Disclaimer: I'm J.K. Rowling...(giggles nervously as the police advance on me) Okay! Just kidding! DON'T HURT MEEE!

A/N: HOLY COW! 400 reviews?? Hold on, give me second, I think I might pass out...Okay, I'm good. No joke, all of you are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. You are like the sugar in my tea, the whip cream in my hot chocolate, the caramel in my yummy starbucks apple cider...yummm...anyways, I think you all get the point:) Thanks to: ILuvJackSparrowMoreThanU, sophiascribbles, Sunblood, missscarlettbelle, Claudita, Reginald the duck, CaramelBoost, harryyypotteerr, TwinkieTUTUS, Summer Magick, soccergurl1993, dollarbanks, dollarbanks, A-Lady, Lizzar, hpobsessedrissa, the ninja of ramen, pigs can fly, soccerxpotterxlife, into.your.arms, KAWAii PHiLOSOPHY, PrimaDi88, berniebotts, -.LyLMystikeLf.-, Mrs Claire Potter, lilbit18, Mouse and Stupid Productions, brooke, tashville007, BadLilBirdies, Cristipotter, C San, Sprut, coffee dessert, Ali Keys, serenity12345, and Literati and naley forever.

So, I'm only a week behind. Not bad considering this is prime season for college apps. Yikes, I'm a horrible procrastinator. I had a week off of school for Thanksgiving and I haven't wrriten one college essay...man, I'm so screwed. Future warning for any soon-to-be Seniors...DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! lol Speaking of Thanksgiving (lol), I hope all of you Americans out there had a good one! Eat a lot of turkey and pie? I know I did. lol Well, let's get on with the story.

Ohhhhh, and everyone give out a thanks to my new beta, Sunblood (WOOO CHEERR) who edited this chapter like crazy. She's a beast, what can I say? You rock, Sunny! I actually like this chapter now. lol

Chapter 17: Moony and Wormtail and Padfoot, Oh My!

He loves me.

A strand off of a blue feather drifted to the floor.

He loves me not.

Another bundle of fuzz joined the other.

He loves me. He loves me not.

Bullocks; her quill had run out of feathers. Argh, what was she doing anyways? She wasn't a love stricken ten-year-old girl anymore! Alright, so she wasn't ten.

Sighing pathetically, Lily dropped her now featherless quill onto the small table she was currently occupying and lowered her head into her arms. Large purple circles framed her usually upbeat eyes, compliment to the lack of sleep she'd had the night before. Because of the minimal five hours of slumber—because she doubted if she had ever really fallen asleep—she'd obtained, classes had seemed to drag on all day and, to add to her misery, a pile of essays and questions lay beside her. Not to mention how tiring it had been to act casual around James and resist the urge to recoil—or, on very frequent occasions, jump up, grab him, and snog him senseless—at his touch. Her friends had persuaded her to stay with the dare ("The only way out is through"). Yeah, so maybe Marlene hadn't made the best of sense, but if she really wanted to get over Potter, she might as well finish it off.

With her head turned sideways on the cool surface of the table, Lily flipped through her Potions textbook wearily.

"Veritaserum or, as it is most commonly known as, truth serum was invented in the late part of the seventeenth century—"

The stupid potion had been around for darn well near four hundred years, and yet it was hardly ever used. Pity really. If only she had some so she could spoon feed it to James to see what he was really up to, to see if he really had fallen for her…Stop thinking about him, Evans!

"—by Castariff Jameson.—"

Lily snorted. Bloody typical that Potter's name would turn up somewhere.

"—Originally hoping that the potion would be fatal, Jameson intended to poison his brother who, it had been rumored, had stolen his wife."

Oh, what sick, twisted, young love can do to a person. Stupid James…er Jameson. Dang it, she had hoped doing her homework would have gotten her mind off of her current dilemma. In a huff, Lily slammed her book shut and allowed her forehead to hit the table with a bang. Coming to the library had been a mistake.

