“Double charms with… Hufflepuff, cool,” James told Sirius over breakfast.

“Today we will be practicing our levitation charms. With people! Who knows the incantati-? Oh, Miss Evans?”
“It’s locomotor,” she said confidently.
Sirius kicked James in the shin, hard.

The class set about trying to levitate people, something the boys couldn’t wait to try. Maybe they could practice on Snape? But they couldn’t do it for they were giggling too much.
“Professor, perhaps a quill would be a more manageable target for Potter and Black,” said Lily, her voice wavering as if she were trying to suppress a giggle herself.

The four friends were sitting in the common room, heads together, giggling madly.
“What in Merlin’s pants are you lot giggling about?” they heard behind them.
James looked around, lovely Lily. He laughed and leant back so she could see.
“MERLIN’S BEARD!” she exclaimed, looking horrified.

Hoot! Hoot!

“What have you done to that poor owl?” Lily asked, bending down to pat the poor creature.
Sirius barked a harsh laugh. “Making some improvements. It’s my mother’s owl. She just sent a howler. I might send her back a pumpkin.”
“In the spirit of Halloween, we were merely participating with decorating.”

James and Sirius had just come back from Hogsmeade, pockets stuffed with candy hearts and butterbeer powder.
“Right, meet back here in an hour?” Sirius asked, confirming the plan.
“Yes.”

They set off in different directions; James towards the Library and Sirius towards the Great Hall. This was the year James would finally break Lily’s coldness towards him.

An hour later, they returned to the common room. They both flopped down, goofy smiles on their faces.
“That went well,” they said in unison.
“I wish I had a timeturner. I’d go back and relive that moment forever,” James said, breathlessly.

“Or a Pensieve,” Sirius added.
Yes, or a pensieve.
James would go back and relive it again, and again. He found Lily in the library and walked up to her. “Evans, you keep turning me down.” He put his hands through his hair, knowing how it makes girls swoon over him. “I really like you, and since it’s Valentine’s Day,” he pulled the candy hearts and powdered butterbeer out of his pocket, placing it in front of her. “I wanted you to know that. I really like you.”
He saw Lily’s cheeks turn pink and she smiled sweetly at him.

The Valentines feast was lavish; pink and red everywhere. The boys walked down to the Great Hall. Lily and Gretta were sitting next to each other, whispering. The boys looked at each other, smiling, and approached them, sitting on either side of them. Sirius put his arm around Gretta, who giggled and kissed him on the cheek. James then put his arm around Lily, who pinched him hard.
“Potter, I’m sorry, I just don’t think I’m ready for this,” she said.
James shrugged, knowing he had at least made some progress with her.
“It’s okay, Evans. I still like you.”

After the feast, the students were instructed to get ready for the ball. James and Sirius howled with laughter when they were told they had to buy dress robes. They had gone together to find robes that… matched. Lily and Gretta had gone ahead of them to the girl’s dormitories. Peter put on his robes, slightly too tight, and Remus put his on, slightly too ragged. both black. The boys fell about a laughing heap when Sirius and James emerged, wearing their robes.

Sirius and James were wearing robes of magnificent red, with gold shoes and glittering gold top hats.

The common room was still decorated as the boys climbed in. Sirius flopped down by the fire, and James paced in front of him.
“Sit down, mate,” Sirius said, too tired to watch James pace.
“I can’t… I have to know why him! He’s such an oily, speckled little git.”
Sirius laughed. “Couldn’t have put it better myself.”
Just then, the portrait door opened and Lily climbed through. She took one look at James, who started towards her, and opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t. She ran off towards the girl’s dorms, and Sirius thought he saw her crying.

“Come on, let’s just get out of here,” Sirius muttered, yanking James by his arm.
“Why? I just want to talk to her,” James replied, annoyed.
“No, you want to sit there staring at them. Don’t give him a reason to egg you on.”
They randomly walked into a classroom and closed the door. Sirius was planning on talking to James but he turned around and noticed something he didn’t like. Gretta and Frank swapping saliva.
“MERLIN’S SOGGY LEFT-“ he tried to yell, not knowing who to be angrier at. James yanked him out of the classroom by his elbow.

Sirius and James waited around the corner, wearing the invisibility cloak, waiting for Snivellus to exit the bathroom.
“Here he comes,” James whispered.
“Sssss-essss-usssssss-lessss-vesssss,” Sirius said, trying to speak Parseltongue.
Snivellus whipped around, eyes darting, trying to find the source of the noise.
“Ssssasssesssyassssharvassssssesssst,” James added in. They were vibrating from laughter.
“Wh-Who’s there?” Snivellus asked quickly. “Show yourself!”
He stood for a moment, a look of pure terror on his face, and he ran off, in the direction of the dungeons.

