A/N: I'm baaaaaack! Sorry it's taken me so long to update but the story is beginning to wrap up so hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to update al ot faster than I have been. A LOT of things happen in this chapter so I hope you enjoy every minute of it!

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling although I am angry at Warner Bros for pushing back the release of the 6th HP movie!

Kisses on the Balcony

By ByeByeBirdie

Chapter 13: Of Sissies, Neutering, & Walks

“Hi guys!” Lily said cheerfully, sliding onto the bench across from Peter, Remus, and Jillian and beside Sirius and Kay the next morning at breakfast with a considerably wide smile on her face.

Remus glanced up at her in surprise. “You’re in good spirits considering you spent an entire Saturday in the library.”

Lily shrugged and smiled to herself. “I…I didn’t spend the entire Saturday there.”

“Oh I’m sorry. I guess you did sleep in a little,” Remus teased.

Lily gave him a look. “Not what I meant.”

Kay grinned, knowing what she meant. “Did James do something for you last night?”

Lily nodded and grinned wider. “Indeed he did.”

Remus, Sirius, and Peter exchanged confused looks. “I thought you didn’t want him to do anything,” Peter inquired.

“I didn’t,” Lily replied.

“You didn’t want your boyfriend to do anything for you on Valentine’s Day?” Jillian asked, confused. “Okay something’s very amiss with that statement.”

Lily laughed. “It’s…it’s a long story,” she said vaguely. “Remus will fill you in later, I’m sure.”

Remus snorted. “I don’t even understand the whole story! Your life is way too complicated,” he snickered.

"Not anymore," Lily said with a shrug.

Sirius gasped and turned to look at Lily with an accusing gaze. “Oh God, you’re happy because after he surprised you, you killed him, didn’t you…” Sirius cried out, shaking his head in disbelief.

Lily threw a piece of bacon at him. “No.”

“Then where is he?” Sirius asked.

“Still sleeping,” Lily pointed out. “You know that guy can’t wake up before 2 on a Sunday afternoon.”

“He had no problem waking up at 7 for Quidditch practice,” Sirius murmured with a grunt as he ate the piece of bacon that Lily threw at him.

“So what did James do??” Kay asked giddily, ignoring Sirius completely as she turned to Lily, whose face was beaming.

“Ooh, yeah!” Jillian cried eagerly.

“Well, I came back from the library-“

“Aghhh, noooo,” the boys groaned together, Sirius placing his head on the table and whimpering.

Lily, Kay, Jillian glanced at them curiously. “What?” Kay asked.

Sirius sighed and slowly lifted his head off the table. “The day after Valentine’s Day is a day for the girls to get together and gossip about what their boyfriends did for them romantically. But nowhere in that statement does it say that guys are present during that.”

The girls all stared at them blankly.

“In other words, go somewhere else,” Peter suggested.

The girls all stared at them blankly.

“I have a feeling we’re gonna get something thrown at us,” Remus whispered to Peter sitting beside him.

“Guys are pathetic,” Jillian said. Remus feigned a gasp. “Yes, even you, Remus,” she laughed. “You guys do the most romantic things for us and yet the next day, you barely acknowledge that.”

“Yes, because we’re guys,” Remus explained. “We’re supposed to be manly and macho and…and…manly. Doing something romantic for our girlfriends puts us in a whole different category.”

“Yeah, it’s called the sissy category,” Sirius sniggered.

“A guy can be manly and macho,” Lily mocked, “and still be romantic.”

“Yeah, not so much in the guy world,” Peter corrected.

“Guys are pathetic,” Jillian repeated with a laugh.

“As long as I’m pathetic and manly,” Remus teased, winking at her.

“No, just pathetic,” Jillian teased.

Remus pouted.

“You’re also very romantic,” Jillian continued, enjoying the strained look on Remus’ face. “It’s almost sissy-like.”

“I give you what I believe to be a very nice Valentine’s Day and you repay me by selling me out to my friends?” Remus said, pouting. “Well, that’s the last time I do something romantic for you.”

Jillian winced and quickly turned to the boys. “Scratch that part about him being pathetic and romantic. He’s as manly as they come.”

Remus grinned.

Sirius snorted. “Oh hell no. You already said it!” Sirius snickered. “Now I have no choice to tell the world that Remus falls under the sissy category.”

Remus whimpered and started banging his head on the table. “Why does God hate me?”

“Probably because you’re a sissy,” Lily snickered, launching them all into a fresh wave of laughter.

“Come on, Lily,” Kay said as she took a last sip of pumpkin juice before standing up. “Let’s go, how’d you put it, Sirius? ‘Gossip about what your boyfriends did for you romantically?’”

