Eyes as Green as a Fresh Pickled Toad

Chapter Six Secrets and Love Letters

"Potato," Sirius said. "Po-ta-to. Potato! Potato potato potato potato potato! I love potatoes! If I had a potato! Boy, I'd skin that po-ta-to, and then I'd boil that po-ta-to, and then I'd chop that po-ta-to, and I'd mash that potato, and I'd salt and pepper and butter that po-ta-to, and then, boy, would I eat that potato, in all its mashed, potatoey goodness!"

"O...kay." Melody blinked at him, thinking, once more, that he had gone quite insane.

"What's with the sudden fixation on potatoes?" James asked, plopping down into a chair.

"Sudden? It's not sudden! Potatoes are my love! My life! My passion! Oh, my Potato Princess will come to me one day and then we'll ride off to Potatoland together and...well, I'll probably actually eat my Potato Princess, but as the remaining ruler of Potatoland I will treat my subjects well--"

"Before you eat them," Melody interjected.

"--yes, before I eat them, and--"

"I think that's enough potatoes, Sirius," Remus interrupted him, laughing.

"Oh, but I am not done speaking of my potatoes yet!" Sirius cried passionately, jumping up onto a chair. "First, I must speak of my love for them! Next, I must speak of their deliciousness! Then, I must show you all the glorious Potato Dance!"

Melody began giggling uncontrollably. "There's a Potato Dance?" she asked.

"Well, of COURSE there's a Potato Dance!" Sirius cried, sounding shocked. "Have you never heard of the Dance of the Potatoes? The Potato Dance? The Yam Waltz? The Spud Tango?" He jumped off of his chair and seized Melody, forcing her into a ridiculous sort of non-dance that involved a lot of jumping and spinning and arm-waving.

Outside of the Potato Dance circle, Peter edged over to Remus.

"Does a yam technically qualify as a potato?" He whispered, as quietly as he could, but somehow Sirius (no doubt with enhanced Potato Hearing) heard him.

"Of course they do!" he yelled. "They're Sweet Potatoes! You must keep your vegetables straight, Wormtail!"

"Okay, that's enough Potato Dancing!" Melody declared, wiggling away from Sirius.

"I think that's enough potatoes!" James added, smiling and shaking his head. "Back to the matter at hand."

"But the po--" Sirius began.

"The potatoes can wait!" Remus said. Sirius crossed his arms and started pouting.

"Good doggy!" Melody said, patting him on the head. For some reason they all found this hilarious, and the room turned to a state of commotion as they laughed and Sirius chased Melody around it.

Once they had calmed down enough for order (which would not fit a normal person's definition of order at all, but rather the Marauder definition of order-which involved a lot of poking, toe-stepping, hair-tugging, tongue-sticking, and many rather unnecessary invasions of personal space-and caused the room to function at a sound level normally reserved for space shuttle launches), James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter set about teaching Melody everything there was to know about being an Animagus. (Or at least, all THEY knew about being Animagi.)

Once they had successfully blown up a chamber pot, and once Melody had successfully transfigured James's foot into a fuzzy pink bunny slipper, they decided to call it quits for the day.

*    *    *

Lily Evans waited, rather impatiently, outside of the library for Mimi Ramirez, who was checking out some books for her. She looked down the hallway and saw, to her disgust, one of her least favorite people in the world--Severus Snape.

"Well, if it isn't Lily Evans," he sneered as he approached her.

"If it isn't the greasy-haired little slimeball himself," Lily said, glaring. Was she spending too much time around James?

He sneered further. "Been spending too much time around your little boyfriend, I see."

Lily felt her face flush. What, was he a mind reader? "I don't have a boyfriend," she said stiffly, preventing herself from bursting out something stupid, like: 'James is not my boyfriend!' and completely giving herself away. Not to say that she...liked...James or anything.

Snape looked at her for a moment. "Not the best liar, are we, Evans?"

Lily whipped out her wand and pointed it at him. "You had better wa-"

"Lily! Come help me with these books! They weigh a ton!" Mimi called, coming out of the library, loaded down with books, and inadvertently saving Lily from making a fool out of herself. (She was becoming good at that. [Not Mimi; Lily.])

Lily put her wand away and ignored the fact that Snape was still there, taking half of the pile of books from Mimi's arms and walking distinctly AWAY from him.

