In defence for myself... I didn't have time to write at all this week and started a while ago- so I got just enough time to be spell checker before I'm rushed to the other side of the world- DUN DUN DUN... or out of state. Your call, really...

I do not, as of yet, intend to edit this chapter in any way, but I'm a little worried that Charlotte (yes, I blame her haha) might've tripped up in a few of her sentences and I may have worded things so my plot is ruined. sob sob No, but seriously, I may have to tweak this slightly. I doubt it though. BUT! The spelling errors are gone and I've learned that, apparently, cooly is, in fact, spelled "coolly". It's kind of sad that it took me until now to learn this- but I'm in denial, because Word has failed me several times before. Haha. Oh well.

SO! With that said: Read away! (That was lame, I'm pretending it wasn't.)

It was Sunday and Lily had barely started her homework. So it took both Alice's pleading and Charlotte's threats of blackmail for her to finally get up for breakfast that morning. Really, it wasn't just the homework- she could finish it. It was the fact that for the first time since 'the incident' as she referred to it (when absolutely forced to talk about it), she would be subjected to James Potter. And every other student who had, undoubtedly, heard about it by now.

"Lily, stop it," Charlotte nodded towards Lily's leg, which she'd anxiously been knocking up and down against the table and her seat.

Much to her relief, Lily had finally told her what was going on- or to a certain extent. She'd left out a few key details, but Charlotte was okay with that. At least now she could defend Lily in public instead of playing dumb. Charlotte didn't especially fancy having her friend hiding things from her either; they'd always been able to confide in one another before. Now shouldn't have been any different. She supposed this was hard for Lily to talk about. It was clear she was ashamed of herself for so much as calling James by his first name- but the point was, she'd told! ... mostly. And it wasn't as if Charlotte could tell Lily she already knew the whole story. Then she'd have to explain herself and that... well, that wasn't really an option.

And now, Lily was subconsciously banging her leg against the table once more. "Look, there's nothing to be nervous about!" she hissed. "Everyone loves you to a sickening extent, okay? I mean, you saw what happened when that Malfoy idiot called you a... you-know-what a few years back. Everybody that wasn't a loser Slytherine gave him hell for it."

"That's true," Alice added reassuringly. "It's not a big deal- and besides, you've got me and Charlotte- you know that, right?" Lily nodded. "Don't worry about it," she smiled, giving her friend a small hug.

"Besides... think of it this way: nobody can have that much self assurance and still be stupid enough to upset you."

"Hey Sleeping Beauty!" Sirius sauntered over to the seat across from Lily, as if on cue. Charlotte groaned as a few snickers followed the comment, and Lily looked as if her life goal was to bash her head on the table.

"Rumplestiltskin," Charlotte replied back rather boredly.

"Oh look, it's Leprechaun back from her night journeys," Sirius grinned, slapping her on the back. "And speaking of night journeys, I know two people that did a decent amount of exploring two nights ago-"

"You know, I was just telling her how stupid someone would have to be to harass her about this, and you've just proved my point."

"Sirius is very good at that." Remus had appeared behind them, and took the seat across from Charlotte. "Are you going to sit down?" After a moment, he looked up at Sirius, who begrudgingly complied.

"So," Alice began after a few uncomfortable moments of silence, "Erm... nice day, isn't it?"

"Of course," Sirius replied in sarcastic politeness, taking a sip of his juice. "Lovely."

"Nothing like a good day outdoors when it's hailing, eh Charlotte?" James had seated himself next to Remus. Charlotte, whose normally pale features were now giving off a tinge of pink, glared and kicked him under the table.

"What?" Lily looked up from her food at last. "He's right... it's hailing." James, who'd just caught Lily's gaze, was now examining his spoon with immense interest. Smooth...

"Oh," Charlotte's expression was rather odd. "I know."

"Double meaning?" James muttered to his plate.

"How's your breakfast coming along there Jamesie?" Sirius growled.

"Hope you don't choke on it or anything," Charlotte muttered.

"Great thanks. So, where were you last night?" He asked casually.

"Oh yeah, where were you?" Frank Longbottom looked up from his newspaper curiously, oblivious to the glare Charlotte was giving James.

"I was here."

"Hm. Come to think of it... I didn't see you the night before either," Frank muttered, frowning to himself.

"I-I dunno why- I mean... I was there."

"Mhm, she was," Alice piped up.

"Really? Because I definitely didn't see you at the party either," James replied, grinning at her.