"Lily."

Correction: coming to the library had been a horrible mistake.

"Remus," she replied, her voice sharp. She knew where this would eventually lead…

Ignoring her tone that clearly stated that she, in no way, wanted him there, Remus sat down in the chair opposite her, his back rigid. She glanced at him quickly. His face was completely emotionless, which made him appear even more startling. All bloody day she'd been avoiding him successfully—dodging from lessons the second the bell rang, camping out in the girls' dorm during free periods, hopping into the loo during breaks—but now it seemed as if her luck had run out. His cold glare that had followed her around all day had finally caught up with her.

"I don't trust you," he said immediately. His words were rough, almost like he'd just gotten over a terrible head cold, "not anymore."

Her eyes met his again. "Well, James does." Despite her tiredness and her complete dread of having this conversation, she was not going down without a fight. Who was he to reprimand her when he had gambled on her!

"I don't."

Lily strongly resisted the urge to roll her tired eyes. "That's been established, thanks," she said sarcastically. Remus's eyes narrowed even further such that his pupils merely became black slits. "Look, I'm honestly not in the mood for this, so if you could just—"

"Neither am I." He crossed his arms as if for an added effect of his defiance.

"Then bugger off."

Remus laughed, but not in the jovial, that-was-a-good-joke type of way. It was ridiculing, criticizing, and judging. Actually, it sounded quite demented coming from someone as level-headed as Remus Lupin. It made Lily cringed inwardly; what had happened? They'd always gotten on so well together. Actually, she knew where it had all gone wrong. It was his entire fault. He had joined in on the bet—no, not only that, he'd encouraged it as well. Boys could be such idiots!

"You're a piece of work, you know that?" he said, shaking his head in disbelief. A piece of work? Her? What about him? What about his friends? They were like a freaking one hundred foot statue compared to her. "Using someone just to find out something about that person—" he shook his head once more—"If you tell, I swear…" he had abruptly, changing his chain of thought. Lily's mind jumped right there with him.

"Moony, Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail…ingenious, really," she stated, knowing it would get a rise out of him. It oddly pleased her.

"You promised—you—" Apparently, Remus really didn't know what he was trying to say. Lily, however, had a hunch of what he was referring to.

"I promised what? To back off? Look, Remus," she lowered her voice as Madame Pince walked by their table, eyeing them suspiciously, "I didn't ask James to tell me," she explained.

He leaned in towards her, his elbows resting on the table, his face red with anger. "Then don't tell."

She crossed her arms across her chest in an annoyed fashion. "I'm not," she stated simply.

"What was the point, then?" he demanded.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't like him, do you?"

It was like she was a firefly that had been dared by her little fly-friends to get as close to the mesmerizing light as possible. The catch was, if she got too close then….BZZZTT! She was dead. Evaporated. Gone. Remus was watching her carefully. That question—Merlin, she hadn't even really admitted the truth to her friends yet. If she did share her feelings…God, she'd only get more hurt in the end. She lowered her eyes away from his gaze, and she sensed the change in the atmosphere almost immediately. Bad plan on her part.

BZZZZTT!

"You don't."

"It's none of your business," she hissed at him suddenly angrier than she'd been with him yet, grabbing her books and shoving them into her bag. He had hit her too close to home. That was personal! Had he really expected her to answer that? If so, he was dumber than he let on.

"James is my best mate," he fought.

"Prongs," she began, emphasizing the word with as much strength as she could, "is my friend as well!"

Their voices had begun to rise and a few third years in the far corner were watching the two with beady eyes, no doubt excited that they were witnessing some future gossip. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see Madame Pince freeze for a moment with her hand hovering on the bottom shelf of a bookcase. Lily's chest continued to heave angrily and Remus's mouth was open wide, gaping at her.

"Friend?" he asked her, his eyes wide, "no, he bleeding likes you, Evans!"

