Dora Potter was a flurry of excitement and nervous energy by the time James ducked home later that afternoon. He made quite the mistake of checking into the kitchen to let her know that Remus was going to be staying at the hospital with Sirius and would therefore not be needing a place setting that evening... for she was elbow deep in magically preparing food and things were flying about every which way. James only just managed to dodge out before a platter of mashed turnips. 

James went out to the dining room, where Charlus was magicking the table setting, shrinking the table down to a more personable size for the 6 seats they needed, making it round so there was no one stuck sitting alone at any side. "James," he called, "Thank Merlin. Your mother told me to put the off-white cloth down, not the cream, the off-white..."  Charlus held up two different cloths. "And, well."

James shrugged. They looked about the same to him.

"I'd ask your mum but..." Charlus glanced at the kitchen door.

"Yeah, don't," James said, "Nearly decapitated me with turnip a moment ago." He studied the cloths a moment then, "I s'pose you could go with the one on the left."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," James said, "I mean, it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Charlus shrugged, then, magicking the left cloth over the table, he said, "Not to anyone but your mother, but if it matters to her, then it bloody matters."

James smirked. "Hopefully that's the right one, then."

"Yeah, hopefully." Charlus chuckled and went on with setting the table while James ran upstairs to neaten up.

He reached the bedroom and looked into the mirror, dusting off and straightening up his jumper and tie. He retucked his shirt into his trousers and bent down to tug his socks up into their correct position at the ankles and retied the trainer that had come undone at some point. He ran a hand through his hair, re-messing up his hair in the correct messy way (for there was a correct way for it to be messy, he'd decided long ago) and he swooshed some mouthwash about in his cheeks for several long moments as well -- just in case there was a moment of privacy for a goodnight kiss.

When he was finished, he sat down on the edge of the bed for a moment and pulled out his Headboy badge, looking it over in his fingers again, tilting it this way and that to make it gleam in the light. He'd intended on telling Lily, Remus, and Sirius when they'd gone to Diagon Alley that day, but of course plans had changed and he'd ended up not bringing it up. Then he was going to tell them all, including Peter, when they were at Sirius's bedside, but then Peter did the weird thing with running off and James had been distracted after that and by the time the conversation had come anywhere near around to a place he could've told the others, they were getting ready to leave to do the dinner. James decided he would tell Lily tonight at the dinner, and he smiled at the thought of how surprised she would be, and tucked the badge back into his pocket with excitement.

Back downstairs, Charlus was about to floo over to get Lily and Mrs. Evans - they had to be disapparated to the road in front of the Lupin house in order for Mrs. Evans to be allowed through the Fidelus Charm. Dora was complaining about the cream cloth being on the table, and James gave Charlus a look of apology for having picked the wrong one of the two options. "Mum, I doubt Mrs. Evans is going to be looking at the table cloth that closely," James said, trying to comfort her.

Dora shook her head, "You don't understand, James," she said, "That is exactly what she's going to look at. It's exactly what I would look at."

"Look, I'll help you change it out then while dad's gone," James offered and Charlus hastened through the floo to avoid getting in anymore trouble while James worked at casting a wingardium leviosa on the entire table setting so Dora could switch the cloths real quick underneath.

By the time Charlus returned with Mrs. Evans and Lily, everything was set, the food was finished and smelling delicious, and Dora had gone upstairs to change and come back down, looking very nervous and excited. She and James went to meet Charlus and their guests on the porch, and Dora turned to fix James's hair while they waited and she turned to fix James's hair and he batted her hand away, "Muuum," he whined, "I already did that, stop."

"But --"

"Mum. I like it how it is, alright? Leave it be."

She sighed.

And then they were there, and James saw Lily had changed when she'd gone home into a dress - purple with a beaded black shawl that wrapped around her shoulders and her hair was up in a pretty bun. Mrs. Evans's hair was up, too, and James guessed that Lily had cast the spell for it looked very similar to her own hair do. Mrs. Evans wore a pretty red with white polka dotted dress, and she carried a plate that she handed to Dora when they arrived to the porch.

"Thank you for having me," Mrs. Evans said, smiling, "I've brought along these tarts for dessert. Old family recipe. I thought you might like them."

