I don't know if I like this one or not, but here's the last instalment! As the title suggests, the relationship is a lot nicer now than it was in the last three.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. All rights to Harry Potter and affiliated products belong to Ms J.K. Rowling and the other proper entities.

Summary: "Listen, you cow, I don't like you." He said rather abruptly. She gave a shrug. "I know you don't. I really don't give a toss what you think of me." "Feeling's mutual."

Rating: T

Genre: Romance

Warnings: None.

Timeline: Early April, 1978. Seventh year.

Brotherly

Lily clenched her eyes shut and prayed that whoever it was would just go away. She'd pulled the drapes across the window to hide when she'd first sat down—she was sitting on the sill with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Burying her face in her knees as she stilled and the drapes settled to hide her from view, she held her breath and listened to the approaching footsteps. Hopefully whoever it was wasn't actually looking for her. She really didn't want to see people right then.

She heard the footsteps approach and cease. She could sense the person on the other side of the curtains, maybe in the middle of the room. Hopefully it was just a student looking for a quiet space to study and wouldn't pull the curtains back. She could quite happily stay there all night—a glance at her watch told her she'd been there for three hours now. She supposed the professors would start looking for her soon, since she had skipped her last two classes and dinner.

She almost breathed a sigh of relief as the footsteps seemed to head out the other way and the door closed. Until she heard the intruder speak.

"I know you're in here somewhere, Lily."

She cringed. As much as she didn't want James to find her, being found by Sirius was almost worse. Holding her breath again, she hoped he'd figure he was mistaken and go away.

"I can smell your perfume. I know you're here."

"You've got a nose like a bloody dog." She sniffed weakly, not making a move to emerge from her hiding spot.

She felt the drapes move back as Sirius pulled them back to expose her. "Nice hiding spot." He said in a conversational tone. "James reckons he's checked this corridor three times over already."

Lily winced at her (soon to be ex-) boyfriend's name. "I heard him and Remus up here before." She admitted into her knees.

"Why didn't you come out?" He asked, the sounds of something scraping along the floor catching her ears.

"Be-because," she hiccupped, "the s-sooner I come out, the soon he'll br-break up with me."

"Why do you think he'd do that?"

Lily was convinced that he was toying with her before really letting her have it. She turned her head a little to glare at him from under her curtain of hair, which was all tangled and messy from rubbing up against the rough stone wall and the curtains all afternoon—he was sitting, back to front, on one of the classroom chairs, arms crossed over the backrest and his chin resting on them. "Gee, I wonder." She bit sarcastically, a little venom making its way into her voice. "You know exactly why, Sirius. Just y-yell at me and get it over and done with."

"Yell at you for what?" His expression was open, his eyes fixed on the one bright green, bloodshot eye he could see peering at him warily through a tangled mass of ginger hair.

"For being a filthy, cheating bitch?" She pointed out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "For leading him on and messing around behind his back? For lying to him for six months? You were there today, Sirius. You saw what happened."

"So you actually cheated on him, then?" Sirius's voice was derisive, disbelieving. "C'mon, Lily, is that what you want us to think? Really?"

"Of course not!" Lily's voice rose shrilly as she finally jerked her head up to glare at him properly. "David asked me for help on his part of the group assignment in Defence—what was I supposed to do? Say no?" She ranted. "So we set up in a classroom and the next thing I know, he's telling me that he still loves me and he's got his tongue down my throat and he's pushed me up against the wall and—" her voice broke into an angry sob. "I told him to piss off, but he… he just kept kissing me, and he had my hands behind my back and he said that no one would ever find out, and, and that's when you and James walked in." She broke out into a fresh round of tears. "I didn't cheat on James. I would never cheat on James!" Her face burrowed into her knees again as her shoulders shook.

"You know what me and James saw today?" Sirius asked a moment later. Lily stilled, half in fear, half in desperation. "We saw your ex pushing you against the wall while you tried to fight him off. We knew he was attacking you, Lily." His voice had softened. "Hey," he reached out and touched a hand to her shoulder, "look at me. C'mon."

Slowly, she lifted her head to stare at him incredulously. "You have to stop believing the worst of us." Sirius half-joked. "I dunno what you thought it looked like, but we've never seen you so angry. It was pretty clear what was going on." He took his hand back and crossed his arms on the backrest once more. "James has been worried sick about you all afternoon. I had to physically drag him away from Kent before James pounded him until he couldn't walk." He suddenly grinned. "He settled for breaking his nose."

Lily sniffled. "He's not angry at me?" She wiped at the tears in her eyes, smearing the tracks of running mascara on her cheeks.

