Hey everybody! So, I've been working on this chapter for a while, but I've been really busy so it took me longer than usual to finish it. As usual I NEED your reviews. I'll remind you again at the end. Though I have to say I am very proud of my first paragraph. But that's just me, if you hate it it's fine, I'll still love it regardless. Oh boy, I'm having trouble keeping Lily and James still in that awkward "he doesn't like me" "she doesn't like me" stage. Eh, I'm rambling now, so just read it.

Chapter Eight: BlahBlahBlah

When we got back to the common room there wasn't a seat to be found. Everyone, and I mean everyone was there, talking about their new classes, discussing which teachers had assigned the most homework, and how tough they thought Professor Trout was likely to be. Girls were huddled around tables, their books open but ignored, shooting random boys quick glances before bursting into hysterics; The first years were awkwardly grouped together, trying to make conversation; A few fourth year boys were snickering in a corner, one of them holding something that looked suspiciously like a bra.

"Home sweet home, eh?" I said to Remus as he climbed through the portrait hole after me.

"What?" He yelled over the escalating volume of laughter and chitchat.

"Home. Sweet. Home, eh?" I repeated, raising my voice.

He rolled his eyes and grinned. "Looks like your mates are hanging around mine. Ready for battle?"

"Most definitely."

We fought our way through the crowd of people, stepping over students sitting on the floor, climbing over groups of chairs, using our elbows when necessary. One bruised shin later we were there. And, oh, the sex-god looked so good.

"Alright, Evans?" He said to me with that melting smile. James was sitting in a scarlet armchair, his left leg over the worn out arm, honestly looking like he had dropped from the heavens. He had taken off his cloak and rolled up his sleeves so that his biceps were showing, and holy Merlin was he built. Not like one of those creepo wrestlers or anything but nicely built, like enough to make you want to rip off his shirt to see if his abs were just as gorgey as his arms. He definitely hadn't been that built last year. Or had he? I was about to reply when I heard my name again.

"Lily! Oi, over here! Come on!" Macy was calling to me, making beckoning motions with her hands as Alice and Ariel behind her had nervous looks on their faces.

I thanked Remus once again and grinned apologetically at James, who looked a little disappointed but so lush.
I picked my way over Peter, who was laying belly-down on the rug in front of James and Sirius with his head on his open Charms book. As I stepped over him he raised his face in my direction, but James swiftly kicked him in the ribs before he could get a proper look up my skirt. I don't think that James knew that I had seen this, but it made my heart swell. He was defending my honor! How adorable!

When I got to the bit of rug where Macy, Ariel and Alice were sitting Macy grabbed my hand and forced me to sit down beside her.

"Okay, time to spill the beans." Alice whispered to me, "What did you-"

"Wait!" Ariel whispered, holding up her wand in a nonthreatening manner. "Muffliato."

"Okayyyyyyyyyyy." Macy said, her eyes suspicious as Ariel waved her wand in a circle, pointing outwards so that the spell would only affect those who came close to them.

"No one will hear us now!" Ariel said, her voice at it's normal volume. "One of my finer creations, definitely. Although it does bring back bad memories of Severus writing it down in his potions book and telling Avery that he made it up! As if!"

Macy gasped in shock and anger. "Why that little slime-covered git! Now I really want to kick him in the b-"

"So, you guys want to hear what I said to him?" I quickly interrupted her. They all nodded, even Macy, although she still seemed to be in an arse-kicking mood.

"Right. So, first I met him. Obviously." They nodded encouragingly. "And I was all confident at first, right? But when I saw him there I really didn't want to talk to him, but I did. And that was a good thing. I think."
"You thi-" Macy began to say before Alice shushed her.

I grimaced as I remembered his face, how happy he had looked when he thought I wanted to be with him again.

"Anyway, it didn't really go as planned. No, don't worry, I told him everything!" I hastily added as they all opened their mouths. "It was just... Well, he thought I wanted to, you know, come back to him."

"You're joking." Alice said, her voice incredulous.

"No," I continued, "I turned the corner and when I got to him he took my hand and kissed it and was all 'Thank you so much, I won't hurt you again, I swear it, I can put your heart back together with this broken shoelace blah blah blah."

Ariel raised an eyebrow. "It didn't work, though. Right?"

"Huh?"

"His arse-kissing."
I snorted. "Please, Ariel. I'm not that easy. I told him that we couldn't be together, that it would never work, but he didn't get it. I literally had to tell him that I didn't want to be with him, as a friend or anything else at all. I felt really bad about it because he looked so sad. I felt like the world's biggest bitch."

"No, Lily, that's still Roxanna." Macy assured me, patting my shoulder, "What happened next?"

"Well, he got all sad and I really wanted to hug him, but I didn't. I told him I was going to hang out with new people, and he got all sad and vulnerable looking, like an abandoned puppy or something-"

"A puppy who's rolled in shit with a conk the size of Texas." Alice whispered.

"-but then all of a sudden he starts accusing me of going out with James. And then, the moron, he tells me that he won't let me go out with James." My hands were flying all over the place in frustration. "I mean, who the hell does he think he is? My father?"

"He's a sad sack of sorry, slimy arse with little to nothing in the trouser department." Macy said as if it were obvious.

"Could not have put it better myself!" I applauded her, "Then I tell him that the Marauders are actually nice and he goes off on me again, yelling his stupid theory about Remus, telling me that he's going to kill me in the middle of the night or whatever, and I tell the basket case that he's obviously got some mental issues that need to be taken care of when Remus himself walks around the corner. And Remus and I pulled out our wands and backed away from him and ran to the common room as soon as he was out of sight."

Alice leaned forward, her face full of amazement. "How is Remus still alive?"

"Or not gushing blood and the very least?" Macy added. She looked around at Remus as if to assure herself that he was, in fact, completely well.

I gravely shook my head. "I've no idea."
Ariel bit her lip and looked at the carpet. "Wait, Lily, there's one thing I still don't get. You said you felt bad for him... I- does that mean- do you still fancy him?"

Macy tossed her chocolate brown hair and gave Ariel a look that clearly said I-can't-believe-you-just-played-that-card.

"Why would she still fancy him? There's nothing to fancy!"

"Well, it just sounded-"

"No, Ariel, you're right." I sighed, putting my face in my hands. "I think I do. I might. I don't know! It's-"

"Complicated." Alice and Macy said at the same time.

"Yeah."

Alice yawned and stretched her arms above her head. "Well, I can't talk about this anymore. Besides being tired, I haven't yet had a proper snog with Frank, so if you'll excuse me..." And with that Alice got up and walked over to Frank where she sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck.

I laid down on my back onto the worn carpet as Ariel raised her wand to perform the Muffliato counter-spell. With a deep sigh I turned my head to the side, and there the sex-god was, laughing with his mates and looking absolutely perfect.

"Do you think I even have a chance?" Macy sighed, mistakenly thinking that I was looking at Sirius.

"Of course you do, Mace!" Ariel assured her.

"You think so?" Macy sadly replied. I opened my mouth to reply but choked on the words as Roxanna and her minions approached the Marauders, their skirts very high, their manicured hands clutching boxes of Honeydukes candy. I glanced back to Macy and Ariel, who's mouthes were opened in silent gasps of protest, but whipped my head around when I heard the sex-god speak.

"What can we do for you fine ladies?" He said in that sexy voice of his.

Roxanna put her weight on her right leg and smiled devilishly. It was sickening.

"I'm sure you could do a lot for us," She purred. I heard Ariel make a gagging noise behind me. "But we were really hoping you could help us with this problem of ours. See, we've got all of this chocolate and no one to eat it with us."
Sirius grinned and patted his thigh. "Well, I think we can help you there."

Instantly Selene sat on his lap. Opening her box on chocolates, she plucked a piece out and put it into Sirius' open mouth. He chewed as Selene moved closer to him then made a thumbs-up sign to his mates. "It's pretty good, lads." He managed to say before he was offered another piece.

"Oh my God." I heard Macy moan, her voice muffled because she had clamped a hand to her mouth.

Ariel's face was full of disgust. "Well, at least James and Remus have the decency to look unhappy."

This was, to my immense relief, completely true. While Selene was feeding Sirius, Roxanna, Demeter and Mary had approached the rest of the Marauders. Roxanna, being the bitch of the century (as usual), sat on James' lap, leaning up so close against him that their faces were only inches apart. I wanted to melt the skin right off of her pretty little face, needless to say, but at least James looked as though he would rather be elsewhere. Demeter sat on Remus' lap, although she was allowing him to feed himself. Mary was sitting next to Peter on the floor, putting chocolate into his mouth, looking like she was being forced to smell a heap of dragon dung.

After a while I couldn't look anymore. I rolled onto my side, facing a revolted Ariel and a crushed Macy, suddenly realizing how tired I was.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." I told them as I heard Selene giggle 'Yes, I love the ones with cream.' I let out an annoyed sigh as I got to my feet, straightening my skirt and giving a small wave as Ariel nodded her head in farewell.

I made it to the girl's dormitory staircase when I heard someone call my name. I recognized his voice and turned, my eyes narrowed and a hand on my hip. James Potter was making his way towards me, stepping around chairs and tables and over people on the floor, leaving a disappointed Roxanna alone in his chair.

