Hate Everything About You

Summary: Lily Evans is convinced that James Potter is bad down to the core. What happens when she realises that this isn't true?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of J. K. Rowling's characters, locations, or other such ideas. Basically, I own Mandy, Amber, and other random characters in the story.

A/N: okay, last chap, you know the whole Lily/Mandy phone convo about hiding-of-feelings-ness? Yeah, that conversation was supposed to continue through their owls, but i left that all out cause it'd ruin the flow of the story. So ... if you hav any questions about that (cause i thot it mite seem a bit confusing) just ask me... email me... watever. Yeah okay anyways... on with the story!

Chapter Six: Summer Part II

Lily rubbed her eyes. Once they were fully open, she looked around to see what had woken her. The window caught her eye (from which a tapping noise could be heard), and she slowly lifted herself up to pull back the curtains. She winced, expecting to have sunlight stream into the room, but it never came. She opened her eyes more to see an owl tapping on her window, blocking out the sun. Tied to its leg was undoubtedly her Hogwarts letter.

She looked over to her calender. 'August 13th? Good, finally. Now there's only two weeks left until school starts!' Lily thought happily, as she opened the window to let in the dark shape looming outside of it.

The owl perched on her window ledge, refusing to come in, and stuck its leg out at Lily. She carefully untied the letter and turned to leave it on her desk and find some food for the owl. Turning back to face the window, she saw that it had already flown away and was now long gone. 'Talk about an impatient owl!'

Looking at her watch, Lily was surprised to see that it was already eleven in the morning. 'No point in going back to bed then,' she thought, picking up her Hogwarts letter to read it. It told her the usual stuff about the Hogwarts Express, this year's books and new Potions supplies. After reading it over, Lily checked in the envelope to make sure that she wasn't missing anything. A smaller piece of parchment caught her eye, so she fished it out to read it to herself. It was just a small note from Professor McGonagall, congratulating her again on her exceptional OWL results, which she'd recieved a month before. Lily remembered the day she'd recieved them, and how her parents' (and her own) jaws had dropped upon seeing that she'd had no marks under the 'Exceeds Expectations' level. She'd been told she'd made the top five – she wondered who the other four were.

Putting her letter and her school-related thoughts aside, Lily shoved her feet into a pair of slippers which were at least three sizes too small and hopped downstairs for some brunch.

She found the kitchen deserted; her parents had probably left for work hours ago. Opening the fridge, Lily looked over its contents critically.

She scoffed. "No milk, no eggs, three slices of bread left. What am I supposed to eat, biscuits and jam? Dry cereal?"

Suddenly, the phone rang. Lily scrambled to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Lily?" said a familiar voice. Lily's eyes widened.

"M-Madi? Madison Jenkins?" Could this really be her Muggle friend from elementary school?

The girl on the other line squealed. "Lily! You remembered me! Golly, I haven't seen you since we were, what – ten? Eleven?"

Lily could hardly restrain from squealing herself. "Madi! Of course I remembered you! Wow, I'm so glad you called! But, I thought you moved away?"

"Well, yes, I did," Madison said lightly, "But we moved back! London was too busy a place for my Dad's liking."

Madi had moved back... she was here again. Lily wasn't alone in the Muggle world, and better yet, it was her former best friend that had come back! Lily was ecstatic. Was this really happening? "Oh, that's great! Well, the fact that you're back here in Surrey. Are you near your old house?" Which, in fact, had been right next to Lily's, she remembered.

"Well, not exactly. It's about a ten-minute walk from my new place."

"How did you get my number? You surely wouldn't have remembered it after all these years."

"I have an address book. Don't you remember? I was mad about recording things. I wasn't expecting the phone number to work – I thought you may have moved to Spain, so that you could live closer to that Spanish boarding school you've been going to all these years."

Lily giggled nervously. "Just because it's Spanish doesn't mean it's in Spain. I just said 'Spanish' because that's the language you learn there, and it's a large focus. Otherwise, it's just any normal boarding school."

