Author's Notes: I got some internet! Yay. I'm really sorry for my extended break but South America in general was amazing. American accents actually sound strange to me now. It's weird. I also have been gone from that I've actually almost forgotten how to work it.

I'm in Seattle right now and managed to get a signal. I won't be able to update tomorrow and probably not the day after that, but I may be able to update on the third day. I'll try.

Sorry if this chapter's not very good. I've been writing so much on my trip but I was really distracted by all the amazing things we sailed past. I hope it's all right. Thank you so much for the reviews and to everyone who put up with my little vanishing act.

Lily awoke in the morning with a pounding headache and a throbbing pain in her leg. She moaned and sat up to see that her leg had swollen to the approximate size of a soccer ball. Once Mary was done wailing and Marlene done rolling her eyes, she hopped down to Madam Pomfrey, who was furious.

"What have you done to yourself? You should have come straight to me instead of wandering about the castle. And now look!" she raged, tapping her wand to Lily's ankle. Lily winced as a loud crack rang out and her leg began to return to its normal shape with a horrible hissing noise. It sounded like air being let out of a balloon and she had to look away, her stomach churning at the sight.

Professor McGonagall, if anything, was even worse.

"I cannot believe that a Prefect would be so utterly irresponsible!" she said furiously, breathing hard and striding around the office while Lily looked down, her cheeks a flaming red. "If anything of this manner ever happens again, I will personally ensure that you will not be Head Girl and you will receive detentions for a year!"

After her thorough chastising from Professor McGonagall, it was time for Professor Dumbledore.

It was horrible.

He did not shout like Madam Pomfrey, he did not snarl and threaten like Professor McGonagall: he just watched, his face sad and serene. His blue eyes had lost their usual merry twinkle and instead he merely looked grave.

"Explain," he said softly and Lily broke down, pouring out what had happened though she was careful to omit James from her tale. She was already in enough trouble; it wasn't worth it to drag him down with her as well. The teachers just assumed that he had holed up somewhere planning his next mischief making event.

Lily exited the Headmaster's office an hour later, feeling more miserable than she could remember feeling.

"Gave you a scolding, did he? Whap you on the knuckles with a ruler?"

There was a soft chuckle. Lily whirled around to see Sirius leaning against the wall, an indolent smirk playing about on his features. He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. He pushed off from the wall, examining her.

"He gave me detention," Lily said miserably, but knowing she had deserved it. Sirius just snorted. "For a month," she added, turning around to walk away. His next words stopped her dead.

"It's better than you deserve. You're a selfish lying hypocrite, Lily."

She froze, then turned around slowly.

"What," she said with deliberate slowness. "Did you just say?"

Sirius smiled once more, but his eyes were colder than ever.

"I just told you that you are someone who thinks of no one but themselves, lies to get others in trouble, and you should follow your own advice sometimes, Queen Lily," Sirius said with a mocking bow. "That is what you want me to call you, isn't? Perhaps Princess to go with your sense of entitlement?"

She gave him a frigid glare and turned on her heel, walking off.

"You're more like your brother than I thought," she called over her shoulder. It was a low blow. She strode toward the corridor ahead, intending to go back to Gryffindor Tower. She never made it.

There was a furious shout from behind her and without warning Lily felt a blaze of white-hot light graze her cheek, snapping her head around. She collapsed to the ground, her body shaking uncontrollably. When she had control once more, she pushed herself to her hands and knees and raised a hand to touch her cheek. Though it felt as though it were on fire, the skin was ice-cold. She glared at Sirius and stood, legs still shaking.

He was furious, his eyes narrowed into slits, his entire body shaking. His wand wasn't even out and she realised he probably didn't mean to hurt her – accidental magic was easy when you were enraged. She gave him a sympathetic look and turned.

"Take a break, Sirius," she called over her shoulder, walking away. "The cracks are beginning to show."

Sirius stood and watched her walk off, his hands shaking furiously, until he finally collapsed and curled into a ball, sobbing, where Peter found him hours later.

James listened to Peter relay what Sirius told him had happened with disbelief, watching Sirius, who was curled up on his own bed.

"Is this true?" he said finally, turning to Sirius, who rolled over to glare at him.

"Don't you dare," Sirius hissed. James noticed that he was still shaking and his hands were curled into fists. "Don't you dare speak like you're all high and mighty, you hypocrite."

"Sirius," Remus said warningly from his seat in the corner, lowering his book. Sirius ignored him, grey eyes fixed on James, his eyes full of something like malice.

