Previously on Amber Sheets:

Remus' face turned serious and he pulled her tightly to him. "Tonks?"

"Yeah?" She asked sleepily.

"Thank you."

Tonks closed her eyes, "Mmmhmm." She murmured, falling into a gentle sleep.

Kissing the top of her head Remus made himself comfortable, deciding that the decisions he made and their consequences could wait. For now, he had Tonks in his arms, and that was all that mattered.

Chapter Six

Shift in the Tides

The Great Hall was bustling with students running towards their tables for a quick bite before their classes began. The noise that surrounded Remus fell upon deaf ears as he couldn't take his eyes off his best friends. It was barely a comfort to him that they seemed just as miserable as he did, and though he pretended not to, he could see Sirius and Peter sneaking sad looks his way.

The news that Remus had gotten kicked from the Marauder's was still a shock to everyone in the castle, even the teachers were having a hard time believing it. "Wotcher, Remus." Remus' eyes flashed up and he was met with the smiling face of Tonks. Giving her a small smile he motioned for her to sit. Noticing that Remus had his eyes on the other Marauder's, she took care not to sit where it would block his view. Piling sausage and toast onto her plate she looked towards the three boys thoughtfully. "You know, you could just go talk to them. Peter and Sirius look so sad to not have you there."

Despite the fact that his heart jumped happily at her words, Remus scoffed and rolled his eyes towards her. "Please, they are sad because they have no one to copy their Potions homework from."

Tonks pursed her lips, and shook her head thoughtfully. "No, no that is definitely not it, Remus."

Turning to look at her, Remus placed a hand under his chin and raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because you suck at potions."

Remus nodded in agreement, and sighed, "true." He considered her words for a moment, then his eyes opened in realization, "oh shite!" Remus winced as his cursing had caused the attention of his former friends, all at whom were looking at him curiously.

"What?" Tonks asked amusedly, before stuffing a sausage in her mouth.

Turning red, Remus slid down a bit in his seat, "now I have no one to copy my Potions homework from."

Tonks smiled softly, "you used to copy off of them? And here I thought it was you they always copied off of."

Taking a bite of toast Remus considered her question carefully. "Well, in the group we all have, had our strengths." He began, thinking through the past six years. "Peter, for example, is excellent in Herbology. James, is great in Potions, and Transfiguration. Sirius, he kicks butt in Charms, is also great in Potions. We are all excellent in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Tonks nodded, "what is your strength?"

"Sex."

"I said your strength, not Sirius'."

Remus rolled his eyes, giving her a snort of derision. "Defense Against the Dark Arts is my strongest suit, though, if I am to be completely honest, I have a strong understanding in all of the other subjects as well."

"Just not Potions," Tonks pointed out.

Remus shook his head, "well. What do we really need Potions for anyway?"

"Well... there is healing wounds, curing diseases, great for disguises, cures fatigue, allows for dreamless sleep, as well as many other things."

"Psh, well see? It doesn't do that much."

Tonks smiled at him affectionately, "you're so cute when you try to deny the use of things."

Smirking at her, Remus winked. "I know." Tonks' eyebrows scrunched together and she laughed, not quite believing how conceited he could sound at times. Standing, Remus offered his hand to Tonks. Taking her bag and flinging it over his shoulder he nodded his head towards the door. "We best be getting to Transfiguration before we are late and McGonagall has a cow." Tonks stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "What?"

"You stole my bag again."

Remus rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, "so?"

"You have your own, give it back."

"No."

"Remus!"

"Yes, Love?" Remus winked at her and began moving towards the door, "c'mon. I missed two classes, I don't want to miss anymore."

Tonks stopped arguing and her eyes widened, "oh, pickles."

"Oh, pickles?" Remus turned towards her, "Nympha. You shouldn't say, 'oh, Pickles' unless something happened."

"Heh," Tonks moved her right hand as if she was using it to pull the words from her mouth, "heh."