Mimi spotted Snape before following Lily, and said: "Eurgh. What's HE doing here? He shouldn't be studying, he should be washing his hair!"

Lily giggled. "He was just being his evil, slimy self. And asking me about my...ugh...boyfriend. What boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend!"

Mimi shook her head. "But you do, Lily. And I don't care if it's official or not! You and James are just...ugh. All over each other!"

"We are not!" Lily insisted, her cheeks flushing again. "Anyway, thank you for getting these books for me," she said, changing the subject so she wouldn't have to talk about James anymore.

"No problem!" Mimi said, and then giggled. "I still can't believe you got kicked out of the library!"

"I blame it all on Melody!" Lily declared, and she giggled too. "Actually, speaking of...have you seen her anywhere? I haven't talked to her in ages!"

"I have no idea. I haven't seen her since the last Potions class. Poppycock," Mimi replied, as they reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Lily followed Mimi in, and, setting her books down on a table, sighed.

"I'll have to find her," she said. "I'm worried she's conspiring with the Marauders again--if the school weren't so well-protected I swear they'd blow it up." Lily shook her head, and Mimi giggled.

"I might as well go with you," she decided. "Where Melody is, there might also be a Remus."

"Oooh," Lily said interestedly, wiggling her eyebrows.

Mimi laughed and blushed. "Hey, at least I'm not in denial!"

Lily stuck out her tongue, and was just about to suggest looking for Melody right now, when the dear girl saved her the trouble by bouncing in through the common room entrance.

"You!" Lily said, pointing a finger.

"Me!" Melody said, looking very happy about something.

"You look happy. What happened?"

"Aren't I just allowed to be happy?" Melody asked, plopping down into a bean bag chair. Lily rolled her eyes.

"What have you been doing? I haven't seen you for two days!" Lily plopped down next to her.

Melody shrugged. "I've been busy."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "With what? You're never busy. You don't do your homework until like ten minutes before class! What could you have possibly been busy with?"

"What, I'm not allowed to be busy?" Melody asked, slightly less cheerful now.

"No, but you're up to something! What are you doing this time?"

Melody rolled her eyes. "Nothing. I just told you."

"Well then have you been going on secret dates with Sirius or something? What is it?"

"What is what? Lily, I've just been busy! Why can't you accept that?" Melody asked, now most definitely not cheerful.

"Because! You are lying to me!" Lily cried angrily.

"I am not lying!" Melody hissed furiously.

"I am your best friend, I think I can tell!" Lily said testily, crossing her arms.

"Who ever proclaimed you my best friend? What, are you my conscience now or something?"

Lily felt like she had been slapped. It had just been one stupid simple question! This fight had gone way beyond what it should have. She jumped up out of the bean bag chair and ran up to her dormitory, hearing Melody's footsteps run in the opposite direction, and Mimi was left standing in the common room, very confused.

*    *    *

"...was just SO stupid, and she wouldn't leave me alone, and I know she was right, but I'm sick of her always bugging me about stuff, and don't do this, don't do that, no, not if the Marauders are involved, and blah de blah de blah de blah! God! You'd think she was my mother!" Melody fumed to Sirius, pacing around MHQ and flinging her hands in all different directions to emphasize her anger. "If she would just let it go, we--but no, of course she can't let it go, she's Miss Perfect Lily, and she can't afford to let anything go, she must obsess over it and pick it to pieces, and--"

"Melody!" Sirius yelled, interrupting her. Melody stopped abruptly and stared at him. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Calm. Down."

Melody sighed. "Calm down. Calm down. Right! I can do that! Really, I can. I...really, I can! Calm down. Whooo. I can do that."

Sirius shook his head and smiled. "Sit," he commanded, pulling out a chair. Melody, who was not in a frame of mind to argue with his orders, sat. Sirius pulled out another chair and sat across from her. He stroked his chin, mostly because he had stubble growing there, which he was very proud of.

"...and I just would like her to lay off for a while. Some days I wonder why I'm friends with her, and I know, I know--that's so mean, but really...I mean, I don't tell her one thing and she gets touchy about it!"

Sirius blinked, realizing that Melody had started talking again and he hadn't paid any attention. Damn. Way to impress the girl, Sirius, he told himself.

