Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.

Note: Less than a week till my exams come!

A lot of conversation in this chapter. I hope it's okay. Please comment! I want to know if you like it or not, and I want to hear like..suggestions and stuff you know. They help:)

I wouldn't even mind if you told me to redo a chapter or something. My next chapter is already written:) but I think I'm not going to post it until Saturday. Sorry.

Also, the whole James Sirius and them making the bet thing isn't over yet alright?

Review review review again!

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IM SORRY!!! I PUT THE WRONG STORY! lol that was stupid. Sorry!

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The month of January was nearing its end. James felt goose bumps rise on the skin of his bare arms. He rolled down the sleeves of his sweater after while packing up from potions class.

However, as he heard soft laughter echo through the room, he pulled his head up. He watched as the girl in front of him packed up her ingredients while talking with Alice. Apparently, Alice must have said something funny.

Lily shook her head as she pulled the elastic out of her ponytail, letting her long hair tumble down her back. Then she threw her head back and laughed again.

James silently slipped past his seat and down to the row in front.

"Guess who?" he said in the deepest voice he could manage, covering Lily's eyes with his large hands.

In front of the now blinded Lily, Alice laughed and resumed packing, leaving the two alone.

Lily lifted her hands to cover his.

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, feeling his hands, "I'm thinking these feel like…Snape's hands."

James laughed and pulled her a step closer to him, still with his hands over her eyes. He resumed his alias voice. "Evans, how did you know?" he asked mocking the Slytherin boy.

"I don't know? Because I'm brilliant, smart, a genius?," allowed Lily.

"Oh, you're that and more Lilyflower," James said, forgetting about his act.

Lily turned around in his arms, sending him a smile. He had thoroughly decided that that smile should have been reserved for him, and him only. He wondered how many people had fallen for that smile before.

His heart skipped a beat in his chest.

Bloody hell, he thought, if this keeps on, she's going to kill me.

Lily was thinking something similar. She stared into his hazel eyes, losing herself in them. They were so full of love.

When he finally blinked, her gaze traveled lower. She followed his long nose, his chiseled cheekbones and in the end, his beautiful lips.

"Beautiful?" he asked, hearing her whisper the word out loud. "Aw, are you calling me beautiful? I personally don't mind, but I think I prefer handsome more. Doesn't sound as girly."

She blushed, ignoring his arrogant remark. Although she would never admit it, she found that sometimes—just sometimes—his arrogance was sexy.

Lily tilted her head up and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. Then, while he was still recuperating, she ducked under his arms and hurried away with her bag.

At the door of the dungeons, she turned back and sent him another heart-warming smile.

James figured it was really then that he decided he needed to talk to the boys. He couldn't lose Lily. And he knew what he needed to do.

"Beth!" he called, as he entered the river of people streaming through the hallways. "Beth!"

The dark haired girl turned around. "Oh, hey James."

James noted how good she looked. It wasn't that he was thinking about other girls while he was with Lily, especially not her best friend, it was just that she looked a lot better since the beginning of the month.

She no longer looked as frail. The colour had flooded back into her skin—the red cheeks, the flushed skin tones, the shining purple eyes. She had gained back some of the weight she had lost.

Lily told him it was probably because of all the ice-cream. She said that she had gained some too. He had laughed and told her she looked better than ever.

He snapped out of his reverie.

Beth was wearing her Hogwart's sweater on top of skinny jeans and boots. It was a big difference considering all the baggy clothes she had been wearing before. James made a mental note to himself to notice more of what Lily chose to wear. It seemed a girl's wardrobe varied on their moods.

Complicated creatures, the lot of them.

"James?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh right! Have you seen any of the Marauders around today?"

"I saw Sirius earlier when he walked with me to class this morning. Other than that, I haven't seen anybody else."

James had to give credit to his friend. He had single-handedly reverted Beth to her old self which was something even her best friends had trouble doing. The incredible thing about it was that they were really just friends, and although that wasn't what Sirius wanted, he didn't want to push it.

And James quoted, "It's all I can ask for really, at least we're friends." Honestly, Sirius was making James sick. Of course, this was only with the Marauders.

Sirius had now become the new James—what with the whole day-dreaming about a girl twenty-three seven and complaining about it during the other hour. Except this time, it was Beth not Lily.

Beth on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to stay friends, and James pitied his best friend because of that. He had had years of first hand experience with that type of thing.

He had tried suggesting to Sirius to ask her out again, but Sirius had firmly rejected that, saying that she needed her time and he understood that.

Again to his credit, he seemed patient enough. Not once had he even looked at another girl.

A year ago, maybe even a month ago, nobody would have pinned Sirius to be the type to fall in love. He had proved the all wrong. James was glad for his friend.

Whether Beth knew it or not, she had him hooked around her finger. James believed that she probably knew it, but didn't want to act on it.

He could understand her. Sirius had put her through a lot, and as much as Sirius regretted it, sometimes forgiving is different than forgetting.

That had been what Lily had taught him a while ago in the incident with Lynne. Occasionally, he would see her looking at Lynne from a distance and he knew—just knew—that she was remembering her with him. He shuddered at the thought.

Nowadays, they rarely spoke. The last time he had spoken with her was when she congratulated him after stepping into the great hall with Lily. She was with Craig now, and everyone was happy for them. He wished everyone could have their happy endings.

"Beth," he said suddenly, "are you going to the Quidditch game tomorrow?"

