Chapter 2—Of Caffeine highs and muggle expressions

Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling so I don't own the world of HP. And the credit for the lyrics goes to Three Days Grace and Paramore.

Early the next morning, the sun peeked through Lily's curtains. Lily woke, feeling refreshed and ready to take on her first day of classes. But as the memories of what happened yesterday came rushing back to her, the wind was knocked out of Lily. Dammit! Lily thought to herself. She was tired of being weak. Ever since that fateful summer, she wasn't as strong as she used to be. Why couldn't she just get over what happened? Why did it have to affect her so much? Why couldn't she just be like Petunia? Petunia seemed to get over it plenty well. Lily was grateful that her parents didn't know because she wouldn't be able to stand their reactions. Her mum would mollycoddle her and smother Lily. Her dad would suddenly look old as the shock of what happened came crashing down over him, and then he would become outraged that someone did that to his little girl. All in all, it was too much sympathy for Lily. She wanted to just be able to move on and forget the past. She wanted to forget his face, forget the feeling of a broken wrist, forget the feeling of betrayal, and most of all, she wanted to forget her role. Her guilt haunted her through every moment of her life. WHY had she listened? Why, for once in her life, did she let someone else tell her what to do? Lily let out a loud sigh. Why couldn't she just forget all of it? Lily clenched her jaw. She was tired of him controlling her life and how she was feeling. She would be damned if she didn't live her life the way she wanted to. Lily promised herself that this year was going to be different than last year. Last year, she spent the whole year as a shell of a person. She was wrapped up in her thoughts, and she rarely interacted with anyone. This year was going to be different. This year, she was going to take control of her life, and live it the way SHE wanted to live it.

With those thoughts, Lily got ready for the day. Keeping her resolution in mind, Lily decided to be a little different that she normally was. Sure, she was going to wear her robes, but where was the harm in shortening her skirt by ½ an inch? She also decided to wear her hair down today, setting it in large curls that bounced every time she moved. She applied some mascara, eyeliner, and clear lip gloss to humor Adalyn. It was certainly going to be fun to see everyone's reactions. Humming the tune to one of her favorite songs, she clipped on a necklace and grabbed her bag. She glanced around the room to see if James was still there, but seeing as he wasn't, she headed down to the Great Hall.

As she entered the Great Hall, she saw Adalyn, Alice, and Callie sitting across from the Marauders. The Marauders' backs were to Lily. An idea quickly formed in her head. A slightly alarming mischievous grin crept onto Lily's face. She crept quietly towards her friends, and when she was close enough, she motioned for them not to let the Marauders know that she was there. Once she was within arms reach of Sirius, she placed her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who, Siri?" Lily giggled in a very un-Lily-like manor.

Sirius audibly groaned. "Susana, how many times have I told you? Leave me alone!"

"But Siri! I lurrve you!!" Lily giggled, trying desperately to keep her cover.

Sirius finally grabbed Lily's hands off of his eyes and spun around to find Lily laughing with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Hiya, Blackie!" Lily laughed. "Who's this Susana, huh? Would it perhaps be Susana Howery? I heard she's the president of your fan club."

"Blackie?" Sirius spluttered.

"What? I thought it was cute," Lily replied innocently.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?" Callie asked.

All of the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"What? I'm right here. See? I've still got my obnoxious red hair and green eyes. I'm still me!" Lily denied.

"Lils, I think she was referring to the personality switch you've decided to grace us with," Adalyn said gently.

"Oooh. Well, Emo Lily wanted to take a break. After all, she's been around for a year or so now. And I know I got bored with her. I'm sure you lot felt the same. Mischievous Lily wanted a turn. I guess if you want Emo Lily back, I'm sure I could convince her. She'd love to spend more time with you guys," Lily rambled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chill, Lils. We were all shocked, that's all. We were all expecting to have to convince you to eat, let alone trying to get you to laugh," Remus cut in.

"Not to mention keeping all knives away from your wrists," Sirius muttered underneath his breath. He was extremely fortunate that Lily didn't hear him.

"Right, then. Now that that's settled. Mischievous Lily is flattered that you guys like her. Alice, will you pass the chocolate milk? I really want some," Lily said happily.

The other seven teenagers exchanged looks of bewilderment. What on earth happened to Lily? All of them, especially the Marauders, were not used to a hyperactive Lily. This was slightly unnerving.

"Oi! I saw that look!" Lily cried out, with a fake pout on her face. "Look, I know what it looks—why can't I stop saying look?" Lily wondered.

"Did someone cast a cheering charm on her?" James exclaimed.

"Nah, this isn't a cheering charm. It's a completely different kind of happiness. This is partly caffeine high, part something else. Lils, did someone slip you coffee or something? Or did you convince the house elves to let you have coffee?" Adalyn asked. Out of all of the other teenagers, Adalyn was the most comfortable with a hyper Lily; after all, she had seen it many times over the summer.

