James and Lily: Their Love Story
CHAPTER 1: Back to Hogwarts
"Hey James, check it out." Said Sirius Black, as he and his best friend started stuffing their luggage onto the Hogwarts express.
"What is it?" asked James. He turned around and saw what Sirius was pointing at. Lily Evans. She had just walked through the barrier separating platform 9 ¾ from the rest of King's Cross station. James smiled, and ran a hand through his already messed up hair. Ever since he had first laid eyes on the red headed beauty, he had fallen head over heels in love with her. Now that it was their 7th and final year at Hogwarts, his goal was to make her fall in love with him. And if he couldn't get that, he at least wanted her friendship and respect.
Sirius looked at his friend and smiled. He knew how James felt about Evans, and actually felt sorry for the bloke. Six years of the cold shoulder and disgust. Must be pretty hard on the guy. If Sirius was in James' shoes, he would've gotten over her years ago, because what was the point of chasing after someone who didn't want to be chased? It made no sense to Sirius, but then again, Sirius Orion Black wasn't exactly the "relationship type". He had the biggest womanizing reputation in the whole school.
James was still staring at Lily, so Sirius took it upon himself to wake him up. He slapped him in the back of the head.
"Oi!" said James, rubbing his head. "What the bloody hell was that about?"
"Sorry mate, I had to do it" said a smirking Sirius. "If Evans caught you drooling over her like that, she would've hexed you, and we haven't even gotten to school yet."
James glared at his friend, but then relaxed into a smile. Sirius was right. He didn't want to provoke Lily on the first day, because that would definitely blow his shot with her. He gave one last lingering look at her, and then followed Sirius onto the train.
(While James was staring at Lily)
Lily walked through the brick wall barrier and smiled somewhat sadly. She couldn't believe this was her last year at Hogwarts. There was so much she was gonna miss, like walking along the lake, eating in the Great Hall, and sleeping in her comfortable four poster bed. But, there was also going to be so much that she wasn't gonna miss. Like dodging Peeves the Poltergeist's nasty tricks, going to Quidditch matches, and…...Lily looked over and saw a certain black haired boy quickly look away from her. James Potter. God she hated that son of a bitch. Ever since her first year, he had tormented her and her friends. Speaking of friends….Lily picked up her bag and started off to go find her 3 best girl friends in the whole world. Suddenly, Lily got all the breath knocked out of her as someone ran up and embraced her enthusiastically. It was her friend Amelia Coleman. Amelia was slightly taller than Lily, with jet black hair, and sparkling blue eyes. She had perfect teeth, and a gorgeous tan skin tone. "How was your summer?" asked Amelia excitedly. "I want to hear allll about it." She took Lily's arm, and the two girls went to find their other two friends, Katherine Parker and Rhea Adams. Suddenly out of the smoke from the train, they saw their other two friends. Katherine, with her blond hair and brown eyes smiled when she saw Amelia and Lily, and went to give them a hug. Rhea with her brown hair and hazel eyes waved as she struggled with her heavy trunk. "What, did you pack your whole closet in there?" asked Amelia. "No," insisted Rhea. "Only half." The four girls giggled as they helped Rhea put her trunk in the train.
(While this little get together was going on)
James and Sirius squeezed down the cramped hallway of the train, looking for their friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Finally, coming to the last compartment on the train, they found them. "James!" squealed Peter. He jumped up and gave James a very unmanly hug. "Merlin, Wormtail, is there something you want to tell us?" asked Sirius. "What do you mean?" asked Peter, looking very confused. "Well, I've just wondered if you've noticed a change in your…well…sexuality." Remus and James who were trying terribly hard not to laugh exploded. "Of course not!" said Peter, looking highly insulted and embarrassed. "Why would you say that?" "It's just that hug you gave Prongs and that damn screech you made, Merlin, it was just so feminine."
Peter blushed a bright pink. "I was just happy to see James, that's all." Sirius pretended to look horrified. "Then what am I, the shit on the bottom of your shoes? I was standing right next to him!" Everyone laughed at that, and walked into their compartment.