"Yes, Potter?" I said, trying to be polite, when he finally stopped in front of me.

He grinned at me, simultaneously making my pulse quicken and my temper shorten. He took a step closer to me, putting a hand in his pocket and running the other through his hair. Looking at me through his stupid glasses he said "Are you going to bed already?"

"Yes." I replied as I looked up into his handsome face, saying it almost as if it were a question.

He took another half-a-step closer to me. "Without doing any homework? That doesn't sound like the Evans I know." He took his hand from his pocket and brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. The gesture, reminding me of Severus, brought my temper to the surface.

I slapped his hand away, saying "Maybe I'm going to do it up there to get away from you and your chocolate feeders, or hasn't your puny, little brain thought of that?" I turned to go up the stairs but he jumped around me, spreading his arms so that each hand touched a side of the doorjamb, completely blocking my way.

"Are you jealous, Evans?" He asked me, the grin on his face growing even wider.

"No!" I responded a second too late due to the fact that I was staring at his fit, muscly arms.

He could tell that I was lying, I knew it from his expression, so I ducked under one of his arms and began to run up the stairs.

"Not going to work, Evans!" I heard him call up to me. I was halfway to my dorm when the stairs suddenly shifted, becoming a slick, stone slide. I wildly waved my arms, trying not to fall, but to no avail. I slid down the slide and landed, blast it, right into the grinning sex-god's lap.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" I cried, trying to scramble to my feet. James had his arms tight around my waist, keeping me from escaping.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you, Evans, and desperate times call for desperate measures."

I stopped my struggle and glared at him, angry at myself for enjoying my current position. "Hey, I know that we're friends now but this is not friendly behavior."

"Come on, Evans, if Roxanna and the minions are bothering you come up to our dorm to study. To tell you the truth, I'm getting a bit tired of chocolate myself, so I just might join you."

I stared into his hazel eyes, and it took all of my self control not to snog him right then and there. "Get real, Potter, I'm not that easy."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Evans?" He said, his face filled with mock alarm, "You think that I would make a move on you?"

I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged with a nod, his eyes darting to the ground as he did so. When he looked at me again his face was serious.

"Honestly, Evans, there will be little to no move making." I looked at him suspiciously and folded my arms. "Okay, no move making. And I'll let you have bed dibs."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Alright, but you have to at least let me get my books and such. I can't really do homework without them, can I?"

"Only if you promise to come back down here," the sex-god said, "And if you don't, you may wake up tomorrow morning to find all of your knickers M.I.A."

"You've already done that, idiot! Third year, when you stole some of our knickers and somehow they found their way into Sev's trunk!"

"Oh, right!" He cheerfully said, "Then you know the feeling."

"And fourth year, when you stole all of our bras and strung them all over the Christmas trees in the Great Hall!"

James grinned, his eyes misting over slightly. "Ah, that was an excellent night! To be honest, though, I was surprised that you were a size-"

I clamped a hand over his mouth. "Are we going to study or not, Captain Knicker-Stealer?"

"Uh-huh."

I took my hand off of his mouth. "Then let me up!" James let go of my waist and I climbed out of his lap, my face red with embarrassment.

Once I was in the safety of my room I collapsed onto my bed. Buggering freak bugger shit, what the hell was I thinking? I rolled onto my stomach and glanced over to the pile on the floor that was my school bag. Groaning, I looked away from it. I suddenly felt sick. My stomach flipped and twisted as if it were training for the gymnastic Olympics and my head began to spin. I must have gotten food poisoning or something because there was no way that James Potter's amazingly fit body was doing this to me. Especially not his bum. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, and with a deep breath I sat up. I glared at my bag, as if it was forcing me to study with the sex-god, and raised my wand.

"Accio."

Instantly it flew into my lap. I was unnerved at how high-pitched my voice sounded. As I swung around and got off of my bed I had a very strong feeling that I would regret this in the morning.

The sex-god was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. When he saw me he grinned.

"Wow, Evans, I didn't think you'd come back down."

"Well, isn't this just an evening of surprises then?"

He gestured to the stairs. "Ladies first."

As we climbed my heart began to pound even harder. It was so loud against my chest that I was sure James must have heard it.

I stopped at his door, nervously turning the doorknob. The door swung open.

"Wow." I sarcastically said, "You're all way too neat up here." I walked into the middle of the room, stepping over piles of clothes and other rubbish, accidentally kicking a bottle of what looked suspiciously like fire whiskey. I spun around, seeing James leaning against the doorjamb. Merlin, was he good-looking.

"I know! We've all complained to Remus, but for some reason he insists on putting his pants and socks in different drawers of his wardrobe." He pointed to a bed by the far left corner, the only one in the room which was decently tidy.

