Author's*Note:  Just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter and say how cool I think it is that most L/J writers have started similar post-OoTp stories!  It's good to know that I wasn't the only one who had to sort things out after having all my ideas about the MWPP generation crushed.  It definitely helped, too---I'm havin' fun writing this story!  I seriously advise anyone who's feeling blue after reading "Snape's Worst Memory" to try it.  OK..well..enough of that.  Heeeeeeeeeeere's the second chapter!  Hope everyone enjoys!          

Chapter 2:  Chrysanthea Pearlstone, Resident Flirt

            Lily stared wearily at the brass knocker which hung in the direct center of the door that led into the 6th year boys' dormitory.

            Sure, giving James Potter a detention had come to be a glorious occurrence, given that he found a way (daily) to drive her absolutely mad.  Dealing with him long enough to actually give him the detention, however, was a completely different story.

            After taking a deep, steadying breath, Lily's hand rose from its place at her side, balled up into a fist, and rapped firmly against the solid oak door.  In the few moments it took for her to gauge a response, she couldn't help but sustain a small hope that James had already predicted her arrival and had fled Gryffindor Tower in hopes of finding a new victim.  Maybe, Lily wondered fleetingly, he had gone off to torture Filch again by tossing cat nip filled treats at Mrs. Norris.  A small part of Lily wanted to smile at the memory of Filch's cat darting madly around the Great Hall before deciding to make itself a comfy little resting spot in Sapphire Sedgwick's curly copper-colored hair. 

            Her entertaining thoughts were soon interrupted by footsteps and the sound of the door swinging open in front of her.  Sirius Black, wearing his most disarming smile, leaned against the doorframe, his long body managing to block the inside of the dormitory from Lily's view.

            "Why, Lily Evans (Lily's eyebrows shot up in suspicion at the sudden increase in the volume of his voice as he spoke her name), to what do I owe the immense pleasure of your company?"

            Shooting him a pointed glare, Lily's voice adapted a quality that made it sound like she was speaking to a naughty 5 year-old.  "Sirius, did you hear those screams sound up from the common room just a short while ago?"

            Sirius's face took on a look of utmost puzzlement.  "Screams?"

            "Yes, Sirius, screams."

            Looking appalled, Sirius shook his head.  "It's been just so peaceful and quiet up here that I honestly can't believe that.  Screams, really?  Those 2nd years sure are rambunctious little ars—angels, aren't they?"

            Sirius's smile grew even more innocent, possibly in hopes that Lily hadn't noticed his small slip-up.

            "Oh, it wasn't second years that caused the disturbance."  Lily clarified in a stern voice, determined to hold her ground.

            "Ohhhhh…"  Sirius's eyes widened as he nodded his head. 

            "Yes, that's it.  I knew you'd be able to figure it out."  Lily shot him a mockingly sweet smile.           

            Sirius kept nodding at Lily, his demeanor sympathetic. 

            "The third years then, eh?"

            Lily's hands flew straight to her hips as her mouth let out a small huff.  After a moment of silence, she decided on a different tactic.

            "Sirius, may I ask if I can come in?"  She asked ever-so-politely.

            Sirius smiled warmly at her.  "Oh, of course you may ask-."

            "Good."  Lily stepped forward, but Sirius was still blocking the doorway.

            "-but I'm afraid your request will be denied."

            Lily shot him a look of pure irritation.  "Why?"

            "WELL, YOU SEE, LILY," Sirius bellowed very loudly, "NORMALLY I'D BE ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED AT THE PROSPECT OF SNOGGING YOU, BUT I'M AFRAID I'M CURRENTLY SOMEWHAT INVOLVED WITH SOMEONE EL-."

            "SIRIUS BLACK, I WOULDN'T SNOG YOU IF I WAS UNDER THE IMPERIUS CURSE!"

            Looking completely undaunted, Sirius smiled pleasantly at her and lowered his voice back down to its normal level.  "Oh!  Welllllllllllll, in that case………no."

            "No?"

            "No, you still may not come in."

            "And why would that be, you incomprehensible git?!"

            Sirius's hands flew straight to his chest, hovering over his heart.  "Aww, Lily…and here I was thinkin' you saved that pet name just especially for James."

            Noticing a sudden grin spread itself across Lily's lips, Sirius immediately realized his mistake.  Under no circumstances should he have spoken the name of her target.

