Disclaimer: Characters and settings are property of J.K. Rowling. What you don't recognize is mine. And I wish I owned the Marauders (specifically Sirius and Remus) but most unfortunately, I do not. L

Important Note: Chapters 2 and 3 have been changed (not so much three, but two is drastically different) so please check those out. I decided, after some deliberation, that I liked James better as a Chaser. It's a bit harder to right him as the hero of the match, though… Oh well. I think I did a decent job.

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"Is something bothering you?"

Janine turned, slightly surprised. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, I was just wondering. You've been awfully quiet, and, well… you're not usually quiet."

"I'm fine."

They continued on in silence, until Remus asked, "How are things with Fabian?"

"They're fine."

"Okay… how's your family?"

"They're fine, too."

Remus stopped. Something must be bothering her. "Fine? Is that the only thing you can come up with?"

"All right, they're okay." She sighed. "What's the matter with you? Why are you pestering me?"

"Because something is obviously bothering you, and-" She cut him off.

"Don't you think, if James claims he loves Lily so much-"

"More like infatuated with her," muttered Remus, and Janine nodded.

"Well, don't you think he ought not to be… I don't know, not going out with someone else? He's not exactly proving his love to her by dating someone else blatantly. Especially not by dating a different someone else every week."

"Which reminds me. It's Sunday. And it's been two weeks. Rather seems like Audrey's overdue to be binned, doesn't it?"

"Oh, that's awful, Remus." She paused. "If a little true." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I talked with my grandmother yesterday. Using floo, of course."

"I thought you said your family was fine."

"They are fine. But she wanted to discuss with me about my… er… God, this is so embarrassing."

Remus fixed her with a very interested look. "Spill," he ordered.

"My future," she admitted, red-cheeked. "Marriage, in fact."

"…Oh, dear."

"I know. She asked me if I was serious about Fabian."

"And are you?"

"No." Remus gave her a stern look. "Give me a break, Remus. I'm sixteen years old. If I were serious-"

"Your last name would be Black?" he suggested with a grin. She stared blankly at him, and then it clicked.

"Oh, that's the worse joke ever!" she groaned. "And let's be frank – no, I'm not serious – no pun intended – about Fabian. He's a sweet boy, but he's not my type."

Remus sighed. "I rather expected that." She shot him a quizzical look. "Janine, you're a lot like Sirius," he explained. "Which is part of the reason that you keep up the façade of disliking each other."

"First of all," she said, very loftily, "it's not a façade. And second of all, it has nothing to do with us being alike. There's bad blood between the Garnets and the Blacks."

"Is there?"

"Well, sort of. Our mothers couldn't stand each other. Long story. Something about an old boyfriend – my mother wouldn't tell me."

"Oh."

"Anyway, that's most of the reason. There's other stuff, too. Oh, and he's a completely unlikable prat."

"I like him."

"Yes, and I find that rather strange. But hey, how you swing is your decision." Remus shoved her good-naturedly, and she laughed. "Anyway – she told me that by the time I hit eighteen, I'd better start getting serious. She wants me to make a good, pureblooded marriage, and she considers Fabian the perfect specimen. Even if I don't like him all that much."

"Then why do you date him?"

"Well, he's good in-"

"Gah," said Remus, nearly falling over. Janine giggled.

"Good in classes and studies, I was going to say."

"Of course you were."

"He's rich, too."

"That's very shallow of you, you realize. Besides, James is rich, too. He'd make a wonderful husband, I imagine. Your grandmother would be pleased."

"You're kidding, right? If I married James, she'd be thrilled. She adores James. Thinks he's a good, respectable sort of boy. I suppose that's what most of the people who don't go to school with him – or teach him, or are related to him – think. But I don't want to marry him."

"Why not?"

"His hair is messy."

"You'd be surprised how many girls find that extremely attractive."

Janine blinked slowly. "I can't believe we're discussing Potter's attractiveness. Urgh. Let's talk about something else."

"All right. How's the family?"

"You've already asked me that."

"Right, well, that was a productive discussion. Let's go back to discussing James, shall we?"

"Really, Lupin, this is getting to be a habit. Always wanting to discuss Potter… him asking you out…"

Remus shot her a horrified look. "I would never date James." He turned thoughtful. "Possibly Sirius, though."

