Summary–Lily tries to enter the supposed club the girls in her year have suddenly created. But they want some proof of her worthiness before they let her in. In an not-so-well-thought through plot, the truth is...they're just trying to get Lily to give James a chance. friendship/romance

Disclaimer–I do not own Harry Potter, which belongs to its respective owner(s) and is only being used in a fan-made, fictional story.

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Shock and Awe – "quick paralyzing assault"

Chapter 4

By–Moon Prynces

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Lily glanced around before finally spotting her target and jogging over to him through the crowded room. "Hi," she said, announcing her presence.

He looked up quickly. "Hi, Lily."

Two people exchanged glances.

"Peter, look, I was wondering if we could meet at the Three Broomsticks at around three? I promised some of the girls we'd go window shopping," Lily smiled delightfully, her cheeks quickly turning rosy from the cold air creeping through the front doors.

"No problem. I'll see you then," the boy responded with a wave as she nodded and took off.

The grin on Sirius' face fell quicker than a first year from a broomstick. "What is going on with you and Evans?"

Remus chose to stay quiet and wait. James had yet to show up.

Peter shrugged. "Nothing. We chatted a bit about class and decided to hang out this Hogsmeade trip." His nonchalant appearance changed to one of confusion though, as if even he had no real answer to the underlying question.

"So there's no..." The two looked up at the suggestive hand motion that Sirius made to accompany his question.

Peter blanched. "Are you mad? Why would I– It's Evans! And James is my best friend, too!" Even though he expected the question, Sirius's way of asking startled him into visibly jumping.

Remus shook his head at the tactlessness being displayed by his best mates. At least James wasn't there to witness it.

"Hey!" someone shouted, out of breath as loud footsteps clambered over.

The three stiffened a moment before turning to see their last party member make his way to where they stood by the oak front doors.

James immediately slung an arm around the closest two – Sirius and Peter – and the Marauders began their trip to Hogsmeade.

"This'll be interesting," Remus muttered, loud enough only for the ears of Mr. Black. He received a suppressed grin.

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The redhead parted from her new friends plus Alice with a careless response of "meeting a friend". The girls all exchanged looks as she walked away. Alice sighed and shook her head.

Lily was surprised to find that while she did see Peter entering the Three Broomsticks just as she navigated through a dense crowd, he wasn't alone.

Still, she forged on and walked in a minute after and spotted the Marauders settling down at a table towards the back. She walked over and greeted them, trying not to be bothered by some of the critical gazes.

"Hey." She gave a small wave and jittery smile.

James was the first to speak up. "Hi, Lily," he replied automatically.

Peter, although a guy, was not oblivious to the rising tension. One wrong word could turn this whole situation into a giant misunderstanding. "Hey, Lily. Why don't you, uh, sit down and join us?"

She sighed and took the offered seat between Sirius and Remus while sitting across from Peter himself, and of course James.

"So where are the rest of the lovely ladies you hang around with these days?" Sirius questioned, glancing pointedly at the door they had entered from.

Lily did the same as if she thought one of them might burst through the door any second. "I'm not sure actually. Last I heard they were going to Honeydukes and maybe Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop." She let out a slight shudder.

Sirius let out a barking laugh and even Remus grinned.

"Not that I don't like tea or anything," she quickly went on, trying to catch the words before they were misinterpreted. "It's just...maybe certain occasions and...situations..." she trailed off, realizing there was no one to offend.

"No worries here, I'll get us some butterbeers," James said with a smile as he got up.

"I'll help you out with that," Remus began before a quick kick had him groaning and leaning on the table. "Shi–"

Lily was quick to respond. "No, hey, don't worry about it! I'll give him a hand!" She jumped up and commented with a grin, "Didn't know you to be so clumsy, Remus."

As soon as the two were out of earshot Remus turned a glare to his friend. "What the hell!" he snarled out, looking fierce – something that very few people saw.

Sirius grinned. "What? Did you really want to get stuck lugging over drinks? Do you even care for butterbeer? Because from what I remember–" He was effectively shut up when his friend sat back down hard and let a foot fly in his direction under the table. "Ow!" His cheerful expression turned stormy.

"Just repaying the favor," he said while Peter shook his head at the two. "Oh, Peter, I was going to ask. Did you want us to get out of here so you and Lily can talk?" He raised an eyebrow. The question was left without a response.

"This would be a good opportunity to leave the couple for some alone time outside the castle," Sirius commented, glancing around uncaringly. The three looked over to the where Lily and James stood, talking about something.

"Wouldn't that seem a little obvious?" Peter spoke up, becoming uneasy at the thought of ditching his old friend and seemingly new friend without a word.

Remus leaned closer on his forearms. "That is true... We can't force Lily to spend any time with him. Look where it's gotten him the past years already."

Sirius groaned. "Oh come on! She hasn't bitten his head off at all the past week or two. Don't you think some progress has finally been made?"

"We aren't just getting up and walking out," the sandy-blonde head shook vehemently and Sirius didn't have a chance to respond as James swooped in with Lily not far behind.

The three plotting friends forced trivial smiles on their faces that James noticed right away, though he didn't question anything.

Sirius and James started a dialogue about the next Quidditch match before Lily could register the odd atmosphere. She took a sip of her butterbeer and decided to stop sitting around like a loon.

"Hey Remus, I heard you've got a girlfriend," she blurted out tactlessly. The poor boy began choking on his drink, causing James to cease his conversation and try to slap his friend hard on the back.

