Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned below, except for Jessica Leah Andrews and Courtney Brewster. So please don't sue me! Thanks! =)

Peace... Think Again

James and Lily held tentative hands as they walked along the hallway, on their way to Transfiguration class. The hallway was practically empty, if you even considered those people who walked by with heads half-buried in their books.

Lily whispered so softly that James had to bend his head down, just to hear her.


"Are you sure that what we're doing is right?"

James's eyes reflected slight surprise as he nodded firmly.

Lily gave him a small smile as he squeezed her hand more tightly. James returned her smile, only to feel a dull ache in his cheek. He didn't show it, though, for he was afraid that Lily might be worried for him all over again.

But then… he thought… it wouldn't be that bad either… he thought about the way Lily had kissed his cheek tenderly, hoping to erase the mark she had created in a fit of pique.

Lily pinched his arm lightly to get his attention. James snapped back to reality and followed the direction of Lily's stare.

Standing in front of them were a bunch of Hufflepuff girls, who looked so red-faced, the both of them would have laughed if not for the seriousness of the situation. They seemed to have a bit of a trouble breathing, as their chests heaved up and down.

One of them started pointing at their holding of hands and started sputtering something nonsensical that James was positive that it would have been insult if she was more clear headed.

So he parted the way, dividing them into two groups of staring statues, as he said coolly, "We thank you for your congratulations; but we must go now. We will be late for classes."

Lily gave a slight frown as they continued walking to their classroom.


"That went well," she muttered under her breath.

James shrugged playfully and nudged her lightly to let her know that it was nothing.

"There would be plenty more who would be happy for us," he assured Lily, who was shaking slightly. Lily could only nod, not knowing of what to do with this new reassurance.

As they walked into the class, the noise in the classroom came to a standstill and everyone in the classroom turned to stare at the newly found couple. And to Lily's chagrin, that included the Transfiguration professor.

However, to everyone else's surprise, the teacher simply smiled and motioned for them to sit down and for Sirius to quit his cat-calling.

At lunch, everyone was congratulating Lily and James.

"You two look so great together!" (chirps: yeah!)

"Wow… just look at them!" (snaps: stop your staring!)

"Why can't you ever be as romantic as James?" (reply: he's a flirt, dear)

"Why can't you be prettier than Lily?" (whispers dangerously: try one more word, darling.)

Some comments made Lily red in the face with embarrassment and delight, some rare ones made James flush slightly with anger. (A/N: three guesses to where those particular comments came from)

And so it went, with the whole day going perfectly all right.

"What are you going to do now?"

"What else? James is mine, and no one can take him away from me. I've set my eyes on him since he set foot into this bloody school, and I'll be all he'll ever look at," came the emphatic reply.

"I'm not worried whether James would accept you or not; I'm sure he will. But what about Evans?"

"She thinks she's so great. And everyone thinks that she is Miss Perfect. We'll see; I don't think there is all that meets the eye."

"Whoopee!" Sirius cheered as he jumped about the boys' dormitory; some of the boys stared at him, but Sirius ignored them all.

Remus tilted his head in half-amusement, half-irritation.

"What is it, Sirius?"

"Nothing much, just that I have a date with…" at this time, almost all the guys in the room had their ears perked up for the new piece of information. It was always one of their curiosities who Sirius was dating that week. Seeing that Sirius had almost everyone's attention, he continued. "…Courtney Brewster!"

Gasps.

Even Remus was surprised.

"Courtney Brewster? She's… kind of hot, I guess."

"You guess?! Kind of?! Remus, you must be blind!" Sirius laughed.

Remus shrugged and turned to James, only to see him gazing into space. That was all he was doing nowadays, except when he was in the company of Lily Evans, of course.

Remus grinned and nudged James not-so-lightly in the ribs.

"Ouch! What's it to you?" James mumbled, rubbing his ribs with vigor.

"Oh, nothing. Didn't you hear what announcement Sirius was making?" Remus prodded.

James shook his head. Remus sighed and repeated what Sirius had told him, along with the rest of the Gryffindor people. And Sirius, by now, was already at the other corner of the room, telling willing listeners tips and hints of how he got a date with her.

"Courtney Brewster…? Who's that?"

"Oh, she's really pretty, to be honest. Haven't you seen her in school before? She's in Slytherin-" before Remus could continue, James cut in, "She's a Slytherin? Since when did Sirius date Slytherins?"

Remus shrugged once more. "Sirius dates all kinds of people. And as I said, why wouldn't he date Courtney? I thought I said that she's really pretty. You might want to check her out. She has honey blonde hair and light green eyes. Definitely a catch, you know."

James raised his left eyebrow suspiciously. "You don't like her, do you?"

Remus looked horrified at that idea. "No! Of course not! Jamie's all I would ever want or need!" Then he nodded his head firmly, as if to emphasize his point.

James smiled, and then his smile disappeared as he said, "So what if she's really pretty? Lily rocks my world, and I wouldn't want anyone to intrude in anything that truly belongs to us. Besides, I don't like blondes. They're stupid."

Remus laughed out loud at the way James wrinkled his nose when he spoke of blondes being stupid.

"There are certain blondes in Ravenclaw, you know," he teased lightly.

"Court?"

"What?" Courtney Brewster snapped.

"Why the sudden interest in Sirius Black?"

"Who says I like him at all? Have you been listening all this while?! The only person I'll ever like is James Potter!"

Jessica Andrews shrugged, taking no notice of the fury brewing in Courtney.

"Then why did you agree to his date?"

"Are you plain dumb or are you just acting it? Of course I would agree to that idiot's request! He's James's close friend! I can get close to James, right?! And Sirius is dumb enough to think that I like him as much as those dumb Hufflepuff girls. Just because he's cute."

Jessica gave Courtney a tiny smile. "He is cute, you know. You might want to consider him."

Courtney fairly scowled at her. "You can have him if you want. But only after I have had my fun with him. Then you can get second hand goods. But then again…" Courtney placed a finger to her chin, pretending to be giving this matter a bit more thought. "He has been touched by so many people, he won't even be second hand. Plus," Courtney ran her eyes down Jessica's body, from head to toe. "It will be better left unsaid, don't you think? I don't want to hurt your feelings, you know." She smirked, before sashaying away, leaving only her back exposed to the open glare of Jessica Leah Andrews.

A/N: Hmm… review, please? How about 7 to 10 reviews? Thanks!