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.

Last chapter: Lily and James see some MAJOR action, and Lily forces James into a promise that he's going to hate, using up the promise he owed her. Oh, and James tries to teach Lily to fly. It doesn't work.

Author's notes at the end.

X-X-X-X-X

James had to give Lily some credit. Since the last time they'd spoken (Sunday, 7:27 AM – he'd checked), she'd done a remarkable job of completely avoiding him. She hurried out of class before he could catch her, and was in none of her regular haunts (translation: the library), and sat very far away from him during all mealtimes, surrounded by a tight-knit group of friends who all seemed intent on keeping him away from her (even Janine).

He'd more or less given up the day before. Besides, it was Sirius's birthday, and James was very much determined to give his best mate the time of his life, particularly seeing as Sirius had been moody ever since his breakup with Janine. James really was ready to kill one or both of them, but he restrained himself, deciding that Sirius at least deserved a decent seventeenth birthday party before he died a very painful death at James's hands.

Nevertheless, he was a bit startled to see Lily leaning against the wall beside the bathroom, very much alone and without her friends. He quickened his pace and was almost right next to her before she even noticed he was there.

"Potter! What… what are you doing here?" She frowned. "This is a girls' bathroom. You're aware of that, right?"

"We're not inside," he pointed out reasonably, and leaned closer. She responded by inching away from him; James ignored that. "I have to talk to you."

"We've got nothing to talk about."

"Yes, we do! Look, Evans, you kissed me, I kissed you, the world didn't end and it's not going to, and-"

"James!" she hissed, clamping a tight hand over his mouth, her knuckles white. "Shut up!"

It was only then that he noticed Narcissa Black, who had evidently just left the bathroom, staring at them. A lazy smile crossed her face. "Well. This is interesting, isn't it? Potter and Evans. Who'd have thought?"

"Shut up, Black-" James began around Lily's hand, his lips tickling he palm. She jerked her hand back, rubbing it as though it had been burned.

"I suppose there's no accounting for taste in some families nowadays, but really, Potter, can you do no better? You're decently handsome, you know, and-"

"Black." Lily's voice was tight. "You are going to walk away and forget you overheard this conversation. Understand?"

Narcissa was still smiling a cat's smile. "No, I really won't. I can think of several people who would find this development very… interesting. And here I thought you hated each other."

"I don't hate Lily," James protested vehemently, just as Lily shot back, "We do!" They glanced at one another.

"Yes… of course you hate each other." She smiled angelically, and she really did look like an angel, with large gray eyes and a pretty halo of white-blond hair. "See you around, Evans, Potter. Or Evans and Potter, I suppose it is now…" She sauntered away, swaying her hips. Lily groaned.

"Now look what you've done!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know she was in there-"

"It'll be all over the school tomorrow!" Lily wailed in frustration. "And as if that isn't bad enough, all my friends are going to kill me because I didn't tell them…"

"You didn't tell them?" James blinked. He'd told his own friends immediately; in fact, they'd all whooped and cheered so much that Fabian Prewett had come over from the next dorm to remind them that some people were sleeping and to please shut the bloody hell up.

Lily blinked. Why is that important? "You're joking, right? I'm not going to tell them that. It's embarrassing enough to admit to myself, let alone my friends."

James couldn't help but feel slightly chagrined that she felt that way. He wasn't that bad of a kisser, was he? He'd never had complaints before… "I have to talk to you," he said again. "You don't even have to talk back. I just want you to listen."

She looked at him warily. "All right, I'm listening."

He heaved a deep breath. "Look, we kissed, right? I mean, we did. And you said it meant something. Er… you did say that, right?" He looked horribly vulnerable, so much so that Lily would have laughed if she'd been cruel. Instead, she nodded unsmilingly. "And, well… we've got to come to terms with it, right? I mean, it definitely meant something to me. I just…"

"James." Lily looked at the tips of her shoes. "I don't want to give you the wrong impression. There was… there was something there. I admit that." She glanced up, and saw his hopeful face. "A little something," she added hastily, "and that's all there's ever going to be, because…"

His face fell. "…I'm not your type," he finished quietly. She nodded again. "You can't know that," he tried earnestly. "I mean, we've only gotten to talking a few times in the last year, and… look, can't you just give me a chance? Just one?"

Lily sighed. "You're never going to let up, are you?" She sounded so exasperated that James hung his head, contemplating very heavily what he was about to do.

