Hey, all, thanks for reading! I haven't had ANs on the last two chapters because I keep forgetting them, and since I'm new to this, I haven't really looked into how to edit my files, so…anyway, hope you like what's happening so far, please review and let me know what you think! Don't own these characters, wish I did. Then I wouldn't have to worry about the test I have tomorrow… Anyway, hope you like!

Chapter 3

It took James a minute to realize where he was, who he was with, and why he was there with her when he woke up. Then he remembered everything that had happened the night before: Lily's letter, the news about her parents, telling her of his feelings for her, finding out she returned the feelings, the kiss, and then falling asleep in the chair. He wandered how long they'd been here like this, and slowly raised his arm, careful not to wake Lily, and looked at his watch; it was ten minutes till noon.

He heard his stomach rumble, not having eaten anything since around 6:00 the night before. He gently shook Lily's shoulder, "Lily. Lily, wake up. It's almost 12:00, we need to get something to eat."

"What?" mumbled Lily groggily. "Where am I?" She looked around and rubbed her eyes. She drew in a sharp breath when she saw James sitting next to her. "Oh, hi James. I, uh, I almost forgot what happened last night there for a minute. Uh, how long have we been sleeping; what time is it?"

"About 12:00." He said as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I like playing with your hair more than mine." He told her. "It's a lot softer, and a lot prettier, too."

She smiled as he leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I'm hungry, are you?" He asked her, and got to his feet. If you don't feel like going to the Great Hall, I could bring you something," he offered.

"No, that's okay," she said. "I'll come. I'll have to talk to Dumbledore about going home for a week or so to settle things, and I should talk to my teachers, too, about missing work." She tried to keep her voice even and calm, but James could see how much it hurt her to talk about these things. He wished he could do something to make things easier, but he didn't know what he could do.

"Alright then, but why don't you wait to talk to Dumbledore and the teachers. Or better yet, why don't I do it for you? I know you don't feel like talking about this stuff now, and I know what's going on." He said, hoping this might help.

"Thanks, James, but I need to talk to them myself." She told him. "It might help for you to be there with me, though. Moral support."

"Of course." James said, relieved he could be of some use. "Whatever you need."

Lily smiled in gratitude and said, "Right now, what I need is something to eat. Let's go!"

Lily took his hand and started for the door, but James stood still for a moment. "What's the matter?" she asked him.

"Nothing, really. I was just thinking how incredibly lucky I am to have you here with me." James looked deep into her eyes, and cupped her face in his hands. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly. "I love you, Lily."

"I love you, too, James," she told him, never meaning anything so much in her entire life. "I love you too."

Again, she took his hand, and they walked slowly out the door and down the passageways to the Great Hall. The Hall was buzzing with the normal Saturday afternoon chatter when they walked through the doors. As they walked in, all eyes turned to them and the chatter died away.

"Why are they all looking at us?" Lily whispered to James, cheeks burning at the excessive attention. She was a fairly popular girl, so she was used to some notice, but this was just too much.

"No one expected US to walk in together." James explained. "They must think you've gone mad. If you remember, just yesterday you avoided me like the plague."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that, by the way. Still, I wish they'd stop." She told him, gripping his hand a little tighter.

"Come on, do you want to sit with Remus and Sirius, or do you have someone else you want to sit with?" he asked her.

"We can sit with your friends, that's fine." She said, still wishing everyone would stop staring.

They quickly walked across the room to the Gryffindor table and found Lupin and Sirius to be staring at them just as much as anyone else.

"What's up mate?" Sirius called to him. "Where've ya been? And when did Evans start hanging out with you? I thought she had better taste than that."

"Hi James, Lily." Remus said quietly. He was just as surprised as Sirius was by Lily Evans suddenly walking around holding his best friend James's hand, but he tended to be a bit more delicate with these things.

"Hey, Lupin," James said to Remus as he gave Sirius a look to kill. "We were just going to get something to eat. What are you guys doing today?"

Avoiding the subject of Lily suddenly being with him, James made it clear he didn't want to talk about it just then. Sirius, however, wasn't going to give up that easily. It just wasn't in his nature. "'Good to see you, Sirius', 'How's it going, buddy?', 'How've you been?' Real nice of you James, just ignore me over here. Now, I said, 'What's up, mate?' Now it's your turn. And I prefer the answer to be about how the lovely Miss Lily Evans came to be in our humble company today."

"Can't we talk about this later, Sirius?" said James, a bit of an edge to his voice. "It's a long story, and one I don't care to go into now."

"Oh, come on! What's up with you two! Yesterday, no offence mate, but Evans wouldn't have been caught dead with you! I mean, you know it's true, look around. I'm not the only one curious."

