Eh…message at bottom…well…a nicer one at least.

Author Note: Alright, let's have a chat. Last chapter I got a lot of complaints about my story plot. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I respect that. Where the problems started to arise was when people where telling me that the message sucked and I should change it, I'm not creative, terrible message. Look…I wrote the story based off an e-mail that I received. The outline of dating just because was what the e-mail was about in the form of this story, and that's what I based mine off of. The whole story doesn't revolve around two people being happy because they're dating. Who said that's what the story was about? I don't really get how you can make an assumption of my story…based off two chapters. You don't even know where this is going and you obviously didn't read the summary. I'm not saying…don't send flamers…because personally they make me laugh…the fact that you were so…offended by what someone wrote that you had to chew them out…I think that's hilarious. These reviews upset me because they feel like an attack on me and you don't even know the type of person that I am. If you've read outlines like this before…why did you start reading it in the first place? That's like reading a fic that you know is slash, which you hate, but reading it anyway. If you think the "plot" is sending out a bad message…why did you stick around to read the next chapter? And you think just because you left a review that said you should change the outline, I'm really gonna do that? I also think that those who didn't even leave a screen name…the anno people…are pathetic. You couldn't even leave a contact? Look…the whole idea of fanfic is to write what you want to see. If someone wants to see Harry and a tissue get together…they can. Is that weird and wrong…yes I think it is. But I don't think it's mine or your job to criticize them and their ideas. Oh, and by the way…the plans were made while Lily and James were drunk…keep that in mind.

Ok…now that that's out of my system…thank you everyone else for the reviews. They were very enjoyable.

Disclaimer: I don't own…well as one review liked to point out…any of it since this has been written for "ages." Sorry…when anyone finds any story like mine…please send me the link.


Chapter 3: Day 8

The news of Lily and James' newfound relationship spread around the school like wildfire. No one had realized that the smart muggleborn and Slytherin cutie had split up recently. There was a lot of talk about the new couple. No one had ever suspected the Gryffindor prefect and school's trouble maker would ever hook up, yet there they were in plain public. The weirdest thing about this whole ordeal was that no one ever witnessed any…affection, mainly, pass between the two. No one ever saw them kiss or hold hands. There were no sly glances when one wasn't looking or cloudy eyes that stared deeply into the other. But they were always together. They would walk to classes together and sit in the common room together. They always worked on homework during spare times (James Potter actually turned in homework!) They even sat next to each other during meals, shared the newspaper and drank from the same cup! ("I don't see why that's so weird," Lily calmly said.)

A week after James' and Lily's agreement found James waking up with a very bad headache. He could barley think or lift his head off the pillow. All week he had been feeling a little bit under the weather but his symptoms today were so bad…he couldn't even sniff in or out for his nose. It only made his head hurt more. He pressed his head into the pillow, hoping that said pillow would eat his head and make the pain go away. Then he laughed slightly at himself for he figured that Lily felt this way last weekend. James opened his eyes to find the lighting dull in his room. He turned his head towards the window to find out that the sky was dark and promising of rain. Great, that's exactly how he wanted to spend his Saturday-- inside.

The door to his dorm opened slowly making a creaking noise. James tried lifting his head up, but then let it hit the pillow again.

"Hey, there," Lily said as she sat on the edge of his bed.

He looked at her through squinted eyes.

"Remus and Sirius said that you were sniffling throughout the night. Well, actually Remus said you were sniffling….Sirius said that you were hacking louggies," Lily explained with a chuckle.

"Ha ha. I bet you think that's funny," James cried, but because of his nose it sounded more like, 'I bet you tink that funny!' He scowled, and then continued, "I can barely breathe!"

"I brought you some soup and cough syrup," Lily said as she pulled out a spoon and a bottle full of some red liquid.

"Okay…muggle medicine? I don't need that. I'm not even sick! I just have a case of the sniffles! Besides, why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" James asked.

"The sniffles? Right. And you're not going to the hospital wing because your pride won't let you." James nodded at this. "So I decided, well, if he doesn't want to get this treated, I might as well make him feel a little bit better."

Lily poured some of the liquid into the spoon and James slowly sat up. He grabbed the spoon and swallowed the medicine in one go.

"UGH! That stuff is horrible!" James cried.

"Yeah, well if it tasted good, then it wouldn't be medicine," Lily responded with a wink.

