A/N: Well, I updated late again... damn those friends I've got, eh? And I apologize to continually leave you all off at cliffhangers- I do have to say, that is what usually gets the most reviews. Anyways, prizes go out to BlackAndWhiteConverse, thestralwhisperer, GinnyLover14, ThisChickNamedAsh, Yuni X-2, and IAMaMUDBLOOD for reviewing :)

Disclaimer: If you think I own Harry Potter by now, you belong in St. Mungo's.

Oh dear Merlin, how long had James been there?

Had he been there for the whole kiss? Or not? Or what exactly? And what did he think? What did he know? And, Merlin's beard, why the hell did Iago say that I was getting married to him? Did he not forget my one and only condition on marrying him?

"Excuse me?" I asked, right after Iago's sour lips pulled away from mine (or more as, I pulled away from his sour lips). "Iago, er, sweetie, did you not remember what I said after you proposed?"

Iago looked delighted.

"Why of course, my dear!" To my distaste he planted a kiss on my cheek, and I rubbed it off. "You were so happy you were speaking in some sort of deviled tongue!"

His mouth trailed all over my face and I stood up.

"Get your ruddy lips off of me for one moment, you," I said menacingly at Iago, and then took my wand out from my pocket. I pointed it at him just in case. "I never did love you, you know."

James snickered in the background.

"Oh, yes, Lily, it seems you never loved him, you were just passionately kissing him and getting engaged to him for no apparent reason after all. Isn't that right, Mrs. Steen?"

I clasped my hand to my mouth.

"James, no- I have to explain, I don't- I'm not- I mean-"

"Why Lily," Iago said in the background. "It seems you are speaking in tongues again. Please do speak normally, we do have guests, which we don't come across often it seems." Iago then went over to one of the cabinets in his kitchenette (as I continue to marvel, he is so damn lucky!) and pulled out some wine glasses. He then took out a some butterbeer and began pouring.

"So, you two, how do you like your drinks?" Iago asked.

Sirius coughed, and it was at that point that I noticed Sirius was with James.

"I like it without wife- stealing snitches, thanks," Sirius said with a smile on his face. He pretended to drink the butterbeer and started to cough, or pretend choke.

Iago, surprisingly, smiled.

"How strange of you of all people to make that assumption, Sirius. Why, wasn't it only a few decades ago that you yourself were crushing on Lily when your best friend was trying to get her all the same?"

I gasped. Sirius had liked me? That was new.

James turned around to face Sirius.

"You liked Lily?"

I felt my face turn red and ache all over, I felt it grow heavy and I wanted to burst into tears and hug my knees as if I was a little girl. I couldn't speak to James. After years of not seeing him I hadn't been able to regain speech at his very sight. And Iago, that traitor. He had been so kind to me before, but now I knew it was all for nothing. He was every bit as much of a fool as the next guy.

Sirius, too, seemed embarrassed.

"James, I was sixteen, I never did anything!"

James still stared at Sirius like he was meeting someone new. I stared at Sirius as well. It wasn't everyday you find out that the Best Man at your wedding had a crush on you.

"Whatever, it's alright, I have bigger vermin to deal with," James said and did a secret handshake with Sirius. I almost gagged. They spit into their own hands and then shook on it. Of course, having lived with James for nearly five years, I knew all about it, but I was still utterly repulsed by it.

It was then that I noticed that I hadn't been much in the conversation.

"Iago," I said, "our 'wedding' is off. It was never on. It was never on because James is here."

I walked over to James and rested my head on his shoulder. James brushed me away.

"What's your problem, Lily?" he asked. "Go back to the man you are engaged to, why don't you?"

I think it was the first time my eyes had become teary since my "death." I looked at James, my bottom lip quivering. I was scared and cold. I remembered our first date in December of sixth year, and he had offered his jacket to me. Right now James looked pretty comfortable sporting the very same one, the Gryffindor Quidditch team jacket with the name "Potter" on it. It was strange that I had been wearing the exact same thing before from a man who obviously hated my guts now.

"Oh, I'm afraid that that shall be impossible," Iago said. Sirius, James, and I turned around.

