Authors Note: Okay, well I hope you are enjoying the story thus far. It's gonna get pretty fun soon, fun to write that is. I hope it's equally fun to read. Just a teaser, Lily goes to James's over Christmas due to circumstances beyond her control, and we get a good look at Hazel's home life. That part will probably be pretty boring to read, sorry, I just felt that it needed to be said in order to know her character better. And also if you will all recall, there was a situation with Sirius trying to kill Severus in the sixth year- you'll get to observe the reasoning/results/a different version of what happened in that situation. That'll be coming soon. And I'm thinking I might delve into Remus's home life/Christmas holidays/love life. (his love life will start existing relatively soon, lots of angst about to tell her that he's a werewolf or not, etc.) Anyway, leave me reviews about what you want to happen in that respect.

I know that I said I would post again when I had 100 reviews...and I don't, sadly. I only have 95. But I couldn't help but post. It doesn't seem as if anyone out there in the cyber world is stillreading my story, but for the few people who are...here's the next chapter.

Chapter 16

Pranksters

James would have been the best friend she had ever had, too, if she had let him. But she could not be satisfied with that. Lily, as usual, had to stir things up. It was not, however, entirely Lily stirring the pot, it was also partially James's fault.

It had started in potions the week before, and had escalated from there. James could not help but be the center of attention. That was who he was, and what he liked to be. He had always been that way. Lately, though, he had been taking it a bit far in Lily's mind. He had started pranking people just so that people would notice. He would hex people, especially Slytherins, just for a good laugh. Lily had seen him at it. He would be walking down a corridor and see someone from Slytherin, his favorite subjects were Lucious Malfoy and Severus Snape, and would hex them randomly with his wand behind his back, causing everyone in the hall to burst into raucous laughter.

Well, everyone but Lily. James was always disappointed when his antics failed to amuse Lily. He only ever did them to make her laugh. She seemed so down lately, something was getting at her. James thought it was that she worked too hard and didn't have enough fun. Her only free night a week was Saturday, which she spent doing homework. So James, in an attempt to cheer her, had started acting out in front of her. In the past he had always tried to limit his displays to times when she would not be around, knowing her tendency to call teachers, but he felt that now that they were friends and all she would be more able to appreciate his hilariousness.

One day in potions Lily was particularly gloomy. She was stirring her potion glumly, not really paying attention when James whistled at her, trying to get her attention. She looked over at him in time to see him mutter "Furnunculus" under his breath, pointing his wand at the cauldron of Dolahov and McNare. Their potion shimmered for a moment and then went back to its normal color. She watched in horror as he did the same to the potions of all the other Slytherins in the class. None of them seemed to notice. Today they were making a wit-sharpening potion, and at the end of class they would be testing them. Lily did not know what James had just done to the potions of all the Slytherins, but she was sure that it was not something good. She looked at him suspiciously as the class drew to a close.

"All right, everyone pour your potions into a glass, you will all be drinking your potions and then answering a question to test if your wits are sharper." Professor Inkbeat told them. Lily and Holly poured their potions into glasses, preparing to drink. "Gryffindors first." Professor Inkbeat announced, approaching Lily's table. "Ms. Evans, would you care to be our first tester?" She asked, looking somewhat menacing. Lily, however, was not scared. She knew that they had made the potion perfectly.

"Sure professor." Lily said, smiling brightly and taking a long sip of her potion.

"Tell me the key ingredient of an anti-poison potion." Professor Inkbeat asked. Lily could have answered the question without the potion, of that she was sure. They had learned about anti-poison potions in the second year.

"Bezoar Stone of Goat." Lily said, feeling a chill rush down her entire body. She felt cool and calm, most likely the effects of the potion. She somehow felt smarter.

"Very good, full marks on your potion." Professor Inkbeat said, moving on to the next table. She went to Caroline and Janette's table next. Caroline fumbled over the ingredients of a sleeping potion, and she and Janette were deducted points. Professor Inkbeat smiled triumphantly as she made her way around to all the Gryffindor tables, asking increasingly difficult questions. Not everyone managed to answer them correctly.

