The Alice Predicament

Or

Day Three part two

The group stopped short.

James` eyes widened and a thousand thoughts hammered through his head.

Lily`s arms were wrapped around Remus, and they were snogging with no apparent plans of stopping, seemingly oblivious to the people watching.

Fortunately, James` many years of rejection from Lily had taught him to not let his face show emotion in the face of heartbreak. His arms tightened slightly, but besides that James Potter`s expression did not betray him, unlike the Marauder who was snogging the only girl who James had thought he`d made off-limits to his mates was.

Torture. He couldn`t tear his eyes away.

Peter, jaw dropped, was glancing between James and what was visible of Remus.

The girls gave each other knowing glances, only mildly surprised.

Sirius just started at James, studying his reaction.

Lily could feel their eyes on her back, and she prayed they couldn`t see her blushing as red as her hair. She didn`t dare open her eyes, not even for a second. Remus struggled after he got over the initial shock, but Lily stepped on his foot to make him stop resisting. Too embarrassed to stop and face the crowd behind her, she didn`t stop.

After several long seconds, she finally heard them walk away.

She opened her eyes to a very angry Remus.

"Lily Evans, what did you bloody do that for?!"

Lily started calmly gathering her things. "Um, I thought I already told you about the bet."

"You said you weren`t going to do it!"

"I realized I didn`t want to have to do a punishment because after the Mulciber thing I remembered that Mel and Mattie are evil genius`."

"What about James? Whatever happened to him?"

Lily couldn`t control the blush that was slowly creeping onto her face. She lowered her voice. "What about James? I didn`t tell him… and this doesn`t mean anything anyway, it`s just a bet and you know that."

"You didn`t…" Remus` eyes clouded. "You couldn`t see who.…"

"What?!"

"Ah, I can`t believe- Lils, James just saw that. I don`t know who you think just saw us, and I didn`t see everyone thanks to you, but when I looked up James was glaring daggers at me."

"Re-"

"You just made me the worst best friend ever, you know that?" He hissed. "He liked you too, and you just ruined everything. For a bet. Is it worth it, Evans? If I didn`t know better, I`d think you like breaking his heart."

"I-"

"YOU didn`t see the look on his face."

"Rem-"

"Poor Prongs. Poor, loyal Prongs." Remus muttered while he slammed his things into a neat pile before storming out, leaving Lily broken, conflicted, and alone.

"Moony-"

"Not now, mate-" Remus tore up the steps to the boy`s dorm.

"Moony…"

His feet barely touched the steps, as if they were made of lava.

"Moony…"

.

The door wouldn`t budge. Remus pounded on the door. "PRONGS! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

"Moony!" Peter pulled his friend away from the door. They both knew the wooden barrier, even strengthened by magic, stood no chance to a werewolf several days before a full moon.

"Wormtail, help me."

"Prongs doesn`t-"

"Prongs, doesn`t understand. I don`t- Lily and I- It`s not like that." Remus said loudly, knowing the other two Marauders could hear.

"It looked pretty like that in the library." Peter said bluntly.

"Wormy, please. I swear, it`s nothing like that. I need to talk to him."

Peter understood the look in his friend`s eyes. He whispered a password that Remus couldn`t hear, and the door swung open.

James sat on his bed, made of steel.

"I can explain."

"I bloody hope so."

"I heard about your friend. Harper was in the library when it happened." Ryan kissed his girlfriend`s forehead comfortingly. "The Gryffindors have really gone wild recently."

"It was a bet."

"It sure didn`t look that way."

"Lily`s my friend. Please don`t talk about her that way. She was just acting on a dare."

"I thought you said it was a bet."

"Ryan…"

"I`m sorry. It`s just a little hard with the inconsistencies."

"Not helping."

"Sorry. Do I need to worry about you running off on one of these crazy dares?"

"Can we stop talking about this?"

"I`d be happy to, after you answer my question."

"Do you really think I would do that to you?"

"All your friends are doing it. First Mary, now Lily."

"They`re both single! Do you not trust me at all?" Alice shrugged his arm off her shoulder.

"Alright, I trust you. We don`t need to go that far. I know you`d never do that, Ally."

"Thank you."

"Are your other roommates in on this dare as well?"

"It`s a bet."

"So that`s a yes then? I can`t wait to see who the other two attack."

Alice sighed and brushed away from him.

"What? Too much?"

"They`re my friends, Ryan. You need to stop."

