A Walk in Your Shoes

by Spirit007

Imagine that one person that irritates, infuriates, & insults their way under your skin to the point where each moment with him or her becomes a pop quiz in self-control. Now, imagine that you've woken up in that person's body. For Lily Evans & James Potter, learning to navigate this unfortunate and stressful new reality is truly a walk through hell.

16. Aftermath

Okay, after my other story got deleted, I'm taking no chances. Words cannot describe how depressed I'd be if I lost this. So, I will now be posting a disclaimer at the beginning of each and every chapter, as well as going back and reposting one with other editing once I finish this story.

DISCLAIMER: All characters, except Parker, Kate, Derek, and other unrecognizables, belong to J.K Rowling, as well as Scholastic; I'm not sure whether or not to include Warner Bros. in this, so I will just to be sure.

A/n: FINALLY! In this chapter there are two moments you have all been waiting for: Derek gets a beat down and Lily and James form a friendship! YAY! Read on to enjoy!

Btw: the term "frenemies" was coined by someone I know…it describes our strange relationship to a tee. Sorry for any typos! Enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen: Aftermath

Lily and groaned and slowly brought a hand to her aching head. She carefully shifted onto her side to get into a more comfortable position, trying to improve the nauseating, churning sensation in her stomach. "Ugh…bloody hell…" She could barely hear her own voice over the ringing in her ears. "Could someone answer that phone?" she mumbled absentmindedly. A sudden jostling of the couch made her stomach stir in protest.

"Nice to see that you're awake, Evans."

Lily groaned and muttered irritably, "Stop moving, before I aim my stomach's contents at you."

"Good morning to you, too, sunshine," James laughed.

Lily opened her eyes, fully prepared to curse James out, but then quickly snapped them shut with a loud cry, clapping her hands over her face. "It's too bloody bright in here, someone shut the damn curtains!"

Leaning over Lily to grab the glasses, James grinned and shook his head. "If that's you're only complaint, Evans, you should consider yourself extremely lucky."

"Of course it isn't my only complaint, you insensitive prat," Lily snapped. "My mouth tastes like dry, gravelly crap; my stomach feels like a thousand Cornish pixies have taken up residence in it; my head is throbbing; my limbs feel like each one is full of cement and my—oh, for God's sake, would someone please answer that damn phone!"

Gingerly slipping the glasses onto Lily's face, James told her bewilderedly, "There is no phone, Evans."

"Stop shouting, Potter, I'm right next to you," Lily implored crossly, scowling and clapping her hands over her ears.

Lowering his voice a bit, James asked, "Listen, Evans, do you remember anything from last night?"

Wrinkling her eyebrows, Lily cracked her eyes open. "No, not really," she answered. "The last conscious thought I remember having was drinking a really good bottle of raspberry flavored Firewhiskey…and another one…and another…" Wincing, she asked, "Oh, hell, how bad was I?"

James chuckled and shook his head. "Pretty wasted, Evans. You were very…how should I put this? Carefree, would be a good word to describe you. It was actually really funny."

Lily carefully sat up and rested her elbows on her knees, leaning her head into her hands. "Oh, no," she murmured. "I didn't make too much a fool of myself, did I?"

"Well, that all depends," James said, smirking and folding his arms. "Why did the pineapple fall out of the tree?"

"I dunno…ugh, more importantly, I don't care…" she groaned.

"Tofu!"

Lily lifted her head and looked at James, completely confused. "Wait…tofu? What?"

"You mean you don't remember?" James asked amusedly. "You're the one who told me that joke in the first place."

"Well, it's not entirely my fault," Lily sighed. "I had no control over what I was saying."

"So, you didn't mean anything you said, then?"

"I don't know, Potter. Why does it matter?"

James shrugged and forced himself to hide his grin. "Well, people say that when you're drunk, your inhibitions are completely shot."

Lily blinked and said monotonously, "So?"

"So," James continued meaningfully. "Everything you said just might be in your subconscious thought process."

"Potter, that is ridiculous," Lily said tiredly, rubbing her temples. "Anything that happened last night was entirely meaningless and unimportant."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

"I don't know, Evans," James told her lightly. "What you said to me last night seemed pretty genuine."

At the sound of his tone, Lily froze and opened her eyes. "What'd I say?" she asked warily.

"C'mon Evans, what's it matter? You just said—"

"Potter, just tell me what the hell I said last night!"

Finally, James let his smile break through. "According to you, Evans, I have a very sexy stomach," he said cockily.

The expression on Lily's face didn't change in the slightest. "No, seriously, Potter, what'd I say?"

"Oh, would you like a direct quote, then? How about this: 'You have the best damn looking stomach that I have seen in my entire life.' Give or take a bit of slurring of course."

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes. "Oh, please; as if something so vulgar would come out of my mouth. Like I would actually indulge that swelling ego of yours."

"Here's another one, Evans," James said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "'It looks like it's been carved out of a bloody marble or something; hell, Michelangelo couldn't pull of a piece of artwork like your stomach, it's that gorgeous.' That one was my favorite."

"I did not say that!"

"'Let me tell you, Quidditch has certainly done your body good.' Honestly, Evans, I never knew you were that attracted to my body." Never knew the reaction I'd have to finding out, either, James added inwardly, thinking of how horribly his face had colored.

"Shut up!" Lily shrieked, covering her blushing face with a pillow. "God, I can't believe I did that. It had to be the alcohol, there's no other reasonable explanation."

"Sure there is," James said brightly. "You find me completely and utterly irresistible."

A muffled moan sounded from the pillow.

"You think I'm sexy, you like my stomach, you know you want me…" James sang teasingly.

"Look, Potter, can we just…never speak of this incident again?"

James pulled a mock hurt expression. "Oh, but Evans, I thought this brought our relationship to a more intimate level." Lily groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "But for you," James continued. "I'll suffer the silence."

"Thank you."

James grinned. "Besides, I've already archived it into my pensive." Lily scowled and opened her mouth indignantly to protest, but James plowed on before she had the chance. "So, how 'bout I go brew you a hangover potion that'll shock you out of your sorry state? I've had plenty of practice, seeing that I've been in your situation numerous times."

"That sounds heavenly," Lily sighed in relief.

