Title: Light

Author: Amelia Bedelia

Chapter Twelve: Midnight Buffet

AUTHORS NOTE: Well, here's chapter twelve! Nothing new, I don't think… Just read the notes at the bottom – bunch of polls and stuff!

Chapter Twelve: Midnight Buffet

The Marauders woke earlier than normal. Why? A pillow had apparently been thrown in Sirius' face.

"Wake up, Black!" a voice shrieked. "It's morning!"

Sirius grumbled, rolling over into the comfort of his pillow, attempting to blocks out the voice. He knew that voice. He heard it all the time in his dreams.

"Bella, stop! I need to sleep!" He yelled, incoherently into his pillow. "Do you people not understand my need for beauty sleep?" he asked, venomously.

Bella laughed, now sitting on the side of his bed. "Yeah, extreme need."

By this time, James and Remus had woken up as well and were sniggering and ooh-ing at the comment made by the brave soul.

Sirius froze on the spot. "Excuse me – what did you say? You said – that's it!" He then wrapped one arm around her waist and tossed her onto the mattress of his bed, proceeding to sit on top of her waist.

"Ugh – Sirius! Get off me! I was joking! You've – you've got a beautiful face! And your hair – the best I've ever seen! Oh, and your body – best damn body in the world," she gushed, hoping he would move.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, turning to glance at Bella's face. She gave him a rather angelic smile. "Don't believe you," Sirius said, grinning back.

He pretended to turn away from her and file his nails, crossing his legs in a feminine manner.

Bella thought for a minute, and then brought her hands up. "Well, maybe you might reconsider now," and she launched herself at Sirius, pushing him to the floor beside the bed.

In an instant, Sirius was rolling around on the floor, laughing as Bella climbed on him, doing the exact same thing he had done to her – but with a bit of tickling involved.

"Bella – you ca – you can't – t-tickle – me witho – without getting away with – it!" She laughed evilly, as she watched him squirm.

"Oh, yeah?" Bella pressed.

"Yeah!" he shouted, tossing Bella off of himself and onto the bed once again. He did some quick moving and ended up sitting on top of her stomach before she could escape. Bella was now the victim of endless torment. Ignoring the catcalls from James and Remus, Bella shrieked. "Sirius, stop it!" she giggled as he tickled her sides mercilessly. "Alright, I give up! You win, Sirius!"

He grinned, evilly. "Now, I want you to say how charming and wonderful I am. Say it like you mean it."

Slightly blushing at the fact he had no shirt on, she put on a straight face. Well, as best as she could, considering Sirius was sitting on top of her stomach. And it hurt! "Sirius, you don't need beauty sleep. You're already perfect."

"Perfect?" he questioned, leaning in so that he was three inches from her face.

"Perfect," she repeated. And then broke into hysterics.

"I give up," Sirius muttered, walking into the bathroom.

James and Remus, astonished by Sirius' quick defeat, leapt off of their beds and gave Bella a standing ovation.

"Wonderful, my dear lady!" James called, clapping enthusiastically.

"Absolutely stunning!" Remus agreed, laughing.

"Thank you, thank you," Bella replied, bowing deeply so that her hair brushed against the floor. "I'll be here all year! But now, I'm going to head down to the common room. See you all later!"

By the time the boys had dressed and were ready with their books needed for the day, there were only a few people left in the common room.

"There you are! I thought you four were going to skip breakfast and leave us here! We've been waiting for half an hour!"

James looked at the speaker. "You know, Lily," he spoke, leading her out of the common room, "no matter what kind of relationship we may have, you'll always be the same."

"Is that good or bad?" Breanna snickered.

Lily just glared, proving James' point, but she soon dropped it. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"It may be for you," James contradicted, "but the Midnight Buffet has my vote!"

Lily's eyebrows shot into her hairline in a questionable look. "Midnight Buffet?"

Sirius ran forward between Lily and James, grinning broadly. "What's this about the Midnight Buffet?" he asked eagerly.

Lily smiled and shook her head. "I was just asking what it was."

Sirius' eyes lit up, almost as if he were talking about Quidditch or some recent prank they had pulled on Snape. "It's the best! We always go down to the Midnight Buffet once a week – sometimes more, if necessary," he said, adopting a serious tone. "The house elves put out a line of food and it's all-you-can-eat!"

"Sirius, everything is all-you-can-eat her," Bella pointed out. "Dinner, lunch, breakfast," she listed, ticking each option off on her fingers.

"But this is the Midnight Buffet we're talking about!" Sirius continued.

The seven teenagers walked into the Great Hall. Immediately, the sound dropped so low you would be able to hear a pin drop. Every eye turned on Lily and James the moment they stepped into the room. Nobody spoke. Not even the teachers.

"What?" Lily snapped, into the deafening silence, even though she knew exactly what the answer to 'what' was and blushed. "Hasn't anybody ever seen people be civil before?" She looked around the room and glared at anyone who continued staring. "Now then, continue with your own business!"

She stomped angrily off to the Gryffindor table and plopped into a seat, dishing food items onto her plate. Several students turned back to their friends and whispered frantically, while others gazed at the Gryffindor sixth years in awe.

"What's wrong with James?"

"Are they going out? They can't be!"

"I bet it's all a that the Marauders will pull on the girls in the end."

"Am I hallucinating?"

James tried to ignore the eyes following him and the comments being passed from person to person as he slipped into the seat between Lily and Remus, also scooping large amounts of food onto his plate.

"So," Lily said, picking up where they had left off, "What were you saying about this buffet?"

James jumped in, eager to break the eerie silence that had fallen around the Gryffindor table. "They have anything you ask for. Meat, drinks, candies – you name it, they have it!"

"Do they have Bertie Botts' Beans?" Breanna asked from the other side of Remus.

"Anything," Peter answered, proud that he finally found a spot to enter the conversation. "Except we couldn't go to the Midnight Buffet a few nights ago 'cause Moony trans - "

Everything seemed to happen at once. Sirius had thrown his hand over Peter's mouth, but used too much force causing both boys to fall off of the chair, leaving Bella to look down at the tangle of arms and legs in confusion. Remus had turned a very pale color while both he and James were breathing very hard now.

For the second time that day, all eyes were on the Marauders – and it wasn't because of a prank.

"Er – sorry, Peter. Lost my balance there," Sirius fibbed, glaring at the large boy, who smiled back, feebly.

"Back to your own business," Lily called loudly to the crowd of students.

Breanna leaned in. "What was that all about?"

"I lost my balance," Sirius repeated, standing up off of the floor, dusting off the front of his uniform.

Bella looked at him skeptically but turned back to her breakfast. "So, back to the Midnight Buffet. Who goes to this?" she asked, hoping to avoid the topic of the peculiar happening earlier.

