SUMMARY: Lily goes to Hogwarts, and James goes to Beauxbatons. They've been writing letters to each other since their 3rd year. What happens when James gets transferred to Hogwarts?

A/N: You guys had better love me now… my stupid computer decided not to read the disk, so I get to re-type the entire thing. I dunno, maybe I deserve it since I haven't updated forever, but still. It's going to be a BIG pain in the butt. One more thing really quick… THANK YOU GUYS for the reviews telling me you weren't going to kill me! They seriously made me feel a lot better. You all rock!!!

Chapter 6: Sirius's Problem

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James thought it was trivial to get in a fight over a little thing like Remus suggesting they lower their pranks, so he continued talking to him as it nothing was wrong. However, when he received the Death Glare from Sirius after asking Remus to borrow a quill the next morning, he decided to take Sirius's side. Sirius and he had spent basically the whole summer together, as Sirius's parents were less than friendly, and James's grandmother was a little too friendly. He and Sirius had been there for each other when no one else was, and they formed a strong friendship.

"Listen, Remus," James said to his friend when Sirius went to the bathroom to shower. "Sirius is just… well, he's going through a really tough time right now, so don't feel too bad about how he's acting. It's the only way he can get his feelings out… I think you already knew this, but he's having a hard time with his family this summer and he's still trying to recover."

"I understand," Remus said, nodding his head. "I don't feel like I should apologize, though. I really think you guys should cut down on the pranks this year… especially the ones on Lily." He said the last part rather quickly, looking at James with a hint of hopefulness in his eyes.

"Listen, Moony…" James said, sighing and running his fingers through his already messy hair. "I'll-I'll think about it, okay? I'm not promising anything though. I don't know if I'll be able to convince Sirius."

"Just think about it, okay?" Remus said, massaging the back of his neck. "I think it would mean a lot to Lily." He turned around to wake up Peter, who was still currently asleep.

James sighed and plopped down on his bed, thinking about what Remus had just said. He was sure Lily would appreciate it if they gave up the pranking for a while; she had even tried to ask nicely on the train. It's just that Lily was being extremely thick with this stupid ditsy thing she had going on. The only thing he wanted was for her to stop being so stupid, which had even begun to get on his nerves. He couldn't imagine how Lily could stand to be like that for over five years straight. Deciding against what Remus had cautioned, James pulled on his sock and shoes, subconsciously planning a prank for dear Evans.

James jumped a little as an owl flew through the window. He recognized it immediately as Nuria's owl and smiled broadly. Rushing over to the owl, he pulled off the letter and opened it, butterflies in his stomach.

Dear Orion,

I'm stuck here with another year at Hogwarts alone. I hope your summer was enjoyable… I'm sure it was more enjoyable than mine. My family was all being themselves (and you know how they are) except worse…my sister stole my owl and wouldn't give it back, which is why I didn't write you the whole summer. I'm really sorry about that, I really am. I'm just wondering… why didn't you write me either? Anyway… write me back soon, okay? I don't know how long I can last without you.

Love,

Nuria

James bit his lip. He felt so bad about not writing Nuria all summer, especially when she needed him. For some unknown reason, James's grandmother had decided to screen all the letters he sent out of the house, and James didn't particularly want his grandmother constantly asking him about his "Ickle Nurikins". It pained him, but Nuria was something secret, too dear to him to tell anyone else. He hadn't even told Sirius, though he felt he could trust Sirius with anything. It felt good to James just to have her secret, not having to tell anyone how things were going, or if he decided to tell her he was at Hogwarts. She was James's secret, and he intended to keep her that way.

Just then Sirius came out of the bathroom, completely ready. "Let's go to breakfast, Prongs!" He said, purposefully ignoring Remus, who was currently pulling his robes over his normal clothes, also ready to go. Peter had gotten ready at lightning speed and decided to meet them down there… he had never really had problems waking up in the morning, as long as he knew he could get food. He could survive on three hours of sleep as long as he was eating or on his way to eat.

James gave Remus an apologetic look before looking at Sirius and saying, "Let's go!" James followed Sirius out the door and down the stairs, knowing what he was doing to Remus was wrong. Sighing, he decided to ignore the feeling… at least until later.

Down at breakfast, James found he wasn't very hungry. Between feeling bad about not talking to Nuria all summer and being mean to Remus for no reason, he found himself picking at his food while everyone else ate it. Looking down at the other end of the table, he saw Remus also barely touching his food.

James opened his mouth to talk to Sirius about forgiving him, but at that moment there was a slight breeze and owls streamed through the window into the Great Hall. James gave one last look at Remus, but his heart suddenly caught in his throat. It was Nuria's owl landing across the table and a ways up from Remus. James felt himself stand up and begin walking towards the owl as if he were watching himself from above. He had no control of his actions. However, he had only taken a few steps when in the back of his head he heard Sirius's voice.

"You ready to go too, Prongs?" He heard Sirius's voice weave in and out of his head, like a badly tuned radio. He suddenly felt someone grabbing onto his shirt, and he realized where he was.

"Oh—um—well…" James started, trying to explain why he wanted to go down there.

"Did you want to talk to Remus?" Sirius asked, giving James a slightly disgusted look, as if he had just suggested hopping in the lake and swimming with the Giant Squid.

"Oh, um, no." James spluttered out. "Of course not."

"Good." Sirius said, turning around and heading towards the exit of the Great Hall.

"Goodbye, Nuria…" James said, reluctantly following Sirius. However, as soon as he exited the Great Hall, he came to a realization. Nuria was in Gryffindor. He knew that she was around his age, from 14-16. He had narrowed down everyone in the school to the Gryffindor 4-6 years. Smiling at his discovery, he followed Sirius up the stairs to the Dormitories to get their books.

