The Bonds of Spirit are stronger than the Bonds of Blood

Chapter Thirty Five

After spending the best Christmas together yet, James and Sirius returned to Kings Cross station, bid farewell to their parents, and boarded the train to meet their best friends. Choosing their usual seats, James by the compartment door and Sirius on the opposite side near the window, the duo began planning their pranks for the rest of the year. They had the most brilliant idea ever, at least in their minds: pull off practically nonstop pranks for the second half of the year and then pull absolutely no pranks the following year. This plan was partially due to their impending graduation, and the joy of watching the entire castle constantly on edge awaiting the next prank, and partially due to James' obsession with Lily Evans. Over the years he had gone from shameless flirt to head over heels in love. He had dated many other girls from each of the houses, but his mind and heart always seemed to return to Lily at the end of the day. Sirius shook his head as he listened to James ramble on about Lily. So far Lily was anything but impressed by James' attempts to ask her out. He went into a nose dive during a Quidditch match and tried to kiss her on the way down once, but only received a slap instead. Then there was the time he tried to prank the entire school just to clear out the castle long enough to speak with her alone. That definitely did not go according to plan. The staff and students were running amok as a giant, semi-sentient slime cube went on a rampage through the castle. James ended up stuck in detention for a solid month, beginning his sentence by cleaning up the mess left behind by the slime cube. Sirius could not believe just how far James would go to try to convince Lily to even speak with him. But it looked like he might be making a change for the better. Sirius decided he would do his best to help James this time. But first he would have to gage Lily's feelings. He nodded to himself, determined, just as Peter and Remus entered the compartment and took their places.

Sirius' plan to talk with Lily ended up getting lost in the shuffle of responsibilities. He had pranks to pull, full moons to plan for, and of course homework to do. Though he often acted like a slacker, not always paying attention in class, but contrary to popular belief he actually did all of his homework for each class, and he did them well. He may be more interested in pranking then sitting in class, but that did not mean he hated learning. He loved magic! He just hated having to sit in a classroom and listen to a professor drone on for hours on end. So instead he'd study on his own to make up for the lack of attention in class. He and James would work together, learning everything that the professors were trying to teach but with their own methods, and end up with high marks in all classes. This always stunned people, but James and Sirius knew what they were doing. Now that they were nearing the end of their time as students they were more determined than ever to prove they were more than just pranksters. Sirius sighed as he packed up his work for the day. It seemed like every professor was determined to kill the students under the weight of their assignments. He looked up to find himself alone. Confused, he tried to remember what had happened to James, Remus, and Peter. He remembered comparing answers for the History of Magic assignment, and then beginning the Transfiguration essay, but after that it was just a blur. He shook his head, trying to shake loose some of the memories, but only managed to make himself slightly dizzy. Giving up, he moved to sit by the fire and relax for a while. He watched the fire dance on the logs as he thought. His future was his own finally, now that he was free from the devastating house of his childhood. He was finally free to decide what he wanted to do with his life. The trouble with that was he had no idea what he wanted to do. All he knew was that he wanted to spend the rest of his days with his best friends. He smiled at the thought as he continued to watch the fire. At that moment, a small sound like footsteps alerted him to the presence of another. He found he was no longer alone.

Lily left the girls dorm for a bit of a break. She loved her roommates, but they always managed to get annoying by the time they noticed the end of the school year was near. They were busy chatting about summer plans and ideas for future careers by the time Lily managed to slip away. She shook her head fondly as she thought about all the time they had spent together. She knew there was still a full year until graduation, but she could not help the waves of nostalgia that engulfed her as she walked. Next year she would be so busy with NEWTs she feared she would not be able to take a break to think back on all the years she had been in this wonderful school. Sure, it had not been all good but she would not trade the memories she had made in this castle for the world. She stepped lightly onto the floor of the empty common room. At least, she had thought it would be empty by now. Her gaze turned towards the silhouette in front of the fireplace. "Sirius." She whispered as she stepped forward. He looked up at the voice, smiled, and said "Hey Lily. Fancy finding you down here this late." She laughed and said "Oh you know me, always one to shake up expectations." She sat beside her friend. He turned his attention to the fire and said "Hard to believe we're nearly in our seventh year already.... Seems like just yesterday we were sharing a compartment after our friends ditched us." Lily laughed and said "I know what you mean.... It also seems like just yesterday James Potter decided it would be a good idea go into that nosedive on the Quidditch pitch.... Or when he tried to prank the entire school at once all on his own.... Or the time he lost Gryffindor 100 points for hiding dungbombs in the professors' bags!" She shook her head and said "I have no idea what the other girls see in him. He's just an annoying buffoon!" Sirius laughed at that and said "Call him what you will but it seems like he has captured your heart, Evans." Lily snorted and said "You are completely bonkers, Black." Sirius shook his head and said "I'm not the one constantly speaking about someone I supposedly hate." He stood up and started to walk away, before pausing to say "You know, there's a fine line between love and hate. So, do you hate him? Or do you actually love him? Think about it, Lily." He lazily waved his hand to bid her goodnight and set off to his own dorm. Lily stared at his retreating back before turning her attention to the fire as she thought about his words. There was no way she could be in love with James Potter.... Right?