A/N: Once again, I don't own anything, all credit goes to J K Rowling. I'm sorry, this chapter won't be of great standard but I had a few ideas and I needed to upload, so... *shrug* here it is. Please don't hate me, I promise the quality will be better in future.

A COUPLE OF VERY LONG SECONDS LATER

Inside my head, I'm cursing my Gryffindor honour. Why did I ever agree to this? I do not want to kiss Potter. Besides, I've had enough of kissing since *shudder* Severus kissed me.

"Lily? Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah," I shake my head, ridding myself of my thoughts.

"Looks like I won the bet, Evans."

"It certainly seems so," I gulp.

Black can't contain his obvious amusement.

"You have to snog Prongs! Prongs and Evans sitting on a broomstick! How does it go again, Prongsy?"

"I have no idea you crazy excuse for a best friend."

"I'm sure it went on about licking and Quidditch, do you really not remember it? I'm sure we used to sing it or maybe I read on an Exploding Joke box. I really don't know. Prongs and Evans sitting on a broomstick, flying something somewhere, something about kissing and then falling off…"

"He's mad," I say to Mar.

We sit in silence and then Alice, Mar and I go upstairs to get dressed. On the way upstairs, Mar and Alice won't shut up about me having to kiss Potter and Potter fancying me and despite my constant rejections to their statements, they carry on regardless.

"I don't know why you're upset, it's not like James is bad looking and I bet he's loads better at snogging than Snivellus. This is probably a good thing, imagine if you never kissed anyone because of a bad first experience."

"Lots of people don't so things if they've had a bad first experience," I frown at Mar.

"Really? Like what?"

"Paragliding, flying, dying…"

"You're not going to die more than once, Lil."

"Maybe not but it's still a good example. How can I get out of it?"

"How about if I kiss Sirius and then it will all be less awkward?"

"If you want to snog Black, I don't think you'd need a reason."

"Oooh! So you think he's hot?"

"That's not what I meant. I meant that if you want to snog someone, then you shouldn't need a reason like me. I don't want to be the reason that you two exchanged saliva."

"Good, because he's taken. You know Lily, you have a habit of making wonderful and amazing things sound disgusting."

"I'm not a romantic, I can't help it."

When we're ready we head off to Diagon Alley, the boys keep sniggering and wandering off so in the end, we leave them to it.

9 PM – THE LIGHTWOOD MANSION

We've only got tonight before we get on the train tomorrow so Mrs Lightwood (damn her hospitality!) invited Remus and Peter to stay as well which is great for them but it means that all of the Marauders are back together which is not so great for us. Marlene, Alice and I have retreated slowly back to our room hearing the occasional THUD or BANG from downstairs followed by Mrs Lightwood's rage.

I smile a little to myself; it's easy to forget Tuney and our painful separation when the Marauders are being normal. Normality is bliss at the moment.

"Do you think James has told the others about you having to snog him?" Marlene says suddenly.

"I'm sure he has," I say. I can feel my insides squirming.

"The important question is, do you want to kiss him?" Marlene smirks, giving me a curious look.

"I don't!" I say exasperatedly.

"Oh, come on! I don't believe that. He's been staring at you since fourth year or something!"

"He's an absolute prick," I say, already tired of the conversation.

"No he's not, not much anymore. Trust me; the Marauders are funnier now, less mean."

"Just because you're snogging Black."

"Actually, Sirius is no longer a Black," Marlene counters.

"What?"

"You know how he and James are very brotherly? Well, he moved out of his house when he was sixteen and James' parents took him in, which is real nice, isn't it? He told me his parents burnt him off the family tree."

"Oh," I say.

I honestly don't what to say, I don't want to pity him. His family are a load of dicks, but it's got to hurt to be abandoned by your family. I may not like Tuney but the words she says still hurt. I suppose I understand Black, sorry, Sirius more than I thought.

"Anyway, who I'm snogging is none of your business."

"Really? You always seemed to relish telling us who you were exchanging bacteria with."

"Ew, Lily. You almost make kissing sound repulsive. I assure you, most boys can kiss better than Snivellus."

My heart twinges, another clear reminder of the friend I've lost. First Tuney then Severus, how many more people am I going to lose? Mar notices me wincing and throws a helpless look my way.

"I'm going to go –" I get up before the tears fall.

I notice Alice gives Marlene a dirty look.

"What was I supposed to say? I thought she was over it..." I hear Mar hiss.

I run out to the garden, the tears streaming down my face. I feel all the memories of Tuney and Sev come back to me. All those smiles, all those jokes, all those moments of happiness… Then I remember all the arguments, all the shouting and all the painful times and betrayal. It wasn't particularly difficult to see them go, not like some people, but even though my pain is nothing compared to others, it still hurts.

I lie on my back and look up to the stars. Tuney and I watched the stars. For hours on end, we'd look up and make up our own constellations. I miss having the unconditional love of a sister. The light from the stars seem to shine on my tears, like the light would shine on the sea. Now I'm babbling in my head. Shut up. If only my thoughts would stop, I'd make life so much easier for myself.

"Lily?"

I don't respond. Whoever it is doesn't need to know that I'm upset. I'd only have to explain it and that's the last thing I want to do.

The figure lies down beside me and says nothing but they don't have to. Their presence is all I need. After a while, the figure grasps my hand and squeezes it. I turn to face them. Remus smiles back at me, he has always been kind to me, supportive too.

"It's all a bit much, with Tuney and Sev…"

"You don't need to explain your emotions, Lily."

I am grateful; Remus is one of those people that you need in times such as this. We sit up, slowly and talk like old times and I find myself wondering why I ever bothered with all the tears about Tuney and Sev, anyway.

"…You know, Prongs is very excited about winning his bet."

"I can imagine," I sigh.

"Don't worry, Prongs isn't as much of, how do you put it?"

"An arrogant toerag?"

"Exactly, he's not much of an arrogant toerag anymore. Don't take my word on it; he's still arrogant just not as much."

"I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts."

"Me neither, it's all too tense being here. Padfoot's been disowned, Wormtail's all anxious about this Dark Magic and Prongs won't stop jinxing people in the street. It's easier at Hogwarts when they wreak havoc in a controlled environment."

Remus heads off inside and I wait for a while. I hear voices and Potter comes out of the house and sits next to me.

"All right, Evans?"

"Fine," I mutter.

"So, I won the bet. You know what that means…" he leans in close to me but I push him away.

I get to my feet.

"Evans, we had a deal."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, then. We shouldn't be wasting time," he closes the gap between us.

"I tell you what, if you can beat me to that tree, then I won't jinx you after, you know, after we..."

"Kiss? You'll never beat me, Evans. I play Quidditch."

"What a coincidence," I say dryly.

"You play too?" he looks at me.

"Yes, of course I do. Are you running or not?"

"Fine, but don't blame me when you lose…"

We sprint to the tree at the end of the garden, me tripping him up, him tackling me to the floor. He pulls me up from the floor and hugs me into him. His lips are on mine before my mouth can protest and even though I know I should stop, I sort of like it. I can feel every cell in my body vibrating with quivers. My mouth is on fire and my heart explodes. His hand go around my waist and my hands find his neck.

He kisses me deeper, more passionately. I suppose I lied when I said I didn't fancy him. I do, but I don't want to like him. He's still arrogant, he still bullies people, he still teases me in a mean sort of way. Eventually, I sum up all my hatred toward him and push away. I don't have anything smart or clever to say, so I walk away quickly before he mentions my hesitation before pulling away.

JAMES' P.O.V

"Fine, but don't blame me when you lose…"

I begin to sprint, she's fast. Admirably so, but I'm faster. She attempts to trip me up several times, never quite succeeding. I push her to the grass and she laughs uncontrollably. I take my chance, pull her up from the ground and hold her close to me before pressing my lips onto hers.

Strangely, she doesn't pull away and I know that I've waited so long for this and it feels amazing. It's a strange feeling of ecstasy, like floating on air. Her eyes open and she pushes me away, I frown. Why would she do that? She starts walking away but I don't tell her to come back because LILY EVANS KISSED ME and Padfoot owes me ten galleons.