Always // James Potter

Chapter 2

The Marauders walked into the Great Hall and took their usual seats in the middle of the Gryffindor table, James and Sirius on either side of Aurora with Remus and Peter across from them. Further down the table sat Aurora's roommates, Marlene McKinnon and Alice Fortescue, although Lily was nowhere to be seen.

Turning her gaze back towards Remus, Aurora opened her mouth to tease James about the pout on his face that had taken residence after he realised Lily's absence when she jumped as a cold hand was placed on her shoulder. Smiling, she looked up to be met with a red-headed witch smiling back down at her.

"Hey love."

"LILS!" Aurora turned around so quickly she nearly fell off the bench, only to be righted by a chuckling Sirius. Encasing the witch in a hug, she murmured into her hair, "I missed you so much. These sodding boys drove me to near insanity half the summer."

"Trust me, I would have loved to come but mum and dad made me go to Cornwall with them and Petunia, who barely said a word to me the whole time. I think the only thing I heard her mutter was 'freak' after I accidentally said Merlin after I dropped a glass. But at least I didn't have to spend the whole time with James, you poor thing." The last part said with a sympathetic sigh.

Hearing his name, James turned around to face the two witches still standing behind him.

"Oi Evans, talking about me already? I knew you couldn't go the holidays without thinking about me. You should've come and stayed with Rora, or me, I've got a spare room you know and I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"In your dreams Potter," the girl huffed. She bent down to the other girl who had now returned to her seat.

"Meet me outside Rory, we'll walk up to the dorms together." And with that, the girl walked away.

Aurora turned around to see a concerned Remus and an amused Sirius looking in James' direction. Merlin help her because if Aurora knew her boys well, she knew exactly what those looks meant. Following their gaze to James, Aurora saw her best friend who, judging by the smile on his face, looked like he had just won the lottery.

"You okay Jamie?" Aurora asked carefully.

"Never better Rora," he replied dreamily, his eyes still glued on the back of Lily's head.

"And why would that be Jamie?"

"Lily looked at me." His reply came muffled as his hand was now covering his mouth as it propped his chin up in the direction of Lily's head.

Aurora sighed before locking eyes with a snickering Remus. His eyes widened slightly as he saw her grab the closest serving spoon but he let her be. He wouldn't want to ruin a good show after all.

"Hey, James."

The boy swung around replying with "yeah Rora," before being hit over the head with the spoon.

"Ow, what the fuck Rora?"

The girl feigned a look of innocence before replying. "Oh sorry Jamie, you were just in the way." Sirius snickered from her other side whilst Remus grinned at the pair before turning back towards Peter who had briefly stopped eating to watch the pair but was now turned back towards his dinner. Lily flashed Aurora a grateful smile before standing up, pulling Marlene and Alice behind her and making their way towards Aurora.

"Rory are you ready to go? No one should be in the common room yet and prefects already know the password."

Nodding, Aurora turned back to the boys. "I'll meet you all in your dorm at 9, I'm just gonna chat with the girls first."