A Marauder's Girl

by Peachy Papayas

James and Lily have always hated each other. But in their fourth year, a stupid dare compels James to ask out his enemy. When she refuses, he is shocked no girl has ever refused him before. And thus began his infatuation with a certain redhead...

21. Tom Returns

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.

Again, at the request of moony128 (I think): Okay, recap of last chapter: Lily goes to Hogsmeade with Andy, Sirius and his date sort of commandeer him and tie him to a lamppost; James sings (accompanied by Sirius in a falsetto) to Lily in front of the whole Three Broomsticks; Jen records the whole thing. Just as he finishes, Death Eaters attack the pub. James, Sirius, and Lily are our defensive specialists while Remus gets the younger students out (and I forgot to add what happens to Jen, so we'll just pretend she helps Remus with the younger students). Um, I think that's most of the important stuff. On to the next chapter!

X-X-X-X-X

"The attack on Hogsmeade was a tragedy, but it is one that we will survive. Dark times surround us now, and we must remain strong."

"Albus…"

"We will grant our consent for students to attend the funerals of their friends, so long as the grieving families will allow it."

James barely managed to avoid swearing as voices assaulted his rather tender ears. Frowning, he forced his eyes open, only to realize that he was virtually blind – no glasses – although he could still hear, despite the pounding in his head and the ringing in his ears.

"…Albus, I'm worried. This hits… closer to home. Closer than it did at the Diagon Alley attacks. It was in Hogsmeade, for heaven's sake!"

"I know, Minerva."

McGonagall and Dumbledore. James frowned, again, and craned his head to look to his right to Sirius's cot beside him – but curtains surrounded his bed. He sat up warily.

"…What do we do, Albus?"

"For the moment, we do nothing. We watch; we wait."

"What if… what if it gets worse?"

"It will get worse, Minerva, before it gets better. But I have faith in our students. The death of their classmates tells them that the time for waiting is over – the time for training is now. Those who have lost will want to fight. And they will work harder than ever." A heavy sigh. "All we can do is protect and prepare them until it is our time to release them. That's all."

Another sigh, this one from a woman – most likely McGonagall. "Potter, Black, and Evans deserve points – Lupin, too, for getting the younger students out." A pause. "Do we know who it was?"

"Mary Lestrange was the only one foolish enough to let her hood drop." It clicked in James's brain – the woman he had seen had been Mary Lestrange. She had graduated long before he had ever come to Hogwarts, but he had met her once or twice before, as a child. "But no, we have no other leads. None were caught."

"Albus, you are hiding something from me."

"Perhaps… it is not safe to discuss, Minerva. Let's go to my staff room – we'll have the others meet us there, and discuss the situation."

"You-Know-Who was behind this?"

"Say his name, Minerva. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. We must plan carefully for Tom's next move… oh, dear. I've said too much."

"Albus?"

"I believe we have an eavesdropper." James fell back against his pillows, squinting his eyes shut just as the curtains were pushed aside. There was a breath of relief.

"He appears to be sleeping."

"So he does." James could almost feel those penetrating blue eyes on him. "And so we shall let him sleep. Come, Minerva…" The footsteps receded, and James chanced a glance out of slit eyelids. The door shut behind Dumbledore. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"There was that name again. Tom." James shot out of his bed and stared across the hospital wing – on the opposite side of the aisle, Lily Evans sat up, her arms around her knees, her hair mussed from sleep, one eyelid drooping tiredly. "Who is he? Do you know?" James shook his head. "D'you think, if we asked McGonagall…"

It occurred to James, somewhere in his mind, that this was the first civil conversation they'd ever really had, short of the one back in their first year, when they'd first met (and that hadn't lasted very long). "Doubt it," he finally answered carefully. "But I reckon we ought to try finding out."

"Yearbooks," Lily said thoughtfully. "I s'pose this Tom bloke would be in there – he'd have to be, right? But there are a million and one Toms out there…"

"He'd have to be around Janine's mum's year – or something. Within six years of her. McGonagall may have been there, too." James chanced a glance at her. "Do you want to… you know, head to the library and take a look? All in the interests of research," he added hastily, as she sent a sharp glance his way. "I'm not trying to get into your pants or anything this time, I swear." His cheeks flushed a crazy red as he said the words 'this time.' Oh, boy. I've really screwed this one up.

Lily was giving him a calculating book. "What you did today – or yesterday, seeing as it's nearly two in the morning, now – was a good thing, you know. It was a good thing." Her smile was wry, if quizzical. "You're an enigma, James Potter. And I doubt I shall ever know what to make of you." And she fell back against her pillows, asleep within moments, leaving James feeling as if he'd just missed the whole point of the conversation.

X-X-X-X-X

Strangely enough, Lily spent a good deal of Sunday being civil to James and his friends. She very politely said goodbye to them once she, James, and Sirius left the hospital wing together, and she very politely said hello to them twice more whenever they ran into one another throughout the day.

James didn't know what to make of it.

Also strangely enough, James, for once, did not feel the need to "stalk" Lily, as Sirius so eloquently put it. He spent a good deal of time with his friends, discussing the previous day's events in hushed voices. At dinner, Dumbledore stood up to make a formal announcement about the funerals, and a note fell into James's lap. He expected it to be from Sirius; it wasn't.

Potter –

Meet me in the library at eleven tonight. Be discreet; bring your friends.

- Lily

James stared at it, nonplussed. He looked up to see Sirius's eyes on him – Sirius's left eyebrow twitched, which James took to mean, What the bloody hell is that, who the bloody hell is it from, and why the bloody hell haven't you shown it to me?