Lily gave Adalyn a sheepish look. "I wanted coffee! I needed caffeine! And you weren't paying attention to me, so I stole some from the Hufflepuff table on the way over."

The Marauders' mouths hung open.

"What?" Lily asked innocently. "All I had to do was flirt a little with some 5th year, and he gave me anything I wanted," she smirked.

Adalyn shot Lily a look that was scarily reminiscent of McGonagall, while the Marauders remained completely shocked.

"Okay, before I get any more looks or you lot exchange any more looks behind my back—yes, I saw that, BLACKIE!—I swear I'm not crazy. Well, perhaps I am… Do you guys think I'm crazy?" Lily rambled.

"Lily! Focus! Finish what you were saying!" James exclaimed.

"Right! Okay, I maybe borderline crazy, but I know what I'm doing. Adalyn, you're the only one who's going to really understand this, but I'll say it to all of you. I'm tired of letting him control my life. Even when I'm in Scotland and he's still in England—I think he's still there, anyway—he was controlling my life. He was making me feel weak, skittish, and the list goes on and on. Basically, think of any negative adjectives and he probably made me feel like that. I'm not saying that I'm going to ignore what happened. Merlin knows I'll never forget it, but I'll be dammed if I don't get to live my life the way I want to, got it? This is MY life, and no one else gets to tell me how to run it!" Lily explained.

However, while she was ranting, Lily wasn't paying attention to how loud her voice was getting, nor was she paying attention to how many people were listening to her. When her rant was done, the entire Great Hall applauded her. Lily blushed to the roots of her hair.

"Well said, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said. Lily noticed the twinkle was back in his eyes.

McGonagall stood up from the teacher's table and began handing out the schedules.

"Ohh! Yay!! My schedule is awesome!!" Lily squealed.

"Ah, there's Lily Evans, again," James smirked.

"OI! SHUT IT!" Lily said indignantly.

James just smirked.

"Oi! You two! Stop flirting or else we're going to be late to Charms!" Callie called out, smirking.

Lily spluttered. "He…Me…Eww!!!"

"Nice, Evans. You sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself," Remus laughed.

"Oi! Are you insulting my flirting skills? 'Cause I'm a really good flirter when the guy's someone who I'm interested in," Lily giggled. "You see, I get real close to him like this," Lily said in a sultry voice as she leaned closer to Remus. "And then I—"

"Okay, Lils! Enough of that!" James cut in.

"Awww, is wittle Jamsie jealous? I can make it allll better," Lily purred.

James gulped.

"Lily! Charms! NOW!" Adalyn bellowed.

"Spoil sport, but ooo! Okay! I love Charms!" Lily giggled as she bounced to Charms.

As she was exiting the Great Hall, Sirius noticed something. "Everyone stop for a minute. I just noticed…Red shortened her skirt today."

"No way! She's Lily Evans!" Callie cried out.

"Sirius maybe a bit of a dolt, but he sure knows a shortened skirt when he sees one," Remus jumped in, rescuing his friend.

"Thanks…I think," Sirius replied.

"Anytime," Remus grinned.

"Guys, back to Lily's hyperness," Alice said.

Before she could say anything more, however, all of the Marauders turned Adalyn. "Yeah, what the bloody hell was that?" they all asked in unison.

"I guess you guys have never seen Lily on caffeine, have you?" Adalyn laughed.

They all shook their heads. "Nope, never." They all still had looks of pure shock on their faces.

"Oh, come on. She wasn't THAT bad. She wasn't nearly as bad as she is when she's drunk. Now that's a sight to see," Alice laughed.

"That wasn't bad?" James yelped.

"Evan's gotten drunk? Maybe she's not as much of a goody two shoes as we thought," Sirius mused.

"As entertaining as this conversation is, we have to leave NOW if we want to make it to Charms without Flitwick getting mad," Callie piped up.

The seven teenagers looked around to see the entire Great Hall empty. "Crap!" Adalyn yelled. And they all sprinted to Charms, which, luckily, wasn't too far away from the Great Hall.

*_*_*_*

The classes passed quickly or they passed by really slowly, depending on who you spoke to. If you spoke with Lily, she would have said they flew by like a flock of phoenixes, but that was simply because her hyper mood did not deteriorate throughout the entire day. If you talked to anyone else, the day inched by because of the boring classes and Lily's never ending antics.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Peter moaned, after Lily had just conspired with Peeves to throw water balloons at the Marauders.

"Nah," Alice replied, shaking her head. "Between the coffee and the high of taking control of her life, there's not really any way that you can combat that. She's too damn happy."

"But, I'm glad for her. I haven't seen her this happy in ages. The last time I saw her happy was—"Adalyn stopped, horrified.

