Hello again everyone! Here's the second of a three-chapter story. The Marauders are up to their little shenanigans again, per usual, as Operation: Obtain Evans is a go.

p.s - Thanks for the wonderful reviews! It feels good to know that some people in the world enjoy the jibberish I write. ;P

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or themes, they belong to J.K Rowling. Obv.

James strolled down to the Great Hall the following breakfast, worn out but pleased with himself. Though he didn't get any of his Charms work complete, he and the Marauders were already well into their operation – thinking it over, he couldn't help but admire how flawless it was.

The Great Hall was noisy and packed with students already for a Sunday, grabbing pastries from the platters and chattering animatedly. The enchanted ceiling of the Grand Hall indicated, much to the students' disappointment, that it was still pouring out. James spotted Remus sitting near the end of Gryffindor's table and started towards him, slapping the hands of his Quidditch members on the way.

"So?" Remus inquired, resting his head on his hand. James seized his untouched muffin before answering.

"The surface of the water is calm... for now." he grinned, taking a generous bite – he regretted it immediately. Remus laughed at as his face twisted sourly.

"Cranberry. Nasty preference you have, Moony." he grumbled, spitting it out onto a napkin.

Remus looked amused. "This is probably the silliest idea you've come up with yet," he said. "You and Sirius have really outdone yourselves."

"Your sarcasm has been ignored."

"Where is he, anyway? Sirius?"

James drummed his fingers on the wooden table, glancing at the doors of the Great Hall. "He's, ah, securing the loot."

Remus stared at him, baffled. "Don't tell me you've already started!"

"Right around midnight," James smiled maliciously. "It was a beautiful success if I do say so myself."

Remus' tired eyes suddenly drifted past him towards the doors. "Ginge is on the move."

James' hand flew to fix his hair as he spun around. Sure enough, Lily was loitering around the entrance, stopping random Gryffindors frantically, looking distraught to say the least. Her eyes seemed to sweep the room quickly before making a retreat.

James shot up off the bench and hurried to catch up with her, with Remus on his trail.

"Lily!" he called out before she circled a corner. She stopped and turned – James and Remus skidded to a stop, catching their breaths.

James smiled graciously, running a hand through his already messy hair. "How do you do?"

"I don't have time for this, Potter," she protested, her eyes darting up and down the hall.

Remus shot James a critical glance. He cleared his throat. "What seems to be the problem, Lily? You look upset."

Lily sighed and began up the stairwell. The boys followed.

"My cat's run off," she moaned, playing with her auburn locks nervously. "He's never vanished like this before, and he isn't feeling well to boot..."

"Not Gatsby!" James cried with mock horror. Lily glared daggers at him.

"We'll help you find him," Remus piped up. "I guarantee you that if anyone were to find him first, it'd be us."

Lily thought about it. "That would be helpful. You guys do seem to know the secrets of the castle better than anyone else around here..."

"Don't you worry, Lily," James declared, mustering up the most charming smile he could, which must have been quite charming indeed. "We'll put all our effort into looking. There will be no resting, none at all!"

Lily looked at him skeptically but nodded slowly anyway. "Find me if anything."

"Don't I always?" James called out after her as she hurried off. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, amused.

Part 2 was officially initiated.

James slammed the dormitory door behind him and shrugged off his sweater, throwing it onto his bed.

"How's the cat?" he asked Sirius, who was sprawled on his own bed with his face stuffed into his pillow. He pointed towards the corner of the room without getting up.

Gatsby the cat was sitting in a conjured cage, not looking happy at all. His patchy fur stood on end and his high pitched screeching seemed to get even more violent when he saw James. Gatsby clawed at the cage furiously. Remus crouched down to look closer, mildly interested.

"Like owner like cat..." James muttered.

Sirius dragged himself off the bed. Three angry claw marks decorated his less-than-happy face.

"Don't ever leave me alone with a god forsaken cat... ever again." he groaned, lightly toughing his wounds.

James roared with laughter, leaning against the bedpost. "We'll be rid of it soon," he explained, pulling his wand out of his pocket and putting a sleeping spell on the cat. Gatsby blinked then collapsed, fast asleep.

"You owe me one, Prongs." Sirius said, staring at the dozing feline bitterly. "It took me forever and a half to get that thing in there when it woke up. "

James grinned blithely. "Of course, of course. What happened to Wormtail? He was supposed to help you."

