Chapter 16: Betting and Rage

When they got back to the common room, Lily's hair was fully grown again, flowing down her shoulders in wavy auburn locks. Lily had asked James to do this for her. He may have thought she was beautiful anyway she was; but Lily did not believe this herself, and as a result, knew she herself couldn't walk the halls with hair up to her ears.

Ellen and Sirius were on a couch, completely in a world of their own. Sirius had his hands hidden somewhere up Ellen's top, and Ellen's hands were buried in his dark hair. They seemed totally oblivious to the arrival of their two friends, or the glares coming from various girls in the room.

'I can tell we've been missed.' James remarked to Lily, who giggled.

'Can't you two find somewhere else to release your sexual desires, instead of in broad daylight for the whole common room to see?' Lily asked loudly enough to be heard by the couple. Sirius pulled away and Ellen groaned in protest, but then realised her friend looking at her with one eyebrow raised. She grinned sheepishly.

'Lily, hi.' She said. Sirius innocently removed his hands from under her top, slowly getting off her and sitting on the couch.

'Don't think I didn't see that Mr. Black. And for the record, you don't do innocent well.'

Sirius turned to her and grinned.

'Ill keep it in mind,' He said. Ellen got up and sat next to him, snuggling close to his body. 'So where were you Lily? James was pining for you so much that I thought I might have to hang him upside down from the ceiling of the Great Hall.'

Ellen sniggered at this remark, but Lily looked worriedly at James. Should she tell them where she really was? Or should she lie, and tell Ellen about it later. She felt James hand grab hers and squeeze reassuringly.

'I was at the…Library.' She said. Ellen looked at her suspiciously, but Sirius slammed his arm down on the couch, making a dull thudding noise.

'I knew it! Prongs, I told you she would be there! Honestly!' He cried. James smiled at Lily.

'Yeah, you were right, I guess.' He said.

'Damn straight I was right!' Sirius said. 'Ellen, this calls for a celebration!'

'A celebration of what?' Ellen asked.

'A celebration of…me being correct!' Sirius cried. He jumped on Ellen, pushing her down on the couch once more. 'No more questions.'

Lily rolled her eyes as Sirius and Ellen started to snog once more, and as Sirius moved his hands back under her shirt again. James jerked his head up the boy's stairs, and Lily nodded. Anything to get away from her overly horny friends.

They went into James' empty dorm. James closed the door quietly as Lily sat down on his bed. He pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her. Lily smiled weakly at him, and James smiled back. Lily didn't know why, but she always seemed to feel nervous around him when they were alone. This caused her to clench slightly, and she wrung her hands slowly in her lap. Fortunately, though James noticed this behaviour, he said nothing about it. It was not an uncomfortable situation, just quiet.

'So is Remus back yet?' Lily asked, breaking the silence.

'Yeah, he should have come back this morning; though he'll be in the Hospital Wing. He got pretty beaten up last night.' James said.

'It was really brave what you did to save Snape.' Lily stated. James looked at her and smiled.

'Thanks.' He said.

'No really, I didn't expect it of you to go after someone you hated so much.' Lily said, placing a hand on his thigh. James looked down at her hand and grinned.

'No problem.' James said, looking back up at her. Lily raised a questioning eyebrow.

'What are you grinning about now?' She asked curiously. He moved his eyes down to her hand, then back up to her meaningfully. Realisation dawned, and she looked a little shocked for a moment, but then something swept across her eyes which changed her manner completely. Oh yes, James recognised that look, though he was slightly surprised to see it on Lily. Flirtatious smile, wild seductive eyes. He gulped as her grip on his thigh tightened slightly. She moved in closer, until her lips were close enough that all he would have to do would be to move forward slightly. She parted her lips, and her breath on his face was driving him crazy. There was a moment of silence, where James felt himself being aroused to a point where he would not be able to control moving forward, when suddenly, Lily spoke.

'I have to go now,' She whispered, every word felt on his lips. James took a double take as Lily moved back.

'Wh-What?' He blubbered. Lily grinned seductively at him as she moved towards the door. He stumbled up from the chair and looked over at her. She smiled at him, flicking her hair, and left the room, closing the door behind her. James was left standing there in a state of total shock. He fell into the chair again and sat there for a moment, wishing he hadn't let her get out that door. Then he decided on something.

He needed a cold shower. A very cold shower.

When Lily walked into her dorm, she had a satisfied smirk on her face.

'What have you done now, Lily Evans?' Anna asked, looking up from where Alice and she were pouring over a text book. Alice looked up as well as Lily plonked herself into a chair next to them.

