Disclaimer: Although I am flattered that you think that I am J.K. Rowling, I sadly must inform you that I indeed do not own anything but the plot.
Before this chapter starts, I want to thank Fantabulicious xx3 for being a regular reviewer. Thanks for the awesome compliments! I'm glad you like the story so far!
Lily was curled up under a blanket on a couch by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room reading one of her favorite books from the Muggle world, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Her head was resting against the shoulder of Remus, who was sitting next to her, reading Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, which he had loved ever since it had been an assignment in Muggle Studies class. No one else was in the common room, as it was late. Exams were finished, and the seventh years were using the free time to do everything that they had wanted to do over the past seven years. This involved a lot of staying up late, breaking of the rules, and all around misbehavior.
Remus sighed and closed his book. "Lily?" he said softly.
"Hmm?" she replied dreamily, still absorbed in her book.
"Can I talk to you?"
"Of course, Remus." Lily marked her page, closed the book, and laid it on her lap. "What's on your mind?"
"Well," said Remus hesitantly. "It's James. He's been acting a bit… funny... since the dance, and I was wondering, do you know anything about it?"
Lily was startled. She had not expected to him to want to talk about this. The truth was, she had noticed it, too. The way he didn't look up from his breakfast, how he would sit quietly in the corner until Sirius noticed him and dragged him off to do who-knows-what to some unsuspecting victim.
"Well," she began slowly. "I suppose it could have something to do with Carissa dumping him in front of the entire school because she had a horrible time, couldn't it?"
"I thought of that. It just doesn't
seem that likely. I mean, James never liked her very much anyway. I
understand that he was responsible for that purple rash she got back
in fourth year."
Lily looked up at him in surprise. "Really?
I never knew that."
"Oh yes," said Remus with a small smile on his face. "That and the blue hair, the buck teeth, the horrible odor, just to name a few. Of course, she never suspected him."
"Huh," said Lily. Inside, it gave her a warm glow to know that Potter disliked Stewart as much as she did. "So what was your theory?"
"Well," began Remus, "Judging by the fact that he has been rather distant with me as well, I kind of thought that it could be that he thinks that we are, uh, well, dating." Remus was no longer smiling. On the contrary, he looked rather awkward.
"Oh!" Lily was taken aback. Potter thought that she and Remus were dating? But they were just friends! She felt a sudden pity toward James Potter. According to Remus, he had fancied her for six years. Six years! And all of a sudden she asks one of his best mates to the last dance ever! She sat quietly for a while consumed in her own thoughts, and Remus sat consumed in his.
"Well," said Remus after a few moments of silence, "I could be completely wrong, of course. I mean, there could be a million other reasons why-"
"No," interrupted Lily quietly. "No, I think that you hit it dead on. James is jealous. Jealous of you."
They sat in silence for a while longer.
"So, what do you think we should do about it?" asked Remus tentatively.
"Do?" asked Lily incredulously. "I'm not sure if there's anything that we can do about it. We aren't dating, so there's no logical way for us to break up. You say that he isn't really talking to you, so it would be kind of difficult for you to discuss it with him. What do you think we should do?"
"Well, I had the idea, that maybe if you tried talking to him-"
"No. Absolutely not. I refuse to talk to that boy, he is just too immature. I mean, can you believe that Dumbledore made him Head Boy? It should have been you!"
"Well, Lily, if you haven't noticed, James has grown up a lot. He doesn't curse Snape anymore, he doesn't ask you out constantly, and he doesn't brag about himself anymore. He really has grown up a lot."
"Even still," protested Lily, "There is no way that I can talk about the subject of us dating. It would be mortifying beyond belief. Are you sure that Sirius can't talk to him?" Lily was desperate.
"No way, Lily. Padfoot is taking James' side in this battle, there's no way that he would want to play peacemaker."
Lily groaned in exasperation. Was Potter really going to ruin the last couple weeks of school for her?
"Please, Lily," said Remus softly, looking directly into her eyes. "Please, just try."
What else could she do?
"Okay," she whispered.
A/N: What do you think? Starting to get more of a hint of where the story is going? Please review and tell me what you think, or better yet give suggestions! Sorry that this chapter was so short, I got the idea at 10:00 at night (it is now 11:00) and I am wicked tired.
