Hey everyone!

I am so sorry this is a day late but updating on Friday the 13th wasn't my best idea. I'm not a superstitious person. I have two black cats and walk under ladders all the time and cross on the stairs and such. But there was a power cut down my street yesterday and damn that feels like bad joo joo. :/ Something supernatural definitely went on there.

So sorry for the late update. :(

But thank you to all my reviewers so far! It always boosts your confidence to write when you know people like it so thank you for your lovely comments! :)

Here's Chapter Nine! I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Nine

Lily dove straight into her healer training. She immediately bought all the books and supplies her welcome pack which Jane Potter handed to her at the registration desk, said she would be needing. She had also gone down to the stationary shop in the town where she lived and bought herself, (using the money her father had given her as she technically had none of her own), five packs of coloured notelets, tubs upon tubs of notice board push pins and, of course, a huge notice board to put it all on because she didn't have one in her room already. She hadn't needed one before as she had been at Hogwarts and, when at home, she hadn't needed to do any work. But she was now living at home full time whilst she was taking her training programme. So now she had plenty of work to do there and needed a way to organise it so she could see what she was doing next.

Of course, she had to accommodate the fact that a lot of the work she was doing on her own would be practical. She would need to practice making medicinal potions and other things. She would also need to practice her enchantments and healing spells. She couldn't very well just set out her cauldron at the dining room table and be waving her wand around willy-nilly in the living room. One reason being her mother wouldn't allow it. The other being that Petunia and Vernon had taken to popping round a couple evenings a week now for tea and Lily knew that if either of them got the slightest whiff that something magical or 'freaky' was going on, they would not be happy. So, for a lot of the time, she was holed up in her room which had very suddenly shrank in size thanks to the measures she had taken to ensure she had all the room she needed.

She had rearranged her entire bedroom to such an extent that her only 'personal space' was on her bed. And that wasn't much use for company so she hadn't been able to have Alice or James over since their courses began a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, they were both in the same situation. She hadn't seen either of them, especially Alice, for a while and Lily was hoping for a catch up soon but, the future didn't look too bright for that to happen in. Mostly it looked like textbooks, research, healing incantations, potion ingredients and her cauldron. And that was only because that was literally all you could see in her room. It was so cluttered that her parents didn't even attempt to come in anymore but instead spoke to her through the door and, when she went out for meals, she simply apparated down into the kitchen. It was much easier than attempting to make her way through her very own obstacle course. Though with each 'pop' of her apparition, her Dad still jumped.

Richard Evans may have been jumpy when Lily apparated but, for him, it was far more preferable to have her holed up in her room studying, training to be a healer, only apparating down for mealtimes and only leaving the house to go to class than knowing she was over at James' god-knows-where doing god-knows-what. It had been a year now and he still didn't approve very much of the boy. In his opinion, he was trouble. He didn't believe that somebody who used to be that cruel could change to the extent that his youngest daughter, the smartest of all the Evans', would agree to go out with him. He just thought that James had tricked her somehow, though this was not the case. And no matter how many times Lily begged him to just give James a chance, (Heather too), Richard would not budge on his position towards him. He was sweet as pie to Lily whenever he wasn't around though, continuously treating her like the little girl he sent off to Hogwarts when she was eleven and only wanting to spoil her rotten. And in some ways, this was fine. But ignoring the fact that she had grown up also meant ignoring the existence of a boyfriend in her life. He was fine with that and, for the most part, it did create a peaceful atmosphere. But if James' name was mentioned…

'There's a new bookstore opening in town sweet-pea.' he said one evening when they were having dinner, just him, Lily and Heather. 'Did you know?'

Lily swallowed a mouthful of her roast dinner to answer him. 'Been a bit too preoccupied Dad.' She reached for her orange squash and drank a few sips.

'Did you want to go this weekend?' he asked her, 'I'll get you any book you want. We haven't really been out, just you and me, for a while now.'

'I know.' Lily replied, setting her glass down, 'And I would love to but I made plans with James this weekend.' She went back to eating her dinner as though nothing was wrong, and nothing was wrong. Only Richard Evans didn't see it that way. He stopped eating and put down his knife and fork.