"Listen. How about you and I… just become friends? I mean it. No kissing, nothing. Just friends. Like… like Janine and I are friends." He blinked. "Well, not exactly like Janine and I are friends. Like… like you and Remus are, or like… like Jen and me, or something like that. Just friends. No flirting, no kissing, no touching unless we literally run into each other because we're not paying attention." She smiled at that. "Sound fair?"

She seemed wary again. "What's the catch?"

He heaved a heavy breath. "If, at the end of this year, you can honestly say that I haven't changed and that you still think I'm not at all your type… I'll stop. Once and for all."

She snorted. "Yeah, right."

"No, really, I mean it. Listen, if you can still say that I'm not worth taking a chance on at the end of this year, if I'm really not at all different, nowhere close to your type-"

"I can tell you that for certain now, Potter-"

"-Let me finish. If you can say all that – and I'm telling you to let me know you as a friend, and let you know me as a friend – and if you can really say all that, I really will stop. Swear it on the family name. I won't ever ask you out again. I won't ever bother you. I'll just… I'll stay away. Won't even be your friend, if you don't want me to."

Lily watched him. "And I have your promise on this, right? Like, an oath? You can't break an oath. If I can still say all that, you'll really let it go?"

"I really will. So long as you really do try to get to know me, to see past the glasses and the big head." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lily. It's not like I'm asking for a date, here. I'm trying to be friends. I want you to see… that I'm worth it."

Her eyes were filled with – and there was no other word for it – a tenderness he'd never seen in her face before. "Don't sound so helpless. I'm sure you're worth it, James Potter… just not for me." She held up a hand as he opened his mouth to argue again. "Nevertheless… I'll give you this. Just until the end of the year. No flirting, no kissing, no touching, nothing of the sort beyond common friendliness that I give all your other friends. And I will try to be your friend, but I'm not looking for more than that." She frowned. "And if I do decide to go out with someone, briefly, in those two months, you may not get jealous. Understand?" He nodded vigorously, his face shining with hope. "All right, whatever. I guess I can give this a try." What the hell. It's only two months or so.

"And when people ask about the kisses…"

"I tripped and you caught me with your lips?" she suggested with a grin.

"Twice?" he retorted.

"I don't know, Potter. We'll figure it out later, or just tell people that Black heard wrong. After all, she was the only one who heard. We can deny the whole thing."

James didn't really feel like denying it, but he was so elated that she'd agreed to his idea that he just went with it. "Hey, you know what?" he suddenly asked excitedly, "it's Sirius's birthday, and we're giving him a party in Hogsmeade! Why don't you come?"

She frowned. "That would mean sneaking out."

"You've done it before," he pointed out. "And if you want, I can take you a bit early so you can buy a present. As a friend, of course," he added quickly, before she accused him of violating the terms. "Really. I won't get touchy-feely or anything. Just to buy Sirius a present. Not socks, though," he added with a grimace. "Or a girly jumper."

Lily giggled; James had to grin. "All right, fine. I'll see you later, then. I've got to go get ready."

"Party doesn't start 'til eight," he said. "So if we leave by seven it should be fine. And you don't need to get all fancy, or anything, you can just…" He trailed off at the look on her face. "Right, so this dressing up thing is a girl thing, I guess."

"It is," she confirmed, and then added, "You may be a womanizer, Potter," ("Hey, I resent that!"), "but you've still got a lot to learn about women." She rounded a corner, and James sunk against a wall.

Well, at least she'd given him half a chance now. But how the hell was he going to manage to keep his hands and his mouth to himself for two whole months?

Lily, meanwhile, congratulated herself on a job well done. Not only would James leaver her alone for two monthsbut she'd also appeased everyone else by giving him a chance. And, if need be, she still didn't have to date him at the end. And at that end, it'd be over. He'd stop. All of the price of being friends with James Potter for two short months.

Lily smiled. What's the worst that could happen?

X-X-X-X-X

"Going somewhere?" Janine teased. As it stood, she and Lily were the only ones in the common room. "Getting all dressed up for your prefect rounds?"

"That's right," Lily replied tonelessly. "Hot date tonight."

Janine's face contorted in disgust. "Hang on, isn't Snape your prefect partner?"

