Two Heads Are Better Than One

Chapter 6

James awoke the next morning with a slight smile still etched on his face. What happened last night seemed too good to be true; he hoped he hadn't dreamt it. Rolling over onto his side he locked eyes with Sirius who was lying on his side facing James. He was lying on top of the covers with one arm propping up his head, the other on his hip.

"Morning beautiful." He said, and winked.

James grinned at his best friends flare for inappropriateness and mimicked his actions. "Morning gorgeous."

Both friends laughed but then stopped abruptly when Remus walked out of the bathroom. He stopped dead in his tracks to look at them. They were both staring at him which made a look of great unease creep onto his face.

"What are you staring at?" he asked, glancing between both of their faces, the look of apprehension on his face growing bigger.

"Did I ever tell you...that you've got gorgeous eyes, Moony?" asked Sirius, still in the same suggestive position.

"Yeah, they're sort of grey..." said James, also in the same position.

"...like a cloud." said Sirius dreamily.

Remus looked slightly alarmed for a second then reverted back to his normal look of monotony and headed towards his trunk.

"Or a wolf!" Added James.

"Ahh yes, a wolf. But mind you, what if the wolf were to be black, or brown, or white? Then it wouldn't be grey at all, and wouldn't compare with the lusciousness that are Moony's eyes."

"Too true you are, Padfoot, too true you are..."

"We'll stick with clouds I think." Sirius rolled onto his back and placed his arms casually behind his head, looking somewhat pleased with himself for thinking of a such a good comparison.

"But!" Exclaimed James as he bolted into an upright position, his index finger raised to add to his exclamation. "What if the cloud was to be white?"

"Oh no!" shouted Sirius, now flinging himself to sit on the edge of the bed, a look of false panic on his face. "That won't do. That just won't do at all, Prongsie. No no no…"

"Unless we colour all the clouds in grey?" suggested James.

"But I like the white clouds," whined Sirius, "they're so much more summery looking than the grey ones. The grey ones bring rain!"

"But Padfoot, you love the rain!" James laughed at the look of terror on his friends face.

"Merlin's knickers Prongs you're right! I do love me some rain. It's fun to dance in..."

"...and sing."

"Or both?"

"At the same time."

"Would the two of you shut up?" Both James and Sirius turned, grinning, to look at Remus who had a look of mingled irritation and mirth on his face. "This is all I've received every morning for the past six years – a constant stream of drivel exploding from your mouths! I'd hoped eventually you'd run out of things to babble about but unfortunately not." he tried his best to look annoyed, but both James and Sirius knew that he secretly enjoyed their pointless conversations.

"You love it Moony!" said Sirius.

"Yeah, don't try and kid us. Where would you be without our thrilling discussions every morning?"

"It's not just the mornings," said Remus flatly. "Don't think I can't hear you most nights too, giggling away to yourselves under the covers. I swear those magic mirrors you guys bought are the reason I –"

"Oh my giddy aunt!" shouted Sirius, cutting Remus off mid-sentence and making James' head whip round to face him again. "Prongs, I've had the best idea! You should totally take the two-way mirror on your date with you on Saturday so I know how it's going."

James looked at the excitement on Sirius' face and felt quite bad for what he was about to say. "Well, I dunno Padfoot. I mean she specifically asked me not to bring you – I think that kinda meant in any way, shape or form to be honest."

"Aww, c'mon! It'd be a good laugh. Besides, it'd save you having to bore – TELL! I mean tell me all about it when you get back. Plus, if you feel like you're not doing so well we can make up a code and I can come in and rescue you, and she couldn't even blame it on you because she doesn't know about the mirrors. Pleeease?" Sirius spoke very fast and fixed James with the best puppy-dog eyes he could muster.

James laughed at Sirius' pouting but had to politely decline the offer again. As much as he loved Sirius, and knew that his intentions were good, he wanted Saturday to be about him and Lily and no-one else. Just thinking about it now sent the butterflies to his stomach again. He couldn't wait to see her. What was he talking about? It was a Wednesday - which meant Potions was his first class. At this thought he jumped out of bed, grabbed his clothes, and headed into the bathroom to get ready. He had a feeling this was going to be his favourite Potions class yet.

Potions class was much the same as any other potions class except better in every...single...way! Lily still resumed her usual seat in between Sirius and Remus, but the air was a lot less tense and conversation was more relaxed. All four of them talked and joked and laughed normally just like four people who had known each other for the past six years should do. It was wonderful yet weird at the same time, James thought. It was like flicking on a switch and seeing the lighter side to Lily. All this time she'd been somewhat coarse and unresponsive and sullen but one little event changed all that and now she was somewhat acting as if she was their friend. James still wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but he was glad it did.

