Chapter 1
Lily fastened her left pearl earring on and stepped back to observe. The black dress was simply cut, straight down to her ankles, with think black straps. The neck was a fairly low-cut square that showed off the dainty pearl necklace that matched her earrings. Her shoes were about three inches high, black with think straps. Lily wondered vaguely if they were too high. The heels made her 5'10. Her dark auburn hair was swept back in an elegant knot, drawing attention to her dark green eyes. Lily checked the clock on the wall as she fastened on a pearl bracelet and quickly grabbed her coat and headed out the door.
Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, Lily impatiently watched the old Lincoln in front of her, willing it to move. It didn't. The honking car horns all around her made the anxiety she was feeling only worse. Giving up on starting at the car, she settled on the traffic light. It changed, as soon as she looked at it, to green. As Lily stepped on the gas and the car charged forward, she took a deep breath. It had been almost six years since she had done any magic. Lily Evans now lived and worked in the muggle world, to get away from all the pain that resided in the magical one.
For the past two weeks, the magical world was all Lily could think about, and when her boss call up and asked her perform for a business Christmas party, she jumped at the offer. Anything to get her mind off her restlessness and sorrow.
And now if she didn't get to the restraunt in fifteen minutes, she might lose the job that was helping her to work toward her goals. One, to make it to the top, and two, to forget magic. Throwing the car around the corner, she barked in a handicapped spot, flung the door open and threw herself into the cold of December in London. Flying up the back steps, she hurtled through the door, and down the backstage hall. Seeing her fellow crew mated, she breathed a sigh of relief. She skidded to a halt in front of them and panted, "I'm here."
"Good Lord, Evans, you're all hot and red-faced! Calm down, we can't have you going on stage looking like a tomato," said the violinist sternly. Lily sunk into a chair and gasped, "Is it really that bad?" She asked pointing to her cheeks. The violinist nodded. Lily groaned.
Peeking around the curtain to see her audience, she whispered over her shoulder, "Who exactly are these people?"
The violinist shrugged. "Don't rightly know. Kinda odd, they are though. Every few minutes I can see sparks shooting up, but I don't reckon, I can tell where they come from."
Lily froze. Sparks? Could it possibly be? She peered around the curtain again, trying to place a face. And then without any warning, the curtain rose, revealing the musicians, and Lily started straightened up quickly, and walked gracefully as she could toward center stage.
When the curtain rose, James Potter looked up at the stage to see who the entertainment was. As soon as the spotlight hit the slim singer in the black silk dress, auburn tresses pulled away from the lovely face, James mouth dropped open. Luckily, the lights had dimmed on the dance floor and no one could see his gaping mouth.
Swiftly, he made his way back to his table, where he could sit and view her, take in her every detail, and listen to her soft sweet voice. A few chords were played and then she began to sing and James was lost.
Chestnuts roasting on a open fire,
Jack frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
It was simple Christmas song, a classic, and yet the effect it had on him was unbelievable. The person, who came and sat down beside him, broke his spell by taking his hand and kissing it. He turned to look at the woman who was holding his hand and smiling softly at him, as though he'd never seen her before.
Lisal loved James Potter, more that anything she'd ever loved before. She was certain that James loved her back just as much. But when she took his hand and kissed it, he's looked at her differently. It was an empty look, blank and uncertain. It faded quickly however, and he gave her a small smile, squeezed her hand and turned back to the stage, where the woman was singing.
Lisal admitted that the singer was very pretty. Her dark hair was swept back and her bottle-green eyes were enchanting. Her slim figure was showed off by the modest black dress, and she held herself straight and tall. And her voice was one of the most loveliest Lisal had ever heard. Musing, she thought maybe she could sing at the wedding in February.
Glancing down at her hand still intertwined in her finance's, Lisal smiled softly at the ring. It was and extravagant back with three diamonds on it. When he had given it to her, he had said he had gotten the very best, because she was the very best. Lisal could hardly wait for February to marry her very best. The thought made pleasant shivers run down her back as she turned her attention back to the singer.
Lily finished her song, earning a hearty round of applause. Stepping up to the microphone, she said tentatively into the crowd, "Excuse, me, but we've got a very special song for the not-quite-newlyweds! Would-" she consulted the paper in her hand and went pale staring at the names. Lily gulped and continued. "-James Potter and Lisal Adams please come forward?"
