Wow, two chapters in one week! You guys better be nice to me and send extra reviews! Oh, and by the way, there's some slight L/J finally in this chapter!

xXx

Lily Evans sat inconspicuously on the staircase leading down to the Common Room. She was supposed to meet Chase and Alice downstairs twenty minutes ago. She hoped they merely thought she was running behind and didn't try to find her. She wasn't in a very sociable mood.

Her eyes wandered around the Common Room until she found a fair-haired third year named Alexis Patrise cuddled up next to Jeffrey. Her Jeffrey. Her lips thinned as the anger surged through her body. She looked down at the bracelet Jeffrey had given her just about a month ago. She ripped it off furiously, tossing it to the bottom of the staircase. Let some stupid first year find it, she thought. She certainly didn't want it.

Seething, Lily laid flat against the stairs, so as not to be spotted. She thought back to that morning. She had cancelled all plans for the morning and afternoon so she and Jeffrey could celebrate their three-month anniversary. However, he kept avoiding her all through breakfast, and by the time she returned to the Common Room, she knew something was wrong. She confronted Jeffrey and he admitted that he had a long talk with Alexis, his former girlfriend, and they decided to give their relationship another chance. Lily wanted to slap him. No one had informed her about this agreement! Why didn't she get a say in her own life? He was very graceful about the whole breakup, but Lily didn't care much for his explanations and apologies. She just wanted to see him die, very slowly, and preferably, painfully.

Lily knew that she and Jeffrey wouldn't last forever. She wasn't sure exactly why, but she had had terrible doubts about the relationship from the beginning. She wasn't sure what it was exactly, she never was able to pinpoint the reason why she never fully committed to Jeffrey, but something held her back. Now, she was glad for that something.

Lily was jarred from her thoughts as a small needle-like pain attacked her head. She turned to her side and saw James tugging her hair playfully from the floor. She hadn't realized her hair was hanging from the railing. Nor that it was so noticeable.

"I thought to myself, floating hair? But then I assumed it must just be you," James smirked.

Lily's eyes jabbed him. She was in no playing mood. "What do you want James?" she hissed, turning back to her former position of laying on her back, hands folded across her stomach.

James shrugged, unconscious of the fact that Lily couldn't see him. "You know, you kind of resemble a corpse laying that way; especially with your hands folded like that."

Lily groaned. "Good then maybe life will take a hint and kill me off."

James rolled his eyes at Lily's cynicism. "You know…I saw Jeffrey, and I figured…"

"Figured what?" Lily snapped. "That now you could have another shot at me?"

"No…I…" James began, walking towards Lily.

"Well let me tell you James Potter, that there is no way on this planet that I will ever…" Lily paused watching James.

"Lily if you'd just listen…"

He took a step closer. "James no!"

"But, Lily…"

"No not that James! You can't…"

"No, I won't let you interrupt me again!" James remarked. "I was only trying to…"

The two both let out a yelp as the staircase crumbled before them, dropping the two to the ground.

Lily sighed. "I tried to warn you. Boys aren't permitted in the girls' dormitories. If a boy even steps onto the staircase, it sort of…"

"Tries to kill us?" James asked, still in shock.

"If only I could be so lucky," Lily said sarcastically.

James sighed. He couldn't understand what Lily was so upset about. So she lost Jeffrey, big deal. She could probably get any guy she wanted to. Jeffrey Hayes was no big loss.

"Listen Lil," James began, deciding to say one last thing to her before leaving her to wallow in her misery. She seemed to be much happier without his company anyway. "I just wanted to let you know that Jeffrey's a git for leaving you for that crummy third year. She's nothing compared to you, and he'll regret his decision someday. But if you ever need to talk, I mean…I know you have Chase and Alice…but I mean, if maybe you can't talk to them…not that I'm saying you can't talk to them, but…"

Lily laughed. Had she made James this defensive towards her? "I get what your saying James," she smiled.

"Okay," James nodded, climbing to his feet. "See you, then."

Lily shook her head. She'd never understand him.

xXx

Lily went to bed early that night, skipping dinner completely. She hadn't talked to Alice or Chase about her breakup yet, although she was certain they already knew. She was a bit hurt that Alice hadn't come to see if she were all right. Chase she understood, Chase never seemed to want anybody around when she was going through a rough time, so she probably assumed the same was true for Lily. But Alice knew Lily as only a sister could, and she knew how emotional and tempestuous Lily could be, and Lily thought she should be there for her. After all, what are best friends for?

She stumbled into bed, lying diagonally across the mattress, her feet dangling from inside the four poster curtains. She threw her head into her pillow, not sleeping, but certainly zoned out. She rested for a few hours before she heard voices approaching. She tucked her feet inside her bed, curled up tightly into a ball, and listened, slowing her breathing.

