A/N: I know, I know, it's been nearly five months since I last updated this thing but, believe me, I haven't even considered for a MOMENT about abandoning this thing. I'm finishing up this thing no matter how long it takes and after this chapter the story really starts to speed up a bit. Anyway, my lack of update has been due to school (I just finished up my junior year of high school guys. Cut me a little slack!) as well as the fact that my beta has gone M.I.A. D: So this chapter may not be 100 typo proof and the flow may be a little off (I edited this from 2-4 am so yeah).

In other news, I'm having an incredibly HP-fied summer. I went to a local Pottercast event here in Los Angeles and saw Harry and the Potters afterwards and got some photos/autographs/merch. THEN the next week or so (last week) I stayed out for hours in the blazing Hollywood sun to view the red carpet of the OotP premiere and got Emma autograph and spent a good amount of time yelling at Rupert and Dan. The next day I also waited outside in Hollywood for a few hours to view the Hand/Foot/Wand ceremony that Emma, Rupert, and Dan participated in and I got all their autographs (yes, Emma's again), I briefly talked to Daniel Radcliffe, AND I GOT A HUG FROM RUPERT GRINT :D Ahem, all this info goes into detail at my LJ (linked at my profile). Oh, and I thought the OotP was great; best one yet (but I wished SWM was in there!).

Anyway, the series is coming to a close but this story will not. DH won't destroy the idea that has been in my head for nearly 2 years now and though it may alter the storyline a WEE bit, I doubt it'll change it that much. I just hope all my faithful readers keep up with my story as well. No matter what happens, I'll always so greatly appreciate you guys (especially the lot who have been reading this story since it's incredibly awkward stages to now since the idea of this story came to me after HBP). So yes, enough of my babbling! Onto the story! Hurrah for chapter 20!

Sundays were never quite the same. They didn't have the lethargic feeling of Monday or the exciting, restless nerves Friday or Saturday did. At home, before she even believed in witchcraft or attended Hogwarts, Sundays were so lazy with a beautiful, comforting sort of haze around her home; especially if the day were sunny and light filtering through the windows and making shadows and highlights against the wallpaper and ceiling.

Things were entirely different at Hogwarts. Sunlight bounced off stone and drapery and magnificent works of art…not wallpaper and framed photographs or messy kitchen counters. She sighed and closed her eyes as she thought of it; as she missed it.

She loved Hogwarts; it would have been foolish not to. It was beautiful. But after her nearly seven years of attending the magical school, she still didn't feel at home. Lily was almost ashamed that she didn't think in such a way. To so many, Hogwarts was their home. They loved the atmosphere, the people…everything. And although she loved her school dearly, her friends and many acquaintances and teachers…she often felt that it would always be just that: a school. With popularity contests, reputations, labels, work...no ideal home would have that now would it?

Her eyes were closed, face against the cold window pane when she was suddenly interrupted from her musings.

"What are you thinking about?"

Her eyes opened again, and turned towards Alexander. She nearly forgot he was sitting next to her, scratching away at his jaw humming to himself.

"Nothing really," Lily lied.

"Y'alright?" he asked, grasping her hand and rubbing it gently with his thumb; a tender gesture which Lily couldn't help but feel a soft flutter at the pit of her stomach as his ministrations continued.

"I'm fine!" Lily smiled. "Stop worrying!"

She then leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips, hoping to keep him from worrying any longer.

"You know, my friends are completely wrong about you," Alexander said as he pulled her closer to him and wrapped an arm around her.

"What do you mean by that?" Lily asked briskly.

"Um..."

"Oh no you don't!" Lily poked him in the chest. "You can't do that! Now you have to tell me."

Alexander sighed as his hand rubbed her shoulder with one hand and his chin with the other. "Well…they sort of thought you were a bit…"

"A bit what?"

"A bit…phony."

"Phony," Lily repeated confusedly.

"Like you have some sort of a front."

"A front…"

"But they're wrong, of course!" Alexander exclaimed with a shrug. "They'll see."

"So your friends hate me," Lily groaned and frowned at an old cobweb residing soundly against the wall, causing her to shudder and hope no spiders were lurking nearby.

"Don't be stupid, of course they don't hate you. They just weren't quite sure if they were keen to you or not," he reassured her and leaned into her ear. "I reckon they're just jealous."

"Really?" Lily said, looking up and him with a coy smirk.

"Why wouldn't they be?" Alexander said with a flattering smile, flashing his teeth. "I'm dating the most popular, and by far the most gorgeous witch at Hogwarts for God's sake! I'd be jealous too! Oh, and they're probably afraid that you can take away their house points so I reckon they fear you too."

"Lily Evans: most popular dictator at Hogwarts. Lovely," Lily said sardonically.

"Aye! And a damn good one!" Alexander chuckled.

"They aren't the only one's jealous," Lily grumbled.

"Yeah?" Alexander frowned.

"Potter tried to talk to me about...us the other night."

"And what did he say?" Alexander said, sounding like he didn't want to hear any details about their conversation at all. Lily had an inkling that Alexander wasn't fond of the popular chaser in the slightest. And who could blame him? What with Lily's number of letters to him during the hols complaining about his "thoughtful" Christmas gift.

"Nothing worth repeating, to be perfectly honest," Lily said.

"He just doesn't give up, does he?" Alexander shook his head and brushed a strand of hair behind his ear.

"He's a Gryffindor," Lily stated. "Of course he hasn't given up yet."

"Maybe I should talk to him?" Alexander suggested. "Talk some sense into the ponce."

"Easier said than…" she rethought. "Actually, it's not easily said or done. There is no point. I really thought he gave up for a while when he was with that tart Florence."

"No, I'm talking to him! Jacobsons don't let prats like Potter get in the way," Alexander said firmly. "I'll do it in a couplah days."

"I don't know…you might just be setting yourself up for…I don't even want to know what Potter may have up his sleeve. But whatever it is, it'll be stupid. Guaranteed."

"I can handle James Potter, Lily," Alexander assured her with a smug, nearly condescending smile. "Don't worry about it."

No matter how bright Lily knew Alexander to be, she wasn't convinced that he understood that James wouldn't take a right good talking to sitting down. He just didn't know James Potter like she did. James once told her that Potters "never give up" as a justification for his repeated requests to declare Lily his girlfriend.

Perhaps as well as bravery, not knowing when to give up was another trait of a Gryffindor. She suddenly thought of her attempts to befriend Severus but quickly shook her head, trying to prevent thoughts of their last meeting from edging up ever so closely into the front corners of her mind.

"Alright," Lily said breezily. "If you say so. By the way, are you trying to get sideburns?"

