Lily woke up early. Very early, considering the hour she was usually woken up.

She looked at the clock. Five forty-eight. There was no point in going back to sleep only to wake up in the next ten minutes anyway.

She sighed and got up. She brushed her teeth and made her bed neatly. Then she changed out of her comfortable pyjamas and into her school robes. She frowned at her reflection. She looked pale, except for the darker areas under her eyes, and tired.

She pulled a brush through her hair, opting to leave it down, falling to just below her shoulder blades. After glancing at her reflection again she pulled out some makeup that Alice had lent her a couple weeks prior, and began to dust on some powder concealer.

She put on a coat of mascara as well, making her eyes stand out even more with the contrast of black to shocking green. She glanced in the mirror again; satisfied with her reflection she slipped on her shoes and slung her bag on her shoulder, leaving the dormitory.

She approached the boys' staircase wearily. Lily wasn't exactly sure what she was doing anymore. Her end of the bet was to do everything the Marauders do, and when she was done she would be granted freedom. Freed from James Potter. She would no longer spend her past time thinking of clever ways to reject his date offers/demands. She would no longer hide every three mornings and dread the possibility of running into him. Who knows? Maybe she'd even get a boyfriend and for once wouldn't have to keep it a secret from the rest of Hogwarts population in fear of him being hunted down and jinxed.

Although, so far none of this had been what she expected, not at all.

She stared at the staircase for moment longer. There were no charms on the boys' staircase. Apparently the four great founders of Hogwarts trusted the girls far more than the boys. As she slowly ascending the staircase she began to question whether their trust was still deserved by the current female population at Hogwarts.

She entered the Marauders dormitory quietly. At first glance she assumed the four boys were still asleep, all the beds appearing to be occupied.

I woke up this early, got ready, and came up here, and they're asleep?

Lily heard someone move and her gaze swept over the beds again. Then she realized what she thought was a sleeping body was really just rolled sheets and a haphazardly placed pillow.

Oh.

She looked to her left to see James, folded into the space of the side of his bed and his nightstand. His knees bent and his feet flat on the floor, sitting with his back against the bed and with a book in his right hand, his left arm on his knee with his fingers in his hair.

He looked up as she walked over to where he was.

When'd she come in?

She sat down on the edge of his bed, her heels resting on the bed frame. "Good morning," he said with sunny smile looking up at her.

Lily couldn't help but give in to the smile tugging at her lips. "Good morning," she returned. Despite the fact that she wasn't a morning person, and was strongly against taking part in any sort of conversation that began before at least seven thirty, Lily found herself nudging James shoulder with her knee, scooting down to sit next to him on the floor.

"What are you reading?"

James blushed a bit and Lily laughed.

"What?" James asked.

Never thought I'd see the day James Potter was embarrassed.

"You're blushing," Lily whispered with a wide smile. She reached over and plucked the book from his unprepared hand. She marked his page with her index finger and turned the book to see the cover. Only, it wasn't a novel cover, it was just brown leather.

She turned the book over again and opened to where her finger had marked.

Oh…

It was a drawing of a broomstick. His broomstick, she assumed. It was detailed perfectly, with the patterns of the wood grain and everything. It looked like it was done with a thin piece of charcoal.

What is she thinking…?

Lily slowly began to flip the page, waiting and glancing over at James to see if he'd protest at all. When nothing was heard from him and he gave a slight nod she flipped the page over gently, trying not to smudge the drawing.

This one was of the quidditch pitch, the wide oval taking up the entire page, the goal posts barely making it on.

Lily turned the page again and saw hair. It was the back of someone's head.

Is this…?

"Who is this?" she asked.

Witty or…

"You. Don't know the back of your head like the back of your hand?" He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

That was terrible.

Lily let out a short laugh.

He drew…the back of my head?

Is explaining going to make this worse? …Probably. Oh well.

"Sorry. I mean, I guess drawing you doesn't need an explanation but…I'm rubbish at drawing faces so…"

"Oh." Lily blushed a little. She was caught between feeling flattered and violated.

They heard someone stir and looked up to see Remus slowly waking.

"Good morning," Lily said quietly.

Remus rubbed at his eyes. "Morning song, laly," he replied through a yawn, still groggy from sleep.

Song, laly? Prongs and Lily?

Lily stood up and handed James his book back. James stuck the book under his bed and then got off of the floor and checked a clock on his nightstand.

Six twenty.

He was already in his school robes, only missing his shoes and possibly a brush through his mess of hair.

Remus rolled out of bed and shook his head a bit, as if trying to rid himself of the tired feeling that weighed him down. He pulled on the bottom of his rumpled t-shirt and then walked out of the room and into the bathroom.

Lily looked at James. "Are you all like that in the morning?"