James' jaw dropped. When he thought he could speak a bit more rationally, he began to sputter, "W-what? How am I a hypocrite?"

Sirius sat up, still glaring. "Oh," he sneered, and the resemblance to his brother in that moment was uncanny. "If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you."

"Now you sound like my mum," James said. "And I haven't got any idea what you're talking about." Sirius gave him a cold look.

"Liar," he hissed before lying back down moodily. James stared at him, mouth hanging open. He turned to Peter, who shrugged, looking bewildered, then to Remus, who just sighed. James stood sharply.

"I'm going for a walk. Sirius, I don't know what your problem is, but you need to fix it!" he shouted, yanking open the door. It slammed against the wall with a bang and papers fluttered to the floor. "Call me once you've pulled your head out of your arse," he added over his shoulder, striding from the room and slamming the door behind him.

"Lily. Lily!"

Lily turned in surprise to see Marlene hiding behind a suit of armour, looking shifty. When Marlene saw that she was looking, she quickly beckoned Lily over. Lily approached, curious.

"Come here," hissed Marlene. Lily took another step, then Marlene grabbed the front of her robes and yanked her behind the suit of armour.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, pulling her robes free with a scowl.

"I need your help," said Marlene. Lily took a closer look at her and frowned worriedly. Marlene's eyes had dark shadows under them and they looked tired and sunken. Her skin had an odd grayish pallor to it and her hair, which was normally carefully plaited, was clumsily thrown into a very messy ponytail that was tied with what looked like a rubber band. When she saw Lily's shocked expression, she flushed a dark red and self-consciously smoothed her messy robes.

"Lily, I really hate to ask you this, but…" she hesitated.

"Go on," Lily prompted her. Marlene sighed.

"I… just, can you watch Mary tonight? She's driving me mad and I – I just can't."

"What?" Lily said confusedly. "What do you mean?"

Marlene frowned and cocked her head.

"You don't – oh. You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" Lily asked, frustrated. This seemed to answer Marlene's question and she tipped her head back with a sigh, closing her eyes.

"Mary isn't doing as well as she seems," she said baldly, opening her eyes and looking Lily in the eye. "She wakes up about twenty times a bloody night, sobbing and wailing. I have to rush over and soothe her until she goes to sleep and then it happens again. And again. And again. I love Mary, really, she's my best friend, but I'm missing classes and falling asleep everywhere and-"

"Marlene," Lily interrupted. "I'll help… and I'm really sorry – I should have known – Sirius is right," she whispered, looking down. "I really am selfish."

"What's that?" said Marlene, for her keen ears had picked up Lily's whisper. "Don't be ridiculous. You're a Prefect; you have extra work and you got trapped in the forest… you couldn't have known. It's fine. Don't worry about it." She smiled weakly, but Lily just felt worse than ever. She lowered her head.

"I'll definitely help," she promised Marlene. "Poor Mary… I didn't know…"

"I know," said Marlene. "And it's fine, really, but I just can't do this anymore; I need a break."

Marlene smiled at Lily and the two of them stepped out from behind the suit of armour, joining a group of chattering Hufflepuffs and hurrying for the entrance hall and out to Herbology. But Lily wasn't paying any attention to the lesson, even when a Venomous Tentacula nearly took off her hand.

How could she have not noticed? Mary and Marlene had both been looking a bit pale and strained, but she assumed that Mary was fine… she laughed all the time, after all… how could she have known?

"Careful, Evans!" cried Professor Sprout as a tendril wrapped around Lily's arm; only by beating the plant with a trowel did it release her. Lily and the rest of the Gryffindors trooped up to the castle for a short break and then to Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Professor Vane was demonstrating how exactly Patronus Charms were conjured.

"Expecto Patronum," Lily said dully, waving her wand, her mind on nothing much but Mary. James and Peter were in the corner, laughing as wisps of silvery smoke whirled around the two. James made a gesture and a vase flew across the room and hit a Ravenclaw on the head. The boy turned to glare at James, who merely grinned back.

"Expecto Patronum!" Mary cried, brandishing her wand so vigorously that it flew out of her hand and hit Remus on the nose, who doubled over as his nose swelled rapidly. Professor Vane quickly restored his nose to normal and set Mary extra practice. Lily glanced around the room. The room was lit by silvery sparks and people were shouting spells, but not with much luck. The most anyone had managed to produce was a flicker of silver that looked vaguely like a dog or small wolf.

