Still January 28th, 1977

James Potter was not a patient person, at all. He sat in the one of the nooks within common room, a spot next to the curved window. The cold winter air blew in gently as he ashed his cig. He watched as a few students complete their homework; a couple whispering secrets to one another on the couch; and few played Exploding Snap opposite from him. It was a normal Friday night for everyone else and their friends, except for James.

It was supposed to a meeting involving his fellow Marauders, Marlene, Lily, and himself but it seemed like it would just be Lily and James tonight. Marlene dedicated herself to setting up the party in the bathroom and enlisted Sirius' help, who obliged rather quickly. James sent Peter along with them to make sure that no funny business occurred. Lastly, Remus had last-minute surveillance rounds, covering for Hestia Jones, whom was taking care of the recovering Dirk Cresswell.

It didn't bother James, per say, to be left alone with Lily. A year ago he'd be jumping for bloody joy at just the chance to talk to her, without the possibility of being hexed. Now, it just sometimes became rather… tense. They'd bicker like always and share a laugh here and there, but there was still another element in the air. He'd catch her staring at him, eyeing him up and down, and when he did, Lily would snap her head away. He'd seen that look before; other birds had given him that once over. Most of the time they'd let their stare linger though, like fog after a rainstorm. Maybe he should bring it up to her, remind the bird that she was dating Head Boy.

But then again, who the fuck was he kidding?

Lily Evans was not interested in him. She was probably acclimating herself to the fact that she and James could be comrades, maybe even friends. For Merlin's sake, she's more or less helping him get with Camilla Henley.

"Fuck," James sighed as he took a long inhale, trying to breath in toxins instead of thoughts of redhead prefects.

"Long day?"

James snapped his head towards the gentle voice. He blinked a few times before his vision stabilized at the sight of Lily Evans. She looked tired as she rubbed her green eyes with the back of her hands.

"Yeah," James nodded as he moved his feet, letting her have some of the bench. "Seems like you did too."

Lily nodded as she plopped down. She tucked her feet under her legs, criss-cross style, and leaned her head against the glass window. She smiled as a gust of fresh air sprawled across her face. James tried not to as he watched her. "I feel like I'm selling my soul to the library," she murmured, eyes still closed.

"The life of academia," James agreed. "What we do to gain an education."

"And yet you're still stupid enough to be killing your lungs."

James frowned at her as she smiled at nothing. She turned her head and gave him a wink. "And here you are asking to speak with me," James countered evenly.

"Hm… yes, I suppose I am," sighed Lily. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, looking lovely as ever. Even when she jumped because of the rumbling thunder, she still looked lovely.

James couldn't help but smile at her rare moment of timidness. "What got your pretty brain so worked up at dinner?" He asked, transitioning to their topic aim.

Lily looked down at the small space of bench that was not occupied by either one of them. Her fingers tapped against the velvet fabric, leaving slight indents. "I saw Cresswell today," she murmured after a long moment, not looking up to meet James' eyes.

"How is he?" The Marauder asked, ashing the cigarette.

"All right," she nodded, "better than all right. He seems perfectly normal actually. He's missing a few spots in his memory, like the night of the fall."

"Can't be just a coincidence. You asked him about his daily goings? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Of course I did," Lily snapped. "Nothing out of the usual. But, something within his usual day sounded like… a clue." She seemed iffy on her word-choice.

James lifted a single brow as he waited for the ginger to speak.

"Dirk makes his own sleeping draught," she explained. "Insomnia on his mum's side."

She didn't have to continue for James to get the gist. He wiped a hand over his face and tapped the ash off again. "Bloody hell, you think someone spiked his drink?"

"I think it's an easy option," Lily corrected. "I don't anything for sure, just speculation."

"That would mean they'd have to know his schedule too."

"And his family background."

"Merlin, it had to be someone close to him. Or at least, relatively close."

The redhead nodded rapidly. "Dirk knows better than to be sharing his family lineage." She knew from experience.

James didn't mind as most of his cig burned, producing a slight crackling noise against the rough wind. He instead watched Lily closely, watching her frame curve in more.

What would it be like to have to hide your family? For his entire life, James would happily march up on his soapbox and openly admire his incredible parents, for all the world to see. He couldn't imagine how restricting that would be for Loyal Lily. He'd only hear her speak about her parents a few times, mentioning a rotten sister. How much did she hide because she was a muggleborn, trying to protect her family from her bigoted schoolmates.