            "What was that again, Sirius?"  Lily inquired politely.

            "I said..uh…Remus is in there snogging a bunch of dames."

            "Padfoot, you prat…"  A voice scolded from within the dormitory.

            Lily's eyes lit up, for she had recognized that voice and sure was glad to hear from someone with some sense.

            "Remus, are you in there?"  She questioned eagerly.

            "No."  Sirius said simply, as the voice from moments earlier answered, "Yes."

            "Sirius, let me in and I'll leave you alone.  I'll talk to Remus."

            "Remus can't talk to you, Evans."  Sirius said abruptly.

            "He just did!"  Lily argued, stretching out her arm to point into the dormitory.

            Sirius shook his head and sighed in a manner that Lily took as completely fake.

            "That wasn't really Remus…it was someone pretending to be him."

            "Oh, really?"

            "Yes, really.  It was Peter."

            Lily shot him a withering look.  "..and why would Peter be pretending to be Remus?"

            "He's..um..trying to help me out because we were just, you know, experimenting a little earlier…and now Remus is..uh…is.."

            "Yes?"  Lily prodded.

            "Remus is a mute."

            Lily let out a cry of frustration and pulled her arms into her chest so that they were hugging her midsection.  She glared furiously at Sirius.

            "Just a moment, Lily.  I'm coming."  Remus assured in response to her little outburst.

            Within moments, Remus's face appeared in the doorway beside Sirius's.  He was just about to speak again when he noticed the solid scowl that was being sent his way from the head next to his.

            "Oh, come off it, Padfoot.  How long did you plan on keeping her here?"

            Sirius seemed to ponder this for a few seconds.  "Now that you mention it, one of the little veins in her forehead looked considerably close to popping."

            Remus seemed to ignore his friend's response.  "What can I do for you, Lily?"

            Lily's smile was now genuine as she eyed the sincere look on Remus's face.

            "Remus, is James in there?"

            "Yes.  Hold on a moment, I'll go get him for you."

            Lily sent him an appreciative smile.  "Thank you."

            Once Remus left the doorway, Sirius crossed his arms and fixed Lily with a disapproving glare.

            Looking satisfied, Lily asked, "See, now was that so hard?  Wouldn't it have been so much less complicated for you to just go and get James for me from the very start?"

            Sirius's glare promptly morphed into a taunting smirk.  "Oh, Lily, I would've gladly retrieved James for you.  It's just that….well, you never asked."

            This comment had its desired effect upon Lily.  Her satisfied smile vanished into a renewed look of frustration. 

            Sirius once again sent her one of his annoyingly pleasant smiles.  "Lovely speaking with you Lily." 

            With that, he turned around and went off into the dormitory.  His frame was soon replaced by James's rather muscular build.  James ran one hand messily through his already tousled head of hair, before looking up to greet Lily with a smile. 

            Just looking at him made her scowl with distaste.

            "Something I can do for you, Lily?"

            Lily was very much tempted to answer back with "Yes, could you please go drown yourself in the lake?"

            She remained polite, however, wanting to keep things fairly civil.  "I just came to notify you that you have a detention-."

            "You must be mistaken, you see I simply don't have the time to waste away in detention.  I have practice Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays from 6:30 to 9:00.  Every other day, I'm just….busy."  James shot her a confident grin as he leaned easily onto the doorframe.

            Lily smiled in an overly sweet way.  "Well, let's see then.  Today is..yes, today's Saturday.  So, let's make it detention…tomorrow…from 6:45 to 8:45." 

            James's eyes widened and his smile vanished to be replaced by a rather thin-lipped look of restrained anger.

            "..and your reason for this detention being?"

            "Potter, don't even try to tell me that you weren't responsible for that chocolate fiasco downstairs.  I'm not an idiot."

            "Oh, I did it, hmm?  Prove it."  James challenged.

            Lily didn't miss a beat.  "Not a problem.  I can easily get the testimony of several girls who saw you place the chocolates down on that table." 

            "…and I can easily sway them to think otherwise."  James grinned.

            Before another word could be said, Remus's head appeared once more in the doorway. 

            "Lily..er…could you let me take care of it..just this once?"

            "Remus, I've given him plenty of chances to clean up his act and you plenty of chances to make him change!"