Her mind was reeling, her palms were sweating, and her heart was thumping wildly. How could Remus—what gave him the right to—he knew James was only interested in the gold! Well, maybe it had started off that way; maybe, now, he really did like her? No, no, no! Hell, all of the Marauders were toying with her emotions. This is exactly how Remus and James wanted her to feel.

Godric, when she fell, she fell hard

"Stay away from him if you're not going to take him seriously," Remus continued, taking her moment's of silence as a sign that she doubted James's intentions, which she actually did. Her hands clasped into fists angrily. Holy wand, if Lily's previous perceptions about the Marauders' bet had been right, and Remus was rooting for James to win, then why did it feel like he was telling her to bugger off? Just as she thought this situation couldn't get any more confusing than it already was…wow, had she been naïve.

"I'm not an idiot," she said to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She grabbed her bag forcefully and swung it around her shoulder. She wouldn't be surprised if she had overturned some of its contents onto the floor. "I know how serious he is."

In a huff, she turned on her heel. Remus didn't have to know that she was referring to the bet. Bullocks, was she confused—would this just continue to spiral downwards until it all exploded in her face? Why was Remus—and how come he—?

"You dropped something."

Lily spun around, clasping the strap to her bag tightly. Remus marched up to her and thrust something into her hand. She closed her fingers around the laminated, rectangular something and stared the sandy-haired boy in the eyes.

"Don't make him regret giving this," he said before stalking from the library, his school robes bellowing out behind him.

What was that about? She looked down at the thing that must have fallen from her bag. Her heart skipped a beat.

It was the Quidditch gift card…from James.

OO

"Oy, where'd Moony get off to?"

Peter shrugged as he continued to stuff his dirty clothes underneath his bed, disregarding the fact that, though they may be out of the way, the smell would continue to linger. "Said something about finding Evans," he replied, scrunching his nose up in distaste after catching a whiff of his sock.

James shot upright, almost dislodging the lamp on the table beside his bed. "Why?"

"Dunno."

"Well then, where's Padfoot?"

"Said something about finding Evans."

Convulsing again, James almost sent his glass of water tumbling over as well as his lamp. "Why?" What did his two best friends want with his girl? This could not be good…

"Dunno."

"Dammit, Wormtail, what kind of help are you?" James asked, throwing his legs off the side of his bed. He approached his trunk and began ruffling through it, eventually finding the map that he'd just used the night before. He'd been on a thin edge all day. Any little thing seemed to bug him. The night before he'd been ecstatic; not only had he shared his Animagus form with Lily and she had actually praised him for it (well, as close as praise as it would get) but she had kissed him as well. Today, however…James shook his head. Today Lily had seemed to be on an edge as well, almost as if she had lost control of her broomstick and was trying to clutch on for dear life before she dropped one hundred feet to her death.

Drastic, really.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," James said, tapping the parchment sharply with his wand.

"Hey, how did a pair of Sirius's knickers get under my bed?" Peter asked, holding up a pair of Bludger-decorated boxer shorts at a distance in between two of his fingers. It was obvious he didn't wish to touch them more than he had to.

James glanced up from the Marauder's Map briefly, looking from the underpants to the disgusted looking Peter. "You're asking me," he muttered. His hazel eyes roamed over the parchment, scanning it for at least one of the three names he was looking for. "You think they're going to threaten her?" he asked abruptly.

With a swish of his wand, Peter levitated Sirius's undergarment and threw it onto his bed. "Who, Evans?"

"No, Father Christmas…of course Lily," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Remus seemed a bit peeved when you told us last night," he responded, finally having achieved the feat of hiding his dirty laundry from view. Getting up off of the floor, Peter meandered over to James and looked over his shoulder at the map as well. "It's a pretty large secret."

"What was I supposed to do? After Padfoot's idiocy I had to do something," James said.

