A/N: Sorry this is late, I'm so off my writing game and just trying to push through it.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

Chapter Six: Through the Fire

The rest of September and the first few weeks of October passed without too much incident. James was still slacking off to hang out with his friends, but Sirius and I had made Lily think that any improvement in his behavior was down to James' conviction and not our desire to get them to lay off it for five minutes.

Besides that, my favorite time of year was finally upon us, even if this year my birthday was being overshadowed by my absent family.

Hey, none of us get to pick, right?

And thanks to the last few traumatizing months, I've also learned distraction is the best way to deal with these things.

"What are you going to wear?" I asked Alice as we strolled around Hogsmeade, looking for some fancy dress to wear to the annual Halloween Ball.

Alice sighed. "I dunno, it's not like I've got anyone to go with," she said miserably.

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, James said he'd go with you again! Besides, you know Remus wouldn't mind if you tagged along with us!"

I knew Remus would mind, in fact, since he and I had barely spent any time together since we'd both taken on James' easier Head Boy duties. On top of that, NEWTs were coming up this year, and while I wasn't too concerned, Remus definitely was.

As he had pointed out, no one in their right mind was going to hire a werewolf, even one at the top of his class.

I shook the thought as we entered Honeydukes and headed straight for the chocolate section, leaving Alice to be absolutely dramatic by herself near the lollipop display and ran straight into Remus.

"Fancy seeing you here," I said, nudging him to turn around.

"Oh, hello Elsa," Remus said, leaning down for a kiss, to which I happily obliged. "Find anything yet?"

I shrugged. "Not really. I'll probably just wear a Harpies cardigan and call it a day."

"Well if you're sure, I'm sure James wouldnt' mind letting you borrow his ridiculous pumpkin getup from last year."

I snorted, thinking of James stuck in the portrait trying to yell at rowdy first years.

"Gonna pass, but thanks," I said, grabbing a block of Honeyduke's in-house brand chocolate fudge, "I'll see you at the pub later!"

Remus nodded and I paid for my chocolate before heading back out into the village. Alice was waiting outside, leaning against the window, crushing her sculpted black hair in the process.

"What do you say we go as Quidditch players?" Alice asked, kicking up the dirt around the path as we headed for Spintwitches Sporting Needs so Alice could pick up a new broom care kit.

"It'd be easy, I guess," I said.

Although, come to think of it, I don't think a nicked uniform of Marlene's is going to work for me.

I followed Alice inside Spintwitches and was looking at the latest news on team lineups at the counter when a voice beckoned me over.

"You there, DeLestrade!"

When I turned around, I realized it wasn't just any voice, but one that belonged to Hamish MacFarlan, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

What the hell did he want with me?

I nearly dropped my bags as I went over to MacFarlan, who was somewhat plump now, his Quidditch days far behind him.

"I was hoping I'd run into you sometime this season," MacFarlan said brightly. "Hamish MacFarlan, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

He stuck a pudgy hand out and I shook it gratefully. "I know who you are, sir, but, er, how do you know me?"

MacFarlan laughed. "Where do you think our leagues get their commentators from, Miss DeLestrade? Hogwarts is known for theirs! There hasn't been an Irish commentator in years that wasn't from Hogwarts. Tell me, have you considered a career in this?"

I wanted so badly to knock the stupid look off my face and respond with something highly dignified, but all that came out was a short "no".

Good one, Elsa.

MacFarlan looked slightly crestfallen at my lackluster response, but recovered quickly, producing a card from his coat pocket that read:

Hamish MacFarlan

Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports

Level Seven, Room 401, Ministry of Magic, London

I pocketed the card quickly and thanked him.

"I do hope to hear from you, Miss DeLestrade," MacFarlan said, and with that he went out the door, waving to a star-struck Alice on his way out.

"Was that Hamish MacFarlan?" Alice asked, dumping her things on the counter, much to the annoyance of the clerk, who began to tally her items.

"Yeah," I said shortly.

"Well, what'd he want?" she said, hitting me on the arm. "I wish I'd caught him! I wanted to ask what he thought my chances were after this year and all. He must have loads of pull with the teams!"

