Alright, I'm not terribly happy with this chapter. But I'm sorry I was off for so long, I've had a lot of school stress, as well as some unwanted family stuff that's been making my life a bit difficult. But here's some fluff to make up for it! I hope you guys enjoy it! Well, either way, I'd love to hear from you guys about what you want to have happen, what you like and don't like, you know. Please just give me feedback. I want to hear about what I'm doing good and what I could be doing better. Help me improve! Here you guys go. Thank you for being so patient with me while I sort out my mess.

The ride away from York was tense. Everyone seemed on edge. Even Sirius was brooding in Bertha's back row, headphones on and ignoring everything around him.

Lily wasn't much better. Nervously tapping her hands on the console beside her, she continuously checked her phone for any messages from Marlene.

7:32 a.m: Marlene, you had better tell me what you mean, or so help me…

7:36 a.m: Marlene, I swear…

7:40 a.m: That was just a joke, right?

7:42 a.m: RIGHT?!

7:49 a.m: Marlene Evelyn Lewis, I swear to whatever deity is watching over me…

7:53 a.m: And by watching over me, I mean he's neglecting me, because he left me with shoddy mates like YOU!

7:56 a.m: Mar, you had better have a decent excuse for ignoring me.

7:58 a.m: I am this close making James drive back to Kellynch so I can scream throughout the commons that you once snogged Amos Diggory in the closet off the Chem lab.

7:58 a.m: You wouldn't.

7:58 a.m: I am desperate and my moral code has therefore abandoned me. Nothing is below me at this time.

7:59 a.m: I don't believe you.

8:00 a.m: Would you like to find out?

8:01 a.m: You're too nice to do something like that.

8:02 a.m: I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, Marlene.

8:03 a.m: What are you asking about anyway?

8:03 a.m: You know full well what I'm talking about.

8:05 a.m: Oh, the thing I said about James. That was speculation. Probably.

8:06 a.m: In all the years I have met you, you have never once speculated. Everything you say is backed up with evidence.

8:08 a.m: Well, I'm just saying, James sure paid a lot of attention to you our first years of college.

8:08 a.m: He clearly just wanted to make my life miserable! That means nothing!

8:11 a.m: Sure, poppet. Whatever you say.

"Evans, whatever can you be so frantic about that your incessant tapping cuts through my noise cancelling headphones?"

Sirius's voice startled Lily, jumping so abruptly that her mobile flew over the seat into James's lap.

Oh, no. She had to get it back before he saw the conversation-still open- on her phone. However, she would have to reach into his lap if she wanted it, and no matter how much she liked James, that was where she drew the line.

"Hand me my mobile, Potter."

"Back to Potter, are you? I would have thought that your night together would have put you two at least on a first name basis. Or are you a one and done kind of bird?"

And he's back to being insufferable. Lily scoffed at Sirius. "As if I would ever sink so low as to sleep with him." She snatched her phone from where it was teetering precariously on James's knee. "I'll take that."

8:14 a.m: Never mind, I've changed my mind. Potter and Black are approximately twelve, and I don't need that in my life. Back to plan A- listen to music and ignore anything the bastard tries to say.

Lily reached into her rucksack and extracted her earbuds. Connecting them to her phone, she relaxed into her seat, letting the music take her far away from the car- away from a space that was about to become a war zone.

"Bloody hell, Sirius. I was just about to get her on my side. She was finally going to let me get close. And you have to go act like a bloody seventh grader and ruin my work!" James hissed toward the back of the car.

"Who says she's even interested in you, mate?"

James twisted around in his seat. "What the hell? Why would you even say that?"

8:16 a.m: That was rather abrupt, considering you were fawning over the bloke not thirty minutes ago. And didn't we agree to give the bloke a chance to get to know you?

James glanced over to Lily, making sure she wasn't paying attention to his and Sirius's conversation.

"Sirius, you know what she means to me. This is my only chance to prove myself- she won't even look at me back on campus, especially after the whole tree thing. This is my one shot- and I am not throwing it away."

"Bloody hell, mate, do you think I'm trying to split you two up?"

8:18 a.m: We agreed to have a deal, and I haven't heard anything from you about what you've done about Alan.

James took a deep breath. "Yes, I do. I think that you don't want me to get this off the ground, for whatever reason."

"That hurts, James."

"Well, I think we both know there's only one way to fix this." James took a sharp right into an oncoming exit, throwing Lily into the passenger door.

"Bloody hell, Potter, angry, much?" Lily said, rubbing her arm. "That hurt like a-"

"Sorry, Lil. Didn't mean to hurt you. Just looking for something Sirius and I need."

"What, a psychiatrist?"

8:24 a.m: Low blow, love. I will have you know that Alan has been holed up in the lab working on that damn robot since you left on Thursday. I saw him for Thai yesterday, but he hadn't slept and it didn't seem like the right time.

James chuckled mirthlessly. "Ha, ha. No, we're looking for something to settle our little spat."