James seemed to consider this, then nod. "Some worse. But don't you judge, you're forgetting we caught a glimpse of a less than awake Lily Evans yesterday."

Lily glared. "We can't all be morning people."

"You're not exactly a night person either though…" James said. He went around his bed to his trunk, to get his shoes, putting him the perfect place for Lily to kick him.

"Shut. Up." She punctuated each word with a firm, yet still light, kick to James' side.

James grabbed both shoes as he pushed her leg away, his hand lingering a moment longer than necessary on the back of her calf, warm and making her skin tingle.

What the-

James let go and began to put on his shoes. He jumped up as he finished and went over to Sirius' mirror, the one he had put up on the wall because apparently he needed to be able to see himself more often. Narcissist.

James ran a hand through his hair. It still stuck up at odd angles and he had a cowlick in the back. He sighed and grabbed a comb, running it through his hair.

Most of it was neat, but there were still some parts that just didn't want to match the rest. James glared at his reflection.

Well now it just looks ridiculous. Worse than before.

Lily gave him a funny look before walking over to where he was. She held out a hand for the comb and James handed it over.

She stood on her toes to comb down the back of his hair and then when she had gotten it looking neat she shook her head.

It doesn't look a thing like him.

She hesitantly raised a hand, not quite sure, and then ran it through his hair, stepping closer to him.

She smiled as she finished, then returned her heels to the ground. Then she realized how to close to him she was. So close she could lean forward and her nose would be pressed against his neck. He smelled like a mix of cinnamon and teenage boy, the scent that just envelopes teenage girls whenever they're near it.

She looked up at him and realized her lips were just a fraction of a centimetre away. Lily's eyes widened and green locked on to hazel.

Memories of their kiss the night before seemed to present themselves in both their minds.

…you…don't…step back…

So close. Just…

Step back. Step away…

Her mind told her one thing but the message wasn't coming across very well to her feet. And she just stood there frozen.

"Okay, I'm awake. Good mor-" Remus stopped and looked at the distance- or lack of- between Lily and James. He shut his mouth and was about to back out of the room.

His voice brought Lily's attention back to what she was doing. "There," she whispered. She moved away from James quickly, angry with herself.

What the hell are you doing Lily? Are you bloody insane? Yesterday was bad enough, and until you deal with that you stay away. As far away as you possibly can.

Shit Prongs. You can't just…it was lucky she didn't kill you yesterday. But you can't just… This isn't the plan. Scaring her away won't help you.

Lily began to go through her bag, looking for something. A book maybe. Anything to keep distract herself and hide her embarrassment.

This'll do.

She pulled out a romance novel, something Alice had talked her into reading, and opened to a random page.

It was one of those cheesy, predictable, and overall mushy novels. But Alice loved it and, judging from how worn out and nearly broken at the spine the book was, she had read it many times.

As Remus was getting ready James turned to Lily. "Which one do you want?" he asked, indicating the two occupied beds. "Difficult to Wake or Difficult to Get Up?"

Is there a difference…?

Lily thought about Sunday morning and how they had literally flipped Peter out of his own bed. Then she considered how angry Sirius had been after being woken up.

Although Sirius was hung over and was hit…Peter just didn't want to get up…

"I'll get Peter," Lily decided.

James shrugged and went over to Sirius while Lily went over to Peter.

"Wake up," she cajoled softly. She shook the boy's shoulder gently much enough to shake him a bit. "Peter, you need to get up now." She spoke like mother, waking a toddler from a nap.

James gave raised an eyebrow at her tactic.

Peter stirred and then opened his eyes. Smiling as he saw Lily's caring face above him. "Good morning," Lily greeted. "James and Remus are already up, you need to get ready."

Peter sat up, "Good morning Lily," and then he was out of bed and gathering his things to get dressed.

Remus and James stared at Lily in amazement.

That's some sort of miracle.

"What?" Lily demanded self-consciously.

The two boys looked at Peter, then Lily. "He never gets up that easily," James told her. "We usually have to drag him out."

Peter heard this statement and gave them a pointed look. "Well Lily wakes me up nicely. You people yell and throw me out of sleep."

Lily gave him a look of sympathy. "That's awful Peter. You know, the way a person wakes up has a huge effect on the their attitude towards the rest of the day."

Peter sighed, "I suppose that's why my days are always so rotten. Thank you Lily, you've given my day hope."

Lily just smiled in response.

Remus and James both had questioning expressions as they watched the exchange.

Let's experiment.

"Wake Sirius up too," James instructed. When he saw Lily's look of 'excuse me?' he added, "Please?"

Alright…

Lily went over and sat on the edge of Sirius' bed. She gently pulled the covers from over his head to his shoulder before repeating the same motions she had done with Peter.

She shook his shoulder gently, "Sirius…Sirius-"

It's weird talking to Black like this.

