Title: Glass Hearts

Rating: PG-13

Summary (of chapter): Lily gets a wake-up call (literally), Sirius gets a haircut, and James turns seventeen.

--

Lily walked down from the girl's dormitories, humming. She saw Remus sitting by himself by one of the windows. She glanced around to make sure his friends weren't around and walked over to him. "Hey, Remus," she said.

Remus looked up from his book. "Hey," he said. He swung his feet down from the window seat he sat on and patted it for her to sit down.

"Thanks," Lily said, relieved. She hadn't talked to him much since Valentine's Day. They had hung out a little bit during the Gryffindor victory party after the match against Hufflepuff, but that was all. "I'm sorry I've been rude to you lately."

"It's all right," Remus said.

"No, it's not," Lily said. "I was mad about the Valentine's Day thing. It was sort of funny, though. I mean - it would have been if I would have fallen in love with anyone other than Sirius. Unless it was James."

Remus smiled. "Yeah," he said. "Well, luckily for you, Sirius can't gloat too much because he spent the day in love with Jewel."

"I can't imagine how he would be," Lily said, smirking. She had admired the magic, too. "It was really clever, too. I was impressed."

Remus shrugged. "Four minds, one great day," he said.

Lily shook her head. "I'll be careful every Valentine's Day from now on," she said.

The two of them sat there in silence for a moment. Lily saw Paul walk into the common room. He smiled over at her, but walked up to his dorms. Lily was slightly glad. She and Paul were talking less and less, and she felt like the spark that they had had was now fading. That last time she had had real fun with him was during the Hogsmeade trip.

Thinking back on that day, she asked Remus, "Did your girlfriend really break up with you?"

Remus stared at her for a moment in confusion. "Oh," he said once it dawned on him. He looked away, his ears during red. "Yep."

Lily had a feeling he was lying to her, but didn't want to push it. That encounter at the Shrieking Shack had certainly been odd. She thought about Severus's idea that she used to brush off, blaming it on envy. Now, however, she wondered if it were true. "Well, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sure it was a lovely relationship."

"Splendid," Remus said. "I don't know if I'll ever love again."

Lily giggled. "We'll see, won't we?" she asked. She thought of Marlene's mild admiration for him, but decided not to mention it. "Well, when's the next time you have prefect rounds?"

--

Lily was sitting through a long, toiling class of Herbology. She kept reminding herself of the rewarding outcomes of taking Advanced Herbology – someday she would be a Healer, this was helping her along her work. It was only Wednesday – only two days left until the weekend. Only two days, not including her afternoon classes...

Her Herbology class was small; she was the only Gryffindor girl in the class, like Potions. There was only one Slytherin, and no Ravenclaws; the rest of the class was made up of five Hufflepuffs. Lily sat at a table with Remus, trying various methods to keep herself awake. She could hear James and Sirius playing a card game behind her...maybe if she turned and told them off, she would awake from her slumber. She really shouldn't have stayed up last night. Debra had insisted on a 'girl talk' – and they had argued about Paul until midnight. Then Lily had been up thinking for at least an hour. That morning, of course, she had the early morning rounds...

How would she ever be Head Girl if she could barely stay awake in Herbology? She kept her hand under her chin, struggling to keep her eyes open. Maybe she could perform an awakening charm...would Professor Sprout notice? She straightened up and reached for her wand across the table.

But suddenly there was a cold slippery feel on the back of her neck. She squealed, jumping up as what felt like a handful of ice cubes ran down her shirt. She jumped from her chair, squirming around to get them out of her robes. James and Sirius were howling in laughter behind her. Her face aflame as everyone in the class looked at her, including Professor Sprout, Lily turned to look at the two boys.

"Oi, Evans, we were just trying to wake you up!" Sirius said quickly, grinning.

"What's going on over here?" Professor Sprout, walking over to them.

"They put ice cubes down my robes!" Lily exclaimed, her face finally returning to its normal color.

Sprout looked at the boys, her eyebrows raised. "Twenty points from Gryffindor," she said.

