"Everybody Hurts"

Rowan Arkenson

Summary: Everybody hurts – especially when you're in love with a girl who won't even look at you. But James will soon realise that he's not the only one with problems...

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the setting. JK Rowling does, and I guess she owns the general plot, but the story, lucky me, is mine. :) enjoy.

A/N: Ooh, thankee for the reviews! Thanks to:

Saquoia – I know I updated this chapter quickly, but like you said, they do take a long time to update, so don't expect the next one to be up so soon!! Thanks – you were the first to review! :D

Zetta – Yeah, James did fancy her in the fifth year, but he had no problem with that, but now he's in love with her, the feeling is so much stronger, so he's trying to deny it, pretending he was over Lily ages ok. Oh, and that "dude" thing – wasn't too sure about it, but i think they did say it in the 70s – whether they did or not, I just thought it fitted with MWPPs version of how cool they think they are!

Edolie – yeah, I really hated how James and Sirius were portrayed in OotP, and so I was going to go on strike and never write L/J again (lol) but then I thought why can't James change and grow up? Sirius still obviously has a long way to go, but they've both developed since their fifth years. Hope you like this chapter as much as you seemed to like the last one! lol.

Sarah – cheers for reviewing and saying you actually LIKE this story! lol. Hope you like this chapter!

Please review. ~rowanx

Chapter Two – Crush

James' friends managed to go through a whole week without mentioning Lily once, and James had to admit, he was quite impressed by this. By Sunday he was ready to give out gold medals for helping to keep his mind off her, even if it hadn't worked too well. She was in most of his lessons, and it was hard not to think about her all of the time when she was within eyesight all day and then again in the common room in the evenings.

                Of course, no one's perfect, and he knew it was too good to last.

                On Sunday evening, having finished their homework, the Marauders were once again playing their favourite game, doing practically the only thing they ever did – they were playing wizards' chess. Peter was now playing Remus, having beaten Sirius the week before, and James the week before that. Remus was about as good as Peter was at chess, so the games where they played each other were always the most tense. Sirius was standing over Remus muttering things to him, trying to be helpful, but knocking Remus' concentration in doing so, and every now and then he'd give Peter winks and nods and would point his finger occasionally at certain chess pieces; so no one really knew who's side he was on. James was watching Lily carefully as she sat across from him with November, also known a "Em", because Lily had complained that November was too long to say. November had obviously just said something funny, because the two girls were laughing hysterically. James smiled. Lily had a very contagious laugh. Her laughter sent ripples into his body and made him almost shiver involuntarily. It sent a pulsing trigger into his heart and made his veins pulsate fast all through his body. He was in love with her smile, he was in love with her laughter, he was in love with her eyes, he was in love with her hair...he was in love with her.

                But then something happened that he hadn't been expecting. November looked over at the Marauders and pointed at them. James quickly averted his eyes to the chess game and tried to look as though he was deeply interested. Before he knew what was happening, November was coming over.

                James and November had never been the best of friends, but they got on quite well. They had just never bothered to get to know each other well. James did think the fact that November's best friend hated his guts had a lot to do with it. She came over and pulled a cushion up. "So, who are the odds on?" she asked Sirius. Out of the corner of his eye James could see Lily slowly and reluctantly make her way over to the group. It made his heart break.

                "Well, it's quite tight," said Sirius, looking as though he was sizing Remus and Peter up with a role of measuring tape. "But I think Remus looks fit enough to win tonight. He's got good bone structure and his lips are just adorable." Remus blushed furiously as November laughed.

                Lily pulled up a cushion as well and sat the other side of November, far away from James.

He tried to concentrate hard on the game, but he couldn't seem to ignore the fact that Lily Evans was sitting just a few feet away from him, with his group of friends. "Ah, Miss Evans," Sirius said, bowing at her feet. "I'm so glad you decided to join us." He held her hand and kissed it. "It has been too long since we conversed with words."

                Lily laughed. James gulped; his throat felt dry. "What else would we converse with, Sir Black?" she asked, and Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at her, making Lily laugh even more. James looked away furiously. What the hell did Sirius think he was doing? Ok, so if he wanted to flirt with Lily, he could, James wasn't going out with her after all, but did he really have to do it in front of him?

