Disclaimer: I don't remember the last time I wrote out one of these so- I don't own anything and if I did I wouldn't be saying on here because then I'd get attacked by people thinking I'm the amazing Jo.

Apoligies and Candy Mounds

Lily's POV

Claudia had to go back to her classes after skipping three of them to stay with Lily. Before she left, she pulled a book out of her bag and handed it to Lily.

"In case you get bored. You know," Claudia said with a sigh. She seemed more upset about this than Lily did. Lily was just mad about the whole incident...and missing classes. She didn't want to fall behind. Claudia wanted to also kill James Potter and said that he was at fault here. Although, he was, just not as much as Claudia said he was to blame.

"Thanks. There's not much to do here," Lily said. She looked around at the drab walls and sighed. The room itself was boring. It was a big rectangle. Not only was it a big rectangle, it was white with square boring windows and identicle beds along the walls. If sick people were going to stay in there, they could at least make it a little more interesting.

"When are you aloud out?" Claudia asked, her eyes drooping. She was stalling. Madame Pomfrey was at the door, tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for her to leave.

Lily grinned at her friend's procrastination. "Tonight. Come back after dinner? I'll help you with your homework?" She was much more cheerful now that she had painkillers and sleep.

"Of course. I think Joel and Ridge are coming back," Claudia said.

"Ridge? Really?" Lily got excited and forgot that she hadn't told Claudia yet. She gasped at her mistake and covered her mouth. Claudia grinned widely and dropped her bag to the floor.

"YOU LIKE RIDGE!" she yelled. She jumped out of her chair and pointed a finger accusingly at Lily.

"SHHH!" Lily was bright red. She pulled the blankets up to her forehead so that Claudia couldn't see. "I do not," she mummbled inaudibly from under the blankets.

"You do too! Is that what you were going to tell me?" Lily didn't respond. "It is! No way! Take that James Potter!"

Lily couldn't help but grin to herself at her friends enthusiasm. She slowly removed the blankets from her still beat red face and smiled up at Claudia, who was jumping up and down.

"Oh, stop it. You knew that I liked somebody!" Lily hissed, beckoning for Claudia to come closer so that she wouldn't have to say it out loud.

"Yes, but for a minute there I thought it could have been Potter!" Lily was horrified at the thought, her face as white as the walls behind her.

"Never!"

"Good." She glanced over at the door. "Well, I'd better get going. Pomfrey's giving me the evil eye and I'm already late for McGonagal, so I'll probably get a detention. So if I'm not back here tonight, that's why. Or there was really great food for dinner. I'll let you know, because you're going to be stuck here eating hospital food. Blach."

"Bye Claud," Lily said as Claudia slowly made her way backwards out the door, waving grimmly.

Lily, now alone, sighed and picked up the book Claudia had left her. Quidditch Through the Ages. Lily rolled her eyes, but opened up to the first page anyway. It's not that she hated Quidditch. She just wasn't as obsessed with it as some people were. Like Claudia herself. Or James Potter for instance. The first chapter held her attention for a while, but then the book became ever so boring. Lily sighed and closed it, placing it on the table next to her bed. Chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans were perched on there as well as tons of other candies she had yet to really look at.

She leaned over and closed her eyes, wanting so badly to sleep. But sleep just wouldn't come. She heard the door open and close and assumed it was another student who accidentally made their nose fall off or grew an extra toe. Then she heard the chair scraping next to her bed and rolled over before opening her eyes and seeing none other than James Potter.

Sure that she was hallucinating, Lily closed her eyes tight and then opened them again, revealing a very blurry, but still the same, James Potter. Sighing, Lily sat up quietly and stared him down.

It was a minute before either of them said anything.

"What do you want, Potter?" Lily asked coolly.

He didn't say anything. He just took a deep breath through his mouth and exhaled through his nose.

"Potter?" Her voice was less tense, but still stern.

"I'm...sorry, Lily. I really didn't mean to act like that. I mean, I know I can be arrogant and a pig and cruel and I know that what I did earlier was just mean and that I probably really hurt her, I couldn't help it. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you run away and I know it's my fault that you're hurt...and shoeless. Don't worry, I'll get Snape back for you. I'll curse him into next week. But I wanted to come and apoligize."

