How to Get Lily to Fall for James

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs. Would I be sitting here writing THIS if I did?

Authors Note: And here, my dearest readers, is the second chapter! Of course DH is disregarded in this fic, seeing as I started it before it was published.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

~*~*~ So as to not cause any confusion, let me differentiate between handwriting. Lily's Handwriting, Adria's Handwriting, and Tessa's Handwriting. ~*~*~

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Beep. Beep. Beep.

God, Lily hated that noise. That charm was her mortal enemy. It never failed, she would be at a great part of her dream or be in the most comfortable stage of sleep, and it would go off.

Back in her second year, Flitwick had taught it to her. Apparently, her dorm mates were the only ones in the school who couldn't get up in time for class and it was up to her to fix the problem. After so many years it had stayed with her. It had been almost an unconscious act when she set it the night before. After every ten beeps it would say 'Time to get up!' in a really annoying, high pitched voice. It was the one thing she hated about going back to school.

Lily reached over and grabbed her wand. She groggily waved her arm to snooze it, knowing full well that she wouldn't be up by the time it rang again. It was the first day of classes. Joy. Don't get the wrong idea, Lily loved classes. It was just the getting up early thing she had a problem with. Sometime during her thoughts about her classes, Lily slipped back into sleep.

"Time to get up!" Beep. Beep. Beep

What the hell was that? James threw off his covers and sat up. He looked around the room, searching for the culprit. He soon realized, however, that the sound wasn't coming from his room. With a groan, he got up from his bed and stumbled toward the bathroom door. With much difficulty (thanks to a rug in front of the sink) James finally made it to Lily's door.

"Evans! Evans, turn that thing off please." He pounded on the door, hoping that she could hear him over the stupid clock. After a few moments' delay, the beeping finally stopped. "Thank you." He slowly made his way back to his bed and flopped down, asleep in an instant.

Lily, on the other hand, was now wide awake. James's knocking had drawn her out of her half-asleep state. Deciding that there was nothing better to do, she got up out of bed and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. And so the morning began.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Lily was ecstatic. She was awake, she was clean, and it was the first day back. She was sitting in a chair by the fireplace when James finally came down the stairs.

"Evans, what was that bloody racket this morning?"

"That was my charm, Potter." She watched him slump down onto the chair opposite hers with amusement.

"Why was it ringing that early in the morning? The birds weren't even up yet."

"There's nothing wrong with getting up a little early."

"Getting up? Evans, I do believe you were sleeping through it. How's that possible? I mean, it talks, for crying out loud!"

"I was not sleeping! I was ignoring it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going down to breakfast." With that, she left.

James groaned, putting his head in his hands. It wasn't supposed to go like that. He was supposed to woo her. Not insult her charm! Ugh...it was too early.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Lily was sitting at the table when her friends finally showed up.

"Good morning," Tessa announced cheerily, grabbing a plate and quickly filling it.

"What's put you in such a good mood? I haven't seen you this happy since Black singed his hair in your potion last year."

"Well, I woke up this morning and you would not believe what happened."

"What?" Lily questioned, becoming more curious by the second. Nothing exciting had ever happened while she was in the dormitory. It was just her luck that something would happen her first night away.

"I woke up on my own! It was the first time in five years that I've woken up on my own. There's only one good thing about you getting your own room. There's no one there to cast that stupid alarm charm! I loathed that thing."

Lily sighed. She had been expecting to find that she'd missed out on catching one of her other dorm mates with their boyfriend.

"Yes, Potter isn't too fond of it either."

Tessa and Adria just chuckled.

"Speak of the devil," Tessa said, gesturing toward the door. Lily and Adria looked up to see the Marauders walking in. Lily just rolled her eyes and went back to her breakfast. Adria, however, kept her eyes trained on Remus. She snapped back when Tessa and Lily burst into laughter.

"What? What did I miss?"

"Nothing. It's just that...he's clueless, Adria!"

"You don't think I know that?" she answered, putting her head in her hands. They had been over this conversation almost fifty times.

"Who?" asked the man in question as he sat down beside Adria.

"Nobody!" she answered quickly, looking back down at her plate. Remus knew she was lying then. She couldn't look him in the eye when she was lying. He looked over at Tessa and Lily, begging them to tell him.

"Just a guy she likes," Tessa said, ducking the blow that came towards her, sent by a blushing Adria.

"You like somebody?" Remus asked, in disbelief. As long as he'd known her, Adria had been more about school than boys. She'd only had two boyfriends in her time at Hogwarts, neither relationship lasting more than a few weeks.

"No!"

"She's lying. She's pretty much head over heels for this boy," Lily added, avoiding Adria's death glare.

"Who is it?" Remus looked over at the fuming girl, suddenly very curious.

"I...can't tell you," she finally answered, giving up the fight.

