A/N: {looks nervously around for the mob of furious readers} Okay. I'm really, really bad at updating. Terrible. But, as penance, I made this chapter longer than usual and put plenty of L/J stuff in there, along with some Quidditch. We're getting closer to the end, thank God. Maybe after this is finished, I can actually have a life. (gulps as the mob appears) Hey, can't I get a reprieve? I did update!

When Lily and James finally came back to the common room, Sirius was still there, along with Remus and Peter.

Lily, turning pink, turned to James and muttered, "I'm going to go upstairs." She slipped up the stairs for the girls' dormitory.

Sirius flopped into a chair. "This has been a horrible day."

James sighed gloomily. "No kidding." He sat down into a chair and gave his friend a dark look. "I'd hex you for hurting Lily, but she said not to. Besides, we need you for Quidditch."

"You know," Sirius said in an aggrieved tone, "I'm the real victim here…"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, I'm sure sneaking around and snogging Arabella was just so traumatic for you."

Sirius grinned. "No, actually, that part was rather nice. The part where she would always run off wasn't so nice."

Peter considered. "So you've snogged one of the most gorgeous girls at Hogwarts, and you've got her and the other most gorgeous girl in Hogwarts madly in love with you." He looked at Sirius. "What part are you complaining about again?" He snorted. "Quite frankly, your life's perfect. You've got two beautiful girls fighting over you, and you didn't even do anything wrong. What's to complain about?"

Remus whacked Peter over the head. "That's for being an idiot," he snapped.

Without warning, James whacked Sirius over the head too. "Ow! What was that for?" Sirius demanded, rubbing his head.

James glared. "For having the perfect life."

~*~

"I wish you'd told me."

Arabella looked up. "I know. I know, and I'm so sorry…"

Lily nodded. After a moment, she sat down next to Arabella on the bed. She looked over at Frank. "It's okay, Frank. I'm not going to kill her. Did you seriously think I would?"

"No, but I thought you'd be yelling and throwing things," Frank muttered.

"So, you don't completely hate me?" Arabella asked in a small voice.

"Can't hate you," Lily muttered. "Five years of friendship saw to that. Mostly I'm just confused." She wrinkled her nose. "Very confused."

Frank snorted. "You're not the only one. I've been here for ages and I still haven't gotten the story yet."

Lily gave Arabella a questioning look, and Arabella flushed. "I…er…was a little upset and Frank had to calm me down. I never got around to explaining anything to him."

"So…can you explain now?" Lily asked.

Arabella nodded. "It's the least I can do, right?"

Frank sat down across from the two girls and pulled out a bag of sweets. "I have a feeling this is going to take a while," he said, and handed the bag to Lily. "Chocolate?"

~*~

"Good Lord," Frank muttered.

"I know," Arabella muttered. "The whole thing's just so ridiculous…"

"You know what you have to do, right?" Lily asked.

"Other than beg for your forgiveness?" Arabella asked.

Lily grinned. "Well, other than that. But then you've got to break up with Liam and talk to Sirius."

"Oh," Arabella muttered. "Can't I just skip that part?" Frank and Lily looked at her. "Didn't think so," Arabella said morosely.

~*~

"It's really nice of you to be so worried about Lily," Remus remarked casually.

"She's a friend," James said, scowling.

"I'm your friend too, and I don't see you helping me in my time of need!" Sirius whined.

"Yeah, well, you're a prat. Lily's nice." James growled.

"Hmm."

"What was that?" James asked, turning to Remus.

"Nothing," Remus insisted loftily, putting his best innocent face on, which was a rather good one, having been carefully cultivated for the past five years.

"That was not nothing," James said. "That was something."

Remus sighed. "Okay, fine. Prongs, do you like Lily?" Peter and Sirius both stared at Remus, then whirled around to James.

James's eyes widened, but he said, "Of course I like Lily. She's great and she's a good friend."

"No," Remus said patiently, "I mean—"

"What he means is," Sirius said impatiently, leaning forward, " do you fancy the girl or not?" His blue eyes were sparkling now in curiosity.

"That's—that's insane," James sputtered. "I mean, we're—we're teammates, and friends and—and do you know how many guys are lining up to date her?"