"Wow," she breathed. It was all she could say. Lily honestly didn't know whether or not to believe him. Remus could have made him come in here and say all of the things he just said. Sirius probably made a bet that he wouldn't, although that wouldn't be a very Sirius-esque bet. James Potter being sincere? It just didn't add up. He couldn't really feel guilty, could he? He couldn't really be apoligizing, could he?

"Lily?"

"Did you apoligize to her?" she asked, unable to help herself.

"To who?"

"'To who?' he asks," Lily said, rolling her eyes. Go figure. Just like Potter to make up with one person while he leaves the person that he really hurt alone and upset about what he said before. "Beth Duracell, you prat! You hurt her more than you hurt me! You see, I've never liked you and never will like you, so when you say things to me, I don't listen. Except for just there because you were 'apoligizing'. But Beth? Beth, for some unbeknownst reason, liked you. And what did you do? Not only did you not give her a chance, you hurt her, Potter. Do you know why? Because you're the world's largest prat!"

"Lily! God! Just listen to me this time, okay? I'm sorry! Do I need to spell it out to you? I'm apoligizing for the way I've been acting! I know I've been bad. But you can't blame me! I'm a fourteen year old boy! I prank people! I play Quidditch! I make brooms fart for God's sake!" He took a deep breath.

Lily couldn't help but laugh quietly at that last comment. "I still don't like you, Potter. I still think that you're an arrogant toerag, you know."

James bowed his head slightly and said, "I know. Is there any thing I can do to make you like me?"

Lily knew there was double meaning in his words, but she let it slide. "No. I don't think there is." James's face fell. "Eventually, you might get up to the point where I can at least respect you, Potter. But as for now, while you still have yet to apoligize, you have no buisness being here."

James sighed again. "I really am sorry, Evans."

Lily put the smallest of smiles and said, "Thanks."

Quietly, James stood up out of his chair, waved at Lily, and walked out of the hospital wing.

Lily smiled to herself and rolled over, many thoughts running through her head. Since when did James even concider apoligizing? And why did he sound so sincere? He looked miserable as he said all of those things, as if it really bothered him that he upset and hurt Lily. But it could still be a complete prank. There was every possibility that Sirius and Remus were outside the door snickering and that tomorrow when she leaves the infirmary, she'll be mocked out of her socks.

James's POV

He couldn't believe he just went and apoligized to Lily Evans. Remus had guilted him into it. But even then he figured it would get him on her good side to make the bet a little easier. Sirius tried to get him to stay and just send her a chocolate frog card but Remus was more persistant. The three of them, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, went up to the library to wait until James did the deed.

After he left the Hospital Wing, he broke out in a sprint and ran all the way to the library where it took him at least five minutes to find Remus, who was burried in a book in the back left hand corner. Peter and Sirius were sitting behind a bookshelf throwing Bertie Botts beans into eachothers mouths, snickering loudly. That was how James found them.

When he reached them, Remus was completely zoned into his book (Why the Werewolf Howls, a Flourish and Blotts best seller) and Sirius and Peter were sounded by multicolored beans. They were on the floor, on the book shelves, and a few were stuck in Peter's hair.

"Jimmy, ol' chap!" Sirius said, standing up when he saw James's shadow fall over him. "How was apoligizing to Evans?"

James sighed trying to figure out exactly how to phrase it.

"Well, she told me that I shouldn't be apoligizing to her; I should be apoligizing to Beth because I really 'hurt her', Evans's words, not mine," he explained, brushing some beans out of his way before plopping down on the floor next to Peter.

"Are you going to?" Remus asked, tearing himself away from his book.

"Nah, I'll just tell her I did to get on her good side. She looks aweful. You were right, Remus. She was as pale as Nick and her legs were all bandaged up." James sighed. "She did, however, say that there's nothing I can do to get her to like me. Even as a friend."

Remus furrowed his brow. Sirius just laughed.

"Well then, mate. It seems as if I just won the bet!" He jumped up and started doing a jig.

Remus, however, had different things on his mind. "She just flat out told you that she wouldn't like you at all?"

"Well, she said, hold on... let me think..." He messed up the back of his head, his eyes closed as he tried to remember what it was exactly that Lily had said to him. "Well, she called me an arrogant toerag..."

