AN: And here's the next chapter. I do not own Harry Potter, I just thoroughly enjoy it. All mistakes are mine, I really do try and catch them. Review please! I greatly enjoy the feed back. And thank you so so so much to the one person who did review! Glad you're enjoying it.

Chapter 6: Idiot

The New Year brought about the tail end of a hard winter. Herbology classes were sometimes brought indoors, and even those who claimed to love the snow were wishing for an early spring. In no time at all, the worst of the weather seemed to break and the sun was shedding its warmth on the castle and its occupants. James's quidditch practices had started to become regular and extended as the next match approached, barley leaving him any free time. And quidditch captains weren't the only ones cracking down. All the professors began to push their students more than usual. With spring looming over them, they were clearly buckling down for approaching exams as they began squeezing tests in that their students felt they weren't quite ready for in order to move on to the next lesson.

"I don't know how cheering charms take effect on the human brain!" James practically yelled in frustration at his parchment, sitting in the common room late one evening. He was attempting to answer questions for Flitwick's homework in Advanced Charms, still in his quidditch gear. Seeing as spring was making an appearance, he was a bit damp and his face was streaked with dried mud, not to mention his shoes.

Taylor glanced over from her chair across from him. Sighing, she took pity and extended a copy of the homework she had finished an hour ago while he was at practice, "Here, use this as a reference."

James grumbled, glanced at the clock, and reluctantly grabbed the offered parchment. If he was to get to bed at a decent hour, he would have to accept the help. "Thanks."

"No problem… So, when's the big match?" She asked, picking her head up from her Care of Magical Creatures reading.

James didn't lift his eyes as he read over her homework, but he held up two fingers. "Two weeks. Slytherin," the last word he practically spit. "Sirius's brother is on the team. Best not to talk about it when he's around if you want to keep your sanity. Things between him and Regulus have gone a bit sour."

"Have they ever gotten along?" Taylor asked incredulously.

James bunched up his face and squinted his eye, "Well, things have gone more sour than normal. Regulus has always been a git, but now he's been hanging around with the wrong sort. The pure blood elitists. Sirius confronted him about it and they got into a big row, which turned into a duel, which left Sirius in detention for the rest of the week. Take my advice, and do not say anything about Slytherin, or quidditch, or his brother. I swear, I almost quit the team to keep him as distanced as possible."

Taylor smiled, "As much as you love him, you did not."

James laughed, "I didn't, no. But the idea had flitted across my mind. That's how maddening it is. Thank god my parent's had enough sense to only have one child."

"Watch yourself, Potter. My parents had eight children, and we're all fine."

James pointed his quill at her, "See, there's your problem. Eight fine children. My parent's got it perfect with just one kid."

Taylor chuckled at James's grin, "Does your mother tell you that?"

"As a matter of fact, she does."

"Only to keep him from finding out she actually tried to return him after he was born." Remus laughed, approaching from behind. He stood with Lily, having both just gotten back from Prefect duties.

"She did not try to return me. She thought they had given her the wrong baby from the nursery. Shut up, Remus."

The young prefect ignored his friend and turned to the girl standing beside him, "It seems we found the culprit of the mud tracks Filch was following about the castle. Will you do me a favor, and not report this one?"

"If you buy me a delicious treat from Honeydukes this weekend, I did not see this sad mud sack sitting in our common room." She replied matter-of-factly.

James gave the two a death glare, while Taylor said, "Well, well. Look at our Gryffindor Prefects, wheeling and dealing. I knew the system was corrupt. I knew it. This is exactly why I'm anti-authority."

"Oh, please Taylor. You follow the rules more than anyone." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Correction, I follow my own moral code. Not the rules."

"If only we could all be as good as you." Remus smiled. "But if you look the other way on this, I'll get you some chocolate to accompany Lily's delicious treat."

Taylor eyed him up and down a moment, "Okay, deal. Flitch yelled at me the other day for a crime I did not commit. He deserves to be cleaning up James's muck. I'll take fudge flies please."

"Fudge flies it is."

"And a delicious treat!" Lily added.

"Will you all please be quiet!" James snapped, "I'm trying to concentrate and copy Taylor's homework so I can get some sleep."

