The Truth Of The Heart

Summary: Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily's opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don't sue me, JKR, 'cause I have nothing you want….unless you're into human flesh (you're not, are you?) Kudos to JKR, since I copied some bits out of CoS for authenticity in this chapter.

A/N: Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it's nice to know I haven't been forgotten! I would do review thank-yous, but if this fic gets taken down again for anything, it won't be going up again, so I won't risk it. Read on!

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Chapter 14: One Step Forward . . .

A week had passed since the fight.

Needless to say, it had not been good.

Sitting at a desk, Lily paused, her quill suspended over a Potions essay, and thought back over the past seven days. Lessons had been uncomfortable, particularly those where she and Emma sat together and could not change places with anybody. Thankfully none of these classes had required partner work – yet – and so Lily had kept her eyes trained firmly on her textbook the whole time. Sapphire went from one to the other, using every means she could think of to get them to talk to each other (none of which worked) and did her best to alternate her time between the two of them. In the end, however, Lily, growing tired of knowing that her friend would be feeling guilty over being with one or the other all the time, told Sapphire to just stay with Emma. When Sapphire did not look fully convinced, Lily elaborated and explained that she had numerous Head duties that would keep her busy, and so it would not matter (in fact, her Head duties at the time were more or less non-existent).

Because of this, she had taken to eating either at the beginning or end of mealtimes, alone, when there were not as many people around, or simply going down to the kitchens whenever she felt in need of nourishment – the house elves were more than happy to help. The rest of her time she had at first devoted to homework in the Library and common room, but eventually getting tired of the curious stares that she received (or in the case of Emma, glares), she had migrated to the Heads' rooms. She now wondered that she or James had not made more use of it before – she knew for certain that he had not come in at all. The rooms became a source of peace, and a haven from her troubled social life. Although she honestly did miss being able to laugh, carefree, with Emma and Sapphire, her one comfort was that she was completely on top of all the homework that her professors were piling on the class.

The truth?

If Lily dug deep, she knew that the truth was that she really missed her friend, and if it wasn't for a strong conviction that she was in the right, she would have burst into tears several times by the end of the week, as well as gone to find Emma. As it was, her spirits were low, and more than anything, she just wanted to have her life rewind a little, back to happier times when she could laugh and talk to people who cared.

She chewed on her quill, checked up another fact in the book beside her, and then continued to write, the steady tick of the clock on the wall being the only sound that accompanied her. She was so absorbed in her work that she did not notice that someone else had entered the room until they spoke.

"You know, with reactions like yours, a rabbit on the road would be dead meat in about ten seconds."

Lily spun round, startled, then let out a breath of relief. "Oh, it's you."

James grinned. He was leaning on the wall where the door was, watching her interestedly.

"Enjoying Potions?"

Lily made a face. "What do you think?"

James straightened up and crossed his arm. "Seriously, Lily? I think you need to start talking. You've barely opened your mouth in ages, you never come to meals, and from what I know, you've practically bought this place; you've spent so much time holed up in here alone. What gives?"

Lily did her best to give him a cheery, normal smile. "Nothing! You're imagining things; I'm just . . . catching up on work."

James raised an eyebrow. "Lily Evans, I am quite capable of coming over there and either tickling or beating you up until you spill. Do you really want me to do that?"

Alarmed at the thought of James manhandling her in any way, Lily hesitated, then gave in. She swivelled round, back to the desk, to avoid James' penetrating gaze.

"Fine. I . . . er . . . I had a fight," she said in a small voice.

"With Emma?" James guessed.

"Yes."

"Aaah," James nodded sagely. "Thought so. Well -"

"DON'T tell me to go talk to her, Saffy's already done that loads of times, and if she didn't work on me, you certainly won't."

"Actually," James cleared his throat. "I was going to ask if you wanted to come and hang out with us."

"Oh." Lily shifted in her seat, wondering for a moment if she had heard right. "Well, that's nice of you, but, uhm, I'm fine right now. Thanks anyway."

"Oh come on. We won't bite. Well, Remus might -"

Lily gave him a confused look.

"Private joke. Please?"

"No, really, it's fine."

"Lily." His tone was so serious that she turned around again, fully, to look up at him. "This isn't just me talking. This is Sirius and Remus and Peter as well, and we won't take no for an answer. You can't pretend to me that you've actually enjoyed the past week."

"Well no, but . . ." Lily did not know what to say. 'Okay, okay, fine, I'll come! Uhm…thanks.'

"Good. So, wanna come raid the kitchens?"

Lily looked back down at her unforgiving essay. "I need to finish this first, so n-" She was cut off by a loud rumble from her stomach.

"Betrayed by your own stomach." James grinned. "You should really discipline it better."

"Alright, I get the point." Lily laughed. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She put her quill and parchment into her bag, pushed it under the table, and got up.

"Good, 'cause you've deprived me of," James checked his watch, "five minutes which I could have used to stuff my face. I'm a growing teenage boy who needs his food. Let's go."

". . . wonder how long it'll take for him to convince her . . ." a voice said. Lily climbed through the door after James and found herself face-to-face with Remus and Sirius, who were standing outside.

"Prongsie, old boy! Finally!"

James shut the door behind them. "Where's Peter?" he asked.

"Filch dragged him off. Said he was dripping mud."

Lily looked around her. The floor was spotless. Moving her gaze up, she could not help but feel another twinge of nervousness, surrounded as she was by these three tall boys.