                He turned to November, determined not to think about Lily. "Hey Em," he said.

                She smiled. "Hey James. I haven't talked to you for a while. Are you alright?"

                "I'm fine," he lied pathetically. He was sure that if she looked into his eyes harder she would most certainly see into his mind.

                November smiled. "Good," she said. She looked at Sirius and Lily who were both talking and laughing together. She laughed. "Those two seem very happy." James made a noise that sounded vaguely like "hmm". "A little bit too happy if you ask me!" November said, smiling. James nodded and stared hard at the two.

                November bit on her lip and moved closer to James. "James, you don't still...I mean...do you still...do you still fancy Lily?"

                James looked at her and hesitated. "No," he answered. Then he laughed. "She hasn't talked to me for ages, how could I still fancy her!" November smiled, seeming satisfied with the answer, and James wondered for a moment whether Lily had asked her to find out if he did or not. "Em, does she still hate me?" James asked carefully.

                November looked away from him for a moment. When she looked back, she said, "I'm not sure. I mean, she never talks about you or anything..." James gulped. She never spoke about him? Never? Like he didn't exist... "I don't think she really hates you though," said November quickly, seeing the look on James' face. "I mean, she did used to, yeah..."

                "...And for good reason," James put in, smiling wryly.

                November grinned. "Yeah, you did used to be a bit..."

                "Selfish? Arrogant? Big-headed? Perverted? Over-confident?"

                November laughed. "I was going to say annoying, but your words will do fine!" She sighed. "I think that Lily used to hate you, and assumes you haven't changed. She hasn't bothered to find out that you have changed. A lot." James tried to search for a deeper meaning in November's eyes, but at that moment Remus yelled out in triumph. James turned his head to see some scattered and bashed up pieces on the chess board. Peter was sitting with his head in his hands.

                "Yes! I won!" yelled Remus, throwing his hand into the air. He turned to James and grinned at him evilly. "Next week, you get to play me."

                James sighed. "Lucky me," he said, his words dripping with sarcasm. Everyone laughed, and he sneaked a glance at Lily, amazed to find her smiling in amusement.

James took off his clothes and pulled a t-shirt on. He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Around him Remus, Sirius and Peter were all getting ready for bed. Remus and Peter were whispering about something, and James was sure he heard his name mentioned, but didn't say anything. At that moment in time, he didn't think he really cared too much.

                He was of course going to find out though.

                "Prongs," Remus said, sounding as though he were treading on think wire above a chasm of dementors.

                "Yes?" James continued to stair at the ceiling of his four-poster.

                A moment's silence. "Has Lily talked to you again?" James didn't answer. "I mean, since you bumped into her last week," Remus continued.

                James hesitated. "Yeah, she has," he said. "She said 'Get out of my way, Potter'," he said, recalling the exact words from playing the scene over and over again in his memory. "Not exactly a revolution in our 'friendship'."

                After another minute Remus spoke again. "I was talking to Priscilla earlier," he said.

                James sighed and propped himself up onto his elbows. "What's your point?" he asked. Priscilla, November and Lily were best friends.

                Remus grinned and so did Sirius and Peter. "She told me that Lily's been talking about you quite a bit recently."

                James raised an eyebrow. After a moment he said, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

                Remus' grin faded. "No, really, that's what she said.

                James frowned. "Really? 'Cause I was talking to November and she said Lily never mentions me at all."

                Remus looked at Sirius who shrugged. "Well, one of them is lying."

                "Yeah, one guess who," James said sarcastically. "Why would Lily ever talk about me? She hates me," he added sadly.

                Peter looked thoughtful. "No, I think November's lying," he said.

                "Why?" asked Sirius.

                "I think someone has a crush on James!"

                "What?" James said. "You mean November? Of course she doesn't don't be stupid."

                Remus cocked his head to one side. "No, that's not so stupid actually. For once Wormtail has made an intelligent suggestion." Peter threw a pillow at Remus and Remus continued. "Em would lie to you about Lily if she fancied you, because she wouldn't want you to think that Lily might be getting interested in you."

                James chewed on his lip. "That makes no sense," he said.

                "And denial is a river in Egypt," Peter muttered.

