A/N: Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers (i.e. SerenityRose016, Etar, lurv2boogie, and Bon Bear.)

lurv2boogie: Your review made me laugh. Hysterically. Probably because I was high on sugar…

Bon Bear: Thanks for the heads up! I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out and I had no idea that I didn't allow anonymous reviewers.

I'm sorry that this update took so much longer (yes, you had to wait 4 whole days!) I went out of town and didn't have access to a computer, so I wrote the next chapter in the car but ended up rewriting most of it anyway.

So here's Chapter 4…Enjoy!

Lily smiled at Remus from across the table they were sharing at the Three Broomsticks. The way he went pale every time she looked at him was oddly endearing.

"It's odd," she said, breaking the awkward silence. "This is our 7th year going to school together, but I still feel like I don't really know you." Remus extended his hand.

"I'm Remus Lupin," he said, smiling nervously at her.

"Lily Evans," she replied, shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin."

"So, Miss Evans, tell me about yourself," Remus continued, trying to sound confident. In really, his palms were sweaty and he felt a little faint.

Lily took a sip of her butterbeer.

"My full name is Lily Victoria Elizabeth Evans," she said. "I'm a muggle-born. I have an older sister named Petunia who is quite possibly the dullest person I've ever met. My birthday is January 17th, and my favorite color is blue. Oh, and I want to be a Healer when I graduate," she finished. "What about you?"

"My full name is Remus Jared Lupin. Umm….my birthday is November 5th, and my favorite color is blue, too…" he trailed off. Lily was staring out the window with an odd expression on her face.

"Shit," she whispered. He turned to see what she was looking at.

James, closely followed by Sirius, was storming up the road towards the Three Broomsticks. James was clearly upset; he was gesturing wildly and his face was bright red. As the pair neared the pub, Lily could hear James shouting, and managed to make out the words "Lupin" and "bastard."

"Shit," Remus echoed.

"I can't believe it!" shouted James. "He knew that I liked her! He broke the unspoken agreement that we would never date each other's crushes, female best friends, exes, or sisters!"

"Maybe that's because it's an unspoken agreement," said Sirius absentmindedly, scanning the crowded street for Scarlett.

"You're not helping," James snapped.

"Sorry," mumbled Sirius, disheartened by the fact that Scarlett was nowhere to be found.

"I can't believe Lupin would do that!" James repeated. "He's so…."

"Decent?" suggested Sirius. James glared at him.

"He's such a bastard!"

"D'you see Scarlett anywhere?" Sirius interrupted, looking around one last time. "Oh…" he said, stopping.

"What?" said James irritably, turning to see what had caught Sirius' attention.

He could see Lily and Remus sitting across from each other through the front window of the Three Broomsticks. Remus was saying something that was causing Lily to smile. A surge of jealously went through James, and he forgot that Lupin, despite his betrayal, was one of his best friends and that he was the Head Boy. He grabbed Sirius' arm and started dragging him toward the pub, cursing under his breath.

"Look mate….Maybe this isn't the best idea," said Sirius, alarmed at James' murderous mood. James ignored him.

"They've seen us," Lily whispered. "Oh, Remus, I'm so sorry. Do you want to, you know…get out of here?"

Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"This has to happen sometime, and I would prefer it to happen here, without all the teachers around," he said resolutely.

At that moment, James entered the Three Broomsticks. Or rather, he wrenched the door open and slammed it so hard the entire building shook. The pub went silent, all eyes on him.

"Lupin!" James barked. Lily could feel her face go red in anger and humiliation. This is all my fault, she thought. James was so angry, he was shaking.

"So Lupin," James said sarcastically, pulling up a chair and sitting down at their table. "When were you planning on telling me about your new girlfriend?"

Sirius appeared behind him.

"Prongs…" he said, putting a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Calm down."

For a moment James' face screwed up as if he couldn't decide if he wanted to throttle Sirius or beat the shit out of Remus. It only took him a second to make up his mind, however, because he punched Lupin hard in the jaw.

Pandemonium broke out. Lily stood up and dragged James off of Lupin. Leaving Sirius to make sure Remus was all right, she hauled James outside. This time it was her turn to shake with fury.

