Chapter Three

"What?" Lily said, surprised.

"I'll do it Lily. For you. I hate seeing you upset. I care about you Lily, but all these years you hated me too much to realize it," James told her. Lily noticed a hint of bitterness in his voice as he said the last part.

"I never hated you James," Lily said softly.

"Really?" James asked her skeptically.

"I'm sorry if I ever gave you the impression that I did," as she told him this, she lightly placed a delicate white hand on his arm. This gesture sent tingles up James' spine. Lily had no idea how much that simple gesture aroused him. Lily removed her hand from his arm and said, "You do realize that if we go through with this, it will be no strings attached. No emotional attachments whatsoever, unless the possiblity of a friendship arises. Who knows? You might prove to be a good friend," she said smiling genially. "And also, we can't start until next week," James' face fell slightly but not enough for Lily to notice. The prospect of having to wait another whole week upset him. 'I've waited six years I can wait another seven days' James thought. "If we start too soon, it will be obvious that I'm only doing it to get Sirius back. Which is true, but they're not supposed to know that,"

The next week arrived much too slowly for James, but after what seemed like an eternity, come it did. Lily and James discussed the plan that Monday morning before leaving the Head's common room hand in hand. They climbed out of their portrait hole at the same time as Sirius and Remus. Lily glanced quickly at Sirius' shocked and jealous expression and smirked triumphantly. They walked down to the great hall and sat down in an isolated but conspicuous section of the Gryffindor table. They sat close to each other and James put his arm around her waist. 'Finally!' he thought, this was what he had been dreaming of for the past six years. They put their heads together and smiled. They spoke softly so no one would hear but so that it looked like they were whispering sweet nothings to each other.

"James, your hand is way too close to my ass," Lily whispered with a smile.

"Well if you want to make them think that we're actually going out you can't object to what I do," James said in the same manner. Lily pulled away quickly, but realizing her mistake she put her arms around his neck and brought her face closer to his.

"If your in this just so that you can take advantage of me you might as well back out now," Lily growled still smiling.

"Lily, I'm trying to help you and if you don't think I know what will make Sirius jealous who do you think will? I've only been his best friend for six years," James said seriously. Lily looked into his eyes and realized that he was right. She would have to listen to him. She looked over James' shoulder at Sirius' section. There were girls crowded around him, as he talked and flirted half heartedly, she saw him glance over at her and James every once in a while. Everytime she saw him look her way she did something affectionate to James such as kiss his ear or run her hands through his unruly black hair. James, in the meantime was enjoying every minute of it. The little affectionate kisses and touches. He knew that they were just a show but he enjoyed it just the same. He was finally in the arms of the girl of his dreams. The only thing that ruined it for him was the fact that she was using them to get to someone else. In Lily's opinion, the plan was going very well. At this rate, she would have Sirius back in no time. She knew she could have him back now if she wanted, but she also knew that in order to make him faithful, she had to make him suffer.

After breakfast, James walked Lily to her Ancient Runes class. She topped off her performance for the morning with a passionate kiss before she entered the class room. It caught James off guard. He was not expecting such a lustful kiss. It was arranged to be a chaste kiss on the lips and that was it. But leave it to Lily to add her own little spice to things. James didn't mind of course, it was actually a very pleasurable experience. One that he had been waiting for for a long time. He only wished that he knew it was coming so he could have been better prepared and able to savor that moment. However he was not but he was by no means disappointed.

When he started off in the direction of his class, he was stopped by Sirius. Somehow, James knew it was coming.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Sirius explained, shoving him against the cold stone wall.

"Oh me and Lily are kind of going out," James mocked. Sirius shoved him against the wall again, harder.

"Don't mock me," Sirius growled. "You're only doing this to get back at me. You don't care about Lily like I do," James snorted.

"You're kidding right? You know how I feel about Lily. I've loved Lily since the first time I laid eyes on her. For you Lily is a one time thing. You only want her back because you refuse to be dumped,"

"You know that's not true. I care about Lily and I want her back because I love her. Why can't you just accept the fact that Lily loves me not you?"

"If Lily loved you so much wouldn't she be with you and not me?" James raised his eyebrow. Sirius shoved him against the wall once more and then released him. He had nothing to say to James' witty remark. However, Sirius still had the feeling that they were doing this to hurt him. But he could do nothing about it. He had to let it play out and see what the outcome was. It was out of his hands.

I did my best to make this chapter longer. I could have made it longer but that would be giving away too much. this chapter was 1042 words. much better than last chapter only 634 words. R&R!