Chapter 40: You're Insane

I walked to the Gryffindor Tower slowly, reflecting on everything that happened, and allowed my mind to wander.

The last week was hectic. I had barely anytime to breathe anymore. I had to make up the bucket load of work from last week, and then this week. Among that was Head duties. I didn't know how James was managing, in addition to Quidditch Practice.

He thankfully started them up again. Although he wasn't completely healed, he finally stopped overeating, started talking and laughing again, and started playing Quidditch again. He wasn't completely sticking to me anymore and was slowly returning back to normal. However, every time he'd stop what he was doing, just for a break, it would ultimately end in his tears. The memory of them still haunted him, but only slightly. He was getting better, and I was happy about that. Sirius was the same, and I could tell he was being strong for James. I didn't know what was going on after we all went to sleep, I just hoped they would pick themselves up soon.

There was another thing I couldn't seem to get off my mind, and that was the Order of the Phoenix. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to join. I had nothing to lose. And the only people who'd miss me if I died would probably want to join, too. The idea of fighting against the Death Eaters was so much more appealing than working under the Ministry as an Auror. It would eliminate all those years of training. Of course, they probably wouldn't send us out without some training, but three years was too long. You-Know-Voldemort (I was trying to get into the habit of saying his name) was on the rise now. He wasn't going to wait until half the Aurors were out of the Academy. I hadn't talked to James about it yet, but I would soon.

My birthday was celebrated rather clumsily, but I liked it. James took me down to the kitchens right after we escaped the Slytherins, and we talked a lot, which I was happy about. Although it was still cold out, we took a walk around the grounds. Dumbledore called us back to his office, and told me that I had smoothly inherited the rest of my parents' stuff. Our house sold for a decent sum of money, and it was split between me and Petunia. Even though James felt horrible for forgetting about my birthday, I didn't mind. It was honestly just more than enough that he was talking to me again, and that he was somewhat back to normal once more.

I hadn't seen much of Mary since the incident with Sirius, but I could only assume that she was thoroughly upset by it. She didn't seem too happy with me, but she had the rest of the desperate males to fall back on.

I hadn't seen much of Marlene, either. At least she had Alex to keep her company. Maybe I should tell her about the Order of the Phoenix thing, too. I think she'd be interested.

"Alright, Peter, come on." I said, walking into their dormitory.

"Lily-flower! One of us could've been changing! You should have knocked!" Sirius said disapprovingly. I rolled my eyes.

"You're staying here." I told him forcefully.

"What? Why?" He demanded.

"Because you won't be any help!" Remus said.

"Exactly." I agreed.

"Please, I was the Hogwarts Player back in my time!" Sirius argued.

"Yes, but you're not the greatest motivator." I pointed out.

"You're making this much more complicated than it has to be!" Peter whined. I rolled my eyes.

"Just come!" I insisted. Peter sighed loudly.

"Come on!" Remus told him, walking towards me.

"Sirius, why don't you go to James? Maybe you can spend some time alone." I suggested. He crinkled his nose.

"Fine…" He grumbled.

"And whatever you guys do, don't come back to the Common Room!" I warned. He let out another groan and left the room.

"Okay, now that we got rid of him, we should just stay up here." Remus suggested.

"Good point. Let's stay here." I agreed. I looked around. "We can sit on James' old bed."

"What's wrong with the floor?" Peter asked. I glanced down and found a pair of boxers, and looked back up to Peter.

"You've gotten messier since James left." I explained, going over to James' bed, and sat against the headboard. Remus sat next to me, and Peter sat at the foot of the bed.

"It's Moony's fault. He wouldn't do any cleaning spells!" Peter complained.

"You two need to learn!" Remus huffed.

"Anyway," I started, rolling my eyes, "Let's begin."

"Okay, so now you've started to get less awkward around…people…it's time, Wormtail." Remus told him with a straight face.

"Sirius is rubbing off of you." I muttered. "So dramatic…"

"We're going to teach you how to talk to people without turning into a sweat puddle, specifically girls." Remus stressed.

"With girls, to talk to them, you basically need something to talk about. A common subject." I explained. "Girls are less judgmental than most males. They will talk to anyone as long as they have something to talk about. For the most part, girls will not care what you look like. So to avoid worries about that, stay away from Mary's lot, okay?" I told him.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Remus demanded. I rolled my eyes.

"Most males care what girls look like when they talk to them!" I said. Remus opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it again.

"Okay, so maybe most do….not all." Remus corrected. I laughed.

"So basically, Peter, just find something to talk about." I summed up. He looked at me with a blank look.

"Like what?" He asked.

"Uh…books?" I suggested. He kept the blank look. Oh, right. "Maybe you could start out with class?" I suggested. "Like basic small talk. I think we can start there."

"Small talk as in weather, the castle, people. Hell, even talk about Lily and Prongs if you have to!" Remus added. I glared at him. He shrugged. "It's everyday gossip, Lily. It's unavoidable. Especially since Wormtail's close to you two."

"People need to mind their own business." I grumbled, getting off the bed.

"Wait, where we going…?" Peter asked fearfully as Remus got off the bed.