"That's horrible. Eugh! Merlin!" James complained.

"Stop complaining. Sirius, Remus and Peter have put together some sort of game for today and they need you to be at your full potential."

"Um…have they seen the sky?"

"Yes. It's some indoor game. I'll let you get dressed and I'll leave the soup on your desk okay?" Lily said, patting his leg and getting off his bed. "See you down there," she smiled.

James sluggishly moved down the stairs into the common room. It seemed as if the whole Gryffindor house had been packed into that small room. The Gryffindor common room was big, but not big enough for the entire Gryffindor house to be present.

"Ah, James! There you are!" Sirius exclaimed into James' ear while clasping a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. Here I am. What is this? What are you planning?" James asked while turning towards Sirius.

"Well, the three of us decided while you were hacking loggies-" James scowled at this, "to host a school wide game of hide-and-seek!"

"What's that?"

"You…you don't know what hide-and-seek is? I'll explain. Basically, one person is "it" and then everyone else goes and hides. There's a base that everyone needs to get to so if one person gets to the base before the "it" person finds them, then the "people" win. If the "it" person finds everyone before anyone touches the base, then the "it" person wins. Do you follow so far?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, sort of. Keep going."

"Ok, well to make it more suitable for the "it" person, the "people" have to wait at least an hour before they can try to make it to the base. Also there will be four "it's" to start and I've volunteered us to go first since we have an advantage," Sirius said with a wink. "Of course we won't use it until about half an hour into the game."

"Well…as long as everyone who's playing signs a list so we know who to look for, then I'm in. Sounds like fun especially with the freak thunderstorm outside brewing up," James said with a smile.

An hour later found the four marauders and most of the student body in the great hall where Sirius was yet again explaining the rules.

"Does everyone understand? Good! Did everyone sign up, 'cuz if you didn't…" Sirius threatened, trying to look everyone in the eye of the Great Hall.

"I think they did, Padfoot," Remus assured. "Ok, you'll get 5 minutes to find a place to hide so you better run fast. The Great Hall will be the base. Good luck and go!" Remus cried.

Lily ran up to James, gave him a hug, a peck on the cheek, and then ran off. James slowly brought his hand up to the place where Lily had kissed him, a dazed expression on his face.

Sirius stood their impatiently. He started fidgeting his feet and arms.

"Remus-"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Mooney-"

"Sirius!"

"Remus, please, please, please, please, please!" Sirius begged.

"No! Give them 5 minutes. I promised."

"Like anyone's counting, anyway," Sirius whined.

"It's like…watching…a…never ending…five year old!" Remus cried as Sirius kept whimpering and pulling on his shirt.

"Has it been five minutes yet?" Peter asked.

"NO! Actually, yes it has. We can go," Remus said.

The boys split themselves up among the four cardinal directions.

Lily had felt as if her relationship with James was going well. They spent a lot of time together hanging out and getting to know each other. James was different than she thought he would be. The impression James had always left her with was an unpleasant one. She'd always thought him arrogant, stupid, conceited and rude. He was the only- child, rich boy who flaunted his skills because he was from the higher class of pureblooded wizards. Whether James changed as a person since 5th year or his outer appearance was different than his personality, Lily didn't know, but she liked him now for who he really was. She was getting used to him and his odd friends and the odd games that they played. At first it seemed childish and naïve, but now she realized that everything, well almost everything, they did was all just for good fun. Like now, Remus and Sirius had presented their Hide-and-Seek game to Lily this morning while she was sitting on the couch reading a book. After she thought about it and looked outside, she realized that what's better to do during a storm than to play a game?

Lily took off towards the North Tower. As she rounded the corner and up the stairs, she slowed her pace down to a walk. She clambered up the steep steps, and when she reached the top, she took a look around. She didn't really know where she was going to hide; only that she was going to get as far away from the Great Hall as possible. She started walking down the hall, looking for any hidden alcoves or tight wedges that she could squeeze into until she felt it safe enough to make it back to the Great Hall. As she was walking, she could have sworn she heard a tap of feet behind her. She whipped her head around but saw no one there. Deciding to shrug it off, she continued on with her walk. Turning her head to the right she glanced out the window. The rain was coming down hard. The thick droplets hit the window with a force that made Lily believe that the glass could shatter any moment. Deciding not to take the risk, she moved away from the window and continued on down the hall.