Remus' face colored, looking normal again. "We're the only people. We created it. You guys should come with us."

Breanna raised an eyebrow. "When's the next time you're going?"

Sirius spoke now. "We were planning on going Saturday - "

"But we thought we'd move it to tonight considering Saturday would be busy enough for Sirius as it is," James cut in, grinning evilly from ear to ear.

Sirius kicked James underneath the table, but he made no move to show it hurt. In fact, it pleased him all the more that Sirius was bothered by this topic. All the more to embarrass him, James thought.

Lily smiled, joining James in his 'torment time.' "Yes, you two have a date this weekend, haven't you? Hogsmeade, right? Where are you planning to take Bella?" she asked, curious.

Bella turned red in anger, and possibly embarrassment. "We're just going as friends," she said.

James watched Sirius' face closely. Even if it seemed like he agreed with her, the minute those words came out of Bella's mouth, his face fell. James felt his stomach clench up in embarrassment for Sirius. He needed to stop this topic before something really bad happened to Sirius.

"We make a great team at this embarrassing thing, Lily," James said loudly, diverting their attention to him. "Why did we always use it against each other in the beginning again?"

Lily shrugged, smiling all the while.

James glanced at his watch. There was a good fifteen minutes until they had to go to class. He had to talk to Lily. "I'm going to class. Anybody care to join me?" Carefully, James tapped Lily's knee under the table, signaling for her to join him.

"Uh – I'll go," Lily said, standing up with him. The two teenagers set off out of the Great Hall.

It wasn't until they were smack dab in the middle of the room that Sirius regained the use of his mouth and shouted, "Aw, are the two lovebirds going to class early?"

Students throughout the room laughed and jeered at the comment Sirius made. But James smiled smugly. Because he knew how to retaliate to that comment.

"Don't you know it!" he called back, slipping an arm around Lily's waist. He caught a look at the Gryffindor table. His old, as well as his new, friends were all laughing – except for Sirius. He seemed to be in a state of shock at the moment, but he wasn't alone. Nearly everyone else in the hall seemed to be joining him in the silent and awestruck looks.

Once they left the vicinity of the students, James laughed. "Sorry 'bout that, Lily. I had to put Sirius back in his place," James joked.

Lily laughed and they continued down the hallway until…

"Uh, James?" She pointed to his hand that was still wrapped around her waist.

James tried to keep the blood in his face down, but to no avail. "Sorry," he mumbled, taking a step away from her. He had just felt so at ease and relaxed when he stood with her side by side that he'd forgotten his arm was wrapped around her waist. It felt so natural to him.

Lily chuckled as he carefully placed his hands inside his pockets, while attempting to act calm. "So, you wanted to talk to me?" she questioned.

"Oh – right." James seemed more comfortable talking about something now. "I just had a question – about Bella."

"Bella?" she repeated, clearly interested. "What about her?"

"Does she like Sirius?" Lily's lips formed into a smile and James spoke once again. "I know this seems like an odd question, but Sirius was really put out when she said they were going to Hogsmeade only as friends. And I'm not sure if I should say this or not, but," James lowered his voice, glancing at the passing people, "I was talking to Sirius last night, just after you and Bella left. He's crazy about her! I've never seen him talk about her or look at her the way he did last night."

Lily smiled again. "She does have a way of doing that to guys, doesn't she?"

James looked at her sharply. "Lily Evans," he said, "are you – dare I say it – jealous?"

He had meant this as a joke, though Lily took it seriously instead. "Yes," she answered, keeping her focus.

James' smile was wiped off of his face. "You – you're really jealous?"

"Come on, James," Lily sighed, exasperatedly, "she has probably captured the heart of every boy in this school."

"Not mine," James cut in quickly.

"Oh, really?" Lily asked, suddenly interested. "Then whom does your heart belong to?" she questioned, pressing a finger into his chest on the word 'your.'

"N – No one," he lied. "At least – not yet." Close one.

Lily shrugged. "Well, Bella has a great body and personality – who wouldn't like her? What have I got?" she asked, pointing to herself.

James felt as if the spotlight had been shifted from Arabella to Lily and himself. "Well, you've got a great body and personality too, Lily!"

Lily looked at him, not convinced. So James continued.

He began to relax. This was easy! List all of Lily's good qualities. There were billions of them! "You've got beautiful eyes. And you're really smart too. You'd be the perfect person for any guy to date. Tell me this, Lily – have you ever asked anyone out and have them reject you?"

Lily started to squirm a bit. "I've never asked anyone out."

"Well, there you go! You could just boost your confidence a bit and I bet that any guy you asked out would say yes."

Lily smiled kindly at him. "Thanks, James."

He returned the smile. "But, back to the subject. Are you trying to say that Bella doesn't like Sirius – that she's just toying with his emotions?"

Lily shook her head. "I never said that. I just said she catches the guys' eyes. She's been on so many dates and kissed so many guys I've lost track. I mean, me, I've had one boyfriend and been kissed by two boys. I can count all of that on one hand!"

James raised an eyebrow. "So, Amos kissed you and then I did?" he asked.

Lily nodded. "Actually, it was you and then Amos."

James stopped walking, trying to put all of the information together. "I – I was your first kiss?"

Lily nodded, trying not to make much eye contact with him. "At the time, I was planning on killing you, but I never really had a chance what with the events over winter break and the two of us finally becoming friends," she said, giggling a bit.

James laughed. "You know, that was my first one too."

Lily's jaw dropped. "No it wasn't," she said accusingly.

James laughed again. "Really, it was. I'm telling the truth!" he continued as he watched her disbelieving face.

Lily shook her head. "What about Christy in Ravenclaw? She said you two would share kisses all the time!"

"She lied," James said simply. "The first girl I went out with – someone in Hufflepuff, I think – apparently made a bet with her friend that I would kiss her on the first date. Obviously I didn't know about this bet then, but word came around to later on. Anyway," he continued, "she must have made a high bet and didn't want to lose, so she lied. And ever since then, other girls I went out with would be jealous of those who said they've kissed me, so they'd also lie to say they 'have what it takes' to get kissed by me."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Typical boy," she muttered. "Did you not even try to stop the rumors?"

"I found out about them after the third girl I dated – but by that time it was too late to stop them." James sighed, defeated.

"But you at least tried, didn't you?"

"'Course I did! I even tried to yell it in the common room once, but no one believed me. Especially when the girls I'd dated had gone into so much detail, there was no chance anyone would believe me then. It was rather gross, really," he muttered.