A young blonde woman stood, turned around and pulled a man up, gave him a soft kiss and lead him out into the spot light. The woman was nice looking with dark brown eyes and the sun colored hair. Pretty thought this woman was, it was the man that made Lily gasp. He was tall (Probably over sex feet, Lily thought), had jet-black hair, that in spite of the occasion was messy and untamed. His dark blue eyes met hers for a brief moment, and then she looked away, continuing to speak. "A very good friend of your yours asked for a special song for the two of you." By this time a man had joined her on the stage, which Lily introduced as Steven.
Lisal was delighted. That friend might have been Melinda, or maybe Susie. . . She slipped her hand into James's and place his other hand on her waist. James was still looking up at the singer, eyes wide. "
"James!" Lisal hissed, all the while smiling. He glanced down at her, surprised. "We're supposed to be dancing." And then the song started. It was a duet.
Steven
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
And if I never knew you
I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can se the truth so clear
In you eyes
So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Lily
If I never knew you
I'd have safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Steven
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Lily
Somehow we made the whole world bright
Both
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night
But still my heart is singling
We were right
Lily
If I never knew you
If I never knew this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
Steven
There's no moment I regret
Since the moment that we met
If our time has gone too fast I've lived at last
Both
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Lily
I thought our over would be so beautiful
We'd turned the darkness into light
Steven
We were right
And If I never knew you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lily
Empty as the sky
Both
Never knowing why
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Lisal smiled contentedly as the last notes died away. That was one of the sweetest songs she had ever heard. She would work as hard as she could to get this woman to sing at the wedding. She squeezed James's hand, smiled up at him and whispered, "I love you."
James murmured something too soft to hear, but Lisal was sure it was, "I love you, too." Happily she laid her head on James's shoulder as another Christmas carol started.
All during the duet for himself and Lisal, James was thinking about a woman. Not his finance, as he should, but about a woman with red hair, green eyes, and a beautiful singing voice. If he never knew Lisal, maybe he would be marrying Lily in two months time. This thought so consumed his head that he hardly heard Lisal say, "I love you." He wanted Lisal to disappear and grab Lily down from the stage. . . James slapped himself mentally.
He and Lisal had been together for nearly two years. He wasn't going to throw that away for a girl he hadn't seen for sex years, a girl who had left him with too many questions and not nearly enough answers. He and Lisal loved each other, and they were getting married in February. James set his mind back on the party.
As soon as she could Lily rushed to the bathroom. She fled into a stall and bent over a toilet, and in her rush almost knocked over some little who was struggling with overalls.
Although her stomach was churning, she wasn't throwing up, which was a good sign. Slowly, Lily reached forward, pulled down the cover and sat there, taking deep breaths. Once she felt a little bit calmer, Lily tried to sort through the event of tonight so far.
She had sung a few Christmas carols, all right, nothing strange, about that. The real shock had come when she saw James Potter's name on the little slip of paper in her hand. That shock grew and grew all during the duet. She knew her voice had almost failed a couple of times. Steven had started to stare at her. Luckily, no one else seen to notice.
The shock had full matured; when it finally registered in her numb that James Potter was engaged. That was when she ran to the toilet.
Taking another deep breath, Lily unlocked the door and stepped up to the mirror. She was pale and scared looking. Looking down into the sink again, she cupped some water in her hands an splashed her face. The water felt cool and refreshing.
Just as she was finished drying her hands, a toilet flushed and out stepped the nice looking blonde who was James's finance. The blonde glanced at Lily and exclaimed, "Oh you're wonderful! Thank you so much for that duet! I simply loved it!"
"You're welcome," Lily said with a weak smile.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Lisal Adams. Well, you saw my fiancé, James, didn't you?"
Once again, Lily gave a feeble smile.
"Oh, he's quite a catch, isn't he? Rich too!" she giggled. "Anyway, we're getting married in February, and I want you to sing for the wedding! Please say you will!" Lisal implored, gazing at Lily and widening her brown eyes.
"Er. . ."
"Wonderful! I knew you'd say yes! I've already got your number from one of the band members I'll be contacting you shortly." With this said Lisal gave Lily a quick hug and disappeared from the bathroom.
Lily stood frozen for a moment and ten, clapping a hand over her mouth, rushed into the stall again
That night, Lily stumbled home, barely awake. She fumbled trying to unlock her apartment door. The lock clicked and Lily nearly fell into the room. She headed immediately for the bedroom to remove her shoes, ("Damn things! Probably broke my ankle!") When she had checked to make sure all bones were intact, she wearily made her way into the bathroom to draw up a nice long bubble bath.