James and Sirius toppled over, laughing, and the cloak slipped off.

“APRIL FOOLS,” they said together, through laughs.

“Sirius, how good to see you again dear, how are you?” Mrs. Potter asked, opening the door.
“Hello Mrs. Potter. Ok you know me, just trying not to earn myself a bed in Azkaban.”

When Sirius was all settled in he asked rather bitterly, “How is it that both our families are pureblood, but I got stuck with the crazy fanatic ones and you’re living it up with the easy ones?”
James shrugged, “I dunno, the universe probably just likes me better.”
“Don’t think I won’t set my elf on you!”
“Your elf wouldn’t listen to you!” James said, laughing.

“I wish Evans was here,” James was saying to Sirius over lunch.
“Oh, is Evan a friend of yours?” Mr. Potter asked.
Sirius laughed, “James wishes! He’s got a crush on this witch called Lily.”
“Oh, we’ve heard all about her,” Mr. Potter replied rather casually.
Sirius laughed. “I wonder how her summer is going with the Muggles.
“Muggles?”
Sirius raised his eyebrows at James.
“She’s muggle born, Dad, I told you.”
“Oh, did you? Funny things those muggles, aren’t they?”
“She’s not a funny thing though. She’s brilliant.”
“And she’s probably wearing a prefect badge right now,” Sirius guessed.

“YOU FIGURED IT OUT?” Lupin said, eyes glistening, prefect badge polished.
“We figured it out, mate. No more lonely nights for you,” Sirius replied.
Lupin wiped his eyes on the back of his robes.
“Next full moon, I’ll be turning into a stag,”
“And I’ll be turning into a dog,”
“And I’ll be… turning into a r-rat.”
Remus laughed.
“Well we figured someone had to freeze the tree,” James concluded.
“Good point.” Remus looked up, smiling, “Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail.”
They all smiled. “And you can be… Moony!”

“I wonder if I can brew myself a flea potion…” Sirius considered.

“The incantation is EXPECTO PATRONUM,” Professor Sibbins said.
It took a few tries, but James concentrated really hard on his happiest memory; with Lily. “Expecto PATRONUM!” he bellowed, and was almost as shocked as the Professor to see a fully formed Stag jump out of his wand.
He wasn’t surprised it was a stag though, really.

But he was surprised to see it joined by a dog. He laughed, his arm shaking, and his stag disappeared.
“Where did your buddy go?” Sirius asked his patronus. The dog circled the class room once before Sirius dropped his wand.
“50 points each!”

“That was a nasty thing you said to Lily,” James spat at Snivellus.
“And how is it any of YOUR business, Potter?”
“Because she’s my friend and after all she’s done for you, she deserved more than an insult from YOU!”
Severus pointed his wand at James, “Sectumsempra!”
James collapsed.
“Calvorio!” Sirius yelled, stepping in.
Snapes hair fell out.
“ARGHHH!” He yelled, grasping at his hair, which was now on the ground.
“WHAT’S THE COUNTER CURSE SEVERUS?” Yelled Remus, on his knees near James, covered in blood.
“Vulnera Sanentur,” Snape replied, upon realising he could be expelled for withholding it.

“Do you want to… you know, talk about it?” James asked Sirius, after he had turned up a week earlier than planned, with all of his things.
“No.”
“Okay. What spell did you cast?”
“I didn’t! She did! Flaming git,” Sirius muttered.
“What did she do?”
“Bombarda.”
“Where? To get into your room?”
“Yes. She thought I was doing something in there. Lies, though, she was being nosy. I can’t live in a house where my own mother will use spells against me.”
“Better a simple charm than a curse, though.”
“I have a curse I’d like to use though.”

“Mum, what are Thestrals?”
Mrs Potter looked around. James and Sirius were sitting at the dining table reading through their old text books. The results were coming today, hopefully.
“Um, it’s… well it’s like a horse, isn’t it? With wings. Looks a bit like a skeleton,” his mother replied, rather dreamily.
“No but, I mean, what are they? I’ve never seen one.”
“Nor have I,” Sirius added.
“Well of course you haven’t, you have to witness death to be able to see them.”
Both boys raised their eyebrows.
Witness death?
“Whose death did you witness?” James asked quietly.
“My parents.”

“You saw your parents die?” James asked, exchanging a look with Sirius.
His mother smiled sadly, “I was only young, but they were sick. They died right in front of me. My own grandmother had to take care of me.”
“Do you have photos?” Sirius asked. He was never interested in his own family, but he felt more part of the Potter family than his own.

“Here they are,” Mrs. Potter said, putting an album in front of the boys. “This is my mother and my father.”
“Mate, you’re a spitting image of your grandfather,” Sirius said, acknowledging the resemblance.