Lily chuckled. "Yes, they say you kiss at the strangest, yet most romantic moments. And they also say that you could sweep them off their feet with just one small kiss. And that you have the softest, most gentle kiss there could ever be, yet with every ounce of passion and longing."

James just ruffled up his hair, while his face heated up. "It's strange to be talked about that way when I've only kissed one person."

"Well," Lily said, "I can at least confirm one thing. You do kiss at the strangest time. And if I hadn't been your enemy then, I might've thought it was pretty romantic, too."

James grinned evilly. "But I'm not a kisser to knock you off your feet?"

"It wasn't long enough. And, like I said, back then I would try to criticize everything you did just to make you angry, so I don't really remember everything."

She was lying, of course.

"Ok," James said.

"But how am I supposed to believe you? You could be making this all up. After all, I did think everything was believable up until you told me you never kissed them."

James shrugged. "You're just going to have to trust me. Or you could snatch some Veriteserum from the private store cupboard in the potions classroom and ask every girl who's claimed they've kissed me, whether they're lying or not."

Lily smiled, now beginning to walk again. "I'll just take your word for it, I guess."

"Thank you!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

Now I feel pretty awkward with him, she thought. "But I'm still bugged by this; why you kissed me – on the lips, I mean."

"Your parents were watching!" he defended. "And it wouldn't have been that believable if I didn't kiss you on the lips, you know," he said, with the slightest trace of color creeping into his cheeks.

Lily smiled kindly at him. "It's ok, James, I forgive you," she joked.

He grinned back, nervously. How had they started talking about Sirius and Bella, then end up talking about their first kiss? James shrugged mentally. Oh well. "So, back to Bella and Sirius – again." Both smiled. "Does she like him or not?"

"She says she doesn't – but she does. It's all in the way she acts around him, just like Sirius. It's completely obvious. Bella never acts that way with anyone else. It's like they're perfect matches for each other. They fill in all of the missing pieces and somehow complete the other. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"I think so. You're saying that whenever one enters the room and sees the other, they're filled with endless happiness, right? But the minute they're separated, endless sorrow." James looked over at Lily and she looked back. Immediately, joy flooded throughout him and he started to speak straight from the heart at what he thought when looking at Lily. "And whenever they'd gaze into the other's eyes, they feel as if nothing could ever go wrong in the world as long as you're side by side."

Lily, with her jaw partially dropped into an open smile, was now staring avidly right back at him, but she caught herself and tugged her gaze away from his, clearing her throat. "Yeah, s-something like that," she managed to choke out, regaining the use of her voice.

James looked away as well and smiled at his feet, feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.

"Potter!"

James' head snapped up and he began searching the hallway for the owner of the voice. And once he found it, he rolled his eyes skyward and continued walking, trying to ignore the shouts of protest following him.

"Hey, Potter – I'm talking to you!"

Amos Diggory began closing in on the pair of sixth years strolling down the hallway.

"What do you want?" James resigned, turning around.

"Stay away from my girlfriend," Amos hissed, venomously. He moved closer and pulled Lily away. "I'm so sorry, sweetie." He moved in and planted a long kiss full on her lips.

James stared in awe, shaken by the sight before him. One of his worst enemies was kissing his former enemy – also known as the girl he loved. He began to swell in anger. But he stopped himself. If Lily still liked Amos, James would not get in the way. He would be a good friend and not bother her.

Slowly, he backed away. And just then, something caught his eye. Lily was trying to get away from Amos, but he wouldn't let her.

James grinned.

He marched over to Amos and shoved him away from Lily, pushing her protectively behind him. Though he should have known better than to expect Lily to wait on the sidelines while James would resolve the problem. So the minute she was pushed behind him, she walked around to stand side by side with her new best friend.

Stumbling a bit, Amos managed to catch himself. He tried to stare James down, but it was pretty much hopeless, considering Amos was a good three inches shorter.

"Got a problem, Diggory?" James asked, innocently.

By this time, a small ring of passerbys was formed around the three.

"As a matter of fact, I have. You seem to be forgetting one little detail. She's minemy girlfriend. Not yours," he stated clearly for everyone to hear. Amos reached out to grab Lily's hand, but she pulled away instead. This caught everyone unexpectedly. James had just about been ready to speak, but Lily beat him to it.

"Excuse me, Amos," she started, narrowing her eyes and stepping forward, "first of all – I'm a human being! Not something you can own!" she yelled, poking a finger into his chest as she spoke. "And second, I'm not your girlfriend anymore! We're over – done – finished – finite! Good-bye, Diggory."

Lily spun on her heel and made her way through the thick crowd leaving behind two stunned boys.

Well, James mused, maybe she didn't need as much help as I thought she did.

!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~Lily~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

Lily exited through the thick crowd and felt extremely pleased with herself. The minute Amos had said that Lily was 'his,' she was ecstatic. He had just made something click inside of her that caused her to overreact a bit.

It wasn't long after Lily had left, that James soon caught up with her long, angry strides.

"Whoa! Lily, you can slow down, you know," James panted, jogging beside her. "We'll only be a little late to Defense against the Dark Arts."

Lily stopped for a split second. "Oh no," she moaned. "I completely forgot! She's going to kill us for being late! I just got so caught up with our – uh – conversation and the Diggory thing. Jeez, he's annoying," Lily muttered.

James chuckled and then began to ponder a few thoughts. "Lily – why exactly did you go out with Diggory again? For going out again yesterday – you dumped him pretty quick. And for some reason, I'm not thinking this whole 'owning' thing is the main reason why you broke up with him," he said, recalling his memory when Lily had been trying to push Amos away.

Lily laughed along with him, still trying to hurry towards their next class. "Do you really want to know?"

"I really want to know," he mimicked.

"Well, my ulterior motive was just to anger you."

James raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "Serious?"

"I'm serious! You just got me angry and that was the first idea that popped into my head. And now I'm really starting to regret it," she said. But little did even she know, that was not even half of her reasoning for going out with Amos again.

James just nodded silently.

They walked in silence. It was not until both teenagers stood outside of Professor Sonetra's classroom – also late – that they slowed down.

Lily turned to face James. She seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say. And after several antagonizing seconds, she spoke. "You're – you're really easy to talk to, James. I find myself just speaking my mind whenever you're around. And you actually listen to me!" She smiled at this point. "I'm still baffled why we were never friends earlier."

"That would make two of us."

They laughed, glancing furtive looks at the other nervously. And then Lily stuck out her hand. "Friends, right?"

"Of course," James replied, shaking her hand awkwardly. Both released grips. "I guess I'll see you around the block, then," he muttered.

"Sure," Lily replied. "See ya."

James nodded at her as she walked inside. Then, using the palm of his hand, he hit himself smack dab between his eyes.

