Author's Note: This chapter has been updated because I realized that Mad-Eye Moody would not be called Mad-Eye until later on in the story since he still has both his eyes. So, I changed this so that he is known as simply "Mad Moody" behind his back, which later becomes "Mad-Eye Moody" once he gets his magical eye. That's it!

10: Recruitment

Lily took a deep breath as the smoke approached her and she pulled Mary to her side as her friend began to scream. The smoke was thick and engulfing; she continued to hold her breath as Mary choked. Lily tried the stream of air spell from the last time in the Potions classroom, but she couldn't do it silently. But Mary was gasping and Lily's eyes were watering, so she let go of her breath in order to try to clear the air. The smoke quickly filled her lungs and it took her a moment before she could control her coughing and manage to get a stream of air out. She couldn't see Alice or Frank in this thick cloud and she was beginning to panic. Her heart was beating frantically, waiting for an explosion to come.

People were screaming all around her, and she only hoped no one was injured. Her thoughts flicked briefly to Sev, and if he knew the kind of chaos he was inflicting, before focusing on more important things. Lily couldn't afford to panic now. She wondered if James was all right.

She let out her entire breath in order to clear the smog around her for the rest of the people on the stand. It was much harder to clear than the smoke from Slughorn's class, probably the result of a properly executed potion. After a couple minutes, she realized that the potion wasn't an explosive after all. Just fast-spreading smog. For what purpose, she still wasn't clear.

Mary was still hysterical beside her, so she tried to keep spreading the clear air.

More people began to appear, coughing and gasping as they entered Lily's dome of clean air. She found Alice and Frank, who took Mary as Lily continued her charming.

"I'm going to try to find a professor," she explained to Alice and Frank, who nodded and assured her they would keep the smog at bay.

Lily made quick work of the stairs, the charm coming quicker and stronger with the practice. Her heart was racing in her chest and she wondered where James was. He had been right. But what was going to be their endgame?

All of a sudden, a deep, whispering voice appeared and Lily's blood froze. She was out on the exposed pitch and surrounded by this fog, with a terrifying voice speaking to her. Her blood felt like ice and she gripped her wand painfully, until her fingers were white as bone. The voice sounded almost like hissing, directly in her ear. She couldn't see or move or tell if there was actually someone behind her, but she dared not move to check.

"Attention, students of Hogwarts," the chilly voice said. "My name is Lord Voldemort and I am here to recruit you. You may have heard of my deeds in the papers, but they are insulting to my cause. I am about equality for all wizards and I wish to be freed from this Muggle oppression. We deserve to live without a shadow of obscurity over us, like you are currently engulfed in right now. It's choking, and suffocating, and you deserve more. If you are sick of living in this oppressive environment of Muggles and their laws, join me, friends, and you shall be free. Free to live out of the shadows and in the world we will create together. We can be free."

The voice faded away, but Lily was still frozen. No one was screaming now, but it was replaced with an icy balm of fear and shock. Then, as suddenly as it came, the cloud of death was gone and people began to move again.

Lily wasn't sure how long she stood there, but people were screaming and running towards the castle, with prefects and professors shouting their directives to the students. Lily gained her bearings and set off in the opposite direction.

Her mind was completely blank as she walked toward the place everyone was leaving. She knew Voldemort would never be as rash as to come onto Hogwarts grounds himself just to recruit for his cause, not with Dumbledore here, but she knew that his minions were still around somewhere and she needed to destroy something.

Lily was so focused on her path of destruction, she didn't notice James until his hands were gripping her arms and his face was directly in front of hers. She could see his lips moving, but only until the fifth time did she hear him calling her name.

"Lily, are you all right? Where are you going?" he asked, a look of panic in his hazel eyes.

She brought herself out of her daze. "I'm going to find him, James."

"Who, Voldemort?" he asked, like she was crazy.

"No. I'm going to find Sev," she said, trying to push past him as the flock of scared students continued to rush past them.

He grabbed her again and brought her out of the way of the crowd. Her heart was still beating wildly as she tried to sort out where Sev could be hiding.

"Lily, you can't go out there. You don't know what you'll find. The professors are handling it. We need to help getting people out of here."

"I need to find him, James."

After trying to push past him again, he grabbed her arms again and looked in her face. "Stop," he said forcefully, making her look at him. "If he was really behind this, there's no way that he would hang around to get caught. If he was smart, which I grudgingly admit that he is, he would have moved along with the crowd like he was innocent, not wait around for the professors, or you, to find him."