"What, Addy?" Remus asked.

"I haven't seen her this happy since an event after 5th year that was the beginning of a long chain of events that began Lily's depression. Where is she?" Adalyn muttered distractedly.

"Huh?" Sirius said. "I'm totally confused."

"That's the point, you dolt. It's not my story to tell, so I'm not giving anything away that you didn't already know," Adalyn retorted. "I gotta go. When she crashes, it's gunna be bad. REALLY BAD." And with that, Adalyn disappeared.

The remaining teenagers turned towards each other.

"Why do I get the feeling that there's a lot that we're not being told?" James asked.

"My dear Watson, I think you're right!" Remus muttered.

The others just stared at him. "Oh, where are Addy and Lily when you need them? Muggle reference, you lot."

"Ohhh," Sirius said, as if he had just had an epiphany.

"Anyway, back to the point. Callie, Alice, do you know what's going on?" James asked.

"Don't look at me. Lily doesn't tell me anything anymore. She stopped telling me stuff after 5th year," Callie replied, acidly. It was obvious she was not happy about this current situation.

"Look, Callie. Don't be mad. Lily's just going through a difficult time. Just let her be," Alice soothed.

"You're always making excuses for her! She just doesn't trust me anymore!" Callie wailed. And then she turned around and stalked off.

"What—?" James asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Alice asked, sighing.

"Yes," Sirius answered immediately. "What? I like gossip!" he added, seeing the looks on his friends' faces.

"I swear, you're such a girl sometimes, Sirius," Adalyn laughed.

"It would explain why he's so good with the ladies," Remus smirked. "He's partly one himself."

"Oi! I think I take offense to that!" Sirius yelped.

"You think?" James asked, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, Alice, can we get back to the gossip?" Sirius asked.

"One track mind, I tell you," James muttered to Remus. They both laughed.

Sirius shot him an evil look, but motioned for Alice to tell the story.

Alice sighed. "Okay, before I tell you lot anything, I need you to swear that you won't mention this to anyone. ESPECIALLY Callie or Lily. Got it?"

"We swear on the Marauder's Code," the three of them said in unison.

"Alright then. First thing's first. I need to give you a little bit of background about Callie and Lily's friendship. They met on the train in our first year. Pretty basic beginning. But starting around 4th year or so, the two of them started having fights. These 'fights' weren't truly fights, it was mainly a matter of Lily standing up for herself every once in a while."

"Lily not standing up for herself?" James asked. "That's unusual."

"The sad thing is, it's really not. The Lily you guys see is completely different from the Lily we see. And that Lily is completely different from the Lily at home. At school, to everyone but her friends, she puts off this Ice Queen aura that I'm sure you guys have noticed. She's not really like that. She just does it so that she gets hurt less often. But you lot should keep in mind that just because you're seeing more of her, doesn't mean you're seeing all of her. I know I don't know all of Lily, and I've been her friend for 6 years now. Hell, I don't even think Adalyn knows all of Lily, and we all know how close those two are. Anyway, back to the Callie story. When Lily's around her friends, sure she's strong, but she will bend in any which way to make her friends happy. She would sacrifice her own life if it would benefit her friends more. So, when Lily and Callie have these spats, it's really because Lily gets tired of always conforming to Callie's wishes. I'm Callie's best friend, and I know that she can be manipulative. As I said before, these spats have happened ever since 4th year, so they're not really that huge of a deal. It's just a matter of realizing that the two of them are just too different to be the closest of friends. However, at the end of last year, in May, I think, Callie and Lily had a massive fight. No one's really sure how it started, but according to Lily, it started with her leaving Transfiguration without saying bye before heading to Ancient Runes. Apparently, Lily didn't say bye because Callie snapped at her, so she figured that Callie wanted her space. Callie ran after Lily and started yelling at her, saying that the two of them couldn't be friends anymore if Lily didn't start telling her stuff. Of course, Lily didn't react to that too well. She lost her temper at Callie, and I think she called Callie an 'immature second year who's incredibly narcissistic and manipulative.'"

The Marauders had scandalous looks on their faces. Sure they had seen Lily loose her temper at James, but never had she lost her temper at one of her friends.

"Wow…" James muttered.

"Yeah, it was really bad. There were several screaming matches for the next couple of days between the two of them, throwing hexes and insults at each other. My guess is Callie said something that hit really close home to Lily's heart and Lily reacted. I'm not entirely sure because the two of them have different stories about what happened."

"Holy crap!" Remus said.

