*Disclaimer*- Messrs. Fuzzbutt and Fantail do not now, nor will they ever, claim to be J.K. Rowling. They own none of the characters or situations presented by Ms. Rowling in any of her brilliantly written books.

Authors’ Notes: Ah, here we are with chapter four. Quite a nice chapter, I’m sure it shall be… Enjoy!

Chapter Four: Operation: Flower for Prongs

James and Lily walked through the halls, a tense silence between them. It was after curfew, and they were doing their rounds, a duty appointed to the Heads and pairs of prefects on alternating nights.

In the few days since their first tutoring session, James had spent a lot of time pondering Lily’s words. He had decided that he could change little things. He'd stop ruffling his hair (he knew she hated that), he'd stop flashing her his arrogant bastard grin, he'd stop asking her out (he'd already refrained from that thus far in the year). Besides this, however, he didn't know what to fix. So he decided to do an experiment, and see if not acting so arrogant would get a good reaction from Lily.

"So, Lily," James said, trying his best to be more like a friend than a guy who wanted to go out with her, "how are you, lately?"

"Fine," she replied coldly, not looking at him.

Well this is starting out well, James thought sarcastically. "Do you like your classes?" he asked, trying again.

"They're fine," Lily answered, still coldly. What is Potter playing at? She hated being around him. Especially for rounds. Small talk and flattery were his only strong points, and it was rather aggravating after a while.

"Oh," he said, seeming disappointed at her reaction. But he had to keep trying. He was a Marauder, a Gryffindor, and a Potter! He couldn't give up! "So... So how are things with your family?"

"My parents are fine, and my sister hates me," Lily answered shortly.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Wonderful choice of question, Potter, James chided himself. At least she's talking to me... "You're too great for someone to hate you. Your sister must be an idiot."

Lily scowled, and decided not to talk to him.

Damn it. So much for that.

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Sirius, Remus, Frank, and Peter lounged in front of the fire, Marlene, Emmeline, Dorcas, and Alice not far. Sirius, who was lying with his head hanging off the bottom of the couch and his feet over the top, suddenly voiced his thoughts. "I wonder," he said mischieviously, "what James and Lily are doing on their rounds. Alone. At night."

Emmeline snorted at the absurdity of what he was insinuating. "Yeah, like they‘re doing anything. You wish Sirius," she said. “Lily will never give James the time of day. Although,” she added as an afterthought, “she does seem willing to become friends with him.”

Marlene then sat up a little higher and said, in quite a good imitation of Lily, "I'm just a little more willing to try and not be enemies, as we're both Heads this year, and I refuse to do everything on my own."

Sirius laughed. "Is that what she said?" he asked. Marlene nodded.

"Speaking of saying things," Alice said, "was that you cursing Lily late last night?"

Sirius had the wits to look sheepish. "Yes," he said.

"Why?" Dorcas asked.

"Because she's starting to rule James' life! Do you know, he doesn't want to pull a prank because Lily will be upset by it?"

“Really?” asked Marlene.

Remus nodded. "I don't really blame him though. I'm sure it's not only because of Lily. He is Head Boy, and he should make an effort to act more responsible."

"You're sounding like her now, Remus!" Sirius whined.

"You say her like it's an insult," Emmeline said.

"She's taking our James away!" Sirius said.

Frank chuckled. "It's not her fault he's head over heels in love with her."

Alice nodded in agreement. "Yes, it’s just like I can't help fancying Fr-," her eyes went wide and she blushed madly. "I can't help fancying French toast," she said.

"I don't think you were going to say french toast," Sirius said, grinning. "I think you were going to say Frank!" He said Frank's name in a sing-song manner.

Now it was Frank’s turn to blush madly. “I’m sure,” he said, “that she meant to say French toast. Right, Alice?”

Alice blushed harder at being addressed by Frank, “Yes,” she said, though, “yes, that’s right.”

Emmeline grinned mischievously. "Is French toast code for Frank?" she asked.

Alice nervously cleared her throat. "Well, weren't we talking about Lily and James? I don't recall this being about Frank and I."

Frank blushed at the words 'Frank and I,' and the others grinned, though they changed the subject back to Lily and James for Alice and Frank's sakes.

