I'm sorry guys. Its taken me forever to update. But I'm back, and for those who are reading this THANKS! It will be getting better promise. The plots all worked out, so I'm excited and updates should be more frequent.

Upon hearing Lily enter, Rachel looked up from the book she'd been scribbling in."I brought your fruit." Lily showed her the bowl as proof.

"Mm. Gimme." Rachel ordered holding out her hand. Lily gave it to her, plopping down beside her on the bed.

"So what are you doing?"

"Studying."

"But you never study." Lily pointed out.

"Correction. I don't study for self benefit. This is for the sole purpose of peeving Witherbe off." Witherbe was obviously their DADA teacher. One Rachel wasn't so crazy for. Again, obviously. The reason? Well in typical form, Rachel refused to simply write an essay. She had to argue some point. Witherbe, was brilliant in all honesty, very knowledgeable, but she didn't take Rachel's argumentative behavior too well.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Did it ever occur to you to just let the woman teach?"

Rachel looked at Lily, "That is absolutely ludicrous."

Lily took a slice of apple from the bowl. "Where's Lauren and Kenna?"

"ERR!" Rachel exclaimed startling Lily. Like an unexpected buzzer from some sort of muggle game show right out of hell.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Do you hear that?" She demanded in return.

Lily listened to the nothingness around them for a few seconds before saying, "Hear what?"

"Exactly." She snapped. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear and all that. Until I thought about you, this dorm was silent. Then, your name pops up in my head, a few seconds later you show up. I refuse to let that happen again. Besides, I'm pretty sure that our magical powers increase the chances of it happening."

"But we've already talked about-"

"ERR!"

"They're-"

"ERR!"

"Rachel-"

"ERRR!"

Lily gave her an annoyed look. "Listen, Lily. I love you. I do. But I have gotten so much studying done so far. And I don't want to mess that up by having to spend hours explaining relatively simple theories to a certain someone." Lily knew she was talking about Kenna. "So please, don't think about them, or speak of them."

"Maybe if you didn't find reasons to dislike people you wouldn't have this problem."

"I don't have a problem. And I don't find reasons. They're extremely obvious reasons."

"Really? What's your problem with Kenna then?"

Rachel made an annoyed sound. "I'm not having this conversation with you. Again."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine. Natali then?"

Before Rachel could respond, their other roommates walked in. Lauren and Kenna looked like complete opposites if one thought about it. Lauren was blond with long hair cut in layers that softened up her already gentle face and soft pale skin. Where as Kenna had dark brown hair cut short and blunt, glasses and very tanned skin. A smart looking girl, where Lauren looked nicer and a bit ditzy. Lily learned awhile ago that their looks didn't reflect their personalities though. The only thing they really shared besides their uniforms, were their height and shoe size.

"Lily!" Kenna greeted loudly.

"Hey." Lily smiled.

"Guess what we just saw." She grinned.

"Erik?" Rachel guessed.

Kenna cocked her head to the side, hair swinging into her eyes. "Who?"

"Erik." Kenna frowned, head cocking to the other side. Rachel explained further, "The Phantom from the Phantom of the Opera. Originally Le Fantôme de l'Opéra since it was published in French....Its a popular muggle play production and musical. Its even showing in Her Majesty's Theatre and Broadway."

Kenna shook her head. "I've never heard of it." She giggled as if Rachel were being silly.

Rachel looked almost offended.

"Anyway." Lauren cut in. "Tell them what we saw."

"Right. Okay. We were coming up here from Hogsmeade right, and there was a group of Aurors. Godric, I would join Auror training just for the view."

"Gag." Rachel muttered.

"Kenna. Just tell them." Lauren urged.

"Sorry." she laughed. "Behind the Aurors Madam, uh... fudge. What's her name? She runs that cute little shop off of High Street?"

"The Hogshead?" Rachel offered sarcastically.

"Ew. No."

"Madam Puddifoot." Lauren told her.

"Right! That place." Kenna said. "Any-who. We were passing the Aurors, when we saw her, she was kissing a bloke!"

Rachel gagged some more, coughing loudly.

"Ew. Seriously?" Lily asked.

Rachel made a face. "I think my IQ is dropping."

Kenna however was nodding, like this was the most important news ever.

"So what were you two talking about?" Lauren asked.

Lily and Rachel looked at each other. "Erm, Potter." Lily answered. That was where their conversation was going to go anyway. Besides, she couldn't just tell them that they were discussing Rachel's dislike for their roommates.

Lauren's eyes widened infinitesimally. "Wow. Now that sounds ground breaking. Very intellectual and stimulating."

"What were you saying about him?" Kenna demanded.