"Oh, silly me," Madi giggled. "So anyway, are you free sometime this week? Maybe we could get together for a bit. Have some coffee, maybe?"

Lily laughed. "I'd love to, but not for coffee. Revolting stuff, I've found. Why don't you come over for lunch today?" she suggested, but visions of her empty refrigerator swam before her mind's eye and she found herself regretting her offer.

"Sure! I'd love to, I just hope –"

"Ooh, sorry," Lily said before it was too late, "I just realised that we don't exactly have any food. Any good food, I mean."

"No problem, come over to my place then!" Madison said warmly, chuckling a bit. "Here, I'll give you the address –"

Lily came into her house, locked the door behind her, kicked off her shoes, and sat down onto the living room couch. (They'd finished painting the room; it was a light orange now, so that it would make their new sculpture – their replacement for the china – stand out.)

Her visit with Madi had surely been interesting. The two had had a great time talking, laughing, and enjoying themselves like good friends. Not like people who'd forgotten each other for five years and told lies to each other, Lily had scolded herself. She felt very guilty about the whole ordeal – she and Madi had been the best of friends in elementary school, and had never kept anything from each other. 'Things change, I guess,' Lily thought.

She laid her head back on the armrest of the couch and thrust her legs over the top of its back. Sighing, Lily remembered her elementary school days. The silly crushes, the science fairs, the math tests, the sports.

The sports. Lily's legs dropped and she sat up, in inspiration. She could almost picture the shining lightbulb atop her head. She quickly went over to the kitchen phone and dialed Madi's number, which she'd written on her arm (ah, again, the nostalgia of the elementary school days).

"Hello, Jenkins residence," Madison said on the other line. She sounded so serious and formal that Lily was sure she'd been expecting one of her mother's clients to call.

"Madi!" Lily practically screamed into the telephone in urgency.

"Wow, Lily, calling so soon?" She sounded amused.

Lily grinned. "Yeah. Do you happen to have the numbers of some of the football freaks in our fifth-grade class in your address book somewhere? Remember, those goofy blokes?"

Madi sounded like she was in deep thought. "I think so," she murmured, apparently moving into another room. After what sounded to Lily like the flipping of pages, Madi spoke, "Yes, I still have them! I just hope they haven't moved out of town or anything. Why so keen on speaking to them?"

"I had a thought. Don't you think it would be great if all our fifth-grade friends from Mulberry got together for a friendly, exciting football game?" Lily grinned widely. She loved football – she'd pick it over Quidditch any day. Even though Quidditch wasn't so bad. Maybe the fact that Potter was on the team was why she felt resentful toward the sport?

"-only for football?" Madi was saying. "Are you sure you're not bugging me to call these guys so that you can see Josh again?"

Lily gasped. "You still remember about Josh? My crush, FIVE YEARS AGO? Mads, I haven't seen him since we were last in school together, do you honestly think that I would still fancy him?"

Madison was grinning, Lily could tell. "Well he really struck you as cute then. You never know – he could be dead handsome now that he's sixteen..."

Lily laughed. "Just go and call them, will you? Call me back after every answer you get – I'll be by the telephone all day, you can be sure of that!"

"Wow, Lil, you sound like they never let you play football at that school of yours. And I thought Spain had great teams! Although you're not in Spain, are you? But that's terribly odd if they don't let you play football at a school like that, I mean–"

Uhoh, big slip-up. What normal, non-wizarding boarding school wouldn't play football? None, Lily was sure. Probably none in Britain. Lily felt as though she were playing with fire, trying to coax it into being tamed, so that she could drown it out with some water.

"Well, I stopped taking physical education after my third year, I had more important courses to focus on," Lily covered. "But every time I saw a first year class tearing up the field out there, my eyes would get even more green, if you catch my drift."

"Yes, of course. Lily the green-eyed monster." Madi chuckled. "Well, that must be dead boring, going to school without playing football. Or any other sport, for that matter. Alright, I'll call them, see you later!"

Lily and Madison made their way to the local park's football field about a week later.

"So, tell me again, who's coming?" Lily asked.

