A/N: Thanks a lot for all the reviews! As you may have noticed, I'm not going to put any notes at the end of the chapters from now on… Thanks for being so patient with me… I thought no one would read my stories anymore since I haven't updated for almost a month or two… But before I bore you guys out of your wits, here's Chapter Six!

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"Okay, Prongs, did you get the password?" Remus whispered into James' ear.

"Yeah – I have it right here. You still haven't told me how you got it, though," James whispered back.

"You don't want to know."

"I'll take your word for it," James replied, grinning.

The two boys hurriedly put on James' Invisibility Cloak and crept out of their Common Room. It was midnight, and Remus and James were preparing to carry out the prank on the Slytherins. James was holding – rather reluctantly – the slip of paper he had picked up in the Hospital Wing ready to plant it where it belonged. But what the other three Marauders didn't know was that James had something else ready too. He kept this hidden away safely in his pocket, ready to pull it out when the time was right.

The boys walked down the hallways silently. They reached the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room in a few minutes.

"Okay let's see – what the hell? Remus – look at this, just look at their password. Those bloody idiots, how can they stand something like this, especially when their Tiger Lily is a Muggleborn?" James exclaimed when he read the password off of the piece of paper. He was so loud, that Remus had to nudge him in the ribs to make him shut up.

"Will you just say it already?" Remus whispered harshly.

"Oh, fine I will – Mudblood killers."

The door sprang open and they clambered through quietly. They had entered a stone chamber. The fireplace in the corner had long since gone out, and the only light left were the torch brackets hanging on the walls.

"Okay – so how do we know which dorm is which?" James whispered to his friend.

"Follow me. I have an idea…"

"What are you going to –" James started, but Remus motioned for him to stay quiet.

"Here – look. This hallway is shorter than the other one. That means that the dorms are bigger… And since there are a lot more boys in Slytherin than there are girls… this is the boys' dorm," Remus said, as though this was a common principle which he applied to nearly all situations.

"Remus, you're really something. Now, go on – I'll go to the girls' side."

"I thought you wanted me to go over there?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Uh – I'd prefer it if I went over there…" James said, staring at his feet. Remus grinned at him.

"Oh, really – well then, I guess you'll need this more than me," he answered, handing James the Invisibility Cloak.

"Thanks – I guess."

"Go on with you. Get the – ahem – the stuff ready…"

"Don't worry about me…" James answered, as he turned around and walked down the opposite hallway.

At the end of the hallway, there were seven doors – three on either side and one at the end. On each, there was a number – from one through seven. The one with the number five was right at the end. James quickly checked the Cloak to make sure that he was fully covered, and slowly opened the door.

Inside, Lily shivered. She had felt a sudden breeze come through. She opened her eyes slowly, and saw that the door had opened. But it shut again soon, so she tried to go back to sleep.

James on the other hand, tiptoed up to her bed, and left the note by her bedside table. Slowly and carefully, he pulled out another slip from his pocket. He read what it said quickly.

Sometimes, it's hard to control your energy, and you end up doing things that put other people in an embarrassing situation. What may soon follow is an example. On the other hand, sometimes, you control your emotions so well, that you have no choice but to allow such situations to wash over those who have caused the emotions in the first place. If in any way, you find yourself in trouble due to what follows, I hope you will forgive me.

Ever now and then, your emotions take over your body without you knowing so. They fill your mind with thoughts and feelings, and before you know it, one of those emotions plays so strongly in your mind, that you cannot forget it – nor can you forget the reason for the emotion to have come into play. Perhaps this is why some strange emotion runs through my mind whenever I think of you – for I am always thinking of you. And I am sure that this same emotion is what you feel when you think of me.

James smiled to himself. It sounded right to him. He didn't feel the need to sign his name at the bottom. Supposing he was wrong in his assumptions, he didn't' want her to be sore at him. Carefully, he bent over Lily's bed, looking for a place to put the paper.

Lily couldn't go back to sleep. She opened her eyes slowly, and stretched. As she did so, her hand seemed to brush against something silky. Puzzled, she sat upright in her bed and tried to feel for what she had touched.

