Updated 7/15/11:

Edited!

Chapter 3! Spent most of this morning writing it.

Once again, may be mistakes in it... I'll be going over these chapters within the next couple days.

Hope you like it.

~pranceswithkitties

Summary: Lily and James had a 'falling out' their 6th year. Now, since they're both Heads of Hogwarts, can they put aside their differences and work together? Will it really be that hard?

James flumped onto the couch, looking smug. The fire in the mantel glowed, reflecting in his hazel eyes. He ruffled his hair and leaned forward, placing his elbows onto his knees, and wondered what he should do about Lily.

As he stared into the fire, he swore he saw a face in it. He rubbed his eyes, trying to convince himself he was just tired. But with a loud crash, sure enough, Sirius tumbled out of James' fireplace, in a glow of green flames, soon followed by Remus and Peter.

Sirius brushed the ash off of his robes, "Hey there, Jamesy!" he greeted James, sitting next to him on the couch, spreading his arms wide, and putting his feet on the coffee table in front of them.

Remus coughed a bit, and thumped himself on the chest, causing soot to blow off his robes, "I'm surprised that actually worked…" he said through the coughs, "Nice place you've got here, James…" he continued, looking around.

Peter was on the floor, on all fours, staring up at the ceiling, which had frescoes painted all over it. "Mighty fancy…" he marveled.

James shook his head a few times, in shock, "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, looking around at the lot of them.

Sirius laughed, "You didn't think you'd get a nice private dorm all to yourself, without a few interruptions from your dear friends, the Marauders, did you, Mr. Head Boy?" he said, clapping James on the back as he got up, "I mean just look at this place!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air as he walked around the room, "You could throw the best parties in here, mate…"

Remus rolled his eyes, smiling, and looked to James. "So how's Project Lily going?" he asked, lowering his voice, taking the now vacant seat next to James. Peter had scrambled up off the floor to follow Sirius into James' room, the door on the right.

James looked to his friend. He was amazed at how selfless Remus really was, considering it was only a few days until the full moon. He was already looking rather off. His normally bright eyes were hazed over with dark circles below them, and his skin looked even paler than normal. On top of that, it looked as though he hadn't eaten in a month. But still, Remus cared enough about his friends to know how James and his 'Lily flower' were doing.

James shrugged, "She went to her room about a half hour ago." he explained, "I didn't get to talk to her at all."

Remus smiled feebly, "She'll come around eventually, Prongs."

The two of them were distracted just then by a loud clanging that came from James' room, followed by a muffled, "Oops…" sounding strangely like Sirius. James rolled his eyes, pushed himself off the couch, and headed over into his room.

"What did you do n- GREAT MERLIN!"

Lily sat on her big, cushy bed, and petted her cat, Grizzabella. Bella purred softly and looked up at Lily with big, blue eyes. Lily smiled a bit, leaned down and planted a little kiss on the top of Bella's head, before she went over to her mirror.

"What is up with you, Lily Evans…" she whispered lightly, "Snap out of it." She looked at herself in the mirror. She had already changed out of her robes, and into her night clothes, a small tank top, with a pair of boxer shorts. She stepped closer to the mirror, staring herself down. Where was that fiery red-head she was normally? It's as if her little 'infatuation' with James had put out her temper.

Before she really had any more time to perseverate on this problem, she started to smell smoke. She stopped, blinking a few times, making sure she had really smelt it. Was it just the fireplace? She thought, looking over to the fire in her room. No, she would have smelled it before… She sighed, shaking her head, thinking she better go out and take a look. Grabbing the robe that was hung on the back of her door, she ventured out into the common room, to have a look see what was wrong.

James yelled for Remus to follow, amazed at the sight before him. Sirius had managed to somehow knock over one of the candles that were mounted on the wall, and it had caught fire to his bed, and not to mention, Peter. As Remus appeared in the room, the other three boys were running around, in panic.

"PUT ME OUT, PUT ME OUT!"