"Do you think she's all right though?" she heard Alice ask.

Chase bit her lip. "I don't know exactly. She's…Lily. I never know quite what to make of her. But, I know she will be all right. Maybe she needs time alone?"

"Or maybe she wants to vent?" Alice suggested, eyeing Lily's four poster bed. "She's not at all like you Chase. Not everyone can deal with life so coolly. Some off us need to let off some steam from time to time."

Chase nodded numbly. She didn't always like keeping all her emotions inside. "I don't know though. Try giving her a day alone. Maybe that will help her clear her head."

"Yeah," Alice agreed. "I'll talk to her in the morning?"

Lily wanted to scowl, but fought the urge. Alice was always questioning herself, looking for the reaffirmation of others, rather than actually deciding to have her own opinion. This quality really agitated Lily from time to time.

"Sure Alice, whatever you want to do," Chase said, yawning loudly. "I hope Malkia doesn't decide to sleep in here tonight. Let her pass out on a couch downstairs. I can't stand her incessant snoring."

Lily stifled a laugh. She personally had never heard Malkia snoring, but then again, she was a heavy sleeper, prone to sleeping through just about anything. Alice had to wake her up almost everyday to make sure she was on time for class. But Chase, on the other hand, was a very light sleeper, popping up at the smallest creaky board or owl scratch. Lily would hate to be awoken so frequently. It must be a nuisance.

"You know Alexis Patrise?" Alice said suddenly.

"Mmm hmm," Chase mumbled, obviously annoyed with the prospect of losing sleep over something so meaningless.

"Well…I was thinking…I know I'm supposed to hate her and all now, what with Jeffrey leaving Lily for her…"

Ugly git, Lily thought.

"…But well…I actually think she's pretty nice," Alice said. "She reminds me of myself a little bit. I don't know. I guess I just can't hate someone unless they've done something to me…"

"Alice," Chase remarked, trying to put an end to the conversation. "You couldn't hate someone if they threatened to kill you. You're too nice."

"Thank…" Alice began.

"It's not a compliment," Chase insisted.

"Oh," Alice said meekly.

The room was silent for a moment, and Lily was certain Chase had drifted off to sleep already.

"But shouldn't I at least want to hate her?" Alice asked.

"ALICE!" Chase shouted. "It's late!"

"Yeah," Lily said, scaring the both of them. "And besides, if you really think Alexis is so great, why don't you go befriend her? I can tell you're in the market for a new best friend."

Alice was stung by the remark and was left wounded, speechless.

"Lily, shut up!" Chase said at last, angered by Lily's insensitivity. "I know what you're going through right now, trust me I do, but there's no reason to take your anger out on Alice who's done nothing but try to stick by you and be fair to both parties here. Don't pull her into your own little war against Jeffrey."

"Oh, I see," Lily snapped. "You get dumped and it's all, let's-stick-by-Chase-and-hate-Sirius, but I get dumped and all of a sudden the rules change…"

"Lily, stop being so childish," Chase lashed out. "No one made those rules up but you. You were the one who decided not to talk to Sirius; I never forced you to. Hell, I never even asked you to, because I would never expect that of you in a million years. Alice and I are on the House team with Jeffrey. You can't expect us not to talk to him ever. Is he an asshole for what he did? Of course! Am I going to be friendly to the guy? Not a chance! But if Alice is, you can't fault her for it! She's can't help being nice. It's what she does!"

"You know, you two can stop talking as if I'm not in the room!" Alice shouted.

"Oh that's funny. Because for the past five hours, I've been up here…alone! I must just be so used to the solitude that I've forgotten I actually have friends," Lily sneered.

"Lily Evans, that is not fair!" Alice screamed, raising her voice for the first time the girls could ever recall. "I didn't know what to do about you! Ask Chase, I was sick with worry downstairs, but the only other person I've seen go through this is Chase, and she always likes to be left alone. I know you like to vent your frustrations, but I wasn't sure if it would be different this time, since a boy you really liked was involved. I don't really know how it feels to be in your position, and since I had to guess, I guessed you'd appreciate the time alone. So, sorry for trying to make this process easier on you!"

Lily sat stunned. Alice had never yelled at her before. Ever. Lily always did all the yelling and Alice would just nod and agree with her. It wasn't that Alice was spineless. She just didn't like starting controversy and preferred to just solve problems rather than cause them.

The sound of a door creaking open broke the silence and the girls all groaned. "Go away Malkia!" they all shouted in unison. Malkia cursed under her breath and slammed the door shut. The girls all broke out in spurts of laughter.

"Well," Chase said at last. "That takes care of one problem."

