A/N: Okay, I'm sorrrrrrrryyyyyy! For not updating sooner. Had a lot going on. I think…

Anyway, before you begin this new chapter, I want to bring forth the changes I made in the past chapters. Well, here they are:

# Instead of the other school I made up myself, I changed it back to Hogwarts. It's more familiar, if you get what I'm trying to say. Although, obviously, there won't be any magic. And it's not a boarding school.

# They're in their seventh year.

And yeah, that's it! Ask away if there is any confusion.

And finally, the big thank yous go to: TheMathGenius, aasiya333, Weasley-and-Proud, 3l1n0r, FireflyBlizzard, lunalilies(Hey you), fanficfreak1118, AddictedToThis123, Agent-Padfoot-13, Crescendo-x () and Most of all, thank you to 22potterfan, who reviewed after a long time, and made me want to update the next chapter. So, thank you much for that 22potterfan!
Chapter 10

Lily looked around her estate as she locked up her house and descended the steps, her phone wedged tightly between her ear and her shoulder as she dropped the keys into her bag.

"Are you sure you're not there waiting for me?" She asked Jack as she set off down the street.

"How many times have I have already told you that I'm not?" He didn't sound angry, but a little annoyed. For which Lily couldn't blame him, seeing as she had asked him the same question just a little over a hundred times.

"Fine." She pouted, still looking around cautiously. She wasn't just about to take his word and believe him not to be there. He could even be wearing an invisibility cloak something. "You swear?"

"Yes." He told her exasperatedly. "If I am there, which I'm not, and you see me , which you won't because i am not there, then you don't ever have to talk to me again."

"Okay, fine." She turned right at the end of her street and started off down another long street that led to nearest park where Lily and her friends had grown up playing. 'Vegetable Patch', they'd unofficially named it at the age of six. "It's because I'm still not ready for it, that's all."

"I'm not going to throw myself on you." He said a little quietly. Lily guessed he must be getting quite frustrated with her being a little awkward about meeting up. "We agreed to meet on your conditions, remember?"

"Even though, I know you want to see me, and I, you," Lily paused as she opened the gate to the entrance of the park and walked inside. She fondly recalled the days of her childhood as she looked around at the little kids who were playing in the park. "I think it's for the best that we don't. Anyway, I'm in the park now. Where did you put it?"

"Do you see that green swing in the left corner of the park?"

"Jack, all the swings are painted green." She reminded him. It was true, all the swings had been repainted green when they had been about six years old.

"Yeah, but the one in the left corner."

"Jack, they're all in the left corner." Lily shook her head at him. Out of all people, she'd had to stumble upon him on the phone.

"Fine, I meant the last one." He said, sounding a little irritated.

"Jack?"

"What?" Lily laughed at his blunt tone.

"Why so serious?" She pouted.

"Oh, shut up." He said sullenly.

"Come on, lighten up," Lily said. "I was only messing around with you. You are such a Moody Margeret."

"Says the one." He scoffed, laughing. "Now, do you see that weird looking plant on its right side?"

"Yeah, the strange green thing?" She said as she looked at the plant in question. "I see it. Now, where do I go from here?"

"There should be a small path on its right side." He explained. "Follow down that path. Then you'll come across some bushes there."

Lily made her way towards the path, avoiding kids as they rushed passed past her, kicking a ball around. But she wasn't so lucky as two small boys of about eleven raced past her, knocking her sideways onto the ground. Lily bit back a scream as her skin came in contact with an irritating substance. She glanced down; to her horror she noticed the familiar green plant next to her foot.

"Owww," She cried out as something strange started to prick her skin. She nearly dropped her phone as she bent lower to examine her injury.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's gone all red and it's stinging a lot." She whined as she rubbed her foot gingerly.

"Yeah, well, it got me too." He said bitterly. "When you get home, just apply something cold on it, like toothpaste or something. I think its poison Ivy."

"Well, you could have warned me." She snapped, staring down at the bright red mark on her foot. "It's really itching."

"You'll be fine, trust me." He sounded a little sarcastic. Well, Lily couldn't really blame him, seeing as the way she was dramatically complaining. "Although, it did hurt quite a bit."

Lily gave her injury a last rub before proceeding towards the bushes he had spoken about. She put her foot inside one of them, careful not to step on another monstrous plan, and felt around the ground with her foot.

When it didn't come in contact with anything, she took her foot out of the bush and instead put her hand inside, feeling around cautiously in case she got bitten by an animal, or worse, poisonous poison Ivy.

