The Rise And Fall Of The Stag And The Doe

Gotta Figure This Out

"This month has flown by," James acknowledged as he and Sirius walked up to the Hogwarts Express.

Sirius looked at James with an amused smirk.

"Always observant, Prongs."

"Oh sod off, Padfoot," James scowled, elbowing Sirius in the gut.

Sirius snickered to himself as James walker further ahead.

Although his best friend was keen on busting his balls, James was focusing on the positives. He wasn't going to set himself for failure this year. This year, he wasn't going to make a fool out of himself; he was truly going to get it together. He was going to win the Quidditch cup, he was going to improve his potions marks enough to be top student, and he was going to make his parents proud of him… But most of all, he was going to get Lily Evans to stop hating him.

His spirits were high and well as he strutted through the platform. He greeted students he remembered and looked for people he knew well. At first he tried to tell himself that he was looking for Marlene, Remus, or even Dorcas, but after a while he couldn't even lie to himself. He wasn't looking for Marlene's tall blonde self, Dorcas's bouncy brown hair, or Remus's tall, scarred form. He was looking for red hair that shined so bright in the sun, he could have sworn it was on fire.

"James," a familiar voice sighed grabbing his arm, "I thought you actually listened to me, but I can see by that faraway look in your eyes that it's not true."

"You know me, Marls," James beamed, pulling her into a hug.

"That's true," she grinned, her blonde hair falling into her face. "You looking into any recruits yet?"

He laughed, "Marls, we aren't even on the train yet."

"James…"

"Okay…" he wrapped an arm around her, "We need to fill three positions, one beater, two chasers. So Sirius, Rick, you and I will be looking at-"

Dorcas interjected a loud scoff; her eyes squinted in disgust behind her thick sunglasses. "Please tell me, you two aren't going to be talking about Quidditch the whole train ride. Because if you are, I will go sit with the brainiacs."

"You know you couldn't stand to sit and listen to Mary, Alice and Lily go on and on about N.E.W.T. requirements," Marlene snorted wisely as she and James looked down at Dorcas.

"Yeah, Dorky," James smirked, "you know you can't stay away from a small compartment full of attractive men."

Dorcas popped a hand on her curvy hip giving James a dirty look. "Brainiacs, it is."

Sirius, Remus and Peter walked up to them laughing hysterically, Sirius laughing the hardest.

"—can't believe that!" Sirius cried, holding his sides as if they were about to split.

"What?" Dorcas asked them, and then narrowed her eyes at Sirius. "What did you do?"

Remus spoke first, "Snape fell, and… and knocked all off his things over."

"And revealed a rather unhygienic looking pair of trainers," Sirius commented with a wild laugh.

"Please tell me you guys didn't push him," Marlene groaned. "You know I know he was a royal dick to Lily, but the way you guys go out of your way to kick him is really–"

"Completely and totally inappropriate," Lily finished as she moved to stand in between Dorcas and Marlene. Her voice was light, but all of them could feel the violent disapproval in her tone.

An awkward silence took over as the boys' laughs died, and everyone suddenly became very uncomfortable.

"Are you sitting with us or them, Mar?" Lily asked quietly.