AN: hello everyone! Ok, so quickly, there aren't going to be many chapters left to this story, I've almost finished now. It think it's turned out ok, since it was going to be just a one-shot. glad i continued. Also, I couldn't believe how many reviews I got last chapter!!!!! You're all amazing, and i was so happy; thanks so much!! Hope you like this chapter. it gets a bit fluffy, but hey, we all love fluff. Enjoy:

"Wait," Lily said, her homework laying forgotten on the table. "I thought Sirius spent the summer with James."

"Well, he did. For two weeks anyway, when they were in France and Australia," Sarah said then frowned. "Have you not spoken to James since the summer began?"

Lily blushed and chewed on the end of her quill. She, Sarah and Eleanor were sitting in the library on the evening of their first day back at school. Already their homework load was enormous, and it didn't help that Lily's thoughts had been distracted all day.

"So, if James only spent two weeks selling his parents' houses, where was he for the rest of the summer?" Lily mused out loud.

"At home?" Eleanor suggested helpfully. She'd already given up on her homework and was inspecting her long blonde hair for stray split ends.

"Then why wouldn't Sirius be with him?" Lily asked no one in particular, frustrated already by the little actual conversation she'd had with James since their return to school. She hadn't spoken to him since his crazy antics at breakfast that morning and was annoyed at him for his lack of explanation as to why he had so rudely ignored her all summer.

"Lils," Sarah said softly, and quite uncharacteristically. "You need to talk to James. Sit down with him and talk. About everything. You want him don't you?"

Lily squirmed in her seat and shrugged. "I suppose so."

Sarah just rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted as a group of boys wandered over.

"Good evening, ladies," Sirius said, drawing up a chair and sitting backwards on it, his chin resting on the seat back. "Not doing homework, I hope?"

"Yes, actually," Lily said, just as Sarah said, "No."

"Good good," Sirius said as James, Remus and Peter all sat down at the table.

"How were your summers?" Remus asked the girls.

"Amazing," Sarah said with a grin as she swished her long dark her over her shoulder. "I spent it with my family in Italy."

"Make any new friends?" Sirius innocently asked, but Lily noticed him share a subtle smirk with James before turning his attention back to Sarah, who it seemed had also noticed the look, as she raised a thin eyebrow.

"Not unless you count a stray dog we found wandering around our villa, no."

"A stray dog?" Sirius asked, tipping his chair forward and giving her an intrigued look. "Oh do tell me more."

Sarah's eyes flicked from Sirius to James and back again. Lily too glanced at James and saw he was attempting to cover a grin with his hand. What was going on?

"How was your summer, Peter?" Lily asked. He looked shocked at actually being spoken to and stuttered over his words.

"Oh…it, it was g-good. You know. Bit, bit boring."

Lily's diversion tactic hadn't worked, however. Sarah was still glaring suspiciously at Sirius who was smirking at his knees.

"Well, I'm off to bed," Lily said, shoving her belongings back into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Good night," James said, standing as well and kissing her cheek quickly. She just smiled awkwardly, waved to the table and left, cursing her cowardice. All she had to do was ask James for a private word. He'd give it to her, she knew he would…or would he? Maybe he didn't love her anymore. After all, Sirius said he'd hooked up with a girl in Sydney. But if he'd only been there for a week…well where else had he spent his holiday?

Lily shook her head to clear it then realised she wasn't walking alone. Remus had joined her and they left the library together in silence, walking through the chilly stone corridors.

"Giant squid," Remus told the fat lady, and the portrait hole swung open for them.

"You've been awfully quiet all day," Remus said, sitting down in an armchair by the fire.

"Mm. I don't know why. I'm glad to be back," she said, dropping her bag and flopping down on the sofa. "I can't believe it's our last year here though. I still don't know what I want to do after I finish school."

"I don't know what I'll be able to do. Who'll want to hire me?"

Lily raised her eyebrows at his uncharacteristically pessimistic thoughts and he smiled.

"Sorry, I shouldn't moan."

"You have every right to moan." She grinned. "I moan an awful lot more than you do and my life is considerably easier."

"Oh I don't know," he laughed. "At least I don't have James mooning over me twenty four seven."

The smile slipped from Lily's face and she chewed distractedly on a hangnail. "Not any more I don't. He's over me, isn't he?"

Remus shook his head sadly. "No, Lily. I doubt he could ever get over you. It's just…well, you need to talk to him."