Lily knew he was right.

"I know you're upset right now, and I don't blame you, but this is not the right time. We need to help the others first. Do you think you can do that, or do I have to tie you up?" he said, his seriousness sobering her up for her duty.

"Not your pet, Potter," she said in response. He grinned at that and let go of her arms. "You're right. Let's help the others. But if I see him, I can't guarantee how I'll respond."

"I'll be there to hold you back, Evans. Don't worry."

He gave her one last look to make sure she wasn't going to run off again, and they did their Head duties in getting the students back to the castle as safely and quickly as possible. She saw Professors McGonagall and Slughorn running towards the site of origin. Her wand hand twitched anxiously. Her mind still wasn't working properly.

Lily and James returned to their dorms after everyone was back in the castle. She collapsed on the couch and he sat next to her, the energy from her body draining out of her as she closed her eyes.

She didn't know how long they sat there, and she may have even fallen asleep, but when she opened her eyes again, her head was resting on James' shoulder, whose eyes were closed as well.

"Are you sleeping?" she asked, lifting her head from his shoulder and shifting over a bit.

"Not anymore," he said, his voice groggy with his eyes still closed.

"I reckon Dumbledore will want to see us soon?" she said.

"Probably. I'm surprised he hasn't sent someone for us already. Maybe he's dealing with the ones responsible."

"This may seem like a dumb question, but he wasn't here, himself, was he? It was some sort of voice recording, or something, right?"

James peeked an eye open. "I hope so. If Voldemort is getting bold enough to come to Hogwarts himself, we are in trouble. Everyone says Hogwarts is the safest place from Voldemort because of Dumbledore. There's no way he would show his face here, even if he managed to get past the defenses."

Lily nodded, and leaned back against the couch, her head resting back on his shoulder. James tentatively moved his arm and put it around her shoulders, very comfortably. Neither of them moved further.

"This isn't a recurring thing, Potter. After events like these, I just need someone to give me a hug, and since my mum isn't here…"

"I'm not doing this for you, Evans. Usually after a tough match, I just need to cuddle up with someone. Usually Sirius is pretty willing, but seeing as he isn't here right now…" he said, teasing as his arm wrapped tighter around her shoulders and bringing her closer against his side. She laughed as her arms snaked around his back and his stomach, and her hands met each other on the other side. James' chin rested on the top of her head and she may have let out a sigh of satisfaction as they sat there, wrapped in one another's arms. She tried to forget whom it was she was hugging, just in case her thoughts turned against her and strayed to more forbidden areas.

She realized that James actually smelled quite nice. Like a clean blanket. She wondered how she smelled right now, covered in smog and sweat, and their bodies were touching and his face was basically in her hair...

Lily let go of his torso and slowly moved away from James' arm, avoiding eye contact as the sweet encounter ended and became a bit awkward.

"Lily?" James said.

"Yes?" she responded, looking up to meet his eye. He had a strange look about him and she stayed a moment longer, wondering what he was about to say. She could hear every breath and almost feel her pulse beating to the same pace as his.

His eyes shot down to her lips, and she knew what he was about to do, but she didn't pull back or stop him. His eyes met hers again, like he was asking permission, but she still didn't move. Taking her inaction as a confirmation, James' face moved forward and their lips met.

Lily surprised herself as her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck, bringing him closer to her as their lips meshed together. His hands found her waist and pulled her against his torso, as his tongue found hers and their kiss deepened. Lily's skin felt like open water in a lightening storm, her blood like coursing lava. She didn't know what she was doing, but it felt good.

When they finally broke apart, both were breathing heavily, and Lily's head was spinning dizzily. All she could feel was James, and if she opened her eyes, she knew she would see him too. He dropped a couple smaller kisses on her lips and she finally opened her eyes. Was she sitting on his lap?

James swore against her lips and she felt like doing the same. What were they doing? This wasn't…right? Was it? It felt so right, so, how could it not be?

"Lily," was all he said. He shifted his weight, but kept his hands around her, as hers stayed at the back of his head. His hair was as soft as it looked. She twirled her fingers in the hair at the top of neck as he stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face, making her insides turn to mush. "Shit. What was that?" he said with a small smile.

She unravelled her arms from his neck and shifted awkwardly off of him, suddenly mortified at her actions. He let her go, but he looked as panicked as she felt on the inside. What were they doing? They couldn't do this.

