The New and Improved James

Chapter One: Sleepovers

August 29

"I don't get it. I just don't get it at all." James' face is in his hands, leaning against his knees.

"Me neither, Prongs." Sirius is sleeping over at James' house, along with Remus. "All of your great tricks, all of your fantastic pick up lines, all of your god-like good looks have not seemed to penetrate through Lily's bubble of exception."

"Maybe she doesn't like guys just for their looks. Maybe she actually cares about personality, James," Remus says.

"Well then he's doomed," Sirius says, giving up on the conversation completely. "Can we have some ice cream, James? I am hungry."

Remus stares at him in disgust, while James looks like he is going to breakdown at any minute.

"AHHHHHH!!!!! I'm gonna die alone, just because this stupid redheaded girl will be in my mind forever! Why me? WHY ME?!? It's not fair! You guys aren't freaking obsessed with a girl who can't stand to look at you!"

"Like I said before," Remus says, looking concerned. "She wants you to act normal! Stop being a Lily obsessed guy! Have a normal conversation with her! Do not… I repeat, DO NOT ask her out until you think she likes you! Actually no… don't ask her out until you know for sure that she has a crush on you!"

Sirius, realizing no one is going to get him dessert, leaves the room on a quest for ice cream.

"How do you know she'll like me?" James whines, covering his face with a pillow.

"She just will… Okay? Stop being so pathetic. You're a good person and she is too, so you are perfect for each other," Remus says, bored with his friend who will never give up talking about one certain subject.

James moves his face away from the pillow. "Yeah, we areperfect together, aren't we?" He smiles dreamily as Remus backs away, creeped-out.

"Do you want some ice cream, Marauders?" Sirius yells from the kitchen, probably waking up James' mum, dad, sister, and brother.

. . . .

"Just admit it, Lily. You luuurrve James," Mary tries to convince Lily. She has stick straight thick black hair, laughing and innocent brown eyes on a heart-shaped face, and everything about her is petite. As always, Mary is smiling and her eyes are shining with excitement.

Lily groans for the umpteenth time. "No I do not!!!" she snaps, making her hands into fists while her face gets redder and redder.

"Yes you do!" Mary says happily, grabbing the bed sheets that are around her in enthusiasm. "You have lied all of these years, my friend Lily. You are deeply… and I guess passionately… in love with James Potter!" She snickers and places a hand on Lily's back. "Don't worry though. It happens even to the best of us."

Lily swats the hand away and pouts, making Mary's hand accidentally hit the sleeping blonde girl to the right of them. "Oh! Sorry, Jules!" Mary whispers as she moves her hand off the sixteen year old and places it firmly on the bed beside all three girls, although the blonde does not even stir.

"Oh, thank Merlin she didn't wake up! She would for sure press the subject…"

"So you admit that you love-" she jokes.

"You have bad hearing, Mary!" Lily closes her mesmerizing emerald eyes and puts her head back against her huge green pillow in frustration, making her wavy dark red hair swing back and forth along her curves.

"Oh come on, Lils. I'm not gonna make fun of you! Just tell me what you were dreaming about. I'm your best friend." Mary smiles convincingly. "You probably would have died if it weren't for me."

"That is soooo exaggerating the truth, Mary. All you and Julia did was get me out of the Hogwarts Express compartment that James, Sirius, and Remus were in… in first year!"

"Well yeah…" Mary bites her lip and twirls a strand of her silky hair in-between her fingers. "But we also probably would have been one of the losers of the school if it weren't for mine and Julia's choice… I mean, everyone thought it was kind of cool that we wanted to leave the Marauder's compartment…"

"That isn't even true, though…" Lily sighs and spreads her long legs out onto the tie-dyed bed-spread. "Ughhh… why do you keep bothering me about this, Mary? It's so embarrassing. Please just forget about it."

"Oh, God! It was a sex dream, wasn't it?" Mary says with a grin. Lily moans and turns even redder, making Mary start laughing. "Oh my god, it was!!!" she squeals.