Sirius shrugged, pulling out the intricate map they created together earlier that year that showed the whereabouts of everyone in the castle. "He said the cat gave him weird allergies and... aha." He jabbed his wand at the map. "There he is in the hospital wing."

"How'd you snatch Gatsby up without anyone noticing, anyway?" Remus asked curiously.

"Oh, he was skulking near the fire last night when the Common Room was nearly empty, so we just grabbed him and ran off up the stairs." James replied bluntly. "Which was a bad idea, because he nearly ripped our eyes out."

Sirius nodded. "We put a sleeping spell on him and let him sleep in the room – and then I woke up to the sound of scratching. He was at the door, trying to escape, the beast. You guys had already disappeared and when he saw me, he launched himself at my face." Sirius shuddered.

"Talk about an effective wake-up call." Remus laughed. "So now we wait?"

James confirmed this. "We'll stay up here, though – Lily thinks we're working hard on the search and we can't be caught doing anything but."

There was a pause.

"Who's up for Exploding Snap?"

Lily sighed, sitting at the top of the stairs by the library with her head in her hands. It was close to dinner time and she still hadn't found Gatsby. She couldn't imagine what caused him to disappear so randomly – he almost never left the Common Room.

She'd already searched the Common Room, the Great Hall, the library, every hall on every floor, and even the bathrooms. Her extensive hunt came up short – no one saw or heard anything. Her own friends gave up looking hours ago after whining about feet ache, much to her dismay.

I hope he isn't hurt, Lily thought tragically. The very thought made her feel like someone drenched her with a bucket of ice water. Ever since her parents purchased her the cat in her second year, she grew irrevocably close to him.

She grew lost in sad thought, not noticing light footsteps advancing up from behind her.

"You know, you're much too pretty to be spending your day secluded and depressed."

Lily whirled her head around, ready to tell James to leave her alone when he saw a familiar bundle of fur in his arm. She scrambled up to her feet, her heart nearly bursting with joy.

"You found him!" she cried happily, holding her hands out. Gatsby was fast asleep, his tail twitching occasionally.

James smiled broadly, handing her the little cat. "I said I would, didn't I?"

Lily smiled weakly, lowering her gaze. "I didn't think—I wasn't sure—"

"That I was telling the truth? That I said it without meaning? I'm not that much of a bad guy, Lily." he replied, raising a hand to fix, or rather unfix, the back of his hair.

Her cheeks heated up. "Where on earth did you find him?"

"He was sleeping in one of the secret corridors. I suppose he got lost and couldn't manage to get out. Don't worry, I fed him and everything."

"Did you?" she said, surprised. "I'd be lying if said I wasn't impressed right now." Lily paused. "I owe you immensely."

James smiled again. Lily hadn't noticed before, but she was surprised to see that his smile was actually quite nice to look at.

"The only thing I've ever wanted from you is to give me a chance. Come with me to Hogsmeade next Saturday, please."

Lily sighed, but at this point it was unfair to deny him. "You'll be on your best behaviour?"

"For you, anything."

She smiled, stroking Gatsby's fur. "Fine then. But just this once, don't get any ideas in your head."

"Too late," James said, amused. "They're already there."

Lily laughed, and he seemed pleased with himself. "Come on then, m'lady," he said, taking a couple steps down the stairs. "You're probably starving, and dinner's about to start in the Great Hall."

For once, she felt comfortable around James Potter and welcomed his request without hesitation. Lily could definitely get used to this.

James felt happier than he'd ever been that year as he walked down to the Great Hall with the one girl he truly ever fancied close by his side.

Yeah, so he kidnapped her cat, trapped it in the Marauders' dormitory and forced it to sleep, and sure, he lied about the true whereabouts of her pet, but he was telling the truth when he said he'd do anything for her. He would, really.

The only thing left to perfect was the trip to Hogsmeade, and James vowed to make sure Lily didn't regret it one bit.

Operation: Obtain Evans was nearly complete.

C'est fini! So what did you think? (I'm not feeling 100% on the quality of this chapter, for some odd reason. Then again, I'm pretty exhausted today). Leave me a review/feedback, please and thank you! I love reading them :)