A Simple Mind

Summary: "Don't you know what I'd do for you?" James Potter loves Lillian Evans with all his heart…but his feelings aren't returned. Is there hope for a future that may never come?

Disclaimer: If I own them, you can order something from ACME CO. and drop it on my head…courtesy of the roadrunner itself!

Author's note: Sorry I took so long…beat me with a wet noodle if you want! I mean really, for taking so long, I wouldn't be surprised if you all think I abandoned the story! I DIDN'T! I just had a little writers block on the Fortune Cookies story and I guess it brought me down. I have plans for it and this story though, don't worry. HERE YOU GO: The Seventh Installment!

"All right, Prongs, time to –" Sirius blinked as he stared around James' empty bed. "…Prongs?" The concerned boy frowned and checked under a pillow. "James?" He looked under the bed. "Full moon, man…James! Remus is waiting!" No answer. Grumbling, Sirius quickly glanced out the window. The full moon glowed brightly back at him. He shook his head.

"James never misses a full moon…he came up to bed, didn't he?" He questioned himself, and began checking under Peter's, Remus', and his own bed.

"You shouldn't talk to yourself, mate." A sudden voice said from the window. "People will start to think."

"James?" Sirius asked, bumping his head on the top of the bed. "Where'd you go?"

James swung through the open window, grinning from ear to ear. Sirius hadn't seen him look so happy since he had been first announced as a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team in second year.

"Where were you?" Sirius asked, surprised. James ran over to him and ruffled his hair.

"Getting a breath of fresh air on the tower." He said casually.

"Wait a second," Sirius said, pushing James off him. "You mean…you sat on the roof of the tower? Where's your broom?"

"Climbed. Why fly when I've got all this pent-up stamina?" James asked. "It's not too far up from here."

"You're telling me you climbed up to the roof."

"Yes. I feel like I could do anything right about now." He jumped onto a random bed and jumped back off. "Padfoot…Padfoot, Padfoot, Padfoot."

"…Er…yeah, James?" Sirius said, genuinely confused about his best friend's behavior.

"I've never felt this way before, man." James said, staring out at the moon. Speaking of moon…

"James, Remus isn't gonna wait too much longer for us." Sirius said nervously. "Can we –"

"Sirius, I'm in love."

Sirius stopped. Love?

"You're in…what?"

"Love! In love with Lily Evans! I mean…it's great, man. It really is."

"Oh, yeah." Sirius said, mentally smacking himself. "Yeah, everyone knows that."

"No! Not the infatuated, loony, stalker kind of love…the kind of love where I close my eyes and see her, where whenever I picture her face I'm not lonely or sad anymore, where no matter where I am I can think of her voice and that'll be enough for me to face a million dementors –"

"James, you're rambling!" Sirius said, shaking his friend. "You can't be serious…you're in actual, true, once-in-a-lifetime love?"

James beamed. "What other kind is there?"

Sirius shook his head. "James, that's great…but how can you be sure?"

"How am I NOT sure?" James asked, leaning on his bedpost. "I just…I know."

Sirius sat on James' bed and basked in a tranquil silence, temporarily forgetting Remus and the full moon. He cleared his throat. James still had a goofy smile on his face and when he looked up, his eyes were so glossy and shiny that Sirius could have sworn he saw stars.

"So…er…what's…what's it like?" He asked a little awkwardly.

"What's what like?"

"You know…the whole…love thing."

"Oh." James flopped animatedly on his bed close by Sirius and grinned at the canopy, closing his eyes. "It's amazing…you feel like you're invincible…like…like you've flown to the top of Mount Everest on your favorite broomstick and you're looking out on the world through the eyes of the mountain itself, or as if –"

"As if you could get all poetic on your best mate?" Sirius asked innocently, but still cheekily. James thwacked him with a pillow.

"Yeah…and like…I dunno…it's just a warm, fuzzy feeling…like I can do anything in the world and survive because I know that her face, her voice, everything I know about her will always stay with me and that's all I need to get by…"

"Oh." Said Sirius. He felt a little jealous, really. Love sounded like a great thing to be in.

