A/N: I’m baaaaaack and with a much better written story, haha. It’s obviously a L/J fic because they’re my favorite but it’s a lot about Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily’s two friends as well. The plot is actually based on a series of true stories—not within my life but a few of my friends and acquaintances. I hope you like the comedy and the romance and please read and review! Oh and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Disclaimer: Do I look richer than the Queen of England? No, otherwise I wouldn't be writing on haha. Everything you don't recognize belongs to me. Everything and everyone else belongs to the beloved J.K. Rowling!

Tears on the Balcony

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 1: Of Parties, Roommates, and Strip Poker

Love. It was a word unknown to any of them. It was a word none of them had even know could exist in their vocabulary. A word that feared them all. With love comes higher stakes. With love comes trust. With love comes the possibility of a broken heart. But most of all, with love comes an immense burden to strive for perfection. And perfection was just a fantasy in each and every one of their wildest imaginations. They were only seventeen. They were certain that the idea of loving someone and being loved back was just that: an idea. A simple idea that wouldn't be carried out for years to come, if ever. Love was a mystery. One that the seven friends were willing to keep a mystery.

“OY, JAMES!” a familiar voice cried out over the grounds for everyone to hear.

James Potter sighed, turned away from the only thing that’s been on his mind for the past few years, and chuckled at the sight of Sirius Black galloping across the grass, smiling and winking at all of the gawking girls along the way.

“What do you want Padfoot?” James asked when Sirius approached him with a rather sly and mischievous grin on his face.

Sirius gladly plopped down beside James, leaning against their favorite willow tree and turned to James with a very jesting smile on his face. “Well as you know, the end of the year feast is tonight and, again, as you know, Gryffindor is being given the Quidditch cup and probably the House Cup so, as you should know, a party will most definitely be held in our commons room and-“

“Sirius, stop rambling and tell me what you want.”

“Remus and I are sneaking into Hogsmeade now and we can’t find your Invisibility Cloak,” he stated simply.

James tossled his hair out of habit, rolling his eyes at his best friend. “Why must you always turn a simple question into a long and rather uninteresting anecdote?”

Sirius grinned and shrugged giddily. “None of what I say is ever uninteresting..”

"Is your cockiness how you win over the ladies?" James said with a laugh.

Sirius rolled his eyes and searched around for something to throw at him with no luck. “No, my winning smile and my dark, mysterious eyes do that," he said with a grin. "So, the Invisibility Cloak?”

James laughed, running his fingers through his messy jet-black hair the way he did whenever he wanted to get someone’s attention as his love-interest across the lake glanced up. While it was clear she wasn't looking at him, his heart still fluttered at the sight of her sparkling, emerald eyes. “It should be in my bottom drawer underneath those hideous dress robes my mother insists on me bringing every year.”

Sirius shook his head, aggravated. “It wasn’t. We looked there. And we looked under your bed where I always throw it and we searched the Marauder shelf where Peter always puts it and we even took the liberty up breaking into that briefcase that you don't use for anything except your Playboy stash and those pictures of Lily.”

James scowled, turning away from Lily long enough to glare at his friend. “What happened to respecting privacy?”

“Marauders don’t know the meaning of privacy.”

“Oh, right.”

“Invisibility Cloak?” Sirius repeated.

James rolled his eyes at Sirius. “You do realize that Remus is the only Marauder who actually places it back in the right spot and if you did the same thing, you might actually be able to find it the next time you’re actually looking for it,” James quickly summed up with a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms humorously.

“Well gee as much fun as it is to be insulted by my best friend, I’m not the one carrying around pictures of a girl that I will never get. So as the Germans say: get over it.”

James gave him a strange look. “Why do the Germans say that?”

“Because they won World War II and felt it necessary that the world should just deal with it!”

James smirked, shaking his head in disbelief. “You do realize that the Germans lost World War II, Sirius.”

Sirius shrugged and shook his head as if details didn’t matter. “Okay, so maybe I was too busy flirting it up with Denise Jenson to listen in Muggle Studies last week but we’re losing valuable time. Remus and I need to get to Hogsmeade and back so we can both take showers in time for the feast and you, m’friend, are slowing us down.”

James rolled his eyes. “You and Peter used it last night, didn’t you? So why you’re asking me is really beyond me.”

“Peter and I put it exactly where we always put it so you must have moved—oh wait, I think it might be under Peter’s bed,” Sirius said sheepishly. “Okay, well thanks for helping me out and I’ll see you later.”

James put his head in his hand muttering ‘Unbelievable’ under his breath.

Sirius patted James on the back and jumped up ready to sprint across the grounds. He took about three steps and then turned back to look at James. “You want to come with Remus and me? More hands to hold stuff!”

James briefly glanced across the lake and then back at Sirius. “Uh…nah, I’m good here.”

Of course, being James’ best friend since they had met on the Hogwarts Express in their first year, Sirius followed to where James’ eyes were skimming over and sighed. “Of course not. You’d rather stay here until dinosaurs roam the earth again if that means staring longingly at Lily Evans from afar,” Sirius explained, crossing his arms in a teasing manor.

James looked up at him curiously. “Dinosaurs, Padfoot?”

Sirius shrugged. “It could happen.”

“It’s about as likely as you and Riley Gilmore marrying and having twenty kids,” James teased.