"Mr. Black." She said, approaching Sirius and James's table, hands on hips.

"Yes?" He asked innocently.

"List for me the ingredients of a shrinking solution." She said, smiling maliciously, she was apparently certain that Sirius would mess up.

"Caterpillar, daisy roots, leech juice, rat spleen, and shrivel fig, professor." Sirius said, standing up straight. Lily would have been positive that this was solely the potion talking, if it weren't for the wink that he gave her after his recitation.

"Very good, five points to Gryffindor." Professor Inkbeat said, although she did not sound too pleased. Now she had finished the Gryffindors and was moving on to the Slytherins. She arrived at Vincent and Gregory's table first. "Perhaps you can tell me the ingredients of a sleeping potion, Mr. Goyle. Go ahead, drink your potion." She directed, gesturing toward the brownish colored liquid. It was meant to be red and thin, whereas Vincent and Gregory's was brown and thick, with large chunks of something floating around in it. Lily cringed at the sight. She was reasonably sure that theirs would have been wrong without James's help. Gregory lifted the cup of liquid to his mouth and took a sip. He immediately burst out into large boyles that were oozing puss. "Hospital wing. Now." She ordered as he screamed.

She then moved on to Severus and Lucious. When Lucious swallowed a gulp of his potion, which was at least the correct color and consistency, he also burst into large, puss filled boyles. Professor Inkbeat looked taken aback. She ordered him to the hospital wing as well and made her way to the rest of the students. All of them broke out into large boyles as soon as they took a sip, losing points for their house and earning a trip to the hospital wing, as well as a failing grade. Professor Inkbeat grew increasingly more panicked as she went to table after table, only to be greeted by screaming girls and hollering boys, all clutching their faces and their stomachs, along with anywhere else infected by the boyles.

"What has happened?" She shrieked, putting her hands to her hair and looking a little crazed. "Who did this? What did you do?" She demanded, looking around at all of the Gryffindors. The bell rang a moment later, freeing all of them. Lily looked behind her to see Professor Inkbeat running from one contaminated potion to the other, wild eyes and pulling at her hair, muttering under her breath. As soon as they had left the classroom there were outbursts of laughter from the Gryffindors, who all received dirty looks from the remaining Slytherins.

"Did you see Malfoy? That was priceless!" Sirius yelled above the laughter, clapping James on the back. "Oh no, my perfect face is ruined! What will mummy say?" Sirius mimicked in a voice of mock horror, clutching at his face in an imitation of Lucious's expression. It was actually reasonably accurate.

Lily looked at Holly, who was walking next to her, and saw her fists balled up, her face flushing. Lily was puzzled. Why would she care what Sirius said about Lucious? But perhaps it was just the fact that people were laughing at Sirius when she hated him so much that was getting to her. Lily looked away again.

"I'm going to go to the hospital wing." Holly said suddenly. Lily looked over at her again, puzzled.

"Why?" She asked.

"I feel a little head achy. Nothing too serious, I just want to see what Madam Pomfrey can give me is all." Holly excused, walking quickly up the corridor.

"Wasn't that the funniest thing you ever saw, Lily?" Sirius asked her, still guffawing.

"Oh yes, simply hilarious." Lily said sarcastically. Sirius did not pick up on the sarcasm, however, and thought that she was serious.

"It was all James's idea too, wasn't that clever of him?" Sirius asked her. Lily looked at James in horror. He looked away, blushing.

"No, it wasn't. It was stupid." Lily said, marching away.

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked.

"She doesn't like pranking I suppose." James explained. "Remember, Lily follows rules." James told him.

"How dull." Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Maybe, but now you've gotten her all riled up." James told him, running to catch up with Lily. "Lily, wait." James called to her, catching up. "Sorry, I know you hate pranks." James told her.

"No, really, it's fine. You do what you want to do. I don't care." Lily told him.