"Just drop it, okay Sirius! Lily got some news last night, we talked, and that's all there is to it! Now just leave it alone!" James was getting really worried now. He could feel Lily's fingers growing colder in his hands, and a blank look was covering her face. She didn't look like she was going to cry, it was as though she had gone numb.

"Sirius," Lupin said. "Stop, okay. Can't you see she's upset? Just leave it be for now."

When Sirius turned toward Lily and saw the look on her face, he fell silent. "I'm sorry, Evans. Didn't mean to upset you or anything. You, uh, you alright?" he mumbled, an embarrassed look on his face. This was unusual, as Sirius Black was rarely embarrassed, and even more rarely apologized.

"I'm fine, Sirius. It's okay. And James, it's alright if they know. This is Hogwarts after all. They'll find out soon enough." Lily had a forced a calm expression and turned to face both Sirius and Remus. "Last night, my younger sister, Petunia, sent me a letter. It, uh, it said that a group of wizards broke into my house and killed my parents. They were Death Eaters. James was with me when I found out, we talked, and he was there for me and helped me not to blame myself too much for what happened. So now, here we are. Together."

Lily took a deep breath and checked the tears threatening to fall. Sirius looked stricken, and muttered an apology. Remus patted her hand and told her how sorry he was. James squeezed her hand as she laid her head on his shoulder, the strength sapping away from her.

"Here, you need to eat something," said James after a moment of silence, pushing a plate of food toward her. She picked up her fork, moving the food around on her plate more than actually eating anything. The knot in her stomach left no room for food.

After several minutes, she said, "James, if you're finished eating, would you mind going with me to talk to Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, of course." He said, standing as he took one last drink of pumpkin juice. "Ready when you are."

She smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and took his hand as they walked out of the Great Hall. Lily had only been to the Headmaster's office once to discuss Head Girl duties, but James had been there many times for less responsible reasons. His footsteps were sure as he made his way down the corridors and up the stairs, stopping when they had reached the stone gargoyle guarding the staircase that lead to Dumbledore's office.

"Hmm, let's see." Said James, studying the statue. "Chocolate Frogs? Cauldron Cakes? No? How about…Jelly Slugs!" The gargoyle leapt to the side, and James led Lily up the spiraling stairway. At the top, he knocked on the door.

"Come in," came a voice from within. The door creaked open at the sound of the voice, and they walked inside. "Ah! Miss Evens, Mr. Potter! How are you? Isn't this a surprise! Miss Evans, I don't think I've ever seen you this close to Mr. Potter without shouting at him, generally something he deserves, though." He added with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Uh, Professor, Lily got a letter last night, by the muggle post. She, uh, she needs to talk to you about it." Lily's hands felt like ice, and she was shaking slightly.

"Oh, yes? What can I do for you, Miss Even?"

Lily pulled the crumpled piece of paper that was the letter from her pocket. She had put it there the night before after James had read it. With a deep breath, she stepped forward and handed it to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's face was serious now, seeing the pain on Lily's face. He took the letter and quickly read its contents, his eyes growing graver every second. After several minutes of silence, Lily said to him, "Professor, I need to go home."

"Yes, yes I suppose you do." He said, still looking at the letter. He raised his head to face Lily. "Do you have any idea who did this?" He asked.

"Specifically, no. But it WAS the Death Eaters. I know it was, that's the only explanation. They're the only one who could do something so horrible. They had to be the ones who killed my parents." She said this with a blank expression, but James could feel her cold hand tremble, and squeezed it gently.

"Professor, if I could, I'd like to go with Lily." James said, glancing at her as he said this. "I don't think she should go alone."

"I quite agree, James, and if Lily wants you to go, you have my permission." Dumbledore replied. "Lily? Would you like James to go with you?" He asked kindly.

"Yes, yes, thank you, Professor." Lily said, giving James a sad but grateful smile.

"I'll talk to your professors for you and send an owl with any assignments so you can go ahead and pack if you like," Professor Dumbledore offered.

"Thank you, sir." She replied as James led her out of the room.

"I dare say your house isn't a part of the Floo Network, so I'll have Hagrid bring a couple of thestrals up for you to ride into Hogsmeade on. You can aparate from there."

"Yes sir, thank you."

When they were out of the office and the door was closed, though she tried to brush it away before he saw, James noticed Lily wipe a tear from her cheek. He turned her so she faced him and kissed her softly on her lips, willing her sadness to leave her and fill him instead. When he pulled away, he held her close and stroked her hair, and they stood there for several minutes at the top of the steps as though no one and nothing else existed in the entire world.

"I love you James." She murmured, burying her face in his chest. "I don't know what I'd have done if you weren't there with me last night."

"I love you too, Lily. I love you too." He said, and kissed the top of her head, wondering how it was possible to feel so happy, yet so sad all at the same time.