"That was once," Lily said pointedly, "and it was in the fifth year. No, this month it's Remus, actually." Lily dragged a brush through her curls. "And I haven't got prefect rounds tonight." With a grunt of frustration, she cast her brush down. There was no way she'd ever get her hair straight like Janine's, not without several carefully applied charms, just the way Janine's hair would ever be curly like hers, again not without several carefully applied charms. She looked at her friend. "Help."

"Trying to straighten your hair? It'll take a while."

"Wizards can sew up wounds in an instant, re-grow bones, and send things flying through the air, but straightening one's hair requires liberal amounts of Sleakeazy's and carefully applied straightening charms. Bloody amazing. What time is it?"

"Six. And as long as you're on your tirade about wizards ought to be able to do, based on what they already can do, you might as well add a decent hangover remedy to the list, because we haven't got a one."

"Quiet, you." Lily turned to look at her fully, now. "Six? I've got an hour, then. Hop to it and I'll let you glance over my Charms essay to give you ideas for yours." Janine rolled her eyes and began piling all of Lily's hair on top of her head, before starting with the backmost layer, using her wand to straighten it slowly.

"I don't need you to look over my Charms essay," she said in a soft voice. "I had Evan help me with it."

Lily jerked and squeaked as the hot tip of Janine's wand poked her in the neck. And to top it all, you have to heat your wand to straighten one's hair. Bloody amazing. "Evan Rosier?" she asked in disbelief. "I thought you broke up with him end of last year!"

"I did! Er… sort of. We were… hanging out earlier this year. When I was dating Fabian," she qualified. "Although I stopped seeing him somewhere in the middle of that, I think." She heaved a heavy breath. "Anyway, I skipped lunch and met up with him in the empty Transfiguration classroom."

"Janine! What if McGonagall had caught you?"

"It's not like I'm skipping class to do it, am I? Anyway, she was at lunch with everybody else. She wouldn't have caught us." Janine let down some of Lily's hair, moving on to the next layer.

"Janine?" Lily asked after a few minutes.

"Hmm?"

"You're not… using Rosier, are you?" Her friend didn't answer. "To make Sirius jealous, that is."

Janine huffed. "If I am, it isn't working," she muttered.

"Janine!" Lily jerked again, and felt the hot tip of Janine's wand jab her once more. She wondered if the brunette was doing it on purpose. "That's… scummy."

"Oh, hush up." They sat in silence for some time, until Janine heaved a sigh. "Lily… is it really pathetic that I miss him as much as I do?"

She knew her friend wasn't talking about Rosier. "You're asking us the wrong person." Janine sighed again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Although I do think that he misses you, too, and that you're trying to make each other miserable but in the end are only making yourselves miserable. I also think it isn't worth trying to do. You're happier together, you are."

"You think?"

"Unless you can find a way to respectfully break up once and for all. Otherwise, yes, I do think so." Lily frowned, trying to see what Janine was doing in the mirror. "But if you're dating Rosier…"

"We're not exactly dating. We're-"

"-Shagging?"

"No! Lil, come on." Janine was scowling fiercely now, and Lily felt another sharp jab in the back of her neck. Yep, Janine was definitely doing it on purpose. "Geez. We were working."

"Is that what they're calling it nowadays? Ow! Hey, stop that!" Lily jerked away from the hot tip of Janine's wand and gritted her teeth.

"Sorry." She didn't sound particularly repentant.

"You can do better than him, Janine. Much better."

"What's wrong with Rosier? Lots of money, quite handsome, comes from a respectable family…"

"Janine…"

"My parents like him. Er, my mother does. And my grandmother, too."

"They liked him because he came from an acceptable family. But the Blacks are acceptable too, right?"

"Not at all. Morgans and Blacks have hated each other for centuries. No idea why – goes back to some thirteenth century nonsense. Anyway, Sirius is doubly unsuitable because he ran away from home. He's a rebel, and rebels are bad. Rosier may not be the best fish at the market, but he's good enough for the family. Although I know my mother would prefer I married a Prewett."

"A Prewett?"

"Oh, definitely. Since I broke up with Fabian, she's practically been shoving me at Gideon."

"Bit old for you, isn't he?"

"Six years isn't so much," she replied quietly. "And Gideon would be the perfect husband, I suppose. He's awfully nice. Very kind, too, and unquestionably sweet."

"I should think you'd get bored with someone like that." Lily smirked at Janine's reflection. "You wouldn't be happy unless you had someone who'd make you miserable."

