Author's Note:

I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful, kind, encouraging reviews that chapter three got. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep them coming.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hope you enjoy reading it. I apologize the the slight angsty James (he's not that bad), but I wrote this after watching Jane Eyre... *happy sigh*.

Some war things and Sirius' situation aren't exactly fine tuned to the books but I did mention this was AU-ish!

Once again, please take the time to tell me what you think! :)

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling for everything you recognize. You Me at Six for title and lyrics.

Chapter Four - Underdog

"Revenge loves company, three makes it a crowd..."

I watched Potter's retreating form as he marched back to the castle. I watched as Remus and Pettigrew were coming out of the water, Remus shaking his head. I had seen Sirius try and stop Potter leaving, while carrying cups of the promised Firewhisky in hand, to no avail.

I was, I had to admit, confused. Potter had never hesitated in the past to tell me how he felt about Sirius and I, and I couldn't even place the look he gave me after the kiss.

The kiss.

I smiled to myself, touching my lips. Sirius did indeed distract me from the pain in my foot; it had, as cheesy as it sounds, taken my breath away. I lost all coherent thoughts.

For some reason, though, I couldn't shake the look on Potter's face from my mind. When I thought of the kiss I immediately saw his face.

I saw Sirius coming back towards me and I tried shaking off the thoughts of Potter and the shaking in my legs (from the kiss? From adrenaline?) and smiled towards him.

"You okay?" He said, looking slightly concerned as he handed me my cup. I raised an eyebrow at the cup – he had given me a very generous serving.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I'm not too good with blood – I'm a little shaky."

He grinned, "Well, drink up. Get some colour back into you."

"Is Potter alright?" I said, swallowing hard and grimacing after my sip of Firewhisky. It's not that I cared, I was just interested. Sirius looked back towards the castle and shrugged.

"He'll live," He said, sipping his own Firewhisky. "I actually don't know what that was about."

A few moments passed by in silence. I think we both knew why Potter was upset – he had caught his best friend kissing a girl he really didn't like. I took a few more sips of Firewhisky just to give me something to do. Sirius was rocking on the balls of his feet, surveying the swimmers in the lake. We kept looking sideways at each other, smiling slightly and not exactly knowing which way to go, what to say, where to look.

"So-" I began, picking a thread on my denim shorts. I didn't get to finish however – Sirius had suddenly grabbed my wrist, and pulled me toward him so that we were suddenly chest to chest.

"Does your foot still hurt?" He said quite huskily, looking closely at me. I could smell the Firewhisky on his breath, the suspicious smell of sunscreen and beer. This day had been so strange, things were moving so fast, everything was different, new.

"Oh, so much," I replied, even huskier, looking up at him. "I may need distracting again."

He flashed a wicked grin and did what I had been hoping he would do again. Lowering his head to mine he caught my lips in his. One hand was tangled in my long hair, the other managing to clutch his cup of Firewhisky and my hip. Our kisses were deepening, becoming much more needy, urgent.

The events of the day, the disaster of my foot and James Potter's face were suddenly far from my mind.

"You did what?" Mary shrieked as I told her that evening in the dormitory. She was quite sunburnt, her hair wind swept and eyes wild. We had all come back up to the dormitory at about five in the evening, after the alcohol had all gone, the lake had lost all it's excitement and McGonagall had come down to suggest perhaps enough was enough. Potter had not come back.

I grinned at her as I collected some clean clothes, preparing to go shower. I felt sticky from sweat and the sunscreen I had had the sense to put on earlier, as well as the Firewhisky I had accidently spilt on myself as Sirius and I kissed. I even felt I still had blood on me, all though Sirius had made sure that it was all gone when he had healed my cut.

Sirius and I had spent more of the afternoon together; Remus and Peter had gone back up to the castle to check on Potter, and Dorcas and Mary had left soon after, Mary's sunburn becoming painful. My head had been fuzzy from the sun and the whisky and the fact that I was sitting there with Sirius Black, with no Potter around to remove or ruin the situation.

