It was late at night when the Marauders and Jessi got back to Hogwarts

It was late at night when the Marauders and Jessi got back to Hogwarts. No one was really in the mood to talk, so they all went back to their respected dorms. When James walked through the portrait hole into the Head's common room, he saw Lily asleep on the couch. He couldn't help but smile, it had been days since he smiled. Since the last time I saw her. He thought. James dropped off his bags in his room and returned to Lily. She looked so peaceful, even with her book still clutched in her hand. James took the book from her and placed her bookmark that was on the table in the spot she was keeping open, and placed the book on the table.

"Lily." James whispered. Lily shifted slightly but did not wake up. He sat there for a moment wondering what he should do. Should I leave her here for the night? Or should I carry her to her room and let her sleep in her comfy bed? Would she get angry and think I'm trying to make a move on her? Shit! Eventually he decided to just deal with the consequences and take her to her bed. James slowly picked Lily up off the couch and started heading towards her room. He couldn't believe she hadn't woken up yet. Only as he slowly stated to lower her onto her bed idd her eyes start to flutter open.

"J-James?" Lily whispered. "You're back." She said with a small smile.

James smiled right back at her. "Yeah, I'm back." He said staring down at her gorgeous face. His hands were still trapped underneath her even though she was already on her bed.

"James." Lily said sleepily. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Were you going to try and kiss me, the day you left?"

That caught him off guard. "Lily—"

"Cause we're friends, right? And friends don't kiss." She said still not fully awake.

James nodded and removed his hands from under Lily. He sat next to her on the bed and leaned forward so his face was hovering above hers. "We are friends, Lily. I won't lie to you, I would have loved to kiss you the day I left, but Reene and Jessi interrupted the first time and the second time I had a chance I chickened out. But I also have to tell you, that some friends…" he paused as he lowered his head more so that their noses were touching. "Well, some friends, Lily, do kiss." He said before he brushed his lips against hers.

More awake now Lily stared at him. "James—" She said but was stopped by his lips coming back to hers. She tried to protest but could only succumb. His kiss, long and deep, made her melt. What are you doing?! She asked herself. She couldn't help it, she was loving the sensation of his lips on hers but she kept second guessing herself. So she pulled her head away from his. After a moment she sighed. "I don't know about you James, but I don't kiss my friends" She stressed the work. "not like that at least."

James sat up straight. Damn this girl confused him. She was kissing him back so why act like she didn't want him to afterward? "I'm…I'm sorry, Lily. You're right. I…I should go." He went to stand up but Lily caught his arm.

"You don't have to go; I just wanted to get that clear. Let's just change the subject, okay? How bad was it back home?"

"Awful." James said truthfully. "More than half the family didn't even try to show up." He said angrily, and then laughed a harsh laugh. "There were more fucking Aurors there then family! Can you believe that?!"

"Do you know why?"

James shook his head. "Probably afraid of getting attacked if they're out in the open. That's why the Ministry sent the Aurors there, to protect us."

"Did anyone talk to you about what's going to happen with your living arrangements? Are they going to make you move in with another family member?"

"Those people aren't my family." He said without remorse. "They turned their backs on my parents at their funeral and me by association. Besides, I'm of age. They Ministry can't really do anything about where I live. They want to put me into protective care but I refused."

"If they think you're in danger wouldn't be best if you did go into protective care?"

"The whole world's in danger, there's no point in just protecting a few people. I think I know where I'm going to live at the end of term. My parents left everything to me and Sirius."

"Sirius? Why would they leave so much to him?" Lily asked.

"He's always been welcome in my home by my parents. The summer going into our sixth year he ran away from home, he's been living with me ever since. My parents considered him a second son. But we don't want the house. I already talked to Sirius about it. We don't want to live there when my parents aren't there anymore, you know." Lily nodded "We decided on selling it and buying our own place."

"And what about Remus and Peter?"

"It'll be a four bedroom flat. We found one not far outside where Arthur and Molly Weasley just bout there house. Moony will have a room and Wormtail will get the guest room when he's over."

"Guest room? Why do you boys always pick on Peter? You won't let him live with you too?"

James shook his head. "It's not like that. We asked him and he said no. He said he wants to be home to take care of his mother. He said he'd come over every once in a while but wouldn't live there." James looked over at Lily, she still looked tire. "Hey, I'm sorry I woke you up. I just thought you'd rather wake up in your own bed then on the couch. And now I'm keeping you up even more. We can talk more tomorrow."

Lily yawned and nodded. "Okay." Lily rolled over onto her side and was instantly back asleep. James leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her temple before heading back to his room to go to bed.

The next day of classes went by quickly for almost everyone. For Lily it seemed to drag on. She couldn't get the memory of James' kiss out of her head. This is so stupid! Stop thinking about it! IT was just a kiss and it won't happen again! We're friends. She kept telling herself over and over again. When it was time for dinner she went down with Abby, Jessi and most of the Marauders. The instant they walked into the Great Hall, Lily and James were summoned to the Professor's table by Dumbledore.

"Does it ever end?" James whined as they made their way towards Dumbledore.

"What? Responsibility?" Lily asked?"

""Uh-huh." James nodded.

"Lily laughed. "Nope."

"Wow, you're helpful." James laughed.

When they got to the table Dumbledore smiled. "James. I'm so glad you're back."

James nodded. "I'm glad to be back, sir. Keeps me busy."

Dumbledore nodded and handed Lily a piece of parchment. "That's the list of the information for tonight's meeting."

Lily scanned the parchment and nodded. "Which professor will be supervising, sir?" She asked politely.

"None." Dumbledore answered.

"Sir?" James asked.

"I'm having all staff on patrol tonight. You have a lot to cover in this meeting. I have a feeling it is going to run late. I can trust you two to run this meeting without a professor present, can't I?"

"Of course, sir." Lily replied.

Dumbledore nodded and handed James an envelope and a package. James went to open it… "Not now." Dumbledore said straightly. "Enjoy you're dinner, you two." He said with a wink. "The pudding, is excellent."

James and Lily made their way back to their group of friends. "That was weird." Lily said slowly.

James wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying. He had sat next to Sirius and was staring at the envelope in his hands, under the table. Then instantly ink started to appear on the outside:

To: Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, Jessi Carmichael, Abigale Bones and Catarina Hale.

Open in the confines of the Heads Common Room.

James looked up at the Professor's table to see Dumbledore watching him. James nodded and stowed the letter away in his robes.

Halfway through the meal George showed up at the table. "Hey guys." He said with a smile. Everyone said hello back. "Any of you seen Reene?" He asked.

Lily looked up. "She's not with you?"

"No. I haven't seen her all day. We were supposed to have dinner together tonight." George answered.

Lily thought for a moment. "She might be in the choir room, she mentioned something a couple of days ago about working on a new song with Nicky. But I might be wrong."

George's smile fell. "I guess I'll just see her later.

Lily nodded and waved good-bye to George. She looked over at James who seemed to be deep in thought. He sensed her looking and turned to her. "What time does the Prefect's meeting start at?"

"Eight why?" She asked.

"We need a meeting of our own."

"What?"

"Just make sure you, Reene, Jessi, and Abby are in the Head's Common room at seven sharp. Okay?"

Lily nodded is this about the—"

"Not here." James interrupted. "Seven o'clock."

Lily nodded again. After she finished her dinner she told Jessi and Abby to meet her in the Heads common room at in ten minutes while she went looking for Reene. She checked the dorm, the library and the room of requirement, but she couldn't find her. And then she remembered…the choir room. When she got there she froze when she heard Reene singing.

"You can't stop an avalanche as it races down the hill. You can try to stop the seasons, girl, but you know you never will. And you can try to stop my dancing feet but I just cannot stand still. Cause the world keeps spinning round and round. And my heart's keeping time to the speed of sound. I was lost till I heard the drums. Then I found my way."