"I'm not done. It gets worse," Alice said sadly. It pained her to see her two friends falling apart. "Lily finally gave in after a couple of days of hexing and insulting. I'm pretty sure she just wanted her friend back. I think she also wanted to hear an apology from Callie, too, and who wouldn't? Apparently, Callie ranted at Lily for about an hour, talking about how Lily was a shitty friend, etc. It was truly horrific. And then, the next day, Callie expects the two of them to be cool. Needless to say, Lily was not happy about that. Lily basically told Callie she had to learn how to apologize. I don't think Callie ever once apologized in their spats, I'm pretty sure it was Lily always going to Callie." Alice sighed. "Callie's right, though. Lily's never trusted her since."

"And with good reason," Sirius muttered.

"Yeah, it's just sad. To see the two of them to fall apart like that," Remus said.

"You have no idea," Alice sighed.

James was still in shock. How had he missed this? He'd taken a fancy to Lily since 5th year, and he often watched her to find out more about her. But apparently, he didn't watch her that closely. Otherwise, he would have seen this. Or at the very least, he would have seen how much pain she was. It completely baffled him. He voiced his thoughts.

"James, you've got to remember Lily is a master at hiding her emotions. I think the fact that yesterday was the first time you've seen her tear up proves that. She's a strong one, Lily is. And she doesn't have the reputation of an Ice Queen for nothing. She's incredibly good at convincing the world that she's fine when she's really not," Alice replied gently.

James had a distressed look on her face. "But I want to get past that! I want to know WHY she won't let anyone in! I want—" James cried out.

"James," Alice interrupted. "I know you do. We all know. And that's why we haven't jumped in. We've blocked all of Lily's other suitors because we know that you're right for her. YOU are the one that she needs to lean on. You're the one that she needs to be able to go to and tell you everything."

"Thanks, Alice. You're a life saver," James replied gratefully.

"No problem!" she replied brightly. "But I must get going. I promised Frank I would meet him after dinner. I'll see you lot later!" And with that, she disappeared, leaving the Marauders' minds whirling about Lily.

*_*_*_*

Adalyn went running to the Heads' dormitory. Realizing she didn't know the password, she began begging Lady Morgana. "Come on, please! Lily's going to crash, and I need to be there when she does! Can you let me in just this once?"

"Child, you have got to learn some patience. If you wait one moment, I shall go find Miss Evans and let her know of your waiting. Happy?" Lady Morgana gently scolded Adalyn.

"Extremely. Thank you. I didn't mean to be so rude," she apologized.

Lady Morgana gave a slight nod before disappearing to find Lily. A moment later, the portrait was thrown open, and Lily could be seen bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"What's up, Addy?" Lily asked innocently.

"Nothing, I just wanted to make sure that you are okay," she replied quietly. Now that she was here, she wasn't exactly sure how she was going to broach the subject with Lily.

Lily simply gave Adalyn a look. She knew exactly what she was up to. "Addy," Lily sighed. "I meant what I said at breakfast today. I wasn't just on a caffeine high, I was serious. I'm tired of him controlling my life. I want—no, I deserve—to choose how to live my life. I'm not going to crash, this is MY life. Okay?"

"Right, Lils. I'm sorry. You know how worried I get," Adalyn replied in a small voice.

Lily simply smiled. "Addy, I dunno about you, but I'm craving a visit to the kitchen. You coming?"

"But of course," Adalyn grinned.

*_*_*_*

As days turned into weeks, Lily's mood didn't diminish. Sure, she calmed down some after her caffeine high was over, but the thrill of taking control of her life seemed to put her in a permanently good mood. She regained the spark in her emerald green eyes, and she was just in general very bubbly. These days, it wasn't an uncommon sight to see Lily just slightly bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet while talking to someone. Classes were easier for her, now that she could completely focus on them. Everything seemed to be passing in a daze.

Her relationships with people started becoming stronger. She and Adalyn were practically attached at the hip. Alice and Lily were as good of friends as ever, but she and Callie weren't so strong. Lily still didn't completely trust Callie, not that Lily would ever say that to her face, though.

However, those changes weren't as monumental as the change in James' and Lily's relationship. She was slowly starting to let him in. Well, as much as she let Sirius and Remus in, that is. It seemed that their Heads' duties were pushing them closer and closer. Lily herself hadn't particularly noticed it; she was simply floating through life, completely happy. But she should have known that it wouldn't last long.

"Hey, Lils. Can I talk to you for a second?" Callie asked her, as the two of them were leaving Arithmacy.

"Sure. What's up?" Lily asked.

"No, not here. Follow me," Callie replied mysteriously. She pulled Lily by the wrist behind a tapestry, which lead to a secret passage way.

Lily stopped walking. She was baffled by Callie's mysteriousness. "Seriously, Callie. You're scaring me. What's up?"

Callie turned around. "Why don't I ask you the same question?" she asked acidly.

Knowing that Callie's tone couldn't mean anything good, Lily stuttered, "I..I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Callie."

