Note from the author: this is one of the chapters i happen to like. as i mentioned, the first few chapters are going up fast, which also means they wont have a lot of grammatical correctness. sorry if it bothers you.

Disclaimer: JKR is the amazing person who gave me inspiration to take some of her characters and make my own story


Chapter two: A Decision To Make
(Lily)
"Oh Lily..." Marlene McKinnon sighed as she saw her friend enter the Leaky Cauldron at precisely 5 o' clock on Saturday afternoon. She got up from her table to hug Lily. Marlene noticed that there were dark circles under Lily's eyes and her (Lily's) eyes were red with unshed (or maybe they had been shed) tears. Lily hugged her friend back and sniffled. As they sat down, the pretty blonde (Marlene) asked the tear-stained Lily, "So tell me everything you know and everything you THINK you feel."
"I-think-I-like-James-Potter." the redhead mumbled quietly.
"What?"
"You heard me," Lily said quietly.
"No Lily, I really didn't." Marlene said, a smile tempted her lips but she had the decency to hide it.
"I think I like James Potter." Lily said it louder, but she sounded like she was choking on the words. "Mar, why am I sad about this? James has liked me for 6 years and I couldn't think of why he would suddenly stop."
"Well, maybe he's changed." Marlene suggested.
"Maybe..." Lily mused. "What do you think I should say to him when I see him?"
"Don't think you'll have a chance to think about that." Marlene said under her breath.
"What?" Lily hadn't heard that last statement. Marlene nodded towards the door, where all four of the Marauders had appeared. "Oh crap. Quick Mar, do a disillusionment charm!" Lily would have done it herself, but she had trouble with that particular charm. And the look of hopelessness in Lily's eyes was too great for Marlene to simply roll her eyes and ignore her. So the blonde tapped her wand to Lily's head and muttered a spell under her breath. Lily felt a chill run down her spine and when she looked down she couldn't see herself anymore. "Thank you so much, Mar. I'm still gonna go hide or maybe sneak on the Marauders." some of the redhead's humor was slowly returning. This time Mar really did roll her eyes. Lily wasn't sure what made her do it, but she actually did go to stand by the Marauders' table to listen. "Well, I don't know why Rachel would care so much if I broke up with her." James sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time. Lily almost slapped James. Rachel? Rachel Trevino? Really! She was one of Lily's friends! How could she? But Lily backtracked when she thought about how for the past five years she had hated James and to anyone (but her and Marlene) nothing would be wrong if one of her friends went out with him.
"Come on Prongs don't be thick. This is the first real girlfriend you've had in who knows how long." Sirius disagreed
"But, Lily-" the redhead started at her name.
"Prongs. She hates you and-"
"You don't know that. You weren't there at the kind of kiss!" now James disagreed.
"So that's what it was. A 'kind of kiss'..." Lily thought to herself.
"Then break up with Rachel and tell Lily how you feel and how you hope she feels." the oh-so-quiet Remus interrupted. The other Marauders turned to state at him.
"But now Padfoot's right..." James said and Sirius sat back with annoying satisfaction. "She probably hates me." James continued.
"But what if she doesn't?" Peter joined in. Now they were all engaged in the conversation.
"After 5-years-" that was James.
"Well, you never-" that was Peter.
"Just keep your-" there was Sirius.
"Why doesn't he just-" the ever-logical Remus.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST LET ME DECIDE?" James yelled over them all. They all said their version of sorry and James apologized for getting so angry, as was usual of the Marauders. Lily looked kind of sad. She knew James wasn't going to break up with Rachel. She just felt it in her heart. So she went back to the table with Marlene at it. "Mar, it's me. Can we just go to a muggle mall or something?" Marlene looked startled at the sudden appearance (or not) of her friend, but left her table anyways. Lily was right behind her as they stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron. Marlene tapped Lily on her head once more and a warm spreading feeling spread through the redhead and she could see herself again.
"Lily. You listened to them, didn't you?" The blonde chastised. But Lily was not in the mood to argue so she just nodded meekly. "Oh, love... What'd you hear?" Mar wrapped an arm around her sad friend. The redhead shook her head and let out one lonely sob. They went to a bar, but only remembered they weren't old enough to drink in the muggle world once they had reached the door.
"Oh well." Marlene sighed. "What do you want to do?"
"Cry." Lily replied simply.
"Oh come on. It can't have been that bad. Tell me what they said?" Marlene was begging and Lily didn't feel up to an argument so she told the blonde. "Sirius doesn't want James to break up with her. Remus wants James to tell me how he feels. Peter hopes I don't hate James because he agrees with Remus. And James, well, I didn't really stay long enough to know what he thinks, but I KNOW he's not going to break up with Rachel." the redhead made a face as she said the name.
"Wait. Rachel? As in Rachel Trevino? Your 6th year friend?" Marlene questioned.
"Yup." Lily nodded somberly.
"You should hex her into next year." Marlene said seriously. Lily sighed. "Oh Mar, I wanted to. But she doesn't know that I like James. No one knows. I still don't like admitting it to myself. It would be BAD if I took out any of my anger on poor Rachel." she was always so practical.
"Then just steer clear of her for some time."
"I think I will..."
"Come on Lily, let's go to my house and get wasted." Mar said. So they did.

