Disclaimer: All of the recognizable characters in this story are property of J.K. Rowling. The plot is mine and so are the characters Artemis West, Ivory Greenly, Professor Blithe, Professor Calder, Professor Ori and any other unknown characters.


The Previous Generation

Chapter 2: Misunderstanding and a Detention

"Hey James wait up," Lily called to him as she ran down the second floor corridor to catch up. She had seen him walk passed moments before with his fellow marauders as she was coming out of the library. She had managed to get one chapter read from The Lady of Avalon, the new book she was reading (the sequel to The Forest House) before deciding to head down stairs for breakfast.

"Hey Lily," the messy haired boy said as Lily approached him. "Want to walk with me to the Great Hall?" James had gestured to his friends to go on without him after Lily had called his name. He insisted he would meet them in the Great Hall in a few minutes and would walk with Lily instead.

Lily silently giggled to herself as she saw the looks the other three marauders were giving their "fearless leader" as they walked on without him, though, James was not paying attention. In fact his attention was focused on Lily's arrival rather than the silly faces his friends were making behind his back.

"Sure," Lily replied politely. It was nice they could actually be in each others company for longer than a few seconds without breaking into an argument over something stupid. James was not all that bad once you scratch the surface.

"What were you doing in the library this early in the morning?" James asked making conversation on their way down to the Great Hall.

"I needed a quiet place where I could sit and read so I went to library knowing no one would be there to bother me." Lily answered, and suddenly remembered why she wanted to talk to James in the first place, "I just remember I needed to talk to you."

"Okay," James replied nervously.

"Its nothing bad, I just remember the reason why I was going to talk to you is all," Lily giggled, "I just wanted to tell you, I arranged a meeting with Dumbledore at lunch. We need to discuss the Halloween plans with him."

"That's good, here I thought I did something wrong again," James sighed relaxing. They had reached the doors of the Great Hall finally.

"No, at least not yet, the day is still young." Lily said in a teasing manner then turned serious again. "Just don't forget to meet me outside of Dumbledore's office at lunch time. It would be good for both of us to discuss it with him."

"I will be there, don't worry." James reassured her.

"Thank-you, now I suggest we go and eat before class begins." Lily said walking through the double doors of the Great Hall, heading over to her friends joining them for breakfast. James followed her through the doors but headed to the other end of the Gryffindor table where he sat in the empty seat Sirius has saved for him.


"Hey girls," Lily said sitting down beside Ivory and across from Artemis. Her unusual cheerful tone seemed to confuse her two best friends. She was usually grumpy and complaining about something when she joined them for the morning meal. Something was out of place especially on the Friday morning before Lily's detention.

"Are you okay, Lily?" Artemis asked her friend with concern and confusion evident on her face.

"I'm fine," Lily replied now returning the same look in Artemis' direction but still maintaining her cheery attitude. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Artemis looked over at Ivory, seeing if the brown –haired girl was thinking the same thing she was. Ivory just shrugged then directed her attention back to Lily who was looking at both of them.

"Because...you've been a nervous wreck all week, and dreading today since Monday morning. Besides, it's unusual for you to be cheery 'this early'," Artemis pointed out. By this time all of the girls had forgotten about their half eaten breakfast and instead were just sitting there staring at each other. Two of the girls were waiting for the other one to answer while Lily was trying to figure out how to answer.

The truth was Lily had no idea why she was in a good mood. She just woke up that way. To her it did not seem to make much of a difference whether she was in a good or bad mood but apparently it did to her friends.

"There's no particular reason why I am cheery this morning, I guess my good mood is just a sign that it is going to be a good day," was Lily's answer. It seemed to satisfy her friends at least because they did not ask her any further questions about it. In fact Artemis just smiled at her and changed the subject to what seemed to be more interesting.

The trio continued talking about a great many things as they finished the breakfast they seemed to remember before heading off to the seventh floor for their Arithmancy class, which was one of the only classes they did not share with the marauders.


Lily waited patiently in Dumbledore's office. The kind old man stared at her with his trade mark twinkling blue eyes which were hidden behind half moon spectacles. His long white silver beard and hair was shimmering from the sunlight coming through the open window. The old Headmaster was a kind old gentleman who had an obsession for muggle sweets. He was quite an odd man too and no matter what age he was (which no one really knew) it did not seem to take away from his good nature.

Lily had been in his office many times over the past few years not as often as the Head Boy and his friends and certainly not for the same reasons. Since she had made Prefect in her fifth year, she along with all of the other Prefects had made frequent trips to the Headmasters office to discuss upcoming events or new ideas. She was no stranger to these meeting. Lily was usually the one who requested them. She felt it was the best way to get her opinion and ideas heard and dealt with the proper way. 'It's better to go to the top rather than the middle,' was how Lily always looked at it.

