Beginning Note: I have received some messages correcting me that James was indeed Head Boy. I have searched both before and after I published the first two chapters for confirmation from J.K. Rowling ONLY that this is true. But there is no quotation from JKR confirming that James was Head Boy. Fan theories from HP Lexicon, though they have good ones, are not directly from the author herself. If anyone can find the quotation affirming that James was Head Boy, said by JKR, please email me. I'll need a link to the interview. But I will not accept fan theories—many are wrong.

Chapter Three: Hogsmeade

Miraculously, James avoided detention for the following Saturday. Though he was sure he'd be caught rigging the toilets to explode when flushed, he scraped by. No one had caught him. This left him all morning to worry about what to wear, what to say, and what to do with Lily at noon. He also wasn't sure how to get her to Hogsmeade without revealing the secret passageway into Honeydukes.

"There is no other way," Sirius said, tossing a Quaffle in the air as he lay in bed. "You'll have to take her and accept the possibility that she'll squeal on us for knowing about it."

The thought had occurred to him, but he tried to not think about it. What if she was setting him up for trouble? But he refused to believe it. Lily wasn't a snitch.

"How do I look?" James asked.

"Dreadful," Sirius said, not looking. James ignored him.

Remus looked up from a book and shrugged. "Lose the tie."

James pulled off the tie and tossed it in his trunk.

"Don't ruffle your hair, she hates that," Peter said.

"She does?" James asked.

"You haven't noticed her looks every time you do that? It really annoys her," Remus said.

"Oh. Well, I'll have to work on that." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and paced around the room. "But I look okay?"

"You're hopeless," Sirius said, still tossing the Quaffle. "Positively ug—" James put the silencing charm on him and immediately left the dormitory and started downstairs. He checked his reflection in a window: he wore blue jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, but no tie. He was already sweating, but had charmed himself so he wouldn't look stupid with sweat stains under his arms. His hair looked unruly, but there was little he could do about that.

He was supposed to meet her in the common room, she'd been clear about that. "Meet me in the common room at twelve," she'd said.

It was 11:59—he was early. She'd think he was being too eager. She was probably laughing at him right now, mocking him with her gaggle of girlfriends.

James heard a door open and shut and he looked up stairs. It was Lily. She was coming down. Out of nerves his hand jumped to his hair.

She was today, as she always was every other day: lovely. She wore a white blouse which flared at the sleeves around her wrists. Her jeans hugged her hips, and James could see a bit of her flat stomach. She wore shiny black boots with heals under her bell-bottomed pants, but she was still considerably shorter than he was. Her hair was down, long, thick and rich looking, and she pulled a bit behind her ears as she smiled at him. She wore emerald ear rings.

"Hi," she said.

James unstuck his tongue and smiled at her. "Hi." Don't screw this up, you moron. Be cool. "You look great."

Lily smiled. "Everyone will laugh at me, wearing this Muggle get up. It's in style," she said, shrugging.

"They won't laugh," James said. "Let's go then," he said, then held open the portrait for her. The Fat Lady smirked and made a weird face at James as he closed her. He stuck his tongue out at her then ushered Lily along so she couldn't see the Fat Lady making fun of him. They were walking along silently, and rather awkwardly, when James stopped in his tracks, his ears perked. Lily stopped and looked at him.

"What—"

"Shh. Peeves," he whispered, pointing up ahead. James grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the classroom and waited for Peeves to bounce past them. He was looking especially destructive, holding two swords and swinging them about as he zoomed away cackling. James opened the door and walked out, checking to make sure it was clear. Lily put her hand on his shoulder, and James couldn't think. Why was she touching him?

"All clear?" she asked.

"Yeah," he squeaked. They left, Lily stopped touching him, and they continued to the statue of the one-eyed witch. "So…So you have to promise something."

"That I won't give away the secret to how you manage to get into Hogsmeade all the time, undetected?" she said.

"Okay, yeah that."

"I won't."

James eyed her skeptically. "Swear it?"

"Scouts honor," she said, raising her hand. "No fingers or toes crossed."

That was good enough for him. He walked up to the witch, pulled out his wand, and tapped it saying "Dissendium." It moved aside to reveal a passageway.

Lily grinned. "I love this school. So many secrets."

"Shall I go first?" James asked. "There's a bit of a slide thing."

"All right," she said. James slid through the tunnel then called up to her to follow. She slid down gracefully and did not, to his great disappointment, need catching. The witch covered the tunnel and all was dark.

"Lumos," she said, igniting her wand. "Where does this lead?" she asked him.

"Honeydukes cellar," James said.

Even in the dull light James saw her grin. "Brilliant. Let's get on with it." They walked briskly through the tunnel, Lily laughing a great deal of the time, and James laughing because she was.

"Who made this tunnel?" she asked.

Thankful for a conversation topic at last, James grinned as he said, "I dunno for sure. Probably one of the founders."

"Which one, I wonder," Lily said as she continued on with her wand aloft, as though she'd done this several times before. "And why into Honeydukes…" She was silent for a while then said, "brilliant," again.

"You're not even allowed to tell those friends of yours," James whispered, worried that perhaps she'd tell someone else, making them swear not to tell someone else… it was a vicious cycle.

"I'd never tell them something this good," she said. "How much farther?"

James squeezed past her and tried glimpsing up ahead. "Not much," he said. "Make sure you watch your—" but he smacked his head on the cellar door already. "Head."

Lily tried to stifle her giggles as she asked, "Are you okay?"

"No."

"You'll get over it. Now move out of the way," she said, pushing him aside. She gave the trap door a tiny push, allowing a sliver of light to enter the tunnel, as she looked into Honeydukes. "Coast is clear," she muttered.

James, still rubbing the top of his head, followed her once she climbed out of the tunnel. She ran up the stairs, forcing James to run to keep up, then popped into the main shopping area of the candy store.

"Wait up!" James said after she walked right out the door.

"It's not my fault if you're slow," she said once they were outside. "So…" she started, looking around the village. "Where to?"

James eyed Hogsmeade for a bit. The village always looked best after the first snow, but that wasn't for another few months. There was still grass growing on the rich ground, and the sky showed no signs of trouble. It was a beautiful spring day.

"Uh…" he said, hating himself for sounding stupid already. The truth was he really hadn't thought much about where to go. He'd only planned for Lily to trip and for him to catch her, or for her to slip and for him to catch her, or perhaps what he'd say if she asked to kiss him, and so forth. "Three Broomsticks?"

Lily made a face by scrunching up her nose as she thought. "All right."

"We have to make sure none of the staff sees us."

Lily smirked at him. "You know, I'm not as thick as I look," she said.

"Huh?" James asked.

"Well, you're making me swear never to tell anybody about the tunnel and you think I'm stupid enough to be obvious in front of a teacher. Come on, Potter, I have some common sense."

James felt a little hot around the collar as she smiled at him. "Well, you can never be too sure. And you don't look thick," he added.

"That's good. I was worried for a second there. You don't have practice later on today, do you?" she asked, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

"Nah," James said. "I'm yours for the day," he said, not sure if it was wise or not. Why not risk it, though? She was out with him. He'd gotten this far.

"Hagrid," Lily said, stopping suddenly.

James felt crestfallen. "Why are you talking about Hagrid?" he asked, turning to her.

"No—" she said, pulling him about. "That's Hagrid." She shoved him down between two buildings and followed after him. "Hide, moron!" she said, pushing him into a dark corner.

James hid just like she asked, but it was a moot point. Hagrid looked curiously into the alley. "Oi!" he called out. Lily spun around.

"Hi," she said, trying to sound casual. "What're you doing here?"

"S'not a Hogsmeade weekend," he said. "Is it?"

"Not officially," Lily said. James popped out of the corner and brushed dirt off his shoulders.

Hagrid raised his eyebrows. "What's James doing with yeh?"

"He's—he's—he's just, just, just here. With me," Lily said awkwardly, shrugging.

James beamed at Hagrid. "We came here. Together," he said, emphasizing the last three syllables. "Then she saw you and shoved me in a dark corner." He winked at Hagrid, who eyed Lily suspiciously.

"We were just leaving," Lily said, after throwing James a scathing look.

"Were yeh?" Hagrid asked.

"Yes. We'll leave Hogsmeade. Scouts honor," she said to him, raising her right hand again.

"Good. You two shouldn't be out."

"True," Lily said. James made to complain to her, but Lily stomped on his foot. "Let's be on our way, James," she said, grabbing his shirt and dragging him out of the alley, around Hagrid, and back to the path toward Hogwarts.

"But we just got here," James hissed.

"Thank you, Mr. States-the-obvious. Is he still watching us?" she asked.

James turned around and waved at Hagrid, smiling at him. "Yes," he told Lily.

"All right. We'll keep walking on the path until he stops."

"But you promised him we'd go back to school."

Lily smiled slyly and had a bounce to her step. "You weren't listening properly. I said we'd leave Hogsmeade. We'll go to Diagon Alley instead. You can Apparate, yes?"

James glanced over his shoulder and saw Hagrid was walking down the street towards the Hog's Head. James didn't care that it was too early in the day for drinking. "Yes I can. Hagrid's not looking."

Lily came to a sudden halt then checked for herself. "I could go for an ice cream. Warm day and all. There's a parlor in Diagon Alley. Interested?"

James was so impressed with Lily's slick way of lying, he would follow her anywhere. "Certainly. I love the way your mind works."

Lily laughed. "See you there," she said. She spun, then vanished with a pop.

James glanced back at Hogwarts, thinking of all the great news he had to tell Sirius, then Disapparated.

Lily was already sitting down outside, her legs crossed, with a menu of ice cream in her hands. James sat across from her, and couldn't help smiling. He picked up a menu as well.

"What'll you have?" he asked her.

She made that nose scrunch face again. "Anything with chocolate, I think. Lots of chocolate. Don't skimp me, Potter."

"Of course not," he said, collecting her menu. He walked up to order and told Fortescue that he wanted two sundaes with as much chocolate as possible. He brought James two sundaes with gobs of chocolate, then James took them back to Lily.

"Very good," she said, grinning. "I'm a bit of an addict, if truth be told."

"Really? I've never seen you eat chocolate before," he said.

Lily took an exceptionally large spoonful of her desert and ate it with gusto. "'Course not," she said around the chocolate. "I have figure to maintain, don't I? I don't play Quidditch or participate in any other physical exertion." She licked her spoon then dipped into the ice cream again.

"I suppose not," James said, thinking her could certainly help her with that tiny problem. He shook the thought out of his head, remembering to be a decent gentleman. "So what did you do over summer, beside talking with that neighbor you don't like with a nose full of crusted boogers."

"Oh yes," Lily said, blushing a little, "well, not much honestly. I passed that damn Apparition test, then I popped around the house for a bit, just to scare my parents. That was fun, actually. Then we went abroad to Rome and looked around. The Vatican was beautiful. I know wizards poo poo Muggles a bit, but their artwork is spectacular…" and she continued to tell James about people he'd never heard of like Michelangelo and some Leonardo character. She tried describing the art to him, and did a pretty good job. "We could pop over to the National Gallery," she said after a while.

"What's that?" he asked.

"A museum here in London. Do you like art?"

James shrugged. "Muggle paintings don't move, though, right?"

"Your point being?" she asked.

"It's just…they don't move."

Lily smirked. She'd long ago finished her ice cream. She stood up and he did the same. "We're going."

"National Gallery?"

"Yes. We'll have to walk there. I haven't got money for the tube station."

"The what station?"

"Underground train. So hurry up," she said and they walked through the Leaky Cauldron and out onto the London streets.

"Sirius lived with you for a bit, I heard," Lily said. "That must have been…interesting."

"You don't like him much, do you?" James asked.

"I neither like him nor hate him. Sirius just is," she said.

James laughed a little. "I understand that. Give him time, though. He grows on you."

"There's a rumor he's kissed half the girls in school," she said. She looked at him. "Has he?"

Sirius had boasted of this on numerous occasions, and James had spotted him on the map up in the astronomy tower with various girls from all houses, even Slytherin. James liked Sirius, he was his best mate, but James was jealous of him on many counts. His good looks won over many girls, so that Sirius really had to say little to them. But when he did have to use words, the right ones always came to him.

"Possibly," James said. "He's never had a girlfriend, though."

"No. He's not the type that would."

They were steering dangerously close to The Subject. James wasn't going to ask her to be his girlfriend yet. He shouldn't today. That would press his luck.

"Who is the type?" he asked hopefully.

Lily seemed to sense his hopefulness and apprehension. She came to an street intersection and pushed a button, but did not wait for permission to walk across it. No cars were coming so she just walked on. The button seemed to be a mere formality.

"Remus," she said.

"Lupin?" James asked, sounding shocked.

"Do you know of another Remus? He's a great guy. He's smart, quiet, shy, kinda cute. Gentlemanly, too. I'm surprised he doesn't have a girlfriend, to be frank. Does he fancy anyone?" she asked.

James realized his hands were balled into fists, but stuffed them in his pockets. Why was she so interested in Lupin, of all people?

"I'm not sure," James said coldly. "He only ever talks to you. How much farther are we going?" He did not want to spend his afternoon with Lily discussing Remus Lupin.

"Not much. I expect it's hard for him to have a relationship with a girl, with his lycanthropy."

James froze. Someone who'd been walking behind him bumped into him and swore at him. "You know about that?" he asked.

Lily moved James out of the way from all the other people walking through London on a Saturday afternoon. "James, tell me something."

"Okay."

"Is the word 'stupid' written somewhere on my face?" she asked, pointing.

James smirked. "No."
"How about 'clueless' or 'ignorant'? See them?"

James laughed. "I guess if you know what you're looking for, it is a bit obvious. How long have you known?"

"Beginning of fifth year. Granted I'd always been suspicious. But when we were prefects together, that's when I knew for sure. He gave me this bogus story once explaining why he couldn't do something. What did he say… Oh yes, he had to see his grandmother because she had to clean china, and it was some family tradition or something equally silly. I let it fly that time, but the next time he told me he had to see his 'grandmother'" she said, making air quotes, "I told him I knew but that I didn't care. Just as long as he didn't start sniffing my bum or anything."

"He never told us that you knew," James said thoughtfully. "I wonder why."

"Everyone likes to keep secrets. It's just around this corner. I think. It's been awhile."

Lily was right. The National Gallery was a long, large building with quite a crowd around it. Lily looked gleeful. She walked quickly toward it and jogged up the stairs and into the museum. "Come on, I want to show you my favorite painting," she said. She grabbed his hand and they dashed through the building, past many large chambers with walls decorated with some of the most famous and priceless paintings of Muggle history. Finally they came to the chamber dedicated to British Artists. Lily slowed to a walk, but still held his hand (James wasn't complaining), and pulled him to stand before a huge painting of a rearing chestnut stallion. "That artist is named 'George Stubbs.' Isn't it brilliant?"

"It's huge," he said. The painting was quite plain, to be honest. The horse, an Arabian according to Lily, had been a famous race horse. But there was no landscape, just the horse. If it hadn't been so large it wouldn't be very impressive. But it was large, and very impressive.

"You have to see Turner next," she said, and pulled him again to show him beautiful paintings of bright pinks, oranges, and blues, painted by Turner. Lily nearly cried looking at them. They were amazing.