"Great." James heaved himself off of the couch and to his feet and started to move toward the portrait door. Although before he got very far, he paused and turned back to Lily. Biting his bottom lip slightly, he said, "Hey, Evans?"

"Hm?"

James hesitated before saying playfully, "Yours isn't that bad either." Baffled, Lily lifted her head and fixed James with a questioning glance, but he just winked and made his way out of the Common Room.

But soon as he was alone in the hallway James immediately lost his roguish composure. He leaned against the wall, covered his face, and moaned quietly, "Oh, bugger…I can't believe I actually said that. It's so damn corny!" 'Yours isn't that bad either'? More importantly, what could have possibly possessed me to say that to her of all people? "And besides that," he said, continuing his monologue aloud. "Who the hell looks at a girl's stomach? Well…me, apparently…I am just enough of a loser to be attracted to her stomach!" He could practically hear Sirius's lecturing voice as though he were standing right next to him. "James, you are trapped in a girl's body, and the only part you're attracted to is her stomach? (And this would be the part where he smacks me on the head, James thought dully) What is the matter with you! I am appalled and completely ashamed to call you my friend!" James uncovered his face and ran his hands through the red hair that framed his equally red face. "There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this…There has to be, it's Evans I'm talking about here," he muttered to himself, taking several deep, steadying breaths. "There is, I'm sure of it. I just…I can't think on it now. I…I have that potion to make." James inhaled again and closed his eyes, relieved that there was something to divert his thoughts. He pushed off from the wall and straightened his robes. "Yeah, that's what I'll do," he said, regaining his previous confidence. "I'll think about it later…" But as James made his way to the Room of Requirement, he knew perfectly well that he planned on doing nothing of the sort.

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Back in the Common Room Sirius stumbled blindly down the stairs with one hand cradling his aching head and the other firmly on the banister. A yawning Remus wasn't far behind. They staggered over and sank down onto the couch next to Lily without a word. It was quite an interesting sight to behold. Lily's brows were drawn together in a look of intense discomfort as she pressed her fingers over ears, trying in vain to block out the incessant ringing; Remus sat next to her, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees and his covering his eyes with his hand to block out the offending light; Sirius was slouching and leaning his head on the back of the couch, massaging his temples to ease away his headache. "Ugh…where the hell is my hangover potion?" he demanded.

"We may have to go brew one, Padfoot," Remus mumbled incoherently.

Sirius turned to Remus, looking highly affronted. "We? What 'we'? Peter!" he bellowed. "Go brew me a hang over potion!"

Remus clapped his hands over his ears and glowered deeply at his friend. "Sirius," he growled dangerously.

"Oh, sorry, mate," Sirius amended, wincing slightly. "I'd forgotten that your wolf tendencies come out when you're hung over." Remus just grunted a pressed a pillow over his face.

"I don't think Peter's in here, Sirius," Lily told him. "Doesn't he get up earlier than you guys?"

"Yeah, he's probably off somewhere lurking in someone else's shadow," Sirius replied snidely, his upper lip curled in dislike. "That should give you a break for awhile, James."

"Oh, bugger," Remus moaned, his voice muffled by the pillow. "My head is killing me. I suppose I should thank you for it, Sirius."

Sirius turned to his friend looking bewildered. "Why me?"

"Because, you prat," Remus explained through gritted teeth, uncovering his face. "It's always your fault for getting us in this state!"

"Oh, right! That's certainly not what you said last night, is it? I believe your words were, 'bring it on'?"

"At least I was in enough of a mental state to find our way back here!" Remus retorted angrily.

"Of course; always the perfect Designated Dave, you are," Sirius remarked bitterly under his breath, sliding further down in his seat and folding his arms.

"Well, someone has to be! If it had been up to you we'd probably be halfway to Belgium right now on that stupid-arse bike of yours, just so you could satisfy your bloody craving for chocolate!"

Sirius groaned and dragged his hand over his face. "Remus, would you let it go?" he told him exasperatedly. "It was one time, alright? Grow up and get over it!"

Remus scowled deeply and clutched the pillow to his chest. "I'll get over it when I'm good and ready," he snapped petulantly. Lily was somewhat surprised by Remus's short temper. She had never before seen him so irritable or argumentative; she was used to seeing him calm and level headed. So much for being the tranquil one of the group, she thought amusedly.

The argument was cut short when James walked into the Common Room, carrying three vials of a thick, dull green potion. He strolled up to the trio with a smirk on his face and handed each of them a bottle. "Drink up, addicts" he said, flopping down next to Sirius.

Lily snatched hers with an impatient, "It's about time."

"Lily, you are a godsend," Remus breathed in relief. He eagerly uncorked his vial and brought it his mouth without hesitation.

"Yeah," Sirius muttered, following suit. "You actually managed to cut off Remus's hissy fit." Remus sent him a dirty look, but said nothing because the potion kept his mouth full and bulged out his cheeks.

Unlike Sirius and Remus, Lily examined the potion hesitantly instead of drinking it right away. When she tipped the bottle, the green substance only seeped very slowly down the side of the glass as though it had been mixed with wet cement. Lily had to fight down the urge to vomit when she saw a bulky bubble rise and burst in the middle. "Ugh," she croaked weakly. "What is this stuff, toxic waste?"

James sighed and rubbed his eye. "Drink it," he said tiredly. "Just get it over with. It'll make you feel a hell of a lot better. And make sure you drink all of it so that it works the best"

Lily looked at him incredulously and back to the potion. "But it's…" she protested, swallowing thickly. "…chunky."

"Drink it, Potter," James repeated.

"Are you sure I don't have to chew it?" Lily inquired mockingly.

"Just do it!"

Lily pouted and reluctantly uncorked the vial. "Fine," she muttered childishly. She carefully brought to her nose and inhaled, then immediately held it away from her face, pinching her nose. "Please don't tell me that it tastes like it smells."

"Worse," James answered dully.

Lovely, Lily thought resignedly. She pinched her nose tighter and raised the bottle to her mouth at an achingly slow pace, centimeter by centimeter.

Finally James snarled, "If you don't stop being such a drama queen and down that within the next ten seconds, I'll force-feed it to you, I swear." Making one last face at James, Lily finally took a deep breath and drank the potion down, gagging the entire time.