Peter's eyes were as round as saucers. "You do like her," he declared in a tone of awe.

James was turning red. "Oh, bloody hell, haven't you heard a word I've said? I don't fancy Lily. I don't!"

Remus just looked at him. "James."

"Oh, sod off," James muttered, petulantly sitting back in his chair.

"Let me see if I've got this straight," Sirius said. "You fancy Lily, kept it a secret from me, and have the gall to complain when I have a few secrets of my own?"

"Hey, hey, I didn't lie. I just left that part out of our conversations," James protested.

"So you admit you fancy Lily, then!" Sirius said, triumphant.

James groaned and Peter and Remus burst out laughing.

~*~

"Look, why don't you ask her out?" Sirius asked the next day. "I mean, it's obvious she likes you…why, I can't possibly imagine, but she does. So go for it already. I mean, all this tiptoeing around the issue…it's already driving me nuts and I only really knew about this for one day."

"And what was the thing between you and Arabella?" James retorted. "That was nothing but tiptoeing around the issue!"

"Did you see either one of us tiptoeing?" Sirius asked. "I mean, either we were snogging in secret or fighting in public. There was no tiptoeing involved. Just the snogging, " here he smiled wolfishly, "which was very nice, and the fighting, which was rather fun too."

"You scare me a little sometimes, you know that?" James asked.

Sirius let out a sigh. "Well, it's over now. After last night's fiasco, Bella isn't even going to let herself look at me."

"At least you got to snog her," James said gloomily. "And tell her how you felt and…and you know she feels the same way."

Sirius looked at James. "You know, I don't think Lily was ever really all that into me," he said. "I mean, she always hung around you so much…a lot more than she ever did with me."

"Yeah, but half the time we were talking about you," James pointed out. "Besides, I've got half the school to compete with. You've just got Liam, and he's a wanker besides. Not exactly that much competition."

"Yeah, but Arabella isn't even talking to me," Sirius pointed out as they entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

Just then, Arabella walked up to Sirius, looking nervous but determined. "Um, Sirius, d'you mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

James leaned in and muttered, "What was that again?"

Sirius looked more than a little surprised as he said, "Um, yeah, absolutely."

"Well, I think the porridge looks especially good today," James remarked, "so I think I'm going to try it.  Oh, and Sirius, we have practice later today, so don't forget—"

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Sirius said, not looking at him. James smirked and walked over to the seat next to Lily. "Hey."

She didn't look up from the paper, "Hello, James."

Yeah, sure, she's madly in love with me all right. "Everything all right?" James asked as he buttered his toast.

Lily looked up. "Oh, well, not really." At James's quick glance to where Sirius and Arabella were talking quietly, Lily said, "No, it's not about them, just…" She showed James the newspaper.

"Four Found Dead In Home," James read. "What, does this have something to do with the Death Eaters?"

"Yeah," Lily said sadly. "This Muggle-born wizard was visiting his family and…they just attacked, without warning…his little brother was just seven…"

James's stomach clenched. "That's…"

"Horrible," Lily finished for him. "And I was just thinking about my family…and how I'm putting them at risk…" Lily's worried eyes turned onto James. "James…did I do the right thing when I came to Hogwarts and became a witch? I mean, I was so curious and I wanted to really belong, but…"

"Of course you did," James told her. "Look, you've been a witch since the day you were born. That's not something you can change. And your family knows that, and they've accepted it."

"You haven't met Petunia," Lily muttered, then smiled at him. "Listen to me babble on and on. Don't you ever get sick of listening to me whine all the time?"

"No," James said honestly. "I like helping you."

"That's sweet," Lily said, smiling. "I am going to have to get you a huge birthday present. How would you feel about getting your own country?"

James wrinkled his nose. "Too much hassle and politics."

Lily laughed. "Guess I'll just have to think of something else then."

I'd settle for a date. Or even a kiss.

~*~

"Lily!"

Lily turned to see Julian Grey running up to her. "Um, hello, Julian," she said. Julian, who was a 6th year Ravenclaw prefect, grinned down at her.

"About to start practice?"

Lily looked down at her red and gold robes and the broomstick in her hand. "Er, yeah."

