Disclaimer: Je ne possède rien ! Excepté Emlyn et Iliana, naturellement

Thanks, my two reviewers! Ya'll make my life!

Orior – Wow, thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Ha, I would have kept running too, but you know Illy, always the enochlophobe. I hope you like this chapter as much!

Summer Raindrop – Thanks! And yes, Lily makes her appearance in this chapter…she's rather the vixen, actually. Or possibly just fed up. : )

Nonsensically Yours,

Ivy


Chapter 2 - When a Man Loves a Woman...

"So how embarrassing was that?" Emlyn asked as the girls entered the safety of their dorm. It remained as they had left it, Iliana's clock lying in a heap of blankets on her bed.

"Uber," Illy said, rummaging through her trunk for some clothes. "I blame you, by the way."

"Me? What'd I do?"

"I'd probably still be in blissful sleep right now if you hadn't woken me up."

"Oh, come off it," was all Emlyn said. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was probably true.

Illy shrugged, and began brushing her matted hair. "I hope Margie isn't mad – how bad do I really look?"

"Awful," Emlyn said in an offhand sort of way.

"Ow!" Illy had just pulled out what felt like half the hairs on her head. That's what happens when you sleep as sloppily as I do. She stared at the twisted mess of blankets on her bed, and sat down on it, flinging herself onto her back, her arms stretched wide. "I'm such a loser."

"Psh, yeah you are." Emlyn smiled. Illy rolled her eyes. "What does it matter, anyway?" Emlyn continued. "They're guys, they probably didn't even notice." She looked at Illy. "Unless….Illy, you're not still on about all that, are you? I thought you abandoned all that last year. For the better, I might add."

"I know, and I had. I mean I did. I mean I still do. Not – anymore. I mean—" She sighed, and raised her head a few inches off her bed. "It's still abandoned."

Emlyn looked at her, unconvinced.

"Emlyn – I promise. Now I've got to go help Margie." Illy stood, hurriedly pulled her hair back, and went into the bathroom to wash her face.

Emlyn shook her head, heaved a great sigh, and fell back onto her pillow, assuming Illy's previous position.


"Detrivorus Kneazle," James said, and the picture of the Fat Lady swung outward, revealing the passageway into Gryffindor Tower. The Common Room was quite crowded for a Saturday; evidently most people chose to stay inside near the fire rather than venture onto the grounds, which were quite cold, the earth frozen solid. Though it was dry, the thick clouds overhead threatened snow. The Marauders found a nice spot (a bit further from the fire than they would have liked), and settled themselves in. Peter pulled a complex chart of moon phases out of his pocket, as well as a piece of parchment so full of scratches and scribbles it was almost unrecognizable. "Remus, will you show me again how this whole moon thing works?" he asked, his face screwed up as he tried to read his own handwriting.

"No," Remus answered from where he was laying, head on his arms, on the floor. "If you haven't figured it out by now, you're getting no more help from me. I take it as a personal insult."

Peter sighed, and turned the parchment upside-down. No improvement. After a while, he decided that it was useless, and stuffed the parchment and chart back into his pocket. He didn't really feel like doing homework anyway. Apparently neither did anyone else; just about everyone in the Common Room was lazing around, eyes drooping dangerously. Only one person seemed even vaguely interested in something. And that person happened to be a girl, with lovely red hair and green eyes, sitting near a window with a few of her friends, reading a book. Peter elbowed James, and nodded in her direction.

"Ah, my fair maiden awaits," James muttered. "Hey Evans! Whatcha doing?" he yelled.

"Plotting your demise," she replied immediately, not even bothering to look up.

James either didn't comprehend what she had just said, or chose to ignore it. "Want to go out next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Not with a jerk like you," Lily said with the same evenness in her voice.

"That hurts, Evans. But there's this nice coffee shop, right on the corner—"

"Go to hell, Potter," Lily sang, still staring at her book.

"I will if you come with me."

Lily finally looked up. "The only reason I would go to hell would be because of what I'm about to do to you if you don't shut up and leave me alone."

