A/N: well its kinda dark in this chapter, and whoo mama did I let it rip with the swearing. Teehee, I'm sorry, it may not be a whole lot for you, but I feel very daring at the moment ;). ANYhoozies, if you see italics with stars around them, its James's thoughts, and I think you know Lily's by now.

Disclaimer: I own Aria, Ashley, Glenn, and West.

Chapter 6: Of Whispers and Wanderings

Lily lay awake in her bed. For the millionth time, she looked at her watch. It read 12:45 P.M. She sighed and rolled over. She was restless and wanted one o' clock to hurry itself up so she'd be able to go down to the common room and meet James. And Peter. Not so much Peter as James. She didn't know why, but she felt uneasy around Peter, and so did Aria and Ashley. His eyes were gray-blue, the color of a frozen ocean on a winter morning, that seemed to stare straight through you. As if he knew what you were thinking. He always seemed nervous and moaned incessantly about every little unfairness in his life. There was just something about him that she didn't like. Of course, none of the girls ever said any of this to James, Sirius, or Remus, who were fiercely protective of Peter. Lily couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why though. If a little rat faced by hung around her every day without invitation, she would have taught him a lesson. She looked at her watch again. 12:48 P.M. Twelve minutes until she was supposed to meet him. You mean them. Well, duh, of course I mean them. What else would I mean? She turned her thoughts to the upcoming Quidditch match: Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. It would be a very interesting match, what with Aria and Amos playing against each other. Aria was a keeper, and Amos was a Chaser. I hope she doesn't cut him slack just because he's her boyfriend. She shook her head. No, Aria wouldn't do that. She wouldn't go easy against her own mother in a Quidditch match, let alone her own boyfriend. A more girly girl than she would have, but not her. Aria didn't let anyone off easy in Quidditch. Wow, Aria's mother playing Quidditchthat's something I have got to see. Ashley, who was the Seeker, told her that Remus did the commentary, and that he was the most biased commentator Hogwarts had ever seen. Sometimes students went to the games just to hear him slander the other team. She felt a bit sorry for the Hufflepuffs, because Sirius was sure to whip bludger after bludger at them. And of course, James was a Chaser along with Trewyn and Ebony. She had been told that he was a very talented Chaser, one of the best. Lily especially wanted to see what the Walking, Talking, Scrubbing-Brush, as she called him, could do. His hair actually looked nice in scrubbing-brush style. So soft and tousled. And his chocolate brown eyes reminded her of a puppy. Basically, he reminded her of an overgrown puppy. A very adorable pu-Evans! Are you losing it? This is James Potter we're talking about. What's wrong with you? Lily sat up very suddenly in bed. Where had all of that come from? It's official Lils. This Scottish air has affected your brain. Once again, she looked at her watch. 12:59 P.M. Lily jumped out of bed and raced down to the common room, careful not to wake up any of the girls.

It was 12:45 A.M, and the Marauders were gathered in the common room, except for Peter, who had complained of a headache and was on his way to the hospital wing. James handed Remus the cloak and the list of ingredients. He and Sirius were leaving before James and Lily so they would have time to get to the Potions Storeroom. After they left, James sat down to wait for her. He tried to run over the plan in his head, but his thoughts kept drifting over to her. She was different from any other girl he had ever dated. She was smart and never talked about makeup or her clothes. In fact, it seemed as if she chose what to wear by determining if it had been washed or not. She was fun to be around, and seemed to not mind getting in trouble, or getting dirty. She was always the first one to volunteer to handle a new animal in Care of Magical Creatures. James figured she either felt extreme pity for Professor Kettleburn, or she was insane. Yes, that was it. She was insane. Anyone who laughed like they had had the time of their lives riding a hippogriff and then being thrown off into a mud puddle had to be. She was very pretty as well, with her silky, wavy red hair and her astonishing eyes. Her eyes were amazing. They were like pools of liquid emerald, and they shimmered and sparkled with their own light-*JAMES! Get a grip! This is Lily we're talking about! Your friend! Besides, you've got a girlfriend, Trewyn, remember? And you don't need to be reminded on what Lucan would do to her, do you? I didn't think so. Now stop that. * James shuddered. Lucanunfortunately his father. James knew he was a Death Eater, and a ruthless one at that. He cared nothing for anyone but himself. Not for mother's screaming and pleading for their children to be spared, not for fathers crying as they helplessly watched their family's die, not for a child crying for their parents after he had slaughtered them. He had seen him kill without mercy many a time, even as a childbut he turned his thoughts away from his father to Lily, who had just rushed into the common room. She was wearing a fluffy yellow robe with slippers that had a tiger's head on the front. What's its name again? James wondered. Oh yea, it was Tigger, a muggle fairy tale character. Her hair was in a ponytail.