"Potter, what in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" she yelled. James opened his mouth as if he was going to defend himself, but then noticed Lily's threatening glare and bright red face and thought better of it. Despite the fact that he had about 8 inches on her, he did not want to end up in the same situation Sirius had been in earlier.

"Lily…" he pleaded.

"Don't 'Lily' me, Potter," she snarled.

"Lily," he continued, ignoring what she had just said. "You can't go out with him." He looked pained.

"That's exactly why I didn't want to go out with you in the first place!" she shouted. "Because you never think of anyone except yourself!"

"You don't understand!" James yelled back.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't date him," Lily whispered threateningly. James looked desperate.

"Because I love you! And because…" he hesitated. "Lily, he's a werewolf!"

Lily froze. That had completely caught her off guard.

"W-What?" she gasped. James looked at her. Her hair was mussed, her face was still bright red, and the top she had so carefully chosen that morning was wrinkled. She was absolutely the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Without thinking, he grabbed her around the waist and kissed her.

For a moment, Lily was in shock. Her knees went weak. Her face, amazingly enough, got even redder. Suddenly, she came to her senses. What was she doing? James Potter was kissing her…and even worse, she was kissing him back. She wrenched away, confused. Then she took a leaf out of Scarlett's book and slapped him as hard as she could.

Scarlett sighed and checked her watch. 30 more minutes, she though dully. While Lily was off with Remus, probably having the time of her life, she, Scarlett, was shopping for a quill. She guiltily acknowledged that she was more than a little jealous of Lily, who always seemed to get the guys' attention. The only guy who had noticed her happened to be one she couldn't stand. She felt another wave of annoyance at Sirius Black, this time for ruining her favorite quill. Why can't you just leave me alone? she thought angrily. The fact that she had been held hostage by Freja and Sophie that morning and had been forced into something involving a low neckline and heels had not helped to improve her mood.

She sighed again, picking up an eagle quill and examining it. She was looking at the price tag when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Scarlett paused, staring at the two figures as they hurried passed the window. It was Sirius, dragging Lupin back toward the castle. Intrigued, and curious as to why Lily wasn't with them, she dropped the quill and ran after them.

"I don't need to go to the Hospital Wing!" Lupin protested, struggling against Sirius' iron grip. Unfortunately, Sirius had about 2 inches and 30 pounds on him, so his attempts to free himself were unsuccessful.

"Maybe not, but you certainly needed to get out of that pub," Sirius replied.

"But Lily…" Lupin started, then noticed that Scarlett was following them. "Oh, hi Scarlett."

"What happened to you?" Scarlett asked. Remus was sporting a fat lip and a broken tooth.

"James," was all he said. Scarlett turned toward Sirius. He was staring resolutely in the opposite direction, ignoring her presence, although Scarlett noted that his ears were red.

"James punched Remus? What, was he jealous?" Scarlett asked him.

Before Sirius could respond, Professor McGonagall appeared, looking grave.

"What happened to you?" she asked Lupin sharply.

"Oh—I,er, fell," he lied badly. McGonagall raised an eyebrow, but let it go.

"Mr. Black, please escort Mr. Lupin to the Hospital Wing," she said, turning to Scarlett and sighing heavily. "Miss Lundgren, I think you'd better come with me."

"Thanks, Padfoot," said Lupin gratefully as his friend repaired his tooth and reduced the swelling on his lip with a flick of his wand.

"No problem, Moony," Sirius replied. "If I had taken you to Madam Pomfrey, you would probably be held hostage in the Hospital Wing for a week."

"Padfoot?" Remus asked. "Are you mad at me about the whole Lily thing?" Sirius looked at him thoughtfully.

"No, not really. That's more of James' battle than mine, I suppose. Plus, love makes people stupid," he replied. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Does it now?" he said. "Well, I'm sure Scarlett would agree." Sirius' ears went red.

"Did you see her today?" he whispered earnestly. "She was all dressed up…d'you think she had a date or something? If she did, I'll kill the guy she went out with."

Remus sighed. "Love makes people stupid," he repeated.

A/N: And there you have it. I'll update soon, I promise. Please review...I don't care if you loved it or hated it. Just press the little purplish-blueish button and type in your thoughts.