Sirius nodded. “That’s the basic point, yeah.”

Lily rolled her eyes as she stood up, too. “I reiterate Jillian’s point: you’re pathetic.”

Kay laughed and turned to Jillian. “You want to come, too?”

Jillian shrugged and nodded. “Yeah sure. I definitely want to know what James was able to come up with at the last minute.”

“And then you can tell us the sissy, romantic thing Remus did for you,” Lily giggled.

Remus groaned.

Jillian grinned as she kissed Remus quickly before standing up and following them out of the Great Hall.

Remus smiled after her and turned back to the guys. “I’m glad Jillian’s getting along well with the girls.”

Sirius coughed, which sounded a lot like ‘sissy!’

Remus threw a piece of bacon at him.

Riley was in the back of the library when the most unexpected thing happened.

James slid into the seat across from her, dropping his bag against the ground.

Riley glanced up from her work and did a double-take. She stared at him in shock, no words coming to mind.

“I need to talk to you,” James said sternly.

“Er…okay.”

“It’s about Lily.”

Riley stiffened. “I don’t want to talk about her,” she responded hastily, immediately going back to scribbling something down on her essay, in hopes that James would get the hint. Of course James only came to talk to her about Lily; why should she have thought any differently?

“Riley,” he said unsympathetically. “She hates it that you’re mad at her. She’s miserable without you.”

“Naturally,” Riley said dryly, rolling her eyes as she glanced in her textbook beside her for another symptom of being under an Amortentia potion.

James reached across the table and slapped her quill down on to the table. “Riley,” he warned. “You’re being unfair to her. She told you hoping that you’d be understanding and sympathetic to her tragic past.”

"This coming from the guy who can't try to be a little understanding of my relationship with Sirius," Riley snapped, pulling her hand out from underneath James’, snapping her quill in the process.

"It's two different situations," James protested hastily, gripping the pieces of the quill in his hand tightly so as not to throw them across the table

"You're right," Riley said huffily. "Because she didn't tell us a huge secret for six years. You found out about Sirius and me after only five weeks."

"Oh, and you would've told me before six years if I hadn't found out?" James sneered. "And you're being completely hypocritical. You're annoyed that I'm mad at you for keeping a secret from me, yet you're mad at Lily for keeping a secret!"

"Except when Lily told me about her situation, I didn't completely lash out at her with unnecessary judgmental insults!"

James hadn't thought of that.

"Can we stop talking about you and me now?" Riley asked angrily. She was tired of fighting with him.

"Fine, I'll go back to telling you that you should consider forgiving Lily."

"Forget it," Riley murmured.

"Think of all the courage it took for Lily to come clean with you. It was a huge part of Lily that she doesn’t like to be reminded of, and by telling you guys, she was reliving it all. When she came to Hogwarts, she didn't tell anyone because she just wanted to be a normal kid without this huge burden on her.”

“Just because she didn’t tell us doesn’t mean she didn’t have that burden on her, James,” Riley pointed out, giving him a shrewd look.

“Riley, you’re being extremely unreasonable,” James shot back, wincing as a sharp edge of the quill dug into his palm, quickly releasing the broken quill on to the table and putting pressure on the tiny cut with his thumb. “I thought you were a better friend than this.”

Riley snorted. “I thought Lily was a better friend than she really is.”

“I can’t believe how selfish you’re being,” James sighed, shaking his head at her in disappointment.

Riley didn’t reply to that, mostly because a little part of her knew he was right.

“Everyone has secrets, Riley, especially when it comes to their families,” James pointed out with a look of desperation. “And no one divulges them the first day of school; it takes a while for people to trust others enough to tell them their darkest secrets. Sirius didn’t tell us about his horrible family until right before Christmas Break of first year.”

“Oh please, that’s such a lie,” Riley snapped, giving him a ‘yeah right’ look. “He told me within the first couple of weeks.”

James’ look softened. “What?” he said in a gentle, surprised voice.

Riley nodded. “Yeah. He didn’t wait six years. He didn’t even wait six weeks!”

James just continued staring at her, with a look that Riley couldn’t read.

“What??” Riley snapped.

James bit down on his bottom lip and shook his head in disbelief. “He told you within the first couple of weeks?”

“Yes,” Riley cried, aggravated.

“Wow.”

“What?” Riley barked.

James shrugged nonchalantly and when he didn’t respond right away, Riley let out a frustrated grunt and attempted to dig through her bag for another quill with no success.

James continued to eye her. “Maybe you two are meant for each other,” he said softly.

Riley lifted her eyes slowly and stared directly into James’. “What?” she whispered in confusion.

James shrugged again. “Nothing,” he said, shaking his head, returning to his previous anger.

