A/N: Thank you to all you lovely people who reviewed! You'd better be glad I updated so soon. ;) I was up 'till almost 1 am finishing that chappie for you. I know it's been over two weeks since I've updated, but this will be another long chappie.

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Inside, Lily smiled dreamily and wandered into her bedroom. Mechanically, she washed her face and dressed for bed; her mind was elsewhere, with a certain brown-eyed, black-haired someone. She fell into bed, pulled the covers over her, and fell asleep, reminiscing the events of her wonderful evening in her dreams.

Arabella stood outside on the porch, staring up into the starry sky. A thousand thoughts raced through her head, her mind at war with her heart. "Why can't you just admit you want Sirius?" I DO NOT! I DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM!! "Just admit…" I DON'T! "Just admit." She reached for the knob and opened the door. With one last look in the direction that James and Sirius had gone, she turned and walked inside. Hurriedly, she raced into her bedroom, changed into her pajamas, and flopped onto the bed. Burying her face in the pillow, she pulled the covers over her, longing for the peaceful oblivion of sleep. Come on Bella, he can't be that bad. Besides it's not good to judge people based on first impressions. Aw, shut up and let me sleep. Finally, she fell asleep, too tired to banish the hopeful thought that she might see Sirius the next day.

*************

On the way home, Sirius was strangely silent. After almost fifteen minutes of silence from his best friend, James looked at him, "All right, Padfoot, fess up. What happened? Did you and Arabella have another fight?"

His voice stirred Sirius from his thoughts. "Au contraire, mon ami," he said, "Despite its rather turbulent beginnings, the evening has turned out quite well. As, so I presume, it did for you?"

James looked away, blushing. "Yeah," he muttered. "So why are you so happy? Last I remember, Bella was mad at you for calling her absurd nicknames."

"It seems, Prongsie, that your thoughts and… er…." - Here, Sirius gave a cough that sounded surprisingly like "lips" – "were too entangled with a certain red head to notice that Bella and I have now resolved our differences."

"People who have almost no brain capacity shouldn't go insulting other people thoughts, Sirius," James retorted.

Ignoring his comment, Sirius asked, "So how is she?"

"What?" James asked, "Sirius, I know you're a bit on the slow side, but you really should be able to phrase a question so that I can understand it."

"Jamsie, please!" Sirius protested, "Stop trying to change the subject. I'm just wondering if she's a good kisser or not."

"Sirius Black! Is that all you think about?"

"I am male, am I not?"

"You know, sometimes I'm not sure….."

"Never mind. Don't answer that."

"Well you asked!"

"And now I'm un-asking."

"Un-asking? That's not even a word, Si."

"Well it is now."

"Whatever," James said, glad to be off the subject of kissing Lily, since he didn't quite know how to describe it himself. They drove in silence, until James reached his house.

As he pulled up into the driveway, Sirius asked, "Mind if I crash at your place, Prongs?"

"Not at all," James said. He stopped the car and got out. Sirius followed him to the door. Once he was in bed, James fell asleep dreaming of Lily. Sirius was not so fortunate. He laid in bed, tossing and turning, wondering how Arabella really felt about him. You'll just have to go see her tomorrow and find out. She must like you. I mean, come on, she let you kiss her. With this decided, he rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

***************

The next morning, James was awoken by the feeling that something was sitting on his stomach. He opened his eyes to see a huge, shaggy black dog parked on top of him. "Sirius! Get off now!" he yelled.

The dog jumped off the bed and then transformed into Sirius. Immediately, Sirius turned puppy dog eyes to James, "I'm hungwy, Jamsie. Feed me."

"My God, Sirius," James said angrily, "Go make your own food. I wanna go back to bed."

"I see," Sirius said, nodding his head wisely, "Our Jamsie was having some very pleasant dreams wasn't he?"

"Sirius! Get OUT!" James yelled, pulling the pillow over his head.

"Fine. Fine. I'll let you get back to your imaginary shag with Lily," Sirius said, not moving an inch.

"Sirius Black! Do I have to remind you that none of the normal people on this planet dream in NC-17?"

"You're normal?" Sirius asked, then ducked behind the door as a pillow flew toward him, "All right. I can take a hint. I'm not wanted here. Goodbye." He slammed the door and stomped down the hall.

"More than one hint, Si-si-boo," James yelled after him.

"I told you not to call me that!" Sirius yelled back.

"Whatever, Si-si-boo," James called, laughing.

"Maybe I should just mention to Lily that I came into your room last night to find you groping your pillow and moaning, 'Oh Lily….'" Sirius threatened, coming back to the door of James's room.

"Ok ok!" James said, now genuinely frightened, "Please don't. I'll shut up."