Lily stood abruptly, not looking at James' face as she walked toward the exit, opening the door before he could do anything. He called her name as she was leaving, but she was far beyond stopping. She didn't look back as she left the Common Room.

Lily shook off the feeling on her lips right now, speeding up her pace in case he wanted to follow her. She really should have gone to Gryffindor Tower to check on her friends, but she didn't know if she could face them now. Would they be able to read on her face what happened?

Despite her inner turmoil about what she should do now, her thoughts drifted back to the kiss and how his lips had felt and his hands. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to remember the last time she had felt like that. Nothing was coming to mind.

.

Dumbledore called for them a couple hours later. Lily still hadn't returned from wherever she had gone and James was bordering on insanity.

He kept replaying the moment over and over in his mind, almost becoming delusional with each replay. And he'd just let her leave, just like that. Couldn't he have said something better than 'Shit. What was that?' Idiot. Idiot, idiot.

As James walked toward Dumbledore's office, he tried to get his nerves under control, wondering what'd he do when he was alone with Lily. At first, he wanted to kiss her again until she didn't want to run away, but then as he thought about it, he started to feel grateful that she had left. His heart would pound painfully every time he thought about her walking away, but if they had actually talked about it instead, he wasn't sure if he could take another verbal rejection from her. At least her silence wasn't a complete 'no', was it?

James was just grasping at straws at this point.

He would not do anything that rash again until he was sure that she wanted it just as much as he did.

But he could have sworn that she wanted him to kiss her. She looked like she knew what he was going to do and let him, almost dared him to. And she participated, for Merlin's sake, how could that not have meant something? Damn her. Damn him. Damn everyone and stupid feelings.

He said the password and went up the staircase, his pulse reverberating in his head.

"Come in," Dumbledore said when he knocked.

Lily was already sitting in the chair in front of Dumbledore, flicking her eyes to him only momentarily before turning her attention back to Dumbledore. James sat down as Dumbledore waited, a grim look on the Headmaster's face.

"Ms. Evans was just telling me about Mr. Snape, Mr. Black and Mr. Avery. Would you like to contribute anything, Mr. Potter? Did you see anything that could have indicated their involvement?"

Dumbledore didn't know about the Map, and would probably be furious if he did. So no, James didn't see anything that could have helped at all, even though he saw the three of them plotting earlier.

"No, Sir. Only gut feelings," he answered.

Dumbledore looked at his folded hands in front of him. "Professor Slughorn identified the potion and decided that only a handful of students could have brewed it, based on the complexity. It is also highly possible that this potion was brewed outside of Hogwarts, and simply smuggled in. It would not be the first time, unfortunately, that dangerous objects have slipped past our guard. However, Mr. Snape is definitely one of the student candidates supplied by Professor Slughorn, as are you, Miss Evans."

"I can assure you, I was not involved," she said firmly.

"Oh, my dear, you mistake me. I wasn't accusing you, merely complimenting you on your accomplishments in Potions. It took a great amount of skill to brew that potion and Professor Slughorn obviously didn't doubt your abilities," he said with a kind smile that was a bit contrary to the subject matter.

"Oh. Thank you, Sir," she said uncomfortably.

"Unless there is anything else you would like to add to the matter, I would like to move onto other inquiries," Dumbledore said.

"No, Sir," James replied.

"Very well. The other professors and I will continue to investigate. The other matter that I wanted to discuss with you is about your plans after you graduate."

James was confused. Did Head students normally get one-on-one advice from Dumbledore about their life choices? Dumbledore was wearing a mask of patience, but he could almost see a flicker of something more in those old blue eyes.

"Sir?" Lily said, obviously as confused as James.

Dumbledore turned to look at her. "Your plans, Ms. Evans."

"It's still early in the year," she said.

"Yes, but surely you have plans?" he asked with a smile.

She cleared her throat and shot a look at James. "I've been considering careers with Potions, maybe Charms. A career as a Healer is also a possibility," she answered.

"Very well. And Mr. Potter?" he said.

James cleared his throat, trying not to feel so small beside Lily. He was Head Boy. He could come up with an acceptable answer.

"Sir, I'm still very open to all opportunities that come my way. Becoming an Auror would be an obvious choice, with all that is happening right now. Although my mum would probably not like that very much, Sir," James responded with a grin, imagining his mum's aghast expression at her son's many dangerous choices.