“Oh,” Riley said, disappointed. “Can I ask you something, James?”

James nodded without saying a word, still wondering why Sirius had told Riley within the first few weeks of meeting her and yet didn’t tell him until two months later.

“Why do you care so much that I’m mad at Lily?” she asked. “I mean, that seems like something a friend would care about. And you’ve made it perfectly clear you don’t want to be my friend.”

“I’m not here for me,” James hastily explained, giving her a perturbed look. “I’m here for Lily. I care for Lily.”

“You could have sent someone else. Like Remus. Why’d you seek me out?” Riley asked, desperate for the answer she was looking for.

“Because Remus doesn’t know Lily like I know Lily.”

“He also doesn’t know me like you know me,” Riley responded immediately, giving him a knowing look.

James blinked, uncertain what to respond. “I’m not here for me,” he reiterated firmly. “Like I said, I’m here for Lily’s sake. When Lily’s miserable, I’m miserable.”

“So by helping Lily you’re helping yourself,” Riley pointed out, quirking an eyebrow up.

James gave her a doubtful look. “I’m not here for me,” he repeated for the third time, except this time it sounded a bit hollow.

Riley shrugged. “Okay,” she said, unconvinced, sensing the tone in his voice. Her eyes lingered on his for an extra second before she asked, “Do you have an extra quill on you?”

James slowly nodded and pulled one out of his bag, handing it to her. James sighed, taking this to mean that Riley wanted to go back to work, so he slowly stood up from the table, throwing his bag over his shoulder, staring intently at her the whole time. “Okay,” he echoed, also unconvinced.

Riley returned to her essay, thoughts jumbling about in her mind. She wanted to say something, but was at a loss of what. There was an awkward tension wavering in the air between them and it was obvious both wanted to acknowledge it, but neither did. She wanted him to stay there and wanted to say so, but she also knew he would reject the offer so didn’t bother saying anything. She missed his friendship and just him being there willingly talking to her made her feel that much better about their situation.

“Make sure you take care of that cut,” Riley said, gesturing towards the tiny blood stain on his palm. She mentally slapped herself. That was all she could think of to say?

James glanced down at his hand and nodded. “Yeah,” he murmured, taking his eyes off of his hand and back on to Riley. “Bye,” James said awkwardly, wondering what was keeping him rooted to the spot. He stood there lingering for a few more seconds, staring at her, before he slowly turned around.

He stopped at the sound of Riley’s voice. “He really didn’t tell you until Christmas Break?”

James froze on the spot and half-turned to glance at her. “The week before actually.”

“But he told me…” she trailed off in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah,” James murmured. They both pondered that lingering question before James felt a sudden awkwardness standing there. He gave Riley one more meaningful look before walking out of the library, trying to straighten out his thoughts.

Riley watched him walk out and sighed, a poignant feeling welling up within the pit of her stomach. Were they ever going to be friends again?

Lily had just gotten out of the shower when there was a knock on her door.

“Come in!” she cried, knowing it was going to be James. She giggled, thinking of the last time he walked in while she was wearing a towel.

When Lily turned around to greet him, she froze.

“Hi,” Riley greeted.

“I’m wearing a towel,” was Lily’s response.

"Yes, good observation. They don't call you Head Girl for nothing."

“No, I just meant I need to put on clothes,” Lily clarified, wondering what the hell was wrong with her.

“Uh, okay…” Riley said in confusion. “So…do you want me to come back?”

“Are you going to come back?” Lily asked.

“Heh?”

“Why are you here?”

“Why is this conversation so weird?” Riley laughed, trying to ease the tension.

Lily gave her a look before walking over to her dresser. “Because you’ve been ignoring me for the past week and we haven’t spoken a word since.”

Riley sighed guiltily. “I know,” she murmured. “That’s why I’m here.”

Lily froze as she pulled out a sweater from her bottom drawer, but didn’t say anything.

Riley bit her lip nervously and walked slowly over to Lily’s bed, where she took a seat on the edge of it. “I’ve been a bitch.”

“Yeah,” Lily agreed.

“I’ve been really selfish,” Riley continued.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t stop to think about how you were feeling.”

“So far, I’m not arguing.”

Riley ran her fingers through her knotty hair and sighed. “I’m really sorry, Lily. I know the last thing you needed from me was to completely shut you out. It was wrong and I know that. I…I just had no idea how to respond to a confession like the one you told us; I was shocked and surprised and I unfortunately turned that into anger. I’m really sorry.”

Lily sighed and turned around, leaning back against the dresser. “No,” Lily argued. “You don’t have to apologize because you were also right. I should have told you a while ago.”

