Things went smoothly after that, people got used to seeing Sirius and Lily together. They pretend dated for a while, but they were just being friendly to each other, becoming pals. She ended up becoming good friends with the whole group, even Peter liked her. She also learned the nicknames they used when they were alone and slowly found out many of their secrets. Giving up on Dumbledore let her open her heart to new people. Everything she'd feared, getting close to others because they might find out her secret and hurt her was slowly disappearing. She actually had friends, real friends, even if they were boys. She was slowly beginning to trust them... slowly.

"Lily... I was wondering..." Sirius started.
"Yes Paddy?" she asked giggling.
"You're not helping."
"Sorry," she apologized sticking out her tongue a bit, "what is it?"
"Do you... do you want to be my real girlfriend?"
Lily looked at him for a moment, a bit surprised and not sure of what to say. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't love someone else yet and she didn't want to hurt her friend either... but she had to, it was better that way.
"Actually... I like someone else..." she lied. She couldn't tell him she didn't like him.
"It's James, isn't it?" he asked with a hurt expression.
"Huh? I wouldn't like him even if he was the last jerk, I mean man in the world." She knew that wasn't true. They did joke around arguing about silly things but Lily didn't hate the boy anymore, they'd become good friends.
"Then who is it? You can trust me..." Sirius said still looking somewhat sad.
"Sorry but I don't want anyone to know, even you Paddy," she replied with a sweet smile and kissed him on the cheek, "Let's just be friends." Lily's heart broke along with Sirius'. Why did that have to happen to her...?
"Fine..."
Lily really hated dumping people, and being his friend it was 100 times worse. Luckily her acting skills weren't too bad and she could fake having full control of her emotions when inside guilt was boiling like hot soup. Guilt and sadness, a deadly mixture.

"Hey you 2, were you making out?" James asked, in a good mood seeing them alone. He was just walking around with Remus, they had nothing better to do.
"Actually, we just broke up..." Sirius explained.
"You weren't really dating," Remus pointed out.
"Yeah, whatever..." Sirius looked depressed.
Lily gave him a guilty look for a second then she went back to her usual self. The only one to see this was James.
"Say, James, why don't you and Lily go and get me those books I mentioned before at the library?" Remus asked his friend. James caught the message immediately.
"Let's go Lily, I'll need your help to carry those books." The girl simply nodded and they headed towards the library.
"He's going to try and cheer Padfoot up," James commented once inside, "and I guess it'll be my job to cheer you up," he said smirking.
"I'm fine, don't worry," she replied smiling.
"You feel awful."
"I do not!"
"Stop lying to me and admit it!"
"Well..."
"Well?"
"I do feel a bit bad..."
"A bit, princess?" James had been calling her the same ever since that night, "I think it's more than a bit."
"Fine, I feel awful!" she finally confessed, "I didn't want to hurt him and now I just want to cry!"
"Don't worry, he'll be fine, Remus will help him."
"Still..."
"You'll be fine too eventually too, I know it," he said smiling, "warrior princess," he added and winked. Somehow this made Lily blush. Not like he'd called her anything nice, he called her a warrior! But it still made her feel better.
"Thanks."
"No problem princess," he said and picked up some random books just in case.

That night it took Lily a while to fall asleep. As she was dozing someone's steps woke her up. She opened her eyes a bit and saw no one.
"It's not funny, take off that thing," Lily said, still half asleep. But he didn't. He covered her mouth and with a little spell she couldn't move anymore.

"What do you want, Malfoy? Kidnapping is against the law," Lily asked irritated. Her 2 'favorite' Slytherins had kidnapped her, Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape.
"Oh, just to win against the quiddich team tomorrow. We have some teachers on our side too so nobody will interfere," he explained calmly.
"You're scum."
"And you are our prisoner, so if you don't watch your mouth," Severus said putting his finger under her chin, "then you'll pay."
"Jerk..."