James saw that she had awakened, and crept backwards slowly. Not knowing what to do, he dropped the letter on her bedspread – hoping that she would find it before the next day's events – and slipped silently out of the room. Once outside, he backtracked to find the sixth year dorm. He slipped inside there to do his job.

Inside, Lily was holding her head in her hands, trying to fathom why she had thought she had touched something. She slipped out of bed quietly and walked over to the sink against the wall. Slowly, she turned on the faucet and splashed some water on her face. She dried herself with her hand towel and walked back over to her bed. As she was about to pull the covers back over her, her hand brushed against something coarse. This time she was sure that she had felt something strange. Pulling out her wand, she muttered the word "Lumos" to herself to illuminate her bed. She quickly spotted the folded up piece of paper and picked it up, intrigued by what had been happening so far.

Two beds away, Narcissa woke up. "Lily, dear, what are you doing? It must be twelve am! Go back to bed, honey."

Lily wrinkled up her nose. She hated it when Narcy acted all sweet – calling her things like 'dear' and 'ducks' and 'love' and 'honey'.

"Nothing, Narcy – I just woke up all of a sudden and decided to read for a bit to go back to sleep. Don't worry about me – you go ahead and catch up with your own sleep."

Narcissa rolled over and went to sleep – taking Lily's advice. But Lily didn't she pulled the hangings around her bed shut so that the light wouldn't wake anyone else up. She unfolded the piece of paper carefully, and read the curly writing carefully.

It's from James – I know it is. It has to be from him. But – what on earth does he mean? I – I guess I'll find out tomorrow. But – oh – he feels the same way; he has to. I knew it… I just hope I'm not dreaming… I'll go back to sleep. If I remember this – then it must be true, and not a dream. Oh, but I hope he really does feel the same way… I just wish I had the courage to tell him the truth – that I – oh, that I have feelings for him… I'm not sure whether I'm ready to – to say that I love him, but I know that it all boils down to that simple statement…

With these thoughts swimming in her mind, she leaned back, undid here illumination charm and went to sleep, the letter from James clutched tightly in her hand. Outside of her dorm, there were more things taking place.

"Did you put them in the right dorm? Remember – we're doing it to the sixth years, not the fifth years. Did you get it right, Moony?" James whispered to his friend as they silently went back to the entrance to the Common Room.

"Crikey – yes, I told you I did it right! Jeez, you're lecturing me more than I lecture you! Just chill, James…"

"Sorry – but, well, you know how much of a perfectionist I am…" James said sarcastically. Remus opened his mouth as if to retaliate, but thought better of it and shut his mouth again. They were about to leave when Remus pulled James back.

"Wait – weren't we supposed to do something else? We had to leave something here… I just can't remember what…" Remus said, scratching his head as he thought.

"Uh – we did? I don't remember anything… Is this something that you and Padfoot decided together?" James asked, but Remus shook his head in response.

"Oh, just forget it. It can't be something important or else you would remember," James said, dragging his friend by the arm. "All I can remember reminding myself to do was to take the little paper and a letter for Lily… I mean – uh – oops…"

James looked sheepishly at Remus, who was grinning down at him.

"Well, well – I guess Sirius was right. He really does know you well, doesn't he?" Remus said, forgetting about having to be quiet and laughing out loud.

"Shut up. I'm guessing he did tell you to say that stuff about forgetting to do something?" James asked Remus, frowning.

"Yeah – Padfoot's an expert at doing stuff like that. But what did you say in it, anyway?" Remus asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it," James said, the color rising in his cheeks. He tried his best to look cool, but his fidgety hands and flushed face gave him away.

"Well – it's your call when it comes to stuff like this. I just hope you didn't give us away."

"What could I possibly give away? Everyone knows that if any pranks are pulled, it's the Marauders' work. The only thing I told her was to forgive us, or rather forgive me, if she gets affected by this in a bad way. But I didn't mention what we did. That's all I mentioned about the pranks anyway…" James said, trying to avoid eye contact with Remus as they walked back to their own Common Room.

"I'm guessing there's something more… possibly something more personal?" Remus asked, with his eyebrows raised in an all-knowing way.