"Calm down again," he advised. He waited for Melody to calm herself a bit, and then spoke again. "What exactly happened?"

Melody sighed. "Lily. She got really nosy about our...this whole Animagi thing. Not that she knows we're Animagi," she added hastily, seeing the expression on Sirius's face. "Well, I mean, I know I'm not exactly one yet, but I will be!"

Sirius didn't quite know what to say. He looked around the room for a moment, considering. He wanted to be cool, but around Melody all efforts just seemed...lost. She was so pretty, and so elegant, and so...perfect. What in the world was he supposed to do?

Well, you could always be Sirius, he reminded himself. And with that, he said:

"You could always just give her a potato."

*    *    *

"You! This is all! Your! Fault!"

James Potter froze. Was that McGonagall again? But no, it couldn't be; she always used complete sentences. He turned slowly, thinking it sounded much more like...

"Lily!" he said, smiling tightly, and not meeting her eyes, because she was a lot less scary when you didn't have to look her in the eyes.

"What have you done to her?" Lily demanded.

"Who?" James asked, not quite sure he was following the conversation.

"Melody."

Oh. Her! Right. "Er...I don't know what you're talking about, Lily dear, but--"

Lily stomped her foot and interrupted him. "Don't call me 'dear'!"

James did meet her eyes now. "Well, what should I call you? My little fuzzy-wuzzy Lily-bean plant?" He asked, trying to be cute, but apparently Lily wasn't in the mood for cute, because she whipped out her wand and pointed it at his chest.

"What? Are you all keeping from me?"

"L-Lily?" James asked, looking at her wand. "What exactly were you planning to do with that?"

"I don't really know," Lily said, annoyed, "but I imagine it would involve hexing, cursing, and the loss of several limbs."

"Mine or yours?"

Lily didn't find this amusing. "Just answer my stupid question, James!"

"About Melody?" James asked, and Lily nodded slightly and continued to glare at him. Unfortunately, looking into her brilliant, beautiful, bright green eyes wasn't helping him focus on the question, so he decided to look at her nose instead. On her nose there were lots of freckles. They were very cute. Durn those cute little freckles! James averted his gaze again. No, no, no; not her lips, looking at those wouldn't do (durn those teenage hormones), and--no, he had better not look any lower than her neck. He looked up at the ceiling. It was a very boring ceiling, as far as ceilings go. Very clean.

"James, what exactly are you doing?"

"Would you believe me if I said 'looking at the ceiling'?"

"Well, that is what you're doing, but why?"

"Where else am I supposed to look?"

Lily grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "At me, please, while you're answering my question."

"Why do I have to answer your question?" James demanded. "Why can't someone else answer your question?"

"Damn it, James, because I got in a fight with Melody, and she won't tell me what's going on, and she stole Sirius so I couldn't ask him, and you're my b--" Lily cut off very suddenly, her cheeks glowing pink.

James's lips broke into a grin. "I'm your what?"

"Nothing," Lily mumbled.

"What was that, Lily?" James asked, leaning toward her and cupping his hand around his ear, like he was waiting for an actual response.

"I didn't say anything! Nothing! I said nothing!" Lily insisted, her cheeks still very pink.

"Oh, but you did! What am I, Lily?" James asked, smiling evilly.

"Hey, you wouldn't answer my question; I'm not going to answer yours!"

"But I can't answer your question!"

"Why not?"

"Can't!" James said again, straightening himself and slapping his hand over his heart. "Marauder Code of Honor."

"Uh!" Lily crossed her arms. "Aren't I sort-of a marauder? I've been to MHQ!"

"You've also tried to talk Melody out of every grand prank we've ever pulled!" James reminded her, and Lily glared.

"Now on to my question! What am I, Lily?" He asked, grinning evilly once again.

"Nothing!" Lily snapped, spots of color appearing in her cheeks.

"It's not nothing! What am I?"

"Can't tell you!"

"Can't tell me? But I'm your--oh, wait, I don't know yet, do I? Hmm..." This, as James had planned, caused Lily to blush further.

"It's the Lily-bean Plant Code of Honor!" Lily decided finally, slapping a hand over her heart lamely.

James pouted at her for a moment. "Fine."

Lily sighed, turned, and began to walk down the hallway.