Madi rolled her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. "For the hundredth time, Lily – I called Josh and Thomas and they said that they could come, and they're bringing some friends along. Some we'll know, some we won't."

Lily nodded. "Right. I keep forgetting."

Her friend grinned. "No, you just want to hear me say Josh's name over and over! Josh. Josh. Josh. Josh. Jo- Hey!" Madi fell over, Lily having pushed her hard into the grass.

"Oh, sorry Mads! I didn't mean to shove you."

Madison got up, brushing herself off. "Sure you didn't..."

Grinning, Lily admitted, "Well, I didn't mean to shove you quite so hard."

The girls arrived at the football field, and saw four tall, rather well-built sixteen-year-old boys kicking a football around. Lily recognised three of them almost immediately. They were taller, grown-up versions of Thomas, Ethan, and Paul – her fifth-grade classmates.

Thomas saw the girls and jogged over to them. "Hello, ladies!" he bowed awkwardly. The girls grinned. Same old Thomas.

"Haven't seen you in such a long time, Tom!" Lily exclaimed. "How's life been the past, oh, five years?"

The other three boys joined them.

"We've all been great," Ethan said.

Thomas seemed to notice his friends' presence behind him. "Oh, right, of course. We have some introductions to make. You girls know Ethan and Paul?" He waited for the girls to nod before pointing to a taller, more tan-skinned boy to his left that the girls had never met before. "This is Charlie – he goes to the local high school with us, but he didn't go to Mulberry in elementary school."

"Pleased to meet you," he said, smiling.

"Pleased to meet you, too," Lily replied. And she was – he was polite and friendly. Not to mention handsome.

A few minutes later, though, Lily changed her definition of handsome.

Down toward the field came three more young men. She knew one of them was Josh. She knew he was the one who looked... perfect. His short, dirty blonde hair had golden streaks in it, and Lily felt consumed by his warm, hazel eyes, even from such a distance. Momentarily, she remembered what it was like to have a crush on Josh Harper.

Greetings were exchanged, and the others learned that Josh's two friends (William and George) were from his school. Lily felt slightly dazed as she shook Josh's hand. She imagined it was some strange habit left over from grade five – to feel oddly uncomfortable and dreamy, when around Josh. She shook her head repeatedly, hoping it was that and only that; a habit. 'I fancy Remus now, remember?' she told herself.

"Alright then," Thomas began, having assumed the role of leader. "We have nine people, which means five on one team, four on the other. Two forwards, one defense, and a goalkeeper for each, an extra defense for the larger team." He paused, looking around at his fellow football enthusiasts. "Lily and Mad on different teams, of course."

Madi, flinching at his name for her (Mad as in crazy, he'd used to say), said, "No! Lily and I are on one team." Lily nodded in agreement.

"Fine, just don't blame me when your team loses," Thomas grinned. "Who else should we put on the girls' team?"

"We pick Will and Ethan," Madi stated. Lily nodded again. She didn't care who was on her team, as long as Madi was and Josh wasn't. And as long as she got to play.

"Who else?" Thomas asked.

"Nobody. Four people on our team, five on yours."

The red-haired boy chuckled. "You ladies are plotting your own deaths. Suicidal, says I."

"Whatever, Thomas," Lily grinned. "We know you're a sore loser. You just don't want to admit that we're better than you."

The teams set themselves up (Lily played forward, Madi was in the net), and the game finally began. Lily felt like she was free again. Like she was where she belonged. But something wasn't quite right about this football game.

Lily was quickly regretting her wish for Josh to be on the opposing team. He played defense, and guarded Lily closely. Too closely for comfort, at times. She made it her goal to speed past him not only to be able to shoot or pass, but to prevent any body contact, intentional or not. She didn't fancy Josh, she fancied Remus. Josh was her friend who she hadn't seen for five years. He wasn't supposed to distract her during a football game. Was he doing it on purpose?

Lily sprinted past Josh, kicking the football in front of her. Slackening her speed as she got closer to the net, she slowed down enough to hit the ball hard with the front of her shoe, sending it flying toward the net. Charlie, who was playing goalie, lunged, and missed. As did the ball, which went flying at least two metres away from the goalpost.

