The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.-Hubert H. Humphrey

If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of trouble. - Elbert Hubbard

Chapter Fourteen

Lily heard Emily sigh as the train came to a stop, "What's the matter?" She asked.

"I can't believe that this is going to be our last year here. This is our last train ride to school. It's weird."

Lily looked out the window at Hogsmead, "Yeah, it is."

"Hey, Lily, James," Remus said, "the train's stopped. We've got to go and help out with everyone."

"Oh, James, before I forget again, we still need to come with a password for our room." Lily said as they walked outside.

James took a deep breath as he stepped off the train, "Why don't we head over there after the feast."

"Okay." Lily replied turning to help a blonde first year off the train.

"Don't I have to get my stuff?" The little girl asked looking up at Lily.

"Nope, you don't have to worry about it; it'll be up in your room when you get up there. All you have to do is follow that man over there." Lily said pointing to Hagrid, who waved at both Lily and James.

Lily grinned and waved back, "You know him?" The little girl asked with wide eyes.

"Sure, that's Hagrid." Lily said. "Don't worry, he may be a bit big, but he's as harmless as they come."

"Er, alright." The girl said. "Thanks for helping me."

"You're welcome." Lily said smiling as she remembered seeing Hagrid for the first time herself.

"You just take those carriages over there." James said pointing the carriages out to a group of second years. Then over their heads, "It's going to be cold this year." He said to Lily.

Lily raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know that?" She said walking over to him.

"It already smells like fall." Lily opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by one of the second years James had been helping.

"What are those things?" One of the boys asked standing on his toes. "I'm not getting in the carriages if those things are pulling them."

The other kids looked at him strangely, "Did you hit your head then?" Asked one of his friends, "There's nothing there, my sister says they're pulled by invisible horses."

"Those things aren't horses. They're bloody odd looking."

"They're called thestrals." Lily said.

"Why can't we see them then?" One of the others asked.

James and Lily looked at each other unsure how to answer, "Because only certain people can see them." James answered.

"What kind of people."

"You'll find out if you take Care of Magical Creatures when you're older." Lily replied. "Now, hurry up or you'll miss all the carriages and end up having to walk to Hogwarts."

The kids looked at each other, then up at Lily, before they took off running to the carriages. "That seems to be everyone." James said looking around. "I guess we should catch the last carriage there so that we don't have to walk up to school."

"Mm." Lily replied distractedly.

"What's the matter?" James asked.

"What? Oh, nothing. I thought that I saw someone over there." She said gesturing to one of the many buildings in the town.

"I don't see anything." James said squinting.

Lily shrugged and climbed into the carriage. "Must have been a shadow." She said.

Lily was quietly looking out the window, her head on James' shoulder when he broke the silence, "Can you see them?" He asked suddenly. "Thestrals?" He added when Lily looked confused.

"No." Lily answered. "Can you?"

"No." James replied.

"Something to be grateful for then." Lily said.

"Yeah. It seems like there's less and less to be grateful for every year."

Lily looked over at James, brushed he hand over his cheek, "No matter how much we lose or how much is taken from us, there is always something to be grateful for."

James put his hand over Lily's to keep it in place and turned his head to kiss the inside of her wrist. "Thanks. I've been in need of some optimism lately."

Lily smiled at him, "If anyone deserves to be depressed, you do, James."

James took a deep breath as the carriage came to a stop. "I suppose." He said with a shrug. Lily lifted her eyebrow and giggled at a loud grumbling noise. James looked sheepishly over to her, "I guess I'm a bit hungry."

"I'd say so." Lily said smiling. "Come on, then, we don't want to miss anything."

They walked hand in hand up to the castle, but stopped short when they found the whole school standing around in the Entrance Hall. "Sirius is over there, maybe he knows what's going on." Lily said pointing to her left.

They maneuvered through people until they reached Sirius, "Oi, Padfoot, what's going on?" James asked.

Sirius turned, "Dunno, all of the teachers seemed pretty pissed and went running into the Great Hall."

James' brows furrowed, "Weird."

"I'll say. I mean isn't it bad enough that we've got to wait for the first years to be sorted before we get to eat, but now we've got to wait even longer." Dorcas said putting a hand to her stomach.

"Way to be sentimental." Alice laughed, "Besides didn't you buy half the food on the cart from the candy witch?"

Dorcas shrugged, "Candy doesn't count as food." Then after a minute, "Besides the boys ate most of it."

Gideon raised his eyebrows, "Is that so?"

"Yes, it is." Dorcas said haughtily.