"Yes, precisely, Mr. Potter. What is happening right now. Both of you are aware of Voldemort's rise, and I'm sorry to tell you this, but our government is no longer able to control him or make appropriate actions toward his capture. It may be presumptuous of me, but I believe that a smaller group of witches and wizards fighting towards a larger goal, without the taint of the Ministry's corruption, could go a long ways towards fighting Voldemort and his supporters more effectively than the Ministry is currently doing."

The weight of Dumbledore's words settled on James' chest and he could feel the chill travelling down his spine.

"What exactly are you proposing, Sir?" James asked him, his voice barely a whisper. "It sounds dangerously like treason."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Such an ugly word, Mr. Potter. But yes, essentially so. I have already started an organization, devoted to fighting against Voldemort, independent of the Ministry. I am its leader, and if you choose to join me, you would become part of my Order."

"Sir, are you recruiting us?" Lily asked, her voice full with surprise.

Dumbledore smiled, a wicked and dangerous glint in his eyes. "Yes, but without nearly as much theatrics as Voldemort did earlier today, unfortunately," he said. "Does that cheapen the offer?"

"Professor, we haven't even graduated yet. We don't know anything about what it's like to fight in the real world. I don't mean to offend," she said, her voice becoming flustered, "but we don't learn that kind of material in Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said, sitting at the edge of her seat. "We read about vampires and werewolves and boggarts, Sir. We don't know the first thing about what it means to duel, truly."

Dumbledore didn't look offended, but he nodded. "Yes, I agree. Obviously you will undergo training under Alastor Moody of the Auror Department, who is a part of the Order. We would not be sending you into the field with only your Hogwarts experience; that would be irresponsible of me. However, I have seen both of you act very nobly and bravely in times of distress, like true Gryffindors, and I believe that both of you have the raw skills that can be very useful to the Order," he said, his smile making James' stomach flip and turn nervously.

"Mad Moody would be teaching us?" James couldn't help but say. The man was a legend amongst the Auror community. Amongst the entire magical community, in fact. Death Eaters feared him and James had always looked up to the man. He was one of the reasons James wanted to be an Auror.

"Yes, Alastor Moody himself. I wouldn't not call him Mad Moody to his face, however," Dumbledore warned, an amused expression on his face.

James smiled. "Does this Order have a name?" he asked.

Dumbledore smiled. "The Order of the Phoenix," he replied, as Fawkes swooped into the office, as if he was called.

"I accept your recruitment, Sir," James said, without a second thought. Why go to Auror Training when he could get Moody's direct instruction while being part of a secret order led by Dumbledore himself? There was no question about it. James was in.

Dumbledore smiled. "I am very grateful, Mr. Potter. But this was more of an introduction to the possibilities. If your minds are changed, or if in fact Voldemort is defeated before the end of this school year, the recruitment would be unnecessary. We shall see what June brings, and if nothing has changed, I would be glad to have you both as part of the Order. I will bring up the topic sometime at the end of the term. Until then, I ask that you both continue to fulfill your responsibilities with the same enthusiasm that you are currently exhibiting, and to report any suspicious behavior to me, or to one of the Heads of House directly. That is all. You are dismissed."

James and Lily stood and left Dumbledore's office. James' entire body was still ringing with the excitement of Dumbledore's recruitment. He almost forgot that he would be alone with Lily.

Once they exited the staircase, she quickly walked ahead of him without saying a word or glancing in his direction. Obviously, she still didn't want to talk and was still running away. He followed behind her, trying to figure out if he should say something.

Lily didn't turn around, and he didn't say anything to stop her. All he could hear was his own pulse. James desperately wanted to grab her and ask her to stop this, but his own ego was preventing him from doing anything. He wasn't sure what would happen if he heard the words 'I will never go on a date with you ever, Potter,' exit from her mouth again.

When they got to the fifth floor, Lily continued on towards the Heads Wing, while James headed for Gryffindor Tower. He didn't look back as they separated, neither one acknowledging their different ways.

"We're going out," he announced to the lads when he saw them in the Common Room. Remus looked up from his textbook with a blank expression. Sirius stood up, rubbing his hands together in anticipation as Peter mulled over his next chess move against Sirius.

"Wait, what happened earlier? Did they catch who was responsible?" Remus asked.

"Nope. Ready to go?" James said.

"Where to?" Padfoot said.

"Hold on, you don't know anything?" Remus said. "Didn't you go see Dumbledore? What did he say about You-Know-Who?"

