Author’s Notes: I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter. It’s kind of a … in between type of chapter. It’s setting things up. I am not sure how in-character I feel this is. But, hey, you’re the judge of that! Review! I'm seriously considering discontinuing this fic because it seems really drab and ... I haven't gotten much feeeedback. D: SO REVIEW!?

“Hey! Moony, Wormtail, Prongs. Come on … It’s time.”

The voice came from a four-poster bed in the far corner of the dormitory. The hangings on all sides were thrown apart, wand light illuminating the otherwise dark room.

“Argh, Padfoot. Put that thing away,” came the muffled voice of another boy whose hangings were also thrown aside, his arms placed over his eyes to keep the light from damaging his vision.

The heads of two more boys poked from the hangings of two other beds. One stifled a yawn while the other looked apprehensively to the only bed in the dormitory which remained unstirred in.

“Are you sure Frank’s asleep?” It was Moony who asked, eyebrows furrowed together slightly.

At this, Sirius gave a sharp laugh. “He’s a smart bloke who learns from his mistakes. We all remember what happened last time, I’m sure.” He sighed knowingly, securing his wand between the bedpost and mattress, creating a beam of bent light upon the ceiling. He crossed his arms, looking at the faces of the three other boys.

“Yeah – poor old Frank. He should have known better.” Wormtail shook his head sadly. “He heard what we were planning. If the poor guy thought we wouldn’t throw a complimentary hex his way, he was sorely mistaken.” A slightly squeaky laugh was issued. The others laughed along.

“Still, old McGonagall didn’t have to issue a month’s worth of detentions … It wasn’t as if we did anything, er, detrimental.” James shrugged.

“Although,” Remus began thoughtfully, “if it wasn’t for McGonagall we wouldn’t be who we are today.” At the eye-raising glances from his friends, he elaborated with a slight sigh. “Remember? She’s the one who told us that ‘our lot’ would fit in great with a group of marauders.” The others nodded and made slight noises of fond remembrance. “So we thought we might as well call ourselves something. Marauders it was.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Sirius spoke again. “Point is, we’ve been at school for nearly a week now and not one prank has been pulled. We’re slacking, mates. Anyway, let’s go. I’ll open the floor, now, to anyone who has an idea and – it looks like Prongs over there is eager to get us going.”

“Er – actually. Well, er, you see. I was thinking about this. Quite, er, a lot actually. And I was thinking that the last thing I – we – need is another reason for Lily –”

“Evans,” Sirius said dully.

“Right, er. For Evans to hate … us.”

“Prongs, mate, what are you getting at?”

“I think we ought to cool it a little. Just for a little while, I mean. Until, you know, Lil – Evans doesn’t have the urgent desire to hex me just for breathing.”

Silence surrounded them. James looked down at his bare feet, suddenly finding his toes of extreme interest. Remus and Peter exchanged nervous glances before turning to Sirius, who looked as though he had just been slapped.

“Cool it,” Sirius repeated, snorting faintly. “Our ickle Head Boy wants us to cool it, mates. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? You just don’t want to get yourself in trouble. Well, in case you just tuned in, James, we don’t care about detentions or anything like that.”

“Oh, sod off,” James snorted, rolling his eyes. “I’ve got enough on my plate with having to worry if Evans bites my head off for living and breathing, let alone knowing about a ton of pranks and doing shit about them.”

Sirius laughed briskly, leaning against the wall and running fingers through his dark hair. “I always supported you in your ridiculous obsession with the girl, but if this is what it’s doing to you then I think you’re better off without her. You never gave one shit about what Evans said to you before; why start now?” His voice was even and calm, but the words were cold, laced with anger.

Standing up, James spat, “Because maybe I’m growing up, Black.” He exited the dormitory, fists and jaw clenched in anger matching Sirius’s. As he shut the door, he heard a string of violent swear-words escape his friend’s mouth.

X

At half past midnight, James expected the Common Room to be empty of other students. It was still early in the term and homework loads remained fairly light, so most had been able to complete their studies by that hour. He was slouched in one of the chairs, fingers rubbing at his temples, when he saw the figure of another move slightly, causing him to jump slightly. Only when he saw who it was, did he ease up. He made no move to talk or initiate conversation, though, and instead slouched further, hoping to remain unseen.