Every time Lily stepped foot into Dumbledore's office, she was always almost amazed by it. There were so many odd things she had never seen before. One she actually did recognize though was the Sorting Hat. She remembered when it was placed on her head at the first Hogwarts feast she had ever been to. She also remembered the relief she felt when the hat called out Gryffindor. The office was a beautiful circular room packed with different wizarding tools and items. It also contained portraits of the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses who were at the moment sleeping peacefully in their frames.

"Miss Evans, I am sorry but we are pressed for time. If you find it more convenient to postpone our meeting until a more suitable date which both you and Mr. Potter can attend, that will be fine with me. However, if you want to continue the meeting without Mr. Potter then that is alright too." Dumbledore said in his polite voice bringing Lily out of her thoughts.

"I really don't think there is any reason to postpone this. I mean it doesn't necessarily take two people to discuss plans. I'm sure whatever James, (Lily took extra precaution to use his name even though she was mad at him and the very mention of his name made her shake with rage), is doing is probably more important and it just came up at the last minute." Lily replied giving her headmaster a fake cheery smile. The good mood she was in only a half-an-hour earlier seemed to be a distant memory.

"If you're sure Miss Evans, you may continue," Dumbledore said motioning for her to begin.

"Well Professor, James and I were thinking of what to do for Halloween…" Lily began the whole time thinking about what revenge she would inflict on James later. '"I should be more responsible and I promise I will try to be in the future," yeah right you JACKASS. He is going to PAY. I WILL MAKE HIM REGRET MISSING THIS MEETING.' Lily thought to herself as she continued to explain her ideas to Dumbledore.

"Well you and Mr. Potter have been hard at work I see. These ideas seem to be well thought out and I have no doubt that all of this can be arranged without any trouble. I will see to the arrangements myself. Expect my appearance at the next Prefect meeting then we will give out the different assignments. Keep up the good work," Dumbledore said his eyes still twinkling.

"Thank-you Professor," Lily said getting up from the comfy red chair she had been sitting in and making her way to the door.

"Miss Evans," Dumbledore called out to her after she had opened the door and was about to leave. She turned back to the Headmaster and waited for him to respond, "Do you want me to talk to Mr. Potter?"

Lily looked at the old man confusion written on her face before realizing what he was referring to. "No…Professor…I would rather talk to him myself, thank-you for offering," Lily replied in a cheerful voice before heading out the door. She would definitely talk to Potter and that was a promise.


"James could I talk to you in the entrance hall?" the red headed girl asked as James turned around to look at her. Almost immediately he could tell something had changed. She spoke to him a calm and gentle voice but, he knew she was faking the polite tone. 'What have I done now?' He thought as he followed her out of the Great Hall with everyone's eyes on them, as they made their way to the exit.

"So what's up…?" James was cut off by Lily turning around as soon as the doors had shut behind them and giving him the most horrifying glare he had ever seen her produce. James was now a little scared of the shorter red headed girl in front of him.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Lily yelled, her voice was so loud that James was sure it shook the room. It was worse then any Howler he had ever received from his parents. James opened his mouth to produce an answer for her but no sound came out or at least he never had a chance to get one out.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU. HOW INCOMPETENT DO YOU HAVE TO BE NOT TO EVEN SHOW UP TO A MEETING? WAS I TALKING TO THE WALL THIS MORNING OR DO YOU HAVE COTTON IN YOUR EARS PREVENTING YOU FROM HEARING ANYTHING BUT YOUR OWN ANNOYING VOICE?" Lily yelled again, she did nothing to lower her voice and James was sure the whole school was on the other side of the door listening. Sirius and Remus would probably be there with a glass.

"Oh shit, we had a meeting today at lunch with Dumbledore. I completely forgot," James said out loud to no one in particular.

"WELL THAT'S OBVIOUS. JAMES POTTER YOU ARE SUCH A PRAT." Lily said finally pausing to breath and calming down a little bit. "Okay…alright…I'm calm, (she tried to gain her composure), James just answer me this."

James sighed in relief when Lily began to lower her voice from a top of the lungs scream to calm barely above a whisper tone. May be if he proved just how sorry he was for forgetting about the meeting with Dumbledore she would forgive him. "Okay."

"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU FORGET ABOUT THE MEETING? IT WAS ONLY THREE HOURS AGO THAT I TOLD YOU. ARE YOU THAT MUCH OF AN AIRHEAD THAT YOU CAN FORGET SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT INLESS THAN TWO HOURS? YOU ARE COMPLETELY UNBELIEVABLE. I DON'T KNOW HOW I COULD EVER THINK YOU COULD CHANGE. YOU KNEW THIS MEETING WAS IMPORTANT TO ME AND THEN YOU GO AND PULL A STUNT LIKE THIS." Lily began yelling at the top of her lungs again, forgetting her calmness. The fact that he was standing in front of her was making her angrier. It was hard for her to gain control of her anger but she managed to.

