*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: Dodododoooooo! Welcome to chapter eight. We want to say a short thank you to all who have stuck about this long and enjoy our story. Thank you! And thanks to all who review, as well! We really appreciate it, and it’s reviews that get us to write faster, as we want to satisfy you wonderful people with a new chapter. And without further ado, chapter eight.

Chapter Eight- Friends

Alright, Lily. Act friendly. You can do it, even if it is Potter. Besides, he deserves this, because you screwed up. Lily walked down the stairs. James was sitting on a couch looking sullen in the common room. Lily sat down next to him. "Hey, Po-, er, James," she said.

What is she doing? "Hi," James replied.

"Look, James, I'm sorry about the incident after potions," Lily said, looking down.

"Yeah, well, it's only what you've wanted to say to me forever, isn't it? It doesn't matter," James said, somewhat coldly.

"Doesn't it?" Lily asked.

"No," James said.

"Oh," Lily replied lamely. "Well, how're you doing in potions?" she asked after few moments' silence.

"I never had a problem with it, I told you that before. I was just distracted," James said. He wouldn't look at her.

"Um, how're you doing with the distractions, then?" Lily asked tentatively. This was not going well.

"Oh, quite well," James said. "I don't have the distraction from her, anymore. I don't have a reason to watch her."

Lily furrowed her brow. "Oh," she said again, somewhat disheartened.

"Look, I have to go eat breakfast," James said, standing up.

"Bye," Lily called to his retreating figure. He did not answer. Well, that went well, didn't it? Oh, who’re you kidding? He hates you. Lily sighed. This was just perfect... just bloody perfect.

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Later, she decided to try again. It was after lunch, and everyone was sitting in the common room. Lily sat next to James. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked.

James just shook his head without looking at her.

Lily frowned. This was not going to work, not at all.

"I have to go," James said suddenly. "I didn't finish the homework for Transfiguration, and we have that next," he said. He got up and left for the boys' dormitories.

Emmeline frowned. "We have History of Magic next," she said, confused.

Lily's frown deepened.

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"James, we have to do patrols tonight," Lily reminded James.

James shrugged. "Right, whatever."

Lily frowned. "Alright," she said, "see you there, then."

James nodded.

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"James, can I borrow your quill for a moment? I left mine upstairs," Lily said.

James tossed his quill over to her without looking up.

Lily sighed. "Thanks," she mumbled. He did not reply.

-----

"James, did you take notes in History of Magic?" Lily asked.

He nodded.

"Erm, well, I missed one section, can I borrow your notes?" She questioned.

He handed them to her. He still had not looked directly at her.

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It was during patrols that Lily had finally had enough of it. "James," she had started, "it's Halloween in a few weeks. What are you planning on doing?"

James shrugged.

Lily let out a frustrated noise. "Why won't you talk to me?" she asked.

"I talk to you," he replied. "Look, I'm talking to you now."

"You aren't talking. You're just speaking meaningless words," Lily said.

"Most would consider that talking, Evans," James replied coldly.

"What is wrong with you?" Lily asked, exasperated.

"What's wrong with me?" James asked angrily. "What about what's wrong with you?"

Lily glared. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You should know! You probably planned it all out. Step One: crush James' heart. Step Two: pretend to put it back together. Step Three: crush it again!"

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked incredulously. "It's you who has been avoiding me like the plague!"

"I have not been! And if I were, it would only be because you're leading me on!"

"What?" Lily asked, shocked.

"You're leading me on! You break my heart and then you pretend to want to fix it! I thought you were better than that!"

"That is not what I'm trying to do! James Elias Potter, I swear to God and Merlin and all else out there that that is not what I'm doing!"

James scowled. "Hah," he replied.

"Hah? Is that all you can say? You're the one that's wrong, James. You're the one that's running."

"Running? From what?" James asked, an icy edge to his voice.

"Me. You're running from me because you can't deal with the fact that things are changing."

"Oh, like you can talk! You're the one that gets angry every time I show interest! You're running too, Lily!"

"I am not running! I'm not avoiding you! I'm trying to be your friend, why can't you see that?"

"You couldn't see it when I tried," James stated.

"What? When?"

"It was on patrols. I asked you how classes were going, how your family was. But you didn't care." James glared.

"Well I thought you were trying to get me to go out with you by being something you're not!"

"That's just it, Lily! It wasn't something that I wasn't. It's something that I am! But you won't look to see it!"

"I didn't know," Lily said softly.

"And who is to say that I should know your intentions, either, then?" James asked.

Lily sighed. "I'm sorry," she said.

James' anger suddenly left him, and he was left walking next to the girl of his dreams feeling lost. "I can't take things like this, Lily," he said. "I've tried for ages, and you've never gone out with me. And I don't think I can take it anymore, because things are just getting worse. I don't like fighting with you, but that seems to be the only way to converse with you anymore. So I don't even think I want to do that."