"Mate, we're going to put this lesson into practice." Remus said, patting Peter on the back. He groaned.

"Now!" He asked.

"Yes." Remus and I nodded.

"Fine…" He whined.

"Come on, you can do this!" I said encouragingly as we went down the stairs. He turned to look at me, and ended up bumping into a quiet sixth year girl. I smiled. This opportunity could not have been more perfect. Remus and I walked passed them so Peter could see us. We gave him a thumbs up.

"Oh, sorry." The girl said in a quiet voice. Peter opened his mouth.

"Uh…it's…uh…okay." He muttered. "I'm Peter." He blurted out. Remus let out a small laugh. I elbowed him and glared.

"I'm Sally." She replied just as quietly as before.

"N-Nice to meet you." He stuttered, but then recovered. This was working! I gave him a wide smile.

"Nice to meet you, too." She said quietly. Peter sent me a panicked look over her shoulder, and his fists started to curl into balls.

"Oh no, he's panicking!" Remus whispered to me.

"See-uh…y-you ar-around…" Peter stuttered incoherently, before turning around and running back up the stairs. Remus started laughing again, and I didn't bother to admonish him for it.

"Well," I started. "That went well."

"That was hilarious!" Sirius laughed from behind me. I jumped.

"Did you see him? That was brilliant!" James laughed.

"Stop making fun of him!" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. I didn't get a response; they were all too busy laughing. In fact, so loudly, that most people in the common room had stopped what they were doing to watch us.

"What's going on…?" Marlene asked, approaching me fearfully. I rolled my eyes.

"They're making fun of Peter." I quickly explained the little scenario to her and she laughed.

"You have to admit, Lily, that's really funny." She said through laughs.

"I know! But it's not nice!" I said, trying to look stern, but the corner of my mouth were tugging up, and I couldn't help but laugh myself.

"You know, we haven't talked in such a long time, d'you want to come up?" Marlene asked, pointing to our old dorms. I looked back at the three laughing, and hit each of them on their heads.

"Now we can go." I grumbled, walking towards my old room. A nostalgic feeling overcame me as I walked up to the room that was mine for six years. I loved my current room, but I terribly missed this one. I opened the door to the room, and took a seat on my old bed. I jumped up slightly, remembering the springy feeling to it that used to annoy me to no end. Marlene sat on her bed, the bed that used to be Mary's.

"How are things…James and Sirius…are they doing okay? Are you doing okay?" She asked. I shrugged and put my legs up.

"We're all fine…just healing, I suppose." I responded. "After the funeral, and then my birthday, James and I are doing a lot better. Sirius is just really good at hiding his feelings. I hoping I can try to get him alone to talk to him again."

"That's great." She said with a smile. "School and everything? Grades haven't slipped? Then again, you are Lily Evans. For your grades to slip, you'd have to be dead." She laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"No, my grades have not slipped…" I muttered. "But I hope yours haven't. You're practically attached to Alex. Sometimes I wonder how you two shower, or if you do that together, too." I laughed. She threw a pillow at me.

"Lily Marie Evans! Has Potter done this to you?" She demanded.

"Actually, it was Sirius' influence, too." I corrected with a smile. She shook her head.

"Those two are such a bad influence on you!" She said disapprovingly.

"They're great to be around, though. Always have someone who'll cheer you up." I smiled, remembering all the times Sirius tried to make jokes to cheer us up. "But how's your relationship with Alex going? I haven't even talked to you much about it, and your one-year anniversary is coming up!" I laughed.

"Yes, the day before Valentine's Day. One more week!" She said with a large smile. "He's great Lily. I don't know why I haven't spoken to him before! We probably would've been best friends, if we talked earlier, like first or second year. But that's how our relationship is…we're best friends who happen to be dating." She smiled. "We really seem to get each other, and communication is never a problem. I'd say the entire relationship is perfect, but of course with you and James around, that's pretty difficult to say. If anyone's relationship is perfect, it's yours."

"No, it's not…" I said, kind of blushing at the statement of mine and James' relationship being described as perfect.

"You guys finish each other's sentences. The only people I've seen do that are Fabian and Gideon Prewett!" She exclaimed.

"Not all the time…" I muttered.

"Right, I forgot. You say the exact same things at the exact same time, too! Or, you communicate silently, and no one seems to know what you're saying!" She added. "Face it, Lily, your communication is perfect."

"Anyway, have you met his parents yet?" I asked

"Yes, over the Winter Holidays. They're great people. I think they like me. He met my parents, too, and was surprisingly calm with them. I've been told my dad's scary-looking." She giggled. "How far have you gone with James?" She asked eagerly. I laughed.

"How far have you gone with Alex?" I countered.

"I asked first!" She sang, giving me the usual response.

"We've both been shirtless." I admitted, feeling my face grow hot. She laughed.

"When?" She asked.

"It was right after Quidditch one day, and he'd just finished taking a shower, but he was still shirtless." I explained quickly.

"Are the rumors true?" She asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"What rumors?" I demanded. She leaned forward.

"Rumor is, he's got some serious muscle and a six pack!" She giggled.

"Why haven't I heard this before?" I asked in disbelief.

