Author's Note: I'm afraid I don't have a single plug to make. Nope, not even one person decided to be really cool and review my last chapter. *melodramatic sigh*
Okay, I'm over it. I looked all over for the Banishing Charm but couldn't find it, so I had to make one up. If you know the real one, please let me know. Anyway, this chapter isn't particularly exciting, but it is necessary. Lemme know what you think.

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

Dear Petunia,
You are determined to make a complete fool out of me, aren't you? You'd better watch your back, sister dear, I just bought a pair of teacups that turn into frog spawn when you take a sip and they match our china perfectly...
Just kidding. Seriously though, what if this Kendall girl asks me about classes or something? Looks like you will have to give me a crash course in geometry and whatever else you tortured muggles have to learn.
I was in Hogsmeade (wizard village, remember?) last week -

Lily was interrupted by the end of History of Magic. Yawning, she put away the unfinished letter and packed up her books. Next was -

"Care of Magical Creatures!" Clarissa squealed excitedly.

Kasey, Eve, and Lily couldn't help it. They let out little squeals as well.

"Ooh! Professor Hugley is soooo hot!"

"Eee! Did you see the way he looked at me?"

The girls whirled on the two suspicious sounding speakers. James and Sirius were clutching their hearts and fluttering their eyelashes, while Remus and Peter looked on, laughing.

"Very funny," Eve told them haughtily. She and her friends swept by the pranksters and hurried outside, heads held high.

"Jealous," Kasey muttered angrily.

"Daft," Sirius complained under his breath.

"I'll see you all later!" Remus called, as he turned at the next corridor. He was one of the few Gryffindors taking Muggle Studies rather than CMC; Remus had said he'd always be worrying that next on the curriculum would be the intensive study of a certain lycanthropic breed of humans.

James stopped fooling around when they reached the designated spot for class. Lately, he was always on his guard around Hugley. Ever since Llanmaes, in fact. He knew he was being ridiculous, it was his own recklessness that had almost gotten them killed, not Hugley's lesson. But lately he'd been noticing things...

"James!" Peter hissed, breaking into his reverie. "Lily just answered two questions in a row. Are you gonna take that?"

James snapped into action.

"And who can tell me the average growth rate of the manticore's horn? James?"

"Three and a half inches per year until it reaches maturity at the age of six," James responded promptly. The next quarter hour passed in what was beginning to be regarded as routine; Lily and James answering all the questions. James couldn't help noticing, however, how much more often Lily was called on than he, even when he had his own hand up first.

"Right then, thank you Gryffindors, that'll be all for today. We'll be starting on practical work with manticores tomorrow. Oh, and 15 points to Mr. Potter and 30 to the lovely Miss Lily for superb class participation. You are dismissed." He smiled pleasantly at them.

James' mouth hung open. Why, that slimy, perverted little git! What was he thinking, coming on to a student like that? Worse, Lily was blushing and beaming and overall appearing to be on Cloud Nine. Was he the only one who saw how repulsive this was?

Apparently so. The boys all looked amused, or else had been to busy rejoicing over a shortened class to notice, while most of the girls were sending Lily jealous Death Glares. Thoroughly disgusted, James turned on his heel and stalked away.



Later, at lunch, the whole Hall couldn't help but notice the large brown box that five school owls were struggling to keep airborne, and Lily was astonished when they dropped it on top of her turkey sandwich. Owls rarely came to the Hall after breakfast, and she'd never received any large packages before. Curious, she removed the duct tape with a handy charm and opened the box.

"What is it, Lil?" Kasey asked her.

Her friend looked incredulous. "Books!"

Sirius, overhearing this exchange, was thoroughly disappointed. Large, mysterious packages were things he liked to send to Slytherins and kid sisters. His packages were the sort that nasty reptiles popped out of, and he had been hoping to find Lily's of that particular variety.

Meanwhile, Lily was examining the contents of her box with growing disbelief. "Would you look at this? Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry?" [Ok, I wasn't going to do any more mid-story author's notes, but I just want you all to know that that book is EVIL. Ruined my life, it did. Along with the rest of the UCSMP series. That said, we can continue.]

