DISCLAIMER: I still, even after a year of college, do not own anything affiliated with Harry Potter or Pride and Prejudice.

Chapter 6: Surprises

A few months had passed and Halloween was drawing near. The leaves were turning to the colours everyone is accustomed to seeing that time of year, lovely hues of brown, golden yellow, orange-red, with the green quickly fading away. The air wisped around the school in cool breezes and the occasional raindrop fell.

Everything had been going well. Shawn was recovering from the shock of losing his grandmother to Voldemort. Jenny and Remus were happy as ever. Lily, Gina, and Sirius had not been dancercising as much, but that was because schoolwork was particularly demanding. And James was still messing with Lily, but to some extent less.

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"Ugh. I hate Mondays." Lily uttered while walking to the Great Hall for breakfast with Gina and Jenny.

The other two girls agreed in unison. Lily could not resist the urge, showing a part of her muggle heritage, and cried out, "JINX!"

Jenny being half blood and Gina being pure blood did not understand what Lily meant and instinctively ducked and moved out of the way.

Lily burst out laughing at the two girls forgetting that that was probably a muggle thing.

"Why the hell did you yell that?" Gina confusedly asked while giving Lily a "you must be bonkers" look.

"Yeah, I feel stupid now. I see no one trying to cast a jinx. Thanks, Lily. Greaaaaat joke. Ha. Ha. Trying to become a Marauder?" Jenny said, most obviously annoyed.

"Miss Flock, I hahahaha am NOT trying to be hahahaha a Marauder! I do believe that someone woke hahahahaha up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Lily blurted out between laughs and continued speaking seeing the impatient looks from Gina and Jenny but still holding her sides from laughing so much, "I'm sorry girls. I forget that I'm muggle sometimes. You say jinx when two people say something in unison. But normally one of the people says jinx followed by 'pinch poke you owe me a coke.'"

Gina and Jenny looked at each other and laughed, seeing the humour in what just happened, but soon wanted to hide behind a statue when a loud masculine roar of laughter could be heard from the top of the stairs.

"Oh no…." Gina muttered silently wishing to be under an invisibility cloak.

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"Oi, mate, that was priceless!" Sirius barked, heartily laughing.

"I know Padfoot! Did you see the looks on their faces when they ducked?" Remus said while looking at his girlfriend trying not to laugh but ignored the urge and laughed anyway, "absolutely the best thing I've seen in a while!"

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Lily stared James down as he approached her: "Evans, I must say, that was brilliant the way you got them to react that way. Maybe I'll start yelling jinx more often," said James looking thrilled that he witnessed Lily do something funny, even though it wasn't supposed to be that funny. He really just enjoyed seeing and hearing her laugh. Putting a smirk on his face and winking at Lily, he inquired, "are you sure you don't want to be a part of the Marauders, there's a position available…we could set up a second interview in oh say that broom closet over there?"

"Potter! NO! Really, giant squid, a broom closet, and myself sounds more appealing. Sorry to disappoint." Lily said with a smug look on her face while walking into the Great Hall. She was finding amusement in saying she'd rather date the giant squid because she knew it bothered James.

"Remus, darling, if you continue snickering, you may not have a girlfriend much longer…" Jenny playfully said while hitting her boyfriend on the arm. "Come on lets go get some breakfast!"

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"Lily, you're not saying much." Gina said while shoving a cream filled pastry into her mouth followed by a laugh. "Wow, that was dead sexy. I hope no one saw that. Oh, but you have this far away look in your face. It's kind of a dreamy look. Everything okay?"

"Of course. Sorry. I was just thinking." Lily said while looking up and listening to the whooshing of the owls delivering the daily post.

"About?"

"I finished Pride and Prejudice finally."

"Did you love it? I knew you would!"

"Oh goodness! Yes, I love it! I was totally wrong about Darcy, he wasn't the one who had to do the most changing, but rather it was Elizabeth. I wish I could find that kind of love."

Upon hearing those words Gina looked towards James and then back at Lily and then raised her eyebrows.

A light clicked on for Lily, "GINA PARKS! That's why you wanted me to read that book!"

"Lily, shhhh! You're attracting attention...and by the way...you're putting words in my mouth. Don't look at me like that. It's not nice. You know you still love me. I think someone has a guilty conscience."