Frowning, Lily reflected on her shot. What had happened to her aim?

The game started again as Charlie kicked the ball in. George kicked it up the field, passing Will, scoring on Madi. Lily wasn't the only one who wasn't playing her best today.

Madi kicked the football in this time, and Lily felt determined to score. Naturally, she felt proud and accomplished when she did so. The kind of feeling she got when getting her Charms essays back after being marked.

The game went on, and by the time their first half was done, each team had scored themselves another goal.

"That – was – fun." Lily panted.

"How long is our break before we start playing again?" George asked, slightly out of breath as well.

Thomas checked his watch. "Oh, I don't know... five minutes?" Everyone agreed.

Lily and Madi went to get their water bottles that they'd left near the goalposts on their side.

"So... tied, 2-2." Lily said.

"We'll have to show them who's boss next half," Madi said brightly.

"Yeah, you were great in net Mads."

"Thanks. You were great playing forward."

Lily smiled. "I love football. I didn't think I'd be able to play still, after so many years. I guess it's one of those things you never lose, like –"

"Like riding a bike," Madi finished.

"Yeah." Lily was terrified. She'd almost said, 'like riding a broomstick.' That couldn't be good. She'd have to be more careful about what she said.

"Lily, over here!" Ethan called. "We're starting!"

"Good luck," Madi said, slipping into her position. Lily nodded and ran over beside Ethan, her fellow forward.

This time it was very hard for Lily to score. Thomas and Josh had switched positions, and Thomas was quite a rough player. He didn't make Lily feel uncomfortable like Josh did, but he kind of scared her.

"Stop smothering me!" Lily said irritably, as she tried to kick the ball past him.

"I'm not smothering you, I'm being defensive!" Thomas countered.

"Well stop!"

"Stop what?"

Suddenly, Paul zoomed by and stole the ball, which had been sitting in the grass right in front of Lily. Both Thomas and Lily gaped. Seconds later, Paul scored.

"Hey, you did that on purpose!" Lily accused.

"Did what?" Thomas demanded.

"You were stalling, distracting me from the ball so that Paul could steal it away!"

"I was not!"

Lily grumbled and walked back to her own side to wait for Madi's kick. No more miss nice girl.

The ball came straight to her and she pelted up the field. She ran towards Thomas. She swerved. She could tell he was surprised. Why her sudden rush of energy, he'd be thinking. No one provoked Lily Evans without suffering the consequences. She was going to hit him hard. Not only was she going to even out the score, she was going to get her team another 5 goals. Another 10 goals. She was determined.

Thomas seemed to catch on to her attitude and added extra vigour to his pursuit. Lily kept on swerving, making wide turns, still quite far from the net. She turned again, and Thomas was behind her. And the net was in front of her and Charlie was in front of the net. Nothing else.

Seizing her opportunity, Lily sprinted forward. What happened next happened so quickly that Lily hadn't known what hit her until she was lying on her back in the grass, her foot stuck under her, and Thomas on top of her. She felt the crack more than she heard it.

"Oww!" she screamed. "Get off, get off!" Her ankle was broken, she knew it.

Thomas attempted standing up, failed, and rolled over on the grass instead.

Lily felt like she couldn't move. She couldn't get her leg out from underneath her. She tried to roll over as well. Now on her stomach, she straightened her left leg, but screamed again as her foot touched the grass.

Everyone had come running over. Thomas had regained his balance, and was watching Lily in horror.

"It's broken!" she wailed. She was embarrassed when hot tears began pouring down her cheeks. She couldn't roll over onto her back again.

Madi helped her roll over, while screaming at the boys to go get help.

"Don't worry, I have crutches at my house. And I can make a bit of a makeshift cast, too," Thomas said. Lily could tell he felt guilty.

"Go then!" Madison yelled. Tom and Paul both sprinted as fast as they could to Tom's house to get the said items.

Lily tried sitting up, only managing to lift her head.

