I hope everyone likes the story so far. Once again, I own nothing you recognize.

PLEASE REVIEW =]

Chapter Three

The next morning was a flurry of activity. When Lily and her friends entered the Great Hall for breakfast, they already saw Professor McGonagall handing out the time tables for the semester. McGonagall gave the girls a stern stare, when they went up to her, and gave them their time tables. Looking down at it, the girls were not looking forward to their fifth year; they had double Potions with the Slytherins and double transfiguration with the Ravenclaws every Tuesday and Thursday, double Charms with Hufflepuff on Mondays and Wednesdays and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

"Man, I am so not looking forward to this year," Emmiline said after she looked at their schedule. "At least we know one thing though."

"What's that?" Marlene asked.

"Lily's gonna ditch us to sit with Snape during potions," Alice interjected. "She always does."

Lily stuck her tongue out at the girls, she knew that their teasing was a way to try and get her to stop hanging out with Severus. Sev was going down a weird path; the problems with his father were getting worse as he was getting older and she knew his friends in Slytherin weren't helping. Lily wanted to be there for him as he had been there for her in the past.

"Guys, come on, I'm not gonna give up on Severus just because he's in a different house! That would be like asking Marlene to stop dating Benjy Fenwick because he's in Ravenclaw," Lily retorted back to them.

"Quite the contrary Evans," a deep voice said, causing the girls to jump a bit.

"Black, what do you want?" Marlene snapped.

"All I wanted to say is that your boyfriend is a better man than Evans' snake," Black replied coolly. James was standing beside him looking flustered.

"It's none of your business who I choose to hang out with Black," Lily retorted. "What are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be with Remus and Peter?"

"Well, if you must know Evans, James here wants to give you an opportunity for some fun."

"Potter, what on earth do you want?" Lily glared at him until he worked up his nerve to speak.

"I want you to go out with me Evans," James said trying to sound smooth to cover his nerves.

"Excuse me?"

"Go out with me Evans. Be my girlfriend."

"What in Merlin's name would make you think I would ever go out with you?" Lily exclaimed. "You prank everybody, you think you're better than everyone because you can ride a damn broomstick, and you constantly find new ways to hex one of my best friends. You are an ass Potter, and I do not want anything to do with you!"

With that, Lily and the girls stalked off to the dungeons to get to their first class. The whole way down to Potions, Alice couldn't stop laughing at what happened; by the end of the walk, all four girls were almost in years from their laughter.

"And did you see his face when you said no?" Alice asked Lily. "I'm not sure what he was more—sad or shocked!"

"I don't know what he has to be sad about," Lily replied. "It was most likely a dare by Black, you heard him 'James wants to give you an opportunity Evans'. Those Marauders make me so angry that I swear I'm going to snap!"

At that point the group went into the classroom to start their first lesson. Potions is one of Lily's favorite subjects. She was able to sit next to Severus and come up with new ideas to efficiently make potions while they caught up with their life. Being in different houses was hard for them and, since Professor Slughorn liked them and left them alone, Potions was about the only class where they had the freedom to talk.

Lily knew that Severus had a crush on her; in fact she had known it before he knew it himself. She ignored the fact and, since he never brought it up, hoped that he would eventually get over it. Severus was like a brother to Lily; he was the only person she could really go to all year long when things became rough with Petunia. Alice was there at times to help, but over the holidays Severus was easily accessible.

With a sigh, Lily shook her head, sat next to Severus, and began to make this lesson's potion.

James didn't know what to feel. All day, and all throughout the next week, Lily Evans was all he could talk about. Sirius couldn't stop laughing at him when she turned him down and it wasn't until Remus slapped the back of his head that he took the hint; James was hurt. He had never been turned down by a girl before; sure, he'd never asked one out before either but that wasn't the point.

He couldn't see why Lily rejected him. Sure he pranked people but they were only the Slytherins, but everyone wound up laughing at the pranks anyway—even some teachers! As for the fact that James was better than anyone else on a broomstick, well he liked to fly and practiced a lot. For being only fifteen and already having scouts from professional teams looking at him was something to be impressed by.

He was pretty sure the main thing was Snape; that slimy little git. He was the thing that was stopping Lily from saying yes. He only cursed Snape when he deserved it, why couldn't Lily see that? He and the other Marauders had found him hanging out with older Slytherins up to no good all last year. It just happened that Lily had found them on the receiving end of the Marauders' wands. Whenever Snape was involved, Lily could never be swayed. All Snape had to do was bring up their friendship and she was hooked.

"James mate," Remus said. "It's been three days; you have to stop brooding sometime."

"Yeah," Sirius said. "She's just a girl. Besides, it's Friday! We need to get started on our first prank of the year."

"But Sirius," Peter wined. "I thought we were going to show Remus that thing."

"Thing…what thing?" Remus looked suspiciously between his three best friends.

"Pete, mate, you know that has to be saved for later," James said harshly. "Remus, we have a surprise for you. We've been working on it for a while and—don't give me that look; it's nothing to worry about"

"James," Remus said hesitantly. "You know how I feel about surprises, especially when Sirius is involved!"

Sirius tried to make his face as innocent looking as possible.

"Remus, can you just trust us for once. I'm not going to make this into a thing the whole school has to know about."

Remus still didn't look convinced.

"Let's just all go to dinner and make fun of James some more," Sirius suggested. "Maybe we can get Lily to yell at him again."

Walking into the Great Hall, James was glad to see there were no seats near Lily and her friend. Word had already spread around the school that she had turned him down and, contrary to Lily's opinion, he didn't like the attention. He knew he was good looking, but never really made a big deal out of it like Sirius did. Sirius liked it when girls came up to him, but he always found it awkward.

James was pulled out of his reverie by a pretty blonde coming up to him. She looked slightly nervous and giggled a lot. He couldn't tell what her name was; he was pretty sure she was a Fourth Year in Hufflepuff. He could feel his and Lily's friends staring at him and, if looks could kill, he was pretty sure he'd be a goner by the way Lily was glaring. He needed to get rid of this girl quick.

"Hi," James said quietly.

"Hi James," The girl replied shyly. "My name is Jenny and I was…um…well I was wondering if you would go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"Jenny, I'm sorry," James replied awkwardly. "I don't really want to go with anyone, but thanks."

"Oh okay, I'm sorry to bother you," she replied and ran off.

Sirius was laughing while James' face was becoming even redder. Remus was looking at him with pity and Peter was open-mouthed in awe.

"See, I told you he asked me out on some bet—he had to have, I mean he's got other girls flocking to him," He heard Lily say to her friends as they passed him on their way out of the Great Hall.

"She thinks it's a bet?" James exclaimed. "Why the hell would I ask her out as my girlfriend if it was just a bet? I could've asked her on a date if that's all that mattered was a stupid fucking bet!"

"James, teachers are staring now," Remus said. "As well as everyone else too."

"I don't care, let them fucking stare! I'm going to have a word with Evans"

With that, James took off from the Great Hall and after Lily. He was determined to make her understand that he really did like her. He would do whatever it took; he had known, deep down, that she was the girl of his dreams from that first train ride on the Hogwarts Express. His hormones just helped him to realize it.

"Lily," he yelled, as he caught up with them in the Gryffindor Common Room. "It wasn't a bet. I heard you saying that, why would you think that?"

"Potter," Lily snapped. "Why can't you, for once in your life, leave me alone? I don't want to be a part of your games; I just want you to leave me alone. Get this through your ego and into your inflated head: I am not some prize to brag to Sirius Black about. Dating you is not an opportunity I want. Just go away."

With that said Lily walked up the girls' staircase and went into her dorm room. She knew Potter couldn't follow her up here because the staircase would turn into a slide when a boy tried to go on them. She didn't even wait for her friends to follow her; she changed into her pajamas, closed the curtains around her four poster bed, and tried to go to sleep.

"Tough luck James," Remus said, patting him on the back. "Maybe you should leave her alone."

"No, one day Lily Evans will be my girlfriend. I like her too much to give up on her," he replied determinedly.

With one final look up the girls' staircase, James turned away from his three best friends and Lily's friends, all of whom were staring at him, and made his way to bed.