A/N: Hey everyone! I've made the decision I'm going back to posting one part a day. I hope this part is satisfactory, because the wording took awhile to work.

I regret to inform you all that I've tried to enable anonymous reviews, but I can't for the life of me find the option on my control panel for since they changed the layout. I hate when that happens...if anyone's able to instruct me on how to enable anonymous reviews, please tell me! Meanwhile, since you can't review anonymously, and you might like to, send me your review via my e-mail and please specify the chapter you are reviewing. Sorry for the confusion, y'all!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and to those who read, but couldn't or didn't review!

october tuscany:Thanks for reminding me about the Seeker/Chaser thing...I could've sworn I'd taken care of it, but I was wrong. It's changed, now!

Jedi Knight Bus: Thank you very much for the suggestion! I'll try to do that, but it makes more sense the way I have it so far. The chapters DO get longer though, as I write. Part nine is getting really long...so long, the longest I've probably ever written for fan fiction.

iWILLmarryDanielRadcliffe: Hilaria iuvenem VALDE delectat. Teehee... Very good translations, I must say, although you forgot to factor in the gender with your adjectives... Thanks, we'll have fun at the movies without you...cry...just kidding. You go have fun with your cousins! I'm glad you liked the Twas the Night Before Christine...sorry, Christimas...gah! Christmas! thing. You're right...that fall did change me...must've knocked out my speech morals or something...damn.

Nicnak:Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I'm so happy you think it's a great story, and that you love the idea! And I posted as soon as I got your review, so I hope you're pleased.

Part Seven: A Truce of Sorts

At the student store cupboard, Lily read aloud from a lengthy list of potion ingredients for their assignment while James scanned the various bottles and other containers.

"Stinksap," Lily said dully.

"Check," replied James, dumping two ten-kilogram bags of it into his satchel.

"One eye of newt."

"Check."

"Scarab beetles."

"Check."

"Mortar and pestle to crush them."

"Check and check."

Lily stared at him in a weird way.

"Check for mortar, check for pestle."

"Okay… Fluxweed."

"Hmmm…nope."

"All right, we can get that on the next Hogsmeade trip; we won't need it until near the end."

"Hogsmeade, eh?" said James. He raised his eyebrows. "Would that qualify as a date?"

"No," said Lily quickly, Justas the words left his mouth. "This is merely business."

"Okay…" James agreed, albeit disappointed.

"As I said, Potter, it's business. That means there will be no fooling around whatsoever," she reinforced.

"I got it, I got it! Damn, Evans. Even I'm not that thick," James looked rather hurt.

"Wanna bet?"

"It was a joke, for Merlin's sake!"

"A joke?"

"Yes!"

Lily sobered a little. "You weren't really asking me out this time?"

"Hell, no!"

"Why not?"

"BECAUSE, AS YOU SAID, THIS IS MERELY BUSINESS!" James, needless to say, was very out of breath, and therefore, he found trouble in trying to yell anymore.

"I'm…sorry," said Lily sincerely.

"S'all right," James tried to reassure her most unconvincingly. "I just wish we could be more civil towards each other. That's the second row we've had in the last twenty-four hours."

"How do you mean 'civil'?"

"Well we don't want to go through all that hell again." James racked his brain for ideas. "Maybe…maybe we could stop calling each other by surname. It kind of radiates hostility, don't you think?"

"I suppose you're right.

"Okay, then…Lily."

For some reason unbeknownst to Lily, James' saying of her name sent a shiver down her spine. Get a grip on yourself, Evans.

Lily cleared her throat and turned back to the book she was holding. "It says here the potion needs to brew for a month and a half before adding the fluxweed. So we'd better start today by bringing the Stinksap to a low boil."

"All right. My cauldron's back in my dormitory. Er…do you want me to do it?"

"No. You've done quite enough already. I've got to help you lug the Stinksap upstairs, anyway. Sorry, P—James, but I don't trust you to use all twenty kilograms of that stuff in the potion. I just know you'd take some for an end-of-the-year prank," Lily said, hesitating slightly on his name.

"Damn, you caught me. Fair enough."

The two carefully gathered the ingredients and silently walked back to Gryffindor house.

James and Lily entered the common room (which was unsurprisingly empty; the remainder of the house must have been taking advantage of the favorable weather), and James realized something. "Wait a second," he said. "You're not supposed to come up to the boys' dormitories!"

"Don't be silly," Lily shrugged it off. "This is for an assignment."

James would not admit that he had tried to ascend the girls' staircase in hopes of finding her up there. His attempt was futile, as the staircase morphed into a gargantuan slide underneath his feet, sending him flying only to meet the cold stone landing. Hard. In half-hope that a similar occurrence would happen to Lily when she tried to climb his staircase, he followed her up with a heavy bag of Stinksap in his arms.

He braced himself for whatever was to happen, but it never did. Damn. Oh well, I don't want her mad at me again anyway. They went inside the dormitory and dumped the ingredients onto James' bed.

"Cauldron's boiling already," James said, proud of himself for thinking of it the night before.

"That's good," Lily nodded. "Okay, you empty the Stinksap into the cauldron, and I'll stir."

And so the two got to work, laughing and joking some of the time.

A month and a half had passed by quickly. James and Lily cut, smashed, and boiled the numerous contents of their potion. Only two ingredients remained to be found, and both would be a bit of a challenge.
A/N: Sorry for just posting that little blurb about the time passing...but it needs to pass...you shall see in the next update, which is kind of short...sorry about the short-ness.