Nice going, Prongs! "See you around the block"? What the hell was that? Way to keep your cool around her…

And resignedly, James trudged inside.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Class ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Miss Evans! Mr. Potter! You two are five minutes late! Twenty points from Gryffindor for your tardiness – each!"

The students all cringed. This was one teacher not to cross. Professor Sonetra was one of the strictest teachers in all of Hogwarts. Even the Marauders didn't cross her as much as they would have if it were any other teacher. She did not mess around with any bad behavior whatsoever.

"Now, sit down before I must assign a detention to each of you!"

Without putting up any sort of fight, James sat in the seat next to Sirius, and Lily slipped in the desk next to Bella.

"As I was just saying before we all were rudely interrupted," Professor Sonetra said, moving into her lecture on another exotic animal for that week.

"So," Bella hissed, leaning over, "what'd James say to you? Why were you late to class?" she questioned, a smirk threatening to overtake her face.

Lily rolled her eyes and pulled out some parchment, pretending to take notes. She was, after all, an expert at these little chitchats during class. "It was nothing, Bella. All we did was talk about stuff we never could before since we were, obviously, enemies before!" This wasn't really a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. "And I was late mostly because I had a little break-up with Diggory a while ago," she said, offhandedly.

"You broke up?"

Lily smiled, still looking straight ahead. "You didn't really think I would keep going out with him after we broke-up once before, did you?"

"Actually," Bella confessed, "I didn't know."

"You didn't know?" Lily asked, surprised. Then she thought back to the day before. Bella had been in class, but she never saw her anywhere else but there. So it was common sense that she would not have known in the first place. "Oh, yeah. Well, then, never mind."

"Never mind?" Bella hissed. "How can I 'never mind' something like this? You have so much to tell me, Lily. For starters – why did you even start going out with him again? I thought you hated him to no end – just like you did James." A look of comprehension dawned on Bella's face. "Wait a minute – this doesn't have anything to do with him, does it?"

Lily didn't say anything.

"It does!"

"Miss Figg!"

Bella looked up, shocked by the sudden interruption. "Y-yes, Professor Sonetra?"

"Stop your talking! Thirty points from Gryffindor."

Bella groaned.

"Do I need to add a detention as well?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then please pay attention!"

Bella waited until the teacher turned her back and stuck her tongue out at her. Lily scribbled something on the sheet of parchment she had out.

That was real mature.

Bella read Lily's writing and rolled her eyes, smiling. Shut up.

What? Just stating the obvious!

Uh-huh. Sure. Now, back to James.

It was now time for Lily to roll her eyes. There's nothing to say about James!

Oh, come on! You like him.

I do not! Lily scribbled, indignantly. Why don't we talk about Sirius, then? You like him, don't you?

Lily watched as Bella began to blush as she wrote. I don't like him. We're going to Hogsmeade as friends.

Well, then, what about that picture underneath your pillow? Just a "friends" gift, is it?

You had no right to go in my belongings and snoop!

You were hiding something from me.

As were you!

Lily began to feel guilty.

I'm sorry, Bella. I felt so mixed up at the time, though that's not exactly the best excuse I've ever had.

I forgive you, Bella wrote. After all, that was Sirius' excuse for fighting with me the same night you and James were.

What'd he say to you?

It was so sweet! Bella gushed. He found me down in the kitchens and started off by giving me a rose. And then we ended up dancing around the room in the end forgetting about dinner completely!

Lily glanced at Bella raising an eyebrow. And you have the gall after that to still say you don't like him – only as friends?

I give in. I do like him.

The first step to help is admitting the problem to yourself.

Shut up, Lily!

I was joking – joking! Lily had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing and interrupting the class, but she soon got back on track. So – how much do you like him?

Bella sighed. Why must every topic change to Sirius and me? What about James and you? What did you two talk about?

None of your business.

Right, Bella wrote. So I tell you about how I liked Sirius, and you don't even tell me what you said to James? I'm hurt, Lily!

I didn't make you tell me! I persuaded you.

Well, I can't persuade you!

That would be your fault.

Bella huffed and leaned back in her chair leaving an amused Lily, printing some last minute notes on her blank parchment.

Earlier that lesson, James had taken a seat next to Sirius. And Sirius, needless to say, was just as eager to find out what James had been up to.

"What'd you say to her, mate?"

James rolled his eyes. He knew he would be getting these types of questions up until the end of his life and they definitely got very tiring very quickly. "I told her how you had a major crush on Bella, how I've never kissed anyone I've dated, and we both told off Diggory."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm serious, James."

"I know you are. Sirius Black."

"James! Stop playing those mind tricks – they're hard enough to follow as is without you having to add my name to the list," Sirius complained.

"Whatever."

Sirius sat patiently, waiting for James to speak. But he didn't. "So… Did you really tell her that I liked Bella?"

"Yes."

Sirius thumped his head on his desk. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I trust her. About just as much as I trust you."

"And you don't like her?" Sirius questioned.

"I never said I didn't like her."

"Ha! You love Lily Evans!"

"I don't love Lily," James muttered, trying to drop his voice so that the Professor wouldn't round on them as she had on Bella and Lily already.

"You love Lily! There's no doubt about it, James. It's all in your eyes."

"I don't love her!" James whispered, frantically. "I've just recently learned how to trust her a lot because I went through a lot this winter and I think she's done the same to me."

"So, she loves you too!"

"Sirius! Get it through your thick skull! We don't love each other! We're friends!"

Sirius shrugged. "I'll get it out of you eventually."

James smirked. "You love Bella, don't you?"

"I like her – not love. And plus," Sirius added, "I don't think she likes me much. We're friends. Only."

"She likes you too, Sirius," James replied, making a few notes on his parchment.

"No she doesn't, James. You heard her this morning. She said we were going to Hogsmeade as friends."

"Sirius, Sirius, Sirius," James muttered. "Do you not remember what I said earlier? I do believe I said that I was talking to Lily about how you liked Bella, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"And Lily told me that she was sure Bella liked you," James finished.

Sirius didn't say anything for a moment; he just stared blankly ahead before whispering once again, "You're sure?"

"Positive."

Sirius grinned using his dog-like smile. "And was that the reason why you and Lily left breakfast early? Was it because of us?" Sirius asked.

"Yep."

Again, Sirius smiled. "Thanks, mate. I owe you for that one."

"You bet you do!" James replied. "But I think if you just made one of those pictures you draw so well, that'll do."

"No problem! I've already made one of the six of us."

James raised an eyebrow. "The six of us as in Lily, Bella, Breanna, Remus, me, and you?"

Sirius nodded. "Although, you may not like it much if you don't like Lily."

