A/N: Here's a long chapter. LONG. It makes up for all the little midget chapters that came before it. It holds more stretched events that would so not happen in real life, and many people OOC. Deal.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

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Chapter 8: Take That Prongs!

Remus slept in his dorm that night, though he wished he were with Lily. He couldn't sleep, missing the warmth of another body next to him, but he knew that if James found any little hint that his best friend was, for lack of a better word, sleeping with his crush, it could trigger the lost memories to return, and who knew what devastation would follow.

Besides feeling alone in his lumpy twin bed, squeaky snored flooded the dormitory, to mark Peter's return from a family funeral, in addition to the growls that Sirius emitted as he slept. James was mercifully silent, though his breath was done in pattern, and he was obviously asleep. He wondered where Lily was, what he was doing, if she was thinking of him. The thought of her was enough to send him trembling, and he wondered if their relationship would progress. They had seen each other, and held each other, when wearing underwear, and yet all they had done was hold hands (well not really), and kiss on the cheek. Granted, he loved that, and he loved just being with her, but he couldn't help but want more, after all, he had told her that he loved her…

A little ways away from Gryffindor tower, Lily sat up in bed, unable to sleep. Though she hated to admit it, she needed Remus. As clichéd as it was, he somehow completed her. She knew that she couldn't just wander into the boy's dorm and slide under the covers next to him. Surely they would get caught, and surely, she was just making something out of nothing.

She tossed and turned under the red sheets, wishing desperately that sleep would come. When it finally washed over her in the wee hours of Monday mourning, she was plagued by dreams of a boy with dark messy hair and sparkling green eyes. Remus eventually found sleep too, but had an unnervingly dreamless rest.

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The school day flew by quickly, and Lily never got a chance to speak to Remus alone, as Potter and co always flanked him. Finally potions came, a relief for the young woman, who found solstice in following the directions and stirring solutions. When she and Amy entered Slughorn's classroom, Lily was smothered in smells that reminded her of Remus, and she became extremely paranoid, believing that he was always behind her. The professor stood at the front of the room stirring a large pink potion, enjoying the confusion on the faces filling into the class. Suddenly, Lily realized what it was, Love potion.

When the class took their seats, Prof. S sat down on a fluffy stool next to the cauldron.

"I believe I introduced you to Amortentia in the beginning of the year, is that correct?" The class nodded curiously, as Lily stole a glance at Remus, who was staring at her lovingly. She sent him a small smile, not worrying about being seen, as Potter was busy whispering with Black. He returned the smile as she sucked in the wonderful aroma around her. "I thought today would be a nice day to create Amortentia, since winter break is approaching and I'm sure you all would love to do something fun. From the glances you're all sending each other I'm guessing some of you recognize the smells around you." Lily blushed as Amy elbowed her in the stomach. Prof S went on, "Just to make things more interesting, I'm going to give you all partners, boy/girl." The class groaned. Lily didn't dare to turn around and look at her special some one. "Okay umm, since I didn't make a list of partners, I'm going to give them at the top of my head." He gained a few laughs and a slow sarcastic clap from Black before he continued to give off partners. Please give me Remus, Please give me Remus! She thought desperately. "Lily Evans and…" He scanned the room as both Remus and Potter looked up hopefully. "Let's see how Mr. Lupin can measure up to the potions master, shall we?" Lily let out a sigh of relief as Remus gathered his things, James at his side.

"Switch with me?" James asked him. Remus shook his head guiltily. "Please?"

"No, we'll get caught."

"Please?" James begged as his given partner, a pleased looking Slytherin stared at him.

"No," Remus answered firmly as he walked over to Lily. James was puzzled at his friend's behavior, but he didn't think much of it.

"Hey," Lily said, greeting him as he sat down next to her. She had already started making the potions. Though he was smart, potions was not his strongest subject, and he was glad to be partnered with her, as she was very skilled at the class. For most of the class he fetched the ingredience (A/N: sp?) that she needed. Half way through the class the potion needed to simmer, and she took advantage of the break to talk to her partner.

"I missed you last night," she told him quietly, checking to see if the fire was still lit.

"I missed you too." He watched as the potion swirled in her cauldron, and smelled the lavender fumes that it admitted. It was undeniably Lily's favorite perfume and shampoo. "This smells like you," he murmured, and watched as a blush swept across her features as she emerged from under the cauldron. He hadn't meant to say it, for it had just slipped out.

"Same here," she responded. He was glad it had. Those two little words filled him with joy, though he tried not to show it. That meant she loved him, she just hadn't realized it. The peaceful moment was interrupted by a strangled yell from Potter, and Remus whirled around, expecting the boy to jump on him, but instead found that James' Slytherin partner was trying to hug him.