Sirius gave him a nagging look. “Which is a better chance than you and Lily-bean ever getting together.”

James rolled his eyes, trying not to show his irritation, as he put down the book in his hands. “Shut up and go get snacks and alcohol for tonight.”

“I like how you stress the word alcohol, Prongsie,” Sirius joked. “But unless you somehow get on Lily-bean’s good side by nine o’clock tonight, I’m thinking that by nine-thirty she’ll find out and certainly give you an earful about how we’re corrupting the younger students like she never fails to do at every party we host.”

James couldn’t help but laugh, but Sirius definitely had the description of Lily down. “Just go, Padfoot, and I’ll see you up in the room before the feast.”

Sirius laughed and raced across the grounds. James watched him run directly into Rachael LeBlanc who he stopped to chat (a.k.a. flirt) with for a good minute or so (which got a simple chuckle out of James) before hurrying again out of James’ sight.

The Marauders consisted of spontaneous, untamed, rowdy, intelligent, highly uncharacteristic, and very adventurous sixth-year, soon to be seventh-year, Gryffindor boys. Along with that, they were considered the most popular best-looking group of the school. With Sirius Black’s prize-winning smile, James Potter’s flirtatious charm , Remus Lupin’s vibrant personality and Peter Pettigrew’s…uh…Peter Pettigrew’s….okay, well no one was ever sure why Peter was a part of the group; he didn’t exactly bring any hindsight to them. Anyway, with all of that in tow, they practically ruled the school and enjoyed doing so. They created the group back in their first year and made pranking their first mandatory rule. But their second rule was no turning backs on each other—friends forever. For Remus, this wasn’t so easy. He was sure that when his friends found out about his serious lycanthropy condition, they’d immediately kick him out of the group. Well they did the opposite. Instead they did something extremely difficult, but very righteous, and became illegal Animagi just so Remus wouldn’t have to be alone during his transformations. It all just started from there. They were so inseparable it was almost sickening. You never saw one without another and they never wore a frown on their face. They were optimistic about everything in life and because of it, knew all about everyone and everything. You hardly ever saw one of them without a smile on their face.

James picked up his book again and glanced at the page in front of him; the same page that had been in front of him since he sauntered outside. He had been staring at Lily for an hour before Sirius interrupted and he planned on staring at her until she left her peaceful rock beside the lake.

He glanced up at her once more and saw that she was putting away her book and getting ready to head in. He sighed and gathered his stuff in order to walk ahead of her. He hated this part of the day.

Lily enjoyed sitting on the other side of the lake. It made her different; it made her stand out. Instead of being apart of everyone’s lifestyle, she was making it a point to just be herself. Ever since both her parents had died when she was eight, which she had yet to reveal to anyone, she had always felt the need to be independent; she knew all about living life on her own and being away from people simply made her stronger. Even though she led a difficult life, all her trials and errors just made her truly dedicated and passionate about everything that was close to her, especially her friends. She took the time to stand out because of it all. Instead of being with everyone else, like everyone else, it’s almost as if she was in her own world. But glancing at her watch, she noticed it was time to get back to reality. She promised the girls she would meet them in their room at five to get ready and it was already five after.

She gathered her favorite book, Little Women, put it safely in her bag, and started to walk across the narrow bridge to join her fellow classmates once again in the real world.

She smiled and waved to the passers-by while walking across the grounds and when she opened the double doors to enter the school, she almost ran straight into Shane Redford, the Head Boy of the school and fellow Gryffindor, and an ex-boyfriend of hers that she still remained friends with.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Lily,” he quickly apologized.

She smiled and shrugged. “No harm done. Maybe if I was a few milliseconds earlier than we’d both be lying on the ground clutching our sides or something but I’m pain-free.”

Shane laughed. “Well then I guess we should thank whatever it was that made you just a few milliseconds later.”

Lily grinned. She had always liked Shane. They had dated briefly, but it was obvious that there wasn't any chemistry between them. “So are you ready to graduate?” she asked, striking up a conversation when she noticed that he, too, was heading towards the commons room.

Shane frowned. “I’m ready but I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle it.”

“How so?”

“This has been my home for seven years and I’ve loved every minute of it…though I could have done without the grueling final exams,” he snickered. They both laughed and turned the corner. “But everything about this place screams home to me. When I was taking my final rounds last night I couldn’t help but notice everything around me. Of course I had noticed it before—I have been doing rounds for three years now, but this time it was different. Instead of just passing it all by and taking it all in like I normally do, I was focusing on every detail of the school and engraving it in the back of my mind. Like I was ready to actually say good-bye to it all. And then I started thinking back over the years with the many memories I’ve created here and I just started wondering if I could actually go on without Hogwarts in my life anymore.”

Lily grinned and nodded in understanding. “You know, I think in a weird, sort-of other-world way, those are signs pointing you towards your destined future.”

Shane opened his mouth to obviously ask her to continue but quickly realized what she meant. “Yeah…I guess you’re right.”

“And I heard you were still struggling to write your graduation speech but I think you just found a wonderful start to it.”

Shane grinned and looked at Lily in amazement. “Merlin, you are going to be an awesome Head Girl, you know that?”

Lily was taken aback. “What? Who said I was Head Girl?”

