Chapter Four:

Bighead Boy Moves On

The next day, Lily wandered down to breakfast before going to her first Charms class.

Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, her eyes suddenly wandered over to the Hufflepuffs where Amos Diggory was busy with his friends. He was really handsome, with dark brown hair that fell in his eyes and stormy blue eyes. He was so polite, and never had a single detention in his life.

That was more than she could say for Potter, who spent the entire year serving detentions of various kinds - polishing trophies for Filch, sorting placards in the library for Pince, or helping with the pumpkins for Hagrid. She made an angry face despite herself. No matter how hard she tried, she never could stop being mad at James.

Lost in thought, she didn't see Amos walk over to her and plant a kiss on her cheek.

She smiled as he sat down beside her. Amos asked quietly, "Still want to keep it a secret? You know that means I can't kiss you when I'd like," Amos leaned in closely, so all she saw was his intense blue-eyed gaze.

She giggled, pushing him away, making sure no one saw, "I think we should keep it quiet … until the Slug Party this December. What do you think?"

He smiled sweetly, "Anything you like, Lily." Walking back to his table, he sat down casually with his friends again, eating breakfast.

Blushing, Lily pulled out the newspaper, and propped it against the table as she began to read out of habit. She felt the crowd of people entering the Great Hall grew as the hour wore on. Everyone was getting up.

Jessica Burkes, a fellow Gryffindor and one of Lily's best friends, sat down beside her. She had gorgeous dirty-blonde hair, and hazel eyes that looked green like Lily's in the sunlight.

"Morning, Lily," Jessica said cheerfully, reaching for the orange juice. Lily greeted her, and they fell into conversation about Slughorn's next party.

Just then, the Marauders swaggered through the door – and Lily forced herself not to become flustered or angry. James had just saved her best friends and she couldn't yell at him. Yet.

"Don't look now but the Four Idiots just landed," Jessica said in a whisper, turning her head away.

Lily tried to not make eye-contact with them as she and Jessica pretended to be looking under the table for something. Lily looked up slightly and regretted it, "Shit, I think they're going to sit next to us."

Sure enough, they dropped themselves casually next to Lily. James sat down in front of her, smiling. Lily looked away.

Sure, he was calmer around her, but he was still a hexing toerag. Nothing could change that. Besides, why was she even thinking about James when she had fallen in love with Amos? Amos - who would never hex her former best friend Snape just because he was in Slytherin. Amos - who didn't had a temper that rivaled a dragon's. Amos - who was so much better compared to bullying James, who didn't have a decent bone in his entire body.

"Morning gorgeous," Sirius said to Jessica with a casual wink.

Jessica rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her toast, "Morning slimy."

"Ouch," He said, pretending to be wounded in the heart, "Jessi, that hurt."

"Good, that was the plan," Jessica said, ignoring him completely.

Sirius shrugged, and decided to flirt with the next batch of girls who had arrived for breakfast. He simply had to wink at them and they were reduced to giggling puddles. He turned to talk to James, happy that his charms were working on someone.

"Typical," Jessica said, watching him from the corner of her eye, "No deep interest in anything beyond Quidditch and troublemaking. Can't he actually like one girl and mean it?"

"You talking about Black?" A small voice asked, and Lily and Jessica looked up to see Dorcas approaching the table. She was smaller than her friends with short mousy hair and amber eyes. It was obvious to anyone around that she fancied the pants off Sirius Black.

"Yeah, who else?" Jessica asked, making room for the rest of their friends - Alice Prewett, a short girl with soft strawberry-blonde hair; Emmeline Vance, a taller girl with long, blonde hair and a slender frame; and Hestia Jones, the shortest one with a voluptuous body.

As the girls burst into chatter, they didn't notice that three of the Marauders stiffened, leaning forward slightly, trying to listen in on their conversation.

"How do you feel, Hestia?" Lily asked sympathetically, because she had seen Hestia throw up all over her trunk last night.

Hestia looked momentarily confused, "Fine?"

Remus and Sirius gave each other a worried look. Peter blanched and had to cross his legs from wetting himself in worry.

"Good, glad you're better" Lily said, settling in on her breakfast. Hestia shrugged, and popped a piece of bacon in her mouth.

That was the last that the girls spoke of anything that had happened last night, and the three Marauders breathed a sigh of relief. Their prank wouldn't be discovered yet.

"Hey, Wormtail," Remus whispered to Peter, "How's the Compunction Unction coming along?"

Peter leaned in to Remus, "Great. Less than a month left and it'll be right on time."

Remus nodded determinedly, saying nothing as he settled into his breakfast.

"Evans," James began, but sounding more casual than ever thanks to Sirius' Sobering Tonic, "You're not going to Slug's Christmas party, are you?"

Lily frowned, expecting him to ask her out. Hesitantly, she said, "Yes."

Everyone had deserted all pretense of not listening. This was becoming a regular pastime, watching James ask Lily out in a myriad ways. Houses had bets running on the two of them with hundreds of galleons at stake.

Looking pleased, James smiled. "Good," He reached in his pocket for a crumpled piece of paper, "I can't do prefect duties that night. Take my shift?"

He handed her a quill and the crumpled up sign-up scroll. Hesitantly, she nodded, and signed her name under the date.

"Wicked," He smirked, "You're amazing, Evans! Don't know what I would have done without you."

Unable to keep the sneering back, Lily burst out, "So when are you going to ask me out so I can say no? I don't have all day, Potter. Besides, I'm already going with someone."

Her friends sniggered behind their hands.

Smiling, James took a swig of his drink, not noticing that across the room, a beady pair of black eyes were watching him carefully. His smile suddenly faded, and a dark look came over his eyes. James laughed hollowly, "Not asking you - not anymore. You were right. For some strange reason, I feel like I've matured." Sirius tried hard not to smirk at this, "I'm not hot-blooded anymore, running after anything on legs." He said pointedly.