"Oh! These babies?" Alexander grinned, stroking the growing hair along the sides of his face. Lily was pleased that the subject change worked somewhat smoothly. "You like 'em?"

"I guess they're cute," Lily said, laughing and poking his left sideburn. He, in return, also laughed…that was until her hand missed the mark and poked him in the eye.

"OW, FUCK!"

"Bugger, I'm sorry!" Lily gasped.

"S'okay," Alexander groaned, tenderly stroking his closed eye with a wince. "Let's just not poke each other's faces again, yeah?"

"Sounds good," Lily said, still blushing up a storm and totally not feeling romantic at all anymore. So instead she went back to looking out the window again as Alexander suddenly felt it was necessary that he forgive her by kissing her cheek and slowly progressing towards her neck with such sweet tentativeness that Lily couldn't help but move her neck to give him better access, assuring him that she didn't mind his soft lips kissing the defined bones of her neck. And as he progressed, she knew, with an odd sort of merriment, that there would likely be a mark there tomorrow.

She ought to find her foundation buried at the bottom of her trunk. Or perhaps a scarf...

XXX

James Potter couldn't bring himself to concentrate on anything his boring, old DADA professor was saying. Not only because she was droning on for a majority of the class, causing her students to itch with cravings to actually perform defensive spells upon each other, but because of the fact that he could clearly see Alexander Jacobson stroking the side of Lily's hand underneath the table the couple shared. He couldn't stop staring at the way Alexander's pale thumb brushed against Lily's peachy hand as she seemed to write down nearly every word spewing out of the professors mouth; her right hand trembling with the quill as his thumb brushed in it's down stroke.

Quickly tearing off a piece of parchment from his notes with an irritated growl, James dipped his quill in an inkwell, wrote a quick message, and passed it to Sirius, knowing the Professor likely didn't notice the interaction. She probably wouldn't notice an elephant standing in the room either. She was almost as bad as Professor Binns. Both were old kooks.

Take a look at Jacobson and Evans

Nudging the note to Sirius, he noticed his friend read the note with a smirk, looked up at the nerve-wracking couple, and responded.

He seems to be molesting her hand, Prongs. So what?

James suddenly felt incredibly unsettled.

Reckon he could go to Azkaban for that?

Sirius stifled a laugh.

I don't think so, mate.

I bet they're doing it.

James looked hesitant.

Doing what?

Sirius wrote his reply in very large letters.

FUCKING.

James felt bile coursing through his body.

FUCK. YOU.

Nothing remotely interesting happened for the rest of class besides Peter scratching his armpit and Remus sneezing incredibly loudly near the end of class, nearly giving the batty Professor a mild stroke.

As their last class of the day was finally dismissed, the Marauders found themselves talking about upcoming Quidditch games and practices.

"McGoogles told me this morning. Yara is spending time with her family since they were in that accident and when asked who she would want to take her place, ol' Pruneburg said me," Sirius said with a skip in his step.

"Congratulations," Peter said, lifting his hand for a high five, which Sirius reciprocated extremely hard.

"McGonagall must be uneasy," Remus said. "I mean, you doing the Quidditch announcements?"

"Thanks, Moony. Nice to have some support from a mate," Sirius said sourly.

"Please, you know you're going to milk this for all it's worth," Remus said. "And you were only chosen because that girl had a crush on you."

"Well, I'm sure Prongs has no problem with it," Sirius said.

"Yeah, it'll be great," James replied, but wasn't actually concentrating on the conversation at all. Instead, his focus was again centred upon Lily and Alexander "I'm a big wanker with big ears har har" Jacobson through the crowd of exodus bound NEWTs Defence Against the Dark Arts students. They were holding hands, yet again, and Jacobson was still doing that ruddy thumb rubbing deal.

"Hm, do we know any spells that detach thumbs?" James asked nobody in particular.

"Don't know any," Sirius said quietly. "But I bet I know somebody who does."

James noticed Sirius gaze was intent on a certain black haired, big nosed, Slytherin git…Snape…walking close to the other side of the corridor against the wall, looking intently ahead of him. James couldn't help but grin as Sirius rushed up to the Slytherin, and stood in front of him, blocking his way.

Severus suddenly froze in his tracks, and promptly reached for his wand. But James, fast on his feet, ran up to him and managed to magic his wand away from him with a simple summoning charm.

"Well hello there, Snivellus," Sirius drawled, already attracting a few of the sixth years to stop walking and watch the confrontation. "My, you're looking positively vile this morning."

"Piss off, Black," Severus muttered as he reached into his pocket to retrieve his wand, and with widened eyes noticed it wasn't there. He began patting all over himself until James cleared his throat.

"Looking for this, Snivelly?" James asked with a grin as he twisted and twirled Snape's wand in the air; several of the onlookers began to chuckle.

Severus' eyes narrowed as he reached out his arm, hoping to catch the magical piece of polished wood but he was no match to James quick reflexes. James thought the attempt was nothing less than pathetic.

"I hear it was your birthday the other day. Seventeenth!" Sirius continued with a grin and catching Severus' attention once more. "Cheers, eh? To our pal Snivellus!"

"Sirius," Remus started, but was swiftly drowned out by Sirius.

"So, whatcha get?" Sirius asked snidely.

James continued to tease Severus with the wand; twirling it between his fingers with ease. He then noticed Lily and the twit approach the small crowd; the former looking furious.

"Black!" Lily said, wrenching herself from Alexander's grip to approach Sirius, leaving Alexander looking a bit put out and James growing happier and happier by the second. She, however, stopped her approach mid step as she seemed to see who exactly Sirius was tormenting. A look of hesitation swept her features as she watched the scene, eyes flickering from the floor to Sirius, to Severus, to James, to a window, to Remus, to James, to Sirius, to James, to a blonde girl with buckteeth…

"Did you hear me?" Sirius continued to taunt with a slight shove to Severus' chest. "I asked whatcha got? What did little ol' Snivelly get for becoming a man?"

Severus tried to budge out of the obstructing boy's way, but was blocked each time. "Did mumsie dearest get you 'my furst ickle dark awts kit'? Or some soap? Hygiene in a cauldron would make a great gift for you. Lessen the stench, yeah?"

"Black…" Lily said weakly as girls and boys giggled and snickered. She glanced at the tormentor and the tormented with a weariness she never usually displayed whenever Sirius was bothering a student. She would typically turn a brilliant shade of pink when angered with the popular boy, but now she appeared rather white instead.

"He's asking a perfectly legitimate question, Evans," James finally piped up, hoping to get the girl's attention.

It worked.

