Sorry bout not updating for a while. School and all. But, that's no excuse. The fact that I'm a procrastinator and very lazy is my excuse. So enjoy. And review. Please?

It was almost sunset one night in Mid November, and Dani was sitting in a back corner in the library, instead of at diner with everyone else. She was working on a potions essay, or at least trying to. Slughorn was really beginning to pile them down with the homework. It was warm in the castle, so she had taken off her outer robes, and her gray sweater, the sleeves of her pressed white shirt rolled up to her elbows. Her textbook and parchment were in front of her, while she was unconsciously scribbled on her notebook. It took about a minute before she realized she had been rereading the same sentence over and over again.

She heard the floorboard creak just behind her chair, and she whipped around to see no one there. She turned back towards her work and was going to write a new sentence, when a low, seductive voice whispered in her right ear, "Dani, you of all people should know that things are not always what they appear." James Potter pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of him and sat down next to her.

"James Potter is in a library. The fact that he knows where the library is even more astonishing." Dani said while writing another sentence on the parchment, and rolling it up.

"Every now and then, I date a smart chick. The dark, back corners like this one are quite useful." Dani rolled her eyes and James grinned.

"You know hitting on girls is not the way to win Lilly's heart." James stopped grinning at this.

"It's all that stupid games' fault. If we hadn't played, I wouldn't have kissed that girl and Evans wouldn't hate me right now." James sighed while putting his head on the table.

"Lily hates you because you show off, hex Slytherins, and are a complete player. Sirius and I can't hate you because we're guilty of the same things. Remus is your voice of reason and if it weren't for him, you would have been expelled a long time ago. Peter is a tag along so he goes with whatever. Lily doesn't know that you are actually sweet because the only side she sees is the arrogant one." Dani said while running a hand through his hair.

James blew out air and looked at the table, which was covered in Dani's papers. His eyes spied her red notebook, which was covered in black writing. Dani saw what he was looking at, and grabbed it before he did.

"No. Back off. It's mine." Dani said while holding the book tightly to her chest.

"Come on Fireyes. Let me see. Please?" James wined like a little kid.

"No Prongs. It's personal." James crossed his arms and sat back in the chair. Dani placed the notebook back on the table seconds before he grabbed it and stood up, keeping it out of reach.

"James, give it back!" Dani said jumping up and down trying to reach it. Getting hushed by the librarian was the last thing on her mind.

"So you do like Sirius! I knew it! Mrs. Sirius Black. Mrs. Black. Mrs. Danielle Black." James said reading the cover. Dani lunged at him, and he ducked out of the way and started running through the aisles, Dani on his heels.

'Maybe making them run laps during Quidditch practice was a bad idea.' James thought as he ran faster, to no avail. Then, Dani tackled James with a tackle that any American Football player would have been proud of. The two rolled for a while, finally ending with Dani on top of James, straddling his hips, her hands on either side of him to stop her from falling completely on top of him. James' hands were on her hips. Both James and Dani were breathing heavily, looked quite disheveled, and for the time being had completely forgotten about the notebook that lay next to them, and were instead concentrating on how close they were.

"You do know that if we get caught in this situation, the person would think that we were doing something sexual and naughty." James said while wiggling his eyebrows. Dani sighed in relief that they had escaped that tension.

"You randy git."

"And yet, you're still on top of me." He added. Dani rolled her eyes and got off him, picking up her notebook and placing it in her lap.

"So, you do like Sirius. Why don't you tell him?" James asked, sitting cross-legged next to Dani.

"Oh yeah, right. Hey Sirius, guess what? I've had a crush on you since 2nd Year and now I think I might love you? How psycho does that sound?" James nodded.

"Good point." Dani stared at him for a second, as if trying to figure him out. She moved closer to him and took his face in her hands.

"James, I've known you forever, but tell me the truth. Why do you keep chasing Lily even though she's rejected you so many times? You've never tried this hard to get a girl before. Do you honestly like Lily, or do you just want her for another one-night stand?" James moved her hands from his face and placed them in his own.

"To tell you the truth Fireyes, I don't know what it is. I mean when we were younger, it was just a little crush, but now, it's unexplainable. I've never felt like this about any other girl I've dated. And seeing her with other guys, just makes me insane with jealousy." Dani gasped.

"That it." James looked confused.

"What's it?"

"Jealousy!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Think stupid! Jealousy is something that you, me, Lily and Sirius all have in common. We get jealous easily." Dani said while grinning.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Dani felt like strangling him.

"I'm beginning to think that Lily was right about you being an airhead. Now, who's the one person in the world who you would hate to see Lily date?" James answered immediately.

"Every guy on this planet."

"Be serious."

"But I'm not-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Dani said covering his mouth with her hand. "Now really. Who would you murder on contact if she dated?"

"Lucius Malfoy?"

"No."

"Remus?"

Try again."

"Sirius, but-"

"Bingo! Now reverse the situation. Who would Lily hate to see you with?"

"You." James grinned, seeing it mirror on Dani's face.

"Mr. Potter, I think it's time we put our acting skills to the test."

"I couldn't agree more Ms. Carlson."

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"So we're clear on the plan, right?" Dani asked. She and James were standing in front of the Fat Lady, who seemed a bit annoyed that she had been woken up, just to have the students stand there and talk to each other. James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Make Sirius and Lily insane with jealousy by being the hottest couple on the market, right?" He said leaning foreword towards Dani.

"Right." James kissed her forehead and took her hand in his.

"Ready?" Dani took a deep breath.

"As I'll ever be. You nervous?"

"Yep. You?" James asked while rolling up his sleeves, as if preparing for a duel and in a figurative way, he was.