"Just insulting him really." Rachel answered.

"So, speaking of James, how did the tryout go? " Lauren asked.

"It just proved that Potter's an arse." Lily said.

"What'd you tryout for?"

"Theatre, Kenna." Rachel answered sardonically.

She frowned. "But we don't have-"

"She's kidding." Lauren cut her off. "What do you mean James' is an arse?"

"Just that at first he wouldn't let me tryout."

Lauren frowned. "He wouldn't?"

"What?" Kenna shrieked. Lauren waved a hand at her, telling her to be quiet.

"Nope."

"Well then what happened?" Kenna asked, ignoring Lauren's bossy hand. And Rachel's irritated look.

"We went for lunch."

Lauren frowned more. Like she was missing something.

"I still say we should just destroy his room." Rachel said.

"We can't."

"We can."

"I'm Head Girl. I have to set an example."

"So, teach the youngsters that men are useless slime."

"Let it go Lily." Lauren advised. "There's no winning with that one."

"I can take offense to that." Rachel said indignantly.

"You can take offense to anything." Lauren replied.

"I objected." Rachel informed her.

"Defending party doesn't care." Lauren replied. Then addressing Lily, "So how'd your lunch with James go?"

"You went on date with the Quidditch Captain?" Kenna asked, leaning to the side her short, light brown hair jumping to cover her eyes once again.

"It was a meeting. Not a date." Lily corrected.

"A meeting with all the signs of a date." Lauren added.

Rachel bit into her peach, for once not commenting. Leaving Lily to answer. "It was not a date."

"Wait, when did you go?" Kenna asked.

"Today obviously."

"Where?"

"Hogsmead."

"That doesn't answer my question though." Lauren interrupted. "How did it go?"

"It was a lunch with Potter. How do you think it went?" Rachel asked rhetorically.

"That's why I'm asking her." Lauren retorted.

"We argued." Lily shrugged, giving them the same line she'd given Rachel earlier.

"Anything you'd like to add?" Lauren edged.

"Not really." She wasn't completely sure she wanted to add in that she ran into James down in the kitchens.

"Did you sort out the whole tryout thing?" persisted Lauren.

"Not during lunch." looks like she had to tell. "But then I bumped into him when I went to the kitchen and we worked it out."

"And?"

"Yes, and?" Rachel mocked, faking enthusiasm.

"And I'm on the team."

"What?" they all asked, in different tones. Shock in all of them, prominent or not.

"But you didn't tryout right?" Lauren asked.

"Nope."

"What?" Rachel repeated.

"How?" Lauren demanded.

"You're on the team?"

"Yes." Lily answered Kenna's question.

Rachel cleared her throat. Loudly. "What?"

Lauren cringed from the volume.

"Hey, um, Lily." Rachel said, mock hesitantly. "Did you, perhaps, forget to mention that little tid bit to me earlier?"

This time it was Lily to cringe from her volume. "It never came up?" she offered.

Rachel gave her the stink eye.

"So does this mean your an item now?" Kenna asked, receiving a disgusted look from two. The other one of them just shook her head, amused.

"No." Rachel and Lily said, dragging the word out.

"All right. I was just asking."

"So, what is the It child getting in return?" Rachel asked.

"Nothing." Lily shrugged.

"Nothing?" Rachel repeated.

"He so likes you." Kenna threw in.

"Yes. Thank you Juliet." Rachel snapped.

"Who?" Kenna asked in return.

"Juliet. The main character, well one of them, from Romeo and Juliet. In my opinion she was always a little desp-err," She paused, changing her wording. "Bit of a romantic."

"What?"

Again Rachel's voice got slow, making sure she didn't loose Kenna when she explained it. "A very famous muggle play, written by William Shakespeare. Originally meant to be a comedy, but its now considered more of a romantic and tragic story."

Kenna's head cocked to the side. "What?"

Rachel just looked at her, as if wondering if she were serious. "You know what? I'm going to have to start doing wizarding references."

"Okay." Kenna agreed slowly, obviously not too sure about this idea.

"Oh! I know. Of the weak of mind and slow in intellect none can compare to Kenna Capulet."

"I thought you weren't making anymore muggle references." Lily said.

"Well golly-darn." Rachel snapped her fingers once. "I'll just have to work harder on that."

"Who's Kenna Capulet?" Kenna asked.

"No one." Rachel said, in a fake innocent voice that Kenna wouldn't catch. Instead she just frowned in confusion, looking the other way. Lauren though was giving Rachel a rather sour look.

"Hey," Kenna said almost randomly to Rachel, of all people, "If this Ron-eo and Juliet was meant to be a comedy how can it be considered tragic now?"

