Cherish the Second Chances

Chapter 2 : Righting What Went Wrong

Lily felt almost a sense of déjà vu as she stepped off the train. She could have sworn she was seeing what was going to happen, and barely half a second later, exactly what she had thought would happen—did. Alice asked her about her winter, and even smiled the same sort of bright smile Lily thought she would. Lily shook off these thoughts, before replying to her questions.

"Great!" is what she wanted to say. But, instead, she shrugged and sighed. "It pretty much sucked. Petunia was a prick all break, and my parents kept pestering me about life here," she explained in brevity as she climbed off the stairs from the train.

"Oh, really? Ch, anything is better than being left alone…" Alice responded, trailing off at the end.

"What, did you and Frank fight?" Lily asked, concerned.

"No, I just get a little tired of him, sometimes. You know," Alice explained with a shrug.

"Uh-huh. Ever try doing something other than cuddle?" Lily asked with a wink. She then mentally paused, wondering how she could be so… so unreserved in her comments! After all, at that point, she would have simply sighed and called her impossible, without actually stating something of that sort.

"Lily, you okay?" Alice asked, leaning forward, as if to check her forehead. Apparently, she was thinking the same thing that Lily was, because she knew Lily well enough to know that she was always polite and well-mannered—never suggestive.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Maybe a little tired," Lily admitted. "Have you seen James?" she asked suddenly.

----

Lily walked into the Great Hall, and she smiled at the sight of all the students surrounding the huge tables of food. She gave a shout of excitement as she entered, drawing attention from the adjacent students to herself. Lily walked up to the Gryffindor table, and looked for a seat near the Marauders. She still had no clue how to approach James, really, but what would planning do?

"Lily, over here!" Frank called. Lily reluctantly went to join Alice and Frank, after realizing there were no empty seats anywhere near the Marauders. Lily took a seat across from Frank, who was sitting beside Alice.

"What was that about?" Alice asked with a small smirk. She was piling chicken onto her and Frank's plates, obviously interested in what Lily was doing so far away.

"Ahh, I wanted to greet James…" Lily said with a sigh as she bit into her chicken. She felt two pairs of eyes on her, and she could feel them staring. She looked up from her chicken, and noted the looks that her two friends had in their eyes.

Lily couldn't be sure, but she knew that Alice had a look of jealousy in her eyes. It was fleeting, but for a brief second, it was definitely there. When Lily caught Alice's eye, she immediately turned and began to put mounds of mashed potatoes and butter onto the plates now, busing herself with fixing the plates.

The look Frank gave Lily was much, much different, however. Lily didn't know Frank as well as she knew Alice, but she knew that that look was not a look with pure friendly feelings behind it. If Lily didn't know any better, she could have sworn that that look had some sort of longing behind it, a sort of longing that should not be felt by him towards anyone but Alice.

Lily stopped contemplating about James and her situation, and then began thinking about her friends' situations. 'What do I have that Alice could possibly want? And… does Frank like me? Because that look… The way he looked at me seemed as if he wanted to be with me, and not Alice. But… what could Alice be jealous of, then?' Lily mused to herself. She continued eating, but after she had caught her friends' eyes, they were immensely quiet. And so was she, for she was wondering about the two of them.

What could it possibly be? She continued to think as she ate, but Frank and Alice eventually slipped into meaningless conversation over schoolwork and classes.

Alice suddenly popped up with a question, which made Lily freeze in the middle of her bite of green beans. "So, how do you feel about James?" she asked, a smirk on her face as she leaned forward.

"I… It might sound silly, but… I think I love him," Lily decided, averting her gaze to the messy-haired boy sitting a few seats away.

Alice froze, before regaining her composure. Lily noted that that was not the answer she had been looking for—not by a long shot. 'Does… does she like James…?' Lily asked, but hoped that wasn't the case.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Alice questioned, the look from before back on her face—except now it was added with a trace of sadness, somehow.

"Well, go out with him, and soon, before he decides I'm too easy to chase," Lily replied with a small chuckle.

Down the table, in the Marauders' area, Sirius was nudging James in the ribs. "So, you going to ask Lily out?"

"Yeah, yeah, eventually…" James replied grumpily, not enjoying the nudging. Well, he didn't mind the nudging. He minded the nudging while he was eating.

"No eventuallies! You must do it soon, before the chance passes you by!" Sirius cried out, a little too loud. Well, that was an under exaggeration. The people in the Slytherin table heard him, and were now talking about how the blood traitor was a bloody idiot. "So, when you gonna do the deed?" Sirius asked, leaning forward.

"I don't know! Maybe tonight… Maybe tomorrow during class… Does it really matter when I do?" James asked.

"Jeez, you're more experienced than I am, and you are acting like it's your first date! What has the world come to?" Sirius cried out, once again, far too loudly.

James sighed, and thought to himself. 'Why am I acting like it's my first date…?' James asked, wondering why he was so insecure, so unsure.

"It's because it's the first date that matters to you," Remus cut in with a smile.

----

The two of them stood, side-by-side, staring at the bulletin board. Lily eyed the announcement a split-second after James did, and she wasn't surprised that he was silent. What happened to the James that always asked her out randomly, in so many different ways it was mind-boggling? What happened to the James that would try wooing her, even if he was bodily harmed? What happened to the forwardness, the courage?

'Screw it. I have to be the guy tonight, huh?' she asked herself wryly.

"Hey, I know I'm probably jumping up on the waiting list of the millions of fan girls that want to go out with you, but, well, want to escort me to Hogsmeade?" Lily asked, surprised she didn't have to run out of the room as a completely bright red flash.