(James)
"Well, I don't know why Rachel would care so much if I broke up with her." James sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"Come on Prongs don't be thick. This is the first real girlfriend you've had in who knows how long." Sirius disagreed.
"But, Lily-" James tried to argue.
"Prongs. She hates you and-"
"You don't know that. You weren't there at the kind of kiss!" now James disagreed.
"Then break up with Rachel and tell Lily how you feel and how you hope she feels." the oh-so-quiet Remus interrupted. The other Marauders turned to state at him.
"But now Padfoot's right..." James said and Sirius sat back with annoying satisfaction. "She probably hates me." James continued.
"But what if she doesn't?" Peter joined in. Now they were all engaged in the conversation.
"After 5-years-" that was James.
"Well, you never-" that was Peter.
"Just keep your-" there was Sirius.
"Why doesn't he just-" the ever-logical Remus.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST LET ME DECIDE?" James yelled over them all.
"Sorry mate." Sirius said.
"Sorry..." Remus and Peter chorused.
"Nah. I shouldn't have exploded like that." James said and he thought he felt a swish of air by his side. They all sighed tiredly in unison. "So." Sirius finally decided to speak what everyone was thinking. "What are you going to do?"
"I think..." James was trying to choose his words carefully. "That I'm going to stay with Rach until I see something from Lily." and since that decision was the purpose of their meeting, the group dispersed but Sirius stayed with James, for at the moment Sirius was staying at James' house. "Prongs mate, I'm sorry I wasn't on your side earlier." Sirius murmured, but James waved it away. "Nah, Padfoot, you don't always have to be on my side."
"Thanks mate. Wanna grab a firewhiskey?" Sirius grinned.
"Always." James retorted.

And by the time they were so drunk they barely knew what they were saying, they had managed to put dungbombs in some poor muggle's backyard and were giggling like little school-girls.
"James, James, did you see his face?" Sirius laughed.
"'Course I did Pads." he laughed too, but what he really wanted was someone he could show off to, particularly a special redhead whose house he noticed they passed accidentally. Sirius swung an arm over James' shoulder as he swayed from side to side humming a little melody. "Hey Pads," James asked suddenly serious.
"Mhm?" came the feeble response.
"How are we gonna get back?"
"What?"
"How are we gonna get home?"
"Oh shit." comprehension drew on Sirius' face as he realized what his best friend was saying. Of course they could both apparate perfectly, but considering how drunk they both were, they weren't going anywhere soon.
"You know, I think we might be near Evans' house." James said and Sirius stopped walking completely now. "How do you know that?" he said.
"The kind of kiss. Remember?" James rolled his eyes.
"Oh. Well be better go there then. She can help us with her magical 'anti drunkenness' Potion or whatever." James rolled his eyes again. "Well." Sirius demanded again, "Lead the way."
"Sirius, it's 1 in the morning. We can't very well go barging in there."
"Then we'll knock."
"Fine. Whatever." so James started heading towards her house and when he got there he knocked politely. No response. He rang the bell. No response. He was hit with a moment of inspiration. He backed up and picked a few stones of the ground. Sirius looked at him funny but didn't ask questions. James threw the first stone and with his Chaser's precision it hit the window exactly where he wanted it. Still no response. He threw the next one. No response. He threw the next one with a little more force and it clanged a little louder than the others. Finally the window opened and a red head stuck out of the window. "Merlin's beard Potter. Did you just pull a Romeo?" she rubbed her eyes. He nodded grinning while swaying a little. Lily noticed his sway and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Technically yes. Really no. But that's not the point. The point is that Sirius and I are too intoxicated to apparate home and we were in the neighborhood so we thought you could give us some of that non-drunkenness potion you invented."
"For Dumbledore's sake Potter." she practically yelled, "What the hell are you doing 'in the neighborhood'?"
"Dungbombs." he replied simply. "Now, do ya think you could give us some of that potion?"
"I haven't got any." she snapped, "Now go away." she shut the window. James sighed and sat with his friend and said "We could go find a good bench and sleep it off." he suggested. But Sirius was already snoring. He heard the squeak of Lily's window and jumped up to see what was going on. "On second thought. You can stay here. I have about 5 rooms empty at the moment so you can each have one. I'll be down in a moment."
"Thanks!" James called as she shut her window again. When she opened the front door, she had her hair in a messy ponytail and her night robe was pulled tight around her waist. James couldn't help but notice the dark circles beneath her eyes. He wondered what had caused them and briefly thought it had been the almost kiss but quickly dismissed it from his mind since there was NO way she could really remember it. "Come on then." she waved him in. James rushed to Sirius' side and tried to wake him but his sleep was too great. James took out his wand and whispered "Wingardrium leviosa." Sirius was levitated about a foot off the floor and James brought him into Lily's house. The only thing his mind would comprehend was, "What an unromantic way to first see her house..." honestly. For the life of him this was the only thing that crossed his mind. Not how awkward it was. Not how completely nice and organized the house was. Not that Lily was alone in her house. Not that they'd be sleeping in the same house. But that it was completely unromantic, the way he first got to see the inside of her house. As Lily showed James the room he could put Sirius in (and pointed out the room James could stay in) James felt a twinge in his heart as she smirked at how drunk Sirius was. "Hey, Ale." Lily turned just because that there was no one else James could be talking to but her. "Thanks for letting us crash."
"Yeah whatever." she murmured.

James was about to shut the door to the room Lily had let him borrow, when a hand stopped the door. "What did you call me?" James smirked, flopped down on the bed, ran a hand through his hair and said, "Shut the door on your way out, Ale." Lily looked confused but did as he told her. When she had left, James was left with an ache in his chest and he couldn't explain it. He knew Rachel and him were going to be drifting apart very soon.