A/N Sorry for the delay getting this up...I'm incredibly lazy, hehe. Thanks to the two who've reviewed this fic! I hope you like this chapter...the Marauders and Lily are such fun to write.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter Three - In which Lily is amused, and James has an idea
"Let me get this straight, Lil." Mary's eyes widened at Lily. "You kissed Remus Lupin?"
"On the cheek!" Lily reminded her friend hastily. "And only to annoy Potter, you know that."
"Is that why James and his friends keep looking over here?" Mary gestured over Lily's shoulder toward the fireplace, where James and Remus were sitting with Sirius and Peter.
She looked around and saw the four boys quickly turn their heads away. Lily giggled loudly. "I expect so, yes."
Mary shook her head. "Why, Lily? James is already crazy about you - you've probably just made him want you even more - "
Lily shrugged. "James is not my type. He ought to know that. Anyway, of the four of them, Remus is the one I can stand the most - "
"So you kissed him?" Mary seemed to be having trouble grasping what Lily was saying.
"Yes, well - I suppose I thought maybe if Potter thought I fancied one of his friends he might stay away for a bit. I thought about Black, but - " She eyed Sirius over her shoulder with distaste. "Black's almost worse than Potter, in his way."
"I'd pick Sirius over Remus," Mary said thoughtfully, looking over at the boys again, all of whom looked rather terrified at the sudden attention.
"Well, I suppose if you like the arrogant, obnoxious type!" Lily snorted.
"But he's so - "
"Oh, he's good-looking enough, but the problem is he knows it." She cast a rather condescending look over at them.
"Minor problem, Lil," Mary countered, shaking her head. "Minor problem."
----
"Think they're talking about us?" Peter asked, nodding nervously over at Lily and her friend.
"Well - they're talking about Moony and Prongs, I suppose, but I'm not sure what they'd have to say about you, Wormy," Sirius laughed, giving Peter a pat on the shoulder.
"Please, can we focus on the problem at hand?" James waved his arms wildly, eyes wide and glasses askew. He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the fire. Peter sat on the end of the couch, with Sirius perched on the arm of the same couch. Remus was sitting rather quietly in the armchair next to the fire. "Look, Remus - you've barely said a word since dinner - "
"Since Evans kissed him, you mean." Sirius smirked at Remus. "'Sa matter, Moony? Never happened before?"
"Shut it, Sirius," Remus said for the third time that evening.
"Aw - c'mon, Moony, it was funny!"
James and Remus both glared at Sirius. "You just think this is all a big joke, don't you?" James demanded.
"Prongs, old friend - " Sirius leaned against the back of the couch, flipping his hair out of his eyes and grinning broadly. "I have to say you are quite right. And," he went on, loudly overriding James's squawk of dismay, "if it was me in your position, you'd think it funny too!"
James was at a loss for words. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times, then shrugged and made a quiet grunt of assent. Then he rounded on Remus. "So what's going on between you and Lily?" he demanded.
"Nothing!" Remus's eyes widened in surprise. "C'mon, Prongs, you know that. You're with me almost all the time - have you ever seen me talking to Lily?"
"We're not with you all the time," Sirius interjected with a wink. "There's all those hours you spend studying in the library....maybe it's not the books he's in love with after all...." He trailed off suggestively.
"Sirius, shut up," James said, echoing Remus. "But - you haven't talked to Lily recently? She hasn't said anything to you? About when she started fancying you, for example?"
"I'm telling you, the last time I talked to Lily by herself was after you and Padfoot got detention for hexing Bertram Aubrey so his head inflated!" Remus insisted. "And all she did was ask me how someone as - well, as smart as I am end up being friends with such a pair of idiots? Her words, not mine," he added hastily after Sirius sat up indignantly.
"And you said...?" prompted James.
Remus shrugged. "Just that you're not complete idiots - I said you're actually really smart. She said she supposed she knew that, only you didn't show it by the way you behave."
"You remember every detail of this conversation?" James asked, looking suspicious.
"Ah, but James, you have to remember, this is the man who can actually remember details about Binns's lecture. A simple conversation would be no trouble, I'm sure," Sirius pointed out, still grinning as though he were thoroughly enjoying himself.
"Hmmm..." James looked thoughtful. "You could ask her about it, Remus, I suppose..."
"About why she kissed me?" Remus demanded. "Yeah, how about I do that? And while I'm at it, I'll march up to the werewolf who bit me when I was a kid and ask him why he did it!" Remus rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair.
"Did you just compare Lily to an angry werewolf?" Peter asked, blinking.
"Think he did, Wormtail," Sirius said, looking around at Remus. "Not a bad analogy, now I think of it...damn it, Moony, next time I see you at the full moon I'm only going to be thinking how much you resemble Evans when she gets angry!"
James laughed. "She does bear a certain resemblance...on the whole, I think she's better looking."
"Do you?" Sirius asked. "Ugh, most of the time I'd have to say Moony is. Evans just gets that look in her eyes, it's very scary and rather unattractive as well." Remus rolled his eyes again and unsuccessfully tried to suppress a laugh.
"Oh come now, Remus, don't be modest, you know it's true. Wormtail, your opinion?" Sirius asked, giving him a nudge.
"Wormtail." James sat up straight and snapped his fingers. "That's it! Bask in my brilliance, I have an idea!"
"You have an idea?" Remus laughed. "Might it be an idea that will land the four of us in detention again?"
"No, just Peter, but only if he's caught."
Peter looked a little startled. It wasn't often James's complicated plots used him as a focus point. "What?" he asked warily.
James pointed at him and grinned. "You're going to spy for us."
"Me, a spy?" sputtered Peter. "How - and for what?"
"Isn't it obvious?" James answered impatiently. "You can turn into a rat, can't you? You can sneak up to the girls' dormitory and listen to them talking about us!" He grinned as if pleased with himself and leaned against the wall next to the fire.
Remus was shaking his head and laughing.
"What's the matter with you?" Sirius demanded, looking alarmed for Remus's sanity.
"Nothing," Remus chuckled. "It's just - James, you would be full of yourself enough to think that you're all the girls talk about when they're in their dormitory."
"I don't assume I'm all they talk about!" James retorted, stung.
"Yes, they also talk about me, don't they?" Sirius said, smirking.
"I suppose so - what d'you think they say?"
"Probably just talk about how they wish us boys were allowed in their dormitory, I'd say."
"Yes, most likely - what, Peter?" James asked. Peter was looking rather nervous.
"Well, it's like Sirius said - if boys try and get into the girls' dormitory, the stairs turn into a slide, don't they?" Peter reminded them.
"They do, I suppose," James said unconcernedly. "Padfoot and I found that out third year, remember, Pad?"
"Yup," Sirius said, a faraway look in his eyes as if recalling fond memories. "Weren't we trying to get up there to deliver Evans a Valentine present?"
"If I remember correctly, yes we were," answered James. "Wormtail - it shouldn't matter for you, you'll be a rat. Even if it does become a slide, you'll only have to creep up along the edge with your little rat feet...shouldn't be too difficult."
"Easy for you to say!" Peter muttered. "When's this little maneuver to take place?"
"Tonight, of course," James answered promptly. "When the incident is fresh in everyone's minds. We weren't the only ones to see what Evans did at dinner today. They're sure to be discussing it."
A/N Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!