Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot of this fan fiction, and any new characters I might create.

A/N: Thank you so much, Kari! I think that was one of the best reviews I've gotten so far! Thanks to padfoot! Thanks again to Chocolate Taco and Elisabeth Celebros! You guys rock. And, to Elisabeth and kantomon: You'll just have to wait and see!

Affection or Adventure?

Ch. 8: Late Nights

The weekend finally came and James, Remus and Peter were found apologizing endlessly to Lily, Penny, and Natalie.

"Will you guys just stop bugging us?!" Natalie asked.

"Not until you accept our apology!" James replied.

Penny sighed. "If we forgive you, will you just stop?" She said. Lily glared at her. "Come on, Lil! I'm sick of this!"

"Oh, fine." Lily said, exasperated. She forced a smile. "We forgive you."

The boys in front of them grinned.

"Well, is there anything you need help with?" James asked.

"Yeah, we would be glad to assist you." Remus said.

"Yeah…yeah." Peter added.

"You could help us by shutting up and going away!" Natalie shouted.

The boys retreated to where Sirius was sitting by the fire. James flopped into the armchair beside him and said, "They're pretty when they're angry."

Remus and Peter nodded in agreement, but Sirius just stared into the fire.

"Padfoot?" James asked. "Sirius?"

He didn't move.

"Hello?" Remus said.

James smiled wickedly. "Hey, has anyone seen Williams lately?"

Sirius looked up out of his stupor. "What?"

"What's with you?" Remus asked him.

"Nothing."

"Right."

"You know, I reckon you should try to be nice instead of annoying. That might get them to confess...I think I'm going to go to bed." Sirius got up.

James followed him, and when he entered their dormitory, he slammed the door behind him.

"Sirius, come on. You're my best friend. What's on your mind? Or should I say, who's on your mind?" James said, grinning again.

"Nobody!" Sirius answered way too quickly.

"Ah hah! So, who is it?"

"Nobody, James. I'm fine. I…just wish it was a full moon." Sirius said. "I'm bored, you know?"

"Yeah…" He replied. I know you too well, Sirius. I'll find out soon enough… James thought to himself as he pulled on his pajamas. He hopped into his bed and pulled the hangings shut, thinking about a certain beautiful girl with crimson hair and emerald eyes.

"Goodnight, Padfoot."

" 'Night."

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"Hey, where has Chloe been?" Lily Evans asked her friends. They were the only ones left in the common room; the Marauders had long since gone to bed.

"I think she's up in our room." Natalie replied.

"Lily, do you know what's up with her? She's been acting really strange lately…she can usually concentrate really well, but her thoughts have just been somewhere else." Penny said.

"I haven't had a real conversation with her since last week." Said Lily. "I'll go up and talk to her." She loaded her arms with all of the books she had been using to finish up her homework, and walked up the spiral staircase.

She reached the door to her dormitory and knocked a few times.

"Come in." Said a quiet voice within the room. Lily opened the door and found Chloe with her homework sprawled out on her bed.

"Why aren't you in the common room?" Lily asked, dumping her books onto a nearby chair.

"I don't know."

"Chloe, what's wrong? I've barely seen you for the past couple of days! You haven't even come to dinner since the night of your first Quidditch practice, and now your never in the common room! It's almost like…you don't want to be around us." Lily finished in a sad tone.

"That's not it," Chloe said, sighing, "It's just…I'm so confused."

"What about?" Lily asked.

"Someone…" Chloe replied, looking at the floor.

Lily sank onto her own four-poster bed. "And would this someone be-"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" Lily shouted, and laughed. "Fine, you don't have to tell me."

"So, what's going on with your whole James-thing?"

"It's not a 'James-thing!' It's just-"

"You two would look great together, you know." Chloe interrupted.

"Yeah, and so would you and Siri-"

"Shut up!" Chloe yelled, and threw a pillow at Lily. She began to laugh for the first time in days.

"Hey!" Lily shouted, laughing also. She threw the pillow back at Chloe.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that one!" Chloe said, standing up with a pillow in her hand.

"I am, am I?" Taunted Lily. She grabbed a pillow and was just about to get up when the door opened. She saw Penny and Natalie come in, and she threw the pillow at Penny.

"Ouch!" She yelled.

"PENNY! You just got hit with a pillow that is filled with nothing but feathers! You don't say 'Ou-" Lily said, but she got cut off again. Penny had thrown a pillow at her.

"Penny, you know who you would look cute with?" Lily shouted.

"Lily-" Penny started.

"Remus Lupin!" Lily exclaimed.

"Shh!" Penny said, and hit Lily with another pillow.

"And Nat-"

"Don't even say it, Lily!" Natalie said, and threw yet another pillow at her.

"Hey!" Lily shouted, and threw pillows at all of her friends.

Chloe yelled, "Now now, Lily! This is no way for the Head Girl to act!" The girls all started laughing again.

"Oh my gosh, I have the best idea!" Chloe said.

