A/N: OH MY GRACIOUS GOODNESS!!!! I have over a hundred reviews ALREADY? And that was only the 8th chapter! Not that I'm complaining . . . It's just (teary eyes) you all are the best!

Jinger: Oh, oops! Was the romance taking too long for you? heehee. Sorry! And I'm glad you like the plot!

Angel Black1: Hi! Haven't heard from you in a few chapters . . . Thanks. I really work hard when it comes to characterizing and humanizing my characters. Well, heh, not MY characters, but you know what I mean. So thanks!

animalluvr75: Thanks! I'm glad you were amused. And yes, a few other people have told me that. Heehee. I like to be original! Did you notice, tho, that I try to make the titles go with the chapters? Hmm, maybe I'm not doing it very well . . . Oh well, at least they're amusing.

Lyss: Sexual innuendo? (looks innocent) Well, I was talking about the STAG, not the HUMAN! Haha . . .

Sarah Warder: Whoa. Calm down. I assure you will get your turn to ride all of them. I'm sure no one would object . . . Well, maybe Remus would. Heehee!

anniePADFOOT: Quite alright. I get lazy sometimes too! Yes, Sirius is a bit predictable, isn't he? Thanks a lot!

Nikki: I know this really good personal trainer . . . Heehee! Thanks!

shrk-bait: Thanks a lot! It means so much to me! And please write more of your story! It's really good!

Kerichi: Oh, but I like to see them suffer (whines). Oh, well, you're right! Thank you. I'm glad you like it!

libyanauthor: Me too! Me too! Thanks a lot! Different is a good thing!

Quiteona: Don't thank me; I loved reading it! Your fic was wonderful! Please write more in the VERY NEAR future! And thank you so much!

patty: Thanks mucho!

Mary Jane Black: Oh, you dirty dirty girl! Heehee!

chalicity: I REALLY like your penname. It just rolls off of my tongue . . . Heehee, I was TOO entertained when I wrote it, so I'm glad you enjoyed! And thanks for the cookie! (It was chocolate chip, right?)

sunni07: So would I! WHAT? YOUR FAVORITES LIST??? REALLY? (tears well up in eyes) THANK YOU SO MUCH!

bubblesara: That's so cute! Thanks a lot!

Revi: Heehee. You quoted me. And about that whole riding thing . . . Yeah, looks like there's a waiting list . . . lol – Snape with greasy monkeys! Hilarious! (although I do kinda like him a little)

holly-evans: Thank you! Did you read it all in one go?

jess131346: Glad you loved it! Although, you're another one that's rather dirty . . .

COME ON, PEOPLE! I MEANT THE STAG, NOT THE PERSON! (LOL, yeah right. Am I really that transparent?)

---

Disclaimer: It's kind of obvious by now.

Chapter Nine – Da Ba Da

"She said, yes!?" Sirius exclaimed, in shock. He pretended to faint, and fell over backwards out of his chair, landing on an equally shocked-looking Peter.

Remus shook his head in disbelief, "Are you serious?"

"No, I am!" Sirius said, apparently having recovered. He grinned at James as Remus rolled his eyes at the lame joke.

James motioned for them to be quiet. A few of their classmates were looking at them rather curiously, but up front (where Lily and her friends sat) Professor McGonagall hadn't yet noticed.

James lowered his voice to a whisper. "Yeah, I'm serious. She said, yes." He grinned. "You think that means she's forgiven me?"

"Possibly," Remus said, smiling.

"I thought you didn't like Evans," Peter interrupted. "I thought you two argued all the time. Now you guys are dating?"

James glared at him ferociously. "I am NOT dating Evans, Pete!"

"James," Remus said, a warning note in his voice, "M-maybe you should lower – "

"But you hang out with her all the time, now," Peter pointed out. "And you always blush whenever any of us says her name, just like Sirius does whenever there's a girl around that he fancies."

"Peter – " Remus whispered.

