Disclaimer: How many more times am I seriously going to have to do this? I can't claim ownership overnight…

Meetings with James

The next day, since Anna was in classes, all Lily had to keep her company was the thought of having to put up with James in mere hours time. She couldn't believe she let Anna talk her into doing this. She was going to actually spend civil time with James. She dreaded the thought. But like always, when you don't want something to happen, time has a nasty habit of speeding up, and before Lily knew what was happening James was walking through the doors of the Hospital Wing.

'Hey Evans,' James said, taking the chair he had occupied when Lily woke up. 'Feeling better?'

I was before you came, was the retort Lily was dying to say. Instead, she settled with, 'A little.'

'That's good. Look, um, I brought you your homework, seeing as we're in the same classes,' James said hesitantly, pulling a couple pieces of parchment from his bag.

Lily's eyes lit up. 'Thanks,' she whispered, getting the sheets from James. Thank Merlin I can do my homework and not talk to James, Lily silently thanked the heavens. She reached over to her bag to get a quill and ink, letting in a sharp breath. James immediately looked up from his essay with concern.

'What's wrong, Evans?'

'Nothing. I'm just getting my quill,' Lily said with a pained expression on her face.

'Here, I'll get it for you,' James said, getting up out of his chair.

'No, it's fine Potter. I can get it myself,' Lily said, leaning over again and getting another pain in her side.

'Seriously, I'll get it for you. It's no problem.' James walked around Lily's bed to her bag. He undid the strap, taking out the quill and ink, setting them on Lily's beside table, easily within her reach. James re-did Lily's bag, and sat back down again.

'Thanks, Potter,' Lily mumbled.

'No problem,' James replied.

Lily looked down at the parchment James gave her. At the top was a brief description of what the assignment was, with the perfect amount of parchment on which to write the essay.

'You know Potter, you didn't have to give me parchment. I do have my own,' Lily stated.

'It's nothing, really. I didn't think you had your bag.'

'Oh,' was all Lily could say. She was surprised that James Potter would be that thoughtful. 'Thanks,' she muttered, fully aware that she was thanking James Potter for the second time in the same day, something that had never happened. Ever.

Lily and James stayed silent, each writing their own essays, the only noise being the scratching of their quills, their steady breathing, and the rifling through a book whenever an unknown fact was needed.

A number of hours later, James' stomach growled loudly. Lily jumped, being used to silence. She looked around her, surprised that it had been so long. She glanced down at her watch, seeing the hour hand at just past the 8. 'Well, I guess you missed dinner.'

'I guess I did,' said James, mildly surprised it had been that long too. 'Well, I guess I'll get going now. You're probably sick of me.' Lily didn't respond to that. In all honestly, she didn't know how to respond to that. She was surprised that she had spend that long with James without blowing up at him for something immature he had done, but reminded herself that it still was Potter, and that it was probably only temporary.

'Sorry for making you miss dinner,' Lily said. Why did I just say that? she wondered. I'm glad Potter missed dinner. Serves him right for coming down here.

'I'm not,' James said, packing away his school things.

'Excuse me?' Lily questioned. The Marauders were always hungry, and never missed a chance to eat.

'I'm not,' James repeated. 'Missing dinner is a small price to pay for being able to spend time with you.' James slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked towards the doors. 'See you tomorrow, Evans…Lily,' James said, smiling at the object of his affections.

Lily smiled hesitantly back, not knowing how much that simple action meant to James. James walked out of the door, heading back towards the Heads common room.

The two teens' reactions to the simple gesture of a smile were completely different. James was elated that he hadn't messed up and Lily hadn't exploded at him; Lily was still in shock that she and James had managed to go through a whole three hours without fighting, and confused about why she had enjoyed the change.

Instead of having lunch in the Great Hall, Anna opted to grab some food in a tissue and bring it to the Hospital Wing to share with Lily.

'Knock knock!' said Anna, rushing over to Lily's bed. She hadn't seen her friend since she had woken up the night before last.

'Anna!' Lily exclaimed, gingerly sitting up in bed. Anna noticed this.

'What's wrong, Lils?' Anna asked, a worried question on her face.

'It's nothing, Ann. Madam Pomfrey just gave me potion to cure whatever the curses did and it's just causing a little bit of pain. It's fine. The pain's almost gone, anyways.'

'Ok,' Anna said, laughing. 'So you didn't get yourself hurt by yelling at James and falling off your bed.'

'Nope,' replied Lily, laughing along with Anna.