"I could stare all day," she said. She sat down on one of the viewing benches and did stare for a few minutes. "He's brilliant. So talented. Wizard artists lack that skill because their paintings can move. Muggle paintings can't but they're so much better."

"He is rather good."

Lily beamed at him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They spent hours walking around the Gallery, but James didn't mind. Lily's face seemed to glow as she looked at the paintings. She showed him a large 'cartoon' done by the Leonardo guy she'd spoken of earlier, then showed him work by the artist "Van Gogh," who had supposedly cut off his ear to send to his girlfriend. "He was a bit touched in the head," Lily admitted, after James asked more about the Van Gogh (pronounced, as Lily corrected him, "Van Gogchk", not "Van Go") character.

They left the museum around four that afternoon when Lily admitted she was starving out of her mind and would get grumpy if she didn't eat real food very soon. James, who also conceded the pain in his stomach, agreed that they must eat something quickly.

Fifteen minutes later they were walking back to the Leaky Cauldron, each holding white wrappers filled with fried fish and chips. Words were secondary at this point. Lily was, in this circumstance, unlike many girls. She wasn't at all self-conscious about her eating habits, and James caught her frequently licking the salt and balsamic vinegar off her fingers. "I want to make sure I get it all," she explained after she caught him smirking at her.

She still had to wash her hands once they reached the Leaky Cauldron. James couldn't believe his luck. He looked at himself in the mirror and grinned. He couldn't wait to tell Sirius how well he'd done. He'd spent an entire afternoon with her, and had fun doing it. So far he hadn't screwed anything up. He felt like patting himself on the back.

"We should probably get back to school, now," she said as he joined her in the inn. "Before it gets dark. I don't want detention."

"All right," he said a little regretfully. "See you in Hogsmeade." They both Disapparated. When James popped into Hogsmeade he didn't see Lily. It was possible she'd arrived somewhere else. He looked for her in a few shops but didn't see her. Remembering that they'd come through Honeydukes, James headed there.

And sure enough, Lily was standing outside of it, looking frightened.

"What's happened?" James asked her.

She pointed to the sign that said "Closed."

"Bugger," he said, looking inside the darkened shop. "I forgot they closed at five on non-Hogwarts Saturdays. Have you tried—but of course you did."

"So now what?"

James said nothing. There was just one other way to get back to Hogwarts, and that was through the Shrieking Shack. She knew about Moony, but she didn't know about that other small secret he was keeping from her and everyone else. Though he trusted her, he wasn't willing to spill the beans yet. But maybe she wouldn't ask anything about it.

"There is one other way," James said. "But you have to trust me."

Lily's face was blank. "What other way?"

"The only way. Unless you know how to bust into Honeydukes, and I'd advise against that, we'll have to use the tunnel in the Shrieking Shack."

As expected, Lily looked nervous. Her face paled and she bit her lip. "Isn't it haunted?" she asked.

"No."

"You're sure?"

"I'll bet Lupin's furry problem on it."

"Yes, but—oh. Oh!"

"Glad you caught on," he said, walking toward the shack. "I was afraid you'd written 'stupid' on your face before I found you."

Lily snickered then followed him down to the shack. Though she knew the truth, it didn't keep her from jumping at small noises when they reached the building. She kept walking very close to him, occasionally grabbing his shirt when she heard a noise, but James only smiled to himself. When they entered the shack they found it empty and ghost and ghoul free.

"See. No ghosts here," James said.

"Yeah well, they could be hiding."

"Not likely. Watch," he took a deep breath then hollered as loud as he could, "HELLO! ANYONE HERE!" There was no sound. "Told you so."

He walked on ahead, Lily still close to him, but kept very quiet. The floor boards creaked where he walked. He stopped walking then looked back at Lily. Her face was blank again, and firm. "What?" she asked.

"You okay?"

"Don't I look okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, but you were—" but he stopped suddenly as he heard a creaking from upstairs. His heart rate increased a bit, but he wasn't terrified—yet.

