Summary: He thought she hated him. She thought she was just bragging rights. He kept missing his chances. She was running away scared. A story of love that follows Lily and James from 6th year until graduation. R/R!

Disclaimer: So no one sues me, I'm not JKR, I could never compare to JKR and you all know that. She is the almighty goddess of all things Harry Potter/magic. Her riches are not mine. Enjoy!

"Lily, come on, put the book away at the table," Aurelia Moore said exasperatedly, looking at her red head friend in annoyance.

Rolling her eyes, Lily dog-eared the page she was on and shoved the book in her bag, turning to her roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. "Yes, mum," Lily said disdainfully and began picking at her food.

A few moments of silence passed before Lily's other best friend, Rita Garbunkal, said vaguely, "Would you rather die by drowning or being burned alive?"

"Rita!" both Aurelia and Lily said at the same time.

"Well, I'm bored!" Rita said. "My mind wanders…"

"I think it wanders to far away sometimes, Rita," Lily said, nibbling on a piece of bread.

Sighing, Aurelia put in, "I would rather drown, I suppose."

With a hiss, Lily said, "Don't encourage her!" but this comment was ignored.

"I think so, also," Rita said conversationally, "I think being burned alive would be too painful."

"I cannot believe we are having this conversation," Lily muttered.

"Well what about you, Lily?" Aurelia asked. "Drowned or burned alive?"

Snorting, Lily replied, "I would die any way to escape this conversation with you two."

"I got another one!" Rita exclaimed while Lily groaned and Aurelia smiled at her friend's disposition. "Would you rather have a bionic arm or a bionic leg?"

Rita had dark brown straight hair, mystique violet eyes, and, as anyone could see, a completely random mind. She was very loyal, very fun, and very sarcastic and outspoken. Like Lily, Rita was a gem in Hogwarts but rarely had any boyfriends because she was very picky and could see right through guys intentions. Plus she had her eye on a certain guy for a little over a year.

Aurelia, on the other hand, was very short, had dirty blonde hair that cascaded in perfect ringlets, and blue eyes. She was very friendly and shy with people she didn't know, but once around people she was comfortable with, she was a lot of fun. Aurelia had a couple boyfriends in the past; all of them long term for Hogwarts standards, but none of them stuck. It was just recently she had her eye on someone that was a perfect match for her.

"I really have no idea how to answer that question," Aurelia said, laughing.

"I really have no idea how to answer any of her questions," Lily said, grinning in spite of herself.

Rita pouted and reached down the table for some more crips. "Fine, don't play, but whenever you're faced with this situation—"

A loud explosion interrupted Rita's rant and screams echoed throughout the Great Hall. Once the smoke cleared, a gale of laughter broke out instead. Rubber chickens were flying around the Slytherin table, squawking and randomly attacking people enjoying dinner.

"Potter…" Lily growled under her breath and turned away from the plastic toy action.

Apparently McGonagall had the same idea as Lily. "POTTER! BLACK! LUPIN! PETTIGREW! GET UP HERE NOW!" McGonagall yelled, standing at the Heads table. Dumbledore was watching the chickens fly about with a small trace of amusement on his face.

The three friends watched the four boys traipse up to McGonagall, James and Sirius waving and bowing to the student body as they did so.

They had always had far too much showmanship, Lily thought disdainfully.

A few minutes later, Remus and Peter sat down and Lily knew they hadn't been apart of this prank if they were dismissed so easily. James and Sirius still stood in front of their Head of House as she scolded them and awarded them detentions, no doubt.

"Not bad, not bad," Aurelia said, clapping along with most of the other students. "Not my favorite but it's defiantly up there on my list."

Rita was smiling as her eyes flicked from the continued attack of rubber chickens to Sirius and James being reprimanded. "Good, the Slytherins needed to be put in their place. With the upcoming match, they've been particularly nasty."

Lily scoffed. "You make them sound like animals."

"They are, sometimes," Rita retorted. "Whispering threats to me in the halls. 'Hey Garbunkal, you know Seeker is the most dangerous position in Quidditch' or 'I would keep your eyes wide open during the match, Garbunkal, you never know what accidents might happen'. I've taken their talk for years; they should know it just bounces off me. Now Humbert, on the other hand, he gets as twitchy as a—"

Narrowing her eyes, Rita stopped talking since her two friends across from her were feigning sleep and making obnoxious snoring sounds. Rita took out her wand, thought for a moment, then said, "Pappilious!"

Instantly, dozens of balled of pieces of paper shot out of Rita's wand and began hitting Lily and Aurelia. The girls sat up at once and tried to shield themselves from the slaughter. "Okay, okay! We're sorry!" Lily cried, half laughing and half-screaming as she grabbed an empty plate to put in front of her face.

After the assault had ceased, Aurelia said, "You were getting into your boring Quidditch talk, we had to get you to stop," using her wand to clear up paper bits.

Nodding in agreement, Lily said scornfully, "As if I don't hear enough of it from Potter and his admiring fan girls."

Aurelia and Rita shared a knowing look. "It sounds like you might be jealous," Aurelia ventured cautiously.

Lily burst into hysterical laughter. "Jealous? Of Potter? Are you kidding me? He's nothing but a self-centered, egotistical, bullying—"

This time it was Lily who narrowed her eyes for her friends had pulled the feigning sleep trick on her. Rita and Aurelia were collapsed on the table, making loud snoring and gurgling sounds.

Instead of retaliating, Lily just let them be as she wallowed in her hate for James. She hadn't the slightest idea why Potter had picked her out of all the girls in school to annoy and chase after. All Lily knew was he had been doing it since that first feast she enjoyed in the Great Hall.

Lily had shared a compartment with Aurelia on that first train ride to the castle and they had seated themselves a few spots down from the Marauders, who had also bonded on the train. Throughout the whole feast the four of them were whispering heatedly and kept shooting furtive looks down the table to Lily and Aurelia. Lily remembered complaining about their noise level to Aurelia after Sirius had slammed his hand on the table and began choking on a piece of pie.

Finally, near the end of the feast James had come up to Lily and ran a hand through his hair, grinning smugly at her.

"Hello there! Are you enjoying the feast?" James had said, glancing interestedly at their food as if he had never seen the likes of it before, although he the exact same spread at his end of the table. Sirius sniggered from far off and Remus rolled his eyes exasperatedly while Peter looked on with a strange smile on his face.

Lily looked at James curiously. "Yes…is there something I can help you with?"

James rocked back and forth on his heels as he shook his head. "Not at all, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm James Potter, star prankster and Quidditch prodigy." James held out his hand.

Once again, Lily looked at him curiously. "I'm just Lily Evans and I'm not sure what I'm gifted at."

Another hand run through his hair and cocky grin, James said, "Oh, you're Muggleborn? I've never known a muggle before!"

Even though Lily had just learned what the expression "muggle" meant, she knew quite well that she felt insulted by what James had said. "Actually, I'm a witch, or else I wouldn't be here."

"Of course, of course," James brushed past and Lily quirked an eyebrow, thinking there was something mentally wrong with this boy. "Now, Lillian—"

"I'd prefer Lily," she interrupted.

"Of course, of course Lillian," James repeated, making Lily's redhead temper rise a bit. "As I was saying, since you're new to magic, I'd be happy to introduce you to the finer aspects of the world around you—" another snigger from down the table "—and I think you would only benefit from hanging around a well known, rich, and popular guy such as myself. So if you have any questions, concerns, or general wonderings, just let me know."

Lily glanced over to Aurelia who gave her a look that said Lily was not the only one who thought this guy had some serious issues. Turning back to James, Lily smiled sweetly and said, "Well, Potter is it?"

"I'd prefer James, actually," James said, winking at Lily.

"Of course, of course, Potter," Lily said, smiling in a sweetly dangerous way. James' arrogance flickered for one second as he sensed impending doom coming his way. "As I was saying, I think I can manage on my own. I mean, if you are so popular, so rich, so good at Quidditch, and such a good prankster…correct?"

