Hi. Sorry, sorry, SORRY for taking so long to update! I did warn you, but as a way of apologizing I hope to post two chapters this weekend.

This chapter is Lily trying out her first way to woo James. And, just to remind you guys in case you forgot in the month it took me to update, here's what happened last time:

Lily knows that James is an Animagus who helps Remus during the full moon. On early Monday morning, James appears wounded because Remus's werewolf was very angry. Lily takes care of him and skips classes on Monday to heal him. At the end of the chapter, James's girlfriend, Tulip Brown appears.

Thank you guys so much for reviewing! Two chapter, and already twelve reviews! That's amazing. Okay, enough babbling from me, let the chapter begin:

After the Brown-Bitch(the nickname Alice and I created for the lovely Tulip Brown) left, I walked downstairs to find James moaning in pain, lipstick on his neck and all over his face.

"Hey, Lily," he said, his voice soft as I kneeled down next to him, redid the healing spells, and made sure to Scourgify his neck and face a good ten times. "I just want to say sorry for being a bastard and that I was hoping to make you jealous by dating other people and I've been in love with you all along." With that, he pulled me forward and snogged me till we were breathless.

"Miss Evans! Do stop daydreaming and work on your Cyber Charms! I want to see that fellytone working by the time this class is over!" Professor Flitwick's stern stone brought me back to reality.

Oh, how I wish I could tell you that James declared his love to me and snogged me after I finished healing him. I wish I could say that it was him, not Remus, sitting next to me, and that now he's my boyfriend.

Ha. It's only my dreams that never come true.

I glanced at Remus's telephone, which was already lighting up. Damn him and his perfect Charms. I usually did amazing in Charms, but this was a difficult spell, and my head just wasn't in the game today.

Sighing, I pointed my wand at my telephone and focused all my concentration on the object. "Muggle Animato," I said loudly, and the goddamn thing finally beeped.

"I'm going to try the first way today," I muttered to Remus, casting a quick Muffliato just to be safe.

"Which is?" he asked. I inwardly slapped myself. I told Alice about my seven ways, but Remus didn't know any of them. Huh. Guess I'll just tell Remus as I go through them so he doesn't have time to disapprove.

"Anonymous. Flowers. First year." Those four words lit something in his eyes called recognition.

"Oh," he said, as realization dawned on him. "What I like about you."

"Sorry?" I asked. Um, Remus, I don't feel that way.

"The song," he said, a bit impatiently. "What I Like About You by The Romantics." The bell rings and we get up. I remove the charm, but as I walk towards the door, Remus pulls me back. "Snowdon lily. Now go."

I have to say, James has pretty good taste. The Romantics? Snowdon lily? Wow.

If someone told me two years ago that James Potter hates me, but I'm madly in love with him and I'm trying to win his heart back, and that I would be spying on him all night long, I would've told them to shove their head down a toilet. Actually, seventh year Sybill Trelawney did tell me that in my fifth year, the exact same thing but with more cryptic words. Naturally, I assumed she was crazy. But she turned out right. Huh. Maybe she does have Seer blood.

Anyways, I told Remus to sneak a spyglass into James's room so I could see my plan and pray it would work. It was literally a rip-off of what he did to me in first year.

FLASHBACK

"Lily!" shrieked Marlene and Hestia. I rubbed my eyes and glanced outside. The sun had just rose. What did Marlene and Hestia want in this ungodly hour?

It was my first year at Hogwarts, and I had immediately befriended my dorm mates. Alice Prewett was shy and nice, and we instantly clicked. Marlene and Hestia were friendly enough, but they gossiped quite a lot and I often lost my sanity because of it. With a second glance at the calendar, it clicked: it was Valentine's Day, and Marlene and Hestia probably wanted help fixing their hair and trying to impress some boys.

I sniffed the air as a familiar scent wafted towards me. It was similar to honey, and I breathed in the scent I've loved forever. Burnt orchids, in my mother's garden. The smell was strong and I had fallen so in love with it that my mother showed me how to make a perfume from it. Now, with magic, I was able to slip it into my shampoo and soap.

I opened the curtains and gasped. Surrounding me were bunches of burnt orchids circling my bed and climbing up my wall. It was beautiful. But the strangest part was that there was a sound coming from the burnt orchids, a singing.

I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles. It was a classic, and my grandma always played it before she died when I was seven years old. I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the smell and beautiful lyrics the flowers were blasting. The moment was ruined by Marlene's shriek.

"Lily! Look, you've got a secret admirer!" she practically yelled, pointing to a note under my pillow that I hadn't noticed before.

It was cool to the touch and the parchment was fresh. I slowly took it out of the pillow and opened it.

Lily,

Roses are red,

Violets are blue

Happy Valentine's Day

I want to hold your hand too.

