A/N: OK, I am officially the worst person ever. I loved this story, worked so hard on it for 2 weeks, and then left it to die. But no more! I decided it was time to resurrect this story. So here's the long awaited 6th chapter that you probably thought would never come. There's more about Sirius and Scarlett, since I'd been neglecting them a little bit. Enjoy! And review!

And a big thank you to all of my reviewers and everyone who put me on their favorites/alerts lists. I really appreciate it!

"Help me!" Sirius pleaded desperately. He was sprawled out on his four-poster and was tearing dejectedly at the curtains.

"I am in awe of your new-found ability to get even the most stubborn of females, and my women-getting skills seem to be malfunctioning…" James looked up from his Charms essay and stared at his friend in awe.

"Do my ears deceive me? Is the infamous Sirius Black asking his slightly-less-pathetic friend James Potter for girl help?" Sirius looked pained.

"Something must be wrong with me…maybe I'm ill," he said desperately.

"Or maybe Lundgren just has no interest with going out with a womanizing, self-centered prat," James replied.

"Be nice, Prongs," Sirius said dramatically. "Can't you see what an enormous toll rejection has been taking on me? I'm wasting away! I can't remember the last time I snogged someone…I can't sleep…I can't eat…" James raised an eyebrow.

"Tell that to the seven sausages you polished off this morning," he said. Sirius looked hurt.

"I've tried everything! The charming 'Will you go out with me,' the suave 'Will you go out with me," the mysterious 'Will you go out with me,' the roguishly handsome 'Will you go out with me….'"

"Look, Padfoot. You've got to show her that your feelings are more than just wanting to feel her up, alright? You've already gone through all those types of girls. Lily and Scarlett…" he paused, his eyes going slightly out of focus, "Lily and Scarlett want a man that will be there for them, who knows how to treat women right--"

"I know how to treat a woman right!" Sirius interrupted indignantly. James shot him a look.

"They want a long-term relationship with someone who loves them for their minds as much as their…erm…bodies," James continued.

There was a long pause.

"So…maybe try the gentlemanly 'Will you go out with me?'" Sirius asked.

"You're hopeless, mate."

Lily chewed absently on her quill. She had come to the library to attempt to get away from the distractions in the common room, but she still couldn't concentrate. It was odd, really, how similar her situation was to Scarlett's. They were both practically being stalked by egocentric, obnoxious, persistent, and very attractive boys that they could not stand. However, Lily was fairly certain that the strange feelings she had been feeling towards James for the past few months were indeed the beginnings of love, while she had no idea how Scarlett felt about Sirius. She had a sneaking suspicion that Scarlett had no idea either.

And then there was the matter of Remus. No matter how hard Lily tried to focus on James, or on her schoolwork, or even on helping Scarlett try to figure out what to do about Sirius, Remus was always lurking in the back of her mind. She'd never felt quite so guilty in her entire life than she did about what she did to him. Despite what he said, she was sure that he still loved her.

"I am a terrible person," she said to herself. "I went on one date with him, which involved him getting punched by his best friend. And then I agreed to go out with said best friend. What was I thinking?"

"That I am too devilishly handsome to be ignored." Lily jumped. James Potter was leaning over her, grinning in an extremely attractive and infuriating way.

"Don't make me regret saying yes, Potter," she said, exasperated. James sat opposite her, his grin fading.

"You know, Evans, I've been trying to get you to go out with me for quite some time—" Lily rolled her eyes.

"You mean you've been stalking me for quite some time," she retorted. James continued, unfazed.

"Actually, I've been in love with you since I was eleven," he said. "You'd think that after waiting all this time, studying your habits, learning all your weird little quirks…"

"What weird little quirks?" Lily interrupted. James looked uncomfortable.

"Erm…like when you are really annoyed, your left eyebrow twitches…"

"It does not!"

"It's twitching now." Lily touched her eyebrow. It did seem to be quivering with frustration.

"The point is, Lily, I've been waiting for a very, very long time. I should be overjoyed by the fact you finally seem to be…erm…giving in. But it's kind of hard to be happy when one of your best friends is completely miserable." It was Lily's turn to look uncomfortable.

"I feel horrible. I mean, I practically reached in and ripped his beating heart right out of his chest." James winced.

"Thanks for that lovely image, Evans. But Remus has really been depressed lately. I mean, what with his—er—'furry little problem,' and now he's had his heart broken." Lily buried her head in her hands.

"What am I supposed to do?" she said miserably.

"I think you should go talk to him." Lily looked up.

"He's in the Hospital Wing at the moment," James said softly. "I've tried talking to him. Sirius has tried talking to him. Hell, even Peter has tried talking to him, and we all know Peter's not exactly the most knowledgeable about these matters. I really think you should go see him." Lily smiled.

