(A/N) Hi again people. First off, thanks for telling me about how people usually feel after losing close ones, Ubersculley. I didn't want to do this chapter without a little insight. So, I'm glad I got such postive feedback from my reviewers. YOU GUYS MAKE THIS WORLD SPIN! And, yes, my laugh will return in this chapter. I had to bit back a laugh right after I said that. *snicker*. I'm alittle hyper, so let's see if I can pull this off. Enjoy!

Disclaimers: If you don't know this by now, you're mental. But that's okay, I love you anyways! :-D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily opened her eyes a crack. Something soft brushed her cheek and she dig her face deeper into her pillow, closing her eyes again.

It took a few minutes for it to sink in that the pillow was *breathing*. She sat up and James snorted, his head rolling to the side as he continued to lightly sleep. Her jaw fell and she took in her surrondings. They were sitting on the floor beside her bed, and James still had his arms around her.

Sometime during their sleep, Lily's legs had slid out from under her, and she ended up pressed against James, who was still uncomfortably sleeping on his knees. Lily raked her memory. When did this happen?

It all came back, painfully. Her parents' deaths, James,... Lily paled. She had spilled every thought she had about her parents' death to *James Potter*.

He yawned and sat up, cracking his neck. He adjusted his glasses and looked at Lily. "Are you alright?" He asked lightly. Lily felt her defense build up again, and she stood up.

"Of course I'm alright, Potter. How else would I be?" She said shortly, putting her hands on her hips.

Something flashed across his features as she called him by his last name and he stood up. "You don't have to act, you know." He whispered, taking her hands. Lily swallowed and a small blush rose on her cheeks as she pulled her hands out of his grasp. "I don't know what you're talking about."

James stared at her for a few moments before sighing. "Alright. Are you coming for dinner?"

Lily looked at the clock in suprise. "Uh, yeah. I'm just going to take a shower first." She said quickly. He nodded and she looked at the ground. He put his hand under her chin and raised her face up. It took every ounce of will power she possessed to look him in the eye without breaking down again. He finally let her go and stepped back. He didn't look satisfied, though.

"I'll see you in a couple of minutes, then." He muttered, as heat rose to his cheeks. He turned and walked out of her door. Lily ran to it and made sure it was locked. Satisfied, she brushed a tear that had fallen off her cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius cocked his eyebrows at James as he sat down. "Where'd you go all day?" James didn't answer and pushed his plate away. Remus stared at him.

"So, how's Lily?" He asked, hiding a chuckle. James didn't blink. "She just lost her parents, Moony. How would you be?"

Sirius nodded grimly. "Digging up old memories, James?" James cringed. He didn't answer again and took a sip of his pumpkin juice. His face brightened but fell as Lily walked in and sat with Rose and Molly. Peter followed James' eyes.

"What? Were you expecting her to sit with us? Throw herself in your arms? Thank you a thousand times while blubbering into your food?" He chuckled. All three boys turned to glare at him. He jumped. "What?"

"This isn't something to joke about, Peter. And, if you must know, no, I didn't think she'd do all of that. I'd just thought she'd show some sort of gratitude. Anything, really." James looked down the table again. Remus clicked his tounge.

"You'll be waiting a long time, James. Lily Evans doesn't thank those she hates." Sirius sighed.

Remus frowned. "I don't think she hates us. That much, anyways." He quickly corrected himself, as his friends looked at him in disbelief. Sirius played with his food. "If Lily doesn't hate us, I'd put my broomstick on it that Rose does."

"Who?" Peter asked.

"Rosemarta." Sirius quickly corrected himself. James and Remus cocked their eyebrows at him.

"What?!"

Sirius turned pink as Remus began to tease him. James wasn't paying attention. Lily had just stood up, and muttering a quick excuse to her friends, walked quickly out of the Great Hall. James pushed his chair back, and Remus and Sirius stopped argueing to look up in suprise.

"Where are you going?" Sirius frowned. "Uh, no where." He grabbed his cloak off the back of his chair, and left, anyways, leaving his fellow Mauraders to gape at his back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius watched as James clasped his cloak around his shoulders. He turned to Remus. "You don't think it's serious, do you?"

Remus chuckled. "He's not sick, Padfoot!" But, Sirius wasn't the only one who was looking confused. "Then, what's wrong with him?" Peter squeaked.

He rolled his eyes. "It's not my place to tell you." He said quickly, looking back at his food. Sirius frowned again.

"Oh, come on, Remus. We all have a right to know, too." Peter begged.

"No. You don't." Remus said, sharply. Both boys jumped. Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "Well, it won't change him, will it?" Remus shrugged. "Depends on how he handles it. I wouldn't know." Someone tapped Sirius' shoulder and he spun around quickly, making Rose jump back.

"Oh, hello, Remus. And...er..."

"Peter." The small boy growled.

"Right. Peter. Uh, Sirius? Can I talk to you for a second?" She turned to Sirius. He felt his face heat up and he nodded. Peter frowned in confusion, while Remus hid his smile behind his cup.

