Disclaimer: Are you daft? I already told you I-DON'T-OWN-THIS.

Author's Note: Lily did that to James because she was scared and confused. She was acting weird over Christmas break by being with James, but now that term is back in session, there's people there and they've got expectations she's got to live up to. Those expectations don't include snogging James Potter in the common room. She's totally lost right now and has to sort out her feelings for James. Sorry it's been forever since the update. Working on 5 or 6 stories here, 2 stories on FictionAlley, and several stories at the AOL Harry Potter Fan Fiction board. Also, warning you, I have no idea where this chapter came from. It's really random.

Replies:

Ron-lover-for-life—Thanks. Sorry it's been so long since an update. I've got almost a dozen stories in the works right now.

Eunice—Thanks. Yeah, not that great a plot to this (originally there was no plot and it was supposed to end after the first chapter). Yeah, Lily was funky in this but I think she becomes more Lily in the next few chapters.

Flying fuzzy logic—The suspense was Lily just completely trashing James in the last chapter. Big unexpected plot twist. Yeah, I know, not great. I don't like this story even. I like my other ones better.

Harryandginnyforever—Thanks. I've got to go back and fix that paragraph mistake.

Clyana—Thanks. Yeah, Lily didn't have much time to think.

Mad_bout_u—Thanks. I'm not so sure she wasn't serious…

Allie—Thanks

Chica Chifalda—Thanks. Yeah, sorry I did that to James. I hope my Author's Note at the top explained why Lily did that. Hehe, yeah, Remus was kind of mean. Normally I'd make Sirius mean, but Sirius already knew the truth.

Rider-of-Rohan23—Thanks. Haven't read it yet. Been super busy and about to get busier.

Susan D—Thanks

Briana Marie—Thanks. Yeah, I'm still working on figuring out why Lily was all kissy. I think she likes James, but has to sort her feelings out about him. I bet I'll love your story, from all you're reviews I notice you pick details and are really good and figuring things out.

Feline-go-meow—Thanks. Yes, yes, everyone feel sorry for James. Haha, I love to torture him. It's just so much fun. I'm not sure whether the torture I'm devising for him in "Switched" or his public humiliation last chapter is worse.

Moonlight on the Water—Thanks. James torture is fun.

The Marauders3—hehe. I know, I torture him a lot, but it's fun!

J.E.A.R.K.Potter—Thanks

Squidluvr4eva—Yeah, I was going for more realistic. I've kinda had the plan for her to do that to him in for a while. Maybe she hates him and was just setting him up for this fall? Or maybe I'm lying. Hehe, sorry, going all freaky mad scientist-y here. Yes, James needs a hug. Maybe I'll put one in the next chapter.

Unstable Element—Thanks

Swishy Willow Wand—Thanks. Yep, I'm evil, but it's fun.

Frankie Beeblebrox—Thanks. Yeah, had this wonderful little display of public humiliation planned for James since the first kiss. Now be prepared for…dun, dun, dun! The confusion of Lily. Sorry, really hyper.

DOJ—Yes. I know, they're rarely that sweet. My BF is usually that sweet though. And I'm usually almost as mean as Lily.

Lil Bazza—I think it'll get better eventually.

FlamezFlyer—Thanks. I got the part about not being able to leave from a 1-shot I read (can't remember what it is) about Snape and Hermione (I hate that ship!) under the mistletoe and it was charmed so they couldn't leave 'til they kissed. Anyway, I made up the singing part, but that's kind of how like everybody shouts whenever somebody is under the mistletoe so that everybody sees them.

PeRkieGuRL—Thanks. Lily is so cruel, isn't she? Sorry, it's fun to write. Anyway, I think this chapter should be a little enlightening for all the characters.

Rowan the Green Eyed Cat—Hehe. Yeah, "Poor Lily" not "More Lily".

Siriusforeva—Thanks. Yes, poor James. It probably would be kinder if I just let her cut his throat now, wouldn't it? Save him future heartache?

Wow! 25 reviews!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 6: Trial

            "Lily, what was all that about this evening?"

            "I don't know. I don't know," she moaned. She pondered her dilemma. Things were not good. Things were definitely not good.

            "Lily Evans, I have my sources. Were you, or were you not, on more than one occasion this Christmas break caught snogging James Potter?"

            "I—"

            "How do you plead?" Angry eyes flashed at her.

            "Guilty." She looked at the court assembled around her. Alice, Remus, Peter, James, and Sirius were around. Everyone except James was in his or her pajamas.