She unzipped the dress and it fell smoothly to the floor. Sighing in contentment Lily eased her body into the hot, foamy water. It would probably take about fifty bubble baths to get the shock of seeing James Potter again. Lily though she could live with a bath a day for fifty days.
Just as she was finally starting to relax and forget the trauma of the night, the doorbell rang. Lily groaned but decided to ignore it. Her caller, however, was persistent. After the fifth ring, Lily heaved herself out of the tub and yanked on her robe. Grumbling to herself, Lily stomped flat-footed to the door. This ha better be important...
As the door opened, James was in bliss. Before him was the most beautiful sight in the world. Lily Evans in a bathrobe. Her mouth parted in surprise and those bright green eyes became even wider then he though possible. She said, "Oh no-" and started to close the door. James put his foot in it's path, stopping it.
"I need to talk to you," he said swiftly.
"Do you know what I did when I realized it was you at the party?" she asked, her voice low.
"I have no idea."
"I ran into the bathroom and threw up my dinner!" she yelled and this, catching him off guard, she slammed the door shut.
He winced "Ouch. . ." he mutter. Then realizing the door had been shut in his face, he rang the bell again.
"Go away!" came the muffled reply.
"No! I need to talk to you! Let me in!"
"NO!"
"Lily Evans! Open the damn door!" he yelled so loud an old lady a few door down poked her head around the corner. James smiled sweetly at her, and turned back to pounding on Lily's door.
"You're going to break down my door!"
"So let me in!"
She relented at last. Opening the door a crack, she said suspiciously, "What do you want?"
"I told you. We nee to talk."
"So talk."
James sighed. "Can I come in?" She glared at him, but allowed him admittance. She closed the door quickly behind him, as though she didn't want her neighbors to see him. She turned to face him, arms crossed.
"I'm getting married."
"I know."
"Oh." There was an uncomfortable silence.
"Er. . . thanks for the duet. Lisal loved it."
"I'm glad."
"Not very talkative are you?"
"No." This one stumped James. He sighed. No more beating around the bush.
"Lily, why'd you leave?"
"Leave what?"
"Me."
"Because I had to."
"Why?"
"Listen, James it's late. You probably have work tomorrow, and I know I do. I'll see you later, besides, my bath is getting cold."
James sighed again and headed for the door, followed by Lily. Just as he stepped out into the hall, and she was about to close the door, she whispered, "Lisal is very lucky," and the door clicked shut.
James stood there wondering how exactly Lily Evans had slipped through his fingers yet again. Slowly he started his car and began the drive home.
Lisal slipped into her silk nightdress, wondering where James as. He said he was going to the store. That had been half and hour ago. Lisal wasn't worried. James had always been very faithful. She yawned, crawled into bed and turned out the light.
Meanwhile, James was sitting at exactly the same light Lily had three hours before. But when the light changed, he didn't go straight. He turned left.
Sirius Black stumbled to the door, half asleep, wondering whom on earth would be pounding on his door so late at night. Looking out a window as he passed, he saw it wasn't the full, so it wouldn't Remus. Might be Peter, scared something was in his apartment. Still yawning, Sirius undid the chain lock and pulled open the door. It was James Potter Sirius blinked blearily at him.
"'Lo James," he muttered. James stepped in and Sirius closed the door.
"Do you remember Lily Evans?" he asked abruptly..
"Your old 'flame'?"
"Exactly."
"Sure I do. It's hard to forget girls like th-that." Sirius said yawning.
"Well, I found her." Sirius froze mid-yawn.
"How?" he asked, wide-awake now. James explained all about the party and how he found her house.
"Well," said Sirius. "What are you going to tell Lisal?"
"What do you mean?"
"How are you going to tell her you're not going to marry her?"
James looked aghast. "Of course I'm still going to marry her! We've been together for two years. Just because Lily turned up all of a sudden - besides, she's the one who left me, remember! It was her fault!"
"Yeah, but you didn't go after her. That's your fault."
"What are you talking about?"
"Women like to be sought after. Maybe she was testing you. IF she was, you failed miserably."
"Sirius!"
"It's true. If you had gone after her, it might be Lily who you're marrying n February."
James thought about that. The sight of Lily in a wedding dress made him feel nice and warm all over. "So what do I do?"
"Dump Lisal and go after Lily," said Sirius as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Sirius!" exclaimed James again." I love Lisal!"
"Do you really?" This left James feeling more confused then before, and Sirius headed back to bed.
When Lisal finally heard the door open, it was 11:30. It was James. He didn't have any grocery bags.