Peter's blue eyes zoomed over the map's contents as well. "Yeah, but did you have to go and tell the Head Girl, of all people, that we were breaking several big laws? And check the Astronomy Tower," he added as an afterthought.

James glared at him. He was determined that he'd done the right thing; it had been—at the time anyways—the only way to get things where he wanted them. Friends were supposed to back their friends up instead of telling them that they were totally irresponsible and would, one day, end up in Azkaban. Stupid Padfoot, like he should be one to talk. James thought to himself. And now Wormtail too! And to think he was risking Azkaban for these guys…

"I've already looked there," James added in a slightly annoyed tone, pointing to the place on the map marked 'Astronomy Tower'. He hoped to Merlin they weren't there. James didn't think Lily would do that, let alone Moony or Padfoot.

"Look," Peter pointed out, deciding to drop their earlier conversation. Smart move, actually – as stated above, Prongs had been on edge all day.

For the third time that afternoon, James jumped. "You found her?"

"No," Peter responded. James whacked him upside the head. "If you would let me finish," he continued, rubbing the back of his head, "Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice are heading up here."

His first reaction was, 'why in the world were they heading up to the boys' dorm?' If his memory served him correctly neither Marlene, nor Dorcas, nor Alice had ever set foot in the Marauders' room. Well, that he knew of anyways. Lily had once or twice, but her friends? Oh, Godric, what if they snuck in periodically and went through their stuff? Oh, Lord, that would be embarrassing. He shook his head, frantically setting his mind back on track.

Back, vivid imagination, back!

Now, what could they possibly want? The map didn't show Lily with them, so why—

James blanched. "Crap." He shoved the map into Peter's hands. "Crap." He looked around the room helplessly. Holy hippogriff! What did Lily's three best friends want? Did they know? Had she told them? For the love of Merlin's pointy hat, what did they want?

"Three," Peter began to count down, "two," Peter continued as James ran a hand through his hair distractedly, "one," Peter finished as James thought about throwing himself out the window.

Right on cue, a series of knocks shook their door. Before James could launch himself out of the three foot panel of glass, and before Peter could even wonder why James was unlatching the lock to the window, their dormitory door swung open. This only gave James a split second to realize that, for the first time in his young life, Peter was less nervous about a girl entering their dorm than he was.

Pull together, Potter!

"I feel like we shouldn't be here," Alice stated, leading the pack and kicking a lone shoe that was in the doorway into the far corner. James took a calming breath and stepped away from his escape route; he was trapped.

"Enemy territory," Marlene remarked with a snort of laughter.

James glanced at Peter, who shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, guys," Dorcas greeted, finally acknowledging the fact that they had just walked into a room occupied with people.

Girls.

"Where's Lily," James blurted out automatically. Dear Lord, he probably sounded like a raving, possessive lunatic. In his defense, it wasn't every day that his soon-to-be (he hoped) girlfriend's best friends busted into his room coincidently after James had shared the biggest, most illegal secret in the world with the afore mentioned girl.

"Never you worry, James," Marlene clucked, patting his arm. "Anyways, we want a word with Peter."

The boy in question flinched, remembering the last time they'd cornered him. He gingerly shuffled over to his bed and picked up his discarded wand, just in case. James, on the other hand, was extremely relieved because they hadn't come to take him away. Phew. "Why?" James asked curiously, looking from the pretty brunette to his twitchy friend.

"Yeah, why?" Peter repeated.

"Homework help," Dorcas replied without missing a beat. "Now come on."

"But—"

"Herbology," Alice clarified.

"But neither of you take—"

"See you at practice, James," Dorcas said, grabbing Peter around the arm and marching him out.

His mouth gaped open, James simply waved. Peter looked back at his friend with wide eyes, clearly wanting James to save him. What in the— No, he really didn't even want to know. For a split second, James felt bad for not coming up with a clever plan to save Wormatil, but then again it was only homework help…or so they said. He was just happy they weren't there to castrate him or something. Now, where had his map gotten off to? Time to track down Lily.

