A.N: Another chick brand new to Harry Potter fanfiction trying to write a fic, and a Lily/James at that!  Oh, the horror!  Oh the humanity!  Oh, the-hey, look, I found a quarter. ^_^Thanks for reading... And reviewing?  Please? I asked nicely.

Special thanks to: Ferrara Pan candy company, for making Lemonheads.

Annie for wanting this fic.

Child of the Shadows .?userid=21944 for taking a chance on an unknown fic,

 and beta'ing.  The fact that this fic is not full of run-ons and errors is all due to her.

My little sister, for reading Harry Potter and accepting the fact that her older sister is more obsessed (slightly) that she is. My roommate for staying up late with me!  That hot guy in my Japanese class for being born.

Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling. In fact, I am a broke American college student.  If WB or Ms. Rowling's very expensive lawyers attempted to sue all they'd get is my punk rock posters and alarm clock.  (They aren't getting my lemonheads.)

                  To Thine Own Self

      "Lily Evans, I love you!"  The voice rang through the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Usually a confession of love shouted to the rafters between classes would at least have caused a few students to turn around skeptically, or start giggling into their robes, but only a few first years jumped and turned.  After all, it was directed at Lily. At least four or five students a week were in dept eternally to the sixth year Prefect, usually for being a tutor, a mentor, an escape route, a mediator, or not very rarely, all four at once.

      The girl in question turned and offered a brilliant smile to the blond fourth year who had called out.  In his hands was a written test from Professor Howell's potions class, a ruby-red A in ink across the top.

      "You passed, Avery!" she cried, accepting his hug as he blushed a rather curious shade of violet.  "Terrific!"

      He ran a hand through his short hair, "Thanks for helping me study.  My parents would have banned me from Hogsmeade for a year if I didn't pass that class."

      A knowing smile dimpled the older girl's face.  "And how ever would you invite Morgan to go to Hogsmeade if you weren't allowed to go, after all."

      His blush deepened, and he nodded quickly, eyes not leaving the mark on his test.  "Wow... a real 'A'..." he breathed, walking away, still in shock.

      Lily shook her head after him, her smile fading slightly. And then she jumped as she realized she did have a class to get to.  And her head was just starting to begin its usual dull ache.  She knew it would just escalate until she had to do a painkiller charm just to get to sleep.

      "Thank god it's Friday," she murmured, and hurried to transfiguration.  Even as one of the top students at Hogwarts wouldn't dare to be late to McGonagall's  class.

"Wha da haa ish Jamesh?" Sirius Black asked as he leaned back in his chair, his feet propped up on the desk in front of him.

      The shorter boy sitting beside him looked up through a fringe of light brown hair.  "What?!"

      "Allow me to translate, Remus," a chubbier boy leaned over from the desk behind them, "'Where the hell is James?'"

      Sirius removed the sugar quill from his mouth, "Correct, Peter!  Ten hundred points to Gryffindor!"

      "Sirius, you can't-" Remus Lupin started, but then shook his head and gave up the ghost.  Instead, he turned to Peter Pettigrew, propping an elbow on his desk. "So, how'd you know that?"

      "I do live with him, you know," the other boy grinned. "It's a great way to become fluent in Sirius-ese."

      "It's a good question, though. Where is James?" Remus muttered, "Class is about to start."

      "Even one of the top students wouldn't dare to be late to McGonagall's class!"

      Just then the door to the class swung open with a loud bang.  The students jumped and turned. Lily gave a sheepish smile as she stumbled to her desk in the front of the class.  "Sorry."  She was followed by the Professor.  Sirius took his feet from the desk.

      "Even perfect Lily's almost late," Sirius muttered behind him to James Potter. 

      Then he blinked.  "James?  How'd you-"

      His friend grinned cheekily at him, readjusting his glasses. "Magic."

      Peter rolled his eyes. "Followed McGonagall and snuck into his seat."  James elbowed him in the side, hard. 

      "You're screwing up my air of mystery!"

      "Young men, what is so interesting that you must talk during my class?" Brown eyes peered over spectacles at the two back desks.

      "Sorry, Professor," they chorused, James and Sirius giving identical charming grins.

