Hello ^_^

Thank you so much, Tiva-Babe UK, Goldpen, and lisa! You are super-cool mega-awesome for taking the time to submit reviews!
Thank you for your encouraging words. I really appreciate it! :D

Here's the next chapter. And please, let me know what you think!

~MissChievous13 ^_^

Chapter 5- The Other Side

"Lily? Lily! LILY!"

"Jeez, Potter! What the hell do you want?" Lily yelled groggily as she sat up in her bed.

"I just wanted to let you know that there's about half an hour left in breakfast," James said, fiddling with his round-rimmed glasses.

"What?" Lily jumped out of bed. "Oh, thanks," she said a little more calmly as she began to 'shoo' him out the door. "I've got to get ready!" She snapped the door shut and changed her clothes, grabbed her wand, shoved the necessarry books into bag, touched up her conservative make-up, and sprinted down to breakfast.

Lily spotted Kat and Ali near the Marauders and plopped down across from them. "Hey girls." Lily said.

"Hey Lily," Ali began. "How are you so late? You were already gone when we woke up. You've only got, five minutes before we need to start walking."

"Lily! Slow down before you hurt yourself or someone else!" Kat said giggling. "You do know that you can carry some of that food with you in your hands, don't you?" Lily couldn't respond because multiple pieces of dried toast were restricting the movement of her mouth. Kat laughed at her, "Here's your schedule, but we have pretty much the same classes anyways. Except this afternoon, where I'm sure you'll be all alone with the Marauders."

Lily looked at her schedule, and saw that again, her classes began at 8:00am, which for Lily had been the case every year of her schooling. She had never gotten her break first period, but she saw that today she was done by 3:40pm. Each class was an hour and 15 minutes long with a ten minute passing period. Today she had:

8:00am – 9:15am: Herbology
9:25am – 10:40am: Transfiguration
10:50am – 12:05pm: Transfiguration
12:05pm – 12:55pm: Lunch
1:00pm – 2:15pm: Defense against the Dark Arts
2:25pm – 3:40pm: Defense against the Dark Arts

"Wow, easy day today!" Lily announced surprised. "Great classes, don't you think?" Lily asked her friends.

"Yup!" said a voice from behind. "We're in a-a-a-a-a-all the same classes!" James informed her. James and Lily had been in the same classes since their first year. James, of course, being completely infatuated with Lily, and being a Marauder, dug around fifth year and asked Lily's friends what classes she was trying to get an O.W.L. in, so that he could see her all the time. Lily wormed it out of her friends what James had done, but by that time, it was too late to change plans.

Lily looked up at him and said, "What a surprise that is." James of course took this positively, smiled and walked away. Lily turned back to her friends to see one smirking and one astonished face. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have a flobberworm in my hair or something?" Lily felt her hair with a worried look.

"Lily, are you feeling alright?" Kat put her hand up to Lily's forehead.

"Yeah," Ali added looking worried. "I think maybe we should get you to the hospital wing."

"What are you talking about? You're acting as if I've done something horrible!" Lily laughed. "What on earth are you two thinking?"

"You… you're… well you…" Ali tried but looked unsure as how best to state it.

"You didn't rip off James Potter's head!" Kat finally exclaimed. "It's almost as if you don't completely loathe him!" Kat's eyes were as wide as sand dollars.

"Yeah!" Ali exclaimed finally finding her voice. Then her next words were really quiet. Lily had to strain her ears to hear her. "It's almost like the opposite. Not that that's a problem, but it's as if you like—"

"WHAT?" Lily exclaimed so loud that whatever students were left lagging in the Great Hall turned their heads to stare at the girl whose voice just echoed across the Great Hall.

"Okay Lily, chill. It was just an observation," she said in an aggravatingly calm voice.

"Oh my gosh! We need to go!" Kat interjected. The three girls jumped up and headed for the greenhouses.

