"I like him," she whispered to herself very softly. "A lot. I like him too much." She cursed her stupidity. Of course she would start liking a guy just as he stopped liking her.

Typical.

Chapter Six – Caught

The next few weeks passed uneventfully. Lily began to spend more time with the Marauders, and she went to every Gryffindor Quidditch match. She and James spent very little time alone together; they only saw each other briefly at night before one of them retired to bed. Lily, for one, was glad about this; she didn't want to suffer through any more awkward silences.

One Sunday in the middle of November found Lily slaving over a Muggle Studies assignment that was due the next day (a real one this time). She had been working on it since breakfast, and it was eleven at night when she finally wrote the last sentence. She flexed her cramping hand, thinking wryly that James had spoken the truth earlier.

"I've never seen you leave your homework so late," he had said, just before turning in for the night.

"I know, I know," she'd replied in a frustrated voice. "I was…distracted."

He had grinned and said, "I think you spend too much time with us Marauders."

He was right. She had been spending a lot of time with them. For some reason, she just couldn't stay away.

Lily sighed and rolled up the essay, then trudged wearily to bed, ignoring that faint growls from her empty stomach. She was asleep within seconds.

When she woke, it was still dark. The pangs of hunger, which had been faint before, were suddenly a lot more pronounced. She was starving. Lily lit her wand, then checked the time – just past midnight. She groaned at the thought of spending several hours trying to sleep with an empty stomach. There was an alternative, though…

No! She was going to try and sleep!

Five minutes passed – slowly – then ten, then fifteen, then thirty, and sleep was still far out of reach. With a sigh, Lily gave in to her relentless stomach. She really had been spending too much with the Marauders.

"James?" she whispered, knocking on his bedroom door. "James?" She felt guilty about waking him, but didn't want to just sneak into his room. "James, wake up!"

The door suddenly opened, and a bleary-eyed James peered out. "Lily?" he mumbled, blinking at her. "What's wrong?"

"Can I borrow the map and your Invisibility Cloak?"

"What? Why?" He was suddenly alert.

"I…I'm really hungry." She blushed. It sounded like a stupid thing to wake him up for, even to her own ears. "Never mind, I'll just wait until morning." Her stomach growled in protest.

"Wait a sec," he said, then turned back into his room. Lily watched as he pulled the map and Cloak out from under his bed. "Okay, let's go," he said, walking past.

"You don't have to come, I'll – "

"Let's go," he repeated, smiling, and she smiled wryly back. James threw the Cloak over them both, and they walked out into the corridor.

"Did you finish your essay?" James whispered as they walked.

"Yeah, about an hour ago," Lily replied, also whispered.

"Wow, that took ages."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it."

"Lily, why do you spend so much time with us Marauders?" His tone was serious.

"I…I don't know. The same reason I hang out with my other friends, I guess."

"But you used to hate us."

"Not anymore." Lily grinned. "Unbelievable as it may seem, I've actually started to like the Fearsome Foursome."

"Glad to hear it."

They walked on in silence for a bit. Lily was trying hard not to think about how close he was when he suddenly stopped. Lily froze a second later as she saw what had caused the halt: Mrs. Norris. The cat was sitting on the floor and staring right at them, her tail swishing back and forth. A hand grabbed Lily's arm and she almost jumped in fright; when she looked at James, he beckoned to her, and they began to back up slowly, step by step.

Lily's stomach chose that moment to announce its emptiness rather loudly. Mrs. Norris began to yowl.

"Run!" James hissed, pulling on Lily's arm, and they turned and ran back up the corridor. Lily cursed herself – and her stupid stomach – silently as they ran, wishing she had just stayed in bed.

James led her through several obscure passages, until Lily was completely lost. Finally, after they had been running for about ten minutes, James pulled her behind a statue and opened the Marauder's Map. Lily, breathing had, peered over his shoulder; Filch and Mrs. Norris were a floor below them.

"Off to the kitchens, then?" James asked casually, as if nothing had happened.

"I don't know," Lily said uncertainly. "That was close. Maybe we should just go back to bed."

"What, and have escaped Filch for nothing? Come on, we made it this far. Don't back out now."

"All right," Lily sighed. "Let's go."

They made it to the kitchens without further incident. Only a few house-elves were there, but they were eager as ever to bestow food upon their visitors. Lily and James sat before the fireplace, eating and chatting with the house-elves, until they were both tired and full. On the way back to their rooms, James kept looking at the Marauder's Map, trying to avoid encounters similar to the one earlier.

