PART VIII

It was a few weeks later, and Lily had only just begun with her plan. She figured there wasn't a way it could go wrong. Either James would become jealous, or she'd forget all about him. Remus made more sense for her anyway, and Lily was nothing if not full of common sense.

So Lily had cautiously started it. She flirted with Remus whenever James was in the room. She felt really stupid and out of place, but it would be worth it in the end. Remus for his part, seemed to have an inkling of what the plan entailed, and so he played his part magnificently.

James still seemed oblivious, as did Peter. Sirius though kept giving them confused and slightly suspicious looks, which Lily tried to ignore. He was James' best friend. Letting him in on the plan could ruin everything.

"Listen Lily," Remus began. "I don't know if we should do this…"

"Remus!" Lily whined. "You have to help! Please?" she stuck out her lower lip and gave him puppy dog eyes.

"No! This could backfire big time! Don't make me do this!" he pleaded.

"Is it that bad?" she asked a little offended.

"No…look that's not what I meant!"

"It sounds like that's exactly what you meant!" Lily sniffled. "If I can't even get you interested, how am I supposed to get him?" Her eyes began to water.

" Never mind! I'll do it!" Remus assured her quickly. "Just don't cry!" He hated seeing girls cry. He never knew what he was supposed to do.

She brightened immediately, and he could see that she had been faking her sadness. "Good! I knew you'd see things my way."

"What did he see your way?" James asked with a raised eyebrow as he, Sirius, and Peter came over.

Lily blushed upon seeing him, but she hoped he took it as her being caught in a 'moment' with Remus. "Oh nothing," she giggled and grabbed Remus' arm. "So what's up with you guys?"

Sirius smirked at Remus as he seemed to process what must be happening. The look on Remus' face was a dead give a way. The other two boys didn't notice though. "We were just discussing the Hogsmeade weekend on Valentine's Day actually," Sirius replied.

Peter gave him a weird look. "No we weren't."

"Well we are now," Sirius said firmly. "I just asked out Amelia Bones. What a nice body!"

"Is that all you care about?" Lily asked disgusted.

"Pretty much!" he agreed. "How about you guys? What are you doing?"

"I've got a date with Winters," Peter said.

"Winters?" Sirius asked incredulously. "The 5th year?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "Age shouldn't be an issue."

James snorted. "That's only because no one our age would go out with you!"

"Well what about you, Lily?" Peter questioned. "Do you have a date?"

Remus shot Lily a look that she ignored. "Oh yes," she smiled.

"Who?" James asked quickly. "If he lays a hand on you…"

"You're not my big brother so stop acting like one!" She shot back at him. "Besides it won't be a problem."

"Oh why's that?" he asked snidely. Sirius was practically jumping up and down with glee in the background at what was unfolding.

"Because it's Remus, and I assume you trust him," Lily informed him. Remus grimaced and slapped himself across the face. Sirius pointed at him and laughed.

James turned towards Remus and his two friends quickly stopped their actions. "You're taking Lily out? On Valentine's Day?" he questioned disbelievingly.

He swallowed. "Yes I am," he answered bravely. He put his arm around Lily who had snuggled up beside him.

"When did this happen?" Peter asked. "I didn't notice anything with you guys!"

"Well that's because you're incredibly dim," Lily replied dryly. "He just asked me, but we've liked each other for a while." She willed herself to blush. "Or at least I have." She silently cheered at her performance.

"We should all meet up!" Sirius suggested enthusiastically. "Who's your date James?"

He seemed to hesitate. "Well, I haven't actually asked anyone yet. I mean, there was someone I was thinking of…"

"Who?" Lily asked eagerly.

"Marlene," he answered abruptly. His eyes weren't focused on Lily but on someone behind her, which was for the best since otherwise he would have seen her visibly deflate.

"Oh. Well she's nice. I'm sure she'd say yes," she forced the words out halfheartedly. She turned around and saw the very witch standing about 20 meters behind her. "There she is! Do it now!"

James slowly walked over to Marlene. Lily couldn't hear the conversation, but she could hazard a guess as to how it was going. Marlene wore a big grin on her face and hugged him before going off with her friends. Lily's heart gave a painful clench.

Remus seemed to notice. "Don't worry. It'll all work out in the end," he whispered in her ear.

James came trotting back over. "Mission accomplished," he informed them cheerfully.

"Congratulations," Lily said. She held her stomach, "Excuse me. I'm not feeling very well. I'll see you later!" She rushed out of the room before anyone could comment.

"I hope she's ok," James spoke thoughtfully with a frown. "I wonder what's wrong."

Sirius shook his head. "You know sometimes I can't believe how dense you are."

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"Figure it out yourself!" Sirius, Remus, and Peter walked away leaving James to his own confused thoughts.

"Did I miss something?" he asked himself loudly.


Valentine's Day came quickly. Lily felt slightly ashamed of the position she had put Remus in. She vowed to buy him a huge present for his next birthday to make up for it. He was being a good sport about it though. He claimed that this way he didn't have to go to the trouble of finding a real date.

Lily took one last look at herself in the mirror before heading out. She wore a plain black robe undone so that her muggle clothes underneath could be seen. Her jeans were nice and tight fitting with a little flare at the end. Her shirt was a plain green tank top. It really brought drew attention to her alarmingly green eyes. She was also wearing make-up. She usually wore a little, but decided the occasion called for a bit more. It really made her look older.

Most importantly, her hair was done. Usually it was up in a ponytail, but today she took time to really style it. Her auburn locks were layered, angling around her face perfectly. It was straight but not without volume, and the ends were curled under slightly.