"I am not Elizabeth. And Potter is certainly not Darcy. If THAT is what you are trying to imply. Darcy could change but Potter cannot. And I do not need to change."

"It sounds like someone is in denial. Lily, I mean come on. He is still slightly the same, but when was the last time do you remember that he had a girlfriend? You've been the only girl he has been pursuing for over a year now. Furthermore, he is 16. How mature is he really supposed to act? I think you should give him a break. The only reason you dislike him is because you're annoyed with him asking you out all the time, and for his pranking. Okay, so he's not asking you out anymore, and as for the pranking, that may be the area you need to learn to accept."

"We need to get to class; we're going to be late. We'll finish this discussion later, and I am NOT in denial. There's also the possibility that unwelcome ears could hear this conversation, and then I'd never hear the end of it." Lily flatly stated while setting down her goblet of finished pumpkin juice a little harder than she intended causing a small droplet of remaining juice to jump out. "Are you ready?"

"If you are, but promise me you'll think about what I said?" Gina pleaded with sad eyes and pouty lips.

Lily laughed, she knew that Gina meant well. "I'm sorry, I just would rather not discuss this in a public place, but yes, I will think about it."

The curly haired dark blonde and wavy haired red head were walking out when someone called out to capture their attention: "Hey Gina, Lily! Wait up!"

Gina turned around to see the handsome Marauder that answered to Sirius Black running towards her and Lily. "Hey Sirius! What's up?"

"We need more dancercising. Today...Okay? Sound like a plan?"

Gina was surprised that Sirius asked. "Well, sir, this is sudden, but luckily for you I'm free this afternoon. Lily, how about you?"

"I have some prefect duties to deal with, so I can for a bit, but then I'll have to leave you."

"Okay. Thank you dear madam for keeping your calendar free for the afternoon. Sounds great. I'm excited!" Sirius exclaimed jumping up and down like a child who received a pound of sugar quills. "Oh yeah, Gina?"

"Yes?"

Sirius took a look around, looked back at her, and with a mischievous look on his face yelled, "JINX!"

"SIRIUS BLACK! Get back here! That's right you better run! You think you're so funny! You forget we have class together! You just wait!" Gina angrily yelled out while running after Sirius.

"Ah ha, my dear, you will never catch Sirius Black! I'm safe once we get in the class. So ha!"

Lily laughed to herself. She was beginning to take a liking to Sirius Black. She never had that big of a problem with him, except he was friends with Potter, but he still had his moments.

"Evans, you realize that Sirius is probably going to tease Gina from now on about that?"

"Yeah, you're probably right, Potter. Oh hey, have you seen Shawn today? He isn't at breakfast. It's unlike him."

"Sorry. I have not seen him today. If I see him, I'll tell him you asked about him."

"Thanks Potter. We better get to class."

James said it was no problem and said they probably did not want to keep Slughorn waiting. He thought about offering to carry Lily's things, but thought it was a good start to at least having a civil conversation between the two of them. He didn't want to make her angry or have her twist his offer into some insult. He really did care for her; he just over did it a bit too often.

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A colliding noise could be heard in the potions corridor. Sirius thought it would be funny to just stop running in the middle of the corridor. Gina wasn't paying attention and ran smack dab into Sirius-fuelling more teasing from the Marauder.

"You're just having all kinds of problems today. Gosh Gina, look where you're going." Sirius said while flashing Gina a flirty grin.

Gina was on the verge of pretending to really hit Sirius but couldn't once Sirius smiled at her. "You know what...you're just... I dunno what you are, but you're something else, Sirius Black." As an afterthought, she ran by him and smacked his arm and pretended to be mad. "No dancercising tonight..."

"What! No! But...you promised!" Sirius looked so concerned. He ran up behind Gina and wrapped his arms around her and pleaded, "You know you can't do that to me! Please!" He spun her around and made a sad face which caused Gina to giggle.

"Fine, I'll let you off the hook this time, but anymore teasing and we won't hang out tonight. Got it?" She stated trying to suppress more giggles.

Gina just noticed that Sirius still had his arms around her when she heard a male and female voice shout, "Oh my!" "Whoa!"