Wordlessly, James slid the note surreptitiously across the table, making sure McGonagall didn't see it. Not that it would have mattered. Her eyes had a strangely shining quality to them, and her attention was riveted on Dumbledore – in fact, everyone's was, with the exception of Lily's, James's, and Sirius's.

Sirius shot James a surprised look, and then turned to look at Lily, who had set her mouth in a determined line. He nodded slowly. "Let's do it, then," he whispered.

Remus leaned forward. "Do what?" he asked suspiciously. "Padfoot, now's not the time for a prank-" He stopped when Sirius nearly shoved the slip of parchment up the werewolf's nose. Remus read it, and frowned. "Are you sure it's from her?" he whispered in a low voice, backing up. Dumbledore sat down; many students were crying, but the chatter gradually started back up. James felt a bit bad for having ignoring the announcement, but his heart was thumping, and for once, it had nothing to do with Lily. It was the thrill he got from the moment just before a prank was pulled, just before they plotted another, just before they snuck to Hogsmeade to swipe Firewhiskies from Madam Rosmerta, just before a full moon.

He leaned forward and looked down the table at Lily, but she was staring determinedly at her plate now. He looked over her mop of red hair to Janine, who was watching him, her blue eyes unreadable. He nodded at her; she nodded back and bent low over her food.

It was set.

X-X-X-X-X

Lily tapped her foot impatiently against the floor. Where are you, Potter?

One week ago, if someone had told her that she'd be standing outside the library after curfew, skulking by the door, waiting for James Potter, she would have laughed. But his actions yesterday had proven to her something that nothing else could have – she had seen his bravery first hand, how he had stepped up to her attacker to keep her from getting hurt. It was stupid, yes, but it was brave. And having seen it firsthand, she'd decided to enlist his help in finding out about this 'Tom' person.

She felt a tap at the small of her back and whirled, stifling a small scream as James grinned impishly at her. His friends were clustered behind him. "Where're yours?" he whispered in a barely audible voice.

"They're inside," Lily whispered back, barely moving her lips and making any noise at all. "We've got a load of the yearbooks, but we'll have to put them back before Pince notices any are missing."

"We couldn't just check one out at a time?" Peter asked, yawning.

"Don't be a prat; of course not. With the whole school on alert, don't you think McGonagall or Dumbledore would notice?" Lily snapped. "That's the last thing we need – for them to tell us to stop meddling in 'adult' things. So let's hurry up and finish, all right?"

"You've thought this through," Remus observed. A ratty bag was slung over his shoulder; she wondered what was in it. "You'd make a very good Marauder."

"A Marauderess," Sirius said with a grin. "A Marauderette. But then, you're so pretty, you'd be distracting us all the time, with those luminous green eyes, that vivid red hair…"

"Hmph." Lily led the way to the study room, letting the door swing back and hit Sirius in the face ("Ow!" "Shut up, Padfoot, it's the middle of the night!") Shaking her head wryly, she hoisted herself onto the table and waited for the boys to come in.

The four boys trooped in to find four out of five girls busily working. Lily watched them, and then pointed to a stack of yearbooks at the end of the table. "Start there. Any fellow named Tom, write down his name and year."

"He'd have to be pureblood," Remus said reasonably.

"A Slytherin, too," added Jen from the spot where she was making a list. She glanced up and made a face at the boys. "There are too many bloody fellows named Tom in Slytherin, though. And there are about twelve years to cover – and we've only just started."

"How are we supposed to know if they're pureblood or not, though?" Peter asked. Lily kicked a book over to him; he stared down at it: Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy.

"We'll have to take it in turns, looking through that thing," explained Jen. "There are three copies of it here; we took 'em all out. And we figured most of us purebloods will know a lot of family names anyway, so that's one way to figure out a bunch of them. For the rest of you – we share those." She buried her nose in a book again.

Janine sighed and kicked her shoes off, tucking her feet beneath her. "This is going to take ages."

"There are only twelve," pointed out Sirius.

"Yes, but once we've found all the Toms, then we have to figure out which one it is."

"Remind we why we're doing this again?" There was a pause. Peter looked around. "What? It's a totally valid question."

"Interesting. Why are we doing this?" Alyssa asked, covering a yawn.

Janine glowered at her friend, and then at them all. "Because I want to know! If you lot don't care, then shove off – I'll do it myself." Still glowering, she yanked the book up to hide her already burning face.

"She's tetchy because she's got a feeling that this Tom fellow has something to do with her mum; that they seemed to know each other," explained Jen in a stage whisper. A copy of Nature's Nobility went flying in the general direction of her head; she ducked. "Your aim is god-awful when you're tired," she told her brunette friend, and ducked again as another copy came her way. Jen stuck her tongue out and busied herself with flipping animatedly through the pages of her yearbook.

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at the boys. "Start flipping through the yearbooks. Find all the Toms in the Slytherin that you can, and then look for anything else that might be interesting."

"What, like a caption that say 'Most Likely to Become Evil Dark Lord'?" Sirius quipped. Lily glowered at him, and then buried her nose in her book.

The boys exchanged looks and settled down to read.

X-X-X-X-X

Two Hours Later…

"Finished," Marlene announced, shutting the last book. She looked at the list, and grimaced. "Oh, bloody hell. I really hope that this fellow is on that list. They're all purebloods, all Slytherins?"

"Yep," Janine replied, peering at the list of six names. "Dammit, why does every person seem to name their son Tom? What's wrong with names like George and Derek?" She sighed. "And these are only the Slytherins. And there are six – Merlin knows what sort of research we're going to have to do to figure out which one it is. Why the hell does everyone have to name their son Tom?"

"It's a common name," Lily replied absently, looking at the list. She sighed, and began to reshelf the books. "How do we go about figuring out which one he is, then?"

James frowned, looking thoughtful. "I hadn't thought of that."