"Like hell." They turned to the Fat Lady and James said, "Sir Nicholas.", revealing the Common Room and the seven people they wanted to see. The Marauders, Lily, Molly, Ana, and Alice. The two entered and walked toward the group huddled by the fire. Remus was the first to notice their arrival.

"Where have you two been? Dani you completely missed diner, and James you left halfway through it." Remus' comment momentarily brought everyone out of what they were doing.

"I went looking for Dani here and I found her in the library. Guess we uh, lost track of time." James said playing the part perfectly and grinning at Dani who looked down and giggled. Everyone officially knew something was up. James and Dani would flirt, but never like this.

"Yeah. He helped me with my homework. He's not a bad teacher." Dani said while discreetly looking at Lily, who had a look of shock. Sirius was wearing a look of anger. Peter, being who he is, asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Are you guys together?" James and Dani grinned at each other. This was too easy.

"Well, we have known each other for ever, and we do have a lot in common, so we figured why not give it a shot." James said while untangling their hands and wrapping his arm around her waist, earning a gasp from Alice and Molly. Remus let out a whistle, and motioned for him and Peter to go up to the dorms. Lily kept her head down, and her eyes on her parchment.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm beat." Dani said while starting towards the steps, but was stopped by James pulling her back. Then, in plain view of everyone, he kissed her. Not a quick kiss, but a slow, sweet lingering kiss.

"Good night." He said.

"Good night." She said in return before skipping up the stairs two at a time. Molly, Ana and Alice had gone off into a corner and were quietly whispering. James jumped on the couch, next to Sirius, folding his arms behind his head and grinning at the fire. Lily's eyes had yet to move.

"So," Sirius said while trying not to sound strained. "Wha-what made you ask out Dani?"

"Actually it was you." Sirius chocked on his spit.

"Me? What did I do?"

"When we took the Polyjuice Potion a while back. You said that we knew everything about each other and well, sometimes friends can lead to more than friends." He chuckled. "Man is she something."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we were snogging in a corridor, and let's just say if Mrs. Norris hadn't come around the corner, we definitely would have ended up shagging against the wall." Sirius couldn't take it anymore. He got up, and angrily stomped up the stairs, Lily mimicking his actions, and starting up towards the girl dormitories. James leaned back, looked at the dying embers, and thought, 'easy as pie.'

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'That bitch, that slut, that backstabber! How can she possibly do this to me?' Lily thought as she climbed the stairs towards her dorm. She opened the door to find Dani sitting on her bed, humming and brushing her hair. She was wearing her blue pyjamas that James had given her for her birthday the previous year. They were blue spaghetti strap shirt, and blue short shorts. When she heard the door open, she jumped up and dragged Lily to her bed.

"So. What do you think?" She asked.

"About what? James?" Lily asked pretending to be oblivious.

"No, potions. OF course about James! Well, what do you think about me dating him?"

"I don't know Dani. I mean, the guy is my worst enemy." Dani let out a huff.

"Oh, don't you dare make this all about you! This isn't about your feelings towards him, but mine. And it would be nice of my best friend were more supportive." 'I've got her eating out of my hand.' Dani thought while keeping a straight face.

"Sorry Dani, and you're right. You should be able to date whoever you want," Lily let out probably the world's biggest sigh here. "Including James Ruddy Michael Potter." Dani smiled.

"Thanks, Lils! And you also have to promise to tolerate him."

"Nope, sorry. Can't do that." Lily said while getting up and walking towards her trunk.

"Oh, come on! It's not like you have to hold hands with him, and be all buddy buddy. But no more ignoring him for no reason, kicking him in his privates, or scowling if he looks at you."

"What if he hits on me?"

"Believe me honey. When he's got all this, he won't need to." Dani dodged a pillow thrown at her. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that he'll be to busy staring at moi, to stare at you. Deal?" Lily stood still and thought for a while, her back to Dani, who was crossing her fingers.

"If he hits on me, I'm hexing him into the next century."

"Fair enough."

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"That bastard, that manwhore, the prat, that, that, Remus I need another bad word to call James!" Sirius said while pacing the length of the room. Lucky for him, Remus had soundproofed the room ahead of time. Peter was on his bed, his face in his hands. Remus, as usual, was reading a book. He sighed and lowered it.

"Why is Dani dating James such a bad thing?" 'As if I didn't already know the answer.' He thought.

"Because, because, I don't know." He said while punching the wall.

"Come on, Black. We know it's because you like her." Peter said. Sirius glared at him before walking over to the window.

"I don't what it is. I mean, it's probably just an overprotective, big brother thing, but the thought of her being with James is, is," To show how angry he was, he punched the wall again, this time leaving a dent. "Remus, how could he do this to me? I'm his best friend. How could he steal my girl like that?"

"Technically, she's not really your girl since you never actually dated her." The scowl Sirius sent in his direction had him adding to his comment. "Well, they're both players like you, so who's to say that the relationship will last long?" Remus said trying to calm his friend down. Sirius saw sense in his friend's words, and went over to his bed.

"You're right, Moony. By tomorrow, they'll have completely broken up."

Unfortunately, Sirius was wrong. By the next morning, thanks to Ana and mostly Alice and Molly, the whole school knew about James and Dani going out. When they entered the Great Hall the next day, all eyes turned to them.

"Wow. That was fast even for Hogwarts standard." Dani said.

"Well, why don't we give 'em something to talk about?" James said back. He spun Dani around, dipped her low, and kissed her, earning groans from all the guys, moans from half of the girls, and cheers from the rest. When they came up for air, they were both grinning.

"Remus." Sirius said from his spot at the table.

"Yes?" Remus asked while lifting his head from his plate.

"I hate you."