A/N: Rather than paying attention in chemistry class, I'm writing this chapter. Huge thank you to everyone reading this. You guys have given me more than 100 views in the last 3 days. I'm really excited for this story, especially now that James and Lily have made up. This chapter was really fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. There's a lot of Lily's perspective in this one, but I promise, there will be more James in future chapters!

Disclaimer: If you think I own Harry Potter, you're an idiot. Go away.

Chapter 7

(James)

James awoke the next morning to a very annoyed-looking Sirius.

"Oi," he yelled. "Where the hell did you go last night, Prongs?"

James squirmed under his glare.

"Well, I—er—was in McGonagall's office."

"Because...?" he pressed.

"Because I may or may not have socked Snivellus."

Remus, who had been listening from his bed, groaned as he put his head in his hands.

"Why do I get the feeling this has to do with Lily?" he muttered.

James shrugged.

"What did he even do?" Peter piped up.

"Dunno."

Remus sighed.

"You don't know, yet you hit him?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Sirius, James noticed, had been exceptionally quiet.

"Padfoot?" he chanced.

The corners of his lips quivered for a moment, and he suddenly erupted into a roar of laughter.

"Prongs, thats—that's bloody brilliant," he gasped.

James could not help smiling, himself.

"Yeah. McGonagall let me off pretty easy, too. Detention with her Friday."

This brought a new wave of hysterics to Sirius.

"So let me get this straight," the Marauder clarified. "You got to sock one to dear old Snivelly, and got off nearly Scott free? Merlin, Prongs, teach me your ways!"

"Don't encourage him, Padfoot," Remus said. He turned to James. "Does Lily know about this?"

James shook his head.

"No," he answered. The memory of the exchange in the Common room abruptly flooded his mind. "But get this: Evans was still up when I came in. She stopped me, and she—she apologized."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Of course she did," he said. "We were all practically taking bets on how long it would take."

James was confused. He looked around the room at his fellow Marauders, all of whom were looking at him as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Come on, Prongs," Peter said, "It's Lily bloody Evans. DO you really think she could talk to anyone the way she did with you without feeling guilty?"

"But I deserved every bit of it!"

"Maybe you did, maybe you didn't," Sirius chimed in. "Either way, it doesn't really matter. Evans has a conscience that's even bigger than her temper."

James sighed.

"So, what?" Remus asked. "Are you two okay now?

"Yeah," he answered. "I suppose so. She said...she said she wanted to be friends with me."

Sirius snorted.

"James Potter and Lily Evans, friends? There are only two ways that can end up, and once of them involves the Killing Curse."

James grabbed his tie from his dresser and loosely knotted it around his neck.

"And the other?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Sirius smirked. "But I call dibs on best man at your wedding."

"Prat," James laughed, rolling his eyes. "Let's go get some breakfast, yeah? I'm starving."

(Lily)

Lily's stomach rumbled as she walked down to breakfast. She was regretting not eating anything at the feast the night before. She yawned. She was also regretting staying up so late. She hadn't fallen asleep until well after one, and well after one, and was already feeling the effects of her insomnia.

"Are you alright, Lily?" Alice asked. "You're awfully quiet."

"I'm fine," she lied. "Just tired, is all."

The memories of her confrontation with Snape were still weighing heavily on her mind. She had not told her friends about the incident, and they did not press her for information. She didn't see a reason to complain about her problems when they didn't make a difference in the situation. As far as they knew, Lily and Snape had not been friends for a few months now. Last night's argument had done nothing to change that.

When they reached the Great Hall, students were already lining up to get their timetables. Lily groaned. Now she had to wait even longer for breakfast.

"Evans!" someone called out.

She scanned the crowd, searching for the source of the voice. At last her eyes landed on a tall boy with untidy hair and thin-rimmed glasses. James Potter was waving an arm in the air, beckoning to Lily.

She approached him, wondering what on Earth he wanted. Mary and Alice eyed her curiously, but said nothing. He grinned when she came near.

"Jus thought you might want to save some time," he explained, moving over to give and her friends space in line.

"Oh," she said. "Thanks, Potter."

She glanced at the students behind her. A few stared enviously, but no one dared to call out James Potter.

"So, er, what classes are you taking?" he asked.

"N.E.W.T. Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Arithmancy. You?"

"Same here, only no Arithmancy," he said. "I'm taking Divination."

