My first proper chapter fic! Don't worry, we're still working on 'A Week in the Notes of...' - this is just a project on the side (so don't expect updates as often D).
Yeah, it's more Marauders stuff I'm afraid, so more stupid jokes to entertain Caketin and myself. I do have a reason for it being called Black Roses, but it probably won't become obvious until chapter 4/5 (not totally sure yet...). There are quite a few flashback at least at the start of this fic, so all of them are in italics. The summary doesn't really seem to fit the story so far (it does in my mind, but not what you're reading here at the moment) but it is coming - this bit comes first.
Hope you enjoy it, and remember - I own nothing execpt my blue biro.
--Aniimal

Black Roses

CHAPTER ONE - BETTER THAN LAST TIME

"Run, Lily, run!" The shouts echoed around the frost-tinted courtyard; all eyes on the thirteen-year-old redhead running out of the open side-door. Her school bag was slipping off her shoulder and she seemed to be being followed by something. Some things to be precise. They were creamish-yellow and fluttering in the air behind her. Every now and again one of them would catch her up and swoop around her, Lily trying in vain to bat them away with her hand.

When she was about a third of the way across the courtyard, three boys stepped outside; wands raised and grin on their faces. It didn't take a genius to work out that it was them making the three parchment animals follow Lily Evans around, but their motives weren't so obvious. For one, the member of the group who was usually trying to talk to her - James Potter - was missing, and chasing her with parchment animals was never a good way of getting someone to talk to you, anyway. However, wherever Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were, you could be quite sure that James would not be too far away. Lily knew this, but she hadn't really been expecting what happened next.

She had almost reached the door on the other side of the courtyard now, and she was so busy concentrating on the boys behind her that she failed to notice the figure in the doorway ahead. In fact, she did not register its existence until she had run straight into it.

"Evans!" The figure spoke with an all too familiar voice, filled with mock surprise and self-pride that the plan was working. "Running into me like that, anyone would think you were pleased to see me."

Lily didn't need to see his face to know that he was smirking. "Shut up, Potter. I am most certainly not pleased to see you." Feeling pressure on her arm, Lily looked down to see his fingers encircling her wrist. "Let me go!" She tried to pull away, but he just tightened his grip.

Behind Lily Remus, Peter and Sirius were heading towards James, who was currently grinning at them. Taking advantage of this moment of distraction, Lily kicked the boy in front of her as hard as she could. This unbalanced him so much that he fell: something Lily may have found slightly amusing had he not still been holding onto her wrist and therefore pulling her down with him. James jumped to his feet again immediately, grinning as if nothing had happened. Lily, however, stayed sitting on the floor, disgruntled and annoyed. When James noticed this, he held out a hand to help her up, hitching a charming smile onto his face. Unfortunately for him this didn't have the intended effect on her, and she scrambled to her feet ignoring his offered hand.

Now, almost four years later, Lily Evans was once again on the floor in the doorway. And once again James Potter was standing in front of her holding out his hand.

"Now then," he leaned forwards, trying to take her hand so he could help her up. "We can't have the head girl sitting on the floor, can we?"

"I didn't choose to be sitting her, Potter." She deliberately avoided his hand. "If you remember things for longer than thirty seconds you would know that it was you who knocked me over."

"You know it was an accident, Evans," his voice was almost pleading her for her forgiveness, even though there was still a grin on his face. "And you weren't exactly looking where you were going," he added.

"Doesn't mean you can go around knocking people over," she retaliated, finally giving in and accepting his help getting up.

James grinned. "Well, we're doing better than before," he commented. "Remember last time?"

Lily shook her head disapprovingly. "Which time are you thinking of, Potter?" she questioned. "You seem to delight in appearing from nowhere whenever I fall just so you can try and play the gentleman."

James' protest was exactly what she had expected. "I do not! I just happen to be there and feel I should help." He ignored her rolling her eyes at him and continued. "And I meant last time you walked into me here."

"When your friends were terrorizing me with flying parchment, you mean?" she smiled.

"I wouldn't say terrorizing… just a misguided attempt to entertain you."

"Oh yes, and how do you explain the smirking and the fact that it was obvious that you knew exactly when I was going to be there?" Lily folded her arms across her chest and smirked slightly. Oh she could play this game just as well as James could, if not better.

James shrugged. "I guess you got me," he grinned again.

"You're admitting it then? That you planned it all?" She was still smirking, watching his reaction carefully. She had no idea why she cared about something that had happened in third year, but maybe she just wanted to sort out the past before she thought about the future.

"If you put it like that then yes. I am admitting that when I was thirteen I plotted for you to run intro me." He was mirroring her smirk now. They both knew that their conversation was ridiculous, but they also both knew where it was leading. "Well… now we've sorted out the past, we can think about the present."

"The present where I am currently supposed to be tutoring third years in the library?" her tone had changed now; she knew exactly what was coming and she wanted to let him know that him admitting something he had done four years ago had not changed anything.

"If that's what you're supposed to be doing right now, then yes, that present." He ignored the fact that she had been hinting she didn't want to talk to him, and continued. "So, the reason I was looking for you-"

"You were looking for me?" she interrupted.

"Yes. Now why I was looking for you was because there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up, and I was wondering if-"

"No."

Damn. Well, he had tried. "Why not?"

"Because you're an idiot, Potter," She picked her bag up off the floor and slung it over her shoulder, ready to leave. "You're an arrogant idiot and I can't trust you not to make a stupid mistake."

And with that she pushed past him, quickly disappearing into the crowd.

So, tell me what you think?
The other chapter are most likely going to be longer than this, and they're going to switch between different POVs rather than be like this one.
Now... review review reveiw! Chapter two is about half properly written, although I doubt it will be up until I get back next Wednesday. Reviews will spur me to write more, though (: