A/N: Ok, how many of you hated me for the last chapter? I thought it would be funny. Sorry if you hated it. I know it was a little one-sided, only showing James's perspective, but I plan on making the next one more from Lily's POV.

Ok, sw 67, that remark was only a little playful banter. Jeez, chillax. I was only playing. You're still awesome. (It's not favoritism, it's only because I screwed up a long time ago. I love you all.)

For those of you who got confused, the whole kiss thing, from the part where James opens his eyes to the kiss, is all a dream, just to clarify for those confused.

Anyway, new chapter, same disclaimer.

Ch 17. Confusion and a "Sirius" Surprise

Lily heard a door shut. She was just stepping out of the shower. She grabbed her wand and performed a quick little drying spell, then put on a pair of clean pajamas. She turned to look out the small window in the bathroom. A faint pink-gold line was slowly crawling up the horizon. Dawn. James had been gone for a long time.

"I wonder if he's alright. Maybe I better check on him."

She crossed to the door and jiggled the handle. The door was unlocked so she grabbed the handle and turned, opening it slowly. She poked her head around the door. She didn't see James. Instead, she saw a tan, bare, muscular back and then an unruly mess of hair as the owner stood up and threw his shirt on the bed.

The door creaked and Lily gasped. James turned and saw a beautiful yet, red-faced redhead standing in his doorway.

"Uh, Lily," said James, staring at her, "what are you doing in my room?"

Lily's brain didn't immediately register what he said. She was busy staring at him like he was at her. She had heard rumors of how he looked but never believed them. Now she knew they were all true. Well, that most were true. There were a few others she heard that only could have been seen if they were involved in a different activity, if you get my meaning.

She shook her head slightly to clear her head.

"Oh…um…I was…um…I heard your door close. You had been gone a long time from the kitchens and…um…I went to look for you and couldn't find you, so…um…I thought I'd…um…come and check up on you and see if…um…you were ok."

She spluttered the sentence and continued to stare at him. She couldn't seem to wrap her head around what she was saying. She was distracted by something. Something inside her knew it was James, but her conscience said otherwise.

'Lily, keep your head. He's just a boy.'

'He's not just a boy. He is a man and a very good-looking one.'

'So what if he looks good. He's an ass.'

'No, he may have been an ass, but now he's changed. He's a level-headed down-to-Earth young man.'

'Whatever.'

James turned and sat down on his bed and motioned for Lily to sit next to him. She nervously crossed the room and sat beside him.

"It was really nice of you to go look for me. I just needed some time to think though."

"I know but you were gone for quite a while."

"Well, thanks. Where did you look, just out of curiosity," asked James inclining his head toward her.

"Oh, I don't exactly remember. I just thought, 'If I were James, where would I go'," she said with a laugh. James smiled. He turned and hugged her. Lily was slightly taken aback but put her arms around him and returned it.

He released her and smiled.

"Thank you. It means a lot, especially from you."

"Hey," she said, standing up and looking at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, considering our past, that's a pretty big thing for you to do. With our previous encounters, it's just a very nice gesture."

"You're welcome. I should probably go so you can change clothes."

James smiled his usual goofy smile. "You know Lils, if you want to, you're welcome to stay and watch."

He ducked as a pillow came flying at his head. He laughed and picked it up to put back on his bed.

"You know, Potter," she said, using his last name but smiling while doing so, "some things will never change."

"No they won't Evans, no they won't."

Lily woke up and looked at her clock. It was almost 5 o' clock in the afternoon. She had wasted an entire Friday's worth of class while she was at school. She was sure that the others had missed it as well so she didn't think much of it.

She climbed out of bed and heard the sound of running water.

"James must be in the shower."

She got dressed and wandered down the stairs. James was sitting on the couch reading a book. He looked up and saw her standing on the stair with a bewildered look on her face.

"Oh, hey Lily, looks like you're out of the shower. I'll go brush my teeth."

He got up and made his way toward the stairs.

"Lily, could you move so I can get through?"

Lily looked up at him.

"Hold on. I thought it was you in the shower. I needed to go brush my teeth and I heard running water and assumed you were in there."

"What? I thought it was you up there."

"James, I took a shower last night. Why would need another one?"

James couldn't seem to find an answer to the question and pulled out his wand.

"I'm getting to the bottom of this."

He slid around her and started running up the stairs. Lily grabbed hers and followed him up. James was at the door to the bathroom from his entrance. He motioned for Lily to come over.

"Ok, if you don't recognize who it is and I don't recognize it within 3 seconds, stun it."

Lily nodded her head in agreement and gripped her wand tightly as James turned the handle and threw the door open.

The shower curtain came back and a mop of dripping wet hair appeared.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"BLOODY HELL!"

"OMIGOD!"

Sirius's, Lily's, and James's voices rang throughout the bathroom followed by a loud "Oomph!"

"Sirius, what the hell are you DOING IN HERE?!"

The water stopped and a wet Sirius stepped out in nothing but a towel. Lily turned her face away and began to giggle.

"What's up guys? Oh, it's ok Lily. You can turn back around. I don't mind if you watch me get dressed."

Lily didn't turn around; instead she walked out of the room. "I'm not coming back in until you put some clothes on!"

She didn't see James give Sirius an angry look. Sirius smiled at him. He knew how to push his best friend's buttons. Sirius wouldn't do anything to Lily. He knew how James felt about her and he never would have done something like that. He just liked provoking him.

He put on his clothes and followed James into his room where Lily was sitting on the bed.

"Wow, James. Look, it's something you only dream of. Lily Evans is in your bed. Bow chicka wah wah."

James gave him the death glare as Lily did too. He shrank back a little and cowered under their stares. He didn't want to cross the two best students at Hogwarts. Who knows what his handsome features would look like when they were done with him. He thought he better not risk it.

"Sirius, I'm only going to ask this one more time, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!"

"Well, I thought I'd come and wake you up. Lily's bedroom door was locked from the outside so I came to James's room. I saw the door open and went to investigate. I saw that you guys had your own bathroom and decided to borrow it."

Lily looked at him and scowled. "You break into our common room, attempt to get into MY bedroom, and use our bathroom. Why I oughta…"

Lily lunged. James saw what was going to happen and made to grab her but missed. Instead, he caught hold of her wand which she threw to the side. He looked up in time to see Lily give Sirius one of the best right hooks he'd ever seen. Sirius toppled backward and Lily was standing up, breathing heavily from the amount of force she exerted on him. James stood up and gave Lily her wand back.

"Lily…"

She huffed and smoothed her hair down before turning to face him. "Yes, James?"

"That was incredible."

She smiled and left the room with an impressed James and a flatten Sirius in her wake.

'Add 13 to the list: Compliments. This might not be a bad day after all.'

A/N: And there you have it, number 17 in chapters and 13 in the list. I finally brought the list back. Are you proud of me? I think I'm on 13 but I might be wrong. Just bear with it. Please review. It makes my day.