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The next day on their way to breakfast, Lily was still complaining to James about the potion and swearing off Firewhiskey for life. "I mean it, Potter," Lily said resolutely. "If I ever pick up another drink I want you to tie me to a chair and—"

"Ooh, sounds dirty, Evans," James interrupted, eyes twinkling wildly. His raised an eyebrow flirtatiously and smirked at her. "But in public? Really, this sort of talk should wait until you and I are alone tonight on our couch."

Lily scowled deeply at James and continued, "I was about to say, you insensitive pig, tie me down and prevent me from taking even the tiniest sip. God, I was up so late last night finishing my assignments, since I was hardly in a state to work on them during the day. I'll be lucky if I don't fall asleep on my desk. If I do, be sure to wake me up, alright?"

"Please, Evans," James scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You know very well that I would just let you go on sleeping. You shouldn't have even bothered to ask."

Lily sighed and shifted her book bag to a more comfortable position. "That is true," she conceded. "It was actually very foolish of me to ask, wasn't it?"

"Absolutely!" James playfully threw and arm around her shoulder. "Now we're seeing eye to eye, Evans. There's hope for you, yet."

Lily just shook her head and muttered a very sarcastic, "Whatever," but James didn't miss the small grin on her face, or the fact that she hadn't forcefully removed his arm like she would have done a week before. He allowed himself a celebratory strut and a smug smile. I guess there's hope for me, yet, as well. To pursue a friendship with her, of course, he added hastily.

"Hey," Lily remarked suddenly, startling James out of his revere. "There's Parker and Kate. I was wondering where they'd gotten off to. I meant to ask them something about the Herbology reading assignment. Hey, Kate! Parker!" Neither girl seemed to notice Lily's greeting; both were deep in conversation with Remus and Sirius, looking extremely troubled. "Hm," Lily murmured. "Wonder why they look so worried? Surely, the homework wasn't that difficult."

James didn't respond. As he and Lily made their way down the corridor, he became increasingly aware of the stares that were aimed in their direction and the lowered voices that hissed around them. At first he thought it was because of his arm around Lily's shoulder that set off the whispers, but that theory was dispelled when he and Lily walked by a small group of Slytherins clustered near a suit of armor. They're chatter immediately ceased, but James didn't miss the hurried "Shh! She's coming!" or the very quiet voice of a girl remark snidely, "I always knew that Evans girl was wild on the quiet. I was so sick of her acting all prissy and perfect, walking around like she's McGonagall or something. Not quite the model student anymore, is she?"

Oh no, James thought, closing his eyes.

"Parker!" Lily called, walking up to where her friends were standing. "Hey, Parker! Didn't you hear me yelling for you back there?"

Parker looked extremely uncomfortable. "Erm…sorry, James," she replied quietly, her eyes shifting to the real James. "I was a bit sidetracked."

"That's fine," Lily told her, waving her hand carelessly. She reached into her book bag, pulled out her Herbology textbook and flipped it open. "I just needed to ask you something about Herbology. Does the bowtruckle like to burrow in moist earth or is that the cynthis—? What's the matter?"

"…What?" Parker replied distractedly.

"What's wrong with you all? You're awfully quiet." An uncomfortable silence fell over the group followed by a small cough and throat clearance. "Is there a test or something that I don't know about?" Lily asked, slipping the book back into her bag

Kate fiddled with her tie and stammered, "Well, no. But…um…" She looked uncertainly at Remus, and then her eyes flickered over to James before finally resting on the floor. Remus also averted his gaze, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"What?" James inquired. "What is it?" But his gut feeling let him know that he was well aware of the problem at hand.

After another moment or two of silence Sirius, who was looking uncharacteristically solemn, was the one who finally spoke. "Look, Lily," he sighed heavily, turning to James. "There's something…ugly going around. About you."

Lily blinked and shook her head slightly. "W-what do you mean?"

After a few seconds of hesitation, Remus said quietly, "Well…Parker overheard a few people in the Common Room talking about you and some Ravenclaw…Derek Thomas, I think. They said…they said that you two…did some things," he added delicately, "that night on your date."

"What!" Lily and James exclaimed together. "Are you serious?" Lily yelped. James quickly put a hand on her shoulder in an unspoken reminder to her to stay in her current role.

"What kind of things, Remus?" he asked his friend calmly.

Shrugging his shoulders he replied seriously, "All I can say, Lily, is that they've done nothing to help your reputation around Hogwarts, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?" Lily said frantically, worry etched into her face. "It—it can't be that bad, can it?"

"It's bad, James," Parker told her, shaking her head. "The word around the school is that Lily's gone wild. It seems Derek's been telling everyone that she kept him up all night, and I mean that in the worst possible way." She paused and bit down on her lip before looking at James. "You…you didn't really do anything like that, did you, Lily?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course not!" the real one exclaimed. But right after the words were out of her mouth, Lily looked over to James questioningly. "Did you?" she said under her breath.

"No!" James shouted. "I would never do something like that, Parker, you know that! How could you even ask me that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lily!" she told him, remorse laced in her voice. "You know I don't think that of you! It's just that…I know you really liked him, and there's no telling how charming he could have been that night. Any girl could have fallen for that scum, especially since he's known to spout such romantic lines."

"Well, trust me, they weren't that difficult to resist," James remarked nastily.

Lily stared at the ground, perplexed and shocked that she was living out one of her worst nightmares. "But…" she said faintly. "I-I can't believe that he'd…do something like that. He seemed so…so nice. I can't believe he actually spread such lies about m—about Evans, when he knows that they're completely untrue!"

Remus rested a comforting hand on James's shoulder. "Well, Lily," he told him gently. "It's all about making him look good. I hate to say it, but frankly, Derek could care less about how all of this makes you look because it's all about him right now." James grinned slightly at his friend's soothing words. He's always known exactly what to say at the right time, he thought.

"I'm really sorry, Lily," Kate murmured. "We really didn't want to be the ones to tell you like this, but most likely you would of have found out about the whole thing in an even worse way."

James glanced at Lily, unable to say what he wanted to in front of their friends, but wanting to convey to her that he too was sorry to see her dealing with this. But Lily wasn't looking at him. Instead, her eyes were locked on a figure about twenty feet away that was making his way down the corridor with a group of several boys clustered around him. James looked over at Derek angrily as numerous profanities ran through his mind. When he turned back to Lily, her expression had changed from confusion to fury. Before he could say anything, she had dropped her book bag and was striding determinedly over to where the cause of trouble was standing.

