Okay everyone, here is the next chapter a little sooner than I planned to post it. I'll make you all a deal, if I can get 10 comments in the next day or so I will post Chapter 17 just a soon. This chapter is 11 pages long and while the next chapter is only 8 pages or so, starting with Chapter 18 (which I JUST finished adding more to) the chapters will be just as long as this one. Also, I am now (starting with Chapter 19) writing from scratch so it may take longer for the updates but I have what I think is chapter 21 already mostly written so I hope to have 19 and 20 written in the next few days. Thanks so much, guys! You all are why I do this! Don't forget, if I get at least 10 reviews in the next day or two, I'll have chapter 17 posted by Wednesday!

Chapter 16

Lily watched Carmen and Kevin as they sat on the couch; their hands interlaced. She couldn't help but notice how Kevin stroked her friend's leg, even as he talked to the others, or how neither of them could stop smiling. Her bright green eyes fell on James and she noticed that he was also watching the couple.
He held a somewhat proud look on his face, which caused Lily to wonder what was behind it until she remembered Carmen and James entering the common room together. She smiled to herself; of course, James had helped in some way.

He was one of the most understanding people she knew. He always helped put things into perspective for her; he had a gift for saying just the right thing at the right time. It kind of amazed Lily, to be honest, for James had not always been this sensitive. There had been a time when he would rather mock your problems than help you solve them.

She had to admit he had come a long way. Though she wasn't sure what had been the cause of this change, she was happy for it. She had grown to quite like this new James and was more thankful than anyone knew to have him in her life.

She hadn't even realized that she was staring at him until he glanced at her and smiled. She blushed slightly and looked away, embarrassed to have been caught out.

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked in a whisper, leaning towards Lily. His presence startled her slightly. She had almost forgotten she was in the crowded common room.

"What was what?" She feigned ignorance, hoping she was convincing.

She forgot, however, whom she was talking to. Sirius Black, the master of deception, with the irritating ability to spot a lie a mile away. "You were totally staring at James with gaga eyes."

"I wasn't even looking at him," she insisted defensively. "I was merely thinking about stuff and it just so happens he was in the direction I was staring." She left out the part about James being the "stuff" in which her thoughts had gotten lost. She felt it had no relevance to the conversation at hand.

"Sure, if you say so."

Lily only nodded, before she glanced at her watch with deliberate casualness, desperate for an escape.

"Wow, it's getting kind of late. I've got some homework I need to finish." She rose from her seat a little too quickly in her haste to get away from the current situation. "Goodnight, all. Congratulations, Carmen and Kevin."

The group collectively bid her goodnight and Carmen thanked her. Sirius was the only one to watch her curiously, as she walked away. It was obvious to him that she was trying to avoid their conversation.

Once alone in her room, Lily wondered about what Sirius had said. Had she really been looking at James with desire in her eyes? Sure, she was thinking about him, but it wasn't anything intimate. She and James were just friends; actually, they were a lot more than just friends. They told each other everything and she spent more time with him than any of her other friends. They were practically inseparable. They ate together, studied together, and walked to class together.

Not that it meant much; there were plenty of guys and girls that were closer than friends, but not quite that close. Like Sirius and Summer, for example, they didn't exactly fancy each other, but you could clearly see there was something more than simple friendship. He was her protector. It wasn't that way with James, though. They didn't have a past that brought them together. There was nothing to explain this little extra attachment she felt with him.

She wasn't even sure how she felt about him. She knew she liked him as a friend. Sure, there was probably a small part of her that wondered what it would be like to be more than that, but she never seriously considered it. This wasn't right though. Girls like Lily Evans didn't fall for guys like James Potter.

What kind of guy was he though, exactly? He was kind, supportive. He was always quick to help someone else and he gave the best advice and helped put things into perspective when you yourself may have problems doing just that. He was smart, responsible, funny, athletic, rich, loyal, handsome…Perfect was the word that came to mind.