"Um, well..." The reddening of cheeks only made Sirius lean forward with a smirk.

"Finally!" The raucous laughter drew them some attention.

The usually quiet one spoke up. "Uh, maybe now isn't the time to discuss it." And Lily realized she may have overstepped some boundaries.

Because honestly she wasn't that close with the Marauders, save for James following her around like they're attached by string. It might have been possible to bring up the topic with just Remus but now that opportunity was gone seeing as she'd just embarrassed him in front of his mates.

Lily sighed to herself. "Oops," she mumbled as Sirius taunted Remus and Peter was rubbing a hand over his face. She did look at James just in time to catch his eye, and although he wished she hadn't brought that subject up he just shrugged and downed his butterbeer. She smiled gratefully to him. She hadn't caused that much trouble, right?

"So Evans," she looked up to see Sirius staring at her, "What are the chances of you hooking me up with one of your friends?" he grinned.

And from there things became easier.

Lily laughed outright. "No offense Sirius, but..."

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As Lily sat in class, spacing out instead of diligently taking notes like she was known for, she came to a conclusion just as their History of Magic lesson ended.

"You were right," she stated, shoving things quickly into her bag.

"What was that?" Alice asked, looking up in shock.

The redhead smiled. "And..." she dragged out the word, not bothering to repeat herself. "I'm grateful and glad that I joined you with the cult." The two stood up as everyone started to leave the classroom.

"The what?" Alice questioned again, this time in confusion.

Lily looked up suddenly. "Uh..."

There was a pause before the pair burst into laughter.

"So I was right, you said, huh?" the blonde went on, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "You should listen to me more often then, right?" Lily made a noncommittal sound. "Even if I were to suggest something as absurd as–"

The redhead glanced around and cut her friend off, almost as if she hadn't really been listening. "Hey, I'll see you up in the common room later, kay?"

And before the best friend could get another word out, she was left standing in the dust. Alice watched as Lily greeted Peter and heard the word 'library' before they broke off from the Marauders, who were also watching intensely.

"This sucks," a new voice supplied. Alice looked to see Angela standing next to her and only nodded.

"And to think she was talking about how she doesn't know how to date," Alice commented. "From what it looks like, people are going to start suspecting she has a crush on him."

The two left the classroom in silence.

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"You okay there, mate?" Sirius asked as he flopped down onto a sofa near the armchair James was sulking in.

"Hmm," the boy responded, staring into the fire.

"What's wrong with him now?" Remus asked as he took a seat on the couch as well, forcing Sirius to sit up properly. All he got was a shrug.

Remus pulled out a book, piece of parchment and quill to begin an essay. Sirius was eyeing a few females.

The sound of uninhibited laughter reached their ears as two figures came through the portrait hole. The three friends looked up to see Lily doubled-over, clutching her stomach and using Peter for support, who also looked ready to keel over. The three looked to each other at the same moment, obviously confused.

Before either two could comment, James turned away and was pulling at a Quidditch magazine from the coffee table nearby. He casually opened it and didn't move his eyes away for the next few minutes.

"Since when did Evans and Wormtail hang out so much?" Sirius questioned out loud.

Remus, the only smart one in the group who knew this was a bad thing to say, elbowed his friend hard.

A groan erupted just as Peter and Lily made their way over. She abruptly sat down in the armchair adjacent from James and sighed.

"Hi," she greeted with a smile. Remus and Sirius nodded along as Peter took a seat on another sofa. James was too busy to care. "Remus did you happen to start that–"

"Trying," he responded dryly, holding up the empty parchment.

Sirius, still smarting from his new injury, turned to her. "Hey Evans, wanna help me pass History of Magic?" He grinned at his implication.

Instead of glaring or making a biting remark, she laughed at him. Then quickly a memory came around. Lily sat up straight and turned to James, dropping a hand on his arm to get his attention. "Oh right! James, did you want to go over anything else from Potions? I almost forgot we've got a test coming up soon..." She trailed off when his startled eyes had darted from her hand to her face.

Remus and Peter looked away discreetly while Sirius openly grinned, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back.

"Uh..." James caught himself. "No thanks, I've got it covered," was his response before pulling the magazine back in front of his face.

The other three Marauders looked astonished.

"Alright, good to know you're catching up with everything then," she stood with a friendly smile. "Good luck with the essay, Remus. I'll see you guys around. Right now I'm off to gorge on chocolate frogs."

Lily Evans, having a decent chat with the Marauders? Go me! I'm not stuck up as I thought, Lily continued to marvel at her seemingly one-eighty transformation from party-pooper to...partier?

In any case she didn't realize how easy it was to let go of who she was to become someone she actually liked. Alice would probably be proud if she wasn't always sighing over something.

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Almost forgot about posting this chapter.

Well I don't quite understand how this story has literally only one review and yet the stats boast over 350 hits. Anyone wanna tell me what's up with that? =D

Anyway, I have until chapter six finished and hopefully I'll get started on seven which should be the last one. If you want to see how far along I am with this story or any others just go to my profile, which I have been updating almost every day. Next chapter will be out in a week.

Something I'd like you all to check out if you can is an AMV (anime music video) I finished about a month ago. It's uploaded on youtube and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Just have a look and maybe tell me what you think. Take out the parentheses and it should work.

Link: /watch?v=M5ThUPFmFLY

Thanks for reading, reviewing and any support you can give.

7-12-10

1:38pm