The edges of the room seemed to go slightly black as Lily stared at her friend. James bloody Potter… James Potter who wasn't talking to her… Lily could see Emmeline's mouth moving but she for some reason she couldn't register anything her friend was saying beyond the words "James Potter".

'W-wait… Em… d-d-do you think… he likes you?'

Emmeline Vance looked slightly affronted at this. Just because James had chased Lily for five years, it didn't mean Lily had sole ownership of him.

"As a matter of fact, I think he does…"

Lily could have sworn her heart stood still as she listened to her friend.

"He asked me to dance at the beginning of school dance, he's been hanging around with us all the time, and lately he's even been asking if I was interested in anyone…"

'Sirius… maybe he wants to know if you're still interested in Sirius! Maybe Black still likes you…'

Emmeline's eyes narrowed, ignoring the slight pang at the mention of the gray eyed marauder's name. Lily's reaction surprised her. She couldn't be jealous – she'd been bleating for months about how she and James were just friends. Did she think Emmeline wasn't good enough for James?

"You're not the only one who can turn the head of James Potter, you know"

On that frosty note, Emmeline Vance turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, leaving Lily to bury her head in her hands. Just when she thought she couldn't possibly screw up any further, she managed to insult one of her best friends.

Dorcas Meadows was fairly frustrated. It was their last Christmas at Hogwarts, and her two best friends weren't talking. It was exhausting to have to run back and forth between the two girls. Emmeline was upset about Lily's behavior, but Lily absolutely refused to talk to her former best friend. She would clam up whenever Dorcas even mentioned Emmeline's name – and neither of them seemed willing to talk about what had caused the fight in the first place. Finally, two days before Christmas, Dorcas had had enough. She cornered Lily in the hallway leading to the Head's common room.

"Lils…"

'Dorcas…" Lily was wary. The last thing she needed was for Dorcas to find out why she was avoiding Emmeline and take Emmeline's side. She didn't think she could cope with losing Dorcas too.

"You know I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me what's going on…"

Lily sighed. She knew it wasn't fair of her to go off on Emmeline – Merlin knew she had a right to be interested in whoever she wanted. And Merlin also knew Lily didn't exactly have much of a right to say anything to Emmeline where boys were concerned… knowing her track record. For some reason, though, the thought of Emmeline and James caused the blood to pound in her head. She knew it was irrational, she also knew Dorcas wasn't letting her get away without an explanation this time.

'Em… kind of thought I implied she shouldn't be interested in this guy she likes…' Lily crossed her fingers. Hopefully Dorcas would let her get away with her half answer.

Dorcas groaned. "Lils have you learned NOTHING from the Sirius/Amos debacle? Em is a big girl, she can decide for herself who she likes…wait… who is this guy anyway?'

Lily sighed. 'James…' she mumbled. Somehow even mentioning his name in connection with Emmeline hurt.

"Oh, Lils" Lily was visibly surprised when her friend pulled her into a hug. She somehow thought Dorcas would be scolding her for being irrational about Emmeline and James. After all, James was single – and he hadn't asked her out in almost two years. Almost against her will, Lily began to cry softly.

"You do know that this isn't Emmeline's fault, don't you" Dorcas' voice was soft and sympathetic. Lily's feelings for James had been pretty evident from the start of the year – she and Remus had even had a friendly bet going on when she would actually do something about them. Dorcas was actually surprised Emmeline hadn't noticed – and that Emmeline would move on from Sirius to his best friend.

Sighing deeply, Lily nodded her head.

'Why would he even be interested in her anyway? She turned down his best friend!'

"Lily…" Dorcas wasn't sure whether to roll her eyes or feel sorry for her friend.

"You know why she turned Sirius down… and you know Emmeline does have a lot of good qualities… "

'But why does she have to go after James BLOODY Potter?'

"What's wrong with James, now?" Dorcas couldn't resist baiting her friend a little. Besides Lily was making no sense and the sooner she realized this, the better.

'He's just…. He's just…' Lily paused. There was nothing wrong with James Potter. He was handsome, smart, talented, brave, funny, loyal… he was still a bit of a prat at times but he was a born leader and he had a good heart. That was the problem.

"He's just….?"

Lily bowed her head. 'Nothing'

"Lils… you CAN say it, you know…"

'He's just… mine…' her voice was barely audible as her friend squeezed her hand.

"Well… you don't know that he actually likes Em…"

'I – '

Lily was about to speak when she was interrupted by Emmeline bounding towards her two friends, her face lit up with excitement as she clutched a piece of parchment.

'Em-' Lily wasn't sure what to say to her friend. She didn't seem to remember the fact that they weren't talking. But she had missed her.

"I'm sorry I got so sensitive Lils… I was just defensive and upset…" Emmeline pulled her confused friend into a hug. Deep down, Lily knew that their argument had been mostly her fault, but who was she to turn down a reprieve? Besides, Emmeline would be mad at her again soon enough when she heard what she had to say about her own feelings for James.

"You look happy" Dorcas observed. Even if things were kind of awkward, it was nice to have her two best friends on semi speaking terms again. If speaking terms meant one was in a dreamy haze while the other stood, mostly silent.

"Of course I am – James and Sirius are coming back tomorrow!"

'They- they are?' Lily's heart began to thump wildly. On one hand, the idea of James writing to Emmeline instead of Lily made her want to hurl. On the other hand – she was going to see him at Christmas after all.

'Yes – and that's not the best part!'

"What is..?" Lily could feel her stomach start to tighten. She had a sinking feeling she wasn't going to like what Emmeline was about to say.

'He… he LOVES me!'