A/N: I hope you people haven't lost your interest in this story; it's been so long! At least, to me it has.
Important Note: I am leaving on July 14 for Arizona, and I won't be back any sooner than two weeks, and it may be a month! I wanted to let you know, so you don't wonder why I'm not updating my stories. Be assured that when I do get back, I will post!
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Chapter 29- An endless quarrel
"Chloe? I don't, er, I don't mean to intrude upon your personal life, and if you object, tell me, but what is it with you and Remus?" Lily was indifferently staring at her dark-haired friend over her book, of which she hadn't turned a page of in over twenty minutes. She'd been staring at the wall and thinking, rather than reading. Thinking about oh, everything. James and all of her friends, graduation and what she was planning on doing afterwards, and just recently, Chloe and Remus and their aggravating stubbornness. And seeing how Chloe was sitting on her own bed, not more than two yards away, she vociferated her wondering.
Chloe looked up, her hazel eyes flashing with momentary anger and annoyance. "A better question is- why does everybody care so much?" She raised an eyebrow and looked back down at the magazine she had been reading.
Lily, unbeknown to her friend, narrowed her eyes. "Could it be because you're our friends and we care about you?! Honestly, Chloe, you're being so stubborn!"
Chloe looked unperturbed, and simply shrugged. A loud, exasperated sigh escaped Lily's lips just as Jennifer walked out of the bathroom. She had been listening intently to the conversation, and shook her head at Chloe.
"I agree completely with Lily, here," she indicated the red-head with her thumb. "You're being downright impossible. Anybody who has eyes can see that you two still care about each other."
"He wants you back, Chloe." Lily added, the two of them staring at her, waiting for her to look up from her magazine. Slowly and reluctantly, she did.
"If he wanted me back, then he'd tell me that. He obviously doesn't care enough about us to confide anything in me." she replied despondently, drawing the curtain around her bed as a signal of an end to the conversation. Both Jennifer and Lily shook their heads once more and shrugged at one another in resignation.
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"I can't believe you talked us into this!" Lily exclaimed, poking James in the ribs.
"What can I say, Lily m'dear, we're rubbing off on you." James replied, motioning for the others to follow them.
Strictly speaking, each of them should have been sleeping soundly in the Gryffindor Tower, by this hour. But, then again, they were the Marauders, Lily, and her friends. Who would be surprised?
It took a mere matter of five minutes before all seven of them were panting and huddled next to the lake. They jumped at shadows and kept silent until they were certain that nobody had followed.
"What're we doing here, James?" Lily asked, letting herself drop onto a nearby boulder.
"I'd like to know the same thing." Jennifer cast a glare at Sirius. "Was it really necessary to come barging into our dorm to wake us up?"
Chloe, on the other hand, kept silent and purposefully ignored the sneaky glances that Remus sent her way. She plopped down next to Lily, twining her dark hair around her fingers.
Sirius stood grinning, not unusual for him, and James was looking at Lily meaningfully. Remus appeared forlorn and not with the group but floating out in space. Peter, well, he was Peter.
"We," James gestured at the other Marauders, "have decided to pull a few pranks," he stopped while Lily rolled her eyes, "and we thought that you might like to help us."
Jennifer raised an eyebrow, Lily just stared at him sleepily, and Chloe made a gesture with her arm for him to go on.
"First order of business- Chris." James said, smiling evilly.
Lily sat up staight, however tired, and replied angrily, "Oh no you don't! He doesn't deserve to be pranked, even if you do hate him!"
James appeared taken aback. "Huh?" then his face became red with anger. "Do you have feelings for him, still?"
Lily shook her head furiously. "I told you; he doesn't deserve it!"
"Well, maybe I'll just do the prank without your help, anyway!" he was acting childish, and he knew it, but of course, refused to admit it to anybody.
Lily threw her hands up in the air. As if being tired and just wanting to go to bed wasn't enough, James had to act so stubborn and foolish! She spun around and stomped off towards the castle without a backward look.
James glared after her, and then turned to everyone else. They stared at him without expression; with tired masks to hide whatever they might be thinking.
Sirius smiled wearily at Jennifer. "Well dear, it appears that your friend is PMSing." he grinned wider.
Jennifer's' face reddened. "Oh sure, take his side! I declare, all of you are so immature!" she ran off after Lily.
Chloe stared after then, then turned back to the guys, seemingly indifferent to the whole argument. "I'm really not in the mood for any of this. I wasn't feeling well in the first place, and now you four have gone and made the two of them mad!" she glared at each of them in turn, then fixed her hazel eyes on Remus. "Ugh, and you!" she pointed a finger at him. "You--You--You idiot!" she ran off before he could reply, cursing herself for not being able to say anything superior. She had wanted to yell at him, but it hadn't turned out as she had planned, again. She shook her head and ran harder to catch up with the other two.
Sirius, James, and Remus turned towards each other, and then towards Peter, who was standing off to the side biting his nails. "You shouldn't have made them so mad." he squeaked.
"It wasn't our fault!" they yelled at once. Peter backed away, mumbling, "I-I'm going to bed." and scampered off.
Remus sighed, looking off into the lake. "I would apologize to her. I would." he paused, looking at his hands. "But she just makes me so mad. She wouldn't accept an apology anyway." his features turned to annoyance. "So I just won't give it to her. She wants to beat around the bush, well, two can play that game!" he turned to his friends, who were staring at him with drained expressions.
"Remus, give it up. Just tell her you're sorry." James said, sagging into a sitting position on the ground.
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, and then we won't have to hear you complain anymore." he realized he shouldn't have said that while Remus' eyes narrowed.