"James, where are you going?" Sirius called.

Lily ignored him and quickened her pace. When she came within a few feet of Derek she could catch snippets of his conversation. "Yeah, it surprised me, too," he was saying boastfully. "But you know what they say: the quiet ones are always the wildest, and I'm a witness to that." He and his company laughed loudly. "Seriously, mates, take my word for it. Forget the party girls and go after the bookworms. They'll give you a much better time!" More raucous laughter echoed off the walls. Lily finally reached her destination and roughly shoved one of the eager listeners out of the way. Derek turned toward her and said, "Hey, Potter, how's it going? Here to listen to the story first hand?"

Lily gave him a look of pure rage and without a second thought she pulled her arm back and let her fist fly straight into Derek's face. Several people exclaimed in surprise, including Kate's, "Holy hell!"

Derek doubled over with a cry of pain and covered his nose as blood streamed into his hands. "Dammit, Potter, I think you broke my nose!" he exclaimed in muffled tones. "What the hell, James?"

"What a coincidence," Lily said, seething with anger. "That's precisely what I was going to say."

With lightning speed, Lily hauled Derek up by his collar and slammed him against the wall. "You are going to tell me exactly what happened on that date," she said in a menacing tone. "And you will tell me the truth. If you don't, I will know, and for every lie you tell, that is exactly how many days you will spend in the Hospital Wing recovering. Is that clear?" Derek nodded vigorously. "Start talking," Lily demanded.

"Um…" he stammered uncertainly. "Okay, first I picked Lily up in—in front of the Gryffindor portrait, uh…'round seven."

"Keep going," Lily said, glaring at him.

"We…had dinner in the Astronomy Tower, and afterward watched a—a meteor shower."

"And?" Lily prompted coldly.

Derek hesitated. His eyes momentarily flickered over to his friends, who were shuffling as though they wanted to do something, but were too scared to try. One rough shake brought his attention back to a very impatient Lily. "We…we talked," he muttered begrudgingly.

"Louder," she ordered.

"We talked."

Lily's eyebrows rose slightly. "You talked," she repeated cynically. She turned to James, who was watching the display with his mouth slightly open. "Is that true?" she called to him. James nodded numbly. Lily turned back to Derek, and tightened her grip on his collar. "You talked," she said again. Then she tilted her head, pretending to think. "That's interesting," she said. "It's certainly different from what I heard. Now, why would I hear a rumor like that one being spread around if all you did was talk? Derek, perhaps you could tell me." Her tone made it apparent that it was not a request.

"Um," Derek said, looking uncomfortable. "I don't know. Maybe you overheard something different—?"

"Wrong answer," Lily interrupted icily. Her voice grew thunderous and the anger crept back into her tone. "Did you or did you not sleep with Lily Evans?"

Derek faltered before closing his eyes, and admitting in a quiet voice, "No, I didn't."

"What was that?" Lily said sharply.

"No," he said louder, "I didn't." A few whispers broke out throughout the corridor at his confession, and Derek's friends exchanged surprised looks.

"Did you do anything sexual with her at all, Derek?" Lily fired at him.

Derek glared at Lily murderously before closing his eyes, his cheeks tinged with a light pink. "No," he said through tightly clenched teeth. "I didn't."

Lily nodded slowly, looking furious, but her eyes carried a trace of underlying pain. Speaking loud enough for only Derek to hear her, she said, "If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will shove your wand so far down your throat, it will come out of your arse as whole as it was when you bought it from Olivander's. Do you understand?" Derek nodded nervously. Lily released her hold on his shirt so abruptly that Derek stumbled clumsily before regaining his balance. She stared at him for a moment, before turning to his friends. They all instinctively took a step back, as though she would do the same to them as she did to Derek. But all she said was, "Take him to the Hospital Wing and get that bloody nose cleaned up." Everyone watched as Derek hobble off with Anthony's help, and the group that had been eagerly listening to Derek's tale now tried to discreetly slip away.

Lily let out a shaky breath and leaned against the wall, running a trembling hand through her hair. She was either unaware of all of the looks she was receiving, or she blatantly ignored them, to preoccupied with thoughts of what had just occurred. James nervously pressed his lips together and tentatively made his way over to Lily. "Hey," he said quietly. Lily didn't answer. "I'm glad you punched him out, Evans," he continued, trying to lighten the mood. "I've been dying to do that every since that date; or what I like to refer to as my night from hell." If James was hoping to get a laugh out of his sullen companion he was disappointed. Lily showed no lines of amusement, but folded her arms tightly across her chest and stared at him gravely. "Why didn't you tell me, Potter?" she whispered.

James looked away briefly, and then said, "I tried to."

"You tried to," Lily repeated coolly. "Surely you can try better than that."

Across the corridor Sirius, Parker, Kate and Remus were looking on curiously at the display before them. They couldn't hear the words exchanged between the two, but it was obvious that Lily and James were having a very serious conversation, without shouting or swapping insults.

"Oh, poor thing," Kate said sympathetically. "Lily's got to be absolutely crushed over this. Her reputation is like gold to her. We should go over to her." She hadn't taken more than a few steps when Remus gently grabbed her shoulder, preventing her from going any further.

"Hang on a minute, Kate," he said softly. "I don't think we should interfere."

Kate looked at him, completely puzzled. "What do you mean? Interfere with what?"

Remus glanced over to Lily and James. His keen sense of perception was picking up on a changed atmosphere between the two, something that was much more different than their usual hostility. Remus knew better than to impede on it. "I just think we should leave Lily and James alone right now," he said slowly, his eyes still on the pair. "They seem to be handling it fine without us. Besides, I'm sure Lily doesn't need to be bombarded with all of us right now. C'mon, we should probably get to class."

Kate didn't look any less confused. "But—?"

"Trust him, Kate," Sirius interrupted. "Remus has a sixth sense when it comes to this kind of stuff; you know, with feelings and whatnot."

Neither Lily nor James took notice of their friends leaving, too deep in their own conversation. "I'm sorry, Evans," James told her. "I tried to tell you, I really did. It's just that…well, every time I tried to say something about that catastrophe we kept getting interrupted. I…" James paused and ran his hand through his hair. "I should have told you sooner, and I should have…I don't know, taken you aside or something—"

"Yeah, you should have," Lily said coldly. "Instead of letting me go on believing everything was fine and dandy, and then waking up to deal with this mess."