Rachel covered her face with her hand. Lauren and Lily exchanged smiles.

"Okay, first of all, its Romeo and Juliet. Not Ron-eo. Secondly," Rachel explained. "It's romantic as well as tragic." Lily took this time to sneak off to the washroom, where she could brush her teeth, hair and change into her night clothes.

By the time she got back it seemed that they had forgotten about her making the team. Or simply Lauren and Kenna had found something else to do while Rachel had become suddenly tired.

Following suit Lily climbed into bed, not giving the other two still awake a chance to ask more questions.

- O - O - O - O - O -

At 4:45, the loud familiar sound of Lily's alarm rang through dormitory. The owner's head lifted slightly, looking at the hands way too far behind the later in the morning numbers. With a groan she smacked at the general direction of the alarm, her head hitting her soft, warm, welcoming pillows.

There was no way Quidditch was worth this. Not even proving to Potter that she could play the sport was worth waking up this early. The sun was even mocking her by not being up, not even a shimmer of it peeking over the horizon. The bloody thing got to sleep in.

The dorm was too quiet without the alarm or other girls awake and skidding around, desperately readying for class. Lily's head turned toward the dark window, then to glance at Kenna's bed beside her. Not surprisingly, she was blissfully asleep. With a silencing charm around Lily's bed, none of the others heard the needy alarm.

Five minutes after the ringing, Lily was still in bed; trying to convince her body, and mind, that as appealing as the bed may be, she needed to go meet the git downstairs. With a small movement her leg inched toward the bed edge. She was that much closer to getting up.

The clock was reading 4:56 by now with little improvement to Lily's progress. It really was a shame she didn't own a time turner. She could get a few extra hours of sleep then go back and being fully refreshed, go to this work-out/tryout/training thing.

Resigned, and already late, she lugged herself out of bed, into the cold dorm with the frozen floor beneath her feet. Lily didn't even change from the gray unflattering sweats she'd worn to bed. But she did pull a t-shirt over her tank top and a light weight blue jacket over that. Adding socks and sneakers to the mix along with a quick, sloppy ponytail she was ready.

5:15 by the time she was out the door. But she couldn't even thing about how possibly angry James would be. The only thing on her mind in fact was caffeine. Any way. Soda, coffee, an energy drink, potion, a patch even.

"You're late." James said the instant she stumbled into the common room.

She scowled at him. "Am I?"

He nodded taking a sip of something. Something that smelled a lot like caffeine.

"Is that coffee?" She asked. Again he just nodded, lowering the mug. She hated to sound desperate. But this was a desperate time. "Did you bring me one?"

Of all things he grinned. "If you'd been down here on time you would've gotten one."

Now he was just being mean. Before she had time to say anything James turned calling back, "Come on. And who knows, maybe you can earn one." He held up his damned coffee. She really hated him, as well as herself for getting herself into this. Maybe it wasn't too late to quit

Before she could even suggest the 'I quit,' he was strutting out the portrait hole, not waiting to see if she'd follow. He'd just assumed. That dick.

Lily looked at the stuffed couch. So welcoming, right there in front of the fireplace. All it needed was a blanket.

"You coming or what?" James called back to her. With a huff she followed.

"Are we at least getting breakfast?" Lily asked as they walked down the stairs.

"I already ate." He told her. "Its one of the perks of being up when told."

"Why didn't you wait?" Merlin it was too early to be awake.

"I did. Five minutes."

Lily scowled some more. Five minutes. Well, she was still in bed then. But still. The point of the matter was he was being inconsiderate.

- O - O - O - O - O -

Lily stood in the chilly morning air with her broom in hand. James stood across from her, only a few meters away with his own broom in hand and a chest of some kind near his leg that was rattling around noisily.

"Mount your broom and we'll get evaluate what needs to be worked on." He instructed.

Lily groaned. She was barely alive, how was she supposed to be expected to do physically trying activities? James was out of his blasted mind. "Can't I have a cup of coffee first?"

"No." He answered simply. "Get going."

"I can barely see. Its too dark out here." Lily tried.

"Excuses. Chop-chop."

"My broom-"

"Evans." James cut her off. "You're the one that wanted this remember? Now either get on your broom, or leave and prove me right." He knew that her pride wouldn't allow her to leave, not with the knowledge that it made him right.

He was right, she growled mounting the damned broom. "Happy? What now? Captain."

"Warm up, two laps around the pitch."

"That's it?"

"Gives your eyes time to adjust to the dark." he replied in a way that just really pissed her off.

"Fine." She took off at an easy pace, staying rather low to the ground. No more than a kilometer up.

