A/N: I have finally updated! Huzzah! Sorry about taking so long. .' Damned writer's block. Thanks much for the reviews! Here are my replies to questions.

The ORIGINAL Meathead:Most ofy our questions are answered in this chapter and others will be ansered in the next chappie or two. )

Silver-Silhouette6: There are a lot of scenes with J/L only coming up. I'd like to answer your other questions but I can't because I have a grand master plan, which cannot be revealed. It includes sequels, maybe a prequel, and maybe a one-shot in the future.

Disclaimer: I admit it! I own Harry Potter! I'm the great J.K. Rowling! --is surrounded by rabid J.K. fans holding sticks-- I-I mean, I'm only a silly fan of her. Heehee. --sweat drop-- Bye! --runs away and is chased by the rabid J.K. fans--

He climbed down a few rocks so he could look her in the eye. "Lily, climb onto my back and I'll carry us both up."

"No, really. I'm fine," she insisted.

"Lily, just climb onto my back. I swear you'll be okay." He grinned. "I've had all my shots."

She allowed herself to smile a little bit. "Fine. But don't make anything of it." She forced herself to let go of the rocks and wrapped her arms around James's neck. She gulped and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Hold on tight and don't look down. I really don't need to be suffocated if you start to freak out. And don't fall asleep either because then you might slip." He looked at her over his shoulder. "You ready?"

Lily managed to nod and burrowed her face into James's neck.

-------------

"So, Amber, how long have you liked Remus?" Sirius asked suddenly. Silence had fallen over those two, while it sounded like Lily and James were keeping up a steady stream of chatter between themselves. James was climbing a little slower, seeing as he was still carrying Lily.

Amber lost her grip on her handhold and her fingernails scrabbled against rock until she got it again. "How long have I what?"

"Liked Rem." He paused to help pull her up.

"Six years," she muttered, knowing that he'd figure it out anyway. Somehow he knew everything.

"Longer than Prongs and Tiger Lily." He grimaced and fought his way over the edge leading to the cave. All of the nights spent running around the forest had finally paid off. He and James had known about the cave before they had spotted it. Many a night the Marauders went into there to check that it was still empty if they ever needed it.

He turned to help Amber, but was surprised to see her sitting next to him comfortably. "I say, that was a long climb. Why didn't we just use magic?" she asked.

"Because James and I said that we were going to make you ladies climb. Work those legs." He pinched her thigh. "Aren't you glad for that workout?"

She was about to retort but James suddenly called out, "Hey! If you two aren't snogging, think you could help me and Lily?"

"Yeah," they both grumbled. They tossed the shrunk backpacks into the cavern and stuck their hands over the edge. Lily had climbed off James and Sirius helped pull her up while Amber helped James.

"Lose some weight, man," she complained to James. "You're Quidditch captain; can't get fat!"

"It's all muscle." James flexed his arm. "What about you, Lils? Any muscle on you?" He poked her in the side.

"No. She's light as a quill," Sirius grumbled. "Makes me jealous."

"Ah, the great things about being small," the red-haired girl sighed.

Everyone laughed and James said, "Okay ladies. There are your bags." He pointed to where Sirius had thrown the pink backpacks. "Go through them and see what's in there. We don't know nor care what's in them."

Amber stood up and brushed dirt off her pants. She looked around the forest and pointed east. "There's a stream, Lils. We can take awash up tomorrow."

"Thank Merlin," the redhead muttered, following Amber into the cave. She called over her shoulder, "You boys can start a fire or something while we set up in here."

Sirius yelled, "Thank you so much, Lily-kins, for assigning us a job so quickly."

"No problem!" came the reply.

He shook his head and stared at James. "Your girl is so bossy."

"I know. She's independent, smart, kind, and beautiful." James's hazel eyes seemed to glaze over. "She's great."

"As long as she dates you soon," Sirius said quietly so the girls wouldn't hear him. "It's killing me to lie to Amber about all this." He looked at Amber, who was laughing at something Lily said. They had been friends for so long; he hoped that she never found out that he had been lying about liking her.

He shook his head and pulled out his wand. "Let's make fire, Ugg," he grunted "caveman" style.

"Make fire so woman-folk no kill us, Erg," James responded, grinning. He pulled out his own wand and both boys said, "Accio wood!"

Piles of wood flew up towards them, a few sticks hitting them. They grimaced and didn't say anything to the laughing girls.

"Just think, Lily, we're stuck all weekend with them," Amber commented. She pretended to faint.

