Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Characters, Ideas, Things, or Places developed by J. K. Rowling!



The month of October was always the favorite for the quietest girl in Hogwarts. All the students had gotten over they're newcomer syndrome, and they're sad-to-be-back-at-school sickness. It was the one time she could observe the people around her in their element without being caught. It was the only time she could use her fellow classmates in her art. It was the only time inspiration was limitless and always accessible. And she wasn't the only one who used this time to observe, her best friend Charlie observed people too, but for knowledge and fun facts rather than inspiration like she.
Lily observed people, but it was for safety more than anything. Merigan didn't like that. It made her easy to surprise, and even easier to tick off. Lily always expected things, and when they didn't happen a certain way she got sincerely ruffled. The Marauders took advantage of that weakness in Lily, and that's why she was having horrible luck with relationships, because the only man meant for her was the official Marauder ringleader, James Potter, and cousin of their friend Deneb.
Meri smiled slightly at the thought of her newest friends. Well, they weren't friends persay, but they certainly weren't as horrid to each other as in the past. And in all honesty, they'd been the only men she'd ever opened up to. She wasn't afraid to touch them, or joke around. And that was nice. In addition she'd always found them rather interesting. The Marauders were four regular young wizards, just living life to the fullest, without regret or direction. No plans, just fun. Secretly, Merigan wished they'd teach her how to do that one-day; for the way her life was going right now wasn't much fun at all. Deneb lived for fun, just like the Marauders, but she had a direction and it was up. Her sights were always to the stars, in a humble way of course. Heaven forbid the girl should ever take a compliment. Meri smiled weakly, Charlie was such a character. One moment smiling and bright as the sun, the other introverted and so secretive. But that was her and Merigan didn't mind Charlie's mystery as long as it wasn't anything important. And speaking of Charlie...

"Where is she!" Meri glanced over the top of her paper to see a sopping wet Sirius Black storm into the common room, Marauders in tow. A collective giggle erupted from a gaggle of younger years near the window, but the artist just groaned. Sirius wasn't wearing a shirt, and water droplets were cascading down his beautifully defined chest. Every girl every girl in Gryffindor Fifth year and under was practically drooling; but of course the other Marauders were equally as appetizing, save Peter. And from this angle Merigan was favoring Remus' lean, muscular physique...

Scolding herself, the Seventh year calmed and watched in mild amusement as the young men puffed out their chests, or in Peter's case, sucked it in. She should have known that the legendary Prank Monarchy of Hogwarts would never lesser their ego over the years, even despite the Affinity's influence. And after seven years, they had a substantial amount of influence over their housemates.

She was about to comment, but whatever was on the tip of her tongue was immediately squashed when she saw the anger and hurt ebbing it's way to Sirius' beautiful ebony eyes as he saw no sign of Deneb in the room. The Juagian frowned, Charlie was going to be the death of that man, whether she knew it or not.

Merigan rose, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear and quietly padded across the room. When she got close, she stopped a few feet to their left and warily approached. "What happened this time?" she inquired, quietly.

Peter squeaked in fright, then frowned. He obviously didn't see her approach and for that his friends were laughing. "Jesus Christ, Princess! How in the hell do you do that!"

Merigan frowned pointedly, "Language, Peter." Peter merely grumbled.

James laughed and upon seeing Meri, his smile just widened and he opened his arms, "Duchess!" Without warning, James threw his arms around the Juagian royalty and seized her off the ground, twirling her childishly. "Bloody hell, how long has it been? Seems like I haven't seen you since the bloody ice age!"

Merigan simply rolled her eyes, "Oh yes, our two hour separation has be dreadful, James, simply dreadful."

James chuckled humorously and kissed her cheek. "Glad we're on the same page, baby. Hey, you want to go upstairs and have a romping round in my bed?"

"Oh, would I ever; but alas, dear James, I'm already spoken for." Merigan sighed wistfully and placed a hand to her forehead in mock distress, sending a glance at Remus whom was lurking by the portrait.

James grinned teasingly and pulled her closer, "Has that ever stopped us before?" Meri simply laughed, but Remus let out a low growl. James dropped the blonde immediately. Sending the two boys a 'play-nice' look, Meri turned her attention back to the melancholy Mr. Black and tucked her arm under his, drawling him away from the others slightly before trying her inquiry again.