"Why are you hehing?"

Tonks shook her head, short breaths came from her nose, and she chuckled weakly. "No reason." Tonks grabbed his sleeve, and pulled him towards the doors of the Great Hall. "We will be late to class." Tonks inwardly cursed herself, she'd completely forgot to mention to Remus that it was Hogwarts Sex Education Week, and if he messed up, it would put a hold on his graduation. Tonks winced, as she stopped in front of the classroom. Remus was behind her panting softly, having had to run to keep up with her fast paced race down the hall.

"What was that about?" Remus gasped, leaning his hands on his knees for support.

Voices could be heard from around the corner, talking about the Sex Education class they would be in for the week, and Tonks panicking, grabbed his collar and pressed her lips to his. Remus froze, shocked at the sudden warmth of her lips against his. After the initial shock wore off, Remus sunk into the kiss, and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling Tonks closer to him.

"You know I... whoa." Sirius, who had just turned the corner, stopped and stared at the two in shock. Peter, who was standing next to Sirius, could hardly believe his eyes, and was pulling viciously on Sirius' sleeve. "Yeah, Pete. I see it, but I don't believe it."

"Get a room Lupin," James snapped towards the couple that had just broken apart breathlessly. "Or I might just give you detention for improper behavior."

Remus narrowed his eyes, and sneered. "What's wrong, Potter? Jealous that I can get a girl, and you can't? Don't worry, if it makes you feel any better, I saw Lily and Severus during lunch today, they looked quite, what's the word? Ah, yes, comfortable with each other."

"Remus, James, c'mon now. There's no need to fight," Sirius murmured, pulling Tonks towards Peter and getting in between the two.

"He started it," Remus said softly. His eyes flashed red, and it took all of James' power, not to back down. Sirius bit his lip, knowing that if this went on any further, there could be big trouble on their hands.

"Well I am finishing it," Sirius said firmly. Squeezing Remus' hand as reassurance, he pushed James towards the door of the classroom, motioning for Peter to go in. "Broer, go and get a seat. I'll bring Remus in soon. Just want to speak with him for a moment." Tonks nodded, following Peter and a fuming James into the classroom.

Sirius waited for the reassuring click of the mahogany door closing, before he leaned against it and looked down at Remus. "Are you ok?" He asked concernedly, his eyes watching Remus for any signs that the wolf may be up on the surface.

Taking a shuttering breath, Remus nodded. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to James."

Sirius shook his head, his thumbs hooked to the belt hoops of his jeans and his foot jiggled as he spoke. "Probably not," he agreed. "But he also had no right to threaten detention when you were doing nothing wrong."

Remus looked down ashamed, and missed the slightly perverted look that had crossed Sirius' face. "So, how far have you two gotten?"

"Sirius!" Remus chastised, his face turning a lovely tomato red. "That is not an appropriate thing to ask!" looking around, Remus noted that there was no one present, but he leaned closer to Sirius to make sure he wasn't heard, "and we have only kissed. This is our second time... and we were interrupted again."

"Again? You mean James did this before? Where the hell was I? Geez I always miss the good stuff!" Sirius pouted like a child and crossed his arms.

"Dude, you usually are the one involved in all the good stuff!" Sirius grinned, sort of feeling proud of himself. "And no. The first time we were on her bed-"

"Oo lala!"

"Shut it, Sirius!" Trying to hold back the smile that was threatening to cross his face, Remus continued his little story. "The first time, we were on her bed and a bloody owl tapped on the window with a message for her."

"Really, what did it say?" Sirius asked curiously, his eyebrows raised.

"I don't know. She just threw it on her desk, didn't even read it."

"Heh," Sirius shrugged, the late bell rang and both boys looked sad to leave each others company. "Listen, Remus?"

"Yeah, Sirius?"