"You do care." He argued.

"I don't. Why do you think I care? Why would I care about what you do?" She demanded.

"Because you do and you know it. You can't stand not being in charge. So yell at me. Tell me I'm an idiot so that we can both get on with our lives." James said back, equally riled up.

"Is that what you think I want to do? You think I like being a bossy goodie goodie who always follows rules?" Lily demanded, still walking quickly away from him.

"You must, otherwise you wouldn't do it." James told her, walking beside her.

"Well you're wrong. We can't all always do everything we want, Mr. Potter. The world doesn't work that way, and you're going to have to learn that one day." Lily told him.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." James informed her.

"Yes, I do. And you will too one day." She told him.

"Why? Why do you have to do anything you don't want to? Who's making you?" James asked her.

"No one is making me. My goals are making me. I'm making me. Not all of us think that the world is a huge joke. You'll have to grow up some day." Lily told him, looking at him with a stormy gaze.

"Why? What do you have against my bending the rules?" James asked her.

"You know what, if you want to get killed, go ahead." Lily told him.

"Who's going to kill me for playing a few practical jokes?" James asked laughingly, shewas definitely over reacting.

"I don't know, but someone did the last time you broke the rules." Lily told him.

"When?" James asked incredulously, she was kidding, right?

"When you went into Hogsmede." Lily told him. James did not try to follow this time. He just stood in the hall and allowed everyone else to file around him. She was right. 'That shouldn't come as a total shock to you, James. Lily is usually right about everything. So that's what she had against him breaking rules, she thought he would die...but that was hardly likely. But, then again, it hadn't been likely the first time either. Maybe she had a point. But playing a harmless joke on a bunch of half witted Slytherins was hardly life threatening.' James shrugged it off, deciding that Lily was crazy. He would just let her cool down and then go back to being her friend again. She just needed some time.

This, however, did not turn out to be the case. She was giving him the cold shoulder now more than ever. Whenever he spoke to her she would turn away and talk over him to someone else. James liked to tell himself at night when he contemplated her hatred of him that it was because she was trying to protect him. He even occasionally managed to convince himself that, in her mind, being his friend would get him hurt again. His more sensible half, however, the half that kept him awake at night thinking about it, knew that it was because she no longer liked him.

James Potter, king of the quiddich pitch, was hated by Lily Evans. It was hard to bear, really. The only people who really hated him were Slytherins, and on quiddich days Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs, depending on who was playing. But he had never expected to be hated by a Gryffindor. It didn't seem fair. Everyone else loved him. He had more admirers than he knew what to do with. Now that everyone hated Slytherin, James was their hero. He was well known for hexing Slytherins, and he was infamous for his pranks during classes. He had never lost Gryffindor a match, either. He never failed to lead the team to victory every year that he was on the team, and this year he was captain too. He could not honestly believe that Lily hated him. It was impossible.

Once he had himself convinced that it was because she was fighting her true feelings for him that she was so cold. The next morning he went down to breakfast and gave her as cheery a smile and wave as he could, saying loudly 'Morning Moonshine.' She had not even looked up.

James was depressed. He started acting out more than ever for her attention. He would speak loudly when she was around, and his jokes always became more entertaining when she could hear them. This, although it got him more attention from everyone else, failed to attract Lily's affections.

Slytherin was playing Ravenclaw in the last match before Christmas break, and Lily was going. James, although he was not playing, was determined to get Lily to notice him. This was not a very important match. Since it was a while until the final cup, and there were still many games to be played, there was not a lot depending on this game.

Hazel and Sirius were going together, so James was left with the other two marauders. That name was now famous throughout the school as well. Whenever anyone wanted to refer to a recent prank, they would mention the marauders. If a chandelier collapsed, it was no longer Peeves who was thought of first, but the marauders.

So Alice and Lily would be there together, as would three of the four marauders. James had not yet decided what exactly he would do, but it would be good. She would notice him for sure. He would make her laugh yet.

