I stood outside Professor McGonagall's classroom tapping my foot impatiently, with my ear pressed up against the door, listening to her every word.

"You are Head Boy, Mr Potter, you must be more responsible than this," her stern voice reprimanded Potter and I nodded furiously even though no one could see me.

"But technically Professor, we didn't break any rules," Potter replied and I could hear the grin in his voice. "Moony'll explain it to you."

I heard a sigh and another voice started talking. "Technically, Professor, offering first years a bottle of everlasting bubble bath and pointing them in the direction of the fourth floor doesn't break any rules, and neither does cajoling Peeves into messing with the Slytherin common room."

"And the beds, Mr Lupin?" she sounded like she already knew the answer.

"The students are to stay in bed after lights out so technically the beds of all Gryffindor students flying through the corridors isn't breaking any rules."

Professor McGonagall let out a tired sigh, "Since I have too much work to do in cleaning up the mess the three of you have made, I have asked someone else to decide your punishments."

"Oh, you don't have to, Micky G," I could imagine Black leaning back on two legs of his chair with arms behind his back and feet up on her desk.

How dare he be so rude and arrogant!

I could hear Professor McGonagall rising from her chair and walking towards the door. I took a step back and stood straight, not bothering to wipe the furious expression off my face.

The door opened and she smiled as she saw me with a bag in my hand standing before her. "Ah, Miss Evans, right on time."

I nodded back at her, raised an eyebrow at Remus, and glared at the other three.

Potter spun around, Black dropped his chair back to four legs, Peter looked over from where he was leaning against the wall, and Remus offered me a half smile.

"Evans! Are you my punishment?" Potter grinned, thrusting his hand through his hair.

"Yes, Mr Potter. As Head Girl, Miss Evans has offered to decide your punishments for you," Professor McGonagall smiled and went back to her desk. "I hope you will think twice before pulling your pranks again."

"Professor, might I ask why they are being punished, if they didn't break any rules?" Remus asked, half-heartedly.

"Because, Mr Lupin, Mr Filch now has to clean the bubbles out of the carpets of the entire fourth floor, return the beds from where they are currently placed in the Great Hall to spell 'Marry me, Evans' to the Gryffindor dormitories, and I have to find a way to stop the Great Lake from leaking into the Slytherin common room. It doesn't matter whether they themselves did it or not because I still have to clean up their mess," she sighed again. "They are being punished because no one else runs around asking Miss Evans to marry them, and they were seen rolling around laughing outside the dungeons."

"Come on, Micky G," Black grinned lazily at Professor McGonagall. "We were just having a good old laugh with the Slytherins."

She levelled a stern look at him over the rim of her glasses. "You told me when I first called you in here that you had nothing to do with any of the pranks. Were you lying to me, Mr Black?"

He brushed his fingers through his hair. "That depends on how you define lying."

"I define it as not telling the truth, Mr Black. Are you telling me you define it differently?" she raised her pencil-thin eyebrows.

He nodded almost pensively, "Reclining your body in a horizontal position."

Her nose flared and she closed her eyes for a moment. "They're all yours, Miss Evans."

I nodded and glared at the boys in front of me. If looks could kill, no one would even remember these delinquents. "You are despicable! The amount of work Professor McGonagall and Mr Filch now have to do is awful. It's appalling! Especially you two!" I pointed at Potter and Black who looked at each other in mock innocence.

"So, Evans," Black smirked, ignoring what I had just said. "What's this 'punishment' we get to look forward to?"

"This is not something you should look forward to, Black," an oddly furious glee filled me as I remembered the torture I had in mind. "When all of this is over, you'll wish Professor McGonagall had been kind enough to give you over to Mr Filch."

Potter looked thoughtful for a minute and had I cared, I would have winced at the pain it must have caused. "She's right."

I frowned, did Potter just agree with me? Black and Peter rounded on him with wide eyes. "What?"

"She's right," Potter nodded. "We're in the wrong. We should have written 'Marry me, Lilyflower' instead of Evans. It just works so much better."

I rounded on Potter as the other two nodded along with him, trying to hide their grins. "Are you serious? That's all you got out of this?"

He grinned and walked towards me until we were almost touching. "What's wrong, Evans? Should I have written it in bubbles as well?"