"Okay, Evans, pick a bed." The sex-god said to me.

"Excuse me?" I exclaimed, putting my hands on my hips.

James laughed, "Not what I meant! Don't you remember, I gave you bed dibs. For the studying. However, if you want to study the anatomy of the body I would be more than willing-"

"Oh, sorry, but I thought you also promised me no move making. And I'm pretty sure that you just made one."

"Just pick your damn bed."

I walked over to Remus' bed and dropped my bag to the floor before flopping down onto it's feather mattress. I looked around as James sat on the bed next to Remus', grabbing his bag from the floor. Remus had a poster of My Girlfriend is a Vampire over his nightstand, and a framed wizard photograph of a young boy and girl standing next to Webster Bengal, the chaser for the Falmouth Falcons, sat next to his alarm clock.

"You a Falcon fan?" James asked me, laying on his bed with his back against the headboard.

"Nah, I've always been a Puddlemere girl."

James grinned. "What do you know, Evans, we have something in common. Except for the girl part. I was scared for a moment that you were going to say the Cannons."

I opened my Charms book then glanced up at James. He was staring at me.

"What?" I asked him, my heart fluttering nervously, "Is there something on my face?"

"No," he replied, "You're just much more interesting than Flitwick's Charms essay."

I looked down in embarrassment. "I'm not quite sure what to say to that, so I'm just going to work on the essay."

I kept my eyes on my textbook and scratched a few lines of writing onto my sheet of parchment. But it was no use. I couldn't concentrate, not when the sex-god might be staring at me. I tried to read about the theory about Memory Charms, but I soon found that I had been reading the same line over and over again. Buggering freak, what the hell was wrong with me?

"What was that?" James asked me. I looked up at him. He still hadn't started his essay.

"Sorry?"

"You just said something."

I could practically feel the blood pooling into my face. "Did I?"

"Evans, do you need help? You're looking a little stressed out."

Of course I was stressed out, I was alone in a bedroom with James Bloody Potter! I had fully planned on telling him that I was actually very tired and that I should go back to my own dorm when I felt my mouth move of it's own accord.

"Um, sure."

James grabbed his own textbook along with some parchment, ink and a quill and sat cross-legged next to me. I thought that I would have one of those panic attacks, like the kind that Tuney got when I showed her my potions ingredients. But when James began to explain it to me, everything disappeared.

Okay, I know that sounds completely mental, but it's true. All of my nerves just melted away. I mean, it wasn't instant or anything, but as we discussed and wrote and looked up facts I began to actually enjoy working with him. Soon enough both of our essays were completely finished.

James smiled at me while he capped his ink bottle. "See, Evans, that wasn't so bad."

I smiled back at him. "No, I thought Memory Charms would be a lot more complicated."

He laughed, and gently placed his still-wet essay onto his bed. I dried the ink on mine with my wand before carefully rolling it up and placing it in my bag.

"Are you looking forward to Astronomy?" He asked me. He kicked his bag beneath his bed and looked at me.

"Yeah, I've always liked it. Guilty pleasure, I guess." I shouldered my bag but didn't move. I had to ask him. "So, why did you really take it?"

James turned to face me with his hands in his pockets. "Honestly?"

"No, the third lie would be fine."

"In that case, I took it so that I could check out Professor Hayley. But if you wanted the real reason, I'd have to confess that I am fascinated by it."

I took a step closer to him. "Really?"

"Yeah." I smirked as James looked to the floor, his face slightly pink. After a moment he looked back up at me, his eyes sparkling. "They're so beautiful, the stars. They tell so many stories. I mean, those stars, that moon, they're the same stars and the same moon that shone millions of years ago. They're the same stars and the same moon that will shine years after I'm dead."

Suddenly the dormitory door banged open. We both jumped as Diego and Remus came it.

"How's the studying going?" Remus asked as he approached us.

"It was going just fine until you came in." James grumbled. Remus smirked at me before sitting on his bed, tossing his bag onto his trunk.

"Well, I'd better go." I said to James. He shrugged and walked me down the stairs to the girl's staircase. "Thanks, by the way. It was actually nice working with you."

I blushed for what felt like the millionth time as James grinned down at me. "Like you said Evans, night of surprises."

"Night, James."

"Sweet dreams, Lily."

I was on the sixth stair when I heard him call my name. I turned, half expecting him to fall to his knees, proclaiming his undying love for me.

But he didn't. He just smiled that sexy smile and ran a hand through his messy hair.

"If you ever tell anyone what I said up there, I'll regrettably have to kill you."

I couldn't help but smile as I locked my lips and threw away the key.

REVIEW ME! Wow, that sounded desperate. I don't care, I'm begging you, REVIEW ME!