"I do not blush!" Sirius insisted, his cheeks beginning to color. "Don't bring me into this! Just because James plainly fancies Evans - !"

"Sirius!" Remus hissed.

"I DON'T FANCY EVANS!" James exclaimed. His face was beginning to resemble a tomato.

"Mr. Potter!" Professor McGonagall's angry voice came from right beside him.

James froze, then inched his head to look up at his seething teacher. He smiled, sheepishly.

"I'm sure Ms. Evans will be brokenhearted enough as it is to know that you don't fancy her, but really, is there a need to shout it to the heavens while you are located in my classroom!?" she said, angrily.

James turned bright red. Had he really been talking that loud? He peered around where Lily sat, and saw that her face was as crimson as Sirius's was, and she was staring down at her desk. Apparently so.

"Sorry, Professor," he said, meekly. "It won't happen again."

"Ten points from Gryffindor for interrupting my class."

---

Lily stared down at her desk, feeling more embarrassed than ever. She had given up listening to Professor McGonagall, and she was now fervently wishing for the class to be over.

After what seemed to be an hour, but was really only ten minutes, the last class of the day was released, and without waiting for her friends, Lily was the first one out of the door. She headed straight to the common room, opting to go down for dinner once everyone else was done.

She sighed, after having settled herself down on one of the couches. "I don't know why I ever got involved with Potter, anyway," she whispered to herself.

"Lily, sweetums, why aren't you down at dinner with your knight in shining armor?" Sirius's voice floated down to her from above.

Lily jerked her head up and stared at him. He was grinning down at her from the top of the couch. Lily glared. "He is NOT my knight in shining armor, Black. He doesn't fancy me, remember?"

Sirius smiled. "So it the love one-sided, then?"

Lily turned purple. "What!? That's ridiculous! I'm not in love with him! Black, this is Potter! James Potter! We argue all the time, it's impossible for us to get along, he's got the mind of a two-year-old – "

"- and the body of a god?" Sirius finished.

Lily gaped at him. Sirius grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "You tend to notice things in those showers," he said, suggestively.

"That's gross!" she exclaimed. "You stare at your friends in the shower!?"

Sirius frowned. "No. I don't stare. I just kind of . . . look . . . for a very long time, without blinking."

"Are you serious!?" she said, looking a bit sick. "Wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know." She got up off the couch and headed for the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, confused. "I haven't described Remus, yet!"

"Dinner," Lily said, disgustedly. "Anything's better than sitting here, and listening to you talk about your ogling habits!"

Sirius grinned as he watched her walk away, then he headed up to his dormitory. "Good," he said to himself, as he collected all of the fireworks he could find. "Better to have no witnesses."

He whistled as he walked back down to the common room and made his way through the portrait hole. "After all, what's dinner without pretty lights?"

---

James waited nervously by the portrait hole clad in his invisibility cloak. It was twenty passed ten and Lily hadn't shown yet. It wasn't like her to be late for anything. James sighed. 'You prick!' he thought to himself. 'You've gone and mucked it all up! She's not coming, now.'

Dejectedly, he whipped the cloak off, and headed up to the boys' dormitories. He pushed the door open and was greeted by his friends' confused faces.

"Why are you here?" Peter asked.

Sirius and Remus frowned. "Back so soon?" Sirius said.

James nodded. Without a word, he avoided their questioning gazes, and headed towards his bed.

---

Lily checked her watch, and her stomach flipped over. It was twenty past the time she was supposed to meet James, and her dorm mates were STILL awake. They were lying there, talking and giggling to each other. Lily silently cursed them.

She slid out of bed, and started to walk towards the door, hoping they wouldn't notice her leaving. Fat chance.

"Where are you going, Lils?" Kat asked, grinning.

"Sneaking out to meet a guy!" a giggly roommate of hers, said.

Lily scowled. "Not in your wildest dreams," she retorted, her face burning. "I simply can't sleep, so I'm going to go read for a while."