"D-don't be a stranger, OK? I saw you at breakfast and you looked sad. I hate it when one of you looks sad, and know that, I am working on James, just, it would be so easier if I knew why you did it."

There was a knock and Peter stuck his head out, "McGonagall is going to have a fit if you don't get in right now. She's starting the lecture."

"Kay, Pete. We shall be right in." Remus said, smiling softly at him before turning back to Sirius. "Tonight, midnight, the Owlry."

Sirius winked, and threw his arms around Remus' neck, "oh Remus! You are so forward!"

Remus laughed and pulled away from him, "so we can talk about the Thing!" He couldn't help but snort at Sirius' playful pout.

"But, I am too sexy for my shirt!" Sirius protested playfully.

Remus wrinkled his nose, "sorry Sirius. You just aren't sexy enough for me."

Sirius laughed and placed an arm over Remus' shoulder, "let's go before Minnie Dear has a fit."

Remus grinned, "aye. Wouldn't want that now, would we?"

The two friends laughed, slightly manically, and entered the classroom, as if they hadn't a care in the entire world.

o0o

McGonagall walked down the steps from her office into her classroom where the class, except for Remus and Sirius were sitting, talking to their friends in hushed voices. "Class pipe down! I said, pipe down! We must get this over before the class ends."

McGonagall scanned the room and noticed to vacant seats, "where are Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin?" She asked the question almost wearily, as if afraid to hear the answer.

"Outside, Professor. Remus and James had a bit of a spat, and Sirius wanted to talk to Remus alone." Tonks said, from her seat next to Lily, who, up until that point, was reading over Tonks' Transfiguration essay.

Lily leaned towards Tonks, "what over?"

Tonks raised her eyebrows, and shook her head. "You and Snape, of course."

Lily gritted her teeth, "oh." Lily looked down at Tonks' essay again, scribbling out a sentence and replacing it.

Tonks looked down at her essay pitiably, "my poor essay. It's all, scribbled on."

Lily looked at Tonks apologetically, "you made a lot of mistakes. Should probably look it over once it is written you know. Would have caught more than half of these mistakes."

Tonks shrugged, "could've, should've, would've, won't."

"Girls, if you are about through?" McGonagall asked from the front, "I would like to begin."

"Sorry, Professor." Lily and Tonks said in unison. Turning to her left, Tonks noticed that Remus and Sirius had entered the room, and were sitting at the one empty table, which was (of course) surrounded by Slytherin's.

McGonagall cleared her throat and began her lecture. "As I am sure you are all aware, the Ministry has mandated a Sex Education course, for fifth years and up, starting this year."

Remus' eyebrows shot up and he glanced at Tonks' who gave him an apologetic look. "Ah, so that was what she was so nervous about." Remus smiled towards her and moved his shoulder up, to show her that it didn't matter, and all was forgiven.

James let out a moan and whispered, "yes, Sirius! Oh yes, do it. Again!" This had caused the class to erupt into hysterical laughter, even Lily couldn't help but crack a smile at Sirius, who was dancing in his seat, pretending to strip off his clothes.

"Black, Potter, I shall be seeing you tonight at 7 O'clock for detention." She said it, but the look on McGonagall's face showed that, even she, had found it at least sightly amusing. "As I was saying, we are having a sex ed/parenting course for years five to seven. You are going to be receiving the requirements for the parenting skills project in this class, while the sex ed course will be covered by Professor Slughorn , who insists that he knows more about... intercourse," she said the word with extreme difficulty, "Than I. And is convinced that he can convince you that it is not just about pleasure, it also requires a lot of responsibility." McGonagall shook her head, and muttered to herself. "Though in my opinion, that theory is about as insane as letting Sirius Black run the course."

