"Yeah, okay, so I got a little carried away" James declared to the groaning boys in his dormitory at 3 am that night. "It's not like I care!" he added viciously.

"Yeah, it's not like you care, and it's not like Sirius gasped dramatically like a girl when they hugged, and it's not like you haven't said this exact sentence a - a shit ton of times since then!" Remus groaned, sitting up in his bed. "It was a hug, prongs, let it go."

"Lupin! Do not pretend you don't understand why I'm upset...I mean, I'm totally not upset about it, I couldn't care less...but you know as well as I do that Lily hugging Snape could NOT and IS not a good thing! It could mean anything, that she forgives him, that he won her valuable friendship back without suffering horribly at the bottom of hell...or that she-" he choked a little, "likes him."

"Yeahh it's not like you care." smirked Remus.

"Sirius, won't you for heavens sake tell him that it's nothing?" he said, turning to Sirius in exasperation.

"Oh no, apparently I'm too dramatic for the dynamic of this group, so I'll be just quiet here, not caring about anything, even though I find it outrageous that she even went near the swine, let alone talk to him, and I feel totally betrayed on James' part, especially since it FINALLY felt like he was making progress with her after 6 years of half-assed proposals followed by lily whopping his ass followed by multiple, complete and utter meltdowns." Sirius muttered, half in his sleep and half in the immense amount of emotions he was drowning in on behalf of his best friend.

James groaned, lying on his bed with his head in his hands and legs splayed out, all theatrics with a trace of utter desperation.

"Not helping, black." whispered Remus, rolling his eyes.

"Look! Look at her! She's completely fine after yesterday! Doesn't give a shit about the felony she committed! How am I supposed to imagine our wedding day in peace if she keeps bringing a curtain of greasy hair in between our lips every time we lean in for a kiss?!" James whispered furiously, looking at the red-haired witch laughing and talking with her girlfriends at the breakfast table. Sirius choked on his sausage and gagged a bit.

"Keep bringing up a curtain of greasy hair while I eat, why don't you?" He began, but as he glanced at his best friends miserable expression, something snapped inside him, the brotherhood he had for James hating Snape, hating Lily for whatever reason she even went near him, his endearment for Lily knowing there must be a good reason, but still hating how James couldn't stop caring if he tried.

"Prongs, it's over. Get up."

Remus surreptitiously glanced at Sirius, apprehensive of the determination in his voice, but at the same time reassured that he had thought of a plan.

James broke out of his bubble of misery and looked hopefully at his best mate, too convinced that he was either going to help him, or get him shit-faced drunk. Hoping for the latter, he got up and followed Sirius's determined footsteps out of the Great Hall and said slowly, "Sure Padfoot, what're you thinking? Conjured whiskey or muggle bar? Conjured alcohol has its kick but the mopey atmosphere of the bar is what I-"

"Forget about her."

James stopped mid-sentence, and, pretending he hadn't heard, said loudly,

"What're you talking about, I'm going to marry her aren't I?"

"No James, you've had enough false hope and wishful thinking. *I* have had enough of seeing you get hurt every time she TALKS to some other bloke, and frankly, although it was enjoyable, I'm tired of seeing those guys get hurt "by accident" every time you find out too. You both deserve to be happy, and I can't see you unhappy anymore. I still think you might've had a chance, and I still think you do, but it doesn't seem worth it seeing you suffer over and over again, and denying her the chance to be happy with-" he whispered now, "-someone else. So do it. Forget her."

James blanched, shocked at this speech. This was the guy who had vowed to be his wingman until the day he got to be his best man, and planned a whole ceremony around it in second year? But then the last words registered in his numb brain, and he scoffed.

"You think it's that easy? It's not it's a break up, and I can just find a rebound girl and hope that my feelings get sidetracked enough for me to move on...what?" Sirius had suddenly grinned, as the first step to seeing his best mate happy was handed to him on a silver platter. He thumped James on the back.

"That's exactly what you're gonna do mate."

"So how did it go with Snape, Lils?" Marlene asked, observing that Lily had not heard a word she had been saying till then, and had distractedly laughed at her describing the old man's wife dying in the movie she saw last night. "Huh?...oh. Oh! It went pretty smoothly, actually a LOT more than I had planned for! Maybe that's because I didn't wait for him to reply to my speech once I finished it, and ran the fuck away...but I got it over with, and now I'm ready to move on."

Marlene clapped her hands together in excitement. "Oh goody! Finally I get to see Lily losing her virginity...that's what you meant right?" She inquired, but seeing green eyes glare at her, she backtracked, "okay okay, although you can't deny the weirdness of EVERY guy who asked you out ending up in the hospital wing, with either purple spots, or green skin, and a strict aversion to red hair...sorry! Ow!" She laughed as Lily punched her arm, while also wondering the exact same thing.

"Okay, in all seriousness, do you have someone in mind?" She finally said, realising Lily was earnest.

Lily glanced at the seat that had emptied suddenly, a seat she had been sneaking peeks at all morning, a seat whose occupants were glancing at her from outside the great hall right that moment, a seat from which a certain James Potter had been secretly peering at her as she distractedly buttered her toast.

"You know, I just might..."

Aaaaaah you probably know what I'm going to say...THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT and I'm so soo sorry I've been M.I.A for so long, with absolutely no excuse except...school! Exams! And I'm posting this through the website instead of the app like usual so forgive me if there's format problems...And ultimately I cannot thank you enough for your feedback, simply because I cannot explain how much it means to me. So anyway, read and review! :D

With Coffee and Sleepless Nights,

-Anushka