"Forget hearing about it, you've seen it, you've felt it, if it's really there, of course!" She laughed.

"Oh, it's there." I winked, sending us into another fit of giggles. "Now, my question: How far have you gone?" I asked. She turned a deep red.

"Almost sex…several times." She muttered. I laughed, but I wasn't surprised.

"Almost?" I asked.

"Yeah, we've been really close several times, but I've never really felt comfortable with it yet." She said with a shrug. "But, I'm hoping Valentine's Day." She confessed.

"Nice." I smiled. "You two are definitely going to stay together forever."

"No one thought that when we first started going out…but you and James? Everyone knows you two are eventually going to get married." She said with a small laugh.

"Oh, wow, I should really get going," I said with a small sigh. "We need to talk again soon." I stressed.

"Definitely." She nodded in agreement. I got up from my bed, and with one last look at it, I left the room.

I put my quill down in relief. Finally. I stretched my fingers and sighed. I sat back in my chair. The stupid essay is now done. I looked at the clock overhead. It was five. Where was James? Quidditch practice ended a while ago, and he's usually back by now. He probably got held up with tactics or something like that. Maybe I should give him the night off, he seems far too stressed. I could easily get Remus or Sirius to patrol with me tonight. If I did get Sirius to patrol with me, maybe I could talk to him again. It seemed to help him last time.

"Lily, Lily, Lily!" James called, running into the room.

"Yes…?" I asked, kind of scared by his overexcited behavior.

"A theory, a thought just hit me." He announced. "Just wait until the others get here." He sat down and started reading my essay. "Transfiguration?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Where else would we be learning about conjuring objects?" I asked. He stuck his tongue out at me and continued reading.

"Prongs, you asked us to come?" Sirius asked, coming into the room with Remus and Peter behind him.

"This better be good, I left my Transfiguration Essay for this!" Peter said, sitting down across the table along with the other two. James shoved my essay over.

"Work all done." He smirked. I rolled my eyes and snatched it back.

"I'm pretty sure James would be more than happy to help you when we're all done here." I told Peter.

"Tell us, what happened?" Remus asked, finally steering us to the real reason we were here. James took a breath.

"Okay. So after Quidditch practice, I decided to take a walk around, and I passed by Snape. He gave me this weird look, but didn't say anything, probably because he was alone. He's the biggest coward on the planet. So anyone, I started thinking about him, and all the looks he gives us, Lily, and then it hit me!" He said dramatically. I was kind of scared to see where this was going, and glancing at the other three, they didn't seem so excited.

"James, where are you going with this?" I asked fearfully.

"Snape is in love with you." He proclaimed. I blinked once, his expression remained. I blinked again. His expression remained.

"Alright, mate, come on." Sirius said, standing up.

"Where?" James asked.

"I think we need to bring you to the Hospital Wing." Sirius told him. James looked at him for a moment.

"You're not joking are you? You just don't believe me!" James said incredulously, looking at all of our faces.

"It doesn't make sense, mate." Peter shook his head.

"How!" He demanded with a look of disbelief. "What do you think?" He asked me. I gave him an apologetic look.

"Sorry, but it doesn't make sense." I shook my head. I shrugged apologetically at his crestfallen face.

"He called her a you-know-what more times than I can count! He's always giving you guys nasty glares, he's hurt her a fair number of times. She takes away his 'best student' status, according to Slughorn, because Slughorn absolutely adores her." Remus listed off.

"But still, I see the looks in his eyes! Whenever he looks at me! It's like I used to look at him! It's jealousy. They were friends before, right? Who says it's not possible!" James demanded, trying to bring the argument back.

"No, the looks in his eyes are definitely not jealousy." Sirius told him. "They're more like raw hatred. For both of you." We all nodded in agreement.

"But he's definitely. It only makes sense!" James exclaimed, looking at all of us again.

"No, James, it doesn't. You're just jumping to conclusions." I said, shaking my head.

"No, I'm not! I've seen how he looks at me! It's in the exact same way I used to look at him!" James insisted. Maybe he really does need that rest.

"You're basing this all on hunches! You don't have any real proof of anything you're saying!" I argued. "Just calm down. Maybe you're just tired. Take the night off, I'll get one of them to patrol with me tonight, okay?" I told him, patting his hand.

"But…!" He objected looking crestfallen.

"No, I agree completely, you need some rest. I'll patrol with Lily tonight." Sirius told him forcefully.

"I still think it's possible." He said, being as stubborn as ever. I smiled.

"One day, you'll realize just about how insane you sound right now, and we'll all look back and laugh at this, okay?" I told him with a slight smile. He sighed really loudly.

"I'm going to go start my essay." He grumbled, and went to my bag to get a piece of parchment.

"He really needs that rest." Sirius shook his head.

A/N: Well...James has a hunch (that happens to be correct) but no one believes him...sound familiar?
*hint-It happened with another Potter concerning a certain blond Slytherin ;)

I'd like to thank all of you for the crazy amount of reviews! There was some kind of explosion of reviews last chapter, and I'm really happy about that :) Special thanks to kywang8 for reviewing several times, and the rest of my stories!

REVIEW!

Until next Friday,

Love,
SAM :)