      She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything else, going back to the lesson.  Sirius and Remus quickly began to entertain themselves by scribbling all over their textbooks.  A little ball of paper was launched at Sirius' head from behind him, courtesy of James, who pointed at Peter, who rolled his eyes.

      'Shouldn't you two slackers take some notes for next week's test?' the note read.

      Pursing his lips, Sirius scratched his head with his quill, and then widened hazel eyes and began to quickly write on the note.  His eyebrows knotted in concentration, he looked up, bit his tongue, looked down again, nodded, and wrote some more.   And a little bit more.  Then he reread his work, nodded happily, and passed it to Remus.

      Remus ran a hand through his hair, whisked his quill across the paper with a correction, and then sent it to the desk behind him.

      James pushed his glasses up on his nose, and read what Sirius had spent so much time on.

      'Nah, we'll just ask Lily for hers.'

      "Don't you think that poor girl has enough to do?" James whispered at them, "it's not easy being a Prefect and one of the top students!"

      "He'd know," Peter supplied helpfully.  Sirius made a face at him.

      "Then we'll just ask you for yours." Remus whispered to James, grabbing the paper James had been writing on diligently throughout the class.

      It was filled with little Xs and Os with lines connecting them with arrows.

      "Quidditch," Sirius muttered, looking at the sheet, "and a rather good play, too."

      James beamed, "Thanks," he said, a little too loudly.

      Professor McGonagall lifted her head toward them, but Lily quickly raised her hand in the air.

      "Professor? What about when you want to change an animate object into an inanimate one?"  While McGonagall was answering, Lily turned around quickly to glance at the boys. 

'Thanks,' Remus mouthed.  Sirius winked at her, and James crossed his eyes. She grinned as she returned to her notes, trying to focus on the wrist movements for complex spells, and not on the fact that she wished it was James who had winked at her.  Maybe because Sirius winked at every girl, and all Lily ever really wanted was to be special.

"Lily Evans!  Thanks a million for the notes the other day!"  Emma Wart said as she passed Lily's desk on her way out. Lily grinned, "Anytime."

      "Hey, thanks for saving our bums," Sirius Black punched her arm and Peter gave her a thumbs up.  Which Remus and Sirius instantly began to tease him about as the three of the left the classroom.  "A thumbs-up?  How old are you anyway, Wormtail? Six?" 

      Lily's smile fell off her face as her classmates all left in little knots and groups of friends, laughing and talking about

Everyone smiled and waved at her, admired her, thanked her, but when the door to classroom closed, she was all alone.

      "Oh, deep thoughts today, Evans," she muttered, gathering her books together.

      "D'you always talk to yourself?"

      "Everyday, James.  I find I'm the only one who doesn't get bored with me."  She smiled at him, surprised he had hung around after everyone left.  His brown eyes were regarding her seriously from behind his glasses. 

They had talked a few times before both becoming Prefects, but only in passing.  Since first year she had knew who he was, of course, the skinny boy with the glasses, and he knew her as the freckled redhead with schoolgirl braids.

But Lily never considered them friends until this year.  And until this year, she would never have believed James Potter to be capable of being serious about anything; he always seemed to be laughing.

Except, apparently, around her.

God, she must be really dull.

"Do me a favor, Lily?" he said, after a few moments. 

      "Walk and talk," she told him, heading towards the door, "I have to meet with some Hufflepuff third years in ten minutes."

      "Next time someone asks you for a favor," he jogged slightly to catch up with her, "say no."

      She raised her eyebrows up at him, and blew a flyaway strand of red hair out of her eyes.  It fell right back in front of her vision.  "And what if that person is you?" she teased, struggling to shift her books to one hand to push back the offending strand of hair.  It was beginning to tickle her nose.

      "Little help?" He offered, and she smiled gratefully, dropping her books in his arms and quickly tugging her hair into a smart braid. 

      "How do girls do that so fast?" he wondered. His fellow Prefect shrugged and took her books back.

      "So, why don't you want me to help other people, again, James? Afraid it reflects badly on you?" Her teasing was light-hearted  as she headed to the library.  She was hoping to make him laugh, or at least crack a smile, but instead he just frowned a little.  And now she was almost late.