"Obviously, huh?" Julian said, laughing at himself. "Look, Lily, about this ball that's coming up, Longbottom said you didn't have a date yet…"

Lily's eyes widened in shock. Merlin help her, she'd thought Frank was joking. "Well, that's—that's true, but—"

"So, d'you want to go with me then?"

This was not happening. Julian was a prefect, a year older…"Well, I haven't really thought about the ball really…"

Julian's toothy grin widened as he said, "Well, maybe you should think about it then." He stepped closer to her, and Lily caught a whiff of his rather strong cologne.

"Um…"

"Lily!" James called out. "We've got practice!"

Lily almost sighed in relief, but caught herself, realizing that would be rude. "I've got to go, Julian, but um, I'll get back to you, okay?" Without a backward glance, she jogged over to where James was waiting.

"What was that about?" James asked. "Did he want our plays or something?"

"No, he just wanted to ask me to the ball," Lily said, trying to remain calm.

"He what?"

"Not so loud!" Lily hissed. "And yeah, it threw me for a loop too."

"Does that wanker realize how inappropriate that is?"

Lily looked at him in surprise. "I wasn't exactly thrilled, but what's so inappropriate about it?"

"He's—he's older," James sputtered, "and doesn't he realize that we're about to cream his House in the next match? He's trying to shake you up, make you lose your focus, that git…"

"Thanks," Lily said dryly. "I suppose it never occurred to you that he might just like me?"

James's jaw dropped and he looked mortified. "That's not what I meant, it's just…he's so smarmy and you could do a lot better, that's all. Really."

Lily softened. "Okay. Let's get started," she suggested as she mounted her broom. "Wouldn't want to lose against Ravenclaw, would we?" With that, she kicked off and took to the air. "Hey, Melissa, hand me the ball!"

~*~

"Hey, Lily," Sirius said as he flew over to Lily on his broomstick.

Lily looked up and pushed away some hair that had blown into her face. "Oh, hey."

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his Quidditch robes. "So, um, Bella told me that you were the one who convinced her to talk to me and I just…wanted to say thanks."

Lily smiled. "No problem."

"And I'm sorry if I caused any hassle or problems—"

"Oh, no, no, you didn't," Lily said, rushing to cut Sirius off. Her cheeks flushed at the memory of her running off after catching Arabella and Sirius together. "Seriously. I'm all right now. Besides, I can't figure out why I didn't see it sooner…you two just fought way too much."

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, those were the days."

Lily laughed. "Er, Sirius, I don't think you and Arabella are done fighting just yet, if ever."

Sirius' grin grew even wider. "That's part of the fun."

Lily laughed harder. "You two really are made for each other."

"You're really okay?" Sirius asked.

"What, surprised I can get over you that quickly?" Lily asked, smiling.

Sirius's eyebrows raised. "Considering half the school's after you, I should hope so."

Lily groaned. "Don't remind me. I had Julian Grey approach me today. Julian Grey. James nearly had a fit when I told him."

"Yeah, he would," Sirius muttered.

"What?"

"Watch it!" Matt howled as he zoomed between the two. "I've nearly got—oh, blast it, it's gone again…"

"Matt, for the love of God, watch where you're going!" Sirius howled. "He's going to kill somebody one of these days…"

"Black!" Rebecca roared. "If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could help me fend off these Bludgers, considering it's your bleeding JOB?"

"Right!" Sirius said, whisking off.

"Lily! Come over here and help us beat up Adam!"

"Oh, come on, don't gang up on me—"

"That's our job, Adam, in case you haven't realized it yet. Do you need me to walk you through the rules again?"

"Ha, ha, very funny, Pot—HEY! Evans! That's not fair! I was distracted!"

"Well, you should have been paying better attention then."

~*~

"Julian Grey? Eurgh."

"My feelings exactly," Lily said as she went over to the girls' locker room. "This is just so odd…I'm the same girl I was before I joined the team. Why is everyone treating me differently? I mean, at the beginning of the year Julian didn't even look at me twice, and now he's asking me out."

"That sounds rather hypocritical," Rebecca remarked as she started to take off her guards. "And it also sounds exactly like what Julian would do."

"Anyway, have you decided on who you are going with?" Melissa asked.

Lily shrugged. "At this point, I just want to have a good time and be comfortable with whoever I'm with. I don't want to have to think about what to say ahead of time and how to act…"

"Then take a friend," Melissa suggested.