OO

Dorcas maintained a strong grip on Peter's upper arm all the way down the staircase. No wonder she was such a good Quidditch player; she had a grip of steel! But, as Peter would have liked to point out, he was not a Quaffle and therefore didn't need to be manhandled so harshly. None of the girls offered any sort of explanation, and Peter wasn't stupid enough to ask for one, until they had guided him through the common room—attracting many odd stares—and out of the portrait hole.

Peter rubbed his arm as Dorcas released him, attempting to get his blood circulating properly once more. "You three do not take Herbology," was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

Rolling her eyes, Marlene laughed. "Thanks for stating the obvious."

"We need your help."

"Again?"

"Again," Alice clarified.

Groaning, Peter looked between the three girls. "I really would like to know how I became your puppet doll."

"You seem to be neutral."

The girls received an odd look from Peter. "Between who? Evans and James?" he asked confusedly. "Everything's going fine."

"That's the problem," Dorcas said.

Going fine did not seem like a problem to Peter. Usually the words 'going fine' meant that a situation was…well, going fine. They seemed happy—maybe a little jitterier around each other today than usual—but they had already kissed twice. That had to count for something, right?

"I don't get it."

His eyes narrowed as the girls moaned at his slow brain process. It wasn't his fault! How was he supposed to know what they were talking about if they hadn't offered up any explanation whatsoever?

Note to self: tell them not to become professors…ever.

"If everything's fine I really don't see—"

"Why hasn't he asked her out yet?" Marlene blurted in, interrupting him.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Well, this was uncomfortable. How was he supposed to know what went on in the crazy romantic part of James's mind? And besides Prongs was his best friend…would he get pounded on if he told? "I dunno..." the girls all groaned again. He attempted to redeem himself. "Maybe he's not ready for…er…commitment?"

"Oh, puh-lease," Dorcas remarked.

"So, you're telling us that he hasn't mentioned asking her out at all?" Alice asked suspiciously.

"…er…"

"You're one of his best friends! Don't boys tell each other when they plan on hitching a girl?" Marlene cried.

Peter looked at the three people around him. Hm…three against one. How was that fair? It was like placing one mouse in a room with three lions and telling the mouse to find its way out. He chuckled to himself at how real that situation actually was.

"Why are you laughing?"

Darn it. He'd been laughing out loud? He stopped himself abruptly and cleared his throat. "Fine, he did mention it once…"

"When?"

"What?"

"How?"

His mind spun at the frequency of all the different questions being thrown at him. It was mainly for the reason that he wanted to get out of this situation as fast as he could that he started talking. "He's wanted to ask her out ever since New Years," he explained quickly to get them to all stop yelling at him.

"Then why hasn't he?"

"Bad timing?" Peter offered. "You know, with the whole Snape thing and everything," he began scratching the back of his neck which was feeling pretty hot a sticky at the moment.

"That's all he's told you?" Marlene questioned.

"Well, no."

All three of them tapped their feet impatiently, apparently waiting for him to continue with his story and spill the juicy secrets. "So, are you going to tell us, or…"

"Quidditch," Peter divulged to the group suddenly. Give them what you want, and they'll leave you alone. "This Saturday, after the Quidditch match."

The girls looked at each other, communicating in a way that only girls seemed to know how. Peter always had wondered how they could talk to each other without words when he couldn't even read people's lips. Girls were very odd, and apparently gifted in telecommunication.

"Can you possibly get him to do it sooner?"

Knowing it would please them, Peter said, "I can try."

Dorcas clapped him on the back. "Good man, Peter."

"Yeah," Marlene agreed, "you can leave now."

As Peter walked back towards the portrait hole and up to meet James in their dormitory, he still couldn't fathom the strange world of girls.

OO

"Whatcha looking at, Evans?"