Though the shock of seeing another student in the Gryffindor Common Room at 12:30 in the morning was quite substantial, the shock of hearing Lily Evan’s voice directed to him was even greater. He even wondered for a moment whether he was dreaming.

“I wanted to apologize.”

He looked up at her quizzically. “Apologize.”

“Yes,” she said tentatively, pointedly avoiding his eye. “I was, er … Well, the other day. I was rather out of line and I shouldn’t have been as angry as I was.” The latter half of her apology was said quickly and sounded as though in one breath. “Sorry.” The word was almost mumbled. She dared a glance at him, their eyes meeting for an evanescent moment before she looked back at the floor.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked after a brief moment of silence and upon noting that she, too, was in sleeping clothes.

She shrugged. “I, er, had some things to do.” She pointed to where she was previously sitting, a small pile of books, parchment, and a quill occupying the armchair. “I must have fallen asleep. I did hear some shouting upstairs, though…” Lily continued to look down, fingers toying with the hem of her dressing gown for something to do.

“Oh,” James said feebly. “That.”

“It sounded bad,” she said tentatively.

“It was,” James confirmed. He sighed heavily. “It’ll be fine, though. Sirius just needs time to cool down is all. It’s why I’m down here, anyway.” He shrugged, and as she dared a glance at him, Lily noticed that he looked almost defeated. It was, she admitted to herself grudgingly, a side she had not seen from him before.

“I was doing Potions work.”

She wasn’t sure why she said it; part of her wanted to clear the practically palpable silence and the other part wanted to rid him of this pathetically dejected appearance.

It seemed to work, because he looked up at her almost instantly. “You know, Lily … I meant to ask you and, well, now seems as good a time as any. I could really use some extra help in potions. It’s hardly my forte. Actually – I’m rather dreadful. Slughorn doesn’t help, either. Maybe you could give me a few pointers here and there?”

”Like – tutor?” she asked, almost incredulous. Could it be possible that the James Potter, the egotistical, big-headed Quidditch star, was asking for help?

“I, well, maybe. Yeah. That’s the general idea.”

She almost laughed but thought better of it. “I’ll see what I can do.” A slight smile crossed her lips and James mirrored it. “Well,” she said, looking at her pile of school supplies and turning towards them. “I ought to get to bed. It’s getting late.” He nodded, although her back was turned to him, gathering her books, quills, and parchment in her arms. She started towards the girl’s dormitories.

“Thanks, Lily,” James called towards her.

She stopped, turning to look at him and offering another small smile. “It’s nothing.”

X

It’s nothing, she thought. What in bloody hell could have been going through my mind to agree to tutor James Potter. She was laying amidst a sea of blankets, covered up to the neck. She groaned slightly, throwing her hands over her face in mild distress. You, Lily Evans, are a bloody fool. Agreeing to spend even more time with that prick! Merlin’s beard! So stupid, so foolish. It’s going to be awful. She turned onto her stomach, covering her head with the pillows and emitting a muffled noise. Simply awful . . . Absolutely dreadful.

Somewhere between “simply awful” and “absolutely dreadful,” Lily managed to find the strength to toss the thoughts aside and fall into a slumber. It must have been nearly three in the morning when she had fallen asleep. She awoke the next morning, a Saturday, to the sound of Alice Slade tossing things about in her trunk. Lily groaned, sure that the ruckus being made was wholly intentional. At Lily’s sign of consciousness, Alice looked up, a pleased smile creating dimples in her cheeks that made her impossible to hate, conveying pure innocence.

She sighed. “G’morning, Alice.”

“Excellent, morning, Lily!” the blonde-haired girl beamed, standing at her full height, no longer bent over her trunk. She was dressed in navy day-robes over a pair of wide-legged khaki trousers and a tunic blouse, her curly locks pulled back into a low pony-tail. “You ought to hurry up … Breakfast’s already been going on for an hour now! I’ll wait for you if you’d like.” She smiled unfalteringly.

“Er, no. That’s alright, Alice. I’ll just go down when I’m ready. Maybe in a half-hour or so.” Lily returned the smile while mustering the strength and will to sit up, rubbing the sleep from her emerald-colored eyes.

“Okay, then. See you!” She bounced out of the dormitory, leaving Lily alone. She supposed the other three girls, Marisol, Mary, Lauren (the latter two forming a sort of clique with some sixth year) had already gone or were in the Common Room. She flopped back onto her bed, wondering why she was so tired.

And then she remembered.