"What? Now wait a minute, Evans, that's not—!"

"Just don't, okay?" She brushed past James roughly and stormed off, leaving everyone in silence as they watched the display before them. It wasn't until she turned the corner that their chatter started up once again. Ignoring the stares and whispers, James swore under his breath and hurried to catch up with her. But by the time he turned the corner Lily was long gone. "Damn," James murmured in frustration. He turned to a nearby third year Hufflepuff chatting animatedly with a friend. James tapped her on the shoulder and she immediately stopped talking, looking somewhat embarrassed that the very subject of her conversation had caught her gossiping.

"Sorry, Lily," she said hastily, eager to avoid an angry confrontation.

James just rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't care what you were talking about, I just need to know where Ev—James Potter went. Did you see him come this way?" The girl looked bewilderedly at her friend, who just shrugged her shoulders. "WELL!" James exploded.

"Um, no, no we didn't," she replied timidly. "We were sort of…distracted." The two girls both looked down as a deep red tinged their cheeks.

James let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "I have no patience for Hufflepuffs," he muttered crossly under her breath. There's only one solution to this. He ran off toward the staircase and leaped up the stairs two at a time. After sprinting up several flights, he tore into the Gryffindor Common Room and hurried up to the boys' dormitory. Inside, James threw open his trunk and rummaged around until he found just what he was looking for.

"Yes!" he said triumphantly. James unfolded the parchment quickly, pointed his wand at it, and announced, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Black lines of ink started to spread from his wand, and crept over the creases until it covered the parchment from corner to corner. Hundreds of dots were moving steadily across the paper as students and professors alike made their ways to their classes. "Bloody Hell," James grumbled. He placed his finger at the top of the Marauder's Map and began his search for the dot with Lily's name. He had covered half of it before he remembered that he should be looking for the dot with his name instead, due to his current predicament. James let out a frustrated yell and moved his hand to the top of the map again to start over. "Finally!" he shouted, leaning closer. "Room…215, second floor. Room 215, second floor." James repeated it again to himself as he quickly grabbed his wand at rushed toward the door, only to spin back around to wipe the map clean. "Mischief managed," he said hurriedly. James crumpled up his map and stuffed it untidily into his trunk, then sped out of the dorm and rushed out to find Room 215.

James burst into the room, completely out of breath after sprinting down five flights of stairs, and saw Lily pacing relentlessly, clenching and unclenching her fists as though she was itching to take her anger out on the first thing she saw. Well, that's said and done, James thought apprehensively, noticing two overturned chairs to his right. Cautiously stepping into the classroom, James cleared his throat to make Lily aware of his presence without the risk of becoming the object of her anger.

Lily gave no sign that she heard him; she just exhaled angrily and continued to pace. James stepped further into the room and closed the door as quietly as he could. Merlin, it looks like she has too much fury to even contain. He swallowed nervously and ran a hand through his hair. "Er…Hey, Evans…" he ventured. Again, Lily offered no response, only clenching her jaw and breathing harshly through her nose. Running a hand over the back of his neck, James decided to try. "I'm really, really sorry about all of this, Evans," he told her. "Honestly, I…If I ever thought things would get this bad, I would have told you so much sooner. It—it wasn't quite as bad as you might think, though. The date, I mean." James paused and bit down on his lip. "Cheer up," he offered, trying to sound jovial. "I'm sure this entire thing will blow over by tomorrow morning."

Suddenly Lily stopped pacing the room and stood still, staring at the ground. After a moment she looked up at James so intensely that he thought Lily was going to punch him exactly the way she had done to Derek earlier. He inwardly braced himself for her fist, but met her gaze steadily. Several long, silent, excruciating moments passed. Then, something that James hadn't expected at all.

Lily's leaned against the wall as her hard exterior crumbled. Then she slid down to the floor and began to cry.

--------

"Hey, Rem, can you believe Prongs reacted like that?" Sirius said incredulously as they settled into their seats for Transfiguration. "It was as though he was channeling…I don't know one of those angry mythical creatures. A Fury or something."

Remus sighed and shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure, Sirius," he told him in a low voice. "I'd say he was closer to a mother lion protecting her young."

"But he's never reacted so violently to something to do with Lily!"

"Well, yeah, but this is a pretty big something, Padfoot," Remus said, frowning at him. "That's a really nasty rumor going around about Lily. James probably just…Well, you know how strong his Gryffindor spirit is, don't you? Lily's still a Gryffindor, and there's no doubt that she's in a lot of pain right now. James is just defending his House, that's all. And since Lily's part of his House, he'll defend her too, if it comes to that. Obviously, it has."

Sirius nodded, but by the expression on his face he was clearly still confused. "Yeah, I guess that sounds like him," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, I've known him since we were little, and even I didn't predict that he would go and punch Thomas out like that!"

Remus smiled. "Perhaps James isn't as predictable as we all think, Padfoot," he remarked wisely.

A few seats away Parker and Kate were having a similar conversation. "I feel absolutely awful about asking Lily about the whole thing, Kate," Parker murmured, her head in her hands. "I can't believe I thought she'd do something as uncharacteristic as sleep with Derek! I'm supposed to be her best friend, and I believed those rumors!"

Kate rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her friend. "But it was only for a second, Parker," she assured. "By this time the facts have been completely distorted into about three separate rumors. You didn't know what to believe, it's not your fault."

"Yeah, but I should have trusted my own judgment. After all, I've known Lily for so long, and I definitely should have known that she's not that kind of girl." Parker groaned loudly and dropped her head onto her arms. "She's never going to let me forget this!"

Letting out a highly annoyed breath, Kate dropped her hand and said determinedly, "Look, Parker, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but you need to stop complaining and think about Lily for a second." Parker looked up at her friend's sharp tone, scowling ever so slightly. "Do you really think she's sitting and thinking to herself, "God, I can't stand Parker right now!'? Of course not! She's probably so focused on figuring out how to fix her ruined reputation that she doesn't care about anything else, let alone some stupid question. So instead of worrying about something so trivial why not worry about how we can help her!"

