Sorry it's been so long... Ugh the joys of coursework... Anyway, here's chapter two! I hope you guys like it and I would really, really, REALLY love it if you could review (Me? Begging? No...)

Disclaimer: Since the last chapter, however long ago it was, I have not suddenly morphed into JKRowling. It all belongs to JK!


Chapter Two: Burning red

By the time the water fight had finally been stopped (Dumbledore had had to come to control Peeves) and the entrance hall had been cleaned and dried, it was time for the end of year feast. Everyone was starving seeing as most had skipped lunch to join in the antics. Lily sat, with her friends, who insisted on sitting by Frank and the Marauders.

"That was a great one!" Amelia applauded them, "One of your best yet!"

The Marauders looked at her for a few seconds, all confused. Then Remus realised what she meant, "Oh! You think that was our doing?" He asked surprised. All the girls nodded.

"Oh no, that was all Peeves, we just had to join in!" Sirius assured them.

"So you haven't pulled your prank yet?" Mary asked of them.

"Nope." All boys said in unison.

A couple of fifth year Hufflepuffs wandered over cheerfully, "Hey! Marauders!" One of them called, "Great job! How'd you persuade Peeves?"

"Does everyone think it was us?" Peter asked, bewildered.

"Right," Sirius got to his feet and then stood on the bench so that everyone could see him; he was quite tall anyway, "Students and Professors of Hogwarts!" His call echoed throughout the hall and it was not long before all was quiet and every eye was on him, "The Marauders would like to convey a message to you all. The great water fight this morning was not our doing, as many seem to believe, and although we would love to take credit for this mischief, we cannot take that pleasure away from Peeves." He paused and put his hand up to his head in salute, "Marauders out!" At this the hall erupted with people talking and gossiping: That had not been the end of year prank? What was it going to be then?

"There is going to be an end of year prank, right?" Amelia asked.

"Us?" James pretended to be disgusted, "miss a chance to wreak havoc? What do you take us for?"

"So what's taking you so long?" Marlene quizzed.

"Patience is a virtue Mar!" Sirius chuckled enigmatically.

"Yeah, good things come to those who wait." James added with a sidelong glance at Lily. She glared back at him until he began laughing, and she only just managed to suppress a smile.


After the feast the Gryffindor girls all went out into the grounds, finding their favourite spot of under the tree by the lake and lounging in the shade. Everyone was quite surprised that the Marauders had come with them; they thought they would be getting ready for, if not executing, their prank, but they insisted on coming (or James and Sirius did, but the other two were quite happy to come along). Frank Longbottom also came along, sitting, supposedly casually, by Alice.

They chatted and laughed in the early evening glow, and Lily was quite surprised at how well the Marauders seemed to fit in. There was no awkwardness, as Lily had supposed there would be, seeing as she, on many occasions, had yelled and ranted at James and Sirius for their cruel pranks or for hexing random students in the corridors. It seemed strange that they could be so easy to talk to. As it began to get a little colder, a few people walked back to the common room. Amelia left with Peter and Remus, who had said that they wanted an early night, but given Sirius and James meaningful looks. Mary was shivering, so Dorcas went back with her. This left Lily, Emmeline, Marlene, Sirius and James; Alice and Frank were still there, but were so deeply lost in conversation with each other that the others decided to give them a bit of space.

"So you really aren't going to give us any clues?" Mar batted her eyelashes at Sirius.

"Not a chance." Sirius grinned at Marlene's pout.

Lily, stretched out with her head leaning against the trunk of the tree, said, "What I'm worried about is how late this pranks going to be! You'd better not wake me up in the middle of the night!"

"She's right, you really don't want to see how grumpy she gets without a good night's sleep!" Em warned.

Sirius and James looked at each other, smirking, then James said, "I can handle it." Lily didn't like the sound of this. She also didn't like the fact that James had slowly shuffled closer to her, and was now sitting next to her, instead of opposite her. She shuffled away a little.

Then she saw a face that she really did not want to see at the moment: Sev's. He was stood, stock still, about ten metres away from them, his mouth slightly open. James seemed to have noticed this too because he pulled his wand out and moved as though about to stand. Lily, however, grabbed his wrist before he could do anything. Snape did not miss this it seemed; he pulled a face that seemed to be a mixture of revulsion and anguish and then stalked away back to the castle.

Sighing heavily, Lily closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. "Lily?" It was James, and he sounded genuinely worried. He had also never called her that before, only ever 'Evans' or some stupid, flirty nickname, but it didn't sound strange to Lily at all.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

She opened her eyes, looking through the overhead branches at the waning sunlight. "I suppose." She replied tiredly, "I think I'm gonna' head off to bed."

"I'll walk you back." James said instantly.

Lily frowned at him, "Do you have to?" He nodded, and she resigned to the fact that he was not going to take no for an answer.

James was already up, offering her a hand which she pretended she had not seen and pushed herself up against the tree trunk. He was not perturbed, and walked easily beside her after she had waved a goodbye to the others.

