Chapter 11: You Belong With Me

Disclaimer: For the gazillionth time, we DO NOT own Harry Potter!

Note: Lily's POV the first half, James's the second.

You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town

I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down

You say your fine

I know you better then that

Hey what you doing with a girl like that

This chapter was written by Parvati (for a change). And it is her favorite!

All right, let's go!

I made my way to the Great Hall for dinner, my bag slung over my back. Today's DADA class was emotionally and physically exhausting for me. All I wanted was to eat my fill, then drop onto my soft bed up in the Heads' tower. Just the thought of some well-deserved rest made my eyelids droop with every step. Then I realized I had Head duties with James, and inwardly groaned. When I reached the Gryffindor table, I spotted Alice and Marlene, and started to make my way towards them.

"Alice! Marlene!" I called to them. They both turned around in their seats, with identical evil grins on their faces. This disconcerted me.

"Why are you two smiling?" No response. I frowned at them.

"What's up?" I waited a few moments before Marlene replied.

"Soooooo, Lily. Lily, Lily, Lily," Marlene spoke with the air of someone who knew a very startling secret.

"Yes, Lily. Lily, Lily, Lily," Alice echoed. I started to get irritated, and decided to throw them off with a question.

"Where's Emmeline?" I scanned the rest of the table. "And Remus?"

There was no sign of the brown-haired boy amongst the crowd.

"Probably somewhere in a broom closet," said Alice. "But that's not the point. No, no, no. Something very interesting happened in class today, and we're going to worm something out of you."

I groaned. I was not in the mood to talk about my 'incident' with James. Besides, he didn't even know that I knew. Matching Patronuses were phenomena that had only been recorded once or twice in history. In our case, it meant we loved each other dearly. But this made no sense. James was with Jiang, and she had made it pretty clear the she didn't want me anywhere near him. I had to accept that.

So instead, I decided to play dumb.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said calmly. Alice and Marlene gave up the pretense and gave me similar glares. Sometimes I wonder if they're really siblings.

"Oh, come on, Lily! Matching Patronuses? That too with James Potter?! This has to mean something!" Marlene mirrored my thoughts exactly.

I knew it had to mean something. But under the circumstances, it didn't. That is what I yelled when I snapped.

"Yes! I know, Marlene! But he's with someone else! It doesn't mean anything!" Hot, stinging tears started to leak out of my eyes. I struggled to hold them back, but to no avail. So I just let them fall. Now the people around us were quieting down and starting to stare. Marlene and Alice looked at me in horror. I know. I must've looked like a nightmare. Emmeline and Remus came through the hall, hand-in-hand, laughing, but froze when they saw the scene. That was when I broke. By broke, I mean sobbing, slippery, snotty, crying broke. Alice tried to grab my hand, but I pulled away.

James and Jiang were now looking to see what was happening. James's grin turned to an expression of mingled horror and concern. Jiang wasn't giving a damn about all this, and tried to pull James closer. But James kept staring at me, while I sobbed and sobbed.

Then I ran. I ran all the way to the Heads' dorm. In the distance, I could hear all my friends, running after me, and their voices, James's particularly, shouting my name. But I kept running.

"Codswallop!" I gasped at Sophia who swung to let me in. I ambled over to my bed and lay there quietly. Then I heard the door open and Emmeline whisper, "Lily?"

But I pretended to sleep. After a while, I heard the door close. I don't know when, but I fell asleep.

When I awoke, the dorm was completely empty, at least from my perspective. But when I looked down at the floor, I saw Alice, Marlene, and Emmeline all lain out beside my bed. Then I looked at the other side. Sirius, Remus, Peter and (my stomach gave a jolt) James were spread the same way as the girls. My heart filled up with warm gratitude for all of them. My best friends. They really did care about me. A lot. I turned to Remus and stroked his hair. Then I whispered in his ear.

"Remus?" No reply.

I shook him. "Just five more minutes," he mumbled, and pulled his arms over his head.

I laughed slightly. I kept shaking him until he finally awoke, a grumpy expression on his face. When he saw me, however, he immediately pulled me into a hug.

"You ok?" he asked.

I buried my head in his shoulder. "I'm fine. Thanks, Remus."

By now, Sirius and James had awoken too. Sirius merely looked at me and muttered, "I told you she was alive," before slumping back onto his pillow.