"I`m sorry, babe."

"You keep saying that, but I don`t think you are!" Alice shouted, spinning on him. "Sometimes…." She let out an angry breath.

"Ally, I know your friends mean a lot to you…"

"Evidently you don`t if you thought it was okay to talk about them like that! Ryan, I`m done, okay? I can`t do this anymore."

"Don`t be like that, Al."

"You can`t bash them and expect me to be okay with that. Goodbye."

"I deserved it."

Alice didn`t look up from her essay. It was true, but she was too nice to acknowledge it.

Melody, ever the optimist, said kindly, "On the upside, at least Remus was able to explain it to James without telling him about the bet. I heard James actually forgave him."

There was several beats of silence before Mary quietly spoke.

"At least you completed the bet."

Lily stared up at the ceiling and remembered what Remus had said in the library. "It wasn`t worth it."

Nobody was looking at anyone else in the room, and everyone was on their respected beds, except for Mattie, who was on Melody`s bed braiding her wet hair.

"It would probably be best to call of the bet."

It could have been any one of the participants that said it, but none of the others agreed, disagreed, or reacted. The statement hung in the air like an ill-wishing storm cloud.

"Don`t." Alice finally stated.

The others gave her melancholily quizzical glances.

"If you end it now, Lily would have Snape`d everything up for nothing. The week is almost over anyway, you might as well see this thing through to the end."

"You`re right. There is only a few days left anyway."

Lily caught Alice staring off into space. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?"

Thinking required food, so James Potter was heading to the kitchens alone to think.

Twice he passed whispering underclassmen on the stairs, but he was not the object of their chatter, so they blessedly left the Quidditch star alone for once.

But thanks to the underclassmen, he didn`t need the map to tell him who was running after him down the stairs.

"James, please hold up a moment."

He quickened his pace, practically sprinting towards the painting of the pear.

"Please, James, I need to talk to you…"

James froze, but not of his own accord. Lily quickly caught up and freed him.

"I`m really-"

"Evans, you cannot understand the magnitude of exactly how much I don`t want to talk to you right now." James said, sending her a withering glance.

"I didn`t-"

James closed his eyes and cut her off, hissing, "Stop. Just stop. I`m not going to have this stupid talk with you. You can either go away now, or I will transfigure you into a rock and throw you into the lake."

Only after he had heard the distinct clicks of her feet on the stone floor as she walked away did he finally open his eyes and tickle the pear.

Alice thought the dorm was empty until she heard the hushed whispers emanating from the far corner of the room.

"I know it`s still on but…" one voice was saying.

"I know what you mean. I really didn`t want to win with James anyway, and now I'm just flat out not going to do it. I mean honestly, besides the whole it`s James factor, hasn`t he been through enough recently with the whole bit with Remy and Lils? At this point it wouldn`t just be awkward, it`d be dumb and insensitive."

"And with…"

"No, you should at least finish it. Don`t let me stop you. He`s just a guy."

"Matts…"

"Mels…"

Alice dove onto the bed behind the two, landing with a thump that made them jump.

"Maybe I could help."

Mattie broke out into a smile when Alice finished. "That`s bloody brilliant. Did you just come up with that now?"

"Yeah, thanks. So what do you say, Mel? Can I solve your problem?" Alice smiled.

"Please do. I know the bet was my idea in the first place, but I really didn't want anyone to get hurt, and above all I don`t want to hurt another friend. I`m totally fine with this as long as Mats is sure…"

Mattie sighed. "I`m seri- not joking, it`s alright. I`m fine. By the way Alice, I`m sorry about Ryan. Why didn`t you say something sooner?"

"It wasn`t important, I didn`t want to add to Lily`s worries. Please don`t tell her before I do."

The tow replied in unison, unintentionally. "We won`t."

"Good luck." Mattie murmured.

"Thanks. You`re sure-"

"Yes. It`s better this way."

Melody and Mattie started talking about the weekend`s Quidditch match (Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, it was going to be a close game), but Alice had three days of preparations to catch up on, so she didn`t have time to chat. Resolving to tell Lily about Ryan in the morning, she set off to inform the other two bet participants about the slight fluctuation.

Due to personal reasons, Mel was out. And in her place, Alice was in, all in.

A/N: Thank you commenter Jimmielee for your hilariously worded comment on my last chapter. It really made my day (And thanks to everyone else who has commented on my stories, you guys are the best and I really appreciate it).