'Can you not cancel?' he asked, 'I was really looking forwards to spending the weekend with my little girl.'

'Richard leave her be.' Heather intervened, 'She's already made plans. You can take her to the bookshop next weekend.'

'I'm working next weekend' Richard said stiffly.

'You don't work weekends dear.' Heather sighed.

'We'll go next weekend then Dad.' Lily smiled, partially amused by her Dad's oversight and partially annoyed that he was still acting this way about James. It was a bit childish really.

'That's not the point-'

'Then what is the point?' Lily interrupted her father, almost daring him to say something along the lines of his previous 'James is a rotten boy' speeches.

'I was just looking forwards to spending the weekend with you.' Richard said.

During the rest of the week, at every available opportunity afterwards, Richard made sure that Lily knew how 'upset' he was that they weren't going to have a father-daughter weekend together. If they were watching the television and an advert came on detailing some event that was happening that weekend or a fun activity at a local place, somewhere that was running an offer, he would just offhandedly mention that they could have done that at the weekend. If Lily had been craving some sort of meal, like the seaside's fish and chips, he would say that he would take her there that weekend then make a dramatic recanting of the statement. Needless to say, it went on for a while and it was constant and, thanks to the pressures that came with her healer training programme, Lily eventually had enough and in the end just told her Dad she would cancel plans with James and spend the weekend doing Daddy-Daughter activities that they used to do when she was younger, like mini-golf. All she could think about though was that it's a sad day when you realise your boyfriend can handle a change of plans far better that your father can. It's an even sadder day when you realise this unfortunately starts to become a regular occurrence to the point of breaking.

James, Sirius, Alice and Frank sat at the back of the conference room in which they had had their induction. They had been on this course for a few weeks now, marching them into October, and they had yet to lift a wand which something which James especially was not happy with. Sure he could answer all of the theoretical questions, perhaps a bit better if he had bothered to read any of the suggested material Karen Williamson had given them, but he had applied for this course with the expectation that he would be trained how to be an auror. His father had told him stories of his training days when he was alive and they were always jam-packed with funny anecdotes, jokes and practical work. He had just assumed it would be the same for him. Apparently he was wrong.

He was laughing with Sirius about the fact that Peter had actually succeeded in securing himself a job at the magical menagerie. Really they should have been proud that their friend was actually doing something to earn money and having a job in which he could get promoted, but they weren't. Instead, they found it hilarious that Peter, who had gone to the interview a few weeks ago for a shop assistant, had been given a rather different position in the shop: animal maintenance. And even though Peter had tried to explain to them all yesterday evening at the Leakey Cauldron that this meant he would be seeing to the animals cares and needs - grooming them, taking the owls out to fly and stretch their wings, taking the other creatures the store stocked outside too to run around and making sure they were fit and healthy and clean - James and Sirius simply focused on the fact that he would basically be, in their eyes, a human pooper scooper. They had teased him mercilessly all night about it, Remus never stopping them and Lily not being there to do so either. Their jokes had continued well into the night and now, they came with them to auror training burning off of the fact that, as Peter had stayed over last night, they had taken him to Diagon alley teasing him all the way, before making the trip over to the Ministry. They were making these jokes when Karen Williamson, their ruthless mentor for the auror training programme entered the room.

'Did I miss the joke?' she said disapprovingly with a glare at James and Sirius when entered the room.

James and Sirius looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They had been on this programme for not even a month yet, they only had sessions three times a week, and yet somehow Williamson had come to hate them already. She made it known in subtle ways but had never let slip the reason why. Maybe it was because they were always laughing about something or another when she entered the room. Perhaps it was because they always had their wands out when they were supposed to be learning the punishable offences that a wizard could commit as part of their basic theoretical training or, it could have just been because they had been caught eating in her sessions on several occasions and that was something she strongly disapproved of. But there were probably other things too.

Williamson went and leant on the edge of the desk that was at the front of the conference room. She stared at the faces in the room all sat on an individual chairs, today, arranged in two medium sized semi-circles, one behind the other. James and Sirius, (and Alice and Frank), were centre back. She narrowed her eyes at them.