"Shhhhh… you're gonna wake up Julia!"

"You have to tell me every little detail, cause everything means something!" Mary ignores the last comment, now bouncing on the bed and coming closer to Lily in anticipation.

"Something's wrong with me, Mary! I might be catching some unknown flue-virus."

"TELL ME, LILS!" Mary shouts.

"Wwwhat's goin on???" Julia slowly gets out of Lily's king sized bed tiredly, swinging her long, long, long legs over the blankets and untwisting her baby blue tank-top so that it covers her whole torso.

"Oh nothing… Lily just had a sex dream about James… no big deal…" Mary breazes.

Julia's big blue eyes get even bigger. "What did you do, Lily???"

"Stop saying that, Mary," Lily groans as she sinks into her mattress and stares straight ahead, concentrating on the crack that is on her lemon yellow walls.

"Tell me everything!" Julia says excitedly, putting her wavy butter-cream hair behind her ears as she bites her pink lip, trying not to smile.

There is a long pause while Julia and Mary stare at Lily and wait. Finally, Lily sighs. "I guess I'll have to tell you eventually… might as well get it over with."

"Yay!" they both squeal.

"Ok… well… here I go then…" Lily mumbles.

"Just tell us, Lils!" Julia barks. Mary laughs at her commanding friend.

"I was just about to, Julia. But then you interrupted me!" Lily crosses her arms.

"Okay, sorry Lily. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings or whatever…"

"Please tell us, Lils?"

"You and I are having a sleep over, just like tonight," she starts as they get closer, smiling as they realize that they have won.

"That means you're tired of waiting for him. You want him right now!" Mary tells her, as if she really knows. Julia rolls her eyes as she gets comfy under the covers again, listing carefully.

Lily looks like she is going to be sick. "You guys are asleep, when I hear my window open."

"Ummmm… maybe you want an exciting relationship? To take chances… and –errm-stuff…"

"James crawls out from it and says things about needing to see me this very minute."

"You want to be wanted… I guess."

"And…" Lily's face turns red as a tomato. "Ummm… that's all," she finishes quickly.

Julia and Mary laugh. "Yeah right. Come on! We will not make fun of you. We promise."

Lily sighs. "He leaps on top of me, kissing me very –well- feverishly and -umm- passionately," she says slowly.

"Errr… you're positive that he likes you back, then…"

Lily rolls her eyes. "You're sleeping forms 'disappear'. I'm now alone with James."

"K… you're scared of what people might think about you two."

"James starts kissing down my neck, taking off my shirt. I think I'm moaning his name or something."

"Was your bra on?"

Lily juts out her jaw and glares at Mary. "No."

"Okay." Mary laughs quietly. "-umm- than you're very open to him. You like to talk to James…?"

Lily snorts. "Yeah right."

"Go on with the dream!" Julia says. "Mary is a good dream expert thingy, but she needs to know everything that happens in them."

Mary laughs. "Yes. I am a very good dream reader. I should replace Professor Magnolia," she jokes.

"But I thought you actually do want to become a Divination teacher when we leave school."

"Yeah… I do…?"

"But you were acting all sarcastic."

"Well yeah, but-"

"Go on with the dream, Lily!" Julia cuts Mary off.

"Jesus, Julia, that's all there was, okay? Mary woke me up before he got down to the pajama bottoms," Lily jokes.

"Thanks a lot, Mary," Julia says sarcastically. "It was getting really good!"

Mary and Julia giggle as Lily stares at them in horror.

"Does this mean anything?" Lily says, hoping that 'the seer' doesn't actually see anything.

"Probably." Mary shrugs as Lily groans, scared that her brain might be falling for James Potter without the rest of her body's consent.

I hope you enjoyed the beginning of the story!

If you liked it, please review! Even if there are more chapters ahead of this one, I'll be fine with it. (do you have any advice for me? do you think the story is good?)

Have a nice rest of your day! I have to go and eat my mother's gulash now! Bye!!!

-Maia