"No! You tell me right now Miss Aliena Megan Short! What could possibly drive you to say such a stupid and completely untrue thing?" Lily chased after her friends who had begun almost running across the grassy hills. It was a good thing the three of them were in Herbology together, otherwise Lily would have followed her friends right to the wrong class in her fit of rage. "I mean, sure I didn't yell at him, but I wasn't exactly nice! If I was nice, then you could start having these delusions."

"Lily, just calm down, okay? She didn't—" Kat pleaded.

"Kat! Just—" Lily began, but cut off abruptly as soon as she realized where she was. Class had not yet begun, but seeing as it was the first day, students were already sitting in their seats around the large, center, grimy, dirt caked table. Everyone stopped talking and waited to hear what Lily was going to scream next. Embarrassed, Lily took a seat towards the back of the table surprising everyone, as she was usually seated almost on top of Professor Sprout.

Lily had a little difficulty focusing on the lesson in the beginning of class because she was thinking about what her friends had said. Was she really going soft on Potter?

Lily was so upset with her friends that she did not speak to them through almost the entire length of the class in which they were expanding on their knowledge of the magical properties and uses of murtlap. The only time Lily broke her stoic silence was when the Marauders pulled a prank on Jason Finch which involved tripping him and falling into a tub of undiluted murtlap essence which made him numb wherever he was touched. Though she didn't join in the laughter, even Lily had to agree he deserved it. After all, he did stick a murtlap root in the bottle of water Frank Longbottom had been drinking.

"Come on Lily." Ali pleaded. "You can't honestly be mad at me. I mean," Ali hesitated, making Lily grow more impatient. "I mean, unless, I was right?"

"Ali. Will you please, just drop it?" Lily said in a low dangerous voice.

"Fine, fine," and mercifully, Ali gave up.

Transfiguration went along without anymore fights between the three girls. They didn't talk much during the first half of their double period, but during the practical part, they had a great time bad mouthing the Slytherins that were in the class. They were attempting non-verbal transfiguration of a candlestick into liquid wax. One of the Slytherins managed to liquefy the candle stick, but at the same time, propelled it at his partner, resulting in an unwanted face mask. But the fun couldn't last the whole class. Professor McGonagall gave them so much homework to "celebrate" the beginning of classes, that even Lily groaned.

Despite the transfiguration homework, Lily and her friends ate lunch happily together. She made sure she hadn't spoken to or even looked at James Potter, just to get the point across to her friends that she did not like him. Taking a seat opposite her two gossiping friends, she began to serve herself some lunch. But soon, she realized how quiet they were, and when she looked up, she saw Kat whispering in Ali's ear. "Okay you two, spill it. What juicy gossip did you hear this time," Lily asked smiling with a sigh. Kat and Ali were always gossiping with each other.

"Huh? Oh nothing," Kat said unconvincingly, and she stopped whispering to Ali.

"Come on, we never keep anything from each other," Lily smiled trying to convince them to tell her.

"Really, it's nothing," Ali agreed nodding her head.

"Right. So, what classes do you have this afternoon?"

"Arithmancy and double Divination." Kat answered. "Hey, we'll be right back." Kat got up, grabbed Ali from her seat, and pulled her over to where the Marauders were standing, leaving Lily sitting by herself looking puzzled. To Lily's surprise, and confusion, Kat stood on her tip toes, and whispered something in Sirius' ear, which must have been rather interesting seeing as a huge mischievous grin spread across his face.

"Hey Lily," A voice spoke behind her.

"Oh hey, Heath! How is the first day of your third year so far?" Lily asked her brother. She had been so focused on what Kat was doing that she didn't realize his presence.

"Pretty good, actually. I really like Arithmancy. It's a lot more interesting than you told me it would be," Heath said.

"Yeah, it's pretty neat. But, you were always good at mathematics. It wasn't really my thing," Lily said as she gave her brother a soft punch in the arm.

"Hey Heath! Are you going to try out for the Quidditch team?" It was James Potter, captain and chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team coming to recruit.

"You mean, you think I should?" Heath asked astonished. "But I'm only a third year!"