“It doesn’t matter when you told us. It matters what you told us,” Riley explained.

Lily nodded, having no response.

“I’m really sorry about your parents, Lily,” Riley said sincerely, looking at her sympathetically. “I-I can’t imagine what you’re going through. It must be really tough.”

Lily nodded. “It is. But it helps knowing my friends are there for me,” Lily explained. “You included.”

“So…so we’re friends?”

Lily smiled and sauntered over to the bed beside Riley. “Of course. We were never not friends. I’m just glad you came around. I hate when you’re mad at me.”

“I hate being mad at you,” Riley explained. “I also hate admitting I’m wrong.”

Lily laughed and gave Riley a hug. “Oh honey, you should be used to that by now.”

“HEY!” Riley cried out, laughing. “I could easily go back to ignoring you!”

Lily rolled her eyes. “No way; you’d miss me too much,” she teased.

Riley chuckled but got a serious look immediately after. “I’m sorry, Lily. I really am.”

Lily smiled. “It’s okay, Riley. I’m just glad we’re friends again.”

Riley grinned. “Me too,” she echoed. “So on my way over here, I saw a bunch of people in the common room. You wanna head there now?”

Lily glanced down in her towel. “I think I should probably throw some clothes on.”

Riley laughed. “Nah, I’m sure people wouldn’t notice.”

“I think James would and he’d probably kill me,” Lily teased.

Riley snorted and gave Lily a look. “Oh please, he won’t kill you until after you two have sex.”

Lily shoved Riley playfully but joined in with her joyous laughter.

Riley and Lily sauntered into the Gryffindor common room less than an hour later and walked over to the group of people in the corner, including Remus, Peter, and Kay, Jillian, Dezzy and her friend Skyler, and Skyler’s boyfriend Brad and his friend Drew Gilmore, who just happened to be Riley’s brother.

“No, James would probably kill you, Dezzy,” Remus snickered. “I’d steer clear of the ‘I’m dating someone’ conversation for a while. At least until his whole ordeal with Sirius and Riley blows over.”

“I hate overprotective brothers,” Dezzy murmured.

Remus shrugged. “What do you expect for being the only girl in a house full of testosterone?”

Dezzy just groaned.

Kay looked up when Riley and Lily reached the group and gave them a curious look. “I thought you two were avoiding each other.”

“Nah, we decided friends was better,” Riley argued, taking a seat on the floor beside her brother.

“We decided?” Lily asked, quirking an eyebrow as she lay down on her stomach on the floor beside Dezzy. “No, I’m pretty sure I decided that this entire time. You just decided friends was better about an hour ago.”

“Eh, technicalities,” Riley laughed.

The group launched into a wave of laughter.

Before Kay could ask how they made up, James stormed through the portrait hole and glided over to his group of friends. “God, I hate Slytherins!!” James shouted, slumping on to the floor beside his girlfriend. He gestured for Remus to throw him a pillow and Remus did; James put it behind his back and leaned against the back of the couch in front of Kay.

Lily groaned. “Please tell me you didn’t get into a fight with them.”

“No,” James argued, shaking his head. “I just told Rodolphus he was a righteous git and walked away.”

Remus snorted. “You walked away? Impossible; somehow I think it’s more than that.”

James gave him a sheepish grin. “Okay, well I…I may have enlarged his head in the process.”

“James!” Lily groaned.

“Well he was being a righteous git!” James protested.

Lily shook her head. “One of these days I’m going to teach you self control.”

Dezzy snorted. “Oh please, Mom and Dad have been trying to teach him that since day one, ever since he and Brett used to play pranks on each other as little kids.”

James snickered. “Yeah, those were the good ol’ days. Remember that time I stole his broom and he freaked out for about a week?”

Dezzy shook her head. “No, but I was probably only three or four.”

“Oh yeah,” James snickered. “Youngen.”

Dezzy stuck her tongue out at him.

“How mature,” James teased.

“Speaking of Brite, how’s his wedding coming along?” Drew asked, having known Brite since he was a kid, and pretty much knowing Bianca half of his life.

James made a face. “Don’t remind me. He keeps sending me letter asking me to do things.”

Lily snorted. “Well, you are Best Man.”

“Yes, but I don’t think making reservations for him and Bianca for Valentine’s Day or getting an appointment at the vet to get his cat neutered falls under the duties the Best Man is supposed to perform.”

Lily snickered. “You have to get their cat neutered?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” James murmured, slumping down further with a whimpering pout.

Everyone burst into laughter.

“He wants my opinion on invitations,” James continued. “I didn’t know there were different types of invitations!”

Kay sighed and shook her head. “You have so much to learn.”