"What?" The other girls said in unison.

"We can get into the boys' dormitory, right? Even if they can't get into ours?"

"Yeah," Lily said. "Why?"

"Shall we have them join our harmless pillow fight?" Chloe said with a sly smile.

Penny and Natalie were already on their feet with several pillows in their hands, running out of the room.

"Wait! You guys! I don't think we should…oh, it's no use." Lily sighed.

"Come on, Lil! I'll race you there!" Chloe shouted as she ran off, also.

They reached the spiral staircase to the boys' dormitories and crept silently up to the room for the 7th years. They opened and closed the door, and each girl ran to the side of one of the boys' beds.

Lily opened the curtain to the bed that she had chosen. A sleeping James Potter lay there, and she thought, Wow, it's amazing how innocent someone can look when they are fast asleep. Just my luck to get James.

Lily noticed several strands of untidy hair were resting unnaturally against one of his eyes. She reached down to brush them away, but as she did, his eyelids fluttered a bit. She quickly withdrew her hand and looked up.

Her friends were switching places with each other. Penny and Chloe stopped and looked at the occupants of the beds beside them with smiles on their faces. Natalie didn't look very happy about the boy she got stuck with.

Chloe put a single finger in the air. A few seconds later, she put up a second finger. On the third signal, Lily opened the bed hangings of James Potter's bed and hit him right in the face with a pillow.

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"AAHHHH! I'm being attacked!" James wailed. From somewhere in front of him, he heard a girl burst into laughter. He rummaged for his glasses on his nightstand and put them on. What he saw made his jaw drop.

"Do you like pillows, Potter?" Lily Evans asked him before hitting him on the top of his head again. He rolled over and got out of his bed on the other side. All of his friends were awake, yelling at the laughing girls. James grinned, grabbed a pillow from his bed, and threw it at Lily.

"Take that, Evans!"

Soon enough, the floor was completely covered in feathers. Four boys and four girls laid on it in a heap.

"Well, you girls put up a good fight, but we got you in the end." Sirius said. He had Chloe pinned to the floor with his hands on her wrists to keep her from grabbing more pillows. Remus had done the same to Penny, and James had done the same to Lily.

"Well…" Natalie said. James looked over at her. She had Peter pinned to the ground.

"Except for Peter, that is." Sirius continued.

"So, do you girls like seeing us in our pajamas?" James asked, but in the split second that his, Sirius's, and Remus's concentration was lifted, the girls had quickly rolled over and stood up.

"What were you saying about winning?" Lily asked.

The boys stood up and came towards them.

"Okay, okay!" Chloe said. "Truce?"

"Fine…" The boys muttered.

Penny yawned and looked at a watch on one of the nightstands. "I'm going to sleep, it's after midnight!" She said.

"Well, who's fault is that?" Remus asked.

"Chloe's! She suggested it!" Penny answered.

Chloe tried to look innocent. "Er…well…have a good nights' sleep! See you boys later!" With that, she ran out of the room. Penny and Natalie followed after saying a swift "Goodnight!" Lily stayed behind for a few moments. The other Marauders climbed back into their beds, but James remained with Lily.

"Sleep tight, Evans." He said. Lily smiled at him.

His eyes locked with hers. The façade of hate that was always worn on her face when she was around James was all but diminished. For what seemed like a fraction of a second, something shown out of Lily's bright emerald eyes that James had never seen before. Fondness or affection were words too weak to describe it. The only word that fit perfectly had to be…love.

James was unsure if he had just imagined it, though, for it went as quickly as it came.

Lily gasped. "Good…goodnight, Potter…James." She gave him another small smile, turned on her heel, and walked away. James had a longing to go after her, but he stayed rooted to his spot until he thought he heard a door close in the distance.

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"Ugh…late night tonight." Said Natalie as the Gryffindor 7th years reached their house table on Monday morning.

"Astronomy?" Chloe asked, stifling a yawn.

"Yep." Penny replied, checking her schedule. Their Astronomy classes took place at midnight in the Astronomy tower.

"Oh well." Lily said, sighing.

She had done a lot of thinking since the beginning of the weekend, and she was still confused about her feelings towards James Potter.

Lily tried her hardest not to think of that night through the day, but she found her concentration wavering in Divination, as it sometimes did.

What happened? It was almost as if a mask was pulled off of James that night…I saw something in him…something…something good. Something I - NO! No, I can't…I just can't! James Potter, the arrogant, conceited, big-headed jerk? No…surely not…but…but…oh, I just don't know!

Lily peered over her shoulder and looked at the back of the classroom. She had been expecting James and his friends to be sleeping or fooling around, but today they were paying attention.

Trying to look as if they are paying attention, more like. Lily thought.

James turned towards Lily and met her eyes. She quickly switched her attention to the teacher, her cheeks tinted pink.

That night, around midnight, the eight students climbed up the staircase to the Astronomy tower.

James got to the door first and held it open. The other three boys stepped to the side, also.