"Yes. That would be funny. I imagine there'd be mass suicides among the female population of Hogwarts if Black turned out to be gay, however."

"What, not if I turned out to be gay?"

"Well, that'd be a mass suicide where Alyssa is concerned. Aside from that, I doubt people would care."

"I'm touched."

"It's not that girl don't like you and find you sexy, Lupin." She gave him a sweetly innocent smile. "On the contrary, I find you extremely sexy."

"Sure you do."

"Of course I do! You're absolutely delicious. In fact, if you weren't dating one of my best friends, I'd probably have it off with you right now."

Remus gave her a slightly perturbed look. "You're joking, of course."

She smiled in a way he didn't like. "Maybe. But in any case, you are dating one of my best friends. Now, if you were dating anybody else – and that included Black – I wouldn't care. Then I'd have it off with you right now." She shrugged. "It's a pity, of course. Anyway, I probably wouldn't kill myself if somebody I found sexy turned out to be gay." She gave him a pointed look. "When I was thirteen, I fell in love with Nathan Brody – you know, that model for Witch Weekly? Then I found out he was gay." She sniffed melodramatically. "It was tragic."

"I'm sure."

They had reached the portrait of the green pear. Janine reached out and tickled it – it giggled and turned into a handle. She pulled the portrait open, and they crawled through. At once, they were accosted by seven or eight house elves, which put a temporary hold on their conversation. Only when they were surrounded by mountains of food did Remus speak again.

"We were discussing the possibility of you marrying Fabian."

"Yes, and I'm sick of discussing that. And don't you dare bring up Potter again, or I will twist off your head and use it as a Quaffle in February's match against Ravenclaw."

"Audrey was right, you know. You are good with imagery."

"Hmm, perhaps Quaffle is a bit strong. Using it as a Bludger is more fun. I could whack it around with a Beater's bat. On the other hand, your head won't fly on it's own."

"You count enchant it."

"Yes, because using Wingardium Leviosa throughout the match will be completely legal."

"I somehow doubt using someone's head as a Bludger would be legal to begin with."

"True. I suppose we'll just have to stick with using your head as a Quaffle, then."

"I suppose so." They continued eat in silence. Rather superciliously, Janine was licking chocolate glaze from a doughnut off her fingers. He made a face. "Must you do that? Stop."

"If it bothers you." It occurred to Remus again that Janine was uncannily like Sirius, for all her hatred of him. Not for the first time, he thought it would probably be good for the two of them to date, just for a week – it'd probably teach the pair of them a valuable lesson about relations with the opposite sex. "Does it bother you?"

"Of course it does. It'd bother any member of the male population."

"It'd probably bother certain members of the female population, too. Assuming, of course, that those female members had boyfriends belonging to the aforementioned members of the male population that were also bothered by it."

"I assure you, it'd bother some of female population for entirely different reasons." She grabbed a piece of bacon and threw it at him – he caught it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Almost six o'clock. Shall we go back up?"

"What for? They'll be serving breakfast upstairs soon, anyway. And it's not like we can eat again… well, you can, I suppose. Although you're looking a bit peaky. Want to go to the Hospital Wing and lie down?"

Remus glanced at her thoughtfully. He wondered, (also not for the first time), how much she guessed or knew about his condition. After all, the full moon was in two days, and it seemed, around the time of the full moon, she got more cautious around him, as did her friends – with the exception of Alyssa. Alyssa's demeanor never changed, indicating that she had no idea of his change. Which was good, because Alyssa was deathly afraid of werewolves, due to a rather bad experience with them when she had been younger. Her friends, on the other hand… But, as always, Janine's clear blue eyes stared back at him, smiling yet revealing nothing. He sighed.

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Lily inspected her reflection in the mirror, adjusting her tie. As always, her reflection was immaculately perfect. She smiled. Monday morning and time for class. Wow. I really do look like a prefect. I hope the girls hurry up and wake up, I don't want to be late and lose poi-

Bang. Bang-bang-bang. "Lily! Bloody hell, open the door! You're hogging the bathroom!"

With a tired sigh, Lily pushed the door open, allowing the flood of girls to go in, squabbling over makeup and fighting for the fluffiest towels. Marlene paused in the doorway, already dressed. "And this is why I get up an hour earlier than everybody else."