Sirius came up behind her and swept her into his arms. "You know you love it," he said in a low voice.

"Put me down, Siri," she demanded. He shook his head. She wrapped her arms around his neck to balance herself and sighed. "You're so frustrating, you know that?"

He bent down and kissed her quickly on the cheek. "I'm good at it, too," he whispered. He set her down on her feet and joined James, who was stacking the wood several feet inside the cavern.

"Well, that was unexpected," Lily said casually, pulling a blanket out of her backpack. "You have got to be kidding me…" She dug around more in the bag and finally came up with nothing. "I think there's only one blanket in each backpack. That means that we'll have to share with those two." She nodded towards Sirius and James, who were attempting to make a fire by rubbing two sticks together.

"And?" Amber asked, rubbing her cheek with her sleeve. A shiver ran down her back as she watched Sirius give up and light the wood with his wand. James yelped and fell on his behind to avoid being burned.

"Did you not hear me? We have to share blankets with James and Sirius." Lily waved her hand in front of her friend's face. "Are you hearing me?"

"Course I am." She shoved the redhead towards James. "Go snog James or something for a minute while I talk to Siri-kins."

Lily reluctantly joined James and Sirius, said something to Sirius, and took his spot by the fire when he got up. He went over to Amber and, before she could say anything, blurted, "If it's about when I kissed you, sorry. You're too tempting."

Amber blinked and felt a faint blush on her face. "Erm–that's not it, but thanks. I was just wondering how you knew about me liking…you know…"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Can't tell you exactly how I found out, but I can tell you that we–the other Marauders and I–heard you and Lily talking in fifth year about it in the common room. That's why Remus stayed away from you for a few days: because he knew you liked him and he gave up on you in third year."

"He–He used to like me?" she stammered. She mentally kicked herself. If only she had asked him out before third year! "But then…why did he…"

"Shag you?" Sirius completed. She nodded. He gave a half-shrug. "Dunno. He never told us anything except that you both agreed it was a mistake."

FLASHBACK

In the morning, Amber awoke to find herself in an unfamiliar room. She sat up and looked around before remembering the night before. She smiled slightly and reached for her clothes.

Remus must have already woken up, Amber thought as she stared around the guest bedroom. Sirius was probably going to have a fit when he found out that she and Remus had slept together in his house, but she couldn't care less. She went down the stairs and was met by the smell of bacon. She followed her nose to the kitchen where she found Remus cooking.

"Good morning," she said, trying to sound casual.

"Morning," he replied absently. He placed some bacon on a plate next to some eggs. "I was about to come upstairs to get you." He cleared his throat. "I–uh–need to talk to you. About last night."

Amber shot him a puzzled look. His tone didn't suggest that he wanted to ask her out like she hoped.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out suddenly. "Complete and total accident. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't mean for that to happen."

She stared at him in shock. His words echoed in her head. "I didn't mean for that to happen." It took all her strength to keep from bursting into tears. She cared about him so much, had been so happy when their lips met. And now this. It was a slap to the face.

She realized Remus was looking stressed and put a smile on her face. "Totally okay, Remus. I wasn't thinking either."

He smiled back and held out his hand. "Still friends?"

"Always." She clasped his hand in hers and felt the familiar tingle run up her spine when she touched him. Her feelings for him were still strong.

END FLASHBACK

"I think I'm getting over him, but it's hard to let feelings go," Amber said quietly, not looking at Sirius. "Little over six years have passed since I got a crush on him, and my feelings got stronger every year. When you and I dated on and off, the entire time I would imagine that you were him." She grinned sheepishly at the ground.

Sirius frowned for a moment. Things were going to be difficult if she still cared about Remus so strongly. And he still wasn't used to being rejected. "But now, maybe you and I could have a chance. I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment; just a chance to date you for real," he said softly, putting his hand under her chin and making her look at him. He smiled. "I care about you a lot." As a friend, a little voice in the back of his mind said tauntingly. To silence it, he bent down and placed a kiss on her lips.

Although it was meant to be a simple kiss, Sirius couldn't help himself when he felt her lips under his. He wrapped her arms around her slender waist and she didn't pull away. He felt her emotional distress, her searching for an escape to run from everything. The little nagging voice in his head told him that he shouldn't be playing on her emotions like this, that he needed to wait for when she wasn't so upset about memories. But he couldn't.