"Maybe," Charlotte began coolly, "That was because you left early."

"Oh yeah, where were you, James? Peter was looking for you." Frank was clearly oblivious.

"Yeah James, where were you?" Sirius smiled.

"Can someone pass the eggs?" Lily asked, very flustered.

"Prongise, please pass Lily the sperm- I mean eggs," Sirius said.

"Suddenly, I'm not all that hungry," Lily growled, shooting a filthy look at Sirius.

Frank gave a look to Charlotte and Alice that plainly said, Should I even ask? Charlotte shook her head and Alice began to shovel food onto her plate.

"Is she okay?" Frank mouthed over her head. Charlotte nodded. She'd noticed it too- Alice had shut up around Frank. She barely said more than a sentence to the guy before she found a reason not to talk. At the moment, this reason took the form of several pieces of toast.

"Oh gosh, don't starve yourself, Alice," Sirius remarked with mock concern.

"Shut up," Lily snapped.

"Prongsie, is there any special reason why your girlfriend is in such a bad mood?" James nearly choked on his food, but continued to eat in silence. There was something unnerving about this James Potter- something that made Lily almost prefer the old one. If he wasn't laughing about it, how could she? What if he truly resented her for... the incident? It wasn't as if she minded him disliking her- she didn't. Really! But it was more of him being right in disliking her. What if he thought she was trampy? What if the entire school got on her back for this? What if-

"Go to hell, Black," Charlotte muttered into her glass, shattering Lily's thoughts.

Remus sighed. "Anybody seen Peter?"

"Yeah- he has detention with stupid Slughorn."

"How can you get detention with Slughorn?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Detention does, in fact, await those of us that aren't in the Slub Club, Lily," Sirius replied.

"That's Slug Club, moron!"

"I'm not in the Slug Club!"

Charlotte snorted. "Right... so anyway. Don't you guys have a theme song?"

"I'm not! And no- no they don't- I'm not!"

"It's not a bad thing, being a suck up," Sirius shrugged, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Am I suck up?" Lily looked around the table. Frank and Alice, as expected, assured her that she wasn't one. Charlotte, however, had took a long, rather meaningful, gulp of pumpkin juice. She grinned at Lily's expression, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"At least you're not a pig," Sirius said, jerking his head in Charlotte's direction.

"Yeah," Charlotte agreed, staring pointedly at Sirius.

"Evans, I love you, but really, you can't pretend you're not a teacher's pet," James laughed. Lily felt slightly relieved when he addressed her, though the part that didn't was rather disturbed by said relief. "And I think that your best political move would be to sleep with the Head Boy before you get the teacher's on your-"

"Potter," she grumbled, fighting the building relief from her voice, "I'd rather do a werewolf." Instantly, she regretted her words- though nobody, apart from the Marauders, would understand what she meant, they'd harass her incessantly for saying it. She hadn't thought about Remus' condition for so long, she'd almost forgotten about it. This wasn't exactly the way she imagined being reminded.

Sirius snorted so hard that he'd gotten juice all over himself. Even James, who was fighting to keep his own face straight after catching Remus' reaction (he was choking on his eggs and rather pink), was shaking in attempts not to laugh.

"Kinky," Sirius finally managed between laughs, causing James to burst out laughing.

"Alright there, Remus?" Charlotte asked- he did look rather uncomfortable.

"Erm... yeah."

"You don't look... nevermind... Hey, so Frank... when you're done with your breakfast," she paused, glancing up at Sirius before continuing, "Could I have a word?" Sirius, though still laughing, watched Frank intently.

"Sure," he replied awkwardly. "I'm done right now, actually-"

"Perfect," she said, standing up.

"Whaddya need with Frank?" James asked suspiciously. "Isn't usually Sirius you sneak off-"

"Piss off," she snapped before turning her back on him. "Ready then, Longbottom?" He nodded and she dragged him off.

"Wonder what that was about," Lily muttered, voicing what everyone else but Sirius was thinking.

"Doesn't matter!" Sirius laughed. "Not at all. No, who cares? I mean, it's Charlotte- when's she ever up to something?" They all stared at him. "Right." He sounded rather defeated. "Well... so... how about that Transfiguration homework?"

"You didn't do it," James muttered, frowning.

"Hm... about that Charms- no... about Ginger... whatever-her-last-name-is," he muttered. "What do you lot think of her?"

"What'd he say?" Sirius asked Charlotte eagerly.

