The Marauders: Year Seven Part Two

For Our Future's Sake

Lily was helping Peter and some of the first years sort out their homework when James came back through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room and sat down heavily beside her. Without even glancing up from Mariam's scroll, Lily asked, "So how long are you in for, Potter?"  

James, who had sat down on the bench backwards so that his back was to the table, leaned back, his head resting on the table top. He stared up at her, and she raised an eyebrow, looking up from the homework. His voice was level. "The Resistance has just rebranded itself to be the Order of the Phoenix, and you are looking at one of the leaders."

Lily stared at him for a very long pause, her eyes working through a myriad of emotions as the information sank in and processed. Finally, she shook her head. "No, absolutely not."

"Oh Evans," James rolled his eyes and sat up, swinging his leg over the bench so he now sat facing her sideways, straddling the bench. "You know I want to be an auror one day and what bloody better way thing to put on my CV than Leader of the Order of the Phoenix, the campaign that ended the reign of terror and violence of Voldemort?" He grinned, rather full of himself, and gave a rather suggestive look with his eyes, "You know you want to bed the leader of the Order."

One of the first years looked up and Lily snapped, "Watch your mouth, Potter, Merlin's beard, the children..."

James's grin only grew until his lip had hung up on his tooth. "Eh, well... You know you do."

"We'll talk about this later." She turned back to Mariam's work.

"It isn't really something to talk about..." James answered.

Lily raised her head, her eyebrows raised. "Excuse me?"

"I said it isn't anything to talk about," James said, "I'm doing it, and us talking about it isn't going to change that."

Lily's face turned pink. She pushed the scroll to Mariam. "Try and work it out, honey, I'll be right back." She stood up. "You - corridor - now."

James rolled his eyes, and got up, too, following Lily to the portrait hole. He could feel the first years and Peter all staring at him as he climbed through, followed by Lily. She grabbed his hand and tugged him along down the hallway to the stairs that led up to the balcony of the tower. She stopped there, one step up on him so that she appeared taller, and she turned about abruptly to face him, James nearly walking right into her. He looked up at her as she put her hands on her hips. "James Charlus Potter," she started --

"You're not my mum, you needn't call me that," James said, and he felt himself actually getting annoyed with Lily Evans for the first time since August when they'd gotten together.

"I'll call you that if you're going to act like a reckless little child, I will! Do you have any idea how dangerous being the leader of something like the Resistance is?"

"I've been bloody doing it in the Order for nearly two years, what's the difference?"

"The difference is the Resistance are adults and --"

"So are we, Love, if you haven't noticed," he interrupted.

"-- and they aren't just doing this to save their friends or - or whatever, they're - they're full time fighting dark magic and getting into danger, getting into battles like the one we were just in! They're getting blown up like Chriselda and avada-kedavraed like Ned, and bloody eaten alive by Greyback!" She shook her head. "James, we knew the Order was dangerous and there's always big talk, but when it comes down to it - when it really, really came down to it in that battle, I just -- I was so scared something would happen to you, that you'd be killed or -- or --" and she found herself with her voice cracking about the edges unexpectedly. She stared down at him with watery eyes as he put his hands on her hips, looking up at her. "I know what our intentions are for each other, James, and... and I don't want you to go dying on me before we even get to have our lives together and getting involved in the Resistance --"