James and Sirius' antics and stories - and Remus' witty remarks – kept Lily laughing for most of the class. Occasionally she would join Remus in playfully insulting them or add antidotes to their stories. And James would sneak glances at her every chance he could. He watched the way her cheeks rose when she smiled, the way her hair fell around her shoulders when she moved her head, the way she wrinkled her nose when she laughed...the way her eyes shone when she, in turn, snuck glances back at him. It was at those moments when he knew; his assumptions from the previous night were true – she liked him back.

Thursday and Friday seemed to crawl in (except from potions classes which annoyingly seemed to fly by) but when Friday evening had finally arrived the four Marauders were sat in the Great Hall enjoying their dinner.

"Want some more pumpkin juice, Prongs?" asked Sirius, holding up the jug after re-filling his own glass.

"Sure, thanks mate."

"You nervous, James?" asked Remus.

"Why? What did he put in the jug?" James asked hurriedly, quickly moving his glass from under the jug and causing Sirius to pour juice all over the table and his plate.

"No, I meant about your date tomorrow." said Remus, an amused look on his face.

"Oi," yelled Sirius. "What did you do that for?"

"Oops! Sorry Padfoot, automatic reaction I guess."

"You've made my chicken all soggy!" grumbled Sirius, staring sadly at his pumpkin-soaked plate.

James turned his attention back to Remus. "You have no idea, Moony." he said "I don't think I've been this nervous about anything in my entire life. My first Quiddich match seems like nothing compared to this. D'ya think it'll go away tomorrow?"

"If anything it'll probably get worse tomorrow!" said Peter with a shrug of his shoulders. "And why shouldn't it? I mean, Lily is a very pretty girl, and she'll probably be judging your every move in case you slip up."

James groaned and buried his head in his hands.

"Do you think that's why she agreed to the date?" asked Peter, "So that she can watch you closely and see if you do something you shouldn't or revert back to your...y'know...normal self?"

"What?" James' head snapped up to face Peter. He was horror-stricken; he hadn't really questioned why she'd agreed to go on the date with him, he was just happy that she did.

"Shut up Wormtail!" said Sirius, throwing a damp piece of bread at Peter.

"Sorry," he said, ducking to avoid the bread "I was just asking."

"I doubt that's why she'd agreed to the date, James." said Remus calmly, "If anything she liked what she saw in you when you two were alone that night and possibly wants to see if it was more than just an act."

"So what are you saying, that I should act like I did the other night?" asked James.

"Well, not exactly," said Remus, "I would leave out the aggression and shouting and holding her against her will." A small haughty smile played on his lips.

"Just be yourself." said Peter

"Except less arrogant and less cocky and less inappropriate and less over-bearing and less needy and less -"

"I get it Sirius, thank you." James frowned at the smirk on his best friend's face. He turned back to Remus and Peter again, he couldn't believe he was seeking advice on girl-trouble from the two most eligible men in Hogwarts. "But I've been myself for the last six years and she didn't like me then, what do I do different?"

"Listen to her." Said Remus simply "Ask her questions – but not too many. Take interest in what she has to say, don't stare at her for long periods of time, ask her what she wants to do, don't make the day all about you or your life. And most importantly, don't – show - off!"

"Right." Said James, all this information was a lot to remember. "Uh...what was the third one again?"

"Would you like me to write it down for you?" Remus asked sarcastically and Peter hurried to give him a quill.

"Potter!" James turned to see the keeper of the Gryffindor Quiddich team sit down on the opposite side of him from Sirius.

"Oh hey Jones, what's happening?"

"Not much," he replied, "listen, about tomorrow, what time did you say practise was again? I completely forgot and now Gray and Tiffney won't stop arguing about it -"

"Tomorrow?" asked James, a sudden falling sensation in his stomach. "What's happening tomorrow?" Although he was pretty certain he already knew the answer to this.

Jones stared at him disbelievingly. "Quiddich practise of course. You arranged it, remember,Captain?"

The inflexion he placed on the last word stung at James and he tried to fix Jones with the most apologetic look he could muster. "I am so so sorry" he said slowly "but I'm busy tomorrow, I completely forgot about practise."

