Disclaimer: See chapter 5. Oh, and it's Chloe Teofila, not Teofila. Didn't like Teofila.
"Perfect." Sirius boomed as he took in the festive Gryffindor Common Room. He, James, and Remus had spent all day, except for a few hours spent drinking Butterbeer, decorating (not in a girly way! They had done it very manly-like!) and running to and from the kitchens for food.
"Yup." James said approvingly. He was quite proud of himself. Most of his day had been spent persuading House Elves to give him firewisky for tonight's party. It may have taken him three hours, but he now had four milk crates filled with Ogden's Best Firewisky bottles.
"Uh-huh." Remus concluded decisively. He had spent all day handing out invites to all the Gryffindors. Making sure no one got left out was a difficult job. "What time is it?"
"8:35." Sirius smiled. Only twenty-five minutes until the party began. Oh, yeah!
OoOoO
"Oi! Lily!" Miranda called from the bottom of the stairs.
"What?" Lily hollered back. She was busy. There were books to read, essays to write, and spells to master.
"It's party time!"
"What party?" Lily yelled. Nobody had told her about a party.
"Sirius and James'! James is brilliant and Sirius is right, or something like that. Didn't I tell you?" Miranda shouted impatiently. Lily rolled her eyes.
"No."
"Oh. There's a party in the common room. Wanna go?" Miranda asked cheerfully. Maybe she wouldn't get in trouble if she were to be funny.
"Fine, I'm getting ready!" Lily agreed. How could she be mad at her friend when she was so funny? She quickly threw on her hottest outfit and applied some emerald coloured eye shadow along with blush, lip-gloss, and mascara. It was more than she usually wore, but right now she had a man to win back. She looked herself over in the mirror before deciding said man might pass out when he saw her.
She walked downstairs and straight into Remus Lupin. His eyes bulged as he looked her over.
"Wow. You've got it in for James, don't you? You're gonna kill him tonight." He told her, looking her up and down. Lily smiled sarcastically.
"I'm sure there was a compliment in there somewhere." She teased. Remus looked embarrassed for not saying anything nice to her yet. He was supposed to be good at making people feel good about themselves.
"Oh, right! You look wonderful." His eyes twinkled, matching his smile and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Thanks, Remus, you too." Lily sighed. At least someone would appreciate her hard work at looking good.
"He does love you still, Lily." Remus told her softly, tentatively. God, could he read her mind? She smiled at him sadly.
"What makes you think I love him? Why do you think I care whether he loves me or not?" She shot at him, putting up a weak defense. His honey coloured eyes winked at her green ones as he squeezed her arm softly.
"Your eyes. They tell me everything, they're so expressive." He put a hand on her cheek, trying to wipe away the sadness in her heart.
"Great. Just what I need; my entire soul pouring out of me in bits of green flesh." Lily said sarcastically, trying and failing to stay tough. After a moment of feeling alone and struggling for composure, she crumbled into his warm, protective arms. He held her, stroking her hair comfortingly.
"It'll work out Lils, don't worry." He murmured as he kissed her hair affectionately. She pulled away slightly to look him in the eyes. Smiling, she placed a kiss on his cheek in thanks.
"Remus Lupin, you truly are a wonderful man, do you know that?" Lily told him gratefully. He rolled his eyes in disbelief and snorted derisively.
"Yeah, sure." He said sarcastically.
"Remus, don't doubt yourself!" Lily said sternly. "Is it time for a Prefect-to-Prefect talk?"
"If only you knew, Lily." He sighed painfully. Lily looked at him in concern.
"I could know." She said softly. His eyes snapped back to earth and onto hers, as if searching her for trustworthiness. She smoothed his hair caringly. "If you told me, I could."
"Lily." He whispered hoarsely. She seemed a bit surprised by his sudden show of emotion and vulnerability, but didn't say anything. She simply took his hand and led him outside.
Once standing beneath the star-scattered sky, Lily spoke again.
"Did you and a fellow Marauder have a row?" Lily asked, adopting a motherly tone. Remus sat down and Lily followed suit. He leaned back on his hands and watched the half-moon scathingly. Lily was taken aback by his sudden hateful look.
"I have a problem." He said in a hard tone. Lily watched his eyes narrow at the sky. "It started when I was little."
"Is it you parents?" Lily questioned, afraid that he might have family issues. Abuse maybe, judging by the scars she knew scattered his arms and torso. She had been quite horrified at his battered state when the lot of them had gone swimming last year.
"No, not family stuff. It's even…wilder than that." He muttered, glaring at the clouds hovering around the moon. Lily was genuinely intrigued, especially with the extra stress he put on wilder. "It's terrible, really, and it all started with a man named Fenrir Greyback."