"That much," the redhead replied, "is obvious." But she was giving him a tired smile as she said it. "But we've done something, and it's one in the morning now. So shall we get off to bed, then?" There were murmurs of assent, and people began to gather the things up. Remus stuffed the parchment and the quills in his bag; when he reached his hand down there, he felt the invisibility cloak sliding through his fingers. His eyes met James's – of the girls, only Janine knew about the cloak, and that was because she had caught James in it when they were nine.

They glanced at one another. "You go first," Jen ordered Lily, giving her a shove. "That way, if anyone sees you, you can say you were patrolling and thought you'd heard something in here, and went to check it out. You can lure teachers away if there're any, too." Lily nodded, and disappeared out the door.

The rest waited five minutes, and then Marlene and Jen left – three minutes after that, Janine and Alyssa left, leaving the four boys behind. "Pads, Wormtail – you two change while Remus and I get under the cloak," James ordered. Remus held the cloak out, but Sirius's voice stopped them.

"What if it's not a Slytherin? I mean, for certs, this Tom fellow is a pureblood if he's You-Know-Who – and it sounds like he is – but what if he's a Ravenclaw, say? Ravenclaw's are smart, and I'm sure there's bound to be an evil one now and then…"

"Slytherins is a good place to start," James replied. "If we find nothing – then we go on to the Ravenclaws." He made a face. "Merlin, I hope it's not a Gryffindor."

Remus shrugged. "Speculation isn't going to get us anywhere right now. We need to concentrate on figuring out which one is the Tom we're looking for… if it's one of the ones we found at all."

"He's right," Peter piped up drowsily. "So let's dwell on it tomorrow, eh, mates?" Without waiting for a reply, he changed, and disappeared into the shadows. James met Sirius's eyes; the other boy nodded and slowly changed into a bear-like dog form that leapt back onto it's hind legs and pushed the door open. It swung open; the dog disappeared into the silent hall. That left Remus and James.

"No point thinking about it now," pointed out Remus, crouching so that James could swing the cloak over them. "Let's just get to sleep now," he added in a whisper. Extinguishing the lights with a flick of his wand, they surveyed the library – no one would know that they had been there – and left.

X-X-X-X-X

Humming to herself, Lily strode down the hall. She would be early for Transfiguration, which was fine – it would give her a bit of time to sort out her thoughts. During lunch, she and her group had sat with James and his friends. They had actually had a pleasant conversation, and not once had James made a pass at her. Maybe he really is changing, she thought, and smiled. That would be nice.

She stopped suddenly, seeing a lone figure leaning against the door of the Transfiguration classroom. From down the hall, where she stood, Lily could see the yellow and black tie that stood starkly out against the plain gray of the person's vest. She heaved a breath. She had known this conversation would come.

"Hullo, Andy," she said pleasantly, hoisting her bag further up her shoulder as she halted before him. "You don't take N.E.W.T. Transfiguration, so why are you here?"

He gave her a feeble smile. "To talk to you, actually."

I figured. "Oh? About what?" She gave him a falsely innocent smile.

He made a face, although the smile remained. "Nice try. You can drop the act, by the way. I get it." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I heard about what happened in the Three Broomsticks, by the way. I s'pose I should have been glad Black tied me to a lamppost in the alley, then."

Lily's eyes widened. "He did what?"

"I didn't get hurt," Andy pointed out. "So really, I ought to be thanking him, but I'm not going to." He shrugged. "And I suppose our date would have gotten cut short anyway."

"Yes, it would have," she agreed, hefting her books. They were heavy. "So what exactly did you want to talk about, anyway?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm awfully sorry our date got cut short." He gave her a smile. "Although it wasn't really my fault."

"No, it wasn't, so don't apologize. Er… was that all?"

"More or less, yeah." He shrugged. "So I'll see you 'round, I guess. Oh, and… er… congratulations about you and Potter. Lucky bloke, he is."

Lily gave him a mystified look. "Me and Potter?"

"Well, yes. You're dating now, aren't you? Everyone thinks you are." Lily muttered a curse; Andy grinned slowly. "Well, guess not. Oh, well. Guess some other bloke will get that honor, then." His grin faded, replaced by a slightly strained smile. "I thought you were dating Potter, the way you've been being all nice to him…"

"No, I'm not." Lily paused, and then asked half-heartedly, "You know, there'll be other Hogsmeade trips. Maybe you wanted to go with me to the next one…?"

He flinched. "Ouch. Try and sound a bit more excited at the prospect, would you?" She flushed brightly. "No, it's all right. You've never taken the initiative with any guy before, so I'm flattered that I was the first. By the way, I heard Janine and Black got back together. Is it true?"

Lily started at the abrupt change of subject. "Er… yes, I suppose it is."

"Damn." Lily blinked; why would that annoy him? "Anyway, thanks for the offer of a Hogsmeade date, but no thanks; I value my head."

She made a face. "I thought you weren't really scared of Potter. Well… you said you were, but I thought you were kidding and just didn't want trouble."

"I was kidding." Andy made a face. "It's not Potter I'm scared of, anyway. It's Black." He walked away.

Lily watched him go. Now what was that supposed to mean?

X-X-X-X-X

Moments after Lily had settled down, Remus Lupin casually entered the Transfiguration classroom, although McGonagall was not yet there. "Hi. Thought you'd get some extra work in, too?"

"No, just wanted to think."

"Well, think away. Hope I'm not interrupting."

"Oh, of course not." Lily observed him sit at the table before her and pull out his Transfiguration book and notes. Watching him unscrew a bottle of ink and take out a quill, she commented casually, "Forgot to do your homework?"

"Hardly. I'm not my friends. I do my homework ahead of time."

"Smart of you."