"I was wrong about you," she said after a moment. "You do care about people other than yourself."

Remus hated being in the Hospital Wing. He hated the bitter smells of Madam Pomfrey's mysterious potions, he hated the insincere cards people sent him, and but most of all he hated that it served as a constant reminder that he wasn't normal…that he was diseased.

The people in the village were buzzing about how the ghosts of the Shrieking Shack seemed to be particularly violent lately. They didn't know that the horrible screams coming from the decrepit building were being made by a living being. This month had been made particularly difficult by his tumultuous emotions.

It's her fault, he thought angrily. How could she have been so cruel? But a small voice in the back of his head protested. She would never have done anything to purposely hurt you, it said. Plus, you always knew she was more James' than yours.

He closed his eyes and pictured her. That distinctive dark red hair…the green, almond-shaped eyes…he sighed.

"Remus?" said a voice he knew all too well. His eyes flew open, and there she was. He awkwardly struggled to sit up in bed, his heart pounding.

There was an awkward silence for a moment as Lily stared at him and he stared back.

"You look terrible," she blurted out after a moment. Her eyes widened with horror as she realized what she had just said.

"I mean, you must be really ill…" Remus shook his head.

"I'm all right. Just had a…difficult time this month." Lily could feel her eyes filling with tears. Go away, she willed them.

"Look, Remus. I've been thinking about what's happened the past couple of weeks…and I've realized how stupid I've been." She paused for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"I…I think you're a great guy Remus. You're kind, you're genuine, you're a great listener, and you're handsome too. Any girl would be lucky to have you." She had no idea what she was saying, but she found that it was now impossible to look at him.

"You're the kind of person who always listens to other people complain even when your problems are ten times worse than theirs. You go out of your way to make other people happy. But where does that leave you? I want you to be happy, Remus. But I can't…I can't make you happy." She summoned every bit of strength she had left and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Remus was silent for a moment.

"You don't have to be," he said softly. "I'm glad you came."

"I was worried about you," she said, smiling. "Just because I ditched you for your best friend doesn't mean that I don't care about you."

For the first time in days, Remus smiled.

James' words had left Sirius thinking. Obviously the traditional "Will you go out with me?" was not working with Scarlett. He'd gone over every other strategy he'd ever used to get a girl in his head, but somehow, none of them seemed like something Scarlett would go for. She certainly wasn't the sort of girl who would react well to finding his hand up her skirt. He rubbed his nose gingerly, not relishing the idea of Scarlett permanently damaging it.

"I have to prove that my feelings are more than just wanting to feel her up," he said to himself, repeating James' advice. "Well, how the hell am I supposed to do that?"

He twirled his quill pensively. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know much about Scarlett, except that she was pretty, brilliant at Quidditch, and completely immune to his charms.

"Lily!" he exclaimed. "I'll ask Lily what I should do!"

"Talking to yourself is definitely not healthy, Padfoot," said Peter as he entered their dormitory.

Sirius threw a book at him.

Lily was frantically trying to edit her Transfiguration essay and eat breakfast at the same time.

"No…that's not right!" she muttered to herself, scratching out a few lines of text with her quill.

"Oh, Merlin…" She'd spilled her tea all over her books. She quickly performed a Drought Charm to dry them out, but promptly stuck her sleeve in the syrup lake on her plate.

"Dammit!" she muttered, cleaning the syrup off with a flick of her wand.

"Morning, Evans." Sirius Black was towering over her, with a determined expression on his face. He plopped down onto the bench next to her and scanned the Gryffindor table.

"Where's Scarlett?" he asked.

"Probably avoiding you," Lily snapped.

"Who spat in your pumpkin juice?" Sirius said defensively.

"Look, Black. I'm fifteen minutes into my day and I can already tell it's not going to go well."

"Oh…well, in that case I'll leave you to mope alone," he said, stand up to leave.

"Wait!" she said much louder than she meant to. "What did you want?"

Sirius slid back down onto the bench.

"Well, erm…it's about Scarlett," he started.

"Why am I not surprised," Lily said dryly.

"Erm…what does she…er…like?" Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Well, not you, to start." Sirius looked like he was trying very hard not to strangle her.

"Scarlett isn't a big fan of all that stupid romantic stuff, either. So no flowers or anything." Sirius groaned.

"Does she like anything?" he asked desperately.

"She likes Quidditch. And the color green. Oh, and she loves anything to do with chocolate," Lily continued. She glanced at her watch. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to finish this essay of McGonagall will dismember me."

She watched Sirius retreat with an amused smile on her face. He truly was hopeless.

There! I hope that will tide you over until I can find where I left the plot and get all the rust out of my writing skills.

And don't forget to REVIEW!