A Siriusly Good Prank (Marauders/Jily/Wolfstar)

6-Prefect Duty

Lily greeted Remus with a nod at the portrait-hole. "What's our job today?"

"Patrolling the halls," Remus said. "Same as usual."

Lily nodded, and they set off, walking side by side through the hallway, passing suits of armor. One lunged out at Lily, who ducked, and Remus quickly sent it back it its place with a flick of his wand.

"Thanks." Lily straightened, tucking her red hair behind her ear.

"No problem." Remus frantically tried to think of a way to bring James up without seeming too obvious. "How's...uh...have you...finished the...essay for...um...Transfiguration?"

Lily shot him an odd look. "Yes, and so have you. We worked on it yesterday, remember?"

"Right." Remus shook his head.

"Remus, are you all right?"

"James is such a moron," Remus muttered unthinking.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Just caught on have you?"

Remus let out a snort of laughter. "Unfortunately, no. I've known that for seven years."

Lily laughed lightly, Vanishing a spilled ink bottle on the floor as they passed. "But you're stuck with him."

Remus shrugged. "It's not that bad. James...he's really a great person, once you get past the arrogance. And he calmed down with it last year."

"I know," Lily said. "He's...surprising. I used to think he was a despicable person, but he just has a peculiar sense of honor."

"That's one way of putting it."

They turned down the staircase, hopping over the trick step that vanished when stepped on.

"What do you think of him, personally?" Remus said, hoping he wasn't being too obvious. Knowing Lily had probably caught on.

As if to confirm his suspicions, Lily shot him a grin. "You want me to say I like him."

Remus cursed inwardly. Damn you, James.

Lily laughed at Remus's expression. "I know he sent you to ask me about him. Don't worry, you didn't give anything away." Her expression turned thoughtful. "He's...interesting, that's for sure. I don't necessarily dislike him."

"Would you ever give him a chance?" Remus asked.

Lily turned serious green eyes on him. "I don't know."

"You know, he'd probably leave you alone if you just gave it a shot," he added.

Lily quirked a grin. "That's precisely why I'm not sure if I want to."

............

"What did she say?"

Remus rolled his eyes. He'd barely entered the common room when James had started haranguing him and pelting him with Chocolate Frogs. Not that he'd expected anything different from his friend.

"We didn't talk about you," Remus said firmly.

"What?!?"

"Not everything's about you, mate," Sirius said. He was lounged in an armchair by the fire, hair falling casually and elegantly in his eyes. Across the room, a few girls were whispering and giggling as they watched Sirius, and Remus felt a spurt of annoyance. Sirius noticed his irritation and winked, and Remus felt his face grow hot.

"Oi," James complained through a mouthful of chocolate. "Would you two actually just kiss and be done with it?"

"James!" Remus hissed.

Sirius snorted, staring into the fire.

"Whatever." James stretched out his feet in front of the fire, running his hand through his mop of black hair. "I can't help the helpless."

"So don't." Sirius aimed a kick, which James dodged.

"How did it go with Lily, then?" James asked.

"It was fine," Remus said. "I've been doing Prefect duty with her for three years, you know."

"I know. But Lily's Lily, you know?"

"Yes," Remus said, completely deadpan, while Peter sniggered. "I am aware that Lily is Lily."

"That's not what I mean." James shook his head. "She didn't say one word about me?"

"Not one." Remus helped himself to a Chocolate Frog, setting the wizard card aside without looking at it.

"Liar," James said with satisfaction. "What did she say, Moony?"

"She didn't say anything," Remus repeated stubbornly.

James sighed dramatically. "Be that way. I'll just ask Lily."

"No, you won't," Peter said. James shot him an angry look.

"Do what you like." Remus leaned back against the armchair, examining his wizarding card. "Helga Hufflepuff."

"I'd give a Galleon just to keep her ugly mug from showing up in my Chocolate Frogs again," James mused. "What'd she do, bribe the company to put her on every card?"

"That's a positive outlook," a voice drawled. James glanced up as Lily, in jeans and an oversized red sweater, sat down with them.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Oi, Evans. You're crashing the party."

"I wanted to ask Remus something," Lily fired back, but her reddening cheeks betrayed her. "I just wanted to know if you found out who that ink bottle belonged to."

Remus squinted in confusion. "No..."

"Oh, okay." Lily made no move to get up.

"You're crashing the party," Sirius said loudly. "Just because you're in love with James—"

"She's not," James said.

Lily stared at him. Remus glared at Sirius.

"She's not in love with me," James said. "She's made it quite clear she only wants to be friends."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "And you're okay with that?"

"Of course I'm okay with it." James leaned against the wall of the fireplace. "I'd rather be just your friend than nothing at all."

Lily glanced at the ceiling. "Oh."

An awkward silence passed. Sirius kept shooting Remus glances, Peter was fidgeting, James was flipping through his Chocolate Frog cards, and Lily was inspecting a lock of her hair.

"Lily!" Marlene called. "Want to play Exploding Snap?"

Lily stood up. "Yeah, sure." She glanced down at the group. "Anyone?"

James stood up so fast he almost fell into the fire. "Yeah! Sure. I mean, if that's okay with you."

Lily snorted. "Come on, then."

The two walked off, and Sirius eyed James's stack of Chocolate Frog cards.

"Sirius," Remus groaned.

But Sirius was already replacing all of their faces with his own. "Ten points to Padfoot."