"Potter, you know perfectly well that holding another student's wand hostage is against school rules," Lily said with her arms crossed, paying all over her attention to the chaser. "Now, if you tried to follow a single school rule then maybe—"

"Has anyone told you you're looking extra glowing this afternoon?" James said, looking her up and down with a large grin and revelling in her increasingly blushing cheeks. "And with such weather outside! Evans, you're like my own little ball of sunshine!"

"That would make me a big ball of gas."

"Yes…but you'd be my own big ball of gas, love," James winked while running his free arm through his hair and relishing the extra chuckles it caused. He noticed Lily look away and tried to hide a ghost of a smile but did not notice Jacobson walking over to the talking pair.

"Lily, I thought we were going to study Transfiguration," Jacobson said with a strong look, taking her hand in his once more, and causing James to suddenly feel his blood scorching though his veins, red with anger and perhaps green with jealousy.

"Yeah…right," Lily said, and in an instant grabbed Severus' wand from a distracted James Potter and turned around towards Sirius and Severus once more. "Black, get out of his way!"

"Aw, are you going to make me, Evans?" Sirius asked smarmily.

"I reckon a good, swift kick to the bollocks should do the trick," Lily threatened, lifting her foot slightly to show that underneath the heavy robes and uniform lay a pair of very heavy looking shoes...with heels...and strappy bits.

"Lily Evans: saving Slytherin scum in the name of bollocks," Sirius mocked as Lily quickly returned Severus' wand to its proper owner. "You really do deserve the title Saint Evans."

Sirius was about to turn away but suddenly frowned as Severus swiftly pointed his wand towards Sirius with a sweeping motion, promptly running down the corridor as fast as he could from the marauding bully.

Sirius blanched. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO, YOU GREASY LITTLE TWAT?"

After seconds of seemingly no results from the mysterious nonverbal spell, Sirius shrugged and simpered, "Maybe Snivellus isn't as up to par as he thought he—"

Sirius suddenly faltered mid sentence, his eyes growing wide and mouth contorting slightly. Everyone, including an alarmed Lily Evans stared at the popular Gryffindor with immense curiosity.

"Sirius?" Remus asked while staring at Severus with narrowed eyes.

"Padfoot? PADFOOT?" James nudged his friend fretfully.

Suddenly, Sirius let out a small squeak as his eyes were glued to the crotch of his trousers.

"I—I…I swear…I will KILL THAT BASTARD!" Sirius managed to roar.

"What curse did he use?" Lily asked worriedly. "He is supposed to be a prefect! This is ridiculous!"

A few girls around Sirius began to panic, expecting the worse from an area of his body which they only joked about in the privacy of their dorms.

"What the bloody hell happened?" James asked Sirius impatiently.

"Not here," Sirius said.

"But—"

"Not. Here."

With a wince, Sirius made to walk to the landing of the nearest staircase with much difficulty, walking as though he had an umbrella lodged in-between his legs. Remus was clearly amused by the sight, but didn't dare voice it based on Sirius's current state of absolute fury. Peter looked incredibly worried and asked him if he could do anything to help ("Don't you even think about coming near my bollcoks! Remember what happened last time? Do you not remember a certain incident involving a certain Gryffindor and a certain feather duster?" Sirius shouted at Peter as they slowly ascended). James however, didn't hide his laugher as he followed his friends, until, whilst looking around him, spotted Lily and Alexander walking down the hallway together again; arms around each other and glued at the hip as Lily continued to rant about, 'shameless misbehaviour of students'.

Alexander briefly looked behind him; his eyes catching the chaser's and James could have sworn he saw a smile float across the Ravenclaw's face.

A challenging smile?

Somehow, James hoped so.

XXX

He had an incredibly guilty conscious.

It had been over two weeks since the birthday fiasco with Lily and Severus couldn't help but feel guilt beating him against the head like a frying pan as the days and weeks past. He couldn't stand to look at her in class without feeling an urge to blurt out an apology, even when she wasn't in close proximity. For example, when she sat on the other side of the Great Hall eating and giggling with her friends and fans, he couldn't help but to watch her and imagine what he would say if he happened to run into her during night-time rounds.

Severus spent one particular evening in the library for no particular reason besides taking books off shelves at random, admiring their spine, and glancing through their index before placing it back on the shelf. As he grabbed one particularly posh looking black, leather bound book, the open space it left behind on the shelf showed Severus a sliver of her.

It was literally impossible to get away from her.

But there she was studying and, amazingly, alone at a small table, chin rested in the palm of her hand and sighing. She looked incredibly bored as her fingertips lazily turned the pages, crossing and uncrossing her legs while tugging anxiously on the top hem of her knee length socks.

As he watched the redhead's studious demeanour, he attempted to put away the heavy leather book...which promptly fell onto the floor with a loud plop.

"Damn," he whispered.

Lily gasped as her head snapped up, and after staring around herself for several seconds before her eyes must have fixed on his visible eye beyond the wooden shelves.

Her surprise and look of confusion was promptly replaced with that of disdain as she looked away from him with a frown.

Enough was enough.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Severus restrained himself from shouting, but instead resorted to hissing at the girl, who, upon hearing such vice, looked at him coolly under her lashes.

"Come to apologize?" Lily asked, her eyes continuing to pour over the book she was reading.

"Just answer me this," Severus said, sitting down across from her angrily. Lily looked straight at him with a taxing glare, as though partaking in a gruelling gauntlet. "Why?

"Why?" Lily frowned prettily in a way which made the sides of her nose crinkle and her brows furrow. She clearly wasn't expecting that question. "Why what?"

"Why must you insist upon trying...no, thinking you are helping people all the ruddy time?"

"What's wrong with helping people?" Lily retaliated.

Severus groaned and pulled up a chair. "Nothing! Just…"

He sat across from her hastily and as their eyes met, Severus suddenly felt to need to look away. Eye contact was hardly important right now after all. Staring at the surface of the tale was good enough.

"It's just that you have a problem."

Lily chortled quietly at such a conclusion. "I do, do I?"

"It's not funny," Severus said, and heard Lily attempt to stifle her chuckles. He lowered his voice. "I don't…tolerate being laughed at."

"You know, Severus…" Lily started, causing him to blink sharply at his name (he still wasn't quite used to it). "I can't change that. It's just…"

"Part of your ever sparkling personality?" Severus suggested with a roll of the eyes.

"Sure," Lily snapped, appearing to have been insulted by his statement. "And if you don't like it, bollocks! It's hardly my problem. Now, I know you came over here to talk to me about something besides my supposed character flaws. If you think I'm going to bend over backwards just to please you and your idea of idealistic, selfish behaviour, you've got another thing coming!"