"Who was it that ate six Pumpkin Pasties then?" He asked.

Dorcas grinned as Marlie said, "Don't forget the five Cauldron Cakes she ate too."

Dorcas shrugged again, "I've a fast metabolism."

"You must." Remus replied. "I don't think even I ate that much."

Dorcas looked over at him darkly, "Thanks."

"Way to put your foot in your mouth on that one, mate." Peter said.

James smiled at his friends, yes, he thought, it was good to be around his friends again. Just then a sudden terrible cold passed through him and forced him to shiver violently. "Oi, Nick!" He said, "What was that for?"

"Oh, James, sorry I didn't see you there."

Lily looked up at Nick, "Are you alright, you seem a bit distracted."

"Peeves." Nick muttered. "We, the other Hogwarts Ghosts and I, decided to give Peeves another chance and allow him to attend the Welcoming Feast, but as it turns out that was a big mistake."

"Big surprise." Sirius muttered.

"Hm?" Nick said as Emily laughed at him.

"Oh, er, what happened?" Sirius asked.

"He's flooded the Great Hall. Dumbledore asked the Bloody Barron to take care of it."

"Well, I guess that explains why we're not allowed in yet." Lily said.

Nick turned to her, then noticed the Head Girls badge winking on her robes, "You're the Head Girl then?" He asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, James is Head Boy." Lily answered.

"Really?" Nick said looking speculatively at Lily and James. "Well, that's brilliant then isn't it? Both Head Students coming from Gryffindor. I'm off to find the Grey Lady and Fat Friar, they were both sure that the Head Students were going to be from their houses."

Sirius laughed slightly as Nick floated away, "I love that even our House Ghost doesn't really believe that the two of you are the Heads."

"Yeah, Sirius," James said dryly, "that's bloody hysterical."

"Just because nobody really expected it doesn't mean that you're not going to be a good Head Boy, James." Alice said.

He looked over to her, "Thanks."

She patted his shoulder, "You're welcome."

"Hey, look!" Peter said pointing, "The teachers are opening the doors."

"About damn time." Dorcas muttered. "Bloody Peeves."

By the time the feast was over Lily thought she could fall asleep right there at the table without any trouble at all. Yawning she looked over and nodded to the two fifth year Gryffindor prefects to signal them to bring the first years up to the common room.

"So, you guys ready to head up?" Emily asked. "I'm exhausted; I can't wait to fall into bed. And I love that we've got three full days before school starts."

"Why, didn't you finish you're Transfiguration homework again?" Dorcas asked.

"Of course I did." Emily muttered. "Mostly."

"Emily." Lily said looking exasperated.

"What? Lily you don't ever leave homework until the last minute." Emily said. "Oh, wait I forgot who I was talking to there a moment." She said grinning. Then as everyone laughed, she shrugged, "I'll get something done by the time we've got Transfiguration."

"What if we've got Transfiguration first thing Monday morning?" Alice asked.

Emily glared at her, "Bite your tongue. I'll get it done by then. Anyway, you guys coming?"

"Lily and I've got to make a stop, but we'll be up soon." James said standing and taking Lily's hand.

Gideon raised his eyebrows, "You've got to make a stop; is that code for you two are going to find an empty classroom to go shag in?" He asked. "Ouch!" He said when Dorcas hit him on the back of the head. "What was that for?"

"You're such a guy." She replied.

He looked at her strangely for a moment, "Yes, I can see how that would be bothersome."

Lily laughed, "Sorry to disappoint your prurient fantasies, but James and I just have to go set the password for the Head Students room."

"You guys get a room?" Peter asked as they all walked out of the Great Hall.

"Yeah, with its own bathroom and everything." Lily said looking evilly at her friends.

"You get another private bathroom?" Alice said wide eyed. "How's that fair. You're going to tell us that password for it or the Prefects one, aren't you?"

Lily grinned as she and James stopped on the third floor, "Nope." She said as they walked down the corridor.

"That was mean." James said.

"Yeah," Lily said looking up at him, "but it was also fun."

James smiled and shook his head at her, "Who knew Lily Evans had a sadistic side." He said grabbing her chin and placing a smacking kiss on her lips. "And, also, the Heads' room isn't on the third floor, it's on the fifth."

"I know, but I don't want them checking all the doors on the floor, and figuring out which one it is. We'll have them banging on the door trying to get us to let them in then."

"You know I didn't even think of that, you're right too, they would."

