A/n: sorry about having to wait for this chapter, I lost the floppy disk this was one for a few days. Kate (my wonderful editor) didn't get to read the very last part, so it might sound a tinsy bit weird. Oh yeah, my super long author's note in chapter uno is now in my bio.

Chapter 3:

The Thursday we skipped history of magic, Remus and Sirius confronted me about my "crush."

"We know you like her, James." Sirius never sounded smugger in his life.

"Me? Like who?" I tried to keep my expression neutral. In all honesty, I thought I had done a decent job at concealing it.

"Hmmm. Let's think about this, shall we Remus?"

Remus nodded his head solemnly and stroked his chin, appearing to be in deep thought. "It couldn't be Evans, could it?"

"Definitely not. She's the one James keeps following around, trying to get her

attention…"

I could see where this was heading. "I don't like Evans, I mean, who would? Honestly, I don't! Really, she's awful! She's a stuck up, prissy, vain little brat, who-"

"So are you, James." Sirius pointed out, apparently unconvinced.

"That's not the point! I hate Lily-"

"So now you're calling her Lily?" Remus challenged.

"God Remus, you know what I meant! Why, compared to Alice, she's-" This time I cut myself off, aware I'd let something slip. Sirius, of course, caught his words.

"What's that about Alice, Jamsie? Speak up, Mummy didn't hear you."

"Well I-"

A smile played on Remus' lips. "Now James, you're not so tactless that you would claim we've got the wrong girl. It's obvious who it is."

I fell back on to the bed, feeling defeated. "I don't like Evans, ok?"

"Well Sirius, seeing how he is in his current state of denial, it's pointless to attempt to draw a confession from him."

"Huh?" Sirius was never one for big words.

Remus simplified, "He won't admit he likes her, so there's no point in asking him."

"Oh."

"So," I seized the opportunity to change the subject. "Anyone research Animagus over the summer?"

Out of habit, our voices lowered, all of us now immersed in plans for the greatest stunt we would ever pull off.

"Wake up, Lily." Alice gently prodded me. Ugh, due to professor Binns' desks from hell, I had a crick in my neck that allowed me to look in only one direction. "Uuunnnnnggnn,"

I grimaced as I coaxed my neck into a more comfortable position. Then, realization hit me.

"Alice, I slept through a class!"

"And?"

"You're not supposed to sleep through classes."

"Of course not. But it was History of Magic, not a class."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes well, do you have the notes?"

Alice snorted. "You're not the only one who sleeps in History of Magic, Lily. But I assure you, it was probably some goblin rebellion." Though Alice got top marks in History of Magic, I preferred to work from notes when writing an essay, redundant as they were. Getting desperate, I gave her the puppy dogface.

"If you insist on notes," she sighed, uttering the words with feigned disappointment, "Go ask Frank. He actually enjoys it."

Of course, how could I have failed to see it before? With effort, I pushed myself up, and headed purposefully towards Gryffindor Tower.

Though Sirius and I had discovered a decent amount of information, Remus had unearthed the most by far, and – though I didn't say it – I suspect his the idea of a easier transformation drove him to do that. For the first time, I felt progress. But, our meeting soon became an argument.

In the middle of discussing what kind of animagus we would become, (Sirius proved just how intellectual he was by guessing Remus would be a wolf) the door flew open, revealing Lily.

"Frank?" she began, but stopped when faced with only the us. "Oh, hi."

"Hello Lily!" they chorused, making it painfully obvious what they were trying to do. I did not like lily. With lack of a better thing to do, I glowered at her.

She glanced at me, eyes full of distaste. "Oh, lighten up Potter."

That was it. Something in me burst, and I refused to torture myself with her presence any longer.

"Out! Now!" I practically shouted at her.

"Jeez, you don't have to yell. A simple 'please leave' would do."

"Fine." I counted to ten. Breathe, James, breathe. "Would you PLEASE leave?"

"No." Ooh, I hated her! I resorted to throwing insults. "You think you SO GREAT! You're just a smart ass, bitchy, stubborn…FREAK!"

At this, her voice dropped dangerously low. "What did you just call me?"

"A freak." Sirius offered. I made a mental note to kill him later.

"It seems to me that you are describing yourself. And I didn't come here just to bug you. Because – surprise, surprise – the world does not revolve around James Potter." Lily's voice, still only a murmur, had fury etched into every word. She lifted her hand to slap me, but paused, reconsidering. "I think I'll save this slap for a more worthy occasion. You needn't worry. I won't forget." She smirked and flounced out.

"You know, mate?" Sirius' commented, after recovering from the fact that a girl had beaten me, "I'd consider myself lucky, if I were you."

Definitely time to fulfill that mental note.

That's pretty much how the rest of third and fourth year went. Potter yelling at me whenever he felt like it, and me calmly replying, so usually things didn't get out of hand. However, I never needed to slap him again, maybe my threat kept the worst of him at bay.

For the next two years, Evans kept provoking me into arguments. They always managed to end before she slapped me, though. Good thing too, that one bruise took ages to heal.