"Without a book?" Pat asked, grinning.

"I left one down in the common room," Lily lied, stiffly.

The girls all rolled their eyes. "Have fun, luv!" Pat said, waving as Lily left the room.

Lily flew down the stairs, hoping against hope that James was still there, and that he didn't think she was standing him up or anything. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and looked around the common room. No one.

'But that doesn't mean anything,' she told herself. 'He could always be under his invisibility cloak, or something.'

"Potter!" she whispered, as loudly as she dared. "James! Are you in here?" She waited. There was no answer.

She crossed the common room and peered up the boys' staircases. "James?" she said, softly. She took a deep breath and started to climb the stairs. 'This is so against the rules,' she thought.

It was dark in the boys' hallway. Other than that, it looked exactly like the girls' dormitories. Except, it was the opposite. So Lily had a pretty good idea where the Marauders' dormitory would be.

Taking another deep breath, she continued to climb the stairs until she came to a closed door with a sign on it that read, "Enter at your own risk. Don't say we didn't warn you." She smiled. It was Remus's handwriting.

She knocked on the door after a moment's hesitation. For a second, she thought she heard whispering inside, and then everything was quiet. A moment later, the door was yanked open by a shirtless Sirius. He grinned when he saw that it was Lily, and his grin widened when she blushed.

"Why, hello there, beautiful," he said, still smiling. "I suppose you're here for a ride?" He started laughing at his own joke.

"Not funny," Lily snapped. "Do you know how wrong that sounds?"

"Yes," he said, without hesitation, still laughing.

He was annoying her, greatly. "Black, are you going to get James, or just stand there and laugh at me all night?" Lily asked, irritated.

"You must really want that ride, huh?" Sirius grinned.

Lily glared at him, and then suddenly pushed past him into the room. "Hey!" he said, caught off guard.

"Lily?" Remus asked, looking up from a book he was reading. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi," she said, tightly, surveying the room. There were four beds. Peter was sitting in one, another (which she assumed was Sirius's) had candy all over it, and Remus was laying on his stomach reading a book on one. The fourth one had the curtains drawn around it. The floor was covered in clothes and all sorts of things that weren't allowed, and recognizable from Zonko's Joke Shop.

"Is James here?" she asked, hesitating a bit.

"Yeah," Remus said. "He's in there. I think he's asleep, though."

"Oh," she said, trying to hide her disappointment. "Did he – did he mention anything about meeting me tonight?"

Remus, Sirius, and Peter all exchanged furtive glances. They weren't quite sure what to say. Finally, Sirius went over to James's curtains and pulled them back, revealing a wide-awake surprised-looking (and also shirtless) James. "Hey!" he exclaimed.

"Were you awake this whole time?" Remus asked, incredulously.

James didn't answer him. Instead, his gaze slid to Lily, who was looking rather uncomfortable by this time. "Hey, Lily," he said, also feeling uncomfortable because of his roommates eyes on them. "I thought you decided not to come."

"My roommates were holding me up. I had to wait for them to fall asleep," she said, gazing at him. She suddenly blushed, and stared at the floor. "I'm Headgirl, you know. I can't just go sneaking off into the night to meet a guy."

"Oh," James said, for lack of anything better to say. "Right. Well, do you want to go now, then?"

"Actually," she said, glancing around the room. "I think . . . I should just go back to bed. There is a test tomorrow, you know. Charms." Her face was flushed. It seemed like she was trying to avoid eye contact with him. "See you," said, practically racing for the door.

Sirius leaned out and called, "If you don't want to ride James, Evans, I'm always available!"

"Shut it, Padfoot!" James said, angrily, his face turning red again. "Why do you always have to do that?"

"Do what, mate?" Sirius said. "I'm just trying to get you to admit that you LIKE her. It would make everyone's lives a lot easier." Remus and Peter both nodded their agreement.

James rolled his eyes and lay back down on his bed. "Whatever, Sirius."

