my house all the lights were off expect in the kitchen.

“Hello?” I called as I closed the front door. Automatically, blackness swarmed all around me.

I fumbled into the light to find James sitting at the table, reading a book titled An Auror’s Choice: My Story.

“Hey, you,” I smiled, and kissed him on the cheek. “Studying?”

“Waiting for you to get home,” he answered. “Dinner is in the refrigerator…”

“Where’s Remus?”

“Upstairs... he's the one studying.”

“How’s your schoolwork coming?”

“Fine, mother,” he smiled. “Yours?”

“Good, but I don't know how my owl is going to carry all of that parchment to Hogwarts.”

“Speaking of owls, Dumbledore wrote saying that he’s coming to dinner tomorrow,” James said casually, taking a sip of coffee.

“What?” I asked, surprised. “Dumbledore, here? In our house?”

“Mmhmm,” he replied, turning back to his book.

“But the house is filthy, James,” I shrieked. “He’ll think we can’t manage on our own.”

He laid his book down and pushed me into a chair. “How can you say the house is filthy? You make us clean by hand everyday.”

“Oh, how tragic... REMUS!” I called up the stairs.

I went and sat in the living room and James joined me. We heard footsteps crashing down the stairs.

“What’s up?” Remus asked, shaking his brown hair out of his eyes.

“Tomorrow we’re cleaning and doing major yard work.”

Remus groaned.

“But there’s a catch,” I said. “You can use your wands.”

“Yesss!” James hissed.

“I’ll be working in the front yard a lot, planting flowers and such, so it’s up to you two to clean the inside.”

And so it went; the next day we spent the whole time cleaning.

When it reached five o’clock I was finally done and the yard looked really good; I’d sent the lawnmower to cut the grass itself, and was immensely glad that Muggles couldn’t see the house. The flowers were planted in a very pretty island and the mailbox wasn’t falling over anymore. Finally, I repainted the outside a new shade of white.

I found the inside in just as good of a condition; the tables were sparkling and the windows were clean, which was something I hadn’t even expected. I figured they’d skip over the little things.

I took a shower and came downstairs to see the table set with the nicest china I’d ever seen.

“Wow, it looks great,” I said to Remus, who was sitting in the living room in his new robes.

“You can thank James for the plates and cups; he was digging through the attic today and found them… spent an hour scrubbing them.”

I hugged James tightly and let go as the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” I said, and opened the door.

It was odd, really, to see a teacher come to what was basically your house after two months away.

“Ah, Miss Evans,” he grinned. “It is lovely to see you again.”

“Come in,” I offered, and held the door open. James took his coat and we led him to the living room.

We all took a seat and the Professor looked us over. “Well, you don’t appear starving, unclothed, or not taken care of in any way.”

James raised his eyebrows. “Er… what?”

“It was rather what Headmaster Dippet had feared; hence my visit. I must admit that he’s not very delighted with your living arrangements. If he didn’t respect Nivy Orson as much as he does, he would’ve said flat out no.”

“I bet,” I nodded grimly, thinking of our co-ed house. “Seriously, though. We all work together here to keep things running smoothly.”

“Lily and I are dating though,” James blurted out, and then blushed. “I figured you should know. But we’re not planning on doing anything, especially while we are in school.”

“Well, I’ll keep that bit of information to myself,” he smiled. “I’m sure that’s the last thing the Headmaster wants to hear. All right, you all have been keeping up wonderfully with your homework, but I’ve been instructed to inspect the house… how about afterwards we’ll have dinner?”

We agreed and as he looked around James put the finishing touches on our meal. I laid out napkins and Remus made drinks.

When the Professor came back downstairs I asked him if he’d like to sit at the head of the table. He accepted. “The house is in wonderful condition; Miss Evans, you have these boys cleaning well. Now, I’m starving… what’s for dinner?”

“I honestly have no idea,” Remus answered. “James has been cooking all day and won’t let anyone see.”

“Presenting,” I called from the kitchen. “Chef Potter with his signature dish!”

I took my seat in the dining room and James came through the swinging doors with a huge, white top hat on his head and what appeared to be an extremely heavy platter.

“Tonight we shall be having Steamed Thai Snapper, seasoned with butternut squash and parsley. On the side we have Quinoa Pilaf and Curried Sweet Potato, and for dessert, my favorite… Lemon-thyme Cream Puffs with your fruit of choice.”

“I have no idea what you just said,” I smiled. “But it all looks and smells delicious.”

James dealt out the fish and soon asked the Professor the question we’d all been wondering about. “No offense sir, but why did they send you to check on us?”

He took a bite and looked at us thoughtfully. “I knew you’d be asking and I supposed I must tell you the truth… I wanted to come because I have something to tell you all. Something that not many people know, nor wish to hear.”

I dished out another piece of fish; James was a surprisingly good cook. I’d only thought he could make hamburgers and pancakes, but he’d proved me wrong. “It’s bad news isn’t it?”

“Alas, it is,” he replied sadly. “The Wizarding Community… Well… we’re in war.”