Shane laughed and gave her a look as they approached the Fat Lady. “Oh please. If you don’t get the position of Head Girl next year, please write to me so I can owl Dumbledore and make sure he hasn’t gone crazy, ‘kay?”

Lily laughed and muttered the password. “Sure thing, Shane.” The Fat Lady portrait opened up and they both entered their commons room.

“You know what? Scratch that. Owl me no matter what. It’ll be nice to hear from a Hogwarts student once I’m working in the real world.”

Lily laughed again and nodded. “Definitely. It will be nice to hear from the real world if I’m stuck working with some half-crazed baboon next year. You got lucky with Melinda this year; she was a great partner.”

Shane nodded. “Yeah. I’ll miss her next year, too.”

“Well, I was supposed to meet my friends fifteen minutes ago and they’re probably all freaking out considering they haven’t even begun to pack for tomorrow so I think they’ll need someone sane to stop them from going completely mad,” Lily explained with a nervous laugh.

Shane chuckled. “Okay. I’ll see you tonight, definitely,” he replied. He paused and then gave her a hug, which Lily was certainly surprised about. “That’s for if I don’t end up saying good-bye today or tomorrow; it may get a little hectic.”

Lily smiled. “Well, thank you. But I’ll hopefully see you later. I wouldn’t want our last good-bye to be whimsical.”

“Me neither.”

They walked their separate ways and Lily couldn’t help but notice just how much she was going to miss Shane as Hogwarts’ Head Boy.

What Lily didn’t notice was the pair of eyes that had been watching them from the moment she and Shane had walked into the commons room. She same pair of eyes that belonged to the guy who had a tug of the heart when James saw them hug, wishing that she was hugging him instead.

James was certain that Lily Evans was the girl for him. She was everything in a girl that he was looking for: gorgeous, intelligent, funny, authoritative, determined, goal-oriented, independent, a born leader, and refused to take no for an answer. Granted she had always looked passed James’ popularity and enjoyed torturing him to no end but that rarely bothered him. Any conversation with her was like a quick trip to heaven to him.

She had the most gorgeous green eyes that he had ever seen. They were piercing with a hint of mystery stowed behind them. He found himself staring into them more times than necessary. Her eyes were the secret to her past, present, and future. James thought he had her every emotion down pact because of her eyes. He could sense an occasional feeling of anger or sometimes even melancholy but for the most part they were just filled with a deep longing and emptiness. Like she was hiding a secret. And he wasn’t the only one that noticed that she was trying to hide something. But he was the only one that was determined to figure it out by the end of his Hogwarts career.

She had the most beautiful curly auburn hair that cascaded freely down her back. The many times he wanted to lift his arm and run his hands through her silky hair. And oh her laugh. Her laugh was contagious. Even a chuckle from her made James begging for more. Her eyes lit up whenever she laughed and it brought a smile to her face. That smile. That was the first thing that drew James to her on the first day of school on the train. She had the most mesmerizing smile. One of those smiles that could probably get anything she wanted. The kind of smile that turned the heads of every guys she passed. Of course, Lily hardly looked their way. She was too busy worrying about the future to even have time for a boyfriend and she made that clear to everyone.

Lily Evans was just one of those girls. One of those girls that everyone knew and were acquainted with but never really befriended. She was an absolute sweetheart and hardly ever raised her voice to anyone, except for James since he often felt the need to mess with her. You rarely saw her emotions get the better of her and she never let the little things bother her. She would always stop and take the time to say hi to everyone and ask them how their day was; she was too polite not to. She considered them all of her friends even though they weren’t as close as they could be. But she never minded it. She enjoyed spending her time with schoolwork and the few close friends she had.

She was a simple girl, not too extravagant but not too boring. She was ordinary I guess you could call it. She wasn’t the adventurous, impulsive type but she didn’t just sit back and let her life pass before her eyes. She wasn’t materialistic and she certainly wasn’t selfish. You’d think that a girl that James Potter wanted to be with had to be a Greek goddess or something, but she was nothing of that sort. Any girl in Hogwarts could easily change their ways and attitudes to be like her. She was nothing special. But that nothing special girl was exactly the girl that James fell for the moment he laid eyes on her and had to do a double-take. To him, everything about her was just right.

But why did James Potter pursue her so much if she was just some mediocre girl that he happened to know very little about? Because again, mediocre was all he needed. She was an angel in his mind and in his dreams and was the bane of his existence. She lifted his spirits every time she walked into a room and brought a smile to his face every time he heard that infamous laugh of hers.

He knew it was time to put their torturous past behind them and start a new life together. Hopefully one that gave James the power to kiss her passionately without her turning away in disgust.

Lily slowly strolled up the stairs to where the sixth-years Gryffindor dorm room was. Halfway up she could already hear the screams of her fellow dorm-mates and groaned.

“NO! I told you that those robes weren’t mine!”

“Well Miranda said they weren’t hers, they’re too dirty to be Kay’s, and Lily already packed, so who else could they belong to?”

Lily cringed and opened the door to her room, expecting some sort of war to erupt in her face; turns out she wasn’t far off. She ducked under the flying clothes over to her bed, placed her bag on the messy floor, tried to talk over the loud yelling that was surrounding her, and finally put her two fingers at the side of her mouth and whistled loudly.

Everyone in the room froze and turned to stare at Lily, who was now sitting on her bed, petting her Siamese cat, Artemis.