                "Shut up," James said. He sat up. "Ok, look; supposing Lily mentioned me once or twice in conversation, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. She could have been saying what an arrogant worthless arsehole I am."

                "She has a point," Sirius said. Another pillow was thrown.

                Remus smiled. "That's exactly what Prissy said Lily had said about you."

                James smiled triumphantly, even though he felt like all the snow from a tall mountain had just fallen on top of him, crushing his insides. "Well there you go then."

                "Prongs, sometimes you're so stupid you make me want to cry," said Remus. James pouted. "Lily hasn't talked about you, to you or at you for a year now, right?" James nodded slowly. "And suddenly she's talking about you. Even if it's saying bad things, she's acknowledging your existence. You've made her suddenly notice you, and she doesn't know why but to cover it up she's gone back to saying you're a bastard. I think you're not the only one with denial problems, Prongs."

                A moment of awed silence passed by. "You know too much about girls, Moony," said Sirius.

                "Shut up, Padfoot; at least the extent of my knowledge goes past how many dungbombs it takes to fill the Slytherin common room."

                "Three hundred and eight six," Sirius recited, "and that's not the point. We're guys; we're not supposed to know about the female race. They're a rare species; no one knows the power of their minds."

                "Well I'm just saying that's what I think it is. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

                "You saying I'm not a genius?" Sirius said, pretending to sound hurt. "And I thought you were going to get me a "Genius" shirt for my birthday. I'm all hurt and upset now."

                While the two boys commenced in a violent pillow fight, James was still sat on his bed, thinking. What Remus had said did kind of make sense, but in a way that really didn't. Why would Lily be thinking about him? What had he done differently that had made her acknowledge him again? How had he changed?

                "Those two have serious problems," Peter muttered. Sirius was lying on top of Remus trying to stuff a pillow in his mouth while laughing painfully and Remus was tickling him under the armpits with a rogue feather. James rolled his eyes.

James flew around the Quidditch pitch, warming up. The Gryffindor team were holding try-outs for a new chaser; last year's captain and chaser Danny Trill had just left Hogwarts. James felt really nervous. He'd only just been made Quidditch Captain, and immediately he had to find a new chaser. Danny, Anne Celm, a fourth year, and himself had been the chasers together for two years now, since Anne had joined in her second year. They made a great team, and now the team was broken. James used to look up to Danny, and now he was on his own. Sirius kept telling him he was brilliant anyway, but James' confidence without Danny wasn't quite what it usually was. Danny Trill had been just as big-headed as James had been. Sometimes James thought that maybe the prospect that Danny was leaving soon had made James become a bit more sensible, a bit more mature. But he was sure there were other reasons...

                Seeing people enter the pitch James flew to the ground and landed gracefully. His whole team was there: Arthur Weasley, a fifth year, as keeper; Anne Celm, his fellow chaser; Sirius and Priscilla, the team's beaters; and Julie Parks, a fourth year, was seeker. There were eight other people surrounding them, who James assumed were all there to try out for the place of chaser. He wondered if any of them could ever possibly top Danny. Probably not. Most were third, fourth or fifth years, but one was a seventh year, one who stood out above all the others, one who had gorgeous red bouncy hair and luscious green eyes... "Lily?" James said incredulously, forgetting for a moment that they didn't talk.

                Lily smiled weakly, looking embarrassed. "I thought I might as well have a go at trying out. It's our last year here after all, what have I got to lose?"

                James nodded, feeling unable to say anything. So far, they were having the longest conversation they'd had in years, and he didn't want it to stop, but when he opened his mouth to say something, he was interrupted by a cough from Sirius. James turned and looked at him enquiringly. Sirius nodded towards the other eleven in the group who were looking at James expectantly. He cleared his throat. "Right then," he said, trying to be official, but Lily's presence there made him nervous, and his first two words had come out in a bit of a croak. He coughed. His hands had started to sweat. His brain was going fuzzy. "Um, ok, well, first of all, you all know the team, right?" The eight people trying out nodded. James coughed again. "Ok, good, that's, um, good... Oh, I know, why don't we..." But out of the corner of his eyes Lily had just shifted her balance from one leg to the other and had flung her hair over her left shoulder. And James' concentration broke. He gulped and looked to Sirius for help. Sirius grinned. "Ok, why doesn't Anne take the others up for a warm up?" James nodded weakly and Anne flew off immediately, grinning enthusiastically to everyone else. Eleven people followed at her heels, but James and Sirius stayed on the ground, watching the blurs spin around the pitch in a multitude of colours.