"Lily-bean! Wait! Where are you going?" James followed her.

"What are you doing? You're like a lost puppy!"

"A lost puppy? But I'm a cute lost puppy, though, right?" he asked, giving her a puppy dog face.

Lily couldn't help herself. "Awww! Good doggy!" She patted him on the head. James, acting like an idiot, actually barked and tried to jump into Lily's arms. She shrieked and fell over, James landing on top of her.

"Ow." Lily groaned. "Why do you always have to act like an idiot?"

"It's just a natural talent," James replied, rolling off of her. Lily rolled her eyes at him, and accepted the hand James was offering to help her off the floor. Standing up, she stumbled, and shot forward into James's arms, her cheeks going pink once again. She straightened up and found her face very close to his.

"Classic," she whispered.

"What?" James asked, looking very intent on kissing her now. Had he made her trip on purpose or something?

"Well, this is the part in the movies where the boy and girl are supposed to kiss."

James, without worrying what a movie was for the moment, said: "Hey, works for me if it works for you!"

"Well...okay," Lily said, shrugging, but her nonchalant attitude (or, for that matter, any attitude at all) disappeared when James's lips touched hers, and she could do nothing but lose herself in another one of James's amazing kisses.

Suddenly, a very immature hooting and howling came from the end of the hallway, and Lily and James broke apart to the sight of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew acting very immature and making far too many suggestive gestures. Lily, flushed, confused, and irritated, slapped poor James across the face and dashed down the hallway.

"That's it, Lily Evans!" she heard James yell after her. "You're not coming to my birthday party!"

Lily rolled her eyes at him even as she was running, and let her legs carry her away, away, away, up into a tower somewhere, where she collapsed, gasping for breath, her head spinning from both the run and the kiss. After she had collected herself a bit, she stood up and looked out at the grounds. The tower had no ceiling, and little prevented her from falling out but a very low wall that came barely up to her thighs.

"Guess they had different standards of safety back then," she murmured to herself.

"Still lovesick, Evans?" A horrible, oily voice asked from behind her.

Lily's expression hardened, and she turned to glare at the person who belonged to the voice. "Still in desperate need of a shower, Snape?"

"You're all the same," he sneered. "You stupid Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. All so righteous, so self-confident, so sure of yourselves."

"Better than being a sniveling, obsequious weasel of a person like all you Slytherins," Lily shot back.

Snape sneered further. "You think you're so perfect," he spat. "So wonderful, so great, so untouchable. Well, we'll show you!" He hissed the last sentence at her. "We'll show you all!"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Which is why you've won the House Tournament so much lately."

"You know, there's something bigger going on out there. You think everything happens inside of Hogwarts-you stupid Ravenclaws and Gryffindors have taken over the castle like you think it's yours, like you think it's the only thing that matters. There's a bigger world, Evans, and while you're running around in here playing King of the Castle, the Slytherins will be out dominating it."

Lily crossed her arms at him. He smiled smugly and rather evilly at her before turning away and disappearing down the corridor. What in the world had he been getting at? He seemed to know something she didn't. What was it, and...why did she care? Who cared if the Slytherins all beat each other to death with broomsticks?

But the way Snape had talked...it was like he was...in...on something...something that was wrong, something that was evil. Something only a stupid Slytherin could come up with, most likely. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and forgot about it.

*    *    *

Sirius sat alone in MHQ, simply thinking. Normally, you wouldn't peg Sirius for a serious person, but underneath all of his immaturity was a young wizard who was becoming more and more worried about the emergence of a Dark Wizard in Britain.

Sirius probably worried about things more than all of his friends (including Lily) combined. He didn't sleep at night, sometimes, worrying about his friends; Remus, a werewolf; James, a lovesick, headstrong, rather insecure wizard; Peter, a shy, struggling boy; Lily, a shy, studious, witch, rather confused about James; and Melody, a gorgeous, self-confident, silly, talented, beautiful, smart, perfect...

Damn. Melody didn't have any faults, did she? She was just...perfect. He could find faults in all of his friends, but she...she...

Oh, who was he kidding? He was crazy about her; of course she seemed perfect! He sighed and put his head in his hands, and had just started an interesting train of thought when he heard the sound of tapping on the door of MHQ. He looked up and blinked. Why would someone be knocking on the wall? No one knew it was there except for the people who knew the password...