"Shh," Madi cooed, as Lily's tears kept falling, some of them now caused by frustration. "Take a few deep breaths. Then slowly, I'll help you sit up."

The other boys watched quietly as they accomplished this. None of them chose to mention the 3-2 score. Not even Thomas would have.

Madison propped Lily's left leg up with her own knees. The girls put their arms around each other's shoulders, Lily slowly regaining her composure.

"Is it broken for sure?" she asked quietly.

Madi contemplated Lily's ankle. "Maybe."

Huddled in a group nearby, the boys (minus Thomas and Paul) were talking in hushed voices. Lily wondered why they seemed so grave. They probably didn't know how to react when a girl who they hadn't seen for five years suddenly broke her ankle in their midst. Josh, for one, kept glancing back at Lily. She hoped Madi wouldn't notice.

Thomas and Paul came running back awkwardly, their arms full. Paul was burdened with some crutches, Tom with a first aid kit and a narrow block of wood about six inches long.

Lily sat up a little straighter, happy to be helped, but hoping that Thomas knew what he was doing.

"I'm really sorry," he said softly, sitting down beside Madi to be near Lily's ankle. Lily nodded.

"Alright, I don't have much in this kit, but I'll do what I can." After taking off her shoe and sock (which was a slow and painful process), Thomas took a roll of bandages and wrapped it slowly and carefully, yet tightly, around Lily's ankle. It seemed that he did know what he was doing, after all. Lily winced as he wound the bandage around her leg a little more tightly than the other times. He continued noiselessly, with everyone watching him, and finally cut the bandage and secured it.

Next, he took the piece of wood and held it against Lily's leg as Charlie wrapped some duct tape around to fasten it. Lily closed her eyes tightly, trying not to scream, as Tom straightened her foot to put the wood against it.

"There, done. I hope my makeshift cast works," Thomas said. He looked at Lily. "Need a hand?"

"What?"

"Well, if you're going to use my crutches, you'll need to be standing up first."

Lily offered her hands and slowly got up to a standing position (except with one foot, of course). "But, won't your crutches be too big for me?" she aked.

"No, I used them when I was nine or something – remember when I fell off that horse? They might be a little short, but they'll do for now."

Thomas was right: they were short, and they would be alright to use until Lily could be taken to a doctor. But he was wrong in the sense that the crutches weren't a little short, but VERY short. Lily was practically leaning over to get her arms on them as comfortably as possible. Once she was familiarised with them, Lily made a slow lap around the football field to demonstrate her skill with crutches, as well as to get more used to the feel of walking with them.

Just seeing Lily able to walk, or at least to move around rather freely, seemed to lighten the mood considerably.

"I'm really sorry about that," Thomas repeated.

Lily smiled. "It's alright, really. What happened anyway? All I was aware of were the impact and the fall."

"I was running at you from the side and I sort of, you know, tripped..."

Lily nodded slowly. She had a feeling that Thomas was keeping something from her, judging by her peers' disbelieving looks that shone through their attempts to hide their doubts, but chose to ignore it for now.

"Anyway, how does your ankle feel?" Madi asked, breaking the short silence.

"My ankle? I can't feel my ankle anymore, Thomas wrapped it up so tightly. Which is a good thing, since it replaces the pain."

"So it doesn't hurt anymore?"

Lily smirked. "You only asked about my ankle, Mads. I didn't say I was free of pain. My whole leg is killing me... but I'll be fine. I just think that maybe we should go home now."

"Alright," Madison agreed. "How about you stay at my house until your parents come home? That way you won't have to be alone with only one good leg."

Lily agreed and Madi volunteered to go collect their things. Following Madi's example, most of the guys went to get ready to leave as well. Only Josh was nearby.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked casually, approaching her.

"Yeah, I'll pull through."

"Well," he began, chucked a bit, then continued, "I was going to ask you out, but you know, what with this..." he gestured toward Lily's left leg and her makeshift cast.

Lily was slightly taken aback. Josh had practically asked her on a date, and after not having seen her for five years? It certainly was odd. Lily tried to hide her surprise and said smoothly, "I'd love to, but I can't."