'Oh nothing.' She said innocently. Alice and Anna raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

'Lily, you don't do innocent anymore.' Alice stated.

'Oh yeah?' Lily said with an evil grin on her face. 'And you haven't been innocent since that time in 6th year when you snuck in here with Frank when you thought we were all asleep!'

Alice went completely white, and Anna's mouth dropped open as she looked at Alice in disbelief.

'Alice Dearden! You naughty girl! I never thought you would do something like that! You are supposed to be the innocent one!'

'No, that's not true! Anna, you're the bookie one, you're supposed to be the quiet innocent one!' Alice retaliated.

'Yeah, and you blew that cover when James and I found you in that broom cupboard last week with Remus!' Lily cried, grinning hard.

'Oooh, the truth comes out!' Alice cried.

'Yes, and we all know what Lily was thinking when looking in that cupboard with James!' Anna said, definitely suggesting something . Lily whacked her arm.

'Alright, so we can confess to having, not-so-innocent-sides that seem more prominent than the innocent ones sometimes, but no one here is as not-so-innocent as Ellen!' Alice cried. The girls laughed.

'What are we talking about?' Ellen questioned from the door. They turned to see Ellen in a very dishevelled state. Her hair was ruffled and messy, her clothes creased and out of place, and she had the twinkle in her eye that only came when she had been with a boy.

'Sexual Skeletons in each others closets.' Anna stated. Ellen grinned and flopped herself down on a bed facing them.

'Well, I'm open for questioning!' Ellen said. 'Bring it on!'

'I think you should fix your hair, and your clothes, first.' Alice giggled.

'And besides, there's nothing we don't know about with you.' Lily said. Ellen grinned as she patted down her hair.

'Oh yeah? So you think you know what went on with Sirius last night?' She asked.

'No. What did go on?' Anna asked.

'Nothing out of the ordinary.' Ellen said offhandedly as she straightened her clothes.

'So is that your ordinary? Or a normal person with normal hormones ordinary?' Lily asked, grinning.

'Well lets just say…normal person ordinary!' Ellen said, eyes twinkling.

'I'm sorry Ellen, but I find it hard to believe that you and Sirius would be just "talking" at some ungodly hour of the night.' Anna said. Lily and Alice laughed.

'Yeah you know, I'll bet you couldn't stop yourself from snogging him for a long period of time, Ellen.' Alice said, looking like a plan was forming in her mind.

'Could so!' Ellen said, puffing her chest out.

'Well let's make a bet of it then!' Alice exclaimed. 'We will see how long you can stop yourself from kissing Sirius.'

'I vote Lily does it too!' Anna cried. Lily did a back take.

'What!' She cried. 'No no no! Not fair!'

'It is totally fair! We'll see who is the first of you to crack!' Alice said.

'And to bring it to a whole new level, I think we should have to act flirtatious around them, just to make them frustrated.' Ellen said, grinning.

'No! Ellen you can't be agreeing to this?' Lily cried.

'Why wouldn't I? It'll be fun!' Ellen cried. 'Just imagine the look on his face, oh the possibilities!' Ellen went off into a dream like state.

'OK, so it's settled then! No backing out now!' Anna cried.

Lily thought about it for a moment. So, she wouldn't be able to kiss him for a while. That could be frustrating. Still, she could imagine herself being a temptress, something James wanted to touch, but couldn't. He always liked to be in control, but this time he wouldn't. She had done it once before, just a moment ago, and it didn't seem too hard. It could be fun. And besides, she should have fun once in a while, and the look on James' face would be priceless. She wondered how long he would be able to handle her playing hard to get. It could be interesting.

'Alright, I'll do it.' Lily said determinedly.

'Great,' Alice said. 'I'll bet 5 sickles that Ellen will be first to crack.'

'But I want to bet on her! She's most likely to. She has no control in these things.' Anna mused.

'Hey!' Ellen cried in mock outrage.

'But Lily, you never know, he's handsome, she might just fall under his spell!' Alice said.

'Fine, I'll put 4 sickles on the red one.'

'Hey! Were not horses!' Lily cried.

After the cold shower he had promised himself, James found Sirius and they decided to go see Moony, as they usually did after a night. Though this time it was different. Usually they were buzzing with things to discuss, certain things they could laugh about, near misses that were avoided, and above all the fun they had had with him. This always seemed to cheer him up from being down after the nights, but this time it was different. This time James was nervous about what to talk about. They would have to tell him the truth: that Snape knew, and this would not be easy. They both knew that.