Lily was able to bring her voice back down to a normal level before speaking again. "You know what? You will always be an arrogant jerk. You are one of those people who will never change because you wouldn't know how. I don't even want to look at you right now." Lily did not care if her words were hurtful. Her only thought was to get out of there before she did something inappropriate (like punch him again), even though he probably deserved it.

Lily turned away from him and walked away. Her face still red with rage but her eyes showed a different emotion, one that James could not place. The one thing he knew was Lily's words had hurt him immensely and he had no desire to go after her nor did he have any wish to face the eager listeners on the other side of the door. James made his way to one of the few places he could find solitude for a few hours at least, that was to the kitchens.

When Remus and Sirius did not hear any sounds coming from the other side of the door they started making their way through the crowd of people behind them while saying, "There's nothing more to hear, move on. Go on you lot, go back to your seats."

There was still 10 minutes left of lunch and Sirius decided and protested with Remus about going and finding James. "Moony I think we should just give him a few minutes for the shock of Evans words to wear off. She was pretty harsh." All Remus could do was nod his head in agreement.

"Let's get to our next class before we're late. Hopefully Prongs will be there already waiting for us." Sirius said as the two young wizards made their way to the door following the other students.

They were joined by Lily's two friends who had been right beside them at the door during the argument. They too had decided to give Lily some time to cool off. "It is better not to approach Lily for a while until she has cooled down some. We don't need her ripping into us too," was what Artemis said as they met up with the two boys.

Sirius made a note of that, 'do not approach Lily when she is pissed off or else you will regret it.' He really did not want to be on the receiving end of Lily Evans' anger ever, if he could help it, especially if her own friends would not go after her.


"Mr. Black…Mr. Lupin...," the Potion Professor called to the two Gryffindor boys after the class began separating their ingredients to make Pep-up potion. It was the class assignment for the day. Both boys looked at the woman's approaching figure with her bright orange robes bellowing around her.

Professor Calder was one of the oldest staff members in the school. She seemed to look at least a century older than Dumbledore but of course she was no where close to being the Headmaster's age. She was the closest thing to a grandmother the students of Hogwarts got while at the school and away from the rest of their relatives.

She was not just the grandmotherly figure at Hogwarts; she was also the oddest Professor to grace the halls of Hogwarts in over two decades, (other than the Headmaster). Even the usual dramatic predictions and superstitious behaviour from the Divinations Professor did not come close to the originality of the Potions Professor.

She had the respect and strictness Professor McGonagall did but her kinder side and concern for her students came through more often. Today was one of those days in which her concern came through.

"Where is Mr. Potter? Is he out sick again?" the old woman asked James' best friends, her dark brown eyes were filled with worry. Sirius smiled at his Potions teacher and looked at Remus hoping he had come up with an excuse for James' absence.

"Umm…he…he…he ate too much and too fast during lunch. And didn't think he could make it to class," Remus quickly said looking back over at Sirius. 'Brilliant lie Moony,' Sirius thought sarcastically but looked at the old Potions Mistress with a distressing gaze and hoping she would buy it.

"Oh that's too bad. Well boys make sure you take good notes so our Head Boy can catch up," to both Sirius and Remus' relief she had bought their excuse.

"Will do Professor Calder," Sirius answered sighing with relief and amazed she actually thought it was the truth. The old woman smiled at them and continued her venture around the class examining her student's progress on their potions.

"Nice cover Moony," Sirius complimented the lighter haired boy while patting him on the back. "You amaze me sometimes."

"Yeah…I amaze even myself with that one," Remus said wiping away the perspiration that began to form on his forehead. Both the boys began separating and preparing their ingredients for the potion. They were able to finish it in record time and without any of their usual distractions or trouble making urges. 'This has got to be a first time a class has being uneventful with any of the marauders present,' Sirius thought as he cleaned up the remainder of his potions ingredients and was waiting for the Double Advanced Potion class to end. Only fifteen minutes to go until the Hogwarts students would be free for the weekend.


It was about midway through the potions class which James was supposed to be attending when he emerged from the kitchens and made his way to the entrance hall. He had no intentions of going to his class—what would be the point? It was half over and he knew he would not be able to concentrate even if it was simple. He only had one destination in mind and that was to go to his room. He was in no mood to speak to anyone.

James had managed to walk up the first two flights of stairs without being noticed by any roaming Professors. He was half way up the third staircase when he heard a voice call out his name.

"Mr. Potter—I am not right in presuming that you are to be in Potions class now" the voice called up from the bottom of the staircase. James knew who the voice belonged without having to turn around.

'Great just what I need to deal with right now,' James thought as he turned around. "Yes I am Headmaster," James answered staring down at the aging man. He knew Dumbledore would see through any excuse he told even if he had time to think one up. The best thing for him to do was come out with the truth.

