Here's another chapter... Hope you like it =] Xx


CHAPTER ELEVEN: UNCONQUERABLE

April 1977

The exams were drawing nearer and Lily Evans had been trying to get in as much revision as she could muster. She was sat in the library, her head bent over her work, her red hair covering her face.

"I'm bored", Selena said. Her voice came muffled as she had her head cradled in her arms on the table.

"You're always bored", Lily said not looking up from her work. Selena groaned exasperatedly.

"Hello ladies", Lily's head snapped up. James. He was standing there, Remus and Sirius on either side of him. Sirius kissed Selena in greeting.

"Hi", Lily said pleasantly. James smiled at her. The smile she knew too well, showing all his dimples. He was wearing his uniform in the usual manner. His tie loose, his shirt out. Lily, realising that she was staring at him, turned back to her work abruptly.

"What's our next lesson?" Sirius asked. Before Lily could answer, Remus spoke.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts"

"Crap, I don't think I've done my essay", Sirius said worriedly. But Remus spoke in the same casual tone.

"No need. Professor's not going to be teaching today".

"And how do you know that?" Lily asked looking up from her work. Even she didn't know that.

"Because Miss Evans, I am omniscient", Remus said smugly.

"I thought I was omniscient", Sirius whined.

"No, you're the 'sex god'", Remus said making speech marks with his hands appropriately. Sirius nodded fervently at this, satisfied. Selena snorted.

"So you're the omniscient Marauder", James began pointing at Remus. "He's the 'sex god', what am I?" James pouted, looking adorable. Remus and Sirius put on thoughtful expressions.

"You're good at Quidditch", Lily offered. They all looked at Lily, all three boys smiled. What was with that?

"That is true", Remus said finally.

"What am I?" Selena said in an effort to draw everyone's attention away from Lily. Lily smiled at her gratefully.

"Sex goddess?" Sirius offered. Selena raised her eyebrows at him.

"I don't think so", She said.

"And I am?" Lily asked. She thought she might as well hear their verdict on her.

"Perfect", James said. There wasn't a single note of sarcasm or amusement in his voice. He was being perfectly sincere. Lily blushed profusely and turned back to her work, hiding her face from view with her long red hair.

---

"That was so gay!" James said ruffling his hair exasperatedly.

"It wasn't that gay", Sirius said trying to sound comforting.

"Thanks Padfoot", James said sarcastically.

"At least she knows how you feel now", Remus offered.

James nodded. That was true. At least Lily knew that James thought she was perfect. She had blushed. Meaning she liked it? Argh. He had no idea. That girl was so confusing.

"And she defended me when I insulted myself", James said. Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement. Peter looked bewildered.

***

The lake was gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. James walked across the grounds towards Remus and Sirius, who were sat under their usual tree as they had said they would be.

"I'm telling her", James said when he had reached them. Remus and Sirius looked up puzzled. "I'm telling Lily".

"What? No you can't-"

"-Prongs are you sure about this-"

"What about plan-"

"I don't care about your plans", James said irritated. "I'm telling her, and that's that!" James turned on his heel and sped off towards the castle, ignoring his friends' pleas for him to come back.

James Potter was determined. He would tell Lily that her boyfriend was cheating on her. It was for the best. Of course it meant she may not believe him and never speak to him again. But she deserved to know. As her friend, it was his duty to tell her. James had reached the Gryffindor dormitory. James crossed the common room. He was at the staircase that led to the girls' dormitory. He had never been up here before, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Little dramatic, but whatever, this was important.

He was about to climb the staircase when he saw the familiar figure of Lily Evans walking down the stairs. She seemed surprised to see him there, but not displeased.

"Hey", She said smiling when she had reached him.

"Hey", James gave her a small smile. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure", Lily said and they climbed out of the portrait of the fat lady. They had been walking for a good ten minutes, in silence, when Lily's stomach grumbled.

"You hungry?" James asked. Lily shook her head, but James turned towards the basement anyway. He wasn't going to let her go hungry.

"You're not talking", Lily stated.

"I am", James said confused.

"Not as much as usual"

Of course he wasn't, James was trying to think of how to tell Lily. It was harder then he had thought. He shook his head at Lily's question. She didn't look as if she believed him, but let it drop all the same.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked him, when they had reached a painting of a bowl with fruit in it. James said nothing, but tickled the pear. This turned into a handle and James opened it. Lily looked shocked.

They were in the vast kitchens. House-elves jumped at them with trays of food instantly.

"James Potter sir!" A house elf squeaked.

"Hello", James said pleasantly to the house-elf. He bowed really low at this.

"I had no idea the kitchens were here", Lily said in astonishment.

"Yeah, most students don't", James said. He turned to the house-elf. "Could you get my friend Lily here something to eat?" At once house-elves all around the kitchen began to bustle about, making food.

Lily smiled and sat down on one of the tables. James joined her.

"I told you I wasn't hungry", Lily said.

"But you clearly are"

Lily sighed. "You never give up do you?" James shrugged. He really didn't. "On anything", she added in a small voice. She looked into James' eyes. Was she trying to tell him something? He stared back into her bright green eyes. She blushed.

"I need to-" But the house-elves had come with trays upon trays of food and James stopped speaking mid-sentence.

Lily looked overwhelmed with all the food. She looked up at James. "You not going to eat?"

"I already ate", James said. Lily began to eat and James watched her. Rather discretely as to not creep her out. He couldn't tell her. Not now. He knew it would make her upset. James didn't think he could stand that. Maybe later. For now, he was bailing.