Lily fastened her left pearl earring on and stepped back to observe. The black dress was simply cut, straight down to her ankles, with think black straps. The neck was a fairly low-cut square that showed off the dainty pearl necklace that matched her earrings. Her shoes were about three inches high, black with think straps. Lily wondered vaguely if they were too high. The heels made her 5'10. Her dark auburn hair was swept back in an elegant knot, drawing attention to her dark green eyes. Lily checked the clock on the wall as she fastened on a pearl bracelet and quickly grabbed her coat and headed out the door.
Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, Lily impatiently watched the old Lincoln in front of her, willing it to move. It didn't. The honking car horns all around her made the anxiety she was feeling only worse. Giving up on starting at the car, she settled on the traffic light. It changed, as soon as she looked at it, to green. As Lily stepped on the gas and the car charged forward, she took a deep breath. It had been almost six years since she had done any magic. Lily Evans now lived and worked in the muggle world, to get away from all the pain that resided in the magical one.
For the past two weeks, the magical world was all Lily could think about, and when her boss call up and asked her perform for a business Christmas party, she jumped at the offer. Anything to get her mind off her restlessness and sorrow.
And now if she didn't get to the restraunt in fifteen minutes, she might lose the job that was helping her to work toward her goals. One, to make it to the top, and two, to forget magic. Throwing the car around the corner, she barked in a handicapped spot, flung the door open and threw herself into the cold of December in London. Flying up the back steps, she hurtled through the door, and down the backstage hall. Seeing her fellow crew mated, she breathed a sigh of relief. She skidded to a halt in front of them and panted, "I'm here."
"Good Lord, Evans, you're all hot and red-faced! Calm down, we can't have you going on stage looking like a tomato," said the violinist sternly. Lily sunk into a chair and gasped, "Is it really that bad?" She asked pointing to her cheeks. The violinist nodded. Lily groaned.
Peeking around the curtain to see her audience, she whispered over her shoulder, "Who exactly are these people?"
The violinist shrugged. "Don't rightly know. Kinda odd, they are though. Every few minutes I can see sparks shooting up, but I don't reckon, I can tell where they come from."
Lily froze. Sparks? Could it possibly be? She peered around the curtain again, trying to place a face. And then without any warning, the curtain rose, revealing the musicians, and Lily started straightened up quickly, and walked gracefully as she could toward center stage.
When the curtain rose, James Potter looked up at the stage to see who the entertainment was. As soon as the spotlight hit the slim singer in the black silk dress, auburn tresses pulled away from the lovely face, James mouth dropped open. Luckily, the lights had dimmed on the dance floor and no one could see his gaping mouth.
Swiftly, he made his way back to his table, where he could sit and view her, take in her every detail, and listen to her soft sweet voice. A few chords were played and then she began to sing and James was lost.
Chestnuts roasting on a open fire,
Jack frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
It was simple Christmas song, a classic, and yet the effect it had on him was unbelievable. The person, who came and sat down beside him, broke his spell by taking his hand and kissing it. He turned to look at the woman who was holding his hand and smiling softly at him, as though he'd never seen her before.
Lisal loved James Potter, more that anything she'd ever loved before. She was certain that James loved her back just as much. But when she took his hand and kissed it, he's looked at her differently. It was an empty look, blank and uncertain. It faded quickly however, and he gave her a small smile, squeezed her hand and turned back to the stage, where the woman was singing.
Lisal admitted that the singer was very pretty. Her dark hair was swept back and her bottle-green eyes were enchanting. Her slim figure was showed off by the modest black dress, and she held herself straight and tall. And her voice was one of the most loveliest Lisal had ever heard. Musing, she thought maybe she could sing at the wedding in February.
Glancing down at her hand still intertwined in her finance's, Lisal smiled softly at the ring. It was and extravagant back with three diamonds on it. When he had given it to her, he had said he had gotten the very best, because she was the very best. Lisal could hardly wait for February to marry her very best. The thought made pleasant shivers run down her back as she turned her attention back to the singer.
Lily finished her song, earning a hearty round of applause. Stepping up to the microphone, she said tentatively into the crowd, "Excuse, me, but we've got a very special song for the not-quite-newlyweds! Would-" she consulted the paper in her hand and went pale staring at the names. Lily gulped and continued. "-James Potter and Lisal Adams please come forward?"