James' jaw dropped. "What did you do to the picture, Sirius?"

Sirius searched for the correct words. "I, uh, added a motion charm to the picture to make it look like wizard cameras."

James fought back a smile at the idea of a prank pulled on Snape using a motion charm. "And what is it we're doing?"

"Not much."

"Sirius! You're making it sound to me as if it'll be something I'll regret."

"As long as you and Lily aren't embarrassed by the thought of the picture making you two look like a couple, you shouldn't regret it."

James shook his messy head of hair, chuckling. "You're lucky I don't hate her anymore."

"Right," Sirius agreed. "'Cause you love her now."

"Sirius," James hissed, warningly. "Not another word."

Sirius shrugged, opening a book and pretending to pay attention to Professor Sonetra.

"Now," she piped up, "I will assign you to groups of two. And don't complain about your partners, as they won't be changing for another nine weeks. We will be working on a project about leithfolds and their nature, their habitat, and virtually anything about their lifecycle. You will sit next to your partner during class and spend your class time researching anything and everything about leithfolds. You are to give a twenty-minute presentation and turn in a fifty-inch essay at the end of the term and I expect better than half-hearted attempts." She glared at James and Sirius at this comment. "Here are the partners."

James and Sirius glanced at each other nervously. This was bad news when Professor Sonetra picked partners for them, especially as their lesson was doubled with the Slytherins. There was no way they would be happy with their partner.

Professor Sonetra read off a list. "Black, Snape." Sirius groaned and hit his head – hard – on his desk repeatedly.

"Roysen, Pettigrew." Breanna glanced nervously at Remus, the person sitting beside her at the moment. Peter was not the person you wanted to get paired with on a long-term assignment, as he wasn't exactly the brightest person there was. It wasn't that he didn't try, he just wasn't that smart.

"Lupin, Rosier." Remus did the same exact thing as Sirius did, though much more quietly.

"Figg, Trafel." Bella looked around, white-faced. If there were anyone she'd rather do the project with rather than Narcissa Trafel, it was Snape – but that went for everyone in Gryffindor anyway.

"Lestrange, Crabbe."

Lily leaned over to Bella. "Sure, she pairs the Slytherins with who they want.

"Parkinson, Charon." Lily rolled her eyes again. The two Slytherins were going out and bound to be married the minute they left school.

"Potter, Evans."

Nearly every Gryffindor except for Lily and James groaned, finding that it was incredibly unfair that those two were always paired together.

James, on the other hand, could not believe his luck. It was definitely a pretty good advantage that Professor Sonetra had missed breakfast that morning.

"Now, move seats to sit next to your partner," Professor Sonetra said.

There were two columns of desks with each row containing two desks with two desks in one column at the far back of the room. Mason Parkinson and Olive Charon chose the farthermost desk, just behind Sirius and Snape. Bella did not want to be stuck with no one so she picked the seat across the aisle from Sirius. Many thought it funny to see how Bella acted around Narcissa Trafel, her partner.

"If I'm going to be forced to work with you," Bella said, extremely annoyed, "I get to pick the spot."

Narcissa just stuck her nose into the air and sat down in the seat next to her.

James and Lily managed to catch a seat just in front of Sirius as Mark Lestrange and Terrence Goyle snatched the seats across from them. Remus sat down in front of James and Lily, leaving the last spot at the front of the classroom to go to Breanna and Peter. At least they were all still in the same vicinity.

Professor Sonetra smirked at many of the irked faces. "You may not move seats until nine weeks are up, as I already told you. You will start your research tomorrow during class, or you may start tonight if you wish. I would recommend starting tonight, but it's your grade. After three weeks you will present and I will pick another topic for you to research. My expectations will be higher on your second project. After another three weeks, I will pick a third project for you to work on and it's the same as before – essays and presentations."

"So, you're saying I have to work on three projects with this scumbag?" Sirius asked, speaking up.

"Mr. Black, do not interrupt a teacher. And I do believe I said not to complain about your partners." She smiled. "Detention. Tomorrow night, Mr. Black."

James tried to hide his amusement at Sirius being punished, but, eventually, a smile broke out.

"Your final grades on your project will all be added together and will be worth forty percent of your end-of-term grades. Twenty percent on any homework I assign and forty percent from your tests."

James and Lily glanced at each other nervously. And then Lily leaned over. "You're top of the class, right?"

"At the moment I am. I don't know what Sonetra will do to twist around our grades, but I hope it's not too harsh."

"Don't bet on it."

There was still five minutes left. Lily and James, knowing that Professor Sonetra would fail them if they did not give their all, began to map out their presentation already.

"And then, James, you'll talk about how - "

"What is going on here?"

The busy students looked up at their teacher. "What?"

"I asked what is going on here. You two are – you're - "

"Being civil to each other?" Sirius supplied, behind them.

And, breathless, Professor Sonetra nodded. "What happened? You two are supposed to be bickering!"

"Professor Sonetra," Bella cut in with her most gossip-y voice she could manage without laughing. "Haven't you heard? Lily and James are going out!"

Lily spun in her seat, facing Bella with a glare. "We're not going out," she hissed.

"Yes you are!" Sirius replied, smiling. "They're in love, Professor Sonetra."

"We are not!" James yelled, spinning in his seat as well to face Sirius instead.

Remus laughed. "Professor, they're not going out – they're just 'friends'," he said.

James and Lily both glared now at Remus for causing the whole class to laugh.

Naturally, Sonetra would have none of it. "Mr. Potter, switch with Mr. Lestrange."

"But Professor, you said we weren't supposed to switch partners at all in the next nine weeks," Lily said.

"Yeah!" Sirius yelled.

"Ditto!" Bella added.

Remus, Breanna, and Peter were nodding their heads avidly, as were the two Slytherins who did not want to switch partners.

Professor Sonetra looked around at the class and huffed, walking to the front of the room. "Class dismissed," she hissed, glaring at the class, disappointed.

The Gryffindors had to hold their breath until they left the room, when they would be free to laugh as loud as they wanted. Though Lily and James were the only ones that did not speak.

"Aw, c'mon!" Sirius said, thumping James on the back. "We were just joking! Don't take it so harshly!"

James rolled his eyes. "Sure, Sirius."

"Lily," Bella begged, "talk to me! I didn't mean to make you so angry. I don't want us not talking to each other again like what happened a few days ago. It killed me to not be able to talk to you!"

"I'm not mad," Lily said, grinning at Bella's nervous manner. "I'm just angry for about ten minutes. And then after that I'll forgive you and talk to you again. And everything will be fine."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "You've got this planned out already, do you?"

Lily laughed. "Ok, maybe I wasn't right. I'm not mad anymore."