Lily laughed and said, "That class has to be the biggest load of rubbish in the history of loads of rubbish. Trelawney couldn't even predict what they're serving for supper this evening; she's just a big old fraud."

James smirked.

"Exactly," he said with a grin. "Easy pass, and nothing makes me laugh more than the nonsense she comes up with. Usually it's something like, 'James Potter, you are in grave danger.'"

She snickered. Lily recalled her own death omens given by Trelawney back in her third year.

Their laughter was interrupted by McGonagall's sharp voice.

"Your timetable, Mr. Potter," she called. James took the parchment and turned back to Lily.

"Well, suppose I'll be seeing you around then," he said.

She nodded with a smile, and he left to join his friends.

McGonagall flipped through the stack of parchment until she landed on the one with Lily's name.

"Ah, here we are, Miss Evans."

She handed Lily the parchment and moved on to Mary and Alice. She briefly skimmed today's schedule while she waited.

8:00: Free Period

9:00: Double Potions – Slytherin

12:00: Lunch Period

1:00: Herbology – Hufflepuff

4:00: Transfiguration – Gryffindors only

Lily smiled when she saw the free period at 8:00 a.m. With any luck, she'd be able to get some extra sleep some days.

Her enthusiasm faded when she spotted her second class. Potions with the Slytherins meant three hours of Snape. It had always been their best subject; Slughorn even call them his "star team." Lily wasn't sure she was quite ready to face him yet, but it didn't seem as though she had much of a choice.

Mary and Alice soon joined her.

"So when did you and Potter get to be so chummy?" Mary asked, raising a well-defined eyebrow.

"Long story short, I apologized, he forgave me," she explained. "We agreed to try to be friends."

Alice sniggered.

"That's likely," she said sardonically. "I give it two weeks."

Lily shook her head.

"No, I don't think it will be that way. Potter seems to have...grown up, I suppose."

Her friends exchanged skeptical looks, and Mary released a loud sigh.

"If you say so," she said. "But Lily, my dear, you have crossed over to the dark side."

"I have not!" she argued. "Just because I don't hate the boy's guts doesn't mean I'm going to start falling all over him, like every other bloody girl at this school."

"Oh, don't blame them, sweetheart," a voice said from behind her. "They just can't help but fall in love with me."

Lily turned to see the familiar grey eyes of Sirius Black.

"Always ever so humble, Black," she smirked. "What can I do for you?"

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Prat," she hissed.

He laughed and snatched the timetable out of her hands.

"Well, Lily dear," he said, his eyes scanning the parchment, "it seems you have Potions this morning with yours truly."

"Oh, joy."

"Transfiguration as well."

"Aren't you taking Herbology?" she asked.

He gave her a disgusted look.

"Ew. No. I hate plants. All they do is sit around in the dirt and soak up water that they can't even get for themselves. They're like...little green Hufflepuffs."

Lily laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Never fear," he continued. "You won't be left with a Marauder-free greenhouse. James has—for whatever reason—decided to subject himself to the torture that is Herbology."

"Are you lot already talking about me behind my back?" James joked, strolling up behind them. He grabbed the timetable from Sirius' hands and read the schedule. "Well, Evans, it looks as though we'll be spending loads of quality time together this year. Aside from the whole Divination thing, our schedules are practically identical."

Lily couldn't explain why this statement made her more cheerful.

"I smell a wager," Sirius mocked in a sing-song voice. "Any takers on how long it will take these two to kill each other?"

Mary and Alice didn't hesitate to chime in.

"I say two weeks," said Alice.

"I say two days," Mary countered.

Lily and James rolled their eyes.

"Come on, ladies," the latter insisted. "I think we're a bit more mature than that."

"Of course," Lily agreed, leering. "Potter's head isn't nearly as large as it was last year. And besides, it's been nearly a full day, and I haven't seen him hex someone once."

"No, but he did—" Sirius began, but James promptly shut him up with and elbow to the ribs.

"Class starts for you lot in a bit," he said. "Evans, you have a free period, yeah?"

She nodded.

"I'm headed down to the Quidditch pitch. I'd ask you to join me, but if I remember correctly, you aren't too keen on flying."

"You might say that," she admitted. She nearly shuddered at the memory of her first flying lesson. Snape had attempted to bewitch James broom to throw him off. Lily saw this and, for Merlin knows what reason, had switched brooms with Potter at the last minute. She had later regretted this choice when she was lying on the ground with her arm broken in four places.