"Well, if you're as good a flyer as your sister here, you should have no problem!" James sincerely said with a quick glance at Lily, who had been eating her lunch, but still listening attentively as the boys talked.

"Lily's a good flyer?" Heath said in disbelief. He had never seen his sister on a broomstick before.

"Is she ever! I saw her navigate around 20 students in barely half a minute once." James said in a low voice.

"Holy cricket!"

"Yeah, it was our very first flying lesson. And I've heard, flying skills run in the family," he added.

"Lily," Heath turned to her. "Why aren't you on the team?"

"Never tried out," she said.

"Why?"

"I've been asking her that since our second year," James shook his head. "But maybe I could convince at least one Evans to try out?"

"You don't have to ask me twice. What spots are open?" Heath asked, and Lily laughed at her brother's uncontrollable excitement.

"Well, there's one chaser position open, one beater spot, and the seeker position as well. If you play like your sister, you could be a fantastic chaser. But you're pretty scrawny, so you might be better suited for seeker. How would you like to work on your flying a bit more?" James continued smiling at Heath, but Lily caught him sneaking glances at her.

"I'd love to! But, I don't have a lot of experience. Just the times I've played here at school with Mikey," Heath answered while his excitement disappeared with each second of thought.

"Well, what if I took you out sometime this week? I'll give you a private flying lesson. Try-outs aren't until the weekend after next," James offered and smiled seeing the excitement return to Heath's face.

"You mean that?" Heath asked. James nodded his head. "Woohoo! That would be wicked! How about this weekend?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me. Just let me know what time, and we'll be set." James answered.

"Wow! You're the best! Hey Lily? Can we trade Petunia for James?" Heath asked half serious and half joking, though Lily knew it was more in the ballpark of 95 percent major wishing.

"Nice try, Heath," Lily answered smiling and giggling at the thought.

"Wow, thanks James. I mean, Head Boy, sir," Heath corrected.

"James, is fine," James laughed.

"Well, thanks James!" Heath turned to his sister. "This is almost as cool as the time you made the salt and pepper shakers dance across the table to Petunia," Heath laughed at the memory. "And then the owl dropped the letter right on her bangers and mash!" He shrieked with laughter, and Lily's embarrassed gaze shot in James' direction, praying that he wasn't listening. "I thought she would never stop screaming!"

"Okay, Heath. Time to go to class now," Lily began pushing him towards the doors.

"Thanks, James! See you later, sis," and Heath laughed all the way out the door.

Once again, James looked lost in a happy world only he could see. "You?" James began, shocked. "You? Lily Evans? Pulled a prank?"

"Alright get all of your high and mighty one liners in, but she deserved it. Instead of asking 'Lily' to pass the salt and pepper she asked 'the freckle-faced freak' to pass it."

"Aside from being impressed that you were able to say that so quickly, I agree. She certainly deserved it," James smiled, his face getting stuck in that same blissful look that scared Lily so much.

"Potter? Earth to Potter?" Lily clapped her hands.

"Oh, sorry," James snapped out of his daze.

"Well, now that you've rejoined us, here on earth, I just wanted to let you know that you didn't have to do that for Heath. But, thank you. He really loves flying, but we just can't. You know?"

"Don't worry about it. I want to take him out. He's one of the coolest kids I know!"

Lily giggled. "Well, thanks anyways. You know… maybe you're not so bad after all, Potter." With those words, Lily got up to head to her next class, but caught sight of her two best friends and realized that she was smiling. She rearranged her features into a scowl, shot a malevolent look at James's back, and stalked out of the Great Hall. But as she reached the staircase she heard James' voice chorusing "freckle faced freak" as fast as he could, and she had to smile again.

