A/N: Thank you all for sticking with this story, even though I take a million years to update. I hope it's worth the wait! I think I got this one up here a little quicker than usual, eh? I would like to say Happy Mothers' Day to all those mothers out there, and this chappie is dedicated to my dear mum, whose love for literacy and books was passed on to me. Thanks, mum! And thanks to Jerrygirl for beta-ing.

Disclaimer: Me not JKR. Me not own anything.

Chapter Seven

Not My Lily

Lily immediately began plotting her revenge on James. She spent even more time in the library, which in turn meant that James spent more time there too. James desecrating Lily's haven fueled Lily's anger and helped her forget about the tiny twinges of guilt she felt in regard to James. Gwen was happy to be whisked off to the library between classes and meals.

James was a little concerned about Lily. He didn't think it could be good for one to spend that much time sticking ones nose in the dusty books of the library. He thought she was overworking herself (she always did care too much for schoolwork) so he followed her relentlessly—offering her food and exciting diversions, but she held strong. Often she burst out laughing at the irony of it all. James was checking on her, taking care of her, while she was trying to figure out ways to humiliate him beyond anything he'd ever been subject to before. James thought this spontaneous giggling was another sign of Lily overburdening herself, and persisted in his nursing with growing gusto.

"Gwen, after supper we're—" said Lily, as the pair sat down to begin their evening meal in the Great Hall.

"No, let me guess. After supper we're going to the library," Gwen finished.

"Gwen, this has to be the perfect prank. I want James to—"

"Snog you senseless?" It seemed that Sirius had snuck up behind them. Lily mentally kicked herself for discussing her top secret plans in the Great Hall. Sirius grinned at them and squeezed in between the two girls. Both Gwen and Lily looked disgusted.

"Ugh, Black, put enough cologne on?" Gwen held her nose to signal agreement with Lily's complaint.

"D'you like it? I'm trying to get Melodee Adams from Hufflepuff to notice me, but it's proving harder than I thought…" Sirius glanced at the Hufflepuff table at a beautiful brunette who was obviously trying very hard not to notice Sirius.

"Oh, she will, eventually, and then she'll enjoy a wonderful two weeks with you, then hate you after you break her heart for some other 'hard-to-get' girl," replied Gwen. Gwen was growing more comfortable with her classmates, and Lily was happy for her.

"I will not!" protested Sirius. Lily and Gwen looked at him disbelievingly. "Two weeks? Are you crazy! A girl has never made it that long with me." The looks of disbelief turned into ones of utter loathing. "So, what do you want to do to James? Besides snog him senseless, of course," Sirius asked.

"Just the usual, you know," replied Gwen, quickly.

"Umm…no, I don't know," replied Sirius, being obtuse.

"You don't know much, do you?" snapped Lily, annoyed by his persistence in finding out her top secret plan.

"Ooo…Lily's miffed!" exclaimed Sirius.

"I am not, I'm just tired of you and your nosiness!" she replied, raising her voice. Lily couldn't help getting angry at Sirius—something about him just got on her nerves.

"Well, I am very sorry. I'll just schedule a time for you and James to go at it, then. Are Mondays good for you?

"Black!" yelled Lily, swatting him away violently.

"No need to thank me!" he said as he jumped up from his seat and began to saunter towards his friends. After he left, Lily began to calm down.

"I cannot stand him! How can Remmy be his friend?" fumed Lily.

"Obviously, he sees something in him that we can't see," replied Gwen, perceptively.

"I suppose," sighed Lily, dropping the subject. They finished up their meal and headed to the library. Before they left the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall stopped Lily.

"We will be having our first Prefects meeting tonight at eight o'clock. As Head, arrive a little early." Lily nodded, and turned. "Oh, and Miss Evans?" added Professor McGonagall. "Make sure that Mr. Potter comes too." Lily sighed.

"Yes, professor," she agreed dutifully. It would mean conversing with James, but as it was Head business, she couldn't complain. Gwen and Lily continued to the library, where they quickly sat down in their regular spot. James (with Sirius, Remus and Peter being dragged along) quickly followed and settled down in their regular spot that just happened to be directly across from where Gwen and Lily were seated. James picked up a book to make him appear to be studious while he observed Lily, and Sirius made eyes at Melodee (who just happened to be in the library as well). Remus helped Peter with his Charms homework a few tables away from Sirius and James, knowing that they would prove too much of a distraction for Peter.

