Chapter Two
Lily sat in one of the extremely comfortable chairs in the Gryffindor common room reading her favorite book in all of the Hogwarts library, Hogwarts: A History. She absent-mindedly was twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. She never even noticed that someone had walked up next to her. She jumped and almost screamed when she heard the person speak.
"Is that all you ever do besides study, Evans?"
Lily looked behind her to see none other than the person that her thoughts had been on, James Potter. "Why do you care, Potter? Shouldn't you be with the others causing mayhem?"
James sat down in the chair next to Lily. "Yeah, but I decided that Sirius could make up for me missing."
"Who are you looking for?"
James turned and faced her. Seeing her illuminated by the firelight took his breath away. "Actually, I was looking for you, Lily."
Lily's breath caught in her throat. "Why? And since when are we on first name basis, James?"
"Since I want to be your friend. I always hear Mo-Remus talk about you and how wonderful you are, and I finally decided that I would like to be your friend. I have wanted to for quite a while but I was to afraid you would only think of me as a miscreant or a joker. I am very serious here, Lily. I want to be your friend." James laughed, "the way Remus talks about you, you would swear he were in love with you."
"No, that's Kalie." Lily realized what she said and her hand flew to cover her mouth. "Please don't let anyone know that I just told you that. Rem would kill me. I wasn't suppose to tell anyone."
"Only if you give me and you as friends a chance."
"I guess I will. I would like that, James. I know that you are actually a really nice guy who cares alot about his friends. Promise that you won't tell anyone that I accidentally told you that. Please?"
"I won't don't worry. Thank you."
Lily looked at him, questionally. "For what? I haven't done anything, James."
James reached over and lightly squeezed the top of her hand that was gripped onto the book. "For giving me a chance." He stood up, kissed the top of her head, and left to go find Sirius.
Lily watched James walk out. Throughout the whole exchange, her heart had been pounding furiously and her stomach had been doing flip-flops. She couldn't believe that he had been that close to her, let alone squeeze her hand and kiss her head. "Well, that was weird," she murmured to herself.
"Not for James, Lil." Kalie walked into the common room in time to see James exit and what Lily had said.
"Hey, Kalie." Lily had a grin plastered to her face when Kalie sat down.
"What did he want? Lil, please don't have a heartattack just because he was that close to you."
"You don't even know, Kal. He wants to be my friend. James Potter wants to be MY friend." Lily felt as if she were on a cloud. She was so happy and felt like she was floating.
"Hey, Lil. Can I ask your advice on something?"
"Sure, Kalie. What on?"
Kalie bit her lip. "A boy."
Lily perked up. It had been awhile since Kalie had even looked at any other guy besides Remus. Her boyfriend of two, almost three, years had broken up with her at the end of last year. "Spill."
"Promise you won't tell the person?"
"I promise, Kal. Now spill it or so help me I will hex you into oblivion."
"Ok. There is this guy that I really like, but the problem is that he only sees me as a friend. He is really sweet, kind, funny, and very smart. I have been trying to drop hints to him, but he doesn't get it. I have tried so hard. Oh, Lil, I just don't know what to do." While Kalie had been saying all of this to Lily, all four of the Marauders had walked into the Common Room, and sat at the table directly behind Kalie, so she didn't even know they were there. When they sat down, James flashed Lily a smile that melted her heart. She smiled back. Kalie had continued talking. "..but what I am really worried about is what he'll say. I don't want to lose his friendship. He is a wonderful person and friend."
"Who is it, Kalie? Who is the person that has you feeling this way?"
Kalie bit her lip. "Promise you won't be mad."
Kalie's comment made Lily's heart sink. Please, God, don't let it be James. Lily put on a smile. "I promise, Kal. Tell me who it is."
"It-it's..." Kalie muttered something under her breath that Lily didn't catch.
"What was that?"
Kalie sighed. "I said that it's Remus, okay? I am in love with Remus Lupin. God, Lil. What am I going to do? He is one of my very best friends, and I had to be stupid and fall in love with him." Behind Kalie's back, Remus had a weird look on his face. He had heard what Kalie said, and he had a really goofy grin on his face. James was silently shaking his head. Lily had to stop herself from laughing. "God, Lils. What am I going to do? How am I going to tell him that I have fallen in love with him?"
"Well, I can tell you one thing, Kal. You won't have to tell him."
"Why not?" Kalie looked at Lily puzzled.
"Um, look behind you Kal."
Kalie turned around and her face paled. "Remus," she whispered. She turned and looked at Lily. "How long have they been there?"
Lily looked guilty. "Since you said you had been dropping hints. Kal, I'm sorry I didn't let you know."
Kalie flashed Lily an angry and betrayed look. She looked once more at Remus, stood up and ran out of the Common Room, via the portrait hole.
