Disclaimer: Everything in this story belongs to J.K. Rowling. Anything that sounds familiar is hers. I just enjoy playing with the world she created. All of the chapter names are lyrics from songs from the various bands, named.

Chapter named after "Safer to Hate Her" by You Me At Six.

Happy New Year! Thanks to Annunminuialiel, FutureAuthor-Hopefully, my best friend Taylor, marinewife08, and PottedLilies for reviewing. It gave me the inspiration to write this chapter!

After calming my nerves with a relaxing shower, I tied up my long red hair into a messy knot and trudged out of my dorm, down the stairs, across the common room, and out of the portrait hole.

I had no idea what had made me so nervous in the first place. I mean, yes, I was dreading going to detention with James, but that should not have made me nervous in any way. Dread and nerves are not synonymous! I would know, since I practically sleep with a thesaurus!

All of a sudden, in the middle of my ever-present and irritating confusion, I felt something furry against my sneaker. That something was enough to put me off-balance on my next step, and before I knew it, I was going down. The last thing I saw before I started to tumble down the Great Staircase (which was, unfortunately, too close to where I tripped) was a pair of yellow eyes, framed in the face of a rather scrawny black kitten.

I came to a painful stop at the next (sixth-floor) landing, thankfully. I felt the beginnings of bruises on practically every spot on my body. I curled myself into a ball on the landing, and screwed my eyes shut tight. I did not want to see just how many people had viewed my embarrassing accident.

Maybe, I thought, trying not to move, they'll think I'm out cold and leave me alone. But I reconsidered this a second later. If they thought I was unconscious, they would call for Madam Pomfrey. And that would make things so much worse. Imagine being labeled the girl who knocked herself out by falling down the stairs. Oh, Merlin Merlin Merlin.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me. It was a strong hand, a rather nice hand, I thought.

"Lily?"

I quickly opened my eyes, registering James Potter's inquiring look before me. His face was just inches away from mine—I could see every fleck of gold and green in those hazel eyes. They were quite interesting, when you really looked at them…

Wait a minute. What in the name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was I doing?

I blinked hard, and moved away, James's hand falling off of my shoulder.

He looked confused. "Are you okay?"

I nodded quickly. "Fine, actually. Just peachy."

But I wasn't. I was using strange words—hello, peachy?—and finding it hard to breathe. It was like there wasn't enough oxygen on the planet to house both myself and James Potter. One of us had to go.

I scrambled to my feet, trying to ignore the pain that resulted. I was sure going to have some nasty bruises.

He put a steadying hand on my back and grabbed my wrist. For some reason, his touch just irritated me further. Why was he doing that? Didn't he know it made me uncomfortable?

James just kept looking me, his worried expression unchanging.

"I saw you take that fall. It looked pretty bad," he said.

I sighed. "Perfect," I muttered. "By breakfast tomorrow, the entire school will know how ridiculously clumsy I am. Damn cat." I added the last part under my breath.

James looked amused as he let go of me. "I'm pretty sure the entire school already knows how clumsy you are, Lily," he reminded me gently. "But don't worry, I'm the only person who saw, and I promise not to tell anyone, as long as you're alright."

"I assure you, I'm perfect." I gave him a grateful look.

He smiled. "That you are, Evans."

I rolled my eyes. "And you most certainly aren't, Potter."

James laughed. And inside, I smiled. We were back to Potter and Evans.

We arrived at detention a little over five minutes late, and I knew there would be hell to pay.

Sure enough, Filch gave us an evil smile.

"Forbidden Forest," he said, relishing the expression on my face.

I glanced at James, to see how he was taking the news. To my surprise, he was hiding a smile.

Filch obviously didn't see it, as he smirked and continued. "Professor Sprout needs a few samples of wolfsbane. She thinks there's something the matter with the variety she's growing… Anyway," he said, shaking his head as if to clear it, "it's your job to find it."

James tensed up at the word 'wolfsbane.'

"Lily," he whispered, leaning towards me, "Is it a full moon tonight?"

I looked back at him, confused.

"I think so," I whispered back. "Why?"

"Werewolves," James said at full volume. Then he cursed, putting his face in his palm. "How could I have been so stupid?" he mumbled angrily.

Filch grinned at us once more before walking away.