What? I thought. Okay, if Iago is making up some strange idea now that I had already married him- he was WRONG. There was no way I would marry Iago- ever- if James was here and ready to save me. The only thing that I really liked about Iago was memories, and he was somebody I could be with, somebody I could relate with. I am not engaged to him!

"For you see, I am not Iago Steen."

I saw Iago's face begin to rupture and I gasped.

James was behind me and gasped. He grabbed me in his arms so that Iago (well, not anymore) wouldn't be able to grab me and run off. I snuggled up in his arms.

"Lucius Malfoy."

I don't really remember who's voice declared that it was Lucius Malfoy in front of all of us. I think it might have even been mine. Or it could have been James, or Sirius, or Lucius himself. It could very well have been anybody, we were all in so much shock, and I kept on shivering at one thought in my head, You were engaged to Lucius Malfoy. It made me want to hurt myself. To kill myself, had I not been dead already. It paralyzed me completely. I could not tell James about the only condition in which "Iago" and I were to be wed, I was too excited and angry to see him once more. Yet still, being in his arms made me melt inside. I pressed my nose into the sweater in fear of my death.

"What do you want with Lily?" James asked, spitting the words out. Lucious smiled a toothy smile.

"Me, Potter? I want nothing to do with your Mudblood Lily. It is the Dark Lord, I am afraid, that does." Lucius smiled and made a lunge to grab me. James draped his arm around my back and held me still, I had my wand pointed at Lucius. I could have said any spell I had so desired, yet I wanted to know the story.

"Well, you see, I killed myself over my period of time in Azkaban upon the Dark Lord's wishes, so, for that I never lied to you. He knows about the portals, has always known about them, and has been intrigued by them. He said that if he believed me to be alive I would get stuck into one. And so I did. As did you, upon his own doing." I shuddered.

"At that point I had to intercept all of your thoughts, Mudblood. When I knew you were apparating I had to send you to my portal- or Iago's portal, if you will. Poor blubbering idiot, all I had to do was capture him and make an extremely strong Polyjuice Potion. It was easy.

"So, I knew you were looking for James at one point and I thought to myself- 'this is good timing.' I sent you at the same time you apparated to this portal here, and introduced you to Iago. It was easy, as I say again, extracting memories from that idiot Iago Steen. He had never practiced occlumency before in his life."

Lucius stopped and cast an all- knowing look at me, then at James, then at Sirius, all of us three who's mouths had dropped open entirely.

"What does Voldemort want with her, then?" Sirius asked.A good question. One I had been thinking of myself.

"Ah, it seems that the stupid get stupider, Black. Is this Mudblood not Harry Potter's own mother, the same mother that kept him alive through her own sacrifice? Indeed she is. The Dark Lord believes that he can find a way to kill Harry with her, thus having a clear field for eternal life." Lucius took a sip of his butterbeer.

I gasped. He wanted to kill Harry? Well, that was much was obvious, but suddenly I had immense loathing for myself if I was the key to Voldemort's eternal life.

"Well, you can't have her. Lily and I are a team," James said. He hugged me closer and kissed the top of my head.

"Actually, I can. Considering I did propose, she is technically engaged to me." Lucius smiled and began to drag me by the hand.

"NO!" I shouted. "That's not fair! Remember? I told you that I would marry you, well, Iago really, but I said only if James never came to rescue me! And he did!"

Lucius smiled again.

"Oh he did, did he?"

I nodded.

"That's him, isn't it?"

"Well, little Miss Lily Malfoy, (my my my, you are one to change surnames, aren't you?) I think he came here to see you with your new husband rather than, uh, rescue you so to say."

My fingers curdled and I looked up at James. His eyes had pure sorrow in his eyes, and I knew that it was true, what Lucius had been saying.

"Come now, you Mudblood."

At that moment I felt my wand taken from me and thrust at the floor, as was James's. Lucius grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of James's grasp. Before I could do anything else the two of us had apparated to somewhere new.

Dammit is a good word to be inserted here.

A/N: Well, finally the story gets interesting! So please review before I go all corny TV commercial on you! Thanks!