~ Hum a new song as you walk down the streets

Soon they'll be full with friends and memories. ~

***

It was the start of another school year at Hogwarts for James Potter, his sixth year to be exact. And yet everything was going on the same as usual; he forgot to pack his trunk, nearly misplaced his broom, was saved in the nick of time by his mother finding his things and arrived at Kings Cross at last, grinning widely from ear to ear.

The only thing which was a bit out of the ordinary was that his best mate Sirius Black was nowhere to be seen.

Usually, Sirius would be the first to reach the station since he would be rushing to get his freedom from Grimmauld Place and would often leave on his own taking buses to his destination.

But now, he was living with his Uncle and as evident from his last letter to James that had arrived just yesterday, he was quite happy too. His Uncle wasn't anything like the rest of the Blacks, according to him.

And as James stood there, glancing at the watch from time to time, Remus arrived and joined him at the spot. "What's with the long face, Prongs?"

James frowned, "where's Padfoot?"

Remus shrugged, "he must be on his way here. Besides, he lives on Magnolia Crescent now and technically it takes an hour and twenty minutes reaching Kings Cross from there."

"Yeah... I guess," he turned around taking a look at the other students on the platform, "have you seen Evans, by the way?"

He hid a small smile, "she lives even far away, I guess."

"No wonder, this is my unlucky day. Tell you what, I'm going over to the other side of the barrier and will return when Siri's here."

James placed his luggage in Remus's care and crossed the barrier to platform 9. The Muggle side of the station was much crowded by now and he knew only a short while was left before the barrier would close. However after a little wait, his eyes brightened as he caught a glimpse of Sirius rushing through the entrance.

James would have stepped forward to greet him but stopped when he saw that he was accompanied by Felicity who was probably scolding him for getting late. The more surprising fact was that Sirius seemed to have offered on carrying her trunk as well for he was towing two trunks and also receiving sour remarks from his unexpected companion.

When both of them reached the barrier, they were a bit exasperated to see James standing there.

"Never in my life had I thought I'd witness such a scene," he remarked, a mischievous spark glimmering in his hazel eyes.

Sirius knew exactly what James was thinking so he spoke up immediately in order to handle the situation, "can you believe the extent of my disbelief and misfortune when I boarded the bus from Magnolia and found her sitting there as well? Bloody unbelievable!"

"It's not my fault, besides I'm the one who should be mourning over my misfortune at having to tolerate you for more than one bloody hour," she retorted and taking her trunk from him, stepped through the barrier instantly.

"So what was that all about?" James asked when the two of them had reached the platform as well, "and why did you offer to carry her trunk as well when you were clearly struggling with your own?"

"Apparently she lives in the neighborhood; Fairmile Lane to be exact," Sirius replied, "and here I was thinking that I was free from all the people, who couldn't tolerate me, when I moved in with my Uncle."

Remus who was well aware of the real situation kept silent while Peter who had reached a just few minutes earlier was trying to zip up his bulging backpack.

"But you didn't answer my second question."

"Oh..." Sirius raised an eyebrow but then nodded as if he got his point, "well, unfortunately for me, I had been born and bred like a gentleman."

"You? A gentleman?" James widened his eyes mockingly, "now don't make me snort with laughter."

"But seriously, Prongs, have you not seen her? She's barely any taller than the length of her trunk if it was to be placed vertically," he resumed, "so obviously I kinda took pity on her."

"Smetti di comportarti come se fossi l'eroe che ha salvato la giornata. E per vostra informazione, non sono un nano."

[Translation: Stop behaving like you were the hero who saved the day. And for your information, I am not a midget].

Hearing the much familiar voice and accent, he spun around and saw that Felicity was standing nearby with her friend Alicia. By the looks of it she had probably overheard him and wasn't too pleased about his remarks on her height.

"What did she say this time?" James asked, slightly curious.

"Ah nothing, she was only thanking me profusely for the favor I gave to her," he replied cheekily receiving yet another scowl from Felicity who had decided to board the train by now in order to be away from those four.

***

The first day of classes at Hogwarts was quite similar to the previous year as they received whole lectures on how they had entered the fields of advanced teaching and every subject would be tougher than they had expected.

Like always, James couldn't care less for the lectures. He had a fair idea that the next year would be NEWTs year so obviously the teachers had started preparing them for the stress beforehand.

However, he was particularly surprised when Felicity approached him during one of his free periods. For a second, he couldn't decide why she would attempt to talk to him. But then he remembered the last minute prank he and Sirius had pulled on her on the station before Summer Break so he braced himself for yet another lecture.

"Before you start reprimanding me for the alarm clock incident,"James spoke soon as she reached him, "it was entirely Sirius's idea. I had absolutely nothing to do with it."

She nodded, "oh I see, now stop pretending as if you're an innocent little child who wouldn't even hurt a fly. I know very well whose idea it was and have given him the treats he deserved."

He analysed the situation in his head, "so I'm guessing you're here to give me the treats I deserve?"

She shook her head, "not really. I just wanted to know whether I'll have to tutor you for this year or not."

"Oh," he looked thoughtful as if pondering over her words, "well, I'm fine with it either way. You're not a bad tutor, y'know. But I think you were the one who was quite irritated by the notion of having to tutor me since, according to you, it could have resulted in you failing all the exams from the stress of teaching an idiot."

She widened her eyes in disbelief, "you have a really impressive memory if you remember what I said to you exactly an year ago even now. Bugs me why you don't use it for studies, you could easily top the whole section if you use it in a better way."

"Maybe you're right," he shrugged carelessly, "but I do use it for stuff I'm interested in and as for the other subjects, I don't exactly fail now, do I?"

"Anyhow, since all the studies are going to be very advanced this year," she resumed coming back to the topic immediately, "and also because we did resolve all our difference and became friends last year, I just wanted you to know that you can come to me for help in any subject whenever you want."

He was silent for a short while as if not able to process the generosity of her offer, "for real? What's the catch?"

"Honestly, James, there's no catch," she stated as if slightly offended at his suspicion.

He nodded in affirmation, "okay then. Thank you for the very generous offer."

However, James hadn't been wrong in doubting her. There was a catch behind that oh so generous offer she had just made. 

In the one hour long bus ride with nothing to do except arguing with Sirius, Felicity had made a bet with him that James would ace on all the tests this year with good marks, to which he had of course agreed since he knew that was not going to happen so easily.

Now it was more of a battle between the two cousins. Felicity would make sure James studies well while Sirius was going to do the exact opposite. But little did he know, that she had a much better incentive to actually make James want to ace all his tests willingly.

As usual, Felicity was the kind of person who always had a back up plane; an escape route to be precise. And this once she was quite sure she would win the bet. She couldn't wait to see the look of defeat on Sirius's face when the time would come for that.

But for now, she had to work out on arranging a tutoring schedule. So duplicating his time table, she went off telling him that she would let him know when and where to come for the first lesson. 

While James was left to wonder why she had been so kind to him all of a sudden, arriving on the conclusion that maybe it was because they had become friends after all. And he knew she wasn't the kind of person to be awful to her friends.

***