After the first day of classes, James began to head to the large Hogwarts library to continue with his study routine. On the way he was intercepted by a red-haired girl, it was Lily Evans.
Lily had grown a few inches since James last saw her. Her fiery red hair falls in soft waves to her shoulders. Her eyes are a deep green and she has freckles, scattered delicately over her nose and cheeks.
"James," Lily said, stopping in front of James.
"Hi, Lily, how are you?" asked James with a smile happy to see his study partner. The last time he had seen her was at a meeting he had at Potter Manor attended by Snape, the marauders, and Regulus.
"Good, good... I heard your talk with McGonagall... Are you done studying the Intermediate Transfiguration book completely?" asked Lily, who was holding the same book in her hands propped against her chest.
Lily, being a nerd, arrived twenty minutes early to the classroom to get a good spot in the front row.
"Yes. I managed to finish studying it thoroughly over the vacations," James replied.
'Study it thoroughly? Even on vacations, he studies that much...?' thought Lily, twitching her eyebrows slightly.
"What about you? Have you finished it?" asked James.
Lily took a few seconds to answer. Last year, she studied like crazy for the entire school term. The vacations allowed her to relax a bit and get her energy back.
Although she studied a bit, she wasn't as disciplined as she was during the school year.
"Yes... I finished it. I also told McGonagall to take the exams. With our knowledge being in the third-year class will only waste our time," Lily said, lying. Her competitiveness was very high and even more so when it came to studying.
For some reason, she didn't want to lose to James and have him find out that she slacked off during the vacations.
"That's the spirit. Do you want to go over fifth-year subjects? If our application is approved they'll take OWL exams for us," James said.
"I was thinking of going over some fourth-year transfiguration spells and concepts..." said Lily in a low tone, but James got to hear her.
"Fourth? We should focus on fifth-year subjects. It will be the hardest exam," James said.
"Unlike you, I can't use magic in my house, so I couldn't practice them on my own..." said Lily.
Lily visited Potter Manor over the vacations and was very surprised when she learned that James could use magic there as a minor. All thanks to the charms above the manor.
"That's right, I forgot..." said James, scratching his head. Lily living with muggles had no such advantages as him living in a magical mansion like centuries-old spells.
"Do you want me to help you? I have the necessary animals in my wallet which is bigger than normal..." said James with a slight smile and whispered the last part.
"Your wallet is very useful," said Lily with a giggle, "Fine, let's go to the library,' added Lily with a smile and started walking with James.
James and Lily studied and practiced fourth-year transfiguration until dinner time. James only reviewed a little, as he was completely fluent in those subjects. Lily faltered more in the charms, as she was not able to practice them 100%.
After dinner, the students from each house were taken by their prefects to their respective common rooms. James and the others spent some time in the hall waiting for everyone to go to bed so that they could leave the common room.
At 11:35 AM they were left alone. James took the invisibility cloak and this time headed with the others to the Dragon Club House. Before starting their expedition to the Forbidden Forest they had to have a meeting and plan things well.
The Dragon Clubhouse was open to anyone who was a member. Each club member was given a small key.
Before entering the house, James made sure the place was empty and because of the time of day, there were no monkeys on the shore.
They entered the house, and Sirius and the others were amazed at how quaint the clubhouse was.
"Have them invite me. It will be nice to be able to hang out here. Away from the castle. It's like Hagrid's hut, but better," Sirius commented, as James led everyone into the meeting room.
In the meeting room, there was a long table and expensive chairs around it, "Make yourselves comfortable. I'll go get Gwen and the others," James said.
"Don't ignore me," Sirius said a little annoyed.
"If you want to be invited have a duel against a Slytherin student and humiliate him," commented James, putting his invisibility cloak back on and leaving the house.
"That's a good idea..." said Sirius with a hand on his chin. He was confident in his dueling skills, having trained with his crazy best friend. He didn't think Rabastan or another student his age could beat him. Only Lupin would be his opponent in his year. Not counting James, since he wouldn't put him in the same league as them.