Remus nodded. "Nothing new there. Go on."

"Oh! At some point she might just respect me. But that... umm... that there was no chance of that until I apoligized." He opened his eyes and saw Remus looking thoughtful. "I just don't understand her, Moony. I mean, girls are normally throwing themselves at me! And Evans doesn't even want to look at me. It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe Lily isn't just like normal girls," Peter said quietly, his hands in knots as he talked.

"She does have more brains than most of them here. Lily's the smartest witch in our year, Prongs," Remus added tapping his chin with his quill.

"Evans is different, mate. You're going to lose, I can feel it," Sirius said, although he didn't seem too upset about this fact.

An idea came to him. "Think that she would be jealous if I started dating a different girl? Beth Duracell, perhaps?"

"Not in the least, James. I personally don't think that she would care either way. But I don't know what to tell you. Ask Joel, he might know. He does, after all, talk to Lily more than any of us," Remus said. James opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off. "Arguments and asking for the answers to homework don't count."

"Hey! I never ask Evans for her homework! Sirius does!" James yelled rather loudly.

"Only when you two don't give me yours! And it's not like I would copy off of Peter!" Sirius said, offended.

"Sirius! I got an 'O' on that last Potions paper and you only got an 'E'!" Peter squealed looking up at Sirius.

"Wormtail, you just had to write the effects of the Sleeping Potion. And Sirius wrote three sentences, one of which being about the girl across the room from him," Remus said sternly, although there was a small smile on his face. "How he got an 'E' at that, we'll never know."

Sirius crossed his arms. "It's because I know how to suck up to teachers, boys," he said proudly.

James ignored Sirius and turned back to Remus. "Maybe you're right. I will go talk to Joel."

With that, James stood up, grabbed his bag, and nodded at Madam Pomfrey as he walked out the door. Ten feet away from the library doors, he turned around and walked right back to where he left the other three.

"Sirius, where's the map?" he whispered with a grin. It would be extremely hard to find Joel without the Marauders Map.

Sirius grinned and reached into the pocket of his robes, pulling out a rather worn piece of parchment. James went to take it but Sirius pulled it back with a mischieous grin.

"Do you think I'd hand over the key to Lily's heart that easily?" He had the map over his head, which was pointless seeing as James was standing and he was sitting.

"Padfoot, give me the map," James said impatiently, holding out his hand.

"If you have a kid with Lily can I be the Godfather?" Sirius asked.

"Whaaa?"

"Can I? If it's a boy, we can name it Sirius and he can play quidditch and he'll look just like me and get all the ladies. I'll even tell him about the time when we were trying on robes in Madam Malkins when you were going through you're long hair stage and she thought you were a girl and brought you out a skirt! And I'll show him the pictures. And if it's a girl... we can name her Siriusa! She's not aloud to date until she's thirty two! But Siriusa can play quidditch, too. And then-"

"Sirius!" James and Remus both said at the same time.

"Just give me the map!" James said, although there was a smile on his face.

"Can I?"

"Will you give me the map?"

Sirius sighed. "Fine." He handed it over. "But I'm Godfather, right?"

"Sure." Jame shrugged.

Sirius jumped up and shook his bum, singing, "I'm Sirius's Godfather! He's going to be just like me! I'll teach him Quidditchhhhhh!"

"Oh, for the love of Merlin, Sirius, shut up!" Remus said. His hands were over his ears and he was staring at Sirius, horror on his face. It was the worst thing he'd ever heard. Everyone knew that Sirius couldn't sing. But he did it often, just randomly he'd burst into a The Brooms song so quietly that even the person next to him couldn't hear him, until he got to the chorus that is. That's when he would put his heart and soul into the song and make everyone want to pull off their ears. People eventually got used to this random habit so when Sirius sang they would put a silencing charm around the couch the were on or the table they were at. Normally, he didn't do it to annoy people, just for fun. The annoying part was just a lame side effect.

Before Sirius could sing anymore, James walked out of the library and snuck behind a suit of armor.

"I solemly swear that I am up to no good," he muttered, tapping the old parchment with his wand. "Joel... Joel where are you?"

