A/N: 'Kay, well this chapter was just a random inspiration – I didn't intend to write it or anything, it just kind of waltzed into my head, made sense with the story, and was therefore written. The idea for Lily and Leila's conversation at the beginning of this chapter had been previously considered, but then I decided I wouldn't use it – look how well that one turned out. :P

Extra Note: -S3v3rusIsMin3- left a review with the suggestion of Lily's denials – I'd like to credit her for it, because if she hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have made it a more dominant part of the story like I have now. So thanks!

One Last Note:Sorry for the late posting for this chapter – my Internet was acting up on the computer with all my documents, so I needed to get that fixed before I could post. I've put up more than one chapter at this time, and I'd like to request that you review all the chapters – just so I can see how you feel about each of them. Thanks!

Lily

January 19th

Dear Diary,

I'm writing because I found out about James's reasons for leaving Hogwarts, but I have something else I want to rant about before I get there; Leila's lately gotten it into her head that I have an eating disorder, and has been lecturing me about it for the past two days.

Yeah, eating disorders. Me! I don't have a bloody eating disorder! Those are awful for your health; I don't do things that are awful for me – not all the time anyway, just once in a while. I mean, anorexia's for really, really big perfectionists – people who think they're fat when they're not. And bulimia's absolutely gross; you make yourself puke! Eew!

Anyway, so Leila's reasoning for sticking me with an anorexia claim is that I haven't been eating lately. Well, that's not true – I do eat. I mean, okay, I've been skipping breakfast, but I never ate breakfast before either – I just drink some milk or orange juice and I'm done. I've had to skip lunch for a while now, because of my extra studying, but that's not that big of a deal. Dinner…I eat dinner. It's just that I feel really queasy after a full day of working and my emotional hell, so I just make do with a small amount. It's not anorexia! It's just me not being hungry! There's a difference – one kills you, the other doesn't. Get it right, Leils.

Now, since these accusations are in place, she apparently has the right to harangue me all the time; in the hall, during meals when I sit with her and don't eat, or once she even tell me off while I was in the bathroom! It drove me crazy, and I told her so when we were on our way to Charms.

"Leila, I don't have anorexia, and I certainly don't have bulimia," I told her impatiently. "Stop giving me a full-blown sermon every five minutes."

"Lily, you don't eat!" she complained. "You look like a toothpick, and I've noticed that all year."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked. "My thighs are enormous, but that's not the reason I don't eat as much as I used to."

"Oh? Then why don't you eat much?" Leila inquired, her eyebrow raised.

"Because I'm not hungry," I said, specially emphasizing the last two words. "I could use a bit of weight loss, but I'm not trying to starve myself."

"You don't eat anything at meal times," she told me.

"I haven't eaten breakfast since I was ten," I informed her. "I drink a glass of milk or something – that does me."

"What about lunch? You normally pigged out at lunch before."

"Nowadays, I have studying to do – I just don't have time for lunch," I said. "But I do grab something to go occasionally."

"Occasionally as in never?"

I smirked. "Hilarious."

"Well, you don't eat dinner either," she said. "You like dinner. Or, you used to."

"I just feel sick, all right?" I said. "Don't get on my back about it."

"If you feel sick, you should see Madam Pomfrey," she pressed.

"Leila, please," I said. "I'm fine."

"I'm just trying to look out for you, Lils," said Leila. "You're my best friend – my very best friend. I want you to stay safe."

"I appreciate that, but I don't have an eating disorder," I told her a little more kindly; she was my only friend at the moment, and she didn't deserve to be shouted at. I'd already had a taste of what would happen if you yelled at someone who tried to care about you.

"Okay then," she said. "I won't push you, but please – for me – will you eat something at dinner tonight?"

"Deal," I said, smiling my first smile in days at her earnestness. We shook on it, and there I had a promise – one I didn't intend to break.

We got to Charms at that point, and our conversation turned to more pleasant subjects…that is, until Chris came up to talk to me halfway through the period.

"Hey Lil," he said smoothly.

"Hey?" The word seemed to be a question; Chris didn't talk to me much anymore.

"Lily, is it you that drove James out of the school? That's what Kyleigh Brookes told me," he asked.

Wanting to murder Kyleigh, I said through clenched teeth, "I don't know why James left the school, but I'm sure it wasn't because of me."

"If it was, thank you," he said, his grin turning almost nasty; it looked so uncharacteristic on his face. "It's been absolutely lovely having him leave."

I frowned. "I may loathe James, but that wasn't very nice."

"So? Neither is James." His grin was quite wide – I was almost scared of him.

"Don't smile like that," I told him.

His expression became normal once again. "Sorry about that."

"Anyway, is there anything else that I can help you with?" I didn't want to talk to him – I wanted to talk to Leila.

"No," he said. "See you on the twenty fourth."

The twenty fourth – damn, I had almost forgotten about that stupid date. I couldn't say anything though, because he left. Leila waited until he was gone before she began to question me.

"Why did you stand up for James? Are you feeling all right?" She checked my forehead just in case.