James Potter grinned from ear to ear and said, "And what do we have here? Did I interrupt something?"

"Yes, do tell, Gina, Sirius." Lily added, also smiling. She figured that Gina and Sirius liked each other, but she didn't have this information confirmed. James suspected the same.

"She just called me Sirius!" Sirius uttered in amazement in James' direction. "I don't think Lily has ever done that!"

"I think you're avoiding the subject, mate." James teased.

"Uhhhhhh...nothing was going on. Sorry to disappoint, but what's this? James Potter AND Lily Evans walked to class together, and James is still alive?" Gina said in amazement blushing slightly, and also trying to shift the subject.

"Okay, if nothing was going on, then why are you blushing Gina?" James inquired grinning wickedly.

"Oh sod off James." Gina retorted, "I'm not blushing, it's really warm in this corridor."

Sirius chimed in, "It is rather warm..."

James and Lily both pretended to concur with Gina and Sirius and walked by them with inquisitive eyes.

Lily ended the discussion and led the others into the classroom. The two Marauders went back to their lab station, and Gina and Lily headed to theirs. Remus was not there yet, which gave Lily more time to pry information out of Gina.

"So what was that about, Miss Gina?" Lily asked causing a huge grin to appear on her best friend's face.

Gina explained it to Lily and the girls squealed in excitement, but silently so as to not let James and Sirius know what they were speaking of.

"You like him?"

"Possibly. I mean, I don't want to get my hopes up in case he doesn't like me, because Sirius is a big flirt."

"That's true. Just be careful; I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Thanks, Lil. So you walked here with James? My talk must've really helped! Ha! So when's the wedding?"

"Gina...you know better. He came up to me when you ran off after Sirius, I guess to make small talk. Even though it was like 30 minutes ago, what you said really affected me. I'm more mature than Potter in several aspects, but he's more mature than I give him credit for...I suppose. I was civil, little was said, but I also wanted to know if he had seen Shawn because I haven't seen him in a few days, have you?"

"I saw him the other day, but not in the past few. But Lily! I'm very happy that you listened to me, I thought it was a long shot."

"You're making me feel like a bad person." Lily joked. "I did have reason to dislike Potter, but I probably should not have been so rude."

"Bravo, Lils. Now, if you could just remember that his name is James...Try being nice to him, and see how it goes. If he starts acting the way he used to, then I will even be rude to him with you. I doubt he will though. Deal?"

Lily laughed at her best friend. "It's a deal. Oh, shhh. Remus is coming."

"Hey Remus!" the two girls said as Remus walked up. "Fancy seeing you here..." Gina joked and smiled causing Lily and Remus to laugh.

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Meanwhile, in the back of the potions room James and Sirius discussed the previous events. James was excited that Lily was civil towards him. Sirius spoke to James about what he was thinking.

Suddenly James blurted out, "SIRIUS! I am having prank withdrawls, and Snivellus pranking withdrawls. We need to fix that soon."

"Undoubtedly, Prongs. Most definitely."

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"If you could please turn to page 87 in your books and begin. Oh, and this potion is particularly odd. If any gets on you, it makes you act weird. So be careful. Begin!"

"Um, professor, sir. How exactly do you act weird?" Sirius asked from the back of the classroom.

"Mr. Black, I cannot tell you. It depends on the individual. Some cases have been reported of extreme euphoria, and likewise with depression in an individual. Others have thought they were mandrakes, and one very odd case, a young witch thought she was a cauldron."

With curiosity raised, James inquired, "Sir, what is this potion used for?"

"In most cases, the potion is used to determine if an object has magical qualities. For example, if you had a muggle broom alongside a magical broom, you could pour some potion onto the objects and something will happen to let you know which is which. Oh class! At the end of the class, you and your partners will use your potion to detect the magical ability of these objects at the front of the room."

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"Times up! Please come test your potion. Those whose potion does not work, write a 3 foot essay on the potion including a history, side effects, the steps, and why your potion did not work. Lily, Gina, Remus, if you will..."

"You pour it Remus. I'm afraid to touch it," Gina offered while backing away.