Tapping her wand to her desk harder than she needed, the sound of a baby crying rang through the room, causing the students to slam their hands over their ears, as if mandrakes had begun to cry, and they didn't have their earmuffs on. Suddenly, something resembling a skinned chicken appeared in her hand. "This is the baby you will be taking care of for the next week." The glass collectively groaned, some unable to get the look of horror off their face. Ignoring the class, she continued. "You will be working in groups of six to eight people, and no I shall not be taking any requests. It is for one week, you will live. Now, when I read your name you are to sit with your partner's, so please, stand in the back until you name is called."

The class moaned, but grabbed their books and made their way towards the back. Sirius walked towards where James and Peter were standing, but at James' glare, Remus decided he would stand beside Tonks and Lily. Both the girls gave him a hug, and he just shrugged towards Sirius, who looked slightly taken aback.

"Rufus Fudge, Amelia Bones, Alecto Carrow, Narcissa Black, Tiberious Odgen and Molly Prewett." Amelia and Molly laughed, sitting beside each other in the front of the room, happy to have someone they knew, not to mention liked, in the same group. Narcissa looked as if she swallowed a bug when Rufus sat beside her, but that was to be expected, she was such a snob! Alecto and Tiberious, seemed, neutral of the whole thing and sat beside each other. Alecto pulled out a piece of parchment and began making a hangman game for him and Tiberious to pass the time with.

McGonagall, silently glad that the first group didn't seem to have any objections, continued to call groups. "Amycus Carrow, Rosalie Clearwater, Amos Diggory, Mary McDonald, Anthony Thomas, and Evan Rosier." Pausing at the sound of chairs scraping the wooden floors, she waited for them to settle before continuing.

"Daisy Hookum, Bertram Abrey, Galvin Gudgeon, Su Li, Emmeline Vanee, Shawn Fawcett, Bilius Weasley and Dorcas Meadowes."

Remus gulped when he counted the remaining eight people, "the remaining group shall consist of, Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon, -" Sirius cheered, as Marlene slammed her head repeatedly against the wall, seemingly cursing the day she was born.

Remus grinned at Sirius, "way to go!" He mouthed, throwing Sirius a thumbs up. Sirius winked back towards him, causing Remus to snort and shake his eyes at his friend. He smiled inwardly to himself, maybe there was still a way to be friends with the other two. James shot Remus a filthy look, causing Remus to sigh inwardly, then again, maybe not.

"James Potter, Remus Lupin," McGonagall's back hit her desk and a hand flew to her heart at the two boys that began yelling at her simultaneously.

"Professor, I must protest!" Remus began, flinging his hand towards James. "I can't work with him!"

"Shut up, Lupin!" James snarled, "you would be lucky to work with me! You on the other hand, Professor, I can't work with this home-wrecker!"

"Home-wrecker? Really, Potter, I hardly qualify as a home wrecker!"

James glared towards Remus, "fine then! Plan wrecker."

Remus nodded, "ok, I accept that." Shaking his head towards James, he nodded at the boy. "I can't work with this idiot. I request a change."

McGonagall placed her hand on her forehead, "I wasn't finished."

The boys looked at each other, scoffed then sit down. "Oh, sorry then, Professor." The two boys muttered in unison.

"James Potter, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, and Brooke-Lynn Broer. You will be all working in a group together." That, if anything, seemed to make the two boys yell and fight each other even harder.

"But, Professor. Surely this isn't fair I mean, we are all friends in this group, well most of us anyway," Lily Evans said, shooting worried looks towards the two boys glaring angrily at each other, as they had exhausted every curse and name they could think of to throw at the other. "Most of the other groups all have people that barely know each other. Also, I am afraid they may kill each other before the week is up."

"Which is precisely why you are all in a group together, to stop that from happening. Now, depending on whether you have six or eight people in your group, three or four need to be chosen as the ones to be pregnant. This part you may decide within your groups, I need ten people to be 'pregnant' by the end of next class." The class began to bicker amongst themselves, girls outright refusing to carry the thing, and boys saying it was inhuman for them to carry it, where would it come out from?

