DISCLAIMER! Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling!

A/N: I'd just like to let you know that my friend and I would like reviews so that we know how to better this story! Please, it's the first time we publish something we're writing together, it'd really help! Thanks to JaneSkye! First reviewer! I'd give you a cookie… but I kinda can't.

~.~.~

After breakfast and getting their schedules, the girls decided to go to their first class, Transfiguration. The girls sat together in the middle of the class. They got their parchment, quill, and ink ready.

"I kind of missed classes," Emily said with a smile. She really was glad to be back.

"Of course you would," Alice said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, please, like you didn't miss getting into arguments with Black during class," Lily said with a smirk.

"Like you with Potter," Alice replied smugly and Lily's eyes narrowed. Emily laughed quietly. "What are you laughing at Miss my-partner-is-Lupin-and-I-adore-him?"

Emily blushed. "Oh, hush you," she said while Lily laughed.

"Look, I'm quaking in my uniform shoes," Alice said and Emily sighed but couldn't help smiling.

"You might want to tone it down a bit Daniels, you don't want everyone to know you're scared of Kate, do you?" a voice near the door said. Alice made a face and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, like you quake in fear before Lupin. It's obvious, you know," Alice said and glared when the boys began making their way toward them, but then she grinned at Emily and moved a seat over, the chair next to Emily now empty. Said girl turned to Alice and blushed while the other just continued to grin. Black sat next to Alice, who scowled at him. Potter took his seat next to Lily and Pettigrew sat next to Potter. Lupin took the empty chair next to Emily. Lily rolled her eyes at Emily as if to say "Why me?" and Emily had to smile.

"How do you like your new quarters?" Lupin asked Lily politely and she smiled at him.

"It could be better," Lily answered with a shrug and Emily had a feeling she was talking about having to share with Potter.

"Really? I don't think it could be," Potter said. By the look on Lupin's face Emily had a feeling they were thinking the same thing: that he was talking about sharing the room with Lily. Lily also seemed to catch this and looked ready to throw a witty word or two but Potter continued saying, "The common room is a bit small, but my room is big, it's great!"

"I guess," Lily said, "my room is pretty spacious."

"Then how could it be better?" Potter asked looking at Lily curiously. She frowned at him before saying,

"Well, the common room… it could be a bit bigger."

"Must you always complain about everything?" Emily asked Lily emphasizing the last word, talking about Potter. Lily of course caught on.

"Don't I always? I thought you'd be used to it by now," Lily answered with a grin. Didn't she always complain about Potter?

"Well, yes, but why complain about things you like?" Emily queried boldly while trying to look innocent as she smiled at Lily. Said girl blushed and looked at Emily with slightly wider eyes.

"I do not," Lily said defensively. Emily only smiled but she noticed Lupin, Potter, and Pettigrew staring at them confused. She raised an eyebrow at them.

"Why does it sound like your conversation has a double meaning?" Potter asked with a furrowed brow.

"We're girls, we tend to make it sound like that," Emily answered trying to sound sympathetic that they didn't understand. Lupin was about to comment but wasn't able to, perhaps it was a good thing.

"Why do you insist on sitting near me?" they all heard Alice say exasperated.

"Well, you could always go somewhere else," Black pointed out.

"I shouldn't have to, not when I was here first! Why don't you go sit next to Pettigrew? You know, away from me?" Alice retorted.

Black grinned mischievously. "Because I already sat down and I don't feel like moving. Besides, I like annoying you, it's fun," Black answered. Alice glowered at him but he seemed unaffected.

///

"Okay, class," McGonagall said after they had done their note-taking, "now that you all have partners, take turns transfiguring the rabbits into mugs and back again." With that, everyone set to work. Class was about halfway done; of course something was bound to happen.

"Ow, Evans," Potter said as Lily smacked his hands.

"Let go of it! You're hurting it," Lily answered.

"If I let go of it, I'll hurt it more," Potter replied indicating he couldn't just "let go" of the rabbit.

"Oh, here," Lily said snatching the rabbit and holding it properly, trying to calm it down so they could set it on the table and transfigure it again.

Black and Alice weren't having much luck either.

"Are those whiskers?" Black asked.

"What? It looks fine," Alice replied with a confused frown.

"I meant on you," Black said with a grin.

Alice sent him a scathing look. "You git! You… you bloody spawn!" Alice retorted hitting his arm. He seemed surprised when he rubbed the spot, as if it had really hurt.

"Consider yourself lucky," Black said with a grin.

"Ha! Working with you is the worst luck I could have. How can I possibly consider myself lucky?" Alice asked.

"Well, I just gave you an excuse to touch me," he told her cheekily and winked at her. Alice looked positively murderous. Her hands balled into fists.

"Why you-"

"Alice, McGonagall's coming," Emily warned. Alice closed her eyes and took a very deep breath forcing herself to calm down.

"Daniels, Black, done already?" McGonagall asked suspiciously.

"Certainly, professor," Black said with an almost beaming smile. Alice shot him a disgusted look.

"Show me," the professor demanded. Black shrugged and transfigured the mug back into a rabbit and then to a mug again. Alice then took her turn with another breath before successfully transfiguring the mug into a rabbit and back again. With a satisfied nod, McGonagall moved on to Emily and Lupin.

"And you two?" the professor asked though she didn't sound suspicious. She knew them well enough to know they worked well together.