She exited her room and grinned as Remus' jaw unconsciously dropped. "You look fantastic!" he told her sincerely.

"Thanks," she smiled, "But you only have to say stuff like that when James is around," she informed him.

"I'm just being honest. Hey! You actually look your age for once!" He joked. Lily punched him in the shoulder, but he didn't even seem to feel it, which frustrated her to no end.

"Come on. Let's get going," she said. They headed out to Hogsmeade. Several people they passed by couldn't help but gawk at Lily. She looked pretty good, and she was dating Remus, one of the most popular boys in school.

"So where to first?" Remus asked. "There's Honeyduke's, Zonko's, The Three Broomsticks…" he drifted off as he saw an evil look on her face. "What?"

She smirked. "Do you happen to know where all of the couples go?" she asked casually.

"Yah of course, its Madame Puddifoot's, but why…Oh no! We are not going in there. I can't stand that place!" Remus vehemently told her.

Lily pouted. "Please Remus! I'd do it for you!"

"That's because I'd never ask you to go in there!" He exclaimed so loudly that a couple of nosy people broke off from their conversations to try and listen in.

"Haven't you ever wanted something so unbelievably bad, that you literally hurt because of it?" Lily asked him quietly.

He thought of his little monthly transformation. "Yes," he answered softly.

"Then please do this for me. I promise I'll pay you back!" Lily pleaded and saw Remus' demeanor soften. Without letting him get a word in edge wise, she pulled him into the tiny little shop. "Sit," she hissed once they reached a small table in the front corner of the room.

Remus complied. "Now what?" Looking around the room, he could see a few other couples engaging in certain activities involving lips and tongues, and they weren't talking.

Lily bit her lip. "I don't know," she finally spoke. "Let's just talk for now, and we should probably order."

His eyebrows had risen up at the "for now" part. He was not looking forward to being pummeled into oblivion by James if some other things occurred. 'Oh well,' he sighed. 'Just another day in the life of the resident werewolf.'

He looked down. Lily had ordered them tea and a scone for herself. "Oh I'm sorry! Did you want something else?" she looked sheepish.

"No, this is fine. What does today entail exactly? I mean what are you trying to get at?" he asked anxiously.

Lily hemmed and hawed a bit. "Well, I don't know. I suppose I was just hoping that James would catch you and me together and have an epiphany of some sort. It's kind of a long shot, right?"

'Not quite as much as you think,' he thought. "It could happen," he answered, neither shooting down nor confirming her fears. "But you so owe me after this." He winced as he saw James and Marlene enter through the door.

"What?" Lily asked worriedly. "What just happened?" She saw where Remus was looking and turned. "Oh Merlin! He's in here already!" she muttered frantically. "Has he seen us yet?"

Remus shook his head. If he had been seen, than James would be over here now.

Lily looked around trying to come up with a plan. He wasn't supposed to see her until later when she and Remus had discussed what to do! Plucking up all of her Gryffindor courage, she did something completely out of character.

She kissed Remus full on the lips. He resisted a little at first, but hey, a snog was a snog. This was what Lily had wanted to happen, and who was he to deny her it? He relaxed into it.

Meanwhile Lily was completely nervous. This was only the second guy she had snogged and the only time she had initiated it. Hopefully she was doing it correctly. She forced herself to push her anxieties aside and pretended it was James. Her kisses became more passionate.

James Potter had just walked in with his date Marlene. It was kind of weird being there with her. Their families were old friends, and he knew that she had liked him for a while. Truthfully, he felt more brotherly towards her than anything else. He chuckled as he saw Moony in the corner snogging his date. Wait, Lily was his date! His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he registered what he was seeing. The telltale red-hair was a dead giveaway.

Without even thinking, he walked right up to them. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

The couple broke apart. Lily looked up and saw the anger in his eyes. She immediately began to waver in her plan. She looked helplessly at Remus.

"Lily's my date," Remus said slowly as if speaking to a child. "So we're acting like people on a date."

"That doesn't mean you should snog right out here in public!" James replied angrily.

"Look around! Everyone else is!" Lily shook herself out of her shocked state. "In fact, that's probably why you came in here." She stood up and noted with some satisfaction that James seemed to finally take in her entire look. "Come on Remus. Let's go."

Remus stood up to follow her. "When are you going to get it?" he asked his friend quietly.

"Get what? That you're dating Lily? Because I think seeing your tongue down her throat made it pretty obvious!"

"No Prongs! When are you going to get why 'my tongue was down her throat', why I'm on a date with her?" He left to catch up with his date, leaving James with Marlene.

"I'm so sorry Remus!" Lily said immediately. "I really didn't think this through. I hadn't counted on James coming early or things not going how they had in my mind. I can't believe I put you in this position! I just thought that he'd automatically see me and realize… Oh and I'm really sorry for just kind of snogging the life out of you without a warning there."

He held up a hand. "It's fine. It was a disaster to say the least, but on the bright side, I really didn't mind you snogging me," he teased.

She relaxed a little. "Thanks. You do realize you're the second guy I've ever snogged." She blushed as the words left her mouth.

He smiled. "Hopefully James will be lucky number 3."

She huffed and sat down on a nearby bench. "I doubt it. He acts like I'm his little sister, which I suppose I can understand…I mean I don't exactly look like the witch of his dreams. Maybe I should just give up."

"Don't say that. James is just dense. He'd have to be blind not to notice you!"

"Or he could just not look down," Lily suggested sarcastically.

"He'll come to his senses soon. I've seen him giving you little glances when you're not looking. He's just confused," Remus assured her.

"Well he better get unconfused soon!" She said firmly. "Or I'm going to have to move on!"