Authors Note: Okay, I'm sooooooo sorry about the delay. 1st, I went on a cruise and didn't get to finish before today. 2nd, my dad is being stoopid, and I've only gotten a real chance to be on the computer today.
Just want to let everyone know that I'll be taking awhile to update everything, cause my dad is trying to take away everything like the internet and PS2. Plus I've got no money for the summer cause he won't give me any… so now I'm looking for a job. Heh.
Disclaimer: JKR owns everything except the plot. Well, and Ash, Cai, Carmen, Stephanie, the fish, Mary, 'Mo… some of those characters don't even appear in this chapter… okay, so if you see someone that you know was made up, it's my own thinking.
Read, and Review please! It'll make my day so much nicer if I can sneak onto the computer after my dad yelling at me and find some nice reviews xD
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During James' "Research":
Lily sighed as she pulled her pillow over her head. Why did I just do that? She thought.
Because you like him, a voice replied in her head.
"No I don't!" Lily muttered out loud.
Oh, of course you're right. After a pause, the voice continued, saying, Oh wait, we both forgot. You don't like him, you love him.
Lily started to hit her head on the mattress.
"No, I do not."
Yes you do.
"No."
Yes.
"No. I. Do. Not."
Fine, have it your way, the voice said. After a few minutes, it contradicted itself. You love him.
Lily let out an inaudible scream. "NO I DO NOT!"
You do, the voice patiently insisted. You just haven't realized it yet.
"I hate him!" Lily murmured into her pillow.
Then why have you called him James? Why haven't you yelled at him? Why did you-
"You know perfectly well why. And it's not because I love him. No, it's not. And I don't want to hear it anymore. I'm going to sleep."
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Lily woke the next morning much more tired than when she had gone to sleep. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she thought back to last night, when her mind had plagued her with dreams of James. Rolling over, she fell out of bed, and started to mutter incoherently under her breath. Her door flew open, and someone chuckled. Lily slowly lifted her head out of her blankets, and glared at James and Sirius.
"The glare isn't so scary in the morning," James said innocently, and Sirius nodded. "Maybe I should come up here to see you more often this early." In a more serious manner, he added, "Are you all right?" Lily looked into his hazel eyes, and had the vague suspicion that he knew what happened. But she quashed that suspicion, and just nodded before stumbling to the bathroom. When she exited, she was surprised to see James offering a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
"I sent Sirius down to the kitchens for breakfast. You slept through it."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "And if I missed breakfast, why am I getting dressed? I could just stay in my pajamas, and stay in the common room all day."
James shook his head. "Nah, we're going out."
Lily glared at him. "James, I thought we've been through this enough. I'm not going out with you."
He rolled his eyes. "I know that already. No you, me, Sirius, and Remus are going." She looked at him cautiously.
"Where, pray tell, are we going?"
"Hogsmeade."
"But it's not-"
"I know that, Lils. Just put the clothes on." She narrowed her eyes, but then remembered the reason why she was being so nice to James. Or at least, the reason her brain was giving. Her heart seemed to think differently on the matter.
"Would you leave?"
"Only if you promise to change."
She sighed. "Why else would I be asking you to leave? I'm not changing in front of you." He grinned wolfishly, and Lily pushed him out of the room before changing out of the sweatpants and sweatshirt she was wearing from the day before.
What is this world coming to? Lily thought. I'm wearing clothes James picked out, I'm hanging out with James, I'm not yelling at him, I kissed him on the cheek, hugged him, and not to mention called him James. And I don't like him, she stubbornly told herself.
But the thought 'you love him… ' kept trickling through her musings.
"No I do not!" She said loudly, and then put her hand over her mouth. She heard James chuckle, and ask jokingly,
"What are ya doing, Flower? Denying your undying love for me?" She grimaced at the fact that James was more correct than he thought.
"Stop calling me that abominable nickname, James." Lily said, trying to turn the subject away from the second half of James' question. "Or should I call you Prongs? I can understand why, but really, it sounds like you're a fork."
"It's tines of a fork, not prongs," James retorted. "But whatever you say, Flower."
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"Where are we going?" Remus asked quietly, for all four of them were under the invisibility cloak.
"Hogsmeade," James replied.
"With Lily?" Remus asked, after looking apologetically at the girl in question.
"Why else would she be with us?" Sirius stated. "She didn't like any of the food I brought her for breakfast, and I want a butterbeer."
"Well, it's not my fault you brought me candy!" The red head retorted. "And for your information, Remus, James forced me to come. And stop breathing down my neck, James!" He just grinned.