"No, actually I didn't," Severus sneered. "Good luck with the rest of your studies."

"Fine," Lily huffed. "I don't want to spend my evening with such an utter and complete downer anyway."

"Are you trying to piss me off?"

"As though you haven't hurt my feelings!" Lily exclaimed.

"I never said you hurt my feelings," Severus clarified. "I said you were pissing me off. Just like a Gryffindor to take something so unbelievably simple out of context."

"Insult me all you want, I don't care anymore," Lily hissed unconvincingly. "And you've made it quite clear that you don't either so just leave me alone!"

Leave her alone. That was a good idea. Incredibly easy, too. So why the hell weren't his feet moving and why was he practically staring at the frustrated girl in front of him?

"You heard me, go!" Lily snapped. "Probably can't afford to be seen with somebody like me from any of your mates, yeah?"

"Oh, and like you'd fine if you were seen by yours!" Severus retorted snidely. "The pretty, popular bloody Gryffindor princess wouldn't be caught dead with a—"

Severus was nearly panting and suddenly grew even more furious when he saw a smile slowly crawled upon Lily's lips. Her emotions changed faster than a light switch around him.

"What exactly are you smiling about?"

"Well," Lily said lightly. "This little conversation figured one thing out."

"And what the hell is that?"

Lily leaned across the table, her face close to his ear as fear shook him. He felt her warm breath against his hair, slithering onto his skin and attacking his prickling nerves. His breathing increased tenfold, hands clenching and unclenching. What on earth was she doing to him? Did it only take the tickling sensation of her breath on his skin to completely destroy him?

"You, Severus Snape, think I'm pretty."

Severus features tightened as Lily continued to grin at him.

Fuck.

"No, I don't."

"So I'm ugly?"

"Yes."

With that, he quickly rose out of his chair and rushed towards the library exit, all the while absolutely confused and embarrassed.

You, Severus Snape, are an utter and complete idiot.

XXX

"I mean…I know more about her than Jacobson ever will," James mumbled into his pillow as he half-heartedly read his newest issue of Quidditch Monthly while munching his sorrows away on a pumpkin pasty in the boys dormitory. His brows were tightened in a permanent scowl as he replayed the scene over and over and over again in his mind: after leaving the great hall, he caught sight of Alexander's greedy little lips making nice with Lily's in the entrance hall; thus becoming quite possibly the most disturbing thing he ever had to endure. It was worse than walking in on his mum getting dressed when he was thirteen or the time when Sirius decided to see what would happen if he tried to wax his right arse cheek. The fact that Alexander's hands were close to groping Lily's bum certainly didn't help matters. Nor the fact that she was wearing extremely tight Muggle jeans that hugged said bum in an obscenely hypnotizing way (he reckoned they should be outlawed). And especially the fact that Peter's eyes too seemed to be transfixed on her backside.

"By the way, Wormtail. If you ever look at Evans' arse that way again I'll be forced to gouge your fucking eyes out, mate," James grunted. "I swear I will."

"Well it was hard not to!" Peter insisted. "It was right in front of me and demanding that my eyes…go there."

"Lily's arse doesn't talk, you daft twat," James said. "You could have looked at the portrait of that 17th century tart on the wall. What's her name? Melinda the Merry? She was rather flirtatious today."

"I reckon she fancies me," Peter said proudly with his head lifted high.

"Oh, congratulations," Sirius mumbled. "I thought it would be impossible but I reckon that oil painting is 'the one', yeah?"

Peter flushed but seemed to keep his pride of being admired by an oil painting in tact but it soon turned into a look of confusion.

"Oh shut up, boil bollocks," Remus muttered. Sirius acquired the new nickname after the incident with Snape several days earlier. It was, as Sirius put it, the most unsettling moment of his life when he finally gave up all hope of the boils reducing in size and number as the day progressed and decide to go to Madame Pomfrey for assistance. He was forced to show her he damage, the poor woman let out a cry of disgust and asked him, "Who on EARTH have you been spending your leisure time with?" Luckily, the condition was cleared up within hours thanks to Pomfrey's healing expertise; but word quickly spread of Sirius' problem "down there" and many girls (and guys…and staff) were reluctant to stand within a foot of him. Even Peter was a bit hesitant at meals around the popular boy who he's looked up to.

"I wish it was contagious, Moony. You're the first person I'd give it to," Sirius retorted.

As Remus seemed to be inking in the finishing touches of the map he worked on in his spare time, Sirius and James managed to find a password charm when they were arsing about in the library. They seemed to be on their way to creating a map solely for the purpose of pranks and late night excursions, but even James couldn't be excited about it as the image of Lily's lips touching Alexander's stayed fresh in his mind.

"I know everything about her!" James cried again as flecks of spit sprayed out of his mouth.

"Favourite colour?" Sirius asked.

"Green of course."

"Favourite band?"

"Hobgoblins."

"Favourite Muggle band?" Peter asked.

"That's easy, mate. Those Beatles. Or those…Stones people. Or maybe those blokes who look really gay when they're wearing—"

"What is her wand made out of?" Remus tested James as he dipped his quill into his inkwell once more.

"Her wand is willow, 10 ¼", with a unicorn core."

"Wow, you are good," Peter said in awe. "Favourite lip gloss flavour?"

Each of the boys gave Peter a look.

"What?" Peter defended. "It's a legitimate question."

"Erm…watermelon?"

"I think its strawberry actually," Remus said with a frown

"Oh, so you and Evans are swapping lippy now?" Sirius chuckled. "You are such a woman, Remus."

"Her favourite season is autumn, she can't eat too much sour candy without feeling a little sick, her sister's name is Petunia, she owns a pair of knickers that say Tuesday on them—"

"Do I even want to know how you found that out?" Remus asked with an impish smile.

"You remember that day last spring when it was really, really windy out?" James asked with a rogue grin. "Well, let's just say that I happened to be at the right place at the right time."

"Cheers," Sirius said boringly. "I can't stand to hear another word about the swot."

"Would you mind explaining your dislike for her? You seem to not mind her to her face," Remus asked in a slightly defensive tone. He, out of all the boys, had the most "normal" relationship with the redhead who was constantly a topic of discussion in and outside of the dorm.

"She's got a heart of ice, that one," Sirius said, his voice steadily getting more passionate. "She just steps all over Prongs here without a second thought and has the professors wrapped around her ugly little fingers, and...and her hair is red. I don't see what the hell you see in her, Prongs. She's just nothing but trouble. I bet she is in the IRA or something!"

"There is nothing wrong with her hair!" James shouted. "And what the fuck is the IRA?"