            "Don't talk about me as if I'm not standing here right in front of you!"  James burst out.

            "Lily, please?"

            "…and who says I need to change?"

            Lily turned her eyes back toward James.  "Even the most perfect people realize that they could do with a bit of change.  The fact that you can't even acknowledge that kind of wisdom speaks volumes."

            "What if I….what if I do acknowledge it..and act upon it?  'Clean up my act' as you call it.  Would you let me off if I promise to show some good behavior?" 

            Lily sighed.  "I'll tell you what, James.  If you can get through the whole day tomorrow without causing so much as a squeal, I'll let you go to practice.  If you can't manage to do that, which I strongly suspect will happen, I'll go straight to McGonagall and set up a detention.  Deal?"

            James exchanged a quick look with Remus before turning back to Lily and nodding.  "I can do that."

            "Yeah, we'll see."  Lily huffed.

            "Bye, Remus!"  She exclaimed, pivoting and making her way back down to the common room?" 

            "See ya, Lily!" 

            "Bye!"  She heard James shout right after his friend.  She ignored his farewell and continued down the stairs.

*

            About an hour later, Leila and Cecilia had coaxed a mentally tired Lily out of Gryffindor Tower.  They'd tried to convince her to go out with them to several places.  First, they'd suggested the lake, then the Great Hall, then the Quidditch pitch, then just a walk around the grounds ("We might run into Hagrid!"  Leila had enthused.).  To each of those places, the response had been a resounding "no".  As a joke, Cecilia had muttered "How about the library?" and surprisingly, but most unfortunately for her and Leila, Lily had consented.

            "I can't believe we're spending a Saturday in the library."  Leila mused in a rather pathetic tone as she pushed open the door to the library. 

            "Yeah, seriously, Lily.  You sure are a fun girl."  Cecilia teased, earning herself a pointed glare.

            "C'mon, we'll just find a nice table by the windows or something-."  Lily had begun to say, but was promptly cut off by a small gasp emitted by Leila.

            "What?"  Lily and Cecilia whispered simultaneously, observing the cool look Madam Pince was shooting them.

            "What in Merlin's name is she doing here?!"

            Lily and Cecilia followed Leila's eyes over to a table (yes, one by the windows) where a group of four girls their age sat. 

            "Ah," Lily murmured, "Chrysanthea." 

            Chrysanthea Pearlstone, a very pretty Ravenclaw with long flowing jet-black hair and an olive complexion, was sitting at a table covered by a mound of books.  Sitting on top of the opened book in front of her, however, was a compact mirror, a small bottle of nail varnish, and a hairbrush.  To her right sat Eleanor Edgecombe, a rather prissy looking girl with shoulder length, curly (and, as Lily thought, rather puffy) blonde hair.  She was staring at the books apprehensively, her arms folded over her chest.  To Chrysanthea's left sat Sapphire Sedgwick, who seemed to be putting a great deal of thought into how she wanted to wear her hair.  Within the few seconds that Lily observed her, she had changed it from a low ponytail, to a French twist, to a high ponytail, and then had begun to braid it.  Sitting next to Sapphire was Adalia Applebee, a petite girl with wavy brown hair who was laughing at almost everything Chrysanthea whispered to the group.

            "Caution:  twit ahead."  Leila muttered scathingly, leading Lily and Cecilia off to a table that was only one away from the one where Chrysanthea and her friends were sitting.

            "Don't you mean 'twits', as in plural?"  Cecilia suggested, eyeing Sapphire disdainfully as she attempted to work her hair into two French braids. 

            "Why are we sitting so close?"  Lily asked curiously as they all settled down into their chairs.

            "I want to listen."  Leila whispered.

            "Lei, I don't think that's-."  Lily began in a warning tone.

            "Shhh!" 

            "Oh, all right, then."

            "I'll be right back."  Cecilia whispered, sliding out of her seat.

            "Lil, doesn't just being in her presence make you want to jump James right in front of her?" 

            "No, Lei, I can't say it does."

            "Oh, c'mon…she's dreadful."

            "Exactly.  They'd be terribly perfect for each other."

            It was at that moment that Cecilia returned to the table, carrying three books.  She sat down and quickly handed them out. 

            "What are these?"  Leila questioned, turning hers over to see its front cover.

            "Well, if we're going to eavesdrop, we have to at least look like we have decent intentions.  I just grabbed them real quick off those shelves over there."