Lily drew her wand and marched on ahead, if only to prove that she wasn't scared. She turned and looked up the flight of rickety stairs and sighed. "Oh."

"What?" James asked, his wand drawn as well.

"It's just a dog."

"What?" James asked again, jogging to look.

And there, at the top of the stairs, sitting and wagging his tail, was an enormous black dog with a handsome head, like a German Shepard. Sirius.

"I wonder what he's doing here," James said, staring at him. The dog stood up and walked down the stairs, looking between the two of them.

"It's probably a stray staying in the village. He doesn't have a collar. Hi sweetie," she said, bending down and rubbing his ears. James felt as if he could kick the mutt. "You're a sweet dog, aren't you?" she said in baby talk, and Sirius's tail wagged faster. "Yes you are. You're living here all by yourself, aren't you? Poor puppy."

"Oh yes. Poor puppy. Don't let him lick your face. He's probably been eating his own shite. You know dogs."

Lily stood up and smiled at James. "We should get going." She gave Sirius one final pat then walked away. James made a face at the dog, who's tail was still wagging, then followed Lily. "Where's the tunnel?" she asked.

"Over here," James said, and pulled up the trapdoor. "Be careful," he said.

"Always," she replied then slid down. "Coming?" she called.

"Yeah," he said. He really wanted to have words with Sirius, but Lily was waiting.

"So that's two secrets you've told her," Sirius said quietly from the stairs. James turned around.

"Honeydukes was locked up."

"That's your problem," Sirius said, standing. "We promised we'd tell no one about this place."

"She knows about Remus being a werewolf," James whispered. "She's known for years. Lupin told her."

Sirius smiled ruefully. "Did he now. Curious that he hasn't told us about that, isn't it?"

James shrugged. "I'm going now." He jumped down into the tunnel and closed the trap door behind him. Lily had her arms crossed.

"Were you talking to that dog?" she asked.

"Yes. I was trying to shoo him out. Let's go," he said. He decided to be brave and took her hand. Thankfully she didn't pull it away from him. He led her through the tunnel then stuck his wand out of the end of it, aiming for the knot on the tree. He hit it, then pulled Lily up and onto the grass.

"Oh, it's under the willow. How very odd."

"Come on, it's already dark. Filch will be lurking about." But James wasn't worried about Filch. He was afraid Sirius would pop out of the tunnel not long after them and that would leave too many questions. Lily was very bright.

They were walking into the Entrance Hall just as Hagrid was leaving. "Oi!" he said, running into them. Lily dropped James's hand and tried looking innocent. "Where've you two bin?" he asked.

"Outside," James said.

Hagrid squinted at him. "I can see that."

"We were having a stroll around the grounds. That's allowed, isn't it?" Lily said. "We are seventh years."

Hagrid put his hands on his giant hips. "You haven't bin in Hogsmeade all day under me nose, have yeh?" he asked.

"Of course not," Lily said. "I swore we wouldn't."

Hagrid looked down at her innocent face and smiled. "Alright. I'll be seeing yeh." He left without another word. Lily walked briskly to the tower, James striding to keep up with her. He didn't want to go to the common room just yet, though. He thought perhaps they could take a detour and find an empty niche or classroom…

"Back to the tower then?" he said, hoping he didn't sound desperate.

"Where else?" she asked. "It's already dark. Curfew is soon."

"Well, I was thinking…"

Lily stopped and James was actually frightened by the expression on her face. Her lips were stiff, her eyes electrified, and here brows were drawn down into a violent grimace. "You were thinking what?"

James racked his mind. "Pudding," he said quickly. He looked at his watch. "I was craving pie."

Lily's threatening face slipped off. "Oh. No, I'm not hungry. You can go."

"I know I can," he said, walking with her again as she kept on her way. "I just thought you wanted to come with me."

"That's sweet, but no. I want to tackle that essay from Slughorn. Have you finished it already?" she asked. They rounded the corner and started for the portrait hole.