There was an awkward silence and then Alice sighed. "Listen, Lily, I'm sorry if…"

"No," Lily cut her off. "Don't be. I understand why you did what you did. I was just so angry and frustrated by this whole situation…. And, well, I guess I took it all out on you. So, I'm sorry."

Alice grinned. "You don't have to be."

"And the old Alice is baaaaack," Chase remarked, impersonating the school Quidditch announcer Roland Marcus.

They all laughed.

"You know," Lily said suddenly. "I think being alone did help me out a lot. I think…I think it's a lot easier to deal with this if I don't talk about it for a while. And honestly, it's not as big a deal as when you and Sirius break up Chase, because…because I never loved Jeffrey. I think I'll get over this easily."

"Yeah," Chase decided. "You're a tough one Lil."

"Definitely," Alice agreed.

The room became silent again as the girls all started to drift off to sleep. All but Alice.

"Hey! Lil, you missed the funniest thing! At lunch…"

"ALICE!" Chase and Lily shouted.

"Oops," Alice laughed. "Sorry. Goodnight guys."

But, Chase and Lily didn't answer Alice for fear of her starting upon her gabbing tangent again.

xXx

The next day, Lily peeled herself out of bed before ten, knowing Alice would murder her if she missed the Quidditch game; Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Lily took a rushed shower, dressed rapidly, and ran out onto the field with wet curls and two pieces of toast jammed inside her mouth.

Lily bounced up the bleachers, squeezing herself in-between Holly Grisema, a seventh year, and Remus. She flashed him a smile as she sat down. "Did I miss anything?" she hoped to ask, but the mashed up toast coincided, causing her words to sound more like "Deedi mifanfing?"

Remus laughed, and Lily covered her mouth embarrassed, blushing crimson. She chewed her food than repeated herself, this time certain to over-pronounce each syllable.

"No, nothing yet. The teams walked out onto the field, but the game hasn't started yet. Chase is really ticked off about something though. She keeps shouting at Marti Blufkins, the Slytherin Keeper.

Lily laughed. Marti had a huge crush on Chase, and never quite outgrowing his childish boyhood, he assumed agitating her incessantly would win her affection. It couldn't have backfired more perfectly.

A moment later, Madame Hooch announced the game started, and the teams were off. Lily struggled to keep all of the teammates straight. She wondered if anyone else had this much trouble staying in tune with a Quidditch game, but decided not to ask, for fear of being labeled insane.

"And they're offffff!" Hufflepuff sixth year, Roland Marcus, shouted. He had a tendency to exaggerate the ending of the last word he spoke. Speaking as such was a common joke amongst the older students at Hogwarts.

"Here comes Arthur Rigby with the quaffle, and ooh! Look at that! Chase Valetta snatches the ball away from him and shoots towards the goal. Come on Chase! COME ON!"

"Mr. Marcus!" McGonagall shouted. "Do remain impartial…YES!"

Chase scored, earning Gryffindor ten points.

The game continued on as such, Chase and Jenina scoring for Gryffindor and Arthur and Lara Falcolm scoring for Slytherin.

"Look!" Roland shouted. "Is that the snitch? Yes! James has spotted it and he shoots off! Aw man, he comes Marti right behind him, that slithering, slimy, brainless…

"ROLAND!" McGonagall shouted.

"Sorry, Professor," Roland continued, although he didn't sound the least bit sorry. "Potter comes up to the snitch, he reaches, he's almost got it and…"

WHACK!

A series of gasps were sounded from the Gryffindor supporters as James Potter stumbled off of his broomstick after being whacked across the head by beater Colon Lavvy's club.

"WHAT A DISPICABLE, HORRIBLE, LOW-LIFE, TREACHEROUS…" Roland shouted, stumbling over his own words.

This time, Professor McGonagall didn't stop his commenting. She was too busy adding a few choice words of her own. Professor McGonagall, as head of the Gryffindor House began shouting at Professor Fudge, head of Slytherin.

Slytherins were hooting and cheering loudly and angry Gryffindors yelled back in retort.

Chase and Remus stood, took one look at each other, and shot off in pursuit of James. They reached him at last, unconscious and sprawled out on the ground.

"Oh no!" Remus remarked, spotting Sirius. He was attempting to punch Colon in the face, but just as he succeeded, Marti turned around and leapt on Sirius, forcing him to the ground and clobbering him.

In no time at all, Chase sped off in Sirius's direction, throwing Marti off of him with strength no one knew she possessed, and kicking Marti roughly in the groin area.

Lily cringed. This was precisely why she had no interest in sports. It was all much too violent for her taste.

Lily spotted Madame Pomfrey headed towards the field, and together, she and Remus carried James over to Madame Pomfrey and to the hospital wing. Once James was set on a bed, Sirius was brought in with Chase's help, Marti following behind from a safe distance. Jenina and Colon arrived afterward, both tangled together and stuck at the elbows, a result of a binding spell and dismemberment charm gone sour.

