Chapter 2

The Box

Disclaimer-Not mine.

Lily, Julia and the Marauders minus Peter were up in the 5th year boys' dorm waiting for James to get out of the shower. Both Lily and Julia had been kicked out of their dorm due to their roommate having a heated make out session with her boyfriend. And who knows how her boyfriend even managed to get up to their dorm with the security on the staircase. James had been trying for years to get past that but had only gotten a handful of bruises from trying.

"See I told you!" Sirius said after Julia told him about their roommate and her boyfriend. Sirius had this on going theory that Kara's (their roommate) 'boyfriend' wasn't exactly a guy.

"Sirius that is ridiculous." Lily said for the thousandth time.

"Is not. It makes perfect sense. The stairs are never wrong. Now we all know his true 'nature'."

Julia looked over at Lily who just rolled her eyes. "Or he could have figured out how to get passed the stairs." Lily said leaning her still wet body back on James' bed. She hadn't gotten a chance to take a shower in her own dorm, just get a dry change of cloths, so she was waiting to use the boys'.

"He couldn't have figured it out." Piped in Remus as he set a potions book down on his nightstand. "James is the smartest student in the year...next to you of course." He added to Lily. "And there is no way that bloke could have figured it out and not James."

Lily shook her head. "Maybe he didn't. It could have been Kara."

"Kara isn't any smarter." Julia added.

Lily shrugged figuring she was out numbered. "Maybe he found a really obvious way to get in that James just totally missed because he was thinking to hard. He always misses the obvious things."

Sirius opened his mouth to reply but the door to the bathroom swung open letting in a warm mist from the shower. "I'm squeaky clean. Your turn Lils." James said. "Hey get off my bed with your wet arse." He joked throwing his wet cloths in a hamper next to the door.

"It wouldn't be wet if it weren't for you." Lily said poking her tongue out at him.

"Shut up and take your shower Evans." James joked hitting her in the butt with his towel. Lily covered her bum with her hands and entered the bathroom.

"Abuse." She muttered before shutting the door.

James turned to the group to find four grinning faces. "What?" He asked sitting down in Lily's old spot.

"I can't believe I didn't see it before..." Julia muttered keeping her eyes on James.

"See what before?" James questioned. "My handsomeness?"

"No." Julia said rolling her eyes.

"Then why are you staring at me like that?" James asked grinning.

"You like Lily."

James laughed and Sirius replied sarcastically. "Geez, good spot there Carr; you'll make something out of yourself some day with a brain like that."

Julia leaned back against the wall. "How come we never saw that before?"

"We?" Remus asked.

"Yeah me or Lily. We never noticed."

"Well you didn't notice because you weren't looking." Remus said.

"And Lily didn't noticed because she always missed the obvious things." James added.

Julia frowned. "Lily just said that about you."

"That she likes me?" James asked hopefully.

Sirius shook his head. "Nah, that you both miss the obvious stuff."

James frowned disappointedly. "Ah well..."

"When did you start liking her?" Julia asked.

"When I was going out with Amy Robin." He replied.

"In first year!" Julia replied shocked.

"Yeah but he didn't tell us until third." Remus added.

"You've liked her that long!" Julia still couldn't believe it. Right under her nose and she missed it.

James shrugged. "Don't faint on me Juls." He joked. "I know you didn't expect that but yeah. Since the day I met her I've liked her."

"Liked her?" Sirius asked. "Try loved her."

Remus nodded in agreement. "Yeah you should see The Box."

James laughed and shook his head. "Hey The Box is for Marauders' eyes only."

Julia smiled curiously. "The Box?"

"The Box is The Shrine to Lily Evans." Remus added.

Julia laughed. "Are you for real? I want to see it."

James shook his head. "Like I said Marauders eyes only."

Julia stood up and began to look under the beds. "Too late now I have to know."

"You won't find it." James said confidently.

"Not unless you pull up the loose floor board under James' trunk." Sirius suggested and quickly ducked a pillow thrown at him by James.

James shrugged not really caring if Julia saw it. He wasn't embarrassed easily so he didn't see his obsession over a certain redhead as anything to be shy about.

Julia nodded pushing James's trunk out of the way and sliding away the loose floorboard. She reached her hand into the dark hole and pulled out a small shoebox. She sat down on the floor and opened the box in front of her. The boys joined her awaiting her reaction.

"Added anything new in there?" Remus asked James.

"Aye, Lily's report card."

Julia's eyes widened and she looked up at him. "Where'd you get it?" She asked.

"Off her...uh...Fridge over the summer. Her parents hung it up because they were so proud of her. But I doubt they even understood the grading system. It's different for Muggles..." He explained. "Hey careful with that." James said when Julia slid open an envelope and peered inside.

"Geez Potter relax. Your Lily shrine is safe in my hands." She teased pulling out a handful of pictures. "Aww..." She whispered looking through the pictures. They were of James and Lily in first year taken at James house over the summer. The pictures were the Muggle kind so they didn't move.

Julia looked at one of James and Lily splitting a strawberry ice cream and as it looked, they were wearing more of it than they had eaten. "Aww James why are these in a shoe box!" She exclaimed standing up and pinning them on the walls. "They are adorable. You both were adorable! What are you like 11 in these?"