"Are you sure you're alri-?"

"I'll live Potter!" Lily sighed and turned to him, "Change the subject?" He nodded grudgingly.

"Looking forward to the holidays?" James asked politely.

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Your sister?" His voice was gentle.

Lily frowned, "how do you know anything about my sister?"

James looked sheepish, "Umm... Well, I, umm, may, possibly, have overheard you talking to Emmeline about her in third year. When you got that letter, and you looked so upset, I wanted to check that you were okay."

"Potter!" Lily glared at him, somewhat half-heartedly. "I can't believe you!" She moaned.

"It was for a good cause!" James said, smiling ruefully.

"Are you ever going to stop stalking me?" Lily half-laughed.

"Nope." James grinned, "Never." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well, yes, if you must know, it is my sister."

James sighed, "It's really a shame. I don't have any brothers or sisters, but Sirius is like a brother to me. He stays the holidays at my house and everything; you know what his family are like." Lily nodded, she did know, though she wished she didn't. "Anyway, if he had a talent I didn't have, I wouldn't let it ruin that, I'd accept it, 'cause I don't know what I'd do without him." There was a long silence. Both were walking steadily, every so often taking glances at each other. Lily was extremely confused; this was not the arrogant, bullying Potter that she knew and loved (ha ha). Why couldn't she hate him anymore?

"Felix Felicis." He stated to the fat lady, who graciously let them into the Gryffindor common room.

Lily turned to James, "You really are going to wake us all up with this prank aren't you?" James just grinned again. "Ugh! Fine, but you'll have to suffer the consequences!" He laughed at this, and Lily couldn't help but think that the mirth in his eyes suited him very well. "Thanks."

James' eyes widened, "Umm, it was no problem."

"'Night Potter."

"'Night Evans."

Lily smiled, and headed up the stairs to the girls dormitory.

She fell asleep wondering how long it would be before she got woken up again.


James sat alone in the dormitory and looked up at the clock. Five minutes to one in the morning. Five minutes... He got out his Nimbus 1900, thinking of Sirius, with the broom James had given him for Christmas, sat in a similar tower, except that his was draped in blue and bronze instead of red and gold. Four minutes... He rummaged through the bag tied to the end of his broom; everything was there, ready. Three minutes... He got up and crossed the room to the window, wondering how Remus was doing down in the dungeons, and Peter down by the kitchen. Two minutes... James wrenched open the window. One minute... He mounted his broomstick.

At precisely one O'clock in the morning he launched himself out of the window and into the night.

Laughing, James reached into the bag hanging from his broom and pulled out something red and gold. "Incendio" he muttered with his wand pointed at the object, then quickly threw it out behind him where it shattered with a great crack into a mass of red and gold sparks.

Grinning at his success, James watched as the sparks rearranged themselves into a magnificent, roaring lion and began to charge in circles around the tower. The first part of the plan was complete.

Circling the tower, James could see faces appearing where curtains had been pulled aside, watching the glittering lion in awe. Then he saw the face that he was looking for; the emerald eyes were hard to miss even though they were half obscured by Mary MacDonald and Dorcas Meadowes.

Stopping to hover at the windowsill, James rapped against the pains of glass and Mary pulled open the window. "Hello ladies!" James winked at the group huddled by the window and laughed as Lily was shoved to the forefront by a sheepish looking Emmeline. He could of sworn he heard her hiss to Lily, "Well it's you he wants to see!"

"Yeah, you're right, it is." He laughed and reached into his bag again, this time pulling out a scarlet rose in full bloom. He stretched out the hand holding the flower to Lily, not saying a word. Slowly she reached up and took the rose, but jumped back straight away because the petals had burst into flames! "Don't worry," he soothed, "It won't burn you, or anything else. I charmed it not to. Also," he paused and grinned at her, "it'll burn for as long as I love you. So that means forever, Evans."

He laughed as she blinked, stunned and took the rose, gazing at it. Stage two over. As she placed the flower, with great reverence, in a glass of water on her bedside table, James couldn't help but wonder at the fact that she wasn't yelling at him. This spurred him on to stage three.

Leaning through the window, James grabbed Lily by the waist and swung her easily onto his broom so that she was sat in front of him. "WHAT IN-" she screeched but he put a hand over her mouth and only heard a muffled "Merlin's name...?"

"We're going for a ride Evans." He whispered into her ear. "Hold on!" He sped off so fast that they were at the quidditch pitch in under a minute. Not bad, he thought proudly.

"Potter... Please... Slow down," Lily's words were shaky, "I feel sick."

"Oh sorry Evans. I'll go easy on you." She turned and glared at him, "Chill! Wait, are you okay?" She was shaking and her eyes were wide with what looked like fear. "Don't- don't tell me you're scared of heights Evans."

"I- I've... Umm, I..." She struggled for words.

