A/N: So I squeezed in one last chapter before midterms...Enjoy!

Lily nervously approached the group she had spent the last six years avoiding. Had James told them about their arrangement? Did they even want her there? Or would they shun her too? They were clustered around the desks in the back of Transfiguration.

"Hey," she said, sitting at one of the desks.

They all said some form of "hi," but only James smiled. Trying not to think about it, she made a great show of pulling out her books. Someone slid in next to her. "Don't worry about them," he said, "they're not morning people."

She tried to smile at the joke, but she thought it felt more like a grimace. How had she gotten into this mess? What had she been thinking of?

A loud slam to her right made her jump. Sirius had dropped his books onto the desk next to theirs. "Welcome to the club," he said. "You need a nickname though. Anyone have any ideas?"

Remus sat down behind Lily and James, but avoided her gaze. Peter sat down next to him. "How about a squirrel?"

"A squirrel?" Sirius looked at him like he was crazy.

"Hey, I'm the only small one, I thought we could even the numbers."

"No, it has to be something clever," said James. "What's your Patronus? Since you don't turn into an animal every day."

"Um…a fox," she said, wondering what they'd come up with.

"There, that's kind of small," Sirius told Peter. "Vixen?" he suggested with a smirk.

"Hey!" she protested over their laughter. "I don't want to be called a vixen!"

"That's what a female fox is. You got anything better?"

"Good morning, class," said Professor McGonagall. "Take out your wands. Today we will be turning objects into animals." She began to hand out various items.

"But –" Lily started.

"Come on, Vixen, take out your wand," Sirius ordered her. The others snickered, including James.

"Oh who's side are you on?" she asked him, but couldn't help smiling herself. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

After classes, they wandered outside and headed for the lake. Lily noticed that Remus was hanging back. He hadn't joined in many of the conversations between classes, and especially didn't want to talk to her. Was he sore that she was joining the group?

She dropped back until they were walking next to each other. "You okay?" she asked.

He seemed startled by her presence. "Yeah. Why?"

"I just think that you haven't been yourself lately." She paused when he flinched. "You want to talk about it?"

Remus shook his head. She bit her lip, but knew she couldn't force him to talk. "Well, I'm always here to help, you know," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder for a second.

His head snapped up in surprise. "You –" he started. She tilted her head, waiting for him to continue. "You're not – afraid of me, you don't – hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?" she asked kindly.

"Because I'm…I'm a…" he choked on the words.

She laughed, half sadly and half in relief. "Is that what this is about? You're still the same old Remus. You just have a…problem that you have to deal with once a month, which is similar to girls, I guess," she realized.

Now he laughed, hesitantly, nervously. "Yeah, I guess."

"Come on," she said, and pulled him back to the rest of the group as they settled under their usual tree.

They spent the rest of the afternoon under the tree, telling jokes and stories. As the hours passed, she began to relax, eventually leaning slightly against James. She felt like a real part of the group, even though she still didn't like her nickname.

When it was time for dinner, they headed back inside. As they entered the Great Hall, Lily spotted her friends. They noticed her too, and she could tell from their expressions that they couldn't believe what they were seeing. "I'll be right there," she told James and the others. James seemed reluctant to leave her, but Sirius pushed him toward the far end of the Gryffindor table.

She walked up to her friends, who were positively glaring at her. "Heard some rumors," one of them said. "Looks like they're true after all."

"Do you have a problem with that?" she asked.

"Potter's the plague of the school," another one said. "You really think you're good enough for him?"

Lily bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"Why are you doing this?" the first one asked. "To make us jealous?" She laughed. "Not even you would stoop that low."

Lily turned on her heel and tore down the aisle. James jumped up to meet her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. She could tell he was surprised (who wouldn't be?) but he recovered fairly quickly, kissing her back with even more intensity.

Just as she was beginning to enjoy this kiss, he pulled away. She thought she saw a trace of hurt in his eyes, but it was so fast she must have imagined it. She took the opportunity to twist around and smile mockingly to her friends. Then she noticed that nearly everyone in the Great Hall was staring at her and James.

Embarrassed, she smiled and sat down at the table, but refused to look any of the others in the eye. Although the rest of the Great Hall was breaking out into conversation again, their section of the table remained silent for several more awkward minutes.

Sirius finally put into words what they were all thinking: "Wow."

A/N: Oh, if anyone has a good permanent nickname for Lily, now is the time to suggest it! If no one comes up with anything, I'll have to think of something, and it will be horrible. Have a good weekend!