Okay, sorry about the wait. I was banned from the computer until I did my homework. I still have some left, but…here I am.

This is about 500 words shorter than usual, but I wanted to get a chapter out there.

Enjoy!


Part I: Reactions

The Gryffindor common room was vacant when James and Lily returned from patrol hand in hand. Lily was extremely happy that her friends weren't sitting on the couches waiting up for her. When the two reached the bottom of the girls' staircase, James stopped, kissed Lily's forehead lightly and smiled down at her.

"'Night," he whispered.

With a smile playing across her face, she nodded her head, suddenly unable to speak. He pulled away slowly before walking up the boys' staircase, leaving Lily at the bottom watching him ascend. She touched her forehead with the tips of her fingers.

She walked up the staircase and entered her dorm. The soft sound of Ivy's snores escaped from the bed closest to the door. The curtains of Cecily's four-poster were pulled tight. The sheets of Michelle's bed were scattered over the mattress with no body underneath. Lily looked to the window and, in the moonlight, saw her best friend.

Michelle was almost glowing in the white light that was flooding into the room through the windows. Her hand was rested against the glass and her knees were curled up to her chest. She was dressed in her blue and white plaid pajamas and hadn't noticed Lily enter. After a few moments of watching her stare out the window, Lily walked to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her body jerked in surprise.

"Lily!" she whispered, as not to wake their dorm mates. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," Lily apologized quietly. "Why aren't you in bed?"

Michelle shrugged and shook her head. She looked conflicted; it was as if her heart was telling her one thing and her head was telling her another. Lily sat down beside her. They both looked out the window at the serene lake, taking in the rich landscape that surrounded Hogwarts. Lily thought they would sit in complete silence for the entire night, until Michelle looked away from the window. She glanced at Cecily's bed before looking to Lily.

"I don't want to offend you, Lils," she said gently. "But I have to ask you something."

Lily nodded and encouraged her to continue. Michelle looked down at her hands, which were in her lap and hidden in the soft shadows. A sense of shame radiated off her and Lily began to worry. Finally, Michelle looked up and whispered, "Is it a trick?"

"Is what a trick?" Lily asked.

Michelle blinked. "Your friendship with James," she forced out of her mouth. "Is it a trick?"

Lily felt her heart sink and she sighed sadly. "No," she said, shaking her head vigorously. She stopped shaking her head and leaned it against the window. "No, it's not. Where did you come up with that idea?"

But, Michelle didn't need to answer the question, as Lily was sure she already knew the answer. There was only one person she could think of that would give Michelle the idea that it was a trick.

A groan escaped Michelle's mouth. "I'm such a terrible friend," she hissed, more to herself than to Lily. "I can't believe that I listened to Sirius before I asked you about it! I know you wouldn't do something like that."

"I'm sure it was convincing," Lily said, remembering Sirius's words toward her earlier that night.

Michelle shook her head. "I mean, it seemed odd that you and James were suddenly friends, but I didn't really think you were trying to hurt him…" she put her head in her hands. "Then Sirius said that you were leading him on to hurt him and that Cecily was helping you, and suddenly it seemed plausible. I don't know why, but it did!"

Lily placed her hand on Michelle's knee. "It's okay," she said, knowing that it would be easy for Sirius to convince her. Of any of her friends Michelle would be the easiest because of her current state of attraction toward the handsome boy. She knew from experience that Sirius could be incredibly persuasive and extremely suave, attributes he used to his advantage. None of those helped Michelle in the slightest, and Lily could see why she had believed him. That's what happened when people's judgements were clouded by crushes like Michelle's.

"I'm sorry, Lily," she said ashamedly. "It's just…when Sirius told me, I didn't know why it was only you and Cecily, and thought maybe…I don't know. I guess I got jealous and then I wondered why you would do it. But I'm glad it's not true because that would be awful to do that to him now, after everything that's happened."

Lily nodded in agreement. "How was patrolling?" Michelle asked, clearly wanting to get off the topic of her doubting her friend.

"It was wonderful," she said with a smile. Then her mind fell to the argument between James and Sirius and her smile was replaced with a frown. "Well, partly wonderful."

Michelle looked at her in confusion. "How can patrolling be partly wonderful, or wonderful at all for that matter?" she asked curiously.

Raising an eyebrow, Lily smirked at her friend. "It was going fine until we found out Sirius had been following us. He and James had a monstrous fight."

"Oh no," Michelle whispered, looking away from Lily to the door to the dormitory. "What was it about?"

"Me." Michelle's eyes bulged open and Lily giggled slightly. "You know, Michy, that's not very attractive."

Had it been a normal conversation, Michelle would have playfully punched Lily in the arm, but the fact that James and Sirius had fought, and it had been about Lily no less, was not a joking matter. Michelle didn't speak, giving Lily time to think. On the first day, Sirius had actually been the one to suggest she go out with James. Apparently, he didn't think she would actually take his advice.

"What happened?" Michelle asked warily.

"Well," Lily muttered. "Sirius made his theories clear and James tried to defend me. It escalated from there to a point where Sirius told James to go to Remus if I broke his heart again and he basically declared James's love for me."

Michelle groaned and shook her head. "Merlin, Sirius! Why can't he ever use his brain?"

Lily shrugged, and Michelle looked at her questioningly. "Wait," she said quietly. "That's how patrolling was bad, how was it wonderful?"

At this point Lily looked out the window and smiled. She was glad that she was telling Michelle first. She had a feeling that she would understand – seems as she liked a Marauder as well – but if she didn't, she wouldn't show it.

"James asked me out," she told her friend slowly. "And I said yes."

Michelle's jaw dropped and she stared at Lily for a few minutes not saying a word. She would smile and then frown and every time she changed her expression she looked more baffled than she had before. Lily knew she still didn't trust James fully, but knew she would be willing to work on it because Lily was her best friend.

Just as Lily would be willing to show Sirius she wasn't trying to hurt James because, not only was he James's best friend, but it would better for her best friend as well.

"You're James Potter's girlfriend?" she asked loudly in disbelief.

Lily nodded with a smile. "I know. Crazy isn't it?"

Michelle gave one head nod as the information began to sink in. There was a shuffling behind them and they turned to see Ivy sitting up in bed. Her hair was a frizzy mess and she looked at her two friends with sleepy eyes. "Who's James Potter's girlfriend?" she asked while yawning.

The two girls giggled at their friend. "Lily is," Michelle supplied.

Ivy just nodded her head and fell back to her pillow, muttering quietly under her breath. They chuckled quietly at their friend's behavior. Michelle turned to Lily with a sly smirk on her face.

"Is he a good kisser?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

Lily shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Remus walked in."

Michelle rolled her eyes and turned. Her good-natured smile fell and she looked to the ground. Lily looked up and her eyes met the cerulean irises of Cecily. Her curtains were pulled back and she stared at the two with an emotionless face.

"Sorry if we woke you," Lily said quietly. Cecily's reaction was the one she was worried most about.

Cecily nodded. "What are you talking about?" she asked evenly, although Lily could see in her eyes that she already knew. In fact, Lily wouldn't have been surprised if Cecily had been awake for the entire conversation.

Lily said, "Just my patrol with James," at the same time that Michelle said, "Lily's new boyfriend."

There was a moment of silence that filled the dorm before Cecily took a deep breath and nodded. "Oh," she said. And that was all she said. She pulled the curtains around her bed and the conversation was over.


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