“I know!” James whined. “Why did I decide being Best Man was a good idea?”

“Because you’re a moron,” Riley claimed, giving him a teasing grin.

James grunted. “Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don’t already know,” he teased back, smiling her way. After running through the conversation he had with her in the library, he did realize that by calling Riley selfish, by association, he was calling himself selfish. He let his stare linger for longer than usual, giving her another smile, a reassuring smile that he hoped she would understand.

Riley was taken aback by James’ comment. She was expecting him to grunt and ignore her like he had been doing. Did their talk this afternoon suddenly change something inside of him? Riley blinked a few times before realizing he was smiling at her again. She smiled back.

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Lily tease, breaking the moment between them.

“Yeah, like how your sister is dating Drew,” Riley said bluntly with a mischievous smile.

“RILEY!” both Dezzy and Drew cried out in horror.

“WHAT!?” James shouted, causing the whole room full of people to jump, as he swiveled his head around to glare at his sister so fast, he got a bit of whiplash.

Dezzy groaned and buried her head in her arms in embarrassment.

“Oops.” Riley grinned.

“I always knew there was a reason I hated you,” Drew said teasingly, shaking his head in disbelief at his older sister.

“Oh please, you never hated me,” Riley corrected.

“No, I think I do,” Drew responded with a snicker.

“Yeah, I think I do a little, too,” Dezzy whimpered.

Riley snorted and gave Dezzy a look. “Oh please. I was the only girl you had contact with during your childhood considering our families were overcrowded with disgusting testosterone-filled brothers.”

“HEY!” both James and Drew cried out.

Dezzy grunted.

Skyler gave her friend a sympathetic look. “Yes, and I bet she trusted you, Riley,” Skyler laughed. “Probably trusted you not to spill their secret relationship.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!” James cried out, giving his sister a stern look. “You’ve been keeping this a secret?? Like, it didn’t just happen, say, like, ten minutes ago?”

Dezzy swallowed and gave James a guilty look. “Er…maybe?”

Riley realized at that moment that she had just told everyone about Dezzy's relationship when she didn't want anyone to know about her own. James was right earlier; she has been extremely hypocritical lately. She made a mental note to apologize to Dezzy later.

“What is the one thing that I have always told you about the Gilmores??” James said to his cowering sister, crossing his arms bitterly

“That you look up to them immensely and if Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore would adopt you, you’d move in immediately,” Dezzy replied immediately without missing a beat.

James paused. “What’s the second thing that I have always told you about the Gilmores?”

“Wait, let’s go back to that first thing,” Riley teased. “You actually liked us that much?”

“What, us being best friends for the past eighteen years doesn’t coincide with that?” James joked.

Riley laughed. “I’m just letting you know that my mother is crazy. And I don’t think Gran would appreciate you moving in with us considering she’s convinced we’ll get married one of these days.”

Drew snorted. “Like James being your stepbrother would stop Gran from marrying you two.”

Riley laughed. “Fair enough.”

“Hold on!!” James shouted. “No changing the subject! Let’s go back to the original subject!! What is this about my sister and Drew?”

Drew shrugged casually. “We’ve been dating for the past week. No big deal.”

James glared at him. “I always liked you and then you pull something like this. Well now I don’t wanna be your stepbrother.”

Drew laughed. “Oh darn because I really needed a fifth brother.”

James hesitated. “I have a feeling you’re being sarcastic.”

“I have a feeling you’re right,” he responded. He rolled his eyes and stood up off the ground. “On that note, I’m getting out of here before you and my sister start making fun of me.”

“Aww, but I’m so good at it!” Riley whimpered.

Drew made a face and then turned to Dezzy. “You wanna go for a walk?”

“Ohhhh no!” James interrupted, holding up a hand in protest. “I know what a walk means. I’ve taken plenty of walks around this school. I’m the King of walking around this school. No way are you two taking a walk!”

Dezzy rolled her eyes and stood up, much to the protests of her big brother. “Unlike you, James, some of us actually know the meaning of just walking.”

“Wait…I’m kinda more interested in James’ kind of walk,” Drew teased, winking playfully at her.

James shuddered. “Great, now I’ve put ideas in his head.”

“This is why you should just learn to keep your mouth shut,” Riley pointed out with a hearty laugh.

Remus snorted. “That’ll never happen.”

James made a face at him as Drew and Dezzy said their good-byes and walked away from the group, as James made grumbling comments under his breath about them.

"I can't believe they're dating. Have I taught my sister nothing over the years?" James groaned.

"This coming from the guy who started dating at thirteen, two years younger than Dezzy is now," Remus pointed out.

"I'm a guy. We mature faster," James defended.