Oh well! He shrugged, and got up to open the door. In flew an owl Sirius had never seen before, bearing a small pink envelope. For a brief moment Sirius thought it might be a Howler, but as he took it from the owl he saw that it was simply pink stationery...scented pink stationery. He was intrigued.

"Smart owl," he muttered, as the owl flew back through the open door. Sirius closed it, hoping no one had been watching, and examined the envelope again. Sirius, it said, in a pretty cursive he did not quite recognize. Well, that was plain enough for him. He shrugged and tore the letter open, read its contents, dropped the letter on the floor, picked the letter up, read it again, dropped it again, picked it up again, sat in a chair, read it again, and allowed his jaw to drop open.

The letter read:

Sirius-

I am in love with you. I didn't know how to tell you, so I wrote you a letter. Actually, I'm not writing it-my best friend is. The first letter I wrote, my hand shook so badly that I spilled the ink bottle when I tried to dip my quill in..

You probably don't notice me, but I notice you. I've been in love with you for a year, and I couldn't stand being in love any longer without you knowing.

I don't want you to respond just yet-I'm too scared-but I had to let you know. I'll send another owl later, when I've gotten the courage.

Until then,

Forever yours,

Your Secret Admirer

Well.

Sirius had never had a Secret Admirer before. It was rather flattering, but...he'd rather he knew who it was. Did he know her? Was she a sixth year? Seventh year? Fifth year? Had he ever talked to her before? Was she afraid to talk to him? It wasn't like Sirius would...clobber her with a broomstick or something if she asked him out.

Maybe it was Melody.

Sirius dropped the letter again at this thought.

It almost made sense, though...after all, he'd never seen Lily's handwriting, and...who knew whose owl that was, so maybe...just maybe...

Sirius bounced happily around MHQ for several minutes, and then ran off to find Remus, or Peter, or James, or...hell, he didn't know-Professor McGonagall, even!-somebody he could present with his Love Letter.

*    *    *

"Interesting," Remus said, examining Sirius' letter with a magnifying glass. "Very interesting..."

"What?" Sirius demanded, wondering what Remus could possibly find with a magnifying glass.

"Well, according to...to this inscription here, and...this marking here..."

The Marauders leaned in closely around him, trying to see what he saw.

"Yes, by George, I've got it!" Remus said triumphantly, standing up.

"What?" James, Peter, and Sirius asked him, with wide eyes.

"You've got a secret admirer, Sirius!"

They all groaned. "That was horrible, Moony," Sirius said, snatching his letter away.

Remus laughed and plopped back down into his chair. "Well, what did you expect? A major scientific finding? DNA?"

"James, do you think this is Lily's handwriting?" Sirius asked, handing over his letter.

James frowned at the page for about a second and a half before shaking his head. "No. I don't recognize this at all."

"Damn!" Sirius said, snatching it back.

"Why? Were you hoping it was...Melody?" James teased.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Sirius replied, and James blinked.

"Well, that's the first time you've ever admitted it outright." Peter remarked.

"Admitted it? What? I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, Wormtail!" Sirius lied, inspecting the letter closely for something that obviously wasn't there.

Peter rolled his eyes. "It could still be from Melody-Lily isn't her only friend, you know."

"He speaks the truth!" Sirius cried, flinging a hand into the air and inadvertently sending his Love Letter flying.

Wormtail snatched it in midair and read it again. "What makes you think Melody would write something like this in the first place? It doesn't sound remotely like her."

"Since when are you a Melody expert?" Sirius demanded, snatching his letter back yet again. James plucked it from Sirius's hands almost immediately and scanned the letter himself.

"Wormtail does have a point, Sirius," he said. "I think Melody would hang herself with Toothflossing Stringmints before even thinking about putting a word of this junk down on paper."

Sirius, now in quite a foul mood, took his letter back for the last time and shoved it into a pocket. "And what about you, Moony?" he demanded. "Are you on the S.S.R. Dreamspoiler too?"

Remus looked at Sirius and shrugged. "Ay, ay, Cap'n...I suppose," he said lamely.

Sirius glared at all of them and stomped off to find Lily.