Sure, he'd been a bit of a prat in his younger years, but what kid doesn't go through that? He was a very different person now. In fact, he had changed; he realized the error of his ways and made himself a better person.

Maybe he was the type that Lily fell for. Maybe he was everything she liked in a guy, and so much more. Nevertheless, did that mean she liked him? Lily was so confused. Her thoughts were all over the place and she found herself wishing she could talk to James. Wasn't that ironic, she thought somewhat bitterly, he's the problem and she wanted to go to him for the solution.

The memory of a few weeks ago suddenly came to mind, when she had wiped the food off his mouth. The others had noticed, but she didn't. Had she really become so comfortable around him that she wouldn't think twice about touching his face? The answer was yes, she had. Again, that could go back to the friend thing. He had become one of her very best friends. However, she knew there was something more there. She couldn't ignore that this felt so much different from her relationship with other guys that were just friends.

She tried telling herself it was because she had never been this close to another guy as just a friend, but she knew this to be a lie. She and Remus had become extremely close during their time as Prefects together. They spent countless hours on patrol at night. They would often hang around talking after meetings when everyone else had left. They would come to each with their problems, knowing the other would have words of wisdom and advice. He, at the time, had been one of her closest friends, and she still considered him to be such today. But it was different from how she felt about James. She loved Remus, there was no doubt about it. As was the case with James. The only difference was that with Remus she knew her love ran no deeper than friendship.

Lily had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't heard the door open. In fact, she was only aware of her best friend's entrance after the blonde tripped over her own feet and let out a stream of curse words. Lily glanced up at the girl who was clutching her foot in her hand. She held back a laugh. That girl tripped over air more than anyone else she knew.

"Hey," Lily said, smiling at her. "You okay?"

Faith glanced up, clearly unaware that she had an audience. Not that she'd had much of a chance to observe her surroundings. "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, releasing her foot and wiggling it a bit. "I tripped over my own stupid feet. Why must I be so damn clumsy?" She let out an exasperated sigh as she removed her cloak. "Oh," she said, her mind already on another subject. "Did you hear about Carmen and Kevin? That's kind of crazy, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Lily's mind was so occupied with James that she had nearly forgotten about everything else. It only took her a second to remember her roommate's news about her future. "Oh, right," she said distantly. "Yeah. I'm happy for them."

Faith couldn't help but notice her roommates nonchalance. It was very unlike Lily, who was one of the most empathetic people she knew. Though she wasn't quite as intense as Faith who would all but absorb the feelings of those around her, Lily was usually happy for her friends. It shocked Faith that the redhead was anything less than thrilled for their dorm mate. This could only mean that she had bigger things on her mind. Faith crossed the room to sit on Lily's bed. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Lily insisted, twisting her hands in her lap. She wasn't able to look Faith in the eye, instead keeping her gaze fixed on her lap. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Oh," Faith said. She had guessed as much. It was what Lily had been thinking about that had her so distracted. "Want to talk about it?"

"It's about James," Lily explained even though she really didn't see how Faith could help her. She couldn't even figure out her own feelings. She immediately noticed the grin on Faith's face and scowled at her. How was it that everyone else was so sure of how Lily felt when she herself couldn't even figure it out? "It's just so confusing." With a sigh, Lily put together a quick summary of the thoughts that had crossed her mind in the past few minutes.

When she finished, Faith was quiet for a few seconds, as if assessing her next words.

"Lily, it's clear that there's something more between you and James than just friendship. The whole world can see that just by the way you two interact," Faith told her gently although Lily had already figured out that everyone else knew there was something more between them. Anytime the couple walked into the room, the others would greet them with knowing smiles. "It's obvious he loves you, and you love him."

"But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm in love with him," Lily stated a little too defensively.

"No, it doesn't," Faith agreed with a nod. "But I think only you can figure that out for yourself. No one else can tell you how you feel."

