Troube in Paridise

"Leave me alone, you prick!"

Lily Evans was speeding through the halls of Hogwarts, not wishing to speak to the annoying Marauder that had been following her around for what seemed like months. It had, in fact, had only been one month, as this clever Marauder had constantly pointed out the the auburn-haired beauty.

"Evans! At least hear me out!" The boy shouted after her. His black shaggy hair fell into his unique grey eyes as he stopped in the hallway. He couldn't help but smirk slightly at the look of annoyance on the red-head's face as she turned to face him.

"Why?" she asked. Lily Evans had become rather fed up with this one Sirius Black. "Why should I listen to you, Black? For the past month or so you have trying to feed me false information about my boyfriend. Do you really think I care about anything you have to say?"

"Well....not particularly, but it's worth a bloody shot. I'm going to get you to comprehend what I am saying once and for all. James. Is. Cheating. On. You. Did you get that?" Sirius told her for what seemed like the millionth time that week. Sure, he felt horrible for making up lies about his best friend to get his girlfriend to dump him, but he had a very good reason!

James Potter had not been acting like himself lately. He wasn't playing cruel pranks on Snape like he had B.L.E. (Before Lily Evans), he would hardly come to the Marauder meetings held ever third Tuesday of the month, and to top it all off, he was doing his homework.

Oh the horror that has been bestowed upon the unavailable Ladies' Man of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Although, Sirius did find one perk in this relationship due for failure. Now that James was taken, he, Sirius Black, was the Ultimate Bachelor of Hogwarts.

"Are you going to keep me standing here, Black, or are you going to tell me something that I might actually believe?" The cold voice of the Winter She-Devil woke Sirius from his thoughts. She was staring at him with her arms folded across her chest, her foot tapping impatiently.

"I...well..."

"Yep, that's what I thought. The mind of the Great and Powerful Sirius Black fails once again in his attempt to ruin his best friend's relationship. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the Common Room. Good night," Lily said, turning on her heel and storming to the Common Room.

.::.::.::.::.::.::.

About an hour and a half later, Lily was curled up on the couch in James' strong, Quidditch-toned arms. They sat in comfortable silence as Lily watched the flames in the red and orange fire dance around the logs, and as James watched Lily. He stroked her soft hair gently as she let out a sigh.

"Anything wrong Lils?" He asked, concerned as she looked into his hazel eyes with her deep emerald ones. She sighed once again and looked away, shaking her head and making her curls bounce.

"I'd rather not say."

"Oh come on Lily, you know you can tell me anything."

"Well," she hesitated. "Why do you think Sirius would be telling me lies about you? The types of lies that would be liable to make me end it with you?" she asked, looking once more into his gentle orbs of hazel.

James chuckled a bit. "Sirius is just mad that I haven't been spending as much time with them as I have been with you," he said, bringing his head down to kiss her gently on the neck. "You just have to remember that nothing he says is true. You haven't believed him, have you?"

Lily shook her head slightly. "No, I find it hard to believe the lies he's been telling me," she said, laying her head gently on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She felt James muscles tighten slightly as he asked his next question.

"What has he been telling you?"

As Lily opened her mouth to respond, she heard the Portrait Hole close and someone walk in. Curious, she opened her eyes slightly, only to see it was the person whom the conversation had been about. She closed her eyes, not really wishing to see him, in fear that the dam that was holding back rage would bust.

"James," Sirius said, nodding to his friend. His eyes fell upon the figure of Lily Evans in his arms, "She-Devil."

"Man-Whore," Lily lazily murmered in response, her eyes still shut. She couldn't help but smile in appreciation as James shook with silent laughter at her witty retort.

Sirius had had enough of the two of them. The love-bird act had gotten old the day they got together. But as he marched upstairs to his dorm, he couldn't help but realize that Lily was probably there to stay. James had stalked her for at least three years, claimed to have been madly in love with her, and even serenaded her in Transfiguration. Chances that he would ever do anything to harm the girl were very slim.

As he heard the door open and close with a click when James entered the room, he was still thinking about his predicament. There were two options: learn to accept Lily, or disown James.

.::.::.::.::.::.::.

The next day, during her last period break, the fiery Lily Evans was sitting on a rock outside by the frozen lake, shimmering white snow all around her. She was wearing a white bulky jacket with faux-fur hood and a pair of her Muggle blue jeans, having shed her Hogwarts robes for their lack of warmth. Her jacket was zipped halfway up, showing the top of her forest green long-sleeve shirt. Her auburn curls spilled around her shoulders as she read her book, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.

"Um....Evans, can I talk to you for a minute?" a voice queried, interrupting her reading.

The boy who had spoken was wrapped up in a slightly tattered leather jacket, and had somehow managed to get a pair of Muggle blue-jeans within his clutches. His hands were thrust in his pockets as he bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet.

The red-haired beauty rolled her emerald green eyes, but kept them focused on the book in her hands. "And why should I let you do that, Sirius?"

Sirius sighed. "I guess because I'd like to apologize," he began, throwing some charcoal black hair from his eyes. At the motion of her closing her book, he moved closer and continued. "I guess I was just getting a little disturbed at the fact that James was ditching us to spend time with you. I apologize for telling you lies about him to get you to dump him. And, I guess I have to get used to James not being around, because it looks like you're here to stay," he joked, a half-smile playing on his full lips. "So what do you say? Am I forgiven?" He clasped his hands together and stuck out his lower lip.