Lily jumped from her spot by the Gryffindor fire. Godric, why did the Marauders keep re-appearing unexpectedly in her life today? Sirius stood before her, arms crossed, and Lily hastily shoved the thing she'd been looking at out of sight.

It was that blasted Quidditch gift card.

"What do you want, Black?" she asked.

"Heard Amelia got her grades back up and I wanted to offer up my condolences."

Amelia wasn't failing anymore? Well, that was a revelation—wait! What? That must mean that—No, she didn't want to leave the Quidditch team! She hadn't even been able to buy her broom yet. She stared at Sirius, wide eyed. This was news to her. "Repeat, please," she said.

"Yep, good old Amelia is back, pity really."

Lily scoffed, crossing her arms annoyingly. "You've been trying to get me to quit all year," she retorted crossly.

Sirius sat down beside her casually, kicking her schoolbag a few feet in front of the couch so he could use it as a foot rest. She cringed—get your bloody feet off my bag, Black—ready to shoot off at him, but she bit her tongue, wanting any information she could get out of the guy. Ha! Wishful thinking. Stupid bloke.

"No, not quit, per se," he said cryptically.

She narrowed her eyes, regarding him carefully. "Well, then, do you just like to demoralize me?"

His grey eyes looked back at her; he smirked with ease. It made him look devilishly handsome, but right now Lily wanted nothing more than to stab him in the eye. "You could say that."

After a few more seconds of silence, Lily realized that she wasn't going to get anything more out of him—it was probably a miracle that she'd gotten has much as she had. Rolling her eyes, she stood up and jerked her bag out from underneath his feet. He didn't seem to mind, but, on the contrary, simply continued to watch her like nothing had happened. Too odd…

"Whatever, Black," she mumbled underneath her breath. She began heading up to her dorm to collect her Quidditch stuff because she had practice in twenty minutes, when Sirius spoke again.

"Go plead to Prongs."

She whirled around. "Sorry?"

"I said," he began, standing up and walking over to her, "go talk to him. Maybe he'll boot Amelia off if you do."

For a while they simply stared at each other. What was he playing at? And, more importantly, why did he want her on the team anyways? He'd done nothing for the past couple of months to make her feel wanted or encouraged; always cracking jokes, replaying poor moves she'd done during a practice, anything to get her away from Quidditch and away from his best mate. But now, here he was, telling her to go fight her way back onto the team?

Major confusion.

"Black, you're an odd one."

He flashed her a smile and shrugged nonchalantly, "Just trying to help."

She looked at him oddly. "Who? Yourself, or me?"

"Both of us."

Her face arranged itself into a very odd expression, like a cat that'd proudly brought back a mouse and couldn't understand why its master was shrieking so frightfully. Sirius was still grinning at her in that peculiar way and it only made her more puzzled than ever. Though she still had no clue of what was going on, Lily turned slowly away from Sirius—hoping he'd stop her again to say something else—and climbed the stairs up to her room.

Shoot. He hadn't stopped her. Now she was left to decode his strange and extremely vague hints all by herself. She was too tired for this today! Okay, think, Lily, think. If she did ask James to keep her on the team, would she be falling into some trap that he and Sirius had planned out? Hmm…and somehow the bet incorporated Quidditch, because the only reason Sirius wanted her to remain a team member had to be because he wanted to win the bet. He had even admitted it would help him! Not to mention the whole thing about the next Quidditch game revealing the outcome of the bet.

Godric, James Potter's life really did revolve around the sport. That much was obvious now. But what did it all have to do with her?

Well, so much for trying to think it all out. What a bummer…She was more lost than she had been when she had started

Bloody Black.

And that's that folks! Again, thanks to sunblood! You rock my socks off.

Next chapter--More of Lily and James and possibly the Quidditch match that will reveal all! DUN DUN DUNNNN

Thanks for reading and it would be wonderful if you reviewed!!! Now, time to go start yet another college app...yikes.

---HeyLookTheSnitch