"Oh thank you!" Dora said grinning. Charlus jumped in and took a peek at the tarts under the covering and grinned eagerly at how good they looked.

There was a round of everyone introducing one another, during which James and Lily stared at one another, their eyes locked and James grinning at her while she blushed. You look beautiful, he mouthed the words. Thank you, she mouthed back.

All through dinner, James kept waiting for an opportunity to arise that would be perfect for mentioning that he'd been named Headboy. But Dora was so excited about meeting Lily and her mum properly, that she barely stopped asking them questions about everything under the bloody sun, and James found himself making apologetic glances at Lily. Charlus was very interested in hearing about Mrs. Evans's hobbies - which included cooking, gardening, and sewing - and seemed keen to get all of the information about Lily's interests and after school ambitions as well.

This part James was interested in, too, of course and he was surprised when Lily replied, "I actually would like to be a teacher or a caretaker of some sort. For children. Like the young ones." She smiled, and her eyes met James's, "I volunteered one summer for an orphanage a couple days a week and it was always really very lovely to see the children's faces light up. Professor McGonagall said that there's something like it for wizarding children."

Charlus said that there was for sure, and that he'd work on getting her some contact information from his friends at the Ministry, who would know better who she needed to be in touch with for it. "Noble job, that," Charlus said, nodding with approval, "Forming the next generation." He smiled and winked at James. "You've got to love children to work in a job like that."

Lily smiled, "I do. They're wonderful."

James smiled, too, and tried to ignore his father elbowing him.

When the food was gone, Charlus suggested a nightcap and some more chat and James cleared his throat, "Lily, fancy some fresh air?"

"Yes," she said enthusiastically, and they both got up, escaping from the adults and heading out into the front yard.

The moon was still bright, not quite full, and shone silver over the whole world. James slid his hand into hers as they walked slowly down the porch steps. Her fingers tightened around his and she looked up at him. They ducked through the gate, leaving the Fidelus Charm, and he swung their arms between them as they walked down the little road toward the village, which glowed at the foot of the hill.

"Sorry about my mum and dad," James said, "I swear they've interacted with other human beings before, and normally they're much more normal that all that."

Lily laughed, "I think they're really nice."

"Your mum's probably being battered with questions right now," James said, shaking his head.

"Oh trust me, she needs it. She's been really lonely ever since my father died," Lily said. "She could use someone to talk to besides Petunia and Vernon Dursley."

"I think I'd rather not talk to anyone at all than talk to them," James said with a chuckle.

"Oh same," Lily nodded, eyes widening with agreement. "Mum tries so hard to like him, but he's so... pompous. Ugh. I think she really likes your folks, though. I haven't seen her laugh and smile like she did tonight in a long time."

James smiled. "Yeah, mum seems to like her a lot, too."

"I hope they become friends," Lily said.

"Me, too," James replied. They walked a little ways in silence, and James rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, which made Lily smile because it felt comforting and good. "I didn't know you wanted to work with children," he commented after while.

"Yeah," Lily nodded, "Being a prefect really pulled it out of me. I've enjoyed the little seagulls very much." She smiled, and turned to James. "Which reminds me --" she reached into her little purse and pulled out an envelope, which she opened and held up "-- I made Headgirl."

James grinned, "Congratulations, Evans."

"Thank you," Lily answered, and she replaced the badge to her envelope, tucking it back into her purse. "It came with my letter. Have you heard anything about who it might be? I saw you talking with Frank earlier at Mungo's."

James hesitated, then - and he didn't know why he did it - he replied, "Not a thing."

"Well, I'm just itching to find out."

James nodded.

"I suppose it'll be a big shock when we get on the Express next month." She paused and smiled up at him. They were at the very edge of the village. "Which reminds me -- are you doing Quidditch this year?"

James shrugged.

Lily said, "I think you should."

"Do you?"

"Yes, I do," Lily replied. "It'll be good for you. And we both know you love to fly. The other day, when we flew out to the camp together... You just lit up in a way I hadn't seen you do since..." she paused. "I just think it would be really healing for you to do it and be involved in something like that."

James nodded, "I'll have to see what my schedule is like."

"Your schedule!" Lily laughed, "You'll have classes, that's what your schedule will look like."

"I meant my extra-curriculars," James replied.

