James and Lily potter: Fourth Year

Chapter 1: Fourth year

A/N Welcome to the fourth year of James and Lily! I hope you enjoy reading this!!

"Now, Lily, you know we made that truce," said James, pouting, as he dragged his trunk onto the Hogwarts Express.

"So?" Lily heaved her trunk up and started to drag it across compartments, looking for an empty one.

"So, we're supposed to be at least on civil speaking terms," explained James slowly.

"What's your point, Pot—James?" Lily still found it a bit difficult to call James by his given name.

"You're not exactly acting 'civil' to me here, Lily."

"I'm not? I'm calling you by your first name, and I'm not throwing hexes at you. What more do you want?"

"Oh, but we shared such tender moments for the last few weeks. So...perhaps friends?"

"In your dreams, Potter."

"There you go again!" cried James. "I'm James, not Potter."

"Whatever. Now, where is Bella? She's gone off with Sirius to snog, no doubt. Maybe one day they can actually kiss normally, not snog passionately, touching each other at inappropriate places." Lily shuddered.

"Oh, but aren't us boys' perverts, Lily?" teased James, grinning. "You said so yourself yesterday, when Sirius suggested to Bella that they should get some time alone in the same room."

"Well, Mum was definitely going to faint when she heard that," said Lily, chuckling. "Went completely white and fled to her room. Petunia wasn't so—er—calm about it either."

"Considering that she jumped up and started calling us idiots, morons, freaks, and perverted people who only think of the 's' word."

"It's sad, isn't it?" Lily sighed. "Well, we'd better find a compartment soon, or else—"

She stopped immediately, staring across at the people sitting in the compartment that they were currently in. James squinted and saw that it was Remus laughing and joking with an unknown girl. The girl kissed him and smiled happily, but they both froze at the sight of Lily and James staring at them.

"Lily, James, it isn't what it looks like," begged Remus, his eyes wide.

Lily snapped out of her trance. "You know, Remus, I thought you were the decent sort, but I thought wrong. How can you do this to Jennifer? I thought she meant a lot to you, considering how much you guys cuddled over the summer. You guys were just snogging this morning at breakfast."

"I—"

"Remus, you're cheating on Jennifer for—her?" James looked at the girl next to him in disgust.

The girl jumped, looking frightened. "I—I didn't know Remus had a g-girlfriend," she stuttered. Her pale fingers twisted loose strands of curls on her forehead, and her dark grey eyes were wide. "Really—honestly—"

Lily's eyes softened. "All right, we won't tell Jennifer, but you'd better have a good excuse for her, Remus, since she's probably wondering where you are right now."

Remus glanced at the girl and sighed. "Listen, Tara, I'll see you later, all right? I'm going to go find my friends."

"And girlfriend," added James, still scowling at the small girl. They left the compartment, leaving Tara alone.

"Whose Tara and why were you two cuddling?" asked Lily snappishly as they went in search of the rest of their friends.

"Tara's my neighbour," said Remus calmly, "and we're really good friends, soon to become cousins, since my only unmarried aunt is getting married to her widowed father."

"Well, cousins can date too, you know," said James grumpily.

Remus laughed. "We're not dating, you goof. She's going to be my cousin! Relatives don't marry each other. Besides, she's like a sister to me, since my only one died when I was nine." His eyes became cloudy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Remus!" exclaimed Lily, enveloping him in a hug. "I never knew that you had a sister, and I'm really sorry for jumping into conclusions too fast. I guess I'm just overprotective about my friends."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," mumbled James.

"Remus!" They turned around to see Jennifer running towards them anxiously. Her thick blond hair was loose all over her face, as her blue eyes scanned them. "Oh, James, Lily, where were you guys?"

The trio glanced at each other. "We were just looking for you. Remus came along after he found us pass him."

Jennifer glanced at Remus suspiciously. "And you were looking for me for this long? It doesn't take half an hour to search the train!"

"I was talking to my cousin, Tara, about Hogwarts," said Remus quickly. "She's starting her first year, you know."

"Tara Jettison? Isn't she your neighbour, Remus?"

"Well, she's going to be my cousin soon, since my aunt is marrying her father. It'll just be like having a sister again."

Jennifer bit her lip, shuddering. Remus had told her about sweet Sarah Lupin, who had been a year younger than him, and how she suddenly disappeared when he was only nine. Now five years has passed, and Remus assumed her as dead.

"I'm sorry if I reminded you about Sarah, Remus," she said quietly, kissing him on the cheek. "I was just—worried. You know me."

"Yeah," said Remus sadly, his eyes casting a faraway look. "It's all right, I just—I just loved Sarah so much before she...died."

"Remus, just let it out," said Lily softly.

"I'm not going to cry," he said hastily, rubbing his eyes and making sure there weren't any tears. "I just miss her, that's all. I'm not sad about her dying; I'm just really lonely sometimes without her company. Tara's like Sarah all over again, and it gives me a lot of comfort to feel her presence. I'm not cheating on you, Jen, like a certain redhead and black-head seemed to think."

Jennifer laughed, while Lily and James both turned equal shades of red, scowling.