(While Peter Pettigrew's sexuality was being questioned)
"Girls," said Katherine as they walked down the narrow hallway. "Can you believe that this is our last year at Hogwarts?" All the girls shook their heads in disbelief. All of them loved Hogwarts greatly and didn't want to have to leave it forever. "Maybe I'll come back and teach here, just for the hell of it," said Rhea. "I mean at least I could come back." "Yes, but it wouldn't be the same," said Amelia. "No more sneaking out late and snogging boys up at the Astronomy Tower, no more snogging boys in broom closets, no more snogging boys in the common room, no more…."
"We get it Amelia," said Lily. "Pretty much all of Hogwarts for you is kissing boys."
"Aww Lily dear, you're just jealous that you don't have any boys to snog."
Katherine and Rhea giggled, because it was well known throughout Hogwarts that Lily was always very focused on her studies, and really nothing else. As they were walking down the hall, they heard someone say "And there's my gorgeous girlfriend Katherine Parker!" Katherine smiled and blushed, while running into the open arms of her two year boyfriend Remus Lupin. "Hi girls," said Remus, once he had finished "greeting" his girlfriend. "Would you like to come sit with me and the boys?"
"Sure." Said Amelia and Rhea in unison, and they walked into the compartment.
"God, I'd love to, but I have a meeting, being Head Girl and all….." started Lily.
"So do I," said James. "I'm Head Boy, so maybe we could walk down together, and then after, we could head back here." He smiled cheekily.
Lily glared. He must think that he looked so cute right now, smiling like that. I mean, look at him, with his soft looking hair, gorgeous eyes, perfect complexion. He was tall, and thin, yet muscular. Nice arms, and as James turned to walk down the hall, a cute butt too.
Lily mentally slapped herself for thinking these thoughts. She HATED James Potter. He turned and smiled at her when they got to the compartment where the meeting was. She found herself smiling back. Wait, she did hate him. Right?
CHAPTER 2: Wishes
When the train arrived at Hogwarts, all the students clambered out, and made their way towards the horseless carriages. Once inside, the carriages led them up to the oak front doors, where everyone crawled out, and headed inside. It was pouring, and by the time Lily and her friends were inside, they were soaked to the bones. As they stepped over the threshold, Peeves started to throw water balloons at the students. Lily looked up, and saw a huge one coming her way. She screamed, right as James Potter pushed her out of the way, and got hit by the water balloon instead.
It splashed all over him. "Oh my goodness, James, are you all right?" Lily asked as she ran over.
"I'm okay Lily. Are you all right? Did I push you into the wall too hard?"
"No James I'm fine. Thank you so much by the way for doing that for me. How can I thank you?"
"You don't have to thank me. I was just trying to be nice." He smiled and followed his friends into the Great Hall.
"Oooooohhhhhh, Lillllllly," said Amelia as she ran over to her. "That was pretty nice of James, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess." Said Lily, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal, when in fact, her heart was swelling with appreciation. She shrugged nonchalantly, and walked into the Great Hall.
Katherine, Rhea, and Amelia all looked at each other, rolling their eyes. They're friend was just too stuck on hating James Potter. It was driving them crazy, because they could obviously see that James and Lily were perfect for each other. Shaking their heads, they walked into the Great Hall after Lily.
After the sorting, Professor Dumbledore made a speech, saying how the Forbidden Forest was off limits to anyone, and that the caretaker, Mr. Filch had added more to the list of things that were banned in the hallways. "And without further ado, I'd like to announce a special event that will take place this year. We are going to have…..a dance."
All the girls cheered, and some of the boys groaned. Katherine looked down the row of heads to Remus, and blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch it, and then blew one back to her.
"This dance will be held New Years Eve, celebrating a new year to make goals, and have wishes come true. But, there is a catch. Everyone is going to write down the thing that they want most for the start of the New Year. It can be something physical, like an item, or something more emotional, like love from a special someone, or to be friends with someone else. It could be a sports dream, like winning the Quidditch house cup, or an academic dream, like acing your N.E.W.T.S. The one thing I must say though, before we dive into our feast, is that you cannot have a negative wish. You cannot wish for someone's death, or someone's failure in sports or academics. If anyone makes that sort of wish, they will have 150 house points taken away, detention for the rest of the year, and privileges taken away. These privileges include a position as prefect, house boy or girl, or trips to Hogsmeade. Are we understood?"