I threw my hands up, narrowly missing him. "You're Head Boy, Potter! You have to be responsible! You can't keep pulling pranks now that you're Head Boy! You have your duties and responsibilities to think about!"

He grabbed my hands and held them to his chest. "You're right, as always, Lilyflower."

I blinked. Did Potter just agree with me again? Oh, this can't be good. "What?"

"You're right. Next time, I'll be sure to do my Head Boy duties before I pull my pranks," he placed a kiss on my knuckles but leaped away laughing when I moved to slap him.

I put my hands on my hips. How dare Potter be so careless, and ridiculous, and-and...irresponsible? And to think I was going to be lenient with his punishment.

"You're a real piece of work, Potter!" I glared at him when he interrupted me with "Thank you" but my voice only grew quieter until I was hissing. "I was thinking one month would be enough but now I think that two months are more appropriate!"

Potter grinned, "Two months with you as my punishment? What can I do to make it three?"

He slipped his hands into his pockets and leaned back on his heels. Black laughed and stood up beside him, slipping an arm around Potter's shoulders. Peter stepped onto his other side and they bumped fists.

"Do you really want to move it up to three months, Potter?" I asked, my voice cold but my stomach curled with joy. Please, say something to piss me off, Potter. Oh, this is going to be golden.

"Don't, James. Just leave it at two months," Remus warned him hopelessly.

"Now why would I do that, Moony?" Potter smirked at me lazily. "Three months with just my Lilyflower, here I come."

I peered around them to Professor McGonagall who was watching everything with crinkling laugh lines around her eyes. "May I make it three months, Professor?"

"Of course, Miss Evans but best not make it more than that; you might kill him," she replied and the three boys in front of me glanced at each other, their grins slipping a fraction as it dawned on them that this punishment probably wasn't going to be all that fun.

"What about the other two, Professor?" I inquired cryptically.

"See how they take it first."

I nodded and turned back to the troublemakers in front of me. Remus stood to the side watching with worried eyes. At least he knew what I was capable of, unlike these cocky three.

"So, Lily, what's our punishment?" the corner of Peter's lip lifted in the crooked smile that seemed to send girls swooning.

I decided to start with Potter first. "Well, Potter, given how excited you are for your punishment, I don't know how effective it will be but you'll be spending the next three months without any form of quidditch. I've removed your quidditch supplies from your room, Madam Hooch knows not to let you touch any of the school's supplies and you've been banned from all quidditch matches until after the New Year."

Potter's mouth dropped and he fumbled for words like a fish out of water.

"Close your mouth, Potter, or you'll be catching flies," I turned to Black who was watching me warily. "Black, these are for you."

I handed him the bag and he glanced into it, confused. "What's this?"

"Generic shampoo and conditioner. I figured that you would need it," I smirked and he scowled at me.

"Why would I need this rubbish when I have my perfectly good stuff in the bathroom? I wouldn't put this in my hair even if you paid me!" He looked disgusted and threw the bag back at me.

"Oh, you mean that stuff I poured down the drain? That was yours? Whoops," I smirked at the transformation of emotion on his face. He went from looking disgusted to looking like he didn't know whether to cry or throw up.

"Y-you-you...poured it down the drain?" Now he looked like he was going to throw a tantrum.

"Of course, and given that it will be another month until the next trip to Hogsmeade, you'll have to wait for more," I pushed the bag back at him with my foot.

"Don't forget, Mr Black, you and Mr Potter have detention with me that weekend," Professor McGonagall pointed her quill at him.

"Ah, so it is two months then," I smiled sweetly at him.

He gaped at me and stroked his hair. "My hair, my poor hair! You are a monster, Evans!"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you wanting to make it three months, Black?"

He turned to Professor McGonagall. "If I promise to never pull another prank, can we just call it even, and my hair won't have to live through this torture?"

She shook her head. "No."

I turned to Peter and he gulped, completely and utterly panicking. "And as for you, Peter..."

"We're good friends, right, Lily?" He looked terrified and I smiled.

"Your punishment is a month worth of Potions lessons with Mary as your tutor," it wasn't even half a punishment but I really wanted to see the two of them together.