Parker rolled her eyes and set her chin back onto her folded arms. "Fine, I guess you're right," she admitted grudgingly. "But for now, she probably just wants to be left alone. We'll talk to her about it tonight." After a moment's pause, she added, "Can you believe how James stood up for her like that?"

"I know," Kate said excitedly. "Did you see his face when he went over to Derek? The look on his face was like this intense concentration, and he didn't notice anything else except Derek."

"Seriously, if they were dating, that would have been the most romantic thing I've every seen," Parker stated wistfully. "I wish someone would beat up another guy for me."

Kate murmured slyly, "I know someone would happily punch a guy for you." She looked over to Sirius and back to Parker, winking suggestively.

"Shut your mouth!" Parker said irritably. "God, I'm so sick of hearing about this!"

"Oh, come on, Parker," Kate scoffed. "I know you better than that. You're so excited for that date that you can barely contain it. And I'll bet you're planning which outfit to wear right as we speak!" she squealed.

"Shhh!" Parker hissed, glancing at Sirius anxiously. "Maybe so, but I don't want him to know that!"

Kate's eyes twinkled playfully, lowering her voice as McGonagall swept into the room. "Please," she told Parker sardonically "With an ego as large as his, Sirius probably expects it."

--------

James was still staring at Lily's crumpled form, completely at a loss about what to do. As much as he hated to admit it, his instinct had first been to quickly step out of the room and run for Remus. I don't know how to deal with this kind of thing! he thought, alarmed. I never know the right thing to say. I can't handle this. James looked longingly at the door, then back at Lily, whose body was shaking violently as she sobbed. Then, he groaned quietly under his breath and rubbed his hands over his face. I guess I'm going to have to handle this. Inhaling deeply, James stepped closer to Lily.

"I am…so sorry, Evans," he told her quietly. "I know this is probably the millionth time I've said it, but I really am. I wanted to tell you! You know I would never intentionally hurt you by keeping something like this from you, if it had happened. And I swear, Evans, the date really wasn't as bad as you think. I…I could tell you all about it if you want?" James suggested hesitantly. "It might actually give you a laugh. Come on, Evans," he pleaded. "Don't cry. Please? The bastard isn't worth all of this!" When Lily didn't acknowledge him, James added, "Look, I'm sure you're…disappointed, to say the least. But there are plenty of others out there, you know? This Derek guy isn't even worth your thoughts…you don't want to waste your time with scum like Derek, anyway. In a way, you're sort of lucky you found out now—"

Lily's tear stained face suddenly snapped up. "What do you know?" she said furiously. "You're just like him!"

James drew back, completely startled by her anger towards him. "What?" he exclaimed. "No I'm not!"

"Oh, please!" Lily sneered sharply. It was with such ferocity that James took another step back. "You walk around like you're a king, asking so many girls out that I wouldn't be surprised if you had a harem! Do you know how many girls cry because of you? You don't even care! All you do is laugh, and move onto the next one! Like it's some game. Do you know what would happen if I did that? If any girl did that? Do you, Potter?" she demanded. He didn't answer. "She wouldn't be known as popular," Lily continued scathingly, spitting the word out as if it was poison. "She wouldn't be known as charming, and she certainly wouldn't be liked!"

James bit his lip and looked down.

"She would be called a slut, Potter!" Lily yelled at him. "She would have a reputation as a whore! She could be the nicest girl in the world, but her name would be mud, and you damn-well know it!" Out of breath from yelling, Lily took a shaky breath and turned away from James.

James swallowed his guilt and forced himself to meet Lily's eyes. "I-I…didn't really think about it before," he said quietly.

"Yeah, well, welcome to the double-standard, Potter. Also known as life," she said bitterly, although much calmer than before.

James was quiet before saying, "It's not the end of the world, you know. It'll be okay." He was trying to be helpful, but Lily certainly didn't see it as such.

"You don't get it, do you, Potter?" she spat. Her eyes were blazing with anger again. "I've spent six years working hard on my reputation and earning people's respect. It's all gone now! All ruined in one day!"

Nothing was heard for a long time except for Lily's occasional sniffles. James glanced at her from where he stood. With her head was bent down facing away from him and her arms wrapped around her knees, James couldn't remember ever seeing Lily look so defenseless. She always had a certain shield of confidence around her that could never be penetrated. But now her poise was shattered, as well as her pride.

Cautiously, he made his way over to where she was and sat next to her. If Lily noticed, she didn't act like it. James leaned his head against the cold stone wall. "Evans?" he asked Lily quietly. "Why do you care so much about what people think?"

His question hung in the air and a silence settled between them. Lily was still for a long time before she turned to look at James. He almost wished she hadn't; the look of pain was near unbearable for him.

Lily stretched her legs out in front of her, crossed her ankles, and looked down. "I don't know," she said quietly, her furious demeanor gone. "I guess I just...feel like I have to prove myself to people here or something. Maybe prove my worth. The rules are different for me, Potter. I'm...I'm not pureblood…and…" Lily paused. James didn't say anything; he could tell Lily wasn't finished. She sighed and swallowed a lump in her throat. "I just feel like if…if I get good marks and stuff…if I'm a prefect…it's showing people that I'm the same as them, and even if I am a mud…Muggle-born, that I can be as good as them." Lily rubbed her eye with the bottom of her palm and tried not to start crying again.

James studied her intensely, forehead creased. He never thought Lily could be insecure, but here she was showing him that she was more often than not. "Evans," he said seriously. "D'you really think you need all of that to prove you're just as magical as the rest of us?" Lily shrugged. "I mean, c'mon!" James continued. "You wouldn't be here otherwise! No matter what your bloodlines are, it's evident you as good as pureblood. Besides, there is no such thing as a witch or wizard who does not have muggle blood in them. How well someone does magic does not depend on their ancestors." Lily made a derisive noise, but said nothing. "What?" James said. "You don't believe me? Look at Peter! Both of his parents are magic folk, and he can barely point his wand correctly!" A small smile graced Lily's face. "I'm not kidding," James said with a smile. "The first day here, Remus had to point it the right way for him because Peter was holding by the side that you're supposed to point at things and aiming with the handle. To this day, Sirius still makes fun of him for that."

A smile tentatively crept its way onto Lily's face as she picked at a loose thread on her pant leg.

