A/N: So it's not as quick an update as the other ones. Sorry. I'm pretty swamped right now though. But I promise I'll try to update as much as possible. I hope you'll forgive me because this one is extra long!

Thanks for sticking with me and I'd love it if you guys could review. They mean the world to me as my (few but wonderful) reviewers already know.

Disclaimer: James and Lily aren't mine. Neither is Hogwarts. Creys.

Lily walked through the halls, minding her own business as usual. She was running late and if she tarried any longer, she'd miss curfew and it was likely that Filch would find her. While he was at times easy to fool, it was unlikely that she'd get away with using her "head girl business" excuse this time. She'd already used it the night before and Filch had promised that next time, he'd drag her to see McGonagall to check if she was lying. While Professor McGonagall was nice enough, she was very strict. No doubt she'd hand her over to Filch and take ten points while she was at it.

Before she could take the secret passageway that would allow her to miss several sets of stairs, someone grabbed her arm quickly and dragged her into an empty corridor. 'Severus?' she said in surprise. 'I wanted to talk to you,' he said, his black eyes darting around from under his greasy hair.
'Evidently,' she replied dryly, shaking off his grasp. Lily didn't take too kindly to being manhandled at all. 'What do you want, Severus?'
'I- I heard –Is it true?'
'Is what true?' she asked.
'Are- are you dating Sirius Black?'
'Oh. So you heard the rumours, did you? Well if you heard those, you probably heard the ones about Sirius declaring to the entire class, from which you were conspicuously absent, that he was most certainly not dating me,' she snapped.

She had never seen him look so relieved. 'I – I just had to make sure-'
'You what?' Lily grew angry. 'What's it to you? What if I was dating him? Didn't think the love life of a lowly mudblood like me would be so interesting to you,' she glared.
He looked like she had slapped him in the face. 'Lily – I've told you I'm sorry-'
'And I've told you I don't want to hear it. Leave me alone Severus.'
'Lily, please,' he begged, desperation shining in his eyes.
'No, Severus. I won't stand here and take your crap. You made your choices and I made mine.'
'I've told you! I was embarrassed. It never would have happened if it hadn't been for Potter!' he insisted, his voice rising.

'Don't bring him into this, Severus-'
'What so now you're defending him?' Snape interrupted. Lily glared at him.
'No! I'm not excusing what he did. He was a prat and I won't deny it. And neither would he for that matter. Despite what he did to you, you had no right to take it out on me. You certainly didn't have the right to call me a mudblood.'

Snape flinched. 'If I could take it back I would,' his voice weak.
Lily's eyes softened. 'But that's not the way life works, Severus. We've each chosen our paths. I'm afraid they head in two very different directions. I can't be friends with you when you've chosen to defy everything I ever believed in. What James did was wrong, but what you did wasn't much better.'
'Potter's had it out for me ever since we met,' he snapped.
'And you? Have you really been any better? How many times did you attack him or Sirius? How many times have they ended up in the hospital wing because of you? Don't you dare blame him for this. You've always had it out for him just as much as he's had it out for you. Countless times you've hexed him unprovoked!'
'You're defending him!' Snape snapped.
'Well I damn well should considering you're completely wrong about him. He's not the child he once was. What he did was wrong but he knows it! And you were never any better than him. When was the last time he hexed someone without being provoked first? That's right, certainly not at any point this year. I know about the duel you two had last week. I know who started it. And don't tell me Potter's lying because he wasn't the one who told me about it. Mary was there. So don't you dare blame him for your problems! He's grown up Severus. Why can't you?' Lily looked at her old friend sadly before storming past him.

The nerve of him! How dare he! It was always the same, even when they were friends. It was always Potter this and Potter that... It was never Snape's fault. "Potter gave me a dirty look; I know he was planning something. Besides, he tripped me over the day before; he deserved to have his face covered in warts," he'd insist even though half the time, all James had done was look in his general direction, barely processing Snape's existence. Not to mention that tripping him over could easily be an accident, even if James wouldn't be sorry about it. She'd noticed that the quiditch captain was not always as coordinated on the ground as he was on air.