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Lily smiled as she headed down to her favorite class, Charms. Most of the time she found ways to be late so there would be no free seats by her friends and she could actually pay attention. Today, she had "forgot her mascara, gasp" and had to go running back to the Dorm Room to put it on. Instead of doing anything, she dawdled around for about five minutes until she had three minutes to get to the Charms Classroom.

When she walked in the classroom, however, she frowned at what she saw. There was only one free seat left, which happened to be next to James Potter. Lily sighed deeply, wanting to bang James's ugly head into the desk for existing. She haughtily made her way over to where he was sitting and plopped down next to him.

"Nice to see you too!" He whispered cheerfully to her, as class had just started.

"Shove it, Potter." She whispered back, rubbing he heeled shoe into his tow.

"OWW!" James yelled out loud, causing the whole class to turn around and stare at him.

"Are you volunteering to answer my question, Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick asked squeakily, stretching his body to see James in the back.

"Err…what was the question again?" James asked somewhat sheepishly.

"What charm would you use if you came across and object that was in your way, like a puddle or a wall. What would you use to make it disappear for a few seconds while you walked through?"

"Err…" James said, regretful for asking what the question was. "I think Eva—Lily knows the answer!" He said, smiling his charming smile at Professor Flitwick.

"Very well. Miss Evans, would you like to answer the question?" He asked politely.

"Váyasetemporario." Lily whispered to James, glaring at him. "Like—I don't know!" She said loudly, twirling a lock of hair around her finger and giggling stupidly.

"Very well," Professor Flitwick said, somewhat disappointed. "Mr. Rowley, would you mind answering the question for me?"

"I hate you, Potter." Lily growled, grinding her teeth.

"I love you too, Lily!' James said, grinning. She looked really cute when she was all worked up like this. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Did he just think that Lily Evans was hot? He looked over at her once more and smiled. Yup, he definitely just thought that Lily Evans was attractive. Opening his charms book to the page Professor Flitwick had just told him (page 326), he grinned mischievously. This could prove to be a fun year with Evans.

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James sat down to dinner that night upset. He had tried to talk to Sirius about Remus numerous times that day, but every time he either gave James a glare or changed the subject rather quickly. Sirius was being extremely touchy about everything, and through James understood that he had a tough summer, he was almost completely different from the Sirius he was the year before. The only thing that was the same was the way he acted when he was planning a prank or talking about Quidditch.

James's thoughts were interrupted as someone approached the table. Looking up, he saw Lucius Malfoy, a 7th year Slytherin with a particularly nasty reputation.

"Black," he said in an icy voice.

"Malfoy," Sirius said in the same cold voice, glaring at him. "What do you want?"

"I have something for you from your family." He said, taking something out of his cloak and handing it to Sirius. "Regulus wanted me to give it to you." He said, turning on his heel and walking away quickly as if he were scared someone would find out he was willingly associating with a Gryffindor.

"Who's Regulus?" James asked in a confused voice.

"My pathetic excuse for a brother." Sirius said, still glaring at the retreating figure of Malfoy. "He's a third year Slytherin."

"You never told me you have a brother." James said, slightly hurt that Sirius didn't tell him something as big as that. Sirius had told him earlier that summer that he had no siblings, that he was an only child.

"He's basically not my brother." Sirius said in the same bitter voice. "I never talk to him. He hates me, I hate him. There's not a whole lot besides that."

"Oh…" James said, not knowing what else to say. "I'm sorry."

"Forget about it." Sirius said, turning back to his food and eating. "Just don't worry about it."

James and Sirius exited the Great Hall ten minutes later. An awkward silence had fallen over them, and James couldn't really think of anything to say. He turned over to the bulletin board and noticed "Gryffindor Quidditch Tryouts" in big letters. Grabbing Sirius's sleeve, he pulled him over.

"Look at this!" He said excitedly. James was on the Quidditch Team in Beauxbatons and had wanted to join here, but had fallen ill last year and been unable to try out.

Sirius was a Beater for the team, and his face brightened at the prospect of James joining. "What position do you play?" He asked, troubles forgotten momentarily.

"Chaser." James said, scanning the list of positions available. "And they have a Chaser position open! Yes!" He gave Sirius a high-five and grinner broadly. He had been an exceptional chaser in Beauxbatons and was almost positive he would make it this year. Looking at the date, he saw that tryouts were next Monday, only four days away. "I need to train…" He said more to himself than anyone.

"I'll help you." Sirius said, thinking. "We can probably train tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday night for two hours each night. That should get you warmed up and everything."

"Great!" James said, getting more excited by the second.

"Moony is really good on a broom too, we can ask him to help." Sirius said, anger at Remus forgotten. "He never got on the team though, with his…condition and everything. He would make a brilliant Keeper though. Wormtail is hopeless. I don't think he's ever managed to stay on a broom for more than one minute at a time, poor bloke."

"Should we get Remus and our brooms?" James asked, heading up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Common Room. "We should probably get started before it gets too dark."

"True, true." Sirius said, following James. "Let's go!"

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YAY!!! I got it up on time! It's shorter than a lot of my chapters, but I've been really busy this week and haven't really had time to write. I had to squeeze in writing between everything else. Sorry guys, no time for thank yous, but I'll make sure to do it next time. Oh yeah, the spell up above from Charms class, I had to make that up... I had to put it in Spanish too cause I don't have a latin translator or anything, but Spanish is close to Latin, right? Heh...kinda.

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