Hey everyone. I am sooooooo sorry for the long wait. I had homework, the SAT, Junior Paper, and a stress level that seemed to get higher everytime I went to school. Sounds fun, no? Anyway, again I'm sorry for the long wait and I hope that this chapter is worth it. I did my best on it. :)
Thanks to all my reviewers:
JPx3LE-Thanks so much, I'm glad the ending was just the right pace for you.
Rylie D-I totally agree, being on a pirate ship would be more fun. He does trust her..sort of..but you are probably going to hate me after this chapter, because that trust becomes an issue for James. Hopefully you'll still like the chapter though.
Icedshardz-I'm sorry this wasn't as fast an update. So I guess my "good luck" would be kind of out of date...but a belated "good luck" to you. :)
Michela- I'll admit it that I actually went and looked up the words "appropos" and "vernacular" after reading your review...that might sound lame. I'm glad you liked it and hope you enjoy this chapter as well. :)
messyblackhair66-hehe the falling in love will happen soon. James starts to realize it in this chapter sort of, but he gets distracted by other things and sort of pushes it away. But it will happen, do not fear.
BrazilianPrincess-Ironically I let one of my friends read this story and she asked me when James and Lily were going to kiss as well. She was disappointed in teh answer I gave her. :) It will come I promise it. And trust is something James is leaning toward. The chapter after this one it will be much more secured that he trusts her.
shortyroc-Hope you enjoy this chapter and it was worth the long wait :) More Lily/James interaction in it too
sncaggie-Glad you liked it, hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
james-s2-lily-hehe glad you liked it. And homework should be banned...actually my English teacher is not giving us homework for the next like month because she wants to see if we really need it...i'm happy, it'll give me more time to write.
Tansiana-Thanks, hope you enjoy this and sorry for the wait.
marauder-chick101-lol i'm glad. Hope you continue to love it after this update :)
Sweena-lol, love is getting there, trust is as well. James is working towards it slowly but surely :)
opalshine- hehe I said this before, one of my friends asked me this as well. They will eventually is all I will say. But it's not going to be for awhile runs and hopes no one is throwing tomatoes for the horrible answer :)
magicXheart-Thank you. You will find out what the "treasure" is (or isn't) in the next chapter...promise :)
Ravie Grint-sorry about the wait. I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well.
amythestpony-eventually the romance, for now i think friendship would benifit these two well...hehe but romance is coming very shortly. And I am enjoying writing it very much, I'm talking through it as I walk my dog each morning...you'd be amazed at how many odd looks i've gotten. lol
hermy permy-Thank you, enjoy this update :)
EmilyEB-Thanks for the support. And I'm glad you liked the Riddle tie in.
eternal-charmer-questions questions. Okay um...lets see..you find out a little about Lily's family in this chapter, but what i don't say, and I don't because i couldn't find a way for either character to say it or initiate it, is that Lily is an only child. It's sort of implied but not very well. Lily's father will eventually be back, much later on. Lily's reasoning, for now, is that it was the contract. Later on the reasons will change I think. James' past is coming up. So far I think that there's some towards later chapters, i can't remember exactly what chapters but I know it's coming up soon. Hope those were good answers, enjoy this chapter.
Jessi-Black33-Thank you so much. I'm glad you like the story and I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well.
gERMaNgIrL678-James is a bit flirty in this chapter, but not a lot. They will get flirty soon, after this chapter and chapter 11. Bear with me. :)
caroline-I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and thank you so much for the compliment. I hope you continue to like the story :)
DolphinDeamer24-7-Hope you'll be able to get on the computer at your house soon. :) Glad you liked it, thanks for the review.
Anna-Thanks a bunch, I'm glad you enjoyed the wenches and development. Hope you enjoy this chapter (lots of rum in this one :) )
angelofmynightmare-Kissing will happen eventually...you'll just have to be patient. I'm sorry. I hope you like this chapter though, even though there is a lack of kissing :)
Nika-well there will be plenty of tension later on in this chapter...hehe...I'm glad you like it :)
Darkness carrier-I'm so sorry for the long wait, and hopefully you'll still want to read it even with the long wait (and that it's not too disappointing) I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your compliment. Reading things like that really makes me want to write even more.
TigerLily18-Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked it and hopefully you'll like this chapter too.
