AN: It seems that seven is the magical number! We'll keep it at that.

Whenever I try access my "Review History" it tells me "Review History currently disabled" Is anyone having similar problems? Any ideas as to what's going on?...

Sorry for taking a week to post this up, but I'm sad to say it will probably be another week until I post the next chapter. I had the next four chapters written, but after going over it, I realized it was pretty much total crap. So I decided to rewrite it, which as we all know does take some time. Of course, if I am suddenly swarmed with reviews, I might be encouraged to write faster…so sorry for the delay. Enjoy!

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.

-Epicurus

09/08

I consider myself to be a reasonable person, I am rarely prone to tantrums and often time find myself acting as a mediator between two parties. It is then that I astonished myself by lashing out at Lisa's inquiries as to what transpired last night. After apologizing profusely and describing to her last evenings events, I endeavored to explain to her my dismay at actually agreeing to this asinine bargain.

To this she replied is a manner I found most disagreeable. "Lily, the four most popular guys in school are paying you to hang out with them. Most girls would be doing cartwheels by now."

"I never cared for acrobatics, you know that."

"Look, I'm not saying you have to fall at Potter's feet, but you know you're suddenly going to become immensely popular. So why not enjoy it?"

She did have a point (although I will take that thought with me to my grave). There was nothing I could do about the agreement as I did shake hands on it, so I might as well turn it into something fruitful. The only challenge in the foreseeable future would be to have patience with the Marauders and anything remotely related to them.

A challenge, I soon discovered, to be much more difficult than I previously anticipated.

I was not out of bed and dressed for more than ten minutes when I was approached by three blonde Gryffindors. Each who has made it a hobby of theirs to antagonize me whenever possible, and who now suddenly seemed interested to be the best of friends.

I do not wonder as to how they found out about the deal; they are better at finding out gossip than many dolphins are at swimming. Laura, the leader of the group, whom I have mentioned in an earlier entry, approached me with a fake smile and a flip of her hair,

"Lily, " she drawled, "are the rumors true?"

"Well that would depend on the rumor, now wouldn't it?" I headed towards the common room, in no mood to put up with her twittering.

Unfortunately, she didn't catch the obvious dismissal, or if she did, she chose to ignore it, "Come now. Surely you know what I'm talking about? Do you and the Marauders have an…accord of some sort?"

I was about to inform her that it would benefit the majority of he human race if she jumped off a short cliff, but was interrupted by a painfully familiar voice, "Why, I believe we do."

I turned to see Potter, looking much too smug, "Lily and we made a deal last night."

"Oh? And what are the terms?" inquired Laura.

He winked, "Now I couldn't tell you that. That's just between Evans and the four of us." He gestured to the rest of his group and turned his full attention towards me, "I trust you remember last night's gathering?"

It seemed that a good night's sleep had made Potter much more…perkier. How he went about acquiring this good night's sleep remains a mystery, as I didn't return to the dorms until 3 o'clock, and they left at an even later time than I. Although, if half of the rumors are true (and I am inclined to think that for once the grapevine is somewhat accurate), they are quite accustomed to late nights, as they often spend the hours of darkness gallivanting about the school.

He gestured for me to join him and his cohorts, and after a series of the expected morning's greetings, we headed toward the Great Hall.

This was the moment that I had been dreading since the solidification of this agreement. It was no secret amongst the school that there was no love lost between myself and the Marauders. I could just imagine the thoughts that the students would be having when I seemingly willingly sat with them during breakfast.

Potter seemed to know what I was thinking, for a smirk spread across his face, and he said, "It won't be that bad, Lily. We have fairly good table manners, with the exception of Padfoot here," he gestured to Black.

His smirk grew wider," You're not scared are you?"

I knew perfectly well that he was attempting to ruffle me up, hoping that I would respond with a, "Certainly not!" and would storm into the Great Hall, thereby creating an even larger scene that we would already.

Unfortunately, possessing knowledge and acting on that knowledge are two drastically different things.

I drew myself up to my full 5' 3" (which didn't really do that much good, considering whose company I was in), and attempted to do something of an imitation of an evil glare that I had so often seen in various movies. Based on the fact that all Potter did was chuckle lightly, I must be forced to acknowledge that my attempt to stare him down failed rather miserably.

Nevertheless, I continued my glare, "I am not scared, Potter, if that is what you are thinking." His unbelieving look bruised byGryffindor pride; I tugged on my robes lightly and quickly strode into the Great Hall.

I sat down at the first open spot that I found, silently cursing Lisa for taking so long in the shower and leaving me alone with these four. Potter and Lupin sat on either side of me, while Black and Pettigrew sat across from us.

I heard the collective gasp of the student body at seeing me, Lily Evans, not immediately either moving or screaming as they began to eat breakfast around me.

I decided that the easiest way to handle the situation would be to ignore them completely, and began to assemble my meal.

