Disclaimer: I still don't own this.

Author's Note: I'm so so so sorry! It turns out this chapter has been done for a couple of weeks, but I forgot about it. I'm so sorry!

Replies:

Glaz—I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update!

Iavala—Thanks. I don't think the books ever say what color eyes he has. I've heard people say blue, hazel, or brown.

Amy Lampion—Thanks so much! You're so sweet. I really tried to keep them as in character as I could. :-)

Icriedwhensiriusdied—Thanks!

Holly-evans—Sorry. You'll just have to wait and see. Like she said, she is guilty…

From the silent planet—Thanks! Yeah, I kinda balanced out this story and Switched by mostly being cruel to Lily in the story and torturing James in the other one.

Briana Marie—I'd planned to make this all James' POV but I couldn't make it stick, so I think it's about half him. Yeah, Remus comes a little bit more to his senses here.

DOJ—Thanks, I'm having a lot of fun with Frank and Alice in this. It makes it easier than just adding a bunch of OCs as her friends. Hehe. I kind of see James as the melodramatic sort personally, but that may just be me.

Madame-knight—Thanks for letting me know. I searched that penname and I think she's gone. Either that or she changed her name. Yeah, I definitely agree that if she's going to write such a horrible review she could have at least spelled things right. I'm glad you like my story.

Faerie Lover—Thanks! Sorry this has taken so long to update.

ZayneLily—Thanks so much!

Gwendolyn James—Thanks! I hope you like how James's POV turned out.

Prongs is mine—Thanks. Sorry it's taken so long to update.

Professor D. S. Silvers—The fashion choices were just in the first chapter. Though they might come back. I guess maybe the fic needs a new name since it's not just one chapter anymore. Thanks!

Siriusforeva—Yes, she's guilty, whether her jury of peers feels the same way or not is yet to be determined. I hope you like how this chapter turned out.

Ron-lover-for-life—Thanks!

ashley48506—Thanks. Frank has been a lot of fun to write. Maybe I'll do a story with him and Alice and baby Neville.

Queen of Zan—hehe. Thanks. Muffins…stuff muffin Sirius! My brain works in odd ways.

PeRkieGuRL—Yeah, I'm feeling kind of bad for James now. Thanks.

Frankie Beeblebrox—As you know, vacay was marvy Exactly! That's Lily's problem. She's not really thinking about what she wants. Maybe one of them will die? :::imagines James and Sirius battling to the death::: It's an amusing thought actually…

Hi Im Crazy—Sorry it's taken so long again. Yeah, the title has lost all meaning, hasn't it? Don't we all wish school was that fun?

Loraliant Angelisa Snape—Thanks. It never rains out here. Sunny southern California, we only get rain in January and February pretty much. You'll just have to wait and see how things go with Lily. :-) Freshman, huh? That puts you at the bottom of the stack doesn't it? How's high school treating you so far?

Soccerchic1989—Thanks. I'm glad you stuck with it and kept reading, personally this isn't one of my favorite stories that I've written. Sorry it's been so long since I've updated.

Aquariusbaby205—Thanks. I try to be kind of original. Glad you like it.

Artemis Moonsong—Thanks.

Lil Bazza—Thanks!

Chapter 11: James

James was feeling fairly depressed. He watched the ground speed passed and took no notice when the raindrops started hitting him. With any luck, the other Marauders would think he was hiding somewhere in the castle; he had taken the invisibility cloak and map. The map was rolled up at his belt. The cloak hung uselessly across his broom. It was absolutely no good for flying in; between movement and the wind, it just did no good.

How dare Sirius do that to Lily? Sirius knew how James felt. They had a list of people who were not allowed to be targets. Lily's name was on the top of the list, right above Sirius's cousin Andromeda (who had graduated two years earlier). Sirius and his dumb ideas! The stupid trial was Sirius's idea. James didn't even see the point in it. He knew what Lily did. She used him over Christmas, and then dumped him. There was no question about that. The real toughies were whether or not Lily was sorry about it, why she did it, and whether or not she meant to hurt him. He didn't have the answers to these. But as far as he could tell, she didn't seem very sorry.

