Remus buried his hands into the pocket of his trousers as he strode across the grounds and made his way into the castle. His neck ached and Flesh-Eating Trees of the World gave his bag the illusion of being filled with bricks. The fall breeze caused his messy light brown hair to fall into his eyes. He pushed the hair from his face a little too forcefully and a wound on his forearm cried out in pain against the cotton fabric of his collared shirt. He groaned. The day after his return from the monstrous world of being a werewolf was always the hardest. He had a migraine that caused him to squint whenever the sun danced from behind a cloud. The various gashes and bruises that littered his flesh made any form of movement unsavory. He couldn't visit the hospital wing. No. That would raise too many questions. He was thankful for his best friends though. He remembered how lonely his imprisonment in the "shrieking shack" was without them. He snorted, although they could be incredibly immature at times. An affectionate smile spread across his face as he recalled the scene in the greenhouse just an hour before.

"Oi, Prongs," Sirius whispered not bothering to hide the tone of mischief in his voice.

James looked up, "Padfoot if you don't shut up I will shove this Dragon dung down your throat."

Sirius sniggered, "If you don't get a move on, Lily's going to ask some other bloke to Slughorn's party"

"Will you keep your bloody voice down," James responded heatedly. He glanced over his shoulder. Lily was juicing Snargaluff pods, thankfully out of earshot.

"Should I call her over here?" Sirius raised his eyebrows. As he turned his attention to Lily, James took a fistful of Dragon feces and hurled it at Sirius.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius shouted but he was only half angry. The playful light in his eyes and the full blown smile on his face was a dead give away. He scooped up a fistful of dung of his own and hurled it as hard as he could at James.

The expert seeker ducked and the dung hit an unsuspecting Peter Petigrew. Soon all three boys were engaged in a full blown dung hurtling battle. Their teacher immediately became involved and multiple house points were deducted. As added punishment, Peter, James, and Sirius were forced to stay after class and clean up the wreckage of their war.

Thus Remus was left to return to the castle by himself. He decided he would spend the rest of his midmorning alone as well. Perhaps he might visit the library and finish his potion's essay. Yes, this would be nearly impossible with the other marauders around. Now was the opportune moment.

The library was nearly empty and Remus chose a secluded table in the back of the room. He pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and his potion's text book. He flipped to the proper page and began to write. Soon he was immersed in his essay, he didn't notice a certain red-headed girl make her way across the library in his direction.

"Hey, Remus!" she said brightly, awakening him from his educational stupor.

He looked up and his cognitive train of thought came to a crashing halt. Lily Evans was leaning against a nearby bookshelf. She was clutching a copy of Advanced Potion Making to her chest and smiling.

"Hey," he responded quietly. "How's it going?"

"It's going well. I see you're working on Slughorn's essay," she nodded to the parchment on the table that was covered in Remus's borderline illegible scrawl.

"Unfortunately," he sighed.

"You know he's having this party thing this weekend," she said shifting her weight.

Remus felt his heart stop for a split second. Was Lily really bringing up Slughorn's get together? Was she going to invite him?

"Yeah I know," he replied, trying his best to sound nonchalant.

"Well, he said we can bring a friend, so I was wondering if you wanted to go," she punctuated her statement with another stunning smile.

Every cell in his body screamed "Yes Lily! Yes I'd love to go to with you! I don't care

that you said the six letter F word! I don't care because I would be going with you! Spending time with you is a blessing I am so rarely granted!"

His mouth however was feeling rather rebellious that morning, "Erm, I don't know Lily."

She looked somewhat crest fallen, "Oh. Okay. It's fine, I can go ask someone else. I just-"

"It's not because I don't like you or anything!" Remus blurted out. He could feel the blood seeping into his cheeks, "It's just. Well. James really likes you Lily."

"He's foul," she said scathingly.

"He's a really nice guy if you give him a chance,"

"He's a weak, scared…child. He resorts to bullying those who are unable to defend themselves and I find it repulsive." her voice was acidic now.

"Lily, I'm really sorry," he had no idea why he was apologizing. He just felt that his mentioning of James had caused Lily to become upset. That was the last thing he ever wanted. To upset Lily.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Please Remus, don't be sorry. It's fine anyway, I'll go ask Severus."

She turned on her heel and left the library quickly. Remus longingly stared after her. He didn't want to blink. He didn't want to forget the way her hair cascaded down her back or the way it caught the lamp light and glowed like embers. He exhaled and covered his face with his hands. "Shit.