"Quiet!" McGonagall snapped, annoyed by the constant interruptions. "Now, whoever is made 'pregnant' will have an enchantment put on them, and to answer your questions, yes the enchantment may be placed on boys, and no boys, you don't have to worry about it coming out, there is a spell for that.

"As I was saying, the enchantment that I will be using is the Rendez Enceinte. It is a really simple spell that will give you the symptoms of being pregnant. Which reminds me, if you drink a potion or put a spell on yourself that takes away the symptoms, you and your partner's will fail. This is meant to be done, muggle way." Almost simultaneously, the class started moaning and shaking their heads. Unable to believe that that they were being forced to do this The Muggle way! "You can refuse." said McGonagall, her arms crossing in front of her chest, smiling as cheers went up through the class like wildfire. "But, you will not graduate and will have to do this project all over again." The class went quiet, scowling at her.

The bell signaling the end of class sounded, and slowly the groups stood up and began packing up their things. " Before you go," McGonagall yelled through the noise, "You're homework for tonight is to write home, telling your parents about the pregnancy. When you receive their responses I want you to meet up with your groups and write a two foot long paper, on the reactions of everyone's parents in the group, and your responses. You may want to tell them it's a project for school first... oh forget it." McGonagall sat down at her desk wearily, noticing that the Marauder's and their group were still seated, watching as James and Remus bickered.

"I am getting sick and tired of this, James!" Remus snapped, his hands slamming onto the wooden desk in front of him. I mean really, c'mon. At first I thought it was a bit cute, you know, you being jealous, but now, it is just pissing me off."

"You ruined my life, Lupin!"

Remus threw his hands into the air, "how? James, for fuck sake's look at them, do they look like they are together?" Remus pointed towards Snape and Lily, who were sitting on opposite sides of the table from each other. "No, they do not, hence I did shite! You are only blaming me because you can't handle the fact that maybe Lily doesn't want you. Honestly, the way you have been acting, I can't blame her."

"Remus!" Lily chastised, slapping him on the arm, "that isn't right of you to say!"

Feeling a sudden urge to slap Lily, Remus grabbed his bag and stormed from the room, leaving an angry James, a red-faced Lily, and the rest utterly lost and confused. Sirius stood up from his seat, and after giving Peter instructions to keep an eye on James, he left the room in search of Remus.

o0o

Dear Diary,

It has proven harder than I had initially thought, trying to be friends again with Severus. But I must make an effort, for Remus' sake. I seem to have hit a problem, though. He's a bit suspicious of me, as if he knows I am only doing this for Remus, that can't be possible... can it? I mean, it's not as if he's a mind reader or anything.

Also things took a turn for the weird today. I had such a wonderful talk with Potter he... wasn't a pig. In fact he was sad, and I seriously don't get it Diary. I felt the need to hug him, hold him, make his troubles all go away. This confuses me, I have never felt that need towards Potter before. I am confused as to what it means? Maybe I should just start from the beginning...

James slammed open the door to the Head's Quarters after screaming the password to a, now extremely frightened, portrait. He began throwing anything he could get his hands on, feeling the need to destroy anything he could find to release his anger. James was about to throw an extremely old vase when Lily entered the Quarters, shocked at the state it was in. "Potter!" Lily stormed up to him and grabbed the vase from his hands, and placing it back on the table.

James looked at her dazed for a moment, as if not able to compute her being there. "Evans? What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here, what are you doing here?" Lily's placed her hands and glared at James, "you are never in here. Thought I had the quarters all to myself this year."

"It's mine too, you know." James said defiantly, as he plopped down on the scarlet couch in their common room.

"Yes but, you never even stepped foot in here. So excuse me if I thought otherwise." Lily sat on the other end of the couch, and pulled her legs up onto the cushions. Her socked feet hung mere inches from James' thigh, and when he stayed quiet for, to her, felt like a century, her socked feet nudged him in order to get his attention. "Hey."