Sirius was planning on winning the game by. Now, nowhere in the rules did it say not to use any skills you have. So, making sure no one was looking, Sirius transformed into his animagus form. Yes he knew this was risky and foolish and if anyone found out who he was, well his life would definitely be over, but the risk of getting caught is also what tempted him to do this in the first place. He gave his body a moment to relax into its new structure and then took in a whiff of the air. A variety of scents filled his nose, but surprisingly, Lily's caught his attention, so he took off up the stairs leading towards the North Tower.

Peter had the same idea as Sirius did. Unfortunately, Peter wasn't as smart as Sirius and changed. Now that he had a view of the ground and an excellent nose to find people, he scattered off in his search. Unfortunately again, he couldn't climb the steps in this form, so he changed back into his human form. After climbing 55 steps towards the East Wing Peter reached the top and changed back into a rodent again. As he scampered on his nose caught something delightful. He scampered over to a little hole in the wall. He squeezed himself through and was surprised to find cheese lying there. After fully inspecting it and deciding that it was okay to eat, Peter bit down in the cheese and enjoyed his break that he was taking.

Remus, not wanting to use the map and not being able to change into his animal form at will, took off at an easy jog down the West Wing. He looked between every alcove and every painting in the wall, but to no avail. Finally he heard some rustling. He quickly but quietly crept towards the noise. Whoever it was hid behind a drapery. His plan was to rip open the drapery and tag them, but as he got closer he could hear noises being made. He heard a sucking noise and then a low groan. Slowly Remus peeled back the drapery and saw two people. A girl was pushed up against the wall while a guy kissed and sucked her neck. Mortified by what he saw, Remus quickly let go of the drapery and sprinted as far away from that hallway as possible. A distinct blush lighting up the back of his neck, visible even from afar, rose.

James didn't even head towards the South Hallway; he just went straight for Gryffindor Tower. He was going to get the map, keep it on him until he felt it was time to use it. He hoped that he would waste no-map minutes, the time when he was not aloud to 'cheat,' while walking to and fro from the Gryffindor Tower. He climbed the steps to the seventh floor and walked down to the end of the hallway.

When Sirius got to the top of the steps he quickly changed back into his human form. His hearing still keen, he heard light movement about 5 corridors down. Sensing that it was Lily, Sirius took off in a sprint, hoping to catch Lily before she hid.

Lily rounded another corner. She never realized how much Hogwarts resembled a labyrinth. She moved slowly and aimlessly down the hall while looking down at her feet. She hated the shoes that she was wearing right now. Actually, she hated the whole outfit. Black stretch pants with a plain white shirt on. Her white shirt had some sort of floral design. She didn't care much for the shirt since it was something her mother bought, and her mother had absolutely no style. The shoes she wore were regular gym shoes, but they made her feet look bigger than they really were. As Lily was walking and questioned about her feet, she heard more noises behind her. She stopped, turned around, and listened. Those were foot steps. Someone was following her. Who that someone was, she didn't know. Lily didn't want to be out in the middle of the hallway alone. She turned and took off in a sprint down the hall. She could hear the footsteps getting closer but when she turned around, there was no one behind her. Freaking herself out by not knowing who it was, her heart rate accelerated. The pounding of her heart was the only thing she could hear. She came close to tears when she skidded to a halt at a dead end. She turned around, panicking, and not knowing what to do. Just then, something grabbed her ankle and pulled her. She started screaming, but a hand was clasped over her mouth. Someone held her captive. One hand was around her abdomen securely while the other was clamped around her mouth. She tried screaming but couldn't make a sound. Her eyes were wide as her breathing got heavier and heavier. It was dark, wherever she was. So it must have been an alcove of some sort, one that she'd never spotted. The footsteps turned the corner and from Lily's hiding place she saw someone walk into view and stop just where she was moments before. It was only Sirius Black who had been following her. Unfortunately, she couldn't call out to him and ask him to save her. She watched Sirius stand there; it looked as if he was sniffing the air. He looked down at the end of the hallway, turned around and walked back towards the way he came.

The hand around Lily's waist lessened a little bit, but not the hand on her mouth.

"Lily, it's just me," the voice whispered. Even in the dark, she knew exactly who "me" was. It was Keith.

He let go of her completely. She turned around and smacked him on the arm.

