Disclaimer: Not mine, as usual.

A/N: Wow, this is new...an author's note at the beginning of the story! =D Well, I was just SO excited when I discovered a wave of reviews...twelve in all! That's more than I've ever received! It might have been more, actually, but I don't remember. Just for that, you guys get a super duper long chapter!

Lily felt the warm sun shine on her face through a crack in the curtains. It felt warm, and it was very bright. She turned over; despite the fact that she usually liked the sun, Lily liked the dark better right now. She felt much better than before, though still slightly sick. However, her sickness must have been making everything about her seem better. He comforter was much softer than it usually felt, and the pillow she was clutching to her was feather soft and fuzzy too. She took a deep breath. Hm, her pillow smelled like dewy grass and the morning. She didn't recall her bed feeling quite so nice.

Peter, Sirius, and Remus were all standing outside the bed, grinning like idiots.

"Who do you reckon he brought to the dorm last night?" Peter asked.

"Hm...I don't really know. I didn't realize he was going out with anyone in the first place!" said Sirius. He seemed kind of sulky.

"Well...I mean, do you think he even brought someone in last night? He could've just been tired and didn't want one of his friends jumping on him at 6 in the morning to get up for breakfast." At this, Remus shot Sirius a glare.

Sirius didn't seem to notice though, and simply replied as normal. "Nah, he wouldn't do that for no reason. I mean, we made that sign to show that one of us had brought in a girl! What else would he use it for?"

"Do you reckon we should just pull open the curtains and see who it is? It would be a bit of fun to embarrass him, and get back at him for not telling us who he liked," said Peter.

"Mm," Lily sighed, as she turned over, snuggling more into the unbelievably soft blanket she was wrapped up in. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that certainly kills the 'maybe he was tired' theory."

Lily's eyes snapped open at the sound of a boy's voice. In her dorm. She shot up in bed and looked around nervously. What was she supposed to do? She grabbed the comforter with her hands in anxiety.

Wait a minute...This isn't my blanket! Or my bed! Or my pillow! Where am I?!

Lily promptly ripped open the curtains, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was. Had Amos taken advantage of her? She couldn't recall much-- her mind was sort of hazy since she had just woken up. At seeing Sirius, Remus, and Peter standing before her, looking avidly at the bed, she let out a glass shattering scream.

She leaped out of bed and began to pace around before the boys and speak loudly to herself.

"I didn't do it did I? What have I done?"

"You mean you've done something? Ooh, James, that little rascal!" said Sirius.

"James? I've done something with James?!"

"Hm, you mean you don't remember? Were you drunk?" asked Remus.

"I WAS DRUNK?! You mean, Amos got me drunk?!"

"You've done something with Diggory, too?" asked Peter.

"I DID something with Diggory?!"

"And James," Sirius added, thoughtfully.

"AMOS AND JAMES?!" she shrieked.

James walked into the room and raised his eyebrows. He had a tray in his hands with chicken soup with crackers and a glass of water. "Er, what is going on?"

"James, where have you been? We've been wondering where you were..." said Peter.

"I went to the kitchens to nick Evans some food," said James.

"Food for WHAT?! Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean you have to feed me that much more! I mean, it hasn't even been a DAY!" She said. She seemed irrational, and looked, quite frankly, like a mad woman. Her hair was tangled and frizzy, and her eyes were ablaze. She looked unusually pale, and her lips were very chapped.

James almost dropped the tray, and his eyes had gotten to the size of a quaffle. "You're-- YOU'RE PREGNANT?!"

"Gee, mate, that wasn't very nice of you to not use protection last night..." said Sirius.

"Yes, it was pretty low to shag her while she was drunk, in the first place...but to not even provide the protection? You could have STD's, James!" said Remus.

"James, you have STD's?! That means I'm contaminated now too!" said Lily.