"Wow, our little group is just overflowing with morality here. Godric Gryffindor would be so proud." Lily stated dryly.

That had everyone laughing, and Taylor collecting her books. "Well, I've now lost all interest in these. Return that at breakfast please, James. Discreetly. Goodnight, Remus." As she walked by, she grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her toward the girl's staircase, the red head waving as she turned.

James glanced up at Remus as he settled into the chair that Taylor had just vacated. Dabbing his quill into his ink well he said, "So, when are you asking Taylor to Hogsmeade?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Oh, shut up Prongs."

"Moony! Come on, you're allowed to have a little fun."

"Not at someone's expense," he replied back seriously, "Especially not Taylor's."

"She likes you, Remus."

"She likes all of us, James. We're her friends. She practically in our room more than Matt is."

"Yeah, we're her friends. But I didn't say us. I said she likes you."

"She does not. I heard Art Berkly in Ravenclaw was talking about asking her."

James's voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around for listening ears. "I didn't say what other people like her. I'm sure they do, she's awesome. I said, she likes you, Remus… You're condition, your furry little problem – whatever you want to call it – should not stop you from living a normal life!"

"My life isn't normal, James."

The two starred each other down before Remus spoke again, "Drop it."

James broke eye contact and shrugged, going to write on his parchment once again, "She likes you." He simply responded, one final time.

Remus seemed to lose his edge and change tactics, "Forgive me if I do not take romantic advice from you, Prongs."

James abruptly stopped writing, "That was below the belt!" He jabbed his quill in his direction, "And I'm making significant progress! I'll have you know, I'm clearly the most romantic one out of all of us. At the rate you three go at, the lot of you are bound to die alone."

"Us die alone? James, you've been chasing a hopeless cause for years now."

"It's not hopeless. You all wait and see. I'm going to marry that girl."

Remus scoffed, but a little bit of him believed James's statement. His tone had moved into the zone in which he allowed for zero leeway.

The two were silent for a few minutes while James's finished up his homework. As they started collecting the remaining books, Remus asked lowly, "You really think she likes me?"

"Yes, Mooney," James said, thunking his book pile back on the table, exasperated. "And now I'm going to give you some very blunt advice. Because I know you value Taylor. I know you like her too. And I don't want you to lose her."

James put his hand in his hair and took a deep breath, "You either go for it, or you don't... If you try something and then decide you're too scared to actually continue, if you back out – she's going to hate you. Think you're messing with her. You have to be ready... And you know how I feel about it. But as much as I wish I could, you have to make that decision."

The silence dragged on a moment as his words sunk in before James spoke again, "So, are you ready?"

Remus studied his shoes thoughtfully, "I don't think so."

"Then get there, Moony! Because you shouldn't miss out on this. On her. On anything."

Remus nodded and pinched his nose, still looking down, while James thumped him on the shoulder.

"Lily told me you're the best guy she's knows. How's that for a confidence boost? You bastard."

That had Remus snorting. "Maybe I'll ask her to Hogsmeade then."

"Even us Marauders can't share everything. Hands off. I don't care how charming you are… And since I dumped all my wisdom, have any advice for me?" James asked as they started their ascent up the boy's dormitory steps.

"Yeah. Don't screw up this friendship thing that seems to have developed between you two."

"Mm, thanks, Moony. But I guess I did deserve that. No punches pulled... Sooo what mildly abrasive, personal thing can we tell Padfoot and Wormtail tonight? I feel like they should be included in this blunt life lessons thing we've started."

That weekend brought the first Hogsmeade trip of spring. Surprisingly, James found himself walking down an empty path to the small village. It seemed like all the students had gotten there early. He, on the other hand, had had to serve a detention that morning for hexing some Slytherin in the hallway who had used the term "mudblood," when referring to a first year Hufflepuff. Luckily, Flitwick had been the one to catch him in the act, and had sentenced him to a morning of organizing, patching, and re-stitching the pillows the fourth years used to practice summoning and banishing spells. It was easy work, and he still had the whole afternoon in Hogsmeade.