James backed down, but smiled at his friends. "That's just her way of saying that she's tired of hiding her undying love for me. She'll come out any day now," he said reassuringly.

"Right, Prongs."

"Sure."

"Whatever you say, buddy."


A few hours later, Remus, James, and Peter watched, as they did every night, in awe as Sirius piled his plate with food: chicken, potatoes (mashed, boiled, and sweet), green beans, beef tips and gravy, rice, corn on the cob, some odd-looking casserole, and a huge serving of coleslaw, plus four large rolls.

"Got enough starch there, Padfoot?" James asked, poking a fork into Sirius's mashed potatoes.

Sirius slapped his hand away as he gave him his routine reply. "I've got to keep my form up; these muscles don't stay muscular by themselves, you know."

James rolled his eyes, and immediately jumped up from the table, nearly upsetting Sirius's plate into his lap.

"Hey, Lily—"

"Don't, Potter," she said shortly, giving him a warning look as she passed on her way down to the other end of the table. "Why do all the guys in our year have to be so annoying?" she asked as she sat down.

James sat down slowly. He didn't get it. He had tried being blunt with Lily, and it didn't work. He had been nice to her, and it didn't work. He had defended her against Snape at least twice a week for the past six years, he had tried to give her presents, he had shown off quite a bit, he had been just as mean to her as she was to him, he had tried everything, but nothing worked. For four and a half years he had been trying to win her over; four and a half years, and he had absolutely nothing to show for it. Anyone else would have thrown herself at him by now. But this isn't just anyone, he reminded himself. This is Lily Marie Evans. He sighed, and voiced his frustrations aloud to his friends.

Sirius put an arm around James's shoulder. "I'm sorry buddy. You can get her, though. If you're persistent enough, you can do it. She'll come to her senses yet."

James nodded, and prodded a carrot with his fork, resting his head on his left hand.

Remus hadn't heard much of this conversation; his attention was diverted by two people walking through the door, namely Emlyn and Iliana. The two girls headed over to the Ravenclaw table, and sat with their backs to the Marauders. But had Remus imagined it, or had Illy thrown a slight glance over her their way?

…but so what, right? It was probably just a careless glance. "I'm probably just imagining things," he mumbled.

"What?" James asked dejectedly, thinking that Remus had had something to add to what Sirius had just told him.

"Hm?" Remus looked at him. "Nothing."

Sirius watched Remus as his head swiveled with the girls, and jabbed his fork in their direction as he chewed, then stuck it in a potato to say, "I like that Emlyn Frank, I really do. She's a nice girl."

Remus blinked. "Wait – whatever happened to that Rosemary girl you were dating?"

"We broke up ages ago, Moony, where have you been?"

"And by ages, he means about three days," Peter said from Sirius's other side.

"She got really annoying and clingy after a while – and anyway, I don't like Emlyn like that. She's got a good attitude, that's all."

Peter grinned as Sirius dug into his casserole.

James was still in a bad mood as the foursome left the Great Hall thirty minutes later. He was halfway to the marble staircase when a certain Slytherin caught his eye. Severus Snape was shuffling past the Marauders, heading in the opposite direction. He was staring at his feet as he walked, a book tucked under his arm.

"I need some cheering up," James whispered to himself, and turned on his heel to face Snape's back. "Hey Snivellus!" he called loudly. Snape stopped in his tracks, and slowly turned, wiping his shoulder length, greasy black hair out of his flashing eyes as he stared evenly at James. He did not reply.

"Are you still wearing those nighttime diapers, Snape? Or have you finally gotten over your bed wetting problem?" James smirked at the look of embarrassment and anger that crossed Snape's face at his words. Yeah, this was definitely cheering him up.

"Here we go again…" Remus whispered in Peter's ear, and the two instinctively took a few steps back to avoid any poorly aimed spells. While retreating to safety however, they completely ran over the person who was standing behind them. "I'm sorry, I didn't see—" Remus whipped around to apologize, but stopped short in surprise. He had come face-to-face with Iliana; she had a look of mirrored surprise on her face. No doubt from being completely bowled over, Remus thought to himself. Nice job, Moony. Aloud, he repeated his apology. "We just keep running into each other, don't we?"

