Unofficial Portkey Archive

Usual Disclaimer: All the characters (well almost all of them) are property of J.K. Rowling and I'm merely borrowing her brilliance and her world with no claim to it at all. I'd like to thank the Harry Potter Lexicon in particular since they're help in filling in the holes of Ms. Rowling's world has been invaluable to making this story as authentic as possible. Please look them up sometime.

As for why I chose to focus on the Lily and James era of things? Well the characters aren't so deeply established (for the most part) that I have to worry about stepping over Ms. Rowling's toes and perverting her thoughtful creations beyond necessity. I hope you enjoy and reviews are always appreciated.

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~ Keeping Friends Close. ~

By: Oy! Angelina

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Potions was the last class of the day and the Gryffindors shared the lesson with Slytherin House. The Potions Master, Professor Brewsteem, was more than accustom by now to the "accidents" that occurred during her labs that always resulted in some sort of bizarre casualty or another from an opposing House.

"I'll trust you all to sort yourselves into pairings and begin preparing your Gnome Repellent." Brewsteem announced. "I'll be at my station, not making eye contact with any of you unless you have a question or immediate injury to treat."

She had tried to correct the behavior back in their 1st year but the small fortune she spent on throat tonic just didn't seem to be worth it anymore. The best Brewsteem could do was create lesson plans that didn't include potions they could use against one another (although her CREATIVE students always managed to find a way) and hope they didn't blow up too many innocent bystanders in the process. Last term she had them spend the final month creating headache tonics, burn ointments, and anti-depression potions so she'd have a stocked supply.

Brewsteem could only hope whomever succeeded her as Potions Master would have a better reign on their class.

Before Lily could ask her to be her partner, Sirius swooped Arabella up and led her off to the opposite end of the dungeon classroom, leaving Lily to pair with James. Arabella gave a small wink and a wave to Lily as she strode off with Sirius.

Sirius had worked this out with James before Potions, saying this would be a chance to smooth things over with Lily and hopefully get on her good side. Rivaling Severus Snape from Slytherin, James was the best student in the class and stood a good chance at impressing Lily this way. James only argued until he became worried that Sirius would then ask him to take Arabelle so he could get cozier with Lily. James figured he wouldn't be helping or hurting Sirius either way if he just tired to set things right by Lily.

Of course, whenever her green eyes meet with his brown ones, James would become uncharacteristically awkward around Lily and kept running his wand hand through his mess of hair.

"Um, would you like to handle the cauldron or the ingredients?" James politely asked.

"I suppose the cauldron." Lily shrugged as she started to brew the base ingredients as instructed in their text. James began mincing various roots and insects while Lily kept her eye on the cauldron. She had been wanting to ask James something all day and figured this was as good as time as any to bring it up.

"So, where were you last night?" Lily tried to sound casual about the question. "I'm just curious, being a Prefect and all."

"Looking for a confession?' James asked with a smirk. Sarcasm was his defense mechanism and enabled him bluff confidence even when he most certainly was anything but.

Lily realized how stupid the question was and there was no way James was going to openly admit to breaking school rules to her, but she was oddly compelled to know where he had been.

"Um, well, no." Lily replied. "I was only making conversation. Just wanted to see if I knew the girl is all."

"Who said there WAS a girl?"

"Well, Sirius mentioned in front of Charms."

"Exactly."

"So." Lily spoke cautiously so as not to allow any emotion to betray her voice. "So you weren't with a girl last night?"

"I'm not going to tell you ANYTHING about where I was last night, Prefect Evans." James dodged the question with a coy grin. "But I WILL say that I'm flattered everyone seems to think I have such a swinging social life." James hoped that would be enough to get her to stop asking questions but believe he hadn't been snogging some girl. Lily nodded.

"Fair enough, Mr. Potter." Lily feigned formality. "I suppose I can't take points off you because I didn't technically catch you, but don't expect to get off so light next time around." Lily could have sighed, given the impression James hadn't had nearly as interesting a night as his friends would like to suggest.

James laughed.

"Fine by me. Would sort of take all the fun out of sneaking about if there wasn't a hint of danger."

From across the room, Arabella and Sirius kept stealing glances at James and Lily as they worked on their own batch of potion. After a while, Arabella finally commented on the scene to Sirius.

"Seem to be getting along don't they?"

"Guess she wasn't as annoyed with him as I assumed." Sirius nodded.

"Nah." Arabella shook her head as she poured in some stinkbugs. "She told me so last night and I've spied her glancing at him all day."

"We thought she was glaring."

"Then you must have never seen a Lily Evans' glare!" Arabella laughed. "So looking to set up the two of them as well, eh?"