Though, Lily mused, when it came to dancing, he certainly seemed to know what he was doing. His behaviour at the previous year's Christmas Ball was evidence of that. Trudy Cornwall, his date from Ravenclaw, had been overjoyed.

Lily's own date (seventh year Hufflepuff, Simon Trotter) had been less than fabulous meanwhile. It was all she could do to make clear that their relationship could develop no further. Any female who had heard that row (for they had been dating for quite some time) had been almost deliriously happy. While Lily could find many faults with him when attempting to hold a conversation with the arrogant yet stupid fool, there was no way to doubt his good looks. His gorgeous smile was an undeniable fact. Nonetheless, Lily could no longer hold on to a relationship when one of them refused to speak about anything other than quiditch or his dream of finding a career as a model. His academia was resolutely ignored and any attempt from Lily to persuade him to study ended in a huge row. The last straw had come the night before the ball when he burst into tears when she insisted he study for the Transfiguration quiz. She'd have ended it right there and then but he'd run out of the library. He'd resolutely avoided her the entire day after that, forcing her to turn up and join him for a dance.

Unable to stand his presence any longer, Lily had blurted out her inability to pursue a relationship with him. Thankfully, he kept it together but when he stormed away from her in the middle of the dance floor, she'd been left humiliated. That was until James Potter quickly stepped in and began twirling around before anyone could fully comprehend what happened. Lily could personally attest to James' wonderful dancing skills.

He hadn't pursued a conversation with her but had subtly danced her to the side of the dance floor to free her from the crowd as soon as the song finished. Lily hadn't been given a chance to thank him before he disappeared back into the crowd.

She was shaken out of her reverie when someone grabbed her arm again. Truly, she was sick of this. 'What?' she snapped, her wand pointed in her attackers face. Again, it was Snape.
'Lily! You have to get out of here. Mulciber and Nott are out looking for m-muggleborns,' he hissed, letting go of her.

'You were going to say it again, weren't you,' Lily accused. Snape sighed in frustration.
'This is not the time, Lily! You're about to be attacked! Run!'

Lily gave him a scathing look. 'I'm a Gryffindor. We don't run from snotty pureblood freaks who think they own the place. I'm surprised you came to warn me. Not in the mood for cursing innocent -'

'Well, well, well,' a voice cut her off.

'Mulciber,' she snapped. 'What can I do for you?'
'There's nothing you can do, mudblood. Unless of course, you were so inclined to jump off the astronomy tower?'
Lily rolled her eyes. 'As fun as that would be, I have places to be, brain cells that can be used. Of course, you wouldn't know. That head of yours is as empty as... actually, you know what? I don't know of anything that is quite as empty as that head of yours. Who'd a thought.' With that, she walked away.
'You filthy mudblood! How dare you speak to your superiors like that!'

Lily was truly in no mood to deal with the Slytherin at that point. A braver man than he would have quailed under the look she shot him. Rather than use her wand however, she chose the much more ladylike option.

With a resounding thwack, Lily punched Nikolai Mulicber in the face. So hard, was the attack that his head when flying back into the stone wall behind him, knocking him out cold. Now she raised her wand and sent a stinging jinx at Nott who had been ignored for the most part until then. Snape looked aghast. 'Deal with your friends, Snape,' Lily hissed before walking away.

She didn't want to let Snape know she was hurt but the truth was, Mulciber had a very hardhead. Nursing the injured hand gingerly, Lily changed her course and made her way to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was setting up some beds when she walked in, her hand was hurting a great deal more now but the first thing she noticed was that Remus was lying in a bed looking significantly worse for wear while Sirius and Peter were making him laugh. James was smiling at the fondly while Amanda looked rather bored.