As she walked into her Defense class she spotted Severus, and automatically went to sit with him, but he broke her glance and turned away from her, and Lily remembered that they weren't friends anymore. Her eyes stung and her throat clenched, but she held her head high and sat at the empty table closest to her. Lily had genuinely hoped that Severus would forgive her so that they could be friends once more in their final year at Hogwarts, but so far it had not happened.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Marauders come into the class room. Sirius picked two seats perfect for mischief, so James sat right next to Lily, with Sirius still on James' other side, and Remus on the other side of Sirius. Peter sat a table behind them. Sirius nudged his table closer to Lily, so that James was closer to Lily, and she bet herself that Sirius, Kat, and Ali had come up with some elaborate and ridiculous plan to get her and James together. But Lily had gotten very good at ignoring people she didn't wish to talk to. She'd been practicing ever since she met James Potter.

Double Defense against the Dark Arts was a bit different from years past. The people in the class all chose to take the class instead of taking it because they were required to. Most students in the class were studying to become Aurors. With Voldemort on the rise, the magic community needed as many as they could get. In fact, their Professor had even been one, though now she was taking a short break from her work with the Ministry, "to educate a younger generation".

Professor Trallick was an odd woman. She had curly, black, shoulder-length hair, which had begun to sparkle with threads of silver. Her eyes were a dark grey blue. She talked about herself for a short while; she had been trading between fighting and teaching for many years. Her teaching record consisted of short stints at many different schools, and yes, she had obviously had to kill people in her line of work as a result of the dark times they were in.

Professor Trallick began class by asking the students to take out their books. As she did, she knocked her own book off the podium just as she gestured her students to open them to page three. Professor Trallick was very clumsy, but Lily felt that she was going to be an exceptional teacher.

The class went smoothly, and pretty soon, the ten minute break was before them. "Okay class. Stand up, converse, use the loo, but be back in ten minutes to begin the 'hands on' portion of class," Professor Trallick announced, as she knocked over a candle in her arm's length.

"Wow! She's a really great teacher," Lily said as she turned to James, only to find that both James, glasses askew, and Sirius were drooling on their books where the class had just been reading. Finding this both amusing and disgusting all at the same time, Lily, very carefully, took out every single book in her bag, which was a substantial amount seeing as she didn't have time to change books at lunchtime. She piled all of them on top of one another and slammed them as hard as she could onto the table in the space between James' head and Sirius' head.

"WHOA! Honestly woman!" Sirius exclaimed very startled and doing a bad job of hiding it. "Do you always choose to give heart attacks to your fellow students, or do you just hate me because I'm beautiful?" Sirius teased with a girly flip of his hair.

"Ha, ha," Lily replied sarcastically, "I truly wonder how you two don't fail all of your classes. And I still don't understand how you, Potter, managed to be Head Boy!" She turned to James, but suddenly realized he hadn't woken up. In fact, Lily noticed that he wasn't moving at all.

"James?" Lily shook his arm. "Come on, James, wake up. It's break time, you don't have to listen to anymore lecturing." Lily gave a half-hearted laugh. "James?... James!" Lily shook him harder and still no response. Thoughts raced through Lily's head. He would have woken up by now if he was sleeping. Could something have happened? "James wake up!" Lily shouted very near to James' face.

"You're supposed to kiss the sleeping prince," James whispered. Lily was so shocked that she tripped backwards, knocked over a table, and sent a book flying into a nearby set of glass phials. James and Sirius howled with laughter at James's joke, and other students laughed at Lily.

The look on her face must have said it all because James and Sirius stopped mid-laugh upon seeing it. Lily could not find the exact words to describe her extreme embarrassment at having the slightest ounce for James's well being and being made a fool.

"Lily Flower, I'm sorry-"

"Don't you 'Lily Flower' me anything," Lily said in a threatening voice that stopped James where he was. She shoved her hair out of her beet red face, shoved herself to her feet, repaired the phials with her wand, and collected her books. She felt so humiliated she could have cried, but that would have been even more embarrassing, so she struggled with all her might not to.

"Lily, I was only joking around…" James tried to explain absolutely horrified at Lily's reaction. A nervous hand rumpled his hair.

Lily snapped to face James, complete with flaming face and hair, "You are still the world's biggest toerag," she said, trying to whisper, so the whole class wouldn't be brought into their fight. She picked up her books and moved to the table furthest away.