Delilah Evans-much happens next. lol
LilyProngs-The key and Riddle will be coming up later (ch 11 and ch 13 if i'm not mistaken). Not much action and adventure for awhile though, unless you classify something actiony different than I do. However I hope you enjoy it all the same. I'm glad you've liked it thus far, and I apologize for the wait.
michelin-Thanks, hope you enjoy
story-angel-Thank you very much.
lonelyaddict- I'm glad you liked my story, and thank you for the compliments. I do try. :) Hopefully i'll be able to keep it at the steady pace. Enjoy this chapter as I hope you will.
Whew, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so much, and again, sorry for the long wait. But finally, here we go!
Disclaimer: If you recognize the names then it's not mine, everything else (the storyline and Cook included) are mine.
Chapter 10-Midnight Stroll
James groaned and rolled over on his stomach, the sheet ruffling underneath him, his cheek pressed into the pillow. Slowly he cracked open his eyes, noticing the dim light that danced along the cabin, slightly filtered by the drapes hanging across the window. James' arms tightened around the pillow and he winced as he felt the key under his pillow scrape against his hand.
Stupid trinket, he thought moodily, pulling his hand back, but remaining in his bed. How early it was, James didn't care. Sirius and Remus were next in charge for a reason. And besides, being Captain gave him some special privileges. James decided he was going to make full use of his ability to stay in bed a moment or two more.
A second later when the door of his cabin banged open, James realized he hadn't informed Sirius of his privilege, and immediately began to regret it as Sirius stopped beside his bed. James barely turned his head to look up at his friend.
"Oh, so you are awake." Sirius' voice was laced with amusement. "A bit tired are we, James my boy?"
James rolled his eyes and turned his face into his pillow, muffling his voice. "Not all of us have the energy worthy of three bottles of rum in the morning!"
Sirius cocked an eye. "Three bottles in the morning? No wonder you don't want to get out of bed." As he chuckled, James groaned into his pillow.
"Do you plan to let me sleep any more?" James asked into his pillow.
Sirius shrugged. "Depends…do you plan on acting on your responsibilities as Captain?"
James looked up, glaring at his smirking first mate, recognizing defeat when he saw it. "Fine." James pushed his way out of the bed, pausing in the middle of the room, dressed only in a pair of black pants. He ran his hand through his hair and glanced around the room. "Where's my shirt?" He mumbled.
Sirius grabbed a white shirt off the desk and tossed it at James' face. "I'd swear you needed glasses!" He teased James.
James glared as he pulled the shirt over his head, leaving it half unbuttoned, his hair messier than it had been. "Stuff it, Sirius." James growled, snatching one boot from its place at the foot of his bed, and then scanning the room to find his other boot.
Sirius handed James the other boot, then waltzed over to the window where he shoved open the drapes. James winced as the light burned his eyes. "Sirius for the love of-"
"Remus was a bit worried when you didn't show up at your normal bright and early hour." Sirius went on, leaning against the wall as James shoved his feet into each boot. "And I'll admit I was as well. Normally you're up at the first ray of light, even before." James inwardly validated Sirius' statement. His early rising was usually due to nightmares waking him early and holding sleep hostage from him. When James began to think about it he couldn't remember having any nightmares the night before, as a matter of fact he hadn't been having nightmares for the past couple of nights, ever since he'd spoken with Lily. As he started to mull over the strangeness of his dreamless nights, James nearly missed what Sirius said next.
"My first guess of course was that you'd let your mouth run away with you and said something to Lily, resulting in her shoving you overboard." James shot a glare at his friend but the look went unnoticed as Sirius had begun to dig around in a cabinet. A moment latter he pulled away from the opened door with an unopened bottle of rum, which Sirius promptly opened. "Remus was against this idea, and suggested we go find Lily and ask her."
"I'll have to thank Remus for the support." James replied coolly, trying to flatten his hair against his forehead. "And as interesting as your monologue is, Sirius, get to the point." James grumbled.
Sirius chuckled and took a drink from the bottle of rum. "So we discovered Miss Evans in her bedchamber"- James snorted, hardly believing one could call the small cabin Lily slept in a 'bedchamber'-"practicing with a very handsome looking knife." Sirius shot James a pointed look and James knew the knife would become a point of later discussion.