            Lily wasn't exactly sure how she'd ended up down here. All she knew was that Alice had shaken her awake and made her come downstairs to the common room where she was now. Why did she have the funny feeling she was on trial here? She looked around. Yes. Certainly a trial. There was Judge Remus sitting in the squashiest armchair with the fire behind him to make him look particularly threatening. Sirius was James's witness and apparently his lawyer. Alice was Lily's lawyer. Lily was apparently the defendant. Peter appeared to be both the jury and the security guard.

            "Do I get to ask what crime I'm on trial for?" Lily whispered to Alice.

            "Other than snogging James Potter all Christmas break?" whispered Alice.

            "I thought you were on my side," Lily said.

            "The Defendant would like to know what charges are being held against her," Alice said to Remus.

            "The charges, pressed by Mister Potter are being deceptive, misleading him, misconduct, and public humiliation," Remus said, consulting a parchment Sirius handed him. "Do you deny these charges?"

            "Well…" Lily started.

            "Do you deny these charges?" he repeated.

            Lily clamped her mouth shut. She couldn't deny them per say, but she hadn't meant to hurt him. "I didn't mean to," she said in a very small voice.

            "The Prosecution would like to call a witness," Sirius said.

            "Who would they like to call?" asked Remus.

            "Me," Sirius said.

            "The Prosecution calls Sirius Eugene Black to the stand," James said.

            "What'd you say my middle name for?" Sirius hissed at James.

            James shrugged.

            "Who'll be doing the questioning?" asked Remus.

            "I'll be questioning myself. Sirius, what have you witnessed between Miss Evans and Mister Potter? In the past 7 years, I've witnessed many arguments. In the past week, I've witnessed them kiss many times, sometimes for an extended number of minutes."

            "I think I should ask the questions," Remus said.

            "Do I get to ask anything?"

            "No, Pete. I'm the Judge. Remember?"

            "Oh. Right."

            "So, who kissed who first?"

            "I wasn't there at the time, but I'm given to understand that Miss Evans kissed Mister Potter."

            "Objection!" shouted Alice, standing.

            "You can't object!" Sirius said sourly.

            "Why not?" huffed Alice.

            "Because he's telling the truth," whispered Lily.

            "Er, objection over-ruled. That's enough from you, Mr. Black. Would the Defense care to call a witness?"

            "Yes. The Defense calls Miss Lily Evans," Alice said.

            Lily got up and stood where Sirius had been standing next to Remus's chair. She saw Sirius sitting in his seat, looking a little miffed about being told to sit down. Peter looked mildly interested in what was going on. Alice had a grim set to her face. Remus was trying to look neutral, but Lily saw a look pass between him and Sirius that clearly said "now we'll see what this is all about". Lily didn't look at James. She couldn't. She'd publicly humiliated him tonight. Yes she'd been deceptive, and she'd misled him. She hadn't meant to. She'd acted without thinking things through first. She wasn't so sure about the misconduct charge though. She stole a glance at James.

            James sat there, dejected. His whole body seemed limp, as though he had no energy left to care. He looked up and met Lily's eyes for a brief instant. Blue meeting green.

            Lily held her breath for that instant. She didn't say anything.

            James didn't look away.

            Lily couldn't keep looking at him. Her guilt was just too overwhelming. Almost as overwhelming as her confusion. She didn't know why she'd kissed James on Christmas Eve. Really, she wasn't sure. She'd had a growing suspicion all year (and since the end of 6th year actually) that she was beginning to fancy him. But at that point it was just a suspicion. She still loathed him with every fiber of her being. The only problem was, he was smart. He had good brains. He didn't apply them in the right places, but they were there all the same. He was kind too, when he wanted to be. She'd seen him break up a fight between two of the second year boys, patch them both up, and give them candy. There was one first year girl, not even a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, who was a lot smaller than the others and she got teased frequently. James always put a stop to it. After about two or three weeks he put the word out that anyone who teased, made fun of, or otherwise harassed Sarah would have to answer to him and when James Potter was done with him or her they would be in a lot of pain and not even recognizable to their own mother. Lily was fairly sure at least once James had offered to help Severus with his Transfiguration homework. Of course, he'd called him Snivellus at first out of old habit, but the offer sounded sincere enough. Then again, they still fought. Hadn't it just been last month that they got into that huge argument about her wardrobe choices and he'd said something that amounted to him being a complete git? She couldn't remember exactly what, but she'd been furious and stepped on his stomach. Well, they always said there was a thin line between love and hate. Apparently, it was a very thin line indeed.

            James continued to stare at her. She could feel his eyes on her while she looked at anyone but him.

            Alice said, "Lily, have you or have you not been carrying on a relationship with James Potter over the past week and half?"

            "Define relationship."

            "Lily," Remus said in a threatening voice.

            "J—Potter and I have been spending time together."