"What the heck is that?" Eve wondered, removing a similiarly hefty book entitled Chemistry: Connections to Our Changing World.

"Muggle maths," Lily responded absently. "Oh look, a letter!" She unfolded the note and read aloud. "'Dear Lily, I'm sending you your very own personal pretend-youÕre-not-a-witch survival kit. The textbooks are the subjects you're taking at school, which, by the way, is called St. Brutus' Center for the Exceptionally Gifted, it's in Kent. I've also sent you tapes of the seasons of all the popular TV shows and a few movies, as well as tapes of the popular bands right now. Read the books, watch the movies, and listen to the tapes!'" Lily paused. "That last part, mind you, was in all caps."

Her friends were staring. To no one's surprise, it was Sirius who recovered his voice first. "Lily, your sister is completely nutters!" Everyone else nodded fervently.

"She must really be worried," Lily mused. "I'm really starting to wonder what this Kendall girl is like."

"You sure you don't want to come over my house for the holidays?" Eve offered, sounding concerned.

Lily sighed. "No, no, I'll survive, somehow. Besides, my parents would be crushed if I didn't spend Christmas with them." She stood up. "I'd better bring this stuff up to the room. Wingardium Leviosa!" Prodding the box with her wand, she headed towards the Gryffindor Tower.



James watched sullenly as Lily performed a Banishing Charm for the class. Her cheeks were flushed with the effort and her eyes sparkled as she intently raised her wand, pointed it at a pillow, and called clearly, "Expulsio!" The pillow in question obediently zoomed across the room and landed neatly on Peter Pettigrew's desk, just in time for Peter's head to fall forward onto it.

Awakened by the class' snickering combined with the sheer force of Professor Giffle's glare, Peter cracked open one sleepy eye. "Thanks, Lily," he yawned, and resumed his nap.

"Mr. Pettigrew," Professor Giffle said icily. "My apologies for interrupting your little snooze, but I will have to ask you to continue it elsewhere. Fifteen points from Gryffindor, and yes, this will be affecting your grade."

"Professor, it wasn't my fault, last night Sirius' owl came down with the flu and I was up all night nursing it back to-"

"That will be enough, Mr. Pettigrew."

After Peter had shuffled out of the room amid a chorus of suspicious coughing, Professor Giffle turned back to her star student. "Miss Evans, that was one of the most superb pieces of Charm work I have seen in my thirty years of teaching. Most of you will not find it nearly so effortless to complete the Banishing Charm on your first try. 25 points for Gryffindor."

Lily couldn't help beaming delightedly. Flushing, she hurried self -consciously back to her seat.

"The fourth and second rows will be working on Banishing Charms with the person directly in front of them." Noticing one particular pairing, Professor Giffle added, "Except Potter and Evans. I hear you two are something of a volatile combination at Charms work," she said, causing Lily to blush again at the allusion to the McGonagall -plum pudding incident. "Mr. Black, you will work with Miss Evans, and Mr. Potter will be paired with Miss Cinders."

Kasey soon found herself wishing she had picked a different seat. They had been instructed to send the pillows at each other, and James was uttering "Expulsio!" so aggresively that the feather pillows were knocking the wind out of her. After a particularly violent flick of his wand sent her flying into the wall, Professor Giffle was forced to intercede.

"Mr. Potter! This is not a test of your strength, you are supposed to be exercising control!" Turning to Kasey, she asked kindly, "Miss Cinders, would you like to visit the Hospital Wing?" When Kasey shook her head weakly, Professor Giffle sighed and said, "Class dismissed. I hope your performance will not be so dangerous tomorrow, Potter."

All in all, James was not in an especially chipper mood. He stalked out of the Charms classroom without waiting for his friends, and when he heard his name called he was tempted to further practice the Banishing Charm. Glaring, he wheeled around.

It was Lily. "We've got nothing after dinner, want to work on Matilda?"

"Matilda?"

Lily blushed slightly. "Oh, that's what I named the kangaroo. Meet you in the Library at eight?" Without waiting for a reply, she continued, "Great, see you then," and went to catch up with her friends.