      "You look tired, is all," he muttered.

      But she was already gone.

      "Someone fancies someone," a sing-song voice teased from behind him, and James didn't even turn to acknowledge his best friend.

      "You've finally admitted to your crush on Professor McGonagall. Good for you."

      "Seriously, though," Sirius frowned thoughtfully in the direction Lily had left, "that girl will have gray hair by the time she's twenty-five.  And that's not attractive, James."

      "Seriously, Sirius?" he poked his friend, laughing, "Sirius-ly..."

      "Oh sod off!" He flushed a little, frustrated like he always got when he said something without thinking.  Which was often.

      "Well, it's Friday, the last class of the day just ended," James stretched his arms up above his head, "What do you want to do?"

      "Wreck chaos, havoc, and general disruption."

      "Sounds like a plan." 

"If you loved me, you'd kill me," Lily quipped, rubbing her temples and examining her face in the mirror.

      "Cheerful, aren't we?" Arabella asked, perched on her bed pouring over the latest issue of Fashion Magic magazine.

      "It's just," Lily sighed, letting out her braid, "I have a Prefect meeting tomorrow early, and promised to help Melissa Warren with her Divination homework later tonight, and by the way, I never even took that stupid subject, then I have to show around the DADA professor's new assistant-"

      "NO, Lily, you don't 'have' to," Arabella said, frustrated, "you had every option to keep your weekend to sleep, or paint your nails, or set fire to your eyebrows or whatever you would do in your free time if you had any, but you chose to-"

      "Set fire to my eyebrows?" she giggled back, but Arabella continued as if she hadn't spoken.

      "-take on this workload and possibly have a heart attack before you even graduate, and do you know why?"

      "I have a feeling you'll tell me."

      "Because you are a grade-A, first class doormat-"

      "Hey!"

      Arabella stood up, uncrossing her long legs and crossing the room to stand behind Lily.  The redhead stood a few inches shorter, pale compared to her roommate's healthy tan.  In the mirror, black eyes locked into green ones.

      "I'm not lying, Lily.  You are too damn sweet for your own good and everyone knows it.  People take advantage of you and you let them.  You may be beautiful, smart and talented, but Lily Evans, you are no fun."  With her point made, the girl patted her friend's shoulder, and left the room to go to a party Lily had turned down the invitation to.  

"But everyone loves me," she protested to the pouting girl in the mirror.

      "Aren't you lucky, dear," the mirror commented.  Lily would have given it a death glare, but it would only make her headache worse.     

      Later that night the sliver of a moon lent some sparse light into the dark hallways of the school as Lily made her way back from the Prefect's bathroom, rubbing her damp hair with a towel.  She felt just seconds away from falling to the floor in exhaustion, and allowed herself to yawn loudly and close her eyes as she padded down the hall in her slippers. 

      "Oof!" Her eyes snapped open as she pitched forward into someone else.  They tumbled to the floor, and Lily suddenly became very aware of the fact she was wearing a bathrobe and, well, not much else.  Pushing herself up from the tangle of arms and legs, she brushed her hair off her burning hot face and stood face to face with a pale face and glittering black eyes. She groaned inwardly. "Snape?!"

      "Evans," he sneered, "the perfect Prefect up after hours? And on a Saturday night.  What super fun party are you coming back from?"

      "Probably the same you were at," she snapped, in no mood to smile and play nice to his superior smirk.  She usually tried to be sweet to everyone, but Severus Snape made his dislike of her so perfectly clear it was hard not to retaliate now and then.

      "Ouch," he said, "the muggle can sting when provoked, can't she?"

      Lily's eyes narrowed.  "I am NOT a muggle."

      "Oh, excuse me," he said, "just your mother and father, then."

      Her hands closed into fists and she turned in a shower of water droplets, which arched off her wet hair and onto Snape's face.  He blinked them away and made a disgusted noise.  "Watch the water, woman!" he cried.

      "I hope you melt," she spat, flicking her hands at him.  "There must be a reason you avoid bathing at all costs."   She had every intention of turning in a huff and flouncing off to her room, when she suddenly stopped and turned curiously. "What are you doing up this late, anyway?"

      He froze. 