"Look at me, Evans," James said firmly. Lily lifted her head and regarded James with one eyebrow raised. "Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't good enough to attend Hogwarts. You proved that theory wrong on the first day here, you emphasized it when you were made prefect, and you'll abolish it when you're made head girl."

"Potter, although that's encouraging, it has got to be the cheesiest crap I've ever heard." James smiled sheepishly as though to say, 'I do try.' There was a pause before Lily asked, "You really think I'll make head girl?"

"Don't get so cocky," James said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm only saying that because the only other girl with a chance is Gretchen Hobson, and she's been out for my blood ever since I ditched her during the Yule Ball to dance with Katie Clark."

Lily smiled and looked down. "Thanks," she whispered shyly.

James grinned and playfully bumped her shoulder with his. "No problem," he replied. "You don't really think that, do you?" Lily looked at him curiously. "You know," James continued slowly, eyebrows creased worriedly. "You don't really think I would try to…force a girl to do something like…that, right?"

Lily studied him intently. "Wouldn't you?" she asked solemnly.

"No!" James said, shaking his head vigorously. "It'd be like robbing innocence from an infant. Personally, I couldn't deal with that on my conscience." That's pretty deep, Lily thought. I never thought something so wise could come out of Potter's mouth.

James' voice interrupted her thoughts. "Second, when the time comes I would hardly have to force a girl," he was saying arrogantly. "It's a wonder in itself that I'm able to keep them off me right now."

Lily snorted, but couldn't keep the grin off her face. "That's so typically pigheaded of you," she said. "You think you're God's gift to the female population."

James smirked. "I know I am." Lily shook her head and looked out the window. Suddenly, what James had said sunk in.

"Wait a minute," she said, whipping her head around to face him. "You're a virgin?"

James shot Lily a withering look. "Yes, Evans, I am! Do you think I want to have a little brat on my hands before I'm eighteen? Please, my social life would be worse than Filch's."

"Well, it's nice to know your doing it for all the right reasons," Lily said sardonically. "After all, education and diseases are all highly over-rated."

"Also, my value would go down."

"How d'you figure?" Lily asked dryly.

"Simple," James said. "I'd be tied to a girl for the rest of my life, and therefore wouldn't be able to date around anymore. I'd have to turn down the scores of women asking me out and would eventually stop being asked. I would also cease to be the one every other man wants to be. My charm and good looks would come to an end due to deep depression that I sank into after losing my Witch Weekly's Most Eligible Bachelor Award. And I would be mourned by everyone," he added as an after thought.

"Not everyone," Lily muttered.

"And so, in conclusion," James said loudly, ignoring her comment, "my sleeping around would have many long-term consequences on many different people."

Lily snorted derisively. "As I said before," she said to James. "Cheers for having all the right reasons."

James chuckled softly and was quiet for a moment before saying, "That was some show you put on in the hallway."

Lily laughed. "I didn't even realize anyone was watching."

"Are you kidding?" James said incredulously. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were in the Daily Prophet. Brilliant right hook, by the way; I was worried you were going to slap him or something. Boys don't slap. You've obviously learned a thing or two from being in my body."

"Believe it or not," Lily drawled. "I knew a few things before I was trapped in this atrocious…thing."

"That hurts, darling," he said, pretending to be wounded.

Lily ignored him. "I learned how to hit like that a long time ago."

"From who?" James asked curiously.

Lily sighed heavily and shrugged her shoulders. "No one, really," she murmured pensively. "It's just the sort of thing you pick up when you have an older sister with 'cold bitch' for a middle name." James winced at the vicious comment, but didn't ask Lily to elaborate. He was blocking on the girl's name, but he was sure it was Peony.

Or something like that.

"My parents are convinced it's just sibling rivalry," Lily said, breaking James' train of thought. "They think we'll grow out of it."

"And will you?" James asked quietly.

Lily did respond right away. Then, she slowly shook her head. "Probably not."

A comfortable silence settled over them and all that could be heard was the sound of their steady breathing. After a moment, James took out a sheet of parchment and a quill, settled it on his lap, and began to draw. Lily turned her head at the sound of the scratching and studied the picture. She could see the shape of a dragon's head slowly taking form.

"That's quite good," she said lightly. "I didn't know you could draw."

James gave Lily a side glance, raised his eyebrows slightly and answered very softly, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Evans." And even more you'll never find out, he thought grimly.

"Hmm…" she murmured, still studying the picture intently. "I never realized you were left handed."

"What?" James asked, looking up at her.

Lily gestured to his hand. "Oh, nothing," she said with a grin. "It's just something I always notice about people."

"What is?" James asked again, once again concentrating hard on his drawing.

"If they're left handed or not," Lily explained. "I don't know why, it's just something I always do. Parker's a lefty, too, you know."

"Fascinating," James muttered absentmindedly.

"I guess it's just one of my quirks or something."

"One of many, Evans, I assure you." Finished with his drawing, James put down his quill and took out his wand. "Mobilia." Lily watched, entranced as the dragon sprang to life, breathing fire and thrashing its tail around.

"That's remarkable," she breathed in awe, running her hand over the ink.

James smiled at her and held out the picture to her. "You want it?" he asked.

"Don't you want it?"

"Nah," James denied. "I can always do others. Take it." James handed the parchment to Lily, who neatly folded it and tucked it away in her bag.

"Thanks," she said. James nodded. Once again, they were both quiet. Then Lily said, "They're going to think you were standing up for me, you know." To her surprise, James didn't seem fazed.

"Remus, Sirius, and I would have done something anyway," he said casually.

"Really?" Lily said disbelievingly.

James nodded. "Maybe not the way you did," he said. "But it's not like we would have just let it happen."

"Why?"

"Because," James explained. "You're a Gryffindor no matter how much you get on my nerves—which happens to be a lot, by the way—Gryffindors are loyal to one another. That is what sets us apart from those Slytherin bastards."

"Oh, charming," Lily joked. "Not very enemy-like of you."

James smiled, looking thoughtfully out the window. "No," he said quietly, almost to himself. "It's not." He turned to look at Lily and rested his elbows on his knees. "Hey," he said. "Don't you think this enemy thing is getting to be a bit…" James waved his hand slightly. "Childish?"

Lily blinked, completely taken aback by James' comment. "Um, well…"

"I mean, think about it," James continued. "You and I haven't really been acting like enemies lately, have we? Sure, we bicker like usual and everything, but can you truly say you hate me anymore?"