“You’re fifteen minutes late,” Mikaela Richards, more known as Kay, said, one of Lily’s dorm-mates and close friends, crossing her arms pessimistically. “If you were here at five like you said you’d be, maybe those two wouldn’t be going at it like two werewolves on a full moon.”

“Hey!” Riley Gilmore, another one of Lily’s dorm-mates and good friends, retaliated.

“We wouldn’t have to keep arguing if Miss Talks-Too-Much would stop thinking those robes belong to me,” a snotty voice belonging to Justine Mille, a dorm-mate that Lily would rather not spend her time with.

“They are yours! I’ve asked everybody else and you’re the last one. By process of elimination-“ Riley started arguing.

“GUYS!” Lily cried, rolling her eyes at the two. “Those very obviously belong to a guy. None of us is that tall.”

They all looked at the robes, saw that Lily was indeed right in saying they were too long, and turned back to her. “Damn, you should have been here twenty minutes ago to settle that,” Riley muttered.

Justine glared at her. “No one gave you permission to talk again.”

“I didn’t realize I needed permission to speak in my own room,” Riley responded, glaring heatedly at her, throwing the rest of her clothes into her trunk in a disorderly function.

“Well who has had a guy in here recently?” Kay asked, ignoring the bickering match between Riley and Justine. “It wasn’t me.”

Lily shook her head even though she was sure none of her dorm-mates would have bothered asking her. She had never brought a guy up to her room and was never really planning on it either.

Justine rolled her eyes. “Not since last month with Harrison,” she bragged.

Riley snorted. “Oh please. You and Harrison did not sleep together so don’t pretend like either one of your robes were shed.”

Justine’s face became bright red and she clenched her fists tightly. “I can’t believe I still have to put up with you for another bloody year.”

“Put up with me?” Riley quickly retaliated. “I’m not the one who has posters of Sirius all around my bed! I swear if I have to look at one more picture of that asshole because of you, I’m kicking you out!”

“GUYS!” Lily cried, frustrated that she always had to mediate with them around. “Will you stop fighting? Jeez, you will have two months apart from each other so can’t you please just give me the satisfaction of shutting up for tonight?”

They both rolled their eyes at each other and didn’t bother replying to Lily.

Justine left her stuff on her bed and walked over to the door mumbling something obscene under her breath. “If Miranda comes back, tell her I’m looking for her.” And with that she walked out of the room.

Riley fell against her bed and said, “Hallelujah! Ding-dong, the wicked bitch is gone.”

Lily and Kay both laughed as Kay returned to her packing.

Riley and Lily had met on the Hogwarts Express in their first year and hit it off immediately. Lily remembered praying that Riley and she would be sorted into the same house. They were just so much alike it was an undeniable start to a long-lasting friendship. They shared the same interest in books and music and they were both addicted to chocolate. They both loved staring at the stars and were both experts on Astronomy. And even though Riley wasn’t a Muggleborn she was half and half so she knew all about the Muggle world. She taught Lily everything she would have to know on the first day of Hogwarts, like all about the professors and which families to stay away from.

But they did have their differences. Lily was average height at about 5'5" with curly red-auburn hair and bright green eyes while Riley on the other hand was tall and thin, almost 5’9”, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. Riley was one of the most, if not the most, beautiful girl in Hogwarts; everyone said so. Attractive, gorgeous, compares to a goddess: simple understatements. She had such soft features and long, dark brown hair that was tinted with red highlights that stood out perfectly under any light. She was slender, graceful, precocious, and went out of her way to be unusually boastful, a turn on to many manyguys at Hogwarts vied for her attention, but she wasn’t one to date. Sleep around, sure, but no man was complaining about that.

And this wasn’t all to say that Lily was ugly or even average. Lily was certainly beyond average. She had a certain sparkling quality about her and her sweet and innocent personality brought the best out of her. She was beautiful in her own way; the kind of way that could be easily seen on the outside if she didn’t dress in oversized robes and wear her hair pulled back into a bun everyday.

Other than their looks, their personalities clashed as well. First of all, Lily could never understand why Riley and James were practically best friends. Granted, they had been living down the street from each other since they were born and have been watching out for the other ever since, but Lily would still never get it. Also, Lily was definitely categorized as being more quiet and reserved while Riley was wild and adventurous. Riley lived with five brothers so being completely impulsive, and even being a bit of a tomboy, was just how she was brought up but because of these personality differences, Lily and Riley almost complemented each other too well. Lily calmed Riley down a bit and Riley was able to get Lily to loosen up. By December of their first year, they were inseparable and were both doing things they never thought they would be doing.

Even on the first night, after being sorted into Gryffindor, they stayed up talking practically all night in their room on Lily’s bed with the curtain closed about everything. Lily knew that as long as she had Riley with her, she could get through anything. They had an incredible bond and in the beginning, they both refused to share that with anyone else.

By November, things were changing a little. Even though they had only lived with each other for two months, Riley and Lily knew that Justine and Miranda Hobbes were bad news. They had no respect for the others and were completely inconsiderate of other people’s feeling. And because Riley was very opinionated and stood up for what she thought was right, she stuck up for Kay one night when Justine was picking on her and instantly, Kay began part of Lily and Riley’s special bond. And that’s how the Three Musketeers were formed.