James and Sirius walked to the hospital wing in nervous silence, going through their heads ideas on how to break it to Remus. The trip to the wing ended too quickly and they paused at the door and went inside.

'No, I'm sorry boys, but Remus needs his rest!' Madame Pomfrey said, bustling up to them.

'Please, just 10 minutes? It will make him feel better.' James pleaded. Sirius gave puppy dog eyes. Madame Pomfrey looked at both of them and sighed.

'I'll give you 5 minutes.' She said, walking off.

James and Sirius walked over to Remus' bed and sat down beside it. Remus smiled weakly at them as he opened his eyes.

'I knew you guys were bound to turn up sooner or later.' Remus said weakly. James smiled.

'You know us too well, Mooney.' He said. Remus nodded andsat up in bed slowly to view them better. James noticed bandages all over him, and winced. He had done that.

'So what did we get up to last night? I'm pretty beaten up as you can see!' Remus joked. He didn't care how hurt he ended up being. With his friends now he didn't care about much when it came to the Transformations.

'Well,' Sirius started, look of concern on his face. Remus caught it.

'Why are you looking so glum?' He asked. Then he went white. 'Oh no! I didn't bite someone did I?'

'No no!' James said hurridly.

'But you could say what happened is worse,' Sirius mused. Remus gave him a questioning look, and between the two of them they replayed the night to him. It didn't take them long, but by the time they were done Remus was a white that could rival the school ghosts.

'He-He knows?' Remus stuttered.

'That's right, I know.'

The three turned to the sound of the voice down the hospital wing. Snape was lying in his bed, smirking in a satisfied way. Remus went even whiter than before, if that was possible. Sirius pushed up the sleaves of his robes.

'He's going to pay for that, I am wiping that smirk of his face for good!' He muttered and took a step forward, before being stopped suddenly by James grabbing a fistful of his robe and pulling him back.

'Leave it! Do you want to cause any more trouble?' He hissed to his friend. Sirius shook his head and James let go, though Sirius remained looking like a bull getting ready to charge.

'Snape, would you be so kind as to leave Remus alone? Otherwise you will regret it.' James said in a voice full of venom. Snape laughed and James had to grab Sirius' shirt once again.

'I think not. You won't be doing anything to me.' He said, smirk widening.

'We will if you don't shut the fuck up!' Sirius hissed, not wanting to bring to the attention of Madame Pomfrey what was going on.

'Dumbledore has sworn me to secrecy about Remus'…problem, but if you play one more prank on me, I might just…slip.'

James had to use both arms to hold his friend back now.

'You fucking basturd! You wouldn't dare!'

'Oh I would. You marauders have caused me a lot of pain in the past, and this is where it ends. You will not do anything to me, or else Remus' secret will be out. I wonder Remus, perhaps there are special schools for the outcastes of society? I'm sure you would feel right at home.'

James was using all his self strength to not copy Sirius' behaviour after he said this, but was too pre occupied with holding Sirius back, which was quickly becoming a losing battle. Sirius had forgotten to keep his voice down low, and was spurting colourful language at Snape, who was smirking evilly.

'You have no right you fucking low life! You think this is a good way for repaying James for saving your fucking life? He should have just left you down there cause that's all you deserve you-'

'MR. BLACK THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH!' Madame Pomfrey yelled as she hurried into the room. Sirius stopped and looked at Madame Pomfrey.

'But, miss, He's bla-'

'Out Black! I don't want to hear excuses! I want you out right now! These patients need rest!' She cried.

'But, But-'

'OUT!' She yelled. James had never seen her so mad. She pushed them both out the door and slammed it shut an inch behind them. They looked at the heavy oak door for a moment, Sirius still seething, then James sighed.

'Well, that's settled.' He said, running a hand through his hair and walking off. Sirius gaped at him, then ran after James, catching up.

'What do you mean that's settled?' He cried. James stopped.

'What's settled is the fact that we can't prank Snape any more.' He said.

'No, its not!'

'Sirius, think about it! Get it into your dense head! If we prank Snape, then everyone will know about Remus! I pick protecting my friend as opposed to a moment of laughter! We are not pranking Snape!' He yelled. Sirius looked a little taken aback, but then he seemed to think about the situation, and he sighed also, a look of defeat on his face.

'Your right, Remus comes first.' He said. They started walking again. 'But you've got to admit, it was always a bit more than just a laugh to see Snape's hair pink.'

James laughed.

'Good thing we took pictures, hey?'

A/N: Well hope you all like this chapter…I know I had fun writing IT! And I got it out sooner than I expected! So please review…let me know what you think! Adios!