Lily grumbled. "Well I wish I would hurry the hell up and tell myself how I feel," she groaned, leaning back as she put a pillow over her face.

"You'll know," Faith assured her, smiling down at her disgruntled friend. "In time, it'll become clear. I mean, you might even know now. Do you get butterflies when you see him? Does it make you jealous to see him talking to other girls? Do you feel yourself missing him when he's not around?"

Lily paused for a moment, moving the pillow from her face and staring thoughtfully at the ceiling as she considered her answer. "I'm not sure. I mean, I don't get butterflies around him. I'm not even nervous, it's like being with him is the most natural thing in the world. And as for other girls, well he talks to plenty but all of them are just friends. And there are times I find myself wishing I could talk to him about a problem. We're usually together so much that I barely have time to miss him."

"Well, for me, the way I know it's love with Dean is that every time I see him, I can't help but smile. My mood just brightens the moment his face comes into view and my heart starts racing. Next time you see James, maybe you should pay attention to these things. See if there's any change."

Lily glanced at her friend in surprise. That was actually really good advice. She loved Faith to death and her friend was always there for her, but it was rare that Faith was the voice of reason. Her usual line was "I don't know what to tell you, Lily, but I know you'll figure it out. You always do."

Faith glanced back at her friend as if waiting for Lily to say it was a dumb idea, though Lily would never put it in those words. She was quite surprised when Lily smiled at her. "I think I might just do that," Lily said.

"Really?" Faith asked. "I mean I know I normally don't give the best advice. It was the only thing I could think of."

"It was brilliant," Lily said, sitting up and pulling her friend into a hug. "Thanks."

"Oh," Faith sputtered, looking somewhere between surprised and proud of herself. Finally, the latter took over and she smiled brightly. "Well, you're welcome."

The next day, when Lily walked down to the common room to meet James, she arrived early so that she could assess her reaction upon first seeing him. She felt somewhat silly staring at the steps and she received several weird glances from the boys descending them. She was certain it looked creepy; The Head Girl standing a few feet from the bottom of the steps, staring intently. Some of the boys even hurried past her, trying not to look guilty or do anything that could get them in trouble. She smiled a little. She took her job very seriously and knew that her authority was a privilege and not a right. And though she would never abuse her power, it sometimes went to her head slightly. She felt all mighty at times, knowing that others cowered at her position, though it never lasted long before she put herself back in check. She was no better than the rest of the students and would never dream to think of herself as such.

Her eyes first caught sight of his unruly black hair. He was talking to Sirius and Remus, laughing at something Sirius had said. His lips curled into that familiar smile. She noticed the way he seemed to glide down the steps. How his bag was hung careless on his shoulder and he adjusted it every so often. He was the perfect balance between his two best friends: His tie hung somewhat loosely around his neck, his shirt tail tucked in partially. While his attire wasn't perfect, he had put more effort into it than Sirius, who had removed his tie all together and left his shirt hanging out of his pants completely. Remus, the more responsible of the three, had his tie on completely and his shirt was neatly tucked in.

Lily had been so busy studying James that she had forgotten to check for changes. Her heart rate felt the same, her legs didn't turn into mush, and she hadn't lost the ability to speak. Her mood hadn't changed much, as she had already been quite content at the anticipation of seeing him. Other than that, she had no hint as to her feelings toward him.

"Hey, Lily," he called, walking over to her. Luckily, he had been so occupied by his friends that he seemingly failed to notice she had been watching him.

She smiled at him. "Hey," she answered, noticing that Sirius was staring at her curiously. She shot him a glare and turned to James.

"Ready to go to breakfast?" James asked, lifting his bag on his shoulders. This too varied from his friends. Remus had his straps on each shoulder while Sirius was missing a bag all together. He never carried his books to class and Lily often wondered how he managed to pass them at all. In fact, he usually managed with more than just an Acceptable grade, usually getting only a mark or two lower than Remus and James.

