"Paz Safford is doing a tricky bit of flying. She's somersaulting through the air on that broom of hers, beating the bludger left and right. Potter knew what he was doing when he found her," Edwin Grafton announced to the packed stadiums. The Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had begun. "There goes Ravenclaw beater Loren Eduardo. She's also good at what she does. She's stealing the bludger from Safford! Eduardo's got it. No, now Safford. Now Eduardo. Safford again. Wait it's back to Eduardo. Now this I've never seen. There's more commotion about that damn—ouch Professor! No need to knock my hat off!—bludger than the Quaffle! Wait, no, the Ravenclaw chasers have come to their senses. Cameron Tyler's got it. He's aiming. Oohh nice attempt at blocking but unsuccessful! RAVENCLAW SCORES! FORTY NONE, RAVENCLAW!"

James glared daggers at his team as they met in the locker rooms another forty points later. Unfortunately only one was theirs. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you? We can outfly Ravenclaw in our sleep! Why haven't you been flying right?" He turned to Leola Mackenzie. "Listen Leola, you've gotta keep those goals out! I don't care what you have to do, keep them OUT!"

Leola nodded seriously.

"Heaton, Van Rensselaer, listen up. If you can't bloody well score, give it to Macdonald! She's got the hang of scoring." The two chasers cowered beneath James's angry glare. "Mary, nice job with the goal. Get some more." He turned to Sirius and Paz Safford. "Paz, what the bloody hell was with the bludger marathon? Find them. Aim them. Hit them. Three step process. Simple. And Black? Make sure those bludgers stay away from Leola. I'm going to find that damn Snitch as fast as I can." He took a deep breath. "We've got this, we really have. We can do it. I know we can win. We haven't lost a House Cup yet."

His teammates nodded, a bit surprised by the change of tact but it was a welcomed change. "We'll do it, mate." Sirius patted him on the back before walking out onto the pitch. The others followed.

James took one last look around the empty locker room as he walked out. He had a grim look upon his face as he flew. It took nearly another twenty minutes and five attempts at a goal (Leola had blocked them, luckily) before he spotted it. Making sure the Ravenclaw seeker had no idea what he was doing, James sped towards it.

He flew straight at it, not looking around. He vaguely realized he was above the stands as he stretched his arm out for it… it was so close…

"What in Merlin's name is James Potter doing?" Edwin Grafton screeched from the announcer's seat. "He's flying over the crowd! Oye Potter! The pitch is that way! Wait. Wait. He must see the Snitch. He's flying over the Gryffindors now. Over them. There his hand's stretched out. So close. Come on Potter, end the game! Bloody hell! What's going on? Why's he falling off the broom?"

James felt his hand close around the cool metal of the Snitch as he fell towards the stands. He raised it triumphantly before landing not so triumphantly upon a group of fans.

"How much weight have you gained, Potter?" Lily growled from beneath him. "You need a diet!"

He grinned at her, ignoring the pain in his right leg. It was squished at an extremely awkward angle. "We've won," he shouted. Then his hazel eyes closed as he fainted dead away.

Girls screamed when they saw him lying on the ground. Some of them turned on Lily, shouting that she was his murderer. Rolling her eyes, she ignored them as she called help over for him.

A few hours later James lay in the Hospital Wing, his leg hurting. He was ordered to spend the next few nights in the Wing. He could hear the confused chatter from outside the Wing. There were so many girls going wild in the halls from grief that they might maul him the moment they caught sight of him if he walked out right then.

"Who would you like to see?" Madam Connor asked as she looked at him concerned. "There's nearly a hundred people crowding around, begging to see you."

James smiled with delight at all of his friends.

"Can you write a list for me?" Madam Connor said gently. "Write it out, please."

"Sure Vita."

"James, I told you not to call me by my first name." Madam Connor rolled her eyes. "Here's some parchment, dear. Write it out."