"Right..." Now Remus was extremely confused. Adria had never kept anything from him before. They were completely honest with each other. Besides the Marauders, she was the only one of his friends that knew about his secret.

"Why no-," he was cut short by the arrival of one of the girls' best friends and her boyfriend.

"Angela!" Lily smiled as she noticed the brown haired girl walking towards them. "Where were you yesterday?"

"Well...T.J. and I found our own compartment-"

"Stop! I don't want to hear what you two bunnies were doing," Tessa yelled, putting her hands over her ears. This sent the whole group into a fit of laughter. Unfortunately, McGonagall picked this moment to show up with their class schedules. They sat in silence for a few moments before they began to compare classes. The rest of breakfast passed in much of the same manner: catching up with old friends, comparing classes, and talking.

Finally the bell rang for first class. Grudgingly, they all got up to go. On the bright side, everyone but Peter (due to the fact that he had failed his Transfiguration and Potions OWLs) had class together: Transfiguration.

Class started the same way as it had every first day for the past six years. McGonagall would say something, and then Sirius would say something. McGonagall would say something, and then Sirius would say something. McGonagall would give him a detention and all would be right with the world.

"This will be one of the hardest years you will have ever faced at Hogwarts."

"That's alright Minnie, I like it rough!" Sirius called from the back of the room, winking. McGonagall just rolled her eyes and continued.

"I will be available after class to assist you if you have any problems."

"I can guarantee you a visit. I'm sure I'll need help with my 'problems'." Sirius gave her another wink and then blew her a kiss.

"Mr. Black, that is enough! Detention, tomorrow night!"

"Trying to get me alone, Minnie?"

"Black! Another detention! You will be serving both with Filch!"

"Ouch," he replied, holding a hand over his heart, smirking the whole time. And all was right with the world.

Lily watched this exchange with mild interest. She had to admit, Black's antics did get better as the years went by. It amazed Lily that McGonagall hadn't wrung his neck, especially after today. Suddenly some words started appearing on her blank parchment

I cannot believe he said that to McGonagall!

Lily smiled as she recognized Adria's handwriting, closely followed by Tessa's.

I know!

The three had worked most of their school career on bewitching their notebooks so they could write notes during class. Thankfully, none of them had lost their notebook.

Even I have to admit, it was very funny! Lily replied, adding little smiley faces over her I's.

Tell me about it!

It was still stupid! Adria countered.

True. I have to go. McGonagall is putting notes on the board.

Overachiever! Both Tessa and Adria answered. Lily just smiled and started copying down the notes.

James watched this exchange with a bit more interest than Lily had put into Sirius's antics. He'd long since found out about the enchanted notebooks. For a while, he suspected her of writing notes to her friends all class instead of copying down the notes the teacher assigned. But it didn't take long to figure out that she did not do that. Lily was fully devoted to her classes.

That was another thing he loved about her. She was smart. Not just book smart, either. Lily was the kind of girl who could point out every mistake you made on an essay, and decode your Top Secret Marauder's notes at the same time. (It only took her half an hour!)

James spent the rest of the class watching her, contemplating his next move. He had to be polite and funny, but not the annoying and mean funny he was famous for. When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the class, he knew what his next step would be.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The rest of the day passed without much to report. They had Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. It turned out, McGonagall hadn't been lying; it was hard. They'd gotten an essay for each class, all due on the next Monday. The school year was starting to look a bleaker by the class period.

James sat in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, working on his DADA essay. It was a review on werewolves. (It was a piece of cake for the Marauders, who were all sitting around the fire.) For the most part, they worked in silence. Except for Remus; he was already finished. He sat talking to Adria, who had joined them a few minutes before.

"Come on Addie! Tell me."

"No!"

"Please!" She shook her head. "Fine, can I ask questions about him then?" Adria thought about this for a moment. It was pretty safe; it's not as if he would guess himself.

"All right, but nothing too specific."

"Fine. Is he in Gryffindor?"

"Umm..." 'Was that too specific?' "Yes."

"Do I have any classes with him?" She couldn't help but smile. You have no idea.

"Yes."

He gave his next question careful thought. This could eliminate a few boys.

"Is he a Marauder?" Uh-oh!

"That's too specific." He just gave her a curious look.

"I can't think of anything else right now."

"Okay!" Adria was relieved that the questioning was over. She was afraid that he would trick her and somehow get it out of her. It was time to change the subject. "Are you going to tell me about your beginning of the year prank?"

"No!" the rest of the Marauders shouted, heads still bent toward their essays.

"I guess not," he said, chuckling. He looked down at his watch. "James, I think now is probably a good time."

"Thanks," James answered, gathering up his stuff and heading toward his own common room.

