"The first thing you need to do to make James Potter fall madly in love with you is be Lily Evans."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Will you be serious?"

"I am always Sirius, darling," he answered grinning at her in the firelight.

"Oh for bloody hell's sake," Lily groaned and stood up, but Sirius caught her wrist and tried at tugging her back to the floor of the Gryffindor Common Room, where they'd convened before the fire after everyone else had gone to sleep. "Stop that," Lily commanded, "If you aren't going to take this seriously — do not make the joke, no bad dog, shut your mouth — then there's absolutely no point to losing the sleep!"

Sirius sat quietly until she was finished and then, "Alright will you shut it? You're the one assuming me telling you to be Lily Evans is a joke."

"Because I am Lily Evans," she said.

"Are you, love? I had no idea!" Sirius grinned and laughed as Lily turned to walk away, pulling so hard she managed to drag him a couple steps in that direction. "OKAYYYY! Listennnn!" He urged, "You've been acting differently toward him lately. We all have. But if you want his attention, you've got to act like yourself. You've got to act like Lily Evans if you were the Lily Evans that was dating James Potter. Minus all the dirty stuff."

Lily hesitated. She turned about and sat back down across from him bu the fire again. "Alright. Go on, then."

"You've got to touch his arm when you laugh at his jokes and bat those pretty green eyes of yours like you can't believe your fucking eyes at how handsome that fucker is. You've got to swoon."

"Lily Evans does not swoon."

"Oh yes she does," Sirius argued. "I've seen you watch him climb off his broomstick on the pitch, when his hair's all gloriously messy and there's a glistening sheen of sweat on his brow... and his quidditch robes are just tight enough to see his physique..."

"I'm sorry, do you want to date James Potter?" Lily interrupted him, "Because your gay is showing."

Sirius grinned. "I already do date him."

"Right. Tuesdays and Bank Holidays," she said, "I forgot."

"Well, mark your calendar for the future, we don't need us having conflicting dinner plans."

Lily stared at Sirius, then, "How can you be so flippant about this? How is it so easy for you? Falling in love?"

"Easy?" Sirius snorted. "Evans, it took me over a year to even consider being brave enough to try."

"True. I forgot about that. You coward. Transferring you to Hufflepuff as we speak."

"Don't you bloody dare."

Lily smirked. "I've a feeling that lies outside of my powers as prefect."

"Who knew there were limits?" Sirius smirked.

Lily stuck out her tongue.

Sirius leaned back against the couch, stretching his legs out before him so that his stocking-covered toes were warmed by the fire. He crossed his arms up behind his head and stared into the flames, the flickering glow pooling around them. Lily mimicked him, smirking as she felt him glance over at her in amusement as she slouched, trying to make her legs appear as long as his.

"What's the next step?" Lily asked, "Besides being myself?"

"Stop denying it when other people accuse you of liking him," Sirius said.

Lily flushed.

"I'm serious," he said.

"You always are," she filled in.

He grinned, "Good girl."

"I try."

"My point is that it gets back to him when you do that, you know. He thinks you don't like him like that, so why add to the rumour of it?" Sirius nudged her shoulder. "We all know already anyway. Everyone but James himself has known for a bloody long time, Lilith Marie."

"Not my name, Sirius Oppenheimer."

"Lilian Katherine."

"Sirius Oregano."

He grinned. "Oregano. Original."

Lily's eyes twinkled. Then she sighed, "Bloody hell, why can't it be as easy to talk to him as it is to talk to you?"

"Isn't it, though?" Sirius asked.

Lily shook her head and, uncomfortable, she sat up and hugged her knees. "It's not at all the same thing. I talk to you and it's easy, it's like you're the same as talking to Frank or Remus or Ali or Marlene MacKinnon. Even our professors are easier to talk to most of the time - McGonagall, Urquart, Flitwick... even Slughorn."

"Bloody hell. Why would you ever talk to Slughorn for?" Sirius asked.

"He's actually a very nice person, if you give him a chance," Lily said. "Mostly, anyway. Bit selfish, and a total peacock, but --"

"Sorry, did you just call him a cock?"

"SIRIUS!" Lily pushed Sirius's shoulder and tipped him over, laughing, "You're filthy." He was laughing far too hard to stop and she pushed him again even as he sat up. "And no I did not - I called him a peacock. As in he's very proud and arrogant." Lily shook her head.

Sirius righted himself, still laughing. "So, what's different when you talk to Prongs, then?"

Lily hesitated. "Well. It's like I can't breathe right and that makes me sort of dizzy and then I don't really think straight and I say things that are just ridiculous, or else I say whatever rubbish thing crosses my mind and I very much hate that my disposition is preset to being mean to James Potter, but it seems as though it often is. I don't particularly mean to be nasty to him, but it's like my mouth just takes over, like the stupidest part of me imperiuses the intelligent part and I just -- say -- the -- stupidest -- things." Lily shook her hands to emphasize her words.