"You mean...it's my child? I'm...a father? Wait...just a second! I didn't shag Evans!" he rolled his eyes. "God, you think I'm that much of a pervert? Thanks, Lily, you make me feel loved. You're only up here because you fainted in the hall last night, so I had to carry you back. I obviously couldn't go up the girl's stair case, and you were sick, so I gave you my bed instead and slept on the couch!"

Lily looked at her feet, trying to remember all the events, and laughed nervously when she had finally settled down and remembered everything quite clearly, up to her fainting spell. "So I did? Well...that was nice of you Potter..." she swung her hands from side to side. Peter look like he might just fall over laughing, if he held in his giggles any longer.

"I suppose I'll be going now--"

"Oh, no you don't!" James said, pushing her down on the bed, and throwing the blanket over her legs. "Sit down! You are sick. I brought you soup, so you better eat this damn food I brought you," he said, setting the tray down on her lap, and folding his arms. "Just eat it, and then go to your own dorm. I'd like a rest in my bed as well, you know." There was an awkward pause before he left the room swiftly and went into the bathroom.

By Monday, Lily was feeling much better, though she didn't have any extra time to rest. The teachers had not ceased in the workload, and Lily had a lot to catch up on. Before, she had not been up to it, feeling sick, and mostly sad. But somehow, she felt revived, and not nearly as melancholy as she had before. That night, Lily sat in the common room, and scribbled down a sentence she had spent minutes trying to compose. She immediately scratched it out after writing down the first few words.

"Ugh, no, that's all wrong!" she said, in the common room at one in the morning. Lily had gotten into the habit of talking to herself. She had noticed this, and it only made her more depressed. Her friends did try to become closer to her try to comfort her, but Lily felt as if every time they asked her how she was, or how she was feeling, they were smothering her. They had already tried to help her, and what a disaster that had been. So, Lily had resorted to isolating herself, drowning her thoughts in homework best she could, and simply thinking. Yes...Lily had been doing an awful lot of thinking lately.

James walked down from the stairway to his dorm and saw Lily sitting there, as usual, contemplating and staring idly into the crackling fire. He stared sadly...he had never seen her as sad as this. She had been keeping herself away, not really talking much, and only thinking and doing homework. He had been watching her, though he was embarrassed to admit. He was concerned, after all.

James had come down for his daily midnight snack, but was temporarily distracted from it as he walked over to Evans, without thinking it. Before he could stop himself, and turn around, Lily had turned around, startled to find someone up at this hour. They looked at each other before James cleared his throat, attempting to break the silence he so hated. He was never one for quiet.

"So, Evans...everything alright?"

"Fine, I suppose." was all she said. Everything didn't seem fine to James. Lily wasn't really trying to converse much, so another short silence befell them.

"Er...so. Still trying to be a rule-breaker?" he asked, winking at her slyly. He was grinning slightly, and thought this might cheer her up a bit. Just the notion of trying to make yourself into a rule-breaker. It sounded absurd when you said it out loud. Like he predicted, Lily did crack a small, hardly there, but there all the same, smile.

"Nah. I don't think so. Though I did think it would have been rather fun to do so for a bit longer...too bad," said Lily. She sounded strangely wistful.

James got up, and paused, slightly hesitant. "Well...I've...got to go. You know. Stuff..." He began to walk off, but still seemed reluctant. He finally stopped, and turned around, looking at her earnestly. "Would you like to tag along? It'll be fun." James was possibly the only person on earth who could be both earnest and mischievous looking at the same time.

"Well, I don't know...I've got loads of--"

"Homework can wait! Come on Lily, let's go!" he pleaded. She still shrugged, almost defeated. James grinned, as he knew he had her, and grabbed her arm.

"It'll be good for you to get out."

It was just the kitchens, but still. It was rule-breaking, and James knew Lily had never gone there before. She was a grade-A perfect model student. He dragged her along, and tickled the pear. He pulled open the door and stepped inside the kitchen, almost immediately bombarded with house-elves.

"Hello Sir and Miss! What can Ginger the House Elf get for Sir and Miss?" a small house elf, dressed in a neat little apron and skirt, asked.