"Huh? That doesn't even make sense!" Janine stepped back, patting Lily's now-straight hair. "Beautiful," she declared, surveying her handiwork. "If you'll give me a moment, I'll smooth some Sleakeazy's over it, and you'll be all set. Where are you going, anyway?"

Lily ran her fingers through her hair. "Potter invited me to go out and celebrate Black's birthday."

Janine stiffened for a moment, and then asked quietly, "Why would he do that?"

"Haven't you heard? I'm surprised Black hasn't spread it all over the school by now. Er, Narcissa Black, that is." Sighing, Lily related the events of the kisses she'd shared with James, and the deal that had followed.

"Well, good for you. I'm glad you're giving him a chance. About bloody time." Janine didn't look glad, though. Actually, she looked like she was sulking, and Lily knew her well enough to know why.

"Do you want to come with? You can look your best and make Black ever regret ditching you."

"He didn't ditch me! I ditched him and not vice versa!"

"Right," Lily agreed hastily. "So, do you want to come?" Janine bit her lip. "It'll be fun," Lily wheedled, and then added, "I have no idea where we're going, though, and I'd probably feel better if you came too."

Janine huffed. "No, I think I'll stay here and wallow in my misery," she decided.

"Are you sure? That'll be boring."

"I don't want to see him, Lily. I don't want to see him pick up every girl he passes, flirting incessantly while I sit there and feel sorry for myself. I don't believe in feeling sorry for myself." Lily's eyebrows rose. It was quite clear that Janine was feeling very sorry for herself.

"If you're sure," answered Lily uncertainly.

"I'm sure. Here, you can borrow something of mine," Janine added, and went to the armoire, rifling through it and coming up with a scandalously short white skirt and green top that would most likely reveal much more than Lily wanted it too. She frowned.

"Knock Potter dead."

"I'm not trying to knock him dead," Lily responded tartly, shoving Janine's clothes away and pulling on a pair of Muggle jeans. Janine rolled her eyes.

"Boring," she announced.

"Only by your standards," responded Lily. "But here, how's this for daring?" She knelt and reached under Jen's bed, finally emerging with a pair of shiny black boots. Janine surveyed them critically, and then pulled a shirt out of the armoire again, this one black. Lily tried it on to appease her friend, only to discover that it bared her shoulders.

Janine sighed. "It will have to do," she announced dramatically. "Now, can you do me a favor?"

"What sort of favor?" Lily asked warily.

"Give this to Sirius, would you?" Janine pulled out a tiny box from her bedside table and shoved it into Lily's hands. "You don't have to say who it's from. Just… I got it in Diagon Alley, over Christmas break, and it seemed a waste to let it just sit, you know? It's not like I can give it to anyone else."

"This won't kill him, will it? Because it will be an awful liability for the school and possibly a lawsuit against you if it does."

"Shut up, Evans. Give it to him?"

"Yeah, I will."

"And don't let him get too drunk," she added quietly, walking with Lily into the common room – which was mercifully empty. Most people outside, enjoying the nice day, Lily supposed. It depressed her that Janine had opted to remain inside, and immediately resolved to get her friend out and doing something at the first opportunity – excluding this one. "I'll make your excuses to the others."

"Thanks."

"Have fun, Lily," Janine said, and waved to her from the portrait. "And don't forget to give him the box!"

X-X-X-X-X

"I thought you might have stood me up!" exclaimed James, when Lily arrived half an hour late. Seeing her scowl, he added hastily, "Not that we're dating or anything, I just – hell." He scuffed his shoes on the floor. "I always do that."

"Open mouth, insert foot," replied Lily wryly. "How do you open this thing?" She rapped her knuckles on the mirror smartly. Nothing happened.

"Stand back and let a man do this," James said, puffing out his chest impressively. Digging his fingernails into the crack by the side of the mirror, he wrenched it open with an almighty grunt. "Ladies first," he said, sweeping a mocking bow.

Lily's eyebrows rose. "Lead the way, then."

He pretended to be hurt. "Ouch! Cruelty, thy name is Lily."

"Fine, I'll go first." She marched through, only glancing back when James slammed the mirror shut. Frowning around the dank passageway, she asked, "How did you find this place, anyway?"

James laughed. "You'd be amazed what Sirius and I can do without trying." He then proceeded to tell her the story of their discovery – which involved, oddly enough, Filch, an ink bottle, a bit of string, and a mug of hot chocolate that was more whipped cream than it was hot chocolate.