All of the girls burst into raucous laughter, leaving hhte guys pouting.

“How about we go take a walk,” Brad Harper finally spoke, turning to Skyler. “Preferably James’ kind of walk.”

“Oh look, now you’re corrupting all of the fifth-years, James,” Jillian joked.

James just whimpered, causing them all to laugh.

“Oh believe me, we’ve been corrupted for years,” Skyler joked, winking at the group as she and her boyfriend left the common room.

“So, help me come up with ideas to make Drew comatose,” James complained.

"Um, excuse me, that's my brother!" Riley protested.

James stared at her blankly. "What's your point?"

“James, Dezzy is’s fifteen,” Riley pointed out. “I think it’s time you stopped making all of the decisions for her.”

“But when I don’t she makes bad decisions. What are the chances I can get away with making her decisions for the rest of her life?”

“Not likely; she’d kill you in a week,” Riley snickered.

James groaned. “Well I wouldn’t have to make her decisions if she didn’t make such bad ones! Like getting in a relationship with a Gilmore! What’s up with that?”

“And what is wrong with Gilmores??” Riley demanded.

“They break hearts!” James argued, pointing her finger at her. “Every single one of them!”

“Um, excuse me?” Kay interjected. “My boyfriend happens to be one of those Gilmores.”

“And I happen to be a Gilmore!” Riley laughed.

“Yeah, sorry about that whole dating a Gilmore thing, Kay,” James responded with a teasing smile, passing over Riley’s comment lightly.

“Hey!” Kay laughed. “Lance isn’t a heartbreaker!”

James snorted. “Oh please, all Gilmores are. It’s their human nature. I mean, how many girls did he date before you?”

Kay gave him an irritated look. “Oh sure, and how many girls did you date before Kristina?? Should I call you a heartbreaker, too? I’m sure Lily would appreciate that.”

“Okay, this conversation has gotten awkward,” Lily snickered.

“No, this conversation just got interesting,” Remus joked.

“No, this conversation is over,” Lily argued.

“Yeah okay, that too,” Remus muttered. He grabbed Jillian’s hands and stood up off the couch, stepping over James’. “Which is why I’m going to go take a walk with my girlfriend.”

“Okay, but it better be one of James’ kinds of walks or I’m out,” Jillian giggled.

James groaned. “Damn, I’m corrupting all of the Gryffindors!”

“Not me,” Peter argued as he, too, stood up. “I just have to go get tutored.”

“Well, walk alone anyway,” James murmured.

Lily gave him a sheepish look. “Actually, I have to head to the library, too.”

“Yeah, same,” Kay sighed. “Because my day isn’t complete unless I write endless amounts of essays.”

James groaned. “Well please tell me you’re just going to walk to the library, no sexual connotation included.”

“Oh damn, and I was really hoping to snog Kay, too,” Lily teased, wiggling her eyebrows at her boyfriend.

James hesitated. “Hm, now that I wouldn’t be opposed to.”

Lily laughed and kissed her boyfriend before getting up off the floor. Kay and Peter followed her and they said their good-byes as they headed out of the common room.

James got up off the floor and moved to the couch where Kay was just sitting, avoiding eye-contact with Riley the entire time.

Riley stared at him, wondering what was going on between them, and eventually chose to get up off the floor and move to the loveseat, ignoring the uncomfortable tension between them.

They both sat in an awkward silence before James sighed and turned to Riley with a scrupulous look. “Riles,” he said slowly.

Riley glanced up at him with uncertainty, surprised to hear her nickname come out of James’ mouth.

“I thought about what you said earlier,” James explained, biting down on his lip. “I think I did go talk to you a little bit for me.”

Riley glanced up at him, a nervous feeling welling up inside her stomach. “What for?” she asked anxiously.

James gave her a look and unexpectedly smiled at her. “Because I’ve missed you. Because I realized that while calling you a hypocrite, I was being one, too.”

Riley nodded.

"I can't stay mad at you for long. I've never been able to stay mad at you."

“But…what about all that stuff you said about me and Sirius? I mean, you-“

“I don’t want to talk about him,” James hastily interrupted, shaking his head angrily. “In fact, I never want to talk about him. You can be with him for all I care.”

“But…you did care,” Riley pointed out.

James shrugged. “You’re right, I did. And…and I still do,” he contradicted. “But I don’t want to be mad at you anymore.”

Riley sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, glancing down at the floor. “James, I’m not going to break up with him.”

“I’m not saying you have to,” James argued sternly, giving her a dismayed look. “I’m just saying don’t talk to me about him. I don’t want to hear about your relationship. I just want to go back to the way it used to be.”