"What? So what are we supposed to do now? We've already booked the pitch for tomorrow!" Jones looked very irritated, and since he was considerably more built than James, James was being to feel slightly apprehensive. He was a great Quiddich player, but it wasn't until James had granted him a place on the team that he began to show his violent temper. Since then, James thought it better for his own health to just let his new keeper remain on the team.

"Well, I guess I'll have to cancel tomorrow and arrange another..."

"Cancel practise?" Jones looked horrified "But the match against Ravenclaw is next Saturday and we need all the practise we can get, you said so yourself!"

"Well then we can meet on Sunday, or every day during the week if you like, but just not tomorrow."

"What's so important to make the captain forget about his own Quiddich team?" Jones folded his arms and fixed James with a sceptic look.

"I'm sorry," repeated James, "but I have other plans tomorrow. I can't do both."

Jones gave James an icy-cold stare. "Fine," he said "I guess we'll just have to have practise without you then."

"Look," James felt the anger bubble in his chest, "people miss practise all the time. It happens. I double-booked and apologised and now can't do much else. If you guys still wanna go ahead and practise, by all means be my guest, just be thankful I'm not missing the actual match." And with that James turned back to face his plate, picking up his fork for something to distract him. He wasn't going to change his mind and wished Jones would just leave.

But Jones didn't leave, he just sat there, his eyes widened with disbelief. "Y'know Potter, since you were the one who arranged the meeting I get the feeling you're blowing us off because something better happened to come along. Where's your head at? If you weren't so damn good at Quiddich I'd suggest we vote you off."

"Well unfortunately it doesn't work that way, does it?" said James lazily, absent-mindedly spinning his fork in between his fingers "Besides, IamCaptain after all."

Jones rose to his feet so suddenly that it made James flinch, his hands were balled into fists, rage etched all over his huge face. Just as James dropped his fork, Sirius immediately stood up too, fixing Jones with a hard stare.

"Sirius..." warned Remus quietly, a look of alarm and concern on his face, he was watching Sirius like a hawk. James silently grabbed hold of his best friend's robes with one hand, and wrapped the other one firmly around his wand.

Sirius paid no attention to either of them. "You heard him." he said to Jones "Go practise on your own if you think you suck that much, you don't need him to take you outside do you?"

James winced. He wondered if Lily would still want to go on a date with someone who had a broken face. But before his keeper could retaliate to Sirius, James said "Listen Jones, I think you better just go. I can't make tomorrow and that's the end of it, no need to make a big deal out of nothing."

"Yeah," jeered Sirius, "you heard the Head Boy. Now shift your arse."

Jones looked at them both and gave a short cynical laugh. "Enjoy your plans,Captain." Then he marched back off up the table to sit with some other members from the Gryffindor team. Seconds after Jones had returned to his seat they all stared at James with looks of mingled shock and anger on their faces. James avoided their gaze as best he could, feeling lower than low; he wasn't used to all this anger thrown at him lately; it was exhausting trying to please people. He had never missed a practise before in his life; he hoped he was doing the right thing.

"Wow you must really like Evans if you're willing to blow of Quiddich practise like that for her!" said Peter as Sirius sat back in his seat.

"Well, yeah I guess. But to be honest, I don't really need the practise" said James trying his best to regain his off-handed composure again. Peter nodded in agreement, but James could see from the expression on their faces that neither Sirius nor Remus bought this attempted cover up and gave him looks which said 'yeah right'.

Feeling the eyes of the Gryffindor team still on him, James began to cut into some more of his chicken, looking around him as he did so in an attempt to make his meal much more awkwardly casual than was needed. He placed a forkful of chicken and potatoes in his mouth and noticed a difference in taste instantly. "Bleugh!" At first he thought that Jones had slipped something into his meal and poisoned him, but upon second thought he realised the taste was sort of tangy, like oranges or...

"Something wrong Prongs?"

James was about to reply to Sirius until he noticed the proud smirk on his best friends face. James slowly looked down at his plate again and saw that a discoloured orange substance was covering his food. He then glanced at Sirius' plate, which was empty.

James sighed. "Did you pour pumpkin juice on my plate to avenge your meal or something?" he asked.

"No, why waste more chicken?" Sirius pretended to look appalled then switched right back to being smug again. "I swapped them instead. Eat up."

A/N: Have I mentioned how much I love Sirius? :) Anyway thanks for sticking with this story guys, I know I don't update as much as I should and I do apologise, but I'm currently working on chapter 8 so chapter 7 should be appearing very soon ;) Thanks again! TDR x