Lily hesitated before shaking her head reluctantly.

"Right," James said, a grin spreading on his face. "Me neither. That's why I think we should no longer be enemies, but frienemies."

"Frienemies," Lily repeated, looking at James as though he had lost his mind. "I assume you came up with that yourself?"

"I did, in fact," he said proudly.

"Figures," Lily muttered under her breath. "What's it mean?" she asked James.

"Well," James explained. "It's a cross between enemies and friends. We can still quarrel and annoy the hell out each other, for entertainment's sake, but we can also act civil towards each other for no reason. You know, talk without shouting. Kind of what we're doing now. So? What do you say?" James held his hand out to Lily to shake. "Frienemies?"

Lily looked at his hand uncertainly. This wasn't exactly a decision to be made rashly. Shaking James' hand meant changing everything. It meant putting six years of dislike behind her and starting over again. Sure, they had been getting along for the past week, but was it something that she was willing to make permanent?

Lily inhaled deeply and looked back at James, who still had his hand out.

"Come on," coaxed James, a smirk playing on his lips. "What do you have to lose?"

"My sanity," Lily replied.

"Hate to tell you this, Evans, but you lost that long ago." Lily sighed wearily and finally shook James' hand, sealing the agreement.

"Fine," she relented. "Frienemies." James smiled at her and let go, turning to look out the window once more. After a minute or so, he turned his head back to Lily and said, "I'm hungry. You?"

"A bit," Lily admitted. "We've missed breakfast, though, and class started half an hour ago."

"So?" James said.

"So what?" Lily asked.

"My point exactly."

Lily looked at James, confusion written clearly on her face. "Have I missed something?"

"So what if class started!" James said. "We can't work on empty stomachs, can we?"

Lily leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "No," she said flatly.

"No what?" James asked.

"No, we are not going to skip class to eat breakfast. We've done that one too many times."

"We've only done it once," James pointed out.

"That's still too many."

James shrugged. "Fine," he said carelessly. "If you want to sit through class and starve, fine by me."

"Good," Lily said, eyes still closed.

James was quiet before saying, "I could smell pancakes at breakfast, you know. They probably have dozens of them left over in the kitchens."

Lily's stomach rumbled.

James heard it and smirked; his plan was working. "There are so many different kinds of them, too," he continued conversationally. "Personally, my favorite is blueberry. But then again, that might not be fair since I haven't tried them all. I mean, with such variety, who would have the time? Or the stomach? There's maple…"

Lily unconsciously licked her lips.

"…strawberry, banana, almond…"

Strawberry's my favorite…she thought.

"…Boysenberry, raspberry, cherry, peppermint..." James counted off.

There are peppermint pancakes…?

"…chocolate and tomato, and then uberberry, which is one of the lesser-known flavors…"

I'm interested to know what uberberry is…

"…Then there are the ones that change colors, those are always interesting—"

"ALRIGHT!" Lily exclaimed. "We can go! Happy now?"

"Ecstatic," James cheerfully.

"I'm only going because I want to know what uberberry is," Lily told him stubbornly. "I've never even heard of it before."

"'Course you haven't," James said brightly. "I made it up."

Lily gave him a sidelong glance. "You play dirty."

"It's the only way to play, darling. Pancakes are my favorite; we couldn't miss them, could we?"

Lily rolled her eyes and got heavily to her feet, wincing as her sore muscles stretched. "Call me 'darling' again and you'll be a pancake."

"What will you do, transfigure me?" James retorted playfully. Lily shot him a sharp look and made a face. "Please, you couldn't transfigure a pancake from its batter."

"Shut up! Come on, before I change my mind, Potter."

Lily stretched her arms high over her head and started towards the door.

James watched her quietly, not moving from the ground. "James," he said suddenly.

Lily paused with her hand on the doorknob and looked at him, completely baffled. "What?" she asked.

James looked up at her and made eye contact. A smirk was growing on his face and the mischievous twinkle in his eye could even be seen from across the room. "You heard me, Lily," he said, purposely emphasizing her name. "My name…is James."

A/n: EEEEEEEK! I have had that part written for MONTHS! It feels so good to finally get it down. I feel excited to hear everyone's feedback.

But now I have some VERY IMPORTANT issues that I need to address, so PLEASE DON'T SKIP THIS.

1.) Up until now I've had a little outline that planned what would be happening. There should be only a few chapters left, and the story shouldn't be longer than 20 chapters. Now, I barely know what's going to happen myself. I know how I'm going to end this story, and that's about all. So…what ever I write from now on will basically be from the top of my head. Don't worry though, I won't ramble or stray from the plot.

BUT: IDEAS ARE VERY WELCOME! (as long as no one gets offended if I decide not to use it)

2.) I've been struggling with this issue for awhile now, and it's got to do with a major plot point. And I've decided to take a poll from you readers. Here it is: should:

A. ONLY SIRIUS FIND OUT ABOUT LILY AND JAMES'S SWITCH?

B. ONLY REMUS FIND OUT ABOUT THE SWITCH?

C. BOTH SIRIUS AND REMUS FIGURE IT OUT?

D. NO ONE FIGURE IT OUT AND IT STAYS BETWEEN LILY AND JAMES?

Now, I don't mind that many out there don't review, seeing as I hardly do so myself (guilty grin), but this time, I'm begging everyone who reads this story to drop a note by, saying which choice they prefer and also briefly explaining why. I ask this of you because I want to know what the majority prefers. PLEASE! I am in dire need of everyone's help with this! Thanks in advance!

OH! Before I forget, a few quick notes:

GUESS WHAT? I HAVE THE KISSING WRITTEN! YAY! I'm thinking about leaving a teaser from it at some point, but I'm not sure, yet.

DEDICATION: This is for EAGERLY AWAITING THE 6TH BOOK, who so kindly encouraged me to take my time. That was the nicest, most sincere review I have every received. Thank you so much for your kind words, it was exactly the pick-me-up that I needed. I hope you enjoyed it! So, for your compassionate thoughts, I happily dedicate this to you.

I have a mystery to solve. WHERE IS INDIANGURL? I haven't heard from you lately! I miss you and your friends leaving funny comments…sniffles COME BACK!

Until next time,

Spirit