"Twenty?" James said, his hazel eyes widening. "Professor, it was just a joke –"

"Everything with you is just a joke, Mr. Potter," Professor Sprout said, shaking her head. She returned to the front of the class, and Lily sat down in her seat, huffing. She stood up again and brushed a few ice cubes off of her seat. At least she was awake now.

After class, James and Sirius caught up with Lily to walk next to her. "It was just a joke, you know," Sirius said.

"You were falling asleep," James said, smiling at her.

"If I wanted your help, I would have asked!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh, you've got to admit it was funny!" James said.

"It was embarrassing!" Lily said.

"Everyone needed to wake up in that class," Sirius stated. "Peter would have started snoring, and hurt poor Sprout's feelings."

"I would not have started snoring!" Peter said from behind Sirius. He and Remus started arguing behind them about Peter's snoring habits as they approached the front doors to the castle.

"It was exciting," James said. "If McGonagall didn't insist that I needed it to be an Auror, I would have dropped Herbology quicker than Muggle Studies."

"You don't like Muggle Studies?" Lily asked, stung by this.

"'Course not," James said dismissively. "I mean, I love Muggles – I especially love your parents –"

"You've never met my parents!" Lily said.

"And I doubt you ever will," Sirius said pointedly.

"But I live really close to a Muggle village," James continued. "I spend half my holidays with Muggles – I don't need Muggle Studies."

Lily huffed, then glared at James. "Herbology isn't boring – it's just been a long week . . ."

"It's boring," Sirius said shortly.

"So, Evans?" James asked. "Do you forgive us?"

Lily paused, looking at his puppy dog expression. "I guess so," she said roughly. "But only if you promise not to do anything to me for April Fool's."

They walked into the Great Hall for lunch, and the boys started laughing. "Like you're going to get off that easy," Remus said.

"Well, it was worth a try," Lily shrugged.

"Very noble of you," James said, shooting her a grin. They went their separate ways and as Lily watched them sit down, being loud and their usual selves, she thought grudgingly that she just might start liking them . . .

--

"This is injustice," Sirius said sourly. His arms were crossed and though no magical spell was tying him on the chair, he didn't move. He feared for his life and, more importantly, his hair. Jewel held a pair of scissors, and that was never a good sign.

"Sirius, shut up, you need a haircut," Jewel said, shaking her head. "You're such a baby."

"A baby?" Sirius scoffed. "You're cutting my hair – come on, I just cut it before school!"

Jewel shook her head some more. "James said you only kept it long if you're depressed," she said. "But you're just lazy, Sirius Black."

"Couldn't you at least use a spell?" Sirius asked.

"No," Jewel said. "I cut Juniper and my parent's hair all the time."

Sirius grumbled to himself, huffing. They sat in Professor McGonagall's office. "This is injustice," he repeated. "I can't believe you actually asked a teacher if you could use her office! And McGonagall, of all of them!"

Jewel didn't reply, and Sirius huffed again. "Stay still," Jewel reprimanded from behind him. Sirius decided to give her the silent treatment. He didn't talk while she brushed through his hair and separated his layers. He listened to her talk to herself softly and to the whisper of the scissors against his hair.

"You could have at least given me a mirror," Sirius said after twenty minutes of staring at McGonagall's boring wall.

"I'm done," Jewel said softly. She handed him a hand-mirror.

Sirius sat for a few moments with the mirror in his lap, breathing deeply. He brought the mirror to his face, closing his eyes tightly, then opened them. To his relief, his hair looked all right. It was the same haircut he had had at the beginning of the year, with his bangs a bit different. "Oh," he said. "All right."

"You look great," Jewel said, kissing him on the cheek. She set the comb in her hand down next to the brush and scissors.

"I do," Sirius admitted. He stood up and looked down at Jewel. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jewel said. She took the mirror from Sirius; and put her 'supplies' into her bag. "You'll get so many compliments it won't be funny. I hope you won't cheat on me."

