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Oil and water just don't mix.

Kind of like the redheaded young lady and the bespectacled young man standing in front of me.

She's the oil- tongue sharp enough to make a grown man cry and proud to boot. He's the water- laid back and smooth, never flinching as she plows through her rant about his… well, let's just say they are his less than admiral qualities.

"…pigheaded! That's right! You are pigheaded! I find it amazing that you actually fit through a doorway with that watermelon attached to your shoulders! What were you thinking?"

"I wa-," he began to defend his actions to the fireball scowling at him. He was abruptly cut off.

"Did I ask you to speak? DID I? I don't think I did! Because I do not want to hear your excuses anymore! You hear me Potter! I'm done! I thought you cleaned up your act! I thought you had matured over the summer, that you had grown out of your childish antics that you and your bum boys-"

"Marauders," he corrects her.

I cleverly hide my chuckle behind my hand and begin to think about what I will wear to my best friend's funeral.

SMACK!

Well I thought I was being clever… apparently our favorite green-eyed lass disagrees. I blink through the tears (I swear she hits like a MAN) as I rub the back of my head and glare at James, who's currently smirking to high heaven and doing his best not to let any noise out of his mouth that might annoy Miss On-A-Rampage.

SMACK!

Glad to see she's consistent.

James grabs his cheek and hollers. "Holy Merlin Lily! You hit like a MAN!" I see Remus roll his eyes and Peter shake his head and I know they are thinking the same thing I am- Been nice knowing you James! Hey, maybe we'll catch up in the afterlife. We'll be sure to take care of your things and let your mother know how much you loved her cooking!

Lily shrieks, "I am NOT a MAN! You of all people should know that Potter seeing as how you barely went a week over the past two years without asking me to go to Hogsmeade with you! Then you come back this year and you're Head Boy. HEAD BOY? So I, being the logical person that I am, think 'Wow, Dumbledore's brain must've been replaced by a lemon due to the copious amounts of lemon drops the man eats and said Lemonbrain has decided that it would be fun to torture me during my last year at Hogwarts!' But then you slowly began to change my mind. Always showing up on time for the Head and Prefect meetings? Putting your studies first and laying off the pranks? Not asking me out every time we are in the same room? And you threw me for the biggest loop when you stopped in the hallway the other day after Transfiguration to help that first year Syltherin girl who had dropped her things when Sirius ran by with pink hair making sounds like a pig!"

I throw a sharp glare at Remus, who shrugs innocently and throws a sheepish wave in my direction. Peter starts to giggle but quickly stops as Lily directs her death glare at him.

James takes this small moment when Lily's gaze is directed elsewhere to step closer to her and tentatively place a hand on her shoulder.

"Lily? I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. Really I am. But it wasn't my secret to tell. I cou-," Lily holds her hand up to halt his explanation.

"How long?" She questions. James raises an eyebrow in confusion.

Frowning, he drops his hand from her shoulder and says, "Come again?"

"How long have you been doing this? How long, James, have you been lying to me?"

Lily's looking hard at him, daring him to contradict her. Remus has this pleading look in his eye that I can only guess is his way of communicating to James that it would be a bad idea to do such a thing. I smirk and raise my hands to my ears (slowly of course, wouldn't want the fire engine to freak out because I was stupid and made sudden movements), ready to cover them because I know what's coming. I know my best friend is about to speak in the language most commonly associated with the male species: stupidese.

"Lily, I didn't lie to you. I just didn't tell you the truth." And this, ladies and gents, is when we prepare for the worst.

Peter squeaks and quickly steps behind the couch as if he's trying to put something between him and the misaimed curse that's likely to come sailing his way. Remus does a weird dramatic sort of wave with his arms as if to say "I GIVE UP!" and falls back on said couch with an exaggerated sigh and a soft "oof." I, of course, am already prepared with my hands over my sensitive ears as Lily lets loose.

But Lily doesn't let the obscenities fly. Instead she sighs and closes her eyes. "That's the same thing," she says softly, opening her eyes and looking sadly at James for a moment before walking towards the portrait hole. She brushes past me and my breath catches as I see a small tear slide down her cheek and it hits me like a brick wall.