By the end of it, Lily was in peals of laughter and James was grinning madly. "We got a detention for it," he finished, "but I think it was worth it."

"Is this the only passage out of here?"

"Oh, no, there are plenty of others. We know of about six… or seven." James shrugged indifferently. "I usually use this one, though."

"Oh." Lily said nothing for a few moments, and then, "So, how did you find the others?" James grinned and began the tale.

They continued in that vein for some time. He told her some of their various escapades – embellishing a little, however, as Mrs. Norris quickly became "a crazed feline with claws of death" – and Lily found herself laughing at him. After the story of Sirius and the Exploding Pumpkin Pie, James tapered off his stories, getting quiet for a while.

"Hey, you all right?"

"Why weren't we friends?" James asked aloud. "I mean – okay, I spent all that time hitting on you, the past two and a half years – but what about before that? Why weren't we friends then?"

Lily shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I mean, it started with you playing that prank on me, first year-"

"What prank?"

Lily paused. "You know, I can't remember," she said wonderingly. "Huh. Fancy that. Anyway, after that – I don't know, it irritated me, and I suppose I retaliated. Yes, that's exactly what happened," she said, now certain. "I retaliated, and you played another prank – I don't know."

James frowned. "I think it just built up."

"Yes, I imagine it did. It started out as a friendly competition, I think, and then it kept getting worse and worse – and, well, what started out as a competition became mutual loathing, I guess."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah, it is." They quietly slid into the abandoned house and then out the back door, just like before. James didn't bring up the subject again, for which Lily was thankful. They wandered in and out of stores, laughing at the ridiculousness of some of the items for sale; breathing in wonder over the more interesting ones.

Lily soon found herself in a cheap antique shop, trying to avoid the rickety chairs and tables and not break anything. James was curiously peering at what appeared to be a human skull with two noses. "Bizarre," he announced loudly. "Looks more like a Dark Arts object."

She wandered to the back of the room, ignoring James, until she found a mirror, ornately carved out of rosewood. Lily peered into it inquisitively, and jumped back in horror when it spoke to her. It wasn't so surprising that it did, of course – most mirrors did talk – but it was the matter in which the mirror spoke.

"Hello, gorgeous," purred a decidedly feminine, husky voice. "Aren't you a pretty one?"

"Oh, God." Lily scrambled backwards and bumped into a chair. Luckily, James managed to break the chair's fall. Glancing around anxiously for the shopkeeper, he hastily replaced it. "What's up?" he asked.

"That thing – it was-"

"Ooh, and here's quite a handsome fellow. Absolutely de-lish!" James smirked and ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh, buy me, there's a good boy. You can spend hours looking at me – I just love the handsome ones, you know, and you're really quite good-looking…"

"You should buy this thing for him," James told Lily matter-of-factly. "He'll spend hours in front of it. Hell, I should buy this for him."

"Who's him?" the mirror wanted to know. "Someone as attractive as you, I hope?"

"More so," butted in Lily, pushing James out of the way. James scowled good-naturedly. "How much are you?"

"'Fraid I don't know, darling. I don't put the price tags on."

"If you give me ten sickles, I'll let you walk out of here with that thing," a harassed-looking shopkeeper said in accented English. She brushed pale blond hair from her face. "She's a menace, she is."

"You just don't like me because you're ugly," retorted the mirror. The shopkeeper scowled at it, and Lily took the opportunity to examine her.

The shopkeeper really wasn't ugly, at least not as much as the mirror made her out to be. Her pale blond hair was slightly frizzy, and pulled into a hasty knot on top of her head, held there by a pair of quills. Her large blue-gray eyes had dark shadows beneath them, and her skin was slightly translucent.

With a bit more color and some sleep, she'd be decently pretty, Lily thought. "Did you ever go to Hogwarts?" asked Lily. "You don't look so old."

"Oh, I'm not." The woman scowled at the mirror. "Only nineteen, love. I'm Celine, by the way. Celine d'Alsace." She brushed her hair back from her face again. "I went to Beauxbatons," she explained. "Like my papa."

"It's nice to meet you," Lily replied. "And what do you mean, this mirror is a menace?"