Sirius followed Rose out into the corridor, when she turned to him. "You wanted to talk to me?" He squeaked. Rose arched an eyebrow, and Sirius cleared his throat, as though he had swallowed something to make him squeak.

"Uh, yeah. Did you hear about Lily's parents?"

Sirius didn't know why he was disappointed. She just wanted to talk about Lily. Wasn't he supposed to be relieved? Mentally shaking his head, he answered, "Yeah. I'm sorry to hear about it."

Rose shuffled in front of him. "Sirius, what I'm going to ask you next is very personal. Do you mind?"

"Uh, sure. I mean no! No, I...uh...don't mind. Shoot. I mean, ask away!" He stuttered. Rose studied him for a few moments, as if trying to figure him out.

"Yeah, well. Did your...your parents die?" Her face heated up and it was Sirius' turn to look at the ground.

"Yeah, they...uh...did. When I was nine. Why did you want to know?"

Rose looked down again. "Well, you see, I can't relate with Lily at all. My parents are still alive, and I want to be there for her, but I can't look at life through her eyes. Do you think you could talk to her? Or something?"

Sirius stared at her. "I'm not the only one who's parents are gone, you know. So, why did you ask me?"

Rose stared at him for a few more seconds. "I don't really know. Well, we also need to form an agreement between your friends and mine, so I'd thought-"

"An agreement?" Sirius frowned for maybe the fourth time that evening. "What are you talking about, Rosemarta?"

Rose flinched at her last name and sighed. "Forget it, Black. We never spoke." She turned on her heel, and turned to march up to the Griffindor Tower, but Sirius reached forward and grabbed her wrist. She turned to glare at him.

"What? And who do you think you are, grabbing me back like that?!" She growled. Sirius didn't let her go. "You want an alliance between the Mauraders and...er...whatever you call yourselves? Really?"

Rose stepped up to him, destroying his whole purpose of holding her wrist. He let her go in suprise. "Yes, Sirius, I do. Otherwise, what would have been the point of going to you in the first place? This petty war that Lily and James somehow started is getting very old. Lily doesn't have the strength to deal with it, right now. So, I thought, if she were to make friends with you, James, or Peter, this would just stop."

"What about you?" Sirius blurted. Rose cocked her head to the side, studying him again. "What are you talking about?"

"Have you ever read that muggle play, 'Romeo and Juliet'?"

"In Muggle Studies, yes."

"You get the plot?"

Rose narrowed her eyes. "What are you thinking, Sirius?" She put her hands on her hips. Sirius felt heat rise up in his cheeks, but he rushed ahead.

"This." With that, he put his hands on each side of her face and pulled her face up to his. Rose's hands feel from her hips and she blinked in suprise. Without thinking, she moved her hands around his neck and deepened the kiss. Someone cleared their throat behind them. They sprang apart. James was leaning on the opposite wall, glaring at them.

"Touching, that was. Now, that this Shakespearean play is over, do you mind if we go back to dinner, Padfoot?" He teased. Sirius nodded mutely, and forced himself not to look back over his shoulder as James led him back into the Great Hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(A/N: Okay, this is before the last squiggle marks. Just so you're not confused.)

James clasped his cloak in front of his chest and walked after Lily. He followed her down the corridor. She turned into the dungons, and after several turns, she stopped. She looked around, failing to see James peering over the corner she just turned. Satisfied, she slid down the wall and pulled her knees up, staring blankly at the opposite wall.

James stepped out of his hiding place, but Lily didn't see him, she had already fazed out, far from Earth. Only when he slid down the wall, next to her, did she notice his presence.

"Potter? What are you doing?!" She growled, but didn't bother to stand up. James sighed. "I followed you. And it's not healthy to be alone right now."

"How would you know?" She groaned. James stared at her in disbelief for a few moments before sitting up, slightly, to pull something out of his pocket. Lily lit her wand and leaned over his shoulder, curious.

James tried to ignore the way her red hair was brushing his neck, or the her breath was tickling his cheek. She looked down at the picture in his hand. It was a family portrait, full of the same large brown eyes and untidy hair. The parents held hands and smiled cheekily, while two of the three boys played with their ties, shifting uncomfortably in their robes. A girl, with long, black hair and glasses kept scolding them out of the corner of her mouth, trying to keep her posture. The third, oldest boy, was at least twelve trying to look as though he wasn't the one giving his little brothers wedgies. James smiled up at her, as he ruffled one of the smaller boys' hair. The mother scowled down at him.

"This is your family?" Lily whispered, taking the picture from him, so she could lean back and look at it better. James nodded. "That was my mum and dad. That was my sister, Jamie, and my little twin brothers, Jared and Jason."

Lily stared at him. "Was?"

James gently took the picture back and looked at it. "Yeah. They died when I was thirteen. The Dark Lord."

"Voldemort." Lily corrected him, confidently. James winced and looked down at her. Her face heated up.