"Lily! Lily!" Alice called, rushing inside the room.

"Shh!" Madame Pomfrey barked. "These people need quiet!"

Alice shot Madame Pomfrey an apologetic look and rushed over to Lily who was sitting between James and Sirius's beds. "What a game!" she whispered.

"I'll say," Lily commented, leaning over James. He didn't appear to be in the greatest shape."

Chase joined them once satisfied that Sirius would be fine. "I've never seen Sirius so angry."

Lily nodded. "'But can you blame him?"

Alice scowled. "Foul Slytherins. Should be booted out of Hogwarts if you ask me."

"Madame Pomfrey!" Lily called, raising her voice only slightly. "Is…is James going to be all right?"

Madame Pomfrey didn't answer as she rummaged in her cabinet for some substance. She came back with a glowing jar labeled Skele-Gro. "Well," she began. "He'll be knocked out for at least a day, that's for sure. I'm pretty certain his skull's been cracked. Nasty game Quidditch is…"

"His skull?!" Lily shouted.

"Quiet girl, or I'll make you leave!" Madame Pomfrey hissed. "Yes his skull, but don't act so alarmed. These things can be fixed. It's quite a painful process, especially in the head, but I assure you all that he'll be as good as new in two days. Now why don't you all get along? I have patients to attend to. Bloody Quidditch…"

The three friends rose, walking reluctantly to the door, as Madame Pomfrey went about her business healing the wounded and babbling on about the ridiculousness of Quidditch.

xXx

The next two days went by in slow motion for Lily. It seemed the minutes dragged on, and she could barely keep her mind from wandering during her classes. (Quite an unusual problem for Lily, I assure you.) In fact, she couldn't keep her mind from wandering all throughout the day. She kept thinking about James, wondering whether or not he was going to be all right.

Sirius was released from Madame Pomfrey's care the next afternoon, ironically right after his last class ended. He could have easily been released earlier, as he had just a few minor bruises and injured ribs to attend to, but he insisted to Madame Pomfrey that he needed much more rest. She uncovered his little scheme to get out of class later that day, and booted him out of her sight.

But James remained in the hospital wing, cut off from all contact. Lily and the others had sent him many presents, mostly candy and cards, but they had no way of seeing him or finding out the latest news on his condition. Not knowing this information really bothered Lily for some reason unbeknownst to her. She just hoped he would be all right. Madame Pomfrey assured her he would be, but to Lily, a broken skull seemed rather serious.

Finally, on the third morning after the Quidditch game, which was won by Gryffindor, as a result of Slytherin's disregard for the rules, James Potter returned to the Gryffindor Common Room. Students were just rising from bed when he entered the room, collapsing in a fluffy armchair while waiting for his friends.

Lily, who had showered the night before, walked downstairs in her nightgown, figuring she could curl up on the couch for another hour or so. When she spotted James, her surprise and relief was apparent, and she ran towards him, arms and legs flailing.

"You're all right!" she shouted, hugging him tightly.

James was very much taken aback by Lily's forward behavior, but nevertheless, hugged her in return. "Er…yeah…just spent the last three days re-growing my skull," he half joked. But there really was nothing funny in the matter for James. The entire process hurt much more than he cared to remember.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Lily exclaimed, pulling back. "I was so worried! See, this is exactly why Quidditch shouldn't be played at Hogwarts!"

"What?" James remarked, speechless. He looked as though Christmas had just been cancelled. "No way! This is exactly why certain cheating Slytherins shouldn't be allowed to play!"

Lily frowned, but decided not to argue with James. What good would it do? He was already injured enough for the week. She saw no point in bruising his ego as well.

"I suppose," she said nonchalantly.

"So what was the hug for?" James teased.

Lily scowled. He made it too easy for her to hate him. "James Potter, I cannot believe that…"

"Hey!"

"Look!"

"Does it hurt?"

Lily stopped, mid-sentence, as a herd of Gryffindors swarmed around James, eager to find out what had happened and if it was true that he really had some freaky brain surgery. Lily decided it was time to leave, and headed upstairs.

"Hey Lil!" James called, his voice echoing through her unpleasantly. "Don't worry! I won't tell anyone about it." He winked at her then laughed.

Lily fumed inwardly and marched poignantly up the stairs. She made sure James heard every last stomp as she rounded the bend to her dormitory. Once out of sight, she relaxed a bit, not really angry, moreso relieved at James's recovery.

Before pressing open her door, Lily paused. She thought of hugging James and that silly look of shock upon his face. She smiled. She could honestly say one good thing about James. He was a far better person than Jeffrey Hayes.

xXx

Well…what did you think? Please r/r!