Lily rolled her eyes, "I know, they're such babies." They walked slowly up to the fifth floor, passed the Prefect's bathroom and the statue of Boris the Bewildered, hand in hand. "So, what do you think we should make the password?"

James' brow furrowed, "What's your favorite candy?"

"My favorite candy?" Lily asked confused.

"Yeah, I thought we could take a page out of Dumbledore's book and make the passwords after our favorite candies."

Lily shrugged, "Alright, chocoballs then."

"Chocoballs it is." James said, "So, where is this room of ours?"

Lily pulled a letter out of her robes, "It says that we're supposed to go to the end of the corridor and turn right." They walked to the end of the corridor only to find themselves facing an empty bit of wall.

"Er, maybe it's like the Room of Requirement?" James said.

"Perhaps." Lily said looking doubtful. They walked passed the section of wall three times, but it didn't change. "Or not." She said.

"Perhaps it's a door that looks like a bit of wall." James suggested.

Lily narrowed her eyes, "I hate those and the doors that don't really go anywhere. I'd never seen anything like it when we first got here and it confused the hell out of me."

James smiled at her and patted her head, "There, there. I'm sure it's alright."

Lily rolled her eyes at him, "I'm not a puppy you know."

"No," He replied, "no, you're certainly not. Shall we try my door idea then?"

"Have at it." Lily said motioning to the door.

James felt around the bit of wall pushing in certain places, "It feels solid, does it say last years password, maybe we need it to get in."

Lily looked down at the parchment in her hand, "Er, moonshine."

"Moonshine, seriously?"

Lily shrugged, "You remember last years Head Girl don't you?"

James shook his head, "Not particularly, I just remember that you didn't like her much." James put his hands against the wall again, "Moonshine." He said pushing. "Nothing." he muttered slightly frustrated. "Are there anymore instructions?" He asked.

Lily looked down again, "No, just 'Walk down to the end of the corridor on the fifth floor and turn right. The password is Moonshine.'"

James leaned his back up against the wall, "Well I'm out of ideas, I don't know how we're going to get in without more instructions. We'll go to Dumbledore's office tomorrow and have him tell us. We have that password don't we?"

"Yeah, I've got it in my trunk somewhere, with the rest of the papers that Dumbledore sent." She said linking her hands behind James' neck.

James bent his head down to Lily's throat to place butterfly kisses down her neck. Lily swayed into James and in doing so her arms bumped against the wall. The moment that her hands touched the wall she and James were falling through it. "Oomph."

"Are you alright?" Lily asked from her position on top of James.

"Yeah." James said slowly, "The ground is kind of squishy."

"Squishy?" Lily asked poking it with her finger. She made a face halfway between confused and disgusted, "That's, er, ew."

James chuckled, "You should see your face." He said when Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Glad to be of service." She responded dryly.

James smiled as they untangled themselves and got to their feet. "I for one am quite happy that the ground is squishy, that would have bloody well hurt." He looked around the dimly lit corridor. "Huh, I never knew this was here, and I could have sworn I knew more about Hogwarts than most."

Lily shrugged, "I don't think that you would have been able to find it, even if you did know it was here." James raised an eyebrow. "I think that both the Head Girl and Head Boy have to be touching the wall to be let in here."

He nodded his head in agreement, "Then why do you suppose we need a password if the both of us have to touch the wall to get in."

Lily pursed her lips, "Well, you've got me there." She responded as they walked down the corridor.

They walked about a kilometer when they came to a painting of four people; two men and two women. The first man was tall with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes and a squared jaw; the second man was tall as well, though he had sallow skin black eyes, hair, and a beard to match. The first woman had auburn hair, brown eyes, and soft features; the second was thin, with pointed features, dark brown hair, and sharp, brown eyes.

"Well, what have we here?" The first man asked.

"You'd be this years Head Boy and Girl?" The second woman asked.

James and Lily looked at one another, "Yes." James answered.

"You're the founders of Hogwarts aren't you?" Lily asked suddenly.

The second woman beamed, "That we are. I'm Rowena Ravenclaw, this," she said pointing to the other woman, "is Helga Hufflepuff, this," she pointed to the brown haired man, "is Godric Gryffindor, and this," she said pointing to the last man, "is Salazar Slytherin."

James looked at Lily with wide eyes, "How did you know that?"

Lily shrugged, "Books." Ravenclaw grinned again.

"And your names?" Slytherin asked.

"Oh, er, right, sorry." James said. "I'm James Potter and this is Lily Evans."