Illy nodded, her expression no longer one of shock. "Evidently – and it's ok." She gave a slight smile, and looked at her shoes.

"It's Illy, isn't it? Iliana?" Remus asked, though he knew perfectly well that it was.

She nodded. "And you're…sorry, but I don't know your name." She said, putting on the same façade.

Remus was slightly put out at this. But after all, they had only met each other once, and so far as he could recall, his name had not been mentioned. He smiled, and held out a hand. "Remus. Remus Lupin."

Illy shook his hand, repeating to herself over and over that she was through with this. She was through with it. She was.

Remus let go rather quickly, though he hoped that Illy hadn't noticed. Her hand was quite cold; he thanked the Lord that his hadn't been sweaty. After a moment of silence, he turned beside her and watched the scene unfold before them.

While Remus and Illy had been talking, James had shouted another insult in Snape's direction, as Snape's eyes narrowed into slits. Finally, he spoke, in a very low voice.

"What's the matter, Potter? Do you feel the need to renew your broken superiority complex? It is rather sad, actually, that you're such a stuck-up, conceited fool that you can't even get a mudblood to go out with you. Sometimes I think even those desperate attempts are merely an act you put on for attention." He paused. "I'm sick and tired of your crap, Potter!" Snape's voice rose in intensity as he uttered his last sentence. By now, even the older students in the hall, who had grown so accustomed to James's and Severus's bickering that they had started ignoring it, stopped to watch.

James stood there for a moment, anger reddening on his face. "That's it," he said, and repeated it. "That's it, Snape! I'm going to hex you till a baby otter extracts itself from your nose!" he shoved his hand into his pocket to retrieve his wand. ("I still need to look up on that," Sirius said to Peter in an undertone).

"Is there a problem here, boys?" a tart voice asked from the doorway to the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall strode forward and positioned herself between Snape and James. "Because if there is, I'm sure we could work it out in my office." Her lips thinned as she looked at them both questioningly.

"No, there's no problem, Professor," James said, never taking his eyes off of Snape, slowly taking his empty hand out of his pocket. "Severus and I were just discussing how the moss growing underneath his toenails has a slightly luminescent quality – we were wondering what genus it belonged to." Snape's lip curled at this reply.

Professor McGonagall tightened her lips. "Be that as it may, I am taking thirty points from both of your Houses – I'm tired of breaking up fights between you two. And I don't want to see this happening again." Her finger roved between James and Snape while she was speaking, and now her eyes followed suit. "Now get to your dormitories, both of you." She remained where she was, making sure they did as they were told. Both boys backed up slowly, no taking their eyes off of each other; it was impossible to tell which pair held more loathing in its gaze. Finally, Snape disappeared down the staircase to the dungeons; James turned halfway up the marble staircase and made a beeline for Gryffindor Tower, not bothering to wait for his friends. The crowd that had gathered around the feuding enemies finally dispersed in various directions.

Sirius and Peter headed directly after James, but Remus walked a bit slower, staying as close to Illy as was possible without it seeming overly obvious what he was doing. The two walked in silence for a short while, before Illy mumbled something unintelligible.

Remus turned around and waited for her, resuming pace beside her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Why does he do that? Always instigate everything, I mean," Illy repeated a little louder.

"Who, James?" Illy nodded. Remus shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me. There's just a natural enmity between the two, it's like a mongoose and a snake, it's just instinct."

They fell silent once again, Remus desperately trying to think of something to say. "So…where's Emlyn?" he asked, looking around.

Illy shrugged. "She was talking to Scarlett, but I don't know where she is now."

"Ah." And then, for the sake of keeping up the conversation, though he really wasn't all that interested, he asked, "Who's Scarlett?"

"A whore," Illy said bitterly. Looking up at Remus, she said, "Well, in my opinion, anyway. Most people seem to think she's pretty decent. She's in our year; a Ravenclaw."