She's not mad. All the screaming, the death glares, and the hitting (I still maintain she hits like a bloke) were a cover for something deeper. Something that Miss Proud-As-Can-Be-Lily-Evans would never admit aloud.

"She's hurt," I say as I catch James's arm before he can dive out into the hall after her. He blinks and looks at me as if I've lost my mind. "Are you mad, Sirius? She's madder than a…,"

Remus butts in with "As mad as, James! She's as mad as, not madder. That's not even a word!"

James ignores this, "than a….well, she's mad as I don't know what but it's bad!"

I roll my eyes, lead James to the couch, and push him down next to Remus. Peter is still standing behind the couch looking around warily, not believing that the rampage that never happened is over. Snapping my fingers to get his attention I continue with my explanation.

"She's hurt that you didn't trust her enough to tell her." James scoffs and says, "It's not that I don't trust her. It's that it's no-,"

"Not just your secret to share." Remus finishes for him softly. "Well I guess there's only one thing to do then." He stands and walks out the portrait hole without another word, leaving three mouths hanging open in his absence.

Peter is the first to recover saying, "Is he going to do what I think he's going to do?"

James nods, mouth still hanging open. I smirk and hop up from the couch.

Peter asks, "Where are you going?"

"To watch, of course. You two bum boys coming?" I laugh at the expressions on their faces and hold the portrait open while they rush through.

"Where to? The astronomy tower?" My suggestion is shot down with a shake of James' head.

"The kitchens?" Peter's suggestion is equally shot down as James heads down the stairs and out onto the grounds. I look up and spot Remus walking towards Lily, who's sitting on a large rock at the edge of the lake facing the water. The "marauder stealth" is put into action as the three of us sneak up behind the werewolf and the redhead and hide behind a large tree that's close enough for us to barely hear the words of the hushed conversation in which Remus tells Lily of his "furry little problem."

"GAH! James! Get your huge troll feet off of my toes you beast!"

I smack Peter on the back of the head and whisper "Shut up you monster! What happened to the lessons on "marauder stealth"? Did you learn nothing papoose?"

SMACK!

Apparently I wasn't "whispering." Minor technicality.

I rub the back of my head as James hisses "You are a special kind of stupid Sirius! What kind of hypocrite yells at another person for yelling?"

"Bite me four eyes!"

A soft giggle floats its way over to us and I look up to see Lily walking over to the tree that we are "hidden" behind. Remus is not far behind her, looking relieved. I smile a genuine smile, glad that Lily has accepted his monthly problem with the grace we all knew she would.

Lily stops in front of James and looks timidly at him. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions and thinking that you didn't trust me. I know now why you didn't tell me. You didn't want to get any of your friends in trouble, or betray their trust."

James nods and says "I really am sorry that I had to keep it from you. I jus-,"

Lily cuts him off- "No you shouldn't be sorry! I jumped at the first sign of trouble and started yelling at you. I didn't even give you a chance to explain what happened. All I saw was that three of you could illegally change into animals and I immediately freaked. So many things ran through my head last night after I saw that, James. What if you got hurt? What if you got caught and sent to Azkaban? What if you got hurt in your animal form and couldn't transform back to your human form and you were stuck as a stag for the rest of your life? What if I never got to tell you that I love you because y-," she stops, realizing what she let slip in her ramble, and covers her mouth, green eyes as big as saucers.

Once again, all mouths are agape.

James recovers first this time and as a look of pure joy spreads across his face he reaches out and removes Lily's hand from her mouth, holding it tightly in his own.

"I love you Lily. I have for a long time."

I groan and say "don't we know it!"

SMACK!

"Oh, I see how it is Remus! Didn't want to be left out, huh? Had to join the I-smacked-Sirius-party today? Follower! Don't even think about it Peter!"

I scowl as the four of them share a laugh at my expense and begin to walk away- Remus and Peter racing back to the school as dinner has just started, James and Lily walking hand in hand and smiling as the sun sets on this eventful day.

I smile as I think back to the old saying that I first remembered in the common room earlier, knowing that there's an adjustment that should be made.

Yes, oil and water don't mix….but they do just fine side by side.