Everyone nodded and said yes. Dumbledore smiled. "Good. I have one last thing to say before we start this feast. Ten people's wish will be chosen to come true. Only ten. That lucky people will be announced during the dance, and then it will come true whenever necessary. And now without further interruption, let the feast begin!"
Everyone smiled as the tables got laden with food. People grabbed what they wanted, and ate to their stomach's content.
"So Padfoot, what are you gonna wish for?" asked James, as he stuffed chicken into his mouth.
"Well, I was thinking about making a wish to be accepted by my relatives, but then I realized that I didn't want to be a part of that ass of a family. So, I'm gonna settle with winning the Quidditch cup."
James nodded his head in understanding. "What about you Moony?"
"Well, I'm not quite sure really. I mean, I'd like to be rid of my….you know…..problem, but I just don't know. To me, my situation makes me who I am, and a stronger person. As much as I hate it, I feel like it makes me tougher."
James smiled admiringly at his friend. "That's really noble of you mate. What about you Pete? What are you gonna wish for?"
Peter blushed. He snuck a furtive look at Rhea Adams, and then quickly looked back.
"No way!" said Sirius laughing. "You fancy Rhea."
"Well, yes I do, but I don't think that that's what I'm gonna wish for. It'll probably be something else…What about you James? What are you gonna wish for?"
James, who noticed the way Peter quickly changed the subject, grinned. "You guys know."
"Well of course," said Sirius. "James wants Evans to fancy him the way he fancies her. Am I right Prongs?"
James smirked. "Yup. I mean, this is my last year. Might as well give it my all."
All the boys nodded as they continued their meal.
(At the other side of the table)
"What are you gonna wish for Lil?" asked Amelia as she shoveled mashed potatoes on a plate. "Passing the N.E.W.T.S?"
Lily looked shocked. "Of course not! I believe in actually working for things. I would want to pass those tests knowing that it was actually my brilliance, not some damn wish!"
"Merlin, Lily, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you felt so strongly about it," said Amelia. "I'm going to wish that this year I'm going to find the perfect guy for me and that I'll be with him for the rest of my life." She smiled.
"That's actually a beautiful wish Lia," said Katherine. "I'm going to wish that Remus and I will always care for each other. Even if he meets another girl and falls in love, we'll still be friends."
"That's lovely, and very unselfish of you Kat," said Rhea. "My wish is that I'll pass my N.E.W.T.S. I know that that could be seen as selfish, but I just want to do well. I don't want the wish to make me like, ace it perfectly, but I at least want to do well."
She looked at Lily warily. "I understand," said Lily. She smiled.
After dessert, everyone went upstairs to their dormitories. Lily said good night to her friends, and headed to her new common room.
Once she got there, the portrait looked at her. It was a picture of a woman, and a man sitting together underneath a tree. "Hello dearie," said the woman. "My name is Nikki, and this is my beau, Yukon. I will be the one that accepts the password from you, and Yukon will accept the password from the young man you're staying with. Here's the hint. The password will be how you feel about the Head Boy. Sooooo, it could change." Nikki gave her a wink. "Also, it has to come from your heart, not what your brain is trying to tell you."
Lily stared at the portrait. "Okay then, um grudging acceptance."
The portrait smiled at Lily's use of words, and let her in. When Lily entered the common room, she was amazed. It had a gold fuzzy carpet, and dark red walls. To the right, were 2 desks with squishy chairs that immediately adjusted to someone's height and weight, making it the perfect chair for whoever was sitting in it. Over the desks was a large window with shelves on either side. The right shelf had pictures of James with his family, James Quidditch trophies, and some other of James trinkets. On the left shelf were Lily's things, like pictures of her with her parents, and a picture of her and her friends. Lily smiled.