Eventually , her hand came upon something that felt like paper. She excitedly bent down and retrieved the brown paper bag. She stopped herself from peeking inside at the contents of the bag so she can open it at home properly. Hell, it was her first present from her first 'kind of' boyfriend, and she wanted it to be special.

She stood up and straightened her clothes, making her way back out of the park, giving a wide berth to the Poison Ivy. Then she ran the rest of her way home. Lily entered her bedroom, and sat herself down on the bed, panting a little from the short run. I should go on walks with Jack in the mornings after we meet up, she thought, chuckling a little, as if sharing a private joke with herself.

"Have you found it?" He asked after what seemed like forever.

"Uh-huh." She didn't bother to reply properly as she opened up the paper bag. Whatever was in the bag was wrapped up securely in a purple tissue paper.

"You like it?" He sounded anxious as he spoke, suddenly making Lily laugh. It was nice, in fact, really enjoyable to see that Jack also had an insecure side, just like the rest of the normal people.

She delicately unwrapped the tissue paper, careful not to rip it. She gasped as a beautiful necklace fell into her hands. It was gold in colour, with a rose pendant encrusted with diamonds.

"Aww, Jack, I can't believe you got this for me." she said, fingering the flower as a lump developed in her throat. She couldn't believe he'd actually brought this for her. No matter how much they talked on the phone, he still didn't seem real to her. Well, not until she would see him with her own eyes.

"Hey, don't go all emotional on me." He warned her. "I didn't really pick it out myself. My sister had to help me with it."

"What?" Okay, back to earth, Lily, she told herself. "You didn't really bring this for me?"

"Oh, I did." He corrected her quickly. "Just that Jess actually picked it."

"Oh, well, it's the thought that counts, right?" Lily said, pretending to be annoyed.

"Hey, come on!" he protested, and Lily laughed. "You have no idea how much trouble I had to go through to get the necklace Jess liked. And then when we went there, we found it, but it wasn't the right colour, so we had to ask around in many shops. If you don't like it, you can just put it back where you found it from. I can shove it up Jess'…"

"I was only joking." She said, before he could get carried away, and start to believe her. "Is Jess your sister?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "I have a few siblings who like to torture me now and again."

Lily laughed. "Add me to your list."

"I can't believe my own girl would gang up against me." He said, in outrage.

"Oh there are a lot of worse things out there." she told him. "And honestly, I loved it."

"You're not just saying it to make me feel better?"

"Oh, who cares about how you feel." She joked. "I'm only messing. Seriously, whatever you would have got me, I would have still loved it. Because it's from you. And also, because you were kind of tortured by your sister to run around everywhere."

"Well, good." He said. Lily noted how his tone had found its way back to its usual confident self. "I knew you'd love it."

Lily rolled her eyes at the ceiling.

She sat up abruptly on her bed as she suddenly had the urge to find out what he looked like. Just so he could make her wear the necklace he'd brought her. Isn't that what boyfriend's do?

"Hey, Jack?" she said excitedly.

"Yeah?" he sounded a little wary at her tone.

"What're you doing this Saturday?" she heard his breath hitch a little in his throat as he gulped. Which made Lily think twice about what she was about to say. Did she really want to see him? Or was it just the excitement that the present had brought forth? Okay, so she should abandon the idea of meeting up, but it couldn't hurt to just play around with him, could it?

"What?"

"I was thinking maybe it's time we…" she started but he didn't let her finish.

"If I'd known you could be won over by a gift, I would have endured the torture ages ago."

"Don't get so worked up about it, honey." Lily advised. "I was just messing about."

"You little…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"I could you kill for this." He threatened.

"You would have to find me first." She challenged.

"That was not even remotely funny."

"Really? Because I found it hilarious."

"Look, let's just forget you ever mentioned meeting up." He said.

"Jack, relax." Lily said. "It will happen soon, I promise."

"You know, I've just thought of something." He said suddenly. "How will we ever have children if never meet up?"

Lily froze.

"You did not just say that." Lily stared at her phone, as if daring it to contradict her. Because he could not have just said that. They hadn't even seen each other yet, let alone whatever he'd just implied. "Jack, you did not just say that."

And shouldn't she be the one talking about wanting to get married and have kids? Or was she being stereotypical?

"What?" he asked at her reaction. Well, apparently there was nothing wrong in him mentioning that instead of her. "Why do you sound so shocked?"

"You just said you want to have kids." She pointed out in her trance. "I mean, you want to have kids!"

"Yeah, of course." He said seriously. "When I'm about forty or fifty."