Sirius nodded, "Sounds about right, that does."

"Sounds about right?" Lily raised an eyebrow, "What sort of response is that?"

"The sort that comes from a bloke who's been there and done that." Sirius put his arm around Lily's shoulders. "You're not the first who's said stupid, rubbish things to a boy you like."

Lily said, "What stupid, rubbish things did you say to Remus?"

"Oh loads," Sirius said, nodding. "LOADS AND LOADS AND LOADS, Evans. Once I told him he was the least gay bloke I knew. And it turned out he's the most gay bloke I knew. Aside from myself, of course."

"Of course."

"You ought to practice."

"Practice?"

"Sure. Practice makes perfect, doesn't it?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "You're ridiculous."

"Me?" he snorted. "I'm not the ridiculous one. Trust me. I've heard far more ridiculous things than practicing talking."

"Like what? What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?"

Sirius thought about it.

"See? You can't even think of a single thing," Lily said, laughing.

Then Sirius grinned, and it seemed he was changing the subject. "I'm not going to lie, Evans, I'm rather looking forward to James stopping being an idiot and realizing you like him."

"Yeah?" Lily asked.

Sirius nodded. "Perhaps the doe dreams will stop."

"Doe dreams?"

Sirius froze, realizing he didn't really want to tell her about it. He chuckled. "Uhh."

"What?" Lily asked, "What is it? What doe dreams?"

Sirius removed his arm from about her, rubbing the back of his neck a bit nervously. "Well, alright. Don't laugh or mention this to Potter, alright?"

"Alright..." Lily's voice was hesitant.

"Alright - well, last month, James and I were out on the little beach where we go, you know, and we were mucking about in our animagus forms and there was this... this doe."

"A doe? Like a real doe?"

"Yeah," Sirius nodded.

"Okay." Lily paused, unsure she wanted to know where this was going. "Go on."

"I mean it's just that he was in his stag form and I suppose stags are drawn to does naturally, and it was some chemical... reaction..."

"Sirius."

"What?"

"Does this end in a way that I don't really want to know?"

"Bloody hell, Evans!" Sirius exclaimed, "Now who's the filthy one? No. James did not do it with a doe. You happy?"

Lily nodded vigorously.

"Just that he's had some rather alluring dreams about the doe since is all," Sirius said. "But he's really confused and muddled about them and he knows it isn't really like that, you know, he's reckoning that his stag form is come of age is all, same as he has, and there's certain... stagly hormones happening is all."

Lily repeated, "Stagly hormones."

"Yes," Sirius said. "Stagly hormones." Sirius wiggled his toes. "I mean, it makes sense. If you think on it."

"None of it makes sense if you really think on it," Lily laughed.

Sirius grinned, "Well."

Lily asked, "Any other advice for me, then?"

Sirius shrugged, "Just don't get discouraged."

"Discouraged?"

"Yeah. If he doesn't respond right off? It isn't because he doesn't like you. I know he does, Evans. It's just that it's been six years, nearly seven now, hasn't it? And he's been waiting nearly all that time and there's been loads of ups and downs and twists and turns and rubbish... and he's been through quite a lot already. I think his heart's a bit closed up at the moment."

Lily nodded.

Sirius said, "I reckon, Lily Evans, that you'll have to love enough for the both of you for a time."

Lily let this sink in for some time, and they both sat, staring into the flames.

There was a creak of a door up the top of the stairwell and a voice called out, "Sirius?"

It was James.

Lily looked at Sirius and quickly stood up, nodded at him, and bolted for the stairway to the girls' dormitory on the opposite side of the common room, trying to run as quickly as possible. Sirius cleared his throat to cover the sound of her footsteps, and, as she ascended the steps, he called out, "Oi? Prongsie?"

James's form appeared at the top of the boys' dormitory steps at the exact moment that Lily's nightgown disappeared 'round the corner of the girls'. "What're you doing down here all by yourself?"

"Just contemplating life, mate," Sirius replied.

James pushed his glasses up his nose. "Yeah?"

Sirius nodded, "It's a funny thing, Potter."

"Life is?"

"Life is!" Sirius replied, and he got up, walking over to the steps and putting his arm about James's shoulders, redirecting him back up the stairs, "It's a bloody funny thing."

"Are you high, then?" James asked.

Sirius chuckled, "Not a bit."

The boys turned and climbed the stairs, disappearing in the Marauders' dormitory. Lily, who had stood just around the corner, listening to see what they'd say, sighed, and ducked down the corridor to her own dormitory, tip-toeing past the other doors. She let herself in and closed the door, disappointed Sirius hadn't sat there chatting with James some once he'd come down.

In her bedroom, Lily stood staring in the mirror, braiding her hair before getting into bed. She stared into her bright green eyes and she practiced very hard at imagining she was talking to James Potter in the hopes that she might actually be able to talk to him without the stupid rubbish coming out.