"What spat?"

"You were busy blaring-" he leaned over to check- "the London Symphony to notice. Sirius and I exchanged words and now we need to- how do you say it?- deck it out."

Lily looked slightly alarmed. "I am not mopping either of you up if you get out and start punching each other!"

James looked at her oddly. "Who said anything about punching?"

XXXXX

Click, clack, click- how long do table tennis tournaments last? Lily had been watching the little white ball go back and forth for the past forty minutes. The boys had stopped in a pub in a small town- Nanpantan, Lily thought she had seen, a little outside Loughborough. They had hunted for about twenty minutes until they had found what they wanted- a public place with a ping-pong table. And they were intense about it. The ball had dropped no less than three times during the entire match, and all the while, James and Sirius had been hissing back and forth at each other.

"You dare besmirch my honor?"

"Ha! As if you had any honor to stain!"

"Lord Black, I will have your head for this treason!"

"Lord Potter, I beg to differ!"

"You cannot escape the guillotine!"

"I am the one who runs the guillotine, I will have you know!"

"Why, because you butcher everything?"

"I prefer to think that I am killing it!"

Click, clack, click- Sirius finally let the ball slip past him. He pushed his silky black hair away from his eyes and let his paddle drop. He looked across the table at James, who was still crouched in a defensive position, his suspicious eyes fixed on Sirius.

And Sirius spoke. "I was wrong, mate. I'm sorry. You know I would never hurt you, or anything that's important to you. I mean, you broke me out of my own house, for God's sake. You're my brother, and brother's get jealous. I'm sorry I tested you."

Never hurt him or anything that's important to him? Wow, I must have missed one hell of a fight.

James dropped his paddle and walked over to James. If he's going to clock Sirius, I'm still not cleaning up the mess.

James embraced Sirius. "I know you didn't mean to, Sirius. We all get testy sometimes, and I reacted badly. I'm glad we sorted it out, though."

Lily smiled. "So, now that we're all alright again, shall we be on our way?" She slapped down a small bill for the lemonade she'd been drinking. "Let's go, chaps."

She pushed the door open and found herself facing a bitter cold and a blinding snowstorm.

XXXXX

James was worried. In the entire time they had been sitting at the bench of the Three Broomsticks, Lily had only picked at the steak pie in front of her and had downed two whiskeys-neat. She was already rather small, and with nothing in her stomach, James watched her slip more and more towards intoxication. As she raised her hand for another round, James took her glass out of her hand.

"Maybe we should take a bit of a break, yeah?" James said, helping her off her stool. There's a band playing. Dance with me."

Lily stumbled a bit. "Can't. Lightweight."

James laughed. "Yeah, I can tell. You needn't hold yourself up, I'll support you."

The two of them moved towards the dance floor. Lily tried to wrap her arms around James's neck, but she was a slightly too short to reach him. Chuckling slightly, he lifted Lily up onto his toes and let her sink into the crook of his shoulder. He buried his nose in her hair, breathing in the scent he hadn't been able to get out of his mind since that morning. I wonder if she knows…

James saw Sirius wink at the bartender, leaning over the counter to kiss her cheek. Threading his way through the couples, Sirius finally edged over to where James was slowly dancing he and Lily around.

"Right, so here's the gig: the pub is flooded over with snowbound travelers, but though my- ah, assets- "Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at James, who in turn rolled his eyes-" I have convinced Rosmerta to let us have two rooms." He turned to Lily. "Now, I am willing to bunk with James this time-"

Lily murmured into James's flannel-clad shoulder. "No, want to stay with James."

James was so surprised he nearly dropped her.

"Are you sure, Lily?"

"You're warm."

Sirius chuckled. "Well, since that's sorted out, I have other matters to-ah, attend to. You lot are 223, have fun getting her up that staircase, it looks like murder."

Lily buried her head in his neck. "Tired. Time to go upstairs."

It took approximately three steps to know that Lily was not in any fit shape to walk, especially if the stairs were anything like Sirius reported. Picking her up bridal-style, he started the arduous journey to the second floor.

XXXX

He sat her down outside the door. "Lily, are you sure you want me in here? I'm perfectly willing to stay with Sirius, or to sleep on the couch downstairs-"

She cut him off, but not how he had expected. Her soft red lips met his, sweet, like strawberries. Round and smooth, it was like nothing he had ever imagined- and he'd had a lot of time to think about it. He pulled away abruptly. She pouted at him. "Why?"

"Lily, you know I would. But you're drunk, and I don't think you'd be making the same decision if you were at your usual level. I'm not going to take advantage of you."

She tugged him into the room. "Shh. Time to sleep."

He averted his eyes as she pulled out her pajamas- the same flannel sheep-printed ones she had been wearing yesterday. She felt her tug his arm, yawning. "Good night, James."

He smiled at the young lady laying in the bed. He climbed in beside her and kissed her forehead.

"Good night, Lily-flower."