"Remus asked Lily when the last time she saw you was and she said it was three nights ago. The night when you two had a 'conversation'." After taking another gulp of rum, Sirius continued, fixing an impatient James with a look. "Imagine my surprise when she said 'conversation'….not 'fight' or 'argument' but 'conversation'. As though it was a civil talk among friends." Sirius paused for a moment and James opened his mouth to make an argument, but Sirius again beat him to it. "Not to mention she has your favorite knife on her belt. And that she claimed you just gave it to her." Sirius brought the rum to his mouth and James took his chance at his preoccupation.
Walking past Sirius to his desk, James said, "I did give it to her that night."
Sirius spluttered, choking on the rum. After a cough, he corked the bottle and set it back into the cabinet. "I beg your pardon?" He asked.
James grabbed a handful of papers off his desk and pretended to look at them. "I gave Lily the knife. After I had a conversation with her. A normal conversation with hardly any yelling….towards the end…."
Sirius blinked at his friend. "You gave Lily a lethal weapon?! After one decent conversation, and I stress one!" Sirius' voice cracked and James had to fight the urge to laugh, knowing it wouldn't have helped matters, and choosing to bite his lip instead. "You gave her a lethal weapon?! And your favorite lethal weapon, may I point out!"
James looked up annoyed at Sirius. "I have other knives you half-wit!" James pointed out.
"That is beside the point." Sirius came over and snatched the paper's out of James' hand, tossing them back on the desk. "I thought you hated Lily."
"I never said I hated her." James defended, skimming his brain to make sure he spoke the truth.
Sirius snorted. "I distinctly remember you saying something about her being an 'irritating and nosy spoiled brat'."
James shrugged. "She was."
"And she changed….in one night?!"
"Well…."James let his voice fad.
"Mark me among the confused." Sirius threw up his hands in surrender. James turned his face away and sat down in his chair, staring at his hands. "Come on James, what's gotten into you since we got back from port? I already apologized for the run-in with the soldiers…"
James chuckled. "Sirius it has nothing to do with you."
"Then what is it?" Sirius asked, sitting on the edge of the cluttered desk. "You don't give someone a knife without meaning, I may be a numb-skull half the time but even I know that. What could've possibly been going through your mind?!"
James turned his gaze to the papers lying strewn across his desk, not taking in what was written on them. "She could've run away and gone home." He replied softly. "She didn't."
"She claimed she didn't want to break a contract." Sirius pointed out.
James nodded. "Yeah…that's what she said." James mumbled to himself. "But the fact remains that she did honor the contract…she did come back…"
"So you rewarded her good behavior?" Sirius asked sarcastically.
"I recognized what she did." James scoffed, getting up and trying to meander towards the door, having had his fill of the conversation. "There's a difference."
"Ha, difference my bum." Sirius snorted, standing up as well. "You trust her now because she came back when you didn't force her. You gave up your--"
"Drop the knife, Sirius!"
"Favorite knife." Sirius finished as though James hadn't interrupted him. "People don't do things like that….you don't do things like that without a damn good reason."
"She earned it." James barked at him. "She earned some trust after coming back, Sirius."
"How much trust?" Sirius asked seriously, his face blank. "How much do you trust the girl that just the other day you were ranting about how you didn't trust her to go into port with two body guards, which would be me and you!"
James looked slightly startled. "It's just a knife." He muttered under his breath as his chest tightened under his friend's stare. "Not enough to give her my life story."
Sirius watched his friend a moment more and then shook his head, as though he realized there wasn't any way he'd be able to understand. "All right mate, just as long as.."
"When haven't I known what I'm doing?" James questioned, smirking.
Sirius shrugged. "Did you know what you were doing when you signed Lily to a contract?"
James paused, groping for words and finding none. "You were all for the idea." James pointed out, finding no argument or answer for Sirius' earlier words.
Sirius sent him a sly smile. "I'm not the captain. I can be all for any idea I want to be, but when it boils down to it, you're the one that makes the decisions."
James grumbled under his breath. "Then leave the decision making to me, Sirius. I'll decide how much I'm willing to trust Miss Evans-"
"And I'll be all for the idea, or all against it." Sirius finished. "Just don't get yourself bogged down with anything you can't get out from under." He warned before sauntering out of the cabin.
James unused voice cracked in his throat as he tried to stifle his frustrated sound. Flopping back down on his chair he leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling. After a moment he snaked his hand around to the drawer on his desk and pulled it open. The papers inside seemed ready to burst out. He snatched the top paper and kicked the drawer shut with a snap, his earlier light mood having dissipated after his conversation with Sirius. James' eyes scanned the paper in his hands and absorbed each word down to the signature on the bottom of the contract. Finally letting his eyes rest on the red stain of blood on the bottom, blood that had been shed by the same knife Lily now wore.