It was an hour into the match and only three goals had been scored, all by Ravenclaw. The game was not very interesting. Well, it might have been had James been paying any attention to it. He could not keep him eyes off the red head sitting three rows diagonally in front of him. Lily would jump to her feet and cheer and laugh every time something happened in favor of Ravenclaw, and boo along with the rest of Gryffindor house whenever something happened that favored Slytherin. She and Alice were laughing and talking, and James saw for a moment a flash of the old Lily. The Lily he had known for so short a time before Voldemort. 'And before she started to hate you and think that you are a big prat' James reminded himself. Slytherin scored, bringing the score to 30-10 in favor of Ravenclaw.

Then Gregory Goyle, who played on the team as a beater, smashed the quaffle out of the hands of the Ravenclaw chaser so that Rudolphus Lestrange could get hold of it. This was not technically a legal move, as beaters were only permitted to hit the bludgers, and three quarters of the stadium booed, and shouted foul. Ravenclaw was given a penalty shot and scored, making the score 40-10 with Ravenclaw in the lead.

And then, just as everyone was settling back into their seats, the Slytherin seeker, a younger student who James did not know, went into a dive. Even James had to admit, it was some pretty decent flying. He pulled out of it inches from the ground, the snitch in his hand. The crowd booed, but nothing could reverse it. Slytherin had won 160 to 40. The mass of green on the other end of the stadium from James went surging onto the field, cheering.

James felt un unquenchable desire to damped their spirits. It had not been that good of a game, after all. And it was not as if winning really did anything for them. Then, in a moment of brilliance, it came to him. James smiled, and looked at Remus. Best not to tell him his plan, perhaps, as he would likely not approve. James removed his wand from his pocket and whispered the incantation under his breath, pointing at the cheering mass of green.

"Serpensorcio." He said, waving his wand a little. Out of his wand tip burst a large snake, which went slithering into the crowd. James smiled as he saw the green mass part, screaming and waving their arms in the air. He grinned. He could see a bit of the serpent from here. He thought it very appropriate that he had conjured a snake. It was unlikely that anyone would suspect a Gryffindor. Probably passed off as some Slytherin, drunk with victory, casting a spell to boost moral and having the spell go sadly awry.

People ran, all moving in one direction- away from the snake. James, chuckling, mingled in with the fleeing crowd. He looked around for Lily, but couldn't see her. He was near the front, so she must be somewhere behind.

Lily was somewhere behind, in fact, she had not left at all. She had run in the opposite direction. She went straight at the snake, at the same time removing her wand from her robes. She brandished it in front of her, causing the snake to disappear. The field was practically deserted, save for a few people who had been trampled in everyone's rush to flee the snake. Lily sighed, turning back to the school. She was the only one who had actually stayed to help. She wanted to know who had been so irresponsible as to let a snake loose on the school. She had seen that snake, if it had bitten someone they would have been in the hospital wing for a week.

Lily made her way back to Gryffindor tower. She wanted to know who had conjured that snake so that she could yell at them long and loud. They had endangered other students by behaving in that fashion, and it had been senseless and irresponsible. But she did not have much hope of finding them. Chances were it was some Slytherin who thought they would show off to their friends and made a careless error with their wand. One wrong flick and anything could happen. Lily sighed, collapsing into a chair by the fire. She put her head in her hands and massaged her temples.

She did not know what she was going to do. The Slytherins and Gryffindors were just as bad now as they had been when term started. And Potter and her friends were not helping at all to make her work easier. As a prefect it was her duty to maintain order whenever possible, and she took her duties seriously. Her lessons with Dumbledore were becoming almost unbearable too. Although she was making great strides in her management of her powers, it was not any less difficult or draining. And she was lonely. She loved Hazel as a friend, of course, but it was difficult when they were not in the same house. There was no one who was always there to talk to. Alice, to be sure, was great, but she did not understand things the was Hazel did. She hated to admit it, but she missed James's friendship. Well, she missed the old James. She did not miss this new James who would do anything for attention or a laugh. She did not like or approve of the raucous, rowdy James Potter who thought he was the king of the world. He was constantly strutting around Hogwarts as if he owned it, looking down on everyone else and fueling the hatred between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Lily wished he would be more like his old self.