On the left was a crackling fireplace, with a coffee table and a giant squishy couch. There was also a window on that side as well. Lily gave one last look around and then headed up the stairs. She took a left, and saw a door with a plaque saying 'Lily Head Girl'. She opened the door, and walked into her room.
(Outside the Head Boy/Girl Common Room)
James had just gotten the speech from Yukon saying how the passwords worked. James looked around the hallway and said "Love."
Yukon smiled, and the door opened. James walked in, and felt the same awe that Lily felt.
He walked up the stairs, and then took a left accidently. He saw that that was Lily's room. Feeling slightly nervous, he knocked on the door.
"What do you need Potter?" asked Lily. She came to the door and opened it.
James could only stare. Lily's hair was still damp from her shower. She was wearing a tight pink shirt that accentuated her breasts, and slim waist. Fuzzy pink pants with some funny objects completed the look.
"Potter?" asked Lily. He was staring at her like neighborhood boys would stare at supermodels.
"Ummm, what?" James snapped out of it.
"I asked what you needed."
"Ohhhh, um, well first I came to say good night, and now I want to know what the bloody hell the objects on your pants are." James blushed.
"Oh, um….well these are lambs…..and um…Little Bo Peep." Said Lily, her face turning the color of her hair.
"Little Bo who?" asked James.
"Little Bo Peep. She's from muggle nursery rhymes. You know how you guys had Babbity Rabbity, and the Tale of the Three Brothers, well we had Little Bo Peep, and Ba Ba Black Sheep."
"Oh," James thought that Lily looked adorable all flustered like this. "So I better go to sleep, and you should too. Good night Ev…I mean Lily." He grinned and turned around.
"Good night Pott…James." She smiled. And then a thought hit her. "James?"
James turned. "Yes?" "Thank you, for everything." And with that, she gave him a peck on the cheek, and walked into her room.
CHAPTER 3: Halloween
The next morning, all students were busy with their new classes. Since Lily and James both wanted to be Aurors, they were in every class together. Neither of them really minded, since James was with the girl he loved, and Lily was feeling like there was more to James then reached the eye.
Weeks went by, and Quidditch started. James was the captain, and also chaser with Sirius as keeper, Amelia and Rhea as the other two chasers, Dustin Summers and Bradley Winters as beaters, and of course, Katherine as a seeker.
Lily's friends sometimes gave her grief about being the only girl from that group of friends that didn't play Quidditch, and didn't have any experience with a broom. Lily didn't mind. Personally she thought Quidditch was a terrible sport, and was nothing compared to baseball and football (soccer in America), two of Lily's favorite sports. One day she swore to herself that she'd take all her friends on in a baseball game, and see who's laughing then.
On Halloween, everything started out like a normal day. James and Lily got up, got dressed, brushed their teeth, said good morning to each other, and left the common room. As Lily was walking down the hall, she ran into someone. Well actually, 3 someones.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Miss Mudblood." Sneered a Slytherin who she recognized as a boy called Yaxley.
All the other boys laughed.
"She's a pretty one though." Sneered another one named Dolohov. "Just makes me want to eat her all up, if you get my drift."
The boys laughed even more, and started staring at her hungrily.
"Should we take her into a closet?" asked the third, whose name was Rookwood.
Lily started to back up slowly knowing what they were thinking. "Don't touch me!" she said as Rookwood brushed her hair off her shoulders.
All of a sudden, Yaxley grabbed her, threw her into an unused classroom, and they started tearing at her clothes. She screamed, bit, kicked, punched, anything to get them away from her.
Yaxley slapped her across the face, and tried to kiss her lips. Lily tossed her head to the side to avoid him. Rookwood grabbed her hair to keep her still, and started ripping her shirt. Dolohov tried to take her skirt down. Lily continued to struggle. "I would suggest you stop," Said Dolohov. He took out a knife, and lightly ran it over her right cheek. It left a tiny slit, and blood dripped down her face. "Just let us have our way with you, and it'll be over before you know it," said Yaxley, licking the blood off Lily's cheek. Lily stopped struggling. This was it, she was done for….
Suddenly, someone kicked the door open, and 3 boys walked in, using the stunning spell on the 3 Slytherins.