                "What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

                "She's here," James said weakly.

                "Yeah, I noticed that." Sirius smiled.

                "I can't do this, Padfoot," said James almost pleadingly.

                Sirius clapped a hand on his back. "Yes you can. You're James Potter, best damn chaser this school has seen for years!"

                "Lily hates show off," James said. "And I thought she hated Quidditch," he muttered.

                Sirius grinned. "Only 'cause you play. Ok, so just ignore her then." Sirius climbed onto his broom. "Pretend she's not here." Sirius flew off and James sighed. He somehow didn't think that just ignoring Lily would be that easy. If only Remus was there. Sirius was his best friend, but his advice usually got James into worse situations than he'd been in in the first place. With a feeling of uneasy anticipation, James kicked off from the ground and flew up to join the others.

                "Ok," he said, getting himself into a position so that he couldn't see Lily. "So, um, let's just try some goals first. Everyone will pass the quaffle from this end of the pitch to the other end with Anne and myself and then you'll all try it with Anne and Julie while I watch. Ok? Arthur, you can go up to the hoops. And go easy on them," James added in an undertone. Arthur winked and flew off to the other side of the pitch. "Ok, shall we do this in alphabetical order or in order of who I think sucks the least?" A few people laughed but the rest looked uneasy. James smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, you'll be great." When a few people still looked really nervous, James said, "Don't look like that! I'm not Snape!" Everyone laughed this time, and people flew over to the raised up seats to watch everyone have a go.

                First James and Anne played with Alex Carter, a fifth year. He was extremely confident. He passed the quaffle back and fourth with James and Anne before lazily scoring a perfect goal. He grinned as a few of the girls in the stands whooped loudly. James asked him to do it again and told Arthur Weasley to try his hardest at saving it. When they went across again James passed the quaffle to Alex at the last minute and he got it in passed Arthur's save. Even James had to admit the cocky bastard was good. "Great, another James Potter," Anne said with a grin as she flew past him.

                James immediately skipped Lily, pretending he'd forgotten about her, and called up Lisa Junes, a fourth year. She passed fine until at the last minute when Anne passed the quaffle to her and she dropped it. Lisa burst into tears, and James, feeling helpless, gave Anne a meaningful look. Anne rolled her eyes and muttered something about "men". She comforted Lisa and told her she was fine, flying them both to the stands. A fifth year called Helga Kim came racing up then, looking eager. Anne flew back and they passed up to the goals, Helga catching the ball neatly every time. When they reached the hoops Helga clumsily managed to sort of push the quaffle into the far right hoop.

                Another fifth year, Mildred Tormil, passed the quaffle straight into Arthur's hands without him even having to move, and Dag Troyd somehow managed to trip over his broomstick mid-flight and had to be carried away to the hospital wing by Priscilla. Molly Kingston didn't do too well either, but James thought that was largely due to the fact that she kept glancing at Arthur Weasley and when he smiled at her she dropped the quaffle. James had found it incredibly difficult not to laugh.

                Next up was Jason Wilbur. Jason was really good shooter, got the quaffle in the middle hoop fine, but didn't do too well with the passing. He almost dropped it twice and when he threw it to James, James had to fly quite a lot of feet back just to catch it. James was just about to call for a five minute break when Lily came flying up. She smiled at him. "Forget someone?" she asked, grinning.

                James gulped. He laughed feebly. "Oh, yeah, sorry...Lily," he said, liking the sound her name made on his tongue. Anne got in position and they flew up the pitch. Lily passed the quaffle with grace and caught it in a mid loop, as she was dodging a bird. She attempted to throw it into the middle hoop but missed by about a centimetre. "Ok, take a break for a few minutes while I talk to the team, ok?" James called, and everyone gathered in the stands started talking to each other excitedly. James flew down to the ground with Anne and Arthur and the team discussed who they thought was best.

                "Ok, we can't try everyone again," said James. "Who did you all like?"

                "I thought Carter was really good," said Julie.

