AN: Sorry this took to long. Guess that's waht happens when you leave a 10,000 word essay to the last minute. sorry if this chapter isn't the greatest. it's more of a transition chapter (and yes this story is actually going somewhere!) Thanks to all my readers and reviewers!

Dedication: To Steve Iriwn. The world cried when you died...let's hope they're all wrong and animals do go to heaven.

Disclaimer: not today...

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"I'm losing," Lily muttered quietly to Sarah on Christmas day. They had just finished lunch in the Great Hall and all the Gryffindors who had stayed for the holidays were relaxing in the warm common room.

"Losing what?" Sarah asked, barely glancing up from the book Lily had given her that morning. It was the third in a muggle romance series that she had become addicted to over the summer. As much as Sarah liked to pretend that she didn't even have the smallest streak of romance in her, it was there: present as it was in all girls whether they wanted it or not.

"The bet," Lily whispered, watching James out of the corner of her eye. They had exchanged polite, 'Merry Christmas!'s and small presents that morning but had not talked since then. Maybe James didn't want to overwhelm her, or maybe he was feeling awkward about the previous night. Lily didn't know, but she hated not having his constant attention.

"How are you losing? To lose you have to fall in love with him, and I can't see that happening."

"He kissed me last night," Lily said, feeling her cheeks warm as she remembered.

"So?" Sarah said, laying her book down on her lap. "Guys kiss me all the time. Doesn't mean I love them."

"Yea but you're different! Guys kiss you because you always let them. When someone kisses me it's a big deal."

"Well, I'm sorry," Sarah said in annoyance. "Guys like kissing me. Maybe because, unlike you, I don't expect marriage when it happens." A long silence followed this statement, until Sarah finally sighed and put her book down. "Listen, Lily," she said in a much kinder voice. "This whole bet has been crap from the beginning. You've been obsessed with him since the start of the year."

Lily opened her mouth to protest but Sarah hurried on.

"You're always talking about him, and if you're not, you're hoping that someone will mention him just so you can talk about him. Ok, so maybe you don't love him, but I know a part of you wants to."

Lily didn't speak for a long time as Sarah's words began to sink in. She shook her head. "I don't love him. And I'm not so sure I want to. See, ever since I was little, I've had this image in my head of what my husband would be like, and he's everything James isn't."

"Poor, ugly, stupid and boring you mean?"

"No, he's caring and sweet and deep and – and careful."

"Sounds boring to me," Sarah muttered. "What do you want a careful guy for anyway? What does that even mean?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't know. I want a guy who isn't going to go out and get himself killed on some stupid adventure."

Considering her for a moment, Sarah finally scratched her head, then said, "Well why don't you change your image of the perfect man. I mean, you've changed since you were a little girl, your dreams should too, shouldn't they?"

"Maybe." Lily sighed and rubbed her face. "I just really want to win this bet."

"The fact that you're doubting your ability to win is worrying. He's getting too comfortable. You need to keep him on his toes."

"And how do I do that?" Lily asked sceptically.

"My older brother, Nathan. He's had a crush on you for ages. Why don't you take him out to Hogsmeade sometime? It'll take your mind off of Potter, and he'll be left very confused."

"I don't know," Lily began, not liking the idea of using her best friend's older brother as a distraction.

"Next Hogsmeade trip is in two weeks. I'll tell Nate to meet you."

Lily sat in a silence for a long while as Sarah picked up her book and kept reading. She hadn't been completely honest with her friend, as her feelings of dislike towards James were decreasing with each passing day. Sometimes, when he was near her, or when her thoughts happened to stray to him as they so often did these days, her heart would flutter and she felt a peculiar happiness run through her veins that made her smile to herself and run a hand sub-consciously through her hair. It wasn't love – no, Lily had read enough romance novels and experienced enough crushes to know the difference between like and love, but it was the first step. And everyone always said, the first step is the hardest. Well, if she'd already passed the first step, how long would it be until she was just another swooning groupie, clinging onto James' every brief glance in her direction?

"Sarah?"

"Mm?"

"What if I do fall in love with James?"

"Then you lose the bet. Big deal."

"It is a big deal! It's my only chance to prove that he isn't as amazing as he thinks he is."

Sarah shrugged. "I don't think you're going to fall in love with him anyway. At least, not soon. You hate him too much to love him. Right now it's just passion. Only when that fades are you left with love."

Lily grinned. "As soon as the passion fades in your relationships, you dump the guy."

"Yeah, well I find out that I don't love them," she said with a shrug. "Ooo," she breathed, her eyes falling over Lily's shoulder. "Incoming, two o'clock."

"My two o'clock?"

"If it was your two o'clock I'd be looking over my shoulder wouldn't I?"

"Why would you be looking over your shoulder?"

"Because your two o'clock is behind me, so I'd have to turn around, see him, then turn back, and tell you. By that point you would have already seen him and it would be completely pointless me telling you he was there."

"Well how am I supposed to know where two o'clock is if I'm facing this way?"

"Three o'clock! Four, five, six…and he's gone. Ouch. Not even a glance our way."

"That's not James!" Lily commented as she watched the tall boy walk past.

"I never said it was James," Sarah said peering over her shoulder at Sirius' retreating back.

"I thought you hated him."

"I do," she insisted and licked her lips. "Doesn't mean he's not completely gorgeous."

---

"Can you lip read?" James asked, pulling a grape off of the bunch in his hand and squinting one eye closed.

"Not last time I checked," Remus replied dryly. "What are you doing?" The two boys were leaning against the stone banister, peering down at a group of students standing in the hall below.