"James?" said Sirius, tapping James on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" mumbled James, having been interrupted from a dream where Lily, wearing a flimsy white shirt, had fallen into the Great Lake, and James had to save her from the evil squid.

"I'm going to…go," Sirius said. James looked up.

"Hey, would you look at that…Melodee's gone…funny," James replied, grinning.

"That's interesting." Sirius grinned back. "See you…sometime." Sirius promptly left. James laughed as he watched Sirius hurriedly exit the library. He didn't notice Lily standing in front of him, tapping her foot, until…

"Lily!" he exclaimed, turning around in his chair to face her.

"Potter."

He winced at the cold surname. Using 'James' hadn't lasted very long. He had really thought that Lily and he had something there. Oh, no, that couldn't last. If he was better at containing his arrogance…he never thought before he spoke. That part always came afterwards. Something about Lily made him fall over himself to sound interesting, but interesting usually turned into cocky. James knew that if Lily knew him, the real him, she would at least respect him. That became his new, more attainable goal—to gain Lily's respect. That would be enough.

It wasn't entirely his fault—Lily's dislike for him, that is. She didn't try very hard to like him. What ever happened to forgiving and giving people second chances? James easily forgave her for the time that…err…times that she had ridiculed him, humiliated him and taunted him in front of his peers. The many times she looked at him with utter disgust, the times she falsely accused him of being the cause of numerous problems around the school, the times she had broken his heart, and then all the times that she had given him a small sign that made him hope again, just to be disappointed. What about all of those times?

"Potter? Potter, were you even listening to me?"

Damn… James quickly racked his mind for ways to get out of this unfortunate predicament. Let's see here….why would Lily be talking to him? He hadn't pulled any pranks recently…in fact…he hadn't pulled any pranks this whole year! He'd have to get on to that. Oh, no, wait, he had to impress Lily. No more pranks. Then, he thought of it…the one other thing that Lily would talk to him about.

"Yes, I was listening to you…Head business, right?" James smiled sweetly.

"Err," said Lily, caught off guard. "Yeah, there is a Prefect meeting tonight at eight, but we have to be there a little early because we're Heads and all."

"Of course! How early are you going to go?"

"About a half an hour early, that should be enough time to organize the meeting. I've already started thinking about some of the things I'll comment on, and besides, this is basically going to be run by Professor McGonagall."

"Seven thirty it is, then," replied James.

"Do you want to meet in the common room beforehand?" Lily said without thinking. Then, immediately she began to blush.

"Why?" asked James, genuinely curious.

"Well, it was silly, really, but I thought maybe…we could walk down together. You know, so we can discuss Head business on the way down," she quickly added.

"Err…right," replied James. "Sure."

"Okay, bye!" she said, and quickly rushed back to Gwen's side, still blushing. What had she been thinking? She hated James! He was the same, ignorant prat as he always was…why in the name of Merlin had she asked him to walk down to the meeting with her? This would give him wrong ideas! She didn't like him! Where had that idea even come from? She was going to prank him, not befriend him. She shook her head—she would have to be extremely cold and distant at the meeting in order to make up for this disgusting display of...of…pleasantness towards James.

James, at his own table, was equally puzzled and a little bit angry. Why had she asked him to walk down with her? That was something he was supposed to ask her, and then she would snap back and say no. She didn't like him...she had made that even clearer during the past few days with her constant library study. Plus, from what James could gather from parallel reading, she was studying books like, 101 Ways to Trick an Enemy and Pranking for Dummies, which ultimately meant something extremely unpleasant for him in the future.

Then, as he thought about it more, he got a little upset. The only explanation he could think of was that she enjoyed toying with him! Did she view his affection as some cat and mouse game she would indulge herself in at her whim? Did she enjoy raising his hopes only to dash them on the rocks the next day? Did she really hate him so much that she wanted to make him falsely believe that she loved him in order to hurt him more than he had ever been hurt before? Because out of all the pranks that he had ever heard of, that would definitely be the most painful for him. Worse than falling off a broom, worse than being kicked by a Hippogriff, because unlike all those things, a broken heart was something the school nurse couldn't fix. He glanced over at Lily, who was reading her book, face still slightly flushed. He couldn't believe it. Although Lily didn't like him, she wasn't cruel. She wouldn't do that to anyone, even someone that she hated as much as him. She had to be aware of the gravity of that trick. She had to…he couldn't believe less of his Lily.

No, James reminded himself as he watched Paul sit down in between Lily and Gwen. Not my Lily.