"What do you mean you don't know?!? How can you not? You've been so different lately! You don't talk to me anymore! I can't remember the last time we actually talked and hung out just us!" Callie replied hysterically. "You don't tell me anything anymore! Not since after 5th year," she paused here to throw a dirty look at Lily.

Lily, however, was growing more and more angry. Her usually sparkly round emerald green eyes became dangerously narrow slits. "How dare you!" Lily hissed. "It is not your place to say anything about that to me! No one knows what happened that summer, and you've just assured me that you will never EVER know what happened!"

Callie shot Lily a highly affronted look, but she decided to let that comment pass. "But you never tell me anything anymore!! We never talk about anything!! What did I do?!?"

"What makes you think the matter involves you? Did you stop to think for one second that the world does not revolve around you?!?" Lily shrieked. Her famous temper was coming out now, and Callie, admittedly, was slightly scared.

"Bullshit! You know this has everything to do with me!!" Callie cried out.

"Okay, fine. You wanna play that way? We will. How about this? FUCK OFF. You have no right to criticize me for my actions and what I do or do not choose to tell ANYONE, let alone a useless example of a human like yourself," Lily spat.

"Oh, come on, Lily! Just tell me what I did wrong!" Callie pleaded.

"No. You should know what you did. If you don't know, well, then, my point was proven. Either way, just stay out of my life. I'm tired of you causing so much drama," Lily replied, her tone growing cold. And with that, she turned on her heal and left the secret passageway.

Callie slid down the wall slowly. What had she just done? All she wanted to do was to speak her mind, but now…. She lost one of her closest friends.

*_*_*_*

Lily was nearly in a full out sprint as she raced towards the Heads' common room. Her anger was bubbling over. All she could do was to make it back to Lady Morgana and then to start blasting her muggle MP3 player. In a rage of fury, she grabbed her electric guitar and started playing along to the song.

Every time we lie awake
After every hit we take
Every feeling that I get
But I haven't missed you yet


Every roommate kept awake
By every sigh and scream we make
All the feelings that I get
But I still don't miss you yet


Only when I stop to think about it


I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
I hate everything about you
Why do I love you
It was slightly alarming how Lily's voice could match the singer's so well. Her normally soft, musical voice was now near screamo as she sang with pure hatred in her voice. It created an interesting scene for James to walk in on.

*_*_*_*

James said, "Spero," to Lady Morgana as he entered the Heads' common room. He only took a few steps in before he stopped. His mouth fell open. To put it simply, he was completely and utterly stunned by Lily's guitar skills and the hatred that was pouring from her voice. Admittedly, he didn't know Lily well, but he knew her well enough to know that something was severely wrong. It was not everyday your average Hogwarts girl would listen to a song like this, let alone sing it as well as she did. Then again, Lily Evans was not your average Hogwarts girl. James stood there for a while longer, simply in awe of Lily. He was still watching her as the song ended, and she began to play a new one. This song was extremely different from the last. The last was full of hatred and anger, while the new took on a more somber tone. It started out slow and had a depressing tone to it.

I am outside
And I've been waiting for the sun
With my wide eyes
I've seen worlds that don't belong
My mouth is dry with words I cannot verbalize
Tell me why we live like this

Keep me safe inside
Your arms like towers
Tower over me

Yeah
Cause we are broken
What must we do to restore
Our innocence
And all the promise we adored
Give us life again cause we just wanna be whole

James desperately wanted to keep listening to her, but he knew that was not in the best interest for either of them. He quietly backed out of the Heads' common room and raced towards the Gryffindor Common Room. He had to find Adalyn because he had a feeling she would be the only one who could help her.

"Cigam," he told the Fat Lady, slightly out of breath, but not by much due to his Quidditch Training.

The portrait door swung open, and James ran into the common room. After a quick glance around the familiar red and gold room, he spotted the Marauders and Adalyn sitting by the fire, in their usual spots. He ran over to them.

He opened his mouth to ask his original question but was distracted when he noticed something rather peculiar. "Where are Callie and Alice?" James asked.

Adalyn bit her lip before replying slowly, "Well, Callie came into the room in near tears and begged for only Alice to go upstairs to the dorm. I'm forbidden from going up there right now." Adalyn looked upset, torn, slightly angered, hurt, and curious all at the same time.

"How do you do that?" Sirius asked in wonder.

"Do what exactly? Speak intelligently? 'Cause that's never going to work for you, Blackie. You've got to have a brain to do that," Adalyn smirked.

Completely oblivious to the fact that he had just been insulted, he replied, "The emotion thing. There were like… 7 different emotions on your face at the same time."

Remus and James exchanged humored looks over Sirius' head, while Adalyn slightly blushed.

"I dunno," she replied unsteadily. "James… you came in here in an awful big hurry… What's up?