“So you just want to pretend it never happened?” Riley inquired curiously, giving James a strange look. “Like you never walked in on us?”

James shook his head. “No,” he disputed. “There’s no way I’m ever going to forget that. I just don’t want to hear about it. And I stand by what I said—don’t come crawling back to me when…okay, if,” he corrected, making a face of disgust, “he breaks your heart. Because I can’t be the one to pick up the pieces again knowing it…okay, thinking it will fail.”

“So, you have no faith in us whatsoever,” Riley whispered.

James sighed and gave her a rueful smile. “No, and I'm not going to apologize for it,” he replied bluntly. “Look who you’re dating, Riley. Look at what he's already put you through. I’m sorry, but I know that this can't end well. That’s just the way it is. Sorry if you hate hearing it.”

Riley simply nodded, trying to understand all of this.

“I don’t think I was wrong with everything I said to you that night, Riles. Granted, I probably should have told you in a nicer fashion, and I should have tried to reason with you and not just yell in your face,” James admitted with an apologetic shrug. “But it's still how I feel. I do think that your relationship with Sirius isn't going to end well and I sure as hell think you should end this before you get hurt. I-I’m just trying to look out for you.”

“James, I’m not that six-year-old girl anymore who you used to protect from the bullies on the playground. I’m eighteen and perfectly capable of looking out for myself,” she pointed out

“I…I just don’t want you to get hurt,” James said softly. "All of my concern is for you."

"So...you don't care about Sirius at all?"

"I can't say that I don't care about Sirius at all, but I can say that at the moment, I'm not particularly fond of him," he murmured. "I don't know if my friendship with Sirius will ever be the same, but I hope our friendship can be saved."

Riley didn't respond, biting down on the inside of her lip.

"Riles, I know you don't want me to tell you this, but I've seen you get hurt in the past by boyfriends and I guess I just don't understand why you would choose your next boyfriend to be someone who has hurt every single girl he's ever gone out with or slept with, including you," James said with an apologetic shrug. "That's...that's something that I don't think I'll ever really understand."

Riley glanced downward, wondering why she was feeling so guilty. Shouldn’t she be defending herself? It was unlike her to get criticized and take it. But when Riley glanced back up she knew she wanted to be friends with James again. And if they have to disagree to agree maybe that’s just the way it has to be.

“But…it’s really difficult for me to be mad at you. I’ve known you since we were in diapers and I…I just can’t deal with not having you in my life,” James disclosed with a heavy sigh. “I’m still a little worried and...and concerned for you but…I want to be your friend again. And you have every right to yell and scream at me and to not forgive me and tell me I’m being ridiculous for crawling back to you after everything I said because I know I probably don't deserve your forgiveness. But I want to be your friend again,” he reiterated, giving her a pleading look. “As long as you don’t mention Sirius’ name to me. Ever.”

"How am I supposed to be friends with you when you won't accept a big part of who I am right now?"

James shrugged, glancing away from her accusing eyes. "That's really up to you."

Riley gazed at James pensively, not taking her eyes off of his. She knew what she wanted but she didn’t know if she was going to be able to sell herself short. They sat there like that, just staring at each other, for a long time as Riley thought about his vocalizations and thought about what she wanted. Eventually she forced out a smile. “Okay,” she said. “If that’s what it takes.”

James was taken aback by her response. “Wait…that’s it?”

Riley nodded coolly. “Yeah. Because I don’t yell at my friends. I believe in them,” she retorted, giving him a cold look.

James met her eyes and suddenly felt like he was six inches tall. “We’re never going to be as good as friends as we used to.”

“I know,” Riley responded. “It’s a start, though.”

James nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

“Okay, I know this is against the rules,” Riley mocked, rolling her eyes, “but what about Sirius? You still mad at him?”

James made a face. “Yes. I can't really explain why I'm blaming this on him, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I've known you since I was born and I've been trying to rescue you ever since then."

"I don't need you to rescue me."

"I know, but it's just my instinct to do so," James said with a shrug. "I-I don't care about Sirius the way I care about you. You've been like a sister to me since the day our mothers put us together in that playpen. I love you, Riley. You know that. And while I'm sure you hate the idea of me judging your relationship, I just can't help it. I've watched him numerous times with girls and I don't want you to be one of those who gets their heart broken by him. I just can't sit back and watch you make such a monumental mistake."

A lump formed in Riley's throat. "It's my mistake to make."

"Exactly. Which is why I'm willing to just let it all go for you. Not for him."

“Isn’t this all just a little hypocritical?” Riley asked. “Making up with me but not him?”

