He was on top of her again, in her bed, just like before. They were kissing again, and it felt unbelievably good. Their hands were all over each other, and they were both gasping for breath. James' kisses moved away from Lily's mouth and down her neck. He began to open the ties at the front of her gown and move his way down to-

"THE PRINCESS?!"

James sat up in his bed, bewildered. Remus was standing over him, looking furious. Not exactly what I'd been hoping to wake up to, thought James.

"I spent the last four days picking mushrooms and meditating, and you get to perform magic on the princess?! Well you're definitely going to be the next Royal Wizard now, I haven't got a hope!"

James took a minute to stretch and properly wake up as Remus continued his rant. To be fair, I'd be pissed off too if I'd had to pick mushrooms and someone else got to meet Lily, he thought. He smiled to himself; he'd only been awake for thirty seconds and he was already thinking about her. It had been the same way ever since he'd left the castle.

James looked up at Remus, who had clearly just asked him a question.

"Sorry, what?"

Remus sat down on the bed. "I said, what happened?"

"Yes. I think we'd all like to know that."

James and Remus both turned to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway.

With his long silver hair and beard, twinkling eyes behind half-moon spectacles, and brightly coloured robes, he really did look like a traditional wizard. When arriving to the kingdom he had introduced himself by name. "Though," he had told his apprentices, "I believe the young man I had introduced myself to didn't know how to spell 'Albus Dumbledore', and had been to afraid to ask. So I was introduced to the court simply as 'The Wizard'. Though I have to say, I do enjoy the air of mystery it gives me," he added. Sirius would later swear that Dumbledore had winked at him when he said that.

Sirius suddenly appeared in the bed beside James. "Scoot up, I need to be comfortable for story time."

James looked around the room at all the expectant gazes focused on him. Would Dumbledore be angry? Should he have used a different spell? He knew that there was no way to hide what had happened, so he told the story from beginning to end- minus the kissing, of course.

When he had finished, the room was silent. James ran his hands through his hair, afraid that he'd get himself in more trouble if he kept talking. He looked around to see each person's reaction. Sirius had taken over James' bed and was looking thoughtful, though James knew he could very easily have stopped listening to the story halfway through, and was in fact thinking about something completely unrelated. Remus looked as if he was slightly less jealous of James' experience; he'd have hated to face such a dilemma. But Dumbledore's response was what surprised him.

"She's a wonderful girl, the princess."

The three apprentices watched him as he crossed over to an armchair, sat down, and fixed his gaze on James.

"Did you feel connected to her?"

James nodded. "Yes, when I cast the spell we were quite physically close-"

"No." Dumbledore's gaze felt intense. "Forget the spell for a moment. How did you feel about her?"

James tried to think of something that sounded like what a wizard should say, but realised that he could think of nothing but the truth. "I've never met anyone like her, and I don't think I ever will again. I care about her."

"And did you feel this way before you cast the spell? And afterwards, when there was no magic involved?"

James thought for a moment, remembering how amazed he had been at her beauty when he had first seen her, and what had happened between them afterwards. He returned Dumbledore's gaze.

"I care about her."

James looked away from Dumbledore just quickly enough to see Remus and Sirius exchange a look. He was already reddening at what he had said in front of them; they weren't going to let him forget about this any time soon.

"Well, that settles it." Dumbledore was already on his feet. James stood up too, but didn't feel like anything had been settled at all.

"I'm sorry, what are we doing?"

"Well, there's only one thing to do. I shall go and speak to the princess, and also to her minder."

"Good luck," chipped in Sirius, still lying in James' bed. Remus gave him a disapproving look, but Sirius defended his words with a shrug.

James followed Dumbledore as he prepared for his journey. "And what will I do?"

"Stay here. When I need you, you'll know." Dumbledore rubbed a ring he was wearing as he said this, and James looked at his own hands. He was wearing three rings, and each one would glow if someone needed him; one for Dumbledore, one for Remus, and one for Sirius. James looked up to ask another question, but Dumbledore was already gone.


"Your Highness, the Wizard is on his way."