“Is James really ‘head over heels in love’ with Lily?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?” asked Dorcas.

"She's all he ever talks about. I swear he's even recorded every time she's turned him down. He'd do anything for her. He'd die for her."

"Wow…"

Sirius nodded. "He's in denial, though. He still thinks he just really likes her a lot."

Emmeline sighed. “Lily thinks that James likes her because she’s a challenge, because she’s one of the few girls that doesn’t fancy him. She said so in sixth year.”

"That's not why he likes her," Remus said. "He's always going on about how beautiful she is, how smart she is. And then he whines about how he doesn't have a chance."

"Well then, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?" asked Marlene.

"What?" asked Peter, clueless as always.

"We're going to find a way for Lily and James to get together!" Marlene explained.

"Oh," Peter said.

Emmeline rolled her eyes at Peter. "How are we supposed to do that? Lily can't stand James."

"I think that she may just have a soft spot for him and not know it yet," Marlene replied mysteriously.

"Of course she has a spot for James," Emmeline said. "He's all she talks about."

"But when she talks about him it's always his faults that she points out," Dorcas noted.

"Yes," Marlene said, "but I bet she likes him, and either doesn't realize it, or she’s beginning to realize it and is trying to fend it off..."

"Well, how do we get her to realize it, then?" Sirius asked. "Or think of liking him as a good thing?"

Alice grinned slightly, "We all have to work to put him in a good light, right?" The others nodded. "Well, then we have to let her catch him doing good things. Don't let her know about the pranks. Tell James to lay off of the arrogance, I know she hates that. He knows what to do, it's really up to him."

"So you're saying we just have to let her see the good in him?" Sirius asked. Alice nodded. "Well that's not fun," Sirius complained.

"Well," started Remus, "I must say I'd rather have a happy James than constant trouble-making. Although he may be a bit less fun, he'll be happier, and I think Lily is what is best for him. He's more serious about her than he has ever been about any other girl."

Sirius sighed. Remus just had to have that way of making one feel selfish, didn't he? "But," Sirius started, "but what about the Marauders?"

"It's not like he's leaving us. He's just becoming a bit more behaved. And I'm sure that once Lily sees he's not all bad she'll let a prank or two slip by. Right, girls?"

"I don't think Lily would, actually," Marlene said as Emmeline said, "Yes, I'm sure she'd allow it." Hearing Marlene's comment Emmeline looked at her pointedly and coughed. "Erm, I mean, of course. Lily loves pranks, she just doesn't tolerate them because it's James pulling them."

Sirius, not noticing the slip-up, nodded approvingly. “I always knew she had a sense of fun in her. Very, very deep down, that is,” he said.

Remus quickly turned a laugh into a cough at Sirius' lack of observation. Sirius turned and looked at him suspiciously. "What?" Remus asked, looking as innocent as he could.

Sirius mumbled something under his breath before turning back around. "Okay, so the plan is to get James in a good light for Lily. I still don't see how we can manage that."

"Well," Alice said, "the girls and I can watch for good things he does, and then tell Lily about them." The other girls nodded in agreement.

"How do we help, though?" Sirius asked.

"You could try laying off the pranks for a while," suggested Marlene.

"But we're already planning one!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Fine," Emmeline said, "you could always go through with that one and then lay off the pranks, right?"

"But things'll be so boring without pranks," Sirius complained.

"You could find yourself a girlfriend," Remus said.

"Yeah, I suppose I could," Sirius agreed. Emmeline blushed and Marlene snickered.

"So everyone is agreed on the plan?" Frank asked, switching back to the topic they were supposed to be discussing.

There were nods, (reluctant on Sirius' part), and murmurs of agreement throughout the room.

"What do we call it?" Alice asked. "We can't just go around asking each other about it. James and Lily will catch on. We need a code name."

"How about 'Operation: Smelly Feet?'" Peter asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard from you, Wormtail." Peter blushed and Remus looked at him sympathetically, rolling his eyes in Sirius' direction.

"Well, fine, Moony, you come up with something," Sirius said, catching the eye roll.

"Hmm, how about 'Operation: Flower for Prongs,’ ‘FP,’ for short."

"That fits," Marlene said. The others nodded.