Sirius smirked. "Well, I make no promises," he said. Jewel swung her bag over her shoulder and just rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, you could at least act like you care."

"You know I do," Jewel said.

"Oh, do I?" Sirius asked.

Jewel smiled, taking Sirius's hand. "Let's go," she said. "Have we got Astronomy tonight?"

"Yeah," Sirius said. He paused. "Wait . . . we're just going to leave?"

"Yeah," Jewel said, looking at him, confused. "What do you –"

"Well, we're in Professor McGonagall's office, unsupervised!" Sirius exclaimed. "We're not going to knick anything or look through her underwear drawer or try to blackmail her?"

Jewel laughed. "No," she said. "Don't be ridiculous. She made me swear that I wouldn't let you do anything in here."

"What?" Sirius asked. "No – I – I have to do something."

"No, you don't," Jewel said. "I'm Jewel, not James."

Sirius got an idea and he grinned. Jewel pulled on his arm. "I don't like the look in your eyes," she said flatly. "Let's go."

Sirius pulled Jewel close, wrapping his arms around him. Jewel didn't struggle, but only looked up at him. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Let's snog," he said, "in Professor McGonagall's office."

Jewel looked at him for a moment, then started laughing. "Oh, right!" she said. "Right, and when she walks in on the two of us –"

"Come on, Jewel," Sirius said, leading his hands up her shirt.

"Stop it, Sirius," Jewel said, laughing harder. "You're insane – I knew it. Juniper tried to tell me when we started going out. We can't snog in here!"

"Come on!" Sirius exclaimed. "It'll be the most exciting moment of my pathetic life – please, just kiss me!"

Jewel threw her head back, closing her eyes and laughing. "It's not that funny!" Sirius said, grinning. He bent his head down, blowing raspberries on her neck. Jewel squealed, laughing and trying to push him away. "Shut up and kiss me!"

Jewel leaned against Sirius, laughing into his shirt. "No one's ever said that to me," she said breathlessly, finally calming down.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "When's she coming back?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Jewel said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "All right – you win." She pulled Sirius down, meeting his mouth with her own. But in a few moments, she started laughing again.

"What is wrong with you?" Sirius asked. "Can't I just have a decent snog in my Head of House's office?"

"Yes!" Jewel exclaimed. "Sorry. Wouldn't want to ruin the best moment of your life." She grinned at him, and kissed him again. This time she didn't start laughing.

--

"Lily, you can't keep avoiding me," Paul said. His arms were crossed. Lily looked at him with a calm look on her face.

"I'm not avoiding you," Lily replied. She just did all she could so that the two of them didn't have to talk. "We've both been busy and all . . ."

"I think we need to talk," Paul stated.

Lily nodded. Okay . . . talk. They sat down in a secluded part of the common room on a loveseat. Lily set her books down and looked at Paul. It was Saturday, and Paul looked anxious. It had been a while since they had actually talked. Easter hols were coming up already – she couldn't believe it was nearly April. They had gone out for nearly four months.

"Right," Lily said. "So, how have you been?"

"Good," Paul said, shrugging. "Busy."

"Yeah," Lily said. She paused, exhaling a breath. "Paul . . . I think we've been drifting apart . . ."

"Me, too," Paul replied. He was staring at a worn spot in the carpet. "I really like you, Lily. I mean, I really do."

Lily nodded, smiling at the side of his head. "I know you do," she said. She cringed. "I really like you, too. It seems like we're just not talking like we used to be, and we fight over stupid things . . ."

"Yeah," Paul nodded. He was chewing on his bottom lip. "Like the Quidditch game."

"That wasn't stupid," Lily said quickly. He hadn't even stuck up for her when James had gone off on her.

Paul looked up at Lily. "Yeah, it was," he said. "He wasn't even rude to you!"

Lily made an annoyed noise, then crossed her arms. "You don't even care about how people treat me," she said. Oh, lord, here it went again . . .