'Did everyone study the bi-laws in the footnotes of the Ministry of Magic's Handbook of Petty Misdemeanours and Crimes?' she asked the room at large. Apart from James and Sirius, who rolled their eyes at each other again, everyone either muttered a yes or nodded their heads.

'Psst!' Sirius whispered a little loudly to James, 'What's a dis-men-nee-naw?'

James scoffed. 'You're asking me?' he chuckled silently, 'How am I meant to bloody know? Where's Remus when you need him, right?'

Sirius laughed silently back. 'Yeah tell me about it!' he said, 'I can't understand half the words this bitch uses.'

James snorted and laughed back, avoiding looking at Williamson at all costs. 'Ask Alice what it means.' he suggested.

'Good idea!' Sirius enthused. He turned to Alice who was next to Frank who was next to him. 'Psst! Alice.' he said in an exaggerated whisper to get her attention.

Alice looked at Frank who just pointed to Sirius with obvious exasperation. It was clear he was regretting sitting in between his girlfriend and his girlfriend's best friend's friends.

'What do you want Black?' Alice said in a hushed tone, trying her hardest to avoid Williamson's watchful eye.

'What does dis-men-nee-naw mean?' he asked.

Alice's expression changed to one of puzzlement. She looked at Frank for some help in decoding the word Sirius had just spouted out but he didn't know either. He just shrugged at her.

James laughed and leaned forwards so that he could see Alice. 'He means misdemeanour.' He informed Alice, 'What does misdemeanour mean-'

'Well Mr. Potter.' Williamson said from the front of the room, next to the chalk board upon which she had written book titles and page numbers along with the order of which worksheet forms they were meant to fill out first. 'If you had read the book it would have been clear to you what a misdemeanour was. If you had read the book then you would have known that it is when somebody breaks the law but whatever they have done is not strictly considered as a crime. And if you had read the book you would not have felt the need to interrupt the rest of the group with your extraordinarily loud whisper.'

James looked down momentarily before attempting to explain to the woman, who only ever spoke in phrases of threes, what was actually going on. 'Karen that's not-'

'You are to call me Williamson Mr Potter. It is only respectful.' Williamson reprimanded.

James puffed out a breath of frustrated air. 'Sorry, Williamson.' he stressed before planning to go on, 'I was just going to say-'

'Have you read the bi-laws that I specifically asked you to read for this session, Mr Potter?' Williamson cut him off.

James paused. 'No but-'

'Have you bought the book, Mr Potter?' Williamson asked.

James gulped but didn't answer.

'Have you only signed up for this training programme to waste time, Mr Potter?' she said as her final question in her set of three. 'Because it seems that way to me.'

'I didn't think that I had to get the books.' James said, trying to find the boldness he used to use on his Hogwarts professors when he had forgotten to do homework and gave his excuses. The confidence he had used on those occasions had sometimes worked in getting him out of detentions, at least with certain teachers such as his divination professor. You couldn't get away with it with McGonagall and, apparently, Williamson was a hundred times harder to get things by. She wasn't playing games. 'I thought the list of books was more of a guide line to what could be useful on this course. I thought we'd, you know, be doing practical work?' he said arrogantly.

'Why, Mr Potter, do you think I would give you a list of books to buy as a mere guideline?' Williamson questioned, 'Why did you think that you would be able to dive straight into practical work without learning by heart the laws which you will be trying to uphold in the position of an auror, the punishments, spells and enchantments used in the standard procedures which are in place or the disciplinary course of actions you are required to undertake for certain situations? Why, Mr Potter, did you think you would be exempt from learning these?'

'I didn't think I'd be 'exempt' but, you know, I'm a practical worker and I'll learn better-'

'You will learn better my way!' Williamson interrupted, 'I have produced generations of fine aurors by ensuring they knew all their theory before starting any practical work and, if you think you are some sort of exception to this rule, then I suggest you find another course that offers the programme you are after.'

'I don't want to find another course.' James replied through gritted teeth. He was being rude to his mentor and he knew it. But he didn't care because she hadn't exactly earned any of his respect and he was an advocate of only giving respect where it was due.