"I'M TRYING! STAY STILL!"

"WHAT ABOUT MY BED?"

Remus, in an attempt to stop the three of them, so he could get a clear shot at the fire, was about to yell, when Lily burst into the room.

"…the HELL." she said, clearly surprised at the three other boys that clearly shouldn't have been there at the time. "Aguamenti!" she yelled, wand out, dousing the four boys in a thick stream of water. They sat there, dumbstruck and soaked to the bone.

Lily stood awkwardly, as the boys stared at her for a moment. It seemed that in the rash situation, Lily lost her new shy exterior, and became the old Lily, by taking charge. She felt somewhat liberated.

"… thanks, Lily." Remus sputtered.

"Yeah, no problem., she answered quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Calescura." she muttered, drying James' charred bed.

James was in shock. He hadn't expected her to come to the rescue… he had concluded that she either hated him, was afraid of him… or something else… and now, after she did this? What in the bloody hell was going on?

"I think that was our cue to leave…" Remus announced, looking from Lily to James. "We'll just… be going." he motioned for Peter and Sirius to follow him. The three of them slinked out of the room. Lily could hear Sirius' muffled complaints, "Soaked! Completely soaked!" and Remus' retorts, "Well if you wouldn't have knocked over that candle, you idiot…" followed by laughs. Soon enough, their banter disappeared with a glow of green.

Lily turned to James, "Erm…" she trailed off. What was she supposed to say after something like that? The nerves started to come back to her.

"Thanks, Evans." James said, ruffling his wet hair. "I don't know what came over me, it was like a mass panic in here…" he tried to explain, not wanting to look like an idiot in front of her for not using the simple Aguamenti charm.

"It's fine," she answered quietly. After a short paused, she continued, a little stronger sounding, "You can call me Lily," she paused, "If you want."

James was flabbergasted. What had she said? He couldn't believe his ears! Was this really Lily? "What have you done with Lily Evans…" he said, jokingly, laughing a bit.

Lily laughed herself, surprised at her words. Looking down, she noticed James' hand was severely burnt. "Oh Merlin," she said, moving closer, "Your hand…" she pointed.

James looked down at his hand. Oh, would you look at that? "Ahh, it's nothing…" he said, touching it with the other hand, and wincing at the pain. "Hah… It's fine." he said, trying to sound convincing.

"Nonsense…" Lily moved closer and took his hand gingerly in hers. "Episkey." she said, pointing her wand to the burn on his hand. The once second degree burn lessened to a first degree, to the point where it was just pink. "Any better…?" she asked.

What Lily didn't notice was James expression. A mix of surprise, relief, and downright… confusion. He remembered she had just asked him a question, and answered, "Yeah…" moving his hand a bit. "Still hurts a bit… but thanks."

Lily shook her head, "It's fine. Hold on, I have something that'll help." she let go of his hand and walked out of his room, into the common room, and over into her own room.

Shuffling through her trunk, which was hardly unpacked yet, she finally found a little tube, with the words, 'Neosporin' on it. Hey, it might be a Muggle product, but it worked pretty well… Her mother was a nurse. She never let Lily leave the house without band aids, and Neosporin. Bless her, Lily thought to herself.

Lily came out of her room, and back into the common room, where she discovered James sitting on the couch, still soaking wet. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes trailed over him, his shirt sticking to his chest. She took a deep breath and made her way over, taking a seat next to him.

James eyed the tube she had in her hand. What the hell was Neosporin…

Lily uncapped it, and dabbed a bit onto her finger, before rubbing it gently onto James' burnt hand. "There." she said, as she finished. Looking up into his confused face, she explained, "It'll help it heal… at least until Madam Pomfrey can take a look at it…" as he looked over to her, she blushed and looked away. There it was again, that nervous feeling… just when she was starting to feel okay around him…

James blinked a few times, "Thanks…" he said, trying to think of what he should say, "…Erm, Lily…What's wrong with you?" he asked, immediately regretting it. Stupid, James. Stupid! He thought to himself, right before Lily exploded.

Lily's face went completely pink, and her temper swelled, "Always a man of such eloquence!" she shot, feeling flustered, "Next time I won't help you then," taking the Neosporin, she got off the couch and crossed the room, attempting to get back into her own room.

But before she could reach her door, James had caught up with her, and grabbed her wrist, "Wait." he said, almost desperately, "I didn't mean it like that… You've just been really… odd around me." he explained.

Lily reddened even more. His hand was still clamped around her wrist. She turned around, and he silently let go. "I just want to know." he continued, "…it doesn't seem like you hate me, Eva-" he corrected himself, "Lily."

"I don't." Lily said, before she could stop herself. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, she felt too embarassed. As her temper lifted, the butterflies in her stomach slowly made her feel rather nauseous. She bit her lip.

James ruffled his hair, which was still wet, realizing that, in fact, he was still soaked, and he suddenly began to feel cold. "Hold on, stay here. Please?" he said suddenly, "I'm just gonna change. Can we talk?"

Lily silently nodded, and James bounded across the common room into his own room. She could see wads of clothing flying around the room through the open door, and almost laughed. Holding her nauseous stomach, she took a seat on the couch, which was slightly wet from James having sat on it earlier. She sighed. What WAS wrong with her... She quickly cast the hot air charm again, drying the damp couch as she waited for James to reenter the room. She tightened the tie around her robe.

Seconds later, James came back out, now wearing plaid pajama pants and a small white t-shirt. Ruffling his still wet hair yet again, he took the seat beside Lily. They sat in silence for a few moments before she spoke up, gaining some confidence.

"I really am sorry for last year," she wrung her hands together in her lap, "It was awful. I wish I could take it back."

James looked at her, confused. Nonetheless he answered, "It's… fine." he sighed, "Lily, I don't know what to say..." he shook his head, almost at a loss for words, "I thought you despised me, but after today I assume I can safely say that you… don't?" he awaited her answer.

Lily drew in a shaky breath, "No, I don't," she looked up into his hazel eyes for the first time that night, and saw that they were staring straight into hers.

James didn't break the stare. Moving slightly closer, he spoke again, "Listen, I know you've known this, well, probably since second year..." he trailed off for a moment, still looking at her, "I've always fancied you, Lily. But after last spring..." he stopped for a moment, "I thought you would never speak to me again. I thought it was hopeless," he moved a bit closer again, "But now, coming back this year... it's like you're a whole different person. You never used apologize to me… for anything. Let alone something as big as, well. You know," he pointed out, smiling a bit in spite of himself.

Lily almost smiled back, nearly unable to resist his adorable grin. She looked away, "I..." she didn't know what to say, "...I don't know what's wrong with me..." she laughed a bit, tucking her hair behind her ear again, "I don't hate you as much as you thought I did... is I guess, what I want to say..." she struggled.

"Oh, well that's good." James said, laughing, "You hating me isn't really what I had in mind," he was so close that their knees were touching, "I really don't want you to hate me, Lils." he was looking into her eyes again.

Lily bit her lip, as she felt his leg against hers. "James..." she said, looking back up only to find his gaze again. The nerves in her stomach were going crazy, "I..."

James waited a moment for her to continue, "...yes?" he asked.

She couldn't take it. "I..." she was going to be sick if she sat here much longer, "...I need to go to bed. It's late." she looked away quickly, "We have classes tomorrow." She finished weakly, giving him a small smile, "I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, she stood up, and promptly made her way to her room, shutting the door silently.

James sat alone on the couch for a moment.

"Oh, Evans..." he said quietly after a while, "What have I gotten myself into with you..."

Getting up, he sauntered over to his room, and with one last look to her door, he said...

"Goodnight, Lily."

Hope you liked it. :) Please review? Constructive criticism? That would be pretty cool.

I might get to writing the next chapter today, I'm not sure.

~pranceswithkitties