*    *    *

"Lily?" Mimi said cautiously, walking into the girls' dormitory, where Lily had camped herself out since lunch. She'd been in a horrible mood ever since the fight with Melody, and Mimi hadn't approached her since she'd run off to who-knows-where, probably looking for James.

Lily, hidden behind the curtains on her four-poster, didn't say anything.

"Are you okay?" she tried again.

"Of course I'm okay," Lily said coldly. "Why wouldn't I be?" she was attacking her sketchpad with a dark, thick pencil, attempting to draw a...well, she didn't really know what she was attempting to draw, but at the moment it really didn't look like much.

There was silence from the other side of the curtain for a moment, as Mimi tried to think of what to say. Several things came to mind, but none of them seemed appropriate.

"Have you been studying?" she finally asked, but the question felt very awkward.

"No." Lily said, sounding agitated. She didn't seem much in the mood for small talk---or, for that matter, any kind of talk.

"You sound...angry," Mimi tried.

"I'm fine," Lily insisted, not sounding so at all.

"Did you find James?"

"Who said I was looking for him?"

"No one. I just..."

"Damn it, Mimi, what do you want?" Lily demanded, finally exploding. She pulled back the curtain on her bed and glared at Mimi, who looked like she'd been slapped.

"Want? Lily, I don't want anything! I'm trying to make sure you're okay!"

"I'm fine! I already told you, so give it up!" Lily yelled.

"Why are you yelling at me? What did I do?" Mimi screamed back.

"Why can't anyone just LEAVE ME ALONE?"

"FINE! If that's what you want, I'll leave you alone-FOREVER!"

Mimi stormed out of the dormitory, slamming the door violently behind her and causing a vase of flowers to crash to the floor.

Lily just pulled her curtain shut again and returned to her drawing.

*    *    *

Sirius was tooling around the Ravenclaw entrance, wondering how to get to Lily, when someone shot out from it and smacked squarely into him.

"Ow!" They both exclaimed. Sirius stumbled back, shaking his head; trying to make his eyes focus. When they did, they were trained on a very pretty girl with short, wavy brown hair and large brown eyes, who was rubbing her forehead.

"Ow," she said again. "Sorry!" she looked apologetically at Sirius, who smiled.

"Hey..." he said, after a moment. "Don't I know you?"

"Vaguely," she said. "I know Lily Evans, who likes James, who's your friend."

"Oh!" Sirius said. "And you know Remus, too, right?" She nodded. "And your name is...?"

"Mimi," she said. "Ramirez," she added, after a moment of thought.

"And I'm Siri--"

"Sirius Black," Mimi finished for him. "Yes, I know."

"Ah! A fan!" Sirius cried, clapping both hands over his heart. Mimi giggled.

"Don't give yourself too much credit," she said, crossing her arms.

Sirius's mouth dropped open. "How rude! Are all fans this insulting?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Well, un-knowing fan, do you know where Lily is?"

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Up in the girls' dormitory, being pissed. Why?"

"Hmm. Well, that stinks."

"Hello?" Mimi waved a hand in front of Sirius's face. "Care to answer my question?"

"Not really..."

"Uh!"

Sirius smiled. "Well, I have to go! Bye!"

Mimi glared at him as he disappeared down the hallway.

*    *    *

Lily, after many hours of scribbling on her paper and fuming, had finally calmed down enough so that her eyes would focus. She looked down at her drawing, and allowed her mouth to fall open in indignation.

On the paper was a drawing of herself, but with bean plants growing out of her head. She ripped the page out of her notebook and left the girls' dormitory.

*    *    *

James was in the library, actually attempting to study, when a brown school owl flew in, looking rather agitated. It rather rudely dropped a letter on James's head and flew off. James, curious, abandoned his Potions notes and opened the letter.

It was a drawing of Lily, with bean plants coming out of her head. James burst into laughter, which quickly subsided with a sharp glare from Madam Pince, and he looked at the writing scrawled under the drawing:

Look at what you made me do!

*    *    *

Melody was in MHQ, trying to figure out what to do about Lily, when Remus came in.

"Sorry, were you...er...studying?"

Melody laughed. "Very funny, Moony. Me? Study?"

Remus smiled and shrugged. "So, when are you going to patch things up with Lily?"