There was no signature, and I sighed at how cute this whole scenario was. But then I frowned, wondering who would send me this? Do I really have a secret admirer?

I took a burnt orchid, and tucked it in my hair, and then with a wave of my wand, the orchids piled up on my bed. It was a useful spell that I had forced all my dorm mates to learn so we wouldn't have a mess on the floor. I placed the note on top of the orchids and closed my curtains with a locking spell so that nosy Hestia wouldn't look through it. The orchid had lowered its volume so that I was the only who could hear the song, the lyrics being poured into my ear beautifully.

It was perhaps one of the best days of my life, until I went downstairs, humming, and came face-to-face with James Potter.

"Like the flowers, Evans?" he asked, smirking.

Oh god.

Remembering what happened in first year, I smiled. My first year self had loved it, but was disgusted by the thought that James Potter was her secret admirer. My first year self hated James, and now that the roles are switched, I'm betting that he'll react the same way if he finds out who his secret admirer is. So I won't say a single word.

It was 6 AM, and I had been up the entire night. The things you do for love.

Finally, I could see James shifting as he sat up on his bed. My face heated when I realized he was only in his boxers, but I tried not to get too distracted.

I waved my wand and the snowdon lilies, his favorite flower, began to sing his favorite song, What I Like About You by The Romantics.

James looked around and I could see him drinking in the scene. The snowdon lilies painted the floor of his entire room, only leaving a tiny path to the bathroom and to the door. It stayed on the ceiling and walls, and he seemed to sigh in content. He paused to listen, and then grinned.

I didn't know what to expect of him, but I certainly didn't expect him to start singing.

"What I like about you

You hold me tight

Tell me I'm the only one

Wanna come over tonight, yeah." He sang. His voice was deep and raspy, with a sultry edge. I loved it.

He looked thoughtful as he carefully placed the lilies on his desk. He was muttering and I could only catch a few phrases. "First year... tried it on Lily... told a bird... can't be her... secret admirer..."

He then noticed the note underneath his pillow, and his eyebrows furrowed as he read it aloud.

James,

Roses are red,

Violets are blue

It's not Valentine's Day,

But I still love you.

His eyes widened, and his voice grew louder. "I wrote nearly the exact same thing to her! Merlin, she must have showed it her dorm mate... not Prewett, she's in love with Longbottom... Jones is all for Padfoot... McKinnon? We broke up last year, but..."

I wanted to scream out, "It's me, you idiot! LILY EVANS IS IN LOVE WITH YOU!" I couldn't, so I resorted to biting my nails in anger. Marlene? He thought Marlene was his secret admirer? She doesn't even have half a brain to write a simple "Roses are red" poem.

Okay, I know I should control this jealousy problem, but I can't help but be slightly jealous of Marlene. I mean, James and her are great friends, and they were even better as a couple! She's amazing at Quidditch, gets decent grades, and has the beauty to make up for being the gossip queen. Why does James always choose the pretty, popular girls? So stereotypical. But I guess I'm not really worth it. I'm a bookworm and a prude. I'm bossy, ugly, and can't sing shit. Merlin, I need these plans to work otherwise I'll never win his heart.

I turned back to the spyglass to see him storing the note in a secret drawer.

Remus walked in right then, before abruptly stepping back into the door. "Woah," he said, a tone of surprise in his voice that sounded very real. Kudos to Remus for brilliant acting.

James turns around from the desk, realizing there were still lilies on the walls and ceiling. "Moony, I've got a secret admirer! She-"

"-or he-"

"-It's a she, Moony- sent me my favorite flowers singing my favorite love song. Just like I did with Lily! I 'spect it's Marlene, mate, you know she still flirts with me and Lily obviously told her about it and she decided to use the idea for herself because it has to be one of Lily's dormmates since they were there when it happened and obviously it's not Lily herself because she ignored me in August so obviously she hates me again and-"

"Woah, Prongs. Calm down for a bit, will you? Serious run-on sentence right there."

James rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll sum it up in a few phrases. Operation Hallelujah-Flowers, first year. Used on me, this morning. Marlene McKinnon, possible secret admirer."

Remus groaned. "Godric, Prongs! It's either run on-sentences or fragments with you."

He peeked a glance at the mirror, where the spyglass was, and winked at me when James turned his back.

"Moony, what do I do? I have a girlfriend-"

"-you mean a whore-" he muttered, but James ignored him.

"-But she's still my mate and I can't just tell her to back off."

Remus, who suddenly looked very irritated, stood up suddenly. He began to give his advice in a bored, clipped tone. "Drop a few hints by talking about your girlfriend more than usual. Try setting her up with a guy, but don't let her find out. Don't assume it's McKinnon until you get a second gift." He refused to look at James as he walked out the door and slammed it shut.

