Disclaimer- Anything that's J.K.'s isn't mine

Cad ran through the halls. She didn't even have to think. She had spent so much time in the Library lately that her feet knew the path. Unaware that she had started cry, she was surprised to feel tears run down her cheeks. The words echoed in her head. "I never loved you." She had been so certain. She knew that she had loved him. Yet now she hated him. How could he have this power over her? If he never loved her, how could she be so upset? She hated how he made her feel. Cad felt herself connect with something solid.

"Cad, are you okay?" Lily was standing over her. "Cad?" "Oh my God. Lily." Cad continued crying. "C'mon Cad." Lily helped her up and guided her to the dormitory. Cad collapsed onto her bed. "Cad, talk to me. What's wrong?" Cad caught her breath. "He never loved me." She whispered. Lily kneeled next to her bed, "Aw, hun, you know that's not true. Why would you think that?" "We, we were fighting, and, and he said so." A new wave of tears came forth. Lily bit her lip. "You know he didn't mean it. You're both really upset." Cad's grief turned to anger. "He's not." She said vengefully. "Do you really think you've been the only one moping around here lately?" Lily smiled trying to cheer Cad up. Cad didn't answer. Lily sat with her until she fell asleep.

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The boys sat in the common room. "Remus I-" James started. "Let's just not talk about it. I'm going to bed." Remus walked to the dormitory. As he left Reese approached the group. "Hey. What's wrong with Cad? I saw Lily walk her upstairs." She sat on James' lap. "She got in a fight with Rem." Peter answered. "Oh." Reese laid her head on James' shoulder. "I feel so sorry for them." "Yeah, me too. I'm going to bed." Sirius left. "Right behind you." Peter followed him.

Reese grinned at James. "I guess that just leaves us." She leaned in and kissed him. They snogged for a while before Reese pulled away. "Unless you want," she paused and nodded toward the dormitory, "to go to bed." James was a little hesitant but nodded. She led him up the stairs into the boys' dormitory. His friends' rhythmic breathing told him that they were all asleep. He led her to his bed. Did he really want this? Yes. With her? No. She was kissing him. She was taking off her shirt. This was it, he had to stop it. But he didn't get the chance.

The light came on. Reese froze. James could make out a person that had entered the room. Reese got up and James opened his curtains. He was quite surprised at what he saw. There, looking very annoyed, stood Lily. Reese chose that moment to stumble out half naked. Lily made a face, "Sorry to interrupt Potter. Which one is Remus?" He couldn't believe it. Caught by the worst person possible. The silence was very awkward. "You know, I'm just going to go." Reese said as she put her shirt back on. "That's probably a good idea." Lily said sarcastically. "Do you have a problem with me Evans?" She got in Lily's face. "More than you know, Reilly." Lily was ready to fight. James intervened, "Reese, just go." She sighed and walked out the door.

"Lily?" Remus had woken up. "Exactly who I was looking for." Lily walked over to Remus. "What just happened with you and Cad?" Remus couldn't shrug her off like he did the guys. She had a certain tell-me-or-die look. "We had a fight." He said plainly. Lily's expression softened. "She said you told her you never loved her." Remus grimaced. "Yeah." Lily sat down next to him. "Is that true?" Remus looked Lily in the eyes, "Truth is, I never stopped." Remus, usually stone faced, felt a tear fall down his cheek. Lily embraced him in a hug. James stood awkwardly and watched them. Lily pulled out of the hug. "I'm sorry Rem, it'll get better." She gave him another hug. "Sorry to wake you, I just had to know the other side." "It's okay." She turned toward James. "Sorry I sort of, um, interrupted." "Oh. I wasn't going to, we were just-" he mumbled before she cut him off. "Rounding home?" She said trying to hide how much she hated what she had walked in on. Remus looked at James, obviously confused. "I was going to stop." James said uncomfortably. "Uh huh." She gave Remus one last hug. "Be happy, Rem. Goodnight." She moved toward the door. "Night Potter."

Once she had left James sat back down. "Did she, was Reese, did you?" Remus stuttered. James started laughing. "If Lily had come any later," James paused, "well, I'd no longer be a virgin. That's for sure." Remus' jaw dropped. "You and Reese?" James nodded. "Why?" Remus said as he cringed. "Well, it was like I wanted to, and she wanted to. But I didn't want to with her. But then we were here, and her shirt was off and I wanted to stop. But I don't think I would've. Then Lily walked in and we froze." James said so quickly that he was almost incoherent. "You're something else Prongs." Remus said as he turned out the light.

