Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the creator of the characters involved in this fan fiction (minus a few of my own OC) and all magical content and themes belong to her. Not me.

AN: I'm sorry that this update took so long. I hope whoever is reading my story is enjoying it. Please review so that I know it is being read. Otherwise all this hard work is for nothing. Please tell me what you think of chapter 4 and the other chapters so far.

The following chapter is dedicated to my Grandpa

Chapter 4- 'Plans and Poetry'

It was a new week at Hogwarts and the students were looking to the upcoming weekend trip to Hogsmeade (the local wizard village). Lily had plans with Rachel, Jess and of course Clara and James would be with the rest of the Marauders. Winter was fast approaching, or at least the weather associated with it was. But for such an old castle, the school dealt with the oncoming temperature a drop remarkably well- every student was sure to wake up in a warm bed.

Lily and James had been tiptoeing around each other all weekend and their friends hah started to notice. It wasn't only the weather that seemed to be making the temperature plummet in the Gryffindor common room. Whenever the two heads were around a chill crept up everyone's back if they came within a ten metre radius of the pair.

Jess and Rachel had just about had enough and from the way Sirius, Remus and Peter were acting, they had too. And now was the opportune moment to do something about it as James and Lily were not around.

The Gryffindor common room was fairly empty and after discussing what they could do, about Lily and James, Jess and Rachel head over to where the Marauders (minus James) were sat- discussing something illegal no doubt.

"Hey guys," Jess said sitting across from Sirius.

"Well hello ladies," Sirius replied smoothly, "What can I do for you?"

"Actually," Rachel added, "It's what we can do for each other."

"What do you mean?" Remus inquired.

"I think we've all had just about enough of Lily and James avoiding each other all of the time," Rachel explained, "so we were thinking that we should work together to help James persuade Lily to give him a chance. Are you in?"

"Er…one problem," Peter said, "Lily doesn't even like James in that way, or in any other way as far as I can tell."

Jess contradicted him, "But she does. She just hasn't realised it yet."

"Think about it," Rachel explained, "Why would she get so annoyed with him if she didn't care. She obviously cares about him more than she'd like to admit and that's why she gets so angry and aggressive."

There was silence as the Marauders considered this.

"I guess you could be right," said Remus. "What did you have in mind?"

Jess outlined the plan. "First we get James on board. We know Lily like the back of our hands so we'll be able to tell James exactly what he needs to do to impress her."

Jess listed a few of their ideas, "Roses, chocolates, poetry, love letters, and maybe a little tutoring in Transfiguration- I've noticed her struggling with it recently."

"Yeah. It could really work," Sirius stated as his excitement grew.

"I don't know," Remus mumbled, "I mean, if something goes wrong, and Lily ends up hating James even more, he'll never forgive us."

"Oh come on," Rachel urged. "He's miserable at the moment anyway and he'll never be happy again unless we convince him to take this chance."

"It's a big chance," Peter said.

"Yes but one worth taking," Jess simply put it. "And I know that Lily isn't happy with the way things are between her and James now. Why shouldn't it work?"

"Are you in?" Rachel asked the Marauders.

They crouched into a huddle to discuss it further and then Remus' head popped up. "Ok, we're in."

"Great," Jess exclaimed.

"Let's find James," Sirius suggested, "This better work!"

"I don't think so guys."

That was it. That was James' response to their 'oh so genius' plan. Rachel wasn't going to give up on this so she pushed a little harder, "James, come on. Trust us. This is going to work, I'm sure of it. All you have to do is what we tell you and Lily is bound to give you a chance."

"Yeah come on mate, what could go wrong?" Sirius attempted to help her out in persuading James.

"A lot of things," James answered, "She could just end up hating me all over again. I don't think I could stand that."

Jess tried to salvage the situation, "But listen. This is not going to make her hate you any more than she already does."

The group looked around at her with raised eyebrows as if to say, 'you're really not helping'. Realising her mistake, Jess said, "Oh no! I didn't mean that the way it came out. I'm sure that she doesn't hate you; positive in fact. 100. It's just that I know that you'd both be a lot happier if you were together. She's just scared James. Doing what we suggest will help her to relax a little, allowing her to make a more sensible decision about having a relationship with you. Isn't she worth the risk?"

James looked down as he thought about Jess' words. Was Lily really worth it? Of course she was. But he was still uncertain of what to do. He decided to get someone else to make the decision for him.

"Remus?" he began, "What do you think I should do?"

Remus, who up until this point had been quiet, almost as if he was trying not to get involved, said, "I just want you to be happy James and it seems to me, and everyone here, that getting together with Lily will lead to that happiness. Plus, we're kind of sick of you two avoiding each other all of the time. So, in answer to your question 'What should you do?' I say, go for it."

James wasn't sure whether to be excited or nervous about this decision. Making the effort to be a man and stay strong he inhaled deeply and boldly said, "What must I do?"

"Yes," Rachel screamed jumping up and down.

Jess just grabbed James into a bear hug and stated, "I knew you'd see sense."

"Ok, ok!" James exclaimed, "That's enough. Stop all of this crazy behaviour. I have agreed to give this a go but I'm not doing anything that I feel uncomfortable with."

"Fine," Jess said.

"I feel really uncomfortable with that," James moaned.

"Really James," Rachel laughed, "when have you ever been too nervous to ask out Lily Evans. And this is only the first stage. I can't wait to see how you cope with the next few.

"Me neither," Sirius remarked with a huge smirk plastered to his face.

"Oh, and me neither," James shot out, sarcastically.

"Come on, lighten up," Jess said.

"You're not the one who has to leave a rose on her desk with a tacky love letter attached to it."

Remus tried to calm him down, "it's really not that bad. At least she'll know that you're trying. I know this is a cliché but 'it's the thought that counts'."

"You can try telling Lily that when she rips my heart out and cuts into it with these rose thorns.

"Urgh…just do it," Rachel cried impatiently.

They were outside the Charms classroom, five minutes before the lesson began. Lily was always prompt when getting to lessons, arriving dead on time, so it was vital that James planted the rose now.

He entered the classroom slowly, making sure that the professor hadn't arrived yet and Lily wasn't early. Placing the rose carefully on her desk he crept back into the corridor to meet the others and head back outside until the lesson started.

Lily was always first to class but she didn't feel bothered by it in the slightest. It was nice to know that she was setting a good example, as head girl, to the other students, although no one had seemed to follow it yet. 'Maybe one day,' she thought, or rather hoped.

Charms being her favourite subject, she hated to miss a second of it. Following her usual routine she walked over to her desk to get out her text books. She sat down in her chair carelessly placing her bag on the floor as she spotted the rose. "Ow", she screamed as she picked it up, a thorn piercing her skin. She carefully manoeuvred the stem so that her fingers were gripping it where there were no thorns. Slowly bringing the petals up to her delicately freckled nose she inhaled deeply a smell so sweet it created a tingly sensation around her whole face. Lily spotted the card attached to the stem. "I wonder who this is from," she whispered.

Carefully turning the card around, she watched in awe as words in gold leaf slowly appeared upon the paper.

'Flower,

I saw this and thought of you. I suppose I'm always thinking about you although I've tried not to. I just wanted you to know that in the same way that this rose is beautiful to all who see it, you are beautiful to me. Remember I'm thinking about you always.

J'

She knew who it was from and she knew it was for her, but she had no idea how she would deal with this and had no time to form a strategy because at that moment the bell rang for the start of class. For once, Lily would rather have been anywhere except in this Charms class, with James Potter sat two rows back, and one seat to the left.

The lesson was fairly uneventful. No explosions took place, permanent disfigurements arouse, or broken objects were left at the end of class. At least students were getting better. The most important exams of their lives were coming up so it was vital that they improve. Good grades were not given for exploding objects in the examiner's face. Lily had still performed brilliantly in Charms today, after all it was her best subject, but she'd also had chance to think about her 'James' problem and had finally come to a decision concerning what to do about the rose.

Approaching him in the corridor after class she shouted, "James."

He stopped suddenly and let her catch up to him. 'Maybe this plan of theirs will work,' he thought.

"Hi," he said softly as he turned to face her.

"Hi," she replied. Lily tried to remain unaffected by James Potter's presence but she could tell he'd already noticed her blush. She continued quickly, "Is this from you? She held out the object in question.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," he grinned at his response.

"Cut the crap James, it's not like I don't already know!"

"Then why ask?" he inquired.

Lily was sick of his games. She was serious and he needed to know it. "Because I want to know why!"

"Why what?" He really wasn't making this easy for her.

"Urgh! Why…you…sent…me…this," she said through clenched teeth. Her hands had balled into fists and she was starting to shake.

James sensed the danger he was in by the warning signs she was so clearly displaying and consequently backed away a little.

She noticed his reluctance to answer and so continued herself, "I told you I'd give you a chance at being my friend so why are you doing this? I don't want this! Stop pursuing me James I'm not available," she said exasperatedly.

"Fine…Flower," James simply said.

"Don't call me that," Lily warned.

"Why not, Flower?"

"Because it's not my name."

"But that's what you are, isn't it? Aren't Lilies flowers?" James grinned. Her face at this moment expressed more than a thousand pictures. He laughed.

"It's not funny James. Stop teasing me."

"I'm just being friendly," he said innocently.

"As long as that's all it is," she warned again, but a grin broke out across her face.

James looked at her for a while, smiled and then sighed. "Bye Lily." He walked off to plan stage two of 'conquering Lily'. She hadn't responded well to stage one but she'd soon see he wasn't going to back down. Then she'd have to give him a chance, or at least that's what he thought. 'Right?'

Lily awoke the next morning to hear a tapping at her window. Reluctantly she pulled herself out of bed to retrieve her post. She was surprised to find to see another owl waiting outside too, next to her usual barn owl. The second owl had a small parcel attached to one of its leg. Lily opened the window to allow the owls to enter and they swooped down to perch on her desk. She paid the usual owl two silver sickles for the delivery and thanked the second by stroking it softly. The two departed shortly afterward.

The parcel seemed small when attached to the owl but now appeared to be expanding until in was the size of a shoe box. 'How could such a small creature carry such a load?' she wondered.

Lily untied the ribbon holding the lid on the box and opened it. Inside were three delicately formed chocolates in three different shapes- a rose, a heart and a star. On each chocolate was a single work, making up the phrase, 'Good morning Flower'.

'Oh no,' she thought, 'when is he going to give up!' However, this was chocolate, so what could she do but try a one. She carefully bit into the piece inscribed with 'Good', slightly worried that maybe James had pranked her. But her worries were soon replaced by the most delicious taste she'd ever experienced. It was definitely clear that James was trying really hard and she was starting to think that maybe this attention wasn't totally unwanted. However, she was still adamant that they were nothing more than friends.

After getting washed and dressed she head down to the great hall for breakfast and sat with Rachel and Jess across form the Marauders.

"Thanks for the chocolates by the way," Lily said to James.

James smiled and said, "No problem. You looked like you needed some and who was I to stand in the way when I knew I could do something about it." He winked at her.

"Well thank you. But like I've said before and no doubt I'll have to say again, this changes nothing. We are still just friends."

"Ok. That's fine," James agreed. He then silently added, 'for now.'

The girls were sat on beds in the Gryffindor seventh year girls' common room, looking at their homework, which seemed to be piling up by the hour. "Urgh…I just can't do this one topic," Lily complained, "and I've always been so good at Transfiguration."

"Lily, it's really no more difficult than the other NEWT level work we've been doing so far this year, and you've been fine with all of that," Rachel pointed out.

"I know it shouldn't be more difficult but it is, which is what makes it all the more frustrating," she said in a gloomy whinge.

Jess began, "Now don't get angry at me for suggesting this…"

"Why would I get angry," Lily interrupted.

Jess answered, "I know you Evans and you can be quite feisty when you want to be. I don't ever want to get on the wrong side of you. However, I was going to suggest that you should perhaps get a tutor."

"What!" Lily shouted.

"See, I told you you'd react like this," Jess complained.

Lily quickly regained her composure, "Like what?" she responded innocently, "I wasn't angry, I was just shocked."

"Whatever you say," Rachel replied sarcastically.

"Anyway," Lily continued, "I'd have to be desperate to get a tutor. I'd be saying goodbye to my reputation as the smartest girl in school."

"And are you that desperate?" Jess inquired.

"I'm as desperate as desperation goes," she replied.

Rachel simply stated, "Then find a tutor Lil."

"It's got to be you Prongs," Remus said, "Rachel told me all about Lily's problems in that subject, which just happens to be your best subject."

"I am the last person on Earth that Lily Evans would ever receive educational support from. She'd go to Pete first and we all know how bad he is in Transfiguration," James said.

Peter was offended by this comment, "Hey, I resent that buddy."

"Sorry," James repented, "I was just trying to make a point. And it's true; she'll never have me as a tutor. Never let me help her. And I mean never!"

"Just ask her mate," Sirius urged calmly, "the worst she can do is say no and it's not like you're not used to hearing that word coming from her mouth, usually in your direction."

"Thanks for that boost of confidence Padfoot," was James' sarcastic reply. Evidently his sense of humour wasn't in gear today. "Ok, I'll give it a go."

"Phase three is in motion," Sirius declared in a voice much like a secret spy's; deep and resonant.

"And how many of these stages will there be?" James asked.

"As many as it takes," Remus responded.

The Marauders stayed by the lake for the rest of lunch, except for Peter who left slightly earlier claiming he'd forgotten do his homework for Potions, which unfortunately happened to be the last lesson of the day.

When the practical session had begun in Potions, and the professor was distracted by something in his office, James took the opportunity to approach Lily.

"How's it going?" he asked her when she was adding to today's potion task.

She quickly looked up to confirm that the voice belonged to the boy she thought it was and replied, "Fine thank you. And you?"

