Don't Let Your Guard Down
chapter 3
disclaimer: read previous chapters
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"Someone's in a good mood today," Gigi noted in class the next morning.
Lily shrugged. "And why not? The sun is shining, the sky is clear-"
"Lily has a boyfriend," Kacie added.
"What?" Lily asked and then burst out laughing. "You think Harrison and I are going out?"
"You aren't?" the girls exclaimed. "What happened?"
"He was a guy," Lily said in disgust.
"Um…that's usually a quality I likein a boyfriend," Gigi said.
"It doesn't matter," Lily said with a shrug.
"Okay, so if you're not going out with Harrison, then why are you so happy?" Kacie asked.
Lily was about to answer but saw the Marauders walk into class. She smiled as they walked down to the girls. "Hey Lily," James said.
"Hey James," Lily said back as the boys took the seats in front of them.
"Ooooh, I get it," Gigi whispered and then looked confused. "Wait, no I don't."
"You just called him James," Kacie said.
"Isn't that his name?" Lily asked innocently.
"Not for the past six years," Gigi noted.
"Yeah, I never thought you knew his real name," Kacie said.
"You mean asshole, jerk, and egotistical prat aren't his real names?" Gigi teased.
"Dude, Lily just called you James," Sirius whispered to James.
James smiled. "I know."
"What did you do to her?" Sirius asked.
Remus rolled his eyes. "I think what Sirius means is what did you say to her?"
"Nooo, I want to know what he did to her," Sirius repeated.
James shrugged. "We just talked."
"Oooh yeah, okay talked. That's what I do when I want to make a girl happy," Sirius said sarcastically.
"Listen up class!" the professor called out. "Your tests from last week were awful. Only a few selective people managed to do okay."
"Okay, Lily is still smiling," Sirius noted. "Even after the professor has announced that we all did badly on a test."
"I'm going to let you take a make-up test," the professor was saying.
"No fair, I don't know anything about makeup," Sirius pouted.
"I don't want to talk about it," Gigi insisted.
"That's not stopping me from asking," Lily said.
"Jimmie's a cool guy," Gigi said with a shrug.
Kacie and Lily exchanged looks. "Yeah, I'm gonna need more details."
"Why, you looking for a nice guy to have sex with?" Gigi asked.
"So that's all you did?" Lily asked with a groan.
"Yes, we skipped dinner and the movie and went straight to bed," Gigi said.
Kacie turned to Lily. "I'm kind of wishing we had listened to her when she said she didn't want to talk about it." The three girls were lying around on the grass after classes attempting to get a tan.
"That cloud looks like a monkey," Kacie said.
Gigi and Lily exchanged looks. "No it doesn't."
"Yes it does!" Kacie insisted. "Well...a monkey that has gained a lot of weight. And that has no arms or a tail. And no facial features."
"So basically it's a fat blob?" Lily asked.
"Exactly."
"Well that one looks like Black," Gigi noted.
"How?" Lily asked.
"You don't see it? The huge head, nose stuck up in the air, and a cocky grin?" Gigi asked.
Lily and Kacie glanced at each other. "You sure you're not looking at the actual Sirius?"
"Yeah…too bad he's not actually up there," Gigi said.
"Oh come on, you don't really want him dead," Kacie said. Gigi glared at her. "…or maybe you do."
Lily groaned as Harrison walked across the field. "What the hell is he doing here?"
"Walking?" Gigi suggested.
"And flirting," Lily muttered as she watched Harrison stop and talk to a few girls.
"You have got to forget about him," Gigi said. "And because I'm a real friend and I'm here to help, I've taken the liberty of separating the boys here at Hogwarts into different categories of desirability. There are the warm, sensitive, really smart guys. Losers! Feel free to pass them on to Kacie."
"Hey!" Kacie cried out.
"Does Danny ring a bell?" Gigi asked.
Kacie paused. "Continue," Kacie said.
"And then there are the guys with hot bodies, great hair, and make you pass out when you walk by them," Gigi said.
"Sounds good," Lily said.
Gigi hesitated. "On second thought, I'll keep these for myself. You can have my rejects," Gigi said.
"Oh yeah, you're a real friend," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "And I don't need a guy to get over Harrison. I am over him. It's quite easy to get over a jerk like Harrison."
Gigi shrugged. "Well, when you want my rejects, feel free to ask." Lily laughed and glanced over at the sixth years sitting on the grass a few feet away. Lily grinned as she saw one of them drool as Gigi adjusted her spaghetti strap dress.
"Okay, so what are we doing tonight?" Kacie asked, sitting up from the grass.
"Getting drunk and going to a strip club?" Lily teased. "Wait no, that's the Marauders."
"For your information dear Lily, we don't need to pay money to see chicks get naked," a deep voice said from behind. "Girls here do so willingly for us."
The girls turned around to see the four Marauders standing behind them. "You guys are like a pack of wolves. Do you guys ever go anywhere and do anything individually?"
"Yes in fact we do Giliba," Sirius said. "We find sex more enjoyable if we aren't all together."
"And then there's the times we throw Sirius in a lake and leave him there when he says inappropriate comments," Remus noted.
"Well then do me a favor," Gigi said. "Throw him in the lake now. Oh, and if you drown him, I won't tell anyone it was you."
"You don't want me dead Giliba," Sirius said. "I'd come back and haunt you."
"You already do haunt me," Gigi snapped.
"He said haunt, not taunt," Lily interjected.
"He does haunt me," Gigi said. "It's called a nightmare."
"Awww, you dream about me?" Sirius asked Gigi.
"I'm not sure you should be happy about that. She wakes up screaming every night," Kacie pointed out.
Sirius thought about it and then shrugged. "As long as she's dreaming about me."
"So what are you guys doing out here?" James asked.
"Making sixth year boys drool," Lily said with a laugh. Her friends gave her quizzical looks so she nodded her head in the direction of the boys who were staring at Gigi.
"Hey!" James exclaimed. "They can't stare at you guys like that!"
"Yeah, only we can stare at you like that!" Sirius insisted. Lily gave him a look. "…or not."
"Alright we're going to sit over there and do homework," James said, pointing to a bare spot by a tree.
Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "Homework?"
James shrugged. "Homework, prank planning: same thing."
"And I'm sure the professors would back you up on that idea huh?" Lily said with a laugh. James shrugged and the four boys walked away.
"So you and Lily seem to be getting along," Sirius said as soon as the girls were out of earshot.
James shrugged. "Looks that way."
"So can I ask you a question?" Sirius wondered.
"Of course. Ask me anything."
"Does Lily sleep in her underwear?"
"Anything but that," James said.
"Does she do homework in her underwear?"
"Or that."
"Does she read in her underwear?"
"She doesn't do anything in her underwear!" James exclaimed.
"Oooh, so she does everything naked? Even better," Sirius said. James threw his hands up in defeat.
"Okay, enough about Lily's underwear," Remus said, looking up from his parchment.
"Yeah, you guys could have any girls at this school. Let's talk about those girls for once," Peter noted.
"Whoa, look hott Gabrielle looks today," Sirius said with a sly grin, talking about a sixth year Ravenclaw.
"If she was wearing any less clothing, she'd be naked," James spoke up.
Remus turned to Peter. "Oh look, now you've got them started. Soon they'll be moving onto body parts and sex."
"So how was she in bed?" James asked.
"Told ya," Remus whispered to Peter.
"Not as good as me," Sirius teased to James.
Peter looked at them in disgust. "You are so cocky."
"Yes, but apparently girls like that," Sirius said.
"Not Gigi and Lily," Peter muttered. James and Sirius glared at Peter. "Too mean?"
James and Sirius just shrugged but went back to talking about girls.
"I have the finalized plans written up for our prank this weekend," Remus spoke up.
"You're been writing up plans for a prank this entire time?" James asked.
"But you're supposed to be the good guy. The innocent one that no one ever suspects," Sirius said. "And now you're coming up with plans for a prank?"
"I am the innocent one that no one suspects and no one will find out that I have come up with this prank," Remus warned.
"They'll know," Peter noted.
"How?" Remus asked.
"Because everyone knows James and Sirius aren't smart enough to come up with it."
"I'm glad we decided to steal the keys from him before coming to do this prank," James whispered later that night.
"Yeah, so now we're not breaking and entering, we're just entering," Sirius said with a grin.
"Still illegal Si," Remus said.
"But I can't go to prison," Sirius said. "I'm too pretty."
"And what do you think you guys are doing?" Lily demanded to know.
The four boys whirled around to see Lily in her robe and slippers.
Sirius turned to James. "You're right, she doesn't do anything in her underwear."
"Excuse me?" Lily asked.
"We're just having a nice chat," Sirius said with a shrug.
"And you need a parchment full of plans, a map, and the invisibility cloak for a nice chat at 2 in the morning" Lily asked.
Sirius turned to his friends. "Okay, someone else give her an excuse."
"Why do you ask us what we're doing if you know what we're doing?" James wondered.
"Because it's fun to see you guys squirm," Lily said. "And it was especially fun to see Sirius attempt to come up with an excuse."
"Lily, we've been planning this all day," James said. "You cannot make us back-"
"I want in."
The four boys exchanged looks. "Did I really just hear her say that?" Sirius asked.
"I want in," Lily repeated.
"Yup, I definitely heard it that time," Sirius said.
"Pleeeease? Come on guys," Lily pleaded.
James turned to Remus. "This may change your plans a little."
Remus ripped up the parchment. "To hell with the plans! Let's be spontaneous!"
"Uh Rem?" James said. "That paper had the passwords on it."
"Apparently spontaneous doesn't work for me," Remus said.
"Okay, we're just gonna get in and get out, okay? No funny business," James said.
"Why do you look at me when you say that?" Sirius asked.
"Who should I be looking at?"
Sirius paused. "Me."
"We only have a few minutes, so no examining every little thing and poking around," James said.
"Why do you look at me when you say that?" Lily demanded to know.
"Who should I be looking at?" James asked.
"...me," Lily said.
"Okay, and no whining about not getting to do anything alright?" James asked.
Peter turned to Remus. "Why does he look at me when he says that?"
"Why have we stopped?" Lily asked.
"We have to wait a little," James said with a shrug.
"How will we know when to stop stopping?" Lily asked. James gave her a look. "Oh, you know what I meant."
"Well…this may surprise you, but we've given the most important part to Sirius," James said.
Lily stopped walking. "Excuse me?"
"Just to warn you, he's in charge of making sure we don't get caught and he'll give us the signal when we can continue with the prank," James said with a shrug. "Now, I know you don't completely trust Sirius with your life and anything and you may feel that this to you this is a little problem and-"
"A little problem? No, no, no. Losing a bottle of nail polish, now that's a little problem. Having our physical well-being depend on Sirius, that's a big problem," Lily cried out.
"To be fair, I did warn you," James said. Lily gave him a look. "And you don't seem to care about fair right now."
Lily laughed. "I'm just kidding. I've seen many different sides of Sirius. He can be serious when he really wants something."
"Especially when he wants a girl," James teased. Lily laughed.
"And even more so when he wants two girls," Lily said with a laugh. "So…what's the signal?" Lily asked.
"Sirius will light his wand from the tower up there," James said, pointing to a tower above them.
"Okay, but-"
"Shhh," James insisted. James and Lily grew quiet as they saw someone turn the corner. Lily gasped when she saw that it was Harrison. James covered Lily's mouth to keep her quiet but took out his wand and muttered something under his breath. A few seconds later, Harrison had a tail.
"James!" Lily hissed, but there was a hint of a smile. "You can't just put a hex on everyone you hate."
"That's what my dad said," James said. "So I turned his hair pink."
Lily laughed. It grew quiet between them so Lily turned to James. "But thanks."
"Thanks?"
"Well, I assume you did that for me. You never really disliked him before what he did to me," Lily said.
"Well you're wrong," James said. "For your information, I hate that guy because he steals my girls away from me."
Lily snorted but shrugged. "Oookay."
James looked at Lily and smiled. "You're welcome," he whispered after a few seconds of silence.
Lily turned to look at him and smiled back. James's face got a serious look on it and Lily stopped smiling, but didn't stop staring at James. James looked into Lily's eyes and slowly brought his lips to hers. Lily was surprised but melted into the kiss. She didn't even protest when James slipped his tongue into her mouth and she gently massaged his tongue as they both explored each other's mouths. They broke apart as they were blinded by a light coming from the tower.
"I guess it's time to go," Lily said after she caught her breath. James nodded weakly and they walked up the stairs to meet the rest of the guys.
It was the next afternoon and the boys were lying around James's room. "That prank went sooo well!" Sirius exclaimed.
"We pulled it off," Peter said with a smug smile.
"Where's Lily? She should be celebrating with us!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Lily? Lily who? Why? We don't need Lily," James said extremely fast.
Peter and Sirius exchanged looks. "Okay, what's up?"
"Nothing," James said.
"Well, then I guess I'll go get Lily," Sirius said, starting to get up.
"No!" James cried out and then sighed. "Lily and I kissed."
"Lily can wait," Sirius said, sitting back down. "You kissed her?"
"She kissed back!" James exclaimed.
"When?"
"When we were playing the prank," James said.
"No fair!" Peter claimed. "I get stuck waiting around with Remus while you get a gorgeous girl to make out with."
"Alright, here are the snacks," Remus said, coming into the room. "And Peter, I won't pretend that didn't hurt."
"Hey Rem, so you know how James has dated, made out with, or had sex with almost every girl in this school?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah…" Remus said slowly.
"It seems that he has moved on and made out with the last person you would think of," Sirius said.
"He's dating a professor?" Remus exclaimed.
"NO!" Sirius cried out. "He made out with Lily."
"Ahh, my next guess," Remus said and then turned to James. "So I get stuck with Peter and you get to make out with Lily?"
Peter turned to Remus. "I won't pretend that didn't hurt."
"So you made out with Lily?" Remus exclaimed.
James shrugged. "We were bored."
"Peter and I were bored and you didn't see us making out!" Remus exclaimed.
"It's not a big deal," James said with a shrug.
"You've been going after this girl since you could talk," Remus said. "In fact, I think your first words were 'Lily's hott.'"
"I haven't known Lily since I could talk," James said, tossing a ball up in the air and catching it.
"But you've been dreaming of her since the day you were born," Remus noted.
"Look guys, it's no big deal at all," James said with a shrug.
"Does she know that?" Sirius asked.
"It just happened okay?" James asked. "And we're going to move on from it as if it hadn't happened."
"You're such a guy," Remus mumbled.
"I know. But when I get pigtails and boobs, I'll get back to you," James said.
"Pigtails? What are you, eight?" Remus asked.
"It's the first thing that came to mind," James said with a shrug.
"So you're really going to act like you and the girl you've been after since first year didn't kiss?" Sirius asked.
"I don't think she wants to make a big deal out of it," James said.
"Did she say that?" Peter asked.
"Well she didn't actually come out and say 'I don't want to make a big deal out of it,'" James said with a shrug.
"Well what did she say?" Remus asked.
"She didn't say anything. She was too busy sticking her tongue down my throat," James said.
"That is a visual picture I did not want to think about," Remus insisted.
"I wish she'd stick her tongue down my throat," Sirius muttered. The three guys gave him a disgusted look. "Oh oops, did I say that outloud?" James threw the ball at him.