James didn't reply, just stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth, drew his arm back then let the grape fly. It just missed the back of a girl's head. James frowned.

"That was terrible," Remus commented.

"Yeah, well, Seekers tend to catch not throw."

"You think that throwing grapes at Lily's head will really get her attention?"

"If someone chucked a grape at me, it'd get my attention."

"You should try a watermelon then. That'd definitely get her attention."

James grinned and popped a grape into his mouth. "You reckon she's talking about me?"

"Well," Remus said. "It's hard to tell. 'Specially as I don't lip read and her back's to me."

"You know, she's barely spoken to me since Christmas Eve. And I heard she was going on a date with that Nathan Taylor in the seventh year this weekend. She's way too good for him."

"I thought it was against the bet rules to date other people," Remus said, wincing as the next flying grape hit a first year in the face.

James frowned. "No. She's allowed to date. I'm not."

"Ah. Prongs, watch out," he scolded as the next grape barely missed Professor McGonagall who looked around suspiciously to see where the flying fruit was coming from.

"You reckon I shouldn't have kissed her?" he asked. His next grape hit right on target. Jumping backwards, he pressed the fruit into Remus' hands and flattened himself against the wall, so when Lily turned she saw only Remus leaning over the banister.

"What?" Lily called up to him, turning from her friends.

Remus scowled, and felt as though he should loudly call down one of James' more embarrassing moments, but sighed within. He was too nice. That was his problem. At least, that's what the boys always told him, and they were generally right. Well, about him anyway. "Just wondering if you wanted to come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise but smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah that'd be great."

"Cool," he replied loudly and turned back to James. "You can thank me later."

---

"That seat's taken," Lily said as James moved over to sit besides her.

"You said that last time, and I pointed out that this seat is not taken as, firstly, no one is sitting there, and secondly, this was Sarah's seat and as she doesn't take Potions anymore…"

Lily scowled at him then moved her bag so he could sit.

"So I hear you're going out with that git, Nathan Taylor," James said casually, although at a closer look, Lily could see he was anxious for the answer.

"We were going to go out this weekend, but then Remus asked me…" she trailed off, staring at him suspiciously as a few things began to click. "Wait a minute. Did you get Remus to ask me to Hogsmeade this weekend so I wouldn't go with Nate?"

Grinning, James shook his head. "Nah. That was all his idea." When Lily only glared at him, he asked, "So are you still going with Moony then? Or are you so angry with him that you'd rather go with me instead?"

"Yea, right," Lily scoffed. "I'd rather go with Severus than you. And believe it or not, I actually enjoy spending time with Remus. He doesn't have to bribe or blackmail me into hanging out with him."

"Alright, class, settle down!" Professor Slughorn called from the front of the classroom, cutting off James before he could make a smart remark. "Today we will be starting our five week project, which is going to be seventy percent of your term mark, so I hope you like the person sitting next to you, as they will be your potions partner for this project."

Her mouth falling open, Lily turned to James. She glared at him, knowing he couldn't care less about Potions lessons or his marks. All he wanted was to become an internationally famous Quidditch player and sleep with lots of giggling, blonde fans.

"The complex potion you will be making this year is the famous, and extremely valuable, Infinito Incendia." Slughorn paused for effect and gazed around the room. "This potion, if not created perfectly can have disastrous results, so trust between partners is crucial."

"You've got to be kidding me," Lily muttered to herself. Alright, he had always been a general annoyance, but this was getting ridiculous. She couldn't wait until she won this bet and he'd leave her alone. Although…she still thought about him a lot more than was normal and his –

"Lily," James hissed, elbowing her. "I hope your listening 'cause I'm not."

Shaking her head to clear it, Lily turned her attention back to Slughorn, a frown on her face.

-

"Stop!" Lily yelled, grabbing James' arm before he dropped in the unicorn hoof. "If you put that in now, the potion will get too hot, boil, then burst into flames. Not a good thing as we're making Infinito Incendia."

"Yea, what is that again? Is that the fire that never goes out or the one that helps guys get it up?"

Lily shoved the piece of parchment with a description of Infinito Incendia and the directions on how to make it into James' hands, then turned back to the potion. It was getting too hot, and bubbles were beginning to rise from it. Quickly poking her wand at the fire underneath, she reduced the temperature but added a few drops of spider venom just to make sure the potion cooled enough.

"That's not fair," complained James. "Why are you allowed to add random potions ingredients, which aren't on the list," he tapped the parchment for emphasis, "but I'm not? Don't you trust me?"

Lily sighed and stirred it three times anti-clockwise. "Now, we just need to add three and a half grams of lacewings then we can leave it to sit for a week."

"Oh good," James said, chucking in a handful of lacewings and picking up his bag.

"Potter!" Lily shrieked as the potion turned a bright red, the color of molten metal which hurt to look at. She threw out an arm and pushed him backwards as the potion began to splatter then cool.

"Woops," he muttered.

Sighing, Lily picked up her bag as well and after checking to make sure he'd caused no lasting damage, carefully levitated the cauldron over to a side-counter to sit until next lesson. She could have complained, she supposed. Maybe asked Slughorn for a new partner, but the mark of a good student was one who could work with anyone with no complaints. And Lily always wanted to prove she was a good student.

Only another four lessons, she told herself wearily as she left the classroom, a humming James trailing close behind.

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Merci! Please review, even if you don't have much to say, i always like to know what you think and any ideas you might have. also, if you don't like the way the story's going and you have some suggestions, tell me! thanks! update should be sooner this time. xxx