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?)

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.

WARNING: This chapter contains some explicit language – you have been cautioned!

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Chapter 18: Week From Hell

The next week was completely hellish for the entire seventh year.

Professor Flitwick, who was usually known for being reasonably easygoing, came up with the 'bright' idea of having a mock NEWT exam, with both practical and theory, so that the students would be able to see how they were doing. Most unfortunately, many other teachers soon caught onto the idea, and soon, all the Gryffindor seventh-years could be seen studying feverishly in the common room that weekend for exams in Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology (in Lily and Emma's case), Astronomy (in Sapphire's case), and Potions. James was examining his Muggle Studies textbook, looking very much as though he would like nothing better than to blow it up explosively, while Remus reread his Ancient Runes notes over and over again, and Sirius recited lists of facts about Clabberts for Care of Magical Creatures as Peter tried desperately to find patterns in sticks thrown haphazardly over the floor in preparation for Divination. Lily too was tempted to go and jump in the lake when she looked through her Transfiguration notes, and complex models stared her right back in the face.

"Argh!" she groaned. "This will never work!"

"Shut up," Sirius said, breaking off in the middle of his list. "Clabberts have a red pustule that -" Beside him, Emma yawned widely, making no attempt to hide it.

"I give up," she said sleepily to the group at large. "If I do terribly tomorrow, I don't care. I'm going to bed. Anyone coming?"

Sapphire rolled up her star charts, looking relieved. "I was waiting for someone to say that so that I wouldn't look like the only lazy one."

"Hey!" Emma complained, swatting her lightly. "Coming, Lily?"

"Uh, yeah, in a minute." Lily slumped over her book as the other two walked off. "It feels like every time one thing sinks in, another fifty sink out."

"Lily, just go to bed. Live a little. Fail your exam." Sirius gave her a wicked grin.

Lily did not grin back. "Unfortunately for you, Mr Black, I am going to fail Transfiguration, so I need a decent grade in Herbology to make up for it."

"You're not going to fail," James said, lifting his head from his book to look at her. "We went over everything last week. You're fine with it, you just don't trust yourself right now. You'll be great when you do the test."

Sirius smirked, his Clabbert notes apparently forgotten. "What exactly is, uh, everything?"

Lily stared at him, her eyebrows raised. "Sirius, my temper is on a very short leash right now," she bit out, coolly. "I also have several sharp objects in my bag. Don't make me use them. On you. I would hate for you to be unable to experience the joys of parenthood."

"God," Sirius mock-whispered, as Lily packed away her books. "Talk about PMSing."

"Actually, that's not for three weeks," Lily said sweetly. She turned around to face Sirius, noting his gob-smacked expression for future amusement. "When this is all over, remind me to explain the exact meaning of PMS. Maybe then you won't use the expression quite so freely. 'Night Remus, James, Peter." She waved at Tom, in another corner, as she passed him by and disappeared up the stairs.

"Way to wind her up, Padfoot," Remus said, as he examined a rune chart.

Sirius turned around, still looking slightly shocked, and Remus glanced up and grinned. "I think he just got more than he bargained for."

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Callie was the first seventh-year to give way under the pressure. She burst into loud, hysterical tears on Tuesday during the Defence Against the Dark Arts theory exam, and had to be led out (sobbing rather over-dramatically, Lily thought).

Sapphire looked close to doing the same thing after a particularly stressful day on Wednesday, as Professor Stingrey breathed down their necks while they tried to make a fire-resistance potion. Seeing her expression as they came out, Lily dragged her out to the Quidditch pitch, and told her to just scream, and let all the tension out. Soon both girls' shouts were echoing through the air, and Lily was able to lead a much more cheerful Sapphire back in for dinner.

It was on Friday that disaster struck.

The first section of the morning was given to quiet study in the common room, where most of the occupants alternately revised and daydreamed of the evening, when exams would be over. After break, however, was their Charms practical exam. They entered the room and sat down, only to have Professor Flitwick announce squeakily that he would be putting them into pairs with someone they had not worked with before. Lily was paired with Flynn Spencer, a rather quiet and shy boy from Ravenclaw (despite Tom's hopeful glances at her). She was able to go through the lesson feeling fairly relaxed, as Charms was one of her better subjects. Sapphire, however, was paired with Sirius, and it was hard to say who looked more unhappy about this. By the time the bell went, Sirius looked royally pissed off, and Sapphire wore a thunderous expression that could have started World War Three. Flitwick released them at last, and people began to head for the door. Tom hung back to wait for Lily, but she, perceiving with alarm Sapphire's narrowed eyes and set mouth, waved him on, mouthing 'I'll catch up later.' She and Emma joined the queue to get outside, just behind the Marauders. Once they were outside, Sirius turned to Sapphire.