"Pardon?" Sirius turned to Arabella genuinely bewildered. Arabella returned the confused look.

"I thought you were working with me to give those two a moment alone?" Arabella replied.

"Um, no." Sirius said slightly awkward. He didn't want to tip his hand to Arabella considering he couldn't be sure she wouldn't run off and tell anything he confided in her to Lily. "I was merely thinking they were on bad terms. Bad for business if we have a Prefect breathing down our necks."

"Oh." Arabella shrugged. "I had just assumed you'd seen what I saw, considering how chummy you are with James."

"Which is?" Sirius pressed. Arabella leaned close to Sirius so as not to be overheard.

"I think they fancy one another." Arabella reported.

Sirius glanced over to Lily and James who were laughing about something and wondered if there was any truth to Arabella's speculations.

* * *

Lily made it to the Prefect meeting just as that Year's Headboy and Headgirl arrived. She and the other Prefects met with the Heads of the school bi-weekly to discuss things going on in the school, alert each other of potential disciplinary problems, and help to plan and organize any social functions. Since this was the first day of school and their first meeting of the term, they split off into pairs to brainstorm ideas for the year that they would share at the next meeting. Lily partnered with Severus Snape, the Slytherin Prefect as she doubted anyone else would want to or be very productive with him.

As they were discussing the idea of organizing more visits to Hogsmeade that year, Snape's eyes glanced to Lily's robes before he returned them to her face.

"It appears you've fallen victim to a prank, Evans." Snape observed coolly. Lily furrowed her brow and investigated her robes. "Look on your badge."

Lily saw LITTLE MISS PERFECT scribed over her badge and felt herself blush. Snape pulled out his wand and extended his hand towards her.

"Allow me." Snape offered. Lily handed the badge to Snape as he expelled the enchantment and returned it to its normal print of PREFECT. Lily scowled as Snape handed the badge back to her and she readjusted it to her robes.

"So THAT'S what everyone's been giggling about. I bet it was James."

"It's juvenal quality seems to be about his speed."

"Arabella Figg thought she heard someone going into my room last night." Lily fumed. "Lord knows he had time enough to manage it what with being out of his bed all night."

"Who would have thought James Potter was capable of breaking and entering?" Snape sarcastically smiled.

"Well when I get a hold of him, I'm stringing him up in the Whomping Willow and letting it have at him!" Lily insisted. "That prat's the one responsible for me walking around like some daft, paranoid woman."

"How so?" Snape inquired.

"Well, I thought I heard people creeping about in the common room last night after lights out, then I could have sworn someone was in my room once I went to bed." Lily explained exasperatedly. "Didn't help things much, what with half the school snickering at me."

"Oh I think your suspicions are perfectly well founded." Snape stated with a self-assured grin.

"What do you mean?" Lily had a suspicion of where he was going but didn't want to lightly throw out anything in front of Snape.

"Come now, Evans." Snape smirked. "This should be child's play for a prospect for Head Girl. Potter unaccounted for all night coupled with an uncanny impression that you were being spied upon?"

Lily's eyes went wide at the implication.

"James wouldn't - " Lily started but Snape interrupted.

"Wouldn't what?" Snape challenged. "If he was willing to break into your room and vandalize your property, Evans, I don't think we should be quick to fashion any halos for James Potter. For all you know, his secret passage or whatever he uses might have a view of your bedroom and the Gryffindor Prefect inside."

Lily felt her face growing hot, partially from embarrassment and partially from anger. Possessed by her emotions, she quickly gathered her things.

"I'm sorry, would you excuse me." Lily spoke through clenched teeth.

"Not at all." Snape politely rose as she left the table with a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

* * *

It was the start of dinner in the Great Hall and the Marauders decided to grab an early supper to get their studies out of the way. James was in high spirits now that is seemed him and Lily were back on good terms and ate heartily as a sign of this. After he caught Sirius glance at him for the umpteenth time as though he intended to ask him something, James decided to call him on.

"What's on you're mind, Padfoot?" James inquired.

"Oh, well nothing really." Sirius lied, but then thought better of it. "Well, I was talking with Arabella while we were in Potions, naturally, and she mentioned something that's been caught in my brain."

"Yeah?" James devoted his full attention to his best friend.

"She reckoned you and Lily fancied one another." Sirius said quickly, studying James reaction. James hoped whatever expression he had on his face prior to Sirius's bombshell was ambivalent because it was taking every effort of will to keep it locked on his face.

"So?" James asked as casually as he could.

"So is it true?" Sirius's eyes bore into James's.