            "Ooh, good idea."

            Lily couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she looked over the cover of her book. 

            "Snot So Bad:  A Collection of Various Charms and Hexes That Can Clean Your Nose of Bogeys and Other Unpleasant Materials."  She read aloud, holding her book up for both the other girls to see.

            Leila giggled.  "Check mine out.  'The Beauty Book for When You're Feeling Beastly:  A Witch's Guide to Looking Her Best.'  Hmm…let's just send this one over a few tables."

            "Mine's just 'The Standard Book of Spells:  Grade 4'."  Cecilia admitted, smiling mischievously at her friends.

            "Oh, well doesn't that figure.."  Lily mused, letting out another small laugh.  Madam Pince glared at her a little more fiercely than she had before.  She immediately closed her mouth and gestured her head toward Chrysanthea's table.  The other two girls nodded and opened their books, pretending to be very interested in them as they listened closely.

            "—just hang in there now, girls."  Chrysanthea's voice soothed.

            "Chrys, remind me again why we're sitting here buried in books on a Saturday?"  Sapphire scoffed.

            "I already told you.  James is in all the most respectable N.E.W.T. classes.  I want him to know that I'm interested in my studies." 

            "But, Chrys, you're really no-."

            "I didn't ask to be contradicted, Saph.  Just relax, OK?  This is pertinent to James liking me."   

            "—I just don't see why he wouldn't, Chrys."  Adalia whispered agreeably.

            "Yes, I mean you are the prettiest girl in our year."  Eleanor whispered admiringly.

            "You're just too sweet, El."  Chrysanthea gushed.

            "Plus, you know, you're so good when it comes to boys."  Sapphire enthused.

            "You really think so?"  Chrysanthea asked in a manner that suggested she already thought so herself.

            "Yes, I mean just the other day I heard one of the 3rd years refer to you as 'Chrysanthea Pearlstone:  Resident Flirt'.  They admire you so much, Chrys."

            Next to Lily, Leila snorted softly.

            In response to Sapphire's story, Chrysanthea giggled appreciatively.  "Oh, they are just too much.  They really are."

            "You know, there are some sources of worry, though."  Adalia mentioned, her voice seemingly a little lower.

            "What do you mean?"  Chrysanthea asked, her tone suddenly lacking the chipper quality that had been present in her giggles.

            "Well, um…..you know, it's been rumored for quite some time that he's interested in…err………………her."

            Leila and Cecilia both gave Lily one-eyed glances.  She could feel her face redden very slightly as she became very certain that 4 pairs of eyes were currently burning holes into the back of her head.

             "I don't think she's that pretty."  Eleanor said in a voice that undoubtedly could be heard by Lily.

            "Oh, that idiotic-."  Leila began to grumble, but Cecilia shushed her, for the girls were still talking.

            "—really, Chrys, you're not to worry.  She's a Prefect, for Merlin's Sake!"  Sapphire comforted.

            "Sapphy, I'm a Prefect!"

            "Oh, Addy, you know I didn't mean it that way.  I only meant to say that Evans is just all wrong for James."

            I couldn't agree with you more, Lily thought to herself (then as an after thought, added), you insufferable twit.

            "Girls, maybe we should continue this conversation elsewhere.  They are sitting awfully close."  Eleanor hissed. 

            "You're right, El.  Let's go up to the dorm."  Chrysanthea decided.

            Then, without so much as a further glance at the mountain of books they had left behind them, the four Ravenclaws got up and quickly exited the library.

            They had barely been gone 10 seconds before Leila jumped out of her chair and burst out , "Oh, those horrible, horrible girls!  CAN YOU BELIEVE THE WAY THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT YOU, AS IF LESS THAN 10 FEET AWAY IS OUT OF EARSHOT!?"

            "Lei, it's really all-."

            Lily didn't get to finish her sentence, however, for before you could say "Quiet!  You're in a library!", the three girls found themselves outside on their bums, a grumbling Madam Pince shutting the library door forcefully in their faces. 

I'll leave ya there for now….

Review, Review, Review!!! 

Disclaimer (applies to chapter 1, also—since, I forgot to stick one in that):  I think everyone knows all the characters, etc. that belong to J.K. Rowling.  The Ravenclaw girls all belong to me (well..except Eleanor's last name :-)