Disclaimer: It's about time I got over the fact that I don't own Harry Potter. Also, I hope you enjoy this chapter, but I will warn you that it's not exactly... happy. :-/

"So, the Head Girl actually took a peek at you, huh?"

James was beginning to regret telling Sirius about what had happened between him and Lily in the bathroom that morning. They were in the Great Hall, eating their dinner, and Sirius wouldn't stop talking about it; every few minutes, he'd bring it back up again. James tried not to let his annoyance show, though; Sirius would never drop it if he did.

"I guess so, yeah," he answered. "Although, I wouldn't really call it a 'peek.'" He piled a second helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate and reached for a buttered roll.

"Oh, yeah?" Sirius said, giving James a nudge and raising his eyebrows suggestively. "What would you call it then?"

James sighed, and said, "I don't know, Padfoot. Just not a peek. She didn't exactly try to hide that she was looking."

"Sounds like she wants you, mate," Peter said from across the table. He looked down to where Lily was sitting with Alice and smirked.

"You really don't know Evans, do you?" James joked. He didn't like the way that Wormtail kept looking at Lily, though; he was just staring at her now, almost leering. James shook off his annoyance and tried to change the subject.

"Anyway," he said, loudly, making Peter look back over to him, "we have more important things to talk about." James dropped his voice to just above a whisper and looked around at his friends, his eyes coming to a stop at Lupin. "Don't forget that the first full moon of the year is next Thursday."

Remus rolled his eyes at James. "That's likely," he said.

"I'm serious!" James said. He had said the reminder more for the benefit of the other two, Sirius and Peter. "I don't want anyone backing out like last year because they 'forgot.'" James cast a glance at Peter, who made a face at him but moved his eyes down to the table. "Just try not to get detention or anything that day, okay?" This time James gave Sirius a look.

Sirius rolled his eyes, but said, "Will do, Prongs." The lot of them were always in detention (except for Remus), but Sirius, especially, seemed prone to get extra detentions right before the full moon, making it almost impossible sometimes for him to go with them to the Shrieking Shack. He almost always had detention from Slughorn, who made sure to either keep Sirius late into the night, or have him show up early in the morning. Either way was no good; it wouldn't happen this year.

Remus spoke up and said, "It's really not a big deal if you guys can't come with me every time."

Sirius looked at Remus like he was crazy. "Save it, Moony. We promised you years ago that we'd help you out with everything. We're not going back on that promise now. Are we?" Sirius gave a hard look at Peter, and then James.

James gave him a small smile and said, "Definitely not."

He looked over at Remus, who gave them all a small, embarrassed smile.

"Well," Sirius said, loudly, "enough with all this touchy-feely bullshit." He turned to James and said, "So, we all know that Evans saw you in nothing but your loin cloth-" James rolled his eyes- "but, the question is, did she return the favor?"

James looked up at the ceiling and groaned.

Lily pushed the remains of her food around her plate, lost in thought. It wasn't pleasant, either. That git Potter had told all of his stupid friends (the Marauders, they called themselves) what had happened that morning. It wasn't too hard to figure out; his friend Sirius Black kept nudging him and looking over at her all through dinner. She wanted to go over there and slap the two of them. Hard. She imagined doing it: how her hand would sting and there would be red marks on their faces for the rest of the evening. Lily smiled.

"What're you so happy about?" said Alice, giving her a look from across the table.

Lily snapped out of her thoughts. It was probably for the best, too; Potter was turning her into a sadist. "Nothing," she said, looking back at Alice, who was sitting next to Frank. He was flipping through a textbook in his lap.

"I can't believe I already have so much homework," he said, glancing up at them from his book, a slightly panicked look on his face. "I have an essay for Magical Law due next week- 20 inches! Can you believe that?- and another one for Herbology on the magical properties of Tibetan turnips. Plus, I've got to make stuff up to put in that ridiculous dream journal for Divination. I might need some help with that," he said, looking over at Alice.

"Sure," she said. "That should be easy enough. Just make up some really morbid dreams; Seers love that kind of thing."

"I have to admit," Lily said, addressing Frank, "I'm a little surprised that you're taking Divination this year. It's not very..." Lily didn't know how to put it nicely. Everyone knew that Divination was a ridiculous subject, and probably one of the lowest forms of magic there was. "It just doesn't seem like your thing," Lily finished, tactfully.

"Oh, it's not," he assured her. Lily gave him a confused look, and Alice finished for him.

"He's just taking it as a place-holder, basically," she explained. "He needed one more class, and he didn't feel like doing any actual work," Alice finished, giving Frank a teasing nudge.

Frank glared back at her, but Lily could also see a playful glint in his eyes. She looked back down at her plate as the couple continued to look at each other for a moment.

Finally, Alice looked back over at Lily. She cocked her head to the side and asked, "Wait a minute. If you hate Divination so much, then why are you taking Arithmancy?"

"I never said I hated Divination."

Alice just looked at her.

"Well... not at loud, at least," Lily conceded, and Alice and Frank both laughed. "Besides," Lily continued, "Arithmancy and Divination really aren't as similar as people think. Sure they're both ways of telling the future, but Arithmancy is much more... logical." The truth was, Arithmancy was a way of predicting the future by using numbers, and that was the part she actually cared about. She had always liked maths when she went to the muggle school back home, and this was as close as she could really get to that at Hogwarts. She didn't tell her friends that, though (or anyone else, for that matter). They all considered her weird enough as it was.

Just then, a sudden hush fell over the crowd of students, and Lily looked to the front of the Hall. She wasn't surprised to see that Dumbledore was standing in front of the professors' table. She was, however, surprised to note that, instead of his usual amused smile, he now looked out at the students with a somber expression.

"What an excellent meal," he stated, without enthusiasm. "I'm sorry to cut it a bit short, but I feel this issue cannot be ignored."

The Hall was now dead quiet, as the students waited in anticipation for the Headmaster to continue.

"As some of you know by now, there have been several... incidents, as of late, involving dark witches and wizards who are referring to themselves as 'Death Eaters.'"

Lily's heart picked up its pace, and she glanced over at Alice. She didn't notice Lily looking at her, though, for she was glaring over at the Slytherin table. Lily turned around a bit in her seat and looked over to see that Mulciber and Avery were giving each other satisfied looks. She narrowed her eyes at them in disgust. Snape was sitting next to them, and he was smiling as well, although Lily noted that he also seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Dumbledore continued: "I think it is only fair that you all know that these followers of Lord Voldemort-" Lily noticed several people flinch at the name; it had become taboo to speak his name aloud- "have made it their mission to rid the world of non-magical persons- in other words, muggles. However," he continued gravely, "it is my belief that they are also planning to target muggle-born witches and wizards."

Lily's heart dropped as he said the words. She had suspected as much, herself, but hearing it from the Headmaster himself made it seem official. Lily noticed that his words were getting mixed reactions from the students. Some, like her, seemed frightened, or worried; others, like Mulciber and Avery, looked smug; while others, still, seemed outraged.

"I can't believe he just said that," she heard a girl down the table whisper to a friend. "There's no proof of that; he's just trying to scare everyone. I don't buy it."

Lily glared down the table at the girl until she looked up and saw her. The girl glared back for a moment before turning pink and looking away from her eyes. Lily looked down the rest of the table and caught James's gaze; he seemed worried, like her.

"My wish is not to frighten you," Dumbledore continued, and Lily looked back up at him, "but to inform you; to warn you. The danger is becoming more real by the second, and we all must be prepared for what is coming."

With one last unfathomable glance at the body of students before him, Dumbledore stepped down and walked out of the side door, leaving them.

The Hall suddenly broke out in loud chatter as the students began making their way out and to their dormitories. Lily couldn't speak. She was shocked that the Headmaster had left without saying anything else, but on the other hand, she didn't know what else he could say. She had been hoping, maybe, for some words of encouragement, but she, herself, couldn't think of any.

"Well, that was cheery," Frank said. He sounded like he was trying to make a joke, but his eyes were dead. Alice looked at him sadly and gave his arm a squeeze, before turning to Lily.

"...Are you alright, Lily?" she asked, cautiously.

"I'm fine," Lily replied, but she didn't meet Alice's eyes.

"Are you sure?" she pressed. "If you want to talk-"

"I said, I'm fine, Alice!" Lily snapped. She stood up from the table and walked out of the Great Hall, ignoring the look of concern on Alice's face. She didn't want her pity.

She marched into the Head common room and grabbed her books: Frank wasn't the only one who was loaded down with homework. Lily sat on the floor in front of the fire and got to work on her Transfiguration essay that was due that Friday. She worked vigorously, trying to take her mind off of everything that was going on. Studying had always been her way of coping; she liked having problems put in front of her that she knew she could solve if she just tried hard enough.

Lily had gotten about seven inches of the paper written when she heard the door to the dorm open. She looked up to see James walk in. He stopped when he saw her.

He stood there for a moment before speaking. "I thought you would've gone to bed already."

Lily stared at him. "It's not even ten o'clock, Potter. I'm not that much of a prig."

He looked at her in surprise and laughed. "No, I guess not," he agreed.

Lily gave him a small smile and looked back down at her parchment, trying to get back into the groove of writing. She was having a hard time remembering where she had been going with the topic, though, so she just stared at the parchment.

"What are you working on?" James asked, coming closer, and sitting down next to her on the floor. He leaned over and looked down at the essay in her lap. "Bloody hell," he said, looking at her like she was mad. "You're already starting that?"

"It's due this Friday..." she said. She didn't think she was starting early at all.

"Exactly," he said, smirking at her. She sighed and rolled her eyes at him, looking back down at the parchment and trying to figure out where she had left off.

"So, that stuff Dumbledore was saying..." James trailed off, looking at her. "Pretty crazy, right?"

Lily looked up at him. "Not really," she said. "It makes sense to me."

Now James was the one who rolled his eyes. "Well, yes," he said, "it makes sense. But it's crazy that it's happening in the first place. I mean, did you even see that article in The Daily Prophet today? About that muggle family being killed?"

Lily glanced up at him in surprise. "You saw that?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied, matter-of-factly. "That's what I meant by crazy. People thinking that they have the right to kill others just because they have no powers. It's disgusting." James shook his head, looking sick.

Lily just stared at him. He was, after all, a Pure-Blood. And most people like that seemed to agree that muggle-borns were worthless; dirty. Mudbloods.

"I have to admit," she said slowly, "I'm a little surprised that you think that."

James looked up at her, looking shocked. "What?" he said, sharply. "That I think murdering people is wrong?"

"No!" Lily said, scrambling a bit. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean, Evans?" he asked, his voice cold. She was surprised to see that he actually looked hurt.

"Nothing!" she exclaimed. "I just meant that... well, you are a Pure-Blood... I just thought you might-"

"You thought that I would side with people like Mulciber or Avery? Or Snape?" James looked furious. "You think that I have something against muggle-borns?"

"No!" Lily said. This was all coming out wrong.

"Well, in case you forgot, I'm not the one who called you a... a Mudblood." He didn't even like saying the word. "In fact, as I recall, I was the one who defended you."

Lily looked away from his burning hazel eyes and down at her hands in her lap, feeling ashamed. She shouldn't have said anything; she shouldn't have thought anything.

"I know you never liked me, Evans, but bloody hell. I can't believe you would think I'm like that."

She still couldn't meet his gaze. "I don't-"

"No," he interrupted. "Listen to me, Evans, and look at me when I say this." He grabbed her chin and pulled her face up to his. She stared at him, forcing herself not to turn away. "Think whatever you like about me. I really don't care. You can call me an idiot, a git, a fucking twat for all I care. But never say that I give a damn about blood status."

He glared at her for a moment more, still gripping her chin roughly in his hand. It almost hurt, but Lily was so embarrassed that she didn't care. She tried to force herself to stare him down, but in the end, she couldn't do it. She looked away. Without another word, James looked away from her, his jaw clenched, and stood up and walked to his room.

Lily heard the door close and, without warning, tears began streaming down her face. She was so ashamed of herself. It was true that she didn't like James; he annoyed the hell out of her most of the time. But she knew better than to think that about him. She didn't know what she had been thinking when she said that. For the first time in a long time, she was disappointed in herself.

Not caring if she was seen, Lily sat on the floor, hiding her tear-streaked face in her hands, and let herself cry.

A/N: Well. I really don't know what to say. This chapter came out a bit differently than I was expecting it to, but I think I like it. :) I'll know better once I find out what you guys think. So, please REVIEW! I would especially appreciate it for this chapter, if you could tell me if you liked it or not. Thanks! :)

Also, FFN is being dumb and not letting me save my edits to this chapter, so I can't make the page breaks. Urgh.