"Potter, Potter, we've had a number of Potter Head Boys." Gryffindor said, then inclined his head, "Head Girls as well. Good man, carrying on a family tradition. Evans," He said. "I don't think we've had an Evans here before; have we?" He said looking at the others in the painting. They all shook their heads.

"Well, er, you wouldn't have. I'm muggle-born."

"Muggle-born?" Slytherin spat, causing the others to give him dirty looks.

Lily narrowed her eyes, squared her shoulders, and raised her chin, "That's right." She said coolly. "Muggle-born."

Gryffindor laughed soundly, "That a girl. You're a Gryffindor aren't you?"

Lily glared at Slytherin a moment longer, "Yes, I am. So's James." She responded patting James on the chest.

"Ho ho. Two Gryffindor Head Students? I do love it when that happens."

Lily and James smiled at him. "Would you be the James Potter we've so often heard about the last few years?" Hufflepuff asked.

James looked sheepishly up at her, "Probably."

Slytherin made a tsking sound, but Gryffindor grinned again, "Good man, it's good to have a sense of humor."

"Now, what is it you'd like your password to be this year?" Hufflepuff asked.

"We were wondering what we needed a password for; since the wall needs both of us to open it." James asked.

"The wall only needs both Head Students to open it the first time, after that either of you can open it. The password is just a precaution in case anyone else gets inside the corridor." Ravenclaw answered.

"Oh, and do be careful." Hufflepuff added, "The floor won't be soft the next time you come through the door, it's charmed so that it becomes soft at the beginning of each school year. After the first time it is opened every year it becomes solid again."

"That's handy." James muttered. "I'd be quite sore if it stayed solid."

"Fell through, did you?" Gryffindor asked. Lily and James nodded, "That's alright, it happens almost every year."

"Huh." James replied.

"The password?" Slytherin asked sharply.

"Don't mind him dears," Hufflepuff said rolling her eyes, "he's a rather sour man."

"Now, now, Helga." Gryffindor admonished, she shrugged at him in response.

"Er, we'd like the password to be Chocoballs." James said.

"Chocoballs it is then." Ravenclaw replied. "Have a look around." She said as the painting opened.

"Thanks." Lily said. She took one step inside and stopped short, "Whoa."

James' eyebrows shot up, "Yeah, that about covers it."

The room was about half the size of the Gryffindor common room, though there was more than enough room for two people. The walls were a golden yellow and the floor was a honey colored wood. There were two worn brown leather couches on either side of a coffee table, and a number of squishy looking chairs in scarlet, green, royal blue, and yellow scattered around the room.

The wall behind them had shelves of books on either side of the door; the wall to their right was covered in shelves of books as well. "It doesn't look like we're ever going to have to go to the library again." James said.

"No, it doesn't, does it?" Lily replied looking around with huge eyes.

On the wall across from them there was an enormous fireplace with the Hogwarts crest above it; on one side of the crest were the words, "Scientia Supremus Panton," on the other was the word "Iunctum."

"Do you know what that says?" Lily asked.

"The word on the right says 'unity,' on the left says 'knowledge above everything." James replied.

"Huh, fitting, I suppose." She looked to the wall on their left it had a single door with two large plaques on either side of it. "What's that?"

They walked over to it, "Wow, it's a list of all the Head Girls and Head Boys since Hogwarts started." James answered. "There's my dad." He looked up the list of names, "Bloody hell, there's my grandfather, and about seven cousins and uncles and such."

"There's a couple of Potters over here as well. You come from a smart family don't you?" Lily said. James looked sadly over at her "They'd all be proud of you." He squeezed her hand in return. "Hey, look, McGonagall was Head Girl her seventh year here. Do you see any of the professors?" She said.

James adjusted his glasses, "Er, there's Flitwick, and, let's see, I don't see anyone else, oh wait, there's Dumbledore."

Lily looked over, "Wow, that goes back a ways there's about a hundred names between his name and yours."

James shrugged, "Dumbledore's old; he was a professor here when my parents were in Hogwarts. Though he was new then."

"I know that Dumbledore's old; I just didn't realize he was over a hundred." Lily shook her head, "Anyway, that door must go to the bathroom, let's go see."

If James and Lily were surprised by the Heads Room it was nothing compared to the bathroom. "Holy mother of God." Lily muttered.

The bathroom was as big as the Prefect's bathroom, but done completely in white marble. The sunken tub, which took up about three quarters of the room, was a replica of the one in the Prefect's bathroom, though it had over two hundred taps. There was a separate shower that was partitioned off from the rest of the room by a glass wall. "I can't wait to go back and tell everyone about this place." James said softly.

