Disclaimer: As always, I don't own any of the characters from Harry Potter. The only characters that belong to me are the characters which do not appear in any book or movie.

Chapter Three: Talking

Flora Peppersprout sat quietly in the large Hogwats library. She had read the same sentence about mandrakes around fifteen times. She couldn't concentrate, her head was still spinning from what Lily had told her about James. She just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Someone sat down across from her suddenly and caused her to jump slightly.

"Hey, Flora. How you doing?"

Flora smiled at her visitor. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"I can't complain. Though, I'd be lying if I told you that I came in here to study." he said.

"Is that so?" Flora said, raising her eyebrows, "So, why are you here?"

"Tomorrow is our first visit to Hogsmeade."

"Why, yes it is."

"Well, I just wanted to ask you if you would like to accompany me?"

"Are you joking?" Flora asked, stunned.

"Not in the least."

Flora smiled at him, "Well, yeah, sure, I mean, I guess. I'll go with you, yeah."

"Great, then it's settled. See you in the morning."

"Yeah, in the morning."

Sirius smiled at her, one of his dazzling smiles that made all the girls go weak in the knees. Then, he pushed up from his chair and strutted out of the library, leaving Flora sitting there, beaming from his attention.

Two tables away, Remus Lupin sat, trembling in anger, partially at Sirius and partially at himself. He was mad at Sirius for setting his sights on someone as sweet and innocent as Flora. He was mad at himself for not having the guts to say that he liked her. He knew that Sirius would not have even considered Flora had he known that he liked her. He looked at her now as she sat there, illuminated like an angel by the desk lamp in front of her. She glanced up and caught his eye and flashed him a warm wonderful smile. He returned the smile, then looked away. 'Damn you Sirius,' Remus thought to himself, 'Damn you for having the balls that I don't.' Then, something occurred to him. Sirius had asked Flora to go to Hogsmeade with him, nothing more. If he were to go over to her right that second and ask her to go out with him, he technically wouldn't be breaking any rules.

Resolved to do just that, Remus gathered his belongings and walked determinedly over to where Flora sat...then past it...then out the library doors.

Okay, okay, he had been going to ask her out, but she had been sitting there, so beautiful, and what is she had said no? Remus was very much starting to convince himself that the anguish of not knowing was better than rejection. At least when you didn't know, you still had hope. Flora was, after all, his idea of perfection. And what's there left to do after perfection has laughed in your face? No. Better to do nothing and just sit back quietly and watch one of his very best friends sweep her off of her feet.

Remus made his way back to the Gryffindor tower. When he entered the common room, he came immediately into the middle of a conversation between his friends that he would much rather have not heard.

"I didn't even know you liked Flora." James said.

Peter snickered, "Sirius likes anything with two legs."

James's eyes locked with Remus's and seemed to offer sympathy. James had always had a kind of sixth sense into his friends psyche. "And even that part's negotiable." Remus chimed in as he joined the group.

The comment caused Peter to laugh almost uncontrollably and Sirius mumbled, "Bugger off." James, however, did not appear to be fooled by Remus's offhandedness.

"She's sweet and smart," Sirius said, "and pretty as hell."

James looked at Remus. He was pale and his face was drawn and for a moment, James feared the boy may very well get sick. But he just sat there. James had suspected Remus's attraction to Flora, for quite sometime, he just hadn't been sure until that very moment. He wished that there had been something he could have done for his friend. Remus had never shown the slightest interest in a girl before, and it only figured that he'd have a secret thing for the girl that Sirius had decided on as his next conquest. For the first time ever, James felt completely and utterly at a loss regarding his friends.

It was about then that Cerra came slapping down the stairs with Lily in tow. This drew James's attention away from his friend's delicate condition for a moment.

"Hey, Evans, Caledon." he acknowledged both ladies' presence.

"Good evening, James." Cerra said and sauntered toward him. She sat down beside him, hip to hip, and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, shamelessly exposing him to a great expanse of her cleavage.

Lily felt her inhibitions decay as pure jealousy took over. She marched over and took the seat on the other side of James. Cerra may be able to give every girl in school a run for her money, but not Lily...not when it came to James Potter. Lily could win hands down and she knew it.

"Hey, Potter." She said and nudged him with her shoulder.

"Evans." James said as he absent mindedly shifted his body toward Lily and discreetly placed an arm over the back of the couch, conveniently positioning his arm behind Lily's shoulders as well.

The shift did not go unnoticed by any party and Cerra wasn't pleased by James's lack of attention toward herself. She placed a delicate manicured hand on his knee and cooed, "James, I heard you and Daphne just broke up. That true?"

