Author's note: So now that I've gotten Jordan and Lily's breakup out of the way, it's time to move on to James and Kim's breakup.

Also, you should consider yourself lucky that I was able to post this before I left for NYC. I wouldn't mind some nice reviews when I get back. Hint Hint.

--

Alice and Mary rushed over as soon as they possibly could. Gathering their nightgowns and some essentials from the kitchen, they knocked on Lily's bedroom door and found their friend lying on her floor near the fireplace.

"Hey Lily, are you okay?" Alice asked, placing herself next to the red-head. "James told us what happened."

"I'm fine," she answered, although clearly she wasn't. "I needed to do it, and now that it's over with, I feel lighter."

"We brought sweets though," Mary said, holding up the big plate.

Lily laughed softly. "Thanks."

The girls talked for a few hours, and Lily began feeling relieved. Maybe she would be able to get through the break-up easier than she thought.

--

They say that meeting up with an ex-boyfriend for the first time is awkward. Lily had felt that with James after they had broken up, but she had also gotten sick and was able to hide out in the Hospital Wing with a legitimate excuse.

Her only consolation was that Jordan was not in Gryffindor, therefore, she would not have him in most of her classes. Now that she thought of it, he wasn't in any of her classes, so she wouldn't have to worry.

Even though she wouldn't be seeing him in the classroom, she still had to pass him in the hallway. And it wasn't just him that she had to pass.

As the red-head made her way to her classes, she had to pass the group of boys whom her ex-boyfriend was friends with. They all glared and sneered at her, but she was stronger than most and held her head high.

During the day, Lily held onto her mask as tight as she could. She would smile, laugh, talk, giggle, gossip and everything else a normal 17 year old girl should be doing. Her friends would look at each other as if to say "How is she doing it?", but Lily just pretended she didn't notice and continued with her day.

At night though, the pain would spill out of her, weakening her to the bone. Some nights, she would barely make it to her bed before collapsing. Other nights, she would just lie on the floor next to the fireplace and hope that the nights weren't too cold.

A week went by and Lily kept up her charades. She could feel the look of worry on people's faces, but Lily paid no attention to them. She was a strong girl, everyone who knew her knew that, but a girl could only be so strong.

One night, Lily was sitting next to the fire in the common room, hugging her knees closely to her chest. She watched as the flames licked the wood, turning it slowly black. The red-head had an urge to place her hand near the fire just to feel it burn, but she shook her head of those thoughts. She didn't want to be a masochist, nor did she want to inflict any harm on herself. That wasn't who she was, and she knew it.

Suddenly, she heard noise outside the portrait, and two voices, one male and one female. She heard James' deep voice float in, saying, "Kim, come on. Just come inside, and we'll talk about this."

A female voice replied, but Lily didn't wait to hear it. She got up quickly and practically ran to her room.

The portal burst open and the green-eyed girl could hear James and, apparently Kim, arguing.

"Come on James. Everyone knows you two are together. It's so obvious by the way you look at her. Why are you stringing me along when you want to be with her?"

Lily wondered if everyone assumed they were together. She hoped not.

"She and I, we're not together. If we were, I would have broken up with you a long time ago."

Lily thought that rude, but Kim took it amazingly in stride.

"I highly doubt it. You always want to feel powerful. You probably have her as your secret lover and have me as the girl you show off."

"Kim, don't think so highly of yourself. It's unbecoming. And even if Lily was my lover, I would rather have her as a lover and the girl I showed off than having her only as the sidelines."

"I'm so much prettier than that slut. Everyone knows she seduced you and that you, in your blind love for her, followed along."

"Shut your mouth. Lily is not a slut. If anything you are. You're the one who gave it up to me a week after we started dating."

Lily was shocked. Did people actually say mean things like this to each other? Well, apparently they did because she was hearing them at this moment.

"James Potter, you have to got to be the biggest prick in the world." A sound of a slap rang through the room and Lily shuttered slightly.

She felt the urge to go out there and defend James, but she knew that it probably wasn't the best idea -- and besides, he rather deserved it at the moment. She decided to wait it out.