'Can I help you?' Madame Pomfrey asked, not unkindly. Sirius looked up and grinned.
'Lily!' he called. James turned to look at her in surprise while Amanda sent her a look of loathing. Seeing the look of pain on her face, James jumped up. 'What's wrong?' he asked quickly, concern shining in his eyes.
'Erm, I think I've hurt my hand. I'm sure it's nothing; I just thought I'd make sure it was alright.'
Before Madame Pomfrey could answer however, Snape walked in with Nott, whose face was a fair sight worse than normal and an unconscious Mulciber was limply hanging between them as they levitated him over.

Ignoring her, Madame Pompfrey quickly had Mulciber on a bed and began to work away at his bloody head. Sirius whistled lowly. 'Who did that?' he said, a hint of admiration in his voice.

'Poppy, do you have that headache potion?' Professor McGonagall walked in, massaging her head but stopped when she saw Lily and the Slytherins. 'What in the name of Merlin happened here?' she asked.

'He's out cold,' the nurse said grimly. 'But there's no sign of magic on this one. He's got a broken nose and will have a terrible headache when he wakes up but he'll be fine.' She turned to Nott and handed him a potion that returned his face to normal. 'You,' he spat.

'Oh, look! The troll speaks,' Lily drawled. She would have to admit, it was not perhaps the smartest thing she could have said at that point but she was still too furious to take that into consideration.

'Miss Evans, what on Earth happened?'
'Well, Professor, I was walking along minding my own business when these charming young Slytherins thought they'd stop for a chat. Feeling duly insulted by their (not surprisingly) unintelligent comments, I punched Mulciber in the face and jinxed, Nott.' Lily glared at the Slytherins while she spoke.
McGonagall looked horrified. 'And why, pray tell, is his head injured? If you only punched him in the nose, surely he wouldn't have been knocked out.'
'Well you see Professor,' Lily said earnestly, 'it was rather unfortunate that his head flew backwards into the wall behind him. It really wasn't my fault. I never meant to knock him out, I only ever wanted to break his nose.'

'You are the Head Girl, Miss Evans. This behaviour is unacceptable. Twenty points from Gryffindor. You will also be joining me for detention tomorrow evening and Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this,' the Professor said sternly.

Lily shrugged. As far as she was concerned, it was totally worth it. As McGonagall took her potion and left, she saw that the Marauders were looking at her with gobsmacked expressions on their faces. 'Who are you and what the hell have you done with Lily Evans?' Sirius said in awe.

Lily stuck her tongue out at him. 'Come here, Miss Evans. Let me take a look at that hand,' the nurse said. 'I don't know what you've done but there's a hairline fracture. I'll heal it but I'm giving you a bandage to support it for a few days,' she said after a few moments of prodding. Lily made a face.

James was hovering around looking concerned. 'You broke it? Merlin, Lily! Why'd you have to go punch him?'
Lily snorted. 'Puh-lease. As if you wouldn't have. You'd probably do something worse,' she accused.
'Yes,' James nodded in agreement. 'But I wouldn't have broken my hand while I was at it.'
'It's a hairline fracture! That's nothing,' she insisted.
'Leave her alone, Prongs,' Sirius piped up. 'I've never been so proud of her in my life! Remind me to get you something extra special this Christmas,' he grinned, pretending to wipe away a tear of pride from his eye. Lily grinned. 'I knew you'd be pleased, Sirius.' The whole time, Amanda was watching with an ugly look on her face. 'James, I'm tired. I have to get up early tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow,' she got up and made a point of kissing him thoroughly before leaving.
'Thanks for coming, Amanda! I appreciate it!' Remus called after her jokingly. Sirius rolled his eyes.

'Seriously, James. That's one strange bird you've got there,' he said with a dramatic sigh. 'I liked it better when you were pining after our seemingly dangerous head girl.' James smacked him upside the head.