Lily grinned, "They are going to be so jealous."

Lily was woken up the next morning by being violently shaken by Emily. "Go 'way." She muttered pulling the covers over her head.

"Lily." Dorcas whined as Emily pulled the covers back down.

"Why don't you guys ever let me sleep?" Lily moaned. "I have firm policy about getting out of bed before ten on a day when we don't have classes. And today my friends, we have no class."

"Lily," Dorcas whined again, "Alice is in the shower."

"And I care because?" Lily yawned.

"Lil, come on, you have the passwords to not just one, but two private bathrooms." Emily said.

"Seriously?" Lily asked. When she got two blank stares she continued, "That's seriously why you woke me up at eight forty two when there's no class?" She asked looking at the clock.

Emily and Dorcas looked at each other, "Er, yes."

"That's it." Lily muttered darkly and rolling to her stomach so she could reach to her bedside table. "Where's my wand?" Lily asked with narrowed eyes.

Emily and Dorcas looked nervously at one another, "We hid it."

"You hid it? My wand? Why would you do that?"

"So you wouldn't do anything rash. Lily if you just told us one of the passwords we'd never bother you again." Dorcas said quickly.

"Last time you two woke me up I didn't need a wand to have you running from the tower." Lily said completely ignoring Dorcas' request for the passwords.

"Er, that was Christmas, last time I woke you up was on your birthday."

Lily's eyes narrowed, "That's right, I forgot about that. I never got you back for that did I?"

"Run." Emily whispered to Dorcas.

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't need to, holy god!" Dorcas said as she took off running when Lily slowly got out of bed.

"Lily?" Emily asked backing up. "Lil, what are you doing?"

"Em, where's my wand?"

"Er, I've got it."

"Give it back." Lily said holding out a hand. When Emily just stared nervously at her she rolled her eyes, "I promise I won't do anything to you."

Emily looked at her suspiciously, "Swear to God?"

"Em?

"Swear."

"Fine, I swear to God that I won't do anything to you."

"Alright." Emily said slowly pulling Lily's wand from her back pocket. "Here you go. Where are you going?" She asked as Lily stalked out of the room.

"Lily, come back here!" She called running after her.

"Hey, guys, I'm done one of you can have…" Alice said, trailing off at the sight of the now empty room. "Gits, I told them not to wake her up." She said shaking her head.

"Lily you're not really going to do anything to Dorcas, are you?" Emily asked as she fallowed Lily into the common room and up the boy's stairs. When Lily didn't answer Emily tried again, "Lily?"

Lily stalked down the corridor and walked straight into the room that had the gold 'Seventh Years' plaque next to it. "Bloody hell, woman!" Sirius shouted, zipping his pants, when Lily walked in. "Women." He amended when he saw Emily. "I'm changing. Do I come barging into your room when you're changing?"

"You can't get to our room." Emily reminded him.

"That's besides the p…" He trailed off. He and Emily watched with raised eyebrows as Lily pulled back the curtains to James' bed and crawled in. "Why do I get the feeling that Lily's been in his bed before?"

Emily giggled, "I really don't want to think about it. I just wanted to make sure she didn't turn Dorcas into a squirrel or something."

"Why would Lily turn Dorcas into a squirrel?"

Emily smiled, "We woke her up, and she had already promised me that she wouldn't do anything to me."

"What for?"

"Why'd we wake her up?" Emily asked. When Sirius nodded she answered, "We wanted the password to either the Prefect's bathroom or the Head Student's one. But it was a no go."

"That's sad."

"Tell me about it. Listen, I'm going to head back to my room now, if I'm lucky I'll get back before Dorcas does and then I'll be able to get in the shower."

Sirius laughed, "Good luck with that, I'll see you down at breakfast."

"Hey, what's this?" James said when Lily climbed into the bed.

"Dorcas and Emily woke me up, so I came here." Lily answered snuggling her back to James' chest.

"I'd think that they would know better than to wake you up. Why'd they do it?" James asked putting his arm around her waist.

"You would, wouldn't you? We've only lived together for the best part of six years." Lily muttered. "They wanted bathroom passwords."

James laughed and nuzzled Lily's neck, "And did you give in and give it to them?" He asked.

Lily sucked in a breath as James' hand worked its way up her body, "Of course not, I'm not a password slut."

He laughed against her neck, shifted so that she was under him, "Password slut. Merlin, I love you."

Lily pulled James' head down to hers, "I love you too." She said before kissing him. Lily rolled them so that she was lying on top of James and pulled her shirt over her head.