Lily shook with suppressed giggles. "Yes, Sirius, you are forgiven."

"Wonderful! Now, it's getting dark, might I escort a lady to the castle?" he asked, taking her book from it's place on the rock and helping her jump down onto the snowy lawn.

As they walked to the Common Room, they were discussing Sirius' love of Muggle literature. Yes, it shocked Lily at first too.

"I mean, honestly, when will the bloke give up? He won't eat it on a goat, in a boat, with a fox, or in a box, I'm pretty sure he's not going to eat it! But then, can you blame him? Green Eggs and Ham doesn't sound like the most delicious dish ever."

About five minutes into the discussion of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Lily just had to burst his bubble.

"Erm, Sirius, I hate to put a damper on your love of reading, but I hardly think Dr. Seuss qualifies as mature literature. I mean, it's all fine and dandy for primary school...but when you're eighteen..." she trailed off, seeing as how they were approaching the Portrait Hole.

"Evans, I'm going to ignore that hurtful comment on one condition: Never let me talk of books again," he laughed, giving her back the novel he had been carrying. "Bowtruckle," he said to the portrait's unasked question.

The Portrait Hole swung open, allowing the two Gryffindors to shuffle into the warm Common Room, Lily in the lead. She looked around, in search of James and found him staring into the fire, a strange expression poisoning his features. She walked over to him and took a seat inches from where he sat.

"Is everything alright?" she asked softly, taking in his disheveled appearance. His glasses were askew, his robes were wrinkled, and his tie was loosened. "You didn't try flying in this weather did you?" Lily asked unbelievably. "Can't you see how the poor trees are suffering? The wind is sure to snap them in half soon."

James looked up at Lily, as if just realizing she was there. "Oh um....yeah, I did. I'm always up for a challenge," he said, plastering on his signature grin.

Sirius was the only one who knew that his friend was lying. He was the only one who could tell that the smile was forced, hiding something, another emotion, that dared to creep up to the surface.

It was seconds later that James actually noticed that Sirius was in the room, standing to the side, looking in at the scene before him. James expression hardened as he saw his friend. "Here to tell more lies about me?" he asked.

Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but Lily beat him to the point. "Actually, Sirius has apologized for telling me the lies. He figures that he was just bitter about the fact that you were spending more time with me, and says that he might as well get over it. Isn't that great?" she asked, smiling at the bespeckled boy.

James looked at his friend, impressed. "Is this true Padfoot?" he asked.

Sirius nodded, grinning at the use of his Marauder name. "Sure is old Prongsy old pal. Now, I'm going to go upstairs and leave you two lovebirds alone," he said, grinning as he made his exit up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

Lily laid her head on James' shoulder, taking in the scent of peppermint. Peppermint? she thought. That was odd. "I see you're getting into the holiday spirit," she commented, "already stashing up the candy canes," she laughed.

James' muscles tensed up. He let out a nervous chuckle. "Yep, it's never too early in the year for candy canes. So...you never told me what Sirius was telling you," he commented, putting an arm around her waist.

Lily closed her eyes. "It doesn't matter, the only thing that's important is the fact that it wasn't true," she sighed, smiling.

James relaxed a bit and took his arm from around Lily. He slightly turned towards her and lifted her face up with his hand. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before their lips met and Lily closed her eyes in bliss.

Seconds later, they heard someone coming down the dormitory steps and broke apart, both eyeing the steps in curiosity.

A girl with cinnamon-brown hair, light blue eyes, and pale skin was winding her way from the girls' dorms. She was dressed in Muggle jeans, a dark blue, low cut, and V-neck sweater with a grey cami underneath. Her hair was pulled into her signature high ponytail, which bounced every time she took a step.

Lily had seen this girl around before but didn't know much about her besides her name: Renee Zellinger. She was a sixth year Gryffindor Prefect who made good grades in most of her classes.

Much to Lily's surprise, a look of nervousness etched its way into James' face upon seeing the girl. She looked back to the newest addition to the Common Room to see that surprisingly enough, she was walking towards them and waving at James. As she approached, Lily detected the scent of peppermint body lotion. It was then she realized it: The strange expression, the peppermint smell, the disheveled appearance. It all meant one thing.

And she had been so stupid not to even realize that James had specifically told her earlier in the year that the only thing he hated about Christmas was the candy canes. She felt light headed all of a sudden, and it didn't help that Renee was almost to them.

Lily looked at James with a pleading expression, hoping that he would prove her wrong, but he just kept his attention on the patterned carpet below them. His silence said everything, and with a sinking heart, Lily began to shake with rage.

Renee was by the fireplace now, and as quick as lightening, was sitting in James' lap, her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek. "Hey Jamesy," she giggled flirtatiously. She looked at the red head next to her, then back to James. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

But before James even had a chance to say her name, Lily was up from the ground, turning her back on the two, and striding quickly towards the Portrait Hole. Once she reached it, she turned to face James and looked him square in the eyes as she unfastened the clasp of the charm bracelet he had given her for their two-month anniversary, and threw it on the ground before stepping on it as she exited the Common Room.

She ran to the deserted girl's bathroom on the second floor, occupied only by Moaning Myrtle. Her eyes beginning to cloud with tears, she locked herself in the first stall and cried over the boy who she honestly thought she might have had a future with.