"Sorry, it's a smidge too cramped in here. At least I'm not stepping on your heels," He continued, turning to glare at Sirius.
"Sorry Jim-bob."
Remus just shook his head, and pulled out his wand to use an engorgement charm to make the cloak bigger, but James caught his eye and shook his head slightly. He then proceeded to trip Lily and caught her before she fell flat on her face. He kept his hand on her waist, however, and Remus was surprised when Lily merely glanced at it and carefully wiggled out of James' grasp, rather than yell at him.
They continued through the hallway quietly, but stopped when James realized that he had lost his shoe due to Sirius stepping on the back of it. Grumbling, they traveled back the way they came. The shoe was lying in the shadows next to the Transfiguration classroom, and James reached out to get it with his free hand.
"All right, Potter," A gruff voice said. "Get out of the cloak. You too, Black." Both James and Sirius cringed, for the voice sounded awfully like one of the tattletale Ravenclaws. And since Lily was there, they couldn't have Remus cast a memory charm. "So this is how you two get around the school," The voice continued. "Now, come out of the cloak, and bring it with you. We're going to Dumbledore." Now the voice, to Sirius at least, sounded like it was trying not to laugh.
He grinned, finally recognizing who it was, but decided to let James and Lily sweat it out, for Sirius bet that Remus recognized the voice as well. Sure enough, Remus was grinning wickedly, and motioned for Sirius to help him pull the cloak off. As the four were uncovered, they laughed at the guilty look on Lily's face, and the shocked look on James'. Lily opened her eyes to see a very familiar and quite unexpected girl looking at her.
"Now Miss Evans," Ashton Fitch, a seventh year Gryffindor, said cheekily. "What are you doing gallivanting with these boys-" At the glare she received from Sirius, she reconciled, saying, "Oh, I forgot, you decided you were men two weeks ago. So?" Lily glared at her.
"Ash, you scared me!" She then turned her glare on Sirius and Remus, who were grinning sheepishly. "You…" She threatened, but had to laugh as Sirius dove behind Ash, and cowered behind her.
Ash shook her head sadly, but had to smile when Sirius hugged her leg and muttered,
"Protect me from the big bad Tiger Lily!"
"Off Sirius, off!" She said jokingly, and Sirius complied quickly as she conjured up a water bottle to squirt him, still edging cautiously around Lily. The girl in question grinned mischievously at Ash, and asked sweetly,
"So, Ash, how did you know it was us?"
She shrugged. "Well, it's James' cloak. And his shoe. Plus, I heard you two leave with Remus from the common room." The corner of Lily's mouth twitched.
"And Sirius?"
"Yes?" Sirius questioned.
"I was directing that towards Ash," Lily told him.
"Ah, of course. Carry on."
"So, Ash…" Lily continued, silently referring to the fact that Ash had something similar to James' Lily-dar, but for Sirius.
"James never goes anywhere without Sirius, so I figured he was there." She covered. James and Remus both grinned, and James raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, sure you weren't looking for a quick snog?" He asked cheerfully, and then grinned again as Ash blushed. Sirius shot them a glare, but Lily didn't notice for she was trying not to break out into laughter. James and Sirius' eyes met, and they both rolled their eyes before pulling the cloak around the five of them, pulling on James' shoe, and heading towards the statue of the one-eyed witch.
"Hey, wait!" Ash said quickly.
"What?" Sirius asked, "You don't want to come to Hogsmeade?"
"Of course I want to go," She said cheerfully, "I just wanted to make sure that was where we were off to. You can never tell with you boys." She dodged a swipe by Sirius, and switched positions with Lily, so Lily was now sandwiched between Sirius and James, who was currently trying his best to not trod on Lily's heels.
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Lily smiled and laughed along with the rest of them in their trip through the tunnel and towards Hogsmeade, but her heart wasn't in it. Laughing at a particularly lewd joke Sirius told, she was surprised to find James looking at her curiously, as if he knew her laugh was forced. Breaking eye contact first, she hurried to walk next to Remus.
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Upon entering the Three Broomsticks, they were set upon by a cheerful looking blonde.
"Hullo boys," She said, and the three Marauders grinned.
" 'Lo Rosie," They chorused, and then the woman bustled them off.
"Oy, Rosie!" Sirius shouted, "We need a bigger table!"
The woman eyed Sirius critically. "Don't tell me, Mr. Black. All those forays to eat at this fine establishment have caused you to gain weight." Sirius, to put it mildly, looked shocked.