Something was interrupting Lily's quiet thinking. She looked up, and then chided herself for ever having expected it to be quiet in the common room. There was, as usual, a large group of people in one corner. She had no doubt as to who was in the center. The marauders, as they were now commonly referred to as, would be the ones in the middle, providing an endless source of entertainment of the bystanders. Lily walked past the group on her way up to the sixth year girl's dorm. She would be able to hear herself think there. She was on her way up when she heard someone speaking. The words were what caught her attention more than the voice.

"Nice bit of magic, Prongs." Came the squeaky voice of Peter Pettigrew. "Did you se their faces when that snake charged?" Peter asked.

"Yes, you'd think that since they all are snakes they'd be less frightened when they finally saw a real one." Sirius added in, after laughing heartily. Lily paused, turning, her front foot on the stairs. If only she had not heard that last sentence.

"It was incredible. Did you see how fast that celebration broke up? Never saw Snivelus run so fast in my life." James said, receiving claps on the back from several of the surrounding group.

"Wish I'd have been there when you did the spell, Prongs." Sirius said wistfully. Lily was pleased to see that Remus, at least, was not finding this as amusing as the rest of the group. Lily could not hold her tongue, she had to start a fight. But, in her defense, what he had done had been fool hardy and stupid. He could have seriously injured someone.

"Am I hearing correctly?" Lily asked, removing her foot from the stair and turning. The group broke up a little so that she and James were facing each other. "You are the one who cast that spell?" Lily asked.

"Pretty nice bit of magic, wasn't it?" Asked Sirius eagerly.

"Although it was undoubtedly a tricky spell, Mr. Black, it was also dangerous and stupid. Do you all realize that someone could have been really hurt back there?" Lily asked, knowing full well that she was sounding exactly like Professor Bluebell. "And I'm not talking about just Slytherins." She added when she saw Edgar Bones about to protest on James's behalf.

"Well, I'm sure the snake is gone by now. Someone probably got rid of it." James said, shifting in his seat.

"Are you sure of that?" Lily asked.

"Of course I am." James said, although he was not sure at all.

"Fortunately for you, I happen to know that you are right." Lily told him, still scowling.

"How do you know that?" James called after her as she turned to walk up the stairs again.

"Because I'm the one who got rid of it." Lily told him, marching up the stairs fuming. She was sure that she heard the sound of laughter behind her retreating back. She had gotten much better at controlling her temper lately. A few weeks ago she would have flown into a towering rage, but she had learned from experience that that rarely helped matters, and that it was much better to remain calm. What could she do to punish James? Giving him detention would not help matters, or make him learn. Neither would deducting house points. James didn't seem to care about anything except giving people a good laugh. Lily did not approve. Of course, she should have expected that it would be James who did it. His hatred of the Slytherins in the past weeks had mounted very high. He and his fellow marauders were doing nothing but causing trouble, and nothing seemed to help matters. The howler certainly had not made a difference, it had given him more attention, if anything. Authors Note: You guys have passed the 200 page mark! This story is going to be sooo much longer than the last one. Not to mention it's so much better, isn't it? I think it is. Anyway, I've just realized that I'm over 100 pages past where you guys are, so expect fast updates! Providing you all review, of course. Wink wink. ;) Also, coming up, there are going to be some chapters over Christmas that might be a little boring, and I apologize for that in advance. I might try to make things a little more angsty, although I'm reeeally not very good at that...at all. I actually am really bad at it. I always get sad for my characters and make something good happen. Whenever I try to make them sad I fail. You'll probably see what I'm talking about in the chappie about Lily's Christmas...she's all mopey and stuff for no good reason and then all of a sudden...well I won't spoil it for you. Read on!