Chapter 4 The Lake

Lily headed towards the lake. She knew she shouldn't be near it, but memories of visits in previous years were pleasant, and they comforted her. The tall thee giving shade, the lapping of the water, the squid coming up once in a while to see the students.

Then she saw the people she hated the most: Bellatrix and Narcissa Black, Severus Snape, and Lucius Malfoy. Bellatrix had been her sworn enemy since she first stepped on the train, in first year. She had been Lily's attacker.

"Get away from there," Lily yelled at them. They were enchanting things to go and hit the mer-people.

"Stupid Mudblood, don't boss us around," said Snape. His voice was musical, which didn't make the words any less ugly. "We rank higher than you. We are pure-bloods, which.---.." .

"Which does not give you the right to boss other people around. And if I'm correct, Snape, I got better marks than you in every year," said Lily. "I'll have to give you detention."

The Slytherins laughed. "Oh yes? Well, Wingardium Leviosa!" Snape shouted, with his wand in his hand. Lily began hovering above the ground. Then Snape flicked his wand and Lily landed in the water.

"Look, I think Lily Evans is a water lily!" screeched Bellatrix, rolling on the ground laughing. Lily was trying to get to shore, but the mer-people were seized her and held her down. She felt all the air being sucked out of her as she got dragged under the water. Suddenly, something brushed past her leg and she felt herself rising. Cold air met her face and she lost consciousness.

----

"Will she be okay?" asked a voice, which, to Lily, sounded far away.

"She will. I will patch her up quickly. She has a few scratches and a nasty bite, but otherwise, she's fine." said another voice, which Lily recognized as Poppy Pomfrey, the school nurse.

"Can we see her?" asked another voice.

"I'm sorry, she already has a visitor and asked to be left in privacy," Madam Pomfrey said. Lily could hear the disappointment in their voices.

"A visitor?" she thought, just realizing what the nurse had been telling her friends. She opened her eyes and James was sitting in a chair with a blanket over his shoulders. He smiled as she opened her eyes.

"You," she whispered.

"Ah, Miss Evans! You're awake. You're lucky Mr. Potter here was able to save you in time. The mer-people were about to drag you under!" Madam Pomfrey said.

James smiled. "I told you, Madam Pomfrey, call me James. I think I've been here often enough for you to call me by my Christian name, not that Evans here would even consider it," he said, winking at Lily.

"You... saved me?" she said.

"You look surprised!" he said, placing a hand to his heart in mock hurt.

"Well, I sort of am," she said, blushing.

James smiled. "After you ran out on McGonagall, We thought it might be a good idea for me to follow you, for safety reasons," he said.

"I'm glad you did," she said, then fell back asleep.

----

She woke up in the middle of the night. James was sleeping on the chair. "He must have convinced Madam Pomfrey to let him stay," she thought. Lily looked at him again. "He looks kind of lovely sleeping," she said. Not bothering to argue with her thought, she fell back asleep.

----

"JAMES POTTER! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!" said an angry voice. Lily and James woke up with a start. Kay and Alice were standing at her bedside and Kay's face was all red.

"Kay, calm down. James was the one who saved her life!" said Alice.

"Look, you woke Evans!" James said to Kay.

"Sorry," she said, turning to Lily. "Why is Potter here?"

Lily sighed. "He saved my life. I thought that if he truly wanted to be here, he could stay. After all, what are bodyguards for?" said Lily, casting a sideways glance at James.

"Oh, okay. Wait! WHAT! He's your... your ...BODYGUARD?" Kay screamed.

"Kay, if you don't shut up this second, Madam Pomfrey will throw the lot of you out!" said Lily.

"How... why... when... why?" was all that Kay could come up with.

"I think she means 'Why has James become your bodyguard?" translated Alice. "When did this happen? and I for one would also like to know why," Alice sat on Lily's bed and Kay sat down on a chair.

"Well, you see, um..." Lily started, but did not know the answer for sure. "Ask him," she said finally, pointing at James. The two girls looked at him.

"Well, um, see, can you leave us two minutes in private?" he asked. With much groaning, the girls went to the other side of the room.

"Did you tell them about the messages in blood?" he asked. Lily shook her head. "Okay, so what are we going to tell them?" he asked.