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Lily clutched the dagger's blade between her fingers as she remembered James doing. Pulling her arm back she paused for a moment, then thrust her arm forward, reveling in how the dagger protruded from the cabin wall. Her aim had gotten better in the past three days, after practicing each morning and each night. The noticeable nicks in the cabin wall, slowly came closer to the knot on the wall she had been trying to hit.
Lily didn't know why she was working so hard to hit her designated target. Or why it had been so tempting to even start throwing the knife. The small blade felt so right in her palm, and there was the slightest hint of excitement each time she checked her aim.
Carefully, she pulled the dagger from the wall and looked it over for what must've been the hundredth time that day. Its handle was dark with a silver trim and sleek blade. Lily didn't want to think how James had gotten it, stolen it probably she thought in the back of her mind, but it had to have been worth a lot of money. Lily sat down on her bed, and ran her finger on the flat side of the blade, watching her reflection glint in the small surface. She smiled and stuck the dagger in her belt and lay down on her back, folding her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling.
Sleep wouldn't come to her, it hadn't for the past three days, and she'd managed to content herself with practicing her aim. However Lily felt that if the energy that was pounding between her ears ever decided to leave her, she'd welcome sleep. Her eyes traced the wood panels in the ceiling. Thirty-five panels…she'd counted them the night before…and the night before that. Lily sighed and rolled on her side as her stomach growled loudly. She placed a hand on her stomach and waited as it calmed down. She glanced at the door and smiled. Well why not get a snack? Everyone else in the ship was asleep…and she was the Cook's Assistant after all. Lily sat up and stuffed her feet into her boots before slipping out the door.
She quietly walked down the corridor, careful not to make too much noise as she passed the barracks of the other men. She could hear snores behind the darkness, and quickened her pace until she was standing in front of the door to the galleys.
Lily lay her hand against the door, staring at the dim light that was streaming beneath it. Who else would be awake at this hour? Lily wondered to herself, though not even the sound of someone breathing passed through the door to her ears. Lily took a breath and let it out slowly, pushing the door open as she did so until she was standing in an open doorway, looking into the galley.
A few lit lanterns hung on the ceiling, above the three long tables, two towards the far end of the room away from the door, and another in front of the door and flanked by the wall separating the galley from the kitchen. It was on this last table that there sat another lit lantern, and a bottle of rum. Part of the bottle was already gone. And sitting, with his hand around the bottle, his messy hair falling near his eyes that were watching her closely, was James.
Lily paused, staring back at James. Though he had given her the dagger now hanging at her side, and she liked to think they had come to some understanding, Lily was not sure she could quite consider them friends.
James' hazel eyes studied her, from her new pants and shirt, to the boots, and the dagger in her belt. Slowly he smiled. "Been practicing I hear." His words weren't slurred, and his voice remained clear as always, but Lily thought she could smell the rum at the door. She glanced down and realized he was referring to the dagger. Slowly she nodded. James inclined his head thoughtfully. "I guessed as much from what Sirius said." James chuckled and took a small sip of rum before shaking his head. Lily gripped her hands in front of her, watching him curiously, wondering if he was drunk to be talking as he was.
"Made such a big deal of it, that one did." James murmured, loud enough for Lily to catch his words. "It was just a knife." Lily stiffened slightly. "Wasn't like I was telling you my life story or giving you a bouquet of flowers." James continued, taking another sip of rum.
Lily licked her lips and tried to stop her hands from shaking. The knife hanging at her side felt heavy and cold even through her shirt and pants. Just a knife is what James had said. But maybe he was drunk, he didn't normally go on about private conversations between his friends, did he? Lily turned away, feeling not the least bit hungry, but James' voice stopped her.
"Out for a midnight stroll, were you?" James asked her. Lily turned and met his eyes again, hoping her scattered mind-set wasn't visible through her green orbs.
"You could call it that I suppose. I couldn't sleep." She told him slowly, stepping up closer to the table.
James chuckled as though he found something funny. "Ironic that when I lose my nightmares you gain some."
Lily shook her head emphatically and put her hands on the table so she could lean down and let her face be more level with James'. "I didn't have any nightmares. I was just too… awake to sleep."
"Any particular reason?" James asked, innocently.