'Well then Mr Potter,' Williamson said, a small thin-lipped smile appearing on her face as it she was about to enjoy something, 'You may stay on my course however, you may not stay today. I suggest that you leave and do not return until you can arrive fully equipped for the session having read any and all source material beforehand. Do not return until you have bought all the books that are required for this course along with anything else that was listed in your welcome pack. And do not return until you have adjusted your attitude as I will no longer stand for your interruptions, your rudeness and your arrogance. You may go now.'

James sat with his mouth slightly ajar. She was kicking him out? He had only been kicked out of a class a couple of times at Hogwarts. Usually they just gave him detention or moved him away from his friends. It had never really been like this. Plus, at Hogwarts, if he was to say it wasn't him or his fault, they would more often than not hear him out and listen to his side of the story. They wouldn't cut him of mid-sentence and humiliate him in front of his class mates. Hogwarts didn't work like that. The Ministry of Magic appointed training classes apparently did though.

He leaned under his table and grabbed his bag. He stood up and slung it over his shoulder, not looking at Sirius, Alice, Frank or anyone really. He couldn't just strut out of the class as he would have done at Hogwarts because when he was there, if he was kicked out of the lesson, people would have found it amusing. They would have hailed him for it, laughed about it and praised him to a certain extent on whatever he had said or done to achieve that result. He could do no wrong. He was loved at that school and it was only now he had left that he began to appreciate his unwarranted popularity. Here he just received sneers and derisive looks; he could feel them on him. The people here, though most of them had been at Hogwarts with him, didn't treat him like royalty who could do no wrong. They didn't cheer as they had once done when he messed about or pulled pranks. They didn't seek his approval, seem desperate to be his friend, chase after him, none of it! They didn't even laugh at his jokes. They weren't interested and it actually annoyed him somewhat.

The door shut behind him and he heard Williamson go on with her seminar. He stood there for a second listening to her and realising angrily that she would expect him to do whatever work they were doing today in his own time. He scowled and walked down the corridor to the caged lift to the atrium at the end. He stepped inside it and stood amongst Ministry officials, some of whom were looking at him rather suspiciously as if they knew what had just happened. He tried to ignore them but, when he did, he entered his own thoughts and as he was angry, it was a very dangerous place to be right now.

What bugged him most though was that he genuinely hadn't done anything worthy of being kicked out of the class. It was Sirius who was asking about the word. And Sirius didn't have the books or anything like that either. And yet, it was only him who was told to leave. It really ticked him off. It just added to other things in his life which he had no control over, that were frustrating him endlessly, and that, for the most part, he couldn't fix.

The lift stopped in the Ministry of Magic's atrium, a ground floor of sorts from which you could go anywhere within the place. It was the centre, some might say, of the working wizarding world. In the middle of the marble clad floor was a huge fountain with five large golden statues in the middle of it: a wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf. There were throngs of people rushing by it, urgently trying to get to where they were supposed to be or just strolling along casually as they were on a break. A few of the passers-by stopped at the fountain. Some of them just stared at its grandeur before continuing on their way whilst others stopped and sat along the wall around it. A few threw loose change, knuts or sickles, into the water absentmindedly. James sighed as he looked over at it before he headed that way to join those few who had taken a couple of minutes out of their day to sit around the circular pool of water.

He ended up sitting next to a middle aged wizard in a raggedy blue velvet robe who was eating a sandwich. He moved moments after James sat down though as, in a momentary burst of the anger that was pooling inside his chest, he had slapped the water of the fountain which unfortunately splashed over in the man's direction, soaking his sandwich. As he hurried off, James shouted an empty apology over to him. He didn't mean it. He didn't care that he has ruined the man's lunch because Williamson, along with Sirius to a certain extent, had ruined his entire day.

It was supposed to be a good day. He was going to come in for his class, get that over and done with, then he, Remus and Sirius were going to make the trip down to Hogsmeade and visit Zonko's for the first time in ages. Then possibly go to the three broomsticks and have a drink. It was going to be the night, he and Remus had decided, that they acclimate Sirius' palate to fire whisky once and for all. They had all agreed he was a bit of a baby when it came down to it, having only ever had it on his birthday and then complaining about it ever since. It was an acquired taste and he had never given it a chance. As a wizard, it was a rite of passage. Plus, ordering two fire whisky's and one daisyroot draught was a bit embarrassing. But now that was all ruined. James couldn't drink if he was angry. He really needed a way to calm down and being alone, for some reason, wasn't working as it usually did.