"Well, a cup of tea--" Lily began, but was cut off by James.

"Do you guys happen to have a really, really, REALLY big chocolate cake?" He gave a lopsided, charming smile, and one house elf nodded. About two seconds later, five house-elves were zooming to James and Lily, holding up a platter, holding up a larger, five layer, cylindrical cake. It looked absolutely sugar-filled. It looked horrible. But despite it, Lily found herself smiling stupidly.

"You don't think I'm going to eat that do you?" she asked.

"No one said it was for you!" James replied.

"Well, fine then. It's not like I want any, anyways." she said.

"Sir and Miss can eat outside the kitchen door. There is a table there for Sir and Miss!" said Ginger.

James thanked the elves, and walked out, holding the cake precariously, and sitting down at the table, setting the cake down gently. He put a napkin in his lap, took one of the two spoons that were stuck into the cake, and began to eat the cake, exaggerating.

"Mm, this is the best cake, ever! Delicious!" he said, jokingly. Lily rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile. God, he was so stupid.

Lily snatched the spoon up from the cake, but James immediately freaked out. "NO! My CAKE! You can't have any!" he said mock snobbishly.

She ignored him, and tried to take a stab at the cake. He lightly slapped her hand away. She tried again. He lightly slapped her hand away, again. She tried again. Light slap. She tried again. Playful shove. She playfully shoved him back, and soon, James had taken a large chunk of cake into his hands, and threw it right into Lily's face.

For a moment, James looked at her, victorious, while Lily let her mouth hang open in shock. She quickly grabbed her own amount of cake, and threw it right at James face, getting more in his hair than in his face. He was fast to retaliate though, and soon, they were simply throwing delicious chocolate cake at each other. She fell off her chair, and James got up, laughing, taking a large amount of cake with him, and running away.

"Catch me if you can, Evans!" he yelled behind him, running full speed ahead. Lily would not go down that way though, as she grabbed her own portion of cake, and got up, running after him. "Be scared for your life, Potter!" she yelled back.

They ran down the halls, occasionally, throwing pieces of chocolate at the other. Soon, James was pushing through the front doors, running outside into the cool night, spring air. "Hah, Evans, come on!"

She grinned like an idiot, and threw a piece of cake at him, which hit James right in the back. "Agh!" he yelled in surprise. She ran after him, as the wind rushed pass her, and the trees blurred pass. Lily didn't know how fast she was running, but it felt nice to be outside. It didn't feel as confining, and the wind felt nice. She was gaining on Potter...Yes, almost there! Lily jumped on him, tackling him, as he yelped in surprise.

"Whoa, Evans!" he yelled, as she shoved the rest of the cake she was holding into his open mouth.

"Ack!" he choked, as Lily laughed openly and freely. She hadn't laughed this much in ages, it felt, and it was pleasant to feel this free.

They lay there for a few minutes, heaving heavily. They had been running very fast for a while, and were still catching their breath. For a moment, Lily did not realize what sort of suggestive positions he was in. Her legs were entangled with Potter's, she was lying on top of him, hands on his shoulders, and they were both "breathing heavily." Lily progressed to blushing profusely, as her mind in the gutter quickly felt ashamed. She scooted off quickly, muttering "Sorry," and settled for laying beside him in the grass instead.

James didn't mind this sort of silence. It wasn't really silence. It was more of...not needing to talk at the moment. They stayed like that for a while, before Lily sat up slightly. "I think we ought to go in now." She said.

James shrugged, and heaved himself up. He stood for a minute, then put his hand down to help her up. She accepted it, and he clasped her small, delicate hand in his own. She pulled up, and stood, dusting her robes off. They began to walk back to the castle, and Lily sighed. She didn't feel so bad anymore. She didn't feel so smothered. She didn't feel like she had before, and that was enough for her.

"James?" she said.

"Hm?" he said, lazily.

"Thanks."

A/N: Look! Another author's note! Hahaha! =D Did you like the chapter? You best have. There's still more to go, so stay tuned. And review!