"Excellent," the Professor spoke briefly to the excited girl who had conjured it. "Very good. Now, I need you all to concentrate on a memory… the happiest memory you can think of."

The room fell silent and people shuffled around. Lily looked around and saw Mary's face screwed up with concentration, her blonde hair matted to her face. James's eyes were closed while Peter was dancing from foot to foot, his eyes scrunched shut. Lily closed her own eyes and thought.

A happy memory… one of her happiest memories… no flash of happiness sprang to mind, no sudden gleam of insight. She searched her memories… and unbidden, Petunia's face came to the front of her mind. Her sister's long face was not contorted in anger or dislike; she was smiling happily. Lily smiled to herself and raised her wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" she said. A jet of silver light shot out of her wand and she caught sight of an ear, a large eye. Then it faded into darkness. The class was quiet, then people clapped loudly and she grinned.

"Very nice, Miss Evans," Professor Vane said appreciatively. Outside, a bell rang loudly and people immediately dived for their bags. In the scuffle to reach the door, Lily was separated from Marlene. Mary walked by her, still twirling her wand and talking excitedly.

"-that was really great, wasn't it? You did really well, Lily, I'm jealous! All I managed was a bit of smoke and now I have extra practice, but I don't mind. If I'm going to be an Auror, I need to be good at things like this!" Mary babbled as they walked down the corridor. Lily's thoughts came back to earth abruptly and she looked up at her friend.

"What? You want to be an Auror? Since when? I've never heard you talking about wanting to be an Auror," Lily said in surprise. Mary kept her eyes on the ground and said in a low voice,

"I… I need to be able to defend myself and help others, right? I mean, I'm a Muggleborn and – well, there hasn't been any more of those horrible flyers-"Mary gave a little shudder. "-but… it's dangerous… this Voldemort… a family of Muggles was killed the other day, didn't you hear?"

Lily was silent, flicking glances up at Mary occasionally. Her face was set; her jaw clenched slightly. She stared straight ahead, her eyes seeing something beside the corridor and chattering students…

Lily had never really given thought to what she wanted to be once she had left Hogwarts. An Auror… that sounded more like a job for people like James or Sirius; reckless people who jumped into the fray, shouting spells and hoping for the best… it didn't seem at all what timid Mary MacDonald would like to do.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Lily said abruptly. Mary looked over, her eyes widening.

"Y-you do?" she sounded genuinely surprised. Lily laughed.

"You didn't think I'd tell you it was stupid, did you?" Lily said, eyes sparkling. Mary was silent and Lily's jaw dropped. "You did think I'd saw that," she said slowly. Mary flushed a dark red.

"Well, Marlene said it was silly to think of the future so soon and that I shouldn't be unrealistic… I mean, you do have to get really good marks…"

Lily was silent once more. "Sometimes," she said quietly to Mary. "You just need to ignore Marlene. She doesn't think before she speaks."

Mary shrugged. "I know," she said, but Lily thought she looked a bit happier.

Lunch passed in silence, Mary gobbling everything in sight and Lily slowly chewing on a piece of bread, still deep in thought. Only when the bell rang once more did she move. History of Magic seemed to pass slowly, and for once, Lily didn't even attempt to listen or take notes. She laid her head down on her desk and closed her eyes, though she didn't sleep. Sooner than she would have thought, the class was over and they positively sprinted for the door, shoving and pushing to escape the stifling classroom while Professor Binns drifted back through the blackboard.

"Miss Evans!"

Lily turned to see Professor McGonagall chivvying a group of third years past, then crossing the entrance hall to her side.

"Professor?" said Lily as she approached.

"You need - Black, if I see you do that again, it'll be detention for a month," Professor McGonagall shouted over the crowd. "And Fawcett, don't you dare do that to that ferret again!"

"Professor?" Lily repeated curiously. Professor McGonagall returned her attention to Lily.

"Miss Evans, you have detention at six – Fawcett, I told you not to do that! – and Mister Filch needs his trophies cleaned – Black, get away from that suit of armour – get away! – and you will be accompanied by Mister Black, if he does not stop trying to shove that first year into the suit of armour," said Professor McGonagall with a baleful look across the hall. Lily nodded.

"Yes, Professor," she said. Professor McGonagall surveyed her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans, but I can't imagine what possessed you to wander about the Forbidden Forest," she said before turning and hurrying toward Sirius, who was now terrorizing a group of first years while the suit of armour creaked with wheezy laughter behind him.

