That Thing You Do

Chapter 1: Just Friends

Life, it ain't easy
It's so tough
It ain't easy
Put a smile on your face
Make the world a better place
Put a smile on your face
Put a smile on your face
Make the world a better place
Put a smile on your face

(Smile by Vitamin C)

"Lily! Wake up! We're going to be late!" Arabella Figg shouted, grasping her fingers around her best friend's shoulders at an attempt to wake her up. It worked.

"Bella! What the hell do you want?" Lily Evans sat partially up, squinting in the dim light, "I was having a great dream, y'know! And now you've just gone and ruined it!"

"Well, sor-ree, Princess Lily, but if you don't get your arse out of bed right now, several bad things will occur!"

"Like what, may I ask?"

"Well, for one thing, you'll miss Transfiguration, and you know Professor McGonagall absolutely hates it when we're late! You know, for a teacher so young, she sure is strict!"

"I believe you said the words 'several' and 'things', so I assume there's more?"

"Of course there's more! Have you ever known me to not give a detailed answer in every question that comes my way?"

"Good point."

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-"

"You paused! I assumed that was permission to speak!"

"You assume a lot, you know that?"

"Thank you."

"You're not very welcome! Anyway, if you don't get out of bed, I'll have to go downstairs by myself, to the Great Hall, where, with my luck, I'll end up sitting right next to Sirius Black, and oh, I'll feel his wrath! And then I'll be very angry, and come up here and yell and scream at you for putting me through that alone! Would you really want that?"

"Would it mean you would leave me alone until that moment?"

"Well, that's nice!"

"I'm just kidding, Bella! I'll get out of bed now!" And with that, Lily hopped out of bed, and strolled into the bathroom humming happily.

Arabella sighed and shook her head. Her best friend was crazy. While she was waiting for Lily, Bella got hers and Lily's book bags, and double-checked to make sure both had quills, ink, and enough parchment to last the day, as well as their set books. Bella was the kind of person who liked to be ready for anything that came her way. She wasn't much for surprises.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened, and Lily came out, looking refreshed and pretty as usual. She spun around, smiling, "Well?"

"Very well, thank you," Bella teased.

Lily rolled her eyes, "You're such a stickler for wording, aren't you?"

Bella mock-gasped, "You've figured me out!"

"Ha ha."

"I thought it was funny, too!"

"So I look good then?"

"Absolutely ravishing!"

"Well, that's good," Lily replied, smiling. She then grabbed her bag from Bella's hands, and together they strolled down to the common room, and out the portrait hole.

When they got to the Great Hall for breakfast, it was full, and so they sat down in two of the only available seats in the whole of Gryffindor table.

"How are you fine ladies doing this morning?" Sirius Black asked, as Bella slid into the seat beside him.

Bella rolled her forget-me-not blue eyes, and Lily answered, smiling, "We're fine Sirius, and how are you boys doing?" She was referring to Sirius' best friends, Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, otherwise known as the Marauders. They dedicated their five years so far at Hogwarts to pulling pranks, terrorizing other students, and, well, marauding. Despite their...finer points, several girls had secret and not-so-secret crushes on them.

Lily herself didn't find them that great, though they were nice enough. To say the least, her and Arabella didn't know them very well, despite the fact that the quartet were in most of their classes.

The ever-polite Remus Lupin answered, "I'm fine, Lily," He paused, looking around at the rest of the boys, "I don't know about these ones though, they seems a bit..." He drifted off, and before his friends looked at him, he lifted his index finger to his head, and circled it around his ear, while mouthing the word 'Crazy'.

James seemed to know what Remus was implying though, and retorted, "Hey! At least we don't have an uncanny obsession with breakfast!" The girls laughed appreciatively.

"Are you trying to say I'm crazy??" Remus looked shocked, "Just because I happen to like breakfast and believe it to be one of the greatest things ever invented, does NOT mean in the slightest way imaginable that I, Remus Lupin, am crazy!"

"Remus Jonas Lupin," Sirius snorted.

"HEY!"

"Your middle name is Jonas, Remus?" Lily smiled teasingly.

"I like my middle name, thank you very much!" Remus replied indignantly.

"I never said I didn't!" Lily smiled innocently.

"You're crazy, the lot of you!" Bella announced.

"Well, if we're crazy," Peter stated matter-of-factly, "then you're...why, you're insane!"

Bella stared at Peter, blinking a few times, "Good, Peter! Now tell me something I don't know! Lily's been telling me that one for years!" James, Remus, and Sirius laughed heartily.

"Which reminds me," Lily declared, "Is everyone going to the match on Saturday?"

"Gryffindor versus Slytherin? Who isn't going to that? It'll be one for the ages!" Sirius exclaimed.

Bella looked at Lily, "How did our conversation remind you of Quidditch??"

Lily shook her head, and the boys continued the conversation, on the topic of Quidditch. Lily soon got bored with the chatter, and her mind drifted to her family back home, in Surrey.