"Hi," said Lily smiling. "Where's Peter?"

"He wasn't feeling well, so he went down to the hospital wing. I hope he gets caught," said James. Lily raised an eyebrow at him, and he hastily replied, "I mean I hope he gets caught so Remus and Sirius have time and all."

"Ah," said Lily. "Well, let's go get our detentions then," she said, grinning broadly.

"May I escort you to our untimely demise, Miss Fireball?" asked James, offering her an arm.

"Certainly, Mr. Scrubbing-Brush," answered Lily, laughing.

They went through the portrait hole and headed towards the kitchens. James showed her secret rooms and passages along the ways that were only known to the Marauders, Aria, and Ashley. They had been stuffed with beanbag chairs and posters, all brought by themselves. There was even a balcony in one, and one with walls of unbreakable glass. She couldn't wait to find out if they were invisible. Finally, they reached a big portrait of a silver fruit bowl with fruits in it. James tickled the pear, which chortled for a while, and then transformed into a handle. He pulled it open, and they stepped inside.

There were house elves wearing tea-towel togas everywhere, running to and fro, stirring cauldrons that were three times as large as they were, and adding logs to the ever-burning fires. The walls were bright white, and it made Lily feel as if she was in a laboratory. Before them were the four majestic House tables and the Head table, directly underneath the ones in the Great Hall. She figured that the meals were charmed up from those tables to the real ones. The aroma of breakfast filled the air, and she realized delightedly that there would be chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, and sausage for breakfast that day. She tore her eyes away from the busy scene and looked at James.

"This is so cool!" she whispered excitedly. "I never thought the kitchens would be like this."

"There's still the best part left," said James, his eyes dancing, smiling at the look of shock on her face. The house elves now noticed their visitors, and ran up to greet them.

"Hello Mr. Potter sir, hello miss, welcome welcome-"

"Please sit down-"

"Noddy, get Mr. Potter sir and miss a footstool-" and on and on. James and Lily were sitting comfortably on a big, squashy sofa when the house elves came back with a tray of food. There were muffins, hot chocolate, several kinds of cake, cupcakes by the dozen, pastries, cookies, and to Lily's delight, chocolate éclairs.

"Damn!" said Lily, amazed, shocking one a few of the house elves who thought she was angry with them, but then realized she was happy when they saw her face. "Is-is this for us?"

"Yes miss, its all for you and Mr. Potter sir! Would you like more?" asked the elf called Noddy. Lily was hyperventilating at the sight of the food, oblivious to everything around her, so James answered for her.

"No, this is more than enough, thank you Noddy. We can't stay though, I'm afraid we must be going. It's getting late." James stuffed as much as he could carry into his pockets, and Lily did the same. They thanked the elves and hurried out of the kitchen.

"Oh my God! Oh. My. God. We HAVE to do that again!" exclaimed Lily as she munched on a éclair.

"We will. We usually go to the kitchens every week to keep from starving. Its better than care packages." James assured her. "Now all we need is to get caught." The two walked to the west wing of the castle, which was Mrs. Norris's favorite hunting ground for mice, and they found her quickly. For the first time in his life, James was glad to see her. A few seconds later, Filch and Professor Glenn arrived. He became livid with anger when he saw them.