James looked at her socked foot that had poked her, and traveled his eyes to her face. "Hey?"

"Why did you kick Remus out of the Marauder's?"

James looked away from her, his eyes plastered on the ivory wall with gold rimmed picture frames scattered upon it. "He betrayed my friendship, my trust. He betrayed the Marauder's."

Lily sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. She watched him for a moment, "he had a good reason you know. That is why I am helping him, but Potter, if it will break you guys up, I can't, I won't do it."

James ran his hand through his hair, suddenly feeling frustrated. "What could possibly be so damned important that he keeps it from us! We know about his furry little problem, what could be worse than that!"

Lily merely shrugged, "he will tell you on his own time, Potter."

James pulled his knees to his chest and looked miserably towards her, "he said he loves me. That I was a brother to him, that it killed him to hurt me like this."

Lily bit her lip at the pain that shown on James' face, and fought the urge to hug him. "He was telling the truth, he loves you, Potter. He loves all of you."

"We love him too," James whispered. He hide his face in his knees, and Lily felt her heart wretch at the sight of his shoulders moving up and down in time with his sobs. "I don't want this to break us up, we have been through so much together, too much to ignore."

"So don't let it," Lily said softly. Her hand inched towards his head, and it stopped hesitantly, before she gently ran it over his head in a soothing motion. "Don't let something like this break you guys up."

"Lily, you went to see Remus after the full moon. How was he, was he all right?" Lily could hear the pain in his voice, the guilt that was ridden deep into the soul of it.

Lily winced, "I rather not say."

James' face shot up from his knees, a look of horror crossing his face. "Was it that bad.. I mean was..."

Lily looked apologetic towards him, "he is in bad shape. Was in bad shape I should say he is OK now obviously, you were fighting in class."

"Yeah, I noticed that he had a new scratch on his face, it looked bad."

She nodded, "Madam Pomphry, she couldn't do anything for it. He will have the scar for the rest of his life," at James' look of sheer guilt, she quickly added. "But, that happens all the time right?"

James shook his head, "not since we have been there for him. Never since fifth year have we missed a full moon, we should have gone. I was being such a selfish bastard! Remus, he could have gotten killed, but all I cared about was that he was keeping something from us. He's lucky to have gotten out with just a scar."

Lily studied James from a moment, contemplating what he had said. "Potter, what did you mean by when you said you should have been there, that you never missed a full moon since fifth year?"

"Sharp as a tack aren't you?" James muttered to himself, angry at the slip up.

"Potter, I know you guys are close. Amazingly close, in fact so close, half the school is under the impression you are all dating each other."

James shot her a look of confusion, "say what?"

Lily waved that off, "never mind that. Surely you aren't telling me you are all werewolves now, that Remus turned you?"

James crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I seriously don't know what scares me more. The fact that you say it so calmly, or the fact that you actually think Remus would bite us willingly."

"Well I am a very accepting person, and then what on earth did you mean by that comment?"

James sighed, he knew there was no way he could keep something a secret from her, he just loved her way too much for that. "You have to promise not to tell anyone, Evans. By anyone I mean anyone, not even Remus, Peter or Sirius."

Lily sat up in her seat, and folded her hands in her lap. "Ok, deal."

James took a deep breath and closed his eyes, hoping that he wasn't making a huge mistake. "Peter, Sirius and I are Illegal animagi. Every time there is a full moon we wait for, Remus to transform, then we turn into our animal counterparts, and stay with him the entire night."

Lily's face was blank, and her eyes scoured his face hungrily for any signs that he was joking, there were none. And then,Lily laughed. At first it was a small snort, then a chuckle, and then it turned into full bellied laughter. "Ah, Potter. You really had me going there for a moment. I mean even you guys wouldn't do something that reckless... right." Her face sombered immediately when she saw that his face seemed guarded, and slightly regretful. "Right, Potter?"