The golden statue in the fountain reflected in the ripples James had made when he had frustratedly moved the water. He stared down at the reflection and then to the piles of knuts and sickles in the water. There were a few galleons here and there as well but not many. People threw coins into the fountain for odd reasons in James' opinion. The coins were all meant to go to St Mungo's to help fund the hospital but he sincerely doubted that was really the case. He thought some of them looked as though they'd been in there for years, rusting. But people didn't care about that. They didn't throw the coins into the well to help any of the sick and injured people over at St Mungo's right now. No. They threw them into the fountain to serve their own needs; to feel good about themselves for doing something charitable or to make a wish in the hope that it would come true and make life better for themselves. James had one wish right now but he didn't need to throw a coin into a fountain to help him make it come true. He could do it all by himself and he had to do it all by himself. Besides, it was the only thing that he could think of that could possibly calm him down.

Lily stood up from the desk she had been using in the room where her healer training took place. She picked up her bag and looped it around her neck so that it hung securely down from one shoulder then picked up the three books she'd been using to do research on which potions and balms were most effective when treating contagious skin diseases and infections. It had been rather boring today for the most part as their second mentor who was supposed to train them in areas such as these had decided that coming in today would be a waste of his time, especially as there were tickets available to him for a Quidditch game that afternoon. Apparently, watching a bunch of witches and wizards flap after an assortment of balls was far more important than training the future of the wizarding worlds health system. Lily could see why…not. But she wasn't going to waste the day like a few of the other trainees had done. She was determined to do something.

Whilst a few of the girls in her class, like Nellie and Midge, had decided to go shopping instead and a couple of the boys had announced they were going to join their mentor at the Quidditch game, (Barton versus Pride of Portee), Lily had decided to pay a visit to Mrs Potter and ask her if there was anything useful that she recommend she look at. At first, as Jane Potter was up to her elbows in work, looking very worn and tired, Lily felt guilty about interrupting her for such a mundane and, probably, unimportant question. But Jane was more than happy to give Lily a few suggestions and then send her on her way, no fuss or complaint. She had told her there had been an outbreak of boils and, humorously to Lily, cornflake skin, and recommended that she look into potions and things such as Butterfly Weed balm; find out the method in making things, why they're useful, any side effects, etc. So Lily thanked her and did just that, returning to the fifth floor just near the visitors tea room in the 'staff only' section of the hospital. It was specifically used for trainees and when she settled herself in there she buried herself in books.

She did this for a solid three hours, sat in the room reading, underlining, making notes and ignoring the other few people who had also decided that they would use this time wisely instead of bunking off. It was only when these people all got up, partially as a group but some as individuals, stating in passing that it was time for a lunch break, (the one they would have been given if their mentor had shown up), that Lily had decided to stop. She too would go for some food too, possibly joining her class mates, something she felt rather good about doing today. The ones who were left behind were the sort of people who seemed like her speed. If she could talk to them and get to know them, maybe healer training would be all the better for it. And so she made her way to the door, bag secure and books in hand. However, they didn't stay in her grasp very long for almost as soon as she was out of the room, they were taken off of her.

'Why do you have so many?'

Lily looked up to see who had taken her books. It was James. For some unknown reason. Lily looked at him in confusion as she said, 'Because I need to do research and having lots of different takes on something helps widen your knowledge.'

'Wow.' James smirked, 'You're far too smart for me!'

'I know.' Lily replied, actually a little irritated he had turned up. 'What are you doing here?' She asked him as they started towards the door that led out into the visitor's tea room, 'And how did you get back here? It's staff only!'

'Ahh so maybe you're not too smart for me!' James teased, winking at her as she looked at him with one raised eyebrow. He laughed. 'I stole a badge from some ponce outside the door.' he explained, moving Lily's books to be under just one arm and reaching in his pocket for the stolen badge. He showed it to Lily.