James, however, continued to look at me. "Lily-", he began.

I strode over to him and pulled him into a hug. He tensed up, but then wrapped his arms around my waist. I inhaled his scent and sighed. It felt good to hug him.

Marlene cleared her throat, and we jumped apart, and started to laugh. I felt considerably lighter. This was going to be a good day after all.

An owl landed on the table and knocked over my glass of pumpkin juice. I stared at it for a minute, for I never got mail. Then I took the scroll from its leg and it soared away. I opened the letter.

Miss Evans,

I am hosting a New Year's party in the Quidditch grounds tonight. I am inviting a few express students that I happen to admire, and would be delighted if you would attend. Hope to see you there,

Prof. Horace M. Slughorn

P.S. Feel free to invite Miss McKinnon, Miss Prewett, Miss Vance, and any other friends!

I handed the parchment to Alice, who handed it to Emmeline, who handed it to Marlene, who let out an ear-splitting squeal.

"We should totally go!" she said.

I glanced over at James. He was holding a similar parchment, while Sirius, Remus, and Peter stood around him.

"I don't know, Marls. . ." I said uncertainly.

"Come on, Lily, it'll be fun!" said Emmeline, while Alice nodded vigorously beside her.

"But I don't have a date!" I said.

"You don't need one!" said Marlene. She grinned at me and offered her arm. "We'll be your dates!"

I couldn't help but smile. "Ok, if you insist!"

"Wow, Lily."

"You look amazing!"

"No, not amazing. Gorgeous!"

I looked into the mirror. Emmeline stood smugly besides me while holding a makeup brush and some blush.

Alice was right. I did look prettier than usual.

I was wearing a strapless emerald green gown that reached my ankles. Alice had strung a simple but beautiful necklace around me, that had a thin chain and ended in a swan pendant that had a sparkling jewel perched in the middle.

I also had teardrop necklaces dangling from my ears, high heeled sandals on my feet, and some jeweled hair pins scattered in my hair like stars to top it off.

"What do you think Lily?" Alice looked at me nervously.

"I. . .it's. . .I'm speechless," I said, while I looked at myself from every angle.

"You guys," I whined, and gave them a huge hug before smiling at them all.

They all looked just as dazzling as me.

Alice wore a pale blue gown that went to the floor, with some glass bracelets glittering on her hand, butterflies perched on her ears, and her hair in an elegant knot.

Marlene wore a black dress that went to her knees, with similar high heels, and a golden necklace on her neck. Her hair, usually tied up in a ponytail, streamed down her back.

Emmeline wore a pale pink dress with and off-the-shoulder number and some sterling silver jewelry lighting up her face.

"You guys look absolutely stunning," I said in awe.

We set off arm in arm down the steps. Everybody paused to look at all of us, and a few students even started to walk with us. I felt my confidence mounting, as I smiled at all of my friends.

Until I saw James.

He was always a handsome person, with his nest of a hairdo, crooked smile, and dark caramel eyes, but today was something different. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Jiang was draped around his arm, wearing a midnight blue dress, with cut off at the side, leaving a big strip that showed her entire leg.

"Little Miss Perfect ought to wear something a little more. . . covering, don't you think?" Marlene growled.

I couldn't agree more. My confidence faltered when James looked my way, and his jaw dropped to the floor. Same with Remus, Sirius, and Frank when they spotted their dates. All my friends made me a quick promise to return the moment they got a chance, and then rushed to the boys.

I waved them off and stood alone for quite a while, before I realized something had strode up behind me.

"Hey, Lily."

I jumped when I heard James Potter's voice. He stood with his hands stuffed in his pockets, a shy smile on his face. I stood gaping at him for a minute, before I caught myself and smiled back at him.

"Hi, James."

We stood awkwardly before James cleared his throat and said, "Nice party. Clever idea to host it on the Quidditch pitch."

"Yeah. Did they ask express permission from the captain to use it?"

James laughed. "No, but I would kill them if they did anything to it."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"So why did Professor Slughorn invite you?"

"Oh, you know. Something about being admirable, plenty of room for improvement, so much potential, all that junk."

"Haha, very funny. We both know Potions isn't your best subject."

"Exactly!"