James sighed and merely stood up from his place on the couch, "wait. Where are you going?" Lily asked, reaching a hand towards him to keep James from leaving.

James shed his shirt and stood in front of her. "Just watch," he whispered.

Lily at Indian style on the couch and watched him curiously. She stayed quiet for a few moments, and when nothing happened, she cocked her head to the side. "You have a beautiful body, Potter, but I don't se-" Lily gasped and she stood up, her hands over her mouth in awe. "Potter! You, You're... a Deer!"

James transformed back, and gave her a mock glare. "I am not a deer, I am a stag!"

Lily shook her head, "no. I am pretty sure that you are a deer."

"I AM A STAG!" James shouted, his hands balled into fists, and his face turned red.

Lily pressed her lips tight together, trying to stop from hysterical laughing in his face. "Fine, you are a stag."

Lily turned her back and snickered, "deer."

"STAG!" Lily smiled, and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Plopping back down onto the couch, she patted the seat beside her, "come. I want to hear more."

James pouted at her, and folded his arms. "Stag." He said, sticking out his tongue at her. "And what else would you like to know?"

Leaning comfortably back into the cushions, Lily looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "What are the others?"

James leaned back with her, moving slightly closer, hoping she wouldn't move away from him. "Well, like in real life, Peter is the smallest one, a rat. He is the one that touches the trunk of the Whomping Willow for us, and Sirius is a big black puppy dog."

Lily's hands clapped together, "oh I always wanted a puppy! Can I play with him one day... in dog form I mean?"

James shrugged, "I'll ask him. Probably though, he loved chasing those tennis balls Remus kept throwing at him in the summer."

"Aw how cute, he spent some of the summer as a dog?"

James shook his head, "nope."

"Then why was he chasing the balls?"

James shrugged, "we still don't know. I mean it is not like since Peter and I turned that we have any different qualities."

A comfortable silence fell over them, and they stood that way for a long time, just thoughts in their own private little worlds. It was around two in the morning when Lily finally stood and stretched, her arms reaching towards the ceiling. "It's getting late, we best be getting to bed."

Glancing at the magic watch on his wrist, James' eyes widened when he saw the time. "We missed dinner, and night watch!"

"Oops," Lily murmured. She tangled her fingers together behind her back, and she laughed softly, her hair falling softly around her face as she shook. "I best be getting to bed, I'll catch you later, James."

James put his hand up to stop her, but pulled it back before he called her name. He finally had a good talk with Lily after seven years, he wouldn't ruin it by saying anymore. Not at that moment at any rate. "Night, sleep well, Lily."

"Sweet dreams... James."

o0o

Lily woke up early the next morning, and although she had barely five hours of rest, she felt oddly rejuvenated, hyper even. It was then that she decided it was time to make her move on Snape. She was in a good mood, and nothing could make her lose it, so it was the best time in her opinion.

Quickly, she dressed in her uniform and robes. Throwing on her shoes, and grabbing her bag that laid beside the door, she rushed out, hoping she would be able to find him before most of the castle made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Quickly she rushed though the dusty corridors, practically jumping down the stairs towards the dungeons. When she finally made it down there, most of the Slytherin's were beginning to make their way towards the Hall and she was worried that she missed him. In a corner of the hall, by himself stood Sirius' brother Regulus, whom she was quite good friends with. He wasn't a bad child, just a bit impressionable.

Smiling Lily slid up beside Regulus, and bumped him with her hip. Regulus looked up at her and grinned, picking up the book that had fallen from his hands during the impact. "Well if it isn't, Lily! What are you doing down here, in the cold, dark, hell that is the Slytherin dungeons?"

"I was actually looking for Severus, have you any idea where he is?"

Regulus nodded, and leaned his head towards Lily and Severus' old sanctuary. "He should be in his room that no one is supposed to know about, but do anyway."

"That is still here?" Lily asked in surprise. She had been under the impression that he would have destroyed it when their friendship went under.