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"Prongs, you've got to end it with her." Sirius said quietly. The Marauders were seated in the corner of the common room. "The last thing we need are little devils around here." "I know. But we need her now more than ever. If Cad tells Reese about Moony, then I'll be the first to know." James said. "James, you don't need to do this. It's my problem." Remus said, speaking for the first time. "Yeah, I do. We're not going to let her hurt you." James replied. He couldn't believe Remus would think that they would sit back and let her hurt him. "Look, there's nothing we can do." James said as he stood up. "We've got practice." He motioned to Remus and they walked off.

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"Cad, you've got to go." "No I don't. I don't want to see him." Cad argued back. Lily was trying hard to get Cad to go to practice. "You can't lose your spot on the team because of him. You've worked too hard." Lily had struck a nerve. Cad grabbed her Quidditch robes and headed to the door. "See you later." Lily yelled after her. Cad was becoming a full time job. Convincing her to go to meals, to class, and now practice took up a lot of Lily's time.

Lily sat down and pulled out a piece of parchment. She hadn't responded to Max's most recent letter. She finally had something to say.

Dear Max,

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been really busy. So, how

are you? I'm a little better. I'm still not sure if I'm going to stay here. At least I'm going to stay until Christmas. I've been spending a lot my time

with Cad. Her and her boyfriend broke up and she's been really depressed. My classes are going better, but still not great. I figure I'll have my mind made up after break. You'll never believe what happened! You're little angel got detention! I skipped class and the teacher caught me. I had to clean for like two hours! It's usually Cad causing trouble, not me. The detention didn't totally suck, but I think it marked the ending of my rebellious streak. I look forward to hearing from you.

Love you and miss you,

Lily

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"I just didn't like her tone." Reese said. She and James were walking toward the Quidditch pitch. Reese had spent most of the walk complaining about Lily. "And what does she mean "More than you know,"? I haven't given her any reason to hate me." James was growing tired of her complaints and was relieved when they reached the pitch. As usual Cad and Remus were at opposite ends of the field. James sighed, it was going to be another long practice. "Alright team, lets go..."

The practice however was far from horrible. The effects of Cad and Remus' grief being replaced by anger was amazing. Cad worked harder than ever to score against Remus. And he was just as determined to keep her from scoring. She never dropped the quaffle and made several amazing shots. Remus, not to be outdone, made numerous spectacular saves. The team looked as good as ever. At the end of practice James was speechless. The level of playing was nearly as high as the tension.

"Wow. Great job out there." James told Remus as they walked back to the castle. "We're sure to beat Slytherin if you play like that." Remus didn't answer. "Moony?" James was getting annoyed. "Why are you dating Reese?" Remus' voice was monotone, emotionless. James was startled. "You know why I'm with her." He said pointlessly. "Because you need to protect me? Because I can't take care of myself?" Remus sounded upset. "No, it's not-" James started but was cut off. "Yes it is. James, this happened to me. Not you. Not Sirius. Not Peter. Me. So be honest. Why are you dating Reese?" Remus wasn't the only one upset. James couldn't believe what his friend was saying.

"Rem, we're your friends. We don't want anything to happen to you. And we're willing, not obligated, to help you anyway we can." James yelled. Remus stopped. "What about you guys? I'm not the only one in danger. Do you think I want you guys to get hurt?" James now saw what his problem was. He didn't want his friends to sacrifice themselves for him. "You're in more immediate danger than us. We're willing to risk it." "To risk everything?" Remus said a bit softer. James didn't even have to think about his answer. "Everything." Remus looked to the ground and continued walking. "I don't want to be a charity case." He said quietly. "You're not." James answered simply. The two walked in silence.

When James and Remus entered the common room they found it full of people. The younger kids sitting around playing wizard's chess; the older ones studying. Remus made straight for the dormitory, but James scanned the room. Finally, he saw who he was looking for. Reese was sitting in front of the fireplace reading a book. He walked up to her and asked if they could talk. Reese put down her book. "Um. Not here." James said a bit uncomfortably. Reese got up and followed him out of the room. He needed a place where no one would over hear them. A place where he could talk one on one with her. He quickly remembered the room he and Sirius had found during their fifth year. It was full of the books they needed to become animagus. They had been looking for a place when all of a sudden it just appeared with everything they needed.

He guided her to the room but was quite shocked when he opened the door. The room was completely different. Instead of comfy chairs there was a bed. The bookshelves held books James had never seen before. One part of the room was romantic, where as the other was strict looking and brightly lit. "Oh, James," Reese said eyeing the bed, "that was just what I was thinking." James let go of Reese's hand and walked over to the bookshelves. His face reddened a bit as he looked at the titles: The Changing Witch and Wizard by Philip Whizby, How to Say No: Rejecting Drugs, Sex, and Other Evils by Prudence Nun, and The Bible.