"Being out of bed in the middle of the night is bad enough, but stealing food from the kitchens? That is a week of detention each and twenty points from Gryffindor!" roared Filch. Glenn had kept his eyes on Lily while Filch ranted, and finally spoke.

"I see that the rumors are true then," he hissed softly. "Our young foreign exchange student really is no good at all. Now wonder they got away with all of these delectables, she's a professional. Tell me, how old were you when you stole your first loaf of bread?" Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't hear anything anymore, because her blood was pounding with anger. She couldn't even see straight. The only sense that was still active was her sense of feeling, and she was feeling angry. More than that. Rage like she had never known was boiling up inside of her, like a volcano about to erupt. She wanted to kill Glenn.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" screamed Lily, and rushed toward Glenn, only to be held back by James, who was furious, even though he wasn't sure what Glenn was talking about. *What the hell is he smoking? How DARE he accuse her of stealing! She wouldn't even have known about the kitchens if it weren't for me! He should be yelling at me! *. "LET GO OF ME JAMES! LET ME GO!" Glenn stood where he was and smirked.

"Another twenty points from Gryffindor. Dear me, Dumbledore won't be happy when he hears what you said, and how you almost attacked me. I should think he will notify Headmaster West as well," said the professor. When he had said headmaster West' he had said it dripping with sarcasm. That was more than she could handle. He could slander her all he wanted, but if he ever said anything about WestLily made another attempt to get to him, furious that he dared to mock West, but James just barely held on, surprised at her strength. It was taking all of his to hold her back. For a moment he considered letting her go, to see what she would do to Glenn if he did, but hastily decided against it, deciding that the outcome would not be pleasant to look at, or for her. Glenn smirked once more and walked away with Filch behind him, grinning with insanity.

"Lemme go James! I'll kill him! Lemme at him! I'll send him back to the hole he crawled out of! Lemme go!" screamed Lily, trying to free herself of his grasp, snarling viciously. When James was certain that Glenn was gone, he let her go. Instead of running after the professor as he had suspected she would do, Lily stood quietly, shaking in fury. How DARE he? How DARE he even THINK of bringing that up? What the hell did I ever do to him? Goddamn him! And he didn't even stop with me, he had to go on to West too! I'll KILL him! Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm herself. She knew she had to, for her own sake, if she wanted to stay at Hogwarts and not end up in Azkaban, but she couldn't stop the rage. It kept bubbling up and up, and refused to go down. She shut her eyes tight and tried to clear her head. James stood watching her, expecting her to cry, but she didn't. She looked him squarely in the eye.

"That bastard is gonna pay." James didn't know what to say, or do. She spoke with such assurance and such anger that he didn't know what to think. Luckily, he didn't have to think anything because Lily turned around and walked back to the Gryffindor common room. James followed her. When they stepped inside the common room, she turned to him, eyes glued to her slippers. She couldn't make herself face him. Rather, she didn't trust herself to look into his eyes and not cry. Some of her anger was gone, but there was still enough left. She didn't know what he would think of her now, now that he knew what she had been, and was in absolutely no state to handle any more hurt.

"James?" she half-whispered. "Can you do something for me?" he nodded. "Please don't tell anyone? I-I promise I'll tell them soon, j-just not yet. Just please, please don't say anything."

"You don't have to tell them if you don't want to Lils," said James. He couldn't stand to see her like this. The Lily he knew was a girl who didn't take any crap from anyone, and was always happy. This girl was someone who was lost, scared, and hurt. She shook her head.

"I do," said Lily. James nodded. "I promise I won't tell until you're ready to."

"Thank you," she whispered, and hugged him. James was taken by surprise at first, but he hugged her back. Lily didn't know what possessed her to hug him, but she was in no state to ponder upon it anyway. "Good night."

"Good night Lils," said James.

Lily crawled into her bed. As soon as she was sure that everyone else was very much asleep, she sobbed her tears of shame, careful not to let anyone hear.

A/N: Man her life sux, glad its not mine. Okey dokey, you know the drill, leave me a review and I'll put up the next chapter quicker. J