"You stupid, stupid…moron! You had me practically peeing my pants!" she cried.

"I'm sorry. You looked scared and lost and I could hear your footsteps coming and they sounded frightened if that makes sense. And then I recognized Black's heavy footsteps, so…I grabbed you," Keith said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well, it would have been nice if you had said something like, 'Hey it's me, Keith, not some crazy evil stalker,'" Lily stressed.

Keith chuckled. "Ok, I'll remember that next time."

"I'm glad you think this is funny. I'm leaving," she said as she stood up.

"Don't stand, you'll hit your-"

THUNK!

"-head," Keith muttered. Lily flopped back down.

"Ow," she murmured as she rubbed her head.

"Yeah, it's a low ceiling." Lily rubbed her head some more and then started to crawl out.

"Are you and Potter really going out?" Keith asked.

That made Lily stop. She turned around and looked at him.

"Yes, why? Does it bother you?" she asked.

"To be honest, a little bit. You couldn't do better?" he asked her.

That made Lily really angry. "Excuse me? Better? Couldn't you do better than James Potter's girlfriend? You think that you're better suited for me than him?" she snapped.

"I do think that I'm a better boyfriend for you than him."

"Well, you've got a lot of balls to be saying that, Keith Fox, because you're not even half the man that James will always be."

"Lily, calm down and sit next to me. Stay a while," Keith said, patting the spot next to him, disregarding her retort.

"Ugh, no, I'm not going to sit next to you. You just insulted my boyfriend."

"I have every right to be jealous, whether you're my girlfriend or my ex-girlfriend. I'm not gonna hurt him or say anything, I was just venting," Keith explained, his expression calm.

"Ok, you broke up with me, remember? You broke up with me because I was a Gryffindor, remember?"

"Can we just put the past behind us and be friends?" he asked her.

Lily looked down at him. Keith sat there with a calm expression on his face. It was weird that they were in an argument and Keith acted as if they were talking about the weather. She sighed and sat down next to him. Keith wove his hand around her waist.

"Okay, friends don't put their hands around other friends," Lily said as she removed Keith's hand lightly from her body.

"Alright, sorry. So, how have you been?" he asked her.

"Good, I guess. I spend a lot of time with James and his friends," Lily said smiling at the thought.

"Yeah, I've noticed. You sit by them and stuff," Keith said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well one normally sits by their boyfriend," Lily said, her eyebrows raised.

Keith chuckled. "Okay, fine whatever. You got me."

Lily didn't say anything after Keith's comment, and a silence overcame them. Lily cleared her throat.

"You been alright as well?" she asked him.

"I guess. It's hard though. I miss hanging out with you," he said.

"Well what about what's-her-face? Sandy, right? You two seemed pretty cozy at the party last week," Lily said. She couldn't help but keep the growl that went with her comment.

"Yeah, well that was a one time thing. A stupid one time thing."

"It was," Lily mumbled.

"Well, if you remember, I'm known for doing stupid things, like swimming in the lake during November."

Lily laughed at this. She thought of the memory Keith was talking about. While they were dating, Keith had insisted that the two of them go swimming, even though it was November. After claiming that they'd catch a cold, Lily stood by the edge of the lake while Keith striped himself of his clothes except for his boxers and white undershirt.

"Keith! Please don't do this," Lily said. Her voice was serious, but her eyes held amusement.

"Come on, it'll be so much fun!" Keith cried. He stepped back, took a running jump, and cannon-balled into the lake.

"SHIT! It's cold in here!" he cried.

"No kidding! Get out now. Are you satisfied?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I am."

That afternoon, Keith's nose clogged up and a cold hit him hard making him skip class for three days after.

"Or like the time you thought it'd be fun to go flying at night," Lily said with skeptical eyes.

Keith had wanted to take Lily flying real bad so one night they snuck out to the broom shed and stole a broom. While no one had gotten hurt, McGonagall saw the two fly past her room and she had come out immediately. They both had to serve a weeks worth of detention.

"We did some pretty crazy stuff together," Keith said.

"Yeah, we did."

"I miss it. I miss doing this, just talking. I miss you," Keith said as he turned and looked Lily in the eye.

Lily returned his gaze. She could see the lust forming in his eyes, and it scared her a bit, but she didn't move.

Keith looked from her eyes to her lips and then back to her eyes. He then leaned in slowly-- and kissed her.

