Whenever it says 'Black' in this chapter, it means Narcissa)
James' POV:

Serana turned to look at me. Her and Black looked so confused.

"Could
I, maybe, talk to you Serana?" I asked nervously. Wow, James Potter is
nervous. Serana nodded. I noticed her sending a quick glance to Black.
Either trying to reassure herself, or Black. We stopped walking in a
little confined area of the castle.

Serana stubbornly looked everywhere but at me. Her hands were in her pockets and she was shuffling her feet.

"Serana,
I wanted to tell you, I'm sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry for ruining
your friendship with Lily, Jinx, Mikinnon, and Rosewood (A/N that's
Alice, by the way :-)). I didn't mean to destroy everything. Sirius told
us about date, and we just got protective. Well, I did. Remus knew
something bad was going to happen, so he didn't come. Peter didn't join
us because he's a whimp sometimes. Sirius just wanted to destroy the
date. I didn't want you to get hurt. I knew how much you ment to
Lily-pad, so I thought she would come and protect you as well. I didn't
think that she'd yell at you," I explained, my voice creaking every now
and again. Before fourth year, I didn't even know that Serana Longbottom
existed. She was awfully fun to be around, but hadn't realized how much
she really meant to everyone until she left.

Serana nodded slowly. She stopped shuffling her feet. I took it as a chance to take a step closer.

"I
am truly sorry, Serana. I don't expect you to forgive me," I said. If
there was a trophy for playing the best 'guilt card', I'd have an entire
room full of them. She finally looked at me.

"I'm sorry too," she whispered.

"Why?" I asked her. Tears were brimming her eyes.

"I
can't be friends with Remus, or Peter, or Lily, Or Jinxy, or any of
them. Especially Sirius," She mumbled, looking down again. I lifted up
her chin.

"One step at a time, right?" I said. She nodded, a smile coming up her face.

"One step at a time," she agreed.



Padfoot, Wormtail, Moony, And I were all sitting in the Commen Room that night, planning our next Prank.

"I say we do the Slytherin gang," Sirius suggested. I shook my head.

"We've done them a thousand Times! We should be someone else," I whined.

"When
did James Potter ever turn down the opportunity to Prank the
Slytherins?" Remus laughed. I laughed along, hoping that Serana couldn't
hear us. We had just become friends again, and I didn't want to put
that friendship in jeopardy.

Sirius and Remus started talking
about the Prank, but I stayed out of it. I couldn't believe how blind
Padfoot was. Even if Serana was mad at him, you could still see the love
in her eyes. There was a shuffling sound. I turned and saw Serana
running past us.

"Hey Eclipse," I called. The talking stopped, so did Serana.

"Hello James," she responded with a smile.

"Hi
River," Sirius tried. She just glared at him and moved on. Remus
stiffled a laugh, and I surpassed a smile. Sirius glared at me.

"What did you do?" Sirius exclaimed. I leaned back and looked at Sirius with a glare.

"You make it sound like I've done something wrong," I snapped.

"You could have ​told us that you were friends with her again," he grumbled.

"What good would that have done?" I asked.

"Whoever you're friends with, we're friends with too!" Sirius protested.

"Um,
no, actually. It doesn't work that way. I apologized, admitted I did
wrong, told her the story, and she forgave me," I explained. Remus and
Peter were crawling over each other to run after Serana. Huh.

"Why do I have to apologize? You did it for me!" Sirius exclaimed, standing up. I followed him.

"That's
why she isn't your friend, Padfoot! Once you admit you were wrong, then
she'll be willing to forgive you," I said before storming upstairs.