                James wrinkled his nose. "He was a bit of a show off."

                "Not unlike you," Julie said amidst laughter, "and you're a great chaser."

                James smiled. "Ok, then, I'll admit it: Carter was quite good. But I think he'll get on my nerves."

                "What about Molly?" asked Arthur quietly. "I think she's alright."

                "Only 'cause you fancy her!" said Anne. Everyone laughed and Arthur turned bright red.

                "That hoop Wilbur scored was great," said Priscilla.

                Anne frowned. "Yeah it was, but he wasn't too good with the chaser communication, and that's too important to ignore. I think Lily Evans was really good with that."

                "Yeah, and she only missed the goal by a tiny bit," added Arthur.

                "What do you think, James?" Sirius asked pointedly, grinning at him.

                James frowned, not sure what to say. Yes, she had played well, but did he really want her in the team when he could barely concentrate around her? "Um, well, she...I guess she was quite good, but, well, wouldn't all her hair get in the way of her flying?" Everyone laughed and Sirius in particular looked thoroughly amused with James' feeble attempt at finding something wrong with Lily.

                Eventually, the team had decided on Alex Carter, Jason Wilbur, Helga Kim and Lily Evans. "The rest of you played really great," James said loudly as those whose names weren't called out walked away grumpily, Lisa Junes again in fits of tears. James sighed despairingly and turned to the rest who were still there. "Now the rest of you, I want you all to play chaser with Anne and Julie, but this time, we're going to add in Priscilla who will be aiming at you with tennis balls." James grinned at the looks on everyone's faces. "Hey, when I tried out they actually used bludgers and I ended up in the hospital wing for about a week."

                "And they still let you in?" Wilbur asked with a hint of awe.

                James held out his hands. "I am the best," he said cockily. Everyone laughed, even, amazingly, Lily. Sirius raised his eyebrows at James who shrugged back in wonderment. Starting with Alex Carter, the four raced up the pitch while James and Sirius stayed mid-air at the side, watching. Everyone was quite good apart from Helga who almost fell off her broom when she was hit softly with a tennis ball. Only Alex Carter got the hoop in, but only just. He'd been so over-confident it had nearly hit Arthur hard in the head, and he'd had to duck just to avoid concussion.

                "I'm going to talk to everyone and then we'll tell you our decision," James said. Jason started comforting Helga who kept going on about how wimpy she must have looked and Alex amusedly tried to start chatting up Lily who raised some amused eyebrows at James. James grinned back and flew to the ground, suddenly loving the fact that Lily was there.

                "Ok," said Sirius, "So it's obviously either going to be Evans or Carter, are we agreed?" Everyone nodded. "Should we vote or discuss?"

                "You mean vote democratically or argue until you get your own way?" Julie said.

                "Pretty much," Sirius grinned.

                "Let's vote on it," suggested James. Julie, Anne and Sirius voted for Lily and Arthur and Priscilla voted for Alex.

                Everyone looked at James. He knew that it was up to him. If he voted Lily, she was in; if he voted Alex, it was a tie. Sirius came up to him and whispered in his ear, "Forget all else. Was she better than Carter or not?"

                James didn't look at anyone for a moment and then slowly raised his head. "I vote for Lily."

That evening in the common room everyone was celebrating Lily getting in the Quidditch team. Helga and Lisa had said they felt ill and were going to bed early, and Alex had muttered something about "Not staying in the same room with people who vote for grace rather than talent," and had also stalked off. The rest who had tried out stayed and partied though, feeling spirited that at least Gryffindor had a great team.

Spending practically the entire evening watching Lily from afar, James suddenly felt the happiest he had done in weeks. Lily looked ecstatic, and was talking to November and Priscilla, every now and then getting into hysterics with whatever joke they'd made. One thing that made James feel a bit annoyed at though was the fact that guys kept going up to Lily and congratulating her with a kiss on the cheek. James wished he could kiss her... Even Sirius went up at one point, and kissed her on the cheek longer than James thought was healthy for her skin. Remus sidled up to James just as Sirius was moving away from Lily to attack Peter with a dungbomb.

                "You know Prongs, if you keep staring at her like that your eyes will probably stick that way," Remus muttered with a smile.