"Do you want to tell me why you are not attending it?" Dumbledore asked out of concern rather than anger.

James had no desire to tell the Headmaster he was skipping class because a confrontation with the Head Girl made him upset. It would be awkward and it really was not a good excuse for missing any class. "I'd rather not say sir but I will accept any punishment you decide to give me."

"Why would I punish you James?" Dumbledore asked receiving a look of confusion from his student.

"What do you mean Professor?" James asked the Headmaster. There were times when he and his best friends speculated Dumbledore had being eating to much sugar, causing side affects for the old man and this was one of those times.

"Have you done anything that deserves punishment?" James was astonished by the question. Of course he had done something wrong. He had skipped out of his potions class and though he believed there was a good reason, he refused to disclose the information to the Headmaster. If it was any other teacher, James knew he would have been sent to class and received a week's worth of detentions.

"Maybe," James answered, "I'm not in class and I refuse to give you an explanation. This is usually about the time I get a lecture at and given a detention."

"Mr. Potter, walk with me to my office and on our way we can discuss this," Dumbledore suggested smiling at his young charge.

James had no choice but to comply with the Headmaster's request. It would be disrespectful not to. James walked back down the stairs and took up position beside the older man as they began making their way from the stairway to Dumbledore's office.

"It seems there is no reason for me to punish you Mr. Potter. You know what you have done is wrong and I am sure this incident will not be repeated. Also it appears you have been punished enough already. I believe you and Miss Evans had a disagreement at lunch," Dumbledore revealed. James stopped and watched as the Headmaster continued on his way. 'How could Dumbledore know about the argument? He was no where near the Great Hall;' at least that's what James thought.

"How…how...do you know about that sir?" James asked finally able to speak again. Dumbledore stopped and waited for James to catch up to him before answering.

"I have my sources," Dumbledore replied his eyes twinkling.

'So much for keeping your personal life a secret from your Professors,' James thought while he and the Headmaster walked the rest of the way in silence.

They reached the Gargoyle outside of Dumbledore's office.

"James I want you to keep something in mind," Dumbledore said turning his young student.

"What's that Professor?" James asked.

"Life is never simple and when you are a teenager nothing seems to make sense. Things will happen when they happen and there is nothing anyone can do to speed up the process or prevent them from occurring."

"Okay," James agreed confusion was etched over his face again. As powerful and intelligent as Dumbledore was, he had a knack for confusing people with his words of wisdom. James knew there would be a day when he actually understood what Dumbledore meant but until that day arrived he would just push them aside.

Dumbledore stared at James for a few minutes before speaking again. "Is there anything you would like to ask me James?"

Now that Dumbledore mentioned it, yeah there was something James had been meaning to ask his Headmaster since the beginning of the school year. "Yes actually there is Professor. I…I would like…." James stuttered, he was unable to get the rest of the question out of his mouth.

Dumbledore raised his hand up to silence him, "You would like to know why I made you the Head Boy correct?"

James felt his mouth drop to the floor in amazement. 'How was it possible for Dumbledore to know that or anything else going on in his life?' James admired the older man for being so in touch with his students. It certainly made talking to him about things easier. "Yes Professor."

"I have been asked by a great number of people why you were chosen as Head Boy over other students. Sylvester Snape owled me over the summer to question my sanity and ask why his son was not chosen," Dumbledore chuckled then continued. "But I told him the same thing as I have told everyone else."

"And what was that Sir?" James asked.

"James you are more the qualified for the Head Boy position. You are one of the top students, you are respected by your peers and you have the loyalty of your friends. You might be a little rough around the edges but when faced with a problem you react responsibly. Besides you have been leader of that group of yours for six years. This position should be a piece of cake," Dumbledore explained to the young boy. "Mr. Potter I suggest you make your way up to the common room before you're caught by another teacher."

"Yes Professor, and thank-you," James said to Dumbledore. He turned away from his Headmaster and made his way back down the corridor to the staircase. Dumbledore remained rooted to the spot where the boy had departed and watched as he went. All the while his blue eyes remained twinkling and a smile was plastered on his face.

"Things will look up Mr. Potter but you have to wait." The old man whispered to the air. He turned around and gave the Gargoyle the password to his office and disappeared up the moving circular stone staircase.


"Hey Prongs why weren't you in Potions?" Sirius asked his best friend as he entered his room and saw James lying down on his bed with a pillow over his head. 'This looks oddly familiar,' Sirius thought to himself as he placed some parchment on James' desk. He turned the chair around and sat in it placing his feet on the bed and his arms behind his head. He was relaxed.

"Shouldn't you be down in the Great Hall stuffing your face?" Sirius heard James mumble from underneath the pillow.

"I could be down there but I figured my friend needed me more," Sirius answered.