"James! Prongs! Prongs!"

James gritted his teeth. He should have cast a disillusionment charm, but he hadn't been sure if he could pull it off. Charms weren't his specialty. Too late now. Maybe he could out-fly Sirius. Or slow him down…

"Impediemente!"

As James was slowed and pretty much frozen in mid-air, he remembered too late that he'd left his wand on his bed. Remembered cloak, map, and broom, but forgot his wand.

Sirius caught up with him and turned his broom to face him. "What was that about? You just storm out and fly off? Are you a bloody lunatic? Didn't you see the clouds? The storm that coming?" With that, almost as if on cue, the first flash of lightning and peal of thunder came. "Why aren't you answering?" snapped Sirius.

In a slow voice (because of the Impediment Charm), "Idiot."

Sirius grabbed hold of James's broom and took the spell off him. "Answer my questions."

"I can't believe you did that to Lily. We had a deal. Untouchable. No pranks, no mass revenge," James said in a flat voice.

"I'm sorry, but am I supposed to just let her walk all over you?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I would have handled it myself," James said stubbornly.

"Oh, you mean just like you've been handling it? Oh, yeah, great job, Potter. You handled it by walking through school like you were in a trance, not eating, not paying attention to anybody or anything, and not having fun! Great way to handle it! Way to go, Potter! You are not the James Potter I know."

"You threatened Lily."

"Oh, for Mer—"

"You know how I feel about her."

"Jame—"

"And you still threatened her."

"But, James! She's not good for you!"

"What do you mean she's not good enough?" he asked fiercely. "I love her."

"I didn't say she wasn't good enough for you. I said she wasn't good for you. You haven't been acting like yourself. You've been out of sorts ever since—"

"Ever since she kissed me over the Christmas holidays, I know!"

"Then why, James?"

"Because I love her. She makes me happy. I can't stop thinking about her."

"And she couldn't care less! Don't you understand?"

"Leave me alone, Black," James said in a low voice.

"I'm your friend, James. Through thick and thin, 'til the bitter end, but I'm not leaving you to face trouble alone. Real friends don't do that. Why can't you see what this girl is doing to you? She's destroying you from the inside out."

"I can't change how I feel. I love her. The time we spent over the Christmas holidays is the happiest I've felt in a long time, Sirius. The happiest I've felt since I you and I became friends. You know what? I'd go through these last couple of days a hundred times if I could just have my Christmas Lily back for a minute."

"Lily knows what she did to you, James! She knows how hurt you are! What has she done to help you? Nothing!"

"I can't help what I feel anymore than she can help what she feels. She feels like Christmas was a big mistake, and she wishes it never happened. She can't help that. She can't help that anymore than I can help still caring about her anyway. No matter how terrible she's acting," James said softly.

"Can't you try? I want my best friend back."

James looked at him sorrowfully.

Lily couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't just sit by the window all night. James and Sirius had been out there for ages. She couldn't tell what was going on, only that they were both in the sky. She decided resolutely to do something she'd never done before.

She'd have to apologize to James Potter. That was a given. But not now of course. There was no way she was leaving the nice, safe, ground to go speeding through the air on a twig to go talk to him. Instead, she opted for something else she'd never done.

She crept out of bed and left quickly, without even bothering to find her slippers. If she waited, she'd lose her nerve. She crept quietly down the staircase and into the common room. She took a deep breath, standing in front of the boys' staircase. Now or never. She went up and paused in front of the 7th year boys' dorm. She opened the door stealthily and went inside. Two beds were empty. Sirius and James were still outside. Peter had the curtains fully drawn around his bed. Frank was half in his bed, half out, but soundly asleep. Remus had the curtains open and was staring at the window.

Without turning his head, he said, "Hello, Lily."