"OH! Right! Lily needs you and she needs you NOW. Well, she really needed you like 15 minutes ago, but I got distracted," James said, giving Adalyn a sheepish look.

"What's wrong? Where is she?" Adalyn asked frantically.

"I dunno. She's in the Heads' common room. She was playing guitar---I didn't know she could do that---and singing angry and depressing music. I figured you'd be the only one who could even possibly get through to her," James replied with large fearful hazel eyes looking at Adalyn.

Adalyn's face had lost some of its color. "Shit…" she muttered. "Well, this sucks."

"What?" Remus asked, confused.

"Well, think about it. Callie came in here and dragged Alice off upstairs, but she refused to let me in the dorm. Meanwhile, Lily's in the Heads' Common Room, playing emo songs, and being down right depressing. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."

Remus smirked. He liked the muggle saying. Sirius and James, however, were still confused.

Seeing the blank looks on two of the Marauders' faces, Adalyn sighed. "Apparently, it DOES take a genius to figure this out. What it means is that Lily and Callie had a fight, a massive one by the looks of it."

"And just when I was getting used to hyper Lily," Sirius sighed.

"I hate drama," Remus announced.

"Who doesn't?" James asked. He was completely baffled that so much drama followed Lily everywhere; the past two weeks had been eventful, let alone the past two years. He was surprised when Adalyn didn't leave the common room.

"Why aren't you going to find Lily?" he asked, shocked.

Adalyn merely shrugged. "If I know Lily, she'll only want to be alone, and she won't want to talk about it. You see, the way Lily works is she relies on her music to take her through something, both the good and the bad. She used it to get through two summers ago and when she got wind of the family fo—"Adalyn covered her mouth in horror. She should not have said that. Lily was going to KILL her for letting that little bit slip.

"What?!?" Sirius asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I can't…I can't tell you. Lily's going to murder me if she finds out that I let that slip. She tries desperately to keep that low key, which is why none of you know about it. I don't think even Alice knows about it," Adalyn mused.

"What about Callie?" James asked.

"Have you not heard that story? Lily doesn't trust Callie with her class notes, forget about something like this," Adalyn rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Remus asked, amazed.

"Yup, which is part of the reason the two of them fight so much. Frankly, I'm glad Lily's not sleeping in the dorm right now. It's murder watching the two of them share a dorm when they're mad at each other. The tension in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife," Adalyn said. She sent a faint smile towards Remus, showing him that her last sentence was for him.

"So what do we do?" James asked helplessly. He felt like he needed to do something, anything!

"There's not much we can do, I'm afraid. I'll talk to Lily tomorrow. I need to talk to her about something else, too. Hopefully, she'll agree with me on both fronts," Adalyn said mysteriously.

"What are you going to ask her?" Sirius asked. His curiosity always got the better of him.

Adalyn put on a look of fake shock and outrage. "How dare you! That is my and Lily's business only!"

"I was only curious…GOD. Someone's PMSing," Sirius muttered with a smirk. Unfortunately for him, Adalyn heard him.

"Not a smart move, mate," Remus told him, seeing the look of actual outrage on Adalyn's face.

"OI! You dense prat! I was only messing with you! Even James could tell that! Every time a girl even pretends to be angry, you and your stupid gender blame it on PMS. Newsflash! NOT TRUE, you idiotic dolt!" Adalyn yelled. And with that, she left the common room.

"Shit… I'm completely screwed aren't I?" Sirius asked. He was completely stunned.

"Yup," James replied helpfully.

"This week is going to be hell," Remus groaned.

"How?" Sirius asked.

Remus gave him an incredulous look. "Seriously, Padfoot?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm Sirius!" Sirius replied excitedly.

Remus opened his mouth, but James cut in. "The emotion, mate."

Sirius mouth formed a perfect O. Once he got over his shock, he asked, "Really, though. Why is this week going to be hell?"

Remus shook his head. "You're incredibly dense, Padfoot. Think about it for a minute. Adalyn's mad at you because you had to make a dumb PMS comment, Lily's going to be depressed or angry because of the fight she and Callie are in the middle of, Callie's probably going to be angry because of said fight, and Alice is going to be completely stressed and saddened because her friends aren't happy and two of them are fighting. Get it now?"

"Damn… you're right. This week IS going to be hell," Sirius gasped.

"Padfoot, as a general piece of advice, Moony's always right," James said, sending a smirk towards Sirius.

Remus smiled, and Sirius nodded, knowing better than to start and argument over that because he knew he was going to lose the argument.

*_*_*_*

Sitting alone in the Heads' Common Room, playing Emo music was NOT helping Lily. In fact, it was making it worse. I shouldn't even be that mad, she thought to herself. She put her guitar down and went over to the red ruby couches in front of the fireplace. Staring into the flickering flames, she remembered the fight. Why had Callie done this? If Callie knew me at all, she would know that pressure clams me up like an oyster. How could she claim to be one of my closest friends if she didn't know that? Then, there comes the fact that I don't trust Callie. She's too damn manipulative and mean, Lily recalled.