"Dirk doesn't have a father," James revealed. "Just he and his mum."

Lily lifted her head up and stared into James's eyes with her own. Her jaw dropped a tiny bit and whispered, "You don't think…?"

James shook his head. "Dad died when he was three. Dirk doesn't remember him."

"How do you know this?" Lily asked.

"He's my teammate, and I'm his captain," James shrugged. "He and I've talked about his family. Comes to me worried about the War sometimes. How is he going to protect his mum if it gets worse? He's a nervous bloke."

Lily smiled, "It's good that he has a captain like you then."

He smiled back. "I hope so. We lost that bloody game against Slytherin back in November though."

Lily was glad that James could smile about that match, because after that game, he was definitely not pleased. According to Marlene, he threw a fit in the locker room after everyone else left. He left indents in the lockers and benches broken in half. Lily called him a child; Marlene clarified that he was just disappointed with himself.

"You have two chances to get it back," Lily said hopefully.

James nodded. "Oh, we will." He gave her this cocksure smirk that she identified as trouble or tunnel vision.

"You're scary when it comes to Quidditch."

"Maybe, but I'm more driven than scary."

Lily gave him a skeptical look, but did not argue with the sports fanatic. Her mood switched when she realized how funny this whole situation was: scheming and plotting with James Potter as he smoked a cigarette. If you had told Lily that she would be sitting on a bench with the Quidditch captain, she would've laughed in your face. Now, it didn't seem so strange. It felt natural.

James tossed his cigarette and ran a hand through his hair. "We're looking for a muggleborn, probably above the age of fifteen, with a single mum. Or one with a step-dad," James said logically, trying to fit the pieces of this puzzle together. He looked up and gave Lily a once over glance, "You're dad is your biological one, right?"

Lily frowned. "You met him."

"Yeah, you both have those eyes," James agreed indifferently. He faced back out the window, coming up with names in his head. He was so focused that he didn't even notice the slight blush warm Lily's cheeks. "MacDonald?"

"Mary has both parents," Lily added.

"Uh, what about Greyson? Isn't he muggle born?"

"No, half," she revealed. "His dad died when he was thirteen."

"Oh. My condolences."

"James, we could be going in this circle for hours since there are a ton of muggleborns in this castle. But, perhaps, we could start with one?"

James, impressed with Lily's investigation skills, leaned in and whispered, "You think you know who the next target is going to be?"

"I'm a solid fifty-percent sure."

James scoffed, "That's not even passing, Lily. You're going to have to do better than that."

"I'm sorry, but what percent are you on?" She countered shortly. "You don't even have a lead."

James ignored her. "All right, Holmes, what do we got?"

"I think it's Dorcas."

For some reason, that didn't surprise James as much as he thought. He nodded slowly, "Muggleborn, sleep disturbances, and probably mental. I could see that."

"She isn't mental," she murmured.

"Ehhhhh," James droned on, "I'm not sure if there's a psychiatric diagnosis, but the girl is unusual. You and I both remember that night in the Astronomy Tower. She practically mind-whipped Parkinson. Dorcas Meadowes may be a good lead to start with."

"Do you know what her family is like?" Lily inquired.

"No," James replied honestly, "You?"

Lily shook her head. No one, except maybe drop-out Emma Vanity, knew who Dorcas really was. The Slytherin, albeit clever and cool, was more closed off than Pandora's Box. Who knew what secrets would leak if she opened up to someone?

"But," James said after a moment, the cocksure grin returning. "We both know someone who could find out?" When Lily didn't attempt a suggestion, he continued, as if it were obvious, "Remus."

Lily's eyes widened. This was true, but something didn't feel right in her stomach. She imagined a scenario of Remus and Dorcas, talking like they were at dinner, and their good friendship all crumbling because Remus began snooping, on behalf of Lily and James. "I don't know…" she whispered dubiously.

"Remus is very good at keeping secrets."

"I have no doubt, but still. I don't like the thought of Remus digging things up for our benefit."

"Merlin, Lily, it's not for our bloody benefit," James disputed. "It's for hers. She's the one with Death Eater Apprentices coming for her life."

