Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 18: Cheaters

"That was great, Lil," said Ylan, putting down her guitar. They were backstage now, packing away their instruments and getting ready to leave.

"Thanks," said Lily quietly. She was leaning against the wall, waiting for her friends to finish.

"No, really," said Andrea. "You should become a rock star or something."

Lily didn't say anything as the others chuckled.

Jenna soon joined her at the wall (she played the drums and, therefore, didn't have to pack anything).

"What's wrong, Lily?" she asked.

Lily shook her head.

"I know it's not nothing," said Jenna. Ylan was kneeling on the floor, closing the guitar case. Andrea slung hers over her shoulder and came over.

"Yeah," she said. "You've been really quiet since right before the song. What happened?"

"Nothing," said Lily. "Just leave it alone."

"No," said Jenna firmly. "Something's wrong, and we're going to find out what it is."

"Yeah," said Ylan, finally finishing.

Lily sighed.

"Okay, fine. I was going back to the common room and I saw…I saw Ricky with Gina."

"He cheated on you?" Ylan said her voice rising.

Lily nodded.

"That lying son of a bitch!" Jenna said. "Ooh, he's going to pay."

"No, you guys, please, don't make a big deal out of this. Its okay, I don't care. I guess Potter and Black were right." Suddenly Lily groaned.

"What?" asked Andrea.

"I can't break up with him."

"What? Why not?"

"I can't prove Potter and Black right."

"Lily, you can't stay with someone who's cheating on you just because of something two idiotic boys said to you," said Ylan.

"No, listen, I'll talk to Ricky. It'll be okay," said Lily.

"But-"

"Look, it's my decision. I'm going to talk to him, and I'll forgive him, and everyone will be happy."

"You won't! You can't be happy with him!" said Andrea.

"I was happy with him before, so I know if I talk to him about this and it stops, I'll be happy with him again."

"Lily, you know it's not as easy as that."

"No, I don't, because it is. Just leave it alone."

Lily turned around and left, leaving her friends behind her, stunned.

"This is so stupid. He cheated on her and now she's just going to forgive him," said Jenna incredulously.

"I know," said Andrea.

"Come on, let's go," said Ylan softly. "We can't convince her, so let's just try to look out for her."

The other two nodded and they left as well.

Lily's POV

I sped down the corridors and halls, towards Gryffindor Tower. As I ran, I thought about what happened. I might have told the girls I wouldn't break up with Ricky but I wasn't sure about what I actually wanted to do.

I made it to the portrait quickly.

"Godric," I said to the Fat Lady. She nodded and the portrait swung open. Just as I was about to climb inside, a figure emerged from the shadows.

"Lily," it said quietly. I sighed. It was Ricky.

"What do you want?" I asked harshly.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"Well, I don't have anything to talk to you about."

"Come on, Lily, please forgive me. It was a mistake, a one time thing. I couldn't help it…it was like she put a spell on me."

I folded my arms over my chest. Did he really think that was going to work?

"You need to do a lot better than that to get me to forgive you."

"I know. Look, I know I was wrong. I don't know what got into me. One minute we were passing each other in the hall and the next we were making out."

"Hey, you know, that really does make me feel great! I mean, what else is there that she hasn't taken from me? She took my friends, my popularity, you, and Ja-" I broke off abruptly, realizing what I was about to say.

"And what?" said Ricky, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing," I mumbled.

"Yeah. What exactly is going on with you and Potter?" asked Ricky.

"Nothing. We were friends for a bit, but then he screwed everything up again."

"Yeah, sure. Are you sure there's no secret romance between you two?"

"No!" I said, blushing madly. I hoped he couldn't see the redness in my cheeks.

"So then why are you blushing?"

Busted.

"I'm not!" I whirled around and went the little tunnel that led into the common room. Ricky followed. I turned back to face him when we were both inside.

"You were!"

"You know what? This isn't even about me! This is about you, cheating on me with Gina!" A gasp went around the common room. I hadn't realized there were so many people there.

"What?" barked a deep voice from the other side. I turned to look. It was James.

"N – nothing," I stammered.

"No, did you just say that he cheated on you with Gina?"

"Yeah, why don't we just tell the whole world?" said Ricky angrily, throwing his hands up in the air.

"That means that Gina cheated on me," said James.

"And that James and I were right!" said Sirius from the fire.

I whipped around and glared at him.

"Shut up, Black."

He shrank back.

"Okay, Lil. Just stay 100 feet away from me, and we'll both be happy," he said nervously. I grinned (a very TINY grin) and winked at him. He was so shocked he almost fell into the flames.

"I can't believe this," growled James as he swept out of the common room. Sirius, Remus, and Peter followed.

"Look, Lily, I'm so sorry," said Ricky, turning back to me. "I don't know what came over me and made me do that to you. I really hope you'll forgive me. I couldn't live with myself if you didn't." He looked sincere enough.

"Okay," I sighed. "I forgive you. This time. You better not do it again," I shook my finger at him playfully. He grinned and pulled me into a hug.

Clapping went around the common room. Ricky and I leapt apart, blushing.

"Come on, I'll go back to your common room with you," I said. He nodded and put his arm around my waist. Together, we left the common room.

Soon we reached a painting of a wheat field. If you looked closely, you could see a couple of ravens in the background. I was looking around me and didn't hear Ricky say the password, which is why I was caught off guard when the painting swung open with a little squeak.

Inside the common room there were blue and black couches and chairs. Students were lounging around, chatting, playing games, and doing homework. They didn't even look up as Ricky and I entered.

"Well, this is the Ravenclaw common room," he said.

"It's nice," I said.

"Evans? You and Peters made up, huh?" called a voice from a yellow couch. I looked around. The Marauders, excluding James, were all sitting there, seemingly waiting for something.

I headed over.

"Yeah, we did. Where's Potter?"

Sirius gestured to a staircase.

"That's the girls' staircase," said Ricky coming over. I nodded in understanding.

Suddenly a lot of noises started coming from that staircase. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look.

There was a scream, a curse, and the sound of a door slamming. Then someone came storming down the stairs.

"God, you're such a slut!" shouted James, turning back towards the door. He got no response and continued to rant and rave all the way down. "Come on, guys," he said to the Marauders and headed to the door. Then he stopped and reeled around. "Evans?" he said incredulously.

"Potter," I said.

"You got back together? After what he did?"

"Yes, I forgave him," I said icily.

"But…but he cheated on you!" said James.

"I believe in second chances."

"Oh, you sure do. That explains why I never got one."

"You never got one? You never got one?" I shrieked. "I gave you millions of chances, but you blew them all!"

"Whatever, Evans. I'm done with you. I've moved on, and I'm not going to try and protect you from this guy anymore."

James left the Ravenclaw common room in a huff, followed by his friends. Before he left, Sirius leaned close to me.

"You thought we were just making it up that Ricky was going to cheat on you, didn't you? Well he did. And you're still with him. That's your decision, but don't take it out on us, just because we were right. We were just looking out for you," he whispered in my ear. He left and I glared at his retreating form.

"I better go," I said.

Ricky nodded.

"See you tomorrow, Lils," he said and gave me a kiss. I left the Ravenclaw common room, thinking about everything that had happened. What I didn't know was that it was going to get much worse.