Lily Evans

Sirius Black

Remus Lupin

Peter Pettigrew

The Gryffindor Quidditch Team

He handed the list to her. Madam Connor smiled knowingly as she skimmed it and saw Lily's name. "Only Miss Evans is out there at the moment, James. The others are eating."

James laughed. "Of course they are. Send her in, will you Vita?"

Madam Connor rolled her eyes again but did as he asked. A very concerned looking Lily stormed in moments later.

"James Potter, how could you do that?!?"

"Do what?" He asked weakly.

"Faint on top of me!" Lily glared at him for a moment before laughing. "Oh James, I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried…" she trailed off when she saw the look on his face. "Friends, remember?"

James nodded. "You were worried though. That's a good sign, isn't it?"

"It's not bad," she shrugged. "But anyway, so many girls were screaming. One girl thought I killed you!"

"That's awful," he laughed. "I'm quite popular, aren't I?"

"Very. There's such a crowd out there. I was almost run over when Madam Connor said I could go in. There were so many tears!"

"They're all crazy, Lily." He winced as pain shot through his leg. He had been attempting to rearrange himself a bit so he'd be sitting but it didn't work well.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt? Do you want me to call Madam Connor?" She asked concernedly.

"No, no, just sit down." He pointed at the end of his bed. "Sit and talk to me."

Lily sat down and looked at him. She waited for him to serve up a topic. After a few minutes, it was evidence he would not.

"Aren't you going to talk?" She asked.

"Nope. You are."

"About what?"

"Tell me about your travels."

Lily sighed. "What about them?"

"Tell me about Krakow. I know Paris. I don't know Krakow."

She smiled as she began to speak. Her melodious voice soothed the pain in his leg.

A few hundred feet away, outside the Hospital Wing, stood Severus Snape. He had been told by the crowd that Lily Evans and only she was admitted to see James Potter. He had a strange bitter taste in his mouth when he was told she was in there. She had stood there for hours, skipping dinner, to be near him when he woke up. Severus looked at the wooden doors, willing her to walk through them. When it was obvious it wouldn't happen, he turned and walked away quickly, leaving his thoughts of her behind.

James laughed loudly, the sound echoing through the infirmary and into the hall where multitudes stood.

"You're brilliant, you know." James said after Lily had told him about the time she hadn't managed to completely pay for a tram ticket and nearly got caught. "Kooky but brilliant."

"Kooky. Almost as good of a word as monkeyshines." Lily winked at him. It was the first time the letters or adventure had been brought up since their argument in the Head's Room. She felt nervous speaking about it but she had to test the waters, make sure they really were alright again.

"Monkeyshine is a pretty good word," he smiled at her widely.

"So your turn to tell me something."

"Nope, now I want to hear about my mass of admirers gathered around the door. Are there really as many as Vita said?"

"Vita? Who's that?" Lily looked around, trying to find the other girl he was speaking of.

He waved a hand. "Madam Connor. Is there, though?"

"Yes, actually. There's plenty of girls dying to see you."

"Do I look alright?" He asked suddenly.

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "Fishing for compliments?"

"No," he answered rather sullenly, "I've got an audience to see and I don't want them to see me looking like a twat."

"You look fine," she laughed. "Would you like me to beckon them in, m'lord?"

He glared at her as she laughed at him. "It's not that silly to want to look decent if I've got plenty of girls out there. I have a reputation to uphold." He glanced down at his pajamas. They were covered with golden snitches. "These won't do," he muttered. With one hand he managed to pull off his top, ignoring Lily's confused expression. He pulled the covers towards him, allowing only a sliver of his chest to be seen. "What?" he asked when he finally noticed her look.

"What are you doing?" She replied slowly.

He rolled his eyes. "Getting ready, of course. You can't imagine them seeing me in my stupid snitch pajamas, can you?"

"I saw you in them," she said quietly. She wasn't sure why but James changing for the girls outside irritated her to no end.