"Now is a good time for what?" Adria asked. She hated it when the boys started communicating in cryptic messages. Even those Top Secret Marauders' coded notes were annoying. They weren't that hard to figure out, but it still took time.

"Phase one," Remus answered mysteriously, leaving her more confused and aggravated than before.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

James ran through the halls, pulling out the Marauder's Map to help him avoid people on his way. Thankfully, he reached the tower before Lily came back from her walk. He sat down at his desk and began to work on his Charms essay. It was a good twenty minutes before he heard the portrait swing open and Lily walked in. Before she could escape to her room, he turned to face her.

"Evans, can you help me? I'm having trouble with this Charms essay. I don't get it."

She gave him a half confused, half amused look and walked a bit closer.

"You, the almighty, I can do anything, anywhere, anytime James Potter, are asking me for help?"

James at least had the decency to act embarrassed.

"Yes. Please?"

This threw Lily for a loop. She stood there stunned for a moment, and then nodded her head slowly. She placed her chair at his desk and pulled his essay towards her. Looking it over, she asked, "What exactly don't you get?

"Most of it," he admitted. "Charms is my weakest subject."

Lily just nodded and began to explain. To her surprise, he actually listened, and he even added to his notes from class. When she finally got him to understand, Lily left to go see her friends. All in all, James thought it had gone very well.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

When Lily finally showed up to meet her friends, they were very curious to know where she had been.

"I swear I was just helping Potter with his essay!" she cried for the fifth time.

"You can't stand Potter, how could you stay in a room with him for that long?" Tessa retorted.

"He was actually being civil."

"Sure, like James could go that long without asking you out. Face it, Lils, he's crazy for you," Adria added.

"He is not! He's just trying to annoy me to death! Besides, he didn't ask me out."

Her words were met by a stunned silence. Finally Adria said, "Wow."

"Enough about Potter's obsession with me..." Lily said turning toward Adria, "what about Remus?"

"What about Remus?" Angela asked, plopping down on the couch.

"Well, he started asking questions, thanks to you guys."

"What kind of questions?" Tessa asked, getting more comfortable in her seat.

"Well, I told him he could ask questions, but they couldn't be too specific. So he asked what year the guy was in, did he have any classes with him..." The others snickered at the thought of the answer. "...and then-"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"I asked her if he was a Marauder and she said it was too specific!" Remus said, recounting the story to the rest of the group.

"Maybe it's you, Moony," James said, looking at his fellow Marauder. The other three had come up to the Head dorm as soon as they saw Lily enter the Gryffindor common room.

"Ha. She doesn't like me in that way."

"How do you know?" Peter asked, tossing yet another attempt at his essay into the fire.

"I'm one of her best friends. I know what she's like around guys she's interested in. Believe me; she does not act like that around me."

"Okay, Moony." Sirius's comment was followed by a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'Denial'.

"I'm changing the subject now. How did phase one work out? Did she yell?"

"No, she helped me with my essay. That's pretty much it. No fights, just a smart, beautiful woman helping a not-as-smart-but-still-kind-of-smart, dead sexy Marauder on his Charms essay," James replied with a triumphant look on his face.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, best of luck with that." Sirius yawned. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Need all the rest I can get for tomorrow."

"Yeah, I heard Filch is pretty feisty." James ducked as one of the cushions from the couch flew towards him.

"Not what I was referring to!" Sirius yelled. The group kept laughing, even as three of its members left the Head Boy alone...but not for long. It wasn't five minutes before Lily came through the portrait hole. James gave her a smile and a wave as he made his way up the stairs.

To James's pleasure, they managed to run into each other in the bathroom a few minutes later.

"Potter, you scared me! How in the world did you get in here?" Lily gasped, hand flying to her heart as she whirled around. The bathroom was built to be easy access to both of the Heads, with some strict limits of course. Both of the doors were equipped with a lock on both doors and a few of the Founder's strongest anti-break and anti-peeking charms. She could've sworn that she had locked his door from the inside.

"Sorry. The door was unlocked and I didn't know you were in here! Scaring you wasn't my intention, I promise. Just came to brush my teeth," he said, holding up his toothbrush as a kind of white flag.

"Okay, but try not to sneak up on me like that anymore. And knock!"

"I will." It didn't take him very long to finish. As he went to shut his door, he turned toward Lily.

"Thanks again for helping me on that essay, Evans."

"Oh, you're welcome."

"Goodnight, Evans."

"Goodnight, Potter."

With that, he shut his door, leaving Lily to wonder about this new behavior.

He must be sick, Lily finally decided as she climbed into her bed that night.

Authors Note: So there it is. You like it? Hate it? Well...review and tell me how

I'm doing! THANKS to my WONDERFUL beta for her endless patience and putting up with me and my endless mistakes for so long. Also thanks to my inspirations (Sara and Jenn) who'll probably never read this since I tell them about it first hand anyway.