James looked at her and Lily's eyes narrowed. "Yeah," James said, "just wasn't working out."

"Wasn't meant to be." Lily said, drawing his attention back to herself without having to molest him.

"Guess not." he beamed at Lily. He enjoyed being so close to her.

Cerra's brow furrowed. She couldn't figure out quite what Lily was playing at. "James, are you ready for the big exam in defense against the dark arts? I mean, I'm sure you are, you're so gifted in that class." She gave his thigh a squeeze, "Would you be willing to help me? I'm having a most troublesome time with bogarts."

James's chest rose a little at the welcome ego boost. "Well," he began, turning his entire face toward Cerra, "I suppose I could spare a little expertise to a pretty girl." Cerra was practically purring.

'Time to play dirty' Lily thought. James loved having his ego stroked, not to mention his thigh. It was definitely time to break out the big guns. Lily not so discreetly nestled into the crook of the arm James had tossed around behind her. James's head snapped back around to her, eyes wide with shock. She cast her eyes downward and said, "So, first Hogsmeade visit tomorrow..." A tiny smirk played on her pretty mouth as she ever so slowly brought her gaze up to meet his.

James's mouth opened and closed several times, as if to respond, but it had suddenly gone so damn dry. Cerra, as well as the other three Marauders were all staring at Lily, jaws agape. She smiled languidly up at him and slowly crossed her legs toward him so that their knees touched. She didn't need to sit there and stroke his male ego or grope between his legs as Cerra had done. All she had to do was move a little bit closer to him, and smile. Aside from stripping down and mounting his lap right there in the middle of the common room, Cerra wasn't going to get his attention back, and she knew that. She made the fact that she knew it evident by huffily jerking away from him and crossing her arms over her rather exposed chest in a pout. James didn't even notice that she had moved. All that did was succeed in making Cerra really mad. She stood up and screamed through closed teeth night in James's face at about the same time Flora walked in.

Flora watched Cerra scream at James and storm out of the common room. The outburst caused Remus and Sirius to both jump to their feet, Peter fell out of his chair, and broke Lily and James's little staring contest all at once. Flora turned to the other people in the room. "What just happened here?"

James's attention turned once again to Lily, only this time it was more suspicious than it was shocked. "That's what I'd like to know."

Lily smiled sheepishly to Flora, the only person in the room who understood. "Right, then! Sorry to intrude fellas, but may I borrow my best friend for a moment. I need her assistance, charms exam coming up and all that. Lily?"

"Yeah." Lily said. She looked at James and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment as her eyes roamed his entire face, pausing for a second on his mouth, then back to his eyes, "I'll talk to you later?" she asked.

"Count on it." James said. He had meant for it to come out in a stern, sort of 'I'll get to the bottom of this' kind of way, but it ended up being more of a breathy, 'can we make out?' kind of way.

Lily smiled at him, then stood up and left with Flora. The four boys all just sat and stared at each other in a kind of befuddled stupor.

"Okay," Sirius finally broke the silence, "was it me, or was Lily Evans just hitting on Prongsy?"

"No, it weren't you just you, Padfoot." Remus said.

Peter shook his head, "Are we in an alternate reality and nobody bothered to tell me about it?"

"Well, if they didn't tell you, Wormtail, my little friend, they sure as hell didn't tell me." Sirius said.

The three continued to discuss the event which had just occurred as James sat there in silence. He stared at the door Lily had left through. He kept seeing her sitting beside him, chewing on her lip, staring at his mouth. It was almost as though she had wanted him to kiss her. He would have been more than happy to oblige had she just asked, but really, what was going on? Lily Evans, under his arm, staring at him with longing in those pretty green eyes was certainly a dream come true, but it just didn't happen...not in real life.

As soon as Lily and Flora were through the portal, Lily grabbed Flora by the wrist. "We have to find Cerra."

What just happened in there?" Flora asked.

Lily looked to her friend, her desperation gleaming through her bright eyes. "I...I was just terrible! I don't think she even saw it coming...and the way that she thinks that I feel about James, she probably thinks that everything that just happened was a personal attack on her!" she cried, "Please, Flora, we just have to find her."

Flora still wasn't clear on exactly what had happened in the common room, but the need in Lily's voice was too great to be ignored. "Let's go." she said and, hand in hand, the two girls raced down the halls in search of their friend.

They found her outside near the lake. She was sitting on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring up at the stars. "You come to lecture me?" Cerra said, "Huh, Ms. Head Girl, here to tell me how I'm not supposed to be out on the grounds after dark?"