"Wow…aren't I lucky," James mumbled again while Sirius chuckled.

"So what's up man? Are you making this a habit?" Sirius repeated sitting up properly in the chair.

"What do you mean?" James asked pulling himself up into a sitting position. Sirius noticed he had a major case of bed head.

"Are you going to keep skipping classes and retreat into your room and hide under a pillow for the rest of the year?" Sirius asked grabbing the pillow off the bed from beside James and shaking it to emphasize the last half of his question.

"No…it's just been a stressful week. And don't ask why because you already know the reason," James said after seeing the words forming on his friends lips. The smile on Sirius' face faded some, "Yeah I know you were listening on the other side of the door. I wouldn't doubt it if the whole school was."

"How…how… do you know that? Can you see through things?" Sirius asked stunned.

"Sirius, I have known you forever. And usually when Evans and I have a conversation, the whole school stops to watch. It's a pretty easy thing to guess."

"It wasn't the whole school just most of the students. The teachers weren't there." Sirius said after a few minutes.

"Oh that makes me feel a lot better," James replied sarcastically.

"For what it's worth, Evans didn't look any better than you do. And even Artemis and Ivory haven't spoken to her yet. Apparently our Head Girl is not one you want to approach when she's mad." Sirius offered hoping it would make his best friend feel better. To his relief James managed a small grin.

"Come on Prongs let's go and eat. I'm starving." Sirius stood up from the chair and made his way over to the door but looked back to the bed when he noticed he was no t being followed.

"You go ahead Padfoot I'm not really that hungry," James said his smile disappearing.

"Are you sure Prongs?" Sirius asked. James just nodded his head.

Sirius knew James would object but he did not care. He hated seeing his best friend so depressed and was determine to do everything in his power to fix the problem which was the root of James' depression. Sirius decided he would talk to Lily during his detention.

He took one last look at the younger boy before leaving the room.


Lily stood outside of the Muggle Studies classroom staring at the wooden door in front of her. She had to enter it sooner or later but still she was delaying her entry as long as possible.

"Come on Evans, it's just a detention. It's not like I'm facing a judge,"Lily told herself but still made no effort to move.

"I don't know about the muggle world but in the wizarding world, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity." Lily heard a voice say. That deep arrogant voice could only belong to two people, Potter or Black. Potter had not been seen all afternoon so it had to be Black. And sure enough there he was with a broad grin plastered on his face when Lily turned around to see who was invading her thoughts.

"It seems then, muggles and wizards share something in common," Lily replied.

"It's probably not the first either," Sirius said.

"Probably not," Lily replied back still staring at the door.

"Professor Blithe is one of the worst teachers to get for a detention. McGonagall must really want to teach you a lesson." Sirius said knowing Lily would start panicking.

"What? Is…is…is she really that terrible?" Lily stuttered feeling a familiar flutter of nervousness come over her. Sirius, like James, loved getting a rise out of the Head Girl. It was so easy. "She seems less perfect," is what James always said after they had seen her go into a frenzy after a prank or before a test.

"Of course why do you think I was assigned to the same Professor? I can't even count the number of times James and I have…"

"Please don't mention THAT name in my presence. I don't want to hear about anything that involves Potter," Lily hissed, cutting Sirius off. She was still upset with James from the incident he pulled at lunch and she did not want to hear about him. Even hearing the mention of his name infuriated her.

"He's not a bad guy. And he didn't mean to…" Sirius started but was cut off again when Lily turned around and glared at him with a deadly look. Almost immediately Sirius shut his mouth. He was not stupid. He knew if he pushed the subject about his best friend further, he could be spending a week in the infirmary. Sirius was not going to give up but he was going to wait until she cooled off more.

"I do believe your detention is to be served in my classroom and not out here in the corridor," both Lily and Sirius turned away from each other, their gazes falling on the Muggles Studies Professor, who was standing in the open doorway with a smile on her young face.

Lily noticed the teacher looked very young with dark blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and blue eyes which lit up when she smiled. She was a tall woman, almost as tall as Sirius, who was six-foot-one, (James and Remus were only an inch shorter while Peter was three inches shorter).

Lily felt short standing between the Professor and Sirius. She had not felt this short since second year. Lily's five foot-eight inch stature was more noticeable now then before, (Artemis and Ivory were the same height but two inches shorter then Lily).

"Come in," Professor Blithe said bringing Lily out of her thoughts. She followed the teacher into the room.

"Hey Professor, it's been a long time since we had detention together. Almost a whole week," Sirius greeted as he entered behind Lily.

"Indeed it has," Professor Blithe said as she sat down at her desk, "I already am well acquainted with Sirius but I see we have a new face."

"Yeah Lily here, is a first timer," Sirius said plopping himself in one of the desks in the front row.