The girls all began to laugh hysterically. The Marauders, in the meantime, all stared in confusion at the way the girls acted together.

"All right, then," James muttered to himself, ruffling his hair.

!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!* Later *!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!

The girls managed to stifle their laughter for the rest of the passing time. The group of Gryffindors pretty much tagged together the whole day traveling from Divination to lunch, from Arithmancy to Astronomy. Although Bella, Sirius, and Peter had Care of Magical Creatures while the rest had Astronomy.

Dinner passed without a hitch. The four house tables left the Great Hall without any skirmishes between the Marauders and the Slytherins.

James and Lily worked on their Defense against the Dark Arts assignment in the Gryffindor common room, reading through every book on leithfolds they had in their possession. Breanna attempted to research as well, but Peter did not seem to be helping much as he was complaining about a paper cut and had left to go to the nurse's office when they had just begun. Remus and Bella tried finishing other homework for different classes, but Sirius – determined on not doing any homework until the absolute last minute – tried to distract others. But whenever that did not work out, he would try to make whomever he could laugh at any of his jokes or pranks on innocent people.

The students of Gryffindor tower left to head off to bed at a pretty reasonable time. There were no disturbances. Although, at eleven forty-five, four boys were creeping down from the sixth-year dormitories and sneaking up the girls' dormitories.

Sirius, nearly as flexible as a monkey, had figured out a way to creep up the girls' staircase without having the slide on the staircase activated because of a boy's entrance. With the help of Remus and James, they managed to lift him up onto the hand railings and he managed to edge, with his feet on one side and his hands on the other, up to the sixth years' dormitory.

Careful not to touch the floor, Sirius managed to knock quickly without falling. After a minute or so, Lily answered the door.

"Sirius – what – Bella!" she called in the room. "Your boyfriend is really strange, I hope you know."

Bella poked her face around the door. "Hullo, Sirius. Come in."

Sirius, now red in the face, managed to jump inside of their room without touching the floor in the hallway. He took a few moments to breathe. Hey – it was six flights up to their room! You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you? "Are you guys ready to go to the Midnight Buffet?"

"Hold on!" Breanna called from the bathroom.

Lily and Bella smirked at each other and Sirius looked around, clueless. "What?" he asked.

"I believe Breanna fancies somebody," Lily said, making sure Breanna could overhear.

"I do not!" she yelled indignantly.

"Oh?" Bella asked. "Then why are you fixing up your hair when we're only going to see house elves?"

There was no response. The two girls giggled.

"Are you quite finished yet?" Sirius asked, bored.

"Ok, I'm done, now." Breanna stepped out of the bathroom, looking as she did earlier, though with more make-up on than Lily and Bella had – which was none.

Sirius rolled his eyes. Girls sure do take forever to get ready. "Now, would you like to walk down the steps, or go down the fun way?" he asked, grinning devilishly.

Bella gave a half smile. "I'm thinking it will be the 'fun way' whether we want it or not."

"You betcha," Sirius said. "Just be prepared, once you reach the landing, to run straight for the portrait, alright?" He opened the door and stomped with one foot on the floor and automatically a slide to the bottom was created. Not only that, but a loud screeching noise began to fill the echo-y silence. He turned around and grinned. "Go!"

"Yes!" Lily said, and slid down the stairs to the bottom where a crash sounded.

-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------

He could not believe his day. First he got to spend about twenty minutes alone with Lily before class, he got to witness her break up with Diggory, and now she was lying on top of him. And it was all thanks to Sirius and the shrieking slide he had created.

James' heartbeat raced as Lily stared into his eyes for a quick second. It felt like an eternity to James, gazing into her gorgeous eyes, but she had still crawled off of him almost too soon after that.

"Sorry, James," she said, a grin plastered across her face and eyes shining in excitement. "I lost my balance toward the end, there. Good thing you were there to catch me!"

James smiled, still lying down on the ground. "Yeah, good thing."

Remus stared down at his friend, sprawled on the ground. James stared at the ceiling, motionless. "Prongs?" he mumbled, leaning over him. "Are you gonna get up any time soon? The staircase is shrieking, and we're bound to be caught by McGonagall at any minute if you stay there."

James seemed to come to his senses. "Oh, yeah – sorry."

Remus nodded and smiled, knowingly.

Breanna, Bella, and Sirius managed to slide down the stairs without any collisions. As doors began to slam open, the pack of seven ran out of the common room – extremely brave without an invisibility cloak – and managed to make it down to the kitchen without any mishaps. Unless, of course, you call Peter running into a suit of armor, which he always did, a mishap.

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children and old geezers; I give you the Midnight Buffet!" Sirius said enthusiastically, earning grins from others.

Sirius tickled the pear and entered the room, revealing the four house tables as they normally stood and house elves busying themselves, running back and forth. Although one table, the Gryffindor table, was not empty. In the middle were four plates, and on both ends were endless lines of trays and platters of food.

Sirius walked swiftly over to the same elf he'd seen the day before, Narsy. "Hello, there, Narsy! Glad you got our letter this morning with our change of plans. We also have one other small change. As you can see, we invited these lovely ladies to dine with us tonight as well. Do you mind setting up three more spots so they could sit here too?"

Narsy's head bobbed up and down. "Yes, Mr. Black," she said. And then a look of pure horror fell over her face. "I is needing to make more food, then. Oh no! Mr. Black is needing to forgive Narsy, because Narsy is not prepared! Narsy is a bad house elf! Oh dear…" The elf began to turn to cook more when Sirius grabbed his arm.

"Narsy, it's ok. I think we'll manage." He grinned at Bella from behind him and she covered her hand with her mouth, trying, but failing, not to laugh.

Narsy seemed to exhale a large amount of air. "Narsy is thanking Mr. Black very much! Anything Mr. Black is needing now?"

Sirius shook his head. "Just the plates and we'll be fine."

"Yes, sir!"

Sirius turned around as the elf left and guided the girls to the table where three more plates were already added. "Bella," he said, guiding her to her seat next to his normal one.

"Thank you, kind sir," she replied, smiling deviously.

"You are welcome, my damsel in distress," Sirius said.

"Excuse me?" Bella cut in, losing her medieval voicing. "I'm not a damsel in distress!" she protested.

Sirius shrugged. "It's the best I could come up with at the moment."

"Well, what about My Lady? Or good maiden or something?"

Sirius eyed Bella and glanced over at James, who was just barely managing to hold his laughter in. "We were pretending, right?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!"

"Bella," Lily cut in, "I think we're finished with this conversation now, all right?"

Bella huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine, then."

Remus shook his head and guided the other ladies down. "Now, I normally sit here and James sits there and Peter sits over there. You can pick your seats however you want."