                "I don't care," James said. "She's so beautiful, I could look at her for ever..."

                Remus suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Um, Prongs, can I ask you something?"

                "Sure." James tore his eyes away from Lily, took a sip from his drink (a butterbeer, one amongst the many Sirius and Remus had smuggled back from the secret passageway they had found that lead straight to Hogsmeade, along with a few dungbombs for their own personal amusement) and looked at Remus squarely in the eyes. "What is it?"

                "Well, you didn't...I mean... You're captain of the Quidditch team, right? You didn't...pick Lily because...you know...because you like her, did you?"

                James frowned. "Of course not! She was picked because four out of six people voted for her. Yes including me, but she was damn good, Remus! I didn't even want her in the team – I can barely concentrate on anything else when she's near me."

                Remus grinned. "Yeah, I can believe that," he said sincerely. "James, listen, just make sure she doesn't get in the way of your flying. I may not be much of a Quidditch fan but I really couldn't stand it if Slytherin won this year," he said, grinding his teeth together angrily.

                James was about to reply when out of the corner of his eye he could see Lily walking up to him. Remus had apparently noticed this too, muttered and quick good bye to James and had ran off before James could protest. "Hey James," Lily said, using his last name for the first time in what must have been years.

                Quickly getting over this shock, James said, "Hey. Look, congratulations."

                Lily smiled. "Thanks to you."

                "I wasn't the only one who voted for you," James said, grinning. "You played really well." What was happening? He was actually having a normal conversation with her! He wasn't rambling on about pointless things and she wasn't calling him an arrogant prick! "So..." said James, suddenly lost for words. After a moment, he felt he had to ask her, he couldn't just ignore the strange feeling down in the pit of his stomach that he was bound to have every time he talked to her, assuming there was going to be another time in which they talked.  "Lily, why..." But before he could get it out November had come rushing over, squealing like mad after Sirius had put a tickling spell (Rictusempra) on her. Remus, Peter and Sirius were laughing their heads off, and Priscilla was looking as though she was trying to be thoroughly annoyed, but was smirking all the same, and eventually burst out laughing with the boys. James couldn't help it. He grinned.

                "It's not funny, Potter!" November managed to get out. This just made James laugh even more, and he fell against Remus, the two of them struggling to breathe. Why he found it so hysterical he didn't know. The next thing he knew November had cast Tarantallegra on him, and his legs began running around wildly beneath him. Everyone was in fits of laughter, and when he fell over, he flung his wand out in any direction, in hope to get November with his spell, but when Remus had found the counter curse for Remus and James stood up, he saw he'd hit Lily with it instead. Everyone stared at her as moss began growing out of her fiery hair. James had no idea what spell he'd just cast but was suddenly feeling extremely worried. After an awkward silence, Lily burst out laughing and everyone followed suit, James laughing last. Man he loved that girl. He loved her with all his heart.

The next day James awoke with a smile on his face. Lily was in his head, as she usually was when he woke up, but this time she was smiling at him, and he grinned stupidly back. Throwing his covers off he yawned loudly and stood up, determined that everyone else should be up. Going over to their beds, he dragged each out in turn, Peter last. When he'd got Peter up, they stood together and watched Sirius and Remus lying on the floor. They'd fallen asleep again.

                Twenty minutes later when James and Peter had finally convinced Sirius that it was indeed daytime and he had to get up, and Remus that he wasn't in never-never land and did have to grow up one day, the four boys walked down to the common room, finding Priscilla, November and Lily sitting in the armchairs, chatting. "Hey girls," said Peter.

                "Morning," said Priscilla. "Hey, Sirius, what's up? You look like hell."

                "Thanks," said Sirius trying to sound insulted, but the yawn that escaped his mouth just made everyone laugh.

                James looked at Lily and caught her staring. She looked away quickly and he felt himself grinning madly. "You coming down to breakfast?" he asked her.

                She looked back at him and nodded with a noise that sounded vaguely like "mm-hmm". Sirius tried to nudge James with his elbow in a hinting way, but James just pushed Sirius back and he fell on the floor. Everyone was in hysterics for about thirty minutes until they'd realised they had missed breakfast.

"It's all your fault, Prongs," mumbled Peter an hour later.