"Alright," he said. "Then I'm off."

He, along with Mary, Sirius, and Alice, left the Great Hall. Lily's eyes followed the messy-haired boy all the way out the door.

(James)

James sat on his broom, high above the Quidditch pitch, his eyes scanning the surrounding for a flash of gold. He was a Chaser, not a Seeker, but on days when he had some free time, he found something about mindlessly flying relaxing. He could think without interruption, while doing what he loved most. It was taking him longer than usual to spot the Snitch today, probably because he couldn't seem to get a certain redhead off his mind.

James found Lily's apology particularly puzzling. It seemed so...out of the blue. Then again, upon thinking it over, he decided it explained her strange behavior on the train. But it still didn't explain why she felt sorry. James had been a complete arse to her, and everyone else for that matter. He didn't resent her for the outburst; if anything, he was thankful for it. THat was what had truly opened his eyes, and he was now really trying to be a better person. He hadn't hexed anyone, and he was even trying to stop his hair-ruffling habit.

He checked his watch. 8:45. He supposed he should head back to the castle. Potions started in fifteen minutes, and they were all the way on the other side of the school.

His feet slammed hard on the ground as he landed, grabbing his attention.

Bugger, he thought. That's strange. My landings are never rough.

He shrugged off the thought, grabbed his books out from under the bleachers, and made his way to the dungeon.

(Lily)

Lily sat in the Common Room, reading the same book she had last night. The Three Musketeers was one of her favorites. There was a character, Athos, that she could never seem to figure out. She really wanted to like him, as he was an honorable man, but his sour outlook on life was a real issue.

Rather like Snape, she thought. Snape...DAMN!

She glanced at the clock. 8:57. She had three minutes to get to the dungeons on the other side of the school.

Lily grabbed the books she needed off of the end table and stuffed them into her bag. She hurried out the portrait hole and down the corridor. Her rapid steps echoed off the stone floors, catching the eyes of a few first years and causing scowls from one or two teachers. At last, her feet reached the cold, hard steps that led to the Potions classroom. She flew down them and pushed the heavy wooden door a little too firmly, creating a loud smack as it slammed into the adjacent wall.

The entire class stared at the commotion she had just made. A few Slytherins sniggered at her from the back of the room.

"Glad you could join us, Lily," Professor Slughorn said, shooting her a wry expression.

"Sorry, Professor. To be perfectly honest, I just lost track of time."

He nodded and gestured for her to take a seat. Her eyes scanned the room. She was the last to arrive, and the class had very few available seats remaining. Snape caught her gaze and stared at her pleadingly, his eyes briefly flickering to the vacant stool next to him. She quickly broke eye contact and continued searching the room, eventually locating another empty seat...right next to James Potter.

She approached him and set her books down on the desk.

"Er, do you mind if I..." she began.

"Oh, no, by all means," he said, moving his books to clear more space for her.

"Now I hope that you've all chosen seats that you are comfortable with," Slughorn announced, "because the person sitting next to you will be your partner for the rest of this semester. You will both be collaborating on a large project that will make up thirty-five percent of your final grade."

The class groaned.

"The project will consist of fifteen correct brews of your choice, each with a difficulty level of at least four stars, and essay on a potion's history on no less than eight feet of parchment, and a presentation on an ingredient's uses and history during the last week of term. How you choose to schedule this is up to you, but allow me to give you a word of advice: do not procrastinate. This is not a project that you can merely put off until the night before. Now that that's out of the way, you may begin."

James sighed and turned to Lily.

"I'm going to forewarn you," he said, "I'm rubbish at potions."

She gasped in mock surprise.

"The Great James Potter, not good at something? Oh dear. Say that again, and the planet might implode on itself."

He laughed.

"I know it must be a shock to you," he retorted. "So, where should we start?"

She skimmed her textbook's table of contents.

"I think Polyjuice Potion would be a good starting point," she decided.

They gathered the necessary supplies and set to work. James crushed a bezoar into a fine powder, while Lily carefully measured out Essence of Murlap. As they toiled and chatted with playful banter, they failed to notice the looks they received from around the room: expressions of curiosity from fellow Gryffindors, wary glances from Mary and Alice, and furious glares from a greasy-haired Slytherin.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! It was a busy week, and I just didn't...feel inspired (bet some reviews would help with that *wink wink*). But it's up! Enjoy!