Two Hogwarts Owls flew through the window, landing next to either boy, still staring at the album
“Boys, the owls are here,” Mrs Potter said briskly, breaking their trance.
“Oh!” they both gasped, undoing their letters and pulling their results free.
“I PASSED EVERYTHING!” They both yelled together, jumping up and down happily.
“Six O’s and two E’s!” James said happily.
“Four O’s, two E’s and two A’s!” Sirius said happily.
“Well done boys!” Mrs Potter said with delight, giving them both a hug and kiss.
“The headmaster made me… Quidditch captain,” James said, staring at his badge in shock.

HA-Ha-Ha-Ha-HAAAAA! Both boys laughed. Mr Potter had a big chuckle.
“What is it?” Mrs Potter asked, coming into the room.
Mr Potter handed his wife a copy of the Phoenix newsletter.
“Oh what’s Arthur got himself into this time?” she said disapprovingly. “Molly won’t be happy.”
“Oh relax mum, it’s just a car!”
“I wonder what he plans on doing with it?” chuckled Sirius.
“Nice looking car,” Mr Potter added.
“It’s a Ford Anglia, dad,” James said, regretting it instantly. “MUM! It’s not like I’m going to go out and get a car!”
“Just a flying motorbike,” Sirius muttered quietly.

James and Sirius said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Potter and boarded the Hogwarts express. They ventured down the train and found Peter and Remus already in a carriage.
“Oh you got captain!” Remus exclaimed, smiling.
“Congratulations Prongs,” Peter said.

They started talking about their plans to map out Hogwarts when the trolley door opened. They hushed immediately, but it was only the lady with the sweets trolley.
“I’d like a Liquorice Wand please,” said a familiar voice.
“Hi Evans, have a nice summer?” asked James.
She looked at him, blushed, tried not to smile, failed, and walked off quickly.

“Potions with Slytherin,” James said over breakfast, reading his timetable.
“Good, you’re both doing Potions. Peter didn’t get enough marks to continue.”

The three of them walked to the dungeons. The snakes were already there, and of course Snivellus had passed. He was top of the class.
“Hi Evans,” James said, standing next to her.
She went red again, smiled, and walked into the classroom.
“She likes you, mate. Look how flustered she’s getting around you!”

“I’m partnering with Remus. Looks like you’ll have to, ah, find your own partner.”
James gave Sirius a look, then realised what he meant.

After lunch, the lions and badgers had Charms together. Sirius was back with James, much to his displeasure. Lily was a good partner. She didn’t speak much, but she was smart.
“Get over it, mate, I’m better than Evans anyway,” Sirius teased.
“You’re not as pretty.”

“Hello class, welcome back! Today, we are going to make Portkeys! Who knows the incant- Mrs Evans?”
“The incantation is Portus,” Lily said.
“Correct! 10 points! Class I want you to pick an object from this box here,” he said indicating, “and try to cast the portus charm from this classroom, into the hallway.”

The last lesson of the day was Care of Magical Creatures with Ravenclaw. There weren’t any creatures around when they got there, which was odd.
“Wonder what we’re doing today? Probably thestrals,” Sirius muttered. Obviously they couldn’t see them.

“Sit down, class,” the Professor asked them, briskly. “Today is theory, rather than practical. I’d have liked to do a practical lesson, but the Leprechaun I got to show you all has disappeared.” There was a brief murmuring amongst everyone. “I don’t know where it is. Okay, well, who can tell me about Leprechauns?”

Lily told the class all about leprechauns.

“I wish we had the Twi-Wizard tournament here,” James said. “How much fun would it be? I reckon I’d be chosen to represent Hogwarts.”
Sirius laughed, “Yeah right, who would want you representing Hogwarts?”
“Everyone,” he said, pretending to be pompous.
Sirius snorted. “Yeah right, you just want the tournament so you can take Evans to the Yule Ball.”
“Do you reckon she’d go with me though?”
They all rolled their eyes.
“Of course she wouldn’t. You’re a pompous git with bad hair!” Sirius teased.
“Bad hair?” James said, running his hands through it again. “I think you’re just jealous.”

“Right, this year we’re going to be revising what we learned last year. Today is going to be focusing on your Patronus charm, and we’re going to use Boggarts. I’ve charmed these Boggarts to appear as Dementors, though. Who remembers the incantation?”
James raised his hand, “Expecto Patronum, sir.”
“Yes, 10 points. Mr. Potter, you can go first!”

The wardrobe opened, and a dementor came out. The first one James had ever seen.
“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” he yelled, casting his stag. The stag raced towards the Boggart, which disappeared back into the wardrobe.
“Well done! Okay, form a line. Go, Sirius!”