He looked across the map to see Snape sitting in the Slytherin Common room, Dumbledore walking down a corridor, Peeves bouncing around the girls bathrooms, McGonagal and Flitwick in her office, Sirius, Remus, and Peter in the library, Lily in the hospital wing, and Claudia leaving the Transfiguration corridor before finding Joel on the third floor heading down to the Great Hall.

"There you are!" he shouted before stuffing the map into the pocket of his robes and taking off in Joel's direction. He skipped steps on the way down the stairs and skidded to a hault before taking off again. By the time he reached the Great Hall, Joel was sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Ridge Miller and talking to the girl on his right. James ran up behind him, waiting impatiently for him and the girl to stop talking.

Joel still hadn't noticed after James adjusted his bag, tapped his foot, and made faces behind his head. Finally, giving up on being nice, James flicked him in the back of the head. Joel turned around, annoyed, but a smile appeared on his face when he saw James.

"Jimmy! How have you been! Have you been to see Lily? That fight she got into with that hippogriff was just awful, don't you think?" James didn't miss the wink he sent towards Ridge at the hippogriff comment.

"Yes, I saw her. That's why I'm here. I need your help," James said. He sat down in between Joel and the girl. "What do I do?" he asked.

"Well," Joel said, putting on his thoughtful face. "What's the situation?"

"Well, Evans said that there was no possible way they she would ever like me. Not even like as in a friend. Perhaps respect, she said. But she wouldn't like me. And she said that I needed to apoligize," James said with a laugh. Apoligize? Ha!

Joel thought for a moment before saying, "Well, personally, I don't think she appreciates being called Evans, even if its not to her face." James nodded, wondering how this could upset anyone. All the teachers called him Potter and he was scraping up some good grades. It had to be a good thing to be called by your last name. Or so he thought.

James thought for a minute, stroking his chin. "Well, Evans doesn't know what she wants because she obviously wants me." There was a cocky side smile on his face and a glint in his eyes. He was staring off just over Joel's shoulder.

Joel rolled his eyes. "I really don't think that."

"But-"

"Actually," Ridge cut in from behind James. "Why don't you play hard to get?" He winked at Joel over James's head. "That way, Lily will think you gave up and then she'll realize how much she actually likes you. You know, it's like when you've always had the option to do something like... Quidditch lets say, and you take advantage of it, flying around every chance you get. But once it's gone, you realize how much you miss its presence."

Joel, catching on to what was going on, said, "Oh yeah! I mean, once Lily realizes that you've 'given up' she'll be all over you! Look who's Mister Wiseman!" Joel was never a good actor, but James bought it. He jumped up off of the bench.

"Thanks. I'll tell you what happens when Lily finally realizes she's been stupid all those years." And he then ran off to the library to tell Sirius, Remus, and Peter what the new plan was.

Lily's POV

Lily was asleep when Joel and Ridge marched up to the side of her bed for another visit. They were skipping their next class, History of Magic, so that they could tell her about James's 'Hard to Get' plan. And so that they didn't have to learn anything for the next two hours. They had a double class.

"Do we wake her?" Ridge whispered. He was on one side, kneeling so that his head and Lily's head were level and Joel could just barely see his eyes for he was doing the same thing on the side.

"I don't know. Poke her."

"I'm not going to poke her, you poke her!"

"I'm not going to poke her! She hates getting poked."

"So you want me to get in trouble."

"No, I'm saying she likes you better than me. Poke her!"

"I'm not going to poke her! Do it! We have to tell her!"

"No!"

"Yes!" Their bickering was getting steadily louder.

"You!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"I'll tell you what, if either one of you pokes me then I'm going to take off both of your heads! Does that sound fair?" Lily was up, lying on her stomach with her face in the pillow, but her threat was as clear as a sunny day.

"Lily!" they both chimed, smiling.

"Feel better?" Joel asked, moving from the hard floor to sitting on the side of her bed. Ridge copied.

"Now that I know I'm not going to get poked, yes. What is it that you want, you two?" Her face was going red as she noticed Ridge sitting on the edge of her bed, his hair partially in his eyes.

"We've got a secret," Joel sang. He was a much better singer than Sirius.

"And what's your secret?" Lily pressed.

"Well-" Ridge started.

"No, no. What are we getting in exchange for this? A foot massage, perhaps?"

