𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍; 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫.

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐯. 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐲

"𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫?" 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞. 

"You'd think you'd have an advantage, since we're playing Muggle chess and all that," he replied with a shrug. "Somehow you're still losing."

They were in the common room, Amara's marble chess set between them. Remus and Lily were in their Arithmancy exam, Sirius and Peter in Herbology, and Marlene furiously studying up in her dorm. Thus, James and Amara—having finished all of their exams already—were left to their own devices. 

The formal was that night, and it was much needed. Everyone was quite burnt out, and the prospect of dressing up and alcohol was too good to resist.

James squinted at the board for a brief moment, then moved his bishop to take her rook. 

Amara looked up when the Prewett twins entered, catching Gideon's eye. He gave her a half-smile, turning with his friends to walk up the stairs.

James noticed. "Are you going to the formal with him still?"

"Dunno," she admitted. "We sort of...fizzled."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, we went to Slughorn's together, but...I don't think he's very happy with me."

James looked carefully at her. "Did you ditch him?"

She thought back to the closet. "Kind of."

"Well, between you, Marlene, and Lily, and me, Sirius, and Remus, there's enough to go around, isn't there? Do they have dates?"

"It's the day of," Amara said dryly, shaking her head. "A little late to this, aren't we?"

"Do they?"

"No," she conceded, sliding her queen to the left.

"So why don't we just all split up?"

"What about Remus and Sirius?" she asked quietly. "You really think Remus wants to take a girl?"

"It doesn't matter who we take," he said. "Just everyone will have a date."

"Not Peter."

James chuckled. "No way he's going."

"If you and Sirius are going, why the hell wouldn't he?"

He shrugged. "Maybe he's got a date."

"Right," Amara said dryly. "So, who gets who? I assume you're going to try and take Lily?"

"Er, no, I was going to take you," James said. "I'm trying to back off on Lily, now that we're friends and all that. Don't want to make things weird."

She pursed her lips. "Er, alright. Well, yes, James, I'll go with you. And as for Sirius and Remus?"

"It doesn't matter all that much, does it?" James said with a shrug. "Can't you ask them?"

"I'm not the one taking them, am I? Organize a convening of sorts."

And that's just what he did. After a few minutes of speculation, Lily opted to go with Remus, and Marlene with Sirius. The girls spent an impressive amount of time getting ready; slathering their hair in products and using Lily's extensive Charms knowledge to fluff and curl it all.