The third year begins

The entrance ceremony was the same as last year. After the talking hat finished its work and the new students were in their respective houses, the great banquet followed, which was delicious as always.

To the happiness of Oliver, Charlie and Catherine were left in Gryffindor. The house they wanted, since they wanted to be with James. He was their role model.

"Did you choose Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as your electives?" asked Sirius, looking at James like he was a madman. Although, he was getting used to how studious James was by now.

"Yes. What's the problem?" asked James.

Arithmancy was a magical discipline that studied the magical properties of numbers, including predicting the future with numbers and numerology. Ancient runes were a form of writing that wizards and witches used hundreds of years ago.

James was always good at mathematics, and Arithmancy has many similarities with mathematics. As for Ancient Runes thanks to Gwen he had a little more advanced knowledge. He was not a complete beginner. Besides, after seeing the ancient runes on the swords he realized that it could be very useful to learn such a subject in depth.

"Of all the subjects they are the most boring... Numbers no one understands and complex ancient scripts," Sirius said with a grimace. As for him, he signed up for Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies. The latter to spite his mother.

"I thought you'd sign up for Care of Magical Creatures," Peter commented. He had signed up for the same subjects as Sirius, except for Muggle Studies. He'd rather have more free time.

"I don't have time to learn about magical creatures. I've got enough to do with what Hagrid tells us," James replied. It would have been a fun class, but he couldn't afford to sign up for yet another subject.

"Did you get your enchantment back at dawn today?" asked James in a lower tone.

He wanted to talk about Animagus on the train, but Sirius always changed the subject and told some anecdote where he usually made his parents angry. He knew Toby did, but not the others. Lupin didn't, since he's a werewolf and won't do the Animagus ritual.

"Turns out I swallowed the damn mandrake leaf. I only had five days left. Damn it," Sirius replied. As he ate a delicious meal, he swallowed and took the leaf as well. It was hard to eat and keep the leaf down without swallowing it.

The same thing happened to Peter. They would both put the leaf on tomorrow. Since they wanted to have today's feast without an ugly leaf under their tongues.

After that, they continued to talk about trivial things. In the dormitory they would talk about the vault in the forest and when to start the expedition. James greeted the team members and several other students who had improved their relationship.

'Where will Gwen be?' wondered James, looking for the blonde hair on the Slytherin table. Within seconds, he found her.

Gwen was sitting at the end of the table chatting with Emily. It was odd to see her without her group of friends surrounding her as the leader. Although it had been that way ever since she'd distanced herself from Anastasia.

Gwen noticed James' gaze and looked at him. Their gazes met. A cute smile formed on Gwen's face that greeted James from a distance.

'How cute...' thought James a little gawking at Gwen. He managed to come back to reality quickly and waved back.

In all the vacations Gwen didn't answer his letters. The good news was that it was most likely because of her mother, not because she didn't want to, since she had just greeted him with a smile in public.

The banquet ended, and the prefects of each case began to organize the students to take them to their common rooms.

Before the students from different houses split up, Gwen approached James quickly, "See you at the usual place at eleven thirty," Gwen whispered and then followed the students from her house.

"Date with your girlfriend?" asked Sirius with a slight smirk.

"Shut up and walk," said James, nudging Sirius slightly, who laughed and said nothing more.

When they got to their dormitory, the boys decided to go on the expedition to the forbidden forest vault tomorrow. They hadn't been able to talk to Snape, Regulus, and Gwen. So they have to let them know.

"I have to go..." said James, getting up and grabbing his trusty invisibility cloak.

"Say hi to Gwen," said Sirius, who was lying on his bed reading a muggle superhero comic book.

"Let her know about the vault," said Lupin with a slight smile as he tidied up the side of his room.

James grunted slightly. He put on his invisibility cloak and walked out of the dormitory. When he reached the Gryffindor common room no one was there so getting out was easy.

He walked through the dark corridors of Hogwarts feeling a familiarity he had missed. His destination was the hidden balcony.