I gave her a grim laugh. "I don't know why I did it, but don't tell him." In truth, that bracelet kept me horribly aware of how mean I was to him, and how nice he sometimes was to me; that was why I had stood up for him, but I hadn't been happy about it. I promise – it's not that I like him! Ugh; God forbid I like him. However, Leila seemed to think that – she giggled.

"Lily, I think you're falling for him," she said, winking.

I rolled my eyes. "Please! I am not falling for him! He's not here – he can't beat the crap out of Chris right now, and if I told him when he came back, it would mean talking to him, which is, of course, a huge punishment."

"Whatever," Leila said, still chuckling as she turned back to her work. That was when our second visitor came – Sirius.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, Miss Evans, and I needed to talk to you about it," he said. I was vaguely annoyed; Chris, James, and Sirius had no lag time when it came to talking to me – they just got straight to the point, which was not always a good thing.

"I bet you could help it, but all right," I said unwillingly. "What?"

Ignoring my comment, Sirius said, "Lil, I know why James left the castle – I helped arrange it. You were wrong – he left because of you."

Leila gasped, and my jaw nearly fell to the ground. "I caused James Potter to leave Hogwarts? Is he coming back?"

"Yeah, on the twenty third," Sirius said carelessly. "But yes – you did. You pissed him off, and you confused him; he doesn't know what to think of you, and needed some private thinking time away from the castle."

I was in shock. "Is he all right?"

"Yeah," Sirius said again. "He's in the Leaky Cauldron's hotel thing – room fourteen, he told us. He's having a good time. He admitted to missing you." He made a clicking noise with his tongue. "But you weren't supposed to know that."

"If I wasn't supposed to know, why tell me?"

"To make you feel guilty." Sirius grinned devilishly. "To taunt you. To bother you. To make you thank me for telling you the truth."

I rolled my eyes. "Not going to happen. Listen, can you tell him something for me?"

"Why would I do that?" Sirius wrinkled his nose with disgust. "You're a bitch. I don't help bitches."

My eyebrows went right up. "I'm a what?"

"A bitch, Evans," he repeated. "Don't you have ears?"

"I have ears, yes; I just don't know what I did to merit such a title," I said, feeling quite offended.

"You drove my best friend out of the castle," he reminded me. "If Remus didn't have such a big bloody crush on you, you'd be on the floor with tentacles on your face. But as it is, I'm keeping fairly quiet – I hate it when people mess with my best friends."

I rolled my eyes once more, trying to hide how indignant I felt, but I had to ask one more thing before I changed the subject. "Remus has a crush on me?"

"Yeah," he said. "He says it could never work, and he knows that, but he likes you. He told me the other day – he was staring out in space, I asked what he was thinking about, and he just told me."

"Did he tell you anything else about me?" I had to know if Sirius was aware of what had happened on New Years – I would have to commit murder if he did.

"Maybe," Sirius said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he saw my urgency. "But I might give you a definite answer and pass a message to James if you do something for me."

"What do you want?" I inquired warily.

"I want a few kisses," he said simply. "More specifically, a make-out session. Tonight. By the greenhouses."

Leila made a revolted noise from behind me – the first thing she had done to interrupt our conversation – and I made a face. "You've got to be joking."

"No – just being hopeful," he said with a laugh. "But I do want a kiss. One. Right now."

I sighed. "Then will you do both of those things for me?"

"Of course." He put his right hand up. "I swear on my face and many girlfriends that I will."

Me and Leila exchanged looks before I said, "Fine." Sirius grinned toothily at me and leaned in, but I put my finger to his lips. "But first, let me tell you what I want," I said.

"All right," he said, sounding bored.

"First, I want to know if Remus has said a single thing about me in recent weeks," I said. "I also want you to tell James that I'm sorry, and I'll explain everything when he comes back."

Sirius looked faintly interested after I said that. "Okay; anything else?"

"That's all," I said. "Now come here and let's get this over with."

Sirius gave me a crooked grin. "I like them feisty."

"Shut up," was all I said. Then I kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey!" He sounded aggravated. "I meant on my lips."

"You didn't specify where the kiss had to be, so I'm no longer obligated to touch you at all," I declared.

Sirius shot me a look of pure loathing while Leila snorted. "Bitch."

"Oh, go have sex with your sister and leave me alone," I said, grimacing at him.

"I don't have a sister," he said smugly.

"Your brother then," I countered. "More fitting like that anyway."

Sirius gave me a murderous glare, but Leila was looking ready to have a seizure with her laughter.

"Now did Remus say anything about me?" I asked.

"Not at all," he said mutinously, throwing both of us nasty looks that clearly said that he would like to throw something at us.

"Are you sure? If you're lying to me, I'll kick your arse," I warned.

"Yes, I'm sure; give me Veritaserum if you don't believe me," said Sirius.

That was the best answer I was going to get, and I knew that, so I said, "All right, fine. Thanks Sirius."

"Not welcome," he muttered as he left. Leila just about exploded with laughter when he was safely on the other side of the room though; she was literally close to not breathing.