"Sirius, what happened?"

Sirius huffed, giving her a moment's glance before collecting his words, "Charlie happened." H e stated simply, and with two words Meri understood. For the past months, since school had commenced, Charlie's behavior was more than odd. And Sirius, poor boy, was getting the worst end of it. Whether it was her short temper, or random fanciful acts, Sirius worried about his bubbly brunette. And when he showed or shared his concerns, Charlie would just wave him away like a flick of dust.

Sirius' eyes scanned the room, growing more perturbed by the moment. Meri frowned; it was about time someone did something about that girl, why not him? "She's in the Library, with Lily. They're going over ideas for the new Herbology Wing fundraiser."
James', who was (of course) ease dropping, gaped, "Now?" Merigan nodded, innocently. James scowled and shoved a hand through his unruly sopping mob, "Damn it, Lily did it again!" And with that, the bespectacled Head Boy let out another stream of oaths and flew up the dormitory stairs. A few paces later, Sirius followed, and Merigan assumed it was to prepare for Charlie's first lesson in Etiquette pour Sorciere.
"She didn't show up for practice." Remus, whom was watching Meri with a gauging apprehension, answered. Meri turned from watching the stairs, and gave him her full attention. Evidently, he was going to answer her question with more detail than his moronic companions had.
Looking her square in the eyes, Remus' face flushed a flattering cerise. He cleared his throat, "Well...erm...you see Duchess-"
"You don't need to use formalities, Remus, you know my name."
He scratched his sandy blonde head nervously, "Alright then, Miss Nix- I mean...uh..." Suddenly brave, Merigan stepped towards him and uncharacteristically slid her hands up his bare, lean chest. If he was going to get flustered, by the gods, she was going to take advantage of it. The cool headed Remus turned a flattering rose tint. "I-I mean... Princess- No! Merigan, right then. Merigan, um, you see the gang and I, meaning us, well we were planning on exhorting Deneb to join the house team today."

Merigan smirked and nodded in general interest, listening with out interruption as she wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers play idly with the hairs at the base of his neck. Gosh, if she only had a quill and parchment at hand, she mused; this was a sketch that'd sell millions.

"...Exhorting being forcing- not that you wouldn't know that- but incase you didn't, which you probably did, and urm...um... When she didn't show up for balance practice you might say that, well, Sirius was a little disappointed. So disappointed in fact that when James and I mentioned something we got into a row and well...erm... got wet,." Remus looked down ashamed at his almost incoherent babbling and sincerely aroused by his kitten's behavior.
Merigan giggled internally and on a sudden impulse kissed him soundly. "Nice to see you too, Remus." She heard him exhale and felt his arms snake around her waist.
"I missed you." Was his reply. It was her turn to blush. Remus had been gone on one of his 'trips' again and had only been released from the infirmary a few hours ago, leaving absolutely no time for the pair to be alone.
Peter frowned and cleared his throat- loudly. Remus shot him a very dirty look while Merigan blushed ruthlessly, "Sorry Peter," she mumbled timidly. Peter just rolled his eyes and stalked off. Remus oathed and frowned at Peter's saggish gait. "What's wrong with him?" Merigan inquired, leaning her head on companion's chest.
Remus shrugged and leaned his chin on the top of her head, "Probably still sore about that Tabatha girl from Slytherin." The werewolf chuckled, "Or maybe he's just jealous."
Meri leaned her head up and looked at him questioningly, "Of what?"
Remus smiled devilishly, "That I get to snog the most wonderful girl in Hogwarts."
"Oh, well, to bad she isn't that good at snogging." Meri put in, allowing Remus to drag nearer to the exit.
Remus simply shrugged, "Then he's jealous I'm giving the most wonderful girl in Hogwarts snogging lessons..."

()

Admiring her work, Lily smiled to herself at the nearly perfect portrait of James Harold Potter. The head, which was five times the size of the tiny stick figure body, was completely engrossed in zits, warts, and topped with a black squiggly mop that was his hair. His two, thin, gangly arms were predictably engrossed around two ditzy stick figure ladies with big...lines, and his was smiling stupidly, like always.