"She hates me. She despises me. She wants me dead," James said.
"What's your point?" Sirius asked.
James rolled his eyes. "Why would a girl who hates me want a relationship?"
"So you're just going to live life as if nothing happened?" Remus asked.
"Yes," James said. "In fact, I'm going out with Nancie tonight. But don't tell Lily."
"Why?" Sirius asked. "If this situation is like you say it is, she won't care."
"Just do me that one favor okay?" James asked, jumping off the bed to get dressed.
"Hey Si," Lily said, sitting down for dinner.
"Hey Lily," Sirius said.
Lily just looked at Sirius nervously. Sirius looked up from his food. "Yes?"
Lily opened her mouth and then shut it and shook her head. "Nothing, forget it."
"Okay," Sirius said with a shrug.
Lily glanced over at Sirius again and opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Sirius looked up. "Okay, what do you want?"
Lily took a deep breath and asked warily, "Do you know where James is?"
Sirius froze mid-bite. "Um…nope, no idea."
Lily looked at him apprehensively. "You two are joined at the hip. If you're not together then you know where each other is."
"Not this time," Sirius said nervously.
"Come on Sirius, where is he?"
"I don't know!" Sirius insisted.
"You tell me and I'll give you this piece of gum," Lily said.
"A whole piece of gum!" Sirius said sarcastically. "No. I am not telling you for one lousy piece of gum. In fact, I'm not telling you at all. I swore I wouldn't tell you." Sirius groaned. "Crap, now I've said too much."
"And a piece of pie," Lily said.
"He's down by the lake," Sirius said, reaching for her plate. "Hey! You ate this piece of pie!"
"Oops?" Lily said and then ran off.
"You still owe me a stick of gum!" Sirius called out and then muttered to himself, "It better be spearmint gum."
Remus walked in at that moment and sat down next to Sirius. Before he could even scoop food onto his plate, Sirius spoke up. "We're in trouble."
Remus looked up. "I don't like it when conversations start that way."
"Oh, sorry," Sirius said. "Hey, how are you?" Sirius paused for a split second. "We're in trouble."
Remus sighed. "What happened?"
"Lily is going to find James right now."
"You told her where he is?"
"She offered me pie!" Sirius exclaimed. "How was I supposed to refuse?"
"Easy...with the word NO," Remus claimed.
""But I wouldn't have gotten the pie!"
"What kind of pie was it?" Remus asked.
"I don't know, she ate it."
"So basically you gave up information Lily didn't need to know about in return for...nothing?"
"Yeah," Sirius said with a shrug. "Wait a minute…she used me!"
"Apparently that isn't difficult."
Lily walked down to the lake, thinking that maybe she should go back and change into something else. She mentally kicked herself for even thinking about changing something about herself for a guy. And not just any guy but James.
"You're so cute!" a girl squealed, splashing James with water. Lily stopped in her tracks and hid behind a tree.
"I know, it is one of my better qualities," James said with a grin.
Nancie grabbed James's arm. "So…should we skip the chit chat and go straight to your room?"
"No!" James cried out. "I mean…talking is always nice."
Nancie laughed but then stopped when she saw that James wasn't laughing. "Oh…you're serious?"
James rolled his eyes but kissed Nancie. Nancie wrapped her arms around James and deepened the kiss.
Lily looked up at the tree and whispered, "Guess it's just you and me." She then shook her head. "Oh good, now I'm psycho. That'll make James like me even more." Lily turned away and stomped back up the castle, making a strong effort to not cry because she did not want to get worked up over a guy...especially when the guy was James.
"Lily?" Sirius asked.
"Hey look, Lily you-" Remus started.
"Leave me alone, okay guys?" Lily asked and then sauntered off.
Sirius sighed and turned to Remus. "So…do you think she saw James with Nancie?" Remus hit Sirius over the head. "I'm taking that as a yes."
Lily sat on the couch in the Head quarters, just staring up at the ceiling. A few hours past and she heard James come in. Lily immediately got up and ran to her room, but tripped over the rug and fell over. She looked up to see James giving her a weird look. "Um…hi?" Lily said.
James just shook his head with a hint of a smile and walked towards his room.
"So how's Nancie?" Lily asked and then cringed, annoyed with herself for bringing it up.
James slowly backtracked. "Um…what?"
"How was your date with Nancie?" Lily asked, getting up from the floor.
James sighed. "Okay, who told you?"
"Sirius…but for a good reason," Lily said.
"There is no good reason to violate a friend's trust," James groaned.
"I offered him pie," Lily said.
"Ooh, yeah that actually is a good reason," James said.
"And what does it matter who told?" Lily asked. "It wasn't like you were being secretive. I saw you kissing by the lake."
James looked down at his feet. "You saw that?"
Lily shrugged and started to walk into her room.
"You're not mad are you?" James asked.
"What? Me? Of course not! For me to be mad, I'd actually have to like you," Lily said. "And that of course is not the case."
"Okay…good," James said slowly.
"I mean why should I care that you and I share a good kiss one night and you're out with another girl the next night?" Lily asked harshly.
"You don't sound too convincing on the 'not mad' thing," James said.
"I'm surprised you didn't bring her back here. I mean, that's why you want to forget about us kissing last night, right? Because I wouldn't have sex with you at the drop of a hat?" Lily cried out.
"You know that's not true!" James exclaimed.
"You didn't even talkto me," Lily said. "You just moved on to the next girl. It's no wonder every girl in this damn school hates you."
"Including you!" James burst out. "You've always hated me Lily!"
"Not anymore!" Lily cried out and then sighed. "Well until tonight that is."
"But…but…I thought you hated me. You spit out my name as if I were Satan, you complain to other people about me," James said.
"I did," Lily said. "But then you were so nice the other day, and I thought maybe we could be friends." James gave her a look. "…or at least we could be civil." Lily got up from the couch and turned to face James. "But then you just turn around and act like the guy I always knew you were."
"Lily, I acted like this because I thought it was what you wanted," James said.
"You thought that after you kissed me that I wanted you to go on a date with another girl?"
"Okay, when you say it like that you make me look like a horrible guy," James said. Lily gave him a look. "More horrible than I already am that is."
"Look it doesn't matter okay?" Lily said tiredly.
"But it does matter," James insisted.
"Why?" Lily asked. "Why does it matter? It's not like we were going out or anything. So you kissed me, big deal."
James looked at her apprehensively. "You're upset." A small smile crept across James's face. "You're actually upset that we're not going out."
"What?" Lily cried out. "Where the hell did you get an idea like that?"
"You're yelling at me! You were sitting in here feeling sorry for yourself after seeing me with Nancie!"
"I was not feeling sorry for myself," Lily snapped.
"Oh yeah? Then explain the empty box of tissues right there," James said with a smug smile.
"It's for decoration!" Lily said. "Look, I could care less if you were kissing Nancie. Hell, go have sex for all I care! But don't forget to use a condom. God knows we don't need another Potter running around!"
"I'm surprised you know what a condom is, Virgin Mary!" James shouted.
"You are such a jerk!" Lily cried out. "I cannot believe I kissed you!"
"You said it was a good kiss!" James exclaimed.
"The only reason it was a good kiss was because I'm a good kisser!" Lily cried out.
"Well someone's a little cocky," James muttered.
"Well I'm certainly not giving you the credit!" Lily cried out. "And it's about time someone else is cocky."
"What are you implying?" James demanded to know.
"That if your head was any bigger, you wouldn't fit through the doorway!"
"Go to hell!" James said, going into his room and slamming the door.
"I'll see you there!" Lily cried out, slamming her door as well.
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okay, that's it for tonight...tell me what you think and i'll tell you what happens between james and lily!