“POSITIVELY FORMIDABLE,” she shouted with a slight squeak. Lily quickly got out of bed, grabbing whatever clothes she could find from her trunk, throwing them on, and hurrying out the door of the dormitory, heading to the Great Hall.

The way she was dressed, no one would have thought her to be a Muggle-born witch. Her powder blue day robes were thrown askew over a knee-length black skirt made out of a rather tawdry lace material and a yellow-with-green-embroidery knit top that was two sizes too big. However, as she ran down the stairs into the Common Room and, furthermore, through the Portrait hole, the last thing on her mind was the way she looked. She knew that the sixth year, Mary, and Lauren were all exchanging glances, tsk-tsk-ing her. She hardly gave one damn, though, as she had to set things straight.

Entering the Great Hall, she immediately searched for James Potter. Her search was cut short, however, as Alice had appeared in front of her, tugging earnestly at her arm. “Frank and I saved you a seat! Come on! Marisol’s here, too. I forgot to tell you that she told me to tell you that she was coming down early.”

Lily blinked, staring at the blonde before nodding dully. “Right. I have … things.” And without another word, she started towards the area of the table where she spotted a dark head of hair accompanied by two fairer haired teens.

“Hey – Potter, I – Oh. You’re not Potter.” She blinked, staring into a pair of grey eyes belonging to Sirius Black as opposed to the hazel ones belonging to James Potter. “Right. I’ll be on my way, then.” She was squirming inside at the unusual situation. Clearing her throat, she pivoted and turned around.

“Oi – Evans! I want a word with you.”

Lily blinked, stopping but not yet turned around. She rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and pivoted back around to look at him. She exhaled around the a sharp, “What?”

“I’m sure you know what,” he responded, emphasis placed just as she had. “I bet you think you’re great, don’t you?”

She splayed her hands out in front of her, shoulders lifting in a shrug. “I’m rather uninformed in the matter you’re trying to discuss, Black.”

Sirius took a step forward, pointing a finger at her. “You’re the reason James is going all soft on us.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words were formed. Lily shut her mouth, delicate eyebrows raised high. “Pardon?” she finally managed.

“Don’t play dumb, Evans!” he shouted, brows drawn together. “You’ve been putting ideas into his head. You’ve been trying to get him to change!”

“I haven’t done anything!” she answered in a tone matching his. She was becoming angry through her frustration.

“You’ve done everything!” Sirius said, louder.

She threw her hands up, scoffing loudly. “I’m leaving, Black. I’ve got better things to do than listen to your dense accusations.”

“It’s not an accusation if it’s true, Evans!”

“Show me some bloody proof, and then we’ll talk about truth!” she shouted back, turning around and storming off. “I don’t need this,” she muttered under her breath. Lily ignored his attempts to get a further rise out of her. She had nearly forgotten her main purpose for going to the Great Hall until James Potter walked past her.

“Oh! Hey –” she called in his direction. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at her. As recognition dawned upon him, he grinned.

“Morning, Lily. You look marvelous today,” he said. At this, Lily glanced down at her attire, a slight blush creeping up her neck. “Oh, you know, I was hopping I’d run into you. I was wondering if maybe you wouldn’t mind sitting with me in Potions today.” He paused, though continued before she could get in a word. “That way I could get a hang of some things a bit easier, you know?”

“I – oh – I wanted to, er, talk to you about that,” she said tentatively, avoiding his eyes. “I’m … Well, I was thinking about how I told you I’d give you some help. I’m not entirely sure I can –”

James interrupted. “If it’s a matter of times, I can reschedule Quidditch practices.”

She looked at him; he appeared slightly anxious and rather hopeful. She bit down lightly on her lower lip, eyebrows furrowed together. Lily breathed in, exhaling after a moment of holding her breath.

“I – no. It’s … it’s alright.” She stared down at her feet, shrugging. “It won’t be too much trouble.”

James beamed down at her, smiling genuinely. “Brilliant!” he exclaimed. “I’ll see you during Potions, then.”

“Yeah, see you.” She started to walk off, eyebrows furrowed as she wondered what she just got herself into.

“Hey, Lily,” he called. She stopped and turned to look at him. “Thanks a lot. I mean that.” She nodded and offered the hint of a tentative smile before continuing off towards the dormitories. James proceeded into the Great Hall, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his robes, a small grin seeming to be permanently placed on his face.