Lily's pulse immediately quickened. She couldn't believe she was going to see James again so soon. She'd been thinking about him almost constantly, but she'd resigned the idea of seeing him again to the subject of daydreams. But he was really coming back!

She thanked her servant for the message, and immediately returned to her chambers. She had just applied some perfume and was attempting to pin up her hair when Minerva entered the room.

"Do you need some assistance, Your Highness?" Minerva had her hands clasped and one eyebrow raised, a position that automatically made Lily feel guilty.

"Oh no, I'd just been told that the Wizard is on his way, so I thought I should make sure that, um, that I look professional."

Minerva didn't believe it for an instant.

"Very good, You Highness. Seeing as this is your first meeting, it may be best. Albus Dumbledore is an important man."

Lily froze. "I'm sorry, who?"

"Albus Dumbledore, Your Highness. He will be here momentarily."

Lily slumped in her chair. Of course it's not him, she thought.

"Were you expecting someone else?"

A new voice made Lily spin in her seat. An elderly man with a long silver beard was sitting in an armchair that she would have sworn was empty a moment earlier. The man stood and bowed.

"An honour to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Albus Dumbledore. You may know me better as 'The Wizard' though please, feel free to use my name. 'Dumbledore' will more than suffice."

Lily quickly stood and curtsied. "Mr. Dumbledore, I apologise, I hadn't realised you had arrived."

"Would I be right in saying that isn't the only reason you're surprised? I believe you met my apprentice, James. I'm afraid it's just me here today."

Lily tried to hide her disappointment. "Not at all, sir. What brings you here?"

Dumbledore walked over to Lily and held his hands open. "May I?"

Lily nodded and Dumbledore took her hands in his.

"Please tell me if you feel anything unusual in your hands." Suddenly the air around Lily felt strange, but her hands felt totally normal. After a moment, everything returned to normal and Dumbledore returned to his seat.

"Let me explain the reason for my unusual behaviour," said Dumbledore. "When my apprentice cast a spell on you, you were in physical contact, and sometimes remnants of the magic can remain in the body. However, I believe that you and James bonded during your encounter, and I wanted to see whether that was due to the spell, or simply an emotional connection. Your Highness, there is no magic in your system."

Lily felt her heart skip a beat at this news. It wasn't a spell, what she had felt when James had held her hands was… Well, it wasn't magic. It was something else.

"The reason I felt the need to figure that out," Dumbledore continued, "was due to the nature of the spell that James used."
Lily's heart skipped a beat again, but for a different reason. "Yes, I've been informed of what happened. Please, Dumbledore, just be honest with me; will my child be safe?"

Albus' eyes twinkled in a way that made Lily feel like he knew something she didn't, but also somehow reassured her.

"Your Highness, no matter what happens, your child will be safe. James Potter will always be faithful to your wishes, and will not take your child from you. You can trust him."

"I know." The words came out of Lily's mouth before she realised what she'd been thinking. She quickly continued to talk to distract from her embarrassment. "So, what's going to happen? How will this affect my life?"

Dumbledore leaned back and thought for a moment. "I'm afraid that I cannot provide a definitive answer for that. It will depend on if and when you have a child, and on your relationship with James. As per custom with this kind of spell, James must be aware of the child before it is born. Ideally, this would be the point when we can plan for what will happen to the child. I believe that the best course of action would be to be a part of the child's life, perhaps as a mentor, or some such role. That can be decided in due course."

Lily relaxed slightly; she felt that she could live with that answer for now. She had no immediate plans for a child, she just needed to know what would happen when those plans changed. "What do you mean, my relationship with James?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again. "James will be in contact with you soon."

Lily was about to ask for an explanation when Dumbledore got to his feet.

"I'm very sorry my dear, but I must go. The wonderful Royal Minder has requested my presence, and I dare not disappoint her. It's been a pleasure."

Dumbledore bowed again, and was gone.

Lily sat down once she was alone again. She thought about everything Dumbledore had said, but there was one thing she thought about over and over again- James would be in contact soon.