"He agreed to it."

"Can we trust him to stay quiet?"

"Frank?" She laughed. "I'd trust him before I'd trust you."

"I'll take that as a maybe."

"We can trust him," she hissed. "He said he'll talk to Alice- though she might not be so eager to help."

"Alice?"

"She looked so... so mad when I was leaving today-"

"Oh, that's cause she thought you were moving in on her territory."

"I was what?"

"She likes Frank," Sirius said simply.

"What?" She laughed. "Where'd you-"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Honestly, aren't girls supposed to be sensitive to this stuff?"

"That would explain... so much... and actually... wait. Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"That could work to our advantage."

"We might need it," Sirius sighed. "Lily already thinks you're up to something."

"We could use that to our advantage too... manipulate things a bit, you know?"

"You have control issues."

"Thanks."

"Alright there, Evans?" James Potter was leaning on the back of the couch, staring down at her. She jerked up, knocking a few pillows to the ground.

"Erm... yeah. I-I'm just... thinking." He looked worried. "About Charlotte," she added hastily."

"Is everything alright with her?" Normally, she would've told him to mind his own business, but she had a bad feeling that whatever her friend was up to, it involved him... and she needed to warn him somehow.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course! She's fine... it's just... she's up to something. I can just tell. I don't know what she's up to, but she's planning something."

"Anybody ever tell you you're paranoid?"

"Shut up, Potter. I'm serious- I know her well-"

"You forget who you're talking to," he laughed. "I've known her longer than you... she's not doing anything she'd have a problem admitting openly- don't get me wrong. It's not like she couldn't be planning the end of the world. It's just that, if she is, she must be doing it minus the unforgivable curses. Or... you know... only using the imperius or something." Lily glared. "Seriously though, Lils- it's not anything to worry about. You do trust me, don't you?" She was about to nod when she slapped out of it.

"No, I don't," she snapped, getting up. "She's up to something- and it involves us!" He raised an eyebrow, amused. "I don't know what it is, but I know it involves us- or she would've approached us by now. You know, told us what she's up to. I'm surprised she hasn't recruited Sirius and Remus-" She broke off, eyes wide.

"What?"

"She has! Her and your bloody friends are going to do something! And she's corrupting our only allies!" She looked positively horrified. Her hands were on her head and she was pacing the room, muttering to herself.

"Hey- hey! Hold it Lils- Sirius and Charlotte don't work together. Have you seen them talk?"

"They are! James, I know it! They are- what?" He was staring at her.

"You called me James." Her cheeks flushed.

"That's your name, isn't it?" She snapped, recovering quickly. He shrugged, ruffling his hair slightly. She glared at him before continuing, "They're up to something- and when I find out what it is, I'm going to- to... I don't know yet, but Charlotte's going to have another thing coming!"

"Gee, the trust you share with her is incredible," he muttered in mock amazement.

"Shut up- I trust her... just not when things have to do with... the things they do now."

"Us?" James smirked.

"Shut up- are you going to help me?" She asked with forced anger. He shrugged again.

"Sure?"

"We're going to find out," she repeated. "And whatever they have planned... they have another thing coming."

"Whatever you say, Evans."

"Where have you been?" Ginger snapped, storming into the boy's dorms.

"Homework," Sirius lied.

"Sirius," Charlotte muttered from the bathroom, "I found-" She broke off when she saw Ginger. "Oh, hey-"

"With Charlotte? What was the subject? Anatomy?" She looked hurt. Charlotte, on the other hand, simply looked confused.

"I told her how we were studying," Sirius said bluntly, nodding his head as he said the last word.

"Just tell her the truth," Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Ginger, we were-"

"The truth," Ginger growled. "The truth... As in, my boyfriend is lying about why he was in his room... alone... with a girl?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that!" Charlotte laughed, "Really, it's not. We're just-"

"You were 'just'! What do you take me for, an idiot?"

"Of course not," Charlotte replied coolly, the humor gone from her face. "More along the lines of a overly-conclusive dumbass."

"Charlie, you're not helping," Sirius hissed.

"You have nicknames?" Ginger, much to Charlotte's surprise and utter amazement (I mean this was just Sirius Black), looked near tears.

"Oh no," Charlotte began sarcastically. "She's discovered our secret, Mittens." Ginger made a face and walked over to Sirius. Without a moment's warning she began kissing him. Charlotte turned away, disgusted.

"How do you like that?" She snapped to Charlotte.