A young blonde woman stood, turned around and pulled a man up, gave him a soft kiss and lead him out into the spot light. The woman was nice looking with dark brown eyes and the sun colored hair. Pretty thought this woman was, it was the man that made Lily gasp. He was tall (Probably over sex feet, Lily thought), had jet-black hair, that in spite of the occasion was messy and untamed. His dark blue eyes met hers for a brief moment, and then she looked away, continuing to speak. "A very good friend of your yours asked for a special song for the two of you." By this time a man had joined her on the stage, which Lily introduced as Steven.
Lisal was delighted. That friend might have been Melinda, or maybe Susie. . . She slipped her hand into James's and place his other hand on her waist. James was still looking up at the singer, eyes wide. "
"James!" Lisal hissed, all the while smiling. He glanced down at her, surprised. "We're supposed to be dancing." And then the song started. It was a duet.
Steven
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
And if I never knew you
I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can se the truth so clear
In you eyes
So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Lily
If I never knew you
I'd have safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Steven
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Lily
Somehow we made the whole world bright
Both
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night
But still my heart is singling
We were right
Lily
If I never knew you
If I never knew this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
Steven
There's no moment I regret
Since the moment that we met
If our time has gone too fast I've lived at last
Both
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Lily
I thought our over would be so beautiful
We'd turned the darkness into light
Steven
We were right
And If I never knew you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lily
Empty as the sky
Both
Never knowing why
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Lisal smiled contentedly as the last notes died away. That was one of the sweetest songs she had ever heard. She would work as hard as she could to get this woman to sing at the wedding. She squeezed James's hand, smiled up at him and whispered, "I love you."
James murmured something too soft to hear, but Lisal was sure it was, "I love you, too." Happily she laid her head on James's shoulder as another Christmas carol started.
All during the duet for himself and Lisal, James was thinking about a woman. Not his finance, as he should, but about a woman with red hair, green eyes, and a beautiful singing voice. If he never knew Lisal, maybe he would be marrying Lily in two months time. This thought so consumed his head that he hardly heard Lisal say, "I love you." He wanted Lisal to disappear and grab Lily down from the stage. . . James slapped himself mentally.
He and Lisal had been together for nearly two years. He wasn't going to throw that away for a girl he hadn't seen for sex years, a girl who had left him with too many questions and not nearly enough answers. He and Lisal loved each other, and they were getting married in February. James set his mind back on the party.
As soon as she could Lily rushed to the bathroom. She fled into a stall and bent over a toilet, and in her rush almost knocked over some little who was struggling with overalls.
Although her stomach was churning, she wasn't throwing up, which was a good sign. Slowly, Lily reached forward, pulled down the cover and sat there, taking deep breaths. Once she felt a little bit calmer, Lily tried to sort through the event of tonight so far.
She had sung a few Christmas carols, all right, nothing strange, about that. The real shock had come when she saw James Potter's name on the little slip of paper in her hand. That shock grew and grew all during the duet. She knew her voice had almost failed a couple of times. Steven had started to stare at her. Luckily, no one else seen to notice.
The shock had full matured; when it finally registered in her numb that James Potter was engaged. That was when she ran to the toilet.
Taking another deep breath, Lily unlocked the door and stepped up to the mirror. She was pale and scared looking. Looking down into the sink again, she cupped some water in her hands an splashed her face. The water felt cool and refreshing.
Just as she was finished drying her hands, a toilet flushed and out stepped the nice looking blonde who was James's finance. The blonde glanced at Lily and exclaimed, "Oh you're wonderful! Thank you so much for that duet! I simply loved it!"
"You're welcome," Lily said with a weak smile.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Lisal Adams. Well, you saw my fiancé, James, didn't you?"
Once again, Lily gave a feeble smile.
"Oh, he's quite a catch, isn't he? Rich too!" she giggled. "Anyway, we're getting married in February, and I want you to sing for the wedding! Please say you will!" Lisal implored, gazing at Lily and widening her brown eyes.
"Er. . ."
"Wonderful! I knew you'd say yes! I've already got your number from one of the band members I'll be contacting you shortly." With this said Lisal gave Lily a quick hug and disappeared from the bathroom.
Lily stood frozen for a moment and ten, clapping a hand over her mouth, rushed into the stall again
That night, Lily stumbled home, barely awake. She fumbled trying to unlock her apartment door. The lock clicked and Lily nearly fell into the room. She headed immediately for the bedroom to remove her shoes, ("Damn things! Probably broke my ankle!") When she had checked to make sure all bones were intact, she wearily made her way into the bathroom to draw up a nice long bubble bath.