Lily gasped in horror, then stiffened at the thought of someone hurting Remus. Sweet, loving Remus.
"But, Remus, he's…oh, dear Merlin." Lily whispered, not taking her eyes off his sad face for a second. His features took on a rueful look.
"Yeah, he's a werewolf. He bit me when I was little. He has some crazy thirst for blood. He used me to get back at my Father for not joining the Dark Side. So, I'm a werewolf, too." He told her, spreading his arms as if on display for people at the zoo. He used his careless attitude to disguise his hurt. "No you know, so go on. Go tell everyone my dirty little secret. Go run away from the crazy lunatic."
Lily stared at her in astonishment. Why on earth would she run away? This wasn't his fault! No way! She tackled him with a bear hug, ignoring his yelp of surprise.
"Lily, what - ?"
"Remus, I could never run from you! You're one of my best friends! It's not your fault you have a little … problem once a month! I love you anyways! You're still calm, caring, sweet old Remus." Lily told him firmly, cupping his face in her hands. He looked completely and thoroughly shocked.
"So you don't think I'm dangerous? You don't think I'm a murderous, raving monster? You still want to be my friend?" He spluttered in surprise.
"No, no and yes! I love you, you are the greatest friend alive today." Lily assured him. A smile lit his oddly wolfish eyes.
"You truly are a wonderful woman, Lily, and I love you, too." He declared happily.
"Whoa! Serious vice-versa déjà vu! Crazy!" She exclaimed before jumping up, with the help of Remus' outstretched hand. "Now I do believe there's a party inside with a dance calling our names."
"Great minds think alike."
OoOoO
James was having heart failure. He couldn't find Remus. He couldn't find Lily. What if they were together? Like, not just talking? What would happen then? He would die, that's what. After he murdered Remus, of course.
"Prongsie!" Sirius yelled drunkenly. (A/N: who thinks Sirius would be amazingly hot drunk? Me!) "I think you're hitting the 'juice' a little hard, mate!"
Coming from an inebriated guy, this may have seemed rather stupid. Except it was true. And Sirius was completely unaffectable when it came to getting drunk. He'd done it so many times that the booze just washed over him, doing nothing to his brain. Lily said he was like John A McDonald. Nobody except Lily knew who this was, though. James grinned at his friend and tossed back another shot of Firewiskey. The 8th this evening.
"Shut your cake hole, Padfoot! I'm grieving the death of a friend!" He yelled back as Lily and Remus walked through the portrait hole, fingers laced together. Together. He swallowed another shot and winced as it hit his throat, burning.
"What?" Sirius asked, slightly shocked. "Who's died?"
"Remus." James said darkly. Sirius panicked.
"What? Remus died! Oh, damn! I don't believe - !"
"Oh, he hasn't died yet." James growled menacingly.
"No?"
"No. I'm going to kill him." James' eyes were locked on Lily and Remus. The sick feeling of malevolence grew as Lily took Remus' hand and put it on her waist while she held the other in her own. Sirius followed his gaze in time to see Lily give up dancing and simply pull Remus into a hug while they swayed together.
"Oh, man. Committing indirect suicide, are we, Moony?" Sirius muttered under his fake-drunk breath. James threw back shot #10 and Sirius grabbed the bottle away from him. "That's enough, mate. Can't have you in the Hospital Wing this week. We've got Quidditch."
"To Hell with Quidditch!" James roared, gesturing towards Lily and Remus as the former pressed her face into the crook of her partner's neck and sighed contentedly. Sirius dropped the bottle of Firewisky at James' yell. Dissing Quidditch? Wow. He must be super drunk. "Look at what my best mate is doing to me!"
Hey, hold up a sec…
"I thought I was your best mate!" Sirius protested. James looked at him in drunken pity.
"You can have more than one, you know, Black." He informed Sirius sullenly.
"Fine. Get off your high-horse and cut in, then! You know you want to." Sirius sidetracked him from making an innocent protest into and anecdote. Still angry, James walked over to Lily and Remus, tapping Remus' shoulder a bit harder than necessary.
"Mind if I cut in, Lupin?" He asked coldly. Remus looked a bit shocked at James' tone, but smiled nonetheless.
"Course not, Prongs." He placed Lily's hand in James' before whispering, "Remember what I told you."
James was quite obviously not supposed to hear this. When he shot a demanding look at Remus, he simply smiled and walked away.
"What did he tell you?" James asked once Lupin was out of hearing range.