I put a hand on James's arm, trying to be reassuring. Instantly, I regretted it, as I felt his muscles stiffen at my touch.

He looked up from his hands. "Lily Evans, are you trying to comfort me?" The thought seemed to be terribly entertaining to him.

I blushed, withdrawing my hand. "Well I can't wander into the Forbidden Forest alone, can I? And that would be the case, at the rate we're going."

James seemed to recollect himself.

"You won't be alone," he said determinedly. Then he grinned. "You're going with the person who knows it best."

"Ah," I said, as we started to walk out the double doors onto Hogwarts' grounds. "The valiant Marauder."

"And hero," added my companion. "I am a Gryffindor, you know."

Though he acted cheerful, I could tell something was wrong with James. His smiles didn't reach his eyes, and he looked distracted. I caught him glancing worriedly at the Whomping Willow as we made our way to the Forest.

Just as we reached the first trees of the dense greenery edging the school, I felt something change. It was like an electric current was moving through the air, and it had shocked me.

I paused for the tiniest second—and felt strong arms push me down. I landed in a bush on the forest floor.

"What the—?" I looked up at James, alarmed, and spat out leaves.

He had his wand out, his back to me, and was scanning the area, as if waiting for something.

"Stay down," he said to me, his voiced distressed.

I was just about to ask what was going on when I saw a huge black dog leap onto James, knocking him off of his feet. I was so stunned that I couldn't even scream. I was hurriedly searching for my wand in the broken shrubbery around me when the dog transformed.

Into Sirius Black.

"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded of James, getting off of him and helping him up. "We've being going mental without you. Remus—"

He was cut off as James elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

"OW," he wheezed, regaining his breath. "Why did you…?"

He trailed off as I realized my presence. With my red hair tumbling out of it's elastic, leaves all over my clothing, a twig caught in the belt-loop of my jeans, my eyes wide, and my wand raised as I unsteadily got to my feet, I probably looked like a madwoman.

Sirius buried his face in his hands. "Oh, shit, Evans." He kicked the nearest tree, chipping the bark.

"Will someone please tell me what on earth is going on?" My voice came out very high-pitched.

James's eyes were full of concern as he looked at me, messing up his black hair nervously. "Now, just calm down, Lily."

Sirius's face was still covered. He kept muttering oaths.

"Calm down?" I shrieked, finally losing it. "Your best friend is an illegal Animangus! We're in the Forbidden Forest, all alone, you're worried about werewolves, and you're telling me to calm down? And for the love of magic, this is not the time to be messing with your bloody hair, Potter!"

His face clouded, and he looked as if I'd slapped him.

Meanwhile, Sirius was shaking. It wasn't until he took his hands off his face that I realized it was from laughter.

James and I both shot him glares, but it only made him laugh harder. He bent over, clutching his stomach.

"Prongs," he managed to say between laughs, "It—sure—is—a good—thing—Evans—hates you—because—you—would be—so—whipped!"

"Shut up," his best mate muttered, crossing his arms.

Then we heard a sound that effectively shut us all up. The unmistakable howl of a werewolf cut through the air.

"Bloody hell," whispered Sirius, completely somber.

"Run!" James yelled to me, grabbing my hand and breaking into a sprint.

"But—Sirius!" I said, trying to match his speed.

"He can take care of himself. It's you we need to worry about."

And he pulled my arm harder, his grip on my hand so tight it was as if we were connected for dear life. Which, as I thought about it, we kind of were. Otherwise, I would have minded much more.

We kept running, never looking back, until we reached the castle. We stopped just outside the doors, panting.

My red hair felt heavy on my shoulders. I felt for the elastic in the mass of waves, but couldn't find it. I guessed I had lost it in the run, so I flipped my entire head upside down, my hands on my knees, as I tried to catch my breath.

When I was upright once again, I met James's hazel eyes with my green ones.

"I have to go help Sirius now," he said. "Get inside and go to the common room. Don't wait for me."

"What?" I spluttered. "You think you're just going to leave, without telling me what's happened? What am I supposed to say to Filch?"

"I don't know," James replied anxiously. "You're smart, you'll think of something—"

I caught him by the collar of his shirt, bringing him down to my level. We were so close that I could see every one of his eyelashes in detail.

"You are not leaving me," I practically growled, "without some sort of answer."