Lily shivered. Feet? Gross.

"Ugh, no way. A hug maybe. No feet massages, though. That's just gross." She pouted out her lower lip and opened her eyes wide. "Please guys," she said in nothing more than a whisper. "I'm stuck here in the hospital wing with a sprained ankle and I have no idea what's going on in the outside world. Please tell me whats going on."

Ridge frowned at being pulled into her spell, causing Lily to smirk a little. But Joel wasn't buying it. She stuck her lip out further.

"I think we should tell her. For our own benefit of living," Ridge said, not taking his eyes off of her now quivering lower lip.

"She's not going to kill us," Joel said with a laugh, though he backed away near her bandaged leg.

"Wanna bet?" Lily asked. Her face turned dark for a minute but then she laughed a carefree laugh. "Now, what's going on? Is it good? Bad? Crazy? Who did you kill this time?"

"It's good... for you," Joel said, smirking. Lily went to kick him but that just resulted in pain. "Okay, okay. So, James is now going to play hard to get."

Lily's face was blank. "So?"

"Which means he'll leave you alone because he wants you to believe that he's given up on you," Ridge explained. Lily's eyes widened.

"Really?"

The two boys nodded. "You two are incredible!" she half shouted, pulling each one into a hug, not caring that she probably smelled bad from being stuck in a hostpital bed for almost two days.

"Well, yeah..." Joel said.

"Everyone knows that," Ridge said.

"Sod off," Lily said, still grinning ear to ear. She was Potter free. At least, until he realized that his 'hard-to-get' plan wasn't working. "Candy?" she offered. There was a pile of candy on the side of her bed. Ice Mice, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Caudlron Cakes, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Fizzing Whizbees, Fudge Flies, and Sugar Quills, carefully hidden under all of the rest so that Claudia wouldn't spot them.

The pair of eyes lit up at the sight of all that sugar in a heaping pile on an innocent table. It took about two seconds before they attacked, Joel going for the Cauldron Cakes and Ridge biting the head off of an Ice Mice. Lily couldn't help but laugh at their innocence. They were acting like eight year olds on Halloween.

"So I'm free of James Potter?" She wasn't sure she could actually believe it.

"Free as a bird," Joel said, spitting crumbs of his Cauldron Cake all over Lily's blanket. She scrunched up her nose and brushed them off.

If the situation let her, Lily would have kicked her legs and screamed, but seeing as one of her legs was in imense pain, she wiggled her arms and did a little dance, earning very odd looks from Joel and Ridge. Plus, with James Potter out of the way, she could be more assertive and try to get Ridge's attention to see if she could take that anywhere. Yes, life as a non-stalked woman was good.

"I'm out of here in a few hours," she commented. Joel looked at the clock. She'd be out by six and it was three now. "What are you guys doing tonight?" It was Wednesday, Over the Hump Day as her Mum called it, refering to the middle of the week.

Joel shrugged and Ridge muttered something that sounded like 'homework' but Lily wasn't quite sure.

"Do you want to go down to the kitchens? They don't serve anything good in here. Though you think they would," she added as an afterthought.

"Kitchens? Sure! I haven't been to see the house elves in a while," Joel answered, elbowing Ridge in the side. Ridge started laughing, apparently remembering some inside joke. "We'll come back around five thirty, but I've got to go do my Potions essay that was due today, but because I love you oh so much, I skipped out on my favorite class to come make sure you were okay."

"Really? I thought History of Magic was your favorite class. You sleep through most of it anyway," Ridge commented.

"Hey, it's not like Binns notices! It just looks like I'm very into taking my notes," Joel said defensivly. Lily laughed and decided that she would need to tell Claudia to come down to the kitchens as well.

A/n: My lovely, lovely readers! I'm oh so sorry for being the world's biggest procrastinator these past few months. But a lot of things have gotten in the way and I couldn't really get a decent time to just sit down and write. But what good are excuses? I'm so, so, so sorry. And I think this chapter might be shorter than the others, I don't know. I accidentally deleted Word from my computer. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. I'm being very sluggish with this one so I can't give an approximate number of chapters, but stick with me and Imbroglio until the end! Gracias, all of you totally rock.

-Siriusly Klutzy