"Voldemort was never here, it was just his followers. He said they didn't know who did it. Broomsticks or Hog's?" James said, asking Remus.

Remus frowned. "I can't. McGonagall's assignment? Binns' essay? Flitwick's practicing? You do know what homework is, don't you?" Remus said.

"So Broomsticks, then?" James said, ignoring Remus as Sirius shrugged in agreement. "Pete, you coming?"

Peter stood up with an enormous grin, mid nod, when Remus interrupted. "Peter, you told me that you were close to flunking out. You should really stay and do some work, you dunce," Remus said.

Peter looked extremely conflicted as Sirius shook his head in disapproval. "What are you trying to teach the young lad?" Sirius said. "Hard work gets you nothing but wrinkles and constipation, Pete."

Remus sighed. "I didn't want to have to resort to this, but if you stay and do some work, I'll help you with anything you want. No charge," Remus offered.

Peter sat down, dejectedly. "Fine. I'm out," he said.

"Okay, fine. I'm going regardless. Padfoot? Let's go."

Sirius and James left the Common Room and headed for the statue.

"Been a while since it was just the two of us," Sirius said.

"What do you mean? You were the only person I saw during the summer. We went out every other night," James replied as they walked through the corridors.

"I meant sneaking off to do something illegal, arse," Sirius said.

"Did you miss me, Padfoot? Is that why?" James said, checking the Map before saying the password and opening the passage.

"Like a thorn in my side, Prongs," he said, following James into the corridor out of the castle. "So, does the ball-and-chain know you're here?"

"She's not my ball-and-chain," James said angrily.

"Trouble in paradise?" Sirius replied with a laugh. "Damn. I already had my best man speech prepared," he said, mock-disappointed.

"Merlin, I need a drink," James muttered as Sirius laughed at him.

"Bloody right," Sirius replied. "Dumbledore hasn't picked up Reg yet? Is there any other person who could have done it but the Prince himself?" he said, his voice becoming venomous.

"Left nothing behind. Don't know who did it."

"That's all he said? Nothing else?" Sirius said.

James told him about the Order of the Phoenix and how he already knew he wanted to join. "You in?"

Sirius shrugged. "Doesn't Dumbledore have to recruit me?" Sirius asked.

"He will if you ask. Do you want to?"

"Sounds interesting. Mad Moody is part of it, is he? You know how I hate authority. I wouldn't last a week in Auror Training, so I might as well join with Dumbledore and have Moody teach me himself. He is a man I could learn something from. Not to mention it would enrage the Blacks to know I've been learning under the man who put half of them in Azkaban," he said with an inappropriate grin.

"Right, I'll let Dumbledore know."

"What about Remus and Pete?"

"Of course we'll tell them. Pete will probably join, but Remus has always been cautious. Technically, it's illegal and against the Ministry. You know how long it took to convince him with the Map and the Animagi. Dumbledore will have to be the one to convince him, not us."

James and Sirius arrived at the Three Broomsticks and took a seat. Rosmerta chatted with them for a bit before getting them their drinks. It wasn't long before Sirius and James were in the company of two French girls visiting from Beauxbatons.

"James, I'm not carrying you all the way back to Hogwarts," Sirius said, holding James up as they made their way back to Honeydukes. James could still taste the Firewhiskey and Celine on his dry tongue. She had slipped him her hotel room number and how long she'd be staying before Fanny dragged her away and Sirius had to support his weight.

"Paddy, my legs aren't working," James said, laughing as he stumbled.

"That's what happens when you take ten shots of Firewhiskey in under an hour," Sirius said, chuckling and putting James down on the bench. "What's gotten into you, James? Did you do something stupid again?"

"S'matter, Pads? Thought you missed this," James said, his eyelids drooping and his neck falling backward.

"No, don't fall asleep," Sirius said, slapping James' face. That hurt. James blinked his eyes open and narrowed his eyes when Sirius' face blurred and multiplied before his eyes.

"Somethin's wrong with y'head," he said, extending his arm to poke Sirius in the face. He missed.

Sirius sighed and hauled James off the bench. "Did you do something stupid, Prongs?" Sirius repeated as they slowly shuffled along.

"Like what?" James slurred, feeling like he was floating on an ocean.

"I don't know," Sirius said. "Why did you want to go out?"