"Extra-curriculars?" Lily asked, "Besides Quidditch, what extra-curriculars do you have? It's not like you're in the Gobstones club or anything."

"Is anyone in the Gobstones club?" James scoffed.

"Mostly first years," Lily replied with a shrug.

James smirked, "I've got plenty of extra-curriculars, Evans. Just because you haven't paid attention to me the last six years to notice doesn't mean I'm not a very busy bloke, you know." He paused and his grin widened, "You might want to book snogging time now so I can get it on the calendar in advance."

Lily laughed, "Oh, do I need an appointment to snog?"

"Yes," James said. "Have your people call my people."

"So I'll have Remus talk to Sirius then?"

James laughed, "Well, you might want to get someone else as Remus and Sirius will just snog themselves and your appointment will never end up booked and I'm afraid all of your desperately needed lip time with me will be unfulfilled."

Lily leaned closer, "I've a feeling if I wanted some unscheduled snogging time that you'd be able to make an exception."

"Very busy," James murmured, their lips coming together, "Can't except..."

"Please," she asked, and their lips were pressed so that they were speaking into each other's mouths.

"I suppose, just this once," James replied, and he pressed harder and Lily sighed happily as the taste of him filled her senses and he wrapped his arms about her, his palm splaying across the small of her back, steadying her as she stood on her tip toes. His other hand went up to slide along her neck, into her hair and he let his fingers tangle in the strands. He hummed happily, eyes closed, until she drew back, and giggled. "What's funny?" he asked.

"You," she replied, "Extra-curriculars. You know pranking the younger kids with Sirius Black doesn't count as extra-curriculars, yeah?"

James said, "Whatever do you mean? It takes a good deal of research, some of those pranks, and excellent execution and --" He paused. "Besides. Kissing you might be my extra-curriculars. Ever think of that?"

"Oh well, then," Lily smirked. "We'll be earning loads of extra credit then, won't we?"

"Yes," James said, "Five points to Gryffindor for ever kiss. Ten if you slip me some tongue."

Lily giggled. "Shut up, Potter."

James grinned.

"Only a Headgirl or boy can assign points," she said. "So perhaps it'll be you getting ten points."

"Perhaps," he murmured and James couldn't resist her another second, he just leaned in and started kissing her again... and again... and again...

Sirius nudged Remus's head.

Remus had fallen asleep sitting in the chair next to his bed, his head down on the mattress beside Sirius's arm. "Huh? Hm?" Remus stirred and looked up at Sirius. "Are you alright?" he yawned.

Sirius nodded, but his eyes were concerned. "Moony?"

"Yes?"

"Are you mad at me for disapparating?"

"No," Remus replied, and he sat up, realizing that this was a serious conversation. "Not even a little bit."

"But I abandoned you," Sirius said.

Remus shook his head, "No. No, you saved yourself. And I'm very glad for it. You had no way to have saved us both, and of the two of us, my wolf is a lot more likely to survive an attach by a whole pack of other werewolves than... Snuffles... is." Remus's mouth twitched with amusement.

Sirius pretended to be offended, "Snuffles is punk rock, alright, Moonpie, and he is a vicious, bloodthirsty --"

"...shaggy, lovable mutt," Remus finished. He leaned forward and kissed Sirius on the side of the face, careful not to touch the oozing skin on his chest, which was bubbling a lot less now than it had been that afternoon. It was starting to pale, starting to smooth, starting to look a bit more like Sirius's actual skin. "I would hate for anything worse than this to have ever happened to you."

"I'm just glad that nothing happened to you," Sirius said. "I don't ever want my life to not include you."

Remus stared into Sirius's eyes, and his mind flitted to that ruby ring he'd found and he swallowed back a whole bucketful of nerves that had risen up in his belly at the thought of it. "I wouldn't want mine to not include you, either," he said thickly.

Remus half expected Sirius to pull the ring out from some hidden place, or to accio it from his leather jacket. But no - instead, Sirius just smiled and held out his hand for Remus's - which Remus gave him - and Sirius snuggled back into the pillows like he'd been before. "Thanks for staying with me, Moony."

"Of course," Remus answered, and he laid his head back down on the mattress, breathing in the smell of Sirius's skin, and thinking...