'Then how did it go last night?' Anna inquired, handing Lily a peanut butter sandwich and taking a bite of her own.

'It went…civilly,' answered Lily, choosing her words carefully.

'And what, Miss Evans, is that supposed to mean?'

'It means Potter wasn't an arrogant, pig-headed jerk as is his custom,' replied Lily, wiping the smirk off Anna's face. 'We spent the night in silence, just doing our homework. Now I regret it, partially. I don't have anything to do today.' Lily's face dropped a little, but as she considered the other option of talking to James she wasn't regretting doing her homework the night before as much.

'Well, if tonight he suggests you guys do something other than just sit in silence, just make sure you aren't mean to him, for me?' Anna hurriedly asked, hearing the distant ring of the school bell.

'I will, don't worry,' Lily laughed, as Anna darted for the door, not particularly wanting to be late for transfiguration.

'Hey Lily.'

When James visited Lily in the Hospital Wing later that night, Lily noticed he wasn't carrying his bag; he was only carrying his wand, and a couple of papers.

'Hello Potter.' James came and sat in his usual chair to the left of Lily's bed, putting his wand down on the beside table. 'Here's your homework. I didn't bring mine because I thought maybe we could…do something else. Something fun?'

'I'm not snogging you Potter,' Lily stated.

James looked a little sad that Lily automatically assumed that he was talking about snogging. But then again, it's not like I haven't given her reason to think that, James reflected.

'No, I wasn't thinking that,' James responded finally, to a shocked Lily. 'I was thinking we could…play a game? You choose.' James suggested.

'You talked to Anna.'

'Yeah,' James answered shortly. 'Are you mad?' James asked.

Lily laughed. 'Mad? Why would I be mad?'

'I don't know…' James' sentence trailed off into nothingness. 'Well, what do you what to play?' he asked, relieved that Lily wasn't angry.

'Well, I was going to play Clue,' Lily responded without hesitation, referring to her favourite muggle game. 'But we'd need more than two people.'

'I could call the others?' James suggested.

'The others?' Lily asked skeptically. 'And that would include…?'

'Remus, Sirius, and Anna. And Peter if he wants I guess.'

Lily thought for a moment. 'All right,' she decided. 'As long as Anna's coming.'

'Cool,' James responded, reaching into his robes for a mirror. 'Sirius Black,' he said clearly into it. Lily couldn't see what was going on, as James had the mirror facing him, so she jumped when she heard Sirius' voice answer from what appeared thin air. Even seven years in the magical world still held some surprises.

'Hey Prongs,' Sirius answered cheerfully.

'Hey Padfoot. Lily and I are in the Hospital Wing, and she wants to play a game but we need more people,' James told the mirror. 'Wanna join?'

'Yeah, sure, sounds like fun. Better than doing homework anyways.' Lily scoffed and James grinned at her reaction. 'I'll fetch Moony and Wormtail, shall I?'

'Yeah, and Anna as well.'

'Shain?' Sirius questioned. 'She's in her dorm, how am I supposed to get to her? Boys can't go up the girls' dorms, mate.'

'Padfoot, you're a Marauder!' James said incredulously. 'You're supposed to be smart! Just ask one of the girls to go and get her.'

Sirius laughed at the simple solution. 'Right. Ok. We'll be down there pronto, Prongs.'

'Alright, mate,' laughing at his best friend. James put the mirror back into his robes, and looked at Lily, who was looking apprehensive. At that moment, they both had the same thought running through their minds. Well, this is going to be interesting…

A/N: Hey y'all. I've noticed some of my other stories have like…no reviews. I would really appreciate it if you guys reviewed some of those too. Ending my shameless advertising, on to the real messages.

Phew! Another chapter done! Sorry about the tremendously long wait. I'll try and update sooner next time. About the chapter, sorry this one's kinda choppy, but I didn't know how else to put it. Next chapter will be the game of Clue. And sorry in advance if I get some rules or anything wrong. I love the game, but I've only played a couple times, so I don't know everything extremely well.

Reviews: riduculouslyriddikulus: YAY! Lily's not too stubborn in this chapter. She'll get better. ;) overprotected: You thought it was the best? Awesome! Actually, I liked that one the best too. midnight thunder: Sorry for the wait. I hope you like this one! I hope you did well on your exams, too. DarthRoden: Aww, thanks! iluvsinging333: I wish I had a guy wrapped around my little finger too. :( Mind you, even if James was slightly mindless, he still is sexy. ;)

That's all for this week. Read and review and you'll be loved forever!

Niamara