"How about, I got a letter that said that if I don't mind my mouth, I'll die?" said Lily. James looked at her.

"That sounds good, but why do you want to lie to your friends?" he said.

Lily shrugged. "I don't want them to get over protective of me, like I can't go anywhere without them. I have you for that," she smirked, "but also, them finding out I'm sleeping in your bed, even if you're not in it, would bring up some very strange questions that I don't feel like answering."

James considered the answer for a moment and nodded. He motioned for Kay and Alice to come back. "Lily got a Howler saying that she was going to get done in if she didn't mind the way she speaks. It also said that if she told someone, they would make her die an awful and excruciating painful death, and it wouldn't be traceable back to them. Lily wanted to repeat it to McGonagall, even though the original burnt up. That's why Lily and I got caught passing notes."

A look of unbelief passed over the two girls face for a second, but James dismissed it.

"We told McGonagall and she tried asking Lily about it, but Lily closed up and ran away," James continued. "McGonagall told me I should go make sure she was all right, and that and I should stick with her till it has been resolved. The teachers think they know who sent the Howler."

He and Lily were the only ones who knew the truth, but Lily's friends seemed to accept James' story. Lily had told McGonagall who threw her in, and who else was around, which resulted in their two-month long detention sentence. The only problem– they all denied any involvement in sending the threats. Lily's friends now understood why James was there and Lily, all of a sudden, did too.

---

Lily came out of Hospital Wing the next day. It was Saturday and she and James were going to work on Head Duties. Her friends had been wanting to check out the Heads Dorm but Lily and James made excuses for them not to. Dumbledore had been trying to get rid of the writing, but had been unsuccessful. The writing would reappear and anything that the headmaster hung up to try to cover it, except the painting, would instantly burst into flames. Lily did not want her friends to see it.

"Potter, tonight, if you want, I'll sleep on the sofa," said Lily, looking up from the scroll she had been writing on.

"No, no. it's okay," said James.

"But you should sleep in your bed!" said Lily.

James had a twinkle in his eye. "We could sleep together," he said. Lily got up and slapped him in the face.

"I didn't mean like that!" said James, rubbing his face. Lily raised her eyebrow. "Really!" he said. .

"I bet you've thought about it though!" she yelled at him. Of course he had, but he would never tell Lily. Lily slapped him again.

"Hey! What was that for?" he said, rubbing his already red cheek.

"For thinking about it!" she answered coldly before leaving.

---

Lily stormed into the Griffindor common room and went to the girls' shared room to find her friends, who were chatting. "Lily! You didn't tell us you were coming back today! We would have gone to get you!" said Alice.

"Well, I didn't know I was leaving today," Lily lied. "Oh, no! I just lied to my friends again!" she thought. Madam Pomfrey had told her the night before, and insisted that she ask someone to help her back to the Head's dorm.

"So who was the mystery visitor who was denying us the right to see our best mate?" asked Kay. "Bet it was Potter! He stalks you!"

Lily shook her head unbelievingly. "Where did you come up with him stalking me?" Lily asked.

"Aha! So you're not denying it!" said Kay, pointing her finger at Lily.

"He was not there! I don't know who it was--"

----

"Mate, telling a girl you could sleep together is..." said Remus to James. Remus was lost for words.

"Bloody awesome! I should have thought of that line!" said Sirius, grinning from ear to ear.

James sighed. "Padfoot, I didn't mean it like THAT!" said James, shaking his head.

"Sure, you didn't," said Sirius, laughing.

---

"Evans, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," said James, that night as they patrolled the corridors.

Lily sighed. "I know. After I calmed down, I realized you're not as much of a pervert as you let on," she said.

James laughed. "I would never suggest it, unless you said it first," he told her. She stopped walking and raised her wand. "Just kidding, just kidding!" he said, raising his own hands defensively. He remembered that his face still hurt a bit. Lily and James laughed all the way to the dorm.

Author's note: I laughed a lot when I wrote this chapter. Not when Lily fell in the lake, but James suggesting they sleep together was hilarious! Sirius thought it was funny and Remus was lost for words. Peter's not in the story very much, but you'll find out why later. Or maybe not... I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with Peter. I don't like him very much...

A/N: Re-typed with the help of my beta CharlesTheBold