"Yes but you're Lily. I've got nothing to worry about with you, no reputation to uphold."

"So I'm not important?"

"You are but not when I'm focused on looks. My looks don't matter to you."

"Yes but…" she trailed off, seeing there was no argument. She was only being stubborn holding on to that.

"Lily, are you upset that I didn't change for you?" James asked quietly, looking at her carefully.

"No, of course not." If she hadn't thought she was lying before, she knew she was for certain now. She knew what a lie felt like.

"You are!" His face broke out into a grin. "Silly Kooky, it doesn't mean anything for me to change. I still fancy you!"

Her face turned beet red. "I'm not upset! And why did you call me Kooky?"

James rolled his eyes. "You're slow on the uptake, Lily. Think back to our conversation like three minutes ago."

"Oh."

He laughed but not unkindly. "Oh Lily, you're too much."

"Would you like me to call the others in?" She asked.

James thought for a moment. "Are they going to attack me?"

"Possibly."

"Will you do me a favor?"

"What's the favor?"

"Come on Lily! I practically died today! My leg hurts so badly it's killer. I managed to get Gryffindor the win before fainting. I think I deserve a favor."

She looked at him apprehensively but nodded. "What's the favor, Potter?"

"First say 'I, Lily Evans, agree to do the favor that James Potter is going to ask me to do, no matter how much I may not want to'."

"I, Lily Evans, agree to do the favor that James Potter is going to ask me to do, no matter how much I may not want to." She repeated, rolling her eyes. "Now tell me."

"Pretend you're my girlfriend."

"What?!? You must be mad."

"No listen, I'm not mad. Just do this for me. It'll keep those girls from charging over here and throwing themselves upon me, moving my leg. You'll just sit by me, keeping them away. We can hold hands or something. Please." He pleaded. "I need your help."

Against her better judgment, Lily nodded slowly. "Fine but you owe me." She glared at him as he padded the bed beside him. With a very deep sigh, she sat down.

"Vita! Can you come here please?" James shouted.

Madam Connor walked in, looking at them calmly. "What James?"

"Can you let the others in?"

"All of them?" She asked apprehensively.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

James nodded. "We've got a plan."

Madam Connor shrugged and walked to the door.

"Here we go," he whispered.

Seeing the girls outside the Hospital Wing hadn't prepared Lily for their entrance. There were girls grinning with happiness, crying at the sight of him. "You'd think they don't have any classes with you," she murmured.

James grinned as they approached him. "Hello everyone."

"Hi James!" Neala Waters launched herself forward. "Are you alright? You look wonderful." She tried to push Lily off the bed, gradually of course, making it look like an accident. Lily glared at her but refused to budge. "Could you move?" Neala asked in a sickly sweet voice. "I want to talk to James."

"Sorry Neala, this is my spot." Lily shrugged. "If James wants his girlfriend to move, he can ask himself."

"Girlfriend?" The girls whispered this amongst themselves.

"Oh, haven't you lot heard?" James looked at them with a wide smile. "Lily and I are together now."

Neala backed off into the crowd. The girls looked at each other in wide-eyed shock before walking out quickly.

"Well done, Evans." James said with a laugh.

"Well done yourself, Potter." Lily giggled. "That was actually fun."

"See? Being my girlfriend wouldn't be hell."

"I never said it would."

"But I'm sure you thought it. You did reject me 1080 times." He spoke lightly.

Lily bit her lip. "I know, James. And I'm sorry for it."

"It's alright Lily, I'm only teasing." He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. "We're friends. It's fine."

Something in the pit of Lily's stomach didn't seem to think that being friends was fine at all. There was something lacking.

Author's Note: Here's a "flying away" present from me to you! I head home tomorrow after two months abroad and I'm sooo ready for it. Enjoy the chapters! Thanks for all the reviews! I promise I'll address each one soon. I just have to finish packing. P