I was still trying to register that a whole new path might have literally walked into me straight on and didn't bother to answer Alice as she paid for her things.

"So come on then," she tried again as we made our way to the Three Broomsticks to meet up with James and Remus, "tell me!"

I opened the door to the pub, ushering Alice in first. "He wanted to talk about commentating... as a career," I said simply.

"What?!" Alice exclaimed, throwing her arms out and hitting a particularly offended sixth year Ravenclaw. "Sorry!" she called after him. "Elsa, are you serious?"

I nodded. "At least, I think that's what he meant."

Merlin, I hope that's what he meant.

Alice ordered drinks and I snaked around the crowded pub, looking for James and Remus or an empty table.

"OI!" James was waving his hands madly in the air from a particularly shabby booth near the back.

I slid in next to Remus. "Sorry, we got caught up," I said.

James shrugged. "We've been entertained. Snivellus was just in here with his gang of junior Death Eaters and we-"

Remus cut him off. "James made their glasses explode. I had nothing to do with it."

Alice joined us, sliding a butterbeer over to me. "Never mind that, you won't believe who we ran into at Spintwitches! Elsa, tell them!"

I suddenly felt myself going very red. "Oh, just Hamish MacFarlan," I said casually.

James nearly spat out his drink. "He's here? In the village? I've got to talk to him, do you think you could introduce us? Blimey, Hamish MacFarlan in Hogsmeade. I wonder if he'd put in a good word for me? He was such a legened-"

I ignored James and continued. "He said he'd been hoping to run into me sometime this season and that he was wondering if I'd consider commentating after graduation."

"That's wonderful," Remus said, giving me a congratulatory kiss on the cheek. "Are you going to do it?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I think I will."

Having my future sorted so early in the year put me in a wonderful mood for the rest of the week, which would be topped off by the fact that my birthday was on Saturday, luckily another Hogsmeade weekend.

Besides that, the Halloween Ball was tonight, and I was looking forward to having a real date. Not that we didn't have fun last year, but when you spend all your time trying to get the attention of your fake boyfriend's best mate, it does kind of put a damper on things.

"Do you think he's fallen asleep somewhere?" Sirius said to me as we sat in the common room, waiting for James to complete his morning rounds with Lily.

"Maybe," I said, yawning.

I didn't understand why I needed to be up so early. It was Sirius who was supposed to be the one shoving James out the door in the morning, not me.

Of course, since I'd told Lily I was interested on being a goody-two-shoes from now on, she'd made a habit of waking me up at five every bloody morning, so I'm here anyway.

Being on your best behavior has turned out to be rather exhausting.

Just as I was about to send Sirius out looking to save James from being yelled at by Lily, the two entered the common room, still not speaking, but not yelling at each other either.

"Oh, morning Prongs," Sirius said, trying to act casual, like he hadn't been the one who'd gotten James out the door in the first place.

James gave a nod in Sirius' direction, which was a big change from his usual boisterous attitude and went up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

"What's his problem?" I asked Lily, who held her head high and did the same, disappearing into our dorm.

Fine then.

I'll figure it out myself.

"What d'you suppose that was all about?" Sirius asked, looking just as baffled as I felt.

I sighed. "Who cares. As long as they aren't screaming."

Sirius shrugged and bid me goodbye to go check on James, and I made my way up the stairs to get ready for breakfast.

Lily was nowhere to be found, so I nudged Alice awake and we headed to the Great Hall.

"I don't think I like all this morning person nonsense," Alice said, taking the tea I passed her gratefully. "You can't like hanging out with Lily that much."

I reached for the toast and shrugged. "I dunno, it's not that bad. Besides, I owe James."

"Who are you?" Alice said.

"Why does Elsa owe me?" James said, taking a seat at the table and filling his plate until it was nearly toppled onto one side with toast.

I looked at Alice and shook my head before she could say anything.

The last thing this bloody plan needs is a James-shaped wrench thrown into it.

"Nothing, she was just saying how nice it was for you to take me to the dance," Alice said.

James looked down. "Yeah, no worries."

It really wasn't like James to keep quiet, no matter how early it was, but I tried not to worry about it as we all headed off to the bane of my existence on Friday mornings- double Transfiguration.