***

It was night time. James was sat up in his bed, reading Quidditch Through the Ages. He was still determined on telling Lily, but he wasn't sure how or when. Aggravated, he threw the book aside and pulled out the map from underneath his pillow.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good", He whispered, pointing his mahogany wand at the map as he said this.

He scanned the map. There didn't seem to be anything interesting going on. Albus Dumbledore was pacing his office as usual, Slughorn was in the dungeons. Filch and Mrs Norris were both in his office. James scanned the map for Lily. She wasn't in her dormitory. Where was she? He found her at last. Stationary on a sixth floor corridor.

Sirius snorted in his sleep. James glanced at him, he was rolling around on his bed. "Oh yeah, you know I like it like that…" Sirius laughed a little, rolled over and was silent.

James jumped out of his bed, pulled on his t-shirt, grabbed an open packet of biscuits from Sirius' bedside table and left the dormitory. He kept glancing at the map, but the dot that read 'Lily Evans' was not moving.

---

Lily was sat on the floor in a sixth floor corridor. Thinking. She had been patrolling, but had chosen to take a break. Remus was in the hospital wing so she had chosen to patrol by herself then with another prefect. She had some thinking to do.

Lily knew that she had feelings for James Potter. Pretty strong ones. She liked everything about him. His dark messy hair, his big hazel eyes, his smile. His wonderful smile. It wasn't just his appearance she liked. His personality was amazing. He was so full of life. So smart, and brave. And oh so determined with everything. Especially with her.

But she had a boyfriend and Lily Evans was not the type of girl to even look at another guy when she had a boyfriend.

Speak of the devil. At that moment, James had come round the corner, holding the familiar piece of parchment that he so often had in his hand and eating from a packet of biscuits. He looked straight at Lily and smiled. The same smile he had smiled yesterday when they had gone for a walk. Not his usual smile. Lily stood up, straightening her skirt.

"What are you doing out after hours?" Lily asked him, faking a stern voice.

"I needed to talk to you", James seemed to be in a rather serious mood.

"Why are you so serious?" Lily asked as James walked up to her. "It's creepy".

He laughed a little. Only a little though. He didn't even make the 'Sirius' joke. "I have to tell you something".

"What?" Lily was worried now.

"Can we walk?" James asked looking apprehensive. Lily nodded and they walked on for a while.

"Okay", Lily stepped in front of James. "What's wrong?" This behaviour of his was driving her insane.

He gulped, then opened his mouth to say something. He was interrupted by a sound on the right side of them. Lily looked. The sound was coming from behind a tapestry, the sound of hushed voices and fidgeting. Lily put a hand on James mouth to make sure he didn't speak, his lips were surprisingly soft. He nodded his head as if to say he would remain silent. Lily raised her wand and pulled back the tapestry.

She staggered back in shock. Tom was kissing Kate Wilson passionately. Upon seeing her they sprang apart, Tom looking incredibly guilty. Kate looked somewhat pleased. Tears rolled down Lily's face.

"Lily – I'm sorr –" Lily slapped him hard on the face. Tom stood stunned. Lily turned on her heel and started to walk down the corridor. She stopped suddenly and turned back to see James standing there looking dazed.

"Are you coming James?" She choked through tears. He didn't hesitate, he jogged up to her immediately.

Tom called after him in a miffed voice, "Detention Potter".

"So what else is new?" James yelled over his shoulder. Lily laughed a little and they turned a corner. "Are you ok?" James voice was full of deepest concern.

"I'm fine", Lily said, although the tears were still falling quick and thick. "What was it that you wanted to tell me?" She said this as an effort to change the subject rather then actual curiosity. Not much seemed to matter now.

"That was it", James said in a small voice, making a hand gesture towards the corner which they had turned.

"Oh", Lily said surprised. "You knew?"

"Yeah", James said looking ashamed. "We tried to tell you, well I did, Sirius was adamant on making you find out for yourself, with his stupid plans". Plans? Oh. It all made sense now. The bag stealing, the dungbombs, the odd behaviour.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Lily asked. She wasn't angry. Just curious.

"They wouldn't let me", James said sadly.

Lily put a hand on his arm. "It's ok".

James exhaled deeply. "Good. So are you sure you're ok? Do you want a hug?" His voice didn't sound hopeful, just concerned. Lily really did want a hug. Without speaking, she put her arms around his waist. He stiffened at once, but then relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Lily felt a certain déjà vu. But she had no idea why. She rested her head on James' chest. His breathing was heavy, his heart beat fast. His scent was incredible. Lily felt as if she could have slept in his arms. She closed her eyes, tears still streaking down her face.

It was still hard for her to believe that Tom had been cheating on her. After everything she had done for him. After all the chances she had given him. After everything they had been through together. She still couldn't help feeling a certain sense of relief though, as if a huge weight had been lifted of her shoulders.

---

Lily Evans was hugging him. Him. James Potter. Of course she had hugged him before. But she had thought he was Moseley. She was so close, her head was resting on his chest. He was sure she could hear his heart beating incredibly fast. He tried to steady his breathing, but it was no use when Lily was so close to him.

She was finally available. But it didn't mean she was going to go for him. She definitely liked him though, in some way or another. Maybe the whole Tom thing would put her feelings about James into perspective. James would never treat her like Tom had. Ever. He would do everything in his power to make her happy. He already did. He just wished she could see how much he loved her.


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