Lily didn't want to admit that James had a point because he sounded like a prat. Also, he didn't want to think about someone hurting Dorcas. Merlin knows how much that girl had to go through as a muggleborn in a Slytherin common room. What kind of mental resiliency did she have to ward off all the hate and fear?

"I hope no one comes for her," Lily said quietly, rubbing her eyes of potential sleep.

"Me neither," James agreed. He stood up, noting the drowsiness in her vocal cords. He offered a hand for her to do the same. "You need sleep. You've had a long day. Lily glared at the hand, but before she could with snarky remark, James spoke up, "It's just a limb, Lily. I know how you feel about being helped to bed."

"Sod off, Squid," Lily hissed as she smacked the hand away. She shot straight up to her feet and her best not to wobble, not wanting to lose her balance… or her dignity.

"Love it when you talk dirty," James smirked as he waited for her to pick her bag up.

"You're disgusting," she chuckled.

They walked past the students and headed towards the stairs towards the dormitories. James stopped at the first flight and peered down to Lily. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, just looking at each other. Neither one wanted to admit they appreciated how narrow the staircase was at the moment.

They stood a foot a part. Lily gazed right into James' chest because the prat just had to be tall. Even through his plain white t-shirt, she could see sculpted chest muscles that she wished she'd never laid eyes on. James' stare managed to fixate at the of Lily's shirt. She had the top two buttons undone, so he could see the top of her cleavage. Bloody hell, he had an angel and a demon on his shoulder: one told him to look away because the perfect had a boyfriend. The other said screw it, and her, right on the staircase.

"Well," Lily said, brighter than she had sounded all night and snapping James out of his mental tug-of-war, "good chat."

"As always," James nodded, trying to divert his attention from her body.

Lily nodded her head and clutched onto her bag a little tighter. "Goodnight, James."

"Goodnight, Lily."

Lily turned around and began to head up the stairs slowly. She reached for the door into the girl's dormitory, and before she went in, she turned around at the call of her name. She stared at James, who had a small smile splayed across his face, and gulped at the way he looked at her.

Connor Greyson would be banging his head against a wall if he could see the way these two looked at each other.

"Sorry," James shrugged, "I just like having my last vision before lights-out be a pretty one."

Because she hated the corniness and the way that a few words can make her heart race, Lily scoffed, "I hope you have sleep paralysis."

January 29th, 1977

"I hope you're joking," Remus Lupin chuckled to his friends as they sat around a table in an empty classroom. When he heard no responses, Remus' face hardened. "Go fuck yourselves. I'm not doing that," he said in solemn voice.

James and Sirius let out long irritable sighs as Peter continued to concentrate on attempting to transfigure a quil into a bird. It was not going well; he let out a loud "shit!" every so often.

"Moony," Sirius said in his charming voice - the one he used on girls. "This is for your girlfriend's well-being. We're trying to make sure she doesn't have a target on her back."

Remus ignored the girlfriend quip, knowing that Sirius would only advance his teasing the more he replied. He rubbed his forehead and pulled out his wand from his back pocket. He twirled his wand in the direction of his large window. The panels slammed open as Remus pulled out a pre-rolled spliff.

Everyone in the room exchanged glances, even the half-bird half-quil thing on Peter's desk.

"What?" Remus asked shortly as he put his wand up to the tip, causing a tiny spark. "I'm entitled to a smoke. Full Moon on the way."

"So, nervous to talk with Meadowes about her family?" James asked, leaning against the teacher's desk.

"Actually, yes," Remus admitted honestly, taking a long puff, "if you're so intent on asking Dorcas Meadowes if her daddy isn't really her daddy, then you go and do it, James."

James crossed his arms and thought about it for a moment. It wasn't the worst idea ever, but he did witness Dorcas break Sirius' nose. A clean shot too. "She likes you more," He countered.

"That doesn't mean she wants people prying into her family history," Remus countered as he passed the spliff to Sirius.

"It wouldn't be prying if you did it," Sirius offered as he accepted the spliff. He took two puffs before passing it onto James.

Remus ground his teeth. Nothing about this sounded pleasant, because chances are Dorcas could peep through his memories and pluck out this conversation. The bird knew everything. Even if she said she blocked out people's thoughts, it was still hard for Remus to believe that wholeheartedly. He rubbed a hand over his face and said, "Trust me, I shouldn't do this."

"Why not?" James urged once more. "You have the perfect in. She trusts you."