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Faith," Lily told him. Normally they would've walked down together but Faith insisted that she would be too much of a distraction and Lily needed to concentrate. She often had a problem knowing when to keep quiet.

"I'm here," Faith said, walking over to the group, her books pressed to her chest. "I'm starving, let's go."

The others, minus Sirius, turned to walk away. "You lot go ahead," he told them. "I'm going to wait for Summer."

"She's almost ready," Faith assured him. "Carmen's waiting up there with her. Robyn seems like she's in an unusually nasty mood."

Lily was glad to hear this. Carmen had taken the longest to warm up to the idea of Summer being friends with them. She wasn't one to forgive easily and certainly had the biggest problem with Robyn and the likes. It made Lily happy to know that they were all finally getting along and that Carmen was realizing Summer wasn't that bad. However, Sirius had a different reaction to the news. A look of concern crossed his handsome features. He hated that Robyn was so mean to Summer. They all did, but Sirius felt responsible. If he hadn't started dating Summer, she wouldn't have left Robyn and felt that she lost the only friends she'd ever known. In addition, her former best friend wouldn't hate her.

"You get your homework done last night?" James asked Lily as they walked through the portrait hole.

Lily immediately remembered that she had left so early for bed to "finish homework" and nodded.

"Yep, all done." She smiled at him, knowing it wasn't a lie, for all her homework had been completed long before she went to her room under the pretense. "What about you?"

"Of course," he answered with a smile.

Lily immediately decided that being around James didn't help her discern if she fancied him or not. She still felt all the things she remembered last night, there was no newness. There was no feeling in the pit of her stomach and her mind wasn't fogging over. Nothing. It was the same as always, comfortable and just right. They had a connection, a spark of some kind. She just couldn't figure out what it meant.

Lily decided that there really wasn't any point in trying to figure this out. Looking for signs was only leaving her frustrated and disappointed. It was as Faith said, she would know with time. She immediately let the conversation go its course smoothly, as it always did between them. The silences between them were few and far apart, and almost never awkward. The others were with them but they held their own conversation, as usual. Faith and Remus didn't seem to mind as they discussed the project and Remus asked about Dean.

"Amazing," Faith answered, more than willing to continue with Remus' chosen topic. "It's taken me a few weeks but I'm feeling more confident about going to his parent's for Christmas. I just wish it wasn't so far away."

"The next two months will go by faster than you think," Remus assured her.

The rest of the morning was about the same as any other. The others attended their classes and such. One main difference was the steady stream of people coming up to Carmen and Kevin, congratulating them on their engagement. Lily noticed how Carmen clenched her teeth each time the word was mentioned. Kevin would squeeze her hand gently and she would force a smile and thank the person kindly. It was an entertaining encounter to watch. It was also strange though, seeing Carmen hold back. She usually spoke her mind and Lily knew that Kevin had something to do with it. After the first person had come up to say they had heard about the engagement, she had snapped and said they weren't engaged. Kevin had told her that it wasn't polite to snap at someone when they were merely trying to be friendly. After all, no one they knew of in school was psychic and knew the actual situation between them.

Even funnier than these encounters was when the second person that came up to say how happy she was for the couple. Once again, the word "engagement" was used, and once again, Carmen opened her mouth to protest. Kevin had cleared his throat and Carmen rolled her eyes.

"Thanks so much," she said with an exaggerated sigh. The girl glanced at her, her smile faltered slightly, and promptly turned on her heel and walked away.

"Good girl," Kevin said, pressing a kiss to the back of her head, which resulted in Carmen snarling at him. Needless to say, he didn't make the same mistake twice. Now he merely smiled at her proudly. Luckily, after the tenth or so person, Carmen no longer clenched her teeth at the word, instead deciding people were going to use it and there was no point in getting upset.