"To snog some girls," James replied, laughing. "Didn't you wan' to snog some girls?" James asked, this time hitting his mark when trying to poke Sirius in the face.

His best friend gave him an annoyed look. "Did something happen with Evans?" Sirius asked.

"Evans isn't here. You saw me kiss Celine," James said, confused. Or, more confused than he was already. Why did Sirius' face keep morphing to a dog's face? Why did his legs feel like wet noodles? Why did he have to pee so badly? Was it snowing? His mouth was really dry.

"I mean before that. Did something happen with Evans?"

"Evans? Who's Evans?" James replied. "Evan is a boy's name."

Sirius shook his head, making his face look like a tornado. James closed his eyes again.

"Mate, I'm not dragging your dead weight all the way back. Come on, get it together," Sirius said. "Did something happen with Lily?"

"Ah, Lily. She smells like a flower. Bees like flowers. I want a garden. Am I a bee, 'cause I really like flowers?" James said.

"For Merlin's sake," Sirius muttered. "You didn't ask her out again, did you?"

"Hogsmeade is beautiful," James said. "Look at all the twinkling lights. Can I grow those in my garden?"

"Those are called stars, Prongs. And no, you can't," Sirius replied. "What did Remus and I tell you about asking Evans out? Hmm, Prongs? Said it was a bad idea, didn't we?"

"Didn't ask her out," James said, sighing.

"Then, what? Tell her you fancy her?"

James shook his head, his neck failing him as his head fell forward. Sirius pulled him up.

"What did you do, James?"

"I kissed her," James replied, his eyelids feeling enormously heavy, as did the hair on his head. His stomach turned and he worked to keep the vomit down.

"Like you gave her a peck on the cheek?" Sirius said, his voice sounding bored.

"Nope," James said, remembering Lily's lips and how she felt pressed against him.

"What, like you snogged her then? With tongue?" Sirius asked. Even James could tell how surprised his best friend was, even though he couldn't make his ankles remember they were ankles.

"Mhm. For a couple minutes at least."

Sirius laughed in disbelief. "You're drunk. You're just playing with me, aren't you, Prongs?"

James shook his head with a goofy smile. "Nope. She kissed me back for at least five minutes."

"You said a couple minutes."

"Same thing."

"Then what happened?" Sirius said. "Did she jump off the Astronomy Tower?"

"I'm goin' to barf on you, Paddy," James said.

Sirius stopped walking. "Are you actually going to throw up, or are you just being a prick?"

"Bein' prick."

Sirius laughed. "Okay, so what happened after then? If Evans is still alive?"

"She ran away. And I let her."

"Like actually ran away? Screaming?" Sirius asked.

"No, Shithead," James said. "Your head is made of shit," he said, laughing.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sirius said.

"Flush it down the toilet!" James said, laughing like a child.

Sirius sighed. "I meant about Lily, prick."

James made a movement that he thought was a shrug. It was a bit difficult when his shoulders felt like jello.

"Don' wan' her to say no. Prob'ly pretend like nothin' happened," James replied.

"So, that's why you wanted to go out, huh? Depressed about Evans?"

James made a face. "She's like a Dementor, Sirius. Like a bloody Dementor and I don't like Azkaban. I want to leave."

Sirius chuckled. "I've been warning you, James. Monogamy is a cold and lonely place. You shouldn't have bothered her so much, then you never would have been put away."

"Couldn't help it," James replied, before the sleep was too tempting and he closed his eyes.

.

Lily was woken up from her bed by a loud knocking on the entrance to the Heads Wing. She quickly ran to the door and held her wand as she opened the entrance. Sirius Black, dragging James' body, stumbled into the dorm, his forehead glistening with sweat and panting heavily.

"Evans," he said in greeting, leaving James on the floor while he got his breath back. "Didn't want to drag him up to the Tower. He weighs as much as a baby elephant," he said, sitting on the couch, massaging his arms. "Do a bloke a favor and levitate him to his bed?"

"Why don't you do it?" she asked, still adjusting to the shock of the stench of alcohol coming off of them.

He raised his arms up with a dumbfounded expression. "Merlin, if I had my wand, do you think I would have bothered dragging him back with my own strength? Bloody hell, Evans, I thought you were supposed to be intelligent!" he said.

"Why don't you have your wand on you?" she said, still not moving from her spot.

James groaned in his sleep and turned onto his side. Lily looked down at him, a peculiar feeling of disappointment settling on her chest.

"I didn't think I'd need it," Sirius replied, like it was the most obvious thing.

"What about him?" she asked, pointing at the sleeping boy on the floor. "He didn't bring his either?"

Sirius shrugged.

"You must be insane. In these times, Black? Hogwarts was attacked and you think not to bring your wand, especially when you're leaving the castle?" she said.

Sirius frowned. "How'd you know we left the castle?" he asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Like you said, Black, I'm supposed to be intelligent, aren't I?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. But Hogwarts wasn't attacked. Don't exaggerate."

"What would you call it, then?"

"Targeted. Recruited," he said, shrugging. "It's less ominous."

Lily sighed in frustration. "I'm going to bed."

"Wait, you have to move James."

"He looks pretty comfortable where he is."

Sirius narrowed his eyebrows at her and stared at her for a long time, making her effectively uncomfortable.

"What?" she said, finally.

"We need to have a talk, Lily," he said, his voice grim.

Lily's eyes widened. "Lily? Who is Lily? I'm Evans, remember?"

Sirius ignored her. "We're not friends, right?" he said.

She scowled at him. "No," she said. "Barely even acquaintances."

"Right, so since my opinion doesn't matter to you, I'm the only one who can tell you the hard truth without feeling guilty, since you don't care anyway."

"What the hell are you on about, Black?" she said.

"I don't know what your stance is towards James, or if things have changed since last year, but stop it. Whatever this—" he said, motioning around the room and pointing between her and sleeping James, "—is."

"You want me to stop living in the same wing as him?" she asked him dryly. "Sorry, but that's not under my control—"

"No. The snogging," he said, standing up from his seat. When she blushed and crossed her arms over her chest, he grinned at her. "You're not denying it. Interesting."

"What the bloody fuck do you want from me?" she said.

"Swearing angrily as well? Maybe I was wrong," he mused, a cheeky smile on his face.

"I've had enough," she said, beginning to walk away.

"Hold on," Sirius said, grabbing her arm before she could leave. "I just have one more thing to say. If you're just experimenting, or playing some sort of game, or just being a tease, just stop. It's not fair to James. If you care even just a little about him, even platonically, you will just leave him alone."

Lily felt her face heat up and she took a step towards him. Her anger was rising fast, but she kept her head, not wanting to wake up James in the middle of this conversation. "Are you trying to tell me what to do?" she said.

"I'm trying to protect my friend. See this, Evans? This is because of you," he said, staring her right in the eyes and pointing at James. His icy blue eyes chilled her to the bone, but she kept her ground and stared right on back.

"Don't try to blame his current state on me," she said. "You're the one who brought him out."

"Why do you think he wanted to go out in the first place? You kissed," Sirius said angrily. "You're telling me he did that by himself? You played no role, Evans?"

Her face went fuchsia and she averted her eyes, embarrassed that he was disarming her this easily.

Sirius laughed, loudly and without humor. "Oh, Evans. You're a special one, you know that? And not in a good way. Merlin. I wish him luck, truly. He doesn't even know what a black hole you are and he's going to be sucked in because of him. Just let him go, Evans."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"Fine. Whatever. Play with his head and his heart, the hell if I care. But if something happens to him, Evans, it's on you. Just remember that before you decide to snog him again, just for fun. He may not act like it, but James takes things like that seriously. This isn't just a game, and you're not just some sort of prize to him," Sirius said, pushing past her and leaving the Common Room with the angry expression of a God chiseled into his brow and mouth.

Lily stood there until her heartbeat began to slow down. She sat on the couch, watching James sleep on the floor, a crease between his brows. She remembered what it felt like to kiss him, and wondered to herself if she had just done it to experiment, like Sirius said. She had wondered what it would be like to kiss James, without thinking about how it would affect him. In fact, she purposely didn't think about James' feelings, because then she would have to do something about it, and that wasn't something she was keen on doing.

Lily got out her wand and carefully levitated James to his bed. She made sure he would sleep the rest of the night on his side, and put a glass of water next to his bed for when he woke up. She closed the door and left him to sleep.

Author's Note: SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. I truly am. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it. I'm still stuck on Chapter 12, so I can't guarantee that the next chapter will be up soon either, but hopefully I get a move on. I've been working on some other non-fanfic stuff, which is why this took so long to be posted.

Anyway, tell me what you think. Any ideas for future chapters, what you didn't like, what's not working for you, what's not believable, but any good things too would also be welcome. ;D Review!