"Exactly," Remus muttered, too low for his friends' ears.

"And it should stay that way," a female voice insisted. The classroom door slammed loudly as Marlene McKinnon walked in. She flipped her curls over her shoulder. "I found out her history; Meadowes is not the offspring we are looking for."

Sirius scoffed, "A muggle-born in Slytherin? You really expect us to believe that?"

"I thought you two weren't friends," James remarked, examining his cousin up-and-down.

"I didn't speak to her personally," the blond shrugged, "I asked around."

"Bloody hell, Marlene," hissed James, "why not ask Meadowes herself? The whole bloody school will know you're asking questions with that big mouth-"

"Your mum loves me with this big mouth, aye?" Marlene countered shortly.

"All right, stop, stop." Remus stood up, putting himself between the two cousins who could bicker for hours on end. He turned to Marlene and smiled at her, "Now that your cousin is finally quiet, please share, Marlene."

She smiled and patted Remus on his head, like she would a puppy. She looked past Remus and to the rest of the Marauders and said, "Dorcas Meadowes' family history doesn't fit the bill. If she were Mason Nagut's child that would mean that she would technically have to be fatherless."

"Correct," James murmured slowly, not quite sure where his cousin was going with that ambitious statement.

"Well, the girl is not fatherless in the slightest," Marlene revealed as she pulled out pieces of parchment from her book bag. She laid them out carefully, so that the three could be seen by all of the Marauders.

The first one was of a younger Dorcas, pre-Hogwarts most likely, with cropped black hair and a white bow. She was dressed in all black, prim and proper, and stood next to a tall man with pale skin, a five o'clock shadow, and shiny dark hair. In the other two pictures, Dorcas looked a bit older - probably around 13 and 16 - as did the man.

"That's her dad?" asked Remus. Even though his tone was surprised, he was not quite sure why he sounded like that. Perhaps he expected something more striking, like Dorcas.

Marlene nodded. "Apparently, Meadowes is a big deal in the Muggle World. And I mean, a big bloody deal."

"How big are we talking?" Peter asked.

"I'm talking the equivalent to old pureblood money," the blond explained. She looked to her cousin and Sirius. "If you do the currency exchange between galleons and euros, Meadowes may be richer than all three of us combined."

Sirius put a hand up. "Currently, I'm broke, disowned, and unemployable, so I don't count."

"You're still a Black."

"Right," Sirius said dryly, "You go tell that to Walburga. Fetch me my magazine collection while you're there, would you?"

James lolled his head back as he attempted to complete mathematical equations in his head. He was rather good with numbers, which was why he excelled in Transfiguration. If he carried the 1 over, all the way over, then Dorcas should be worth…

"Bloody Hell," James whispered to himself, eyes widening in the process. "Where did that money come from?"

"Apparently," Marlene continued as she pointed to her dad, "Gregory Meadowes runs an extremely well-established bank in muggle England, Scotland, and Ireland. Meadowes Bank even has a few branches in Switzerland, France, and Spain. He's worth more money than we could imagine. Famous family."

Peter murmured something that only dogs could hear.

Sirius leaned over and asked brashly, "What was that, Wormy?"

"I said she's good at hiding it!" Peter repeated in a loud voice, aggravated with himself and his projet.

"Whose good at what?"

"Dorcas," the small one clarified, "she's good at not flaunting her worth around, which is smart considering she has a bounty on her head."

"Or idiotic," Sirius argued, lighting up a cigarette. "She could use her resources as a way to hire protection against her mental housemates."

Remus withheld his comment about Doracs being able to protect herself. "Probably spends it on muggle things," he lied, not knowing where the truth was.

"Mum was also bloody rich," Marlene explained, pulling out another newspaper clipping. It was of a young woman with stunning features: perfect portions, flawless skin, and dazzling blue eyes just like her daughter. You could see the relation: stone cold faces. "Heiress," Marlene said, annunciating every word. "With that much fame on their hands, it would've been a much larger story if Dorcas were not the biological child of the Meadowes, right?"

"Bloody Hell," grumbled James. "Guess that goes that theory. All right, Gents… and Marlene, let's start thinking of that list. Who else could You-Know-Who be after? Let's go through our year first."

"They already strung up Cresswell," Sirius offered.