Kay was shorter than the both of them, barely 5'2", but was indeed more similar to Lily. Her beauty was hidden as well; she rarely bothered to put on make-up and would hardly ever take the time to blow-dry her hair--she did the au natural look more often than not. Her best feature by far was her blonde hair that fell in ringlets down her back. She’s caught the attention of a few guys around school but no one she ever seemed interested in. Especially in the beginning, she was very shy and timid and would hardly say anything to anyone. You rarely ever knew she was in the room. But Kay quickly shed that side of her with Riley around and broke out of her shell. By third year, Kay and Riley were practically overpowering each other when it came to everything, but not in a bad way. They just liked competition and both enjoyed being spontaneous.

Lily, Riley, and Kay certainly had their share of silly catfights, especially over Riley’s favorite subject: GUYS, but nothing could ever tear them apart. They had made a pact in their fifth year that after graduation, they’d remain best friends no matter what and Lily planned on sticking to that, hoping that the others would as well.

“So Riley, who was the guy?” Kay smirked, after a few seconds of only the sound of packing.

Riley lifted her head and stared at her. “What?”

“Oh please. It wasn’t Justine or me…and I doubt it was Lily,” Kay teased, giving Lily an apologetic look. “And Miranda hasn’t gotten any in a while—ever since you spread that rumor about her and genital herpes in March, so-“

She was interrupted by the hysterical laughter of both Riley and Lily. Miranda had posted entries of Riley’s journal all over the school and to get her back, Riley told all of the guys that Miranda had contracted genital herpes over Christmas break (and of course she stopped writing in her journal as well). Needless to say, guys have not gone near Miranda since then and Riley has yet to write another entry since that incidence as well.

“Anyway, Lily’s definitely right—those robes belong to a guy. And they haven’t been in here for long or else we would have noticed earlier,” Kay continued. “So spill: who was the guy and when did you have him up here where Lily and I didn’t happen to notice?

Riley raised herself off her bed and turned her back to them, returning to her packing, hesitating and looking for the right answer. “Uh…I don’t know. It wasn’t me.”

“Oh really?” Lily questioned, giving Kay a doubtful look. “Then why did it just take you about a minute to answer?”

Riley stopped folding the shirt in her hands and stared at the wall in front of her. She knew she was stuck and they had caught her in the act of lying. “Okay, okay. Fine, but don’t judge, okay?”

"Do we look like the type to judge?" Kay replied.

Riley snorted and gave her a look. "Are you serious?" she snickered. "Just promise me you won't judge and I'll tell you."

Lily and Kay exchanged approving looks and nodded. “Okay,” Lily agreed.

“Uh…well…it’s like this…those robes belong to…uh…Zach.”

“What?” Kay replied.

“No way!” Lily said in absolute shock. “You guys broke up in December because he slept with some other girl! It took you like a month to get over him. Please don’t tell me you’re getting back together with him—he won’t change.”

“You said you wouldn’t judge,” Riley pointed out, turning around to face their shocked and angered faces. She bit her lip like she always did when she was nervous and sighed. “And of course we’re not getting back together. We just…well, let’s just call it a making up session—one last really good night together. We were just talking and one thing led to another and it…it kinda…well, it just happened. But you guys don’t have to worry; it was just a one-time thing.”

Kay sighed and threw her the robes that were now sitting on the messy floor. “We’re just looking out for you.”

Riley smiled at them. “I know. And I appreciate it. But I plan on never really speaking in whole sentences to him again. Hopefully, we’ll both be avoiding each other next year that it won’t be such a big deal.”

“Good,” Lily agreed. “Well, I’m going to take a shower. Once you two finish packing and get ready for tonight, let’s go-“

“It won’t take us forever to get ready,” Kay interrupted. “It’s just the end of the year feast. We’re just wearing school robes. Nothing too fancy.”

Lily laughed and rolled her eyes as she changed out of her clothes into a towel in the corner of her room. “Yeah but we all know the Marauders are throwing a party tonight and you two will be going all out underneath your school robes.”

Riley pointed to a jean skirt and halter-top on her pillow. “I’ve already picked out what I’m going to wear," she said, her voice filled with excitement.

Lily turned to Kay. “See?”

Kay laughed. “Point taken.”

“And just for you two, I have decided to throw all morals out the window tonight and just have a good time,” Lily added with a sigh.

“YES!” Riley whooped, high-fiving Kay enthusiastically. “Maybe we’ll even get her to dance with a few boys who have been eyeing her up!”

Lily glared at her. “Don’t push it; no one in Gryffindor is worth it.”

“Okay, compromise: Just drink some Fire Whiskey.”

“No alcohol is touching my lips.”

“A little make-out session on the dance floor?”

“No.”

“Skinny-dipping in the lake?”

“No!”

“Seven minutes in heaven in the broom closet?”

“No.”

“Strip poker?”

Lily put her hands on her hips stubbornly, snorting. “Oh yeah, because I’m not willing to make out with any boys or go skinny-dipping in the lake, but sure, I’ll go on display naked for all the boys to see,” Lily said sarcastically as she stared at her friends incredulously.

Riley turned to Kay, plunging on to her bed giddily, glad to be taking a break from the packing. “See? I told you we’d break her eventually.”

They both laughed and turned back to their somewhat humored friend.

