.chapter three.

Being Head Girl was a stressful event. All of the prefects had been rather nice and polite and didn't whine when they had to pass out schedules, and Remus Lupin was being rather nice, but all of the responsibility was really the stressful part. Lily had to decide if they would have balls (she and Remus were sort of debating the issue, whether or not to have a Halloween dance) and schedule the Quidditch matches and make sure that the students behaved and that the first years didn't get harassed too badly by people like James Potter and Sirius Black. It was rather enjoyable, but by dinner the first day, Lily was wondering why she had wanted to become Head Girl in the first place.

That evening while she was in the library, doing a bit of extra studying, she saw Ben Corners and James Potter walk in together, in a deep conversation about Quidditch, one thing they seemed to have in common. Ben was the Keeper for the Ravenclaw team, and James wast he Seeker for the Gryffindor team. They were probably discussing the Tornadoes, and how they were having the worst losing streak for a very long time. Lily didn't particularly care to talk to Ben when he was speaking with James; the possibilities for humiliating disaster were just too much. She tried to catch what they were saying, but quickly gave up on that and went back to studying. She didn't even realize that James had sat down beside her until she felt someone tapping their fingers on the table top, and Lily really hated when people did that. It was so annoying and got on her last nerve.

She was not surprised to see that when she looked up that James was sitting across from her, grinning broadly, likehe had every right to be there, even though he wasn't doing any research or studying. But it also meant he wasn't terrorizing elevon year olds, so she was sort of glad that he was there.

"'Ello," he said.

"Hi." She tucked a strand of wavey red hair behind her ear and asked, "What do you want?"

"Lily," he said, grabbing his heart as though in great pain, "I am shocked to hear you say that! I would never, ever want to take anything from you. I just would like to enjoy your company," he said so sincerely that it made Lily very, very cauticous. She had fallen for this stunt before, and she wasn't about to now.

"Oh." She glanced back down at her work, which was a potions essay that wasn't due for a long time, but she wanted to get it done quickly so she wouldn't have to worry about it on top of everything else. She heard him scoot his chair over, siddling up beside her.

"You're looking really lovely today," he said, leaning close to her.

"You're really not smelling very lovely." She wished that her hand would stop quivering as she help her quill, poised to start scribbling down facts. She found that he was so close that she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. She had a sick feeling in her stomach, like he was going to lick her face or something, so she tried to scoot away.

"It must be my aftershave." He was whispering, and Lily really felt like stabbing him in the eye with the her quill, but thought that would be rather extreme for simply being uncomfortabley close to her.

"Um, James, could you back off?"

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked.

"No," she lied, shifting slightly in her seat. "I just really am going to hurl all over you. You're quite rank."

"I'll move if you do something for me." He was closer now, and Lily was really getting antsy to get away from him. Being so close to someone she really disliked was liking being forced to eat her least favorite food and pretending not to be bothered by it.

"What?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Go out with me."

She turned to face him, eyebrows raised, a grin on her face. "James Potter, how much do you like being shot down? Because I've gotta tell you, this has to be the tenth time I'm going to say no. At least the tenth." She stood up, closing her book and putting her things into her knapsack as James stared at her in disbelief. "Plus, why should I go out with you? I don't even like you." She shook her head and chuckled, recieving a glare from Madam Pince, as well as a loud, "SHH!"

With a final glance at him, sitting in his chair with him mouth hanging open, she strutted off, trying not to laugh too much.

:::........:::

"And she said no?" asked Sirius Black, shocked. James nodded glumly. "The bloody bitch! I've gotten at least four girls to go out with me that way -"

"Don't call her a 'bitch,'" said Remus defensively. "She's my co - worker, and I have to get along with her. I think she's rather smart for not going out with you, Prongs." Remus didn't glance up from his homework, Transfiguration, as the other Marauders turned to gaze at him in shock. "You act so arrogantly, like it's a privelege for Lily to go out with you or something -"

"It is a privelege," James huffed. "I'm an excellent kisser."

"That's too much information," replied Sirius slowly.

"But she still said no! It's so unfair! I was being nice, smooth.... Maybe she's a lesbian," he said finally. "Maybe Jackie just thinks she likes Ben... no, I heard her -"

"She's not a lesbian. Trust me, I saw her one time, swooning over some Muggle guy. He had messy hair like you though," said Padfoot as though it were some helpful information. "But you know, if she was..."

"Ugh, I don't want to hear it," said Remus. "All you ever talk about is girls! Nothing else, except for Quidditch. You are so barbaric," he said sadly. "And to think I hang out with you by choice." He shook his head and rubbed his temples, then changed the subject. "Full moon in about a month." The last full moon had been only two nights ago, and he was feeling a bit tired from the ordeal. He only hoped that his monthly trips wouldn't have too much of an effect on his duties as Head Boy.

"Yeah. Hey, I'm not barbaric," said Sirius, having just caught the insult. He then crossed his arms over his chest sulkily, sitting back on the couch. The quiet room suddenly errupted in sound, as it had been empty before. There was a high pitch scream from the girls' dorms, then all of the boys and a few girls raced down the stairway into the common room seconds later, looking bed rumpled and discombobulated. "What was that?"

"I'm going to go check," said Remus, lurching forward. He raced up the stairs, which knew that he was Head Boy and were not bewitched for him. The Marauders shared uneasy glances at eachother, wondering what was going on.

Jena awoke to find her two best friends on her bed, kneeling around her, as well as Remus Lupin (though he was not actually on her bed, just beside it). A gaggle of girls, ranging in ages, also surrounded her four - post bed, and she glanced at them nervously and confused. "What's going on?" she asked.

"You were just screaming bloody murder, like something was..."

"Murdering you," Jackie finished for Lily, and they were both pale and concerned. "Was it a bad dream?"

"Yeah, that's all. I'm fine," she said, sitting up. She raked a trembling hand through her thick locks and shook her head. She felt a hand on her bare shoulder, as her tank top strap had slid down her arm. It belonged to Remus, and when she realized it, she was suddenly filled with relief. She closed her eyes and rubbed them momentarily. People were beginning to drift out, disapointed that there was really no drama.

"What was it about?" asked Lily, but Jena simply shook her head. What she saw in her dreams she didn't like to share with other people; they were too horrifying. She sighed warily and turned to her friends.

"It's nothing. I just had a really bad dream is all. I'm okay," she added, and Remus nodded, taking his hand from her shoulder. It felt like she was on fire where his hand had touched her. She watched Lily and Jackie climb off her bed, then into their own. Jena flopped back onto her bed and flung her hand over her eyes, until she realized that Remus was still standing at her bedside.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked, and she nodded, realizing how horrible she must look - pasty and pale, and slightly sweaty, as her night shirt clung to her back. "You know - you can um, tell me anything. I'm always here to listen," he added, dropping the tones of his voice. "I'm Head Boy, it's my job."

She nodded again and so did he, then Remus turned and left, shooing out the younger students. Of course he wouldn't want to talk to her for any other reason than it being his job - Jena was the awkward, shy girl that none of the guys were attracted to, much less noticed. She quickly closed her hangings and then let her eyes drop closed. She would not get much more sleep that night.

A/N: My back hurts so I am going to take a break from the fiction and work on some art or something. More later.. of course..

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, of course. Except for my OC's.