Lily looked at who arrived, and was shocked to see Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. She looked for a sign that James was there, but found him nowhere.
The three boys ran up to her, and squatted down. "Are you all right?" asked Sirius, looking at her with concern. He looked at the cut on her face, where more blood was dripping down.
"Yes, I am." Said Lily as she smoothed her hair, and buttoned up her shirt. She was shaking, and slipped with the buttons.
"Allow me." Said Lupin. He carefully finished the buttoning, while Lily fixed her socks and skirt. "Do you want me to fix that cut for you?" asked Remus.
"Sure" Said Lily, because the cut was stinging a little. Remus pointed his wand at her cheek, muttered an incantation, and her cut closed up. "Thanks"
Sirius helped Lily up. "We should go tell James about this so we can plan a prank on these bastards."
"NO!" said Lily. "You shouldn't. There's no reason to pull a prank on them. All's well that ends well. No use getting yourself in trouble over this."
"Well, if you're sure…." Said Sirius uncertainly. He was actually starting to think that he shouldn't tell James. He could only imagine what would happen to these 3 Slytherins if Prongs found out that his love had almost gotten raped by a bunch of slimeballs.
"Okay, we promise not to tell," said Sirius, coming to a decision. "It'll be our little secret, kay?"
Lily smiled, and nodded. And with that promise made, the four headed down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast.
At the feast, there were dancing skeletons, which amazed everyone, and a group of singers called the Death Doctors, singing some spooky songs to add to the scenery.
After the feast, everyone went outside, for a haunted house that had been set up right on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Lily looked at it cautiously. Merlin, she hated horror. At home, she had once watched Nightmare on Elm Street, and it had haunted her for life. She watched as her friends walked in. They had already asked her if she wanted to come, and upon hearing her say no, decided not to push it.
"Are you going to go in?" asked James as he came up behind her.
"Um, noo, I'm good, thank you though." She said, hugging her arms.
"Why not? It's just for fun. None of it is really that real."
Lily looked at him. "I said no. I've seen enough horror films for my lifetime." Lily then remembered that she had also seen the movie Pet Semetery, and Friday the 13th. Damn it, why did she let people talk her into those movies?
"Horror films?" asked James, clearly confused.
"You know what movies are, right?" asked Lily.
"Yeah"
"Well, horror films are movies that are meant to scare people. People know it's not real, but it still scares the crap out of them." Lily shivered.
"Are you cold?" asked James, looking concerned.
"No, I'm thinking about Friday 13th, and I'm almost expecting Jason to come out of the Forbidden Forest, holding a chainsaw in one hand, and machete in another, and making that weird sound he does before he kills someone."
"What are you talking about?" asked James.
"Nothing. Just a movie."
"Oh, well are you sure that you don't want to go to the Haunted House?"
"Ya, I'm sure."
"Ok then, I'll come back to our common room with you, and keep you company."
"WHAT! No, I'll be fine on my own." Then Lily though about walking the dark hallways without someone with her. She definitely wasn't in the mood after thinking about Jason and Freddy Kruger.
"Actually, you know what?" said Lily. "You can come with me."
James smiled. "Let's go then."
They headed up to their common room, and went to their rooms. After each of them got into their pajamas (Lily wearing what she had the first night, and James wearing green plaid pants and a white t shirt), they headed back down, and sat by the fire sipping hot chocolate. Lily started telling James about Friday the 13th, and then continued on with Nightmare on Elm Street. When she finished with that, she explained Pet Semetery.
James thought that the horror films were hilarious sounding, and he didn't quite understand why Lily was so scared of them. But, he loved watching her face as she talked. Her eyes were huge as she explained how when these people's cat died, they buried it in a certain cemetery, and then it came back, destructive and violent. He also listened how the same people's son died, so they buried him in that certain cemetery, hoping he would come back to them also. Of course, when that happened, the boy was a killer as well.
When Lily was done with her stories, her cheeks were flushed.
"Sound's….scary." said James, trying not to laugh.
"Oh don't be a liar. You think that it sounds funny."
"I do not."