James' eyes all but crossed when Lily's hand snuck under the waistband of his pants and found him. "Merlin, you've brilliant hands." He breathed.

"Alright everyone, I think that about covers everything." James said looking to the group of Prefects sitting around him. "Any questions?" All the Prefects shook their heads. "Okay, the next meeting will be on October first at three. We'll go over the patrolling schedule again, so that way we can adjust it for Quidditch and other clubs. If there are any problems before then, come us and we'll try to work it out. See you guys later."

"You guys want me to wait for you?" Remus asked on his way out.

"No, that's alright, we've got to organize things now." James answered.

Remus looked at the jumble of papers on the table in front of them, "Have fun with that."

"Thanks, I'm sure we will." James said dryly.

"Price of being Head Boy, Prongs." Remus said ducking the books both Lily and James threw at him.

"Merlin." Lily said when she and James were alone. "Coming to these things when I was a prefect was brutal, but I think running them is even worse."

"How are we going to sort these things?" James asked. "We've got a meeting with Dumbledore tomorrow, so we can't even put it off."

Lily shook her head and rubbed at her eyes, "Let me think, I'm pretty sure I read a good organization charm last year." She waved her wand at the papers, which flew at once into four neatly stacked piles. "Wicked." Lily said. "That cut out about half hour of work. Now all we have to do is pick out the Hogsmead dates for this year and we can go down to dinner."

"We've only got four dates, right?"

"Yeah." Lily said pulling out a calendar that had all the months from September to June on one page.

James looked down, "Let's have the first one be on October twenty ninth."

Lily raised her eyebrows, "You just want it to be for your birthday."

James grinned, "Damn right."

Lily chuckled, "Okay, October twenty ninth it is. We're also going to want one at the end of the year, after tests, but before we go home, so how about June seventeenth."

"Alright, two more." James closed his eyes circled his finger over the page then dropped his finger randomly. "February fourth."

"James." Lily laughed.

"What? Can you think of a better way to do it?"

Lily opened her mouth, then closed it, "You've got me there." She repeated the same process as James, "April first. Everyone's going to think that we're kidding."

James shrugged, "Less people in Hogsmead then."

"You know we are supposed to take this seriously."

"Who says we're not. We're just expediting the process of picking days to go to Hogsmead."

Lily shook her head as she and James gathered everything up, "Alright, let's bring our stuff back up our rooms then head down to diner, I'm pretty hungry."

"Instead of diner I've an idea, actually." James said as they walked up the stairs.

"Oh, yeah, and what's that?" Lily asked.

"It's a surprise." James replied. "Knotgrass." He said to the Fat Lady.

"James, I'm hungry. Can't we do it after?"

He laughed again, "Don't worry, you'll get diner, just not in the Great Hall."

"Are we going to the kitchens then?" Lily asked standing on the bottom step of the girl's staircase.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see." Lily opened her mouth, "The more questions you ask the longer you're going to have to wait, Love."

Lily closed her mouth and pouted a moment before turning to go up the stairs. She walked into her room to find everyone else was already down at diner. She placed everything in her trunk so that it wouldn't be scattered around by anything, or anyone, and ran back down the stairs. "Why can't you tell me where we're going?"

"Because that would ruin the surprise."

"James, you know how impatient I am."

"Yes, I know, that's part of the fun." James said, "And, also, the reason I didn't tell you earlier."

"Come on." Lily said heading in the direction to the kitchens.

"No, and that's the wrong way, Lil."

"If you just told me where we were going I wouldn't be going in the wrong direction, now would I?" Lily muttered.

"Well, you've got me there." James agreed. "I've an idea that can fix that." Lily looked hopefully up at him, "No, I'm still not going to tell you." He replied kissing her quickly.

"Damn." She muttered as he stepped behind her, with his hands on her hips.

"Close your eyes." James said as the reached the Entrance Hall. Lily looked over her shoulder at him with both eyebrows raised. "Seriously, close them, or no surprise."

"You know, you're a mean boyfriend." Lily pouted, but she closed her eyes.

James smiled, "Yes, Love, I know." James led Lily through the Hall and out the doors.

"Are we outside?" Lily asked.

"Stop asking questions, you'll find out the answer soon enough." James answered shaking his head. Lily was silent a few minutes as they walked across the grounds before she started getting antsy again, "Lily."

"I know, I know. No questions." Lily muttered.

James smiled as he came to a stop, "Alright, you can open your eyes now."