Lily wracked her brain for the Blabbermouth spell.

      "Red Eagle to Blue Turkey, come in Blue Turkey."

      "Aw, does Blue Turkey have to be my code name?"

      "Blue Turkey, we've been through this! Yes."

      "But, why?"

      "No one likes a whiner, Peter."

      "Sod off, James-"

      "A-hem."

      "Fine, fine, I mean Alpha."

      "That's better."

      "But you just called me Peter-"

      "Shh!! If Snape fell for that letter from 'Malfoy'-"

      "Which there was no doubt he did, Remu- um, I mean Black Falcon."

      "Right Si- Red Eagle. Whatever. Anyway, if he did believe that letter he should be here any minute."

      "Why don't we just check the map?" James whispered into his wand, which the four of them had charmed to carry their voices to each other from opposite corners of the very dark men's bathroom on the third floor.

      "Because the map doesn't glow, Alpha.  Hey, how come your code name doesn't involve some sort of bird?"

      "Good question.  And how come we don't just use our normal nicknames?  You know, Moony, Prongs, Padfood, and Wormtail?"

      "We know our own nicknames, Moony, you don't have to-"

      "SHH!  Someone's coming!"

      "Lumos!" a voice said firmly as the door opened.  A female voice.  A very pretty, obviously-not-Snape female voice.

      "Hold your hexes!" a panicked Remus barked into his wand, but he didn't need to.  The other three boys had seen the illuminated wand reflect on a few strands of hair and two iridescent green eyes. 

"James?" Lily whispered, "Remus? Sirius?  Whats- his-name?"

      She sighed. "C'mon guys. When have I ever turned you in?" 

She was met with breathing and nothing else.  "I just thought you should know that Snape is on to you and was going to get all his little friends to meet you, but I guess you just don't care."  She felt a little stupid, talking into darkness with no response.

      Sighing, she turned to leave, but then a voice rang out in the room.

"Snape has friends?"

      Grinning, she turned to face the boys who had come out of 'hiding'.  Sirius, who had spoken, gave Lily a cocky smile.  "So how much time do we have before the Slytherins crash our little party?"

      "And how come you didn't remember my name?" Peter challenged.

      "And how, exactly, is he 'on to us'?! Our plan was foolproof!" James looked upset.

      "And Snape certainly is a fool," Remus added.

      Lily held up her hand and ticked off answers to the questions in reverse order. "I agree. I have no idea, but it could be because Lucius has been gone all weekend attending one of his father's 'functions' so he couldn't have send a note, nice research guys. I'm sorry Peter, it's been a long week.  And they aren't crashing our party, I'm afraid."

      Sirius narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"

      Innocent green eyes looked into his darker ones.  "I'm a Prefect, Sirius.  I turned them in."  Even in the dark, she could see James smirk.  Lily felt her heart flip-flop. 

      "And us?" Sirius asked.

      She winked. "Well, yes, but since the washrooms are currently being checked from the first floor up, I would hurry back to the tower." 

      "Lily, I could kiss you!" Peter cried happily. 

      "I couldn't," Sirius said darkly, "she ruined all our fun. We were going to see what happened when jelly legs was combined with duck feet.  And give Snape pink hair, just for kicks."

      Her smile faded off her face as he pushed past her up to his room.  Peter blinked a few times, rapidly, and followed him.  Remus gave Lily an apologetic smile as he left.  She commanded her voice to steady, she hadn't cried since Petunia had let her pet cat run away when she thirteen, and she wouldn't start now just because Sirius Black just had to act like he had a Cleansweep 202 up his bum.

      “Hurry, James, you are a Prefect you don't want to get caught," she said.  Or, rather, tried to say.  Because in that moment she found herself engulfed in a tight hug.  James was quite a lot taller than her, and her face was pressed a little uncomfortably just beneath his shoulder.  "Ja-"

      "I just wanted you to know," he said softly, and in the dark she could hear his grin, "that I really appreciate you coming to help us out.  In your bathrobe."

      Then he was gone and she was sputtering after him, blushing so dark her cheeks were burning.     

To be continued...

Review please!  Be honest, be tactful, be helpful but above all let me know you read this!  ^_^