"Professor!" James yelled, jumping up onto the desk to try and avoid the girl, who was clambering after him, squealing, "Jamie! Jamie! Come here!" Slughorn rummaged through his desk drawers for the antidote as James leaped from table to table, the class laughing hysterically. The clumsy teen stumbled after him, knocking over several cauldrons, including Lily and Remus'. The potion tipped over, spilling across the floor, and unfortunately, into Remus' laughing mouth. He spluttered as Lily watched in horror, though she was the only one since most of the class was watching James. Remus gagged slightly on the potion, then gulped in down accidentally, trying to get air. I made that potion, she thought as his spluttering died down, he's going to-, but her thoughts were cut off as he turned around slowly. His face was glowing, his smile beaming, his eyes twinkling. Lily thought there was a possibility that his face would splinter from how far his skin was stretching to smile like that. She stepped backwards, away from him.

"Lily!" he squealed, sounding like a little boy.

"Yeah?" she answered nervously, as his hair fell into his blue eyes. Even though he was freakishly obsessed, he looked damn fine.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked shamelessly. She would have found this a deeply amusing comment coming from one of the shyest boys in their year, but she was preoccupied. Her words jumbled up and she couldn't answer him, only stare up at him in disbelief. He walked forward, much closer to her, until their noses were a centimeter away. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, before he lent down and his lips met hers. She melted into him, surprising herself by kissing him back. Aware of the full classroom, but not caring the slightest, she knitted her fingers into his silky smooth hair, and passionately kissed him back. Actually, passionately didn't even cover it.

When the girl chasing James had been subdued and given the antidote, the boy turned around, looking for his friends so he could laugh with them over the girl's obsession, but he was instead greeted with the most horrifying sight, ever. Evans snogging Remus. Evans and Remus. Evans and Remus! Most would expect him to throw himself at his friend, but instead he fell backwards onto a stool. Now the whole class had noticed the couple, and Slughorn chuckled and began tapping his foot.

"Remus!" Sirius hissed from somewhere behind James, and Lily pulled away from her lab partner, looking flustered, amused, mortified, and yet really happy. Remus lazily turned around, not paying the slightest attention to the professor.

"Yes?" he asked his shocked friend, his arm still around Lily's shoulder.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" Remus looked at him blankly, as if this was the most obvious question in the world, and not at all rhetorical.

"Well, Sirius, I was under the impression that I was snogging Lily Evans," he stated matter of factily, earning a few snickers from the students around them. Then he looked down at the petrified James and added, "Take that Prongs!" Slughorn stopped tapping his foot and realized that this was not normal Lupin behavior.

"The potion," he muttered to himself as he conjured a glass goblet and poured in some more of the antidote from the vile on his deck. James still hadn't reacted to the profound statement Remus had made, and was still staring at the mortified Lily, who was in turn staring at Remus, her mouth slightly open in surprise. "Drink this m'boy," Slughorn said, handing him the potion, which he took with his free hand, and gulped it down. After a few seconds he blinked, turned to look at Lily, then down at his arm around her shoulder. He gasped and pulled away, as James stood up and stormed out of the room, Sirius right behind him.

"What happened?" he asked her, as his fellow students slowly stepped over the spilled potion to gather their things, sensing the show was over.

"I have no idea," she said, before leaning down to pick up her bag, then leaving the room, still feeling the touch of his soft lips on her own. Needless to say, she left behind a very bewildered looking man.

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The library let Remus be. It didn't whistle at him as he walked by, its shelves didn't gossip about him behind its hands. The books didn't ask him if Lily was a good kisser. It left him alone, so he wandered through the isles, void of all human contact. He wasn't looking for a book, or pausing to do his homework, but simply biding his time before the corridors would empty, so he could sneak down to the kitchens, then back up to the room of requirement. On second thought, only if Lily would take him in. He still wasn't sure what had happened when under the influence of Amortentia, but from the gossip he had overheard, he had at least kissed her. Some people claimed they had seen him go further, but he wasn't sure if they were just rumors, or if he had indeed felt her up in front of the whole Slytherin and Gryffindor potions lesson. Either way, he knew he was doomed.

He ate a quiet dinner in the kitchens on him own, being polite but distant with the elves, and walked back up to the room of requirement. Whenever he saw a fellow student or a staff member he would duck behind the nearest statue or into the nearest corner. He wasn't breaking any rules, but he didn't want any human contact, excluding Lily. When he reached the tapestry that displayed the room's presence, he paced back and forth in front of it thinking, I need to talk to Lily. I need to get into our room. I need to be alone with her. When the door appeared in front of him, he hesitated, thinking it unwise to barge in on her. He knocked slowly and waited for a response.

"Who is it?" called a muffled voice from through the wood. He bit his lip.

"It's Remus." Lily didn't answer him, and after waiting for a response and not receiving one, he tentatively pushed the door open.

She was sitting on the bed; her knee pulled up to her chest and was shaking, as quiet sobs echoed in the small room. It pained him to see her like this, and he ran over to her and sat down next to her, squishing random bits of homework that circled around her. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and she collapsed into his chest, crying into his shirt.

"What's wrong, Lils?" he asked softly into her hair as she trembled into his grasp. No answer. "Is it my fault?"

"No, it's mine." He gently rubbed her back with his hand. "I'm just so confused."