She looked slighted, taking his small insult to heart. "That's great, Potter." She muttered under her breath, "Just peachy."

"Isn't it, Evans?" James asked, taking another sip of his pumpkin juice, savoring her pain, "Now you're rid of the only person running madly behind you. Think of all the time I'll be freeing up for you. What is it that you do again? Charms club? Slug club? Writing unnecessary opinion letters to the Prophet about how they talk about muggles?"

This was the first time James had ever even come close to insulting Lily. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were looking between the two of them with their mouths literally hanging down. What was wrong with him? Her friends looked shocked themselves. Suddenly, as if James had planned it all, a girl screamed his name.

"Jamesy Baby!" A sugary voice came from the Great Hall, and Sirius turned to see Rita Skeeter drape herself gracefully over James. "You should have woken me up!"

Loud gasps came from all over the Hall from the people who had heard her. Sirius' eyes widened. What was going on?

James smiled indulgently, tracing his hand over her cheek as she sat down on his other side. "You see, Rita, Evans here doubts I've changed." He said, and was glad to see Lily looking pale as she watched Rita feed a piece of kipper to him, "The Old James wouldn't have fallen in love with a Slytherin goddess! The Old James would still be running behind you as if you were something special. Well, you're not. You're nothing. I wouldn't ask you to Slug's Christmas party if you were the last bitch in Hogwarts." James nearly laughed as Lily's eyes began swimming in tears. She couldn't say anything for the lump in her throat. Even Rita looked horrified by James' rude behavior. It seemed like the world was on its head.

"Shut up, James."

Everyone turned to shock to see Sirius looking angry and furious, his gray eyes concentrated on the table. His dark hair was falling in his eyes. He looked murderous.

"What?" James asked, annoyed that he was this close to making Lily cry, and Sirius was ruining it.

"I said, shut up." Sirius' voice was cold. His hands were clenched. Lily let the tears drop from her eyes in shock at Sirius' outburst, and they landed on her newspaper, blurring the ink.

"Sure, Padfoot," James said with a shrug, "If you fancy snotty gingers now, you can have her." He grabbed Rita, and said in a slow husky voice, "Want to finish breakfast by the lake, sugar?" Rita nodded mutely, and walked away with him. and Remus' eyes widened in shock as Rita grabbed James' behind. Everyone leaned in their seats to watch the both of them amble out the castle. Snape was the only one who chuckled happily at the spectacle, ruffling his morning paper with a very satisfied smirk on his face.

"… The hell?" Frank asked, looking confused.

"Was I just hallucinating all that?" Peter asked, sounding slow like he had been stunned. "He couldn't have just said that – James wouldn't – "

"I'm. Going. To. KILL HIM!" Jessica screamed furiously, and Dorcas had to hold her hand to keep Jessica from chasing James down. Jessica sat down, but continued to seethe angrily, "Who the bloody hell does he think he is talking to you like that?"

Lily gulped, her voice sounded strange, "I don't care anymore. I knew he was going to do this one day. He's too immature to understand I don't want him. And he's too immature so he insults me like a child. I'm just glad it's all over. I don't have to deal with Potter for the rest of my life." Lily's voice broke, and she sobbed slightly, "I'm sorry," She apologized for crying, "I have to go."

She nearly ran through the hall, and her friends carefully followed behind her. Amos, who had seen her look distraught, ran after her worriedly.

"Damn," Remus swore, "How the hell are we going to get them together after that?"

Frank shook his head, trying to distract everyone from Sirius, who was still looking at his plate moodily, "He's with Rita Skeeter. She's with Amos Diggory. He fancied her. She hated him. And now, he hates her. Yeah, mission impossible."

"We're done," Sirius said stormily, "Scrap the operation. Git doesn't deserve her. Never did." He walked out the doors, leaving only Remus, Peter, and Frank sitting on their side of the table.

Peter whistled, "So that wasn't a hallucination, right? James snapped at Lily. James is snogging – or shagging – Rita Skeeter. And Sirius isn't talking to James. That actually happened?" He asked, sounding a little hysterical.

Remus leaned back, "If Sirius is out, that doesn't mean the plan stops, all right? James needs Operation Romance now more than ever. He's trying to make her jealous."

"Are you sure? It looked like he really fancies Rita." Frank said, "He was all over her."

"I know James," Remus said assuredly, "I know he still likes Lily. And Rita fancies Sirius, so I don't know what kind of game those two are playing. Even Lily – she's going out with Amos, but I see the way she looks at James sometimes. She likes him, but she's too afraid of getting hurt."

"Now what?" Peter asked morosely, his face slumped in his empty cereal bowl.

Remus looked at the other two, a small smile creeping on his face, "We need more than just Compunction Unction. We need something stronger. Make them stop playing these mind games with each other and stop trying to make each other jealous. We need something that'll get all these lies out in the open."

Frank had a wicked look as his face shone with an idea, "How about a party with a drinking game?"

Remus caught on, "And we spike the Butterbeer and Firewhiskey with Veritaserum! So James and Lily can spill their hearts to each other! Brilliant, Frank!"

Peter lifted his head from the bowl, looking happy again, "That's brilliant guys! We've got to use the Room of Requirement for the party so that other houses can come too – especially Amos and Rita. They need to see for themselves that they can't get between true love."

"You don't think we're taking this too far do you?" Remus asked hesitantly.

The other two looked worriedly at each other for a moment, before replying together:

"Nah!"

Author's Note: In this chapter, you'll have noticed that someone besides the Marauders have decided to mess with James using dangerous potions. Clue: The motive is payback for the underpants incident. The Messr. is ? Guess right and win a role in an upcoming chapter!