"Yes, it is." He wrote his name in a delicate script at the top of a blank sheet of parchment, and then turned in his chair to face her. "By the way, I saw you talking to Cobalt. I hope he wasn't rude."

"No, although he was acting odd."

"Understandable. After Sirius's talk with him, it would make sense. He's sulking, after all. If he can't have you, he might have pursued Janine, since she and Sirius had broken up, but they're back together, so he can't do that either. So he sulks, instead."

So that's why he seemed so strange. "Oh." She waited a beat, and then asked, "Has Black… er… said anything to Andy? He seems to be terrified of offending Black." All right, terrified is a bit strong, she admitted to herself, although she didn't say it aloud.

"I don't know exactly what he said, but I suppose it was something along the lines of 'Stay away from Lily and Janine,' possible with a few veiled threats added in." Remus paused, and then added, "Then again, considering it's Sirius, perhaps there were some not-so-veiled threats, too."

Lily sighed. "I wish he'd butt out."

"He's James's best friend. There's no way he'd ever butt out. Besides, Cobalt commented on Janine, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did."

"That probably made Sirius angrier." Remus chewed on his quill. "Have you started that Charms Essay for Thursday?"

Lily blinked. "No."

"Oh. Well, never mind."

"…By the way, what happened to Noelle Donahue when Sirius got back with Janine?"

Remus shrugged. "She pouted for a while, and then ran off with some seventh-year Ravenclaw. Although I hear she's with a Hufflepuff now."

Lily shook her head. "Unbelievable."

Remus's smile was ironic. "Well, you know what they say. It takes a slut to date a slut."

Lily pretended to look injured. "Hey, Janine is dating Sirius, you know."

"Yeah. And it takes a slut to date a slut."

"Who's a slut?" Lily and Remus looked up as Sirius sauntered in, one arm around Janine's shoulders. Lily and Remus exchanged looks, and began to laugh. "Hey, what's so funny? I mean, seriously, who's a slut?"

X-X-X-X-X

Lily felt a tugging on her hair, and whirled. "Leave me alone!" she hissed to Patrick, one of the boys in her third grade class. He grinned toothily at her.

"What's the matter, pumpkin-head?"

"Don't call me that, or I'll-"

"Lily Evans, turn around this instant and pay attention!" Lily whirled; the teacher, Mrs. Johnson, shook her head. "Lily, how many times do I have to tell you to pay attention? Lily…"

"Sorry," Lily mumbled. The teacher turned back to her teaching, Lily scowled at Patrick. He smirked. She tried to pay attention, and felt a tugging on her hair. "Stop it," she hissed. She turned, and felt a poke in the back, following by another, and another. She whirled furiously, snarling, "Leave me alone, puke-face, or I'm gonna-"

"Puke-face? That's a new one."

Lily jerked up and the top of her head smacked into James Potter's nose, sending his glasses flying down the table, coming to a rest very near Peter's elbow. Lily frowned dizzily, forcing her eyes to focus on James's. She saw the confusion in his hazel eyes, and then looked down the table. Sirius was stretched out across a table, snoring like a chainsaw. Janine had decided to use his chest as a pillow and was curled up at his side, her hair fluttering whenever she breathed. Remus was leaning against a wall, snoring at minute intervals. Peter, too, was asleep against a wall, with Jen asleep on his right shoulder and Alyssa asleep on his left. Marlene was stretched out across two chairs, pillowing her head with her arms. Lily blinked and turned to James, who had a sleepy smile on his face. "I fell asleep, didn't I?"

"It's all right. I only wanted to wake you up to tell you that I got an owl from our major domo house elf." He waved a parchment. "I asked him – the house elf, that is – to do some snooping around my parents' study, and he found something that might interest you. Good thing, too, because we haven't been getting anywhere with all this nonsense of looking through books and looking for 'Most Likely to Become Evil Dark Lord' or whatever it was… Anyway, what I found was… educational."

"Educational?"

"Well, it might help a little. It certainly clears a few things up, and I've got a few ideas for where we can get even more information now. I mean, it's nothing really special – no pictures saying 'Most Likely to Become Evil Dark Lord', but…"

Lily held back a giggle and held out her hand for the parchment. James wordlessly handed it over, watching her read it.

Master James,

Caddy is looking through the study as you was asking Caddy to, but Caddy was not find much except for a box of old letters. They was all addressed to Mistress Katherine, from Mistress Margaret Morgan. Caddy is not able to send them all, but Caddy is sending a few copies. Caddy is hoping they are helpful. Caddy would have looked more, but Master Edward is coming in and asking what is Caddy doing. Caddy is very sorry, and sends some sweets from the kitchen to make up for it.

- Caddy

"So? Where are these letters, then?" James held out a bundle of yellowing envelopes, held together by a sloppily tied blue ribbon. She glanced at it and raised an eyebrow; James flushed.

"I tried to retie it, and, ah… it didn't work so well." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, go ahead and read them."

"Your mum won't miss these, will she?"

"Nah, doubt it. I don't think they've been touched in years."

Lily opened the first one and began to read.

Dear Katy,

It was fine; my parents loved Tom! My mother said later that he was a very nice boy with enormous potential – although she added that I had best hold onto him, as he seems the type to turn lots of heads. She made a lot of other comments that I'll wait until we return to school to tell you – but I really think it might work out!

Of course, Papa said that he isn't very rich, which isn't so good, but he does seem like the type to be a very successful – what did he call it? Oh, yes, an entrepreneur. I'm not certain he really likes Tom, but I think that's mostly because he wants me to marry a pureblood. But he says that Tom's mother's family is old blood, so I suppose it's all right anyway. Besides, the fact that Tom is Head Boy probably helps.