Lily lowered her head to her hands and started to cry. She heard someone running after Kalie. She figured it had to be Remus. Then, she felt someone sink onto the arm of the chair and pull her towards them. Through her tears she looked up and saw that it was James. He pulled her into his arms and let her cry into his chest. James lifted her up and slid into the chair with her on his lap. She smiled at him, grateful that he was there. Lily threw her arms around James' neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck. As she sobbed into his shoulder, he ran his hand on her back for comfort.
"Oh, James. What am I going to do? My best friend probably hates me now," Lily sobbed.
"It will be okay, Lil. Don't worry. Moony went after her. He'll straighten it out. And even if she won't talk to you for a little bit, you'll still have me and Moony. Okay?"
Lily looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah. Thank you, James. Any one else would have left me here crying or would have ignored me all together. You are really sweet. You were being sincere earlier, weren't you? About being my friend?"
"Of course I was. I want us to be friends, instead of the running enemies we have been for the past five years. And so you know now, Lil, I care about you. That's why I made sure you would be okay. Now, are you alright?" James looked Lily in the eyes. Her gorgeous emerald eyes that made him melt whenever she looked at him.
Lily nodded, with tears still in her eyes. "Yeah. I'll be okay. Thank you, James."
James smiled. "It's no problem." James hugged her close, but didn't let her go. They stayed the way they were and talked waiting for Remus to come back.
~*~*~*~
Once Kalie got out of the portrait hole, she ran full speed out of the castle and across the grounds. She could here Remus behind her calling her name, but she didn't stop. Finally, she ran out of breath and collapsed on the ground bawling her eyes out. Remus skidded to a stop next to her and gathered her in his arms. She pressed her face to his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Remus gently rocked her and shushed her. He gently ran his hand up and down her back. When she finally stopped crying, Remus gave her a small hug. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes, and lightly smiled.
"Oh, Remus. I feel like such an idiot. I made a total fool of myself in front of everyone. I am so sorry."
Remus looked at her and gently wiped away her tears. "Don't be. You have nothing to be sorry for. Kalie, I am glad I heard you telling Lily how you feel."
"Why? I embarassed myself. God, I am so stupid." Kalie stood up and started walking off. Remus chased after her. He grabbed her arms and pulled her around to face him. He gently cupped her face, and all she saw in his eyes was love. He gently leaned down and kissed her. The moment their lips touched all Remus felt was sparks.
"Kalie Ann Samson, I love you."
"No, you don't. You're only saying that to make me feel better." She once again started walking off.
"Kalie! Are seriously that blind? I'm not lying. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. Kalie!" Remus grabbed her hand and spun her around.
"Leave me alone, Remus." Kalie glared daggers at him and stormed back to the castle.
Remus watched her walk off and felt his heart breaking. He slowly made his way back to the castle and Gryffindor Tower. He couldn't believe she did that. He finally had gotten the nerve up to tell her his feelings and she called him a liar. The whole way up to the tower, he was thinking. When he walked into the tower, it apparently showed on his face that something was wrong. He walked over and sat in the other chair and stared into the fire. He barely saw Lily and James sitting in the chair together.
~*~*~*~
James and Lily watched Remus sitting by the fire. Lily noticed the tears slowly trickle from the corner of his eyes. She leaned over and whispered in James' ear.
"James, maybe you should talk to him. He's upset about something."
"No. Maybe you should talk to him, Lil, and I should go find Kalie."
"Yeah. The North Tower."
"What?"
Lily sighed. "She will more than likely be up in the North Tower or in the Astronomy Tower. It's where she goes to think."
James smiled at her. "Alright. Find out what's wrong with ol' Moony and I'll go find Kalie." Lily nodded and got up from James' lap. He caught her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She smiled at him. James stood up and kissed Lily on the cheek. "I'll be back later."
"Alright, but be careful. A pissed off or upset Kalie is a very scary thing." James turned and walked out of the common room to find Kalie. Lily pulled a chair over and sat down next to Remus. She lightly squeezed his arm. "Hey, Rem. What happened?"
Remus looked at Lily with tears in his eyes. Lily threw her arms around her friend and hugged him. Remus lightly hugged her back. "Lily, it's awful. I told Kalie how I feel. I told her I was glad I had heard what she told you. And- and I kissed her."
Lily squealed in delight. "That's not awful, Remus. That's wonderful. What did she say?"
"That's the awful part, Lils. She called me a liar. She said I was only saying that to make her feel better. You know how I am, Lily. I won't tell anyone that unless it's true. She knows that. When I tried to stop her from going inside, she got really pissy with me. She told me to leave her alone. When I watched her walk into the castle, I literally felt my heart break. I love her so much, Lil, but she won't believe me." Remus put his head in his hands and started to cry. Lily knelt down in front of him and gathered him in her arms.
"It's going to be alright. I'll talk some sense in her, if she doesn't hate me that is. James went to find her and find out what's going on. He might be able to talk some sense into her. It'll be alright."