"We only kissed," I said, gathering my clothes and making my way to our bathroom. I shared a look with Dorcas, who was also looking sun-kissed and tired. Mary was working herself up over what I thought was nothing.

"You only kissed Sirius Black," She spluttered, attempting to follow me. I shut the bathroom door on her, smiling widely at the look on her face.

I leant against the door and looked at myself in the mirror. I had a slight pink tinge across my cheekbones, and my shoulders had gotten slightly burnt, but nothing compared to Mary. My hair was bordering on wild, curling at the ends and heavy and sticky with lake water. If my own mother had looked at me then she would have been able to tell exactly what I had been up too – my green eyes were darker than usual, slightly hazy from the generous amount of alcohol I had been given. My lips were slightly swollen and I smiled as I touched them.

I could still smell him – a mixture of beer and the whisky and something slightly musky, the lake water, the leather of the Quaffle.

Him. Sirius.

As I got in the shower I contemplated what I was doing and who I was doing it with. Where were things going to go, where did I want them to go? And Potter? That look he gave me was hard to place and making me slightly frustrated by it. I was almost waiting for the lecture I would be getting from him any day now.

I dressed and left the bathroom to find Dorcas and Mary were not in my dormitory. I was slightly thankful, I didn't want to repeat my day, detail by detail to Mary. Picking up my hair brush to start sorting out the long, red mess, I paused hearing shouting coming from the Common Room.

I padded over to the door and swung it open, thinking I'd need to put my Prefect hat on and stop whatever was going on. McGonagall was already unpleased with us for the frivolity in the afternoon, and a fight in the Common Room would not rate highly with her.

I stormed out and smacked strait into the back of Dorcas.

"There you are!" She said, grabbing me and pushing me in front. They were hiding on the stairs, just where you could see the Common Room but no one in the Common Room could see you. Mary had her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "I was just about to get you. You can't miss this."

"What-" I said, looking away from Mary and trying to see what was going on in the Common Room, when I heard my name.

"… Have you even thought about the consequences?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

It was Sirius. And Potter. I stepped one more step down, Mary went to grab me but I shrugged her off. If they were arguing about me, I didn't care if they saw me. I wanted to know what was going on. Potter was almost pacing in front of the fire, in casual pants and a knitted jumper when a Quaffle on the front, his Head Boy badge pinned on lopsidedly. Sirius was still in his shorts from the lake, his t-shirt slung over his shoulder. He, like so many other Gryffindors who went down, was burnt. However, I guessed the redness of his face could also be attributed to the fact he was arguing with Potter, and looked angry about it.

"You promised me, Sirius."

I almost slipped another step down. What? Sirius promised Potter what?

"I haven't done anything!" Sirius was sounding exasperated.

Potter laughed a laugh without humour. "You know, I was wondering what was going on when you asked me to remove Regulus as her patrol partner."

Sirius scratched his head, closed his eyes and sighed. "There was more than one reason for that, James."

"What? So that he wouldn't find out and write home to mummy about it?"

Sirius scoffed again, and ran a hand through his hair again. Potter's back was to me, so I couldn't see his face. His body language however, was telling me everything I needed to know. He was tense, and I could tell his arms were crossed across his chest.

"What are you doing with her?"

"It's none of your business." Sirius said, pushing past him. "And nothing."

He left Potter and made his way towards the stairs. I was too fixed to the spot I had crouched in, my head swimming with what was said, to move in time. He froze when he saw me, and my breath caught in my throat. He opened his mouth, head shaking, looking quite fed-up. He was about to speak when we heard footsteps, and looked to see Potter making his way towards us, his head down, obviously not expecting Sirius, or myself, to be on the stairs.

I expected Potter to start shouting again, to scowl at me, to do something that was just so him when it came to me. He just stared, a blank look, at the situation. Sighing, he pushed his way past Sirius and made his way up to the boys' dormitory.