His eyes lit up but he forced himself to look like it was the last thing he wanted to do. "Oh."

"WHAT?" Black rounded on me. "You ruin my hair and steal James' quidditch supplies but you only give him a month of tutoring lessons!"

I smiled sweetly at him. "Are you asking for a third month, Black?"

He moaned and took a step away from me. "Prongs, mate, you're in love with a monster."

"I know," as though I hadn't ensured that he would be without quidditch for three months, he was smiling at me. "She's amazing, isn't she?"

Black looked at his best friend with disgust. "You're impossible!"

"Thank you, Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall nodded at me and I nodded back before walking out of her classroom.

Why was Potter happy? He looked like he was...proud of me? I shook my head. That boy was impossible.

"Lily! Wait up!" Peter called out to me as he rushed out of Professor McGonagall's classroom.

I waited at the end of the corridor for him to catch up. "Yeah?"

He slung an arm around my shoulders and we continued walking. "Why did you do that?"

I laughed, "Because I enjoyed seeing their faces, and I really want to see you and Mary together."

He blushed furiously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Like that's going to happen. Why would she like a rat like me?"

I raised my eyebrows at him and stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Are you serious? She never stops talking about you and when she sees you, she doesn't pay attention to anything else."

He glanced at me. "Really?"

I nodded and he whooped causing me to laugh again.

"OI! WORMTAIL! What are you doing with my girl?" Potter yelled from the other end of the corridor.

"I'd better go before he kills me but thanks, Lils," he grinned and whooped once more before he scurried back to his friends.

"You're welcome, Peter," I smiled fondly at his affections for my best friend.

~o~

"Those were some punishments, Lily," Remus walked by my side as we patrolled the newly dried fourth floor later that night. "Are you going soft?"

I laughed quietly, "Whatever do you mean?"

"You set up a month of dates for Mary and Peter, and you booked yourself three months alone with James. I will admit pouring Sirius' shampoo and conditioner down the drain was pretty harsh but last year you would have handed them all over to Filch and be done with it. What's changed?" Remus glanced down at me.

"I just really want to see Mary and Peter get together. They're so adorably in love with each other that it's almost painful," I grinned and he laughed softly. "And well, with Black, I just want to see if he'll actually use other hair product than the stuff he sleeps with."

"But what about James?" he raised an eyebrow at me before checking down a corridor we were passing. "He's not going to leave you alone for those three months."

"Damn, I didn't think of that," I grimaced at the thought of having to spend more time with Potter.

He raised both eyebrows at me. "Okay, now I know you're going soft. Last year you would have thrown up against the wall if I had said that to you."

I sighed and glanced down another hallway. "He's different this year, Remus. I don't know. Sometimes he acts the exact same way he did last year and I want nothing more than to hex him into next century, but then he goes and helps a lost First Year find their way around the castle. It's like he's changed and he's not the arrogant toerag who expects me to praise the ground he walks on. He's different."

Remus bumped me with his shoulder. "He has changed, Lily, and he really wants you to like him back."

I gazed forward thoughtfully. "Yeah but he still drives me insane. There hasn't been a day this year where I haven't wanted to kill him."

"But at least he hasn't proposed yet."

I snorted, "Yet."

He chuckled, "What would he have to do to make you not want to kill him?"

I blinked and thousands of answers came to my head but none of them were entirely true. Sure I wanted him to jump off the Astronomy Tower sometimes but that didn't mean that it would make me happy. I sighed and replied softly. "I don't know, Remus, I really don't know."

"Well, it's an improvement from last year. At least this time you didn't lock me out of the Gryffindor common room and threaten to never let me in if I asked again," he rubbed his arm and I grinned ruefully.

We walked on in silence until Remus nodded to himself. "So is that the reason you took away his quidditch stuff? Because he's changing for you and you like the new him?"

I frowned at him and his odd phrasing, "I don't want anyone to feel like they have to change for me. No, I took his stuff because I'm not taking his rubbish this year and he needs to know that. Plus, I've got six years to make up for."

"Well, that's all I needed to hear," I spun around at his voice but no one was there.

"Where are you, Potter? Get out from underneath that damn cloak!" I scanned the hallway behind me – not that I expected to see him underneath an invisibility cloak.