"You have the nerve to warn James about trouble!" Remus snorted.

"If you like Evans so much why not find her and get the fuck out of here?" Sirius barked.

"I'm working on the map! Remus retorted.

"And she's not that fit anyway," Sirius sniffed. "I've seen nicer tits."

"On who, McGoogles?" Remus asked scathingly.

"Fuck you," Sirius frowned.

"Fuck you," Remus retaliated.

"No, fuck you," Sirius grunted with a kick to Remus' head, which was in close contact to Sirius' socked foot.

"Ouch!" Remus growled and punched Sirius back in the leg, only to be kicked in the face by Sirius. The sandy haired Marauder decided it was now a good time to punch the other boy hard in the stomach.

"Wanker!" Sirius groaned as he clutched his stomach. "Since when did you have such a hard punch? And since when do you defend Evans' tits?"

"I save it for special occasions of your idiocy," Remus said. "And I wasn't defending her damn breasts. Finished your bloody map by the way. I should be paid for my efforts."

"Did you really? You'll get paid in snogs if you don't hand it over" Sirius said excitedly, completely forgetting the fight and picking up the intricate map. James and Peter also walked over to the map and James' mouth hung open.

"This is almost as beautiful as my signed copy of Quidditch Through the Ages," James whispered as his fingers caressed the large piece of parchment which depicted Hogwarts, his Hogwarts...no...their Hogwarts just as he imagined it would be. It was simple yet utterly breathtaking. The depicted staircases and towers...the edge of the forest, Hagrid's hut, the Quidditch pitch...everything. It was nearly perfect.

"Now...that tracking charm," Sirius said as he rubbed his hands together.

"I talked to Lily about that. Offhandedly of course," Remus quickly added as the boys looked at him with startled expressions.

"And what did she say?" Sirius asked.

"Said that we'd probably find something in the Restricted Section. Magic like that would hardly be in our grade level books," Remus muttered darkly.

"What the hell are you moping about, you great pillock?" Sirius asked. "We'll just sneak in later this week with the cloak. It's been a while since we've snuck into the library."

"Yeah, before I became a prefect," Remus reminded him.

"Merlin, you're not going to let something as silly as a prefect's badge get in the way of the most amazing map in the history of maps! Don't be a damn Nancy about it!" Sirius said as he gave the werewolf an almighty shake by the shoulder.

"There's a difference between being a Nancy and being responsible," Remus said.

"All who vote for sneaking in the library say aye!" Sirius shouted.

"AYE!" added James and Peter.

"And all opposed?"

"Aye," Remus grumbled, undoubtedly outnumbered.

"Well, majority rules, Moony. We're sneaking in and you're going to like it! Feel the library's draft through your hair and smell Filch's breath as he chases us down the corridors. It'll be just like old times, yeah?"

"No."

"Know what? You ruddy tit-defenders spoil all the fun."

XXX

If it had been any other day, she wouldn't have done it.

But she liked to think that sometimes things occurring in the heat of passion were justified.

So when the bell rang, signalling the start of Alexander's and Lily's NEWTs Potions class, the two were still tucked away in a tight alcove snogging away, Lily becoming steadily light headed.

"Maybe we should…"

"Go?"

"Yeah…probably should…"

"I think I'm having more fun here," Alexander grinned against the skin of her neck as his hands rubbed against her waist through her thick, grey wool sweater; the rough texture against her skin causing arousing sensations and steady gasping.

"No, really, Alex—"

His lips moved directly below her ear, causing her to groan in bliss and frustration. "Are you trying to kill me?" Lily snapped.

"That may be part of the plan," Alexander said, capturing her lips once more and slyly slipping in a bit of tongue. She was thoroughly thankful for the fact that the alcove they occupied was hidden away from most prying eyes. Though Lily suddenly grew paranoid with the possibility of a lone first year, professor, or worse, caretaker Argus Filch catching the sight of the two hormone driven teenagers playing a passionate game of tonsil hockey. Lily eventually pushed Alexander away, panting heavily and straightening out her robes and hair which was rather ruffled.

She checked her watch and sighed. "We're over five minutes late, Alexander. We should have gone to class!"

"Relax, love," Alexander said in a sing song tone. "Say ya had t'assist a first year to the infirmary."

"And your excuse?" Lily asked with her arms crossed.

"Got sick from the scones?" Alexander shrugged as they began to jog towards the third floor to Professor Slughorn's NEWTs potions class. When the couple reached the door, Lily straightened out her hair once more and took a deep breath before entering. Every head turned and Lily immediately felt herself blush.

"Lily, you're late," Professor Slughorn said as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "Oh, and you as well Mr. Jacobson."

"I'm so sorry, professor," Lily said. From the back of the room, Alexander piping up with an, "I as well" behind her. "I was helping a first year and..."

"And I had a bad scone!" Alexander said, causing knowing snickers around the room, all of which meant nothing to professor Slughorn.

"Very well, but I'm deducting three points from Gryffindor and 10 from Ravenclaw."

The Ravenclaws in the class groaned and gaped in disbelief.

"Ten, professor?"

"Yes, ten now sit your arse down."

Lily frowned as she realized it was James who opened his fat mouth to make the snide remark. She was ready to retaliate in Alexander's defence when Professor Slughorn interrupted.

"You heard right, Mr. Jacobson. Now, take a seat next to Davies and Lily, you can have a seat here next to Severus."

Lily's heart leapt to her throat as she noticed Severus' shoulders tense as another wave of scattered whispers travelled throughout the room.

"Alright, professor," Lily said, and strode over to the seat next to the boy she hadn't spoke to in weeks. She fell into the chair with a plop and found Slughorn's look of immense pleasure irritating to the bone. She knew exactly what he was doing: yet again pairing up the so called Potions prodigies and treat them like lab rats: find out how they would adapt around one another…they were his little experiment.

"Now, as I was saying…much like love potions—"

"We're making Amortentia today, professor?" Lily blurted out with disappointment as she realized she missed so much time worth of valuable information on a potion she has wanted to concoct since she first entered Hogwarts and only dreamed about prior.

Slughorn chuckled. "No, no, Miss. Evans. Not quite yet."

Lily let out a sigh of relief.

"That will be assigned soon enough, however."

The room broke out into whispers once more. Excited ones. Lily immediately turned to Alice and Emmeline who were partnered together on the other side of the room, and shared a huge, eager smile.

"You don't want to get James too excited, professor!" Sirius barked from his seat in the room. "Merlin knows he needs a shag!"

Sirius received a hard punch in the shoulder for that particular crack, causing the noise level in the room to rise tenfold.

