Thank you for the reviews everyone, your reward issssssss…another chapter! I really liked writing this one, I was finally able to have some fun! Unfortunately, the uploader is still acting up, and it wouldn't let me post this next chapter in one part. So I've had to divide it up into two. Not a tragedy, I know, but it's made me mad. As long as you guys get to read the chapter, though, I'm happy.

Disclaimer: None of my published works have sold 11.5 million copies. I don't even have any published works, so I don't own this.

…

The corridor flew past Lily as she walked faster and faster, with no clear idea of where she was going. Everything seemed seeped in silver, whirling haze, as her inside frothed and bubbled. The hot, shimmering feeling engulfed her as she walked away from James, buzzing filling her head, clouding her senses…

The stuff-his stuff…no…can't have it…not that…no…his things – no, her things, they weren't his, he had never had them, he couldn't have them…no…how dare he ask! How dare he-

Suddenly the frothing feeling began to fade, and Lily shook her head, confused, as the fuzz ebbed away, leaving only a silver sheet over her…and the image of James' face…his shocked, awed, cute face…

Lily shook her head harder. No, she wouldn't think like that. She was just…unwell, that was it. She needed a lie down-

A piercing bell rang through the castle. Lily jumped, checked her watch, and swore. She was late for charms. Just as she was about to sprint to class, she caught herself.

I'm unwell, remember? Need a lie down…

Well…she wasn't that unwell…but surely missing just one charms class wouldn't hurt?

The silver feeling seemed to be pulsing inside her again, only now it was cool…soothing.

Yes…yes, I could use a break. Flitwick won't mind…

But I should tell him… said the part of her that wasn't pulsing.

Why, though? He won't care…you need a rest, after all that that happened with James…

The image of James came back into her head, awed, his mouth in that comical little 'o'.

Lily pushed the picture away, and her mind seemed to clear.

No, I ought to tell Flitwick, and then I'll go to the hospital wing, just to rest.

She set off at a slow walk for the charms classroom, her footsteps echoing down the hushed halls. She thought as she walked, did she really need a rest?

Yes, said the shimmering part of her.

But why? said her mind, do I need a break? Not really.

But I'm still not feeling that well…

She had just resolved to ask for a word with Professor Flitwick, see if he thought she should take a break, when she reached the N.E.W.T charms classroom. Softly poking her head into the room, she said, "Professor, sorry to interrupt, but could I have a wo-"

"Oh, good, Miss Evans," Flitwick cut across her in a rather high-pitched voice. Well, more high pitched then usual, anyway. " If I could just ask you and the rest of the prefects to watch this class for me- I'm afraid I have some business- err- some things that must be taken…need to be done, if you don't mind, just a moment now…" and Flitwick darted from the classroom.

Lily looked, stunned, back into the sun-lit classroom. Most everyone was staring back at her with the same uncomprehending expression the she supposed she must be wearing. Most everyone…except for four boys.

James Potter and Sirius Black were smirking in an all too familiar way, shoulders shaking slightly with suppressed laughter. Peter Pettigrew was biting back a grin, staring down at his clasped hand in what Lily could only guess was supposed to be an unassuming manner. Remus was looking at Lily with an expression of forced sympathy that also made him look as if he were trying not to smile. Lily groaned inwardly. Merlin only knew what those four had done now.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Lily closed the door and moved into the room.

"While we wait for Professor Flitwick," she said clearly, "I would like to ask you all to busy yourselves with any homework or studying that you need to do. Prefects," she added, "up here, please."

The prefects- including Remus- filed out of their seats, joining Lily at the front of the class.

"What happened?" Lily asked quietly.

Most of them shrugged.

"We dunno," said Charles Fleb of Hufflepuff, "one second Flitwick's going on about theory, next he's squeaking out of control."

"Then you came in," Marcia Connors of Ravenclaw added, "and he left."

"He was clutchin' 'imself," whispered Hufflepuff Darlene Staley, "you know," she raised her eyebrows significantly, "down there."

"Alright," said Lily, frowning, "alright. Let's just- just keep things in order till he gets back, okay?"

The prefects murmured their agreement and began to head back to their seats. Remus had turned away too, before Lily grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"I want a word," she said quietly as she pulled him into a corner. Remus' face still seemed to be struggling not to grin, but the expression vanished as Lily frowned at him.

"I'm not a fool, Remus," she hissed threateningly, "I know you four had something to do with this."

Remus shook his head, "Honestly, Lily, I don't know what they did. They did something, but they didn't tell me what it was."

"Well, they'll be telling me," said Lily as she turned back to the class.

"No, Lily," it was Remus' turn to catch her arm, "don't. You don't have any proof, and it'll only make a scene."

"I've got you as a witnes-" she caught the look on his face.

"Oh, I forgot. You can't testify against anything they've done wrong. Your memory tends to be blank in those spots."

"Lily," Remus pleaded, "I-"

But Lily had already turned back to the class. Those three better have one good story.