A whoosh sounded behind me and before I knew it, Potter and Black were holding me in the air and running down the corridor. Peter and Remus ran behind us, both looking equally giddy and guilty.

"Let me go!" I squirmed in their grips but it was useless.

"Silencio," Black shot at me with a flick of his wrist. "Ah, much better."

In a matter of minutes, they had carried me outside and were heading down the slope. I started panicking because I knew exactly where they were taking me. Oh, I'm going to kill you two!

They both laughed and ran faster as I squirmed and wriggled.

As we reached the sand of the Great Lake, I undid Black's silencing charm and howled, "Let me go!"

"Are you sure?" Black laughed and did as I asked so that Potter was the only one carrying me but Potter simply adjusted his grip and ran into the water.

"Potter!" I shrieked as the cold water splashed onto us.

I clutched his neck and pulled myself up as high as I could – not that it mattered when he dove into the water with me in his arms.

I gasped as the frozen water enveloped us and I choked on the water forcing itself into my lungs. Potter rushed up to the surface, still cradling me and grinned down at me when I spluttered into the even colder night air.

He set me down beside him but we were out deep enough that the water came up to my chest but before I could kill him, something grabbed the back of my legs and launched me into the air.

I shrieked and Black grinned at me with an arm around my legs to keep me from falling from his shoulder. Potter chuckled and slid beside him so that I was sitting on both of their shoulders. I had a hand on both their heads as they laughed up at me.

"Put me down!" I growled but when they grinned evilly at each other, I wanted nothing more than to take my words back.

I groaned when they pushed me back into the freezing water. When I came back up, I found I was in deeper water and could no longer touch the bottom. I tried to paddle back in but Potter grabbed me by the waist and held me against his chest.

Remus and Peter joined us, grinning and I scowled at them. "If I get into trouble because of you four, you will all be sorry."

"Oh, lighten up, Evans. We come out here every night and we've never been caught," Black chuckled. "Besides, we needed another person."

"For what?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"For this," Potter ducked into the water, leaving me treading water but not for long as I was once again launched to the sky, sitting on Potter's shoulders.

I shrieked and held onto his head. "What are you doing?"

"All you have to do is push Wormtail off and you win, Lily," Remus called out from where he was in the shallows. "Normally it'd be me but I can't tonight."

He pointed up and I could see the waning moon. Of course, he still isn't feeling well after the full moon.

I glanced at Peter who was on Black's shoulders and sighed. I should have known that they wouldn't leave me alone after today.

Peter grinned at me. "I'm not going to go easy on you, Lily just because you're going to marry Prongs in the future. You're going to lose."

I raised an eyebrow, getting into the mood of the game. "Oh, really? You keep telling yourself that, Peter but I won't go easy on you either. Just don't cry when you lose."

Potter laughed, and I grinned. Maybe I could enjoy myself a bit while I was out here.

Black let loose a war cry and ran towards Potter. I copied Peter in holding out my arms but I ducked when he moved to push my shoulders. I grabbed his and shoved him backwards.

He fell into the water with a cry and Potter cheered, "Yeah! Go Team Potter!"

I glanced down at him. "Team Potter?"

He grinned, "Would you prefer I take your name when we get married?"

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Potter, and get ready for round two."

~o~

The five of us collapsed on the bank of the Great Lake, under the light of the moon, exhausted from our battle.

An uncontrollable urge to giggle rose in my throat as I lay there in my school robes, drenched from head to toe, I let it out. It rose and rose until I was holding my stomach from the laughter falling out.

The boys glanced at me but instead of thinking I was insane, they joined me. So we lay there until the sun began to peek over the horizon, laughing and enjoying each other's company before we reluctantly got up and sneaked inside the castle, still dripping wet. As we waved goodbye to Black, Peter and Remus, Potter slung his arm over my shoulder and we walked back to our common room. Sleep was dragging my eyes closed as we stumbled into our own rooms and I convinced myself that that was the reason I hadn't pushed his arm off my shoulders but as I reached my door I turned around.

"Goodnight, Potter," I whispered and headed to bed.

I was already fast asleep by the time my head hit the pillow so I didn't see Potter grin and whisper back, "Goodnight, Lily my love."