"Why so late in life?" Lily said, but then answered her own question. "Of course, because you want to live your life to the fullest, don't you? Without any distractions like kids and stuff?"

"Is there anything wrong with wanting kids at a later age?"

"No." Lily pursed her lips. "But by the time you have a kid and he or she is about ten, you'll be so old with one disease or the other."

"That's true." He said. "I need to think of a better age."

Lily rolled her eyes once again. He was talking as if it was in his hands to give himself a baby, rather than God's.

"Jack, Jack." She sighed as she stretched a little after she'd been sitting in one place for so long. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Leave me the way I am, I'll be back on track in no time." He laughed. "Not that I've gone astray or anything."

"Jack?" Lily said his name again, with a completely different reason than before. She wondered whether she should mention this to him so soon. It had been what, more than a month? It wasn't enough time to start liking somebody as much as she liked Jack.

She really wished though that she hadn't kept refusing to meet up. If only she had done so at the beginning, she wouldn't be so afraid to see him. And the more she put it off, the harder it would be for her to agree on finally seeing him.

There were times at night, when she'd just lay awake in her bed, creating scenarios about how they would meet. Who he would turn out to be. What her reaction will be when she finds out who she'd been talking to all this time? What his reaction would be at seeing her?

Would he be surprised? Would he not like her?

These thoughts would continue to annoy her at night. But as soon as she talked to him the next time, none of the doubts even crossed her mind. And why would they? Maybe she had no experience in these matters, but in no way was he a bad boyfriend. They had always come to an understanding about everything. They hardly fought over anything. There shouldn't be any doubts in her mind in the first place.

"Hey, you there?" his voice penetrated through her thoughts.

"Can I tell you that I really, really like you?" she said, a little breathlessly, a little wary of his reaction at the untimed confession.

"Love me even?" he asked like a greedy child for more sweets. Lily relaxed. Why had she been scared in the first place? This was Jack. Her Jack. And she could tell him anything.

"A little bit." She admitted sheepishly.

"Say it to me." He ordered.

"What?"

"Tell me you love me?" he repeated.

"But I love only a little bit, yet." She protested. Trust him to make it more complicated than it already was.

"You still do though." His voice sounded a little smug.

"I love you a little bit." Lily said crossly, emphasizing on the last part.

"A little big?"

"I said 'bit', Jack." She told him firmly. "Don't push it."

"But you said big." He argued. "I'm telling you I heard big."

"But I said 'bit', Jack." Seriously, it was like arguing with a five year old.

"No, but I heard big."

"Jack…"

"Well, I think, I love you a little bit too." Lily jumped up and squealed loudly as she heard him. She had said the same words herself, but it seemed much a bigger deal coming from him. For obvious reasons like, she hadn't expected him to say it back to her.

"You did not just say that." She said out loud. He couldn't have just said that. Because, this was her, Lily Evans. And boys did not just hand out I Love Yous to girls like her. "Jack, you did not just…"

"God, we're not going through that again." He interrupted her.

"Well, I don't care, but you just said you loved me." Lily felt it necessary to jump up and down on her bed for just such momentous occasion, but opted not to. In case he could hear the bed springs bounce or even worse: break.

"I said 'a bit'." He corrected in a tone, which sickly reminded her of herself.

"I don't care." She almost yelled. "I can't believe you just said…"

"…I love you. Yes, I know." He laughed. "I know."

"I am so happy right now." She admitted after a little while. Not that he hadn't already witnessed her happiness through the phone.

"Yeah, this could've been much more sweeter if we were face to face." Said the party pooper.

"And you just ruined the remaining sweetness by saying that." Lily pointed out, even though she knew what he was saying made sense.

"Well, a guy can dream, can't he?" he sighed dramatically, as if he was mad with longing for her.

"Well, shall I leave you to dream, shall I?" Lily said, deciding she had done enough talking for one day.

"I can see where I'm not wanted."

"Glad you can take the subtle hints, honey."

"Yep, glad to be of service, Ma'am."

"Bye, Jack."

"See ya whenever."

"Oh, and Jack?"

"Thanks for the necklace."

"You're welcome."

"Okay, bye."

"Love you a little bit."

Lily laughed. "Love you a little bit too. And I'll text you at night."

Lily was grinning wildly as she skipped downstairs to wash the dishes that she had neglected to wash earlier. It was only when she had finished drying the lot, when she realised Jack hadn't showed as much enthusiasm as she had when she told him she loved him. A little bit.

Well, he couldn't exactly squeal like a girl now could he? She mentally shook herself. And obviously, he was a boy, so it was even harder for him to react to such situations.