Amused, she went into one of the toilet stalls and pulled the flush. Instantly, three angry squeals issued from the shower stalls. "MARLENE!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Marlene grinned a little, pulling on one of her curls. Her smile faded a bit. "Merlin, I wish I had straight hair."

"No, you don't," replied Janine irritably, popping her head out past the shower curtain, her hair dripping wet. "It's frightfully boring. Hand me the shampoo, would you?"

Lily looked at the wide assortment of bottles clustered on the sink. "Which one?"

"Any one! I don't care!"

Lily shrugged, and picked up the nearest one, tossing it to her friend, who caught it and promptly disappeared back behind the curtain. Then there was a shriek, and the bottle was chucked back out of the shower. Lily and Marlene ducked as it thumped against the wall and rolled away across the floor. "Ugh, Lily, this stuff smells like wisteria! It's Alyssa's!"

"But you said you didn't ca-"

"Give me the one that smells like lavender!" Marlene rolled her eyes, and picked up a pale purple bottle entitled "Lavender Dreams."

"Reckon this one is it?"

"It better be," grumbled Lily as Marlene handed it off to Janine, who didn't bother to thank her.

"We're probably going to be late for class," warned Marlene. Lily shrugged.

"If they're not out in five minutes, we're leaving without them."

X-X-X-X-X

"Thrilled though I am that you find Miss Evans's hair more riveting than my discussion on Patronuses, Mr. Potter, I would much prefer if you paid attention when I spoke."

James snapped his head up, flushing a little as the class around him sniggered. From what he could see of Lily, he noticed that she was bright pink – which either meant she was embarrassed or angry. He guessed it was the latter.

Audrey, who was beside him, was giving him a pouty look. But it wasn't because he was staring after Lily. "You're going to get us in trouble!"

Bloody Ravenclaws. They just have to be goody-goodies – can't stand to get in even a little trouble… All right, that's it. This girl has to go.

"Perhaps Mr. Black can tell us why the Patronus is the most effective defense against a Lethifold. Mr. Black?"

"No idea," said Sirius, yawning widely. Professor Violet's look was severe.

"I see. Miss McKinnon?"

Marlene looked up in surprise – James could see a note in her lap, bearing the words 'Dear Fabian,' – and mustered an embarrassed reply. "I – er – I don't know, Professor." Hang on, thought James. I thought Fabian Prewett was dating Janine…

Violet's eyes were very cold, now. "It seems that our Gryffindors aren't in top form, today. Miss Evans?"

"It is most effective because the Lethifold only attacks in the darkness of the night, when it can blend in with its surroundings. Thus, a Patronus embodies light, and will cause the Lethifold to withdraw into the shadows. It is also a clear, obvious indication that the victim is very much awake, and Lethifolds attack sleeping wizards and witches."

"Correct. I would award points to Gryffindor, but due to the dismal response of your fellow housemates, I will reward you by not taking points away from them." Marlene flushed while Sirius and James looked rather unconcerned. Professor Violet returned to her discussion and this time, James pretended to be paying attention.

When Violet wasn't looking at any of them, however, Lily whipped her head around and scowled at him, her green eyes furious. James gave her a tiny wave, smirking, until – "Mr. Potter! Miss Evans! Pay attention!" Professor Violet's voice cracked like a whip. Both students snapped their heads around.

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Bloody Potter. Staring at me, getting us all in trouble… Ugh. Lily glanced at him out of the corner of her eye – he was staring at Violet, one arm draped over the back of Audrey's chair, the other twirling a quill around as he stared at Violet, trying to pay attention.

He's actually paying attention! Oh, well, at least he's not staring at me anymore…

As if he had heard her thoughts, James turned around and grinned at her. He let go of his quill long enough to run a hand through his hair. Lily made a face at him and quickly looked down at her parchment, cheeks flaming.

Damn stupid Potter! Ugh…

What does he see in me, anyway?

And why am I blushing?

It's not like I like him. Hah, yeah right. Potter? Good heavens, no. He's only after me because he can't have me. That's all he wants. I'm not stupid enough to fall for that hoax…

Am I?

She refused to look up for the rest of class.

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A/N: This is what is commonly called a 'filler chapter.' It serves virtually no purpose to the story whatsoever. Still, Janine and Remus's conversation was tons of fun to write. Reviews will be incentive for me to update ASAP… although I'm going back to school tomorrow (wah, Spring Break is over) – so I'm going to have less time. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update. XOXO Peaches