"Finally." She muttered. She opened her eyes to see a picnic blanket and basket sitting under the beech tree next to the lake. "You planned a picnic?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"That's very sweet, thank you." Lily replied, standing on her toes to kiss James.

"Not such a mean boyfriend now; am I?" James asked.

Lily smiled at him, "No, you're the best, most thoughtful, sweetest, smartest, coolest, most amazing boyfriend ever."

"You forgot best looking." James added.

"No I didn't." Lily answered.

James raised his eyebrow, "That hurts, Lily, it really does."

"Oh, alright." Lily said rolling her eyebrows dramatically, "You're the best looking boyfriend, ever, as well."

"There we go." James said, "Now we can eat."

"You know," Lily said, "I've never eaten Sheppard's Pie and Pumpkin Juice on a picnic before."

"You've never been on a picnic with James Potter before."

"Alright, everyone, we've finally worked out the schedule for patrolling rounds." Lily tapped her wand on a piece of paper to make copies and handed out the copies to all the waiting Prefects. "Our next meeting is going to be on November fifth at three." the Prefects all shuffled out.

"See you at dinner, Prongs." Remus said. "Lily, you want me to wait for you?"

"Yeah, sure, just let me grab these things." Lily said picking up four piles of papers. "I think that we need to find a better way of keeping track of house points." She said to James.

He shook his head, "Tell me about it." He bent down to kiss Lily lightly, "I'll see you after practice then."

"I can't believe you scheduled a practice between the Prefect's meeting and dinner."

"Ravenclaw had the pitch earlier today and our first match is in three weeks."

"I know that, but still, couldn't you have scheduled the practice for tomorrow?"

"I did." Lily looked at him incredulously. "It's my last year; I want to keep that Quidditch cup."

Remus shook his head, "It's no use trying to reason with him about Quidditch, Lily."

Lily opened her mouth, shook her head, closed it again. "No, I don't suppose there is. I'll see you after practice then. And you better not tell me you're too tired to go over these points; I'm not doing that on my own."

James grinned, kissed Lily goodbye again, "Damn, you caught me."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Come on Remus, let's go. How are you feeling?" She asked. Remus looked at her curiously, but didn't answer. "The full moon was a couple of days ago, wasn't it?" She whispered.

"Oh, yeah, I mostly feel awful right before, and a day sometimes two after. And transforming isn't as bad as it used to before, when…" he trailed off, "er, when I was younger."

Lily glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "I know about James."

Remus stopped, "You do?"

Lily nodded, "He told me the night I found out about you."

She watched Remus' lips tighten, "Oh."

"Remus," she said reproachfully. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"What you're doing now. He told me because I was worried about him and he didn't want me to be."

"You should have told someone."

"What, that James is an animagus. No, I don't think that would go over too well. You shouldn't feel guilty that your friends care about you, you know. That's what friends are supposed to do."

"It's illegal, Lily. You're telling me that if it was one of your roommates you would break nearly every Hogwarts rule known to man, not to mention the law."

Lily shrugged, "I don't know that I would have thought of it, to be honest. But I'm not going to go running to a professor because you're friends wanted to keep you from going at yourself every month."

"Lily! Remus!" Called a voice from behind them. "We've been looking all over for you two."

They turned to see Emily jogging up to them and Sirius trailing far behind. "What's up?" Lily asked, noticing the steely glare in Remus' eye.

Emily seemed to have noticed it too, "Er, we were thinking about having a surprise party for James' birthday and wanted to know if the two of you wanted to be in on it."

"Yeah, I'm all for it." Lily replied immediately.

Remus nodded, "Just let me know when you need me, Em." He said, then turned on his heel and walked away.

"Well, that wasn't awkward at all." Sirius muttered, "Listen, I'll see you two down at dinner."

"Okay, then." Emily murmured as he walked away. "I don't know what Sirius did, but he really must have fucked up, Remus hasn't talked to him in six months."

"Oh, he did." Lily replied, "So, what's this about a party?"

"Right," Emily said. "Sirius and I were talking and thought it would be a good idea, I mean his birthday's on Halloween so it's always a good time for a party, this just gives us an extra excuse."

Lily narrowed her eyes a bit, "You and Sirius have been spending an awful lot of time together." Lily said throwing all her stuff down on her bed.

"Shut it." Emily muttered. "We were talking about your boyfriend."

"As opposed to yours?" Dorcas interrupted from the doorway.

Emily glared at her, "He's not my boyfriend."

Dorcas laughed, "You know, you sound just like Lily, before she and James got together."

"I do not. Because Sirius and I aren't shagging, or snogging, or even dating. Lily was doing all three."