This classroom looked no different from the Transfigurations room. It contained the same wooden desks and chairs, set up the same way. The only difference between the rooms was, the Muggle Studies room contained posters and diagrams of muggle inventions while the Transfiguration and most of the other rooms had tapestries with different colours and pictures hanging on the walls. 'Probably wanted this room to resemble an actual muggle class room,' Lily thought.

"I wish we had the chance to meet under better circumstances but I guess it really doesn't matter," Blithe said getting Lily attention again.

"Huh?" Lily responded with a disoriented look, what other circumstances would Lily have met the Muggle Studies Professor.

"I have wanted to meet you for some time now." Blithe started saying after seeing Lily's moment of puzzlement. "After all, you're the talk of the staff room. You have ALL the Professors beaming about your work and talent."

Lily's face turned red with embarrassment and shock from the information Blithe's provided. She never was one to take compliments well. Lily looked over at Sirius and saw the evil grin appear on his face. She knew he would use this revelation against her later to either tease her relentlessly or use as blackmail.

"What I have planned for your detention tonight is making pizzas the muggle way," Blithe announced.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to get the house elves to make them," Sirius whined.

"Can't we just watch the elves do it or wash something? That's what we usually do."

'Being a pureblood wizard sure did have its faults' Lily thought when she saw Sirius' reaction to doing anything without magic.

May be this detention would not be as bad as Lily had expected. Lily loved making pizzas. She did it nearly every summer for her parents annual summertime party. Some could even say that she could open her own business.

"I am hosting a pizza party tomorrow from noon until three for the third years. It is a way for them to experience a muggle event and give them a treat at the same time. Since this is a class where wizarding children have the advantage to learn about non-magical society, everything should be made without using any magic," Professor Blithe explained, "I was orginally going to recruit volunteers but when Professor McGonagall came into the staff room Monday, announcing she needed someone for detention duty on Friday, I was the only one who agreed. It saved me the trouble of finding volunteers."

"But I don't know anything about pizzas, other than how to eat them," Sirius groaned.

'What a BABY?' Lily thought.

"Learn something new everyday Sirius," Lily replied, "Besides I have made hundreds of pizzas over the years so I can teach you. It's not that hard and who knows you might learn a new trait. Learning how to cook might even win you some more points when it comes to girls."

"Really?" Sirius asked turning his frown into a huge grin. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's get making."

Professor Blithe just smiled at Lily and mouthed a thank-you and followed Sirius out of the room. Lily just let out a sigh and laughed to herself before following suit.

The three of them made their way down five flights of stairs to the ground floor. Professor Blithe led the two young Gryffindors down stone steps to an underground brightly lit stone corridor. There were cheerful paintings of food decorating the walls.

She reached out and tickled a large green pear from a painting containing a silver fruit bowl. The pear began squirming and chuckling and then turned into a large green handle. Professor Blithe seized the handle and pushed it opened.

'Wow,' Lily thought when she entered the lush kitchen of Hogwarts. She had never ventured to it in all her years of being at the school. She would have never known where to look. Of course though Sirius was not amazed by this sight, it was a known fact amongst the student body that the marauders knew every hiding place and secret about the school, even ones the teachers had not discovered.

The room was as big as the Great Hall lined with hundreds of brass pots and pans. Dozens of house elves turned their attention to the three visitors and stared at them in wonder for a few minutes before returning back to work.

"Now I want to work as a team, for example, Lily you can roll out the dough and put the pizza in the pans and then sauce it. Sirius you can cheese them, put the toppings on and then stack them," Blithe explained. "30 pizzas need to be made tonight."

"Does it matter what toppings we need?" Lily asked the Professor.

"Yes it does. 10 of them need both pepperoni and mushrooms, 15 are to be pepperoni and cheese and the last 5 are just cheese. Everything is already laid out; all you have to do is begin. When they are all made I will put a freezing charm on them and have the house elves put them threw the oven tomorrow morning. If you need any help I will be down in 20 minutes. I left papers in my office that I want to mark." Blithe said giving a kind smile to her charges and headed for the door.

"Okay you heard Blithe, I will work on the dough and sauce—you take care of the cheese and toppings," Lily ordered.

"Doesn't take you long for the authority figure to come out," Sirius teased.

"Let's just get started. The faster we begin, the quicker we can get out of here." Lily said walking over to one of the long wooden tables and grabbing an already prepared dough ball. She picked up the rolling pin and started rolling out the dough.

There were two wooden tables prepared with the tools for pizza making. 30 dough balls, bowels of all purpose flour, a rolling pin and 3 bowels of specially made pizza sauce and ladle scattered all over one table. The other one had 4 big containers filled with sliced pepperoni as well as 3 containers filled with mushrooms and another 5 filled with blended cheese. Behind the preparing tables were 30 large iron pans to place the rolled out pizzas in.