"About what?" She gasped for air through her tears.

"I… well… about how I feel about you." He gulped, tensing up, and stroked her hair.

"Why are you confused?"

"Because you- you love me, and- and I don't kn- know how I feel about y- you." Remus was at a loss. He wanted Lily to love him, he wanted her to need him, but he knew that he couldn't force something like that. If he rushed her, it would slow her down, and if he waited, it might confuse her. She continued, so he just listened. "I just feel like I- I owe you or something, li- like I should love you t- too."

"You don't owe me anything, Lils." I should love you, she had said. Did that mean she didn't?

"I've just never felt this way before, I need you and I hate being without you, but I just don't know," she mumbled into his cloak. She did need him, he could calm her, he was almost her center. Remus felt how she was soothed by his touch as her crying slowed down.

"You don't need to decide, we have all the time in the world." She didn't answer him, but she didn't need to. When stability returned to her, she pulled away from the man, her face wet and face stoic.

"This has just been such a weird night," she said quietly, locking eyes with him. He looked troubled, and she didn't blame him.

"Can I ask you a question?" She nodded as he formed his words. "What happened in the potions lesson?" She frowned, expecting this ahead of time. She would tell him the facts, or at least the modified version of them.

"You got splashed by the potion, and you turned to face me." He nodded as she contemplated telling the truth. "You asked me if you could kiss me, and I didn't answer so you took that as a yes." They blushed in unison. "And you did, then Sirius kind of yelled at you and you were all smart with him." Remus groaned, as Lily bit her lip.

"I can see where this is going," he mumbled, running his hands through his hair.

"Then you said, 'take that Prongs,' and he ran for it." They sat in silence until doubt filled her. "They won't suspect anything, since it was the potion's doing, right?" He brooded, picking at the silk beneath him.

"I suppose that depends on whether you kissed me back." He took her silence to mean that she had. "Don't worry about this, Lils, it's just a schoolboy fight over a girl."

"I know, but I feel like I'm doing something wrong, like I have a destiny I'm not following."

"You chose your destiny, Lils, if there even is such a thing."

"I know what I want it to be," she whispered, mainly to herself. He looked up curiously at her, seeing fire in her emerald glass eyes.

"And what is that?" he murmured back. She scooted closer to him on the bed, tearing several papers but not noticing.

"Can I show you?" she asked, not even using her voice. He didn't answer. "I'll take that as a yes," she said, putting her hand around his neck and kissed him, an innocent, nervous, but perfect first kiss.

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"Wait, James!" Sirius called after his running friend. The boy in front of him didn't stop and whirled around a corner. "James!" Sprinting after his friends shadow, Sirius was a little lost for words. Remus had kissed Evans because he was under the influence of Amortentia, but Evans herself was acting on her own accord. That's what had pushed James to running.

Ahead of him James jumped a full flight of stairs and once again evaded him, slipping into the entrance hall. Sirius threw open the doors just as the large ones leading to the grounds snapped shut. He threw them open too, as a stag ran toward the forbidden forest.

"James!" he repeated, but the stag didn't turn, and instead escaped through some trees. Concentrating on his animagus form, Sirius transformed and bolted after his friend, winding through the branches with ease. It wasn't until he heard the human sobs echo through the still forest that he slowed down and returned to his normal state. His friend was sitting in the middle of a clearing, taking no care of hiding his tears.

James was a mess. Dirt was on his clothes, and leaves were stuck in his fly away hair. His face had shiny ribbons of moisture and his face was scrunched up in emotional pain. Sirius watched as James collapsed onto his knees, displaying his grief openly, and his friend crept forward.

"Please tell me it was the Amortentia that made him do it, please Sirius," pleaded the crumpled figure.

"It was, James, it was…"

"And why did she kiss him back?" His friend paused. "That's what I thought, she fancies him and hates me." All trace of arrogance and bigotry faded, disaperated into thin air. Sirius winced.

"No she doesn't…"

"Yes, she does!" he screamed, as Sirius realized that this side of his best friend was hidden for a reason.

"No she doesn't!" Sirius said firmly as his friend trembled, surrounded in snow.

"What should I do?" he whispered hopelessly to the snow, lost and upset.

"First of all, get out of the cold, you don't have a winter cloak on." He made no move of getting up, so Sirius hoisted him up from his armpits.

"Why does she hate me, Padfoot?" Sirius sighed, as they walked through the trees.

"You're mean to her."

"No I'm not, I worship her!"

"You disrespect her, break her up with her boyfriends, argue with her constantly, prank her, hex her, insult her, embarrass her-" James cut him off.

"I guess I'll have to work on that…"

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A/N: Long chappie, 10 word pages! You love me, don't you? Review! Hey Perry!

Next time:

'Chill Remus,' he thought, 'relax, you didn't snog Lily Evans twice yesterday. Damn it, stop swaggering!'

Then later:

"I believe you, if you say nothing happened, then nothing happened. Right Padfoot?" "Sure James, sure…"