"Say, Wormtail, have you seen Lily anywhere?" James asked. She hadn't attended to class and was nowhere to find. Teachers seemed not to notice, even though she was one of the people who raised their hand the most.
"James, sit down," Peter said in a serious tone.
"Did she die or something?" he asked jokingly.
"Worse, she was kidnapped by the Slytherins."
"What the... why?!" James couldn't think of a reason why they would kidnap Lily except their being the worst scumbags around.
"They say that if you don't play today they'll return her."
"I'm not letting this happen. They'll pay."
James' face was full of anger, those filthy Slytherins, only they could think of something so dirty to win a stupid quiddich game. He grabbed his wand and headed towards the Slytherin house. They'd pay...

"What's the password?"
"I'm not giving you a password stupid drawing!" he told the paining at the Slytherin entrance and scared it away with a powerful spell.
"Snape."
"Oh, looks like the seeker came to look for his little friend. Well, the quiddich game must have started already, and without you," he said, grinning.
"You messed with the wrong person, Snape."
Soon a big duel started, all in front of Lily's eyes. She was really angry, not only for having been kidnapped but also for ruining the whole game, and for being the lady who had to be rescued. Why the heck couldn't they think of a less overused cliché? If those jerks hadn't caught her when she was asleep then... But she couldn't break the spell she'd been trapped in without her wand and that would be difficult to get. Later she'd learn how to break that spell and many others even without her wand.
Soon the battle was over, James' skills were much greater than Snape's. Breaking the spell easily he carried Lily out of that awful place.
"Hey, I can walk you know!" she told him but he didn't listen.
They arrived at the field in the middle of the quiddich game. Remus was playing as a seeker. Suddenly Lucius Malfoy saw it, the golden snich. It was a very tough fight between those 2. Slytherin won. Gryffindor was devastated.
"It was all my fault..." Lily suddenly realized. Just like with Sirius. How come she spoiled everything always? She ran off, she needed to clear her thoughts. It wasn't until later that they noticed she was missing again.

"So Evans was kidnapped and Potter went to rescue her? That stupid girl... if she had been more careful we wouldn't have lost!"
"It wasn't her fault" James defended her. Rumors were spreading again and they were really annoying.
"So how's Lily?" Remus asked.
"She was fine last I saw her..." James answered a bit thoughtful. He hadn't seen her since then...
"When was that?" he wondered.
"After the quiddich game... no, wait, before it finished. Where is she anyway?"
They started looking for her. She was nowhere to be found.
"Where do you think she went? Maybe the Slytheridiots caught her again," Remus suggested, worried.
"I'll go find her, I think I know where she is."

When James arrived at the spot where he'd seen her with Dumbledore Lily wasn't there anymore. The only thing left that let him know she'd been there were the footprints that showed she'd been kicking the floor furiously. The boy sighed. Where could she be if not there? Then he remembered another place he hadn't checked.
It was dark already when he arrived at the place where he'd found the unicorn.
"What are you doing here?" Lily greeted him not too nicely.
"I came to look for you." James glanced at her face. Her eyes were red and swollen.
"You idiot, I hate you! You shouldn't have rescued me!" she yelled.
"Are you sure? I don't think that's what you mean."
"I'm sure!" she said full of anger.
"It wasn't your fault and it was only a quiddich game..."
"It's not only that, it's everything! I can't go on with the private tutoring Albus was giving me and when I finally make friends I have to break one's heart, and now Gryffindor loses thanks to me! I'm the worst!"
James looked at her sympathetically, "It's not your fault princess, not your fault. Now clean that face, you look a lot prettier when you're not crying."
"You're not even original to make me feel better..."
"Hey, I try! You really are a picky princess aren't you? And do you know what princesses need?"
"...What?"
"Laughter!" James exclaimed and started tickling her. She stared laughing while demanding him to stop. A while later he did.
"You're still not original to make me feel better," she said smiling.
"But you feel better, don't you?" He smiled at her too. She nodded.
"Now will you trust me?"
"Maybe..."
"It'll take that as a yes. Let's go princess, everybody must be worried."
They walked off in the darkness, both of them feeling something had changed.

To be continued