“No,” James argued. “Because he knows better than to get involved with someone while you are actually capable of being in a relationship. He’s never had a relationship a day in his life and he’ll screw this one up just like all the other girls he’s screwed over. He’s a player. That’s what he’s best at. And he’s going to break your heart just like all the other girls’ hearts he’s broken. I-I can’t be his friend and your friend at the same time, Riley. That just doesn’t work. He’ll just have to realize I’m taking your side over his.”

“But James, there are no sides,” Riley objected, giving him a pleading look.

James sighed forcefully. “But there will be. When this whole thing blows up, I know I'll have no one to blame but Sirius. So, I’m just picking a side now.”

“So basically you’re putting me in the middle,” Riley murmured.

James shrugged. “I don’t care about what’s going on between you two. I only care what’s going on between you and me.”

Riley’s eyes lingered on James for a while before turning away, knowing that she might as well give up now while still ahead, wondering how she was going to disclose this to Sirius. “Okay,” she muttered.

James nodded. “Okay.”

Riley smiled at him, trying to show how happy she was that James was giving her a chance to be his friend again. “So what do you think of my brother and your sister?”

James groaned. “Arrgghh, I thought we moved on from that topic!”

Riley laughed. “Well get used to it. You’re going to be seeing a lot of holding hands and sno-“

“I swear to God if you say snogging, I’ll come over there and smother you,” James interrupted, giving her a teasing look.

Riley grinned sheepishly. “I was, er, going to say…er…sn…sn…snow angels!”

“It hasn’t snowed in three weeks.”

Riley gave him a look. “Well I think it’s cute. I think they’ll be good for each other.”

“Do you know what fifteen-year-old boys have on their mind?” James shot back. “Sex!”

“And that’s why I think Drew will be good for Dezzy,” Riley teased. She quickly rushed out of the chair when James jumped out of the couch and made a beeline for her, probably to strangle her.

“You take that back, Riley Gilmore!” James cried, chasing her around the room with a pillow.

The last thing the common room heard was Riley’s laughter as she quickly scrambled out of the common room, James following close behind her.

Remus dragged James into his room under James' protest. "What is your problem, Remus? I was in the middle of trying to figure out when the hell I'm ever going to use Arithmancy in my everyday life?"

Remus snorted. "Oh, I'm so sorry to interrupt such heavy thinking."

James scowled when he saw Sirius in the room. "I swear if you brought me up here for him, then I-"

"Everything doesn't revolve around the two of you, James," Remus scoffed, slamming the door behind him.

"Who crawled up your ass and died?" Sirius muttered, glaring at James.

"Well, I'm glad that I'm the only one who can remember what tomorrow night is," Remus growled, crawling on to his bed with a sigh.

James and Sirius scrunched their noses in a very similar way, trying to figure out what he could be talking about.

"I know what tomorrow night is," Peter chimed in.

Remus glared at his other two friends. "Well, I never thought I'd see the day: Peter is smarter than you two!"

"HEY!" Peter cried.

Remus shrugged. "Take it as a compliment," he suggested. "You're the only one who isn't so self-absorbed with his life and problems that he can actually think of others."

"Can someone please fill me in?" Sirius asked.

"Tomorrow night is the full moon," Remus snapped.

Sirius and James felt about two inches high. "Oh," Sirius murmured, slinking down in his chair guiltily.

"And I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you two are going through right now. I refuse to let you guys off the hook. You both are going to be there whether you like it or not."

Neither one of them spoke. It wasn't often that Remus scolded anyone and at the moment, James and Sirius were both feeling guiltier than they ever had before. Remus needed them and they were so involved with being mad at each other, they couldn't even take the time out to recognize Remus' situation.

"Tomorrow night is my night and I'll be damned if you two ruin it. No fighting, no squabbling, no mean looks, no hexing each other, no wrestling each other after transfiguring. You got that?"

They both nodded.

"And if you do anything to each other, I swear to Merlin I will rip a limb off your body."

They both nodded.

Remus smiled satisfactorily. "That's all. You can go now, James."

"I'm really sorry, Remus. I-"

"I don't want your damn apology," Remus interrupted irritably. "I just want--no, need this stupid, petty feud to be over."

James snuck a peek at Sirius. "I don't know if I can give you that, but I can put it on hold tomorrow night."

Sirius nodded. "Agreed."

The next night was almost fun. Just like the days when the four of them would cavort around the grounds enjoying each others' company, frantically searching for new secret passages, chasing whatever creature would dare cross their paths in the Forbidden Forest, and going for a swim when it was hot out in the lake. Sirius and James kept their promise to Remus and avoided any situation that would end in debate. Until the next morning when Sirius and James woke up just to realize that nothing had changed between them.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Like I said, A LOT went on so I hope you're satisfied. Let me know what you think.