She made her way quickly down the aisle, Remus following. The sun glowed softly from behind the high windows, falling in shafts to the floor as it lit the hidden dust in the air. The strips of sun passed over Lily's body like a warm blanket, but for all the notice she gave it the day might have been dark and cloudy. She kept her eyes fixed on the table at which sat the three remaining mischief-makers.

Sirius had kicked up his feet onto the desk, hands behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. James also had his chair on two legs, one arm stretched forward to trace lazy circles on the desktop with his wand. Peter was biting his lip harder then before, looking nervously at Lily.

Lily sat on the desk in front of James, smiling a little strangely at the boys.

"I want to know," she said softly, so that they could hardly hear her though the shuffling of pages and scraping of quills that now filled the classroom, "what you did to Flitwick."

"You do?" said Sirius calmly, "Well that's interesting."

"Yes, I do," Lily smile was becoming less strange and more frightening by the moment, "and you are going to tell me."

"Certainly!" said James jovially.

There was a loud bang as Sirius' chair legs hit the floor, Remus gasped, and Peter bit his lip so hard that a trickle of blood ran down his chin.

"What?" Sirius growled at James.

"Padfoot," said James with a manner of explaining something to a small child, "our lovely prefect Miss Evans has every right to know what we did." Smirking at his friend's shocked expressions, he winked, and leaned toward Lily.

"If you really want to know," he whispered, his wand still moving around and around on the desktop, "There has been a sudden depletion in Flitwick's supply of family jewels…"

He paused to smirk again, and Lily gazed at him, her mind moving beyond the vulgarity of what he had just told her. This was James Potter. Had he just openly admitted a wrong doing … to her? Maybe she really had been wrong about him. Maybe he really had deserved her apology. Maybe he really had changed…"

"-but you're not going to tell anyone about that."

"Wha- excuse me?" Lily spluttered, taken aback.

"I said," James said, " you won't be telling anyone about that. Especially not any part of the establishment."

"And why not?" Lily spat.

"Because," said James with an air of maddening calm, his smirk going ever wider as his wand sank deeper and deeper into the wood, "if you do, there will be a sudden upswing in the rumors about you and this 'secret lover'."

"Are you threatening me, Potter?" Lily hissed.

"I guess I am, Evans," said James.

"Well then, Potter," Lily said coldly, "you're not very skilled with threats. I've lived with rumors like that for more then a year. One more theory about my love life won't make a difference."

James' smirk continued to grow, so much so that Lily could hear the suppressed laughter in his voice as he spoke, "But this won't seem like just a theory, Evans. After all, people have seen you together quite a lot. And you do pull him aside very often."

Lily's eyes widened. She glanced to her right; Remus' mouth had fallen open; he looked horrified.

"You- you wouldn't," Lily gasped at James. Sirius snickered at her response.

"Oh, no, no, I wouldn't, Evans," said James calmly; the smirk slid off Sirius' face, and Peter looked dumbfounded. But James leaned into her and breathed, "Not if you give us our stuff back, anyway."

Oh, just give it too them, give them their stuff… her mind cried, but the silver, shimmering, bubbling feeling swam, hot and steaming, back into her again.

No, no. I have to keep it. Have to…

"No," she said breathlessly as the haze flooded her head, "I- I can't."

James' features hardened.

"Alright, then. Happy Easter, Evans."

A spark flew from the end of James' wand and landed on Lily's skirt. She scrambled to pat it out as James leapt nimbly off his chair and strode up the aisle to the front of the classroom, twirling his wand in his fingers as he passed through the curtains of sun.

"Attention! Attention, Hogwarts students! Ladies, ladies, and gents! Boys and girls! Prefects and future fillers of Askaban cells alike, lend me a moment of your valuable time. I have a little announcement to make on behalf of our lovely prefect, Miss Evans."

James smirked at Lily as half the assembled students turned to gaze questioningly at her. Lily caught sight of Severus seated in the back, eyebrows raised.

"James Potter!" she began angrily, "If you don't st-"

But suddenly her lips would no longer move.

"Get to the point, I know, Dear Miss Evans," James said in a falsely understanding tone. Lily whipped around to see Sirius pointing his wand at her, smirking again. She reached for her own, but her hand had barely touched her pocket, when her wand was zooming out of it. Sirius caught it discreetly, and tucked it into his robes.

"Miss Evans has grown tired of going behind the backs of her beloved student body," James was saying, "hidden broom closets are loosing their luster. She want her friends, fellows, and classmates, to know the truth!"

Lily made to snatch her wand from Sirius' pocket, but he forced her back with another spell. Remus was mouthing soundlessly at James, eyes peeled open in horror.

"Students of Hogwarts! Long have you wondered about our dear prefect, Lily Evans. Now you shall know!"

Every eye in the room was fixed on James. The air in the room seemed to have gone cold. Lily flew up the aisle and lunged at James. He sidestepped her, and she slammed into the teacher's desk as he cried, "Lily Evans' secret lover is… Remus Lupin!"

