The Woos and Woes of Love

Ch. 2- Adventures of the Hogwarts Express

A/N: Hello! Thanks loads to the wonderful people who reviewed me, you gave me so much motivation i just had to hurry up and post : )

shrk-bait- Ah, my first reviewer... thank you thank you thank you! You make me feel so good, hope you enjoy the rest~

saffs- Hey, thanks for the awesome review! You said to inform you when i update, did you mean send it to your e-mail? lol.. doesn't matter if you did, cuz I already sent it : )

random-reviewer : ) glad you liked it, oh by the way, James may not be doing the dragging, but perhaps someone else (or.. someone(s) else) kay, I'm not really good at the subtle thing.

Fashionably Late- Wow! thanks so much for writing such a fantastic review.. i hope a can live up to your expectations!

Harry Potter Obsessed- lol, i think that name suits us all ; ) but anyhoo, thanks for the review!

James+Lily=love- Thanks mucho, I'm really happy you liked it! Okie dokie, here's more...

"Alright, now be good! I don't want any letters sent home this year," Mrs. Potter instructed sternly. Suddenly her expression softened. "But, do have fun, while you still can."

"Oh, come off it, Hannah," Mr. Potter put in, wrapping an arm around his wife. "You make it sound as if they were heading off towards the morgue, not Hogwarts."

Mrs. Potter sighed. "I suppose you're right. But please, be careful."

"We will, mum," James recited his common response flatly. "Don't worry."

"See ya later folks," Sirius said, as he and James turned to start heading towards the Hogwart's Express. Just as Mrs. Potter bid her last farewell, Sirius swerved abruptly around, and pointed to something off in the distance.

"There," he said, grinning maliciously, "is Lily Evans. Oy, EVANS!"

Lily Evans turned around, her eyes searching the crowd. "Over here!" cried Sirius, waving like a maniac. Doing a double take, Lily stood for a couple seconds with a confused look upon her face, before giving a short wave and heading in the opposite direction.

Now, it wasn't so strange that Sirius was waving to her. They had always been on okay terms with one other, and as he was known to act crazy, waving like a maniac wasn't exactly unusual. No, the odd thing was seeing James Potter stare daggers at Sirius, while Mrs. Potter stood on her toes to look over her son's shoulders, smiling and looking at Lily adoringly. Not wanting to think about it, she shrugged it off and ran to catch up with her friends.

"Hello!" she greeted, running up to two girls leaning against a brick pillar. Her best friends, and roommates, were Katherine (more commonly known as Kat) Prose, and Charlotte Dabila. Katherine was the outrageous one of the group, and was very popular with the boys. She had exuberant brunette curls, and sparkling chestnut eyes. Charlotte was, without a doubt, the complete opposite of Kat. She was still very pretty, with light brown hair falling slightly past her shoulders, and soft hazel eyes, but was not nearly as outgoing. She tended to be very shy around anyone aside from friends or family, and remained the quiet one of the group. Lily fell in-between these two, as she stuck mostly to her studies, but would always speak her mind if she opposed something. Her soft scarlet locks and dazzling emerald eyes made her stand out, and although she caught the eye of many guys, she wasn't quite the dater that Katherine was.

Her friends grinned as she bounded over to them. "Hey Lily, how was your-"

Charlotte dropped off as she spotted a shiny gold pin engraved with an elaborate H attached to Lily's sweater. "Lily! You made Head Girl, congratulations," said Charlotte, beaming at her friend.

Lily looked down at the pin and fingered it, smiling. "Thanks. Any idea who's Head Boy?"

"It's probably Remus Lupin," Kat guessed, as they started to head towards the train. "He was Prefect, wasn't he?"

Lily nodded. "Well that's good, he's pretty dependable."

"Yeah," Kat agreed distractedly, as she concentrated on lugging her heavy trunk onto the train. After several unsuccessful tries, she let out a tired breath and stood up straight. "Hmm..." she muttered, looking around the station. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted what she was looking for- a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs. Brushing off her skirt, she plastered on a flirtatious smile and took several strides towards the boys.

"Here we go," Lily shook her head, smiling.

From where they were standing, Lily and Charlotte could see Katherine's usual routine. The flip of the hair, the light touch on the shoulder, and the soft teasing laugh were enough to make the boys drop what they were doing and race to get to Katherine's luggage first. Grinning, she stepped over the trunk the wrestling teenagers were fighting to grab a hold of, and hopped onto the train. Lily and Charlotte followed suit, smiling at their fiendish friend's success.

********

"Hey Moony!" Sirius greeted, as Remus Lupin entered the compartment. Remus smiled and nodded in response, as he plopped into a seat next to James.

Glancing over at him, Remus saw James was brooding, his arms crossed and his lips forming a deep frown.

"What wrong?" he questioned the scowling boy. James only grunted in response and looked away.

"What's wrong?" Remus repeated, but this time directed his question to Sirius.

Sirius waved his hand dismissively. "Just girl troubles, mate. Can't seem to get a certain red-"

"Shut up!" James hissed, running up to the slightly ajar door and slamming it shut. He gave a quick glance through the tiny window to make sure no one was around, before twisting back to face his friends. "Alright," he whispered, glaring venomously at Sirius. "I sort-of, I dunno-"

"Fancy Lily?" Remus finished for him, smiling knowingly.

James turned to look at Sirius, who looked just as surprised as he did. "How did you know?" he asked, astonished.

"Well you're constantly fighting with her, and it's becoming painfully obvious that you're only doing it to catch her attention," Remus replied simply.

James's eyes widened. "Painfully obvious?! You don't think she-"

"Oh no," Remus reassured him quickly, "I'm sure no one else knows, you're a very good actor. But, I'm your friend. I'd have to be dense to hang around you all the time and not have a clue you liked her."

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed indignantly.

"Anyways," Remus continued, ignoring Sirius's angry huffs. "That doesn't explain why you were sending Sirius death glares when I walked in here."

Scowling again, James glared at Sirius while he spoke. "This prat thought he'd introduce her to my mum."

Remus stifled a laugh. "I see," he commented lightly.

"So," James began, breaking his glare from Sirius and turning to face Remus instead. "Any words of wisdom, oh wise one?"

"Well," Remus tapped his fingers on his trunk, contemplating the situation. "Just try not to tick her off too much."

"Mmm, and how do I do that?"

Remus was about to respond, when he was cut off by Sirius breaking out into a huge fit of laughter. "What's so funny?" James asked his hysterical friend. "Why are you laughing, you dimwit."

"Sorry," Sirius gasped, "I just imagined Evans's face when she finds out you're Head Boy."

"You think she'll be mad?" James asked, turning towards Remus. He responded with a hesitant shrug.

James leaned against the seat and sighed pitifully. "I'm doomed."

"Yup," Sirius commented, nodding.

"What should I... Evans!" James cut off his pathetic whine as Lily stepped into their compartment.

"Remus," Lily began, ignoring James. "They want us in the Prefect Compartment, I believe we've got to give out instructions."

"What?" Remus asked, confused. Then figuring out she had assumed he was Head Boy, he began, "Oh, I'm not-"

"Better get going," James interrupted swiftly, throwing Remus a meaningful look.

"W-what?" Remus asked, as James began to push him towards the door.

"You've got to go," James whispered into the disoriented boy's ear. "She'll kill me, just like Sirius said."

"Well she's going to find out sometime," Remus hissed.

James gave him a final shove out the door. "Good-bye then," he waved, grinning. Remus sent him an angry glare just as the compartment door slammed shut in his face.

"Well," James brushed off his hands, sitting back down. "Glad that's taken care of."

"Yeah," Sirius laughed. "For now."