She unzipped the dress and it fell smoothly to the floor. Sighing in contentment Lily eased her body into the hot, foamy water. It would probably take about fifty bubble baths to get the shock of seeing James Potter again. Lily though she could live with a bath a day for fifty days.
Just as she was finally starting to relax and forget the trauma of the night, the doorbell rang. Lily groaned but decided to ignore it. Her caller, however, was persistent. After the fifth ring, Lily heaved herself out of the tub and yanked on her robe. Grumbling to herself, Lily stomped flat-footed to the door. This ha better be important...
As the door opened, James was in bliss. Before him was the most beautiful sight in the world. Lily Evans in a bathrobe. Her mouth parted in surprise and those bright green eyes became even wider then he though possible. She said, "Oh no-" and started to close the door. James put his foot in it's path, stopping it.
"I need to talk to you," he said swiftly.
"Do you know what I did when I realized it was you at the party?" she asked, her voice low.
"I have no idea."
"I ran into the bathroom and threw up my dinner!" she yelled and this, catching him off guard, she slammed the door shut.
He winced "Ouch. . ." he mutter. Then realizing the door had been shut in his face, he rang the bell again.
"Go away!" came the muffled reply.
"No! I need to talk to you! Let me in!"
"NO!"
"Lily Evans! Open the damn door!" he yelled so loud an old lady a few door down poked her head around the corner. James smiled sweetly at her, and turned back to pounding on Lily's door.
"You're going to break down my door!"
"So let me in!"
She relented at last. Opening the door a crack, she said suspiciously, "What do you want?"
"I told you. We nee to talk."
"So talk."
James sighed. "Can I come in?" She glared at him, but allowed him admittance. She closed the door quickly behind him, as though she didn't want her neighbors to see him. She turned to face him, arms crossed.
"I'm getting married."
"I know."
"Oh." There was an uncomfortable silence.
"Er. . . thanks for the duet. Lisal loved it."
"I'm glad."
"Not very talkative are you?"
"No." This one stumped James. He sighed. No more beating around the bush.
"Lily, why'd you leave?"
"Leave what?"
"Me."
"Because I had to."
"Why?"
"Listen, James it's late. You probably have work tomorrow, and I know I do. I'll see you later, besides, my bath is getting cold."
James sighed again and headed for the door, followed by Lily. Just as he stepped out into the hall, and she was about to close the door, she whispered, "Lisal is very lucky," and the door clicked shut.
James stood there wondering how exactly Lily Evans had slipped through his fingers yet again. Slowly he started his car and began the drive home.
Lisal slipped into her silk nightdress, wondering where James as. He said he was going to the store. That had been half and hour ago. Lisal wasn't worried. James had always been very faithful. She yawned, crawled into bed and turned out the light.
Meanwhile, James was sitting at exactly the same light Lily had three hours before. But when the light changed, he didn't go straight. He turned left.
Sirius Black stumbled to the door, half asleep, wondering whom on earth would be pounding on his door so late at night. Looking out a window as he passed, he saw it wasn't the full, so it wouldn't Remus. Might be Peter, scared something was in his apartment. Still yawning, Sirius undid the chain lock and pulled open the door. It was James Potter Sirius blinked blearily at him.
"'Lo James," he muttered. James stepped in and Sirius closed the door.
"Do you remember Lily Evans?" he asked abruptly..
"Your old 'flame'?"
"Exactly."
"Sure I do. It's hard to forget girls like th-that." Sirius said yawning.
"Well, I found her." Sirius froze mid-yawn.
"How?" he asked, wide-awake now. James explained all about the party and how he found her house.
"Well," said Sirius. "What are you going to tell Lisal?"
"What do you mean?"
"How are you going to tell her you're not going to marry her?"
James looked aghast. "Of course I'm still going to marry her! We've been together for two years. Just because Lily turned up all of a sudden - besides, she's the one who left me, remember! It was her fault!"
"Yeah, but you didn't go after her. That's your fault."
"What are you talking about?"
"Women like to be sought after. Maybe she was testing you. IF she was, you failed miserably."
"Sirius!"
"It's true. If you had gone after her, it might be Lily who you're marrying n February."
James thought about that. The sight of Lily in a wedding dress made him feel nice and warm all over. "So what do I do?"
"Dump Lisal and go after Lily," said Sirius as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Sirius!" exclaimed James again." I love Lisal!"
"Do you really?" This left James feeling more confused then before, and Sirius headed back to bed.
When Lisal finally heard the door open, it was 11:30. It was James. He didn't have any grocery bags.