Nearly all the listeners gasped. Head snapped around, eyes zoomed to Remus. Snape's eyes narrowed as Lily clambered to her feet and hurried toward Remus, passing back through the patches of sun as she tried to beg silently, gesturing franticly to him to say it wasn't true. But as Lily ran toward Remus, she noticed something…odd. Remus wasn't mouthing pleas anymore. His mouth wasn't hanging open at all, nor were his eyes wide. In fact, they were only slightly open, and he had a dazed, confused look on his face. Then he caught sight of her, running to him, and his eyes opened wide with joy. She slid to a halt in front of him, and found that her lips were unstuck.

"Remus? What's wro-" But the rest of her words were lost, as Remus Lupin caught her up in his arms, and kissed her on the mouth.

Lily's mind went blank with shock. Remus kissed her passionately, and her numb mind barely had time to register that he was actually pretty good, before she fought her way out of his embrace. Breathing hard and glaring at Remus, she started to shout, "What the ruddy he-", but suddenly she found her lips unable to part again. Furiously rounding upon Sirius, she made a dive for her wand, but he dodged her, and she went crashing into another desk.

The room was in quite a hubbub now, the prefects were fighting to regain control as students chattered wildly about their thoughts, theories, and the suspicions they had always had about Lily Evans and Remus Lupin. Finally, someone shouted over the crowd.

"I don't believe it!"

Lily looked around in relief, to see Kathy, speaking boldly over the crowd. The chatter died down as everyone looked around at her expectantly. She went a little pink in the face as everyone watched her, but she carried on.

"I don't believe it. Lily told me just this morning that there's nothing going on between her and Remus. And I'm one of her best friends!"

"And I'm one of Remus' best friends," James cut in, "and he was telling me on our way to class about the exciting little escapade he and Lily had last night. Can you tell me where dear Lily was last evening?"

Kathy went even pinker, and, after a moment, she shook her head. A sound like the buzzing of bees rose once more in the cramped classroom. Lily could distinctly hear voices saying, "I always wondered," and "I heard what it was they did last night…"

Dark panic rising in her throat, Lily looked around for her friends. She managed to catch Megan's eye, and looked pleadingly at her. Megan nodded solemnly, and climbed onto one of the desks.

"I think you're lying!" she proclaimed, and a hush fell once more.

"What was that?" said James.

"I think you're lying," Megan said again, "about all this tosh between Remus and Lily. We all know you and your friends don't like Lily that much, always getting you into trouble, isn't she? So you worked out this little plan with Lupin to discredit and humiliate her! He would go along with it, he is your friend-"

"Yes, and as his friend, and can safely say that Remus is completely and totally infatuated with Lily, right, Remus?" James turned to Remus, as did everyone else. While he was still gazing at Lily, his face seemed slightly blank, a little vacant, not quite normal…

"Yes," Remus said in a breathy voice, "Yes, I-I love you, Lily."

The buzzing rose again almost instantly. Cries of, "There you go!" and "I knew it!" could be heard over the din.

"Quiet!" shouted Megan, and a reluctant hush fell. "We still haven't heard anything from Lily about this. Lily, is this all true?"

Lily looked franticly at Megan, tears filling her eyes as she pulled and pulled at her lips, trying, ever more painfully, to wrench them apart…

"Struck dumb by Cupid, eh, Lils?" said James with a nervous laugh, "Well, she doesn't really need to say anything, does she? You saw the kiss…" but his voice faded away; many people were frowning. That kiss, it seemed, wasn't enough.

"Yes, we all saw it," Megan went on, and Lily saw James give Sirius a significant look, jerking his head toward Lily, then Remus as he did so. "But Remus might have just-" but Lily didn't hear any more, for at that moment Sirius turned to her, and muttered a spell. As it flew at her, she caught sight of James, whispering something in Remus' ear, and then her mind went blank, and it seemed a dark shadow fell over her eyes.

Thoughts floated in and out of her head, almost as if they drifted in through her ears. Vaguely she registered people around her, as she contemplated the taste of carrot cake. Her mind had just settled on ponies, when she noticed someone moving toward her. Galloping ponies, with their long flowing manes and tails filled her head, as her mind let in the realization that someone was kissing her. It was nice. Whoever it was was rather good. She liked it. Her back bumped against a wall, and she thought of bright fields and balloons as her lips entwined with someone else's. Vaguely she heard a shout, and the lips left hers. Hmm, balloons. Then the drowsy feeling left her, the black veil was pulled from her vision, and she was left panting in a room full of watching people, hearing a voice she knew to be Professor Flitwick's shouting.

"-left you alone for ten minuets and this is what you get up to! Mr. Lupin, Miss Evans, I asked you to watch over this class for me, not entertain your classmates with such antics! I expected better of prefects, especially you, Miss Evans! I don't know what to say to you! I-I'll leave it to your head of house. Please, report to Professor McGonagall's office, with-" here Flitwick rummaged through his robes, crossed to the teacher's desk, and wrote quickly on a scrap of parchment, "-this note explaining what you have done! Now!"

And so Lily and Remus headed for the door, Lily pausing to accept the note from Flitwick, then hurrying out into the hall.

Chapter continues...