James nodded and watched her hang them up. "You're a smart girl. How come I never thought to hang them up..." James wondered.

"Did you see the one of just Lils in there?" Sirius asked joining Julia by the wall. He reached over her taking one of Lily, her face covered in sticky pink ice cream, diving for the camera in an attempt to stop James from taking the picture.

James laughed, "Yup that's is my favorite." He said. "What about the whipped cream one? Is that in that pile?" He asked Julia.

Julia flipped through the photos and laughed when she saw the one James was talking about. "This one?" She asked holding up a picture of both James and Lily's mouths filled up with whipped cream. They had their heads mashed up together, eyes crossed, as they both tried to get in the shot.

James nodded. "That would be the one."

"I can't believe you haven't asked her out yet." Julia said setting the rest of the photos down on James's nightstand and returning to The Box.

"That's what I keep saying!" Sirius piped in.

James shook his head. "She would never say yes."

Julia raised an eyebrow at the usually over confident boy who always was sure about his ability to rope in a girl. "What? She would too say yes!"

Again, James shook his head. "Do you remember Brian?"

"Allen? From Ravenclaw." Julia questioned.

James nodded. "Yeah him and Lily were good friends for a couple months until Brian asked her out. Lily said no and has rarely even talked to him since."

"But that was so different." Sirius said.

"No it wasn't." James replied. "Lily never goes out with guys she's been good friends with. Remember Steve? And Kevin?"

"But they were creepy." Julia added.

"Not to Lily they weren't. She hexed the crap out of me when I said Steve looked like a beaver and smelt like the sewers."

Julia frowned. "But-"

"He's right." Remus spoke up. "Lily has never gone out with a guy who was her friend first."

"But why wouldn't she?" Sirius added. "I mean, I thought most people like a relationship to start out as a friendship then progress. I mean, if they were serious about it."

Julia continued to look through the box that contained old hair ties to receipts from Madame Puddifoots. "Because she didn't want to loose them as a friend." She spoke up. "I remember Lily being really upset the day Brian asked her out because she was afraid they wouldn't be friends if they went out."

"Well that's stupid." Sirius said.

"No kidding now they don't even talk. If Lily hadn't rejected him, they might be at least on speaking terms." James said.

Julia shrugged. "Well it might not make sense but that's what she told me. She said things get too complicated when friends become more because you never feel like you could reject the person later on because you'd be loosing a really good friend."

"That makes more sense." Remus said slowly. "If you've been best friends with someone for months, become boyfriend and girlfriend, find out it doesn't work, want to break up but are afraid you'll loose everything."

Julia nodded and looked down at the box. "A toothbrush James!" She replied pulling a pink one from the box.

James chuckled. "Took me a while to get that one..."

"Creepy stalker." She said placing it back in the box.

The shower turned off and the room became quieter. "Shh...Put it away." James muttered to Julia.

"But-" Julia replied. She really wanted Lily to know about this. All of it. However, she remembered what James said about him not wanting to be rejected by Lily. "Well alright."

After cleaning up the box, she placed it under the floorboard and covered it up keeping only the photos out.

"It's quiet out there. You guys still here?" Lily asked from the bathroom.

"Oi, just dozed off a bit." James replied helping Julia push the trunk.

"Oh sorry did I wake you?" Lily asked.

"No, no it's fine." James said.

The conversation again drifted to the up coming quidditch match. "No I don't think MacGreg's a better seeker. After all Retter was pretty good..." James said as the door to the bathroom swung open.

"Hope you don't mind I used your shampoo. I forgot to bring some." Lily said drying off her hair.

"Aw come on Evans, I really wanted to keep all of that for myself." Sirius said sarcastically.

Lily smelt her hair and grinned. "Mmm...Smell." She said to James.

James took a deep breath of her hair. "You smell manly." He joked.

Lily smiled. "I suppose I should seeing as it was your shampoo."

"So I smell manly?" James asked amused.

"Well yeah." Lily said with a shrug and tossed her towel into their hamper.

"What about me Evans?" Sirius asked. "Do I smell manly like James?" He joked.

"Nah, you don't shower enough." Lily teased heading towards the door. "Say any of you want to go to the library with me. I have to finish up some homework for Monday and I want to get it done before the weekend."

"I'll go." James said grabbing some of his books off his floor.

"You two are nuts. It's Friday afternoon. You're not suppose to do homework now." Sirius said.

"Yeah but if we start it now we'll have it done by Friday night therefore have Friday night, Saturday and Sunday to do whatever. Besides I'm still in school mode now." Lily said pushing open the door.

"I'll come too then. I think Peter might be in the library." Remus added taking his things with him.

"Is he with Glinda?" Sirius said drawing out the name.

"Probably." Julia replied. "Has he left her side in the past month?"

James laughed. "Hey I give him props. Glinda's a hard one to rope in. Took me nearly a week." James said.

"Must you compare everything to how long it takes you to 'rope in a girl'.?" Lily asked leaving the dorm. "Because we all know you can have any girl you want. No need to constantly remind us." She teased rolling her eyes

Not every girl...James thought.

A/N: Phew second chapter. Please Review! Sorry about the spelling/grammar errors. Microsoft word is down on my computer so I'm stuck using Notepad with no Spell Check and my spelling is atrocious!

Review please!