Josh frowned slightly. "Why not? I fancied you in grade five, you know. And now that I see you, five years later... You're an incredible girl, Lily, and I'd love to get to know you again. You shouldn't let a broken ankle limit you so much."

Lily looked at him with surprise. Sure he was cute – more like incredibly handsome – but she wasn't willing to go out with a guy she hadn't seen since the age of ten.

"That's – that's not the only reason." Quietly. She didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Well why then? Why can't you bear to spend any time alone with me?" His feelings evidently were hurt, despite Lily's attempts to be nice about the whole thing.

"Like I said before, I'd love to go out with you, but I can't. I – I already have a boyfriend," she found herself saying. She hated lying, and was especially horrible at it. She hoped that she could pull this one off, though, otherwise she'd have to tell Josh the real reason why she didn't want to go out with him... which could lead to the revealing of her school's real identity – her real identity.

"Oh, well, what's his name?" Josh asked, trying to stay friendly.

Lily said the first male name that came to her head. "Remus Lupin." She had the strongest urge to clap her hand over her mouth, but instead went on, "You wouldn't know him. He lives in Ireland. I mean, London. I mean... yes, London. Oh, sorry, I'm so mixed up because he moved recently, so I keep forgetting that he doesn't live in Whales anymore. I mean... Ireland."

Josh seemed to chuckle in spite of himself. "Your boyfriend must move around a lot. Where was he born? Lupin doesnt sound very English to me."

"Oh, uh, Remus is French. He was born in Paris, actually. That's why his last name is French."

"French?"

"Yes – Lupin. It's a funny way to say lapin, which means rabbit. Those Parisians have the oddest French accent you'll ever hear." At this point, Lily was close to breaking down. That, or bursting out laughing that Josh had believed her story. How had it ever come to mind to pretend that Remus was her boyfriend? She had a good guess.

"And what about Remus? Is that a French word as well?" Lily didn't know if Josh was taking this well, if he was mocking her 'boyfriend', or if he was just being friendly and trying to think of something for conversation.

"Remus is a French word, yes. Remuer is a verb that means 'to move'. Remus would be the singular, first- or second-person conjugation of the verb. Except that in French it's pronounced 'Rémue', instead of 'Ree-mus,'" Lily invented wildly.

Josh seemed as though he wanted to ask Lily something more, but Madi came back at that precise moment.

"Shall we go?" she asked.

"Sure," Lily agreed, happy to get away from the awkward situation. Of course, walking with crutches that were too short for you was an awkward situation as well, but at least she wouldn't have to make up French meanings for names.

She wondered if she'd turned down Josh for any reason besides the Muggle-witch barrier and the fact that they could only see each other during vacations if they ever formed a real relationship. Maybe it was because of the way he'd intimidated her during the football game. Lily had an odd feeling that watching how someone played football could help you define them as a person.

And Lily definitely didn't want an intimidating boyfriend. Which was maybe where Remus came in.

It was a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon at Diagon Alley. A fiery redhead could be seen walking around using crutches. Crutches? Who used those in the wizarding world? Did they even exist in the wizarding world? Lily was definitely an odd sight for many passersby. She looked away from those who chose to stare at her and at the odd contraptions that she used to help her walk.

It had been two days since the eventful football game, and Lily's parents had taken her to a good Muggle doctor to get her a real cast and some crutches that fit. Now that she was feeling infinitely better, she was ready to begin (and hopefully finish) her back-to-school shopping. Her mum had refused to let her go alone, though, and was currently at Gringott's, trying to convert English currency to wizard currency again.

By now Lily was almost done, and the rucksack on her back was stuffed with shopping bags full of new books, potions ingredients, and refills of ink, quills, and parchment. Feeling its full weight, Lily decided to take a break and treat herself to some ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour before going to meet her mum.

She sat down carefully at a small table and propped her crutches against it before taking her rucksack off. One of the waiters came and Lily ordered herself a simple strawberry ice cream cone.