The only thing missing was his glasses. Lily suddenly paused. Twirling a curl absently around her index finger, Evans observed the picture more closely. She'd never seen James without his glasses. Her mind started churning. The prospect of seeing those beautiful hazel eyes without those gold rimmed glasses was just...

"Ludicrous! Lily, if you don't put down that quill and get to real work I'm going to tell everyone exactly whose name you were mumbling in your sleep last name, kapeesh?"

It was a teasing threat, but as Lily dropped her pencil sheepishly she understood perfectly well how annoyed Deneb was getting. And especially after being hostess to two frightened seventh years that mewed and mumbled, "Mr. James and Lily Potter" during the thunderstorm the previous night. They'd been sitting there for an hour, thinking of ways to raise enough funds to replace the old Herbology Wing C (which was tragically destroyed) and incorporate inter-house relations. And so far had only rounded up a whopping number of seven ideas. All of which were completely... ludicrous.

"Well, what do you say we call it a day and try this tomorrow?" Lily suggested, eyeing her wristwatch. It was already quarter past five, and dinner was going to be beginning soon.

Deneb frowned, "You mean to tell me that I missed out on Quidditch practice just to have to do this again tomorrow?"

Lily smiled sweetly and nodded, "Yep! Fun, fun, fun!" Though honestly, Lily hated this part of the process the most. Her forte was organizing, not creating.

"A bludger in the gut is fun, Lils." Charlie mumbled, "This is worse than hari-kari."

Lily smirked and pointed to the shiny prefect's badge that clung to the sixth year's robes, "Don't complain, dear, it isn't my fault you're a prefect."

Charlie snorted and looked at the bit of jewelry with disdain, "So? What happened to the Head Boy helping? Or what about one of the other girls?"

"Oh stop whining." Lily admonished, "You like helping me, and it got you out of Potions, didn't it?"

Fondly, Charlie stopped gathering her things long enough to recall the memory, "Well, there's that if nothing else." The girls giggled scandalously. After a moment, Charlie's things were packed but her fingers still lingered over the seams of her bag strap, staring off into thoughts.

And after a long sigh, Lily finally frowned at the freckled debutante, "Well, what?"

"What what?"

Lily's brow furrowed, "Well, what was the sigh for? What are you thinking about now?"

Lily didn't miss the pale pink rose color that drifted into Charlie's cheeks, but dismissed it when she watched her friend smile carelessly, "Don't know really, just thinking. You do it all the time, and I don't hound you for it. Though I should, you think way to much."

"I think you're still brooding over Quidditch, is what I think..." Lily said, ignoring the implied insult.

The brunette rolled her eyes, "Like I said. Way to much."

"...And I think you're brooding over the certain Quidditch player that you've fancied over the years..."

"I don't brood over boys, Lily. I leave that to you." Charlie countered. Lily simply frowned. Charlie ran a hand through her hair, something that Lily recognized that James did also, "In all honesty, it's not brooding, it's just reflecting." She admitted, "And it's not the boys...well, it's not only the boys. I guess I just miss it all. You know, the practices and the drill work. I know I still play in the unofficial games, but it isn't the same. You don't get the same feeling like you would in a house game."

"Oh...what a shame." Lily forced out, in monotone. For some reason, Lily had never completely gotten over the fact that Charlie was forced off the team. By who, or why, Lily didn't know. But it just made Lily's distaste for the game increase.

The brunette sighed, "I know. And it was really nice for the Gryffindor team to invite me to help out, it seems like it would have been fun."

"It would have been," A voice snarled, "If you had shown up." Turning quickly, Charlie found herself nose to chest with her very large, lean, family member. James scowled, "Where were you?"

Deneb rolled her eyes, but put on a quick, sweet, 'forgive-me' smile none the less, "I was just helping Lily, don't get your boxer in a twist, Jamesy." Standing on her tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on his sweaty cheek. Her nose scrunched, "What happened to you? You smell as if you just rolled around in Remus' socks."

Her words were only rewarded with a glare and a short snort of amusement from Lily. James' glare suddenly shifted to the Head Girl across the table, "Evans, explain."

Lily met his glare with, as usual, the same amount of force and stuck her chin out defiantly, "Since you choose not to pull your own weight as Head Boy, I'm getting a little help from someone more qualified." She motioned to Deneb, who plastered an innocent look onto her mug. "And since she isn't on the house team, I doubt you really need her for your practices anyway."