"Settle down, settle down!" Slughorn finally called, and the room gradually began to reduce to a murmuring whisper once more. "Again, like love potions, Everlasting Exilers have an incredibly enthralling scent. Not as strong and varied as Amortentia but still, pleasurable scents are common if prepared properly. Today, with the help of your partner, you will commence the first part of the potion. My seventh year NEWTs students will finish it up since they must review particular properties in which you will not have to worry about until next year."

Slughorn glanced at the table Lily and Severus sat for a second before continuing.

"Now, I believe all the bases have been covered," Slughorn boomed, and pointed his wand at the chalkboard where all the ingredients were listed. "Gather your ingredients, heat up your cauldrons, and turn to page 148 please!"

Without further ado, Severus stood up, ready to get the ingredients.

"I'll get them," Lily said firmly.

"I'm getting them, Evans," Severus whispered in return, refusing to look in her direction.

"Oh, so we're back to that, are we?" Lily observed with a sigh. "Fine, you get the bloody ingredients, Snape. I'll look over the instructions."

And that he did as Lily busied herself with the directions until she paused as she read the 5th direction:

Measure 5 porcupine quills into 15 cm pieces. Add to simmering potion. This helps chill the solution before adding a single clove.

Use porcupine quills to chill the solution? Lily thought confusedly. A pinch of grated eye of newt should do the same thing in half the time!

"Professor?" Lily called, but might as well have given up once she saw him picking at a bag of sugar coated pineapple and chewing heartily. "Professor Slughorn," she called louder.

"Maybe he's growing some brains and ignoring you, Mudblood" Evan Rosier sneered quietly as he walked past her. Trying to ignore the offending boy, she decided not to tell Slughorn about her theory. Seconds later, Severus returned with all the ingredients gathered. Lily felt an urge to tell him of her idea.

He'll just snap at you, she thought.

"Turn up the cauldron," Severus said gruffly.

"Listen, I—"

"I don't want to hear it. We aren't meeting up again and I'm sure you'll cope," Severus whispered.

Lily couldn't help but smile. "I was actually about to tell you that I found an interesting alternative to the potion but apparently our studying is on your mind instead..."

Severus ignored her.

"So you've been thinking of me?" Lily toyed.

"I've been thinking about my pinkie toes more than you."

"Are you sure?" Lily asked again, not being able to resist taking the mickey out of him. "Your comment suggests otherwise."

"What did you discover, Evans?" Severus interrupted, quickly changing the subjects.

Lily told him her idea of using the newt rather than quills. Severus mulled over Lily's bright idea for a moment whilst looking at their steadily steaming cauldron. His jaw tightened and his brows furrowed and he looked as though in the ultimate state of intellectual, pensive thought.

"Since when did you think outside of the box?" he suddenly asked.

"Pardon?"

"Just at the beginning of last term you were hesitant about my own experimentation in this very class," Severus said. "Now you're actually suggesting that we change the original instructions."

"This is a one time thing," Lily said. "I'm not altering the entire potion. I'm just...making a logical suggestion."

"Sorry to burst your bubble of pride but I was nearly complimenting you."

"Oh," Lily said, biting her lip for a moment before replying. "Well, I...thank you."

The two were quiet as they began to commence the first steps of the concoction amongst the chatter of the students and the fumes of the cauldrons twisting and twirling around the compact room, causing sweat to already tickle the brows and behind the necks of the brewers. Lily briefly thought of Marlene, who always complained of the horrible conditions the environment of the room plagued upon her textured hair. Unlike her friend, Lily absolutely thrived off of it.

It was perhaps another aspect of her fairytale view of witchcraft: hovering over a steaming cauldron, mixing vile and strange ingredients which, in their noxious combination, made various solutions...some a blessing and some a curse while others could be mentioned in death threats. It fascinated her, really, how the simple combination of items could have the ability to melt metal or cause one to sing or give one the strength of a heard of hippogriffs. It almost had the same effect as charms for her and her ever expanding imagination. It was moments like this that she sometimes believed she best pinch herself. She still wasn't completely used to this world she was thrown into...and sometimes it scared her by how much this new world was becoming...normal instead of unusual and unorthodox.

"Evans, pay attention or else I'll ask Slughorn for a competent partner," Severus snarled, snapping her out of her mindless stirring of the cauldron.

"Sorry...just...thinking," Lily said quietly. "About—"

"Does it look like I care what's going on in that head of yours?" Severus rudely replied.

"All of this behaviour because of a damned birthday gift," Lily murmured in disbelief.

"It wasn't just the gift and keep your bloody voice down," Severus whispered, as though everyone could hear him amongst the boiling and chatter.

"You're paranoid," Lily concluded.

"You're daft," Severus retorted.

"Listen, are you going to go with my idea or not?" Lily asked anxiously.

"No."

"But—"

"There is no point using alternative methods to this potion, Evans," Severus scoffed haughtily.

"I really think this'll do it wonders, Severus," Lily insisted as she brushed her fringe out of her face. "I mean, think about it! Think of Slughorn's reaction when he sees that the potion is the perfect." she looked at the end of the instructions. "'Thick green consistency' in nearly half the time."

"I'm not denying that your idea makes sense," Severus said firmly. "But this isn't the time to be creative. This potion is so bland and straightforward that it is hardly even worth it. Messy too, even if we follow the instructions perfectly. Most of these idiots will hardly make it past step six!"

"If the rest are likely to fail why not take a chance?" Lily said eagerly, green eyes glowing. "I'll admit, I've never...thought this way before. I mean, I've never read instructions so precise and felt the need to alter them. I'm not...well...I'm not you. I don't have marks all over my bloody potion book and I'm not exactly the most creative potions student. That's what I've admired about you since that day back in September, Severus. You...I mean...you altered half of the instructions and it came out absolutely...brilliantly! I can still see that sheen! And what if...what if it's a calling. Like it's my turn to try something new and bend the rules!"

"Calm down, Evans," Severus said, this time less harshly. "Cut up the ginger and put it in."

Lily did as she was told with ease before continuing. "Come on, Severus. What have we got to lose?"

"Our health if you make one mistake, Evans," Severus responded after a few seconds of silence.

Lily beamed with excitement as they just happened to finally come along the potion altering step. Lily ground the newt eye with her mortar and pestle until a grainy, white residue remained. Pleased, Lily held her breath and threw in the ground newt eye, expecting the potion to skip a step or two and turn a murky orange.

Yet...nothing happened and she felt her stomach sink.

"Skip to step...erm...nine and add the dittany. Hurry!" Lily said desperately.

He did so...nothing.

Lily turned the potion in the pattern stated in the Advanced Potion Book vigorously three times.