As she waited, she felt someone's presence behind her. She turned around to face the waiter, but instead saw Remus.

Lily flushed. "Oh, hi Remus."

"Hi, mind if I sit with you?" Remus was dressed in Muggle clothing like Lily. He had an empty ice cream cup in his hand.

"Of course," Lily smiled. After Remus had seated himself, she asked, "So, how has your summer been so far?"

"It's been... okay. What about you? What happened to your leg?"

Lily looked down at her cast. "I broke my ankle playing football with some Muggle friends."

"Football. That Muggle sport? I learned about it in Muggle Studies; I thought it wasn't as dangerous as Quidditch?"

"It's not, but my friend came pelting at me to prevent me from scoring. He didn't think the impact would be quite so hard..." Thomas had lied to Lily in saying that their collision was an accident. Madi had explained what had really happened when they'd been walking to Madi's house later, and Lily wasn't pleased that Thomas had lied to her.

"Oh, ouch, are you alright?"

Lily nodded. "I'm alright. It still hurts, since it's only been two days, but I'll be okay. I just don't know how I'm supposed to go around Hogwarts with these things," she waved at her crutches.

Remus studied Lily for a bit. "Why would you have to go to Hogwarts with a broken ankle? Can't you go to St. Mungo's to get it fixed?"

"St. Mungo's?"

"Yeah, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. It's a wizard's hospital."

"Really? I never knew one existed. So, if I go there, I can get my ankle fixed just like how Madam Pomfrey would be able to fix it?"

Remus smiled. Lily loved his smile, and how his blue-grey eyes lit up every time. "Of course, probably even quicker. Do you need an address?"

"Oh, yes please." She took a pen out of her pocket, and poised it to write the address on her arm, as she didn't want to have to rummage through all her bags to find some parchment. Remus looked at Lily quizzically, and was about to ask her something, but the waiter came with her ice cream that precise moment.

"Thank you," Lily said as he handed her the cone full of strawberry ice cream. "How about I pay you now? How much does this cost?"

"One Sickle and three Knuts," he said warmly.

Lily put her pen down and used her free hand to hunt around in her pocket.

"Here, I'll pay for it Lily," Remus offered. He pulled out the money and handed it to the waiter, who vanished.

Lily flushed. "You didn't have to do that."

"I just wanted to treat you. Consider it a 'get well soon' gift."

"Thank you," she beamed. Remus was such a thoughtful guy.

"Well, would you like me to give you the address for St. Mungo's? I have a quill and parchment, if you like."

"No thanks, I'll just use pen to write it on my arm."

"Why?"

Lily grinned. "Muggle habit, I guess."

As Remus told her how to get to St. Mungo's (as well has how to get in), Lily looked up Diagon Alley. In the distance, she saw a spot of black that was messy in a very familiar way. It was coming closer by the second. She urged Remus to hurry up.

"Why, do you have to leave? You've barely touched your ice cream."

"Well, I'm in a bit of a hurry... I have to, er, meet my mum at Gringott's. Here, can you help me eat the ice cream? I won't be able to eat it while I walk."

"How about this... you eat as much as you can, while I write down the directions on a scrap piece of parchment, then I'll eat the rest for you once I'm done."

Lily studied the already-smuged blue ink on her arm. "Sure, thanks."

She smiled. Remus didn't mind sharing an ice cream with her. That was like an indirect kiss! She wondered if maybe he felt the same way...

Remus' hand sped across the parchment, while Lily licked away at her ice cream. They probably would have been quite a sight to passersby. The thought was driven out of Lily's head as Potter, his messy hair, and his other two friends kept coming closer and closer.

Finally, Remus was finished. The two swapped the ice cream and the parchment, the latter which Lily stuffed into her pocket. She swung her bag over one shoulder and took her crutches.

"See you in a week or so, Remus. And thanks for the address, and the ice cream."

"Bye," he said warmly.

James, Sirius, and Peter were feet away now. She hoped that Potter hadn't spotted her. Of course he had, though. Her red hair was a huge giveaway, two times over. All she could hope for now was a quick getaway.