"Okay, Mr. Lupin, if you will, just pour a small amount of potion on this statuette. Okay, now this one. Excellent! Class, did you notice the statuette wave? This is a fine potion. 10 points to Gryffindor!"

The only other potions to work were James and Sirius's and some students from Ravenclaw.

"Class dismissed!"

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"GINA! LILY! GINA! LILY! GINA! LILY!"

"Hey girls, uh, I think Sirius Black requests your presence in the common room. I mean, he could just like saying your names, but that's just my opinion." Jenny said matter-of-factly laughing afterwards. "I'm sorry I haven't seen you girls much here lately. We'll catch up later. Remus and I are going to go study in the library. I'll see you later."

"I guess Sirius is ready to go dancercise." Lily said.

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"Yay!" Sirius exclaimed while bouncing around with Lily and Gina in the room of requirement to a new song by the Witcher Sisters. After about an hour everyone was resting drinking some pumpkin juice when James walked in.

"Hey everyone."

"Mate! Dancercise with us!"

"Ugh. Sirius. Another time, we'll invite James, okay? We're tired." Gina tiredly said.

"Darn. Well, alright."

"Oh, guys, guess what? We're going to have a costume party on Halloween. Seven to midnight. Costumes required. Nothing vulgar. Date required. The usual stuff. A live band will be present."

"Yes!" Both Marauders cried out. They each thought "perfect pranking opportunities."

"Evans, I actually came here to find you. I found Shawn; I knew you were looking for him earlier." James said.

Lily was shocked. Potter did something nice. He must want something. "Wait, I'm not supposed to be thinking like that anymore. Hmm, old habits are hard to break I guess." Lily thought to herself. "Thank you, Potter."

"Gina, Sirius, Potter, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to Shawn. Make sure he's okay."

"Okay, Lils. Tell him I said hello, and I'll come see him later."

"Okay, I will, Gina. Bye. It was fun!"

"Actually, I think i'm going to head out too. I've got some, umm, homework. Yeah that's it. Homework. Bye!" Before Sirius or Gina could question James he ran out. He had ulterior motives.

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"Evans! Wait up!"

Lily turned around to wait for James. "Yes?"

"I really did find Shawn, but I also wanted to give Gina and Sirius alone time."
"Okay, and why are you telling me this? That's brilliant though!"

"I thought so. Well, I'm Sirius's best mate, and likewise with you and Gina. I think they like each other, and believe it or not I know Gina can be shy."

"Really? How ever did you guess that?" Lily said in a sarcastically funny way.

"It was hard, but I went with my gut." James answered back while laughing. He was enjoying this moment with Lily.

After a few moments of silence, Lily asked "So where is Shawn?"

"He's in our dormitory. He's had a silencing charm on his bed curtains, so we didn't know he was there."

"I guess he's still upset. Poor guy."

"Yeah..."

Lily and James proceeded into the Gryffindor common room and up to see Shawn.

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"That's weird that Lily and James both left us." Sirius rather innocently said.

"I'll say." Gina said nervous to be left alone with Sirius.

"It's a pretty night out tonight. I love looking at the stars. It's so calming."

"Are you serious?" an excited Gina exclaimed.

"Why, yes, I am Sirius!" the handsome dark haired fellow said with a cheesy grin. "You had to see that coming?"

"If I would have thought..."

"You haven't been thinking much today. First you jump because you think someone is going to jinx you, you run into me, and now you didn't see that coming. Tsk tsk."

"I wouldn't have phrased that the way I did." Gina said while narrowing her eyes at Sirius.

"Dear, dear. What a look." Sirius uttered while grinning mischievously and put his hands on Gina's shoulders. "I love aggravating you."

"I've noticed." Gina replied while laughing and shuddering at Sirius's touch. "As I was saying earlier, I love the stars too."

"I wish I had my broom!"

"That's random...why?"

"Oh that's right; I'm in the room of requirement." Sirius thought really hard about a broom and sure enough, one popped up on a table. "Would you like to see the stars a little more up close and personal?"

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I really and truly apologize for the long wait. I was away at college for my first year, and things were hectic. I'm really excited to continue writing and I hope my readers forgive me! And if you're a new reader, I hope you enjoy, as always, reviews are welcome! They make me happy and encourage me to write even more! Please please please review!