As the three others began listing names of possible candidates, Remus silently thanked Marlene's intense investigatory skills. He wouldn't know what to make of Dorcas being the next victim. And luckily, he didn't have to think about it.

"Don't even think about it, Lily Evans!" Marlene barked as her friend tried to remove the Gryffindor tie from shielding her sight.

Lily made a whining noise, but listened. "I don't trust you with this completely unnecessary task," she replied. "You're going to let me walk right into a wall."

"I would never."

"Even if Cattermole waved to you?"

Lily felt Marlene stop in her tracks, pausing them in their journey to Lily's birthday venue, and pulled the blindfold up. It was only enough for Lily to be faced with Marlene's sparkling, angry blue eyes. "That's not funny," she spat, before pulling the blindfold back down and leaving Lily in the dark once again.

The ginger let out a hearty laugh as they resumed their careful steps. "It is," Lily chuckled, once she caught her breath, "just a little."

"Bugger off, aye?" Marlene growled. "We all have that one bloke we shouldn't be attracted to."

Lily decided to keep her mouth shut and imagined only her boyfriend. Only her boyfriend.

In a few more minutes, Marlene stopped them once more. She tapped her fist in a specific pattern, or so Lily thought.

"Stealthy," Lily murmured as the door to the boy's bathroom opened.

"Always," agreed Marlene as she began guiding her friend again. "Careful, there's two steps."

Lily followed her friends' instructions and made her way into the bathroom. Immediately, she noticed the steam of the room, opening her pores. Her clothes nearly felt drenched. Also, there was a floral fragrance flowing through the room. Lavender, maybe? Her senses halted when she lost the physical contact of Marlene.

"Where are you going?" Lily demanded, unsure of her own balance. When she didn't get a response, Lily called out for Marlene again. She was going to do it a third time, but the tie loosened itself and fell from her face. The beauty of magic.

As Lily's vision shifted from reds and golds to natural lighting, she let out a gasp. "Merlin…" She whispered in shock as she looked at the wonderland before her.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Lily turned to the side to see all of her party planner friends, dressed in swimsuits and bikinis. She looked around for one in particular, but for some reason, despite being her party handler, he was not present.

"Do you like it?" Marlene asked, biting her nails. Lily hadn't noticed now that she was in a strapless black one-piece, showing off her model-like body.

"It's fantastic," Lily mused as she took in the sights.

Bubbles floated through the sky, half of them charmed to hold lit candles. The ones closer to the ceiling even looked like stars. On the ground, there were tables set up with bowls of snacks, beer pong (a muggle game Mary insisted upon), and holy merlin, was that poker? Marlene had set up a full band (keyboard, guitars, drums - the works) that she charmed to play a selection of songs. Sirius and Emmeline were unloading a fully-stocked open bar, courtesy of the McKinnon Clan's New Year leftovers that Marlene stashed.

The highlight, Lily decided, was the bath itself though. Pink and purple water poured through pipes, making the water look like candied soda. The water sparkled when a candle-lit bubble would pass by. On top of the water, white callalillies floated peacefully.

"All of you have outdone yourself," Lily said brightly as she looked to her friends. "Thank you so much for setting this up. It's more than I could've asked for."

"Oh, Merlin, no tears, please," Sirius called out from the bar, earning him a punch in the arm from Emmeline.

Lily laughed. "No tears, I promise. I propose a shot though for everyone's hard work."

"I agree to that," cheered Sirius. He whisked his wand to get seven shots glasses lined up at the bar. A full bottle of firewhiskey appeared and filled each glass to the top. "Viola."

Everyone lined up, with Lily in the center, and picked up a glass. She smiled at her friends, feeling a warmth in her chest that she couldn't pin on alcohol yet. "I love you, all of you," she smiled as she lifted her glass. "Thank you."

"Awe, Evans, how sweet."

Lily turned back to the entrance and saw James enter in the bathroom. She nearly dropped her glass at the sight, but steadied herself, for her dignity's sake. A shirtless James Potter was a dangerous James Potter. He gave her a wink as he walked up to the bar. "Pour me one, Sirius?"

"'Course, Mate," his friend replied, filling up another shot glass and passing it to James.

"Now, where were we?" James asked, lifting his glass to the birthday girl.

Lily gave him a long look, focusing on his hazel eyes instead of his toned body or stupid smile. She then turned to the rest of her friends and said in a gentle voice, "Cheers."

