Disclaimer: Nothing has changed; I own nothing, let alone Harry Potter and Co. Ach, let us have our fun with your characters, J.K.

Previously in "The Strangest Courtship":

"Well, everybody has been acting different towards me," said Lily quietly. "Especially Sirius and James."

....And this was the point at which James heard his name and stopped to hover on his broom just above the window of the girl's dormitory of Gryffindor Tower. He felt guilty and egotistical and vaguely perverted to be listening to Lily as she confided in Arabella (about him! About him?), but his curiosity got the better of him....

Chapter Eight:

Eavesdropping

"What do you mean, 'everybody has been acting different'?" asked Arabella curiously.

"Oh, I don't know," sighed Lily. "It's just that....we've only been back for a day, but I've already had more than one run-in with the Marauders, and...."

"What did they do?" asked Arabella sharply. She was very protective of her best friend, and she suspected that the Marauders might have already latched onto Lily as an easy target for their pranks.

"Well, nothing really—but since I've come back....Sirius complimented me, and he's suddenly really talkative around me....and I don't know, it's strange, because usually he's just teasing me...."

"Sounds to me like he's been flirting," said Arabella with a little grin. "Do you still like him?" At these words, James tensed.

"I, well, I don't know," began Lily awkwardly. "I mean, he's always just teased me....but he is really handsome—" James clenched his fists "—and now that he's been nice to me....maybe he changed over the summer, I don't know...." Her voice trailed off.

"But do you like him?" asked Arabella persistently; James wished she'd drop the topic, because he didn't want to know the answer. "Merlin, Lily; you've been obsessed with Sirius Black since, what, second year?! And now he's flirting with you and you don't know??!!"

"Okay, I like him, alright!" said Lily with frustration. James' heart sank. "I just—I just don't want to get my hopes up or anything; I mean, everyone knows what a player he is....he's probably only paying attention to me because now I have breasts." James choked in surprise, though he had to agree with Lily on that point; Sirius was a player, and ever since he'd glimpsed Lily in her bra on the train, he'd seemed a lot more interested in her.

"Well, you should talk to him!" counseled Arabella. "Maybe he'd ask you to the winter ball." James' eyes widened; this was exactly what Sirius was hoping for. Sirius didn't have to do anything to get Lily, as she'd apparently been 'obsessed' with him since she was twelve.

"Merlin, Arabella—the ball isn't for months! A lot could happen between then and now...."

"Hey, Lily," said Arabella suddenly, as though she'd just remembered something. "You said James had been acting weird, too. How so?" James nearly fell off his broomstick in surprise, but his ears perked up.

"Well, James has been acting even stranger than Sirius!" said Lily; James noted wryly that she was referring to him as 'James,' not 'Potter.' The last-name basis, it seemed, extended only to their face-to-face arguments. Lily continued: "I mean, at King's Cross and on the train he hardly said anything at all—I don't know, like he was embarassed to be within ten feet of me or he was latently angry or trying to avoid me or something. Which is weird, because generally he's the first one to start taunting me about ugly my hair is or how I'm an old bookish spinster, and all that, and—"

James drew in a breath; had he really said all those things? No wonder Lily disliked him so. But then, Sirius had always been his partner-in-crime; what had Sirius done differently to gain Lily's interest? Women, James thought with a frustrated sigh.

"—And now he's just been avoiding me," Lily went on. "That's not to say I mind, of course; it's been nice to have a respite from his immature pranks, but it's nevertheless strange. And he gave me his cloak in the carriage, which was actually nice—he must have had some kind of ulterior motive—and on top of that...." Lily paused; even though Arabella was her best friend, she was loath to talk about her run-in with Malfoy. "....On top of that, Malfoy was....bothering me this morning and James told him off."

"That's really nice of him!" exclaimed Arabella. "See, maybe he's changed." James silently thanked Arabella for mentioning this, but Lily was quick to rebuke her comment.

"No, no, you weren't there, Arabella. The thing is, when he told Malfoy off...." Lily wished she hadn't brought this topic up in the first place; she felt awful to be gossiping here—and on the first day of school, too! Maybe he had changed....

"Yes?" prompted Arabella.

"Well, when James told Malfoy off....he was really frightening. I mean, not just tough—it really scared me. I thought he was going to hex Malfoy into oblivion, right there—I thought James was going to kill him."

"Maybe he secretly likes you, and he was trying to be your knight in shining armor," suggested Arabella. James, withdrawing his former praise for Arabella, now damned her for being so perceptive. Or was he really so transparent?

"Don't be ridiculous, Arabella," said Lily with a laugh. "James has done nothing but make my life miserable for the past four years; I highly doubt he cares for me at all, let alone in that way. In fact, he said something to Malfoy about only protecting me because I belonged to Gryffindor. Who does he think he is, anyway? Am I really some kind of object? But oh, I forgot; every girl is just a sex toy to the Marauders...." Lily spoke angrily now—she wasn't really so angry at James or the Marauders, but her emotions were all tangled up when she remembered what Malfoy had done to her. It had been Malfoy, not the Marauders, who had treated Lily like an object, a 'sex toy' for his convenience. But Lily didn't want Arabella to know what Malfoy had done, and so she had to vent all her anger on James and the Marauders.

But now Lily's voice sobered, and she spoke again: "No....mostly, I was just scared that if James ever got that angry again....but if his anger were directed at me....Merlin, it seemed like he could strangle someone just by glaring at me the way he was looking at Malfoy. It just—I don't know what to think. No fifteen-year-old kid should be so frightening...."

James had been that angry—but that was because of what Malfoy had done, and what he might have done, to Lily. He realized now how he must have seemed to Lily; he must have looked like some deranged, furious boy with death in his wand. Oh Merlin, he had only made matters worse; now Lily not only hated him, but she also feared him....

"Lily, calm down," said Arabella soothingly. "You're trembling....calm down....let's go outside, don't worry, I'm here...." And with that, James heard the sound of two pairs of feet leaving the girl's dormitory and thumping down the stone stairs. What had he done?! He had made Lily tremble with fear at the thought of him—but when he thought of her, he trembled with desire!

Angrily, James harnessed all his strength and anger and passion and punched his fist into the stone ledge above the Tower window. "Fuck," he said softly—not knowing whether he was cursing his smashed-up hand or himself or Lily—as blood now coursed swiftly down his crushed fingers. The bone of his knuckles showed white through his torn skin and his whole arm was lanced with unbelievable pain—but all this was preferable to the pain he felt in his chest....in his heart.

In the next chapter....Sirius lays on the charm, and both Lily and James are having trouble sleeping....

A/N: Everyone who reviewed is an angel: thank you, thank you, thank you! Remember, the more reviews, the more chapters....this is a mutualistic relationship (is that right? Damn biology....)