A/N: I think I'm just going to quit saying "next chapter up soon" or "sorry for the wait", because each time I do, there's a longer wait between new chapters. Sorry. It's the return of James and his new found sense of good will, enjoy.

After calling in at Gryffindor Tower, the Great Hall and the Owlery, James didn't know where to find Lily, so he'd decided to roam the castle and just hope to find her.
He'd just about given up as he made his way down to the Quidditch pitch for that evening's practice, but to his surprise, Lily was waiting at the entrance to the changing rooms. He was surprised when she voluntarily approached him.
"Um, hey."
"Ah, hello…" He produced an awkward yet confused smile.
"I just, erm," she wrung her hands. "I wanted to apologise."
James took a step back, shocked.
"You want to apologise?! What for?"
"The other day, in the Quidditch stands… I was really rude to you. You… You were trying to make me feel better and I was horrible to you. I wanted to say thank you, too. You know, for trying."
"Lily-"
"I know that you're typically a complete arsehole," she interrupted, "but I guess I'm just too nice. I don't know what you're playing at, being nice to me, but I guess I should thank you for apologising. I guess I jumped to conclusions. I know you're a git but… I guess even you aren't horrible enough to have done that graffiti." James flushed red. "I've not really been myself, ever since…"
Her voice trailed away. James just stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Well, I've said what I wanted to. Goodbye, James." She gave him a small smile and set off back towards the castle.
James stood there for a few moments, taking in what had just happened. When he came back to his senses, he had the urge to call Lily back, to explain like he had intended to, to apologise again, but she had almost disappeared from sight by then.

He played poorly in his Quidditch practise, his mind on the ever worsening situation and his ever worsening guilt. He stayed behind in the showers after the others had left to mull things over.
It was going to be even harder for him to come clean now. He felt even worse because Lily didn't suspect him of the graffiti anymore; true, he hadn't done it himself, but he'd made Sirius do it for him. What really bugged him though, was the fact that Lily had voluntarily engaged him in conversation. He'd thought that she hated him, and here she was thanking him and being relatively pleasant towards him. What was she playing at? He sighed deeply before getting dressed and heading for the shrieking Shack.

When he arrived, Remus and Sirius were already there, sipping Butterbeers between moving their chess pieces. Remus noticed James' tired face immediately.
"What's up, mate?"
James acknowledged him with a short nod.
"No, I mean really, what's the matter? You look… troubled."
James sighed. "I couldn't apologise to Lily."
Swallowing a mouthful of Butterbeer, Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Why not? I thought you were hell bent on putting things right? What happened?"

James began to explain the events of that evening, while his friends listened intently. When he'd finished, Sirius looked just as confused as James had felt.
"So, what do you make of it?" James looked at both of his friends. The clever one and the womanizer. One of them must be able to make some sense of this situation.
After pondering for a short while, Remus asked, "Do you know if she's had any contact with Snape recently? You know, since they argued or whatever it was that happened?
"How on earth would I know?" James replied pointedly. "Why?" He added.
Remus rolled up his sleeves. "Because, you said she'd said that she'd not felt herself recently. Maybe she needs a shoulder to cry on."
"She's vulnerable, James, this is a great time to convince her to go out with you!" Sirius chimed in.
"I'm not going to take advantage of her, Sirius; I'm trying to fix things, not make them worse. I'd just be contradicting myself." Sirius pulled a face and turned away. "And, Remus, if she wanted a shoulder to cry on, why does she need me? She doesn't like me and I'm sure she's got other friends!"
"Yes, that's true… Perhaps everything is just overwhelming for her, and any shoulder will do? Or maybe that one act of kindness was enough for her to start to like you?"
"Hardly," Sirius scoffed, "My advice is that at the next chance you get, just do what you planned to do, and tell her everything! The more you put it off, the worse it'll get."
"He's right, James. Besides, if she's randomly taken a liking to you now then who knows, she might not be too fussed about what a prick you've been to her these past few months!"
"Yeah, maybe…"
" I was joking, James. She's going to hate you."
James threw his face into his hands and let out an angry yell. "Why is this so confusing?!"
Sirius winked. "That's girls for you, mate."

A/N: I'm trying to stop this from turning corny. It's hard. I'm trying to make this original too but I'll bet you guys will figure out the ending before I've written it. Not far to go now. A few more chapters. Hopefully. Review and anticipate! (Although not too much, you story-ruining dweebs)