James swallowed hard and tried to bring back some of his self-assurance by nodding and running his hand through his hair again. "If you are all those things," Lily continued, "Then I don't think you would have time for a 'muggle' like me. So if you don't mind, I would like to go back to enjoying my desert in peace."

Lily swung gracefully back to Aurelia and began to get a bite of the cream cake. James still stood behind her, looking confused, no doubt. Lily saw his buddies giving him strange sign language on what do to next.

After a few moments, James cleared his throat and said, "Did I say something wrong?"

Without turning around, Lily replied, "You said many things wrong, but I don't have time to list them all."

Behind her James let out a low whistle. "Okay, Ice Queen Evans, I just thought you would appreciate and recognize a great opportunity to befriend me. But you missed out, I suppose."

In two seconds flat Lily whipped around and kicked James hard in the back of the knee. James cried out and crumpled to the ground, holding his leg tenderly. "I think it would benefit you if you learned to take your arrogance down a couple clicks," Lily said viciously.

James threw a glare over his shoulder towards his mates, who were laughing hard along with a lot of the other Gryffindors and a few Hufflepuffs who witnessed the exchange. "The offer still stands, Evans, and I think you'll warm up to me soon enough," James gasped through the pain.

"I doubt that," Lily said and turned back to her food as James hobbled back to his seat and told off his friends for their lack of assistance.

And ever since that day, James had followed her around, trying to carry her books or escort her to dinner, offering to help her with her Transfiguration studies, jinxing any body who said one mean thing to her, and teasing her endlessly on things she was not top notch at. He began asking her out in third year when Hogsmeade trips began and the teasing had reduced slightly the past year. But nothing else had changed.

Pretty much every day Lily wished for James to leave her alone once and for all and sometimes he took her advice (Remus' too) and let her alone for a couple days. The strange thought, the thought that Lily always pushed from her mind because she was ashamed that it even appeared there in the first place, was that by the second James-free day, an emptiness would ensue that only lightened when she was nearby him, whether it be in a class, a hallway, or in the crowded common room.

But as soon as she starts, God forbid, missing James, he jumps back into her life with annoying intensity and she forgets she even felt Potter-deprivation and goes back to "hating" him.

Lily came to from her thoughts and went back to the conversation at the table. Unfortunately, they were back on Potter and his friends. "It seemed a little amateur," Rita said, watching as the teachers got the rubber chickens to stop attacking and were picking them up. "Amateur for the Marauders, at least. I think they can do better."

"Everyone's a critic," someone said behind Lily with a sigh.

Internally, Lily groaned and physically, she put her forehead in her palm. "What do you want, Potter?"

"Just wondering how you liked the prank, my dear," James deep, melodic voice said too amiably.

Whipping around, Lily said nastily, "Don't ever call me 'dear'."

"What did you think?" James asked again as if he hadn't been interrupted, smiling and rocking on the heels of his feet, so much like the first day they met.

Scoffing, Lily replied, "It was on the maturity level of eight year old, as most of your pranks are."

James continued to smile, not insulted a bit. "Ah, so you think some are worth while."

"I never said that."

"Yet you implied it."

"It's amazing how you find some compliment in all of my insults."

"That's only because I see the love for me hiding behind those smart ass retorts, my dear."

"Don't call me 'dear'!"

"I have a question for you, Evans."

"Whatever you're about to ask, the answer is no."

"Can you just wait until I ask it?"

"No."

Sighing again, James cleared his throat, spun Lily around to face him and knelt down in front of her, grasping her small hand in his two large ones. Lily tried to squirm away but it was no use; James was much stronger. "Do you know CPR?"

Rolling her eyes, Lily asked exasperatedly, "Why?"

"Cause you just took my breath away!" James said in the most lovesick voice.

Grimacing, Lily asked, "Who in the hell told you to try that?"

"Sirius, he said sixty percent of the time it works every time." James winked. Lily looked over to his friends and saw Sirius waving at Lily while Remus shook his head warily and Peter shoveled as much desert as he could get into his mouth.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lily said, more to herself, then stood and began walking out of the Great Hall.

James stood and called, "Hey, aren't you forgetting something?"

Lily turned and nearly yelled, "What?!"

"Me, of course!" James said cockily, running a hand through his hair.

The next thing James saw was a blinding jet of light accompanied by the word, "Rictusempra!" and he was lying on the floor, giggling madly as invisible fingers tickled every inch of him.

Some students laughed as James lay withering on the ground while Lily stormed off, but this sort of occurrence was normal and nearly apart of every day routine, so most students just continued with their discussions and dinner. No one even bothered to free him from his torment and it wasn't until his laughter escalated into high-pitched girlish giggles five minutes later that a fifth year Hufflepuff gave in and repealed the charm.

"Gits," James breathed as he sat down next to his supposed friends, wincing as he did so for he was still sore from the on slaughter.

Sirius solemnly patted his best mate on the back and said remorsefully (despite the mirth in his eyes), "Sorry about the shut down, better luck next time I suppose."

"What?" James asked hatefully. "You were the one who told me that line would work and what happened?"

Scoffing, Sirius said, "Now, now, don't blame the line. It's not my fault it was inadequately executed."

James turned away from Sirius and muttered angrily, "I'll give you inadequately executed…"

With a sigh, Remus set down his fork and tried to keep his irritation out of his voice. "You've tried Sirius' shitty lines hundreds of times—"

"A hundred and seventeen, to be exact," Peter squeaked, pulling out a piece of parchment that had been with him since first year, showing a bunch tally marks under the heading "Rejected" and none under the heading "Accepted".

"Right, a hundred and seventeen times, James, and they have never worked. Not once," Remus said, now working hard to keep his voice neutral. "Don't you think you should stop taking Sirius' advice?"

"Hey!" Sirius said indignantly.

Shrugging, James said, "Well, look how many birds Sirius has in a month and he uses those lines on them, so I figure he knows what he he's talking about. Whereas you, on the other hand, have had two girlfriends in your entire stay here."

Remus grit his teeth, sick of discussing the same thing with his thick friend. "The girls that Sirius dates are pillocks who already adore him for—well, I'm not even sure what—" Remus said, trailing off a bit while Sirius gave him a nasty glare. "—but the point is Lily doesn't already adore you and she's not an idiot. So you need a new approach."

James nodded, putting his elbows on the table and folding his left hand over his right, resting lips on his thumbs in deep concentration. "Hmm, well then, I need a plan."

"Two options I know would work with Lily," Remus said not a second after, making Sirius and James look at him, surprised. "You leave her alone for a bit and if she ever talks to you or someone starts asking you about your feelings towards her, act aloof. Or you could just try being nice and not cocky, arrogant, or bullying, which is all things she doesn't like about you."

Sirius groaned and said with boredom, "That's what you always suggest, Remus."

"Exactly my frustration," Remus mumbled, "it would work yet no one even considers it."

The curtains around his bed were ripped open and Remus shielded his eyes from the unwelcome light. There was a small clink as a tray was set on the nightstand next to his bed and a cool hand was placed on his forehead. Remus rubbed his eyes vigorously in order to adjust them to the light and, after the white spots disappeared, he saw Madame Pomfrey standing next to his hospital bed.

"Ah, you're finally up, it's nearly dusk," Pomfrey said, mixing various healing potions in a goblet along with other remedies with a few deft twists of her wand. "Dinner's nearly over, but I suppose you don't have much of an appetite after the night you had."

Remus sat up warily, his body aching. "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way."

With a few more mixings and mutterings, Remus received a goblet containing a steaming and nasty smelling murky green liquid. "Drink up, wait ten minutes for it to take effect, and then you're free to go. Stay away from meat for the next couple days…stick to food that easily digests," Pomfrey said busily while capping and clearing off the bottles of potion, next sterilizing the night stand with her wand.

Gagging after his first hesitant sip, Remus gasped, "I know the routine by now, I think." This comment was ignored, except for the glare that plainly told Remus to drink the entire contents of the goblet. Remus made a vain attempt to pinch his nose in order to block out the taste, but it was no use. It was far too strong and many coughs followed the emptying of the goblet.

Around fifteen minutes later, Remus was permitted to check out of the ward and he slowly made his way to the stairs leading up to the Fat Lady's portrait. Hobbling was somewhat necessary – Madame Pomfrey did her best to heal the oddly twisted ankle but said it would take a day or two to heal fully. Remus couldn't remember how it happened…there was a fuzzy memory of gnawing on his own ankle, just out of lust for some form of flesh. His need to rip and hurt had to be soothed and if there was no acceptable human around then—

"Stop!" Remus said to himself in an undertone. He didn't want to think like the savageness of the wolf. But it's all true…a nasty little voice said in the back of his mind. You are the wolf. It's okay; don't be afraid to admit your craving for flesh, the want to cause pain, the longing to hear a victim cry out for mercy while you rip and tear…

All Remus had to say was thank God for the Marauders – he had just about lost his mind back in third year, so close to suicide to escape the barbaric thoughts that entered his head around the full moon. But suicide had never entered his mind again after James angrily confronted him about his condition—

It's not a condition…it's a disease…

—wanting to know why the hell they were not let into Remus' trust.

Remus had laughed at first. "Werewolf?" he said with one last chuckle. "No, I'm afraid your source of information is wrong."

"My source of information is the lunar calendar," James had snarled as Sirius and Peter came into the dormitory after him. "And the fact that we saw Madame Pomfrey leading you down the secret passage into the Shrieking Shack on the full moon, then come back the next morning to get you out."

"Plus you were very harsh when we found that secret passage," Sirius had added, a hard and hurt look in his eyes. "You got real defensive and your voice was very cold when you told us to get out."

"Did you honestly think we were that stupid not to notice?" James growled.

He remembered making some attempt at smiling. "Well, it did take you three years. I was wondering when you would realize that my mother should've died by all the times I told you she was sick with a range of illnesses." But his voice had not an ounce of laughter in it and he knew the inevitable was coming.

"That was our other clue," Peter had said simply.

A silence had fallen over the friends. "If you guys are scared of me, or whatever, I understand. I can request to Dumbledore to change dorms or stay somewhere else…something…I don't know…"

His friends had shared confusing stares. "What the hell are you on about?" James asked.

Before Remus had been able to respond Sirius had let out a bark like laugh. "Did you think we would stop hanging out with you? We're the Marauders…there's no way we're disbanding."

Remus wasn't sure when he had arrived at the portrait hole, how long he had been standing there or just how many times the Fat Lady had yelled at him as she was doing now. "Are you going to say the password or what?!" she screeched, slamming her pudgy fists on the table to the left side of the portrait.

Jumping, Remus apologized profusely and gave the password. A moment later he was in the common room, which wasn't as crowded as usual for dinner had just ended. His favorite chair, a squishy arm one, by the fire was taken, but he spotted Lily at a table in the corner, presumably writing an essay for a class Remus had missed due to his condition.

Illness…

"Is this seat taken?" Remus asked politely, pointing across the table.

Dazed and coming out of her intellectual thoughts, Lily shook her head slightly and said, "No, go ahead and sit."

Gingerly, Remus sat in the hard backed chair, wincing as he did so. There was something else in his lower back that felt as if a knife had been stabbed and twisted around when he sat. He was carefully massaging his the sore (and most likely bruised) part when he noticed Lily was staring at him in a peculiar way. "Are you feeling alright? I knew you were sick again…"

Another attempt to smile reassuringly. "I'm fine, it's just my back gets thrown out of whack when I lay in a bed for too long." That actually could be the reason…Remus thought to himself interestedly.

Lily nodded and glanced down at her paper, noticing a spelling error. With a tap of her wand, the word was erased and Lily rewrote it correctly. She was really doing this just to waste some time to figure out what to say next. It was somewhat awkward to now know that her calm and tranquil friend was actually a barbaric and uncontrollable werewolf. After Remus and herself had been made prefects, she starting doubting the many excuses he made once a month.

When they reviewed werewolves in DADA, a light bulb seemed to pop over her head. If memory served her right, she might've even gasped in the middle of class. Once Lily had checked the lunar calendar, she knew that Remus was hiding. Where he went every full moon was beyond her, but she was sure Dumbledore was aware of it and put the proper safety measurements in place. Still, it was hard to accept.

"Here are the notes you missed and I made a list of the assignments plus their due dates," Lily said, lazily summoning them from her backpack that was just a couple inches away from her chair. She passed them across the table to Remus. "I figured that your friends wouldn't take down the necessary information that would help you," she added a little cruelly.

Remus chortled. "Surprisingly, Sirius and James take down excellent notes, except in History of Magic. I attempt, but I usually only get a couple sentences down."

Lily groaned in agreement, yet she did it with a smile. "I know, it is so hard to stay awake, but I know I'll fail if I don't."

"I'm satisfied with barely passing, I don't consider it a very worthwhile class. Maybe it's just because Binns teaches it, I don't know," Remus said as Lily giggled a little. "But thank you for taking the time."

Shrugging, Lily replied, "I can't manage all the prefect duties while my partner in crime is behind on school work."

It was at that moment the rest of the after dinner crowd poured into the common room. Remus sighed with a hint of sadness. "There goes the peace and quiet."

Lily's smile turned to a grimace. "And it's about to get much worse," she said quietly to herself.

The Quidditch team came stomping into the common room, most likely Gina had kept them from eating dinner so they could drill a few more plays with unbearable intensity. James and Sirius trudged in at the back of the pack, curiously muddy, for the rest of team was not. It had rained the day before, but Lily was quite sure that today had been clear.

James did his usual scan of the common room, which he did once he entered any room, and spotted Lily's flaming red hair at once. He said something to Sirius, Sirius said something that looked encouraging back, and best friends made their way over to Remus and Lily, leaving mud tracks in their wake.

"Hey Remus," Sirius said, clapping his friend on the back. Remus looked over his shoulder in disgust – there was now a large muddy handprint on his black robes. "Feeling alright?"

Remus took a clean part of Sirius Quidditch robes and stretched it to his shoulder blade, wiping the mud off with it. Lily grinned and bit her lip. "Much better than last night, thanks for asking. By the way, why in the world are you two the only ones muddy?"

Sirius and James shared a quirky glance and laughed. "Oh, we were mud wrestling," James said, then turned to Lily. "Turn you on, Evans?" James suggestively winked his eyebrows.

Disgusted, Lily replied hatefully, "The only way I will ever be turned on by you is the day you disappear forever."

"I'll only disappear if you come with me," James said in the a revolting lovesick voice, "Consider it, Evans, an eternity with yours truly."

"Never," Lily said, eyes narrowed treacherously.

Next James put a hand to his heart, another hand to Lily's cheek, and began to sway slightly. Lily flinched away from his hand but James ignored it. "Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love."

Sirius added an appropriate "awwwwww" over James' shoulder, but it didn't faze Lily. Immediately she responded with, "Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interred."

Sirius added an appropriate "ooooooooo" over James' shoulder, but it didn't faze James. "Evans, I know you love me, I just wish you would finally accept your inner longings and go out with me already!"

Lily said nothing and just sent a lethal glare his way. James' grin faltered and he looked somewhat frightened. "I think she might make you disappear forever, you might want to get out of here, mate," Sirius said, a little scared looking also. James nodded in agreement and Sirius pushed him up the staircase.

As soon as they were out of sight, Lily clenched her fists near her head and let out a low, irritated scream. "Why doesn't he just stop? He's been driving me insane since first year!" Remus tried to respond but Lily cut him off. "Why don't you have some control over him? You know I hate it when he continually asks me out!"

"And you know I have tried many a time to make him tone down," Remus said, still on edge even though the full moon had come and gone. "He just seems to like the sound of Sirius' ridiculous ideas more."

Author Note: I am deeply, deeply, deeply sorry it has taken an eternity to update. Everything has been absolutely insane. This chapter has been sitting here, half done, for a month now and I decided to put off my Creative Writing II short story and finish this. I feel so bad, really I do, and I tried so hard to make this chapter somewhat lengthy and very good. I don't know what readers like better – long chapters with longer updates or short chapters with shorter updates. Tell me what you prefer and I'll try to get the next one out way sooner.

R/R por favor! ((Puss in Boots face))