Lily looked up at Paul as he scooted himself in between the two girls. She smiled at him, and then glanced over to Gwen, who was still reading her book.

"Gwen!" Lily whispered as loudly as she could without incurring the wrath of Madam Paroo. Gwen didn't respond for several seconds, and then looked up, surprised to see Paul instead of Lily sitting next to her.

"Oh, hello, Paul!" Gwen said, cheerfully.

"Hello, girls. I was just wondering if I could do my Herbology homework with you two…I am completely lost in this section." It seemed as though Paul had a permanent smile.

"Well, actually," said Lily, "I was just going to head up to my room. But Gwen can certainly help you…she is brilliant at Herbology." Paul nodded and grinned. Lily smiled in return, picked up her books and quickly left the library. She would talk to Gwen about James later; hopefully, because that was something she was extremely confused about. Gwen had such a sensible head on her shoulders, and Lily could tell her everything. Lily was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even notice that a certain bespectacled boy was calling her name. Finally, James caught up to her.

"Lily," he said, his breathing a little heavy. "I need to talk to you." Lily looked at him. She noticed the serious look in his eyes and figured this was something she needed to treat with importance.

"All right, Potter, but can it wait until we're up in the Head rooms? My arms are about to fall off from these books, and I don't think that would make for a very pleasant conversation." James smiled a little and nodded his head.

"Do you want any help carrying them?" he asked.

"No, no, I can manage," said Lily. She didn't need anyone's help, especially James'…err…Potter's. They walked up to the Head rooms in silence, until James said the password and Sir Cadogen's portrait (Sir Cadogen himself was soundly sleeping as a result of too much whisky the night before) swung open and let them in. Lily immediately went into her room and set down all the books before going back into the main room to talk to James. He was sitting down, and his lips were moving as if he was going through an already memorized speech.

"Well?" prompted Lily. He paused for a moment, obviously choosing his words very carefully.

"Why did you ask me to walk with you to the meeting?" Lily flushed slightly, again, and sighed. Why did he have to bring that up? "I don't want to know just to get my ego stroked, or anything, I'm just genuinely confused on why you would do that to me."

"Do what to you?" asked Lily, her turn to be genuinely confused.

"You know…" said James, fumbling slightly. "Toying with my emotions like that." Lily immediately understood. He thought that she was trying to be coy or something to that effect. Lily almost gagged.

"I didn't mean to. I don't know why I asked, it was silly, and I wish I hadn't," she replied, instantly regretting her harsh tone.

"Oh, right, of course," said James. There she went again, dashing his hopes on the rocks!

"Is that it?" asked Lily.

No! James wanted to scream. No, that's not it! You had to have some reason to ask me, what was it? What do you even feel for me, Lily? It changes every second! I don't even know where I stand with you anymore!

"Yeah, that's it," said James, shrugging his shoulders. Lily looked at him, almost to let him give more of an explanation, or maybe ask another question, but he it seemed as though that was really it.

"Okay." Lily turned around and walked into her room, shutting the door behind her. What was that all about? She needed Gwen! She flopped onto her bed, planning on taking a small nap before the meeting. She had been asleep for about ten minutes before she heard a knocking on her door.

"Who is it?" she asked, sleepily.

"Gwen," the voice from behind the door replied. Lily immediately perked up.

"Good! Come in, please," she answered back. The door opened, and Gwen walked in. "I have so much I need to talk to you about!"

"Well, first, let me tell you something exciting. Well, in the library, Paul asked me to Hogsmeade. Isn't that wonderful?" Gwen giggled, just like a little girl.

"That is wonderful!" squealed Lily, happy that her friend was experiencing romance outside of books. "He is a really sweet guy, Gwen, you'll have fun." Gwen grinned.

"I know, I'm happy. I didn't even see that coming, isn't that crazy? Oh, I feel so cliché and glad all at once!" Lily was sure that all the seventh years would be surprised to see Gwen in this state…it was side of Gwen that usually only Lily saw and only in private. Well, actually, she had never seen Gwen exactly like this before…so giggly and girly. It was interesting, and Lily liked it. She needed a little relief from her straight-laced demeanor, and she was sure Gwen felt the same. "Now, what do you need to talk to me about?" asked Gwen, changing slightly from her carefree, happy attitude to a more caring, serious one, although she still had a big grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

"Well, it's about James," sighed Lily. "I don't want you to get the wrong impression--I don't like James or anything…"

"Oh good, I'm glad we're talking about something different today," laughed Gwen. Lily threw a pillow at her. A lot of their talks ended up with Lily ranting about James and his irksome qualities.