James quickly added things up in his head. Reese wanted a place to fool around, I wanted the opposite, and we needed a place to work... "Oh." James said quickly figuring out what the room really was. "Uh, James?" Reese brought him out of his trance. She was sitting on the bed, obviously waiting for him. "Reese can we sit over here?" James said motioning to the table and chairs. Reese got up and sat in a chair. James sat across from her.

"You know what almost happened last night?" James asked stupidly. He felt like a child. Reese reached over and took his hand. She smiled, "Yeah." James searched his brain for words. "Well, I'm, I'm," he paused, "not ready." He said it quickly and quietly. Reese's jaw dropped. "Oh." She said with a lot less enthusiasm than her first response. "You're just not ready with me or with anyone?" James had not been expecting an interrogation. He knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to say, "I'll never be ready with you. But you know Lily...?" But he thought of Remus and held back. Instead he answered, "With anyone." Reese was not satisfied with his answer though. "So you're a virgin?" She said rather bluntly. "Yeah." James said, his face once again going red. Reese made a face before saying, "Well, I just assumed. I mean you've had a lot of girlfriends. I figured that you would have, you know, with at least one." Reese rambled.

James couldn't believe what she was saying. Was she trying to embarrass him? James thought it was over. "I mean I've only dated a few guys. Granted they were pretty serious relationships. But we were much more casual about sex." She said plainly. If James felt young before, he now felt like a two year old. He felt like slinking off, but she continued. "So if you want to wait, I can handle that. But when you're ready," her smile returned, "just let me know." James faked a smile and nodded. He wished he could say something that would make her think that would ever happen, but all he could force out was, "Let's head back to the common room."

When they arrived Reese went to be with Taylor and Blair. She said that she was supposed to study with them. James had a feeling Taylor and Blair would soon be finding out that he was still a virgin. He didn't care though. He just walked over to Sirius and sat down. Sirius was glaring at Taylor even though she wasn't with a guy. "Can't be jealous of Blair now can you?" James said lightheartedly as he sat down.

"I'm not jealous. Just thinking." Sirius said as he took his eyes off Taylor and focused on James. "Don't wear yourself out." James said with a smile. He could tell something was wrong. Sirius didn't respond to the put down. Instead he changed the topic all together. "With the exception of Cad, you've never had a real serious girlfriend, right?" James was a bit shocked. "What about Reese?" he answered. "She doesn't count." Sirius said simply. James didn't even need an explanation. "That's right then." James said, becoming more interested. "Why?"

"Well, I haven't really had one. But I think I might kind of want one." Sirius said quickly. James smiled. "Taylor?" Sirius smiled. James thought they were perfect for each other. "I knew you'd like her." Sirius frowned. "I liked how things were before." James laughed, "Just random snogging?" Sirius made a face, "No, friends, who occasionally snogged." "You can still be friends, maybe even closer." James answered. "But what if I mess things up?" Sirius said earnestly. "Oh you will." James said seriously. "But that's when you buy them stuff." he finished with a hint of sarcasm.

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"Why are you here?" Remus asked a bit rudely. Lily was laying on Sirius' bed. She had come up shortly after Remus returned from practice. She walked in laid down and never said a word. Remus had been hoping she would go away, and the two sat in silence for about half an hour before he broke the silence. "I like being around you." Lily responded. "You're nice. You make me feel better." She continued a bit meekly. He smiled. She got up and moved to his bed. She laid down and Remus put his arm around her.

"You're not still thinking of leaving, are you?" Remus asked. "I don't know. I told Max I was going to stay until Christmas at the least." She answered. "We need you here Lils." She looked into his eyes and smiled, "Thanks." "So, what did you walk in on last night?" Remus said, eager to change the subject. Lily laughed and buried her head in his chest. "How can he like her?" She said, suddenly serious. "Well how can you like Max?" He said in a mocking tone. "Max is a good guy. She's just plain horrid." Lily said scowling. "I mean that whole thing with R.A.W., it's terrible." She continued. "Yeah, well, I guess people can be afraid of things they don't understand." Remus said. "I just don't get it. I've been reading the papers and no one is opposing it. No one. Not even people who are werewolves." Lily thought out loud. "Well, then people would know who they are." He responded. "Then people should speak for them." Lily said, "not everyone can feel like Reese does." Lily had no clue how much Remus hoped that was true.

A/N- Hey! I hope you liked this chapter! I'm probably going to be updating on Saturdays. But if I get a really strong response I'll update a lot sooner. School is really hectic right now, but I promise, the longest I'll go without updating is a week!