He was caught off-guard. For a few seconds, we were both silent, the only sound between us coming from our still-heavy breathing.

Then, ever so softly, James said, "Ten thousand, eight hundred and four."

As I stared at him, confused, he gently removed my hand from his shirt, and, making eye contact with me once more, dropped it at my side. Then he took off running, back in the direction of the forest.

I stood there, watching him as his blur grew smaller and smaller in the dark.

"Lily." A light hand was shaking me awake.

I opened my eyes. Alice was kneeling at my side, Aurie standing over her.

The brunette took her hand off of my shoulder.

"You're finally awake," she said, smiling.

"About time," added Aurie. She was picking at her navy blue nail polish.

I sat up, realizing I was on the common room couch, in my pajamas. Obnoxious afternoon sunlight was streaming in through the diamond panes of the large windows, and life was stirring all around me.

"What time is it?" I asked, yawning.

"12:30," said Alice.

"What the hell were you doing last night?" Aurie demanded. "You came upstairs at like 8:30, all freaked out, changed into pajamas, and then left. And you never came back!"

"We looked for you," added Alice, much more gently, "but couldn't find you anywhere. What happened?"

I sighed, running a hand through my rumpled hair—but stopped, realizing it was the very habit that I detested in James.

"It's a very long, confusing story. I'll have to tell you another time." I evaded their questioning looks, instead peering around them at all the others gathered in the common room. No sign of James or any of his friends.

After he had left last night, I wandered up to my dormitory and changed out of my forest-dirtied clothes. I put on my favorite pajamas, deciding it didn't really matter what I was wearing, and proceeded to walk back down to the entrance to the grounds. I stood there, watching for him to return, for over an hour, until Professor McGonagall came across me.

"Why, Miss Evans," she said, looking surprised, "What are you doing out here?"

She eyed my apparel with a disapproving air.

"Sorry, Professor. I just…needed some fresh air," I lied. "I'll be going to bed now."

She gave me a strange look. "That would be best. Goodnight, Miss Evans."

"Goodnight, Professor," I replied evenly, before scampering in the direction of the staircase and returning to the common room.

By then, it was completely devoid of students. I paced the rug before the portrait hole, deep in thought.

I questioned my dishonesty to McGonagall. Normally, I was the type of stickler-for-the-rules that didn't tell falsehoods. But I felt that James didn't want anyone to know what had happened. At the very least, I wanted to be sure of any kind of story before I told one.

I paced until I grew tired, when I transitioned to sitting on the couch. I sat there well into the night—for so long that I eventually fell asleep.

"Have either of you seen James?" I inquired of Alice and Aurie.

They exchanged curious looks and nodded.

"He was at breakfast with us earlier," said Alice.

"Why?" asked Aurie.

"Er, Heads business. I need to talk to him."

Aurie raised an eyebrow. "You two seem to have an awful lot of business together lately."

I ignored her.

"Maybe you'd better get dressed first?" Alice suggested.

I looked down at myself. Oh. Pajamas. Right.

Twenty minutes later, I was ready to confront him.

I marched down the girls' staircase, searching for the signature messed-up black hair. But I didn't see him anywhere. Instead, I saw Alice looking through my Transfiguration textbook.

"Oh, no you don't," I said, walking up to her and snatching the book.

She gave me a sheepish smile. "I can't seem to find mine."

Alice was notorious for losing nearly everything she got her hands on, including mine and Aurie's stuff. We had a simple rule: keep everything you value away from Alice, because once she gets her hands on it, it's gone.

"Borrow Frank's." I shot her a grin.

"I've already—never mind," she said. "Care to go to the library with me?"

I laughed, ran upstairs to grab my homework and our blonde friend, and hurried back. The three of us spent most of the day catching up on all of the work we had neglected—and alright, we divided most of it up and then swapped papers. Even then, we had so much to do that we only took breaks at mealtimes.

Though I pretended like I was only stressed about my workload, I was seriously concerned about James. He wasn't there when I went to eat lunch or dinner, and I didn't see him in the common room in the evening, either. I thought for sure I would see him at his team's Quidditch practice, but he cancelled it. It was like he was avoiding me.

But why? How horrible could the truth be, that he was trying so hard to stay away from me? And worse, why did it bother me so much?

It's shorter than the last one, but I hope you enjoy it! Please do review!

-MQ (: