"I can't believe were finally back here again. It seemed so long ago that we left. Now we're third years. This is so cool."

"I can tell your excited Lily. I take it you didn't have a great holiday?" Henriette replied, smiling at her best friend.

"No way. My sister was a complete pain over the entire summer. She is such a bullying twit. I don't know how we can be related. I hate people who pick on people just because not what they want them to be. It's arrogant and disgusting."

"Yeah. Well the sorting ceremony's about to begin and my little brother Duction is being sorted. I hope he gets in Gryffindor."

Lily sat at the Gryffindor table and watched the sorting take place. When

"Lewis, Duction" was called Lily saw a little boy come forward who looked remarkably like Henriette. When he was sorted into Ravenclaw she applauded along with Henriette. Henriette leant over to her,

"At least it wasn't Slytherin."

"Very true." Lily smiled at Henriette. Her face darkened when she felt something wet and ball like hit the side of her face. She lifted a hand and felt what was unmistakably a spit ball. She looked around for the perpetrators and saw Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and the new member of their group Peter Pettigrew, trying hard to avoid Lily's eyes. In her book this was as sure a sign of guilt then if they had confessed personally. Lily removed the spit ball and threw it on the ground. She gritted her teeth and turned to Dumbledore who welcomed the students back and started the feast. After he had sat down and the food had arrived on the tables Lily turned to have a good chat with her friends. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder and she turned around to see Charlie Kingston, a fifth year and the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team standing behind her smiling down at her.

"Hey Lily. Can we talk?"

"Hey Charlie. Sure." Lily followed Charlie to a secluded are in the Entrance Hall. "How were your holidays?"

"Pretty good. How about yours?"

"Pretty boring. But they usually are."

"Yeah don't I know it. Anyway I have to go but would you like to meet in the great hall Saturday morning and we can take a walk and then maybe go for a picnic."

"Sure. That sounds great. Bye Charlie."

"Bye Lily."

Lily returned to her seat and to the questioning smiles of her friends.

"Spill all Lily-kins." Henriette leant forward and propped her face on her open hand, staring intently at Lily.

"He asked me to go for a walk and a picnic with him on Saturday."

"Oh My Gosh. You are so lucky Lily. He is so dreamy." Anna was staring into space with a dreamy expression on her face.

"You think every guy's dreamy Anna." Samantha said smiling at the four other girls.

"True, true."

"Okay well dinner's over do you guys wanna go and talk about the holidays in our dorm room. I have such good news about Luke Jones."

"Luke Jones. That cute guy who used to go to your school?" Carrie asked intrigued.

"Yep." Samantha smiled knowingly at her friends and the five of them stood up together and practically ran all the way to the common room.

"Lily sure has gotten even prettier over the summer hasn't she James?" Sirius asked poking his best friend in the ribs. James looked up from where he was staring; Lily walking out of the Entrance Hall with Charlie Kingston, the Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"Yeah she has." Remus answered for James who was still staring.

"How were your holidays James?" Sirius tried again.

"Yes please." James answered distantly.

"Ok weird." Peter whispered loud enough for Sirius and Remus to hear.

"This could be fun." Sirius said craftily rubbing his hands together and shooting his other two friends a mischievous look.

"So James how pretty is Professor Dumbledore?"

"I had a good holiday."

"Did you eat any slugs over the holidays?"

"Not my type."

"Are you a weirdo?"

"No, why would I?"

"Lily Evans."

"What? Where?" James came out of his trance when he heard Lily's name. Looking around at the grinning faces of his friends he turned slightly pink and dropped his head on the table.

"So Jamsie you have a thing for Lily huh?"

"Why would you think that?"

"We asked you if Dumbledore was pretty and you said "I had a good holiday," is that a good enough answer."

"Sorry I guess I'm just a bit distracted."

"By?"

"Lil… Um nobody in particular." James answered blushing and avoiding his friends' eyes.

"Yeah right James whatever. Well I'll change the subject just to save you from the humiliation you would face if I wasn't so kind and you weren't my best friend." Sirius said this with an aloof expression on his handsome face. "So have you all seen that second year Ravenclaw, the one with the curly blonde hair all the way down to her…"

"G-rated Sirius." Remus said interrupting Sirius.

"Um…Ahhh…Ooo...Butt." He replied after a quick thinking session.

"Yeah her names Sarah Daniels. She's alright." James said glad to be off the topic of Lily. Who he hadn't been able to take his eyes off ever since he had seen her on the train platform at Hogsmeade. And now she was out in the entrance hall talking to Charlie Kingston. James gritted his teeth and tried to focus back on the topic of hand. Which had progressed from Sarah Daniels to the girl who had a huge crush on Sirius; a second year named Molly Twittlewhich.

"Well she is only in, like, all my classes, 'cept Potions. She's everywhere. I can't get away from her. Look she's looking at me now." Sirius nodded his head in the direction of a slightly pretty girl with short brown hair and a wide smile on her slightly rounded face.

"Why don't you go out with her Sirius? Then she can see how bad you are and get over you." Peter put in looking at the large chocolate cake in front of him.

"Hey! I take offence to that. I'm not bad at all. Where would you get such a horrible thought like that from?"

"A group of third year girls were talking about it in the library one day. One of them was the girl you went out with last year. She said you were cheap and that you spent most of the time talking about yourself." Peter put in pulling the cake closer to him holding a sharp knife in his hand which he plunged into the side of the chocolate cake.

"What!" Sirius was looking stricken at his friends. Peter was still concentrating on the cake, not noticing the dilemma he had caused in Sirius. Meanwhile James and Remus were rolling on the floor laughing so hard they clutched their stomachs. Sirius's expression darkened and he pulled the cake from Peter's hands and cut two large pieces with the knife. Taking aim he threw two pieces at the figures rolling on the floor with mirth.