The strangest sight greeted Lily, James, Remus, Faith, Sirius, and Summer as they walked into Potions, their last class of the day. Carmen was standing by her desk with Kevin by her side, his hand wrapped over hers. They were being congratulated by yet another person. It wasn't the situation itself, as this had been repeated countless times during the day, but rather whom Carmen was talking to.

"-heard the great news. Congratulations," Robyn was saying in a fake cheery voice the others, besides Summer, had rarely heard. Her old best friend had heard Robyn use the fake cheery voice countless times on boys, professors, and just people she wanted something from in general. Summer didn't trust that voice; it meant Robyn was up to no good. Or rather, up to more trouble than usual as she almost never had good intentions with any of her actions. The others exchanged confused glances. They walked closer to the threesome and noticed the bewildered look on Carmen's face.

"Thanks?" she said hesitantly, not sure whether it was a trick or not. She didn't trust Robyn one bit. She looked up at Kevin for an explanation but he merely shrugged, clearly as clueless as the rest of them. At last, she glanced up and noticed the rest of the group. "Hey, guys." Her face visibly relaxed, making it clear that she was thankful for the distraction.

"Hi, Carmen," Lily replied before moving her stare to Robyn. Everyone had defensively gathered around Summer. Robyn noticed this and smirked.

"It's all right," she assured them, which didn't help ease the group a bit and they stood their ground. Sirius had even placed his arm around her waist. None of them missed the look of contempt she threw Summer. She had made it painfully obvious from day one that she fully opposed the idea of Summer leaving her. "I didn't come to cause trouble. I just wanted to congratulate Carmen on her engagement," she emphasized the word, causing Carmen to narrow her eyes.

Robyn had been within earshot of the first encounter, when Carmen said it wasn't an engagement.

Typical, they all thought. Well at least they knew why she was over there. In fact, most of them were relieved that it wasn't worse. Carmen knew Robyn was just trying to push her buttons and didn't let it bother her too much. With a satisfied grin at Carmen's tense stance, she smiled and made her way back to her table. The others found their seats just as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. Professor Slughorn walked into the room and all chattering quieted immediately.

He called the register as he did every day. After he was done, he addressed the class.

"Today, we are going to be making Wiggenweld Potion," he explained. "These," he flicked his wand towards the black board and the ingredients and instructions for the potion appeared, "are the directions." He glanced around. "Ms. Smith, since your partner doesn't seem to be here today, you are to work with Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter. Everyone get to work."

Lily let out a groan as the rest of the class began moving around and talking. "That's so not fair," she grumbled. "Why can't she go be a cow to someone else?"

James chuckled, patting her thigh under the table. "I'm sure we'll live. You just have to promise you'll stick up for me if she starts being mean."

Lily smiled but rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course," she teased. "I know how fragile you are."

The two were laughing at her joke when Robyn sat down next to James. Lily couldn't help but notice how unnecessarily close she was. The table sat four and there were only three people currently occupying it. Robyn noticed Lily glancing at her and threw a smirk her way.

"I'll go get the ingredients," James volunteered, noticeably uncomfortable. "I'll be right back," he informed the two girls. "Try not to kill her," he whispered in Lily's ear, causing her to look at him and smile. He winked at her before heading towards the back cabinet.

"Wow, you must be totally daft," Robyn sneered, not bothering to look at Lily.

"What are you on about?" she asked, throwing a glance at her. She noticed that Robyn was studying her nails. Of course, only Robyn could be talking to someone else and still find that she was more important.

"James. I mean, it's obvious he fancies you, but you're too much of a berk to do anything about it. Pretty stupid thing to do in my book," she emphasized, making sure to let Lily know she thought the girl was an idiot.

Lily huffed. "There's plenty in your book that I don't go by. So excuse me if I don't take your advice," she retorted.

"Fine by me." Robyn shrugged, still not removing her eyes from her nails. "You'll just be a prude your whole life."

Thankfully, James arrived at this time, his arms full of vials.

"Wow, you two didn't kill each other, I'm impressed," he said lightheartedly, immediately picking up on the tension.

"What ever do you mean, James?" Robyn said, using her fake cheery voice again, finally tearing her eyes away from her hand. She smiled up at James. "Lily and I are close buddies. I mean, we've shared a dorm for seven years."

"Yeah, about seven years too long," Lily muttered to James who was once again sitting between the two girls.

James smiled at her as he set down the various items, setting the knife in front of Lily. She usually did most of the cutting; he couldn't ever seem to cut the pieces equally. Lily got out her notebook and glanced at the board. James questioned why she often felt the need to take notes on days they made potions. The ingredients were on the board and they weren't required to make note of their progress.

"Okay, first ingredient we need to add is the taproot," Lily stated as she dipped her quill in ink and jotted down the amount needed in her perfect handwriting.

"Allow me," Robyn said with a grin. She reached across James, making sure to press herself against his chest as she did so. Lily glanced up, quill still poised on the parchment. She and James looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

They both watched anxiously as she made uneven slices of the taproot. They looked even worse than when James cut them. James couldn't help but smile as Lily looked panicky; it was of the utmost importance that things be perfect for the potion to work right. Moreover, she was kind of a perfectionist.

James cleared his throat as Robyn made the last cut. "Um, maybe we should let Lily do the rest of the chopping," he suggested gingerly reaching for the knife. It admittedly wasn't one of the things he felt most comfortable doing. Though he didn't honestly believe that Robyn was capable of such violence as stabbing him, she hadn't exactly done anything to prove she wouldn't harm someone that way.

Robyn examined her work and laughed. "Yeah, those do look pretty bad, don't they?" she asked with a sheepish grin. Lily nearly choked; Robyn never admitted she was wrong. Never. She was the definition of perfect in her eyes. "Here."

She placed the knife on the table. When James reached for it, her fingers lingered a little too long, brushing against James'.

"There you go, Lily," James handed her the knife, looking confused.

This continued for the next forty minutes: Robyn brushing against James ever so slightly at any given opportunity; She laughed a little too loudly at any thing remotely funny that he said, and she smiled at him more than Lily had seen her smile in seven years. Each incident was followed by a shared, confused glance between Lily and James. Robyn annoyed Lily to no end. She had strongly disliked the girl to begin with, but to watch her flirt shamelessly with James was just plain exasperating. It was as if she was just begging for attention. Not that James was giving her much. Despite the distraction, their potion came out perfect. Slughorn commented on the color and thickness, saying that once again, Lily and James had mastered the potion.

He dismissed the class and the room was filled with the sound of people chatting while gathering their books and shuffling out of the room. Much too Lily's annoyance, Robyn followed her and James out of the room. Of course, she walked beside James. The others stood just outside; all exchanging glances upon seeing the three emerge from the room.

"Well that was fun," Sirius said, his arm draped protectively around Summer as he gave Robyn a warning glare.

"Yeah, about as fun as getting poked in the eye," James commented.

"Oh, James, you're so funny," Robyn said, pushing her hand against his chest playfully. She seemed oblivious to others raising their eyebrows. "Well, it was fun working with you, James. We should do it again sometime." She gave him a wink before sauntering away.

"What was that?" Sirius asked, still not removing his arm from Summer.

The others looked like they might gag while a scowl set on Lily's face. It had been truly revolting to watch Robyn throw herself at James like that. There was something else there too. Then it clicked in Lily's head. It was jealousy. Not of Robyn, exactly. Lily doubted she could ever be jealous of Robyn. Instead, she was envious of her actions. It was at that moment that Lily realized she didn't want anyone else brushing James' arm, or pressing against him. She wanted to be the only one.

"I don't know," James was saying. "She was like that all period."

"Yeah, we heard her-" Carmen began but Lily soon cut her off.

"James, I need to talk to you." She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the rest of the group, ignoring the curious looks.