Sirius was the first to break the silence with his usual way of coping with things: making a joke. "Wow! You really are the ladies man!"

"Stuff it, Padfoot," James spat. It was a tiny condolence to Lily, that James seemed to be in almost as bad of a mood as she was. For the rest of the class, Lily noticed that James was silent, which was a very rare occurrence. Even Sirius didn't push him to speak.

When the lesson ended, Lily headed straight for her dorm without a word to anyone. As soon as she got there, she plopped down in an armchair and started working on her Transfiguration homework. Fifteen minutes later, she heard James come through the entrance. "Lily?" James said tentatively. She didn't look up.

"What do you want now, Potter?" she snarled. "Come to embarrass me a little more perhaps? Or maybe you want me to get all scared again and worry like a sick maniac. Or maybe-"

"Lily!" James finally shouted over her. James set his bag on the sofa. "I just wanted to let you know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get upset or hurt."

"You could have fooled me. Oh wait. You did!"

"Honestly! I was just kidding around! Had I known that any of this would have happened, believe me, I wouldn't have done it."

"Potter! Just…Just leave me alone!" Lily stormed up to her room and slammed the door.

Lily uncharacteristically threw her bag in a corner of her room and flung herself onto the bed. James Potter had struck again. He had humiliated her once again. Lily's mind was a cyclone of maybes, and a-little's, and what-if's. Maybe she had started to ease up on him a bit. Maybe she didn't think he was rotten through and through. Sure, she hoped a little that they could be friends. It would help a little if they were nice to each other. But what if something terrible ever happens to him, and she didn't help because she thought he was joking. Or worse, what if he knew that she started feeling a little less than hatred for him. It would no doubt be the end of her.

She allowed herself a mini-tantrum of kicking and flailing with a yell of frustration, then she composed herself, took a shower, dressed in some comfortable clothes, and went back downstairs to do battle. But James was not there. So, she went back upstairs to finish her work.

"Hey, Lily," Kat greeted her friend as they sat down for dinner on the wooden benches. "How was class? We didn't see you in the Common Room after. Where were you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lily replied as she violently stabbed a piece of chicken.

Kat and Ali exchanged looks that portrayed "Oh no", and "Here we go again". As good of friends as they were, Lily was definitely the self-proclaimed loaded cannon. She knew that her temper was more volatile than the average person. And yes, sometimes she overreacted, but usually she could keep her cool. Unless it had to do with James Potter.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Ali pushed.

"Okay, look. I can put it into four words…" Lily said as she counted them on her fingers. "Potter—is—a—Prat! And though I could fill encyclopedias with insults, no I mean truths, about Potter, those four words very nicely sum up the thousands of pages otherwise needed." Lily said all in one breath, very calmly in her opinion.

"Just one question, " Kat said with a smile in her hazel eyes, and Lily glared at her friend.

"Um… one word." Ali smirked.

"Why?" Both Kat and Ali asked, with amused looks.

"Hmm, maybe it's because he's egotistical. Maybe it's because he's a jerk. Maybe it's because he thinks it's cool to constantly look like he just got off a broom." Lily could feel her temper rising, so she tried to calm herself. She continued in a whisper. "Or maybe, just maybe," Lily stopped for a moment, hardly believing she was admitting this out loud. But if she couldn't tell her friends, who could she tell? "Maybe, it's because I had the slightest fraction of a thought for his well-being, and he turned it around and made me fall on my arse! Literally, mind you…"

"You're okay though, right?" Kat asked, fighting back a smile.

"No broken butt bones?" Ali asked as she casually played with the ends of her long golden hair.

Lily finally allowed herself a small smile. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to yell at you two, but he's just so rude, and he makes me so angry. Don't you think he's arrogant?"

"I guess, but I don't think he's all that bad. . ."

"Hey, are you and James planning the Halloween Ball?" Kat cut in.

"I haven't heard anything about it yet." Lily answered. "Why? Do you two have any good ideas? You're both really good at that kind of stuff."