"Yeah, I do!" Paul exclaimed. "You go nutters over everything Potter does. It's stupid. He's stupid, why do you even care?"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "He hasn't been obsessed with you for a year now, has he?" she said snappishly.

The two of them fell silent, sighing. Lily shook her head. "I don't think this is working," she said. "I think we should break up."

Paul stayed still and made no motion that he had even heard her. "I think the only reason we got together was because of the mistletoe," Lily said slowly. "And then we started to like each other . . . but I don't know if it even means anything anymore, Paul . . ."

Paul nodded. He looked up at Lily. "Yeah," he said. Lily expected him to say more, but he broke it off at that. Oh, thank you for the wonderful input, Lily thought sourly.

"So . . .?" Lily said.

"So, I guess we're over," Paul said, shrugging. His shoulders sagged and he sighed. "I'll see you later, Lily." He got up off the couch and trudged his way out of the common room. Lily sighed, putting her head in her hands. Well, that went well . . .

The next day, she sat at the Gryffindor table during lunch alone. Mary was sitting with Katie and Paul. The latter seemed to have moved on pretty quickly. Marlene had been sitting with Lily, trying to talk to her about Paul, but then she remembered she had a Career meeting with McGonagall. Lily tried not to look at the laughing group next to her and munched on her turkey sandwich.

James Potter was walking towards his friends, whistling, then he stopped. He looked at Lily. "You all right?" he asked.

Lily looked up at him, then nodded. "Fine, Potter," she said coldly.

"I heard you two broke up," James said, half-glancing at Paul.

"Yes," Lily said, looking back at her dinner.

"What an arse," James said, shaking his head. "He doesn't even like Katie. He's probably just acting like that because he doesn't want you to see that he's really heartbroken."

"Maybe," Lily said. She was secretly touched, just a bit, by this comment, but didn't want him to see that.

"Say, what are you doing tonight?" James asked, leaning over the table. "Since you're free and all now . . ."

Lily looked up at James, her mouth hanging open. "You are so thoughtless!" she exclaimed. She glared at him while she gathered up her things.

"Hey, I said that one thing, didn't I?" James said indignantly.

Lily shot him a nasty look, then swept out of the Great Hall. What an arse . . .

--

If anyone got bored of birthday parties in the Gryffindor common room, no one admitted it. James's seventeenth birthday was just as crazy as everyone else's; treats smuggled from the kitchen and Honeydukes, a banner with a roaring lion, a singing birthday-gram.

Someone manipulated a Beatles record to play loudly. They were Muggles and even though they had already broken up, they were so popular, their music was even on the WWN. All the kids in Hogwarts knew the songs, and by the end of the night, James was singing to Lily I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

Sirius got James a new pair of Quidditch gloves. Peter gave him candy. "Candy again, Peter?" James asked. "You're so kind."

"He gets him candy every year," Remus told Lily.

He opened Remus's present next, which was an Ever-Bashing Boomerang. Lily rolled her eyes at Marlene, but decided not to say anything. His mum gave him her brother's watch. He passed it around to let everyone look at it. "He died in my first year," James said. "Death Eater attack."

There was a moment of silence and reverence as they gave the watch back to James. He latched it unto his wrist, a smile coming onto his face. James looked at his dad's letter. "He says he'll give it to me Easter hols," he said.

"That means it's too big for the owl," Sirius said, grinning.

After reading some cards others had made him, James enjoyed some corner time with Candace while everyone else celebrated his birthday. Lily enjoyed it, even though it was James's birthday and Paul and Katie were all over each other. She danced with Remus and played Exploding Snap with Marlene. Sirius brought out the firewhiskey, drinking away and starting loud games.

The party went on late, but McGonagall came around after a while, reminding them all they had school the next day. They were lucky enough to get away without detention, and she even wished him a happy birthday.

--

A/N: Kate454, muddy worm, hpgurl3113, themeaningoflifeis42, psycho-pyro-shrink: Thanks for the reviews! They make my day :)

Next chapter: April Fool's. That's all I'm gonna say.