"Yes," James said truthfully. "I'm not a procrastinator like yourself. But then you could write jokes on your paper and you'd still get top marks. He loves you so much."

"Firewhiskey," Lily said to the Fat Lady. She winked at James then opened up for them.

"Shut up," James said to her after Lily had gone through. She chuckled at him.

There were a number of people in the common room, all looking busy and having a good time. It was only eight, after all, and it was a Saturday night. But neither Peter nor Remus were in the common room. James found this most curious. Sirius wouldn't be there as he was still in the shack, but why not the others? Lily's best friend, Claudia, smiled and waved when she saw her. Lily waved back then turned to James.

"I had a great time," she said.

"Yeah, me too. I guess you have to go," he said, nodding toward Claudia.

"I do. I'll see you tomorrow morning." She smiled then left him, without kissing. But James told himself it would be silly to be disappointed with the day. He'd had a great time with her, as friends and that was what she'd agreed to.

James ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitories two at a time, then burst into his dorm. Lupin was, surprise, reading a book as he lay in bed. Peter was not there. This was most curious.

"Hi," Remus said, not looking up from his book. "How was your day?"

"Spectacular," James said, grinning. "Where's Petie?" he asked.

"With Sirius. They went to the shack."

James threw himself on his bed and folded his hands behind his head. "Yeah, we saw Sirius."

Remus looked up. "Oh?"

"Honeydukes was closed, so we had to use the shack. It wasn't a big deal though. Lily said she knows about you. Said you'd confirmed it years ago." Even though he wasn't looking at him, James knew Remus had sat up. "Why didn't you tell us you'd told her?"

Remus hid behind his book. "I guess I forgot."

James chuffed. "Please. Did you just want to keep it secret?"

"Keep what secret?" Remus asked. James couldn't see, but he blushed.

"You know. Telling Lily about your issue. She reckons you just wanted to keep that a secret."

Remus sighed then put the book down. "She talked about me, did she?" he asked.

James sat up. "I think she wanted to set you up with some girl," he said. James watched Remus closely. His face was, as Lily's had been at some point, very blank. There were heavy bags under his eyes, but that was to be expected: the full moon was tomorrow night. "Would you like that, Moony?" James asked slowly. "Would you like for her to set you up?"

Remus and James stared at each other for several moments. After two minutes of uncomfortable silence, Remus shook his head. "I don't think so," he said, looking down at his knees.

"Why not?" James asked, bringing himself up into a sitting position. "It might be good for you to get out and about with a girl. Try new things…you know."

"There isn't anyone I like," he said, picking at his shoes.

"There isn't?" James asked.

"No," Remus said, looking into his eyes. "No one available."

James looked skeptically at him. He opened his mouth to say something when Sirius came in followed by Peter. They looked at Remus and James then continued to their own beds. "A bit early for sleep, isn't it?" Sirius asked.

"Why were you in the shack?" James asked.

Sirius pulled off his cloak and tossed it into his trunk. "It got late and you still weren't back. I had a hunch you would use it, and I was right," he said.

"But he had to use it," said Peter. "There's no other way to get in."

James turned and smiled at Peter. "Well. As long as we're finished interrogating me…"

"We're not interrogating you," Sirius said as he sat down. "We know how much you like her. But you're risking our secret the closer you get to her. Just be careful," he said.

This was not the evening he had planned after spending the long awaited day with Lily. He had expected them to be bombarding him with questions about what they'd done, the jokes she'd told, the things she'd said…they didn't seem to care. In fact, Sirius seemed angry with him, Remus was acting oddly…jealous, and only Peter supported him. Well, if this was how they were going to treat his happiness…

James slid off his bed and stood up. Without looking at any of them, he left the dormitory and headed down stairs. Lily and Claudia were gone, probably up in their dorm, so he wouldn't have to worry about looking like a gentleman. He sat in a chair before the fireplace, though there were no flames, and pondered the peculiar behavior of his friends.

It only took a few minutes for him to doze off and fall asleep.