Lily decided against telling him that she couldn't sleep because she was fascinated by the knife he'd given her…after all he only thought of it as a knife. "No…none at all."
James cocked an eye at her and snorted. "You're lying." He informed her, but didn't press the subject any further, for which Lily was thankful. James glanced at the rum bottle that he held in his hand, then pushed it across the table toward Lily. "Since you're here….care for a drink?" He asked her. James watched her eyes darken with confusion and he forced himself to not take back the offer.
Lily's lip finally curled up in a half smile. "You must be drunk." She finally said.
James kept his face serious and shook his head. "I don't get drunk." He told her bluntly.
Lily looked surprised. "You're a pirate and you don't get drunk?"
James smirked at her. "It's dangerous to get drunk as captain of a ship, especially a pirate ship." He replied slowly. Grabbing a mug from the far end of the table he put it in front of her. "But you haven't answered my question yet." He pointed out.
Lily looked uneasily at the mug as James poured some rum in, laughing at her expression. "It won't kill you." He assured her, pushing the mug until it brushed her fingers. He raised the bottle of rum and took a drink. Lily made a face at the mug near her hand and sat down on the bench. Slowly she grasped the mug, and took a sip. Lily coughed and spluttered for a moment as the coarse liquid ran down her throat. When she set the mug back down James was laughing.
"You look better than Remus did after his first taste." James chuckled. Lily couldn't help but grin at him.
"Is that the initiation for becoming a pirate then? Holding down your rum?" She asked him, looking down at the little bit of rum remaining in her mug.
James' lip curled at her. "You want to be a pirate, Miss Evans? Why I never knew."
Lily laughed at him and, forgetting what was in her mug, took a drink, and quickly began coughing again. James' chuckling increased and he poured a little more rum into her mug.
"First though, you'll have to work on not coughing it up every time you take a sip." James raised his glass to hers and Lily shook her head at him, smiling as he clinked her glass with his, and took another drink.
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Lily was laughing so hard she nearly fell off the bench, which made James who was watching her, laugh harder. Lily had taken James' seat on the other side of the table, and James was now seated against the wall, leaning his head back against the wooden panels. The rum bottle in James' right hand was near it's end, and so was Lily's mug, still sitting on the table top. James let out his breath, calming his laughter, and took a drink of rum, trying to hide his cough at swallowing it too quickly.
Lily sighed and leaned her back against the table, pushing her hair off her face. James draped his arm across his knee, the bottle dangling between his fingers. Silence fell between the two, though each held contented smiles. James blew his bangs off his forehead, his eyes never leaving Lily. Her face was flushed from laughing, her eyes bright, and her smile lit up her face. James smile widened slightly. She was really beautiful when she wasn't all in a huff about the contract.
James' brain came to an abrupt halt and his heart jumped painfully into his throat. Beautiful? James wondered to himself. Since when had he begun thinking of Lily, no Miss Evans, as beautiful? When was the last time he'd thought of any woman as beautiful? Granted the last women he'd been near were wenches with half their hair missing…or was it half their teeth? James shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Sirius' words were making his head spin, it was the only explanation James could come up with at the moment. He took another drink of rum and quickly swallowed.
Lily didn't catch James' strange motions, she was staring off as though imagining a different time, a point that was proven when she spoke up. "My cousins would have a laugh at this. Lily Evans getting drunk."
"You're hardly drunk." James reprimanded her lightly, hoping she really wasn't, because he didn't know how he'd explain that to Cook in the morning. "Sorry Cook you're assistant won't be here today because I got her bloody drunk last night!" Somehow James didn't think Cook would take it that well….neither would Remus who seemed to have taken on a somewhat protective older brother feeling toward Lily. Then what she'd said hit him. "Cousins?" He asked. "As in…the princesses?"
Lily raised an eye at him. "Yes…though the last one is only a princess because of her title, certainly not by her demeanor."
James held back his laugh. Obviously that particular cousin and Lily didn't see eye to eye. "Princess…so they're your uncle's daughters. The king's." Lily nodded and James smiled at her. "Unfortunately the king and I haven't had the honor of meeting."
Lily grinned at him. "A good thing too. I think the greeting he'd give you would be to put a noose around your neck."
James winced and swallowed for added effect even as he smiled wider. "Blunt, but very true." He replied. "Your uncle doesn't take to pirates I assume?"
"He detests them. Similar to the feelings my father now has, I'm sure." Lily answered, holding her arms.
