~James's POV~

Lily and I walked down the several flights of stairs that led down to the fruit bowl painting, which was the door to the kitchen. She wasn't looking at me as we walked side by side at a rather brisk pace. I could sense that the tension that had been between us since we woke up together was still there.

I had so many unanswered questions. What did that kiss last night mean? I knew that, to me, it meant the world. That was a moment I had been dreaming about since I first met her. I had dreamed of being her only love, her true love. I wanted to be with her forever, no matter how clichéd that was. But all these years of rejection have gotten to me. I felt like Sky, in a way: my body torn to shreds by every cruel word she's ever given me. But, unlike Sky, I can't take anymore. Just one more rejection would literally destroy me.

When Lily and I reached the kitchen, the house elves greeted us eagerly and served us with delight. I had been down here plenty of times since we had discovered its location, and the house elves loved me. I had a house elf at my home but we treated her as one of the family. The elves here were more than happy to make a special serving of our favorite dishes for us. I had a generous helping of Sheppard's pie with broccoli and Lily had roast beef with steamed vegetables. Lily and I ate in an awkward silence and neither of us looked each other in the eyes. She seemed Hell-bent on watching her food as if it would run away if she took her eyes off of it for even the tiniest second.

I watched her hands when they were down by her plate. I couldn't help but wonder what they would feel like in mine. I wondered for what felt like the millionth time what that kiss meant to her. She had said that it wasn't so bad. But WHAT, exactly, wasn't so bad? Was it kissing me, specifically? Was it just the act of kissing in general? Where did we go from here? What happened to us now? How would this affect our relationship, if you want to call it that? Would all of the rest of our friends be affected by this now? All of the questions raced around in my head. I wanted to ask, but I couldn't deal with the possible rejection again.

We finished eating and walked back to the door again. Lily practically ran to the wall concealing the door when we reached the floor. She seemed like she wanted to just get away from me, which sort of made me suspicious. I had no intention to talk to her today, because I had no idea what to say, but this behavior was making me talk to her. She pulled out her wand when we reached the wall and tapped the bricks at lightning speed. She was about to race into the tower but I stopped her. I grabbed her elbow gently and I could have sworn I felt a spark.

"Are you okay? You seem kind of quiet." I asked quietly.

She gave me a very hollow smile. I didn't like it. It looked like she was just painting on that smile to get rid of me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said lightly.

"Anything you want to talk about?" I asked slowly. I was trying to get her to start the conversation. After all, it WAS her that really started all of this if one really wanted to point the finger.

She shook her head and smiled. It nearly broke my heart. She had on the same smile and I could read all of the unspoken words. She just wanted to forget what had happened between us. That kiss obviously meant nothing to her or else she would want to talk about it. I lowered my gaze to the floor, my eyes wide.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" I heard her ask.

Her voice sounded like it was at the other end of a tunnel. I felt the blood rushing in my ears. I felt hollow inside, as if something had been ripped out of my chest. Fine. If she wanted to just forget everything, then I would too.

"Nope. I'm good." I said shortly.

"That's good. I thought for a second…" she said, trailing off.

I looked up at her. She was biting her lips. She only did that when she was holding back. I couldn't imagine what else she wanted to say when her actions were drowning out her words.

"Well, you thought wrong didn't you Evans." I said, running a hand through my hair.

I put on my cocky mask again, knowing how much she hated it. I just didn't want to be near her right now; I just wanted to be alone to deal with this.

She smiled at me but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. I decided to let it go. We walked into the tower and she raced up the stairs, ignoring the others still sitting exactly where we had left them. We all looked after her in silences. They Sky took it upon herself to break the silence.

"Well?" she asked impatiently.

I just shook my head and walked up the stairs and up to my room.

But, before I was out of earshot, I heard Sky snap, "What? At least I tried. Someone had to do something."

I half smiled but shook my head. If only they could figure out that the only person who needed to do anything was me.

A/N: Sorry this is so short, but the next part is almost ridiculously long, and I didn't want to divide the story lines. Don't kill me. And please take a minute to go to my profile to read a message that I have for you. That would be greatly appreciated.