James frowned at the door. "What's up with him?" he muttered, waving his wand to take off the Sticking Charm I used on the walls and ceiling. He used the same spell I used in first year, and the flowers gathered on top of his desk. He entered the bathroom, and I tapped the spyglass, which immediately vanished.

It was Saturday morning, 7 AM, and I was long due for a nap. I sighed and fell into bed, trying to analyze his and Remus's reaction.

The dark brown and rich red foliage covered the dry grass. The breeze whisked past our table, and the tree's branches swayed back and forth. Autumn was in the air. We were sitting at one of the picnic tables underneath a tree. The tables were for the summer, so we were the only ones in the picnic area.

"I don't get why he was so pissed, Alice. He just slammed the door and left," I said, finishing off my report of what happened that morning.

Alice took another bite of her corned beef sandwich before speaking. "I think he's frustrated that Potter doesn't even realize the truth. I would be frustrated, too, if I were him. And..." she suddenly stopped herself.

"What?" I pressed.

"Well, he's fancied you for a while. I think he got over you in sixth year," she explained.

My mouth dropped open. Remus Lupin fancied Lily is not a sentence I would ever expect to hear. We were just friends, and we'll always be just that. I felt guilty a bit, because he's helping the girl he used to fancy date his best friend. "How do you know?" I asked hesitantly, not quite sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

"He didn't tell me, if that's what you're thinking. He didn't tell anyone, Lils, because he felt like he was betraying James by fancying you. Apparently, you seemed to lead him on in fifth year-" I cringed. I did do that, a bit. "-but then he realized he couldn't fancy you, ever, so he gave up on you. And I know all of this only because I heard him and Black talking about it in the middle of fifth year. And it was very obvious, maybe not to you, but I could see it."

I was speechless. I didn't know what to say, or what to do. "But don't overthink this, Lily. He's still your friend and will always be. He never did anything because he fancied you, he did it because he cared about you as a friend." She could not put more emphasis on the "friend".

Alice stood up and patted my shoulder comfortingly. "Don't make things awkward between you two, Lily. You're definitely going to need him for the rest of your plans. I personally think we'll have to go through all seven ways before he's even close to liking you."

"Well, that's positive," I mumbled, secretly glad the subject was changed. I didn't think I could handle talking about Remus liking me more than a friend for another second.

Alice laughed, the sound foreign in the silent landscape. "I'm a realist, Lily. And good thing I am, only Rowena knows where you'd be without me."

"'Course she knows, she's bloody brilliant, that woman," I muttered, and at that another tinkling sound entered the air, lasting longer than last time.

I gave a soft smile, too. Alice's laughs were contagious. I frowned as another of Sybill Trelawney's prophecies came to me, from fourth year.

FLASHBACK

"The dearest of your friends

Her mind shall perish like the rest

But her body will remain with infant

Until it is oppressed.

The chosen one shan't know of her

Tilll he finds her in the wing of the west" Her eyes glowing, her words rasping. Then quite suddenly, Sybill Trelawney shook her head roughly. "I've a headache, I shall go now," she mutters, hurrying down another corridor.

If Trelawney's prophecy about me loving James was true, could this one in fourth year be true too? I had only heard these two prophecies, but they unnerved me enough. The dearest of my friends... the prophecy says she's a girl... could it be Alice? And what is oppressed? What wing of the west? I shook my head roughly. Prophecies screwed with your head, they were part of Divination, an imprecise branch of magic.

"Lily? You seem dazed," said Alice. She gathered the food into our picnic basket, and held out her arm. "Come on, let's take this to Hagrid's. He wanted me to put some color-changing charms on the pumpkin patch for the Halloween feast." I smiled at her. She was young, innocent, pure, strong. How could she ever be harmed?

That ending saddened me. I'll explain the prophecy now:

Alice is the dearest of Lily's friends. When her mind perishes, it means she has lost her sanity. However, "like the rest" means that her mind, in a way, dies, like the rest of Lily's friends and the Order of Phoenix. Her body, however, remains, so she isn't physically dead. She is pregnant, until she gives birth. Then, she is oppressed, which in this case, means she is receiving physical harm. This is discussing the Cruciatus Curse. The chosen one is about Harry, who won't know about her until he finds her in "the wing of the west." The wing of the west is just a fancy way of saying the west wing in St. Mungo's.

Sorry this chapter is short, but I just had to put up a chapter and I wasn't sure what else to write. Did you guys like Lily's first way? And what do you think should be Lily's second way? Give me some suggestions in the reviews below, I already have an idea, but I'd love to hear yours.

3 (or should I say 4?),

A.E. Seaflame