James skulked back up to the common room after dinner that night. He had hardly eaten anything, but all he could think of was the way Lily had blushed after Jacob Earle had kissed her. And also the fact that Lily and Jacob were absent at dinner. He had been staring at the entrance hall in case they walked past.

And now he was here walking back to the Gryffindor Tower. As he walked towards an alcove he realised that there were two people stood in it. Kissing. As James got closer to the alcove he realised that it was Lily and Jacob Earle. James hurried up a sped past the alcove to get to the common room. He ran into the boy's dormitory and sat on his bed.

It hurt. Knowing that Lily loved someone else really hurt. But what could he do. That was her choice. Maybe Sirius and Lupin were right. Maybe he had to move on. He sighed and grabbed a book from his trunk. He was going to move on, but he was also going to make Lily sick with jealousy.

He went back into the common room and sat down in an armchair by the fireplace. He noticed Daisy Bennett was sat in the corner of the room, with her head in a transfiguration book. She smiled at him and he tried to smile back.

The portrait hole opened and Lily stumbled through laughing. James didn't look up. He could feel his face burning.

"Hi Daisy." Lily said smiling at the Gryffindor Chaser.

"Are you alright Lily? You seem a bit hyper, and you're bright red. Oh..." Daisy tailed off and started laughing with Lily.

"Yeah, I know!" Lily grinned at Daisy again. Daisy snickered and returned to her book. Lily walked towards the fireplace and settled down on the sofa opposite James. She waited for him to look up and when he didn't she coughed.

"Hi James." She said. James grunted in response.

"So, what are you reading?" She asked.

"A book." James replied coldly.

"Are you okay James. You seem a bit different. Yesterday you were fine. Anything wrong?" She asked.

"Yes." James answered. Daisy got up and left through the portrait hole leaving her books on the table.

"Well, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" She asked again trying to coax an answer out of him.

"Yes, why are you going out Jacob Earle?" He asked pointedly. Lily looked shocked but bit her lip as she thought of a reply.

"Well, after the match, Jacob asked me if I wanted to get a butter beer with him in Hogsmeade sometime, so I said yes." She looked at him stiffly.

"Yeah, but why him. You could go out with loads of other people, but you chose him." He said.

"Oh, I get what this is about. You're annoyed because you've asked me out loads of times and I've turned you down. You feel embarrassed about it." She looked at him coolly.

"Well I want to know why you said yes to him and no to me." He asked again.

"Because I wanted to go out with him. I don't want to go out with you." Lily said staring at James.

"Well, what is it. Is it because he's older than me, or he's better looking or because he's got a reputation for being a bit of an asshole..."

"James, shut up!" Lily glared at him.

"I just don't want you to get hurt by him. He might play you, and then you'd feel stupid." James was almost yelling now.

Suddenly Lily exploded. "THIS ISN'T EVEN ABOUT JACOB; IT'S ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOUR PRIDE IS WOUNDED BECAUSE I SAID NO TO YOU! LEAVE JACOB OUT OF THIS!" Lily screamed at him just as the portrait hole opened and a pile of people fell through it. Daisy Bennett, Carl Hill, Mary, Jessica, Sirius, Remus, Peter and many others.

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE? I LIKE HIM; I WANT TO BE WITH HIM. I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH YOU. EXCEPT IT JAMES, BECAUSE WE ARE NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!" Lily ran off towards the girl's dormitories with tears streaming down her cheeks. She was followed quickly by Jessica and Mary, who gave James dirty looks as they passed.

"Alright kiddies nothing to see here." Remus dispersed the crowd of curious Gryffindor's and pulled James onto the sofa.

"What did you say to her?" Sirius asked.

"I asked her why she'd said yes to Earle, but not to me." Remus raised his eyebrow but still looked at James.

"And I sort of said Jacob was an asshole, and started to yell at her." Daisy Bennett overheard and came over to the group of boys discussing the problem.

"James, to be honest with you. If I had been Lily, and you'd just shouted at me, and insulted my boyfriend, I would never want to speak to you again, let alone go out with you. Be nice and considerate. And chivalrous! Girls love chivalrous!" She smiled and walked away from the boys. James realised that he had made a terrible mistake.

"He's just a fool Lily. Forget about it, you should be flattered that he's jealous of Jacob." Mary hugged Lily and Jessica rubbed Lily's back. Lily felt like she would never stop crying, she didn't know if she deserved this. After a long time spent comforting Lily, Mary and Jess fell asleep, leaving Lily wide awake and feeling awful. She tried to read for a while, but when that didn't work she just paced up and down the dormitory. She definitely didn't deserve this.

James lay in bed watching Lily pace forwards and back on the Marauder's Map. He felt awful. He had hated it when she had been with Jacob, but now he felt bad for making her have to consider choosing. In the end, if she chose him, he would be happy. And if she chose Jacob he would feel a bit sad, but happy that she was happy. He sighed.

"Mischief managed." He muttered as he tapped the map with his wand. He lay down in bed and tried to fall asleep. But it was hard, finally he drifted away into a restless sleep.