James ignored her last comment. "How about your mother, would she approve of me?" He asked teasingly as he took another drink.
Lily's face froze for a moment and she shook her head. "I don't know really. She passed away before I could've ever asked her."
James nearly spit out his drink, but managed to swallow it just in time and stare at Lily. He'd never heard of the Duke's wife before, but he'd never thought she was dead. Biting his lip James shifted uneasily on the floor. "Ah…I beg your pardon?" He asked, feeling stupid. "Your mother is…dead?"
Lily nodded, purposefully staring at the rum bottle in James' hand instead of at his face. James had half a mind to offer her the rest of the bottle at that moment, but then Lily continued. "She died shortly after I was born. My father says she never recovered from having a child."
James swallowed hard. "But your father is the King's brother….he would've had the best midwife, the best-"
"Just because they're the best doesn't mean they can save everyone." Lily whispered, finally meeting his eyes. "Just like the best pirate in all the seven seas can't pillage every ship and have every treasure."
The image of Captain Riddle floated into his mind and James had to fight the urge to stiffen at her words. Instead he snorted and turned his head away from her face. "I'd like to see you tell him that." He muttered.
Lily straightened and watched him take another drink, then continue to stare away from her. "Him?" James ignored her. "The one you're always looking over your shoulder for?" She asked him. Her eyes didn't miss James' hand tighten around the bottle before he replied.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He coldly replied.
"Yes you do." Lily told him. "He, whoever he is, is the reason you're always looking over your shoulder on the landing, always staring at the horizon as if you expect there to be someone waiting there ready to fire a cannon at your ship. The reason fear seems to wash over you if there's a shadow on the water." James shook his head silently and Lily leaned down toward him. "Why do you look over your shoulder, James?"
The fact that she'd used his real name for the first time instead of Captain or Captain Potter, didn't even make an impression as James turned his head and coldly replied. "I don't see how that is any of your business."
Lily moved backwards as the icy hazel eyes seemed to stab into her. James half felt guilty for the look on her face, but the guilt washed away as it always did when someone questioned him about Riddle or his uneasiness. It really wasn't any of their business, and especially not Lily's. James pulled himself to his feet, facing Lily and watching as a battle seemed to grow behind her eyes.
"I live on this ship too." She reminded him, standing up as well.
"But you're not part of the crew. And frankly, half the crew doesn't know all my secrets, and I see no reason why I should spill them all to you just because we shared a bottle of rum." James growled at her. The rum was making his head pound and his temper heat up. Maybe if he hadn't been drinking he wouldn't be overreacting as much, James concluded in the back of his head.
"I bet Sirius and Remus know all your secrets." Lily threw back at him. When James glared at her Lily knew she spoke the truth, or at least part of it.
"They have been my best friends since before I can remember, they're my brothers, the closest thing to family that a pirate like me has. They're entitled to it." James defended.
"And I'm not entitled to some trust? Some secrets? Entitled to know half of what is being hidden on this ship?!" Lily challenged.
James growled under his breath and stepped closer to her. "Giving you a knife doesn't mean I'm giving you the right to know my life story." And at that moment James realized, as his heart beat sped up, that his argument, his words, were only trying to prove his point against what Sirius had said earlier, instead of dissuading Lily's curiousity.
Lily slammed the dagger point into the table top with a reverberating echo. "And giving someone a knife doesn't mean a hill of beans if you're not going to actually trust them, Captain Potter." Lily shoved past James, stalked around table and rushed out the door, letting it slam behind her, leaving the dagger shaking in the table.
James made a strangled noise and smashed the rum bottle into the top of the table. Glass fell apart around his fist and James moaned as he pulled back his hand and found that the glass had cut a jagged line across his palm. He sat down hard on the bench and stared at the blood as it trickled down his forearm, staining the floor as it fell to the ground. James grabbed the dagger with his other hand and stared at it for the longest time, finally seeing his reflection in the glinting blade. A reflection set off by icy walled eyes that were slowly melting away to nothing.
Hehe...so should I run and search for cover???? I hope you guys don't hate me, but I do think that James' idea of trust might be a little different than Lily's and that maybe he's not fully ready to trust her with everything yet. And of course I don't know how much Sirius helped. I don't know how good of an explanation that was. Hopefully you guys understand and enjoyed it :) And hopefully you guys will review :) Please do so and I'm going to try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can. Thanks.