"-it's time to get up…wake up Black…"

Sirius grumbled a bit as his eyes blinked open.

Lily took her hand off his shoulder. "Breakfast will be starting soon, you need to get ready."

"Alright," Sirius agreed. Lily stood up as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and got up.

"Done," she told James. "Happy?"

"How'd you do that?" James stared at her in amazement.

Do what?

"Wake them up?" Lily asked after a moment. At James confirming nod she laughed. "That's how Alice wakes me up. It's pleasanter. And for someone who isn't a morning person, like me, it's a much better way to start the day."

"That rhymed," Sirius pointed out as he left the room.

"You want to wake up the rest of the boys?"

"What? No."

"Please? I want to see if it works on-"

"James!" Lily interrupted. "I'm not waking the entire tower. It's not even seven o'clock yet, they don't want to be disturbed."

"Fine," James sighed. "Let's go wait in the common room then."

Lily all but ran to meet Alice for Herbology. The four of them almost made her stay until they compared and inspected her schedule to theirs and saw she wasn't lying, she really didn't have that period with any of them.

She met Alice halfway to the greenhouses, just as she was heading out.

"Hey."

"Hey Lils, how're you doing?" Alice greeted.

Lily grimaced a bit. "Okay, I guess. But I was hoping a I could steal you from Frank as my partner today, there are some things I want to talk to you about."

"Like what you did in that closet?" Alice raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes…except not like that," Lily gave Alice a look. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Well where's your mind if you know what I meant?" Alice retorted.

I have been corrupted.

"Can we just get to class please?"

"Whatever you say Lils."

Herbology wasn't very interesting. They were spending the entire class simply observing the plants they had planted a week before.

Normally this would bother Lily greatly but it seemed to fit her purpose then so she didn't mind. As Alice scribbled down notes on the texture of Fanged Geraniums, while Lily held the plant with gloved hands so Alice could safely touch the leaves.

Though they had worked with the plant in previous years, they were supposed to be looking at it more closely now.

"So what did you need to tell me?" Alice questioned interestedly.

Where to start?

"Well, I-I kissed him last night."

"Oh my goodness. I wouldn't have guessed it," Alice remarked sarcastically.

Lily frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Alice knocked Lily's hands away so she could get a good look at the colour of the petals.

"Nothing. Just…well, everyone knows you did…otherwise how'd you get out, right?"

Oh Merlin…she's right…everyone knows…

Lily shook her head.

"So how was it?"

"How was…what?" Lily prodded.

"Kissing him?"

"Um…good?" At Alice's questioning look Lily corrected herself, "Terrible." Alice looked shocked. "Um, wonderful?" Even more shocked.

What am I supposed to say?

"I…don't know?" Lily sighed.

"Well. I'm just going to conclude that you enjoyed it."

"Ye-maybe. But I…Alice I don't like him," Lily said.

"Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?"

"I don't know!" Lily cried.

"Is he really that bad?" Alice wondered aloud.

Lily scratched down the approximate size of the plant before answering. "He's…not as bad as I thought he was…Not to say he's an angel, not at all, but he's not as big-headed as he was before."

"But you don't fancy him. Not even a little bit."

"Are you doubting me?" Lily asked.

"Maybe."

What kind of a best friend are you?

"And what, may I ask, makes you doubt me?"

"Well for one thing I've never heard you quite so stressed over a guy. Let alone the fact that you feel the need to remind both of us that you don't like him."

"Because I don't!" Lily screeched. "I really and truly don't."

Alice looked at her pointedly. "I think you do."

I…

"Not in that way at least," Lily's voice took on a sad tone as she spoke. "Maybe…possibly…there's a chance…maybe as a friend…"

"Well that's a start," Alice muttered. Lily pretended she hadn't heard, not sure how to respond.

"So, all in all how's Marauder Week coming along?" Alice enquired.

Lily inhaled deeply. "On Saturday we…" Lily trailed off.

I can't tell a thing. Do things like quidditch count though? Better safe than sorry….right?

"Tiring," Lily finished finally. "They're four, ridiculous, teenage boys. Insane really. I'm never quite sure what's happening."

"Sounds fun."

"It...is…sometimes."

"And your normal life gets boring... sometimes." Alice handed Lily her quill. "You could win this thing, Lily," Alice reminded.

Yeah..no more James Potter.

A/N: Okay so there's chapter fourteen. I would really be happy if I could get three hundred reviews with this one. Please. Or I'll have to pull one of those 'I won't update until you review' shananigans.

ANother note is, I don't know if you've heard of them but the Merlin Awards, like an oscar type thing on here. The nominated stories are pretty good and there's a James/Lily section so you all might want to check that out. It's a forum with links.

and question: I met a man who was allergic to something weird yesterday. What is he allergic to?

Thanks for reading!

Anyways,

Scarlett