Disclaimer: No, I didn't get the rights to Harry Potter in my stocking this year. Why do you ask?

And who cares? Divine intervention.
I wanna be praised from a new perspective.
But leaving now would be a good idea.

Well, who the heck could have seen that one coming? Sirius and Lily? Dude, come on. Up until the moment James saw it with his own eyes he would have never believed it. Really though, Sirius and Lily?

Thinking on it after the fact, the signs had been there. Since about Halloween Sirius had begun clamming up whenever she walked into a room. And the fact that Lily had started publically acknowledging their existence should have been a dead giveaway. But no, James had wandered around in his la-la land for three months while his best friend and the girl of his dreams were apparently sneaking around behind his back. It was like a bad film on Muggle television.

James had spent the entire weekend after what they had privately christened the "Snape Incident" locked up in the sixth years' dormitory. Not because he was pouting, or, good Lord, crying. No. Of course not. It was just that Sirius and Lily had chosen to reveal their…relationship…in an extremely public manner and he had no idea how to face the world. So much of his life had revolved around Lily: wooing her, attempting to woo her, planning how to woo her, thinking about wooing her. And everyone knew it, too. He just couldn't face the looks everyone was sure to give him. The pathetic, pitying looks. Yuck.

And then, of course, there was Sirius. James had absolutely no idea what to say to him. Was he hurt? Yes. Was he betrayed? Yes. Was he furious? Hell, yes. But deep down he really just wanted to skip the awkwardness, the confrontation, and the soul-searching that was bound to happen and get to the part when they could be friends again. Because at the end of it all, Sirius was his best friend. His brother, really. And because of this they would inevitably find some way back to that.

Seriously, though, Sirius and Lily?

Damn.

According to Moony, Sirius spent that whole first weekend trying to get back in Lily's good graces. Not that he was really out of them because, apparently, they never left the other's side; Lily was simply, and rightly, very pissed at him. But it wasn't like she had dumped his ass or anything.

Once she was rather less infuriated Remus and Sirius had sat her down and explained everything. Really, everything. Greyback, Remus' secret keeping, the Animagusing, the Map. Everything. Remus said that she had taken it all in stride. Her only response after they had relayed thirteen years worth of information had been, "So that's where those ridiculous nicknames came from." 'At a girl.

Oh, and Wormtail had lingered nearby.

James managed to avoid Sirius completely that weekend, mostly because the other boy made a point of not coming up to their dormitory when James wasn't deeply asleep. It worked out well, because James, as previously mentioned, had no idea how to react to Sirius. Or if he could even control himself. But Monday did come, and in the end he did have to face the world.

That's not to say that he didn't put it off for as long as possible. No, no, no, of course he did. As soon as he heard Sirius leave that morning James threw his clothes on and headed straight to Charms, their first class. The others would certainly be at breakfast, and he really didn't feel the need for whatever was going to happen to happen first thing in the morning. Besides, there was no way he could stomach food after the night he'd had.

Sitting at his usual Charms table, James pondered what move to make. He could always blatantly ignore them, but that kind of defeated the purpose of trying to mend their trampled friendship. They could have some loud, angry confrontation before class, but, again, that got them nowhere, except probably detention.

James still had nothing when they walked in with the other two Marauders and Marlene McKinnon. Sirius' arm was around Lily's waist and she was smiling her flawless smile. He looked away and didn't stop staring at the stack of textbooks Flitwick used as a podium until Remus slid into the chair next to his. Sirius' usual chair. The werewolf threw a half-hearted smile his way before proceeding to organize his textbooks. Sirius and Lily sat at the table in front of them. Neither looked back.

Class began a few minutes later, saving James from the breathless waiting for something, anything. However, he paid little Professor Flitwickno attention and chose instead to observe the couple in front of him. Taking an analytical approach to sorting through their current mess, he found them…interesting. After Flitwick explained the lesson (water to vinegar and back again) they oriented themselves around the other. Sirius kept his free hand resting on the back of her chair, and, whether it was conscious or not, Lily was leaning toward him. And there was something about the tone of their voices. They were…sweet. In a totally backstabbing kind of way.

But watching them gave James the insight he needed. Evidently they weren't going to break up for him. Come on, the connection between those two was practically tangible. And they seemed to be waiting for him to make the first move, so continuing to act standoffish wasn't going to help matters. By the time the bell rang he knew what he had to do.

He was going to grit his teeth and pretend nothing was different. Yeah. Right.

They went along with it seamlessly. James followed Lily and Sirius out of the classroom and said something like, "Please tell me one of you took notes; I completely spaced out just there." Sirius blinked at him once before launching into some joke about Moony being the smart one. Lily laughed along with it, and Remus and Peter had joined in by the time they made it to Transfiguration.

By the end of the day the whole school appeared to have gotten with the program. Well, not the Slytherins, but no one really expected them to. The only problem with James' otherwise foolproof plan was the proximity in which he had to place himself to Hogwarts' new power couple. They were inseparable, in a pleasant sort of way. That didn't make it hurt any less, though, and for the first two weeks after his initial observation James couldn't look at them. He spent every meal either staring at his plate or talking directly to someone else. Lily's group of friends had officially meshed with the Marauders, so James spent almost every meal discussing Gryffindor's Quidditch chances with Frank Longbottom. (Desolate, as Sirius was off the team for the rest of the year. It had killed McGonagall to do it.) No one questioned it, thank God.

The third week, however, he made up his mind to start watching them again, and, quite frankly, they were beautiful. Sirius could make Lily laugh in a way that should only be allowed from angels, and he looked at her in a way that practically stopped time. It was unreal. And at the same time, they were behaving more naturally than they had in six months. And because of this, James decided to end his funk and start acting like Sirius' best friend again instead of a stalker.