"Well, I suppose I have you to thank you to thank for a failing grade in Charms."

"Me? You're the one who couldn't even manage a simple Glamour Charm! It's just a damn illusion over the face, it's not that hard!"

"Like you were any better!"

"Mine disguised part of your face!" Sapphire shot back. "Yours didn't even get that far! And the whole Silencing Charm thing? That's OWL level, for God's sake!"

"Pity that didn't work. It would have shut you up!"

"You think you're so great!"

"So says Little Miss I-Think-I'm-All-That!"

"Hey, hey." James tried to intervene. "Why don't we -"

"SHUT UP!" both Sirius and Sapphire yelled, as one, at him. They resumed glaring at each other.

"You are so dumb."

"Likewise to you."

"Arsehole!"

"Slapper!"

"Prat!"

"Tart!"

"Excuse me?" Sapphire stared at him.

"Look at your skirt!"

Sapphire looked down at herself, then up again. "This is my school skirt, you prick!"

"So why's it so short?"

"Does it matter to you, dickhead?"

"My dick does have a head, actually." Sirius smirked at his own crude humour. "Not that you'll ever find out."

Sapphire looked at him in disgust. "Pervert!"

"Bitch!"

"You are such a scatterbrained idiot! It must be all that chicken you eat."

"That's pathetic! You eat it too!" Sirius said angrily.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Do I? I'm a vegetarian, Black. Strange how you've been in the same house and year as me for nearly seven years, and still don't know that. Did your mother never teach you about the importance of observation?"

Sirius went almost white, and his face contorted into an expression of fury. Lily and Emma stared in horror. He looked as though he was about to hit her.

"Screw you!"

"No, screw you!"

Sirius made a rude gesture at her, and Sapphire responded in kind before turning her back on him and stalking off. Sirius glared daggers at her retreating figure, before setting off at a fast walk in the opposite direction. Lily, Emma, Remus and James were left in the middle of the corridor, looking helplessly at each other.

Remus sighed. "You know, one day, we'll probably be sitting around . . ."

". . . and laughing our heads off about this?" Emma finished.

"Exactly."

'But until then . . .' Lily began, looking resigned to her fate.

" . . . see you," they all said in unison, and Remus and James darted down the corridor after Sirius, while Lily and Emma hurried after Sapphire. They caught her up in a passage near the Great Hall, muttering furiously under her breath.

" . . . good-for-nothing, fucked-up bastard who needs a life . . ."

"Hey, isn't that a bit harsh?" Emma admonished, as they fell into step with her. "He's not that bad."

Sapphire looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Did I see him calling you a tart, or a slapper?"

Neither Emma nor Lily could reply.

"Face it," Sapphire said bitterly, throwing the door to the Great Hall open. "He's an arrogant git who deserves to rot in hell, and that's that."

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After lunch, their final exam was their Potions theory paper. Lily smiled at Remus as they made their way out. "That wasn't too bad."

"No," Remus agreed. "Nasty question on Wolfsbane, though – and it's still only in trial stages." He grimaced.

Lily lowered her voice. "Full moon in a few days?"

"Yeah." Remus sighed.

Lily sighed too. "Remus, I've been wondering . . . Emma doesn't know, does she?"

"No."

"Don't you think it would be better to – to tell her?" Lily suggested tentatively. "I mean, it's probably better if she finds out from you rather than from someone else."

"I don't know." Remus frowned slightly. "Sometimes, I almost do – I want to, but I'm worried about how she'll take it. I – I don't want to lose her."

Lily smiled at the genuinely scared tone in Remus' voice. "Remus, if she loves you, then it won't matter to her what you are."

"I'll think about it."

"Good."

A few moments later, Emma herself appeared, and began to talk to Remus, so Lily dropped back next to Sapphire. Fortunately (for Lily and Emma, who had been forced to listen to her bad-tempered ramblings all through lunch, while James and Remus looked to be doing the same thing with Sirius) the exam had been fairly good for her, and they discussed their answers contentedly.