"That was brilliant!" she choked. "I loved that!"

"I'm sure," I said with a slight grin. "Now I have what I want; I'm satisfied. Things are going right for once."

"That's good," Leila said, laughing.

"Yeah," I said, content for the first time in ages.

"Say, why did you tell Sirius to give James such a message?" she inquired.

"I felt bad," I clarified. "I know how it is to be confused about what you feel, and I want to make his burden lighter."

"Because you're proving my original theory right and you're falling in love with him?" Leila asked teasingly.

"No," I said. "It's because lately, I can empathize with how he feels."

Leila disagreed with me, and I insisted that it truthfully was because I could identify with how he felt – it was the usual argument. We continued it all the way upstairs to the common room, where Leila went off to read a book and I came to the dormitory to work and write in you, my diary.

All I can say now is, though I never thought the day would come, I really wish James was back – things may have been hard when he was gone, but they're even harder when he's not there.

Isn't life so funny that way?

James

January 19th

Dear Diary,

I love it here!

Seriously; I should have used this plan years ago – it's great! I mean, I get to pig out on ice cream all day long, and I can do pretty much whatever I want. Florean Fortesque knows me personally by now, after the amount of time I spend at his store, and he occasionally helps out a little with the work Remus sent me to do. I do most of it myself though, because it's O. W. L. preparation and whatever – I can't have Florean stand in the Great Hall and help me out with my exams, unfortunately. It's a pity; the guy knows a lot.

Still, I get things done, send them with an owl to Hogwarts, and continue to do what I want. And today, I met these two extremely attractive girls in Quality Quidditch Supplies; they were gawking at a broom, but when I came in, they, of course, began to gawk at me. I didn't mind; I even went up to them and, in my sexiest flirting voice, I asked them their names.

It turned out that the gorgeous brunette's name was Georgina Walters, while the blonde's name was Bethany Rollins. I had a slight problem with Georgina, since her name sounded so much like Regina's, but she turned out to be all right (and an unbelievably good kisser) – things evened out. Georgie and Beth turned out to be recent graduates of Hogwarts on a vacation – they were best friends. They had heard of me before, and couldn't believe I was there. They asked why I wasn't in school, and I said it was because I didn't want to be. I managed to win them over by telling them the daring tale with which I escaped the castle for the week; they were pretty impressed.

Beth, Georgie, and I hung out all day in Diagon Alley together. I went robes shopping with them, but I didn't mind it; I got to see them try on a bunch of very tight ones, which is never a problem for me. Then they joined me in an ice cream splurge (I adore eating ice cream – it's one of my few weaknesses) before we went back to the Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat. They were awesome; we had a blast.

After we ate, Beth said that it was time for her and Georgie to get back to their room – it turned out that they had room fifteen, right next door! It was a complete coincidence, and I loved it; they promised to come by the next morning. Beth actually just left; she and I made out for a little while before she felt guilty about betraying her best friend and left. Haha; I just have that effect on people.

Anyway, I got an owl from Remus containing the day's work and, for the first time since I got to London, a letter. I opened it curiously, and here's what it said:

Dear James,

Listen, mate, you need to get back here; the teachers aren't suspicious, but the students are. Kyleigh and Lily had a huge fight about it – Kyleigh said you left because of Lily, Lily got mad – and that set off a bunch of theories among our year. Not only that, but it's boring without you! Come on – for us, can you come back to Hogwarts?

Oh yeah, and Lily says she's sorry and will explain everything when you get back – another incentive.

Sirius, Peter, and Remus

(But mostly Sirius)

I snorted as I read through the letter, but I knew I had to answer it. So, I took out some parchment and scribbled back:

Dear Marauders,

I'm having a lot of fun down here – we should have done this ages ago. I met these two incredibly good-looking girls, and one of them even made out with me. The other one didn't know about it though – I expect she'll want to try that tomorrow. I know it's probably kind of boring back on your end, but is Lily all right? Are she and Kyleigh okay after the fight you mentioned? If she isn't, please ask Remus to watch out for her for me. As for what she said, disregard any further communication she asks you to give me; I'll talk to her myself on the twenty third.

James

I sent the letter off, feeling a little bit odd; Lily had asked them to tell me she was sorry and would explain later? What was there to explain? I knew about what had gone down with Remus – was there another person I needed to beat up about it? Chris? I still don't know who/what is going on with her, but I fully intend to…when I get back. I'm going to stay until the planned date, because I like it in Diagon Alley.

Well, anyhow, I hear knocking on the door – I'm willing to bet fifty Galleons it's Georgie. I'll attend to her, and I'll write again some other time. Like hopefully never.

A/N: I don't quite know why, but I didn't like how I wrote this chapter. Still, after editing, I knew it wouldn't get any better than this, so I hope you liked it. Lol. But like I said before, James's entries are shorter than usual because he's just out having fun – he isn't even thinking much about Lily at the moment. :P I didn't feel the need to tell you all about how he went shopping with those two girls and all that, so therefore, I gave you a scaled-down version of it. Haha. So anyway, please review!