Much to my displeasure, Lisa took so long to get ready (I later found out that she had slipped on the wet shower floor and accidentally knocked over a bottle of Laura's shampoo, later found out to be a hair dye, resulting in Lisa's body being turned a unsightly yellow, which has sadly yet to be removed), that I was forced to go to class without my friend, which meant that I had to partner with one of them.

Our first class was Potions. Not an altogether unpleasant subject, I have found that your partner almost always decides upon your grade. It does not matter if you yourself are as good as the Professor. If your partner is clumsy or absentminded, you are indisputably doomed.

Being doomed is highly overrated.

I shared Potions with Lupin. I would gladly have him as a partner in any other class, for he is very intelligent and not quite as annoying as the others. But he is absolutely atrocious at Potions. We had to restart our potion three times before we finally got it right, due to the fact that he continued to err in the order of the ingredients.

He has a natural grace about him (not that I would ever admit to acknowledging such a thing), but for some reason, as soon as he reaches a ten meter radius of a cauldron, he becomes as clumsy as a sea lion.

Thankfully, we were not brewing anything that was terribly dangerous, so both of us were able to escape virtually unscathed. Please notice that I say virtually. I do not believe I will ever be able to get the potion out of my ears, although there still remains some hope for my hair.

Divination was not much improved. Black was constantly making jokes during the lecture. While I do not particularly care for the subject, I do need to be able to hear enough of the professor's talk to know what they are talking about! But no, he insisted on speaking the entire time. At least with Lupin I did not have to listen to insistent chatter!

Transfiguration, I quickly learned (mostly because of Potter's not-so-subtle bragging), is his best subject. Much to my chagrin, I am partly thankful that he is my partner in this class – he will raise my grades. That is of course, if I don't decide to strangle him first.

I was extremely close to slapping his arrogant smirk off his face when he saw that his project was significantly better than my own. He even had the gall to inquire if I would like assistance. As if I would need help from him!

Lunch was spent mostly in silence. I imagine that my despondent mood showed on my features, as no one attempted to talk with me, and for which I am exceedingly grateful.

Ancient Runes I had with Pettigrew. The poor boy really is a hopeless case. He is the sweetest of the bunch, but the fact of the matter is that he just is not that bright. I am going to have to come up with some way get some one else as my partner, for I fear if I continue with Pettigrew my grades will suffer.

I practically reached a state of euphoria when Ancient Runes ended. I managed to convince the Marauders I needed some time without them, or I would assuredly go mad. To this Black snickered and replied," You're already mad, Evans. But if a little time off will make you less of a nutter, I'm all for it."

Even this sarcastic remark could not "rain on my parade" as it were. I was finally able to return to normal proceedings in Herbology. Lisa was my partner, we sat in the front row (the Marauders have an aversion towards sitting in the front), and life was as it should be. It is amazing how you don't realize you value something until it is gone.

Although Defense Against he Dark Arts was supposed to be part of my Marauder-free time, I somehow ended up with Potter. The boy doesn't have the slightest idea what the word silence means. It's either that, or Black told him just how much non-stop vocal communication annoys me, and he decided to see how far he can push me before I decide to commit mutiny. It is still beyond my comprehension how the teachers could not notice this. Professors do have ears, don't they?

My remaining classes followed the same routine. I was then forced to play five games of exploding snap (it is of my opinion that the deck was stacked, as I am a fairly good player and I lost all five games).

I shudder at the thought of tomorrow.

Lily Evans

Thanks as always to my wonderful reviewers!

ChloeM – Evil and sexy…two adjectives that are most definitely active when talking about certain people. ;-) Glad you liked it.

Blink182Rox- Thanks!

Soccerchic1989- Whoa, if I ever need a pep talk, I'll know who to come too. ;-) I know all about people reading and not reviewing, I hung around the site for about five months before actually reviewing anything. Newbie-itis or something. lol I'm glad it seemed less childless. Thanks for the review!

Gemm'n2590 – my wonderful beta! :::takes back empty plate of cookies, places large pile of brownies on said plate and pushes it back::: lol It's fine if it takes you a bit to send it back. I really don't plan on unpdating until the day after I send it to you, so no worries. I hope your friends get better. I'll keep them in my prayers. Thanks as always!

Esurio-Declamatio-Alllecto- Glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!

Moonlit-shadow0x – Thanks! You think I have a good writing style? That's a wonderful compliment. Thanks for the review!

M00nmaiden – See? James is getting larger parts now! I didn't in the beginning because I wanted to develop the relationships between Lily and his friends a bit before diving right in to theirs. Even now its still going to be a while before there are really any "relationship talks" lol Thanks for reviewing!

Talkative Teal'c – love your pen name! I always wondered what would happen if Teal'c got drugged with some laughing gas. Lol Glad you finally found this thing! Maybe there is some hope for you after all.

Drumergirl90 - Thanks!