"Guys, I've got a brills idea!" James Potter roared, entering the sixth year boy's dorm. The May sun was hot, and beat down on them through magnifying glass windows. Sirius was stretched languorously on his unmade bed, while Remus had made his bed hours ago and was fanning himself with one of the older issues of a new student magazine, The Quibbler, so as to push the thick air away from his face. Peter Pettigrew was red-faced and searching under his bed, through the stacks of parchment and piles of candy wrappers (thought he had stopped what he was doing as soon as James came in the room)

"James" Sirius sighed, sounding uncannily like Remus "Anything you come up with should never be called 'brills'. You've got the brain of a really stupid Flobberworm."

Remus straightened up, indignant at his mate's abuse of the English language "Guys! Reminder! Brills. Is. Not. A. WORD."

James waved them both away like flies and continued to pace the room. As soon as the idea was completely formed in his brain he stopped, and spread his arms to call for the silence of Remus and Sirius' 'IS!' and 'ISN'T!'s.

"So, I went on a vacation with my mother and father over summer hols? And we stayed in the Muggle US…"

"Great story, Prongs. What's your idea?" Sirius yawned "I need a nap"

"Sirius, it's eleven o'clock" Remus reminded him. His friend just shrugged.

"AAND while we were in the hotel room, they had a wireless? Like a radio? And it played this song called I'll Stand by You. It's PERFECT! I'm going to serenade Lily!"

"Marinade?" asked Pete greedily, looking up from the candy wrapper he was crumbling.

"NO! I will not, under any circumstances, whether at gunpoint or WHATEVER, sing" Remus said 'sing' like any other would say 'lick a Blast-Ended Skrewt' or 'be pantsed in the middle of the Great Hall': with a tone of ridicule and finality.

James slid over to his friend, putting his arm around his shoulder, and said "I won't make you sing, Rem. Just use those wonderful Piano-playing talents."

Remus grimaced. For one, he hated being called Rem, and for two, he hated the piano. His mother made sure, when he was younger, that he never missed a piano practice. While this resulted in him being able to play anything on the instrument, the end result was his hatred of anything piano-related. (That's why he enjoyed Sirius' hair-bands so much)

James then sidled over to Sirius "Hey, Sirius, drummer? For me? Pleassseeee…?"

Sirius groaned at the thought of anything involving movement, but nodded anyway, on the terms that James 'stop sodding talking'. James eagerly complied, anything for a drummer. This would be a success, if he had any part in it.

----

James eyed the lyrics to the song. They're perfect, he thought. Lily had been acting different ever since her dad died, skiving off Prefects duties (or so Remus told him; he wasn't a prefect himself), and being generally distant. She didn't even try to laugh fake-ly at Sluggy's jokes. He hated seeing her like this, and he had to get the message across somehow, somehow she would understand. This was the somehow.

----

They cornered her in the Library. She was studying Charms (her favorite subject), minding her own business, when out of nowhere Remus Lupin, of all people, emerged from the stacks, dragging an electric keyboard behind him.

"Just go along with it for now, Lily, he's got good intentions at heart."

She had absolutely no idea what he was talking about until James Potter and Sirius Black appeared behind him. James was toting an acoustic guitar and flicking his hair nervously out of his eyes. Sirius stood next to him, glaring balefully at the poncey way his friend was acting and the fact that he was missing his nap, or something. He had dragged a very pearly set of drums after him. This all was very fishy until James caught her attention by saying "Lily? I'm gonna play something, yeah? Just…just listen". She was slightly perturbed at being talked to like a mental patient, but was captivated nonetheless when Remus started playing a soft piano line. James waited for a moment before starting to sing:

Oh..

Why d'you look so sad?

Tears are in your eyes

Come on and come to me now

Don't be ashamed to cry

Let me see you through

Coz I've seen the dark sides, too

And when the night falls on you

You don't know what to do

Nothing you confess

Could make me love you less

I'll stand by you

So

If you're mad, get mad

Don't hold it all inside

Come on and talk to me, now

Hey

Why you got to hide?

I get angry, too

When I'm in [love?] like you

When you're standing at the crossroads

Don't know which path to choose

Let me come along

Coz even if you're wrong

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you

Take me in into your darkest hour

And I'll never desert you

I'll stand by you

And when the dark

When the dark falls on you, baby

You're feeling all alone

You won't be on your own

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you

Take me in into your darkest hour

And I'll never desert you

I'll stand by you

Stand by you…

He looked up from the guitar she didn't even realize he was playing. Hope was shining in his greenish-brown eyes. "What..?"

Sadly (or not, Sirius added later) James didn't finish his sentence. As Sirius would say, she was on him like flies on shit. Come to think of it, that boy is full of odd metaphors…

A\N: Yaay, it's a crappipottimus songfic. Can you tell I'm at my wits end? The fams is over for the weekend, and I'm just about to rip my mother's eyeballs out. I've washed my brother's toilet more than I've breathed this past minute. EURGHHH! Review, or I'll continue to go barmy!!