Lily watched as Nicky smiled and stood up. "Okay good! Now our duet is next. You wanna give that a try?" he asked.

Reene smiled. "Yeah. I'm up for the challenge. Are you?"

Nicky smiled. "Let's do this thing." Nicky waved his wand and the music picked up were it left off. And they both started to sing.

"Cause you can't stop the beat. Ever since this old world began, a woman found out if she shook it, she could shake up a man, And so I'm gonna shake and shimmy it the best that I can today. Cause you can't stop the motion of the ocean or the sun in the sky. You can wonder if you wanna but I never ask why. And if you try to hold me down, I'm gonna spit in your eye and say. That you can't stop the beat!"

"That was perfect!" Nicky said picking Reene up into his arms and spinning her around. "This song is going to be great!"

They didn't even notice Lily until she started clapping.

"Lily!" Reene exclaimed as Nicky put her back on the ground. "How long have you been standing there?"

Lily smiled. "Long enough to hear the beginning of your song. You guys sound great!"

"I'm sorry we ran so long; it's just we want to get it perfect before we perform it. Did I miss dinner?" Lily nodded. "Shit! I was supposed to eat dinner with George tonight. I don't want him mad at me. Did he say anything to you?"

"He came over to the table at dinner and asked if I knew where you were. He seemed more sad than angry. Oh and I think Jessi and Abby are grabbing you food, by the way."

Reene nodded. "I don't want him sad either." She sighed. "I'll be back to the dormitory in about an hour,. I'll stop by the Heads Common room a little after that. Okay?"

Lily shook her head. "No, that's part of the reason I came to find you. I need you to come to the Heads Common room now. We need to talk with James and everyone about the order of things."

Nicky looked completely confused but Reene understood instantly and nodded. "I'm sorry, Nicky, but I have to go with Lily. We'll work on the song more later. Okay?" Nicky nodded and the girls raced back towards the Gryffindor Tower.

Once everyone was in the Heads Common room, James took out the letter and stood up. "Dumbledore slipped me this at dinner. I read it before you guys got here."

"What's it about?" Sirius asked, with Jessi sitting on his lap.

James unfolded it and read. "I know you all have agreed to join the Order of the Phoenix and I thank you all immensely. But I want you all to know that being apart of the Order is not just wanting this war to end but helping it end. This order is a secret society bent on ending this war and you will have assignments to complete to help accomplish that goal." James looked up from the note, everyone was looking up at him. Lily, Abby, and Reene were sitting on the couch with Remus and Peter standing behind them. And Sirius and Jessi were on the armchair; all of them listening intently. So he continued, "The first assignment is for all of you. For those who are not prefects, you will start patrolling like the prefects. With this recent attack inside the school I want security a couple of notches higher. And my prefects show them the ropes. I also want you checking the grounds and anything suspicious. Wands must be carried at all times, for your safety. There are enough badges for those who are not prefects in the package. Just incase you catch someone out after hours. Please be discreet as possible. Thank you all, again. Professor Dumbledore." James handed out the badges to Sirius, Peter, Reene, and Jessi.

Sirius eyes his badge. "This should be fun." He said with a smirk.

Lily's head snapped to look at him. "Don't even think about it, Black. This is work for the Order not a chance for you to go on a power trip. This is important."

"Okay, alright." He said putting his hands in the air in a surrendering motion. "Sorry."

Lily looked over at James. "We already have a set schedule for the prefects." She said. "You want me to make a schedule for our…" she didn't know what to call them. "Order members?"

James nodded. "We've got to get to the prefects meeting. We'll all meet again later."

The prefects meeting did take a long time. Everyone was given a job to do for the ball. They were told their parents could send an outfit, they could order one out of a magazine or if they were old enough to go, get one in Hogsmeade.

Then everyone was dismissed and went to bed.


A/N: I'm so mean! LOL I love it!!