"More qualified?" Un-expectantly, Sirius appeared on James' flank, shirtless and sopping wet. "Excuse me, Lily-Billy, but I'm pretty sure no one's more qualified than Prongsey here."

Cringing at the stupid nick name, Lily placed her hands on her hips, "Black, at this point I'd take you over Potter. At least you might think about helping me."

"And that's a feet in itself." Charlie added, laughing quietly.

Ignoring her pointedly, Sirius continued, "You're forgetting he's a hero, Tiger-Lily, as well as one of the smartest blokes in the school."

James grinned, "Yeah, what he said!"

"James..." Charlie clucked, "He just called you a bloke."

A shrug, "But a smart, heroic bloke."

Six eyes rolled. "How about, a smart, heroic, smelly, bloke who put his shirt on backwards?" Charlie offered, "With his shirtless, sopping, sidekick?"

Sirius snorted, "If you're going for alliteration, at least add sexy in there."

Charlie paused, then shook her head, "Nope, no thanks."

"So what?" Lily snipped, picking up her book bag. "He may be smart, and a 'hero', but he's the most irresponsible jerk I know." She told them flatly. "He's more worried about a Quaffle than the replacing the Herbology wing that he blew up!"

"You have no proof of that, Evans." James said sternly, as he switched his shirt around, "Well, no physical proof. And so I deny all charges against me. And you can act as if I'm here you know, because...well I am."

Lily shot him a sharp glare with her emerald eyes, and flipped her curls over her shoulder with a turn of her head, "Fine. Potter, you suck as Head Boy. Got it?"

"You haven't even given me a chance!" James snapped.

"It's been two months!" Lily protested, "No, it's been seven years. I've given you plenty of chances but the fact is James, you hate responsibility. Add the fact that you are quite horrid with organization, I couldn't trust you with this even if it were as insignificant as a Slytherin."

"But I'm creative." James countered, "And I can guarantee you that I could come up with an idea that would not only replace whatever the hell we're replacing, but I could get past the marker and have enough left over to take you out."

Lily blinked, "How do you do it?" "Do what?"

Scowling now, Lily grabbed her bag threw it over her shoulder, "How, every fucking time we talk, can you manage to ask me out, hereby changing the conversation entirely? I'm serious Potter, this is important. I don't expect you to help me, heaven forbid I should, but could you at least act serious about something? Anything?"

"I am serious, Lily, I want to help you out! And I am serious, Lily, I want to take you out! I want to start taking my responsibilities seriously, why do you think I'm down here?" James grabbed her arm before she could stalk away, "Duchess told me you were down here, going on ahead without me. How can I help if you won't give me a chance?"

Tiring of the same points being tossed, Sirius and Charlie glanced at one another briefly, gave a sharp nod, and then took their positions.

"But I've given you chances!" Lily shot out.

James growled, "But I can do this."

"I can't trust you with this James, this is important."

"Give me a chance!"

"Exactly." Sirius blurted.

"Make it a bet." Charlie nodded, slipping her arm around James' waist before he could reach out and smack his friend for the idea. "Right, Lily bets James that if he can create, organize, and fundraise enough money to replace the Herbology wing, without using his own money or Lily's help, she'll go on a date with him. Agreed?"

Grinning, James kissed the top of Charlie's brown hared head, "I knew there was a reason you were my favorite cousin. It's fine by me, you Lily?"

"And how does this benefit me? If he screws up, I get blamed. If he wins, I'm the one who has to go on a date?"

The brunette smirked, "Ever heard of something called, 'Free time?' Imagine Lily, you'd get countless hours to spend on yourself and with your friends. Free time. Say it with me now- 'Free time'."

Lily shrugged, her anger cooling at the sight of James embracing his cousin. That was one of her weaknesses towards him. He was so family protective it was almost endearing. "Fine, but when you fail, don't expect me to pick up the pieces." And with that said, she turned on her heel and walked out.

"YYEEEESS!" With a whoop of joy, James kissed Deneb's cheek and tackled Sirius with a 'manly' embrace. "This is gonna be cake!" Sirius and Charlie shared mutual looks of dread and went their separate ways.

Sooooooo.... Um... whadyathink? Please review!