                "What's my fault?" asked James, not looking up from his text book.

                "You made me miss breakfast," Peter said, comforting his hungry tummy.

                James sighed. "It wasn't my fault you were laughing at Sirius."

                "You pushed him over though," mumbled Remus.

                James laughed. He was too happy to care about missing breakfast. Even though he'd tried to hide this (though not with much effort) the Marauders soon noticed he wasn't complaining about being hungry and got suspicious. "You're usually the one who's moaning most," Sirius said. "Why aren't you hungry? Why? Huh? Why?" Sirius sounded hysterical. "I mean, what if this isn't our Jamsie? What if they've replaced him with a puppy dog in love guy who always does his homework on time and doesn't care if he misses breakfast?" Sirius stood up. "Where's Jamie?!" he asked, slamming his hands down on the table.

                James gave Sirius an evil look. "Never call me Jamie," he said, shooting daggers at his best friend, who recoiled slowly and hid behind Remus. James laughed. "I'm just not hungry, that's all!"

                Professor Flitwick coughed lightly and the Marauders looked up. Noise from the class hushed down. "Class, now that you have read up some research on the curse, I want you to practice Lapidius with a partner, taking it in turns to turn each other into a stone."

                "Professor?" One hand had shot up in the air. "Isn't this more transfiguration than charms?" November asked. "We were learning about how to turn things into fire in that lesson the other day."

                "No, to be transfiguration the spell would have to be real," Flitwick explained in his squeaky voice. "This is just a cover-over that lasts as long as the person casting the spell is strong enough to keep it on for. Now, you may partner yourselves up. Oh, and remember the counter-curse: Lapidomus."

                James turned to Sirius. "So, can I turn you into an ugly creature of the earth first or would you like to take that shot?" he asked, grinning.

                "Sorry mate," said Sirius. "I'm going with Moony for this one. I don't think I trust you to return all my more-important body parts to the surface." Sirius went over to sit by Remus. James looked around instead for Peter who he found sitting across the room with a Ravenclaw called Callum.

                "James?" He looked up to see Lily standing by him. She smiled. "My so-called best friends seem to have partnered up without me," she said, sounding hurt. James laughed. "Can I go with you?" James stopped laughing.

                "You...you actually want to go with me?" he asked astounded.

                She blushed. "Well, I kind of have to, we're the only ones left without a partner.

                James looked away. "Oh, yeah, of course..."

                "Oh, not that I don't of course, I mean, I would like to go with you, well, I wouldn't have unless...but, don't take it the..." James laughed at her nervousness.

                "Sit," he said kindly, motioning his hand at the free chair next to him.

                Smiling even more she sat down, putting her bag under the table as her hair swished over her back, baring her shoulders. James looked away. "So," he mumbled, forgetting what it felt like to be able to breathe. "What are we doing again?"

                Lily laughed. They'd spent a week or so preparing for this curse. "You go first," she offered.

                James took his wand out and pointed it at her, anxiety washing over him. "Lapidius," he said clearly, moving his wand in the correct swish. There was no pop like he'd expected. Immediately there was a stone the length of his forearm sitting where Lily's chair had been. He looked around the classroom. No one else had managed the spell yet. "Um...Lily?" he asked after a moment, wondering if she could hear him. Well, whether she could or not she certainly couldn't say anything back. He grinned for a moment, enjoying this momentary control.

                "Oh well done Mr Potter!" said Flitwick hobbling over. "Congratulations! You're the first one I've ever seen be able to do this on a first try! And your concentration must be excellent, you seem to be keeping Miss Evans in that form well!" He moved away.

                James grinned. After a few more moments when Lily hadn't turned back, he said, "Lapidomus."

                Suddenly Lily was sitting back in her chair. "I did hear you, you know," she said, sulky at not being able to talk through the stone-cover.

                "Oh, did you?" James gasped.

                Lily frowned. "Why?"

                "Oh shit, so you heard? You heard me admit to it...," he said in a whisper, so that Lily had to come close to him. "You heard me say that I'm..." he looked around. "A vampire!" he shouted, jumping forward. Lily screamed. James burst out laughing and so did a few people sitting around.

                Lily tried to look cross but after a while started laughing as well. When she'd calmed down, James heard her stomach grumble. "Hungry?" he asked with a grin.