"On one condition," Sirius said.

"Fine. What?"

"Make me breakfast."

James rolled his eyes, got out of bed, and shuffled downstairs. Once the eggs were cooking, he turned to Sirius, who was sitting at the kitchen table. "Was I really moaning Lily's name in my sleep?"

"Not that I know of. I just wanted you to make me food."

"You little wanker!" James said. "See if I let you eat any of this."

"Nooooo!" Sirius exclaimed, "I'll never do it again. I promise."

"Sure you won't."

"This time I'm serious."

"You're always Sirius." ((A/N: Had to use that one. It's a classic.))

"I am?" Sirius asked, puzzled. A few seconds later, he laughed, "I get it! Clever, Prongsie."

"My God, you're a bigger dolt than I thought you were," James said, shaking his head. Sirius crossed his arms and began to pout, but James ignored him. Once the food was cooked, he tossed it on a couple of plates and brought them to the table. "There you go, boy."

Sirius did not respond. He just grabbed a fork and began to eat. Within a few minutes, he was done. He jumped out of his chair, tossed his plate in the sink and said, "I'm off."

"Where to?" James asked, still eating.

Sirius blushed, "Arabella's." Before James could say anything, Sirius protested, "James, she was actually nice last night! We talked about, erm… stuff. Anyway, I kissed her and she was fine with it. I mean she just-"

"You KISSED her? And she LET you?" James exclaimed. "Sirius, love potions are illegal, you know."

"Jamsie!" Sirius said, mouth hanging open, "Do you doubt the infamous Black charm?"

"Well, no but-"

"I knew it would affect her sooner or later. Just you wait, and I'll have her-"

At this moment, Arabella apparated into the room. Sirius reddened and stopped mid sentence. "Hullo Sirius, James," she said. Then she beckoned to Sirius. With a satisfied smirk to James, Sirius turned and walked over to her. "And how are you doing this fine morning, Ma Belle?"

"Just wonderful, Sirius. Now listen, I need to talk to you alone," she said, looking pointedly at James. Catching her look, he stood up and said, "I was just finishing. I'll leave you two alone, just let me put my dishes away."

"James, would you mind going somewhere for a few hours?" Arabella asked, "Sirius and I have something to… discuss."

James's eyes widened and he winked meaningfully at Sirius, "Si, buddy. I never should have doubted you. You get 'em every time."

"What is he talking about?" Arabella asked, looking at Sirius.

"I think he means that… I, um," Sirius began.

"Nevermind, Bella. You don't wanted to understand the twisted working of this boy's mind. I'm leaving now," James said, grabbing his wand off the counter. He turned to Sirius, "How do I look, Padfoot?"

"And since when do you care how you look in public?" Sirius asked.

"I think I know what he means," Arabella cut in. "You wouldn't be going to visit a particular red-head, now would you James?"

James blushed, "Well I thought since you were gone that uh… Lily might need some company. So I uh…. Thought I'd go see her."

"It seems our plan is working," Arabella muttered to Sirius.

"Indeed it is, Belle o' Mine," he agreed. "You've really got it bad, Prongsie."

"Just answer my question, Sirius,"

"See you guys later," James said and then dis-apparated.

***************

A few seconds later, he apparated into Lily's living room. Glancing around, he discovered that it was completely empty. Where's Lily? Hope she didn't go somewhere. At this moment, Lily walked out of her bedroom, dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. Seeing James, she stopped dead in her tracks. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.

James shook himself out of his study of her petite form and said, "Sirius and Bella threw me out of my own flat. So I thought that I'd uh…. Keep you company until they're… done."

Lily's eyes widened, "Sirius and Bella are spending time together? That's—that's just great! You realize what this means, right?"

"Well, normally Sirius doesn't move that fast," James said, "He usually waits a couple of weeks or so."

"James Potter!" Lily exclaimed, "Would you get your mind out of the gutter for just a moment?"

"Sorry, Lily, I just-"

"James, this means our plan is working! And it didn't even take that long. We probably won't even have to do another one of those double dates."

"Won't have to?" James asked, hurt, "You mean you didn't…."

"Oh no!" Lily said, "Oh, James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that, well um… I would rather have been… you know… alone." She looked down at the floor unable to meet his gaze.

Relieved, James grinned, "I believe I can arrange that. Wanna go get lunch together?"

Lily smiled, "Sure. Any particular place?"

"Nah. Let's just go walk around. I'm sure we'll find something."

"Sounds good to me."

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"So, Bella, what is so important that you had to show up at my, er James's flat without any warning?" Sirius asked.

"I already told you," she replied, "We have something to discuss."