"Actually we have! Ali and I were thinking that—"

"The theme could be famous witches and wizards!" Ali said, unable to control her excitement.

"But there's a catch!" Kat began again excitedly. "If you have a date, you can compete in a couples' competition! We could set up games and have the couples battle each other to find out which famous witch and wizard couple, was the best!"

"Isn't that a great idea?" Ali waited until Kat was finished this time.

Lily laughed at the enthusiasm of her friends and agreed that it was a fabulous idea. Then, the memory of her last dance-date raced through her brain. Richie McCullaugh of Hufflepuff, had thought that at the end of the night, he was entitled to Lily's lips and his hand on her rear. But the fish-lip hex, and well played arm-locking curse, told McCullaugh that Lily did not agree. "Who will we go with?"

"Well, you know who each of us wants to go with," Kat motioned to herself and Ali, "We just need to find you a date."

"Yeah, that could be a problem." Lily said, now a bit depressed.

"You could go with Richie McFishy again," Kat teased.

"Great idea!" Lily laughed. "Though, I don't think he'd say 'yes'."

"What about James?" Ali said.

"Oh, even better idea!" Lily laughed harder. "Then we could all be in our perfect little group, and take pictures of our perfect little couples, and have a perfect little time!" Lily smothered her words in a full application of sarcasm.

"Sounds like the perfect little night!" Kat said, but her face was too serious for Lily's liking.

"Come on, Lily. It wouldn't be too rough," Ali pleaded. Lily thought her friends might have taken her a little too seriously, but she didn't dwell on it. She just spotted Potter leaving the Great Hall without Sirius. She could barely fill a hand with the number of times James went somewhere alone. He and Sirius were always together. They even went to the bathroom together.

"Sorry girls, I'll have to catch up with you later," Lily was annoyed to see that her friends exchanged an all-knowing look with each other before she left. But Lily didn't follow Potter. She had just remembered what the Headmaster had said to James. "A rough summer." Wasn't that what Professor Dumbledore had said?

"Hey, Sirius?" Lily tapped his back.

"Hey, Lily. What can I do for you?" Sirius smiled his "I'm good-looking-and-I-know-it" smile full force from his pearly whites to his baby blues, without a trace of fear. Obviously he had forgotten about the episode earlier in the classroom.

She sat down in the empty seat next to him. "I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to Potter this summer?"

Sirius choked on the cookie he was munching on. "Sorry?"

"The Headmaster said something about Potter having a rough summer, and I was thinking that since you lived with him, you'd be able to tell me what happened?"

He gulped down some milk, smoothed out his curtain of thick black hair, then took another cookie. He ate this one slowly, maybe so he wouldn't choke again, but after three minutes and only two nibbles of cookie, Lily realized he was stalling.

"You can't tell me anything?"

"I can tell you that he's changed a lot," Sirius offered. "He's gotten a bit more..." Sirius paused and thought some more.

"Idiotic?"

"No," Sirius said undisturbed.

"Dim-witted?"

"Nope."

"Reckless?"

"Grown-up."

Lily burst out laughing. "Potter? James Potter? More grown up? You're off your rocker," Lily stood up, still laughing.

"No, I'm serious!"

"Very funny. I know you are Sirius. But I'm not sure you know who Potter is," Lily shook her head, believing Sirius was still joking. "Grown up, honestly," she sniggered all the way out of the Great Hall, up the marble staircase, and to her dorm, not noticing the other students staring at her strange behavior.

"Sweet Tarts," Lily gained entrance into her common room.

"Hey Lily, I just—" James caught Lily off guard. She had almost been successful in ignoring him.

"You just what?" Lily interrupted him. "Want to embarrass me some more? Potter, I just don't feel like talking to you right now." She went straight to her room and started working on her Herbology homework.

Okay, you know what comes now. That awkward time when I must beg you to review my humble story.
I honestly value your opinions, so don't be afraid to share them with me. Good, bad, or otherwise, they'll be accepted.
But thank you for at least taking the time to read :)

Until next time... ^_^