But Mother says that Tom is a very proper young boy, and that he should be good for me. I have a feeling she's got some designs for marriage – and me, only fifteen! Goodness knows I don't plan on getting married anytime soon.

By the way, I enclosed a few of those raspberry chocolates that Eddy likes so much – see to it that he gets them, will you? Mother doesn't want me talking with him anymore – she says he has too many feminist ideas.

I hope your Christmas has been as wonderful as mine – I'll be sure to tell you all the details of Tom's visit here once we return to school. Say hello to your parents for me.

All my love,

Meg

Lily glanced up. "Meg would be Janine's mum, right? And Katy is yours…"

James nodded. "Yeah. Keep reading – there's more to know." Lily looked at the next letter. It was dated quite a bit later than the previous one – this one was written in late August.

Dear Katy,

Tom's finally left for Albania, and not a moment too soon. He says he's got some 'work' to do, and it's all very mysterious, and I'm worried he's getting into Dark magics now. There are so many things I never told you about what he did during the last year…

I don't want to put it in a letter, just in case, but he pushed me down the stairs yesterday. Thank heavens for quick heals, because I broke my collarbone in the fall. I didn't tell mother who did it, of course, but in her eyes, Tom can do no wrong. I want to break up with him, but I'm almost frightened to.

What worries me more is Will. He's been dropping by very often, even though he knows my parents hate him, but that's not the worst of it. I have a feeling that Father saw him, at least once, and that he might tell Tom that Will has been coming to see me. I know Tom will be furious if he knows; you know how he gets ridiculously jealous over these small things.

The worst part is that Will kissed me before he left, and I have to make sure Tom never finds out, so please keep these letters safely…

Lily stopped reading and looked up. "Will… isn't that Janine's dad?"

James nodded, his throat suddenly dry. "I know. Pretty bad, eh? If you read the rest of the letters – well, it looks like Mrs. Garnet's parents were just waiting for her to graduate so she could get married to this 'Tom' fellow. She broke it off, we know that much, but, it sounds like this 'Tom' was somewhat abusive, or got to be…" James shook his head. "It isn't much to go on, but I thought, maybe, if we asked Janine's aunt…"

"Hmm. Yeah, her aunt may be more willing to tell us something. So this Tom is an ex-boyfriend, and an abusive one at that, and if he's the Dark Lord…" Lily swore softly. "Blimey, I never would have thought-"

"I don't think Janine knows," James said in a low voice. "So I don't plan on telling her unless we're sure. It could be someone different. It might just be a coincidence."

Lily pulled on her lower lip, no longer listening to James. It's too weird to be a coincidence… but wait… She looked at the letter again. "Besides, the fact that Tom is Head Boy probably helps… and me, only fifteen, goodness known I don't plan on getting married anytime soon…" Lily's eyebrows shot up.

"What is it?"

She looked frantically up at James, suddenly breathless. "What year did Janine's mum graduate?"

"Er…" James screwed up his eyes, thinking. "Summer of 1946, I think. Why?"

"1946… two years before that… he graduated in 1944!"

"Who did?" James was perplexed, but Lily was on a roll.

"Tom did, that's who! Oh, I'm so brilliant! See, it says that Janine's mum was fifteen in the letter, but Tom was Head Boy, which means he was seventeen, and so two years older than she was, and-"

"What are you being so loud?" Alyssa demanded sleepily, her voice slurred. Lily ignored her, grabbing a book from a nearby shelf and frantically flipping through it.

"Tom, Tom, Tom… Tom Riddle, ha!" She glanced at the list, and then frowned. "Hang on – there's no Tom Riddle on this list."

"Well, no," James replied, still looking confused. "Riddle isn't a wizarding family."

Lily screwed up her eyes, concentrating, and it came to her… "I'm not certain he really likes Tom, but I think that's mostly because he wants me to marry a pureblood…"

"What's going on?" Jen asked, yawning and rubbing sleep from her eyes. "What's going-?" She shrieked when Lily grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "WHAT ARE YOU-"

"Who's there?" The nine of them froze – now everyone was awake. In less than ten seconds, they'd scattered, several of them running out the door, the others ducking behind bookshelves – Remus grabbed the list and disappeared out the door – James grabbed Lily and the letters, pulled Lily underneath the table, and threw something over the two of them.

Madam Pince, wearing a horribly ratty purple dressing gown, shuffled out of a side room in what might have been fluffy slippers at some point, looking around beadily. "I heard noises," she said in a low voice. She was walking right towards Lily and James.

Oh, God, we're going to get caught –

Madam Pince bent down, peering under the table, right into Lily and James's faces. Lily gulped, and opened her mouth, searching frantically for an explanation, when James slid his hand over her mouth. She glanced at him; he shook his head, putting a warning finger to his lips. Startled, Lily pointed to Madam Pince, who was not two feet away from them, and James shook his head again.

Madam Pince hmphed and straightened up, picking up the yearbooks and placing them back on the shelves. "Some silly student, leaving all my books out…" She yawned sleepily and shuffled back to her room. Lily watched her go, feeling more and more confused by the moment. James pulled something away from Lily; she watched him stuff it in his pocket, but couldn't make out what it was.

Slowly, one by one, the others poked their heads cautiously from their hiding places (the ones that hadn't fled the library, anyway). They nodded swiftly to one another and left in pairs before Madam Pince could come back, leaving Lily and James.

"That was close," James said uncomfortably, but he quailed beneath Lily's heated glare. She held a palm out.

"All right, Potter, out with it! What did you do? No way she could have missed us – she was two feet away, not even Madam Pince is that blind-"

James gave her a guilty look. "I can't tell you that, Lily." His eyes were pleading. "Please don't ask me to tell you how."