He reached the village, littered with Hogwarts students, having no idea where to go. Sirius was on a date and had specifically told his friends not to interfere. Remus and Peter's only plans were to go to a music shop with Taylor. But it was a few hours into the trip, and so James doubted they would be there now. And it was such a nice day out, it wasn't a sure bet that his friends were inside a pub getting a drink.

Just as he was thinking about heading to the Three Broomsticks to pop is head in anyway, the sun made him a liar, and an icy early spring shower began to pour from the sky. He rushed over to the nearest shop onning, as most people in the street did, and bumped into a familiar red head.

"Well, wouldn't you know, Lily Evans."

She looked up at him and ran her hand through her loose hair, smoothing out the imperfections the storm had made, "James Potter, without his groupies. Wow, you must feel very lost right now."

James laughed, "Honestly, I am. I see you too are alone."

Lily shrugged, "Yeah, I was spending the day with Joey. But she bumped into a bloke she fancies, and so I did the kind thing and left them alone. I was just trying to find Taylor and them, when –"

"The sky opened up, yeah. Me too actually. Care to look together, once this slows down?"

Lily nodded, "Sure. I suppose two sets of eyes are better than one… Wait, do your eyes count as one full set?"

James paused a moment, before slowly turning to the girl. He noticed the smile playing at her lips, though she was trying to keep it at bay. "Evans. Are you making fun of my glasses?"

The smile fully broke out on her face, and she broke his gaze, looking out into the rainy street, which was now slowing down to a drizzle. "What? No."

"That is so low of you. I thought you were better than that!" James continued his reply in a dignified voice, "And I'll have you know that I count as two sets of eyes. I've been called four eyes in my youth."

That had Lily laughing while James chuckled. The shower slowed to a very lite drizzle. "I think it's stopped." James held out his arm to Lily, "Shall we?"

Lily rolled her eyes at him as she walked forward, making James jog to catch up to her.

As they walked along, making small talk and searching the faces of the crowds, James insisted they check Zonko's joke shop, and dragged Lily inside. He had more than a few stories about half the products that kept the red head laughing. But their friends were not there, so they continued on down the street.

"What about the book shop?" Lily asked.

"Doubt it. Just admit that you want to go inside."

Lily scoffed, "You mean just as you did with Zonko's? Come on, maybe Remus needed a new book." She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward that side of the street, and James did not protest.

Still no luck, they continued up the high street towards the Shrieking Shack.

"So, you think it's haunted?" James asked with a stupid smirk on his face.

Lily looked up at it and shrugged, "Potter, I lived as a muggle for eleven years. I was told I was a witch, I came to an enchanted castle to go to magic school. At this magic school I've brewed potions, I've turned a beetle into a button, I've talked to ghosts. So, yeah sure, it could be haunted." She glanced over at him, "What are you looking all smug for?"

James attempted to look nonchalant, "No reason. I definitely think it's haunted. It's rather creepy."

Lily shook her head at him and looked up the street. "I don't know what you're hiding, but it's annoying. Wipe that smile off your face." She sped up her pace and James once again had to jog to follow.

Eventually they had passed most of the familiar shops and were walking through residential areas.

"Any idea where we are?" Lily asked examining the homes and over grown front gardens.

James shook his head.

"How did we even get here?" Lily continued.

"I was following you."

"Well, I was following you."

James looked down the next street, "I think this is the way back then." He turned them down a dank street. They were walking down the alley until James came to an abrupt stop, causing Lily to bump into him and them both to stumble.

James's eyes were locked on a sign above their heads. It was hanging unevenly by only one chain and read, "The Hog's Head." His gaze moved down to the front window and he attempted to look inside, but the glass was too dirty.

"I've heard of this place." He said under his breath.

"What? What is it?" Lily asked, scrunching her nose in disgust.

"Pub, I think. I've got to check it out. Come on." He moved towards the door and turned back around when Lily didn't follow. "Oh, come on Evans."

She was still hesitant. So James reached back and grabbed her hand, pulling her through the door.

The bar seemed to be as dingy looking as the sign that bore its name. It was not as crowded as the Three Broomsticks usually was, nor did it contain its usual clientele. Everyone in there had their faces partially covered, and more than a few eyes followed them as they approached the bar.