"What?" He frowned.

Lily shrugged. "I don't like to let little things get to me. I already have this small obsession with biting nails. And how little is being terrified of someone's name? If I can't look his name in the face, how am I supposed to get back at him, when I become an Auror?"

James continued to stare at her. "You want to be an Auror?"

Lily shifted under James' stare. "Well, yes. It's the only thing that really interests me, besides Charms. What about you?"

"Auror. Same reason, basically."

She nodded as he slid the picture back inside his pocket. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Lily realized that she was supposed to be mad at him. She cleared her throat and stood up, limping slightly as her foot slowly woke up. "Well, Potter, I must say I'm flattered for you to follow me all the way down the dungons, but I must be getting back."

James chuckled and stood up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled to her in a hug, suprising her. "You know," he whispered, noticing the way she didn't fight back. "you can't hide from me. Wasn't it you that coined the phrase, 'birds of a feather flock together'?" He pulled away and she gaped at him. He adjusted his cloak and turned around, leaving Lily to mull over what just happened.

He didn't have trouble finding the exit to the corridor in front of the Great Hall, since he was one of the founders of the Mauraders' Map. Two people were talking beside the doors. He squinted, making sure he wasn't seeing things. But, sure enough, Rose had her hands on her hips, staring at Sirius as he continued to ramble. She finally cut him off, with a question. Sirius hesistated, before putting his hands on the sides of her head, and pulling her face up.

James bit his lip, so not to gag, as Sirius kissed her. Rose seemed utterly suprised, but responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissing him back. James was truly going to be sick now. He leaned on the opposite wall and cleared his throat, loudly. Sirius and Rose leapt apart, and James nearly burst into laughter, at their deer-in-headlights looks. He, never the less, kept his eyes sharp.

"Touching, that was. Now, that this Shakespearean play is over, do you mind if we go back to dinner, Padfoot?" He said, in a taunting tone, his eyes dancing with amusement. Rose's face heated up, as James clamped his hand on Sirius' shoulder and led him into the Great Hall again.

"Don't say it, Prongs."

"Wait till I tell Moony." He grinned, broadly. Sirius spun to him. "James. Don't. Please don't. Or I'll tell Lily who stole her knickers at that one Hogsmeade trip last year. Remus still doesn't know about that, remember? Do you remember who took the blame? Poor Peter had to walk around with elephant ears for a week."

James laughed. "Alright, I won't say anything. But talk about losing your appetite." He put a hand to his stomach and stuck his tounge out. Remus frowned as they reached their table.

"Where did you two disappear to? What did Rose want, Sirius?"

"Yeah, Sirius. What did Rose want?" James taunted.

"Shut up, James." Sirius growled, stabbing his arm with a fork. He yelped. Remus cocked an eyebrow. "Okay..."

"She wanted to know something." Sirius said quickly.

"I guessed as much. What did she want to know?"

"Something." Sirius swallowed. James was having a hard time containing his laughter. "What's 'something'?" Remus continued to pry. Sirius felt his face heat up.

"She wanted to know if my parents were dead." James stopped laughing and Remus stared at him. Sirius suddenly realized how cruel it sounded. "Oh! I mean, Lily's parents just died, and she wanted someone who could relate with her. To talk, you know."

"What about Prongs?" James snorted into his pumpkin juice, from tuning out of the conversation. " 'What about Prongs'? Prongs did nothing! What's with everyone's fascination with Prongs?!" James nearly yelled, pointing his wand at the mess. Remus cocked his eyebrows again. "Forget it, James. We were talking about Lily."

He didn't seem any happier about it. "What does she have to do with Prongs?!" Sirius sushed him. "Will you stop talking like that?!"

James suddenly realized that he was talking in third person. "Oh. Sorry." He mumbled. Remus turned back to Sirius, but he faked a yawn and stretched. "Right, well I'm going to bed."

"What?! It's only eight!" Peter sputtered. But, Sirius was already hurrying out of the Great Hall, shooting Rose a smile before he left. Molly frowned and turned to Rose, obviously giving her the same third degree that Sirius just recieved. James shook his head.

"So, is Lily alright?" Remus asked.

James didn't know how to answer, so he just shrugged. Remus sighed. "Right, well, I'm done. Peter, you going to stay?"

Peter nodded and took another bite off his steak. (A/N: I feel so dirty putting steak into this. I keep seeing those billboards with the cows that say, 'Eat Chicken Or We're Toast'. It's a scary thought.)

James and Remus exchanged glances before leaving the Great Hall. "So, what really happened between Sirius and Rose?"

"I...uh...I can't tell you."

"Whyever not?!"

"I've been sworn to secretcy."

"Damnit." Remus cursed. "I hate that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Is 'whyever' even a word?! Right well, thank you people! I have reached my half way goal. I want to get at least 100 reviews for this fic, and I'm doing my best. *sniff* I sound so desperate. Don't listen to me. Well? Why are you still reading this? Why arent' you reviewing? Review!!