"Rosie, how could you say such a thing?" He wailed. "Why, am I starting to look fat? I told you, Remy, I told you I shouldn't have eaten that fifteenth chocolate frog!" Remus patted his friend's shoulder while rolling his eyes, and James snorted before turning to face Rosie.
"Now, Rosie, you know how delicate he is about that subject. We just brought two others with us." She finally looked to the doorway, where the two girls were standing, and broke into a grin as Ash moved into the light.
"Why Ash, long time no see. How have you been?"
"Absolutely spiffing, great presents and what not. I see Uncle Moe got you a job at the tavern," She casually remarked. Rosie grinned.
"But of course. What with the arthritis and all, he didn't want to keep bussing tables. So I'm stuck with it, but I'm hiring on for the summer. Free Butterbeer, to a point, if you get hired. Want a job?" Ash just grinned, and pulled Rosie into a hug. She then caught a glimpse of red-hair on the person next to her. Extracting herself from Ash's grip, she turned to face James and looked at him curiously before grinning again.
"Always knew you'd get her," Rosie said cheerfully, and James had the good graces to blush.
"Ah, Rosie, I… we're not… you know," He finished lamely, and Rosie shrugged before turning back to Lily.
"Rosmerta?" Lily asked, and Rosie nodded before hugging the girl.
"Haven't seen you in forever, Lily. We have to get together some time. I can tell you some tips on keeping these boys in line." The Marauders, to put it mildly, looked a smidge shocked at the fact that Lily and Rosmerta were conversing quite normally. Lily eyed the stares before saying quietly,
"She was my tutor for Transfiguration in 5th year." She turned her look on James, and he grinned slightly before slinging his arm around Lily's shoulders.
"Well, shall we eat?" He asked, and Lily smiled gratefully.
"Sounds like a brilliant idea-" She started, but broke off as Sirius asked curiously,
"Oy, Rosie, is Margot here?" Rosmerta shook her head, and told him,
"Nah, she'd doing work for Professor Dumbledore. Dad told me to take over here for her, so Uncle would still get some help from the family." Sirius face fell slightly, but he just told Rosmerta,
"Could you tell her I said hi?" She nodded, trying not to laugh, and led them to a now bigger table in the back.
"Here you go, guys. And girls," She added, smiling at Lily and Ash. "Now, what'll it be?"
The boys grinned. "How about…" James started, "Three glasses of Firewhiskey,"
"Three butterbeers!" Sirius put in.
"Three shots," Remus added.
"And some champagne for the ladies," James finished.
Rosie smiled. "Ah, all right. Five butterbeers, coming up. I'll bring you the house special too, all right? You look hungry, Lils." Lily just smiled in turn and pointed at Sirius, who was looking through his pockets trying to find the last of the candy from Lily's "breakfast". Rosie laughed, and shook her head as she walked to the kitchen.
"Now, Ashey," Sirius asked, "How did you spend your pleasant vacation?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't call me Ashey, Sirius." He laughed.
"Whatever you say… Ashey. So, what did you do?" She shrugged.
"Nothing much. I hung out with my brother, and we practiced quidditch." Ash smiled. "I hit bludgers at him, and he tried to dodge them."
Sirius shook his head. "Ashey, dear, you really should never have quit the team. All that unresolved anger-" He broke off with a yelp as she hit him on the back of the head. "Really, girl, that's what I'm talking about!" He nudged her with his elbow, and then proceeded to poke her repeatedly, earning himself a few well-aimed punches.
A few minutes later Lily exclaimed, "Sirius, Ash, will you two stop flirting?" This earned a few snickers from Remus and James, giggles from Lily, and resulted in Ash and Sirius both blushing. The two moved away from each other at the same time, and then fell out of the booth they were sitting in. Standing up swiftly, they glared at each other, and then sat back on the bench of the booth, as far from each other as they could get.
"So…" Sirius started hesitantly, "Er… Look! Food!" The other four turned to look towards the kitchens, but Rosie hadn't emerged yet.
"Sirius…" Remus said slowly, "Don't torment us." Sirius began babbling something along the lines of fan clubs and broomsticks, when James slammed his fist down on the table.
"Sirius," He said calmly. "Refrain from mentioning it. I think Ash is going into convulsions." Sirius looked next to him, and realized it was true. Ash was twitching at each mention of the club, but when she realized Sirius was looking at her strangely she looked up at him and put a smile on her face.