"Well, see, I put a charm on it – you know, so it would give out compliments. It's not such a great charm," Celine added hastily, "I only wanted to make the mirror a bit more even-tempered, you understand. It used to be awfully nasty. And, well – she's a bit better now, but only if you're attractive. If you're not…"

"That's all right. The friend I want it for is very attractive." Lily glanced at James and reached into her purse, feeling for her money. "I'll take it. Ten sickles, then?"

"Ten it is." Celine hurried to the register and began to ring it up. "Would you be wanting that packaged?"

"Yes, please." Lily watched in badly concealed amusement as the mirror shouted blasphemies at Celine, who was irritably trying to wrap it up. When at last she finished, she wiped beads of perspiration from her brow.

"You have no idea how glad I am that you bought this. It's awful for business, you know." Celine handed over the mirror – James lifted it before Lily could, shooting her an amused smile. "Please come again." She sounded exhausted.

"You should go lie down," Lily advised. "You look about to fall over."

"Yes, well, Papa is sick," explained Celine. "So I've taken over management for the time."

"Right," Lily said. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks." Lily noticed, with some interest, that Celine was bent over a thick book of Ancient Runes. "Come again," she added vaguely.

As they left the store, James blinked. "Weird."

"The mirror, or Celine?"

"Both. Never seen her before."

"She said she didn't go to Hogwarts," pointed out Lily, casting an amused glance at the mirror, which was still shouting muffled curses through the wrapping paper. James scowled at it and cast a silencing charm on it. "Maybe you shouldn't have bought it after all," he muttered.

"Nonsense; your idiot friend is bound to find it hysterical. So lead on. Where's this party? What's going to happen?"

"You'll see," he replied mysteriously. James led Lily down a side street to another abandoned house. "Curious how many abandoned houses there are in Hogsmeade," she commented.

"And they almost all lead somewhere that's not very abandoned at all," he replied, wincing as he gallantly held the door open for her. The Shrieking Shack. Mustn't forget that one.

"So where does this one lead?"

"You'll see."

"I'm bound to get very sick of those words soon," she said dryly. She frowned as they stepped into the living room. It was, oddly enough, full of furniture. Several sofas, a dilapidated coffee table, a cozy fireplace, and a worn rug. "What are we going to do?" she asked. "Sit around the fire and tell stories?"

"I told you this place led somewhere, did I?" James grinned and shoved the coffee table to the side and then kicked the rug away, revealing a trap door. He bent and smartly rapped on it several times, before yanking Lily out of the way just as the door swung up. A bald, but nevertheless very handsome wizard, dressed entirely in black and wearing an earring, grinned up at them, revealing three golden teeth. Music pulsed from the area beyond the trapdoor, along with the mingled smells of perfumes, colognes, sweat, alcohol, and smoke. Lily blinked, as the very walls of the house seemed to reverberate with the noise that emanated from… down there. "H'lo there," he said. "You comin' in?"

"Yeah," James said, ignoring the astonished look on Lily's face. James stepped in and held his hand out to Lily, leading her in. The bald wizard – whose nametag read "Nate" grinned and shut the trapdoor, resuming his place next to it as he smoked a cigarette. James led her down the winding metal staircase, past the first two levels and down to the last one.

They were in a very large room, pulsing with music and brightly colored lights that flashed in the darkness, illuminated the many bodies of people dancing tightly together as well as a hot pink bar with a neon green sign above it, proclaiming: "Mal's."

"Where are we?" Lily demanded in amazement, shouting to be heard over the music.

"This," James said with his widest grin yet, "is Maleficent's."

X-X-X-X-X

Author's Notes: I'm sorry I took forever on this – but my life has been hectic now, and it's only going to get more so. I can pretty much tell you right now that this story WON'T be finished before HBP comes out – sorry for there. I hope you guys stick with me anyway. I know there are a lot of typos in this story, but… well, my betas have mysteriously disappeared, and I don't have time to read over this stuff – I usually just get it up as soon as possible.

So, about the chapter. Brownie points to anyone who can guess who Celine d'Alsace is. It's not obvious at all, but I swear that you WILL find out sometime soon. I'll give you a hint: going off her appearance, think who she reminds you of. And that's all I'm gonna say on it.

There are a few questions that have come up in reviews and I thought I'd take the time to answer them:

Does Sirius resemble anybody I know? -- If the question is did I model him after anybody, the answer is no. I can think of someone who seems a tiny bit like Sirius, although I don't know said person all that well, and I met him long after I began this story.