James's mind was reeling. His first thought was the same as Sirius's. Did Lily REALLY like him? But then the more pressing question became what to tell Sirius on the subject. James was more than tempted to fess up to his friend and try to come to some sort of mutual understanding about the situation but wondered if he should burden Sirius with his crush on Lily since, if she didn't return his affections, it would be nothing more than a moot point and unnecessary awkwardness between the two of them.

James had only just begun to open his mouth when he saw Sirius's eyes drift up in surprise as he felt a pitcher of chilled pumpkin juice poured over his head, drenching him rather thoroughly. Leaping from the bench in a fury, James spun around and grabbed the robes of what he expected to be a Slytherin with a death wish, but found himself grasping Lily Evans instead as she held an empty pitcher.

James gapped at her in shock but Lily helped to knock that expression off his face with a quick slap to the jaw. Every eye in the Great Hall was on them at this point with snickers and whispering all about them. Lily shoved away the hand James still had on her robes and stormed back to the corridor leading into the Great Hall. The Marauders all stared wide-eyed at James, Peter was the first to speak.

"You reckon she finally looked at her badge?"

James groaned as he charged after Lily. He caught her just before she reached the stairs and he had never seen her look more outraged.

"Don't you think that's a BIT much for a silly prank?" James reasoned, trying his damnedest not to scream at her for the spectacle she had just put him though.

"'Prank'? That's what you call it?" Lily growled.

"Well I didn't know changing the spelling on your badge was an offense worthy of Azkaban!" James declared.

Lily started chuckling out a cruel laugh as she shook her head at James.

"You really are a prat!" Lily commented. "You think I give a knut that you enchanted my badge after I find out you were spying on me last night?" This completely blindside James and he could only manage one reaction to surface to his face:

An honest one.

Lily nodded at his guilty expression as his eyes shifted away from her.

"Well I hoped you liked the show."

"Lily, I didn't see anything, I swear!" James saw no point in even trying to lie. Lily's face was completely twisted with rage. She had little doubt that James HAD been watching her after Snape pointed it out, but hearing him actually admit to it made it all the more infuriating.

"Whatever." Lily said dismissively. "You're every bit the wanker you set yourself up to be, but as far as I'm concerned you've just run out of rope to hang yourself with."

"Lily, PLEASE listen to me." James pleaded but Lily cut him off.

"Oh? So you can make it all better by telling me how it's no big deal because it's not like you were catching a glimpse of anything new? Or, wait, maybe you'll throw a compliment my way by telling me I looked good enough to shag!" Lily attacked. She really had no idea how many women James had seen naked or how much of her he even saw, but she felt like being nasty rather than fair.

As students passing by gapped at the heated scene, James felt his self-restraint slipping. He did feel guilty, but the feelings of humiliation and rejection were overwhelming and now she was just making up things to validate her anger! Frustrated, James verbally lashed out at Lily.

"Don't worry, Lily, I know well enough how you view me." James spat back. "I assure you I won't be 'smiling my way out of this one' or go on and on just so I can 'listen to myself talk'." James threw Lily's exchange with Arabella back at her.

Lily felt her jaw drop. She hadn't even stopped to wonder if James had overheard anything from the night before. If he knew all that, then he had to know when the admitted that she thought he was cute. Growing more embarrassed by the second, Lily lost all semblance of civility.

"Why don't you just jump up your own arse and join your thoroughly embedded head?" Lily sneered.

"I'd suggest the same to you, but I very much doubt you'd get past the stick already lodged there." James dawned a nasty smirk.

Lily's eyes went redder than her hair as she stomped on James foot and stormed up the stairs, abandoning James to his swearing and howling.

"Bloody Hell! I have half a mind to report you for assaulting your charges!" James called up after her. Lily glared down.

"Ten Points from Gryffindor for being a degenerate with a foul tongue!" Lily announces as she disappeared.

With his heart throbbing harder than his foot, James emitted a furious chuckle as he returned to the Great Hall muttering to himself coarse things to the effect of:

"Oh, she's shagging with the WRONG Marauder."

Sirius, Peter, and Remus all looked at him expectantly as he sat back down at the table still chucking and grumbling. Finding a dry patch on his robe, James cleaned off his glasses as he shook his head.

"What happened?" Remus demanded.

James's laugh was verging on manic.

"Same thing that happens with all our Prefects, Moony!" James grinned. "Oh, but it's going to be BRILLIAN FUN with Evans!"

Remus eyed James warily, but was too put off by his friend behavior to press the subject. Peter shrugged at Sirius.

"I guess that answers your question, eh?" Peter observed.
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