"Yes?" James cocked an eyebrow. Lily murmured something inaudible. "Sorry, didn't catch that."

"I said, I've never flown before." Lily mumbled grudgingly.

"WHAT?" The idea was completely implausible to James, who had been flying almost since he could walk! "Please tell me you're joking Evans!" She shook her head. "All the more cause for this little tour then! Believe me, after this, you'll know what you've been missing!" Lily looked sceptical, but James, of course, didn't notice this. "We'll start off slowly."

He steadily flew the broom back to the castle and around the towers; the aerial view was fantastic even in the dark. James could see blue and bronze sparks all around the Ravenclaw tower and knew that Sirius' part of the plan had gone well too; he could not know about Remus and Peter. "Do you see what I mean?" He asked after a few minutes.

"It's amazing up here," she paused and turned to frown at him, "but I would appreciate being warned before I'm dragged onto a broom 50 feet in the air!"

He gave her a cheeky grin, "now that would be dull, dear!" She rolled her eyes.

"You're hopeless!"

"Ah, but that's not true now is it?" He winked. "Otherwise you'd be screaming your head off at me right now. Out of curiosity, why aren't you screaming your head off at me right now?"

She blushed and turned away, "well... I suppose I've been giving you a bit of a chance since you apologised."

"Have you now?" He grinned again, "and what do you think?"

"I think that-" she turned to look at him and was surprised to find that his eyes were nervous. She smiled, "I think that you aren't as bad as I thought before." The biggest grin she'd ever seen plastered itself very quickly onto his face and she couldn't help laughing, "now put me down will you?"

"Certainly m'lady!" She turned and glared at him again as they soared back to her window and he helped her inside. The other inhabitants of the dorm all exchanged meaningful glances but then got back into bed.

For the second time that night:

"G'night Evans."

"Good night Potter."


Lily was sad to go home the next day, but happy that she would be seeing her parents. There was the underlying thought that it would not be like a normal summer; she would not be wandering the parks with Sev, chatting and laughing.

The marauders and Frank were added to their usual compartment on the train, making it quite packed and uncomfortable. All the same, they had fun playing exploding snap until Peter's eyebrows were singed off. This caused Sirius to perk up and exclaim, "truth or dare! It's a muggle game, I believe?" Lily nodded when he turned to her.

"I hate it!" She shook her head and frowned.

"Aww come on Evans, we'll shake it up a bit!" And with that, Sirius pulled a vial of clear liquid out of his pocket.

"Veritaserum? How in Merlin's name did you get that?" Lily quizzed.

"Never you mind! Anyway, the muggle game's stupid, you can't know if they're really telling the truth! Who wants to go first?"

"I will." James smirked and said "dare."

Sirius smiled maliciously and said, "kiss Snivelly."

"WHAT?!" James' face was a beet root shade, "of course I'm not doing that!"

"You'll have to do a truth then!" Sirius shook the vial teasingly.

"Anything's better than that." James replied through gritted teeth. A couple of seconds later, James swallowed a couple of drops of Veritaserum and his eyes glazed over slightly.

"I've got a great question!" Marlene piped up, winking at Sirius cheekily. "What do you really think of Lily?"

"What? No!" Lily blushed furiously but it was too late.

"I think she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." James said bluntly, "she's smart and kind. She's everything I wish I was. I think I love her, but I know I don't deserve her." He sounded as though he could have gone on but Emmeline stepped in.

"I think that's enough. Where's the antidote Sirius?" After James had been revived he began blushing almost as fiercely as Lily was. They studiously avoided each other's gaze and everyone else seemed to carry on the game without them, accepting that they needed some space.

Lily couldn't help repeating the words in her head: "I think I love her..." Wow. She had never known that he actually even liked her, never mind loved her. He had said he had last night when he had given her the rose, but she had told herself that it was just a cliché pick up line. He was telling the truth. Wow...

James on the other hand was frantically worrying. Look at her face, she's horrified. She hates me, he thought, she hates me, she hates me, she hates me. He had just been making steps forwards with her and now this? Why had Marlene asked that?!

As the train slowed to a halt in the station everyone lugged their stuff out onto the platform and began to say their goodbyes. Lily hugged each girl in turn, promising to write and arrange to meet up in Diagon alley sometime. Then she gave Remus a hug saying that she would write to him too. She waved to Sirius, Peter and Frank, but James lingered behind.

"Lily, about on the train, I'm sorry-"

"Don't worry." She said quickly, bestowing upon him an awkward and brief smile.

He looked at her with a mixture of hopefulness and gratitude in his eyes. "I'll owl you."

"You know my address?" Her brow furrowed.

He gave his characteristic roguish grin, "I made Remus give it to me." Then he enveloped her in a great bear hug making her gasp. He was yet again surprised when, though she didn't quite hug him back, she didn't pull away. "See you, Lily."

"See you, James." Lily giggled as his eyes widened at the use of his first name and pushed her trolley through the barrier to meet her parents.