Disclaimer: Uh, the non-understanding between boys and girls has lasted forever, and certainly was not created by us.

Chapter Four: A conversation in Ancient Runes class between Remus and Lily

"Remus, could I talk to you about something?" Lily asks, looking up from the sheet she has been dutifully scribbling out notes on for the past fifteen minutes.

He pauses in his own notes, faintly surprised. "Of course. What is it?"

"Well..." she hesitates, not quite sure how to phrase her question. She briefly considers backing out, but, this is Remus, he's not threatening in the least. "It about James," she says finally.

"Well, yes, I expected as much. What about him?" he asks. He hopes she says something like 'He charmed a bullfrog to sing my praises as I walk the halls' for entertainment's sake, though he can clearly see this hasn't happened.

"Has he actually matured?" she asks. "I mean, I know that he's serious enough about his duties. Enough so not to torment me with proclamations of love when things need to be done." She sits there for a moment, tapping the quill against her lips, trying to figure how to be more specific. "Is he still the same as he was last year and the year before?"

"Erm," Remus answers. He looks away, scratching the side of his nose. When he begins to feel awkward for not answering, he decides to answer as truthfully as he can. "Is anyone ever the same every year?" He pauses, and thinks, and starts again. "He's always had a mature side. It's just that, maybe, he didn't want you, or anyone else, to see it."

A frown forms across Lily's features, and a look of disappointment is apparent in her eyes. "So he pretends to be an egotistical prat with perfectly disheveled hair that doesn't care about anything because he thinks people will like that side of him better?"

"No! No, that's not it. I've said it wrong. Um." Agitated by his mistake, Remus runs a hand through his hair and scratches the back of his head, trying to form an answer in his head before letting it slip through his lips. "It's not that he thinks people will like that side better. More--" that they actually seem to-- "he's afraid they won't like him if he doesn't parade his best qualities. And it's not pretending, or perfectly disheveled." Remus looks up at Lily. "You can't let on to James that I've said any of this. It could be complete bollocks anyway."

The look on Lily's face clearly reads, I doubt it. "Well, I won't say anything to him, but you should let him know that he shouldn't care about what other people think, and that should be quite good enough for himself." Then she adds, "You know, I've often wondered why you choose to be friends with James Potter and Sirius Black, but just occasionally, I could see how you get along with James."

"You don't see them the way I get to see them," he says, simply and looking down at his paper. He scratches out and corrects a line of his notes, unable to think of anything to add.

Silence descends again as quills scratch against paper. "Do you think he would be angry with me if I told him I bought my own bottle of shampoo?"

Remus stares at her. "Why-- Oh, right. Sirius mentioned something about that in his steady flow of chatter on the way to breakfast. He wouldn't be angry. Disappointed, maybe."

"Hmm, I thought so." There is a struggle taking place inside Lily's head. It seems that she's about to touch on something important, however, it's not really her area, now is it? Remus is happy with his friends, such an intelligent and logical person would never remain friends with the same people for six years just because. "Well, I'll just prepare myself for his heartbroken protests then."

'Might be surprised,' he doesn't say, thinking of James's secretive breaks sitting in the fading autumn sunlight scribbling on paper and denying the book in his hand is poetry. "Yes, you'd better. He's only getting more creative over the years, albeit less publicly dramatic."

Something that could almost be called worry flickers its way across Lily's face. "I thought he'd have given up by now," she says. "It's becoming a shame to disappoint just because of the effort he puts into coming up with new ideas."

"Ah, but you're stretching his creative boundaries by consistently pushing him away. If you don't stop him soon, though, I fear this creativity will begin to leak out his ears," Remus replies, trying not to imagine what that would look like. He fails, and grins.

Lily smiles back. "That would be a thing to see. I suppose I'll just have to maintain my position now. It will be interesting to see what he resorts to before the ear leaking."

"Probably something unspeakable that you would be torn between enjoying and abhorring." Remus pauses. "Really, you don't dislike him, or if you do you hide it well. Why keep up the cold shoulder act for so long? He really does try."

There's that caught look on Lily's face that says she has a reason, but isn't quite sure how to put it into words, or even why she does it herself. "I know he does, that's why it's so difficult. But really, what do I know about him? I'm forced to ask one of his friends if he's matured at all? It doesn't seem like those are positive circumstances with which to be starting a relationship."

"A date is not a relationship. A date, even if it were a relationship, does not constitute spending the rest of one's life together. The purpose of a date, a relationship, is to learn about the other person! If you wait until you know enough about someone, it just doesn't make sense!" Remus says, feeling exasperated. He's not quite used to dealing with girls' minds, and his eye is threatening to twitch. He rubs it half-heartedly. "And you could try asking him."

"Waiting to decide whether or not you want to date somebody is a very - you know what? I don't think I'll bother to explain it. Boys just don't seem to understand this very simple logic." Now it's her turn to feel slightly frustrated. "You know, there's a difference between a harmless date, and leading somebody on with a date who may or may not love you endlessly."

Remus blinks slowly. "If this is truly how all girls think, I don't want to ever date again." He doesn't know where to begin without leading into a diatribe that could last for the rest of class, so he opts to change the subject, as it often works on Peter and sometimes even Sirius and James. He looks at his notes for inspiration and is disappointed. "Erm. What do you think of the new Gobstones Enthusiasts Club? It seems like a good hobby."

Lily raises an exquisite eyebrow. "If you were sick of hearing me talk about this, you could have just said so. I may share many things with other girls, but I understand that we were breaching important subject matter." A brief pause to consider matters. "I know you're going to see James before me. Could you tell him I'd like to meet him in the common room immediately following dinner?" Then, with a smile she says, "It seems like a terrible hobby. What would they do at their meetings? Sit around and talk about their new set, and the matches they've won? It's not healthy, if you ask me."

"But," he starts, feeling stopped up and stupid again. "It's not the subject-- We were-- I'll tell him." He doesn't bother acknowledging her comment about Gobstones, insulted without any good reason by it, and tucks his paper into his book. After a long silent pause where Remus can feel Lily looking at him, he adds quietly, "It's just frustrating, that's all."

"What?" Lily asks. "The Gobstone's Enthusiasts club? Or are we on the same subject again?"

"It's a completely different subject altogether." Remus stops, leaning heavily on the table with his hand on the back of his head again, thinking. "You've no idea how frustrating it is to talk to someone when everything they say makes you feel like you've just said something wrong, so you want to defend yourself. But you don't really want to put up the effort because class only lasts so long and you could try to explain yourself the rest of the day and not quite get anywhere. There."

"Ah," Lily says wisely. "This is the reason that you don't talk to girls much, then? Too irrational for you. Well, that's all right, we'll just have to stick to subjects like Ancient Runes." Sensing the bell is about to ring, she says her next sentence quickly. "I do know how that is, you've never met my sister." Then, "Sorry, I do really like you quite a lot."

"It's got nothing to do with gender," he says, a little defensively. "And thanks."