"You two can think whatever you want! Fine then. You won't be hearing any more complaints from me! Ha! You won't be hearing anything at all!" he ambled off, leaving Sirius and James staring at one another.
"Geez! What a night!" Sirius exclaimed. "Well, Prongs, at least you and I are still friends." he grinned, only vaguely apparent in the moonlight.
James sighed. "This sucks. I only wanted to pull a prank or two." his forehead turned red and creased. "She still has feelings for him though. I thought maybe she never had, but I was wrong." His hands clenched at his sides and he rose from his sitting position.
"Prongs, forget about it. She loves you; you and I both know she does. Don't start another one of these stupid arguments or you'll end up like Remus!" he let out a cackle.
"You just don't understand, Padfoot. You just don't understand. Come back to me when you do." he waved a weary hand as if to shoo Sirius away and left him standing alone.
Sirius stared after his best friend with a creased forehead, only vaguely aware of how they could all be mad at each other as a result of a few minutes time. He shook his head and followed James fifty yards behind.
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Meanwhile, the girls entered their dorm exhausted and annoyed, having caught up with each other along the way.
"I can't believe him!" Lily exclaimed. "He's so--so--unthoughtful!"
"And Sirius is an immature ass!"
"Remus is a stubborn idiot!"
With that, Jennifer and Lily turned to look at Chloe, folding their arms to imply that the might think the same of her, or near enough.
"Not this again! I have enough to worry about without getting you off my back!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing herself across her bed.
"Are we bothering you, then? Fine, no more of that!" This was their last nerve; Jennifer drew the curtain around Chloe's bed herself.
"Now!" she straightened and looked at Lily, who was staring at the wall angrily. Jennifer seated herself on her own bed, still watching Lily; her face was turning different shades of red and she was no doubt thinking of James. "Lily, you really shouldn't have gone off like that on him, he only wanted a joke." then she remembered his PMS comment, and shuddered irritably.
"Yeah, well I don't always agree with the things you do either." Lily said, almost absently.
"Is that right? Well, I'll tell you what! I have absolutely no patience left, not even for you! If you don't agree with the things I do, then go running back to the Marauders. I don't need a disagreeable friend!" She turned away and busied herself with her covers, almost losing her balance as she heatedly fought her way under them.
Lily stared at her, shaking her head. What a night! How can it possibly be that we're all mad at each other- and for stupid reasons! Honestly…well, I suppose this is what the Marauders deserve for waking us up! Short nerves and dry tempers! At least they're still on good terms with each other!
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A/N: Hehehe....that was sort of fun to write...though you all probably hate me for it. Sorry if it moved a little quicker than necessary, but I didn't have enough time to write- I should be packing right now...I can just see my mother coming over here and yelling at me because I haven't yet. Anyway, thanks for reading and, like always, I'd love to hear from you in a review! Until next chapter!
~Emily~
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Peppermint- Thanks again and I hope you keep reading!
Heehee- Lol, I'm glad you liked it; I found it humorous myself. Thanks for your review and the extra stars!
Red- As you now know, it might take a lot longer than you would have thought to get them back together. Lol, if I do…anyway, thanks again for a review that made me smile!
KoolKitty- Lol, it's alright about not reading them, I forget a lot too. Anyway, I meant to send you an email before I posted this, but I sort of forgot…but I will now of course, with chapter four attached. Well, thanks for reviewing, like always!
Jessica- Thanks a lot; I really appreciate hearing from you!
Phoenix6545- Lol, well I'm glad it did, I was aiming for it. Thanks once again!
Libertygrl413- Thanks, I really enjoy reading your reviews! I hope you liked this chapter too!
Lady of Magic- Planned for Remus? To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure yet. Though I am glad that you brought it up, it makes me realize that I should get working on that among other things…thanks a bunch for your review!
Midnightlily- ;) I'm good, enjoying the summer, and you? Thanks for reviewing!
Mr. P- Well, I thank you for your comments, and in reply to them- How do you know that Finnigan is not Seamus' uncle or maybe not related at all? Don't assume that he's the father; I've learned that you should never assume anything when reading fiction. And your idea is no doubt a good one, but I've already plotted out what I have- you could start a story of your own regarding it, however.
Min Hee Ha- Lol, I agree. It was sweet of him. I'm glad you continue to read the story and enjoy it…and, of course, write wonderful reviews!
Jasminegurl- Lol, I'm glad that you're one that I don't need to remind that they may not get back together, but there is always hope, I won't take that away….thanks a lot for your review, I appreciate it!
SMAC- Lol, I guess I am mean, at that. I don't notice these things while writing; that's why I'm glad to have so many continuous reviews to tell me them!
AMY- Thanks a lot! I'm glad you thought that!
Tess- ;) I'm happy you though it was funny. And I will write more, of course. I couldn't possibly stop!
Kristatwen- I love it when they boys get the bad end too ;) They need it once in awhile. Anyway, I am sorry that it took me so long to take a look at your story, but I did, and I left you a review ;) I am looking forward to the next chapter. Thanks again!
Kase- Lol, well we all have our standards. I thank you for continuing to read this story- and review it!
TheYellowSubmarine- I'm honored! Thanks so much for putting me on your favorites!! I'm glad you like the story and I hope you continue to!
ElfinGirl12- I'm glad you thought it was funny ;) And I suppose now you know what happened…though I didn't even expect that, it just happened…lol, oh well!
BroadwayGuardie- Remus and Chloe might…lol, sorry I won't tell any more. Yes, I know what you mean, but stubborn people don't give way easily! Thanks a lot for your review; I'm glad you like the story!
SilverTears13- Lol, left you hanging, eh? Sorry about that…but I am happy that you enjoyed it! Thanks again!