Lily took a few minutes to explain to Sirius what to do and showed him how to do it after she had finished rolling and saucing the first ball. She hoped she would only have to show him once. Sirius gave her a grateful smile and she returned back to her station and grabbed the second dough ball and began rolling it out.

"Why you in a hurry to get done anyway Evans, got a date or something?" Sirius commented on her previous statement while waiting for Lily to finish with the next ball. He grabbed a handful of mushrooms from one of the containers and shoved them into his mouth. Lily just rolled her eyes then leaned over and slapped his hand away from the other ingredients.

"Those aren't for you," Lily yelled at him. She felt like she was babysitting a four year old. "If you eat all of the ingredients then there won't be any left for the pizzas."

"Calm down Evans, I only ate a handful. It will go unnoticed." Sirius said, "And by the way you still haven't answered my question."

Lily had been hearing that statement a lot lately and was getting a little frustrated by it. "My life is, none of yours, Potter's or anyone else's business. Last time I checked I didn't have to consult my plans with anybody. But it seems that I have been the topic of conversation and everyone feels they need to stick there noses where it doesn't belong." Lily hissed at Sirius in an irritable voice. Why was she so popular all of a sudden? Why did everyone care what she did? She was glad the week was almost over. It felt like it was one big mood swing after another.

"Okay, okay I was just curious. No need to jump down my back about it," Sirius responded in defense. Why did James like this girl so much? She would not know how to have fun if her life depended on it. She was too serious and devoted to school for Sirius' liking. But then again if Sirius could choose the girl his best friend would fall for, it would probably be someone similar to Lily. She was the kind of girl he would want for himself not to mention James.

She was beautiful, smart and a little mysterious all rolled into one. She was by far different from the girls he dated. But she would be the kind of girl he looked for when he wanted a relationship and not just a weekly fling. James had already reached that point in his life and he had his heart set on Lily but Sirius had not reached that point in his young life yet and he knew it. The only thing he wanted to do was help James get the girl of his dreams.

Lily could feel someone staring at her. She tried to ignore it hoping they would stop but it was no use. She looked up from rolling her third dough ball and locked eyes with Sirius' blue ones.

"What?" she demanded frustrated.

"Nothing," Sirius answered turning away. Lily turned back to the dough but after a few minutes she heard Sirius mumble something under his breath.

"What?" she repeated, "And don't tell me nothing."

"I was just wondering why you and James…"

"I told you once already tonight Black…" Lily interrupted him once again hissing at him, "…I don't want to talk about THAT PRAT." Lily's voice echoed through the kitchen causing the house elves to duck under near by tables and surfaces.

"Sorry," the Head Girl apologized to the shaken elves who after a few minutes returned to their duties.

"Look Evans you obviously need to get whatever is bothering you about my best friend out in the open. You don't yell at innocent people and elves for nothing," Sirius tried to convince her to talk to him. If she told him how she felt about James maybe he could have a better understanding about the situation. "Just get out it. Trust me you will feel better."

"What makes you think I haven't talked to my friends about it already?" Lily asked.

"Because both Artemis and Ivory admitted that they didn't want to talk to you earlier today, especially when you're angry at someone. They flat out told me that it was dangerous to cross you when you're in these moods," Sirius informed her.

"So why are you crossing me and asking me things?" Lily questioned him.

"Because you have had time to cool off a bit," Sirius said.

Lily thought Sirius' first statement over carefully. He seemed to be sincere enough and he did make sense. It's not like her feelings for James were a secret. May be it would do her a world of good to get the point-of-view from the other side. She could get feedback and who better to talk about it with than James' best friend. Lily finally gave up the fighting urge to talk to Sirius and began speaking.

"You want to know why James and I can't get along for long periods of time. And why we argue every other day if not everyday. Do you really want to know?" Lily asked her grip tightened on the rolling pin she was holding onto.

"Yes I want to know. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

"The truth is, James and I are two different people," Lily said. Sirius gave her a goofy look. He did not really understand what she meant by that statement. 'What the hell is she talking about?'

"Of course you're different. He's male and you're a female," Sirius stated. By this time he had abandoned any thought of putting the toppings on the pizzas.

Lily rolled her eyes again. For a boy who was third in all of his classes, behind herself and James, he sure could be dumb sometimes.

"That's not what I mean. James and I are complete opposites and competitors. These two combinations can be dangerous," Lily explained.

"What makes you think they are dangerous? Opposites in most cases attract and competition is a healthy part of life," Sirius commented.

"That is not always true, especially in any examples including Potter and myself."

"And why is that?"

"Because Potter is a selfish…spoiled…arrogant prat. He has no respect for authority and cares for no one but himself," Lily responded. Sirius was right it was good to get that off her chest.

Sirius frowned at the cruel words spoken about his best friend. There was so much Lily did not know about James and she would not let herself see passed the bad things to see the good.