"Mm, that's what everyone keeps saying." Lily glanced around the near empty common room and sighed, but her next words were interrupted by the portrait hole slamming open and Sarah scuttling through, followed by Sirius who was laughing.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" she shrieked at him. "What do you mean you're an illegal animagus? I let you SLEEP ON MY BED! You are such a PERVERT!"

---

"Good Evening, James."

"Oh," James jumped and turned to face the voice. "Professor, I didn't see you."

Professor Dumbledore just smiled and walked alongside James as he patrolled the corridors.

"I must say, I was a bit surprised when I got my Head Boy badge in the mail, sir," James said.

Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, after I passed out the smelling salts to various teachers, I think they too saw it was the right idea."

"It's funny, I thought I'd be the last one chosen for the job. I mean, Remus Lupin has the words 'Head Boy' tattooed across him."

"Well, if I knew about the tattoo…" Dumbledore joked. "In all seriousness, you have no idea how proud I was of you, that night you saved Severus Snape's life."

James shook his head. "I don't know. If it had happened a month or two earlier, I probably would have been standing alongside Sirius, egging him on."

"No," Dumbledore said quietly and stopped walking to face James in the moonlit corridor. "The difference between you and Sirius, is that you know what it right and what is wrong, and you know what is important."

Hearing a shuffling noise to his left, James glanced up but saw no one.

"I must ask you one favour, James," Dumbledore said gravely, seemingly as unaware as James that the noise made at the end of the corridor had been a student, unwilling to intrude on this private conversation.

"Of course. Anything," James said casually, though his eyes revealed his curiosity.

"I know this summer you put all your efforts into tracking down Lord Voldemort, but I must ask you to end this search, at least while you are at Hogwarts." Before James could cut in, Dumbledore said, "I know he killed your parents and I know you need revenge, but there's plenty of time to find him. There is an order, The Order of the Phoenix, specially dedicated to the cause of fighting Voldemort and his followers -"

"I want to join," James interrupted before Dumbledore could finish his sentence.

"When you finish school, the Order would greatly appreciate your support, but for now, you have enough to be dealing with." When James frowned sulkily at his feet, Dumbledore rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. "He will not get away with this – any of this. Judgement day will arrive, and when it does…" Dumbledore trailed off, but James didn't need to hear the rest of his sentence to understand. There would be time for revenge, time to convict Lord Voldemort, but it had not yet come…not for James at least.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I believe there is someone at the end of this corridor who wishes to speak with you," he said, his eyes glinting with their familiar twinkle. "Good night."

"Good night," James murmured before curiously turning to the dark shadow at the end of the hallway. In the darkness, Lily rolled her eyes and took a few steps forward.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," she said simply.

"No, it's fine."

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments before Lily rolled her eyes again and sighed.

"They'll get stuck one day," James said, a small smile playing on the corner of his lips.

"What will?"

"Your eyes."

"Oh…ok." The awkward silence stretched out for another very long ten seconds before James finally spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't write. I suppose I could tell you that it was because I was busy trying to find Lord Voldemort…which I probably should have told you about," he added, uncomfortably scratching his head. "But the truth is, I didn't write because I was really upset." He took a deep breath and continued, "I'm in love with you, Lily. I have been for years, and this isn't just going to go away and I don't want it to. But I need to know we have some kind of future. Am I wasting my time, or -?"

Lily shook her head quickly but found she couldn't speak.

James rubbed his face in his hand and began to speak again. "And the girl in Sydney –."

"No," Lily said, finally finding her voice. "You don't need to explain."

"Yes, I do. It was a mistake, something I didn't want to do. I've never felt worse or more guilty about anything in my life."

"It doesn't matter, James. Honestly, it doesn't. You don't have to explain to me, I don't deserve that."

James looked down at his feet and shrugged. Then he said, "Did you know shrimps have their hearts in their head?"

"What?" Lily asked, thrown off by the sudden change in topic.

"Yes, they do," James insisted, smiling faintly again.

"I don't understand," Lily said, looking confusedly at him.

"Well, they never have to choose between following their head or following their heart."

Hope you enjoyed. Read the little shrimp thing on a penguin wrapper. Next update should be soon: i hurt my back during a dance competition the other day so i seem to be doing a lot of sitting around. :D. hope you enjoyed, and again, please review!!!! thanks so much. xxx - annie