Melody rolled her eyes. "Don't talk to me about her! I'm not planning on patching things up."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I don't know! My partner-in-crime disappeared. I've been waiting for him, but...well, he's obviously not here. Do you know where he is? Wait, don't answer that. He's probably just off chasing some stupid girl." Melody shook her head and crossed her arms, feeling a twinge of jealousy in her stomach. "Whore," she muttered.

Remus, who had been silently containing his laughter, finally burst, and fell to the floor in hysterics.

"Uh! And what, exactly, is so funny?"

"Sirius-Sirius-" Remus gasped, in between laughs. "He's-you-whore-he's looking-whore--!" then he exploded in a fit of laughter again and couldn't speak. Melody smiled, shook her head, and waited for Remus to calm down.

"So..." Melody said, once Remus had managed to contain his laughter. "You said Sirius was looking for something?"

Remus grinned evilly. "Melody dear..." he said, and Melody raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, Moony dear?"

"You haven't been commissioning any of your friends to write mysterious love letters to Sirius lately, have you?"

"SIRIUS HAS A LOVE LETTER?" Remus nodded, still smiling evilly. "AND HE THINKS IT'S FROM ME?" Melody demanded, her eyes as wide as saucers. Remus nodded, widening his evil smile.

"This is good news!" Melody exclaimed. She, too, got an evil grin on her face. "This is very good news."

*    *    *

Lily looked up from her Potions book and at the window, where she expected to see an owl. Instead, she saw the grinning face of James Potter.

"What are you doing?" Lily exclaimed, opening the window.

"Coming to say hi to my Lily-bean plant, of course!" James said. Lily giggled.

"Enjoyed my drawing, did you?"

"Immensely!" He grinned devilishly at her. "Hop on," he said, motioning to his broom.

"From this window? Are you joking?"

"What, you don't trust me?" James asked, mocking hurt. "Come on, Lily, where's your spirit!"

Lily grinned and slid out of the window, landing herself safely on the back of James's broom. She was, after all, only sixteen.

"Woo-hoo!" James yelled, and took off.

"Aaa-AAH!" Lily screamed, and clutched James around the waist for dear life. "DON'T DO THAT!" James laughed but slowed down. They spiraled up to the roof of Hogwarts, to the same place James had found Lily last year.

"What's the occasion?" Lily asked, dismounting the broom.

"You've been stuck in your room for the last few hours. I had to cheer you up," James said, shrugging. He pulled a rolled up, bulging napkin out of his pocket. "I nabbed some food for you," he said, offering the bundle to her. Lily raised an eyebrow and smiled, accepting the package.

"Is James Potter actually being thoughtful?"

"Are you implying that I'm inconsiderate?" James demanded, seizing Lily by the waist and dangling her feet over the side of the school.

"Aaah! James!" Lily yelled, only half frightened. James smiled and pulled her close, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Jerk," Lily muttered, but she was smiling.

"Jerk, eh?" James started to pick her up again, but Lily shrieked and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly in protest. "Ah, the lady can't resist me!" he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Lily rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder.

"In your dreams, Potter." She looked up at him, suddenly feeling very small and very safe. She traced the line of his jaw with her finger, memorizing the look and feel of his face. She kissed his chin, his nose, his cheek. James, growing impatient, caught her lips with his, and proceeded to kiss her until Lily no longer had control over her body, until all she could think about was James, and how right it felt when he kissed her, and how dizzy she got when she kissed him back. But then another thought wormed its way into her head, and she gasped, breaking the kiss.

A year ago, she had sat on this rooftop yearning for love. As she looked into James's sweet brown eyes, she wondered...had she found it?

*    *    *

Wendy Thompson couldn't concentrate on her Arithmancy homework. There was something much more pressing to think about. Linda Sharp, her best friend, sighed, and nudged her.

"Come on, Wendy, this paper is due tomorrow! I really need your help!" Wendy sighed as well.

"I can't concentrate, Lin! Not now!"

"I knew I never should have helped you write that letter." Wendy glared at her.

"Well, you fall in love with someone, then, and see how well you can concentrate on Arithmancy!"

"Please, Wendy, like I need to fall in love to get distracted from Arithmancy." Lin rolled her eyes.