"Look, Bella, I can't sleep with you right now, but if you want to just fool around or something that's ok with me," Sirius teased her. ((A/N: Anyone recognize the Zoolander quote? I might not have gotten the words exactly right…))

Arabella rolled her eyes, and swatted his head. "Reality check, Black. Not every woman on the planet is desperately longing to get you in bed."

"They're not?!" Sirius asked, a look of shock on his face.

"Sirius, I know you find me maddeningly attractive, but I'm here to discuss Lily and James, not your sex life."

"You read minds?!" Sirius asked, still in shock. ((A/N: More Zoolander! Again, not sure if that's the exact phrase…))

Ignoring him, she continued, "I was thinking that, if we could just get them on another date together, then everything would click from there."

"True, true, ol' Jamsie was grinning all the way home last night," Sirius said, "So how are we gonna force them to go out again?"

"Well…." Arabella began reluctantly, "I was thinking that… if we pretended to be a couple…. Then we could have them return the favor and go on a double date with us… again."

"Is this your way of asking me out?"

"No! I mean… sorta… ok… yeah," Arabella finished lamely.

"Well alrighty then!" Sirius said with a grin, "So what's the plan."

"I don't know. That's usually the guy's job to figure out," Bella said, grinning cheekily at him.

"Pfffff," Sirius said, "You women are better at it anyway."

"Now that you've finally admitted my superiority, I'll tell you my idea," Bella said.

"Superio-"

She clapped a hand over his mouth and continued, "We're going to see a movie."

"A what?….. Moolie?"

Bella burst into laughter, "Mo-vie, Sirius. It's something Muggles do. I've seen some with Lily lots of times."

"What IS that?" Sirius asked.

"You must not have paid attention in Muggle Studies."

"Too busy planning the next prank."

"Figures. Any way, you'll see when we get there."

"Fine, fine. So we're going tonight?"

"Yessir. In fact, I'd better go so I can give Lily fair warning. We'll apparate over here at 7, ok?"

"Sounds good to me. See ya, Bella," Sirius said, giving her a quick kiss goodbye. Heart racing, Arabella pulled away after a moment and reached a shaking hand for her wand. "S-see ya, Si," she said and apparated. When she was gone, Sirius fell onto the couch, grinning in delight.

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James just smiled, walked toward the door and held it open for her. Once outside, Lily's hand found its way to James's and they strolled down the street. They stopped outside a small, quiet café. "How 'bout this one?" James asked.

"Oh! I've been here before!" Lily said, walking in the door. "They have awesome subs." They sat down at a table near the window and a server soon came over to them. "What can I get you two today?"

"I'll take a turkey sub and a Pepsi," James said.

"Make that two," Lily added. ((A/N: I honestly have no idea what they normally eat for lunch in England, seeing as I'm an American and have never visited there.))

"All right. I'll be back with your order right away," the server said, walking away.

"So what's Phase II of our grand plan?" James asked.

"I dunno. It seems to me that those two are working out just fine on their own. They just needed a little push to get started."

"Yeah, maybe we should consider careers in matchmaking," James said.

Lily giggled, "I can see the headlines now, 'Quidditch star gives it all for love.'"

"Speaking of Quidditch, are you still going to try out for the Falcons? We could use another good chaser."

"I don't know. It was just an idea. I mean, I don't think I'd ever make the team."

"Aw c'mon. Don't sell yourself short. I think you're an excellent chaser."

"Yes, well you're a bit prejudiced don't you think?"

"True. Still, you really should try out. I promise to help you practice every afternoon before the try outs."

"You just want an excuse to spend more time with me."

"I do not!"

"Oh so you don't like hanging out with me?"

"No, no. It's not that. I honestly want to help you."

"Aw, that's sweet James."

James grinned, "What can I say? I'm a very charming young man, you know."

"I think I'm beginning to figure that out," Lily said, giggling. At this moment, the server returned with their food. After lunch, they walked slowly home and once they reached Lily's flat, James leaned down and kissed her softly. When Lily pulled away they both grinned at each other for a moment. Then he sighed and said, "Be at my place at ten o'clock tomorrow and we'll begin training."

"All right," Lily agreed and opened the door. "See you tomorrow, James." He waved good bye and walked down the sidewalk. Closing the door, Lily sat down on the couch, waiting for Arabella to return. She didn't have to wait long. Ten minutes later, Arabella apparated into the room. Turning to Lily, she grinned and said, "Lils, it's payback time."

********************

James apparated into his living room to find Sirius sitting on the couch, a silly grin on his face. "What's with you?" he asked, plopping down next to him.

"All in good time," Sirius said, "Prongs, old friend, the time has come to pay your dues."

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A/N: This is a shout out to my bestest friend, Jenni. Aren't you glad I finished this chappie for you?! :D Cheers!