James stared at Professor Cassandra, fighting the urge to look at the anxiously shifting boy beside him. The woman had insisted that they be paired together to "clear the terrible vibes in the air…"

James, of course, thought this was ridiculous and by the tutting noises Sirius kept making, so did he.

"This is stupid," James said finally, turning to look at Sirius, who was looking everywhere but him. "Just tell me your dream, all right?"

"I dreamed you got eaten by a giant marshmallow," said Sirius, still not looking at him. James scowled.

"Sirius…"

"Okay fine, I dreamed I was the prince of butterflies," Sirius snapped, finally turning to look at him. James gave him a look and Sirius rolled his eyes with an exaggerated movement. "I dreamed I was playing chess with Peter, but he was a manticore," he said grudgingly. James raised an eyebrow.

"I can't control my dreams!" Sirius snapped while James made a note in his notebook. "Let's see how your dreams are, eh?"

James smiled blissfully. "I dreamed that I was in Lily's dormitory-"

"Oh Merlin, no more," said Sirius, holding up his hands. "Do you have any that don't feature Evans?"

James scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, there was one about… two years ago…"

Sirius's head hit the table with a loud thunk.

Thirty minutes later and it was as if there had never been an argument between the two boys. Sirius and James were laughing uproariously while Sirius relayed a story.

"And then," Sirius gasped out, tears of laughter running down his face. "He realised she was standing behind him the whole time."

James doubled over, clutching his chest. Professor Cassandra was observing the boys from a corner, the tips of her fingers pressed together as though she were praying, a peaceful smile on her face. Students were trying to ignore the two and work, but not very successfully: James kept collapsing in gales of laughter and Sirius kept flicking bits of parchment at the back of their heads. Finally, the bell rang and students filed out of the room.

James caught a glimpse of fiery red hair from across the room and grinned brilliantly.

"Just a moment," he said to Sirius. "I'm going to woo Lily with my suave powers of-"

"Idiocy?" Sirius suggested. James pressed a hand over his heart as though he had been mortally wounded and gave Sirius a horrified look.

"Idiocy? Me? James Potter, most handsome man ever to set foot in Hogwarts?" James said in astonishment, feigning horror. He pressed a hand to his forehead and swayed dramatically. "Why Padfoot, I am crushed, stunned, miserable…" he paused to think of more words and when he couldn't he collapsed. "I am mortally wounded… give all my belongings to Lily-Flower," he rasped out before a dramatic rattling gasp. His eyes rolled up in his head and he lay still.

Sirius fell to his knees at his side, face mournful. "James died as he lived," he announced to the growing crowd around him. "A raving lunatic."

James, despite being 'dead', reached up and smacked Sirius, who took this as provocation to leap at him and begin a wrestling match in the middle of the entrance hall. Students gathered around them, cheering, some even betting on the outcome.

"Fight!" someone shouted in the Great Hall and people came crowding out to watch. James finally managed to flip Sirius over and pin him to the ground with his arms uncomfortably wrenched behind him.

"Do you give up?" James asked him. Sirius's only response was to wriggle more fiercely and spit at James, who just laughed. Sirius managed to wiggle free and a sharp blow sent James falling. The two boys fought more fiercely than ever.

Lily watched the two boys thrash about on the ground. James's glasses were cracked and Sirius was sporting a black eye but they were both laughing.

"Two to one on James!" Marlene called out. She was swarmed seconds later by students eager to bet.

"Really," Lily said loftily as with one final blow, Sirius dramatically collapsed and James climbed to his feet, arms held in the air. Students cheered and clapped him on the back, but James had eyes for only one person.

Lily bit back a groan as James approached her, smiling widely at her and exposing gleaming teeth. His handsome face was splattered with a bit of blood and his nose was bleeding, but he looked as cheerful as ever.

"My lovely Lily," he said with a deep bow. He got to his knees and took her hand, kissing it. Lily tried to pull away but his grip was too strong and she was forced to stand there awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot and hoping James would go away soon. He kneeled in front of her. "Beautiful Lily, none can compare to your loveliness!" he cried. Lily was quite sure she was blushing.

"You are like an oasis in the desert, an island paradise in the ocean, a pearl among clams!" James said, smiling up at her. Her heart gave a funny thump, but she pulled once more on her hand, but he resisted. His display was not quite over yet.

"My gorgeous vision of beauty and health, goddess Aphrodite-"

"You know who that is?" Lily said in disbelief. James ignored her, his hazel eyes fixed on her green ones.