They were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, in the two chairs nearest the fireplace. Wendy's chair was strategically positioned so she could glance over at Sirius Black and her friends with out being conspicuous. This would have worked well, had she only been glancing, but she was constantly staring instead of glancing, and positively drooling all over the very cute sixth year.

"Wendy! Hello!" Lin waved a hand in front of her friend's face. Wendy blinked and looked back down at her Arithmancy paper. "Do you want to go to the library?" Wendy glanced back at Sirius.

"Not really!" Lin sighed, exasperated.

"Wendy, please!"

"Okay, okay!" Wendy snapped, frowning. Lin, with Wendy's help, actually managed to get a few more sentences written before Wendy started drifting off to Sirius-land again.

"Wendy!" Lin yelled, annoyed.

"Not so loud, Lin!" Wendy said, spots of color appearing in her cheeks as several students turned their heads to look.

"Well, you're doing it again!"

"I know," Wendy moaned. "What am I going to do?"

Lin sighed. "Forget about him, Wendy! Please!"

"But Lin, I..."

"He's a sixth year, Wendy! Face it! You're never going to get him! That alone would be reason enough to give up. You're only a third year, remember?"

"I remember!"

"And besides all that...he's Sirius Black. There are seventh year girls who probably wouldn't stand a chance with him."

"That's not very encouraging!" Wendy huffed.

Lin shook her head. She didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings, but...Sirius was just way out of her league. And it wasn't love! It was just a silly crush! She didn't voice her opinions, though. She just kept wishing, over and over, that she had never agreed to write her friend's love letter to Sirius Black.

*    *    *

Melody, at the next Marauder meeting, tried to embarrass Sirius as much as possible. She'd asked Remus to remember everything he could about the contents of the love letter, and was now using all the information she possessed against Sirius, trying to deceive him into thinking that it really was she who had written the love letter, while simultaneously trying to draw him into confessing his feelings for her.

All was going well until Melody's Loathed Enemy Number 2 burst in the doorway (Loathed Enemy Number 1 being Snape). It was Lily, dragging Rita Skeeter with her.

"Look who I found eavesdropping!" she said triumphantly.

"Sirius, Melody, take her hostage!" James commanded, then he went over to be mushy with Lily for a moment.

"Lily, you're turning into a Marauder!" James cooed, and Melody nearly barfed. She gagged silently, for the benefit of Remus and Sirius, who laughed. Pettigrew laughed too, of course, but Melody didn't pay him too much mind. She still disliked Pettigrew, but they had gotten to a point where they could at least stand being in the same room with one another.

Once Melody and Sirius had successfully bound Rita Skeeter to a chair with magic, they began The Interrogation.

"You are in strict violation of Code 10234," Pettigrew stated. "And you must now be punished and interrogated!"

Rita Skeeter looked slightly alarmed.

"First, the punishment!" Sirius said, almost sounding delighted. "You must have pink gumdrops raining down on your head throughout the interrogation!"

Rita Skeeter looked slightly confused.

"A-hem!" James cleared his throat. "The sort-of honorable Judge Moody presiding!" he announced. "This case is now called to order! Will the ladies please act as a jury!" Melody and Lily glared at each other. "Or...not. Sirius, will you please allow the pink gumdrops to act as the jury?" Sirius, who now had pink gumdrops flowing freely out of his wand, nodded.

Rita Skeeter rolled her eyes.

*    *    *

The Interrogation didn't last long. The Marauders discovered that Rita Skeeter had been eavesdropping on their meetings, with the help of a Wall-Thinning Charm, and decided on a course of action-to turn her into a donkey and let her roam the halls for a few hours. (They also performed a Memory Charm so she wouldn't remember that the Maruaders were all unregistered Animagi.)

This, of course, earned James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Melody a handful of detentions each, as they all proudly claimed fault for it, and a strict talking-to from Professor McGonagall, who warned them that if they ever used any Transfiguration on a fellow student ever again, the five of them would be expelled, and that ended the Marauder's grand campaign of turning people into donkeys.

*    *    *

Meanwhile, Lily was still keeping up a lively war with both Mimi and Melody. Nothing had really happened except for a lot of glaring, but Melody, begin Melody, decided to change this.

On Tuesday morning, Lily awoke, with a shock, to find that her entire body, skin, hair, teeth, tongue, and all, had been turned blue.

*    *    *