It was probably the pleading in James's voice that made Lily want to slink away and forget about the incident, and she had to admit, she was very curious as to how James had managed to get away with this one. Besides, it would probably clue her in to how James and his motley crew were always sneaking around the school. "Tell me, Potter." She set her jaw.

James's pleading look became more pronounced than ever. "I'm begging you not to make me tell. Please? See, I'm even saying please. Please?"

"I'll kiss you."

James reeled back, startled. "You'll what?"

"If you tell me, I'll kiss you. No joke. I mean it, Potter. One, honest snog from me to you, in return for seeing that… thing that's in your pocket. That hid us."

X-X-X-X-X

James paused. It was a very tempting offer. To be able to kiss Lily, without her slapping him, with her kissing him back…

No! Stupid, stupid, stupid! If she finds out you've got an Invisibility Cloak, she'll go straight to McGonagall with it…

One kiss…

HELLO! YOU WILL BE IN DETENTION FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

One little, teensy, kiss…

POTTER! WAKE UP! YOU'RE AN IDIOT! SHE'S A DAMN GIRL! GET YOUR KISSES LATER! (At another point, it would occur to James that this voice that was so vehemently telling him to not give in was Sirius's voice.)

One, honest snog from her to you…

NO! NO! NOOOO…!

"Yeah, okay. Deal."

X-X-X-X-X

Lily took a deep breath, steeling herself, leaning over, and very firmly pressed her lips against James's. She might have left it at that and pulled back, but James's hands immediately settled on her waist, and Lily instantly responded by sliding her arms around his neck, one hand going into James's very messy hair.

James's tongue began to insistently demand access to her mouth, and, automatically, it seemed, her mouth opened under his.

And that was her undoing.

The kiss was heated and wild; it made Lily's head swim. She frantically tried to regain her hold on her sanity, but when James brought one hand up to stroke the back of her neck, she promptly lost it again.

James pressed her up against the table, his mouth demanding and unyielding. Lily did her best to keep up with him, but no one had ever kissed her that way before. One of his hands was tugging at her shirt, to what end a sane Lily had no idea, and she was raking his hair back, pulling him closer, needing to be closer…

When the need for air became too painful to ignore, she wrenched away, pretending not to notice that she'd jerked James's hair even more awry that she'd ever seen it, pretending not to notice the way her shirt had somehow been pushed upwards and slightly askew, pretending not to notice how dark James's hazel eyes had become.

"I've got to go," she blurted, completely forgetting to ask what he had in his pocket. "Bye."

She fled the library.

X-X-X-X-X

A/N: Whee! We finally discover who that dratted Tom is – well, Lily does, anyway – and we get a nice L/J snog. That and a heartfelt discussion between Lily and Remus… okay, so it's not so heartfelt, but at least we know what happened to Andy Cobalt at Hogsmeade. Boy, he's a grouchy fellow, eh? But then, I suppose, if I'd just gotten tied to a lamppost by my date's scary stalker's best friend (that's Sirius, if you didn't catch that) and his current slut (as referred to by Remus), I'd be grouchy too. Anyway. I know this chapter is a little bit shorter (actually, I don't know if it is or not, but let's pretend it is for the sake of my comments) but I hope it was… informative. And we get some L/J action! That's a good thing, right?

And yeah, I know I didn't send this to my betas. I'm lazy; so sue me.

Okay, questions, questions… First of all, I know Remus seemed a bit of a coward last chapter, not helping and all, but keep in mind that there are a whole lot of third, four, and fifth years in the pub, and we'll pretend for now that most of the seventh-years were elsewhere. In any case, somebody's got to get the students from the younger years out. I don't think that makes him a coward, it's just that he knows that if he stays behind to help fight – it may not have done much good anyway, and besides, there's more of a chance of a casualty with one of the younger years making a foolish mistake or something. Moving right along…

Okay, about the memory keeper… will it get destroyed? Probably not. I mean, I want Harry to see it at some point in his life… oh, come on, you didn't think I'd just write Lily and James's story and leave it there, did you? I've got to see this through the end – and that means writing Harry's sixth and seventh years, and then some.

Okay, now, that kiss might have been moving a little fast (I'm sorry, I suck at writing romantic scenes, you'll have to forgive me for it), especially what with James, er… tugging on her shirt. But he is a sixteen-year-old boy, and he's been avoiding girls for a while now in hopes of getting Lily to notice him. Besides, he is still James, and he is still a prat, so I really don't expect him to be above that.

And yeah, it did occur to me at some point – why exactly WERE they looking up Tom anyway? I mean, they're a bunch of teenagers – why do they even CARE?! Well, as we now know, Janine's mother was involved with Tom Riddle, and, if I ever decide to write the story of Tom Riddle's time, you may find that Kat and Edward Potter had a few problems with him, too. But that's not really important to this story. It's kind of… un-vital.

Oh, yeah, and something I just discovered – Sirius's eyes are gray. JKR said so herself. Well, that's TOO DAMN BAD because I happen to like my Sirius with his very blue eyes, and I'M NOT CHANGING IT! (By the way, this particular point is not addressed to anyone who wanted me to change Sirius's eyes – especially because none of you ever commented on his eyes, but anyway –, it's just that it irritates me… I have this wonderfully sexy picture in my head of Sirius with bright blue eyes, and then she goes and says that they're gray. Well, too bad. In my world, I am queen, and if I say Sirius has blue eyes, THEN HE HAS BLUE EYES! So there.)

I can't think of any other serious questions to address, but if you've got any, leave a review and tell me. And as always, thanks for the reviews! Here are your responses:

SillyGillie: I know, I love how they can sort of read each other's minds. That's true friendship for you. It's like my mom and me actually. We always finish each other's sentences, and it's really funny… hmm. That has definitely got to happen more often in this fic. Thanks for your review!

californiagurl: I'm glad you liked the chapter! Yeah, I know – Lily's embarrassment. It's like, "OMG, I would hate to be her right then." But I still think what James did is, um… 'sweet.' Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter too!