"Loveliest of them all, fair Lily, would you deign to accompany me on a trip to the pleasant town of Hogsmeade?" James finally finished, beaming up at her. Though it felt a little cruel, Lily shook her head and stared sternly down at him.

"I would not deign," she said firmly, snatching her hand back and turning on her heel. Students all around were beginning to disperse and she easily cut through the lingering crowd. James followed her like a particularly annoying and clingy fly that continued to buzz in her ear. She longed to smack this particular fly away, but he continued to chatter at her.

"But Lily, my gorgeous-"

"I'm not your anything," Lily interrupted, changing paths and hurrying toward the dungeons, hoping he wouldn't follow her. No luck.

"But Lily," he said in astonishment as she suddenly turned and strode toward the marble staircase. "Please, Lily, can you just tell me why?" Perhaps it was because his voice was so pleading; perhaps it was because it felt rather harsh to turn him down so sharply, but she turned around. He looked astonished at her capitulation.

"Because," she said patiently. "you're immature, you hex my former best friend, you think you're far better than you really are, and you have a head so large it constantly amazes me that you can even get off the ground."

James blinked. "But Lily," he protested. "I'm maturing! I helped you in the forest, I helped with Mary and that creep, Mulciber, and I was mature when those propaganda flyers were around…"

Lily was forced to admit that was true, but she wasn't exactly going to tell James that. "Well, what about my other points?" she said in triumph. "If you can thoroughly refute them, I might take a walk around the lake with you. I repeat might." She was certain he couldn't. James wasn't exactly the fastest broom in the shed.

James looked as though Christmas had come early. He beamed at her. "Lily-"

"Potter," she said in tones of forced patience. "Evans. Call me Evans."

He sighed. "Evans," he said slowly. "I haven't hexed old Sniv- I mean Snape," he added hastily at the look on her face. "I haven't hexed Snape in… months? Has it really been that long?" he said in astonishment, more to himself than to her, but she didn't hear. She was mentally calculating how long it had been since he had cursed Snape… she couldn't remember anything… she was starting to feel rather anxious now.

Come on, James, she silently urged him. Slip up. I'm not going with you, I'm not.

"And Lil- Evans, I know I'm not that great. I mean, sure I'm great at Quidditch and Transfiguration, not to mention Muggle Studies – oh, and Care of Magical Creatures – ooh, and I'm good at Defense Against the Dark Arts-" he stopped at the look on her face.

"I mean," he said slowly. "I might be good at some things, but I'm not the best, and other things I'm terrible at. Like Potions – you should hear old Slughorn go on about you! You'd think you cured dragon pox the way he goes on about you. I'm awful at Potions… and Charms… well, that's a disaster," James scuffed his feet uncomfortably at the marble floor.

With horror, she realised that he was good – better than she'd thought. Oh, we'll see if I underestimate you again, she thought, eyeing him. He looked remarkably innocent, big smile and lopsided glasses. But she knew better than that.

"And about my head…" he scratched at his head and ran a hand through his hair. She watched him struggle with a feeling of vindictive satisfaction.

Hah, she thought. I'm not going with you, I'm definitely not.

"Well, I'm pretty sure my head is average sized," James said with a grin. She looked at him and he beamed back. "Well, what time do you want to go walking?"

Oh no, she thought. Oh definitely not. I'm not going, I'm not, I'm not… no, no, no.

"B-but," she spluttered. "You – I-"

"Come on, Evans!" James said with an earnest smile that looked far too sweet and innocent for the conniving soul she was sure lay just beneath the surface. "I've been great for weeks and weeks, not one horrible thing. I'm mature and not too big headed, and I've been almost… nice," he pulled a face. "To the Slytherins… so, how about it?"

No, she repeated in her head. This is not happening. It isn't. No. I'm dreaming. No, that would be worse – how would I explain to Professor Cassandra that I dreamed of James Potter. Rumors would spread and soon people would think we ran off to elope… no, I'm not dreaming.

"Lily?" James said uncertainly.

I'm definitely not underestimating you again, she thought, eyeing him once more. Why do I make such stupid deals? Stupid, stupid…

"Tomorrow morning," she said. "Early." So no one sees me with James Potter, she added in her head.

James's responding grin was the most brilliant yet. She walked back to Gryffindor Tower in a daze, wondering how exactly she had managed to get herself into this mess. Behind her, she could hear James whooping loudly.

Author's Notes: Thanks again, everyone.