"He maybe those things at first appearance I won't deny that. Hell I'm the same way," Sirius said trying to give her a better insight into the life and times of his best friend. "But once you get passed all that scratch the surface and peal away the first couple of layers, you will see there is more to him."

"Like what? What else is there to Potter that I don't already see?" Lily questioned. She had seen James' sincere side and everything Sirius had said about him. But she was not willing to see passed the first appearance because every time she tried to he pulled back and proved her wrong. She was tired of this on going cycle.

"Well for one he is a loyal friend. He would bend over backwards for all of us. And he has on several occasions," Sirius responded in James defense.

"Give me an example of this loyal behaviour," Lily said doubting him.

"What…? What do you mean?" Sirius stuttered.

Lily could sense the panic his voice. What could Sirius tell her about James? He could not even give her an example without trembling.

"Yes," Lily replied, "I want you to tell me a specific event outlining James' loyalty? That shouldn't be too hard."

"Well for one he…James…has…ah…taking the wrap for me a few times. Times when I got myself in major trouble," Sirius explained. He felt odd giving the Head Girl any information about the marauder's trouble making. She was the opposition after all. Discussing these things with James was different even though he was the Head Boy or with Remus when he was a Prefect because they were both involved in most of them.

"What kind of trouble?" Lily asked innocently. She was intrigued by the direction their conversation was going. She resumed with the pizza making but had her ears open and ready to listen.

"I'm not really comfortable telling the Head Girl about the marauders trouble making. Let's just say he has been there for me, Remus and Peter in more ways then I can count and has not asked for anything in return."

"Fine I understand," Lily replied. Sirius could hear the disappointment in her voice. "I do have another question to ask you though,"

"What is it?" Sirius asked her in return.

"I wanted to know why you care so much. Why do you care if James and I are friends or not? What's in it for you?"

"Well he is my best friend and like you, when a person close to you is upset, hurt or even emotionally unstable you want to help them. It goes with the whole loyalty thing," Sirius said.

"Well you're a good friend I'll give you that. And if Potter is half of what you claim he is, then he probably is a decent guy even if it doesn't show up very often," Lily admitted. "I will admit that I have seen a less arrogant side to Potter, so I do know it can be achieved. But then again every time he begins to show any sign of being decent he pulls back and does something incredibly stupid just to throw people off the scent."

"He just has a hard time expressing himself. Most guys do when it comes to the opposite sex."

"No kidding," Lily replied sarcastically, "Is that why most guys act like gits and showoffs around girls?"

"I don't know what you're talking about? None of the marauders act that way." Sirius said in mock hurt.

"Yeah, whatever you say Black," Lily said. "Was there ever a point to this whole conversation or did we just talk without any direction. I'm sure there was a motive in here somewhere." Lily was getting tired with this chat Sirius had started and she could tell from the very beginning he was trying to learn something from her or at least trying to get her to do or admit to something.

"I had no motive, I just simply opened my mouth and words came tumbling out. That's what happens when you talk to another person." Sirius retorted.

"Yes that is true Black but why did this 'simple' conversation involve Potter and me. A conversation with no motive behind it will not lead anywhere that is off limits to talk about."

"You're the one who allowed me to bring up the subject with little objection," Sirius pointed out.

"I objected plenty to the subject but you wouldn't let it go until you got your way," Lily argued.

"Look I do not want to start a big argument with you all I wanted out of this whole thing was to ask you to lay off of James," Sirius said.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"I mean could you try not to disagree with him so much. If you listen to him once and a while you might realize he is really bright. All I'm suggesting is try to be his friend rather than his enemy. You will find you two are stronger as friends."

Lily again thought over Sirius' words. He seemed to be making a lot of sense, she did not know if the older boy beside her was maturing or if she was beginning to lose her mind. Perhaps he really did care about his friends and was only trying to make them all happy. If that were true, he sure was being selfless. What did she have to lose? It's not like she had to marry Potter or anything and she was happy with his behaviour from the night before when he actually did open up to her. If Potter could show that side of himself around her more often there would be no problem with befriending him.

"I'm not saying that I am going to become his best friend, hell I doubt I will even become a good friend but it would be nice to talk to him without arguing. It would be less exhausting to."

Sirius just smiled at the red headed girl. He had accomplished part of what he set out to do. He managed to convince the stubborn Head Girl that the equally stubborn Head Boy was more then an 'arrogant prat.' It was certainly a step in the right direction to helping his best friend get over his slight depressive mood swings.

The only thing Sirius did not realize though was in his efforts to get Lily Evans and James Potter to become friends and hopefully in the near future an item, he had in fact gotten the attention of the Head Girl. Slowly Lily Evans was developing a crush of the Head Boy's best friend.


© Mythology, June 4, 2004

Reposted June 28, 2005