Lily froze. She gasped, which gave room for Keith to deepen the kiss. Lily roughly pushed him away from her.

"Get away from me!" she cried.

"Lily, it was a mistake breaking up with you," Keith said, his breathing slightly hitched. "I want you to go out with me again. Dump Potter and go out with me again."

"Ew, Keith, no. You…you're something of the past. I…I like James right now, and that's who I want to be with. You've lost your chance and I've got to go," Lily said. She started to move away from him.

"It's not that James Potter isn't good enough for you, it's that you're too good for him," Keith called out.

James made it back to the Gryffindor dorm in record time. He jogged up the stairs into the boys' dormitory. He ruffled through the items in his trunk until he found what he was looking for. He pulled it out and stared at it proudly. One quick glance wouldn't hurt, would it? James muttered, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' and the black lines spread, creating the map of Hogwarts. James glanced down the East Wing and saw Peter not moving by a wall. James didn't let the confusion sway him from his original plans, and he kept searching. He saw Remus in the East Wing walking down the corridor. No one was in his area for miles. Glancing towards the north side, James saw something that made his stomach drop. In a hidden alcove, positioned too close for comfort where the names Lily Evans and Keith Fox. James took off at a sprint towards the North corridor.

James ran past Sirius as he was heading towards the area where Keith and Lily were.

"Prongs? What's going on?" Sirius asked, worry etched on his face.

"Nothing, just keep…keep doing whatever you're doing," James said breathlessly as he rounded the corner. Just down a little way, James saw red hair moving towards him.

"Lily!" he called. Her eyes lit up and she froze. Misunderstanding her action James pounded his feet even faster. He wrapped his arms around her when he reached her and Lily sighed.

"I guess you caught me," she said.

"Hell, yes, I did! What were you thinking?!" he cried. He couldn't believe that she was giving up that easily.

"I-I don't know. I just needed…"

"To touch him again? Is that it? I wasn't good enough?" James spat releasing her fragile body.

"I-what? Who's him?" she asked.

"Weren't you with K-" but Lily didn't know about the map. So James couldn't say that he saw her.

"I was in an alcove and I decided to hide somewhere else and then I saw you," she said with a puzzled look on her face.

"I…oh, yeah. Ok, well, I tag you," James said. He couldn't understand why Lily didn't bring up Keith. He did see them on the map, he was sure of it. So why didn't she say anything? Deciding to trust her, James didn't say anything either as they headed towards the Great Hall.

While Lily's cough medicine seemed to hold James' cold off for about 3 hours, after that James looked as if he was going to die. He was sniffling and coughing and sneezing everywhere. Lily and the guys practically begged him to go to the Hospital Wing, but James refused.

"James you look deathly ill. You're pale and clammy and your forehead is heating up," Lily said with concern.

"I'm bloody well not sick! Just- leave me alone," he snapped as he hugged his cloak closer to his body. They were sitting in the Great Hall eating dinner. James had put food on his plate but he hadn't touched any of it.

"James, you haven't touched any of your food," Lily commented.

"I know. I'm not hungry."

"Yeah, well, whether you're sick or not, you should eat something. It will make you…look better," she said.

"Merlin, Lily! Just leave me alone!" he cried. Lily jumped back in surprise. She didn't really know what to do but sit and try to not let her emotions get the better of her. "Um…"

"I'm going back to the dorm," James snarled. He got up from his seat and stalked down the hall and out the door.

The four boys just sat there eating as if nothing had ever happened.

"He gets moody like that a lot. It's nothing personal. Give him a few moments and then go talk to him," Remus said with a small smile.

"Yeah, in the mean time, will you hand me his plate?" Sirius asked, his eyes shinning brightly with hunger.

"Um…here," she said as she handed Sirius James' untouched plate.

After 15 minutes of silence, Lily left the hall, following James' path back up toward Gryffindor Tower.

Lily voiced the password for the Fat Lady and entered the room. It wasn't very hard to find James. He was lying on the couch with a wool blanket pulled over his head. The only reason why she knew it was him was because his messy mop of hair was sticking out at the top. She walked quietly over towards him. She pulled the cover down from over his face slowly and looked at him. She could see his eyes screwed shut tightly under his glasses. Lily gently tugged them off.