************L/J*************L/J*************L/J**************L/J************

"Oi!" Lily shouted across the football field, running towards her brother, who was standing in the middle of a crowd. She pushed past everyone and made it to him. She was surprised to see, Jay, her eleven year brother, talking to-out of all people-James Potter.

"That shouldn't happen again." She heard her nemesis inform her brother. "You gotta learn how to fight back, man, or else these…"

"What's going on?" She demanded as she marched up to them. Then she turned to her brother accusingly. "And what are you doing talking to him?"

"Nothing. He was just teaching me how to fight." He shrugged before turning away to face Potter again, who smirked at her.

"Err, excuse me?" Lily narrowed her eyes at the back of his head, before turning him around to face her. She couldn't believe how far James would go to annoy her. And he wanted to teach her brother how to fight? What's more, Jay has enough brothers at home if he needed tutoring in that department. "Teaching you how to fight?"

"Yeah, he said the way I fight, isn't the right way at all." Jay explained, and Lily was furious to find that he was saying all this as if he believed it. "He said I need to make the enemy tremble with fear, or else I won't have a chance of winning."

"And did he also tell you that you shouldn't fight in the first place?" Lily gritted her teeth. It was one thing to mess with her, but no way in hell, was she letting him get to her brother. She looked at Potter, who was still smirking in evil way of his, where he was just letting her know he'd won this one.

"No, Lily," Jay shook his head at her, and spoke as if he was speaking to little kid. "Even I know it's cowardly to run away from a fight."

"You," Lily pointed her finger at Potter. "Leave him alone. He doesn't need bad influence from people like you, alright?"

"I'm not influencing him in a bad way," James spoke for the first the time, a small smile tugging at his lips. "A bloke needs to know how to defend himself from his enemies. I, for instance, know how to protect myself from your deathly, physcotic rages."

Lily took a dangerous step towards him. "You leave him alone, do you understand?"

"Lils, you can't tell him who to hang out with." Lily turned around in shock to stare at her brother. On the other side, James and Sirius burst out laughing. She heard the onlookers snigger.

"I'm not telling him to…" she looked at Jay, embarrassed that her own brother had done this to her in front of the so many people. "I wasn't telling him anything like that."

She turned away from him, but instead walked straight into James. She looked up at him as he smirked at her. "Give up, Lily?"

"Never!" Lily spat before walking away from him.

L*************L&J**************L&J***************L&J*******************J

"Get out!" Lily yelled as she bounced off her bed and made for her door just as Jay tried to let himself in. "Jay, get the hell out of my room."

How dare he try to talk to her after publicly humiliating her? After taking the pig's side over hers? It made her furious to think that James had one over her. As if he was one step ahead in their unannounced and unofficial competition. And it had been her own blood that had landed him where he was.

"Just hear me out. Alright?" He said as he struggled to push open the door.

"I don't care." Lily put all her strength to use and pushed against the door, matching her brother's efforts. "You knew we didn't get along well and even then you make friendships with him. And you insulted me in front of god knows who."

"Hey, I was just messing around." He protested. "I swear, I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, you and him both." She breathed heavily under the strain of the door. "And you shouldn't be talking to him in the first place."

"I can talk to whoever I like." He too, panted as he shoved against the door determinedly. "I don't have to my friendships according to you and what you approve."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lily knew he was right. But then again, they were talking about James Potter here.

"Then why are you trying to talking to me if you're not sorry." She thought of letting go of the door and surrendering, but for some reason James's smug face came to her mind, which forced her to keep up with her struggle.

"Because I wanted to let you know that he wasn't just showing me how to fight," Jay said. "He was telling me to stand up for myself."

"What?" Lily wrenched open the door. Jay stumbled in and struggled to balance himself.

"Yeah, some guys were annoying me…" Lily raised her eyebrows questioningly. Her brother had been getting bullied and he had gone to James Potter? "It was just some fifth year guys messing about. Nothing major. James saw and he helped me out."

"He did?" Lily asked, her voice, for some odd reason had gone small.

"Yeah," Jay nodded. "Something I've been trying to tell you since a while."

"No, you didn't tell me any of this." Lily argued, ignoring the keyword 'try'. "Otherwise, I would have saved myself the embarrassment."

"Well, this just teaches you not to butt into my business in the future." He said cheekily, before running out of the room.

Lily ran after him, but her mind was picturing a scene where she was apologizing to her brother's new found friend. Not that she was planning on doing so.

A/N: So how was it? Worth the wait? No/yes? Please let me know…