'James!' Lily reprimanded, practically snatching the badge from him. She looked at the name and the picture. Thomas Ralston it read. He had tanned skin, brown eyes and brown hair. His nose was crooked as if it had been broken and left in disrepair. His photo showed him looking at the camera quickly then turning away then looking back and staring angrily. Lily didn't recognise him at all but nevertheless, she would find the boy and give him back his badge. He would need it to get back through to the training room. If James left now she'd still go through with her plan to sit with her classmates and then give the badge back as a conversation starter. But she sensed he wasn't going anywhere any time soon. She had to wonder why the hell he had turned up.

The couple reached the end of the corridor and James opened the door leading to the tea room, holding it open for Lily. 'So err...' he began. He hadn't seen her properly in a while. Not since after their inductions onto their perspective programmes which was three weeks ago now. 'I see you didn't have a tutor in there.'

'No I didn't' Lily said, making her way to one of the tables she frequented near a big window, looking briefly at the rest of the healer students over at the other side of the room. She sighed as she took a seat away from the group but with James. 'He decided not to come in today.' she went on, 'He went to watch a Quidditch game.'

'Cool which one?' James asked, sitting down opposite her and watching her take out a plastic box from her bag. She had brought a packed lunch with her. A pasta salad.

'One where they fly on brooms.' Lily replied with a sarcastic smile.

'Ha!' James chuckled, 'Yeah.' He paused. 'So…no tutor?'

'No tutor.' Lily grimaced as she started to dig around in the front pocket of her bag for a fork.

'Great!' James clapped his hands together once, 'Then let's go! I'll take you for lunch.'

'I have lunch James.' Lily replied, unable to find her fork. 'Why are you here anyway? Don't you have training today as well?' She tried a different pocket for her fork.

'I err…kinda got kicked out.' James said quickly, 'So! Lunch?'

'No. What?' Lily said, her search for the elusive fork halting suddenly. 'You got kicked out? For, like, ever?'

'No not forever.' James said waving away her worry, 'Just for today. At least I think so anyway…So! Lunch?'

'James stop with the lunch.' Lily said frustratedly, putting her bag on the floor and pushing her salad out of the way so that she could lean forwards to James and lower her voice. She was concerned now. 'What happened?'

James rolled his eyes, shrugged largely and heaved a sigh. 'She just…doesn't like me. I didn't buy or read the books she suggested and neither did Sirius because we thought we'd be doing practical work and, you know, actually learning how to catch dark wizards like it says in the job description. But Williamson has us reading and writing useless crap about the 'bi-laws' which is so boring! Really it's no wonder we don't do it! So Sirius was asking Alice a dumb question about the title of one of them which she only decided to overhear when I corrected him on how he was saying misdemeanour cause he was saying dis-meh-nee-naw and even though it was his stupid question I was the one who was kicked out. How is that fair?'

'Well technically you both should have been kicked out.' Lily said offhandedly.

'Exactly!' James said with a large agreeing hand gesture before realising what she had said. 'Wait. What?'

'You both should have been kicked out.' Lily repeated, 'You've volunteered to take this course and your treating it as if, I don't know…your mums asked you to do the dishes.'

'She has?' James wondered, 'Damn I miss Linda.'

'No, you're not listening.' Lily said with a bit of an irritated sigh. 'I was using that as an example. Look, you wanted to do this course right?'

James nodded reluctantly.

'And,' she pressed on, 'you know that there are others out there who wanted to do this course as well but aren't able to because they didn't get the grades or have a situation that prevents them from being accepted; aka Remus.'

James shifted uncomfortably.

'And yet, you think that just skating by as you did at Hogwarts, doing the bare minimum to help towards your qualification and not doing every possible thing you could do to help yourself get there quicker is a good idea?' Lily asked. 'It's not right James. She asked you to do something and she wasn't saying it for the benefit of her health. She's trying to help you and if you can't see that…'

'But she does hate me.' James complained, 'I know she does.'

'So what?' Lily countered. 'So what if she hates you and thinks that you're not going to do any work or read the books she asks or practice what she wants you to do. You're proving her right and giving her reason to. What you've got to do is prove her wrong.'