"Yes, professor," they answered modestly and unsynchronized. They showed her, and being the good students, they did it well. When McGonagall approved and moved on, Lupin and Emily looked at each other and smiled.

Lily and Potter were able to do it too. It was after all, Potter's best subject. Unfortunately, Pettigrew wasn't so lucky.

"Well done. Now you, Pettigrew," McGonagall instructed. He managed to turn the mug into a rabbit well enough, but his mug ended up with a fluffy tail instead of a handle. McGonagall told him to practice more thoroughly. Black and Alice chuckled at this. They looked at each other surprised they had had the same reaction and Sirius grinned at her while Alice simply rolled her eyes at him and shrugged.

Lily mindlessly transfigured their mug into a rabbit again, she went to hold it but the rabbit moved out of the way. It was about to leap away when Potter (thank Merlin for his fast reflexes) caught it. She gave him a little smile in thanks which he returned. He did have a nice smile, Lily had to admit. He held the rabbit the right way this time and Lily happily stroked away. So, maybe Potter wasn't that bad after all.

///

It was almost time for curfew and Lily walked into the Gryffindor and saw Potter chatting with his friends. She had come to call him since it was almost time to patrol. She went up to him. "Hey Potter." Lily greeted him.

Potter turned towards her. Immediately his face broke out into a charming smile. "Oh, hey Evans! What's going on?"

"It's almost time to patrol. We should probably get going." Lily answered. Potter got up and bid goodbye to rest of the Marauders. He walked out the portrait door with Lily.

Potter and Lily walked in silence for about half an hour and they hadn't found any students sneaking away after the curfew. Finally Potter broke the silence by asking, "So Lily, how is life?"

Lily looked at him in surprise, since he had never asked her a question like that. "Um….fine, I guess." She didn't know else to reply.

Potter wasn't satisfied. "Fine? That's it? Come on Lily, tell me something more," he insisted.

This surprised Lily even more. "Are you okay today Potter? Didn't hit your head or something, right?" She asked teasingly.

Potter smiled and replied, "No Lily, I didn't hit my head. I just figured that instead of asking you out everyday and irritating you, I would rather just talk to you."

Lily seemed to contemplate this. She seemed to accept his answer and replied, "Okay. My life in Hogwarts is pretty good. I have the best friends ever, good grades and I really have fun everyday. As far as dating is concerned, I'm perfectly fine with not having a boyfriend. As for popularity, I'm really not that concerned about how popular I am or anything. I think it's stupid to see people trying to fit in by being someone they're not. I mean, how can they expect to find real friends if they're pretending?" Lily looked at Potter as if she was expecting an answer from him. He was so engrossed in what she was saying that he didn't even realize that she had stopped talking. Lily waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello, earth to Potter!"

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I got caught up in what you were saying. Okay, so how is life at home? I have no idea how Muggle life is, so maybe you can tell me." At the mention of home, Lily face saddened a bit and Potter noticed that. "What's wrong Lily?" He asked concern evident in his voice.

She looked away from him and replied, "It's nothing."

Potter wasn't buying it. "It has to be something. Come on Lily, just tell me. If it's any comfort I'm a pretty good listener."

Should I tell him? Lily thought. She had never told her friends about her home that much, but something about Potter made her want to tell him, so she decided to tell him. "The thing is my sister doesn't like me." She confessed. "She thinks I'm some sort of freak just because I'm a witch. Every time I go home, she just blatantly asks me 'Why did you come home freak?' I try to laugh it off but it hurts really badly on the inside. The irony is I love her. Even though she taunts me like hell, I still love her as a sister but apparently she doesn't feel the same. It's not like I asked for magic, it just happened! But for some reason, my dear sister does not understand that. And that is precisely why I never go home during the holidays. It just hurts….every time," Lily finished. Potter stared at Lily in shock. So this was the life of Lily Evans at home. He had to admit, it's not that good. How can a sister be so inconsiderate? He must have voiced out that last thought because Lily replied, "I don't know! I try to explain but she doesn't listen." She looked so sad that Potter just wanted to hug her, but he wasn't sure whether Lily would approve.

"Hey, do you feel better now?" He asked her.

Lily replied without hesitating. "Actually yes. I do feel better now that I told you. Thanks for listening," she told him with a smile.

Potter returned her smile. "No problem. You've never told your friends huh?" He guessed.

She shook her head. "No, I never did. I just didn't want their sympathy I guess."

"How come you told me?"

The truth is, Lily didn't know why she told him either. But whatever it was she really did feel better now. "I don't know why I told you. You were just being polite and curious so I told you," Lily replied and shrugged. "And thanks for listening," she added.

"No problem. I'm glad you feel better after you told me," Potter replied. He looked at his watch and said "Let's get back to our dorm, it's getting late."

"Fortuna Major," Potter said to the portrait and they both entered the dorm.

As Potter was about to go to his bedroom, he heard Lily say "Thanks again Potter, tonight was good."

Potter turned to her and replied, "You're welcome. If you ever need someone to listen, remember I'm right here. Goodnight Lily and sleep well." And with that he went to his bedroom. Lily just stood there for a few minutes and then she went to her bedroom as well. Her last thoughts before she fell asleep was, maybe Potter has changed.

*** Please review and tell us what you think!