"Are you sure you don't mind putting up with me?" she asked cautiously.

"The question, my dear Lily," Remus said cheerfully, "is not whether we can put up with you, but whether you can put up with us." He stopped for a moment. "Actually, retract that. I'm perfectly normal. It's this demented maniac," he pointed at Sirius, "you want to watch out for, and his partner in crime here."

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed in mock-outrage. He punched Remus playfully; James snorted.

"Now, where were we? Ah yes. The kitchens."

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Suddenly, to Lily, life seemed ten times better. Granted, the Marauders were no match for her own friends, but they provided the companionship that she had been wishing for, and contrary to her expectations, they all seemed to be making sure that she fitted in with them and was having fun, even down to Peter, who she shared several laughs before the day was out. She studied with Remus, while James and Sirius joked around and made her laugh, and within a few hours, she felt very much at home with them. One moment that she would cherish forever, she knew, would be the look of shock on Emma's (and indeed, everyone's) faces when she walked nonchalantly in with the Marauders to breakfast the next morning, sat down, and laughed her way through the meal as she watched James, Sirius and Peter consume several times their own weight in food (or so it seemed), and McGonagall's amazed expression when she sat down next to James in her Transfiguration lesson and proceeded to Transfigure her rock perfectly into a golden Labrador puppy (what McGonagall did not know was that James had been hissing instructions and tips out of the corner of his mouth the whole time). All in all, she was a lot happier, and surely, Lily thought, that had to give the Marauders some plus points.

At the end of the lesson, Professor McGonagall called James and Lily up to her desk. After congratulating Lily on her sudden and dramatic improvement in class (Lily had to fight very hard to hide her laughter), she gave them a more serious look.

"Now, I know that we have allowed you a few weeks off after the Halloween contest to relax, but it is time you began planning for the Winter Ball, or whatever you choose to call it. You have six weeks, if you hold a meeting today as well. That gives you ample time, as long as you are prepared to work hard." Her eyes settled approvingly on Lily. "In light of your recent performance in this lesson, Miss Evans, I do not think it will be too much of a problem."

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So, accordingly, that night the two of them seated themselves in front of the fire in the Heads' common room, with a pile of parchment, and began to discuss the options.

"What dress code should it be?" James tilted his chair back on two legs.

"Actually, I was thinking maybe Muggle formal clothes. They look a lot nicer than wizarding robes, and I'm sure we could persuade Gladrags into stocking them for us. I don't know if you've ever seen them before." Lily bent down and pulled two pictures from her bag, which she placed on the table for James' scrutiny. He looked down at them.

"Yeah," he said, after a moment. "The Muggle clothes are nicer – and I'm not just saying that because they reveal a lot more skin!" Lily raised her eyebrows. "But you're wrong, I have seen stuff like this before."

"When?" Lily asked. She had thought that he came from a pureblood wizarding family.

"Two words: my sister."

"One word: huh?"

"My sister, Maddie. Well – her name's Madeleine, but we call her Maddie."

"I never knew you had a sister! What about her?"

"Well, everyone else in the family showed magical signs when they were really young, but Maddie didn't, so my parents thought that she might be a Squib, and sent her to primary school. Turns out she was a witch – she turned a friend's hair purple during a fight, a couple of weeks before she got her letter." James grinned. "Mum and Dad weren't too happy about explaining to Caitlin Walters' parents that the girls hadn't been experimenting with hair dyes under our roof. Anyway, Maddie didn't want to come here, she was too into the Muggle world, so Dad let her go to Muggle secondary school, and he coaches her in magic privately. My whole point is, I've seen the things she wears to her formal dances and stuff. I also know what a nightmare it is being dragged round to help shop for them – or, in my case, carry bags." He grimaced, and Lily laughed.

"You have an interesting family."

"My family is all like me."

"Insane?"

"You bet."

Rolling her eyes, Lily moved on. "Ok, so we have to sort that out later. Uh . . . decorations?"

James groaned. "Can't we just take a five-minute break? That was a very long piece of family history I just had to tell you."

Lily gave him a mock-angry look, and then sighed. "Fine." She slid down in her chair and stretched out. "Do you know what Sirius is planning for the contest finals?" she asked suddenly.

"No, Don't think he's even thought about it yet, to be honest." James let the chair fall forward again. "Why? Planning to leak secrets to Sapphire?"

"Maybe."

James sighed dramatically. "You know, it's a pity I wasn't chosen. I had a costume all planned."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What?"

"James Dean." James shot her another mischievous grin. "I can just see myself as a rebel without a cause."

"Hmm." Lily cocked her head. "Yeah, I can just see you in a tight white T-shirt and blue jeans." She laughed. "Pity he was a raving homosexual who was almost certainly HIV-positive." She grinned wickedly. "Unless you're trying to tell me something about you and Sirius . . . and all the girls are just decoys."

James put a hand to his heart in mock-horror. "Alas, you've discovered my deepest, darkest secret! Woe betide us all!"

"Uh, James? Don't say stuff like that. It just worries me." Lily was wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "Actually, you just created a rather sickening mental image. Are you sure you don't need therapy?"

"Always have done."

Once again, the room resounded with their laughter.

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A/N: Short chapter? nods Yeah, I know, a little. It's necessary though. You'll see…next time I update…In the meantime…review? puppydog face – readers recoil in disgust Okay, fine, so that didn't work. I order you to go review me! (excuse the fact that this sounds incredibly overbearing!)