The barman looked strangely familiar and eyed James suspiciously as they approached. He didn't ask them what they wanted, but his eyes never wavered. James pulled a coin out of his pocket and pushed it forward on the bar top.

"Two butterbeers, please."

The man took the coin, and came back a moment later with two full mugs. James and Lily headed to sit down at a small table in the far corner. Lily leaned in close and whispered, "Maybe next time we should bring our own glasses."

James looked down and rubbed the top of their dirty mugs with his sleeve, causing Lily to snort and James too to laugh. The small outburst had all eyes on them, and the two quickly tried to compose themselves. They continued with their drinks, speaking in hushed whispers.

"I don't think our friends are here," Lily whispered.

"No, I didn't expect so. But I always wanted to find this place. Sirius always seemed chicken though."

Lily eyed the room, "I wonder why."

The two quickly finished their beverages and didn't linger. When they walked back out into the mild spring air Lily turned to James and said in a dead panned voice, "Charming place." And the two broke into hysterical laughter. James abruptly stopped with his hand to his stomach, wincing.

"You okay?" Lily asked, sobering up.

"Yeah, yeah," James waved away, "That cut I got has been a bit tender lately. Anyway, thanks for accompanying me."

"I would say anytime, but definitely never after dark. We may not leave that place alive…"And she grinned at him.

They found their way back onto the main drag. After having no luck in Honeydukes they made their way into the Three Broomsticks. Still, no sixth year Gryffindors in sight.

"Alright," James sighed, "I give up, and I'm starving. Care to join me for dinner?"

Lily hesitated and looked around the room once more, before meeting James's eyes unsurely, "Well, all right."

"It's a date," James stated, as he picked a table and shrugged out of his jacket.

"It's not a date."

"Yes it is."

Lily rolled her eyes and too settled into her chair. But she had to admit, she was having a very nice time with James Potter today. He was funny and kind, and his slight arrogance and annoying habits were almost charming today. She actually wouldn't totally hate it if this was, in fact, a date. They placed their orders, and Lily inspected James more than she ever had as he began talking about something or other. The firelight was reflecting off his glasses, and too was making the gold flecks in his hazel eyes sparkle. Though she complained about his fascination with his hair, it was quite fascinating – dark and silky and thicker than she had ever seen. His nose had a few freckles on it that she had never noticed, and a smile always seemed to be playing at his full lips.

Just as she noticed he was expecting a reply from her, and she had no idea what he had been talking about, someone rushed up to their table, practically yelling, "Potter!"

They both started. And James turned toward the new arrival, confused, "Yeah?"

"James!" He huffed, attempting to catch his breath. It was a fourth year Gryffindor, named Kevin. "York scheduled quidditch practice early this morning. It started twenty minutes ago. He's fuming that you're not there!"

"WHAT?" James yelped, springing from his seat, almost sending his chair toppling over. "Why wasn't I told?" He was digging in his pockets for coins.

The younger Gryffindor shrugged.

He then turned toward Lily, "Did Joey know?"

With wide eyes Lily shrugged, "I – I don't know."

James tossed some gold coins onto the table top, "Evans, sorry I have to go." And he was gone, running out the doors, and leaving Lily sitting there a little startled, and bewildered.

"What the hell were you doing at Hogsmeade today? Someone told me they saw you around with Evans? Why are you covered in mud? Oh, let me guess! Did you make a move and she pushed you down a cliff?" Sirius fired as James walked into their dorm, inspecting him in the casual muggle clothing he had set off in this morning, but dirty and sweaty as ever.

James sighed and flopped onto his bed groaning and rubbing his abdomen, "Last minute quidditch practice. I think I stretched my stomach a bit too far"

"So you weren't with Evans?"

"No, I was. Earlier."

Before James could continue, Sirius butted in, "So you're telling me that you were with Evans in Hogsmeade. Alone. And you ditched her to go to quidditch practice?"

James replied by putting his hands over his face.

"You're an idiot." Sirius remarked, turning back to his Charms book.

"I'm an idiot." James grumbled back.

"You are most certainly an idiot." Their other dorm mate, Matt, stated from behind his bed curtains.