Flashback

The four girls were sitting in the Great Hall, somewhat alone. There weren't many people anywhere near them. They were chatting away, having no clue about their surroundings. Then all of the sudden, a boy named Gabe Introna, a sixth year like them, sat down next to them. Lily, being the state that she was in that year, didn't really care too much. There really wasn't anywhere else to sit. Alice and Adalyn exchanged surprised looks, but didn't really care either way. They just went back to talking. Callie, however, apparently had a massive issue with him sitting there.

"You can't sit there," Callie told him, in a voice that made her sound like a bitchy five year old.

"There's nowhere else to sit!" Gabe exclaimed. "Believe me, if there was, I wouldn't be sitting here!" He was hurt and getting defensive, Lily observed.

"Well, then go to the kitchens or something! YOU CAN'T SIT HERE!" Callie told him.

Lily, coming alive for the first time in months, finally jumped in. "No, Callie. Gabe, you're more than welcome to sit here, but now, I'm not sure you want to," she told him, sending a glare towards Callie.

Gabe just shook his head and left the Great Hall.

"CALLIE!" Lily yelled. She hadn't lifted her voice above whisper in months, but she HAD to do this. It just wasn't fair to him. "THAT WAS MEAN! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!"

"Yes, I did. I hate him," Callie said in that five year old voice again.

"Someone's bitchy today," Lily muttered. Quite honestly, it scared the shit out of her that one of her closest friends could be so mean. Lily had always taken pride in the fact that she had good friends. Now…she wasn't so sure about that.

"Oh, look who's talking!" Callie yelled. "You haven't spoken at a normal level of sound in months! And then, magically, now, you decide that I did something wrong and yell at me!"

"Oh, go fuck yourself," Lily growled. She got up from her seat and left the Great Hall.

End of Flashback

The memory of that day still angered Lily. The shock that one of her closest friends could be so mean still shook her very core. It was that day that Lily' trust of Callie began to dwindle. All of the fights they had and then this most recent one… Lily wasn't sure if they would ever be friends again. There was SO much drama, so much pain, that Lily felt like she couldn't go back down that road again.

*_*_*_*

James entered the Heads' Common Room around midnight. He had been hanging out in the Gryffindor Common Room to give Lily some space. But the Marauders had gone to bed now, so he had headed back. The fire was still going strong, and Lily's petite frame was wrapped into a small ball on the couch. She was sitting there, staring into the flames, not moving. James sat down on one of the arm chairs.

"Lil?" James asked.

A look of terror and sadness flashed across Lily's face as she looked over to where to voice came from. She let out a sigh of relief, seeing that it was only James. "Don't do that," she whispered. "My name's Lily, not Lil or Lils."

James hesitantly said, "But Adalyn calls you that."

"That's because Addy's set in her ways. She's extremely stubborn, you know," she said with a slight smile on her face, but the terror and shock was still present on her face.

"I shall do as you ask, my dear Lady," James said in a fake posh voice, with his ever charming crooked grin on his face.

Lily laughed. Merlin, it feels so good to laugh, Lily thought to herself. It felt like it had been ages since she'd laughed. Sure, there was that week of hyperness where she probably laughed a lot, but all of that passed in such a blur that she couldn't really remember what happened.

James smiled, seeing Lily laugh. She didn't laugh enough, he decided. It would be his job to make her laugh more. But at the same time, he wanted to know more about her—badly. The two halves of his mind battled back and forth for a while, but in the end, his curiosity won.

"Hey, Lily, can I ask you a question?" James asked hesitantly.

Lily glanced at him. "You can ask, but I can't guarantee that I'll answer."

James expected that answer, but he continued on with his question. "What's wrong? I came in here earlier, and, well, I could kind of tell that you were upset."

Lily momentarily looked horrified. "You saw the guitar playing, didn't you?" she asked.

James mutely nodded.

She looked into the fire. The flames flickered and danced. They danced the way she and Callie used to, way back when they were actually friends with no drama at all. Should I tell James? She thought. Her immediate reaction was to say no, as it always was. But there was a part of her that thought about their pact a couple of weeks ago, a pact that made them friends. It all seemed to go in a blur. How had she and James effing Potter become friends? It was mind blowing. Lily took a deep breath. "I'm not sure where to start. How much do you know?" she asked. She knew that he probably talked to Adalyn after he saw her playing guitar.

James looked sheepish. "Well, I know it's about Callie," he said hesitantly.