"Hey!" Lily called.

"You and Sirius are shagging?" Alice asked.

"What, no. Where did you even come from?" Emily asked looking at her and Marlie. "I said that we weren't."

They started down to dinner together, "You know you have been spending a lot of time with him this year." Marlie teased.

"See." Lily said pointing at Emily.

Emily pouted, "I hate you all; did you know that?"

Lily giggled then whispered to Alice, "It's nice to have the attention off me, if I do say so myself."

The girls sat down and piled their plates with food, and they all burst out laughing when Sirius sat down next to Emily, threw his arm over her shoulder, and said "Hey, Em."

Sirius looked at them strangely, "What, did Gideon actually charm my clothes invisible?"

"Not yet," Gideon said darkly, sitting down next to Dorcas. "But, I will eventually." Dorcas raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, they're just being idiots. Just ignore them." Emily answered. "So, about James' party I think that we should have it after we get back from Hogsmead, it's the Saturday before his birthday and since Halloween is on a Monday this year I don't think we should have it then."

"That sounds good." Lily replied. "What should I do?"

"Okay then. The rest of us are going to get the party stuff ready, all we need you to do is keep James busy for a few hours after we get back from Hogsmead."

"Oh, I don't think she'll have a problem with that." Alice muttered, earning a glace from Lily.

"Now that that's settled." Dorcas said turning to Gideon, "Why are you going to charm Sirius' clothes invisible?"

Gideon glared at Sirius, "Oh, he knows." Then when Sirius wasn't looking he flung a spoonful of mashed potatoes at Sirius.

"Hey, mate, looks as if you missed your mouth." James said walking up with Peter. He sat across from Lily and immediately started piling food on his plate.

"Yeah, Sirius, you're mouth isn't between your eyes." Peter said giggling to himself.

"Shut up, Wormtail." Sirius said absently.

"Wow, hungry?" Marlie asked James.

"Starving. I'm worn out." He answered over a mouthful of food.

Marlie glanced over at Lily, "I bet." Everyone at the table snickered. "Ow, hey, what the hell?" She called when Lily smacked her upside the head.

"I invoked my powers as Head Girl to punish you for inappropriate comments at the dinner table."

"By hitting me?" Marlie said dryly.

"Only because I love you." Lily replied.

"Evans is into girls now?" Said a voice from behind her, Lily turned to see Regulus Black standing there, "That doesn't say much for you're, equipment, there does it Potter?"

"What do you want?" Sirius snarled.

"I've a letter from mum that I thought you might like to see." Regulus answered throwing the letter at Sirius and walking away.

Sirius skimmed the letter, and the longer he read the harder his lips pressed together. "Are you alright?" Emily asked.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, it's nothing I didn't expect really. Mum just wrote to Regulus to tell him that she changed her will and that the house goes to that little shit instead of me."

"Oh, er, okay." Emily responded looking around; no one else seemed to know how to respond either.

Sirius made a visible effort to change the subject, "So, what do you think is for desert?"

"Lily, come on." James whined from the Head Student's common room, "I want to get to Hogsmead sometime this century."

Lily stepped out of the bathroom rolling her eyes, "Who would've thought, James Potter's a whiner."

"I am not."

"Then what do you call what you were just doing?"

"I was expressing my justifiably, incredulous thoughts as to why it took you so long to get ready to go to Hogsmead."

Lily shook her head, "Whiner." She said, then dashed around James and out the portrait hole, James closely behind her.

"There's no running in the halls!" The portrait of Hufflepuff shouted, "You would think those two should know that, being the Head Students and all."

James caught Lily a two floors down, grabbed her waist, and turned her into him, "Caught you."

Lily looked up at him, laughter lighting her eyes, "You certainly did."

James leaned his head down to kiss her; Lily's hand had just wound its way into his hair when there was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them. "Potter, Evan's this is a school, not your own personal bedroom." Professor McGonagall said tersely.

Lily blushed furiously, "Sorry, Professor."

McGonagall eyed them narrowly, "If I catch the two of you in the halls again I will take points off."

"Yes, ma'am." They both muttered.

As soon as she was out of ear shot both Lily and James burst into laughter. Lily sighed, grabbed James' hand, "You know this'll be our first date in Hogsmead."

"If we ever get there." James muttered.

Lily rolled her eyes at him again, "Stop being such a baby." James opened his mouth, but Lily stopped whatever he was going to say with a quick kiss, "Come on, let's go to Hogsmead."

A/N: Alright guys, review and let me know what you think….