"You're always number zero, Lily," he replied, using her first name for the first time since the end of the break. "So, yeah…" he began, unsure of how to continue.

Lily decided that herself. "Goodnight," she said, hugging his arm gently before ascending the stairs that led to her room.

"Lily! Wait!" he called up the stairs. She stopped and stared down. "Catch!" he called as he tossed her bag to her.

"Thanks!" she replied, flashing him a brilliant, dazzling, beautiful… stop it James… extremely white, shiny, perfect… really, stop thinking about her teeth… straight, lovely, graceful… please… wondrous smile.

Heh. He was lucky he didn't make a ballad about her eyebrow (1). He stood there for minutes, staring at the door that Lily had closed, before he finally broke out into a huge grin and started dancing around the room. He grabbed a throw pillow off of the couch and began to do the tango with it, twirling around happily, as if he was a teenaged girl from a movie where she finally got to go out with the perfect guy.

----

In the end, the excursion to Hogsmeade became a double date. Lily and Alice with James and Frank. Lily didn't completely focus on James, either; she paid vast amounts of attention to the way that Frank and Alice were acting. She noted that they held hands, at the least, and every once in a while Alice would lean against Frank, but for the most part, Alice stared at James, and Frank stared at Lily—which made it awkward when their eyes met.

Lily was sure she had it figured out, now. Alice wanted to be with James, and Frank wanted to be with, well, herself. After she made that revelation, she couldn't stop thinking about it, only pausing to nod at James while he was talking every few moments.

They walked around Hogsmeade, visiting every shop on the left side of the road. They were just about to start working on the right side, when they heard a rumbling BOOM sound. The two couples ran towards the noise, rather than away, as much of the other patrons were doing. They all immediately took their wands out, ready to fight off whatever menace had dared threaten the other students.

Around them, certainly the cause of the mounting turmoil, were dozens of wizards dressed in dark cloaks, their faces covered.

James immediately went to the group that Sirius, Remus, and Peter, having been closer to the origin of the battle, had gotten to first, and had managed to separate from the others by themselves. Alice, Frank and Lily followed automatically, not wanting to leave behind their friends, nor be left behind themselves.

Lily flung random spells at the Death Eaters, one of the Death Eaters actually falling under a 'scourgify' spell.

And then, she saw a brilliant flash of light hit Frank square in the chest. He began to writhe in pain, and Lily immediately recognized the spell as the Cruciatus Curse. She called out his name, and as soon as she did, she saw Alice beginning to defend him.

Lily would have smiled; she would have pondered this action, had she not been busy. At the moment, she couldn't think or be happy, because any single pause could seriously cost her her life.

The fight ended almost abruptly. The Dark Mark was put into the sky by some random Death Eater, and within the minute after the Dark Mark was set, all of the Death Eaters just… disappeared.

----

They all sat in the main Common Room, some idly chatting to keep the worry off of their minds, some being strangely quiet due to anxiety, and still others crying because of what they had seen—these last ones were mainly Third years, who were the youngest to take place. The First and Second years were all confused and kept trying to ask what happened, but until Remus calmly explained it to one of them, none of them knew.

And there sat Alice, who was one of the strangely silent ones. She was huddled up on one end of the couch, hoping that Frank was all right. Lily tried comforting her, but Alice simply shrugged her away, and told her to go be with James. Lily listened.

Sirius asked Remus if he knew what they were going to do. Remus shook his head.

"That means no one here knows…" Sirius concluded with a sigh. No one questioned his logic.

Finally, Professor McGonagall came in the Common Room. Lily swear it had felt like days since they were all told to wait there, but in reality, it had only truly been maybe an hour.

She read off a list of the few who died, and the few who were scarred for life. She also informed them of who was in the hospital, who was in the hospital wing of the school, and who wouldn't recover.

Frank was in the Hospital Wing, sleeping off the Cruciatus. Apparently it hadn't set in long enough to do lasting damage. As soon as Professor McGonagall told them it was okay to leave the Common Room, Alice rushed out.

Lily went to go follow her, but James held her back, grabbing her arm and shaking her head.

"But, she…!" Lily began, but James only continued shaking his head before he interrupted her.

"They need to work out some things," James replied.

"Ahh, I think I'll take a shower…" Sirius dismissed himself with a stretch,

"You know, I really should finish that Potions essay…" Remus added, using the same tone as Sirius did to leave the pair alone.

"I, uh… I'll go to bed!" Peter squeaked as he dashed up the stairs.

"At sunset?" James asked aloud, but Peter made no move to correct himself.

----

Lily leaned against James, staring at the fire. They didn't bother going to their Common Room—besides, it was more comforting to be around other people. They didn't make conversation, but instead, sat silently, lost in their own thoughts.

"Hey, James?" Lily asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" James replied.

"… Do you think Alice and Frank… will be okay?" Lily asked.

"You mean, as a couple?" James asked. Lily nodded, and he continued. "Yeah. They'll be fine," James responded firmly.

Silence once again. "Hey, James?" Lily asked, not unlike a few moments ago.

"Yeah?"

"… I… love you," Lily said, hiding her face in his chest so he wouldn't see her blush.

"I love you, too, Lily," James replied with a smile, surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth so easily, before kissing the top of her head.

'Yeah, we'll all be okay,' James thought to himself as he continued staring into the fire, holding a ligthly blushing Lily in his arms.

----

A/N: So, that's the end of my little two-shot. Sorry it took so long to get the second chapter out. Hope you all enjoyed it!

(1) – an allusion to the "Seven Ages of Man" by William Shakespeare. I thought it'd be (somewhat) funny to put it in here.