"Great. Excellent in fact. I was wondering if you could do me a favour," James mentioned. Lily just gazed at him, clearly suspicious of his actions and motive. "I've decided to become a teacher after school and so I was hoping that I could practice my tutoring skills on you. We could use Transfiguration as the 'practice' topic area, as it's my best subject," he declared.

"Do you really expect me to believe that cock and bull story? Rachel and Jess told you I was struggling didn't they?"

"Well…er…they may have mentioned something," he answered lamely.

"Ok. The thing is, I do need help, and tutoring would be good. So, as you're the best Transfiguration student in the year, and you're offering, then I guess I'm accepting," Lily concluded.

"Great," James said a little too enthusiastically, "I mean that's good…I mean for you…I mean I'd like to help, I'd be glad too."

He turned to walk away to continue his potion task when he heard Lily further conclude, "But no funny business James."

He continued to walk away smiling inwardly to himself.

The library was quiet after dinner and Lily and James had arranged to meet there at 7:00 p.m. for their first tutoring session. To say that Lily was worried was an understatement. She was anxious about what James might say, how he would act, and worst of all what he might try. This she feared the most. What if she let him?

"Ok," James began, "What do you struggle with?"

"Everything," Lily replied.

"Alright, I'll rephrase that," James laughed, "What do you want to focus on first?"

"Something simple," Lily pleaded.

James thought for a while until he said, "Let's try turning this pen into a feather, ok? You can't go too far wrong with that. Just move your wand like this." He quickly flicked his wrist and made a short tapping noise with his wand. After saying the incantation the pen instantly transformed into a feather. "Now you try," he commanded her.

"Ok," she whispered hoarsely.

Lily attempted the transformation ten times until it was successful and even then the feather she had created was flying at them at an attacking angle; point towards them. They ducked under the table quickly as James said, "I think that's enough for one day. You did pretty well. This attempt was far better than your first try and I can see your really starting to understand the correct wrist movement involved."

"Thanks," Lily replied. 'Well that wasn't so bad,' she thought, 'and he didn't even try anything.'

Lily was returning to the Gryffindor common room to spend some time with Rachel and Jess, after her tutoring session with James, when she saw Cara sitting alone outside. She was clearly crying.

Lily began to approach to find out what had happened but she was beaten to it by…James Potter? 'Unbelievable,' she thought, 'what's he going to do to the poor girl now?!' She was about to storm over to stop him until she heard him ask, "What's wrong Cara?" and froze.

"Erm…uh…er…nothing. I…I don't want to talk about it," Cara replied through muffled sobs and falling tears.

Lily remained far back as she watched James attempt to comfort Cara, like he actually, well, cared.

He continued, "If you don't want to talk about it than that's fine. But I can be a really good listener."

'Yeah right,' Lily thought as she grinned.

Cara seemed to pause for a thought and then once a decision was made she opened up. "It's my parents," she wailed, "they're dead and all I can think about is how I keep seeing them lying there, in the hospital, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to understand me," she paused for breath. "Unable to live," she concluded in barely a whisper.

Lily could see that James was clearly uncomfortable with the situation but he was trying, which was the important thing. It was actually quite cute. 'Wait,' she thought, 'that did not just enter my head.'

Lily watched as James casually draped his arm around Cara's shoulders and said, "I realise it's hard for you but your parents were very brave. And I know it's difficult to accept but they died fighting a good cause. They're heroes."

"I understand that," Cara replied, "but it's just so hard sometimes. Learning to live without them when all I've ever known is living with them is so difficult. I know what they've done to stop Voldemort has saved lives but it's ruined mine." She burst into a fresh batch of tears and then continued, "I bet you think I'm really selfish, don't you?"

"No, no," James reassured her. "I would never think that," he began, "if it had been my parents I would react the exact same way."

Lily watched longer as Cara continued to sob and James quickly ran his hand through his hair, supposedly in frustration. Or maybe James Potter was worried.

"Just remember to hold on to all the good times you spent with them," James advised, "and eventually when you think of them you won't be crying…instead you'll be smiling."

"Ok." Cara slowly perked up and said, "Thanks James."

He smiled and said, "Not a problem." Then he got up saying, "See you around," and walked off.

Lily quickly followed him in order to congratulate him on his display of actual human affection (for once). "That was really sweet James Potter," she informed him once she'd caught up. She quickly kissed him on the cheek and extended her right hand for him to shake. "Friends?" she asked.

James seemed to ponder the thought of only being her friend for a while. Lily noticed a resigned look spread across his features as he extended his right arm, shook her hand and said, "Friends."

Lily turned around and walked off smiling. James on the other hand couldn't understand why he'd given up so easily. All he knew was that he cared about her a lot. The situation with Cara had made him realise how much he didn't want to lose her and if being a friend was the only way he'd ever get close then he'd accept that option. After all, it was the only one.