The muffled sound of voices began to drift into Lily's subconscious. Each word became more clear and precise as Lily slowly emerged from the deep sleep that had claimed her. Her eyes fluttered open and were quickly shut when they met with the harsh light of dawn. Squeezing one eye closed completely, she opened the other the tinniest sliver. Maria and Erica were standing at the foot of her bed. While Maria braided Erica's hair, Lily watched them with a soft smile.

Maria was beautiful. She had an exotic look to her that was passed down from her father who was Brazilian. She had dark, black, silky hair that was, although Erica had always begged her to grow it out, cut just above her shoulders. She was a huge flirt and girls from other houses had often accused her of being a slut. Although Maria was by no standards chaste, Lily had long ago decided that their harsh words were inspired by jealousy. Maria's chocolate eyes and high cheek bones created a look of loftiness and this caused many people to believe she was a bitch. However this misconception melted away within the first minute of speaking to her. She had a great sense of humor and her tongue was as sharp as a whip. She was smart but tended to slack off, getting low B's where she easily could have received an A. Maria also had a habit of being a drama queen, a trait that both Lily and Erica found hysterical.

Erica was physically the complete opposite of Maria. She had dirty blond hair that reached just below her shoulders, piercing blue eyes and a wide grin that set strangers at ease. Although her reputation as one of the sweetest girls at Hogwarts was usually true, if she didn't like you she was, as Sirius liked to call her, "a grade A bitch." She had a girl next door beauty that a lot of the guys at Hogwarts found irresistible. She got good grades because of hard work and hours spent in the library. She would jokingly curse Lily and Maria every time she had to study in the library while they got to goof off and have fun. Her laugh was loud and could be recognized across the great hall. She loved Quidditch and played as a Chaser on their house team. Erica had had a bad break up with a 4th year Ravenclaw two months ago and Lily and Maria had become deathly protective of her. This annoyed her to no end and she could often be heard saying exasperatedly, "I'm not made of glass, you know. I'm not going to break."

The three girls had met for the first time in the common room after the sorting and feast in their first year. They had immanently clicked and had formed a close friendship. Although they had a few squabbles here and there, the three had never had a major fight. They were friends with the other two girls in their dormitory, Ashley and Becca, but they couldn't compare to each other.

After Maria finished braiding the blonde's hair, she turned and noticed Lily watching them, "Hey sleepy head, I didn't know you were up."

"Ugh," was Lily's only answer as she through her covers back and stepped out of the bed, "What time is it?"

"6:43," Erica said glancing at her watch, "So you have about twenty minutes until breakfast."

"I can subtract," Lily snapped as she looked in the mirror examining her bed-head. Erica didn't even flinch at Lily's harsh words. It was a well know fact that Lily wasn't a morning person, in another hour she would apologize.

Maria rolled her eyes as Lily drug herself to the bathroom. The familiar sound of running water filled the room as the red head took her shower. It was a Friday morning, meaning they had History of Magic first. Lily would have skipped it all together but she was starving. She had missed dinner last night to go up to the Astronomy Tower.

She emerged from the shower, a billow of steam following her. Wrapping herself in a big cotton towel, she looked at herself in the mirror. The bags under her eyes from last nights meeting had disappeared and her hair lay flat and smooth, her strawberry shampoo magically untangling every rat's nest that had been there moments before. She did a drying charm and slowly put on her school robes.

Erica and Maria were waiting impatiently on her bed. Maria's foot was rhythmically tapping the floor as the two girls played "Rock, Parchment, Wand."

"Finally," Maria said with a sigh standing up and brushing imaginary dust of her robes.

"To breakfast then," Erica said also standing up, glancing at her watch, "with ten minutes to spare."

"Okay," Lily said grabbing a pile of cloth at the end of her bed, "I'm ready." The two girls looked at the bundle questioningly but didn't ask. They knew that Lily would tell them when she was ready.

The three of them walked down the staircase to find the common room full of people. Lily, who had Remus' cloak bundled up in her arms, spotted him walking across the room.

Remus was heading towards the portrait hole, not paying attention to anyone. People, Lily was amazed to see, moved out of his way. They did the same for Sirius, she though in her head, but that was out of awe, this was fear. She wondered what they would think if they knew the real Remus, the one she met in the tower.

He had no idea what he was going to do.

They had gone to sleep last night, too tired to make a plan. He just hoped Sirius knew what he was doing. He walked through the common room and people scurried out of his way. 'Pathetic' he thought with a smirk. He hadn't even talked to half these people and they feared him because he sat alone and some second year told them that he had a tattoo of a scorpion on his back.

Remus' stopped walking. His path was blocked. A pair of feet were propped up on a table and were refusing to move. At first he was shocked, until her realize that the feet belonged to none other that a smirking Sirius Black. He had his hands behind his head and was leaning back in his chair. The perfect picture of an arrogant prat. He could barely hold back a smile at the sight.

"Can I help you?" Sirius questioned, crossing one leg over the other.

"Yeah," Remus said crossing his arms. He hoped no one noticed the laughter in his eyes, "You can move your designer shoes out of my way."

"Ummm," Sirius said pretending to think, he removed on of his hands from behind his head to rub his chin thoughtfully, "No." His thoughtful act was gone, his eyes turned cold and all the humor was gone from them and he spoke harsh and cold. If Remus hadn't known better, he would have thought he actually hated him. By this time the entire common room was watching, eyes fixed on them.

"Oh, I'm sorry your highness," Remus said mockingly, bowing down, "King of Quidditch, what I meant to say was move you feet now or I'll--"

"Or you'll what?" Sirius said cutting him off as he stood up, as if answering the challenge. They were so close that Remus could feel Sirius breath on his face. They were nose to nose, eyes staring unblinkingly into each other.

The two stayed in this position, statue like. Unmoving. The common room held their breath, waiting and watching. The minutes past in silence as the two boys continued to stare at each other.

Remus finally broke the staring contest with a harsh shove that sent Sirius back into the couch. "Thanks for moving," Remus said with a fake smile and a harsh laugh as he walked past him. Sirius who was red with fury stood up and was ready to tackle him to the floor when Lily touched his shoulder. He turned to look at her and saw the pleading in her eyes. He took a second to decide if that was a big enough fight before he nodded his head.

Remus, who was now standing next to the open portrait hole and obviously thought the fight wasn't big enough said, "Oh, I didn't know you where whipped."

Sirius, forgetting about his silent promise to Lily, charged. He tackled Remus and the two fell to the ground outside the common room. Everyone in the common room quickly surrounded the hole, standing on the tip of their toes to see the fight.

With a sigh Lily slumped down on the couch. 'It looks like I'm not getting any breakfast either,' Lily thought to herself, 'god damn that Sirius Black.'