'Miss Evans, I'd rather you stay here for an hour or so just to make sure you don't have any allergic reactions to the potion I gave you. I don't believe you've taken one before so it's better safe than sorry,' Madame Pomfrey said absently as she continued to clean up Mulciber's rather bloody face.

Feeling as if she'd been rebellious enough for the night, Lily obediently sat on one of the beds. Soon, Mulciber was awake and after a quick barrage of potions, was sent on his way. It seemed he was well acquainted with the Hogwarts nurse's medicines. Soon James and Sirius left with Peter after Remus insisted that they get some sleep.

Lily looked at Remus hesitantly. In truth, she had known about his issue for a while. It wasn't for nothing that she was top of their year. She'd never mentioned it however because truly, what does one say when accusing a friend of being a werewolf?

'Remus, what are you doing here? What happened?'

Remus paled considerably. 'I- I got into a bit of a scuffle and then fell down a few flights of stairs,' he said hastily.
'How's your mom doing?' she asked innocently.
'She's fine. Absolutely fine.'
'But didn't you go to see her last night because she was ill?'
'Ah- yes. I did. But she's all better now.'
'I'm glad to hear it. It's a pity you weren't here last night. Hogwarts is such a nice place to view the full moon from, don't you think?'
'Er-yes. Certainly,' he agreed.

Lily sighed. He clearly wasn't going to cave. 'I know, Remus,' she said softly. 'I know where you really went. And I know why.'

Remus blanched. 'You – you what? What are you talking about?'
'You can stop lying. I know the truth,' she looked at him kindly.
'I'm so sorry, Lily. I know you must think that I'm such a monster but please-'
'You WHAT?' she yelled. 'Remus, you're no monster. I'm the one that's sitting here because she knocked a bloke out. You're here because you can't help it. You're no monster.'
Remus looked miserable. Lily wasn't sure if anything she was saying was getting through to him. 'I'm sorry, Lily. But please, I'm begging you! Don't tell anyone. I know I'm a monster, I'm sure you're horrified at even the thought of being in the same room as a creature like me, but please,' he pleaded, desperation glowing in his eyes.

'Remus! Stop! Of course I won't tell anyone. You're a human being, just like the rest of us. I happen to rather enjoy your company and if this is all a ploy to try and get rid of me, it's not gonna work. You're stuck with me buddy. We're friends whether you like it or not,' she said sternly.

Remus looked at her with his mouth hanging open. 'You-what?' She'd never seen anyone look so relieved in her entire life. He looked as if he were about to cry he was so happy. 'Thank you,' he said earnestly.

Lily looked rather fierce at that moment. 'Don't you dare ever thank me, Remus Lupin. Don't ever thank me for treating you like you deserve.' With that, she left him in his (relieved) thoughts.

When Lily arrived in her dormitory, everyone else was already asleep. On her pillow however, was a letter from Petunia. Opening it, her eyes scanned the page, barely taking it in. Tears filled her eyes and her good mood flew out the window. Petunia was getting married to Vernon Dursley, a man who hated her and would give Petunia the "normalcy" she so desired. Lily was about to lose her sister forever for Dursley hated her and would have nothing to do with her.

Not wanting to wake the others, Lily made her way down the staircase to the common room where she found Sirius mumbling to himself as he completed the last of his defence essay. Noticing someone's arrival, he turned to find a tear stained head girl walking down the staircase. 'Lily?' he asked hesitantly.

Lily jumped slightly when she heard his voice. 'She's gone, Sirius. I've lost my sister. She's marrying that muggle. I'll never be able to speak to her again. He hates me so,' she cried. Sirius didn't know what to do. He too had lost a sibling to prejudice. Regulus was gone and he'd never get him back. Enveloping Lily in his arms, he let her cry herself out while trying to calm her down. 'It'll be alright,' he whispered.
'No it won't,' she sobbed. 'Nothing will be alright. I've lost her.'