"So, Sirius, I haven't been here in awhile. I see Rosie got a jukebox!" Sirius grinned.
"My wonderful persuasive arguments," He said, but Rosie interrupted him.
"More like I got tired of him complaining about listening to 'girly' music. Now, who's hungry?" She motioned towards the tray next to her with her wand, and the plates fell haphazardly into their places in front of each student. Rosie winced. "Sorry about that, the plates don't like to go flying." They just laughed, and Rosie joined in before settling herself back behind the bar.
After scarfing down his food, Sirius looked at Ash, who was almost done with hers. She grinned, fork halfway to her mouth, and asked,
"So, Mr. Black, do you know how to dance?" He grinned back, and truthfully admitted,
"Not exactly…" Her eyes lit up, and she threw her fork down on the table before grabbing his hand and dragging him over to the jukebox.
Remus rolled his eyes, and James chuckled. "Well, I'm off to talk to Rosie," He said, leaving James with Lily, who was still politely eating.
This time James rolled his eyes. "You know, Flower," He noticed the slight intake of breath as he called her that, "You don't have to eat perfectly like that. I mean, we won't tell anyone that Perfect Head Girl ate sloppily." Lily cocked an eyebrow.
"James, you're eating the same exact way as I am." He looked down at his plate, to realize that he was, in fact, eating quite perfectly.
"Well, I guess you're rubbing off on me," He said jokingly, and went back to eating. However, this time he ate too fast, and let out a big burp.
"James!" Lily exclaimed, shocked.
"Sorry Lils," He said quietly, and settled back into the booth. After a few moments, he seemed to realize something, and turned to Lily. "Hey Lils, can I ask you a question?"
She turned to him. "James, I won't answer anything about how my holiday's went." He shrugged.
"Nah, that wasn't it. Just why are you calling me James?"
Lily seemed confused. "James… James is your name. What else would I call you?"
"Well, what you've been calling me since 2nd year, and up until a few days ago." At her questioning glance, he continued, saying, "Potter. You've always called me Potter. Why now?"
Lily's mind raced back to Christmas holiday's, 5th year.
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"Really, Lily," Her mother said quietly as she wiped the dishes clean, "You're always complaining about that boy. James Potter. Why won't you just go out with him? He seems like a nice boy."
"Potter is a git," Lily replied, seething with anger. "He charmed my hair to stand up straight! He keeps asking me out, and I refuse every time, but he doesn't seem to get the hint. And-"
"And he says he loves you, but you don't believe him. I know the entire story, dear. But it sounds like he really does like you, if not love you. Just give him a chance."
Lily glared at her mother. "You do know that every other mother on the planet would be telling me to never give him a chance. You sound like one of my friends."
Margaret Evans nodded cheerfully. "Yes, I do understand that. But I really think you should give him a chance. And I'm not like other mothers. You know you can tell me anything." Lily rolled her eyes.
"You know, sometimes I just want a real mother rather than a friend. If I want someone who will tell me I should give Potter a chance, I should just go back to school and listen to Mary, Ash, Cai, and Stephanie. You remember them, right mum?" She nodded, and went back to wiping the dishes with the rag.
"If it makes you feel any better, Lils, I don't know what he's like on a day-to-day basis. But I agree with your friends, you should give him a chance." Noticing Lily's narrowed eyes, she hurried on, saying, "Well, dear, why don't you send an owl to your friends and invite them over. And I'm sure Mrs. Brown knows where Cai is." Lily sighed.
"Of course, mother. When should they come?" But an irate Nathaniel Evans, who stormed through the kitchen door, shouting, interrupted their conversation.
"Lily Marie Evans, what did your friends do to Petunia this time?" Lily rolled her eyes, and rubbed the lily on her necklace between her fingers.
"Dad, they aren't my friends. I have no control over what Sirius Black does on his own accord. But I bet Tuna deserved it," She added quietly.
"LILY!" Her father roared, and grabbed her by the arm to drag her into the family room, where Petunia was standing, crying. At Lily's entrance, Petunia raised her head, and after a wink at Lily she burst out into tears again.
Lily sighed. Yet again, Petunia was trying to get Lily in trouble. "Dad-"
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Lily's daydream was cut off as James waved his hand in front of her face.
"Lils? What's wrong? You seem to be drifting off a lot." She looked him in the eyes, and he shrugged. "All right, so don't answer my questions." He settled back against the booth, not expecting to hear Lily speak again, and instead stared out onto the room, where Sirius was currently stepping on Ash's feet.