"Do too"
"Do not"
"DO TOO!" she punched James' arm, while laughing.
James started to laugh too, thinking how funny, and amazing it was to spend time with Lily like this. When they had gone to the portrait to go in, she had told the portrait that she liked James as a friend. He had quickly gone inside with Lily, not wanting her to hear that he loved her.
"So, maybe we should go to bed." Said Lily.
"Okay" James got up, and looked into Lily's green eyes. "Are you gonna be able to fall asleep?"
"Yesssss, of course." Lily smiled. "I'll be alright."
They bade each other good night, and went to their rooms.
CHAPTER 4: A Talk with Amelia
November came, and with it came more Quidditch. James was working his butt off to make the team better, and to make them have stronger teamwork. He was finding slight distractions though. Lily had been making appearances at the practices. When people asked her about it, she insisted that it was because she wanted to watch her friends play. People would nod and smile, and pretend to believe her, but they all knew that the reason she went to the practices, was to watch Potter. As the days had been going by, people had noticed them spending an awful amount of time together. They would sit next to each other in the Great Hall, partner up in class, and walk together when free.
One morning, on the 24th of November, Amelia sat down next to Lily.
"So, um, haven't seen ya in a while." Said Amelia.
"What do you mean?" asked Lily, confused.
"Well, you've just been spending so much time with Mr. James Potter."
"Oh, that…." Lily blushed.
"Oh Lily, please just admit to yourself that you like him, and stop embarrassing yourself."
Lily looked at Amelia. "Amelia, I don't like James Potter that way. Yes, I like him as a friend, but nothing more than that. Please understand."
Amelia softened. "I understand. And I'm sorry for putting you on the spot."
"It's alright." Said Lily.
And they continued eating.
CHAPTER 5: A Scream in the Night
December started off with lots of snow. Quidditch was still played, but the conditions weren't great. The more it snowed, the more worried the team got about their first match against Slytherin. Sirius especially wanted to kick their asses because of what happened to Lily. He was so pissed about that, and what made him even angrier, was that Lily wouldn't let him tell anybody. Yeah, sure at first, he understood. But, as time went on, he needed to share with James. He just had to. How could he not?
Later that day, after a wet Quidditch practice, he went up to James once everyone had left.
"Prongs, didn't we make a pact to tell each other everything, no matter what?"
James looked at Sirius. "Yeah, what's up?"
"It's um…..well…..about Lily…., and um, her almost losing her virginity." Once the words were out, Sirius immediately wanted to take them back.
Anger flashed through James eyes. "Sirius, what did you do to Lily?"
"NOTHING! I swear. I wouldn't do anything to her. You know that Rem, Pete, and I all know that she's off limits. It's about something that almost happened on Halloween, had we not stepped in."
"What in the name of Merlin, happened?" James said through clenched teeth.
"Well, Yaxley, Rookwood, and Dolohov grabbed her one day, and took her into a room, and almost…." Sirius was watching his best friend's face go from red to white. "…raped her."
James slammed his locker shut, and then headed for the castle.
"Prongs wait! Don't do this! Usually I'd be wicked excited about jinxing them to tomorrow, but we can't mate! This is the reason why Lily told me not to tell you. She knew you'd react like this!"
James turned around. "Lily told you not to tell me?"
"Yeah," said Sirius. "She said that since everything ended well, no point in worrying you."
James shook his head, and continued to the castle. He went into the Entrance Hall, and then up the marble staircase. He found the 3 Slytherins walking down the hall.
"Well, if it isn't Potty-"started Yaxley, but he didn't get everything out because he suddenly had James fist connected to his jaw. The force of the punch sent Yaxley backward, and against the wall.
Rookwood and Dolohov, seeing their mate fall, ran towards James. James punched Rookwood in the stomach, knocking all the air out of him, and then he kicked Dolohov in his sensitive area, making him double over in pain.
James, seeing that is work was finished went down the stairs to dinner.
James was sleeping soundly in his bed when he heard a scream. He immediately woke up, grabbed his wand, and got out of bed. He opened his door, and heard that the sound was coming from Lily's room.
He ran over, and tried to open the door, but it was locked.