---

"So, who's the guy?" a girl named Andrea asked Lily the next morning, causing her to choke on her pumpkin juice. Kat thumped her on the back.

"What guy?" Lily said, staring at Andrea.

Andrea grinned, and was soon joined by a girl named Holly.

"Hey, Lily!" Holly said, smiling. "Is it a habit of yours to sneak up to the boys' dormitories in the middle of the night?"

Lily's froze. "What are you talking about?" she said, trying to breathe.

"A first year girl was on her way down to the common room last night," Pat informed Lily. She had just joined the table. "She left something on one of the tables, and apparently she saw you heading up the to the boys' dormitories. I would have told you this morning, but you split before we were up."

"Oooh! Going to meet your lover this morning, too?" Holly said, beaming.

"No!" Lily said. "I don't have a lover! This is stupid. She can't have seen me last night, because . . . because I wasn't – "

"You definitely went down to the common room a little before that," Kat said. "We watched you leave." Her other roommates all agreed.

"That doesn't mean I was sneaking up to the boys' dormitories. How do you know I wasn't sitting facing the fire, or something? Those chair backs are pretty high," Lily argued. She stood up and started to gather her things to leave.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asked. "Class doesn't start for another forty- five minutes."

"Probably to meet her secret lover!" Holly screamed. The other girls, save for Kat and Pat, all shrieked in glee.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Honestly! I don't have a lover! You're making things up!" she hurried out of the Great Hall before anyone else could say anything to her.

---

"Sirius! Did you hear?" a blonde looking Hufflepuff ran up to Sirius and draped herself around him, much to the fury of Pat sitting farther down the Gryffindor table.

Sirius, however, didn't appear to notice. "Did I hear what?" he asked, making no attempt to remove the girl from around him.

"Lily Evans is having a secret affair!" the girl screeched. "Isn't that romantic?"

Across from Sirius, James started to choke on his food, and Remus thumped him on the back. "What?" Sirius asked, trying to distract the girl from James. "How do you know that?"

The girl turned her bright blue eyes back to Sirius. "Well, last night, someone saw her sneaking up to the boys' dormitories. No one knows what dormitory she went in, though. It's a mystery! And she refuses to tell anyone."

"That doesn't necessarily mean she's having an affair," Remus pointed out.

The girl glared. "It doesn't mean she ISN'T," she said. "And how would you know?" the girl asked, curiously. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Unless YOU'RE the guy she's having the affair with!"

Remus turned scarlet. "Wh-what? No, I'm not!"

"You WOULD deny it!" the girl shrieked.

Sirius laughed and James was pissed. The girl looked absolutely delighted, and Peter and Remus each looked equally stunned. "Listen here, you!" James said, grabbing her arm before she could wander off and tell all of her friends. "Lily Evans is NOT having an affair with Remus, that much I can assure you."

"So is it you, then?" the girl demanded to know.

"NO!" James shouted, exasperatedly. "She's not having an affair at all!"

"Then, why was she sneaking up to the boys' dormitories, huh? Answer me that!" the girl said, triumphantly.

James glared at her. "It's none of your business!" he snapped.

"Yours, neither!" the girl argued.

"It is, too, mine! She was coming to visit ME!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted saying them. "No . . . that's- that's not what I meant . . ."

"WHAT!?" the girl gasped. Twisting her arm from James's grasp, she ran off towards the Hufflepuff table.

James watched her go, his panic level rising. His stomach was clenched with nerves.

"Wow, Prongs," Peter said. "You've really put your foot in it this time."

James groaned, putting his head in his hands. What would Lily do when she found out?

---

A/N: Aww, all of you who were looking forward to Lily riding James, I'm sorry! This was part of the plotline. She'll ride him eventually, okay, and I promise you you'll like it when she does. I was looking forward to it, too, but then this idea struck me, and I just had to write it down . . .

Anyways, Review Please!

Ariana S.