James and Lily Potter : Sixth year

Chapter 12: Sixth year

"Our sixth year is almost over," said James sadly, as he stared at the homework in front of him. "Can you believe it, Padfoot? We'll be seventh years soon!"

"What?" snapped Sirius, shaking out of his trance. "What did you say, Prongs?"

"I said—" began James, but Remus cut him off.

"Oh, forget it, Padfoot. What're you thinking about anyway?"

Sirius faced his three best friends, looking grave. "I'm thinking of proposing to Arabella."

James choked. "We're only sixteen, some of us seventeen! That's a bit too early for marriage, Padfoot."

"So? I'll propose next year, then."

Remus sighed, which caused the other three to stare at him.

"What's wrong, Moony?"

"I don't think I can be with Jennifer anymore."

"WHAT?" cried Sirius.

"I'm a werewolf," he continued, unfazed. "It wouldn't be safe for her."

"Oh, you know damn well that—"

"I know she loves me," he interrupted. "But do you know how miserable she'll be? Dealing with my transformations once a month for our entire lives? She won't like it, even if she does love me! I want her to be happy, and with a husband who won't cause her pain and loneliness."

"Moony, you're not making any sense at all," said James, shaking his head. "Jennifer doesn't care..."

"Sure, she thinks she won't, but she will!"

"Remus," squeaked Peter, "why would she care?"

"Yeah, that's a good point," said Sirius aggressively. He wasn't too pleased with Remus' concept.

"Padfoot, you don't understand girls too well. They want a husband who can spend time with them. They want carefree lives! They want lives where they wouldn't have to worry about their husband because of his werewolf transformations."

"You're wrong, Moony! Jennifer isn't like regular girls, and neither are her friends—I understand Bella!"

"Padfoot, you remember that prediction Trelawney made once in our second year. Or was it our third? Anyway, she said that I would find love, but lose it, to protect the girl I loved. That means Jennifer."

James snorted. "You believe that old bat? She was probably just bluffing it, as usual."

"But Prongs, it sounded like she was real that time," said Remus earnestly. "Maybe Trelawney isn't a fraud as we might think."

"Yeah, and Voldemort believes in love," said Sirius, rolling his eyes, as Peter cringed at the name.

"Don't joke, Sirius," he pleaded. "I'm serious."

"No, I am."

"Padfoot!" exclaimed James, sighing. "Will you stop with that stupid joke already?"

"Gee, sorry, Prongsies, what's up with you?"

"I'm sick of you acting so childish about everything. Moony's in a dilemma, and you're making another crack about that stupid pun. Can you act like your name, for once?"

Sirius stared at his best friend, and gulped, looking around at Remus and Peter, who were just as bewildered as he. "Sorry, Prongs. I guess I can't really live with a gloomy atmosphere."

"It's all right. I'm just a bit stressed, that's all. Sorry, Padfoot."

"Is it about Lily? I can't believe she's going out with Goldstein. I mean, she even said she liked you."

"But I gave her a chance to discover her feelings for me," he returned, his eyes glued to the window outside of their dormitory. "I said that she can even date other boys until she realises them, and I won't get jealous."

"You said WHAT?" demanded Sirius furiously. "Prongs, that would be the most stupid thing you've ever done in your life! What the hell were you thinking?"

"Sirius, calm down," said James smoothly. "I admit it wasn't so smart, but I really want to give Lily a chance."

"Hasn't she already had almost two years to think this over?" he growled. "I swear, Lily's nice, and she's my friend and everything, but sometimes she can be so damn stubborn and blind! I mean, girls are so difficult."

"Tell me about it." Frank entered their dormitory, grinning slightly.

"Hey, Frankie," said James lazily. "How goes it?"

"Fantastic!" he replied with enthusiasm. "You were right, James. I had to tell Alice about my feelings, or I would've regretted it later on. Thanks, mate, really."

"You have to take the N.E.W.T.s soon, and all you're thinking about is Alice?" said Sirius dubiously.

Frank gave a sideways glance at the elegant-haired boy in front of him. "What were you thinking about when you took your O.W.L.s?"

"Arabella," he admitted shamefully.

"Exactly. Sirius, when you're in love, you tend to think about nothing but your object of affection."

"Too true," said James with a tone of sadness in his voice.

Frank smiled sympathetically. "No luck with Lily?"

"She's going out with Mark Goldstein," spat Sirius, as if it were a swear word. "I thought Lily was bad enough admitting her feelings, but she's gone too far!"

"Is that what's bothering you?" asked Frank, looking at his younger neighbor.

"Yeah. So...what made Alice change her mind about you?" He abruptly changed the subject.

"Oh!" He brightened at once. "Well, I told her the day before Valentine's Day. I found her crying in the common room late at night, so I comforted her. She told me that Sturges Diggle had broken up with her for Trish Vance, so I took my chance. I poured out my soul to her, and she admitted the same feelings. So now we're back together again. Thank Merlin, too, since Dumbledore looked as if he were going to die from all the arguments we had this year with each other." Frank grinned sheepishly.

"I'm glad everything worked out for you," said James dismally.

Remus' expression softened. "Don't worry, Prongs, everything will be fine."

"Easy for you to say," he spat bitterly.

"Look, this is what happened to Jennifer and I," he said briskly. "Jennifer had been in love with me for nearly a year—"

"Don't start, Moony," snapped James. "I've been in love with Lily since last year. And you and Jennifer were second-years back then! This is different; we're sixteen, going on to seventeen. I have only one year left, guys, to win Lily's heart."

The Marauders were quiet after this. They had finally realised that James was right: he had only one year left to win Lily before she lost interest completely, or if another man captured her heart. They knew that James was devoted to Lily even more than Quidditch (which was a very hard thing to distract him from), and would do anything for her. But if only Lily could see that love was right in front of her and that she was too blind to see a thing.