Her mother was a nurse, so whenever Lily or her sister had ever gotten hurt, she had been able to calm them as well as make the pain go away. Mrs. Evans was a former ballet dancer as well, and insisted both of her daughters take it up, where Lily got her grace. She also had a thing for flowers, like her sisters (Lily's aunts), and all four had named each of their daughters (Lily's grandfather had had four daughters, and they had each had two sisters) by a flower or some sort of plant. There was of course, Lily, and her rather horrid horse-faced sister Petunia. And then there were Lily's cousins, Daisy and Daffodil, Rose and Marigold, and Clover and Rose. All were around Lily's age, fifteen, and all of them were particularly close, as their mothers had been.

Mr. Evans was a reporter for a local newspaper, and was often telling Lily how to "get the dirt" on a story. Despite this, Lily rarely gossiped.

And then there was Petunia. Lily knew Petunia could be a good sister, because she had been in the past. Before Lily had gotten her letter to Hogwarts, they had been quite close, just as all her cousins were. But something had changed that night, when an owl had flown in during dinner, turning the family's world upside down. Petunia's total attitude towards Lily had changed, especially after their parents' thrilled reactions. Lily completely wished things could be the way they used to be...

Lily's thoughts were broken into by a voice.

"Lily? You there? Earth to Lily!" It was Remus, "Sirius, I told you you were getting boring! You had to go on about how the soil the Wigtown Wanderers used was different from the type that the Appleby Arrows used, didn't you??"

"Well, I'm sorry! I didn't think it was boring!" Sirius replied indignantly.

Lily lifted her head from her hand. Her wrist ached from the amount of time it had been in that bent position, "Sorry guys. I just zoned out there for a sec."

"I'm used to it," Bella stated, taking a bite out of her toast. She got crumbs all in her light brown hair, which James so kindly pointed out, "Ah, it happens all the time! There we go! Are they all out?"

James laughed lightly, "Not quite. Here, let me," He brushed his hands through her hair, knocking the crumbs out of the strands. His hand touched her neck, and Bella looked into his eyes. James stared back. The two were like this for a moment or two, before-

"Ahem! Would you two please snap out of it??" Sirius asked bluntly, "You're ruining the mood!" He nibbled daintily on his croissant.

Bella blushed, and James' cheeks tinged pink, but he tried to recover by saying, "Sirius! You are such a girl!"

Three voices exclaimed, "Hey!" for different reasons. Sirius was offended because James had just called him a girl, and Lily and Bella because they were angry that James had implied that they were like Sirius.

James ducked behind Remus, "Sorry! Breakfast boy here made me do it!"

Remus suddenly seemed to notice that they were conversing, "What did I make you do now, James?" They all laughed.

"Never mind, Remus!" James smiled his trademark lopsided-grin. Lily couldn't be sure, but Arabella seemed to be staring at him.

Remus shrugged, and hastily finished his marmalade on toast, as breakfast was just ending.

"What do we have first?" Peter asked nobody in particular. Lily fished for her timetable from her purse.

"Uh...Defense Against the Dark Arts," she responded, then folding the schedule back into its original shape, and placing it back in her bag.

"Sounds good. Shall we go then?" Remus questioned. The group of six nodded, and then headed towards their classroom.

A few minutes into class, Lily was taking notes when a piece of paper floated near her. She stopped writing, and stared at it, before looking up at Bella, whose wand was pointed at the parchment. Sighing, Lily reached for the note, for that's what it was, and opened it.

Lils-

Ugh, this class is so boring! Anyway, about breakfast- d'you reckon J. likes me? I think he's pretty cute. Very nice. Funny. Polite...Cute! Or did I mention that already? So what should I do?

-Bella

Lily had to laugh. Bella almost never fretted about boys. She must really like James. Lily laughed a bit too loud, because the Defense professor, Professor Samuelson, turned around, and cleared his throat, "Miss Evans! Is there anything particularly amusing that you would like to share with the rest of the class?"

Knowing Bella would kill her if James or any of his friends found out what was in the note, Lily shook her head quickly, "No Professor, of course not." With a nod from the professor and a sharp look as a warning, Professor Samuelson turned back to the board, explaining about a spell to cover footprints in case you were being followed.

Bella smiled at her, relieved that the note hadn't been found. Lily quickly scrawled back in her neat, tiny writing, underneath Bella's message:

Bella-

You really like James? I think you guys would be great together! If you want, I could subtly talk to him or Remus or someone for you. Casually, of course. Whaddya think?

-Lily

PS- Don't write back, just tell me after class or give me a nod or something! Professor Samuelson might get suspicious again!

Lily floated the note back to Bella, using her wand, before the professor could turn around again. She then quickly copied down what Professor Samuelson had written on the board. After all, they would be taking their O.W.Ls this year, and she didn't very well want to fail! However, she did look up in time to see Bella smile and give her an eager nod. Lily smiled back, before returning to her work.

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