The only awkward moment came when Tom found her in the Gryffindor common room and asked if she wanted to celebrate with him that evening.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tom," Lily exclaimed. "If you'd only asked me ten minutes ago . . . Emma just made me promise I would celebrate with her tonight." She conveniently refrained from mentioning the fact that Emma would be with her boyfriend, and therefore his friends . . . in other words, the Marauders.

"Oh," said Tom, clearly disappointed. "Ok then. See you on Sunday."

"Yeah," Lily said uncomfortably. 'I really am sorry, Tom."

"S'okay." Tom waved a hand carelessly. "Friends first, as always. That's one of the things I like about you." He gave her an admiring look. "You're so loyal. Anyway, see you around."

And that was that.

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Nine o'clock that evening found Emma, Lily, Sapphire, Remus, Sirius, James and Peter lounging on chairs around the fire, talking and laughing merrily, with bottles of Butterbeer and snacks of every kind strewn around. (Sirius had refused to answer, claiming that he "had a right to remain silent" when Lily had questioned him about where they had come from. She had a sneaking suspicion that James had had a hand in procuring them as well; his guilty-as-charged look and attempt to hastily divert the subject had not escaped her.) The hostility between Sirius and Sapphire had cooled down to almost its usual level of Sirius taunting Sapphire and Sapphire ignoring Sirius. Well, for the most part. Perhaps Sirius' comments were just a little more barbed than usual, but there was no need to point out the obvious, and nothing would make him stop.

"This is bo-ring!" Sirius whined. "We should be talking about something fun."

"No more sugar for you, Padfoot," James said firmly. He leaned over and snatched the Chocolate Frog out of Sirius' hand. "I know that tone of voice all too well."

The others laughed as Sirius lunged after it. "Hey! Give that back!" He narrowed his eyes. "Blackman will not rest until justice has been served, and the chocolate has been returned to its rightful owner." He leapt onto James and wrestled him off his chair and onto the floor, trying unsuccessfully to grab the Frog that James was holding just out of his reach.

"Blackman?" Sapphire was choking with laughter. "Sounds like Batman to me . . . although the boy is batty, so that might explain it."

"Muggle superhero from comic books," Lily explained to the others, watching as Sirius pummelled James' chest in an attempt to weaken him – how exactly, Lily was not sure.

"Uhm, Sirius?" Peter managed through his laughter. "You do realize there was a pile of like, five of those right next to your chair."

"Peter!" James yelled from his place on the floor. 'Shut up!'

It was too late; Sirius had heard. "Yay!" he yelled happily. Climbing off James, he flung himself back on his chair and picking a Frog up, bit off its head. James followed more slowly, rubbing his arms.

"Padfoot, you need a diet. You're heavy."

"I resent that. What if I end up bulimic tomorrow because of what you said?" He pouted.

As one, everyone burst into more laughter.

"You look like a sick monkey right now!" Sapphire giggled.

Bad move.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You look like a sick monkey all the time, Heathleigh, so I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know," Lily said hastily, trying to head off the oncoming argument, "If someone told me this time last year, that I would be hanging out with you guys and enjoying it, I would have personally escorted them to the Hospital Wing and told Madam Pomfrey they had lost their marbles. But look at me now."

"I am insulted!" Sirius cried. Remus spoke over him.

"Times change, Lily. People change." Was it Lily's imagination, or did he sneak a quick glance at James as he said this?

"You people are so boring," Sirius complained. "Let's play a game." His face lit up. "Spin the Bottle!"

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A/N: Ok, a thousand and one apologies for how long it's been since I updated. I had BIG exams, which took away all my time (yes, that's my excuse for everything I don't do right now, and I'm using it shamelessly, as I pointed out to a friend), and they are now over :jumps up and down, singing: Anyway, with any luck, updates will now speed up a little, until I go on holiday (sometime in the near future, I think). Thank you to all the people who reviewed or emailed me, telling me to get up off my lazy arse and post this chapter – for once in my life, I actually LISTENED to someone. Now, a review would be welcomed...just to tell me that I've haven't been forgotten...(hints very unsubtly by pointing at the purple 'review' button in the corner of the screen).