"Damn it, Lily" he unlocked the door using the spell Alohomora, and ran into the room.
Lily was laying on her bed thrashing around screaming her lungs off. She was drenched with sweat, and James immediately ran over to wake her up.
"Lily, Lily, wake up." James said as he shook her shoulder.
Suddenly, Lily stopped screaming, as she woke up with a start. Seeing a boy standing next to her bed, she punched out with her fist, and hit James in the jaw.
"Ow, what the bloody hell was that for?" he asked holding his jaw.
"Oh my gosh, James, I'm so sorry, I thought you were someone else."
"It's alright," he said rubbing his jaw tenderly. "But the question is, are you alright?"
"Yes, I am" said Lily, touched by the concern in James voice, and eyes.
"So, I'll go back to bed then." Said James, walking towards the door.
"Yes, I suppose." Said Lily settling down. But then, a thought hit her.
"James!"
"Yes?" James turned around, looking at her, puzzled.
"Could you…could you stay with m-me?" she asked slowly.
"What?" asked James, not sure if he had just heard what he thought he heard.
"Could you stay with me the rest of the night?"
"Um, sure" said James.
He came over and lay down next to Lily on her bed. The minute he laid down, Lily snuggled up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, while laying her head on his bare chest. She could hear his heart beating rather fast.
"James, are you okay?" She asked. "Your heart is beating a mile a minute."
"I'm fine." Said James. "You just gave me a scare, that's all." James felt slightly guilty lying to her, but how was he supposed to say 'yes Lily, I'm fine, it's just you being so close to me is making me nervous because I love you'. I mean, he supposed he could say that, but it wasn't the right time. Plus, he didn't know if she felt the same way.
Lily settled herself closer to James, loving the feel of his bare chest against her cheek. She wondered what it would be like to kiss his lips…..
"James?" asked Lily. "Yes?" was his reply. "Do you want to know what my dream was about?"
James was already pretty sure that she knew what her dream was about, but he'd do anything for her.
"If it'll make you feel better."
Lily smiled at his generosity. "Well, I was in this room, and suddenly the window opened. I looked over, and Yaxley, Rookwood, and Dolohov were all there. They walked towards me, and then surrounded me. They started hitting me, and then started stripping me of my clothing. I was so scared, so I screamed, trying to get someone to hear me, to help me. And then you came. Like a prince." She smiled at the thought.
James fist clenched as he heard what her nightmare was about, and then slowly relaxed as he heard her call him her prince.
"I'm just glad I could help."
Lily grinned, and then started to doze off. James, thinking she was asleep whispered "Lily, I love you. I love you with all my heart. I'll always be there for you, and I'll never let you down." He kissed her hair gently, and fell asleep. Lily, hearing everything he said, smiled to herself, and then relaxed, letting sleep take her.
CHAPTER 6: A Changed Password
In the morning, Lily woke up with her head on James chest, and his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She shuddered at the dream, but then smiled as she remembered how kind James was. She looked up at his sleeping face and stared at him. Just really looked at him. Sure, she'd seen his face before, but she hadn't really studied it. He had a perfect bone structure, perfect nose, and a perfect mouth. His hair was messed up, but it only added to his attractiveness. His arms were muscular, and his stomach muscles were just damn sexy. She suddenly knew that she would be okay with waking up next to James Potter every morning.
James opened his eyes, and stared down into Lily's. He grinned.
"And how are you feeling this morning?" He looked at her with concern.
"I'm feeling good'" was her reply.
"Well that's good. I don't want that dream to bother you anymore."
Lily smiled, and then got up. She grabbed her clothes, and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. James sighed. He would've loved to just lay there with Lily for the rest of the day. But of course, they had school, and they couldn't just skip it.
He got out of the bed, and headed to his room to take a shower as well.
James and Lilly walked down to the Great Hall together, like they did pretty much everyone morning. Katherine eyed them. Something seemed different….
"Good morning girls!" Said Lily, smiling broadly.
"Good morning Lily…." Said Katherine, looking at them suspiciously. Something seemed odd. They were walking closer together than normal.
