Timeline: takes place towards the end of sixth-year, when tensions between James and Lily are starting to settle down a little bit.

Word count: 1,759 words

Author's Note: Well, this definitely did not turn out the way I expected it to. Oh, well. :)

Opposites

'Evans.'

'Potter.'

'I heard you were having a Transfiguration meltdown?'

Lily frowns. 'I'm not having a meltdown. Just a bit of a panic, that's all. Besides, who would tell you—who would know—' She sighs. 'It was Remus, wasn't it?'

James doesn't say anything and instead sits down at the table in the common room next to her. 'Well, first of all, McGonagall told us the essay needed to be titled "The Differences Between Werewolves and Animagi," correct?'

'I don't understand why we're learning about werewolves and Animagi again, we learned about them in third-year and frankly, of all of our lessons in third-year, that was the only concept that stuck with me,' she says, getting a bit off topic, 'because you were distracting me in every damn class. It was so infuriating to me, having to go back and try to comprehend the notes I somehow managed to take—still is, sometimes.'

'Come on, Evans,' says James a bit proudly. 'Admit that you liked the distractions.'

'No, I did not, and I never will!' she proclaims. 'The only reason I remember anything about werewolves and Animagi—really, truly remember it—is because that was the one lesson we had where you were in the hospital wing after a Quidditch match!'

He raises his eyebrows. 'Sounds like you were still quite distracted, seeing as you somehow remember that. I don't even remember that.'

Lily blushes and changes the subject. 'Anyway, I think the reason we're learning about them again—not learning, really, just going over the topic—is so that we can all comprehend it. And we all are paying more attention now, since nearly everyone knows they're in a classroom with one, therefore—'

'Wait, what?' he splutters. 'You—everyone knows about us?'

'Wait, what?' she says. 'You and Black and Pettigrew are all werewolves as well?'

'What?'

'What?'

At that moment, Sirius chooses to plop himself down in the seat across from the pair. 'Evening, Evans. Prongs,' he adds. 'D'you hear about Wormy's new girlfriend?'

'What?' James and Lily say in unison.

Sirius chuckles at their surprise. 'Don't worry, I won't tell him that you two are completely and utterly flabbergasted at this new advancement. But I will tell him that you two are furious because you both were secretly wanting to get together and now Peter's had to go and get together with some Hufflepuff girl before you two can announce you're in love—stop glaring at me like that, Evans, you know it's true—so now you both feel late to the party, since Wormtail has convinced some poor girl to go to Hogsmeade with him—'

'I don't know what nonsense you're trying to impose upon us—because none of what you just said made any sense whatsoever—but know that there is nothing going on between Potter and I. Absolutely nothing,' Lily says coolly. 'So you can go report that back to poor Peter. And while you're at it, shoo that mob of sixth-years away from him. He hates the attention, if you're too oblivious to realize it after seven years of living with him.'

Scooting his chair away from the table, Sirius looks worriedly between James and Lily. 'Prongs,' he says cautiously, as he rises and walks in the direction of where Peter is nervously replying to eager sixth-year boys' questions on "how to get the girl," 'I don't know why the hell you're in love with her, but she is scary.'

James runs a hand through his hair, a bit embarrassed (though, to be honest, it was no secret that he was very smitten with Lily Evans), as Sirius walks away. 'Ignore him,' he advises Lily. 'Too interested in others' love lives to bother with his own shitty one. Joke's on him, I reckon.' They're both silent for a moment, before he remembers what they were speaking about before Sirius's interruption. 'Oh, so what were you saying about Animagi and werewolves? Something about Sirius and Peter and I?'

'Yeah…,' says Lily, tearing her eyes away their longing gaze at the fireplace. 'Yeah. I didn't know you and Black and Pettigrew were werewolves, too.'

'What?'

'Oh, don't tell me you don't know about Remus's condition,' she says, turning to look at him. His eyes are full of disbelief, and he wonders how in the world she knows about Remus's furry little problem.

'Condition?' he says, trying to act as though he has no idea what she's talking about. 'You mean Remus's pet rabbit? I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with her. Anyway, he's always getting that's why—'

Lily rolls her eyes. 'No, of course I don't. You know bloody well that I mean his lycanthropy. I didn't know that you four were all lycanthropic.' She gasps. 'Did he bite you?'