Does Joanne had a crush on Sirius? -- Possibly :) I haven't decided yet, to be honest. And it's true, if she hated arrogance so much, then why wouldn't she hate Sirius? Maybe it's not Janine's arrogance she hates… hmm.

Why is Alexia a Gryffindor? -- Hell if I know. Maybe she'll have a use in the future. Can't tell.

About the typos –- Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't mean for there to be so many, but I type really fast and I have difficult reading over my own work, and I usually take SO long to update that I hate putting the update off by a few days to email someone. I used to have betas – two of them, actually – but I don't know what happened to them. Anybody want to apply for the job?

Snape being OOC –- I guess he was, but the thing about Snape is I always figured he wasn't a snarky bastard to EVERYONE. And Janine, for all her… um… airheaded-ness and all that, is really a very intelligent person (sort of, anyway) and she IS a Pureblood. It stands to reason that they've known each other for a long time – the way I always figured Snape and James knew each other long before Hogwarts. I also figure Snape is a little different as a teenager than he was as an adult. As to how he was with Lily – in case most of you forgot (which is entirely possible, as it's been FOREVER) he has a crush on/is in love with her. Remember? That'll become important later. Snape is going to have a lot of things happen to him before the end of this fic, so… yeah. We'll see about that.

Will this fic be until the end? -- In a manner of speaking, yes. This PARTICULAR fic – A Marauder's Girl – is going to continue until the end of seventh year, and then I'm going to split and do the post-Hogwarts MWPP story. It'll be too long if I make it all in one – hell, the story is already 29 chapters and sixth year STILL isn't finished yet. So, if you're wondering how long this fic is going to be – it's going to be LONG. VERY LONG. If you can't stand super long stories, you've been forewarned. And there's a sequel to it, too – the post-Hogwarts years. That's going to be long too.

Okay, so well all know this story will be hopelessly AU when HBP comes out. That thought depresses me, and so around the time HBP comes out, you can probably expect a wait for chapters. Nevertheless, I will see this story through to its end. I won't abandon you guys, so you can count on that. My only hope is that once it BECOMES AU, you guys will stick around. You will, won't you?

Oh, and about Tom graduating in 1994 – yep, that was a typo. I'll fix it when I'm energetic enough to do so. Right now, I had to FORCE this chapter out. The next chapter will come easier. It's going to be a VERY eventful chapter for several of my characters. Sadly, one of them is NOT Lily, and NOT James either. Who does that leave? You figure it out. And I'll also be introducing a random person who's been floating around my head for a while. I ADORE this unwritten character, by the way, and I hope you will too. She's… amusing. I think so, anyway.

My last thing, I think – WHEN ARE SIRIUS AND JANINE GOING TO GET BACK TOGETHER? I'm going to take this time out to explain the dynamics of this relationship to you all. They do care about each other. They love being together, and they certainly like each other – love being a little strong at this point – but there's also a part of them that despises each other. See, they're exactly alike, which in some ways means that their relationship may not work out as well as they'd like. There are going to be a million and one fights between them through this story. It amuses me, really, because they keep going back to each other. Ever heard the phrase, "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em?" That's Janine and Sirius. They're miserable when they're together, but they're marginally MORE miserable when they're apart. It's not a happy, healthy relationship. But I have big plans for this couple.

As for Remus… poor boy has a lot of girls wanting him, doesn't he? I haven't even decided who I want him to end up with, particularly as I'm a HUGE shipper of Remus/Tonks. I don't care what people say; I think they're adorable together. But seeing as little Nymphadora is TWO YEARS OLD at this point of the story, that relationship really isn't going much of anywhere yet. And I don't remember whether or not I mentioned this – for those of you who were with me BEFORE all the changes I made to the story, including the Big Prank – Setting Moony On Snape – I can't remember if I mentioned this, but I'm fairly certain I took Andromeda and Ted and Nymphadora out of the Masquerade scene… It somehow didn't make sense that they'd be there anymore, so I just had Lyon – Janine's oldest brother – pull the kids off of each other when they started fighting.

So, I'm pretty sure that's it for this update. I know this was a super long note, but I had a lot of things to explain… so I'm sorry for that. I hope you liked this chapter – although it was REALLY BORING, no action at all, in my opinion – but I promise that the next one is going to be THICK with drama. …Or at least, if not the next one, then the one after it. THAT you can count on.