For the umpteenth time, "Oh," was all Lily said.

"So aside from patrols, we'll just not see each other, okay?"

"We could try to be friends," Lily said.

"What?" James asked, not prepared for the turn in conversation.

"We could try to be friends," she repeated. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, and we go with your plan. But isn't it better if we do try to be friends? Isn‘t being friends better than total avoidance?"

"Why do you want to do this?" James asked, looking her in the eye for the first time in days.

"Because I messed up," Lily answered truthfully. "I messed a hell of a lot up."

"Yeah, you did," James said. "But sometimes I don't blame you."

"Why not?" Lily wondered aloud.

"Because if I hadn't always fawned over you, you wouldn't have ever gotten so angry with me and hated me so much. I was the annoyance."

"I was the over-reactor."

James sighed, and looked at Lily uncertainly. "So we're actually going to do this?"

"We're going to try. I think it'll take some work in the beginning, but we're going to try."

James gave her a weak smile. "Alright," he said, holding out his hand, "deal."

"Deal," she said, shaking his offered hand.

James winced at the shock he felt when he touched her hand. That would need to go away if this were to work well. Lily, however, felt it too, and looked away from his eyes in hopes that he would not notice. They let go of each other's hand and Lily looked back at James.

Everything suddenly felt a lot better.

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"So," Marlene asked when Lily returned to her dormitory after patrols, "how did it go?"

Lily grinned. "We've agreed to attempt to be friends," she said.

Emmeline pumped her arm into the air triumphantly. "Yes!" she said.

"Does this mean you don't hate him?" Marlene asked.

Lily blushed. "I never hated him," she admitted.

"What do you bet," Emmeline started, looking at Marlene, "that Lily dearest has always harbored an enormous crush for James E. Potter, and it is finally coming out, even if just a little bit?"

Marlene grinned. "I'm sure that's it, Emm," she said.

Lily rolled her eyes, but her blush had gotten deeper. "I don't fancy him. You two are so strange."

"Who do you fancy, then, Lily?" Emmeline asked with a mischeivous tone to her voice.

"I don't know," Lily said. "No one here, I suppose."

"What she means," Emmeline said, "is no one in this room. She's trying to answer truthfully without telling, you see?"

Marlene laughed as Lily sputtered indignantly. "I don't fancy Potter!" she said.

"Then why are you blushing, Lily?"

"Because it's hot in here!"

"I'm quite comfortable, really, how about you Marlene?" Emmeline asked, as if discussing the weather.

"Yes, it's quite nice. Perhaps Lily is coming down with something?"

"Yes, that must be it." Emmeline put a hand to Lily's forehead. "Hrm, she's quite warm."

"That could be the blush," Marlene pointed out, causing Lily to scowl and blush harder.

"Oh, too right," said Emmeline. "Do you feel sick, Lily dear?"

Lily glared playfully at Emmeline and shoved her over the side of the bed, which she had been sitting on.

"Oof," Emmeline said. She sat up, grumbling. "It's not right to push people off beds when all they want to do is help you.”

And as could only be expected, a pillow fight ensued.

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James entered the common room after patrols feeling lighter than air. Until he saw, Sirius, that is. The two had not spoken since their last argument. James cleared his throat. Sirius looked up, glared, and got up to leave.

"Padfoot, can we talk?" James asked.

"There's nothing to say," Sirius said. "You're an idiot."

James frowned. "Yes, sometimes I am," he agreed.

Sirius had not expected that. "What happened?"

"We agreed to be friends," James said.

"Oh," Sirius said. "Well, at least I've got a replacement."

"Padfoot, don't be so dramatic. I couldn't ever replace you. Especially not with Lily. She's too moody."

Sirius grinned slightly, "She is, isn't she?"

James chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, quite a bit. Sort of like Moony around full moon."

"Full moon is coming up," Sirius noted.

James frowned, "I know. And we'll both be there for him, as usual."

Sirius nodded his agreement.

"I'm sorry," James said suddenly. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

"I'm sorry I got so angry... it's just hard to see a friend give up on something like love," Sirius said awkwardly. He was no good at this.

James nodded, but did not know how to respond.

"So," said Sirius, "we'll never let a girl get between us again, right?"

"Can we really guarantee that?" James asked skeptically.

"Alright, we'll never not trust each other to deal with things like girls on our own again?"

"That's a confusing way to word 'we'll let the other make their own decision, even if they're wrong,' isn't it?" James asked, grinning.

"Yeah, it is," Sirius said. He held out his hand. "We'll let ourselves make our own decisions, even if they're wrong. And we'll be there for the other when things get bad, because the decision was stupid."

James laughed and shook Sirius' hand. "Exactly," he said.

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Authors’ Notes: Whoo! The number of reviews we’ve gotten really makes us happy! And here ends chapter eight. We’d really like it if you reviewed it, too! :D