"Why don't you like her?"

Illy was silent for a moment, thinking. "It's another one of those mongoose – snake things, I guess, except on more of a nerd – princess level. We have competing auras. She's on the other side of the fence. River. Fiery burning marshmallow. Whatever. I tend to breathe oxygen, she tends to live off of carbon monoxide while converting nitrogen into a form plants can use. However you feel like putting it."

Remus chuckled. "You're not as quiet as everyone makes you out to be."

Illy was startled. "People make me out? I guess I'm not as much of a part of the scenery as I thought. But anyway, I normally am. I'm an enochlophobe, I guess. You know, fear of large crowds. With one or two people, I'm fine."

Remus nodded. After a moment, he said, "You're not any part of the scenery. You're one of the actors." Wow, how lame could he have been? Bad metaphor, kid. Bad metaphor. Never say that again. He made a mental note.

"Really? Did you know that I've been in your arithmancy class for three years? Here's my stop, I'll see you later." She waved, and quickly left along a side corridor towards the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Remus stood there for a moment, astounded. She was in his arithmancy class? And he had never noticed her before? How was that possible? His legs slowly began moving again, and he climbed up the remaining floors alone, till he got to his dorm.

Remus shut the door, shaking his head. He couldn't believe it.Howcould he not have noticed? Sirius grinned from his position on his bed, and spoke, driving Illy out of Remus's mind. "There you go, James. We'll just sic Moony on him next full moon. Problem solved."

"Not funny, Padfoot." Remus plopped down beside him, and looked across at James, who was lying on his own bed, staring at the ceiling. "Who're we trying to mangle beyond recognition?"

"I'll give you three guesses," James said flatly.

"Ah. Monsieur Snape."

Sirius spoke up, his tone more serious. "Listen, Prongs, maybe you're letting this get to you too much. I mean, it's Snape, who cares what he says? Nobody listens to him anyway."

James sighed, and turned his head to face his friends. "I know, but –" he stopped. "I just wish he hadn't said anything about Lily," he said angrily. "She gave me the dirtiest look in the Common Room. She hates me, I don't get it."

"So that's what this is about," Peter said from the foot of James's bed. "You don't care about Snape at all – it's just the fact that he called Lily a mudblood and stated the fact that you'll never get her."

James groaned, and turned his face back to the ceiling.

"It's called discretion, Wormtail; you are lacking." Sirius frowned, and turned his attention back toward James. "That's not what he meant—"

"Yes it is," James interrupted miserably. "She'll never want me. It just isn't going to work out. Maybe I should just give up." He closed his eyes, and slackened his face, as if defeated.

"No, Prongs! Don't give up! There's always a chance." Remus said encouragingly. Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Maybe you should just start ignoring her," Peter suggested. "You've been giving her all this attention, maybe if you left her alone, she'd change her mind."

"But isn't that what girls want? Attention?" James asked.

"Not necessarily." Remus's mind floated back to Illy for a second.

James opened his eyes and sat up. "You know, Peter, that just might work. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but neither does our relationship. ("Which is nonexistent," Sirius muttered). It just might work." James put on a thoughtful expression.

"So, make a move on Illy yet, Moony?" Sirius turned to Remus, seeing that James's problem was temporarily fixed.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked.

"Well, you were walking with her, and you got here a bit later than us, and you were staring at her all through dinner…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I just talked with her, she seems nice."

"You mean she seems nice in the same way as Sirius perceives Emlyn?" Peter asked.

Sirius gave a doglike growl, and chucked one of his shoes at Peter, who ducked. The shoe went flying out the window.

Sirius jumped up and quickly accioed it back, to the background laughter of his friends.


A/N: Et c'est Chapitre deux, tout le monde! I'm not really all that happy with it, but I hope you liked it! I'll try to have chapter three up soon, but I can't be sure…now that summer school's started, I have less time. Curse my middle school for not offering algebra. Anywho…

swings medallion back and forth in front of eyes- Review! Review….when I snap my fingers.

Aaaand….snap!