It was a long time before she cried herself out, completely destroying Sirius's shirt. But she found comfort in his arms and they remained that way until the two fell asleep.

James woke up the next morning surprisingly early. To his surprise, Sirius's bed was left undisturbed; he'd clearly not returned last night. Probably with a girl, James mused to himself, shaking away the remains of his sleep driven state. The next Hogsmeade trip would be coming soon and in all honesty, James was not looking forward to it. He did not appreciate Amanda's clinginess and the truth of it was, Amanda was a bitch. The biggest reason why he was unhappy however was that... Amanda wasn't Lily. Amanda didn't like his friends and she was too slaggy to have any. They really had nothing in common. Perhaps, he should just end it. He was sick and tired of trying to move on from Lily when Amanda did nothing but remind him of how perfect Lily was, especially in comparison to herself.

Dressing quickly, he figured if he was lucky, he'd be able to catch her before she went down for breakfast. Grabbing his watch, he realised that he was far earlier than he had thought. Slowing down, he walked down the stairs to the common room and nearly fell off the last step. Lying on the couch was none other than his own best friend, Sirius Black with an arm hanging protectively over Lily who happened to by lying right beside him. Both of them were still dressed in yesterday's clothes and neither looked particularly peaceful.

What the hell was going on? Why in the name of Merlin would Sirius and Lily be sleeping on a couch together? Before he could move, Amanda came rushing down the stairs and ran straight into James, knocking them both onto the ground. The noise made Sirius stir. 'Whazgoinon?' he said sleepily. 'Lily?'

Now more awake, Sirius shifted in an attempt to move Lily as little as possible as he got up from the couch. Despite his best efforts, she began to stir. 'I'm not cut out for this kind of thing,' he muttered to himself.

James cleared his throat. 'What are you doing Sirius?'
'I thought you said they weren't dating,' Amanda piped up.
'We're not,' Sirius insisted. 'Lily had a rough night. I was just being a good friend. We must have fallen asleep. It was pretty late.'

Sirius turned away from the two as Amanda attempted to give her boyfriend a belated good morning kiss. Instead, James turned away from her and pulled her into a corner. 'Listen, Amanda... I don't think it's gonna work out between us. We're just so different and I can't see us moving forward. Besides, this is NEWT year. We're all going to be so busy soon, I think it's best we end it now before we just drift too far apart. I'm really sorry,' he told her.

Amanda looked livid. 'This is her fault isn't it?' she snapped. 'Evans!' she shrieked. Lily was still looking groggy as she got off the sofa. 'What's happening?' She froze as she saw an angry Amanda Jackson storming over to her. Sirius leapt in front of her protectively. 'Lay off her, Jackson,' he warned.

James was looking at Amanda disapprovingly. 'Lily has nothing to do with this,' he insisted. 'Leave her out of this.'
'Of course this involves her! It always has! The stupid slag is always a part of this! Do you think I'm stupid?' she snapped.

Now, the very honest answer here was that yes, James did indeed think she was stupid but very wisely, he kept his mouth shut. 'No! Of course I don't. I'm being serious here, leave her out of this,' James insisted, now getting very angry.

Lily had stood there as Amanda screamed abuse at her but it was really now too much. After last night, she was not prepared to wake up to this. Eyes filling with fresh new tears, she turned on her heel and fled the common room.

'Now look what you've done!' Sirius snapped at Amanda and James angrily. Sending Amanda a scathing look he ran after Lily, with James hot on his heels.

A/N: Well there are still many twists and turns and relationships to be made and broken before we get anywhere near to the finish... I just hate Amanda. Sorry. Anyways, I will try and update again soon but it might take a week or so. There's still a big explanation on the Amanda/James relationship to come so be prepped, guys! There's sooo much more that I've got planned for our favourite head boy and girl!

Virtual cookies to all who review and much love to those who favourite and follow as well!