Lily threw her clothes in her dirty laundry bag and gave them both amused looks. “Guys, when I said I’d have a good time, I simply meant I’d enjoy the music, I wouldn’t completely bitch out anyone tonight, and I’d go to bed later than one o’clock.”

“Well, step down Prince William; we have a new rebel in the house!” Kay announced, going into a giggling fit along with Riley.

“I’m going to force down a few drinks on you tonight if it’s the last thing I do,” Riley teased, throwing a pillow in Lily’s direction.

Lily ducked and watched as it sailed toward the window and bounced on to her bed. “If you attempt to make me force down a few drinks then yeah, it will be the last thing you do.”

“Oh come on, Lily! It’s like a rule of life!”

“Oh really?” Lily snickered.

“Yeah! Make friends, get boyfriend, dump him and get new boyfriend, go to a good school, GET DRUNK, have sex, get a job, mate for life, retire, and die! It says so right there in the rules of life! Are you telling me you're going to defy the rules of life?”

“I think those are just the rules of Riley Gilmore,” Lily replied sarcastically, smacking Riley with her pillow.

“And am I not your life?” Riley recapped, trying to escape from Lily’s pillow war.

“Not right now,” Lily laughed.

“And those most definitely aren't the rules of Riley Gilmore," Kay argued. "because the last time I checked you had sex before you ever got a boyfriend,” Kay snickered, rolling her eyes and moving back to attempting to pack.

“HEY!” Riley protested, throwing another pillow at her.

Kay laughed and threw a pillow but with her usual lack of aim, hit Lily square in the face, which led to a full-blown pillow war.

After they were all done laughing and messing around, they all plopped on to their own beds in exhaustion.

“I think I’m going to reiterate a very good point of Justine: I don’t know how I’m going to put up with you two for another whole year,” Lily teased, standing up after a few seconds of silence to catch her breath

Kay and Riley exchanged all-knowing glances and ran towards Lily to bombard her with a group hug, pushing her over on to her bed. “Three Musketeers for life,” Riley chuckled.

“Or until I kill one of you,” Lily snickered.

“Yeah well you might be going through with that after you see what we picked out for you to wear tonight,” Riley grinned, quickly getting away from Lily’s grasp before she could strangle her.

“We picked out?” Kay questioned. “Hm, I remember you picking out an outfit and me saying that Lily may have you beheaded for it so I’m not sure where that ‘we’ came in.”

“What happened to sticking together?" Riley pouted.

"I believe I told you that I was in no way going to get involved. Mostly because I know Lily will hunt you down for the outfit," Kay pointed out with a shrug.

Riley made a face at her. "Okay, so I picked it out but you can’t let down all those guys you will be stripping for at the poker game now can you?” Riley smirked, enjoying the frustrated look on Lily’s face as she slowly headed Riley’s way with an evil glint in her eyes.

“Well it seems to be that it won’t matter what you wear if you’re playing strip poker just as long as you shaved you-know-where,” Kay said with a very amused smile on her face as she leaned against the bathroom doorframe for the killing match that was about to go down in her dorm.

Lily gave her a look. “Oh yeah, because I’m the type of girl who takes out time in the bathroom to shave my privates.”

Riley shrugged. “It’s always the quiet girls.”

Lily threw another pillow her way. “It’s not always the quiet girls! It’s the slutty girls who go around this school promoting sex in their skimpy mini-skirts and tube tops!”

“Why do you look at me when you say that?” Riley snickered.

“Hm, can't think of a reason,” Kay said sarcastically, laughing as Riley smacked her with one of her leather boots. “C’mon, Lily, you have to be willing to try new things!”

Lily glanced at her curiously, tidying up her bed after the pillow fight. “Was that directed at me for the purpose of strip poker or shaving?”

“Both!” Kay and Riley both answered in unison, bursting into hysterical giggles.

“And the purpose that you shouldn’t fight the outfit Riley chose for you tonight,” Kay teased.

Lily took time to glare at Kay before glancing at the outfit hanging over the bathroom door that Riley was pointing at. Her mouth dropped and she turned to give Riley her infamous have-you-gone-insane look. “No way am I wearing that! That dress won’t cover my ass, and my boobs will be popping out of it!”

“Yes, I checked those things off my mental list while picking an outfit for you too.”

“You’re dead Riley Vienna Gilmore,” Lily snarled, chasing her around the room until Riley oh-so-smartly ran out of the room and down into the commons room.

Lily smirked. “Like I don’t know where she lives.”

Kay laughed as Lily sauntered into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, flinging the clothes onto the floor haphazardly.

Twenty minutes to seven, Lily and Riley were in the commons room waiting for Kay so they could walk down to the Great Hall together for the feast. They were both sitting on the couch closest to the boys’ dormitory talking about the previous years.

“I don’t know. Third year was my weird year. The workload was unbearable, we were in the middle of our prime Hogwarts years, no one seemed to notice us, Hogsmeade just seemed too good to be true, I still thought boys had cooties, and life seemed to be getting more difficult,” Riley was explaining to Lily, glancing occasionally at the novel in her hands.

Lily laughed as she blew against her just-painted fingernails. “You did not think boys still had cooties! You were caught kissing Fabian Prewett in the Quidditch locker room that March.”