We stood there laughing. It felt nice to laugh with James, just the two of us, without any distractions. Of course, the universe wasn't ready for me to win just yet. Quick as a flash, Jiang was at James's side. Our laughter died instantly, while Jiang looked at us sweetly.

"What are we laughing about?" she asked, but I know that voice was similar to a chainsaw covered in honey.

"Oh. . ." James ran a nervous hand through his hair. "We were just talking about. . ." He looked at me pleadingly.

"Potions!" I said truthfully.

James caught on quickly. "Yes, Potions!"

He gave Jiang a sheepish smile and turned back to me.

"Catch you later, Lily." He proceeded to pull Jiang with him, but she remained still.

"Carry on, James. I'll meet you in a minute. Lily and I have some. . .things. . .to discuss," she said.

She continued to smile sweetly. Once he was out of earshot, she turned to me with an expression on her face that could've stopped You-Know-Who dead in his tracks.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," she said quietly.

Yikes. Quiet means dangerous, which means I'm dead.

"I – I didn't -" I began.

"Come on."

She dug her nails into my arm, which made me wince. She pulled me away before I could motion to James, or anyone, in fact, and suddenly I found myself in a deserted part of the pitch. Jiang wheeled me around to face her, her face red, hair wild, makeup smeared, and eyes bulging.

Why does she always look like the Demon when she's mad? It's scary.

Then the punching began. I wasn't ready for the first blow, which came directly to my stomach and knocked the wind out me. I staggered back and look up at her in disbelief.

She pulled out her wand and sent a nonverbal spell hurling at me. I whipped out my own wand and screamed, "Protego!"

I wasn't going to hurt her, though. I wouldn't sink that low. Jiang sent another spell at me, which pushed me to my feet. I tried to Disarm her, but she dodged it and screamed, "Stupefy!"

I vaguely remembered a jet of red light in my face and my mouth forming the word "Expelliarmus. . ." , and a pair of hazel eyes before I passed out.

James POV

At first, I thought the screaming voices (presumably girls) were just part of the party. Then I realized Jiang and Lily were missing.

"Jiang! Lily!" I called and called, but there was no response. Then I heard them get louder as I turned to a deserted part of the pitch.

I stood in horror as I watched Jiang punch Lily square in the stomach. I would've done something at this point, but I was frozen in shock.

Jiang continued to fire spells at Lily while she defended herself helplessly.

Then Jiang's last spell hit Lily in her face and she tumbled to the ground, muttering something I couldn't hear. Jiang's wand flew out of her wand as she stood there, breathing heavily.

My shock seemed to wear off, and I turned around. An entire crowd had gathered behind me, watching the scene before them unfurl.

Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail ran past me, and Sirius gave me a small push towards Lily's limp figure. All three of them stood over her, while I fell to my knees and picked up her form. Madam Pomfrey burst out from the crowd, magicked a stretcher for Lily and ran towards the hospital wing, Sirius, Remus, Frank, Alice, Marlene, and Emmeline right behind her.

I, meanwhile, turned to Jiang, who had realized what she did, and was now looking at me with an apologetic, and a slight sneer on her face. I could only choke out one word:

"Why?"

"She deserved it."

She was breathing heavily, looking exactly like the day she did in Madam Puddifoot's. And then it dawned on me; I never liked Jiang.

"That little brat, thinking she could steal you from me! No, I warned her, stay away from James, he's with me, but no! She couldn't do a simple task of staying away from a girl's man. I bet she couldn't help it, not after she saw your Patronus!"

She laughed, a little bit like a maniac, before coming closer to me, and grabbing the front of my shirt.

"But you're with me now, aren't you Jamie? And now Evans is out of the way, and you and me can do what we were meant to do!"

She leans in closer, and parts her lips to meet mine.

But I push her away. And not like a slight shove, but a hard push to her stomach which makes her stagger a bit.

"No."

This catches her off guard. "What?"

"No!" I yell it this time. "You and me Jiang, we were never supposed to do this. I started this, and I'm going to be the one to stop it." I took a deep breath.

"We're done, Jiang."

And with that, I pushed my way through the crowd, making my way to the hospital wing.

OMG! FINALLY! James finally ended it with Jiang! We will probably post one more chapter, and it will be the end of our first fanfiction :( Seems like only yesterday we were figuring out how to upload chapter 1! Review please! Stay tuned for THE LAST CHAPTER!

-The Patil Twins