"Cerra..." Lily started.

"What was that?" Cerra demanded, turning to face Lily. Flora suddenly felt mighty out of place standing there. Cerra climbed to her feet, "You don't give a damn about James Potter..."

"Well, that's the thing..."

"You just don't want me to have him!"

"I don't want any other girl to have him!"

That caught Cerra of guard for a second, but only for a second. "So, you just want him to chase after you like a lovesick little puppy and pay his attention to no one else? To give nobody else the chance to really care for him? That ain't right, Lily!"

"Exactly, Cerra! It's not right!" Lily screamed, unable to take anymore abuse, "You're wrong."

"What?" Cerra asked.

"I'm not looking to have him follow me around." Lily said. Flora ran a comforting hand down Lily's arm, just to let her know that she was still there if she happened to need her for anything.

"What are you saying?" Cerra asked, unsure as to whether or not she was understanding everything that was being said.

Lily took a long breath, trying to figure out how exactly to word what it was that she had to say. She decided that the best thing to do would be to use the simplest phrase that she possibly could. "I want him."

Cerra just stared at her for a very long while. "When?" she finally asked.

"I don't know." Lily stated honestly.

Cerra sighed and paused for another extraordinarily long moment before she eventually said, "Well, I don't know what to say. I can't exactly be mad at you, now can I? I suppose that is any girl at this school has the right to lay claim to James Potter, it's you." Lily threw herself into Cerra's arms. Normally, Cerra was not usually one to forgive so easily, but Lily was special. "Well played, by the way," Cerra laughed, pulling away to look Lily in the face, "There aren't many girls at Hogwarts, if any, that can successfully steal a guy's attention away from me like that. It was a hell of a feat, you should be proud."

Lily smiled. What more could she do? She gave Cerra another squeeze and gave a silent thanks to the stars above that Cerra had forgiven her. A person was lucky if they made one friend as true as Cerra and Flora in an entire lifetime. Lily had been fortunate enough to meet the both of them and she didn't want to lose either one.

The Marauders were still sitting in the same exact spots in the common room where they had been sitting when the girls had left. They were still wondering what in the hell was going on at the time Flora, Cerra, and Lily returned. The three friends found it to be a rather amusing sight. Those guys may as well have been scratching their heads and muttering unintelligible sounds for the stupefied looks on their faces.

"Finally!" Sirius exclaimed, standing up. "Maybe now we can all get some answers!"

"We?" Flora asked.

"Yes. We. As in us. The four blokes you ladies left behind in the dark here. Remember us?" Sirius demanded.

"Sirius Black, you are one of a kind!" Cerra exclaimed.

"Thank you, love." Sirius grinned.

"I didn't mean it as a compliment, you wank." Cerra said.

"Pity." Sirius chuckled.

Remus glared at him. He was flirting with Cerra right in front of Flora not three hours after having asked her to Hogsmeade with him. Remus would willingly do anything within his power to make Flora feel as though she were the only woman alive in the whole of the world. He would never shamelessly hit on another woman straight in front of her for sport. That's all any woman was to Sirius. Sport.

Well, I am sorry to be the one to inform you...but the only person in this room entitled to any answers, is Potter." Cerra said, her voice dripping with false sweetness.

Flora stepped up beside her and did her very best to look intimidating, but the fact that she so strongly resembled a little elfin maiden did not help her in that effort. "That's right." she said, "So, the rest of you lot...sod off!"

"Well, excuse us, Princess Peppersprout." Peter sniffed.

Remus waited for Sirius to reprimand Peter, but he never did. Remus wanted to step in and do it himself, but it was not his place to do so. It was actually James who spoke up next. "Go on, fellas."

"Prongs..." Sirius started to protest.

"I said, get on," James said sternly so that the boys would know that he meant it, "get on and leave us to our business."

"Right you are."Remus said as he shoved Peter toward the stairs that lead to their dormitory.

Sirius still looked quite wounded, but he made his way to the dorms nonetheless. "Yeah, sure, mate. Goodnight to you both, then."

"Goodnight, mate." James said, flashing him an apologetic look.

Sirius acknowledged the apology with a tip of his head then departed. Just after, Cerra and Flora climbed the stairs which lead to their own dormitory. Lily watched them until they finally disappeared and then she turned back to face James.

"I believe we have a thing or two to talk about, Evans." he said, his bright brown eyes sparkling.

Lily took a deep, ragged breath and nodded to him. "Yes, Potter, I suppose we do."