"Oh James," she sighed as she brushed at his hair lightly. Lily stood up and was going to head to bed when his hand grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Don't stop," he mumbled.

Lily sat down on the floor next to him. She started running her hands through his hair.

"How you feeling?" she asked.

"Like shit," he whimpered.

"You look like it. James, I think you have a fever or something."

"I don't know. My head is itchy as well."

"You must have fleas," she commented.

At that comment his eyes flew open wide. He looked up at her with horror. How would he explain to everyone why and how he got flees?!

"I'm kidding," she said with a laugh as she lazily dragged her fingers through his hair. "Tomorrow we're going to Diagon Ally to fix your problem," Lily said.

"Diagon Ally? Why aren't you taking me to the hospital wing," he asked.

"Since you're so intent on not going there, the only other place I can think of was Diagon Ally. If Diagon Ally doesn't have it, then I don't know who would," she answered.

"How are we going to get there?" he asked her.

"I'm the girlfriend to the most famous prankster in school who is friends with the top 3 pranksters in school. I'm sure those four boys will be able to come up with something," she said with a wink.

That night, James had a dream about getting bitten by a German Sheppard. Fleas jumped from the god to James' hair before he could stop it.

"I promise, Lily. It's just a little fly," he begged, trying to get her to understand.

"That is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my entire life," she snapped. "Don't touch me, don't even get near me. I'm not catching your freak disease."

"Lily, please. Don't be like this. What if I get it fixed? I can fix this!" he cried.

"Yeah, well, it's too late now. To bad you didn't try to solve this sooner," she spat and walked away.

"Lily! Lily!"

"James!"

"Lily! Please. I need you!" he cried when he heard his name.

"James. Wake up, now, you sound pathetic."

James slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Sirius who was leaning over him. Sirius was already dressed. Sirius was never even up before James, let alone dressed.

"You've been mumbling Lily's name for the past five minutes. What are you thinking about?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

James looked absolutely horrible. His eyes and nose were red from being rubbed, and his skin was very pale. His hair was more unkempt than usual and his movements were slow and unstable.

"Get out of here you perv," James snapped as he pushed Sirius away from him. He got up and slowly walked towards the bathroom.

"Lily wants to leave in half an hour okay?" Sirius called.

"Nugg," James responded back.

The group ended up catching the Night Bus on the outskirts of Hogwarts to Diagon Ally. They all greeted Tom the innkeeper and headed out to the back where Lily pulled out her wand and tapped the bricks. The group entered the ally. It wasn't as crowded as it normally was right before school started. There were few people and most of the shops looked dead. The teens slowly walked down the streets looking for some sort of shop that would help their problem. After about an hour of wandering, Sirius and James started to give up hope on finding something to help James' itching problem.

"Let's get something to eat," Sirius whined.

"I'm not hungry," James snapped as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

"Prongs, that is disgusting," Remus commented, staring down in horror at his friend's hand.

"Here, I brought some tissues for you," Lily said as she handed him one.

"Thanks," he said with a smile. James wiped his nose and then took Lily's hand into his own.

"Ok, you're not holding my hand with that one," she said while looking down at his germy hand.

"Sorry," he said. He grabbed her by the shoulders and moved around her so he could hold her with his clean hand.

Sirius kept complaining, so the group stopped at a little shop to get a bite to eat. As they were walking, Lily spotted a dark shadowed shop on a corner. A couple of the windows were broken. The sign read, "Magically Clean."

"Let's stop in there," Lily commented. "We might not find something for James' cold, but maybe we will find something for his head."

"It looks dark,"

"And creepy,"

"And dangerous,"

"And…dark," Sirius said, repeating what James had said.

"You're all being babies. Come on," she said, forcefully pulling James towards the shop.

The group entered the store and a little bell went off over their heads. Sirius, overreacting, covered his head with his hands in a panic. When he realized that everything was safe, he brought them back down.

Lily walked towards the front desk. 'Ring bell for assistance' the sign read. She gave it a small tap.

"Oh, I like that!" Sirius cried with excitement. He rang the bell again. When he noticed that the shop owner wasn't coming he rang it again and again and again.

"Alright!" Lily cried, putting her hand on top of his to stop his actions.

"Alright is correct. Merlin, do I hate kids like you," the shop owner spat. He looked upset. The man had to be at least 50 years old, if not older. He had a pot belly and his shirt was covered in grease stains. He wore goggles on his head and a work apron around his waist. He smelled like he'd just been to the local Irish Pub.