James walked briskly through the Hogwarts grounds and back into the castle. With his invisibility cloak and his Silencio Barriera, it was impossible to be caught by Filch.
He then headed for the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was located. He waited a few feet from the door. After a few minutes, three students came out. They were Gwen, Regulus, and Snape.
James took off his invisibility cloak, and Gwen saw him and ran straight towards him. She was about to hug him but remembered the two strangers so she stopped herself.
"I didn't know you were shy," James whispered with a slight smile, and Gwen elbowed him in the stomach.
James was surprised that the elbow was very weak, he barely felt any discomfort. Usually, Gwen doesn't control the force she puts into her punches, but this time she did.
"For now let's use the invisibility cloaks to get out of the castle. Then when we get out I'll lead them to the dragon clubhouse," James said. Regulus and Snape nodded and put on Regulus' cloak that he got from the ice vault.
James pulled the invisibility cloak over himself and Gwen. He then cast a Silencio Barriera and began to retrace his previous steps.
James as he walked beside Gwen wanted to take her hand, but the girl's hand was closed and hard as stone.
"Don't you want to go holding hands?" asked James with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah...why not," Gwen said, reluctantly as she opened her hand and took James'.
"What's wrong with you? You're acting weird. Two minutes ago, you wanted to hug me, but now you seem angry," James said, confused.
"I'm not mad, and I didn't want to hug you before," Gwen said stubbornly.
"Come on, Gwen. I'm not a fortune teller. If something bothers you and you don't tell me, I won't guess. Although in the future, I will be able to read thoughts just by looking at you," James said with a slight smile. He was just short of that level in Legilimency. He had barely begun to study said art.
"Hey that's a violation of privacy!" exclaimed Gwen, not at all pleased.
"I know. I won't read your mind, though it will be tempting since I have to guess why you bother and not tell me anything," James said, stopping and staring at Gwen.
Gwen lowered her gaze shyly and looked down at her boots. Only James could provoke such a reaction from her.
"Come on... Just say it," James said, reaching out his hand to Gwen's chin and making a little force to make the girl look at him again. He noticed that her cheeks were flushed for some reason.
"I saw you in the library today with Lily Evans... You seemed to be having a lot of fun instead of studying," Gwen said, dropping her blush and frowning.
'Jealousy again, huh?' thought James, sighing internally. He understood why Gwen was this jealous and possessive. She was always a spoiled child in a rich family and got everything she wanted.
"I told you she's a friend. I even told you they could meet, but you didn't want to. Are you shy?" asked James with a slight smile.
"I'm not shy... I was with Emily. I have to make up for all the time I lost and she's very studious..." said Gwen, twitching her eyebrows.
"Next time, I'll introduce you to Lily. You might become good friends..." said James, unsure. He wouldn't stop seeing Lily out of jealousy of Gwen and he made that clear.
"Fine," Gwen growled, knowing James wouldn't change his mind. If it were anyone else, she would have kept arguing, but against James she couldn't win on some things, and she was more shy than usual.
James and Gwen walked out of the castle. They took off their invisibility cloak and saw that Regulus and Snape were already waiting for them.
"What took you two so long?" asked Snape with a frown and an annoyed tone.
"None of your business. Let's go!" said Gwen grumpily, starting to walk towards the dragon club. James looked at Regulus and shrugged, as he followed Gwen.
'Is this girl never in a good mood?' thought Snape, though he wasn't the best person to say that.
Arriving at the Dragon Club they all sat down in the empty seats. The group already knew each other inside out. Regulus knew all the marauders, one of them being his brother. He even managed to resume his relationship with Sirius thanks to James, since meeting him in the ice vault he managed to join their group.
Snape also knew the marauders. At first, he had a grudge against them, especially Sirius, but now he got along well. They fought together and almost died. It was there that a strange friendship was forged.
Regulus at the great hall table propped up three scrolls. Two were originals from the Vault of Fear. The other was where they translated the riddle. Then he propped up two large books and a large map.
James nodded in satisfaction at everything Regulus brought with him and said, "Let's get started with the meeting,"