"Kim Basely, I want you to leave and never come back. As of this moment, we are broken up."

"Fine, that's fine with me. Just one thing: I hope your slut breaks your heart."

Lily hung her head in shame. She never realized how much guilt could hurt. James was breaking up with his girlfriend to be with her. She broke up with Jordan to be with James. It wasn't right to either of them, and Lily wondered if this was the right decision.

The red-head knew that break-ups were bad, but were they seriously all as dramatic as the ones she had been a part of... or at least the one she had witnessed? She definitely hoped not.

Lily hadn't left her position by the door, but when she didn't hear much noise coming from behind it, she assumed it was safe to move. But Luck wasn't with her that night. Backing up without watching her step, she tripped over her slippers and she fell flat on her bum.

"What was that?" she heard Kim asked.

"It's probably nothing. Something probably just fell."

Lily got up from the floor quickly and rushed over to her bed, hoping that she would have time to duck under and hide. The door suddenly slammed open, startling Lily.

A girl close to Lily's age stood in front of her, hands on her hips. Long blond hair framed her round face and Lily noticed that she was quite a bit shorter than the girl in front of her.

"Oh hello." Lily said, that being the first phrase that came into her mind.

"Yeah, okay. Hello."

"I don't think we've met before. My name's Lily and-"

"I know who you are."

"Oh." Lily felt her face heat up slightly. "I guess you would."

"Well, you are the girl who seduced my boyfriend."

Lily's eyes went wide. "What are you talking about? Why would I seduce Potter? He's definitely not my type of bloke. Plus, as everyone knows, I hate him."

James gave Lily a hurt look, but she ignored it. She didn't need things to be worse then they already were.

Kim gave the red-head a look of disbelief. "Well, everyone is saying it and by the way he looks at you, it's hard not to believe."

"And do you believe what other people say or will you believe what you want? I tell you that from the bottom of my heart, I have no romantic feelings towards Potter, nor do I want to seduce him. That might be his dream, but it certainly is not mine."

The blond studied the other girl's face for any hint of a lie, but upon noticing the sincerity of her words, her face relaxed. "I'm sorry Lily. I had no right to do this to you or say those mean things about you."

Lily scrunched her mouth into a sort of smile that indicated that she accepted Kim's apology. She wondered how in the world this girl had gone from practically screaming that Lily was a slut to apologising for being mean.

"All is forgiven. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I've had a long day and I would like to go to bed."

Kim smiled. "Of course. Maybe we can talk another time?"

Lily wanted to laugh and it took all of her strength not to furrow her brows. "Sure. Why not?"

Kim waved at the red-head before exiting from the room, leaving James and Lily alone. They heard the portal close, but neither one of them reacted.

Lily fidgeted near the bed, wishing desperately that she could just curl up under the soft covers. James watched her every move and she could feel his eyes on her.

Finally, Lily couldn't take it anymore. "What's wrong?"

"Do you really feel that way?" When Lily made eye contact with the raven-haired boy and was shocked to see pain in his eyes. "Do you really hate me?"

Lily sighed and sat down on her bed. "James, I don't know what I feel. I am so confused with my own feelings I cannot possibly begin to start thinking of others. I once asked you for time, and you more or less respected that. All I'm asking is that you give me just a little more time. Can you grant me that? Just about a month or so more?"

James sighed and leaned against the wall. "You are going to be the death of me, woman, you know that? I have waited for so long for you and when you are finally unattached, you still seem unavailable."

Lily chuckled sadly. "I guess I am that way."

"And I still will love you for it. No matter how you are, I will love you."

"I'm glad you think that. For now though, I'm really tired. Can we talk about this later?"

James walked up to the red-head and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Sleep tight, love," he told her, wiping away the single tear that had fallen from her eyes with his thumb.

Lily leaned into his palm, closing her eyes. His warmth filled her up, and just from minimal contact. Her body was just beginning to feel warm when he took his hand away from her face. He left her sitting there, dreaming of his warm hand back on her cheek.

--

Author's note: I'm not quite sure how many chapters there will be left, probably only a few. Between 2 and 4 is a good estimate.