He passed through the secret entrance and reached the balcony. James stopped in his tracks and looked at Gwen, who was sitting on the edge of the window watching the scenery with a serene gaze. Her figure bathed in the silver light of the half moon.

Gwen was wearing the Slytherin uniform, with the green and silver tie neatly fastened and the robe perfectly in place. Hearing James' footsteps, she turned slowly, her eyes meeting his.

James for some unknown reason was fascinated at the sight of Gwen. His heart beat faster as he saw Gwen's blue eyes watching him.

'What the hell is wrong with me,' thought James, confused at himself.

Gwen smiled slightly, her pink lips curving into a soft expression until she cried out, "James!"

She ran to James and hugged him tightly almost knocking him over. Luckily, he had strength, as he was a Quidditch player, and you had to have a fit physique.

"You're finally here! Late as usual. We haven't seen each other in months, and you have the luxury of being ten minutes late," Gwen began complaining without letting go of James' embrace. Her arms went around his neck, and their faces were very close.

Gwen's serene and ethereal image faded in seconds, returning to her usual whimsical and whiny personality. James smiled slightly and, without thinking, kissed her. It was a natural move as if his body had acted on instinct.

Gwen's whining ceased, and she looked up at James, her eyes large and bright with surprise. A cute blush appeared on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry..." said James, pulling away from Gwen's strawberry-tasting lips.

Gwen, who was looking at him in surprise, sketched a smile. She grabbed James' tie and pulled him closer to her, kissing him again. They both closed their eyes and surrendered to the moment, enjoying the kiss.

After a long kiss, though it seemed short to James and Gwen, they broke apart and looked at each other in silence.

"You sure were late," Gwen said, breaking the silence. She didn't mean James was late for this meeting. She meant that he was late kissing her.

"After our first kiss, I'm just going to get complaints?" asked James.

"I was just saying, I'm sorry... I missed you," said Gwen, taking James by the hand.

"Me too..." said James a little embarrassed. They sat and took in the scenery.

"I guess your mother has something to do with you ignoring me all summer," James commented.

"Yeah... She took my cute owl away from me," Gwen said with a not-at-all-pleased expression. She was always spoiled by her parents, she wasn't used to being punished.

"I punish you because you walked away from your supremacist friends and got close to me?" asked James worriedly.

"Yeah, a little of both. She says you're a bad influence on me. You know the typical," said Gwen, making a dismissive gesture with her hand. The last thing she would do was obey her mother and walk away from James.

"Don't make that face. Her opinion is slowly changing," said Gwen with a smile.

"What do you mean?" asked James blankly.

"Most of the magical community is aware of your abilities... It was public for you to become a Lord, to cast a corporeal Patronus, to defeat a dark wizard posing as a Hogwarts professor..." replied Gwen, listing all the things James did that were made public in one way or another.

"For all that, my parents know your talent and can't ignore it... Besides, you're Lord and leader of your family. Who will be a better candidate for me? There isn't one. My mother can't beat me in an argument when I list all your accomplishments," Gwen said with a big smile.

"Oh, I almost forgot, you were seen with several members of the Black family at your ceremony. Even your relationships are good," she added.

"Candidate?" asked James with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, to be my husband," Gwen replied, completely matter-of-factly.

"Our wedding will be great. The biggest of all. I've already got it all planned..." began Gwen, talking about the details of a future wedding with James.

'Isn't that going too fast...?' thought James with a strange expression.

James let Gwen go on talking about the wedding. It seemed a long way off to him. At the very least they had to finish Hogwarts. For that, they must survive Voldemort and his followers at all costs.

 'I'll protect her,' James thought, looking at Gwen, who kept talking about how great the wedding would be.

Several hours passed. James and Gwen talked about many things. They had to make up for the months they didn't see each other.

James escorted Gwen to her common room under the invisibility cloak. Before they parted, he told her about the forest vault and that their excursion would be tomorrow night. He told her to pass the message on to Snape and Regulus.