"Lily," Sirius said, looking at me wearily. "I'm sorry."

I just nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Today was nothing? The kisses, nothing? The flirting, nothing?

He motioned towards the Common Room. "I can't explain that. I don't know what's going on with him."

I just nodded again, but cleared my throat, starting to move and make my way back to my dormitory.

"Oh, probably nothing." I heard Dorcas snap, and I felt her grab my wrist and pull me towards the dormitory. Sirius shot me a pleading sort of look, but I ignored him. I couldn't speak or look at him at the moment, I didn't know what to think or feel or say. How quickly my perfect day had been ruined and once again Potter was somehow responsible.

A week went past without me speaking to Sirius. I had gone to bed that night with my mind racing. What the hell had Potter been on about? What had Sirius promised him? What were the consequences of Sirius being with me? What other reasons did Sirius have for asking Regulus removed as my patrol partner. Had the whole day been an utter waste? The touches, the kissing, the flirting?

I didn't know what to think anymore so I had tried to just stop thinking about it. I couldn't let my mind be distracted with Sirius and Potter anymore than it had been before the day by the lake. Thankfully, being a year above me, I saw little of them during the week.

I had yet to have a Prefect meeting, which was scheduled for later that evening. Potter had stopped looking in my direction what so ever. Sirius had sent me several imploring looks at the start of the week but gave up as I pretended he was invisible.

I wanted boys fighting over me, not about me. I didn't, however much I thought I wanted Sirius, want to cause a fight between Potter and Sirius who were practically brothers. If Potter really didn't like me then I guess it wasn't fair to have to make Sirius choose, and suffer the pointless arguments like the one that took place in the Common Room.

Transfiguration was the last class that day before dinner and the dreaded Prefects meeting. I wanted to avoid Potter at all costs. I was sick of him, and sick of hearing his voice in my head as he repeated the words he had said that night over and over in my head as I contemplated the fight. And he had given me another bloody look to contemplate. A blank, tired, stare.

The hour of Transfiguration went slowly, McGonagall explaining a particularly hard enlargement transfiguration theory for most of it. Several times my mind wandered to the meeting after dinner. How was I going to act? Should I say anything to Potter?

At eight that evening I found myself in the Meeting room (early, this time), fidgeting with my portfolio. The note Potter had slipped in there last week was still in there. I scrunched it up and aimed it at the fire, shooting it and actually getting it in.

"Could have been a Chaser, Evans," I heard Potter say as he walked in towards the table. I arched an eyebrow at him. He was talking to me? Civilly? I stared at him to find him looking less angry than he had in the past week. "I suppose you are another Chaser of sorts, anyway."

I smirked and look back down at my notes. Potter was right, but I wasn't dignifying him with a response.

We waited for all the Prefects to arrive and he and Claudia, our Head Girl, started the meeting.

"We've had an issue with some Propaganda being spread," She said, clutching some papers to her chest. She looked to Potter, "We debated about telling you all this, but we thought we might as well let you know, so you are prepared and you know how to deal with it properly."

She spread them out on the table, Potter was looking angry. "I'm sorry," She said, looking at me and, what I noticed, a few other Muggle-born prefects.

I let my eyes skim over the scrunched up pamphlets, and felt anger swelling in my chest. I glanced at Potter, who was staring at me, almost apologetically. I swallowed, and got up with the others to have a proper look.

WHY WE NEED TO ACT – Read more to find out why THEY don't belong here was emblazed across one in flashing purple. 'They' looked like normal Hogwarts students, but had been drawn ugly and distorted and separated from a crowd of noble, strong, arrogant looking students.

I was feeling sick and looked away, making my way over to the fire. I didn't need to look at all of them to know what they were about. The War was rearing its ugly head again in my life. I felt like if I didn't look, listen, participate, I wasn't affected. Someone touched my elbow and I half expected it to be Potter. It wasn't – it was Dominic, my sixth year Gryffindor Prefect partner.