"So…how does Lily feel about all this?" He asked, messing with a tassel on the bedpost. James didn't respond for several seconds. "…James?" He looked over to see James frowning up at the ceiling.

"Thanks a lot, mate."

"Sorry guys…James won't be joining us for a while." Sirius thought to Remus and Peter as he entered the Shrieking Shack. He shook his furry head, spraying drool onto little Peter.

"What happened?" Remus asked, glancing at the shaking rat before swiping it with his tail, getting most of the slobber off.

"Heh…long story…he's sort of depressed though…won't leave his room. I will tell you this though: He's in love."

"Love?" Peter squeaked. "You mean with that Lily Evans?"

"Everyone knows that." Remus quipped.

"No, no, not the kind of love we think…it's really strange. It's making James act funny…like all poetic and full of energy and stuff."

"James is being poetic?" Remus jumped onto a ripped up sofa. "That doesn't sound like him."

"Yeah and get this: He climbed up to the top of the tower and was watching the moon."

"That's really high!" Peter squealed. Sirius barked in agreement. Remus put his head in his paws. There was a comfortable silence where the three occupants were thinking their own random thoughts on the situation when suddenly…

"Hey, Remus?" Sirius barked, getting the attention of his werewolf friend.

"James was watching the moon…you don't think…" The two hounds glanced at each other, sparks of delight in their eyes before simultaneously going to a window and howling loudly at the moon. Peter knew, of course, that it was just their own obnoxious, loud, trademark howl and didn't think much of anything when Remus began to snarl. However when he lunged at the window to break it and climb out, Sirius nudged him and whimpered.

"Sorry guys…all that howling took over my brain for a moment." Remus apologized, his tail hanging between his hind legs. All three animals sat in quiet silence once more.

"…so." Remus shuffled.

"Hm." Peter coughed.

"You guys wanna go explore the Forbidden Forest?"

"Nah."

"…"

"What about Hogsmeade?"

"Em…no, not tonight."

"…"

"How about that little clearing we found by the lake last month?"

"Nothing there; no use exploring it."

"…"

"Are we going anywhere tonight?"

Sirius sighed. "It isn't very fun without James, is it?"

"No." Peter agreed, scurrying over to Sirius and resting on his fluffy tail. Remus made an agonizing sound, like a very tired, bored animal.

"This has got to be the least amount of fun I've ever had during a full moon in my entire life." He whined. "At least during all the others I got to lose my mind and rip things up."

"And during the ones since fifth year all four of us have gotten together and explored." Peter chipped in, cuddling more into Sirius' tail.

"So are me and Peter no fun?" Sirius asked, in his innocently cheeky kind of way.

"No, you are!" Remus exclaimed, jumping up. "I mean, with James you all seem real alive and well…I should be more grateful…all those times where there was no one with me talking to me was hell. I had no say in anything I did, it was all the stupid wolf part and I just didn't think –"

"Woah, man! Easy there!" Sirius hopped up, and Peter slid off his tail. "I was only kidding. I'm sorry." He nudged his nose with Remus' in an apologetic manner. Remus barked and the two started a little wrestling match in the middle of the floor.

A few hours later, the three sat in the middle of the living room of the little shack, worn out from all the rough housing. Remus broke the silence.

"So, Sirius, what got James all upset?"

Sirius gave a nervous snuff. "Well, uh…I gave him the opportunity to let him think of the possibility that Lily didn't love him in return."

"And what'd he do?" Remus pressed.

"He's miserable. Refused to move from his bed. That's part of why I was late."

"What's the other part?" Peter asked from a little crook in the wall.

"Uh…guilt and shame."

"Why?" Peter asked.

"Do I have to explain everything?" Sirius growled, annoyed. "It's just…um…James looked really happy…I think it made me sort of upset to know that I kind of…stopped him from being happy, I guess."

"So what can we do?"

Sirius sighed. "I dunno. Something bad happened between them, I'm sure. I mean, Lily likes him now, and there's no reason that –"

"Hold on." Remus interrupted. "Lily likes James."

"Correct."

"And James loves Lily."

"Yep."