"Don't you think that if you were meant to know, he would have told you?" Lily answered his question with one of her own, earning an annoyed look from her drop dead gorgeous dance partner. "So, Potter, why'd you ask me to dance if we're just going to stand here?"
James realized he had stopped moving and was just looking down at Lily's eyes. He always loved those eyes. He flushed and started to move with the beat of Taylor Swift's 'Teardrops on my Guitar'.
"Because, Lily, I love you and I want to hold you forever." He smiled down at her. This was proving difficult. They had wiggled closer until it was hard to tell whose limbs were whose, forcing James to bend his neck almost double to see her face.
"You do, do you? I've heard a lot of girls say you told them that before snogging them and leaving." Lily said stiffly. Sure, she was jealous. No one was allowed to touch her James. Except her.
"Yeah? Those girls are full of it. Usually it's a date, a goodnight kiss, and I never see them again. I only snog the good ones." James said seriously, winking at that last bit. He hadn't meant to say that. Damned Firewisky.
"I don't care who you've snogged. I'm just stating rumors. It's none of my business who you kiss." Lily lied angrily. So most of the rumors were true. Bloody prat.
"It could be. If you gave me one last chance." He breathed in her ear. Her face heated and suddenly she wondered why she hadn't ripped his shirt off yet. "I could take you places you've only dreamt about. Starting with my room."
"James Harold Potter!" Lily yelled angrily. "Here I was thinking maybe you'd deflated that enormous head of yours when you suggest a thing like that! You filthy, arrogant, pig-headed prat of a toe rag!"
She ripped herself from his arms and stared venomously at him for a moment. Then she turned on her heal and ran to where he couldn't get her. The Girls Dormitories. Funny thing was, she only thought he couldn't get there.
OoOoO
"You stupid Potter! You always know exactly what I want, don't you? You always know exactly where my weak spot is! Oh Merlin, I bet 'your room' is fantastic!" Lily sobbed into her pillow. She hugged her neatly folded pj's to her chesttightly as if they could draw away her confusion.
"Lily? Lils, are you here?" A deep voice called quietly. No. No, he couldn't get up here. No, no, no! She was crying. He couldn't see her like this! Oh, no!
"Bugger off, Potter." She ordered him harshly. She wiped the tears as best she could, knowing he wouldn't obey.
"No. I'm sorry, Lily, I was drunk. Sirius gave me something and I'm coherent now." He joked softly. She turned to face him and when he saw her face, his turned ashen.
"You've been crying?" He asked, rather than stated, thinking it would have a better effect.
"No." Well, he'd been wrong before.
"Then what's running down your cheeks? Surely make-up doesn't run on it's own." James asked. He stood by the edge of her bed, looking down on a curled up Lily, waiting as his world broke cleanly into pieces. He'd made her cry.
"Shut up, Potter." She said bitterly, not paying attention to the fact that this might be hurting him, too. She heard a deep, ragged breath being drawn and looked up. His face was splotchy and his palms were pressed into his eyes. "James?"
"What, Evans?" He tried to sound cold, but his voice cracked and an unwilling tear trailed down his cheek.
"Oh, God, James. I'm so sorry. Come here, sit down." She patted the bed beside her guiltily. It was, after all, her fault that Hogwart's most manly man was crying. He did as he was told lay down into her comforting embrace.
"Why, Evans? Why do you do this to me? Why is it you I can't keep my screwed up mind off of? Why not someone who likes me? Why does it always have to be the girl who hates my guts?" He buried his face in her shoulder and hugged her tightly to help the hurt seep away.
"James, I don't hate you." Lily whispered, feeling terrible that she made him like this.
"Maybe not, Lily, but I love you. Not hating me isn't enough." He stood up and looked down at her. In one swift motion, his lips met hers in a long-desired kiss that left both the initiator and the receiver pleading silently for more. He pulled back and walked over to the door, stopping momentarily to grip the door frame and give her one last taste of his voice. "I love you so damned much it hurts."
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A/N: Hey, guys, I'm sorry this took so long.
bozzonita: Thank you! I love making people cry. Ask my partner-in-crime, Tabitha.
Eryka: Here's the update you asked for!
Firelily28: Yes, I really do have a horse. Her name is Rocket, she is 7 years old, grey, Arabian/Thoroughbred cross, and a huge baby for peppermints. Sorry this took so long! Thanks for loving my story!
XIII Welcome To My Nightmare: you reviewed chapter one and if you're still reading this story, thanks!
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Okay, you're probably all wondering why I'm writing to people who reviewed my story ages ago, but these are ones I think I forgot in the past! Ooops!
Luv y'all!
Bridgette – Mad-EyeForever