Still nothing.

She was so consumed with what on earth could be the problem that she completely ignored 3 simultaneous booms and splashes of potion hitting the ground as surrounding students groaned and laughed.

"Oh no," Lily sighed sadly as she stared at the dark, thin gray consistency of the potion. "Maybe I was wrong."

"Well you can't go back now," Severus said angrily. "I knew I shouldn't have let you fuck the potion up."

Too concerned with the lack of clear, immediate results, Lily must have turned the spoon extra rounds, causing Severus to hiss and grab her wrist. She gasped at the sudden contact, her skin warming under his grip.

"You turned it too much!" Severus said as he glared at her right in the eye. "Is it so hard to pay—?"

"Look Severus," Lily suddenly whispered after tearing her eyes away from his and back into the now bubbling potion.

An incredibly thick, incredibly green bubbling potion lay in the deep cauldron. Lily's eyes, if possible, looked even greener and Severus' skin was washed with the emerald light.

"Merlin..." Severus blinked. "It looks..."

"PERFECT!"

The entire class, including the two praised students, began to watch Slughorn's enthrallment of the potion. "Absolute perfection!"

Lily's head began to spin, a burst of joy exploding within her as she realized that it worked! Her idea worked. The ground newt's eye, ignoring steps 5-8, and three more rotations of the potion...it all worked! The sides of Lily's mouth began to hurt from smiling so largely.

"Thank you professor!" Lily finally said as the rotund moustached man took a grand, golden spoon into his tight grip and continued to admire the solution.

"You, Lily, never cease to astound me! Severus helped too, I'm sure," Slughorn added with a wink towards the lanky boy who was gazing at Lily with wide eyed astonishment. "But Miss Evans...You see class? This is what you should all strive for."

Lily's pride turned into embarrassment as she saw Sirius Black roll their eyes, James just...watching her, and Alexander clapping very enthusiastically.

She reminded herself to murder him later for that particular move.

Some of her classmates approached the cauldron, peering into it and wondering where they went wrong in their own concoctions. A few even asked Lily how she did it.

"I..." Lily began as she glanced at Severus who suddenly appeared to be very embarrassed. "I just went with it."

Alexander walked up to the potion and stared at it. "Looks like kryptonite to me."

Lily chuckled. "It sort of does, yeah?"

A few more groans and booms later, Slughorn demanded that the students bottle up their potions and lay them on his desk; each student was incredibly eager to leave the odorous, smoke filled room.

Alexander then kissed an off guard Lily lightly on the lips. When she quirked an eyebrow at such a mood, Alexander shrugged. "I'm proud of your potions accomplishment? We should celebrate"

"You just want a quick snog, you oaf," Lily said with a smirk.

"I've got needs love," he laughed softly into Lily's ear, his right hand gently rubbing against her side, causing her to involuntarily shudder until she felt Alexander suddenly jerk and rub the top of his head. "What the..."

Lily immediately looked over her boyfriend's shoulder to see James laughing with Sirius near the back of the room. Just as the bell rang, Lily looked down to find a dried up ginger root on the floor. Thinking quickly, Lily picked it up and just as she saw James turn his back to leave the room, she launched the root across the room, hitting Potter square in the back of the head.

"OW!"

James turned around, wand at the ready and had the nerve to smirk when he realized it was Lily who left him in a ginger induced haze.

"That's very sweet of you, Evans. Defending your boyfriend. It's clear who wears the trousers in this relationship."

Alexander immediately started aggressively towards the Gryffindor, but Lily held him back with a tug of his shoulder.

"I don't like him," Alexander mumbled as they slowly made their way to the entrance hall to part ways to separate classes.

"Join the club," Lily said softly. "I mean...sometimes he's..."

She was about to say decent until she glanced at Alexander who frowned at her.

"Sometimes he's what?"

"Nothing...nothing," Lily sighed. "I just...sometimes I feel like it's all for show. As though he isn't really like that on his own. There is something about the way he acts sometimes that just isn't genuine."

Alexander then surprised Lily by snorting with unreserved disdain as they walked out of the room. "There is no point in giving that bloke the benefit of the doubt. None. I refuse to let him get in the way of us."

"You think he's getting in the way?" Lily asked confusedly.

"No, I mean…it's clear he doesn't want us together and I'm not giving that bastard what he wants. We're going to make this work."

"You're saying that as though we're already in a rut, Alexander," Lily cried as she came to a halt in front of a narrow staircase.

"We're not. But…I just don't want us to be because of him. He'll knock it off, trust me," Alexander promised, and with that kissed Lily, for the umpteenth time, on the lips and quickly said bye before heading to the Ravenclaw tower.

Lily was left standing there in the busy hall staring after him, wondering if James was…or will get in the way like Alexander implied.

XXX

It was frightening how much one person can completely screw over his mind.

What was even more frightening, however, was the fact that one Evan Rosier, with his incredibly keen eye and pleasure of getting on people's nerves, took notice to Severus density around a particular redhead and decided to address it in an incredibly barefaced way.

"Did you hear about what happened the other day?" Evan asked the dorm room as a whole one night. He just came back from taking a shower and was currently checking himself out in the mirror, rubbing his chin and looking up his nostrils. "How those two Mudbloods were attacked in Derby and taken to St. Mungos?"

"Who hasn't heard about that?" Severus said, no longer able to concentrate on his book. That particular attack had been all over the headlines for days; every rumour and development was the only thing discussed and speculated upon in the various newspapers and news segments on the wireless.

"Well, I hear one of the Mudblood's sisters is in her fifth year here. I've seen her actually; not too bad looking," Evan continued with a nonchalant shrug.

"You mean that Patricia girl in Ravenclaw?" Wilkes asked.

"Yes," Evan affirmed as he stretched out across his bed lazily.

Demetrius snorted as he combed his hair. "She's got a bloody lisp, mate."

"Oh," Evan said, somewhat disappointed and glanced at Severus. "Well, they can't all be like Lily Evans."

Severus felt his blood run cold and his heart skip a beat as he heard her name spoken aloud, and couldn't help but dread what could possibly come next. He nervously scratched the side of his nose and kept his eyes glued to his book.

"Can they, Severus?"

What?

"What?" Severus snapped.

"Oh don't play dumb, I've seen you stealing glances at Evans all fucking week," Evan said with a small smile. "Not to mention being her partner in Potions for, what, the second time so far this year?"

"I don't blame you, mate," Demetrius defended. "I hear she's good."

"I'm ten times better than she is," Severus growled. "And I'd still love to know what the hell you're talking about. Slughorn forced us to be partners-"

"You're fooling yourself," Evan said as he had the nerve to drop his towel in front of everyone and reach for a pair of pants.