"Ladies first!" He said.

The girls all smiled at him as they walked by.

Maybe this little boy is finally growing up… Lily thought.

Their astronomy teacher met them seconds later.

"Okay class, please set up your telescopes along the rail…thank you…" Professor Galaxia stated, pulling her long black hair into a low pony tail. "We will be observing Uranus tonight."

Oh, this should be fun… Thought Lily.

But the jokes that Lily had been prepared to hear never came. The Marauders kept to themselves and completed their work without complaint.

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They were on their way back to the common room when James heard a crash in a nearby room.

"Did you hear that?" He asked Sirius.

"Yeah, Prongs."

They all stopped.

"So…who w…wants to l…look in th...there?" Peter inquired.

James rolled his eyes and took a step forward. The door was ajar; the room looked as if it was just waiting to be disturbed.

Too late… James thought.

He took another few steps forward.

BANG!

Peter and the girls screamed. Sirius and Remus, who were in between James and the others, were knocked off their feet from the blast. James had flown back about six feet and landed on top of Sirius.

"OY PRONGS! Get…get off! I can't…breathe…"

James rolled over onto the ground, leaving Sirius panting heavily next to him.

They all heard a very high-pitched cackling above them.

James lifted his head. There was a little man wearing vibrantly colored clothing and an odd hat hovering cross-legged about nine feet off the ground. "PEEVES! You stupid poltergeist! You nearly rendered me unconscious!"

Peeves snapped his fingers. "And it didn't work. I'll just have to try harder next time! How have you been, Phil?"

"My name is James." James said, standing up.

"Of course, Phil." Said Peeves, a grin spreading across his wide face.

"A little help, Prongs?" Sirius said. James helped Sirius and Remus to their feet.

"Go away, Peeves." Remus said.

"Why should Peeves go away when the students are supposed to be in bed?"

"Forget it, guys…let's just go. He's right…we're supposed to be in our common rooms." Lily said.

The boys sighed and started to walk away.

"Are ickle students afraid of little Peevesie-kins?"

"Shut it, Peeves!" Shouted James.

"Make me!" Peeves yelled.

James whipped out his wand and muttered a few words. Seconds later, the poltergeist's feet started dancing around uncontrollably.

"YOU DAUGHTER OF A MONKEY-FISH!" Peeves screeched. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED NEAR THE ASTRONOMY TOWER PERFORMING MAGIC IN THE CORRIDOR! STUDENTS OUT OF-"

But Peeves didn't finish. James performed a Silencing Charm, so no matter how Peeves tried, he couldn't make a sound.

The four boys and four girls started walked back up the corridor when they heard Peeves slamming random objects into the floor in that classroom he had blasted moments before.

James turned around. Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, was sitting inches away from them.

"Run! That cat will have Filch here in seconds!" James shouted.

The eight students only rested when they were safely back in their common room. The fire was roaring, and they all sat down around it.

"Phew…that was close…" James said.

"A little too close." Lily muttered.

"Sorry, didn't catch that." James smirked.

Lily looked up. "Forget it."

"Well!" Chloe said. "Did anybody see any new announcements posted?"

"I'll check the notice board," Sirius offered. He came back looking very pleased. "The first Hogsmeade visit is on Halloween." He told them.

"Great!" James said, rather loudly.

"Keep your voice down!" Lily whispered. "There are other people trying to sleep!"

For a second James thought about making some snide remark, but his mock kindness took over and he put on a fake smile. "Sorry, Lily."

"That's quite alright."

James's smile became a real one. "Well, I don't suppose you girls would like to join us in going to Hogsmeade, now, would you?"

The girls thought about it for a few moments.

"Er…I guess that would be fine." Lily said, redness creeping into her pretty face.

"Great!" James said again, loudly. Lily put a finger to her lips. "Er…sorry about that."

"Well, I'm going to bed, It's late…or early, rather…" Chloe said, standing up.

"Me too," Penny said, yawning.

Natalie stood up, also. "Are you coming, Lily?"

"In a few minutes, I have a spot of homework to finish." Lily said. "You go on."

The girls climbed the stairs to their dormitory after saying goodnight.

James yawned. Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at him and did the same thing.

"Well, I'm off to bed, too." Sirius said, and stood up. Remus and Peter did the same. James thought he heard Sirius say, very quietly, "Leave him to it," and they walked away.

James looked at Lily, working on her homework. The fire in front of them danced in her green eyes, and the light coming from it made her hair shine.

"I'm tired…" James said, standing up.

"Go to sleep, then." Lily whispered, not looking up from her parchment.

"I think I will…Goodnight, Lily." She finally glanced up in him, and he saw in her eyes what he had seen on the night of the pillow fight.

"Goodnight, James."

James walked away, his instinct giving him the thought that someone was watching him. When he turned back at the bottom of the staircase, he looked back at Lily. She was bent over her work once again. He smiled, and walked upstairs. James fell asleep as he always did, his thoughts never leaving Lily Evans.