She came and sat on his bed. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Who else would come visit me tonight after that outburst from James?" he asked, a grin appearing.

"I guess you've got a point. I shouldn't be here though; what if they wake up?" She pointed at Frank and Peter's beds.

"A stampeding herd of Hippogriffs wouldn't wake them. Even if they did wake up, they wouldn't tell. I take it, that if you broke the rules severely enough to come up here, you've got to be feeling pretty guilty."

She just nodded.

"Alright. Let's make this simple. Do you like James? As a human being, do you like him?"

"Yes. He's funny, witty, but he's a jerk and—"

"Just yes or no, Lillers. Are you sure you?"

"Yes," she said firmly.

"Do you care about him?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you regret what happened over Christmas?"

"No. I regret Christmas ending."

"Tell him," Remus said suddenly, with complete certainty.

"What?" she asked, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. She hastily looked around to make sure the others hadn't woken up; no one else had moved.

"Tell him, and tell him soon. If you care about him tell him."

"He deserves so much more than just 'I'm sorry' and 'I like you'," she said, looking away.

"Yes he does. And Sirius deserves a good kick in the head."

"I've been so horrible…"

Remus grabbed her shoulders so that she had to look him in the eye. "Listen, Lily, you have been horrible to him. You humiliated him and caused a lot of grief. But he still cares about you. And you care about him; you just told me so. Sirius caused you a lot of pain; I think it just about makes up for all the hurt you've caused James. But James doesn't care about that sort of thing. If you really meant what you said about not regretting the time you spent with him over Christmas, and about caring about him, then you owe to both of you talk to him."

Lily shrugged his hands off her and went to stand by the window. At least one broom was on it's way back; maybe both. She couldn't tell from such a distance.

Remus came and put an arm around her shoulders. "You know you miss him."

"I know," she said softly.

"Why can't you just tell him?"

"Because, he needs more than just me saying a couple of words." She was silent for a moment, trying to make out the features of the returning flyer. "Will you help me?"

"Anything. What do you need?"

"Moral support for one thing."

He smiled at her. "That, I can give."

"And I don't know what else." She shut her eyes and looked as though she might fall asleep on her feet.

Remus stood ready to catch her.

Lily's eyes shot open. "I've got it. I need an idea. A way for a big public apology. 'Cause this isn't private anymore, is it?"

He shook his head sadly. "Nothing's private when it involves the Head Boy, the Head Girl, and romance. Especially when the Head Boy is James Potter, the sought after Quidditch star that none of the girls can get a hand on; and Lily Evans, brightest witch in her year who outshines the Ravenclaws in brilliance."

"And out-roars a lion in screaming," she added, with a half-smile.

He looked out the window again. The flyer was getting closer; both of them were, though the other was still further behind. Remus nodded at the window, and Lily followed his gaze. "You ought to be getting to bed. They'll be back soon and you look like you're about to fall asleep on you're feet. C'mon." He started leading her toward the door.

"You're right. Hey, Re, could I have one more thing?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"A hug?"

"That, I can do." He put his arms around in her in an extra tight big-brother-loves-you hug.

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Now go on. You're going to fall asleep on your feet." He gave her a little push out the door, and watched her walk down the stairs to the common room and disappear in the direction of the girls' staircase.

Remus shut the door and took one final glance out the window to see that his friends were on their way back. He went back to his bed and settled in under his blankets. He waited for Sirius and James to return. He heard them argue quietly before settling down themselves. It was after three in the morning, and Remus was vaguely aware that he ought to be sleeping.

He'd hoped to remain neutral in this whole ordeal, hence not siding with Lily or James in Sirius's "trial" and not deliberately making Lily's life miserable. He and Lily were such close friends. Of course, no one knew that, but that didn't matter. If he was going be there for James, he ought to be there for her as well. Getting them back together would get him out of the middle and make both his friends happy again.

What would it take for James to forgive Lily?

Remus contemplated the question and solutions until the early hours of the morning. Satisfied at last, he fell asleep.