Which brought him to the end of the third week, which entailed one of the most momentous occasions in a young wizard's life; Apparition testing.

It was April in Scotland, so you can imagine what the weather was like. Most of the sixth years were testing and had packed themselves into a huddle as they waited at the entrance to Hogsmeade. A-D was almost finished, so E-H was nervously preparing to go. Meaning James was left with just Remus to stand with as Peter was underage. That was probably for the best, considering.

Nothing had really changed with Remus. Sure, he'd known practically the entire time, but after hearing his recount of the affair James found he could empathize with him. The poor guy had been caught between a rock and a hard place. Or two best friends. Whichever.

The A-Ds were coming back now, so the E-Hs staggered forward apprehensively. James watched discreetly as Sirius grabbed Lily's hand as they passed each other. She turned to smile at him over her shoulder, that curtain of hair of her like water in the sunlight. Their fingers stayed locked until it wasn't physically possible any longer.

Well, sometimes you just have to suck it up.

Sirius strode up to them while waving a piece of parchment. Sometimes he looked just like a dog when he grinned. Moony shook his head despite the smile on his face. "So I'm guessing you passed."

An offended look spread across Sirius' face. "You doubted me?"

"Yes."

James laughed. Really laughed. It felt good.

But then Sirius had to go and ruin it.

He'd always know when to pick the moment of least consequence (with one glaring exception), and more likely than not he figured that it was the best time to strike now that James' spirits had suddenly lightened, because he said, "Mate, we need to talk about Lily."

And there went the laughter. You have to admit it was kind of a low blow. Remus put his fingers to his temples and turned slightly away from the other two boys. Evidently he wouldn't be any help. James sighed inwardly; best to get this over with. "What about Lily?"

Sirius stuck his hands in his pockets. "You know."

Merlin, did he know.

Sirius scrunched his eyes up and looked at his feet. "Well, you know, it's been a couple weeks since the," his eyes peeked up at Remus apologetically, "Snape Incident and you've never said how you feel about me and, er, Lily."

James closed his eyes. It was unavoidable, really, but that didn't make it any less awkward. Oh well. Maybe once this was over things would go back to normal, within reason of course. "What do you want me to say? You started dating the girl I'd had a crush on for six years behind my back and apparently the two of you get on well together."

"Um, yeah." Smooth. "Look Prongs, I know we could have handled this better, but I just didn't know how to tell you. I guess…I guess I really just need to know if you're okay with us."

"I'm―" What was he, exactly? Okay? Possibly. But not really. How could he be at this point? It was Sirius and Lily, for Lord's sake. But, in a weird kind of way, he was at peace with it. In a sense.

"I'm not okay with it." Sirius' head hung even lower. "But I think I will be. I just need some time to get used to it, you know? I mean, come on, who could have seen you and Lily Evans coming?"

Sirius chuckled.

"Look, Padfoot." And Sirius did actually look up. "You're in love with her. It's obvious. I only started watching you two, and I mean really watching you, this week and even I can see it. That thing you did with your hands a minute ago…man, that just doesn't happen in real life.

"So yeah, I'm angry about it, but I'm cooling down. If she means even a fraction to you what she does to me then I understand completely. I mean, it's Lily."

"Thank God."

Remus was gazing heavenward, relief radiating from his face. Sirius raised an eyebrow at James and looked back to the boy. "You okay, Moony?"

"Oh, I'm super."

James laughed again. Twice in a half hour; he must be getting better.

"I-L, on your marks," rang Slughorn's booming voice. He was really getting a kick out of the testing. Who could blame him, really?

Remus gulped audibly. James couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Come on Moony, you're great at everything."

Said wunderkind raised his eyebrow in an uncannily Sirius-esque fashion, which caused the other two boys to double over in laughter. Remus sighed dramatically and sulked forward.

So James and Sirius remained laughing together, just like old times. Had they always felt that good? Probably; you just had to take the time to notice them.

James' moment of appreciation ended, though, when Lily appeared, launching herself at Sirius. He didn't miss a beat in scooping her up and spinning her around. Apparently she had gotten her license as well.

It was kind of strange how perfect they were together. Everything about them screamed epic love story: his smile, the sparkle in her jewel-like eyes, the way their arms fit around each other. It was one of those instances when you knew that God had made those people to find each other. Everything really was going to work out, James could tell.

It didn't mean it didn't suck, though.

Well, there it is, the first of two James-centric chapters. Kudos to anyone who can guess which chapter the next one is. I might actually give you a present; you never know. I'm also terribly excited to hear what ya'll's thoughts are on this angle. I hope I did it well. Oh, and just to rattle your brains, I had originally planned on killing someone at the end of this chapter, but as I was writing it I decided I wanted to end it on a lighter note. Chew on that!

Also, Happy New Year everyone! It seems like just yesterday the millennium hit. And the banks didn't crash. And a very Happy Belated Birthday to Jesus Christ. I actually finished this chapter on Christmas, in the same bed I wrote the first two chapters. Small world, no?

Anyway, the chapter title is New Perspective by Panic at the Disco. Or Panic! at the Disco. I'm never sure.

This is usually the part where I beg ya'll for reviews, but this time I thought I'd try guilting/bribing ya'll. Here is the guilt: I think that now we're far enough into this process that I should be getting more than one to two review per chapter, especially considering the number of people who have favorited or added this story to their alerts. It's kind of offensive. Here is the bribe: I have the last couple chapters written and am ready to post them at my discretion. If ya'll, my dearly beloved readers, are super nice and write at least five review I'll update on Tuesday. If not then you're waiting a week. Take your pick.

Til Tuesday! Or Saturday! Whichever!