"Yep. He doesn't spend anytime in the common room anymore, he sleeps in there and everything."

"Wow." Lily thought for a moment, "have you spoken to Sirius lately?"

Regulus grinned happily, "yep! Met him in the owlrey last night. He told me about the letter he has to send to Mum and Dad. If he wasn't already disowned, that letter he is sending would have done the trick."

Lily grimaced, she had forgotten all about the letter. Regulus turned towards the voices that were calling his name, and he wrinkled his nose. "I apparently have to go."

Lily nodded towards the sanctuary, "yeah. I should be going as well. Talk to you tonight at the Prefect meeting?"

Regulus winked in a way that could rival even his brother, and walked towards his friends. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

Lily, and walked towards the sanctuary that used to belong to Snape and her both. "Hope." The door opened, and Lily walked in. Her eyes scanned the sanctuary that had once belonged to her as well. It looked different, more empty, even though the same cushy chairs, books and furniture were the same as she remembered. "Severus? Severus are you here?"

Lily walked deeper into the room, placing her bag the couch as she walked around the room. "Sev-"

A hand appeared on her shoulder and she whipped around, "Severus, you frightened me!" She chastised him, and he put his hand on her cheek. His eyes were unfocused as if he couldn't believe she was really there."

Snape gulped, and pulled his hand away. Lily was about to open her mouth to speak when suddenly she was enveloped in a strong, and undeniably warm hug. Lily froze, not expecting the intrusion into her personal space, but then placed her arms around his waist and hugged him just as fiercely. "I missed you so much," Snape whispered.

Lily had to bite her lip to keep tears from coming out of her eyes. She hadn't expected to cry, she expected to feel anger if she were to be completely honest, what she didn't expect was to be returning his hug, and feeling somewhat relieved to have him hugging her again. Snape pulled away and placed his hands on her shoulders. "What are you doing here, Lily?"

"I.." Lily hesitated, not having thought out her plan completely through. Deciding that sticking to the truth as much as possible was key, Lily gave him a small shy smile. "I just missed you, Severus. Missed being your friend, and I was thinking it over. At the time I was very upset with what you said but then I realized, had the situation been reversed, I would have reacted the same way." Lily smiled, smugly. "Maybe even worse."

"And you just came to this epiphany all of a sudden did you?"

Lily shook her head and sat on the plush green arm of the couch on the right side of the room. "It has been bothering me for a while now actually, Severus. It's just, this is our last year you know? And while it has barely started, in a mere eight weeks, the year will be half over. I don't want to leave Hogwarts without you, Severus. We started together as friends, and that is the way we should end our career here."

"You're right." Lily felt her heart sink at the gentle smile that began to form on Snape's lips. What she was doing wasn't right, it wasn't fair to lead him on like this. It took all of Lily's strength to smile back at him, and soon after she found herself subjected to one of his hugs. The worst part of it all? She couldn't help but close her eyes, and pretend that it was James that was hugging her.

To Be Continued...

Next time on Amber Sheets:

While Lily and Snape fall back into their old routines, James and Lily get themselves in a predicament that they can't get out of. And something tells me they don't want to.

Sirius reads Remus' journal and finds out that Snape is manipulating Remus so he could get Lily, and decides the best course of action is to tell James. They decide to show Snape that no one messes with the Marauder's, the problem? Their revenge may break Lily and James' fragile relationship to pieces, causing James to truly lose the one thing he has wanted all along.

Remus decides to tell Tonks he is a werewolf, and come clean about what was really going on. Meanwhile Tonks' has a bit of a surprise for him herself, one that could possibly get the Marauder's back together, and Remus what he needs during the full moons.

Meanwhile, Peter and Dorcas sneak out of Hogwarts for a date at Hogsmade, and their fun date turns into a disaster that has all of Hogwarts looking for them, and everyone fearing for their very lives.