For some reason, she felt a bit distant from James and that was probably to do with the fact that she hadn't seen him in a while. And whilst it wasn't his fault that he had turned up on the day Lily had gathered her confidence to sit with new people, a tiny bit of her resented him for it even though it didn't make sense. She felt a bit bad about being a little harsh with him and so tried to make her words seem kinder towards him and held his hand so that they might connect again. As soon as she did, she needn't put effort into making her words sound loving for blood surged to her hand and sent tingles through her spine at the contact. She had really missed touching him.

'Just buy the books.' Lily said softly, 'Read them. Don't take this opportunity for granted.'

James looked down at her hand on his and clasped it tightly. He got what she was saying but it kind of annoyed him because it meant that he was wrong. And James hated to be in the wrong because he hated feeling guilty. It wasn't a nice feeling.

'You know how much Remus would have wanted to be on this course. And watching you practically throw it away because you can't be bothered to put in the tiniest bit of effort will be hard for him.' Lily said.

That hit James. Remus would have loved to have been accepted onto the auror training programme. He had applied for it and, although he tried to mask it with indifference and a prior knowledge of the results, he had been extremely disappointed about being rejected. And there James was, and Sirius, messing around, hanging out in bars or flying around James' personal Quidditch pitch instead of taking the time to actually show their enthusiasm for their course or do the work. It wasn't right and it definitely wasn't fair on Remus to have to watch them throw an opportunity down the toilet that he would have killed to have, simply because they were too lazy or felt they had other more important, more exciting, more fun things to do.

'You're right.' James conceded, 'You're absolutely right.'

'I know.' Lily smiled.

They sat there for a couple of minutes in a little bit of silence. James held her hand in his and found he didn't want to let it go, mostly because, he hadn't held her for a while. She was always changing plans on him recently. He wasn't sure why. And he really didn't want to read too much into it but he did know that if they didn't hang out properly soon, he just might start too. He might take a small insignificant thing, blow it out of proportion and ruin everything to prove a point. He really didn't want to think about that happening.

'Can I take you to dinner tonight?' he asked her. 'I promise I'll buy the books now and let you finish whatever you were doing before. I just want to spend some time with you.'

Lily smiled sadly at him. 'I know.' she said, repeating her line from before. 'And I want to spend some time with you too. Believe me. I just…can't tonight.'

James sighed dejectedly and the grasp he had on her hand loosened a little before coming undone completely. He ran his hand through his hair instead, searching for something to do with it. 'Sure.' he muttered.

'I would if I could but Petunia and Vernon are coming over to mum and dads for tea tonight to share some 'big news' with us.' Lily explained, 'And I would invite you but…Petunia. And my Dad. Not to mention Vernon and his view on me let alone you.'

Again, there was just silence.

'I'd have you round.' she half-whispered, almost trying to make up for the fact that he couldn't come over or she couldn't come out. 'I promise…another day.'

'Sure.' James repeated, hating the fact that his faith in 'another day' seemed to be missing. Three weeks shouldn't have caused this.

'Please don't hate me.' she pleaded.

James exhaled and looked at her straight in the eyes. He wondered how it was possible that in only a few short weeks they had come to felt so distant and out of touch. Especially considering how close they had become just recently in every sense of the word. He missed her so much and yet she sat right in front of him. He had thought coming to see her today after his unfortunate auror class was cut short would make him feel better. He thought that, as disappearing didn't seem to want to work for him today, sorting his feelings out that way as he usually did, seeing Lily would do. But it didn't. Instead it just made him ache.

'I don't hate you.' James smiled with a half-hearted shrug of the shoulders. 'I love you. And I miss you. That's all.'

Lily nodded her head. She looked at her watch. 'I'd better get back to class then and continue with my research.' She stood up and placed her hand on his cheek, looking down at him as he looked up, and kissed him momentarily on the lips. 'I love you too. And I will see you soon. I promise. In the meantime…I'll write.' she said, 'Okay?'

'Okay.' James replied. Then she walked away and he watched her go. He wanted her to come back.

Thanks for reading!

The next update will be on the 19th June!

Galindaba