They ended up sitting in the same exact spots as breakfast – and lunch – and dinner. Which wasn't all that much of a surprise.

"Now," Sirius said in the politest manner he could make, "I think it would be the men's duty to get the ladies' food and drinks."

"Uh-uh!" Lily cut in. "If you pick our food, then we pick yours."

James shrugged, smiling. "I think that's fair. And plus – I have faith in you ladies to pick out tasteful food items for us."

Lily nodded. "I'm glad you can trust us! Now, hand over your plates, if you will."

"And the same for us," James said, picking up Lily's plate and standing. "We'll be on this half of the table, you three go that way."

"All right, then," Breanna said and picked up Remus' plate.

The groups split and picked out various food items. The Marauders were the first to finish, waiting for the ladies to come back and see what they had picked out for them.

Breanna was the first one back. "Cockroach Clusters? Ew! Aw, but you remembered the Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans! And Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pastries, and Cauldron Cakes – yum!" She leafed through the items on her plate. It looked like a pretty junky meal, but pretty good all the same! The other two plates in Bella's and Lily's spots had the same food items on them. She had to admit, they did a pretty good job picking what they liked. Boy, were they in for a surprise…

Lily and Bella returned with the rest of the plates.

"Ok," James said, rubbing his hands together, anticipating what was on his plate. "What'd you get us?"

The girls grinned and set the plates down. The boys' jaws dropped straight to the ground.

On their plates were apples, bananas, grape bunches, and carrots that covered the surface of the golden plates.

"What?!?" Sirius yelled, shocked.

"Sirius, darlin'," Bella said, sitting down in front of her plate of goodies, "you need to watch your weight." She patted his stomach a few times and then dug into her own plate of food.

"Oh my God!" Sirius stood up and began looking at his profile. "Why didn't you guys tell me I looked fat?!?" he shrieked in a girly voice.

The table erupted in laughter.

"I'm serious!" he yelled over the hoots of laughter. "Do these pants make my butt look big?"

This was a mistake to say in Sirius' case. Bella had completely lost it and fell over the back of the chair just as Sirius had done earlier at breakfast. He immediately ran to her aid.

"Bella, are you ok? C'mon, speak to me!"

But she couldn't. Because she was laughing too hard to even breathe, much less speak properly.

"Oy vay," he muttered and sat back in his seat, picking up a carrot and chomping down on it.

There was conversation for nearly an hour and a refill on candy and food – this time where the owners of the plate went to get food. But at one in the morning, Remus put his foot down.

"I won't be able to focus at all in class if we don't get to bed."

"I agree," Breanna piped up.

"Oh boy," James sighed. "I think we have two Remus' on our hands now."

"Aw man!" Sirius complained. "That means there's no way I'll be able to skip any classes anymore."

Remus chuckled. "Good night, everyone."

Breanna followed him out of the kitchen.

Bella nodded, suppressing a yawn. "Yeah, we should really get to bed. Coming?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Lily said.

Sirius stood as well. "See ya, Prongs."

"Night, Padfoot."

And again, the door slammed shut.

"You sure have some interesting names for each other," Lily commented.

James nodded. "Yep, we do."

"James, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"I figured that," he said, smiling at her.

"I didn't have a chance to ask this morning. But what exactly was Peter about to say this morning?" Lily asked.

"Oh." James tore his eyes away from Lily and paled a bit. "I-it was nothing."

"Nothing? Sure, James. And Bella doesn't like Sirius. Tell me!" she complained, tugging on his sleeve.

"Lily, I – no, I can't tell you," he managed to say.

"Why not?" Lily questioned further.

James looked as if he had aged several years. "You have to trust me. It's something I can't tell you now, but maybe sometime in the future, all right?"

Lily's eyebrows knitted together and she seemed to be thinking. "I guess. But – oh, never mind."

James smiled, gratefully. "Thanks, Lily."

"For what?" she teased.

James just shook his head in wonder at her and watched as she departed, waving.

Damn it, she's beautiful.

^^^^^^^ Remus ^^^^^^^

Breanna and Remus walked in silence. Neither said anything, which was all right with them. Nothing needed to really be said at the moment, so why bother saying anything at all?

But they eventually ended up at the portrait sooner or later.

They faced each other.

"So, uh – I had a fun time tonight," Breanna supplied.

"Yeah, it was loads of fun. You'll have to join us next week too."

"Sure," she said. And then grinned. "It wasn't my idea to put all of those vegetables and health foods on your plates."

Remus smiled back. "I actually had a thought that you all would do something bad to us."

"Oh, Remmie!" she joked, using her pet name for him. "If I had known that you would get us candy and goodies, we wouldn't have done that!"

They laughed. And the corridors became eerily silent once again.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Breanna asked.

"Absolutely!" Remus replied, enthusiastically.

"Alright. Er – see ya!"

She waved at him and stepped into the Gryffindor common room.

And Remus just stared after her in awe.

Damn it, she's beautiful.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Sirius=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Bella hopped down the hallway, laughing and not caring about being out at one in the morning.

"Bella," Sirius whispered. "You do realize that if we're caught, we could lose some serious house points, don't you?"

Bella giggled all the more, bumping into Sirius. "I know that, silly!"

Sirius laughed along with her. It was almost as if she were contagious to him. When she was happy, he was too. When she was sad, he was too. And now she was in a carefree mood – so was Sirius.

In a sudden movement, Bella began to spin and dance as if she were a ballerina.

"I always wanted to be a dancer," she said, spinning around on the tops of her toes and then falling delicately into Sirius' arms. He hovered over her face, grinning.

"You're lucky I was here," he said.

Bella wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned back.

"Yes, I am lucky you're here."

Their smiles were dropped and an air of seriousness showered over them.

Bella, the first to come back to her conscious state, managed to stand on her own feet again. She smiled and spun off down the hall, leaving Sirius to gaze after her.

Damn it, she's beautiful.

AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you can tell the difference between this chapter and other chapters – I have some beta readers now! Ok, announcements:

FIRST – I have some title options for people to choose from. I'm still not sure whether or not I'll eventually change the title, so I'm giving everyone a chance to put their say in. I had some ideas sent in with their review and a friend and I brainstormed for some ideas. You can see, after awhile, I got sorta annoyed by the whole story thought – you'll one I came up with…

Unlikely Love

----- Katy

Grateful

----- Amelia Bedelia

Concealed

----- Katy

Concealed Identity

----- Katy

Concealing Myself

----- Katy

Hiding behind the Truth

----- Katy

Hidden Truth

----- Katy

The liar, the hidden truth, or whatever you want to call this damn story

----- Amelia Bedelia

Whatever you want to call this damn story

----- Katy

The story where James lies, Sirius lies, Bella lies, Lily lies, Breanna lies, Remus lies, and they all eventually DIE in the end.