Lily nodded. "I figured as much. What else do you know?" she asked him. Seeing the guilty look on his face, she added, "Come on. I won't get mad, I swear. I have a feeling you know more than you're letting on."

"Well," James breathed in. "I talked to Alice the other day and she told me an overview of the back story between you two."

"Figured," was all Lily said.

James raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue. There was a moment's pause.

"Callie…"Lily sighed. "She's a force to be reckoned with, you know. When I first met her in first year, we were the best of friends. I met her after I met Adalyn and before Alice. She was fine then. No drama, at all. But then she grew up, and honestly? She turned into a bitch." Lily's face contorted into anger.

James watched her during her short monologue. She emerald green eyes darkened with hatred as she watched the flames of the fire. She always was more beautiful when she was angry. "What are you going to do?" James asked.

Lily chanced a look at him over her curled up knees before looking back at the fire. "I am not going to do anything. I'm done with all of the annoying and excessive drama. Merlin knows I have too much drama in my life as it is. I don't need anymore," she said hollowly.

He was shocked. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have to decide to lose one of your best friends. He had been friends with the Marauders forever; he had never lost a friend. Whereas Lily had now lost two: Snape and now Callie. He wanted more than anything to take some of her burden to make her feel better. Little did he know that he knew nothing of Lily's burdens. He had only seen the tip of the iceberg.

The two of them just sat there, staring into the fire, wrapped up in their own thoughts.

*_*_*_*

Lily walked down the empty hallways the next day. Everyone else was in the Great Hall, eating dinner. Lily just wanted to think, so she did what she always did when she wanted to think: she pulled out her charmed MP3 player and danced down the empty hallways. Dancing always cleared her mind.

"Lily?" Adalyn called out. Seeing that Lily had her MP3 headphones in, she chased after the dancing Lily and grabbed her wrist.

Lily let out a terrified scream and spun around, with her wand pointing at her attacker.

"Lils, shush… It's just me, Addy," Adalyn hugged her friend. Thinking back on it, that was definitely not the best way to approach her best friend.

Lily relaxed as soon as she saw it was Adalyn. "Sorry, Addy. You know how skittish I am about that stuff. What's up?"

Adalyn simply gave Lily a look, showing Lily that her attempt at changing the conversation was pathetic, but Adalyn let it slide. "I have two questions for you. I don't think you'll like either, but I, as your bestest friend in the whole wide world, would like to know the honest answer to both questions. Please?" Adalyn asked, giving Lily her best puppy eyes.

"Okay, fine," Lily sighed. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret it, though."

"Yay!" Adalyn exclaimed. "Right, Question number 1: a little birdie told me you and Callie had a fight. Care to share?"

Lily sighed and launched into an explanation of the fight. Normally, Lily wasn't the most open of people, but Adalyn was Adalyn, and Lily told her everything. Well, most everything, anyway.

"Oh, Lils," Adalyn sighed. "I don't know what to say. There's not much I can say. You know that."

Lily nodded mutely. "I'm done, though. I mean it. I don't want to go back down that dark and twisty path, I refuse to. I just got my life back from him, and I sure as hell am not letting Callie take the control," she said stubbornly.

"Dark and twisty?" Adalyn smirked.

"Oh, shut it! You know how I am with my expressions!" Lily laughed. It was true, Lily had a knack for making up her own expressions such as dark and twisty and bloody buggering hell, her favorite exclamation.

"Lils, I'm sort of scared to ask you this question, but think of it as a favor to me, okay?" Adalyn said hesitantly.

"Addy, just ask it," Lily sighed.

"Will you go to Hogsmede this weekend?" Adalyn asked hesitantly.

Lily froze. Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it.

Seeing her reaction, Adalyn rushed on, "Come on, Lils! Please? You haven't been to Hogsmede since 5th year! Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

That did it, Lily cracked a smile. Adalyn and her muggle expressions; as a pureblood, she was obsessed with muggles, especially their expressions.

"Addy, you KNOW there's a reason why I don't go to Hogsmede," Lily said seriously.

"I know!" Adalyn said, rolling her eyes. "I know it's painful and all that, but come on! It wasn't your fault! There was nothing you could have or would have done differently! But just come with me, we can make it a Lily and Addy day, just like it used to be—us against the world."

"You are too damn persuasive for your own good, you know that?" Lily said, rolling her eyes but smiling all the same.

"Does this mean you're coming?" Adalyn asked.

"Yeah, you're good. You pull at all the right heartstrings."

"YAY!" Adalyn shrieked and pulled Lily into a big hug.

Lily smiled. She didn't tell anyone, but she hadn't been hugged like that since that summer, two damn years ago. She shook her head; she wasn't going to think about it. It was time to be happy. She and Adalyn were going Hogsmede, and dammit, they were going to have fun.

A/N: Second chapter is up! What do you think? Please Read and Review! Thanks!