"For Merlin's sake!" Wilkes groaned.

"Just remember, mate," Evan said, ignoring the protests of seeing his bits. Evan was comfortable with his body to an extreme, but Severus supposed he didn't really have anything to be ashamed of.

"I'm being completely serious," Evan continued darkly as he pulled on boxers. He lowered his voice dramatically and sauntered over towards the side of Severus' bed, looking down at him with the typical Rosier swagger. "Just remember, mate. You know, as well as I and any other true wizard, that Mudbloods like Evans are only useful for one thing and one thing only."

As Evan turned away and made to recline in his bed, Severus steadily retorted, "And what is that?"

Evan looked at from over his shoulder before scoffing. "To fuck, you idiot."

Demetrius and Wilkes all chuckled and high-five'd one another.

"Thanks for that lesson, Evan," Severus said, feeling something deep within the pit of his stomach tighten and coil with an unfamiliar rage.

"I hear Mudblood girls are some easy shags," Demetrius said with a low whisper and a wicked leer. "Or, at least that's what my cousin Curtis told me. Of course, no further than that…Merlin if aunt or uncle ever found out!"

"Hanged by his thumbs, yeah?" Evan nodded.

"Absolutely," Demetrius said darkly. "Anyway, easy shags. Probably 'cause they're all dumber than a door knob."

"I'm surprised Evans got into so many NEWTs classes this year," Evan said bitterly. "My father reckons that the O.W. L. examiners are getting lazy."

"Interesting, Evan. I'm nearly positive she's gotten better marks than you for the past six years," Severus commented smoothly. "But yes, lets blame the examiners."

"Besides the bloody marks," Evan cried. "And we all know she only got into all the NEWTs level classes by mere charm. I mean, look at Potions! She only got in because Slughorn has taken a liking to her. Told my parents about him playing favourites. Always flattering the Mudblood as though she's part of his own house! As though she's a Slytherin!"

Evan Rosier looked nauseous at the very thought.

"I heard she did so poorly on her Potions OWL that she did a few…favours…for Sluggy just to make up for it," Wilkes said with a sick grin. "I guess she was putting some sort of skill to use."

"Well, thanks for the sensation to vomit, Oleander," Severus said as he shut his book with a resounding smack and got underneath his covers, ready to close the curtains around his four poster bed and charm it to keep out the stupidity.

"See, you're getting emotionally involved already!" Evan pointed out to Severus. "It's almost as if you actually fancy that cunt."

"Don't you mean fancy that Mudblood's cunt, Evan?" Demetrius snickered.

The boys all turned to Severus at the moment with looks of grim curiosity. All wondering whether or not the reclusive Slytherin did have a thing for the attractive red head with the reputation more varied than that of a celebrity.

He never remembered despising Evan Rosier more in that moment than ever before. What nerve to put him on the spot with such a ridiculous question!

"You think I fancy that insufferable girl? You must be insane. I was simply protecting Slughorn's credibility," Severus lied. "Please don't tell me you've mistaken me with Potter."

"As far as I'm concerned, that filthy blood traitor can have her! But I hear she is with that Jacobson bloke. The Mudbloods deserve each other," Evan said scathingly. "Enough about them, I feel ill just thinking about such grime."

Lily Evans wasn't discussed amongst the boys for the rest of the night, but Severus' thoughts, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on anything else (from the carpet to whether or not his father remembered his birthday) continued to somehow trickle back to Lily Evans.

XXX

James Potter was starving.

So hungry, in fact, that he found himself nibbling ever so slightly on his pillow when he woke up, much to the amusement of Sirius who decided to photograph the event.

"Get up, pillow muncher," Sirius said in mid stretch.

James Potter was not a morning person, and he pondered how on earth Sirius could be so damn casual so early in the morning. The two left Peter talking in his sleep (something about not wanting to wear slippers) and Remus who was drooling all over his Charms book and headed down for an early breakfast in the Great Hall. Such a task should have been easy going: no Peeves around, no Slytherins loitering around the hallways, and no younger years to pester. Just a plate of breakfast waiting for him and a big glass of—

"Potter!"

Or so he thought.

James and Sirius turned to see Alexander Jacobson walking briskly after the two. Images of gulping chilled pumpkin juice suddenly left his head.

"What?" James replied rudely.

"I reckon we should talk," Alexander said stiffly and then glanced at Sirius. "Alone if ya don't mind. I'm sure the two of ya can leave each other's sights for a few seconds?"

"Sure thing, sheep boy," Sirius grinned with a clap on the Ravenclaw's back—who already looked extremely insulted—and hurried to the hall.

James stood there laughing for a few moments before asking, "What do you want shee—Jacobson?"

"I was chatting with Lily the other day," Alexander began.

"Okay, fabulous, now if that's all..." James said, meaning to walk away but was pushed back into position by the Ravenclaw.

No man nudges a Potter.

"I wasn't finished," Alexander said and folded his arms as though trying to be the authority figure in the conversation. "Look here, Potter. Lily was talking to me about some of your more...off colour attempts at the impossible—"

"How did she know about trying to break into her room using floss and a small boulder? I only mentioned that to Peter the other day." James asked with a slight blush.

"…No, not that," Alexander glared. "Your attempts at the impossible in terms of you attracting Lily."

"Yes, and?"

Alexander snorted. "Well, to make this short, she didn't seem very comfortable I thought you should just—"

"Thought I should just what, Jacobson?"

"Quit it, Potter. She's no'interested, mate. Move the fuck on," Alexander muttered in exasperation that James never witnessed, his accent suddenly quite thick. "If you really cared about her ya would."

"Don't play that," James snapped, tempted to punch the boy's lights out. "It's none of your business who I care about or how much."

"I'm doing you the favour of warning you before Lily does first and explodes," Alexander said. "It's done, Potter. Are we clear?"

James scoffed again, not quite believing he had the nerve to treat him this way.

"I'm serious, Potter. Leave Lily alone," Jacobson said with one final, hard pressed stare.

With that, Alexander quickly pivoted away and walked towards the stairs, his cloak billowing behind him slightly. Feeling incredibly angry, James quickly entered the Great Hall and met up with Sirius.

"So what happened? Did he hit you? Did you two snog?" Sirius asked.

James was silent and his mind was blank until an idea hit him, and slowly a smile made its way onto his face.

"Well, what does that look mean?" Sirius said hungrily, a conspiratorial look in his eye.

A mad smile appeared upon James' face, haunting his features.

"Sirius, this means war."

A/N: I'll see you all on the other side of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!