"I'm sorry," Lily whispered suddenly as they walked through the corridors.

"What for?" James asked, surprised.

"For…hating you. For calling you names and being cruel." Lily kept her eyes downcast, feeling ashamed.

"Oh." He paused, then said brightly, "Apology accepted."

"I'm really sorry," Lily repeated.

"Don't worry about it," James said firmly. "It's in the past. It doesn't m—"

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED ON THE FOURTH FLOOR!"

Lily and James both jumped as Peeves' voice echoed through the corridor. They froze as he zoomed around a corner, bellowing the alarm.

"I'll distract him," James whispered. "Meet me back in our dormitory."

"But James – " He ducked out from under the Cloak before she could finish, waving his arms and yelling at the poltergeist. "Hey, Peeves!" he called. "Over here!"

"STUDENT OUT OF BED!" Peeves screeched, following James as he began to run. Lily watched him go. "I don't know the way," she whispered into the suddenly empty corridor. James had the map, and she had no idea where she was. With a sigh, she began to walk, praying that she was going the right way.

She had been walking for twenty minutes, with no sign of James or the dormitory, when she suddenly heard a loud cackle.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Peeves sneered. "I know you're here somewhere."

His voice was coming closer. Lily ducked into a niche in the wall nearby, not wanting Peeves to accidentally collide with her. Little did she know, the niche was already occupied.

"Lily?"

"James?" Sure enough, there he was, squinting through the darkness.

"Pass us the Cloak."

Lily lifted the Cloak and gave half to him, so they were both hidden. Peeves floated by, still calling out. They stayed silent until he was long gone, then James whispered, "Well, isn't this cozy?"

And it was, but not in the comfortable sense. James' back was pressed against one wall, and Lily's against the other. The top of her head reached only to his chin; there was bare millimeters between them.

Then Lily did the worst thing she could possibly do in such a situation: she looked up, right into his deep hazel eyes. Her breath caught in her throat; her heartbeat quickened and she was possessed with a sudden mad urge to close the distance between them, and press her lips to his…

His eyes seemed to burn into hers. Lily never wanted the moment to end; at the same time, she wanted to get out of there before she did something stupid. Her body was frozen by indecision, but the heat emanating from James seemed to draw her in. She leaned a fraction closer, and could've sworn he'd done the same…

Suddenly, James shoved himself away, out of the niche and out from under the Invisibility Cloak. Lily stared at him, feeling suddenly empty, and a deep red flush began to creep slowly up her cheeks.

"We'd better go," he muttered, staring at his feet.

"Uh, yeah…right. Do you – should you get back under the Cloak?"

"I guess so."

They made their way back to the dormitory in silence. Lily had never felt so miserable in her life. It was clear to her, now, that James no longer liked her as anything more than a friend; why else would he push himself away like he had? She felt ashamed, too. Ashamed of the way she had stared at him, like…like he was the sun, the moon and the stars all rolled into one. Like he was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Like she could never get enough of the sight of him.

When he said good night, he called her 'Evans'.

She cried herself to sleep.

For the next week, he avoided her. When she saw him at meals, he was always looking the other way. He went to bed the minute he retired to their dormitory, and was up before she got out of bed. She never saw him in the corridors, and suspected this was due to the use of a certain map. Lily found it depressing that he would try so hard to stay away from her, and she often found herself close to tears.

On Saturday, she went to his Quidditch match. She was alone; Andrea and Mary both had work to catch up on. Lily sat in the stands, alone amidst a crowd of students, and watched him.

"Haven't see you around much this last week," said a casual voice beside her. She turned, and smiled faintly as she saw Sirius.

"And the few times I have seen you, you've looked pretty damn miserable," he continued. "What's up, Lils?"

'Lils' was the nickname he had given her. She didn't mind it; it was far better than 'Evans'. In answer to his question, she shrugged.

"We're friends, aren't we?" he asked. "'Fess up. Has it got something to do with James? Did you two fight or something? 'Cause he's been moping around a lot too."

Lily sighed. "Yes, it's got something to do with James, and no, we didn't fight. It's kind of stupid."

"I won't laugh," he promised.

"I think…" She took a deep breath, and stared down at her feet. "I think I'm in love in him."

I know this might seem rather abrupt, but the story is coming to its end - one chapter to go!

Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed so far; your feedback is really appreciated. Keep reading and reviewing!!

DarkenedWaters