"WOO!" Emmeline shouted excitedly as she took her drink. She then lifted the bottle and took another swig straight.

"Getting a head start, Kim?" Peter asked curiously, impressed with her determination.

Emmeline nodded, coughing into a closed fist. "I'm trying to be incoherent today, Pettigrew. You'll understand when you have to attend parties with your dick of a boyfriend."

Peter looked down at his feet awkwardly. "You two always seemed to get along fine."

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "Sure, glad it seems that way," she scoffed before taking her third shot.

"Speaking of guests," Fabian Prewett's voice called out, from the entrance crack, "people are lining up out here. Can I let them in?"

"A line?" Lily asked incredulously.

"You're popular, Lily," smirked James, leaning against the bar. "Let's in, Fabian. They've waited long enough."

"Finally," Fabian sighed. "You're nut-of-a-boyfriend almost deducted points for not letting him in immediately, Evans."

Lily did not dispute; she knew she had a hard-headed boyfriend. She watched as Connor, and several other upper classmen, entered the room, keeping his eyes peeled for her figure. When he caught sight of her, Connor ran over and swung her around. "It looks terrific, Lils," he said, kissing her cheek.

"It's not my doing," Lily explained as he set her down gingerly. She looked over to James, who was already on his second shot. "Thank, James and the rest of them."

The Headboy gave the Quidditch Captain an appraising sort-of look. After he was done with his observation, he gave a cordial nod, "Well done, Potter."

"She deserves such," James said, keeping his eyes on Lily instead of Connor. He lifted his glass to her and said, "To years of being bullied by a munchkin." He threw the shot back without a second thought.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you, Potter."

"I don't think I qualify as a munchkin," James countered.

"Years of being bullied," Lily repeated, aghast. "Unbelievable."

"It's only a joke, Evans," smirked James. He noticed Connor's stern face becoming even stonier. "Go have fun. Take a dip in the bath; it's heavenly."

Lily narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing. She wouldn't let him infuriate him, not on her birthday. She took Connor's hand and did exactly as she should. She had fun.

Actually, it seemed like everyone had fun. Marlene played fantastic music, tunes from around the world that she had picked up. Students danced, smoked, and drank, chatting with friends and snogging with 'friends.'

Lily hated to admit it, but James was right. The bath was heavenly. One of her friends, probably Emmeline, must've put a relaxant in the bath because all of Lily's knots and aches immediately vanished once she slid into the pink pool. She drank a fair amount of firewhiskey shots with Connor, Remus, Peter, and Mary in the pool. She danced a little with the Prewett twins, whom she realized she would sorely miss next year. She even smoked a spliff with Remus, after much convincing.

"I haven't seen Dorcas yet," Lily coughed, beating her chest. "Is she coming?"

Remus shrugged as he took the spliff from his nearly-dying friend, "Last I spoke to her, she was."

Lily, now a bit foggy, giggled, "I like her, you know. She's a good person."

Remus nodded as he took a hit, "I would agree."

Lily elbowed him in the side. "Very pretty too."

"Agreed…" Remus murmured skeptically.

"And smart. Heard she did extraordinary on her OWLs last year."

"Mmm…" He mused, passing the spliff to Lily again, to which she refused. Remus was not nearly besotted enough for this conversation.

"You should ask her out to Hogsmeade one time," Lily suggested, trying her earnest at innocence.

Remus sighed, "It's not like that, Lily."

"You're right. But maybe it could be," she tried to sound hopeful, but was faced with failure as Remus just chuckled and laughed. "Oh come on, Remus. You deserve someone nice in your life. Dorcas is lovely, and you two seem to get on smashing."

Remus shrugged as he flicked the butt out the window. "I've barely come to know her in the past month," he reasoned, "and yes, she's a nice bird, and yes, very attractive-"

"See?!"

"-But, I'm not looking for a girlfriend," he continued. "I'm not interested in one."

She gave him a skeptical look with pursed lips. She took a swig of her mixed drink and tapped her foot. "Don't look at it like she's your girlfriend, or your potential one. Just a friend… with benefits."

"Oh, yes, because that works in reality."

"Never know until you try."

"That's optimistic."

"Some of us has to be during the War."