"I'm gonna test your spacial awareness now." James called to her, at this point she was about at the goal posts. "Continue with a lap, but also watch out for the bludger I'm about to release."

"I thought this was going to be a warm up?" She shouted back.

"It is. I'm easing you into the constant awareness you'll need for Quidditch. Besides, its all apart of the evaluation process."

"Fabulous." Lily grumbled so he wouldn't hear.

"I suggest flying higher. That way if you need to dive you have the space to. Also don't hug the wall so much."

Lily heaved an irritated sigh, but moved a bit closer to the center of the pitch as well as higher.

"Remember constant awareness!" But he didn't even finish for the bludger rocketed right in front of her, causing her to scream and barrel roll right off her broom and onto the unforgiving ground. There she muttered a pitiful, "Ow."

In a few short seconds James was standing over her. "You all right?"

"Oh yeah. I'm great." She pushed herself into a sitting position on the grass.

"You know. That right there would have been enough for me to cross your name off the even possible list."

"Its just early. If I could have a cup of coffee then I'd be more awake."

He hesitated as she stood up, wiping off her pants and arms. "Why are you really doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Going out for the team." He clarified.

"I told you. I saw the sign." Though it had become a bit more than that.

James grabbed her arm, forcing her a few steps to the right, just in time to get her out of the way of the bludger that had been hurtling their way. "There's more than that. There's got to be. No one forces themselves out of bed at 5 in the morning for something they just happened to see on a flier."

"I am." She insisted picking up her broom a little ways away.

"Is it because now you have something to prove?"

"Just help me and don't ask questions."

He grabbed the broom handle, stopping her from going anywhere. "You already have a lot on your plate this year. Why are you adding Quidditch?"

"Because. I want the experience."

He pointed at her using the hand not still holding her grounded. "You're lying."

She studied his face in the limited too-early light. "What made you change your mind?"

"My mind?"

"About me being on the team."

"Oh." He released her broom. "Sirius."

"Black?"

"Do you know any other Sirius?" James asked.

"What-" She stopped. "Sirius?"

"He just made me realize I was being stupid. Not letting you on without a fair chance. One thing led to another, so now I'm helping you."

"So, if I wanted to quit, would you let me?"

James considered it for a second before shrugging. "Depends. If you were to quit right now it would be because you're just being lazy, so probably not. But if you had a good reason then no."

"How would you stop me?" She challenged.

He grinned. "I would wake you up, then drag you down here, and force you to practice."

"Kidnapping and forced labor? I'm pretty sure that's illegal." Though it should have sounded a bit angrier, it didn't. It was almost teasing. Only almost.

"Yeah?" He was still grinning.

She shrugged yawning. "Are we going to get on with this?"

"I suppose. Finish up the laps and remember to watch for the bludger."

It had to have been an hour later. Lily was exhausted and the sun was up. Blazing hot, too bright and blinding, but coming up over the horizon at any rate, turning the sky blue and clouds nearby orange.

James had made her race from one end of the pitch to the other, chasing the ball like some stupid mutt. He'd stay on the ground chucking them up, then she'd have to chase, catch and shoot through the hoop before he tossed up the next one. This stupid exercise not only made her tired, but it also, supposedly, increased her speed, accuracy, improved overall performance and with the bludger still rocketing around dangerously, awareness.

"Can we be done yet?" She huffed, holding her aching side and a quaffle.

"Ten balls through the hoop, then you can be done." James shouted at her for about the umpteenth time.

"How about a coffee break?" Man was she starving.

"Ten through the hoop."

"Water?" She'd already had a bunch of water breaks, but it wasn't like he could tell her no. Hydration was important.

"You haven't scored once since the last one." James retorted loudly.

Angrily she chucked the ball in the general direction of the three blasted hoops. The ball soared pretty far, but it wasn't nearly far enough. She just wasn't close enough to make it.

James looked over at the quaffle, then at Lily, before finally his watch. It was Sunday morning, pushing 6:45. They hadn't really started any work until 5:40. The harder stuff she was working on now, had started maybe 15 minutes ago. The first hour laps and a little running to try and wake her up with blood flow. They also worked on simple passing. She was at a very basic level.

So far she'd gotten two into the goal. "Get to five and then you can have more water." He conceded.

Lily leaned her head back, trying to be aware of where the bludger was. She was pretty sure it was near the stands on the other side. "Please?"

"Nope. Here comes the next one."

- O - O - O - O - O -

I know. This was such a filler. But actually I wanted to show a few different things. Mostly just relationships between everyone.

What'd you think?

For those of you who are reading this A/N when chapter 7's already up i have one thing to say. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? The next chapters up silly. ;) Enjoy.