Lily furrowed her forehead. "That's not a bad idea, actually…"

"Of course it's not, I came up with it," Melissa joked, putting away her broomstick.

~*~

"James?" Lily said as she sat down next to James at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, Lily?" James asked as he started to take a sip of his pumpkin juice. Please, please let her say she slapped Julian. Or better yet, she hexed him!

"Look, I was wondering, do you have a date for the dance?"

James immediately start choking on his juice. Coughing madly, he asked, "What? You—really?"

Is she serious? She can't be serious. Oh, please let her be serious.

"Oh, God, you've already got a date…"

"No!" James said quickly. "No, I—I definitely do not have a date. Totally, completely date-free. It's rather pathetic, actually."

Lily looked relieved and smiled at him. "So…would you do me a favor and come with me? As a friend?"

James stared at her, trying to get his brain to start working again. When he finally managed it, he croaked, "Don't you have about fifty guys wanting to ask you?"

Lily blushed adorably. "That's actually why I'm asking you? The idea of me going out on an actual date makes me want to shudder right now, and…I just want to go with a friend, really." She bit her lip. "So…d'you want to go with me? It's completely alright if you don't want to, I just…thought I would ask."

James's brown eyes had turned the size of saucers. "Of course I'll go!" he said, probably a bit more vehemently than he should have. But Lily, in her relief and excitement, didn't notice.

"Oh—great!" Lily said, smiling. "That's fantastic…honestly, I really thought you'd want to go with someone else…"

James, who was grinning madly, said, "So…we're going then."

"Yeah, we are," Lily said, and laughed. "Now I just have to tell Frank so he can spread the word…"

And then everyone will know that Lily's going to the dance with me. Excellent.

~*~

"You're going with who?" Frank asked, flabbergasted.

Lily looked surprised at Frank's reaction. "Yeah? What's the big deal?"

"You're going with James Potter," Frank stated.

"Again, yes. And again, what's the big deal?"

"Are you blind?" Frank asked.

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, bewildered. "And why are you grinning like that?"

Frank, who was now smiling like the proverbial cat that ate the canary, said, "Lily, I am very happy for you. It sounds like a wonderful idea."

Lily looked at him warily. "Er, thanks. I think."

"No, seriously, it's brilliant. You two make a very cute couple."

"We're friends."

"Then you two are a very cute pair of friends," Frank said, standing up. "I've got to go see Diane for a moment, excuse me…"

In front of the entrance to Hufflepuff House, Frank grinned down at his girfriend. "A bet's a bet, Diane."

Diane, who looked rather put-out, fished three Sickles out of her robes and handed them to Frank. "I still can't believe that Lily asked James. Who could have seen that coming?"

"Believe it," Frank said happily as he pocketed the coins.

"Honestly, though, who would have predicted that?" Diane wailed. "I thought that Lily would just stay in denial until James couldn't take it anymore and did something drastic, like snogging her in the Great Hall at breakfast in front of everyone. Then she'd slap him or cry, and eventually declare her undying love."

Frank looked warily at Diane. "Have you been reading those romantic novels again?" he asked.

Diane blushed. "All I'm saying is, how was I supposed to know Lily would finally snap out of her denial?"

"For the record, she's still in denial. She says she and James are just going as friends."

"No offense, because Lily's really nice, but does she even have eyes?"

"Clearly not," Frank said.

Diane looked up at him. "You do realize that we now have no choice but to go to this dance, if only to see how this all plays out."

"Oh, definitely," Frank agreed. "I wouldn't dream of missing it."

Diane grinned. "It's rather sweet, actually."

Frank made a face. "Actually, I just wish James would grow a pair and ask her out on a proper date already."

"Oh, you're one to talk. Look how long it took you to ask me out!"

"Yeah, but I did it eventually, didn't I? James just keeps skirting around the issue while Lily wallows in her denial," Frank looked sideways at Diane. "Five Sickles says they end up snogging by the end of the ball."

Diane grinned. "Oh, you're on," she said, shaking his hand. "There's no way it'll happen. Hell will freeze over first."

Frank laughed. "Diane, Sirius and Arabella are dating now. Hell's already frozen over."