Remus couldn't argue with her there, but he no longer was interested in having this conversation about Dorcas. The Slytherin girl herself was too complicated as is, and he didn't need extra input. "Can I get you another drink?" He offered as he watched her take the last sips.

"Please and thank you," Lily smiled as she passed him her cup. "Orange Juice and Vodka."

Remus let out a shiver. "Bold, Evans," he murmured as he turned towards the bar.

Lily smiled as she watched her friend walk away. She wished that he'd let himself have some fun for once instead of regimenting himself all the time. It was sad to watch him in the shadows, although he seemed content, of the rest of the Marauders. He was always the quietest, coolest, and calmest of the bunch. And she knew that he had secrets that he had to keep, and they were probably far too intimate for Lily to truly understand, but still. A sixteen year old boy should be able to conduct a little mischief.

Speaking of mischief.

Lily watched as James and Camilla entered the "smoking" section of the party; Marlene had set it up this way to appease Lily's nicotine-free agenda. She thought that the two would stop before reaching her, but they were still coming.

What do they want from her? Lily did not want to be confronted by either one of them, and especially not together. James would be cocky and say something that would make her want to tear her hair out (or laugh her arse off, but nevermind that). And Camilla was not a fan of Lily Evans by far.

"Happy Birthday, Evans," Camilla smiled in her most cordial fashion.

"Thank you, Henley," Lily smiled back. "Are you enjoying yourself."

She nodded and gave James a bright-eyed look. "Yes, it's lovely. You were lucky to have such decent help."

Lily nodded awkwardly as she gave James a small smile, which he reciprocated. "Yes, I do."

"Even better than you average house elf," James prided himself.

"And as modest as one," Lily added to Camilla. Surprisingly, she laughed with Lily.

"Yes, very modest," Camilla added, "and big-headed."

"Wow," James scoffed in disbelief. "I don't need to be here to be roasted by two of my housemates."

"Awe, have a little fun, James," Lily teased.

"We all know that I am the King of Fun," he countered. "I'm going to roll a cigarette; I'll leave you ladies."

Both of the girls watched as James walked towards the bar to stand besides Remus. The air became a bit awkward, and the girls found themselves staring off into the space, looking at the other party-goers. Lily had half a mind to make an excuse, saying she needed to attend to her guests, but Camilla beat her to the punch.

"I wanted to apologize."

Or so, Lily thought. "For?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Acting like a bitch towards you," Camilla said, her voice becoming softer and softer.

"Oh," Lily gulped. "Henley, you don't have to-"

"I just get, er," Camilla struggled as she ran a hand through her silky locks, "I get jealous, all right?" The last part of the statement seemed to exasperate her.

Lily blinked. "Jealous of me?"

"Naturally."

"Henley, you have nothing to be jealous over. I'm a bloody wreck on legs-"

"You know what I mean," Camilla said, more sternly this time. She peered her eyes over to James, who now had a crowd surrounding him as he told a story. He noticed Camilla's and Lily's attention and waved, before putting a finger to signify that he'll return shortly. "He's always had eyes for you."

"That's not true," Lily said, not sure how true that statement was.

Camilla could sense her doubt. "It's nothing to be ashamed of," she added, "you're smart, pretty, and downright decent."

Lily blushed in the face, not due to the alcohol this time.

"And because I've always fancied Potter," Camilla continued, "I've always resented you. But that's not fair. And you've always been rather kind to me. You didn't have to invite me to this party."

Lily shifted her feet a little before saying, "I'm glad you came though. I want you to have a good time. And I also want you to know that there's nothing going on between James and me. I mean, I have Connor and we're just now becoming… acquaintances."

Camilla laughed lightly. "I have to admit that is a relief to hear from you."

"He's all yours, Hun," Lily laughed. "You two seem pretty sweet together actually."

Camilla couldn't contain her smile. "He's not a bad guy," she said as she looked back at him finishing up his story. He was getting quite a positive response from them.

Lily watched him as he wiped his glasses of steam, smiling at his friends. She bit her lip and mumbled, "Yeah, he's not."

A/N - Again, it takes almost another month for me to get my shit together. I am so sorry that it has taken this long to update; I hope you aren't too mad with me if you've been waiting! Graduation and Writer's Block is not a good combo, but I am hoping to make a more consistent comeback soon! I hope you enjoyed - if you did, review, follow, and favorite please!

XOXO,

Rose