"You okay?" He asked, motioning towards the pamphlets. I nodded as vigorously as I could manage, putting on my "This war doesn't affect me" mask.

"Of course," I said, "Dumbledore decides who has the right to be here, not the arses who wrote those."

He looked at me sceptically. "You sure? I mean, aren't you afraid?"

"Of what?" I said, sounding a little chirpier than I meant to and catching Potter's attention. "Of paper?"

Potter cleared his throat and motioned for everyone to come back in towards the table. Whispers had broken out in the room like little fires.

"These pamphlets are rubbish," He said, motioned towards them. I noticed Regulus Black was lingering away from everyone else. "We won't tolerate them. Destroy any you find and if you find anyone distributing them we need to take them strait to their head of house, or Claudia or myself."

Murmurs of approval could be heard, and I noticed Potter look quite in his element. He looked … passionate. Like those pamphlets really did offend him, despite the fact he was as Pure Blooded as they came. I looked away again and found myself yearning for the day were Dungbombs were the biggest threats around.

The meeting went on. Others shared their stories of the War rumours we were meant to be stopping, anything that had happened that was worth mentioning, any other news worthy notices were addressed.

Finally the meeting was finished and we were dismissed by Claudia and Potter. I lingered, looking one last time at the stupid pamphlets, especially the drawings. Regulus had been one of the first to rush out the door and I just wondered…

I looked up and saw Potter was staring at me. He wandered over.

"I hope you're not offended." He said finally, scrunching the pamphlets back up. I shrugged.

"I'd rather have seen them here first than out there." I grabbed my bag and made to move when he grabbed my arm. I stopped, almost frozen, and looked at him. He looked troubled, like he had when I had first started flirting with Sirius.

"I'm sorry about what you heard the other night," He said, looking at me intently. "I've come to realise it really is none of my business. And if you two are happy…"

I nodded. He certainly didn't look happy.

"Just," he paused and sighed and motioned to where the pamphlets once lay. "Be careful."

"Potter…?"

Be careful of what? What did the pamphlets and Sirius have to do with one another and me?

I stopped midsentence and watched as he pulled a small bouquet of lilies out of his bag. I watched him enlarge the bouquet to its original size, noticing he used the enlargement spell like a natural.

"These are from Sirius," He said, looking a little embarrassed and I wondered why. I took them from him and smiled, smelling them. They were perfect. They were lovely in the face of what I had just seen, and what I had been feeling. "He's sorry, even though it was mostly my fault."

"Thanks," I said, and he nodded. I left the Meeting Room, transfixed with my beautiful bouquet. I had only gotten a few metres when I bumped into someone.

"I was coming to look for you."

I looked up to see Sirius smiling down at me. He glanced down at the bouquet and stared. He looked almost surprised and I wondered if Potter had done something to them?

"I was just about to come find you…" I said, "Thank you, they're beautiful."

"For what?" He asked, confused, touching one of the lilies.

"The flowers," I said slowly, motioned to the lilies, "Potter gave them to me just then, he said they were from you?"

He arched an eyebrow and I was starting to get confused. I expected Sirius to be proud of himself for them. "You're welcome." He said finally.

I smelt them again and clutched them tightly, beaming a little. A portrait opened and closed and out clambered Potter from the second exit of the meeting room. He looked a bit down, and even when he looked up to find Sirius he didn't crack a smile. He was staring at the lilies, and the way I was clutching them, and half-smiled. He saluted us, and made his way on.

Sirius had begun his apologies about what he had said, and I smelled my lilies again, to let him know that I had forgiven him. I mean, the lilies had been enough.

When I looked up, I could hear Sirius still talking, but all I could see was the way Potter turned to look back at us, and was smiling as I smelled the lilies, almost sadly.

So... at least ten reviews before the next chapter ;) (Jokes, but please, a review from you would be nice.)