SPLAT! SPLAT! James and Remus quickly stopped laughing and leant on the table staring in amazement at what Sirius had done. James grabbed a pile of mashed potatoes from Remus's plate and threw the handful straight at Sirius. Sirius ducked and the mashed potatoes flew over his shoulder and landed with a SPLAT! On the back of a Hufflepuffs hair. The Hufflepuff boy turned around and stared in wonder at Sirius and the chocolate cake covered James and Remus, James's hand still slightly covered with white mashed potatoes. The Hufflepuff boy picked up a handful of rice pudding and aimed for the three boys. James and Remus ducked at the pudding came flying toward them and instead of hitting them it hit one person walking in a group of five. James turned around and felt his stomach roll. Lily Evans stood there rice pudding dripping down her forehead and rolling off the shoulders of her school robes. James heard Sirius cackle behind him and turning around quickly glared at him. Lily stood there shocked. Her face hardened and James thought she was about to cry until she turned around quickly and reached for a bowl of jelly that was on the Slytherin table. She pulled the spoon from the jelly and heaved spoonfuls at James, Remus and Sirius. Peter was still involved in his chocolate cake.

"FOOD FIGHT!" a sixth year boy with bright red hair and lots of freckles got to his feet and shouted hurling a handful of whipped cream that was on his plate.

The entire school started throwing handfuls and spoonfuls of desserts at other students in the Great Hall. The teachers were trying desperately to stop the fighting but ended up with dessert in their hair for their troubles. Finally Professor McGonagall stood up and shouted "Imobulus!"

James could move his eyes and looked around at the other students. He tried to laugh, but couldn't as his facial muscles were frozen, when he saw Sirius standing with his mouth wide open, his eyes rolling around desperately as a big dollop of strawberry ice-cream was inches away from his face.

"That is QUITE enough!"

"Perhaps I should take it from here Professor McGonagall." Professor Dumbledore stood up and glanced around. He had to hide a smile from breaking out on his face a number of times at the sight of the students in unusual positions and predicaments.

"200 points from each house and you will all stay behind. Except Mr Peter Pettigrew. Who seems to be still enjoying his cake." Everyone's eyes swivelled around to look at Peter Pettigrew who was still eating his chocolate cake. He had jelly in his hair and a pile of whipped cream on his shoulder but he appeared not to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Dumbledore unfroze everyone then conjured up paper towels, buckets of soapy water, mops and brooms.

"Have fun cleaning. Prefects will stay and make sure no other food fights start. Any student caught throwing food will have another 100 points removed from their house." James saw the headmaster's eyes twinkling with barely contained mirth. James picked up a sponge and got to work cleaning the Gryffindor table. He looked up and stared with mock hatred at Sirius.

"This is all your fault Sirius."

"Probably. But you two deserved it for laughing at me at something that isn't even true. Imagine someone actually saying that I am bad with girls."

"He didn't actually say that. He said she said you were cheap and stuck up." Remus put in holding a mop and cleaning up a sticky puddle of pumpkin juice.

"Would you like some more cake on you Remus?" Sirius asked sweetly holding up a piece of cheese cake, slightly flattened from being thrown.

"No thanks Sirius. I already have that flavour on me."

"You have to admit that was a memorable start to the third year." Sirius put in grinning at his friends.

"Very true."

"No talking you three. I know it was you three who started it." A Slytherin sixth year prefect stood behind James and Remus glaring at them spitefully.

"Cant prove it though can you?" Remus whispered under his breath.

The prefect walked away not having heard what Remus had said and the three friends cracked up laughing.

An hour later they walked through the portrait hole into the warm common room.

"I shotgun shower first." Sirius cried racing for the stairs to the boys' dorm.

"How can he start such trouble and seem so carefree afterwards."

"You had your own near run in with authority tonight Remus, whispering that to the prefect. Lucky he's practically deaf." James grinned at Remus's blush.

"Well he's weird so I felt I had to. Not a good excuse but the best I could come up with on short notice."

"POTTER!" James cringed when he heard Lily shout out to him as she came into the common room. He plastered a condescending smile on his face and raising one of his straight eyebrows turned to face the small redhead who still had food all over her. She came and stood toe to toe with James and he could smell the jasmine scent that surrounded her.

"Something wrong Evans?" he asked good-naturedly smiling down at the emerald green eyes that shot fire into his own deep hazel eyes.

"What the hell were you four thinking starting a food fight and chucking rice pudding all over me."

"Actually Evans you'll find that that was actually a Hufflepuff who threw the rice pudding not me. I threw the donut. Whoops!"

"That hit me in the nose. You suck Potter. Good aim though." Lily said and not smiling yet turned and ran up the stairs leading to the girls' dorm. James smiled and went up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. He banged on the door of the adjoining bathroom where Sirius was singing loudly along to a song on the small wizard radio that Remus had brought for them all last Christmas.

"Sirius you know you can't sing, so stop trying and get outta there so we can all have showers that don't make us freeze our ba…"

"G-rated James." Remus popped out from behind the door and smiled surely at James. James flushed.

"Showers that don't make us turn to icicles. Is that all right Remus. Safe enough?"

"Yep. Thanks."

"Ok darlings I'm out." Sirius breezed out of the bathroom wrapped in a blue terrycloth robe that barely reached his knees. The sight was too much for James who collapsed in a fit of giggles on his bed holding his stomach. Remus took the opportunity to race into the bathroom and lock the door. James sat up and yelped.

"REMUS. NOOOOO. IT"S MY TURN. BUGGER!"

James hammered on the door for awhile then gave up and grabbed a Quidditch magazine off the bookshelf and settled onto his bed to read, being careful to avoid getting any dessert on his bed.