"No, I'm serious this time, it's different. I'm not just going to complain about him like I usually do. It's just…you know that meeting tonight? Well, I told him about it, and then I asked him if he wanted to walk down with me! And then just awhile ago, we had a pretty decent conversation." Gwen pretended to faint. "Gwen, stop kidding around, this is serious!"

"I'm sorry, Lily, it's just that you're so funny sometimes! I think what you have to understand is the fact that James isn't all bad or all good. He has some annoying traits about him, sure, but when he tries hard enough, and you don't push him away, you guys can actually get along. You're so obsessed with loathing him that you won't let him change your mind!"

"I will never go out with James, Gwen."

"I know, but I wasn't referring to that, I was just talking about plain getting along! You probably asked him to walk down with you because secretly you enjoy talking to him. I don't know why you spend so much of your energy hating him when it would probably be a lot easier to like him. Do you even really care about pranking him anymore?" Lily thought for a moment.

"Actually, after the first couple days I haven't been feeling very passionate about it," said Lily.

"You just did it because it was routine, or you had decided you were going to do it and you are just too stubborn. But, Lily, you aren't really the kind of person to hate someone, even though you try so hard with James. You have a cheerful and easy disposition, usually, and even though you have your redheaded temper moments, you really like other people and can generally find the good in them. I don't know why it's so different with James. Are you sure it isn't just like the pranking thing…he did something to you long ago, when you first met, that made you not so jovial towards him, but now you keep hating him just because…well, because it's what you've always been doing, and you're too stubborn to change?" Lily inhaled deeply. That was a lot of things to take in all at once.

"I don't really know what to say," replied Lily.

"That's okay," said Gwen. "I kind of gave you a lot at once, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did, but that's good. I think that answered my questions. But if you think that James and I are going to be friends, you're in for a big surprise! He may have some good qualities, although I can't really think of them at the moment, but his arrogance and insecurity definitely outweighs them!" Gwen laughed at her friend, who was already slipping back into her old routine.

"I'm not telling you that you and James should be best friends, I just think you should give him more of a chance. At least give him your respect, Lily."

"Right," replied Lily. "I'll…think about that."

"And if you do ever ditch me for James, I will hex you into the next century!"

"I won't…I promise." Lily reached over and gave her friend a big hug. "Thanks, Gwen. I'll have a lot to think about tonight, I can tell you that much!"

"Glad to be of service, m'lady," Gwen replied. Then, the conversation changed to less serious topics, such as the next Hogsmeade visit and what in the world Gwen was going to wear. While they were talking, Lily kept everything Gwen had shared with her in the back of her head. She would think about it when she was alone, and try to be more civil to James tonight.

As Lily thought on it, she was amazed about how drastically her goals had changed in the past day. She had moved from wanting to inflict upon James the worst humiliation he had ever experienced to trying to give him a chance. What would happen now?

A/N2: Well, that was a longer chapter than usual, right? I thought so. I hope you guys liked it. Please, when you review (see, leaving no if there) comment on how you think I did on the monologue type things of James and Lily. Did I get their feelings right? Also, did Gwen change too quickly from a quiet bookworm to a giggly girl? I tried to make it believable!

A big thank you to:

Lapair: Okay, if I was making a list of my all-time favorite reviews, your review would be numba one. Thank you so much. I hope one day that I will write a novel, and then I'll totally thank you.

Littleone: Wait, are you the same littleone that used to frequent the BILB MB? If not, I'm sorry that I'm crazy. Thank you so much for your review, it was wonderful. If so, hello!

Jerrygirl: No, basically I'm just friends with you so I can feel better about myself. Deal with it. Thanks for your review, and also for beta-ing my chappie. Is the ending a little less cliché?

Not that important: Your wish is my command.

The Flying Moose::glares: And you're always RIGHT! Review faster! Faster!

Herm the bookworm: Tee-hee, I adore your name. Hope you enjoy the update!

Travelledtheworldandthe7seas: Holy crap your name is long. Anyway, I'm glad you like my characters…I'm always a bit wary about bringing in new characters because many times they seem weak, so thank you for reassuring me! Paul is named after Paul McCartney, actually. Not that he was my favorite Beatle, or anything, 'cos Ringo totally was, but I like the name Paul. I don't really know if you wanted to know that but too late now.

Please, if you want to be cool like the rest of these people, REVIEW! And if you are already cool, you need to maintain the coolness by reviewing!