"Are you seriously going to wear that?" Marlene said offhandedly, pointing to my, admittedly lackluster, outfit for the ball as we all fought for the mirror.

I tightened my Hollyhead Harpies cardigan around me. "Are you seriously going to wear that?" I said, pointing to her face.

Yes, our truce is going fine, thank you very much.

Marlene just rolled her eyes and finished putting in her earrings. "I'll see you downstairs, chubs, I'm sure Sirius is waiting for me."

I resisted the temptation to throw the nearest heavy object at her head and looked in the mirror. Alice had done my hair and it did look nice, twisted around my head on both sides, though it had taken copious amounts of Sleakeazy's to get it to stay put.

Other than that I looked much like I do every day, though Alice and I did match in our Harpies attire.

We're seventh years, alright? Effort is for children.

"Ready?" I asked Alice, who was rearranging her bangs.

"Of course," she said, moving a final piece of hair. "Let's get this over with."

I snorted. "Come on, then."

We met our respective dates in the common room, and clearly they'd had the same ideas when it came to outfits, since James was lazily dressed in his Quidditch uniform and Remus hadn't dressed up at all.

"You look both look lovely," Remus said, kissing my cheek.

I blushed a little, feeling the flutter in my stomach that I was growing familiar with since our fake relationship had turned into something more.

Dear lord, I think I may be turning into a romantic.

James greeted Alice with a rather dramatic kiss on the hand, though it lacked its usual flourish, and we headed down to the Great Hall, following the crowd that was beginning to gather on the stairs.

James, again, was oddly silent, but it didn't stop Remus, Alice, and I from having a great time as we watched several second year Gryffindors sneak in past the prefects stationed at the door and straight into Professor McGonagall.

"How come you don't get to watch the door?" Alice asked James.

He shrugged, clearly trying to put on his usual smile. "And miss dancing with you? Alice, I'm offended."

Alice rolled her eyes, but followed him into the hall to dance anyway.

"Shall we?" Remus said, holding out his arm.

"We shall not," I said, leading us to one of the black-clothed tables scattered around the hall and taking a seat.

Remus laughed. "Thank God," he said lightheartedly, "I hate dancing, I'm absolutely atrocious. Not that dancing with you would be atrocious," he added.

There was a smirk tugging at my lips as I dragged Remus up by the hand, thankful I wasn't going to have to spend the evening pretending to enjoy myself on the dance floor. "I bloody love you, Remus Lupin."

"And I love you," he said, and we headed out of the hall, hopefully to the nearest broom cupboard.

Bless seventh year, honestly.

We'd barely made it up the first set of stairs when there was a sudden BANG.

I reached for my wand immediately and Remus did the same.

"What the hell do you think that was?" I asked, as we ran back to the party.

Remus looked exceptionally worried. "Hopefully just a bad joke," he said.

As I got closer, I realized Remus was very, very wrong. People were scattered in every direction, but it was clear there had been an explosion in the center of the dance floor, as several wounded students were sprawled out on the scorched stone.

Panic bubbled up in me and I got up on a nearby chair in attempt to see over the scuffling crowd, spotting Professor McGonagall yelling over the noise to Lily, who was white as a sheet.

"OI, GRYFFINDORS WITH ME, SLYTHERINS WITH KENSINGTON, RAVENCLAWS WITH BAUBLE, HUFFLEPUFFS WITH MITCHELL!" James shouted from across the room. He too was standing on a chair in an effort to be seen.

This had little effect on the commotion going on until Dumbledore's voice boomed through the chaos.

"SILENCE! Every student is to follow their house prefects to their common rooms immediately!"

I hopped down quickly, following Remus and the rest of the Gryffindors being herded to the stairs just as there was another loud BANG.

I suppose Gryffindors do have a reputation for recklessness, because Remus and I both bolted back to the Great Hall.

After all, we were seventh years, there was bound to be something we could do to help!

I skidded to a stop in front of the doors and my heart stopped as I took in the scene.

There, lying in the rubble of the second explosion, was James.

Thanks for reading!

xx Val

P.S. Sorry if there are mistakes in this chapter, I'm out of town again and editing on my phone!