She smiled. That was maybe the one thing that had changed about her after the incident. Beth never smiled quite as brightly as before. "Of course James, I haven't missed a game since when me and Si—a long time ago," she said, catching herself.

James smiled knowingly. Time for a little Marauder meddling, he thought happily.

"You never came to many games before this year," he stated in fake innocence.

She stuttered. "I-I…how would you know James? I wasn't really close to you before this year was I?"

"You're forgetting my infatuation, or as other call it, obsession, with Lily all those years darlin'," he said, resting his arm on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you two are together you know," she said, changing the topic, "you guys are good for each other."

"Don't try to—"

"You better not hurt her again James," she said without missing a beat, "it took her forever to take the leap. Don't make her regret it."

Somehow, James got the feeling she was talking about both Lily and herself.

"I regretted going out with Lynne you know. We make mistakes," he said softly. We as in Sirius and himself.

"What if I tell you that sometimes, after falling, you become afraid of heights? You just don't want to leap across again."

"What if there was someone waiting on the other side for you?"

"He left me though," she breathed quietly, "he pushed me to fall."

"What?" asked James, not quite hearing properly.

"Nothing," she said, forcing a smile, "Just don't hurt her again. She's had a bad experience with a guy before you know, but she never really talks about it."

A bad experience, thought James, he had never heard that from Lily. But he put that thought aside, focusing on the matter at hand.

"I'm pretty sure we weren't talking about Lily back there," he said.

"I'm pretty sure we were, in fact," she replied.

"He loves you Beth."

"No, he doesn't."

"He told his brother that he loved you. That has got to mean something."

"What?" she gasped. "Regulus?"

"Yeah, well that's what I heard at least."

"It must've just been a rumor James—you know better. When would Sirius really talk to his brother? I mean, practically every time they see each other, they start fighting."

"Maybe," he conceded, "and maybe not. You'll just have to ask him and see." He smiled, his eyes twinkling.

Beth shook her head. "And I thought your mischievous days were over."

"Never!" he shouted, "and besides, Lily secretly likes it." His head bounced in consent.

Beth laughed softly. "Any last attempts before I head off to muggle studies James? I might as well hear it."

James racked his brain. "Actually," he said slowly, "yes."

"Oh?"

"He took you to his spot."

"His spot?"

"See, we know Hogwarts better than anybody in this school, save for maybe Dumbledore."

"So I've learned over the past 7 years."

"And some places in Hogwarts' grounds are hidden away like treasure in the sand. Nobody knows about them except us."

Beth nodded. Hogwarts was so big, it was entirely probable that there were hidden places only people like the Marauders would know.

"We discovered most of these places over the year, not saying that we found them all." He didn't mention that they usually found them on the nights with the full moons. "And in our fourth year, we each chose a place for ourselves."

"Like staking claim to a colony?"

"What's a colony?"

"Never mind, continue."

"Well, these spots are really important to us. And we never really show it to people. You know, it's like a place that belongs to the each of us."

"The pond." Realization dawned on her.

"Yes, that was Sirius' spot."

"The pond," she repeated. A silence followed and James smiled.

"He's never showed anybody there before, if you're wondering."

Then, feeling as if his job was done, he turned and went the other direction.

"James!"

"What Beth?" he called back, without turning."

"You took Lynne to your spot then?" she asked hesistantly.

That made him pause and look back.

"There's only one girl I'll take to my spot Beth, just like there was only one girl Sirius had ever taken to his. Whether he knew it or not, he loved you."

"That's what you think," she said softly. "I was just another girl."

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"Jodie! Remus!" he called as he caught sight of the pair walking hand in hand.

"James!" yelled Jodie loudly, copying James, "we can hear you! You're only a meter away!"

James grimaced. "My ears."

Remus laughed. "What's up James?"

"Can I steal him away from you for a bit Jodie?" he asked with a smile. "Please?"

Jodie narrowed her eyes. "I hope Lily knows you're stealing my boyfriend. Cheating on her—with a guy no less." She shook her head while containing her smile. "She'll be heartbroken."

James laughed. "She knows," he said with a shrug, acting as if it didn't matter. Then he looked at her with big pleading eyes.

"Alright! I'll see you later Remus," she said, continuing the rest of her way alone.

Remus watched her leave.

"Done staring?" asked James impatiently.

"Nope, not quite." He watched as she rounded the corner. "Alright," he sighed dramatically, "what did you do this time?"

James narrowed his eyes.

"What?" laughed Remus.

"Come on," said James, "we have to find Sirius and Peter."

"They're in the room of requirement," replied Remus.

"Don't they have class?"

"Well now we know what to think of when we try to get in."

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"Guys," announced James once he entered the room. "I have something important to say."

They seated themselves around a desk that had magically appeared. He chewed the inside of his mouth softly, reconsidering whether he should do this or not. And then an image of Lily appeared in his head, helping him decide.

He sighed.

A loud plop was heard as James threw a small pouch onto the table in front of his friends.

They looked at him in confusion.

He nodded at the bag.

Peter picked it up, looking surprised as he heard the jingle of coins.

"60 galleons," confirmed James, sinking into the couch.

"But.."

"I-I.." stuttered James. He had never done this before. He placed his head in his hands.

"Wait wha—"

"I—" James tried again, looking up.

Remus smiled. Sometimes, it was about knowing which was more important.

James swallowed his pride.

"I forfeit."