Riley was about to protest but thinking back on it, she laughed. “Oh right. Then maybe it was second year that was my weird year.” She paused and shrugged. “Then again, we didn’t even get to go to Hogsmeade that year.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Because that’s what we were most worried about then.”

Riley shrugged. “It was! That’s where the best dates happen Lily. God, you really have to focus.”

Lily laughed. “I thought you said boys had cooties that year.”

“Man, you’re thinking way too much into this.”

"No, I'm thinking logically," Lily said, grinning. "That's what I do best considering my friends are you and Kay."

Riley scrunched up her nose. "Are you saying I'm illogical?"

"I'm saying that you're more impulsive than logical."

"And I'm saying that's a good thing. Sometimes you just need a little spontaneity in your life. Letting loose feels good on occasion."

Lily knew Riley was referring to her being uptight most of the time, but she simply shrugged. “Well, I have to say that this year was by far my best," she said, returning to their prior conversation in hopes of changing the subject.

Riley rolled her eyes and closed the book that was in her hands. “You say that at the end of every year.”

“And you say that at the end of every year!” Lily argued. “And besides, this time I really mean it.”

“And you say that every year,” Riley snickered, ducking from the flying pillow headed her way.

Lily laughed, stifling a yawn. “Well you have to admit turning seventeen is a huge plus,” Lily said slowly and thoughtfully, gesturing for Riley to hand her back the pillow. “I mean, c’mon, we’re legal in the wizardry world now.”

Riley grinned. “Oh, don’t worry. I plan on taking that out on my brothers every chance I can. Caleb, Rafe, and Lance certainly did when they turned seventeen.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Well, have fun with that, but when I hear about you being blown up by one of them because one of your pranks backfired, don’t think I’m planning on waiting to break in a new best friend.”

Riley threw back the pillow in which Lily was too slow in ducking and got smacked in the face with it. But before Lily could retaliate, loud voices were being echoed from the midst of the boys’ dormitory stairs.

Sirius and Remus soon emerged, both looking overanxious for the feast. “Hey Lily. Hey Riley,” Remus greeted.

Sirius grinned at the site of Riley and Lily and took the liberty of jumping over the back of the couch and sitting right in the middle of them. “Hello, ladies.” He winked at them, throwing his arms around their shoulders.

Riley rolled her eyes and pushed Sirius’ arms off of her. “Don’t you have some other girls to torture?”

“Eh, I’ve had my fun with them. Now it’s just one-on-one personal time with my two favorite Gryffindor ladies…oh, I guess that would make it one-on-two.”

Remus and Lily snickered at the really bad joke.

“And soon it will be zero-on-two once I throw you out your bedroom window,” Riley replied with a haughty smirk on her face.

“Now, now, is that any way to respect the man you will one day be marrying, babes?”

"If by marrying, you mean end up pushing you off a very high building in downtown London, then yes, this is the way I plan to respect you," Riley snapped.

"Hmmm, no I mean walking down the aisle in a pretty white dress marry," Sirius shot back.

"Awww, and you will look so adorable inthat white dress!"

"Hmmm, again, I think you misinterpreted. I was talking about the white dress you will be wearing that I will be tearing off your body that night for some long-awaited S-E-X."

Riley shuddered. “Oh please don’t make me hurl. That’s what eating too much dessert at the end-of-the-year feast is for.”

“Well, why don’t you start thinking of me as dessert, sweetheart?”

Riley’s immediate reflex was to gag. She stood up from the couch and glared at Remus. “Haven’t you learned to tame him by now?”

Remus laughed and shook his already long and shaggy, and yet still gorgeous and blonde hair out of his face. “We try but he learned how to break free of his cage.”

“Hey!” Sirius defended. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Aww…did he make the wittle baby cwy?” Riley snickered, rolling her eyes.

“Why don’t you just stop hiding the fact that you’re one-hundred percent infatuated with me and stop resisting my charm, babe?” Sirius purred with a very seductive look on his face. “You know nothing’s sexier than a man on the prowl…”

Riley glared at him. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t see a man around here,” she smirked. She turned back to Lily. “I’m going to go see if Kay’s ready yet, Lily. Please get rid of him by the time I get back.”

Lily laughed and gave Sirius an apologetic look, nodding at Riley. “I’ll do my best but apparently he’s on the prowl and I’m afraid to mess with a guy like that.”

“Please don’t tempt him,” Riley muttered as she walked away from them and back up to her room.

Lily, Kay, Remus, James, and Peter never knew why Sirius and Riley started hating each other. They were perfectly content with each other up until January of the previous year. Suddenly, everything out of each other’s mouths was some sort of wise-crack and no one could get it out of them. One month they were laughing with each other, the next they were planning each other’s death and not one of their friends could figure it out.

“You know, besides the Slytherins, she’s the one girl who I can’t seem to crack,” Sirius stated matter-of-factly. “I’m beginning to think she doesn’t appreciate me.”

Remus and Lily burst into laughter, as Remus took a seat where Riley was previously sitting. “You’re just realizing this?” Lily snickered.

Sirius made a face. “So are you excited for the party tonight, Lily-bean?” Sirius asked with a goofy smile on his face.

Lily gave him a doubtful look. “You’re talking to the only prefect who is willing to stand up to you and Potter, Sirius, when it comes to excessive noise and illegal beverages.”