DobbyGrl: Another chapter, just for you! And, well, all the other reviewers, but ANYWAY… I hope you liked this one, too!

Dreammergurl2007: Ugh, I know, it was a TOTAL disaster. I was like, as if Lily's day could NOT get any worse. And she didn't even get a kiss from her date. :( Oh well, she got one from James in this chapter, and that's good enough!

little pink sock: I hope you liked this chapter, too. I never intended for Remus to come across as a coward, by the way, but I guess he sort of did, didn't he? I hope the earlier note helped clear up why he didn't hang around to help although, come to think of it, he probably should have… Hmm. Oh well.

SeCrEt LiLy: I'm glad is your favorite prat. Mine too. :) See, Sirius is really less of a prat and more of an arrogant bastard, but that's okay, because I like him as an arrogant bastard, you know?

Silver Running Water: First of all – cool name. Major props for that one. And I'm really touched that you think I'm a good writer – I keep looking back at my chapters and was like, "what the HELL was I thinking there?" But it's nice to know that you think the story is going well. And don't worry, I'm really going to try not to rush it. I guess the kiss was sort of rushed, but it had to start SOMEWHERE, so I figured it may as well be with a very fiery kiss that's going to send Lily running away whenever James comes into view. It's like one step forward and a bazillion steps backwards in their relationship…

lildrummergrl719: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope you liked this one too. I'm always like, at the end of a chapter, "Oh, God, should I have ended it there? Should I add more?" But I think I ended it at a good place with the last one, and hopefully at a good place with this one too.

YamiClara: I know, seven deaths is a lot. The thing is, though, Voldemort has to start becoming prominent now because it's their sixth year, and starting in the summer before seventh year, they all make a bunch of important decisions – and I mean all of them, our Gryffindors, Snape, and even Narcissa and Bellatrix Black… everyone. And all of their decisions are based around Voldemort and what he's doing, so… yeah. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

jamesnlily4ever: Wow. 32 times? That's a lot. I'm thrilled. Really, I am. I am like jumping up and down that someone likes my story that much. Sort of hard to convey over the computer, though… anyway. I'm so happy you loved the last chapter! When I was writing it, I was like, everyone's going to think it's so stupid. But you didn't, and that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :) Leave me another review, okay?

Padfootz: I hope you like this chapter, too! And I know, it's like "Oh Poor Lily, what did she ever do to deserve this?"

invisible2u: I know, it's like the time when James really reveals that sweetness inside him – and Sirius, too. I love that. They're arrogant pricks the rest of the time, and then, when someone's in danger, it's like SCHWING! I'm a superhero now, watch me save everyone! So, uh, yeah. Schwing. One of my favorite words. Sorry. Anyway – more Snape plushies for you, 'cause you love them so much!

Apotterlover: Wow. I'm glad you think it was sweet – everyone's like, oh, gosh, I feel so bad for Lily. I know that if I were Lily, I'd want to kill James for embarrassing me, but if you look at it from an outsider's point of view… yeah. It is sweet.

Celina K2: Your favorite chapter? Your favorite story? Wow. Thanks so much!!! I love you – you're such a great reviewer! I love getting reviews like this, it's always nice to know about the people out there who DON'T think the story's crap. Anyway, as for James's notebook… it's momentarily forgotten, mostly because he has other things to worry about right now. Don't worry, it'll come back, never fear.

WoW-Girl: Ha, like I'll ever stop. Getting reviews is way too much fun. :P Keep reviewing me, okay?

Oliverwoodschic: I have to say, you are like the BIGGEST Janine/Sirius shipper I've ever met. And that's cool, because I love them. We should totally start our own club, which is like the 'Sirius and Janine forever' club. It's too bad about what happens to Sirius in OotP, though… hmm, that's a problem. I'm going to have to find a way to get around that when I start writing Harry's sixth year (which, by the way, is the story that comes after I finish the Marauders' story. :) ) Anyway, yeah. I'm waiting for your next review, because I love reading them!

Alenchic: I know, I was like, dude, I wish I could have been there to see that. I wouldn't stop laughing for a century. :) Thanks for the review!

shan: I'm glad you love the story! As for you not writing stories… that's sad. You should start; let me know if you do, because I'll definitely come and review your story! I hope this update came soon enough for you (I know, it took forever, but I'm trying) and I'll try and get the next one out as soon as possible (which, unfortunately, may be a while, 'cause I'm totally out of ideas.) Love talking to you too!

moony128: Hehe, thanks for the points. I hope your homecoming was cool too… and don't worry about the dress. Last year, I was like, the day of homecoming… "Oh, crap. I don't have a dress and the dance is tonight. That's a problem." Hope it went well for you! And there's another "at the request of moony128" up there! I'll probably stop writing that, but you should know that every time I now write the previous chapter's events at the top of a new chapter, it's 'cause you asked me to! Yeah, it's like "James, you're so stupid!" and he'll be like, "Blame Sirius, it was his idea!" Hehe. Ooh, funny idea for an upcoming chapter… hmm…

milky way bar: Yes! Go Archie! Power to the Archie fans! Whee!

Harry Potters Care Bear: Lol, cute name! Thanks for the compliments; I really appreciate them. I hope you liked this chapter!

Jessie xxx: Thanks for the review, and I hope you like this chapter to!

Granger-gurl-rox: I know, I was just going to have James sing, and then, in the middle of the night, this great idea of Sirius dressing drag and singing in a really high voice made me giggle and I was like… I so have to put that in! Thanks for your review, by the way!

BeCkY6: AND I LOVED YOUR REVIEW! Thanks for reviewing, seriously! I hope you like this chapter too!

reckless-patience: I know what you mean. Guys with senses of humor always make me giggle… I love funny guys. They make awesome friends, too, especially when you've had a crappy day and they try and cheer you up… it's so sweet. :) Anyway, I hope you like this chapter too!

nebulia: I hope you had fun at your homecoming, too! And the part about Death Eaters disapparating, not apparating… um… oops? Hehe. Thanks for pointing it out. If I ever go back, I'll fix that. Thanks! As for Lily destroying the memory keeper… no way! Harry needs some stuff to show him his mother, doesn't he? Hehe… I can't wait to see Harry's face when he and his friends suddenly stumble across this memory keeper and see James in pink robes singing and Sirius singing while wearing a skirt and a red wig! It'd be so funny. Must remember that. Thanks for the review!

LilyEvans221: Oh, don't worry about not being able to review for a while – it's cool, because you review this one! Anyway, here's this update, so I hope you like it!

z'yiandria: First things first – you have probably the most original name I've ever seen, and it's SO COOL! Yeah, when I first started writing the story, I couldn't find any differences between Jen and Janine, either. But they'll get very different as the story wears on. You'll see what I mean later (ooh, I just foreshadowed! That is so cool! Okay, I'm stopping this now). Yeah, I always figured – you know, they're not Harry, so Voldemort shouldn't totally dominate their lives, not until they're adults. He will have an annoying habit of popping up from now on, though…

Mg-Nashisko: I'm sorry about the wait for the update. (Hey, that rhymed!) I had serious writer's block, and so much schoolwork that the only time I have to write is on the weekends. Not to mention, writing responses to individual reviews is very time-consuming. But always rewarding, of course. :) Anyway, I'll update ASAP.

pokie4389: Thanks for your review! Leave me another?

Cecilia Orechio: Ooh, constructive criticism. It's always great to get some feedback on where you guys think I can improve. Okay. So on to your review and what it said: Your favorite OC is Perry? Hmm, that's original. I'm glad you like him. And yeah, we'll get to see more of him in the future, so don't worry! And I've actually been to HP Lexicon, although it's so big that I never get a chance to check everything out. Your review really helped me find some interesting facts online. So anyway. As to Lily and James being 21 when they die… yeah, I've heard that a lot. I know JKR said in some interview that Snape was 35-36 or whatever it was, but the first time I heard of that, someone said that was how old he was in the first book… which is why it seems as though they're a lot older in this fic. In any case, I probably won't go back and change it because I have a lot of events planned out for the rest of the story, and if I make them younger, I won't have time for everything. But you do bring up a good point about that, and if I weren't so far into the story and didn't have so much to pack in, I probably would change it, 'cause I'm a stickler for canon too. Every little thing that doesn't fit in bothers me (see note on Sirius's eyes above :) ) So anyway… you'll also notice that Bill and Charlie are a lot older in this fic. I did that on purpose for another fic I'm writing… oh well. Like I said, too many things to go back and change, so I'm probably not gonna. As to Scrivenshaft's been in Hogsmeade… yeah, I know. The thing is, I don't have that big of an imagination, so I was like, "Okay, so they're going to have two shops – one in Hogsmeade and one in Diagon Alley just so I don't have to come up with a new name." Lazy, I know. If you have a better name in mind, though, please tell me, because I couldn't come up with anything. I never realized that Hagrid, McGonagall, and Tom Riddle were all at Hogwarts in the 1930s… I mean, I guess the late 1930s, but whatever. Anyway, I went off the fact that Tom's sixth year beings/ends in 1942. Mrs. Garnet is two years younger than he is; Mr. Garnet, Mr. Potter, and Mrs. Potter are all a year younger, while McGonagall was X (that means I haven't figured it out yet) years older than Tom is. Anyway, Janine is one of the Garnet's youngest children, because their oldest is… 21 or 22, I can't remember quite how old I made him. And Mr. and Mrs. Potter… had kids late, I guess. :) Notice how I conveniently make up these things. Anyway. Don't worry about offending me because I really do appreciate your comments. And wow, this was a long response, so I hope you have time to read it all because I just want you to know that I really do appreciate your review. Seriously, I like constructive criticism because it tells me where I can improve. Please review again, and I hope this chapter was good!

Queen of the weird: I'm updating as fast as I can, and I'll try and update again ASAP. Thanks for your review!

limbo-gal: Sirius and Janine will most definitely get back together. As for Lily and James… yeah, maybe Lily will start learning that he's not so bad. Which, apparently, she already has started to learn. Anyway, thanks for the review!

Wow! 34 Reviews! Thanks, Guys – Hugs and Kisses to all of you!

Coming Up: Honestly? I have no idea. I'm having major writer's block because I honestly don't know what to do. So I have a challenge for all my great reviewers out there: Leave a review, telling me what you think I should do in the upcoming chapters! The sooner I get reviews with ideas, the sooner I'll update because I'll actually have something to write! If I see a review I really, really, really like and decide to use it, the chapter that the idea is used in will be dedicated to whoever came up with it! So if I don't use your idea next chapter; never fear, I may yet use it later! Anyway, thanks.

Okay, one other favor to ask: To those of you who remember the Snape-Lupin-Whomping Willow incident, you'll also remember that I had James present when Sirius told Snape to get into the Whomping Willow. I'm beginning to reconsider that. It makes James seem like a MAJOR BASTARD, and I kind of don't like that part. So here's where you reviewers come in: Tell me, in your review (along with upcoming ideas) whether you think I should change it. It doesn't have to be how I should change it, just whether or not I should. Thanks guys!

Okay, time to go – love you all! XOXO Peaches