"Yes, James," I said. I felt a lot better, knowing that my hero had come to my rescue again, even though it meant he hexed my ex-best friend.

I got a smile from the hazel-eyed boy and that made my heart skip a beat.

Merlin's pants, what was happening to me?

"Erm, Lily? Now that we're on a first-name basis, can I ask you a question?" he asked meekly. I didn't like the sound of that.

"Watch it, Potter. I've still got my wand," I told him. He chuckled.

"It's not anything bad, I promise," he said. I narrowed my eyes but nodded anyway.

"Okay, feel free not to answer, but… Why were you friends with Snape, anyway?" That caught me off guard.

"Well, he was always there for me, even before Hogwarts. He's the one who told me I was witch and he helped me keep my powers under control. He was there for me when Petunia, my sister, was awful to me because I was different than she was. He was always a good friend, until he started hanging out with those evil friends of his. They changed him, and it took him calling me a Mudblood for me to realize it," I answered. I hadn't expected to be that honest with James, but it felt good to have it all off my chest.

"I'm really sorry, Lily. You deserve better than that," James said. I smiled.

"Thanks again for coming to my rescue so much today. I thought I could handle him, but I suppose not," I said. "Which is incredibly upsetting. I don't like feeling helpless." I didn't know why I was admitting all of this stuff to James; I just felt very comfortable around him. It must have been because he wasn't acting like an arrogant prat like he always did when he was with his friends.

Suddenly, the portrait opened and the Gryffindors returned from dinner. I jumped up, not quite ready to be seen acting civilly with James. He jumped up too and stretched.

"Well, see you later, Lily-flower," he waved, heading toward the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" I asked. I also didn't want to stop talking to him yet.

"Oh, erm… Well, after I hexed Snape, Slughorn kind of gave me detention. I've got it from seven to eleven tonight. I'll see you later, Lily," he said, turning toward the door again.

"James, wait!" I didn't know why I said it, but now that I had… I threw my arms around him and squeezed. "Thank you," I whispered before pulling back quickly. He stared at me for a second, then smiled and walked out of the common room.

I sat down on the sofa, not caring if anyone saw me hug Potter. I was trying to remember where I had smelled his cologne before. It was vaguely familiar.

I felt a weight press down the other end of the couch. I looked over and saw none other than Sirius Black. I sighed. Of course, he would come along and ruin everything.

"What do you want, Black?" I asked, annoyed that he was turning my good mood sour.

"Oh, so he's James but I'm 'Black'? I'm hurt, Evans," he said, feigning offence.

"Go away, Sirius. I'm not in the mood." I just wanted James to come back. I enjoyed talking to him.

"Hey, I just came over to make sure you weren't leading on my best mate. Because if you are, Evans… I'll get Remus to hex you for me," he said, inspecting his nails. I scoffed.

"It's just because you know you'll lose," I smiled. "And Remus wouldn't hex me if you paid him." As soon as I said that, the sandy-haired boy plopped down on the floor in front of us and gave me a look.

"I don't know, Lily. I've been eyeing a new book at Flourish and Blott's. I may hex you for it," he said jokingly. Sirius and I laughed, which surprised me. We'd never laughed at anything together. Ever.

"Wotcher, Moony. The bird's got a mean Entomorphis jinx." Sirius could speak from experience. The previous month I had cast Entomorphis when he stole my Herbology essay, and he was crawling around like an insect for two hours. A few girls were turned off by the feelers, and I had gotten a good laugh out of it.

"And don't you forget it, Black," I giggled. Remus gave me a look, and I knew what he was thinking. Since when did I giggle while talking to Sirius Black? It was a good question. I guess not having Severus around blurring my view of the Marauders let me see them for who they really were.

Perhaps I owed James an apology.

And the rest of them, too.

Oh, hello, Voice. Lovely to see you're back.

Stop talking to yourself and do what's right, the voice said.

That was weird.

Peter had made his way over during my conversation with the voice – myself? – and I was glad I could do this all at one time.

"Erm, guys?" I said quietly. The three of them looked at me expectantly. Sirius had a smirk on his face while Peter looked scared. Remus' eyebrows were drawn down in confusion. "I just wanted to say… I'm sorry for the nasty things I've said and done in the past few years. I guess Severus was influencing me more than I thought. Will you forgive me?" The trio stared at me.

"Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?" Peter asked, smiling. I grinned back at him.

"I'm still Lily, Peter. I've just had a change of heart," I told him. I wondered vaguely if James didn't have something to do with that.

"Is that so?" Remus asked with a smile.

"It is," I stated. Sirius let out a bark of laughter. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is something funny, Black?"

"No, nothing. I just remembered that James is all alone down in the dungeons, cleaning out cauldrons. I bet he'd sure like some company." I stared at him a little too long to be considered polite, then stood, hoping to seem nonchalant.

"Well, I suppose I should go talk to Professor McGonagall about… that thing… she wanted to talk about… See you later, boys!" I made my way out the portrait hole, ignoring the laughter that radiated from the three troublemakers.