Sirius laughed. “Good point. But you should take it on yourself tonight to let loose and live a little. Get a little drunk here, make out with a few boys there—I will be the cute one in the blue shirt if you need help with that—and maybe even pass out on the couch down here. I think it could do you some good.”

Lily snorted. “Oh yeah, you’re exactly right. I think just for tonight I may turn into those half-crazed, clueless bimbos who have lost all brain cells and drink some cocktails, swoon over superficial guys just because I can, and maybe I’ll even dance on a few tables,” she replied sarcastically, giving him her infamous you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. “But don’t you worry because I will be keeping my eye on you the whole night, Sirius.”

“Right on! Just come find me when you want to have a little fun,” Sirius kidded, lifting his feet and draping them over Lily’s lap. “And I will certainly be looking for the redhead on all of the tables.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “I guess then I will just have to be the mature prefect for tonight then.”

Both Sirius and Lily laughed, turning towards Remus with humorous looks on their faces. “Merlin, you guys are too much for me. I think I gotta stop hanging around you guys.”

“Damnit, my sexiness is always driving away the ladies,” Sirius mumbled.

“Yeah that and the fact you’re a self-centered, seductive womanizer just up for one-night stands, often forgetting that even clueless sluts have feelings, too,” Lily pointed out.

Sirius shrugged. “Okay, yes, that too.”

It was at that moment that James walked down the stairs, where a pang of jealousy rode through him as he saw his two best friends getting buddy-buddy with the girl he was supposed to be hanging around. “Hey, guys,” he greeted. He then turned to Lily and smiled. “Evans.”

Lily just gave him an awkward smile. She never did particularly get along with James and even though since the beginning of the year, his ego had deflated a bit and he had learned not to be so arrogant, she never was sure what his intentions with anyone were. He had stopped harassing her so she really couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Well, I’m going to go check on Riley and Kay,” Lily said, pushing Sirius’ legs off of her (“Oof! Hey, that was getting rather comfortable!”). “I’ll see you guys at the feast and at the party tonight though.”

“Bye, see you tonight,” Remus said.

“Sure thing, Lily-bean,” Sirius grinned. “And remember, I’ll be watching tabletops tonight.” He winked at her and watched her walk off.

"Tabletops?" James questioned. "Do I want to know?"

"Not at all," Sirius replied.

“What’s up, Jamesie?” Remus asked. “How was the shower with all the cold water because Padfoot here doesn’t know how to limit his showers to less than twenty minutes?” Sirius pushed Remus, both of them laughing.

James shrugged. “Like any other shower I guess.”

“Ahh, so daydreaming about Lily I suppose?” Sirius snickered.

“Well I certainly wasn’t the one hanging my feet on her,” James muttered, giving Sirius an envious look.

Sirius cringed. “Oh yeah. Sorry about that.”

James shrugged again, leaning on the armrest beside Remus. “It’s not my fault she likes you better than me.”

Remus snorted. “Considering you were the one who poured chocolate sauce down her back in first year and not Sirius, I think it could be your fault.”

James glared at him.

“Right, not helping,” Remus muttered. “So why don’t you just ask her out?” he dared to ask, shielding himself from what he thought might be James slapping him.

James laughed at the idea. “I have. Do you not remember all October and November?”

“No I mean like really ask her out. Just be yourself! Don’t act all charming and persuasive in front of her and then a day later torture Snape so she can realize how heartless you can be,” Remus pointed out cautiously.

“Well you’ve met Snivellus. Anyone would want to torture him,” Sirius snickered, earning a glare from Remus.

“Well I know that but don’t do it in front of Lily like you always seem to manage,” Remus explained. “Like she said a few months ago, start deflating your ego a bit more, and maybe she’ll realize you’re just not that flirty, overbearing guy who’s just asking her out for thethrill of the chase.”

“First of all, I have deflated my ego and everyone has said so! I’m much better off now than I was at this point last year,” James pointed out, with a hint of anger obviously frustrated over the idea of talking about him and Lily. He had realized that it was pointless to even try befriending her; she would hardly go for that. “And second of all, why do you want me to change anyway?”

“I’m not saying I want you to change,” Remus clarified. “I’m saying that if you really want to be with Lily, then she’d want you to change.”

James shrugged and rolled his eyes. “Well I hardly think she’s changed her mind since the last time I asked her out. And a guy can only be rejected so many times before realizing he needs to move on.”

“Except you haven’t moved on,” Sirius pointed out. He turned around and propped his elbows on the back of the couch. “I think you should go for it. You’ve obviously changed a lot since November and maybe she noticed as well.”

James was going to shoot down that idea but he couldn’t help but wonder if she had noticed. Maybe if he asked her out, she’d say yes this time…then again, she could just reject him for the millionth time.

“Oh, she’s noticed. Everyone’s noticed. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to say yes. She is Lily Evans,” Remus quickly butted in.

This time, both Sirius and James glared at him.

“Right, right, still not helping.”

“C’mon, let’s go set up our last prank for tomorrow morning,” Sirius said, hopping off the couch. “That’ll get your mind off her.”

Don’t be so sure, James thought to himself as he followed his friends out of the commons room, a slight glance back at the hope that Lily might be walking down the stairs at that point.

But no such luck.

A/N: So what did you think? Please review! This is only the first chapter--many more are forthcoming!