James sat down next to Lily, and his fellow Marauders came to join him. Remus wrapped his arm around Katherine's waist, and looked at her. She looked at him, and then shot a look at James.
"I don't know what's going on between them." Whispered Remus. "But I plan to find out."
Throughout the day, Remus and Katherine were keeping a close eye on Lily and James. They seemed to be behaving normally, but their seemed to be a secret between them. Lily and James smiled at each other a lot, and when Lily slipped and James grabbed her, Lily thanked him instead of jerking her arm away. Something was definitely different between them.
The next morning, when the post came, Lily got 2 packages from her parents. One was long and thin, and the other was kind of bumpy. Katherine, Remus, Sirius, Rhea, Amelia, Peter and James all looked at her questioningly. Lily smiled, and unwrapped the present. Inside was a baseball bat, a glove, and a baseball.
"What the bloody hell are those?" asked Amelia, studying the baseball bat.
"Well, these are equipment for a sport that muggles play called baseball. It's actually a big hit." She chuckled at her joke, but no one else understood it. "Look, how about before the Quidditch game tomorrow we'll play a game. Two boys and two girls on each team."
Everyone nodded. They were eager to try something that muggles played. "And James," Said Lily. "Yeah?" answered James. "I think you're going to find that this is the only sport I can do better than you." She smirked.
"We'll see about that." Said James, giving Lily a one armed hug. "Nobody can beat me at ANYTHING."
That night, James was at Quidditch practice, so Lily went to the common room alone. When she got to the portrait, Nikki asked her for the password.
"I like him." Answered Lily, and she walked towards the door. Suddenly, she slammed into the portrait.
"Hey! I gave the right password, let me in!"
"Lily, Lily, Lily, you need to understand that you don't feel that way about him anymore. The feeling in your heart has changed." Nikki smiled slyly.
"It has?" And then Lily really thought about it. She felt different about James. Lately, she'd wanted to spend a lot of time with him, and she felt safe and secure near him. No, she definitely didn't just like him anymore.
"Alright, I…..love him." The minute she said it, she knew it was the right thing. Her heart told her as much.
Nikki winked, and let her in.
Chapter 7: Baseball….
The next day, Remus, Peter, James, Sirius, Rhea, Katherine, Amelia, and Lily all went down to a open space next to the Forbidden Forest to play a game of baseball. Lily had duplicated the glove, so there were now eight instead of one. After Lily explained the rules, they divided the teams.
Remus, Katherine, Sirius and Amelia were on one team, while Lily, James, Peter, and Rhea were on another.
Lily's team was to hit first. Rhea was their leadoff hitter, and she sent a grounder to short stop. Sirius, who was there didn't really understand what to do with the ball. He fielded it, but then stopped after that.
Rhea ran to first, and was safe.
"Sirius!" Said Amelia, walking over to him and hitting him on the shoulder. "You're supposed to throw it to Remus!"
"I didn't know! It's so confusing!" Yelled Sirius, looking distraught.
"It's okay Sirius, you'll learn from your mistake," Said Lily, trying to calm him down.
"I don't make mistakes Evans! Ever!" Now Sirius was looking pretty angry.
"Yeah, that's why you don't learn anything either," Laughed James, who had watch this whole showdown with a smirk on his face.
"You know what Prongs...you're right" Said Sirius as an afterthought.
"Well, glad we figured that out, but can we please continue with the game?" Asked Amelia, starting to get impaitent.
"Oh, of course," Said Lily, going up to bat.
She hit a line drive right at Sirius. Sirius gave a very unmanly scream, but caught the ball.
"Sirius! Good job!" Amelia ran at him, and hugged him tightly. "See, I knew you could do it!"
Sirius, looking pretty smug said "I knew I could do it too."
As the game continued, James hit a grounder to Amelia at second, who got him out on first. Peter struck out, which ended the inning. When Sirius was up to bat, he hit a pop fly in the air. It went so high, that he got on base before Lily caught it.
"Sirius, you're out," Said Lily.
Sirius wasn't having it. "But I got on base! You said that as long as I got on base, I was safe. That's what you said Lily!"