            "What did you do while you 'spent time together'?"

            "We did some walking. We ate. We laughed. There was some kissing involved."

            Remus raised an eyebrow. James hadn't been lying. Lily would have mentioned talking if there'd been much of it.

            "What prompted these actions?" asked Alice.

            Lily didn't know how to answer. What was she supposed to say? That the castle was lonely? That for the first time she was sick of being on the outside, alone with her books? That she changed her mind and didn't hate James Potter anymore? That she found him tolerable? That she found his bigheadedness much diminished? That she thought he was funny? That she thought he was cute? Gorgeous? Was there even a word to describe him? She wouldn't say it. She couldn't. She'd be the laughing stock of the school! After all the time she spent denouncing James and saying what an arrogant prick he was, there'd be no living at the school if she admitted to liking him. Head Boy or not, he was first and foremost a troublemaker. Not only was he a troublemaker, he was the troublemaker. As Head Girl she had certain duties and obligations to fulfill. Those duties did not include snogging James Potter senseless. There were rules and regulations to uphold. A certain status quo that had to be maintained. She realized that quite some time had passed since Alice asked her question. Apparently she didn't need to say anything. The look on her face had said plenty.

            She was guilty of all charges. She hadn't meant to hurt him. That was the last thing she wanted to do. It was just too late. She'd hurt him and she'd hurt him bad. There was no going back. She took one more glance at him and looked away.

            James saw the look on her face. She was in pain. Nearly as much as he was. But now, it was as though her head was clear and he could see all the gears in her brain working. He was fairly sure he knew what was going on in her brain.

            Remus exchanged glances with Alice, Sirius, and Peter. What was going on? He was beginning to understand though. Of course Lily had snubbed him tonight. She was the Head Girl. She wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her reputation. He understood. He started being a little more behind the scenes when it came to pranks. He was a Prefect and things were expected of you when you got put in that sort of position.

            Alice realized with a pang why Lily didn't really kiss James under mistletoe. She hadn't been planning on telling her about her and James. For whatever reason, she'd been planning on keeping it secret. Lily was always one to have secrets. She wasn't a very sharing person when it came to that sort of thing. She'd only really even started opening up to Alice in fourth year. Lily had always been so alone. Was she ashamed that she wanted somebody to be with?

            Peter chewed his lip, wondering how much longer this would be. James should either admit he was lying about Lily and him or Lily should admit that she was going out with James. It was as simple as that. He cursed Sirius's stupid idea of coming down here in the first place. Maybe he should have made friends with Frank Longbottom. Frank was never down in the common room at all hours of the night questioning people like this.

            Sirius studied Lily's face. Lily was caught between a dragon and something vicious, that's for sure. He'd seen this coming. He'd even mentioned it to James last night. He'd asked, "What's going to happened when term starts? Is everything going to be the same?" James had thought things would be fine. Sirius knew otherwise. Lily's actions tonight confirmed it. Sirius really didn't want to see his friend get hurt. James was like a brother to him and he'd been mooning over Lily for as long as he could remember. He stole a glance at James and saw a grimness there that hadn't been there a moment ago.

            James took a deep breath and stood up. He walked slowly and deliberately over to Lily. "Lily Evans, I'm going to give this one last try. If you tell me honestly that you don't feel anything, I'll never bother you again. I'll even resign as Head Boy and let Dumbledore give the job to Frank or Remus or whomever he wants. Just, give me one more chance." During his speech, he'd taken hold of her upper arms. She didn't even have time to react. She didn't know what she was going to say, but she opened her mouth to say something, anything, and couldn't. James Potter had leaned his head down to hers and was kissing her most insistently. For a full minute he kissed her while their closest friends stood around them and each silently tried to guess Lily's reaction.

            Lily was caught up in the kiss and paid no mind to the four people standing in the room with them. She was disappointed when he abruptly broke off the kiss after a minute. He look down into her eyes, but with his hands firmly on her arms he kept her from running away or leaning in to kiss him again. She had to answer.

            "Well?" he asked nervously.

            "I…" But she didn't know what to say. She had so much spinning around her head and so many conflicting feelings. She'd managed to ignore those feelings over the winter holidays, but the holidays were over now and she had to go back to reality. Maybe find a new reality. Would James Potter be part of it? At all the confusion, her knees gave way and she fell to the floor.

            James caught her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I almost didn't add those last three words, but I decided that would be too much of a cliffie because then you wouldn't know if she hit her head or something.

Sorry this was weird. Yeah, I know I made it kinda sound like a U.S. court TV show but I was stuck and this whole chapter grew out the idea that Alice was asking Lily questions and Lily felt like she was on trial. Forgive me and review!