----- Amelia Bedelia

Surprises, Surprises

----- April

Miracles Can Happen

----- April

Just One Winter Break

----- BastsCleopatra

Miracles are always Possible

----- MarauderLuver4-ever

Yes, I got a bit frustrated. :) Anyway, pick from the ones you like or just say whether you like Light.

Let's see… Ah, yes. I have plenty of people who betaed chapter 12 so I don't need anymore, unless, of course, you REALLY want to or else you'll die or something. :) And I'm still open to any other prank ideas or ideas in general if you still want to tell me any.

REVIEWS:

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: I agree – that whole Halloween deal… Hmm… You just got me thinking… Yes, yes… IDEA!!! Thank you very much for reviewing!!!

Hermione101888: Thanks for betaing my chapter!!! And thanks for reviewing!!!

BastsCleopatra: I like your prank ideas!!! And thanks for the title ideas too! Thank you for reviewing!!!

Lucky_719: Ok, yes, nice ideas… :) I especially like the mud wrestling… :) Thanks for reviewing!!!

FEAngel258: I'm so glad you could beta my chapter!!! And I keep forgetting to send you back your Draco/Hermione betaed story. I'll send that back as soon as I can, edited and everything. Thanks for reviewing!!!

Sakura Moon: Yes, James does still have a girlfriend. I'll probably add something about that later on in the story – sooner, rather, than later. :) Thanks for reviewing!!!

Kantomon: Yes, I finished chapter 12 by then… ::blushes:: I didn't want to post the two together because then everyone would only review once and I want their thoughts for each chapter separately. And, cause, I'm selfish and want more reviews. :) Thanks for reviewing!!!

LizPurdyPups: Thanks for beta-ing my story!!! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Frozen Quill: Yes, Amos and Lily… ::grins evilly: I'm glad I finally broke them up in this chapter. He was too much, even if he only made a brief appearance. :) Thanks for reviewing!!!

TotallyStellar: Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Sezzie: SEE!!! I told you I'd update soon!!! :) And, question, are you from England or somewhere in Europe??? I've noticed, in your writing, you use colour and theatre instead of, what Americans use, color and theater. And, in the review, you said "mum" instead of mom or mother. DUDE!!! (New word of the week… It'll go away eventually…) That'd be so cool if I knew people from England!!! I know one, already, but two – COOL!!! :) Thanks for reviewing!!!

Anarane Anwamane: Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Julyborn09: Ha ha!!! Maybe your sister won't look at you weird after this chapter, now! That is, unless you love the last bit of Sirius/Bella action (like you said you did in the review) and start going around, sighing or something. :) That might make your sister think you like someone and she'd probably go tell you parents and they'd make fun of you, just like my dad does. :) Thanks for reviewing!!!

Ktsprstr78: The chapter flew by? Well, it's about 8 pages less than this one… :) And yes, the bad ones are coming up – sooner, than you might think… Unless you're thinking chapter 13, you could very well possibly be right. :) And the whole Cedric Diggory thing… Yeah… Uh, oops? It's a hard habit to break! You're used to Cedric in the book, but you're writing about his dad in here! I found myself every time I wrote something about him, I had to make sure it was Amos and not Cedric – but I didn't catch it in the beginning! Thanks for reviewing!!!

Starblaze: I LOVED your conversation with the Marauders!!! You know what, you should add onto it. Or, you could vary it every now and then or something. Maybe add Lily or other characters and all – that'd be cool!!! I was reading through your review – you have some good thoughts and predictions… I'm itching to just say, "Yes, that's right, but here there will be a BIG surprise," or something, but I'm not! I'm going to be a "Big Girl" and keep my mouth shut. :) Thanks for reviewing!!!

Luthien Vardamir: Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!!!

April: I like the title ideas!!! Thanks for reviewing!!!

Chelly: Yes, I realize I changed his eye color. I said one thing in the beginning, and then I decided I wanted to have something different so I changed it, but forgot I already said something about it. But, let know now, I FINALLY decided on the color blue, even though the fifth book says brown. Thanks for reviewing!!!

MarauderLuver4-ever: Thanks for the title idea!!! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Dinis: Thanks! And thank you for reviewing!!!

High?d: I'm sorry you couldn't beta this chapter. If you want to, I can probably have you beta chapter 13, if you want. And thanks for reviewing!!!

Dahlia: Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Elisabeth Celebros: Bella and Sirius plan something together… Good thought! I like your prank ideas! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Cho-Look-Alike: Ha ha ha!!! I like your words here. "James is in trouble now!" Thanks for reviewing!!!

Bic Papermate: Yes, I accidentally mixed the two up. Whoops! Thanks for reviewing!!!

Mooncancer: Yes, I mixed them up by accident. ::blushes:: And thanks for reviewing!!!
Agentalika: Thanks for being my beta reader!!! And thanks for reviewing!!!

FairyDustDanzer2: Thanks for all of the compliments!!! ::blushes:: Thanks for reviewing!!!

Caitlin: I'm sorry you couldn't beta this chapter! Tell me if you still want to beta, though. Thanks for reviewing!!!

Tapaidh Sidh: Yes, Sirius is such a great character to just put miscellaneous stuff into. :) He could say anything at anytime! Which is why I like to add random things as well! Thanks for betaing and reviewing!!! Oh, and I put Harold as James' middle name because I like to think that his dad's name was Harold, and the guys' middle name is always their dad's first name. That's how my family works – only with the boy's names, though. :)

Kellyn: Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Lily Among the Thorns-89: Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Fallen Faith Angel (also known as Circe-Asteria): Thanks for betaing!!! It really helped a lot!!! Yes, feathers… :) Exciting, no? Thanks for reviewing!!!

James-Padfoot: Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!!!

NeoMatrix: Hey! And, gee, thanks about that whole "I like Light, the story that is, not the name." :) That was real nice. So, do YOU have any better ideas? Ooh… You like Sirius?!? Aw!!! Wait until I tell Andrew… He'll crack up… :) Thanks for reviewing!!! Oh, by the way, tell your sister to review so I can add her onto the chapter update list!

Se-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: Thanks for the ratings! And thanks for reviewing!!!

Ai Tennshi: Thank you for the compliments!!! And thanks for reviewing!!!

NEXT CHAPTER: Very exciting… Bit of trauma, romance, and all around everything. I have a bit of each couple and different feelings thrown in, so it should be a pretty good chapter. It's looking to be about the same length as this one, too!

Thanks EVERYONE for reviewing!!!

Yours truly,
Amelia Bedelia