"Hi. I'm, I was wondering if you could help us with a problem that we have," Lily started.

"Don't kids your age always have problems?" he snapped.

"Um…I guess. Well…you see…my boyfriend's head is itchy, like a rash or something. It's been going on for a couple of days now. We can't really figure out what it is and while the title of your shop suggests cleaning supplies…we were hoping that you might have something to cure him. He's already got a cold and to top it off an itchy head and if we could eliminate one problem…well…"

"Does she always talk this much?" the shop keeper asked the Marauders. Sirius nodded his head and Remus slapped him.

"Do you have anything or not?" Lily snapped. Now she was getting frustrated with this man.

"I think…let me see," he said as he walked away from the kids and down an isle. The group followed him looking at the exotic things on the shelves. The man brought them down an isle full of odd looking plants. Some were odd colors such as macaroni yellow or puce. Others looked painful to the touch with spokes and sharp thorns sticking out. Sirius found a plant with eyes blinking up at him. He quickly moved away from that one.

The man picked up some things and put others back on random shelves

"You said that you were having a hair problem? Your head is itchy?" the man asked.

"Yes," James whined.

"Well, then, I have just the thing," the man said as he pulled out a shampoo bottle out of his apron.

"Since when did you have that?" Sirius asked in amazement.

"Since you brats walked in. I forgot it was there, that's all."

Lily looked at the bottle. It read 'Miracle Shampoo. Works on any abnormal hair disease.

"Um…I don't think James has a disease, just a hair-"

"Do you want it or not?" the man asked, waving the bottle around her.

"How much is it?" Lily asked with a forced smile.

"25 gold coins," the man said as he walked back to his desk.

"25? For a bottle of shampoo? My wand cost less than that!" Lily cried.

"Again, I ask, do you want it or not?"

Lily fished around in her bag for some galleons.

"I'll get it Lily," James said while putting his hand over hers. He reached into his pockets and pulled out 4 galleons, 2 sickles and a nut.

"Guys, can you help me out?" James helplessly asked.

The four of them fished in their pockets trying to put together 25 galleons.

"Don't be silly. I have it all right here," Lily said. "If it makes you better you can pay me back," she said with a roll of her eyes.

She put the money on the table and grabbed the bottle.

"Would you like a bag?" he gruffly asked.
"No, thank you, but thanks for your help today," she said with a polite smile. She quickly walked out of there, the four boys following in her pursuit.

"I wanted to go up to that shop owner and smack him. He was so rude to you, and I would have taken care of it Lily, but my head felt like it was going to explode-"James started.

"I know that you would have. Whatever, he was a jerk, I don't really care," Lily said nonchalantly.

The group headed back to Hogwarts. James took a long shower, using his new product and returned downstairs. He sat down next to Lily and put his arms around her.

"Mmm, you smell nice," Lily commented as she snuggled closer to him. "You seem to be feeling better."

"Much better," he sighed, resting his head on hers.

"You two are so nasty-"

"Shut up. You're just jealous," Lily snapped.

"Rawr! You're starting to act like that irritable shop owner," Sirius snapped.

"Did you notice how many broken windows he had?" Peter asked.

"The place was a mess. I kind of felt bad for him," Remus said.

"Well, I didn't. If he really wanted to leave a good impression, he would have tried harder," Sirius sniffed. The rest of the teens started laughing.

"Should we make it an early night since we have school tomorrow?" Lily asked.

"Doesn't matter what day of the week it is…it's always a late night in the boys' dorm," Peter said with a grin.

"Ok, well I'm going to bed. Goodnight boys," Lily said as she pulled away from James' embrace. "See you in the morning."

"Night Lily," Peter and Remus called.

Once she was out of ear shot, Sirius asked, "How come you two never kiss?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do you mean? It's as simple as my question. You two hug and…lie on the couch together, but you're never…"

"Intimate," Remus finished off.

"It's different with Lily and I. We really didn't know each other when this started and so we kind of had to start at the beginning, which is friends," James said.

"So where are you now?" Peter asked.

"I…I don't really…know…"


Ok, so the editing process didn't go as quickly as planned…but that's alright! Wish I could tell you when the next chapter will be up, but I can't…because it's not written. All I can say is…Potions Class.

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