                "Just a bit!" Lily laughed as her stomach growled again. "I hate missing breakfast."

                James had an idea. He looked around. Flitwick was at the other side of the classroom. "Come with me," James whispered, standing up.

                Lily half stood. "Where?" she asked curiously.

                "Just come with me," he said, and held out his hand. Electricity shot through his arm as she held her palm in his. He waited a moment to fully enjoy the feeling before crouching low and running out of the classroom, dragging her along with him. He shut the door behind him and they ran along the corridors laughing loudly.

                "Where are we going?" Lily said, giggling.

                "You'll see," he said. When they finally got there, he stopped and held her in front of him. They were still holding hands, and neither seemed to be complaining.

                Lily raised an eyebrow. "Uh...what is this?" she asked, suddenly sounding doubtful.

                "Just trust me," James said smiling. He walked up to a painting on the wall.

                "Uh, James? That's a painting. Of fruit."

                James hushed her impatiently and held his hand out. He tickled the pear on the painting and stood back. The painting swung open and he grinned at Lily's awed expression. Grabbing her hand he pulled her through the portrait hole and into the kitchen. He saw her raised eyebrow and laughed. "Fourth year, really really hungry, tried everything in the school, knew there had to be a kitchen, it was all thanks to Remus," he said, answering all her questions without Lily even having to open her mouth.

                "Wow," said Lily, sounding impressed. Several elves rushed up to the two immediately. "House elves?" she said.

                "We are here to serve you," one said joyfully, holding out a plate of ice cream.

                "Please, take Munchy's," said one house elf, who was apparently called Munchy. The little creature (neither James nor Lily could tell whether they were male or female) held out a bowl of spaghetti hoops on toast and Lily took it, smiling. "Thank you, Munchy," she said with glee.

                James helped himself to some ice cream and the two sat down on some nearby stools as eventually the house elves stopped offering them food and disappeared into a little door off the side of the kitchen.

                "Must be sleep time," James said with a yawn.

                Lily laughed. "Didn't get much sleep last night?" she asked.

                "Oh no, I got loads," James said, swallowing down huge lumps of ice cream and talking with his mouth open.

                "Eurgh, James, that's gross," complained Lily, looking disgusted.

                James took a huge gulp then grinned. "I know he said."

                "You're such a pig," Lily said, slurping down her spaghetti hoops gracefully.

                James laughed. "You're not much of a lady yourself."

                Lily grinned. "Are you saying you're a lady?" James opened his mouth, then such it again huffily. "No, no, I agree with you; you do tend to have lady like qualities."

                "Take that back," James said dangerously. Lily shook her head, a smile appearing on her straight mouth. "Take it back. Take it back – " James flicked his spoon at her and a speck of ice cream went flying onto her robes. She gasped, took a handful of spaghetti hoops and flung them at James. Within minutes the two were in the midst of an extremely violent food fight. James ducked behind a table as tomato ketchup almost landed on his glasses and crouching low he crawled around the table. Lily was looking around the other side of the table, wondering where he'd gone, when James came up and tackled her onto the ground from behind. After a few moments of scrawling, James lay still on the floor, Lily on top of him. The two were breathing heavily, each unable to move from what was either exhaustion or simply not wanting to. James felt his nerves going haywire as he gazed into Lily's sea green eyes, her red hair cascading all around him. "You, you've got ice cream, right..." Lily moved a finger to his lips. "Right, there..."

                James caught her finger before she touched him and pushed it back gently. Grabbing her whole hand he pulled her body even closer towards him. She gave out a small moan involuntarily, feeling the pressure of his body on hers. James couldn't talk; he seemed to have lost the ability. Lily and James looked at each other breathlessly, Lily with nervousness and a hint of fear in her eyes that James supposed might be reflected in his own. Slowly, James closed his eyes, and moved his lips closer to Lily's, feeling her do the same...

a/n: ooh, cliffhangers – gotta hate them, haven't you?! lol. iv written like, four pages to the next chapter, so review review review and hopefully it'll be up soon. I finished this chapter like, half a week ago, but fanfiction wouldn't let me put it up o_O how crap. Anyway, REVIEW! ~rowanx