"Of course not." Sirius's tone sobered as he stood. "C'mere." He pulled her to her feet and, taking advantage of her bewilderment, wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

Lily found that she needed that hug; she wrapped her arms around him in return and buried her face in his chest. He wasn't James, but he had been a friend, since Christmastime. Until she could muster up the will to drag herself back down to Gryffindor Tower and hug James for the rest of the night, he would do.

"He loves you, you know." He murmured into her hair. "He was planning on telling you tomorrow night."

"Did he say that?" She asked in shock, blinking up at him.

He gave his trademark smirk, taking his arms away from her and wrapping one around her shoulders. "Yeah, but don't tell him I said anything. He wants it to be 'special'." He barked out a laugh. "Oh, geez, what a girl. You definitely wear the trousers in that relationship."

Lily gave a wet chuckle, wiping her tears away again and allowing him to steer her out of the classroom. "Don't tell him that."

"Promise." Sirius winked jovially at her. "So, where first? The kitchens or the Tower?"

"The Tower, I think." She sighed. "I don't think I could eat just yet anyway. I can always borrow the Cloak later."

"Rightio. Gryffindor Tower it is." He started to lead her down the corridor, his arm around her shoulder for comfort just as much as to keep her from running away.

The castle was mostly silent—most students were in their Common Rooms or were outside, taking advantage of the last light of the sunset to get a little extra leisure time before curfew. It painted the castle walls and floor orange where it spilled in from the windows, and bounced off their skin and hair. Lily fancied she saw a little halo around Sirius's head for a second, before shaking the ridiculous notion away—he was about as far from an angel as it was possible to get without being downright evil.

They reached the Fat Lady after a few minutes. Sirius dropped his arm away. "I'm gonna go find Pete. He was supposed to be searching the Library for you. James and Remus are probably in the dorm, but they might be in the Common Room." He told her.

She watched him turn and take a few steps away. "Hey, Sirius?" She called out.

He paused, turning back. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He gave an uncharacteristically soft smile and came back to her, wrapping his arm back around her shoulders and giving a friendly squeeze. "Don't mention it. James is like a brother to me. That kind of makes you the sister I never had." He swooped down and planted a light kiss on her temple. "Just don't tell anyone. They'll think I've gone soft."

Lily beamed, touched by the sentiment, even if it was given in a flippant manner. "Not a living soul." She promised. "Until I need material for blackmail, anyway."

Sirius's laughter echoed along the hallway for a few moments before it disappeared from earshot when he went downstairs.

Lily turned back to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pickled figwort."

"Welcome back, dearie." The Fat Lady yawned, swinging forward to admit her.

Less than a second after she entered the Common Room, she found warm, strong arms wrapped around her. "Lily!" James breathed into her hair. "Where have you been all afternoon? I've been worried!"

"I'm fine." She was squeezing him so tightly she was surprised he wasn't complaining. She let him drag her back over to the lounge that Remus had vacated at her entrance and allowed him to drape her across his lap, leaning against his chest. "Sirius went to find Peter." She told the boys.

"I'll go help him." Remus said quickly, taking off out of the portrait hole.

"Are you sure you're okay?" James pressed, hooking a finger under her chin and tilting her face up to look at him. He took in her slightly bloodshot eyes, running makeup and wild hair.

"I'm fine." She promised. "Are… you okay?" She asked hesitantly.

He pressed her back into his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Yeah. I'm fine. Bloody pissed at Kent, but…"

"I'm sorry about that, James, I—"

"You've got nothing to be sorry for." He promised. "I know you didn't want him to kiss you. I trust you."

She gave a final sniffle and relaxed. She loved sitting with him like this when she'd had a bad day; his legs up on the lounge, hers draped across his lap and dangling just off the floor, his chin resting on the top of her head, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist and hers just resting on his chest. It was warm and comfortable, and there was something about the solid mass that James provided that made her feel secure.

She spent a few silent moments trying to berate herself for turning into one of those girls—the ones who turned into total emotional saps around their boyfriends—but found she just didn't have the energy. It had been an emotionally draining afternoon; if Sirius hadn't found her, she'd likely have cried herself to sleep on the windowsill.

"Hey, James?" She murmured through a yawn.

"Mmm?"

"I love you."

- E N D -

And that's the end of the Enmity series. Like I said, I'm not too sure I'm crazy about this, but the idea struck me and wouldn't go away. And I had to toss in that little Lily/James moment at the end.

I'm so tired. I wrote this in the wee hours of the morning after little-to-no sleep, so I'm thinking I'm going to want to hit myself over it later when I wake up.

Please review and let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading.

Sparkly Faerie.