Lily turned, raised the hood of her sweater over her head (a tricky feat when done while leaning on crutches), and sped away as fast as her crutches and her right leg could muster.

And as she went towards Gringott's to meet her mum, she was strongly tempted to turn back and ask Remus whether or not he was French.

A/N: Phew I finished! Finally! I'm SO SORRY that it took me a month to update! I had this huge writer's block that lasted... at least two weeks, maybe three. Well, at least this chapter is double the length I normally write. Gives you more to read, so maybe you won't eat me as much! P

Oh, and about the French name stuffs... 'lapin' is an actual word in French, and so is 'remuer' (which I actually looked up in my French-English dictionary!). Except, 'remus' wouldn't be the proper conjugation; remuer is an –er verb. (je remue, tu remues, il/elle/on remue, nous remuons, vous remuez, ils/elles remuent... I think.) Oh, well, Lily's making the stuff up anyways! I'm sure Parisians don't pronounce 'lapin' like 'lupin'. P

Alright, well, next chap Lily's gunna be starting sixth year, and I promise some more Lily-James conflicts! (yay, fun!) I actually have sixth year planned out pretty well (which I may have mentioned before...), so be ready for some anger, greif, confusion... the works! D

And now for your favourite part, I getta thank the reviewers!

FrEgOrGeLuVeR225 – Thankoos. Yes, sad... heheh. I mean... Aww! bursts into tears at the thought of Lily crying cause Lily is cool and shouldn't have to cry or endure her sister's and Vernon's evolness all the time Well, I hope you like this chap, she cries again! P

MooKittee - dies laughing Well, I guess that's what happens when you n me are sharing a brain! Lolness, moment of silence followed by a moment of reflection. is reminded of Shaan Hey, my writing is Barfalicious? oO;; I'm assuming that's a good thing... didja know Barf's not my editor anymore? He never talks to me on MSN so it's like... what's the point of bugging him to edit? Plus, Pammi roxors at editing! )

Pigwidgeon188 – Yay, I'm glad you like it so far. Umm... update soon? Heheh... whops.

Munkylover256 – Thanks! I took your advice and kept writing, and now you're gonna havta read a super-long chap! Yay...?

The counter – I'm not a horny weirdo with no life. If i was, my story would be rated R. R as in veRy not good for kids and maybe hoRny as well. (sorry if ne1 here's written an R-rated fic. I'm just trying to illustrate a point.) neways, alotta HP fans write Romance fics because if they're writing something BASED on J. K. Rowling's wonderful world, they'd wanna elaborate on SOMETHING a bit more. And seeing as the characters' romance isn't the centre of the story, what better to elaborate on than their love lives? Plus, ALL Lily/James fics are romance, cause we all know the outcome, no? So your points kinda invalid, sorry. Hope you enjoyed if you actually read, though.

Limbo-gal – Lily/James action is coming up, just like I promised before! But not romantic-ish, if that's what you meant. P

SnufflestheInsane – Please don't sue me. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to take so long, seriously. Heheh, how 'serious' would you like Sirius and Amber's relationship to be?

Fallen-Snow – Doubtful? When did I say Lily was feeling doubtful? As i said, she's gotta hang in there 'till seventh year, so don't be expecting anything Feifs. : Yay, lard tub. I'm evol. (hey, you seriously thought I was gonna give my fanfic up? My funny LiveJournal storything has been given up, yes, but how could I possibly give up on THIS? P I still have like, two or three other fic ideas that I havent started on cause I like writing this fic way too much. Heheh.)

Alright, well, that was alot of thanking, so I'll make one final thankyou before I leave you all at peace. Thank you to... PAMMI! D She is teheditor of editorness, and because of her, my story makes a bit more sense! Yay!

Hope you enjoyed the chap, cross your fingers that I won't get writer's block, and howsabout you review while you're at it? grins though typing with crossed fingers kinda hurts...

((This chapter has been edited. Please note that some time-period-related errors have been removed, and please don't point these errors out to me anymore because… well, they're gone now! Thanks.))