"Since you can already read my mind, I'm not going to tell you," James said in a stiff voice. Remus grinned and shook his head. James was the oldest of the four Marauders, but he often acted like the youngest – Peter excluded of course. He was always touchy on the subject of girls, especially since whereas Sirius had weekly flings without having to look for them and Remus had had a girlfriend for even longer than Sirius had, James had never bothered about them, and vice versa.

In another minute, they were in their dorm, telling Sirius how everything had gone. Besides Peter, there was only one other boy in their Gryffindor year, and he always spent Christmas with his family. Therefore, they didn't have to worry about waking people up. Sirius burst out laughing when Remus told him about what James did. James, more annoyed than ever, decided that he'd rather go to sleep than listen to them make fun of him.

"Aw, look, Siri; you've made ickle Jamesie all upset…" Remus teased.

"He's not ickle Jamesie anymore, didn't you know? He's a big boy now. He's already found a chick – and it didn't take him so long, now, did it? Let's see – it only took him five years…" Sirius said, as both he and Remus grinned at the lump under the covers that was James. They exchanged looks and on the silent count of three, they jumped on James' bed, making him yelp.

"Bloody hell, guys, what was that for? Jeez – you'd think you guys would be more understanding about this whole thing. Do you think I'm enjoying this? Do you think I like having thoughts of Lily pop into my brain all the time?" he nearly yelled. When he saw that neither of his friends had any answers, he continued.

"This isn't happiness – it is nothing short of torture. At least, it is for now. Do you have any idea how much I'm going through, without having anyone do anything? It's as though she's some kind of living ghost that haunts me whenever she feels like it. I can never stop thinking about her – her eyes… Oh god, I love those eyes… They're like oceans of emeralds… The way they sparkle and shimmer – and change color depending on her mood – it's as though they're magical too. And her hair – the way it flies around when she's on a broom – so red, and so soft and shiny-looking it doesn't look like hair at all – more like some sort of synthetic material – it makes me want to touch it, and find out whether it really is hair… And her smile – it's so – how do you find words to even explain such things?" James breathed, his eyes shining with a dreamy expression.

"Whoa – slow down, lover boy – you've lost me there," Sirius said, holding his head with his hands.

James ran his hand through his hair and smiled weakly. "Sorry, Padfoot – I couldn't help it. I guess I got kind of carried away. It's just that – well, I can't get her out of my head. And the fact that she's a Slytherin – it's not like I care but you guys and everyone else… what'll they say? What'll they do? And her – I know she likes me too, but even her reputation is at stake."

"Are you saying you're worried about her, or you?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not really sure… I don't want my friends to abandon me or her friends to abandon her… But at the same time – it's as though I can't live another day without knowing how she feels," James explained, sighing deeply.

"James – it all depends on this. What would you rather have? Would you prefer having popularity among everyone – except the Slytherins of course – or Liliane Evans? Whose attention do you value more – theirs or hers?" Remus asked.

James stared at his feet. He wasn't sure how to answer. He had understood the question fine, but the truth was that he didn't want to answer.

"I don't know Moony… that's what I've been saying – technically. I don't know what to do."

"Then don't do anything at all, James. Just forget about the whole thing," Sirius said. "I'm not saying forget about her," he added quickly at the face James was making, "but don't think about popularity or attention or anything. Just do what you have to do. You're the best judge for making your own decisions. You know that. Just one piece of advice – whatever you do, be yourself. That's all I'm saying." Sirius looked at James carefully. He had changed so much in such a short time. Was it all because of Lily, or was the prospect of Voldemort's attack worrying him again? Sirius wasn't sure, and he felt that neither Remus nor even James knew the answer either.

After a while of silence, the three boys parted and went to their own beds. But whereas Sirius and Remus fell asleep soon, James stay awake, staring at the canopy over his bed. Had Lily found the letter? If so, what did she think? Was she mad at him? Did she even know that he had given it to her? James had so many questions – but no answers. He continued thinking and questioning himself for a long time – not being able to go to sleep. He tried to avert his thoughts, but no matter what he did, his mind would automatically think of her again. It was like trying to go down an up escalator – no matter what you do you end up moving upwards. Hours later, after the sky had turned from a deep inky black to a pale grayish pink, James fell asleep.

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