DISCLAIMER: You know what I do or don't own.

I've been writing like crazy today... It's, well, crazy. So I'm posting two chapters in one day. Yay!

Reviews are awesome. :)

Boxing day. I woke up earlier than normal, but I wasn't surprised. I'd found it hard to sleep last night. It had been one of those nights when you were defiantly awake, but still dreaming at the same time, dreams that you couldn't control and made even less sense than regular dreams.

I rolled over and looked across at the clock: 6:57am. Breakfast was at nine, Lily was still asleep, and Gina, our resident insomniac, was home for Christmas. Sighing, I pulled myself out of bed, got a red jumper and some old jeans from my bag, and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

15 minutes later I was dressed and washed, and Lily was still asleep. Sighing. I dropped my towel and yesterdays clothes on my bed and headed downstairs to dry my hair by the fire.

If it had been term time, the common room would have been full of people sitting around and talking and doing last minute homework before breakfast, and it was eerie to see it so quiet. I sat down by the fire, which was already burning brightly, and started brushing through my hair. All the Christmas decorations were still up, but with nobody else here it all seemed slightly forlorn, and not quite right. I sat there for a while, and slowly my hair started to be slightly less wet.

"Morning, Marley." I heard someone say.

I turned away from the fire, eyes burning slightly, and saw James standing there in an old gray t-shirt and jeans, looking like he'd slept even less than I had.

"Hey. You don't look so great..."

"Don't feel it either," he said, half falling onto the sofa. "Is Lily up yet?"

"She wasn't when I left... What time it it?"

"Er... Just past 8, I think. Did she say anything about it?"

"Not much, just that she had no idea what had just happened. She didn't really believe your apology."

"I thought as much," James sighed. "Hey, Marley, you know her pretty well, right?"

"I'd say so."

"Act as if it never happened. And stop asking her out so much, it's not cool and it doesn't really leave a good impression on you. And she'd probably want you to grow up just a little bit."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

James lay back on the sofa, and he looked totally shattered. In the silence, I tried to remember when his obsession with Lily started. It was defiantly sometime in first year, but it wasn't right away. It must have been in the summer term, when we were sitting under the tree by the lake. James just swaggered up to us and asked her out, and when she said no, he walked back off to Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and said something along the lines of 'She'll be going out with me by the end of the week.' Apparantly, Sirius said 'I bet she won't!' And, nearly six years later, James hasn't given up on the bet yet. He isn't a quitter.

That's all that it could be, a competitive guy not giving up on a long forgotten bet. But I liked to think that it was something more, that over the years he really had fallen for Lily, and fallen hard, and that he wasn't asking her out to annoy her or for the sake of it, but because somewhere in the bottom of his heart, he may be discovering that he liked her more than he thought he did.

"Marley?" James asked.

"Yeah?"

"I owe you."

I smiled at that, and three giggling third years frolicked down the stairs, and sat in some chairs near the portrait hole, and they were quickly followed by Lily, her slightly frizzy red hair loose down to her shoulders, instead of tied back is it normally was.

"Morning, Marley," Lily said as she ambled over. "When did you wake up?"

"Just before 7, you?"

"About three minutes ago. Morning, James."

"Hey, Lils."

He called her Lils... Not a good start. Lily smiled coldly and nodded, sitting down on the chair she was on the night before.

It was a lazy morning, with Sirius, Remus, and Peter gradually appearing down the stairs. Everyone seemed a little tired and perplexed by something, and we were almost silent as we were, walking down to breakfast, very strange. But that wasn't going to be the strangest thing that happened that day.

As James was loading sausages onto his plate (it's a miracle he was so skinny), a tawny owl flew in through the arches at the end of the great hall and landed in his empty bowl. Eyebrows raised, he picked it up, shaking it a little, and pulled a letter from the owls leg, glancing at the envelope.

"It's for you, Sirius," he said, passing along the letter. "Stupid owl, maybe I wasn't done with that porridge..."

"But you obviously were," I replied slowly.

"But maybe, in some other universe, I was eating slowly."

"But in this universe, the bowl was empty," Remus pointed out. "And you eat like a really fast pig, even when you're eating slowly."

James shrugged, and started eating his more than full English breakfast, whilst Sirius read his letter, a flippant look on his face. "It's a 'Christmas Present' from my parents. Basically a letter to say hey, glad you're staying at school, have three galleons to make up for our lack of love and basic decent parenting."

He dropped the three large gold coins on the table.

"Well, if you don't want it, I always need some more money..." Lily grinned, but Sirius covered the money with his hand as if it was reflex, and glared at her. The rest of us couldn't help but laugh.

"Seriously, though, you have no idea how much I'm dreading going home for summer."

"Then don't go home, "James replied simply.

"Sure, I'll just live out on the streets all summer. Will be a hell of a lot better that where I would be going."

"No, I don't mean that, stupid," James replied. "You can move in with me, I'm pretty sure my folks won't mind much."

Sirius smirked, which turned into a wide smile, which turned into a grin, and he had the urge to just hug James there and then.

"Woah, woah, woah... I really don't feel like falling of the bench this morning..." James said, and Sirius ended the hug, looking more ecstatic than I'd ever seen him, which affected the rest of our moods vastly. "So I'm guessing you're in?"

"You bet!" Sirius said, and he made a noise that sounded like a 'squee'-ing.

"Won't your parents, like, disown you?" Peter asked.

"Practically have already," Sirius replied, bursting with enthusiasm.

Everyone was grinning, and I let my eyes wander up to the enchanted ceiling, where it was still snowing.

"It's been snowing for, like, 3 weeks..." I commented.

"It's still snowing?" Remus murmured.

"Hey, what happened to that snowball fight that we never had yesterday?"