His kiss involved nothing but his lips, but it was more than enough. Small shivers shot up her spine.After a number of kisses, his tongue gently ran across her bottom lip.Although her mouth opened, he never entered. A small part of her was thankful because she couldn't think. Sirius's hands started to slip up her shirt, but she pulled away suddenly. "James and Lily are still here, Sirius," she said quietly.

"That would be rather kinky, wouldn't it?" He grinned wolfishly at her.

She grinned back. "But I wouldn't want you to be embarrassed in front of your best mate and my best mate."

Sirius held a hand over his heart. "Touché, Mademoiselle Amber. I have been wounded."

"Sirius, d'you want to go out with me?" she asked.

He gaped at her. "I've been asking you out for weeks and now you're asking me?"

"Yep."

"Sure."

"Sirius! Amber! If you're done, get over here!" James yelled, waving them over. When they reached him and Lily he said, "We've been discussing sleeping arrangements."

"There's only one blanket in each backpack, as I said to Amber before," Lily interjected. "So it'd be easier for two blankets to be on the ground and we share the other two."

"Which means we have to find someway to stay comfortable," James added. "We thought it might be a little uncomfortable for you two girls to sleep in the middle, and the same with me and Sirius. So we decided to sleep boy, girl, boy, girl."

"How about James, Lily, me, Amber?" Sirius suggested. "Lily's the smallest so I don't think we'll squish her. Amber?"

She shrugged. "Fine with me."

"I don't mind. As long as James doesn't touch me purposely." Lily gave him a warning look, but it seemed almost softer than her usual glare.

"Can I?" Sirius asked jokingly, grinning.

"I'll kill you," both girls said at the same time.

"Ooh, the witches are being witchy," he teased. James playfully slapped him on the back of the head.

"The only thing left is sleep." Sirius stood and stretched. His back audibly popped several times. "We need to get up bright and early to go fishing."

Lily pulled a face. "I can't believe we have to hunt. Can't we eat veggies instead?" Everyone stared at her. "What? Roots, berries, and such are good for you."

"You can get a salad, friend," said Amber, pulling the other girl to her feet. She smoothed her brown hair and did the same to Sirius. "You need a haircut," she decided. "Seriously, Sirius." She gave a half-grin.

The four arranged the blankets so they could all have some space if needed and so James and Amber wouldn't roll out from under the blankets. The boys fell asleep almost instantly, but Lily and Amber stayed awake.

"Amber?" Lily said after a while, putting her elbows on Sirius's chest and looking at her friend.

"Hm?" the other girl replied, half-asleep.

"Who do you like: Remus or Sirius?"

Now Amber was awake. She propped herself up on an elbow and stared. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're–no offense–slightly obsessive when it comes to Remus, but I heard you agree to go out with Sirius. Why?"

"I haven't told him it'll be the usual two weeks unless I feel differently about him. Besides, I told you, Patty, and Sammy on the train I'm starting to lose my feelings for Remus. Maybe being with Sirius will be good for me."

"I hope so. No offense again, but I don't think that you and Remus would make a great couple. You're…outgoing and crazy and he's quiet and studious. It'd be like me going out with Potter." She cast a disgusted look over her shoulder at James's sleeping form. He was close to rolling over on top of his glasses so she moved them without thinking about it.

Amber raised her eyebrows. "That was an awfully nice thing to do for someone you claim to hate," she said in an almost singsong voice.

"I just don't want to hear him gripe," Lily said nonchalantly. "Well, I guess we'd better get to sleep. Goodnight, Am."

"Goodnight, Lils." Amber flipped back over with her back to Sirius. When she heard Lily's deep breathing joined with the boys' (thank goodness they didn't snore) she turned onto her other side and watched Sirius sleep. He was lying on his back, one arm on his stomach and the other on the ground. She gently kissed his lips and felt…nothing. Her own lips curled into a smile. Good. That was the way she wanted it.

Sirius would be a pawn in a game similar to James's. She knew how close he was with Remus. Maybe, just maybe, Sirius would talk about her to Remus and Remus would like her again. Not very likely, but she could try. In the meantime, she would act as if she did like him. She curled up close to Sirius and fell asleep on his shoulder.

A/N: Two plots to get certain people to like certain people. Ought to be interesting. Review! And I'm asking this question way in advance: Would you like to meet Amber's father, whom she hasn't seen since she was a month old? It won't happen in the next few chapters, but eventually would you? I won't guarantee that your responses will affect my decision (heck, I haven't decided if I want him in here) but it probably will. Review with your answer!