"Alright then, 'Operation: Flower for Prongs' it is. Whenever something bodes well for the operation, we'll tell each other using that name."

"Sounds good to me," Emmeline said, as Lily entered the common room and headed towards the girls' dormitories, looking angry, and James entered after her, looking sullen.

"Speak of the devils," Remus muttered.

The girls said a hurried goodbye to the boys and followed Lily upstairs. James plopped on the couch.

"I did my best," he said, "but it's not good enough. I was polite, and she didn't even notice."

"Well, James," Peter started, "you don't have to worry, because we're going to help you, even the gir- OW! Remus, what was that for?"

Remus, who had stepped on Peter's foot to stop Peter from giving away their mission, gave Peter a look that clearly said, ‘be quiet, we can't let him know,’ and Peter quieted.

Sirius started talking to distract James from the situation. "Maybe she's PMS-ing," he suggested.

Remus gave Sirius a funny look and Sirius shrugged. "What? She could be. Girls are cranky when they're PMS-ing. It probably wasn't you at all, Prongs."

James looked at Sirius doubtfully, "I don't think so, Padfoot," he said.

"Well, if you aren't going to believe me, then we might as well switch to the subject of pranking. One more can't hurt, right?" Sirius asked.

James opened his mouth to disagree, but Sirius cut him off. "Please, Prongs, just one last prank? And then I promise I won't beg for any more."

James mumbled something incoherent. "Fine," he said. "One last prank. But we have to involve everyone."

"Yes, yes, everyone, right," Sirius said hastily. "Now, what are we going to do?"

"Well, this is my cue to leave," Frank said. "Secret Marauder Talk Time. See you in the morning guys." He stood up and left to ‘goodnights’ from the Marauders.

"Well, I was thinking about it," Remus said once Frank was gone, "and I think I've come up with something rather good." They leaned in to hear it.

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Lily sat angrily on her four-poster bed, her friends trudging up the stairs.

"How was it?" Alice asked as she and the others entered the room.

"Horrid," Lily said shortly.

"What did he do?" Marlene asked.

"He asked me how I was, and how my family and I are, and how well I like my classes."

"Erm, I hate to break it to you, Lily, but that's not really a bad thing. And I thought you were trying to become friends with him."

"Not friends," Lily corrected, "just not enemies. But he's making it so hard! I don't think he really cared how I or my family were, he was just asking it to seem like a good guy."

"Lily," Marlene said, "I think you have to give him a chance. Otherwise you'll never make it through the year."

"A chance?! Are you kidding?"

"A chance at friendship, Lily, that's all."

"Oh,” she said, feeling a tad stupid about her reaction. “Well, I am trying, but he's so irritating!"

"If his asking how you are is irritating, you really need to lighten up," Emmeline said.

Lily sighed. "I know," she said.

"You've had a long day," Alice said. "Why don't you just sleep on it?"

"Yes," Lily agreed, "sleep sounds good." She readied herself for bed, said goodnight to her friends, and closed the curtains on her four-poster bed.

Lying back, she sighed again. She was certain that Potter had been acting the whole time, but her friends seemed to think otherwise. Could he have been honestly curious as to how she was?

Suddenly, Lily felt a twinge of guilt. If he had been truly curious, she had reacted quite cold towards him.

"So, Lily," James asked, "how are you lately?"

Her reply had been cold. "Fine."

Shoot, Lily thought. Marlene and Emmeline are right. I need to lighten up. I should give him a chance at friendship. Right?

Of course you should, Lily. Remember his fine points.

What fine points?

Well, he's good at transfiguration, and Quidditch. His looks aren't bad, either. Actually, he's quite c-

Lily! Stop that thinking at once! Lily scolded herself.

Does he have any other good points? Is he kind? I don't even know. Maybe he should get this chance...

Yes, Lily, he should. And you'll have to work with him all year anyway, so it's worth a shot...besides, he hasn't asked you out yet all year, and this is only about extending the hand of friendship, not romance.

Lily suddenly made an irritated sound. And now I'm having arguments inside my head with myself! That shows how crazy I have to be to be doing this…

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Authors’ Notes: Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? But that was chapter four. We really hope you enjoyed it.

Please, review, and let us know what you thought.