"And something bad happened between them that was conveniently forgotten?"

"You got it."

"…has Lily's memory returned, by any chance, mate?" Sirius frowned.

"I don't know…James isn't too keen on talking about it anymore…do you think it could have?"

Remus shrugged. He had been kept in the Whomping Willow since before sundown; he didn't know what James or Lily had been up to.

"What if it did…" Peter squeaked uneasily.

"Then…then Lily wouldn't be very happy."

"James wasn't in school today." Lynette said as she folded back the covers of her bed.

"He never skips class." Paige said. "I mean, yeah he's a goof off, but he's the Head Boy. He isn't that stupid."

"I heard from someone that he was holding himself up in his room." Lynette climbed into bed.

"Wonder why?" Paige questioned as she too got into her own bed.

"I would bet that he's still broken up about my big 'confession' from the other night." A voice from the bathroom answered. Lily emerged.

"I'm going to the Common Room to read."

"It's nearly eleven at night!" Paige exclaimed. "Why would you want to read in there now?"

"I feel like being alone." Lily said stiffly. Paige stared but eventually shrugged and shut her curtains. Lynette looked at Lily helplessly and also went to sleep. Lily went down to the Common Room, her favorite book in hand.

Down in the Common Room, Lily was all alone. Everyone had been preparing for the Halloween Ball and was getting rested up for it, as it was in a few more days. The silence was deafening and Lily found it hard to concentrate on reading. She heard a barely audible bump. She slowly lifted her head from her book.

"Hello?" She asked hesitantly. Another bump. Then a thump. She frowned. It was coming from the direction of the boy's dormitories. She set her book on the table and cautiously walked over to the staircase. More thumps. A small voice sounded, but Lily couldn't hear what it said…it sounded muffled.

"Hello?" She said louder, walking up the stairs. It wasn't coming from anyone in first year…or second year…or third, fourth, fifth, or sixth year, for that matter. The seventh year dorms were quite loud. Lily wondered how no one was hearing it. She leaned up to the door. She jerked her head back as an object hit the other side of the door right where her head was.

"Get out, Sirius!"

James.

"James, Remus needs us, we have to go, NOW!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Something smashed.

"James, you're overreacting!"

"I'M REACTING JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT!"

"WHY ARE YOU BEHAVING THIS WAY?!"

"SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME!"

Lily frowned. Who DIDN'T love James? He was a goddamn idol! EVERYONE loved him!

"…who gave you that idea?"

"YOU DID!"

"I did?"

"Yes! She means everything to me! And now she doesn't love me back? It isn't fair…and…and it hurts."

"How does it hurt?"

"It just does! My head, my mind…" There was a pause. "My chest hurts too." He said as an afterthought.

"Where?"

"I dunno…like, right here." Silence for a second. A sigh. "Just leave me, Sirius. I don't care anymore. Just tell my professors tomorrow that I'm not feeling well."

Lily heard heavy footsteps. She ran to the end of the corridor and hid in a dark shadow while the door opened. James stood inside, holding the door open for Sirius, who was leaving. James looked horrible. There were lines and dark blotches under his eyes (which were bloodshot), his face was red, and his hair was even more messed up than usual.

Sirius didn't look any better. The usually tame dark hair looked as if it had been pulled out, and he looked rather nervous. His robes looked disheveled, and the two wizards stared back at each other sadly.

"Go, Sirius." James whispered, turning his head down. Sirius looked broken and torn, as if wondering if he should go do his little errand or comfort his best friend.

Lily couldn't believe what she was witnessing. The undoable duo, the untamable two, the best friends to ever grace (or disgrace) the grounds of Hogwarts…

Looked utterly defeated.

A/N: Somewhat of a dark chapter. I want you all to know, I really did not mean to take this long. I'd have this chappie up sooner, but my internet connection isn't doing to hot. I've got a plan though (always do!) and NO this is not the end for quite a while…I'm betting on making this story about fifteen chapters long maybe…dunno have to see…this WON'T go until graduation like I planned…mostly because I heard somewhere that in England they don't HAVE graduations…could someone clue me in? Thankies! R&R as always!