'Hell, no. No, definitely not,' James says. He's relieved. For a moment, he thought she knew they were Animagi, thought 'everyone' knew they were Animagi. 'The rest of us are all fine. But how did you—'

She dips her quill in the ink at the corner of the table and writes the title of the essay in perfect curlicues across the top. 'I figured it out,' she says simply. 'There had to be a reason he was always ill around the full moon and couldn't do patrols then. Last year I did some research on werewolves in the library, and sure enough, he had all the symptoms.'

'But how did you know for sure?'

'Easy,' Lily says. 'I forced it out of him.'

'You what?'

'I forced it out of him,' she repeats. 'During patrols one night. I made sure I was scheduled with him, and I said, "I figured out why the other Marauders call you Moony." He was white as a sheet—'

'You what?'

Chuckling to herself, Lily shakes her head. 'Of course I didn't tell him that way. You know, I am considerate of people's feelings. Except yours, maybe, but that's not the point.'

Another wave of relief washes over James. If she had figured 'Moony' out, it was only a matter of time before she figured out what Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs meant, and if she did—

'I just told him I was concerned about how he was sick so often, pointedly saying "around the full moon," and he reluctantly told me why you lot call him Moony,' Lily explains.

'So by hinting you knew about his furry little problem, you pressured him into telling you,' James summarizes. 'But…you haven't figured out our other names yet, have you?'

''Course I haven't,' she says. 'But…well, your name could be Prongs because you have an infatuation with those metal things in folders that keep the papers in. I wouldn't put it past you, really, but there are better things to obsess about than prongs—'

A final flood of ease and relaxation comes over James. Good. She has no idea what Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs mean. He just had to be sure. (Though if his dreams were going to come true and he was going to have a life with her—or, for the time being, a friendship that would lead to a romantic relationship—he would have to tell her about the Marauders being Animagi eventually.)

But Moony…maybe she was right. Maybe he and the other Marauders had been obvious in the creation of Remus's nickname, possibly so much so that everyone knew. Everyone…

'Did you say that everyone knows about Remus?' James interrupts. He hadn't been paying attention to the remainder of her monologue—the prongs she was talking about were probably some crazy Muggle invention that he had no interest in.

'I assume so,' Lily replies quickly, suddenly realizing what she just said might upset him a bit. 'If anyone else is observant at all, then yeah, I'd think so.'

'Good,' he says, running a hand through his hair as he leans back on the back legs of his chair. 'Good.'

Lily looks at him, surprised. 'Good?' she says sharply. 'You want people to know about Remus's condition?'

'No, definitely not,' he assures her. 'I respect Remus's privacy. You, Evans, are the most observant—and not to mention the smartest—person I know at Hogwarts, yet you're completely oblivious.'

She frowns confusedly. 'I don't think a person can be observant and oblivious at the same time, Potter. That's a bit—I don't know, that's nonsense.'

'I'd say it makes perfect sense,' James counters. 'You pick up small things about everyone. When they're hurting—like Remus does around the full moon—or when they're excelling, whether it be in classes or Quidditch or whenever. But you don't acknowledge the negative sides of people—except for me, of course. You know the bad side of me better than you do the good side. But I'm the only exception.'

'So how am I both observant and oblivious, Potter?'

'See? This only proves my point!' he says.

'Er…what point?'

'You're observant in the sense that you catch on to the positive side of people, but oblivious to the fact that you don't understand the negative side of people.'

'Except yours.'

He grins. 'Except mine,' he agrees. 'But don't you see? Like…like with Snape! How you only saw the good side of him and were surprised and scared when he called you—'

'Alright, I get it,' she says, her voice turned bitter at the mention of the Mudblood incident. 'Anyway, I still don't understand how this relates to everyone knowing about Remus's "furry little problem" or whatever you lot call it.'

'You don't realize that no one is as smart as you!' James proclaims. 'You only see everyone as just as smart as you, if not smarter, whereas in reality you're the bloody smartest. Nobody else is observant enough to clue in on the symptoms for lycanthropy and connect it to Remus. Nobody.'

'Oh,' she says in a small voice, before adding, 'Alright, if I'm oblivious and observant, then you are as well.'

'Am I, now?'

'In the opposite way,' Lily continues. 'You observe the negative side of people. Like with Snape. Or Peter. Even Sirius. You're completely oblivious to the fact that there are positive aspects to their personalities.'

'Except yours,' he says.

Lily blinks. 'Yeah, except mine.' After a moment, she adds, 'Potter, you and I are complete opposites when it comes to that.'

They sit in silence for a few seconds, before James says suddenly with a hint of excitement, 'You know, Evans, opposites attract.'

'Oh, shut up and help me with this essay.'