You reviewer people rock my world, just so ya know.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Black Hawk War, Or, How To Demolish An Entire Civilization And Still Feel Good About Yourself In The Morning, Or, We Apologize For The Inconvenience But You're Gonna Have To Leave Now, Or, 'I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue To Fight Them'

Lily awoke to a pounding headache and an evil feeling in her stomach. She rolled over, moaning, to see James Potter fast asleep next to her.

Er…what?

As Lily attempted to wiggle out of his arms, the boy stirred. His glasses were still on, and he was caught off guard by the immediate ability to see in focus. "Mornin'," he mumbled.

"I don't feel so good."

James chuckled softly and attempted to flatten his hair as he sat up. "You cleaned old Padfoot out of amaretto last night, you drunkard." Lily moaned, falling back against her pillows.

"I remember going up to Gryffindor," she said. "How did I get back here?"

"I carried you."

"Why are you in my bed?"

"I was leaving, but you started talking to me about fixing things up with the girls then you, er, fell asleep on me." James thought it best not to remind her of the kiss if she didn't remember it. While half of him yearned to, the other half didn't want to complicate an already complicated situation.

"That's all?"

"Yeah," James said with a soft smile. "Well, that and you suck at Asshole, the best card game in all the world."

The Heads had awoken close to twelve o'clock. James had some leftover hangover potions in his trunk, so that little problem was taken care of. The pair took turns showering and were dressed and ready by one.

Down in the Great Hall, Remus, Peter, Nancy and Sirius were seated at the Gryffindor table. "Thank Merlin for late lunches on Saturdays, eh?" James said as he and Lily took seats next to each other.

"Yep," Sirius grunted through a yawn.

"Nice to see you at a meal, Lils," Remus said, folding his newspaper. "We've missed you, you know."

"Ain't that the truth!" Sirius said, smiling at his redheaded friend. Lily offered them a sad little smile. "Zombie-ness isn't good for you."

"You suck at saying things, Padfoot," James commented as he assembled a sandwich.

"It's true," Sirius sighed.

"What he's trying to say, Lily, is we care about you very much, and we're worried because you're not talking about anything. You're bottling things up and avoiding your friends and studying way too much. We love you, so stop hiding from us."

"Well put," said James.

"Agreed," said Sirius. He looked over at Peter, who was in Peter-And-Nancy Land, and added, "Pete agrees as well."

Lily hung her head. "Aw, don't do that," James said, throwing an arm around her. "We loves ya!"

Sirius stood in his seat and in one swift move, leapt over the table. He misjudged the distance between himself and the empty spot next to Lily and ended up on the floor, but he bounced right back up and hugged Lily from behind.

"You won't hold it against me if I don't jump across the table, will you?" Remus asked, smirking at Sirius' behavior.

"Well…" Lily adopted, for a moment, a James Potter Sirius Black mischief smile. "I would."

Sighing and shaking his head, Remus stood in his chair, just like Sirius had done. Unlike Sirius, however, Remus judged the distance perfectly. He dropped to his behind and hugged Lily from the side.

"Awesome group hug!" Sirius said, wiping a pretend tear from his cheek.

Through the tangle of arms, Lily spotted Patty and Alice making their way into the Great Hall to eat. James noticed this as well. "Are you going to-"

"Yeah."

The boys untangled themselves from Lily-and each other-and she stood. "Wish me luck," she said as she left them.

"What exactly is she doing?" Sirius asked, seating himself on James' lap.

"Er…what exactly are you doing?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He loves me," James informed his werewolf friend, snaking his arms around Sirius' waist. "He can't help it, I'm super sexy."

"Hells yes!" Sirius chuckled.

James pushed him to the floor. "She's going to work things out with Patricia and Alice."

"Good for her," Remus said with a smile, pulling his lunch across the table from where he had previously been sitting.

Meanwhile, Alice, Patricia and Lily had retreated into the Entrance Hall.

"What?" Patricia spat at the redhead.

"I want to apologize," Lily said after a deep, calming breath, ignoring the other girl's tone. "I'm so sorry for the way I treated you both. I got caught up with being Head Girl and things at home and the boys and-"

"You mean you replaced us," Alice practically shouted. Lily could feel the anger radiating off of her one time friend.

Lily hung her head, taking mental note that she had been doing that a lot lately. "I'm sorry," she said again. "Everything has just been so-"

"We don't care, Lily," Patricia shouted. "We don't want to hear your excuses! You're a bad person and a horrible friend."

With tears in her eyes, Lily nodded, turning away from the two girls that she had been friends with since the age of eleven. She trudged back into the Great Hall feeling defeated.

The boys were all sitting-even Peter-and staring at her walking toward them. Patricia's shouting had reached their ears from the Entrance Hall. Lily sat down across from James, trying very hard not to cry, but eventually losing that battle. Peter, Sirius and Remus simultaneously stood and walked toward the Entrance Hall where the other two girls still were.

"Oi!" Sirius called. "What the hell is wrong with you two? She's trying to apologize and that's how you treat her?"

"This is none of your business, Black," Alice said. The two girls turned and began a short walk toward the kitchens.

"The hell it isn't!" Sirius shouted. "Lily is my friend. It's definitely my business."

"Even if you're still mad, that was ridiculous!" Peter exclaimed angrily.

"Lily is not a horrible person or friend," said Remus, moving to stand in front of the two girls, blocking their progress.

"Yeah, wait until she finds someone to dump you for," Patricia said, pushing past Remus.

The three boys stood, letting the girls walk away from them. "Her father died Christmas night," Sirius said to their backs before turning and heading back to the Great Hall. "All she wanted was a chance to explain."

---

"Lily's decided to take a bath…or something," James announced, dropping into the armchair nearest the fire. He moved the chair slightly so that he could see out of the window. There was a light flurry and the sky was quite gray. "Apparently baths help the female species relax."

"We have to prank them," Sirius said immediately.

"We need to get them good," said Peter.

"Ridiculously good," Remus added.

"Officially, I can't be a part of this conversation," said James.

"Unofficially?"

"Belching Powder, Dungbombs, some good old fashioned muggle itching powder-I've got some in my trunk from last year still-hair color changes, skin color changes-make them clash with themselves or something, floating problems, sticking problems, food that bites back, steal their beds, Wormtail in their breakfast…anything you can think of. Make them hate us."

"They do hate us," Peter pointed out.

"They do not know hatred…they won't know it until we are done with them."

---

I figured we'd give Peter some time here…I don't like Peter. Uhm…I hate writer's block.