"Because my mother asked me to," She said quietly, so quietly that James almost didn't hear her. His face immediately softened in sympathy before he realized he wasn't supposed to know about her parents, and then nodded.
"Oh, so I see. So none of my changing has had anything to do with it?" He replied cockily. Instead of scolding him, Lily just laughed softly, and murmured,
"It might have something to do with it." James smiled, and then they both turned back to watching Sirius and Ash.
After a few moments, James turned back to watch Lily. She was bobbing her head in time to the music, and drummed her fingertips against the tabletop. His hand suddenly twitched, but he placed his other hand on top of it to resist the urge to smooth her hair back behind her ear. She giggled softly, and James looked out to see what amused her. Ash was trying to avoid Sirius stepping on her, and Sirius was trying his hardest to step on her. However, turning back to Lily, he noticed a small tear in the corner of her emerald eye.
"Flower, what's wrong?" He asked, raising his hand to brush the tear away. Lily looked quite shocked, and asked,
"What? Why do you ask?"
"You're crying," He said softly.
"No, no I'm not," She said stubbornly. "Allergies. I have dust in my eye. Pesky little dust spots." He shook his head, and was about to keep questioning her when Sirius stumbled over to them and fell on the table, with Ash and Remus soon following him.
"Jimmy!" Sirius shouted excitedly as he grabbed a butterbeer and chugged it, "Rosie says there's a carnival! We have to go!" He reached for James' hand, and tried to drag him out of his seat.
"Sirius!" James muttered, "Take Remus!"
Sirius shook his head. "Nuh uh, you're coming too. Along with Remy. And Ashey, and Tiger Lily. I want you to win me a stuffed animal!" James allowed himself to be dragged off, but not before grabbing Lily's hand, forcing her to come with him. Remus just shook his head before placing some money on the table and following them all, for Ash had already gone out the door.
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"Oh look, Jim-bob!" Sirius shouted excitedly as he skipped ahead of his friends towards the carnival, "Games!" James rolled his eyes.
"Yes Sirius, we know that a carnival has games. We all-" However, he broke off as Sirius came to a standstill in front of a certain booth. James groaned as soon as he saw the sign.
"Jim-bob!" Sirius exclaimed, even more excited than he had been a few minutes prior. "Goldfish!"
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Walking through the tunnel to Hogsmeade, Sirius was taking extreme measures to insure the safety of his goldfish. Therefore, he was trying to cajole Lily into performing a charm to keep them alive. She rolled her eyes.
"No, Black, I won't do that. Those goldfish will die anyway. They have to be taken care of, something you won't do." Catching James' glance, she softened her tone and said quietly, "Sorry Sirius, but it's the truth. You're probably going to forget about them by tomorrow. And either way, Professor McGonagall won't let you keep them." Sirius sighed, but then brightened.
"Of course Minnie will let me keep them. And if she says no, Dumble-bumble will let me. And I can't believe that you think I would forget about my fish! Now, they need names." After pondering for a few minutes, he suddenly started twirling around and pointing at the fish in the bag. "I shall call you George. And You Swahili. Billy Bob. Neal. Margot. Fred. Nemo. Raoul. Harry. Fo-"
"Sirius, man," Remus cut in, "You only have three fish." Sirius peered at the bag intently.
"So you're right, my old man Remy." Remus rolled his eyes. "Now, I shall call ye Fred, George, and Fork."
"Fork?" Lily asked quizzically.
"Are you questioning my choice in names, Lily Flower? How could you!" After a few moments of glaring at Lily, he asked sweetly, "So, Lily flower, about that charm for the fish…"
Everyone collectively groaned, and continued walking down the hallway.
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FanFictionFantom:Heh, my friend is completely obsessed with Phantom... therefore, so am I xD When we went on this cruise there were these stairs like in a certain scene in PotO (Masquerade) and she was obsessing over them... it was pretty funny xD
blue mariposa: Lol, it's not really summer yet... I only have 3 more finals left, though xD
Ashey: Lol, here's the next chapter. And I'm sorry that I made you two wait for it. Lol. And sweet, I have an illustrator -grins-
Oh yeah, okay, so if anyone wants to see drawings done from the fanfic, go to http/ superblonde2889 . deviantart. com without all the spaces... there's some stuff there xD Basically just some stupid character drawings... heh xD
Okay, so it's really long. Forgive meh! xD And sorry for taking so long to write it. I couldn't find a good place to stop it x.x
Now please review! Pretty please with sugar and whipped cream on top!