"Didn't really fancy seeing it, actually-"

"Well get used to it!" She hissed before racing down the stairs.

"Wow," Charlotte yelled after her. "You sure taught us." She turned to Sirius. "Wow, what a punishment, huh? She thinks you're cheating on her, so she kisses you."

"She believes in break up sex, that one does," Sirius muttered mindlessly. Charlotte's imitation of retching jerked him out of whatever thoughts he'd been caught up in, and he grinned without shame when he did come back to the real world.

"So've you entered your name into the Goblet?"

"Yeah- you?"

"Yeah. I heard they're doing it differently though. They're sending multiple contenders into it now."

"But it's the tri-wizard-"

"Yeah, but Dumbledore's pretending it can be interpreted as 3 schools, because otherwise Durmstrang's headmaster was going to have a hissy fit."

"Since when did Dumbledore-"

"It doesn't matter- did James enter?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "What if he gets-"

"He won't."

"You saw?" She nodded. "What, do you just set these things off in your spare time? Like 'hm, let's see how I'm going to die today'-"

"No," she snapped. "I saw it then," she whispered as Frank walked in.

"Am I... interrupting-"

"Ah, Frank," Sirius grinned. "You know what you're supposed to do, right?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "I talked to Alice, too- she seemed really relieved that someone's finally getting those two together."

"Yeah," Charlotte smirked as she eyed him.

"What?" Frank asked nervously.

"Nothing. Just... had a bit of inspiration is all."

"Yeah?" Clearly this hadn't comforted Frank at all.

"It's nothing bad!" She laughed.

Peter crept quietly to the door, as instructed. He was to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Three people, whose voices he'd recognized pretty quickly (well... for him at least...) were whispering excitedly to one another. He assumed this would count.

"Right... well, then, when do we start doing this?"

"I need to get sick first," Charlotte was saying.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Because! Then she will be in bed and I can lie to her and tell her I'm not causing problems or anything- we can pretend like it was an accident."

"But you're not-" Frank Longbottom started.

"No, but I will be talking to a few old friends. Lily has to... erm... re-connect a few... severed ties," she replied somewhat wickedly. Could she mean Snape?

"And then what?"

"Then? Then we wait- he'll do the rest of it for us- I'd feel bad toying with him if he wasn't a Slytherin... oh and Diggory. We need him too," she muttered.

"Who else have you two dragged into this?" Longbottom sounded impressed.

"Dumbledore," Charlotte laughed.

"Minnie," Sirius added.

"McGonagall," Charlotte corrected. "A few others- best leave them out. For your benefit, of course, Frank. Oh! And don't tell Alice- we would've, but we're worried she'd tell Lily."

"Right," Frank replied. "Right... okay, well... must be off." Peter gasped and raced down the stairs as fast as he could, Longbottom's steps not far behind him.

For a full minute, the boys' dorms were silent before either finally spoke.

"You think Petey heard us?" Sirius asked.

"Definitely," Charlotte smirked back. "This is too easy."

Not a huge part of the plot moving, I know! Or at least, it doesn't seem like it. But I need to set it up a certain way... and I don't have much time to mess with it, as I'm leaving for Hawaii in... two hours... (I seriously should not be up right now... it's 4 A.M.) YAY! ... sort've. That might effect my updating a bit (obviously) seeing as my dad rarely let's me onto his laptop, but I'll write everything in my notebook and type it up as soon as I get back. I'll be gone until... a week from now? Or... okay, a day less than that. But I might have a bit of jet lag, so I'll give myself the full week. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

PLEASE REVIEW. Pretty pretty please? I live off of reviews. I or... rather... just enjoy them... A LOT! So it makes me sad when I don't get any. :( (LOL that sounded a bit bad but maybe only because I think that way? Probably. Gotta love maturity... But I degress...)

Anyway/who/what-have-you, I'll update as quick as I can! I may not be able to get on here in Hawaii, but I can check my yahoo (lilyandjamesplot), so if you want to make any suggestions toward the plot or would like to help me edit what I've got done so far (at that point), feel free to e-mail me on that. I'd actually really appreciate it. :) Though I have the plot planned out to an obsessively detailed extent, (believe it or not) at the same time, I've left myself enough room so I can change it if I have/want to.

SO! on that note...

REVIEW!!! That way I have something nice (even if the comment itself isn't all that nice) to come back to after my vacation. :)

Thanks. :)

Emilia