Chapter 11

One Love

To my dearest Paris. You suck. Not really. But you're at WWOHP. So I'm allowed to say that. And to my fans, thank you for putting up with my writer's block.

Previously:

"James Potter, you are so wasted."
"I swear I'm not."
"Prove it."
"Alright, if I were wasted, I would have already shagged you senseless by now."

The party is a drunken blur.

I remember bits and pieces from it.

I remember Dylan talking to me, and Luke talking to Lauren.

Or maybe it was the other way around.

I have no idea what in the bloody hell they could have said or done to us to make Sirius and James so angry.

Or maybe it was Dylan and Luke were mad at Sirius and James.

I do remember those two getting angry.

I remember they threw punches.

Or did they?

I remember Dylan and Luke being thrown out.

Or were they?

I remember James wanting to shag me, or something like that.

Or did I want to shag him?

That's a silly question. Every girl wants to shag James Potter. Hell, some guys probably want to shag him as well. I mean, he's James bloody Potter.

And I'm a very drunk Lily Evans.

That much I do know.

12:45 A.M. I'm in the Gryffindor Common Room, waiting for James, with all these thoughts running through my head. My head is pounding. We are supposed to go to the kitchens for a late night snack. The party ended over an hour ago, and James and I were supposed to meet at midnight. 14:47. James cannot be found.

"Lily? What are you still doing up?"

I look up. Mason McGonagall is standing up at the top of the stairs leading to the Boys Dormitories. "Uh, nothing. I guess can't sleep," I quickly lie.

"Must be the full moon," Mason offered.

"Must be," I smile. "Hey, Mason, is James up there?"

Mason shakes his head.

"What about Sirius, Remus, or Peter?"

Mason shakes his head again. "I'm sorry, Lily." His heavy Irish accent is a bit slurred.

I stifle a yawn and smile again. "Thanks mate. G'night."

Mason smiles and mumbles a "g'night" and shuffles back to his room.

As Mason leaves, two sets of feet come down from the girls dormitories. Lauren and Alice poke out from the darkness.

"What's kept you up," asks Lauren.

"James."

"What's wrong," Alice asks, as she and Lauren sit on either side of me.

"We were going to go to the kitchens ," I offer lamely.

"Hmm," Lauren says.

"What?"

"Well, is there anything else wrong?"

"Well, this is not the first time he couldn't be found. It's happened every month."

Alice looks contemplative for a minute. "Ask Remus."

"I would but he left the party a bit early. And he's never found when James is gone. To be honest, it seems like the lot of them seem to disappear at the same time."

"Hmmm."

"Perhaps, one of their parents is ill, or they go somewhere to plan a prank or drink firewhiskey," Lauren suggests, struggling to suppress a yawn.

Well that makes perfect sense.

"But if you want, we'll go looking for him with you."

"Brilliant. Let's go." We get up and sneak out of the portrait hole. We really have no idea where to go after that. We head down stairs until we're in a corridor near the stairwell to the dungeon. Then, we hear footsteps. My eyes widen. Luckily, the three of us have the same idea to hide behind a huge tapestry.

"Snape! What did he tell you?"

Both sets of footsteps stop right in front of the tapestry. I hear my heart pounding through my chest.

"It doesn't concern you, Avery."

"Why not," the other whines.

"Obviously the Dark Lord trusts me over you."

"Only because you dropped that ginger Mudblood as a friend," Avery mumbled.

"Don't talk about her like that," Snape's voice raises.

"Oh, does Severus have feelings for Mudblood Evans?"

My cheeks burn in anger and embarrassment. Both Lauren and Alice's hands move to my arms.

"The Dark Lord wants Regulus to join him," Snape monotonously says.

"Regulus, as in Black?"

"How many other people do you know named Regulus?"

"Right. I'll tell you, if I were Regulus, I'd be embarrassed to have Sirius as a brother. Disgracing the family and such."

The two continued down the stairs. As they reached the bottom, I broke free of Alice and Lauren's grip and bolted for the Gryffindor Common Room.

The next Monday, while James is at Quidditch, I decide to go to the library and see if Alice needs help tutoring a few kids.

"Hey, do you need any help?"

"Yeah, there's a girl over there. She's a fifth year Slytherin. Name's Cara Whaler, I believe."

"Alright," I say and head over there.

"Hey, you're Cara, right?"

The girl looks up at me

"Hi," she says and smiles. "Say, are you Lily Evans?"

I look at her. "Yes, I am."

"So you're dating James Potter."

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. She must be another member of the James Potter fan club. Instead, I smile at her. "Yes, I am. Now do you have anything you need help with?"

"Is he a good snogger?"

"Cara, please, let me help you with school."

Her eyes narrow to slits. "Let me help you."

"Excuse me?"

"You should stay away from James Potter if you know what's good for you."

"Let me get this straight; you want me to stay away from my boyfriend," I ask, feeling enraged. "Why in the name of Merlin would I do such a thing?"

"Because, well is it not obvious? He's in it so he can shag you." She stands up so that she's eye level with me. "So, stay away from him."

"Cara, I still don't get your logic behind this. If he's just in it just so he can shag me, then why wouldn't he have given me Amortentia by now?"

"And why has he already told her that he loves her," Alice steps in. I have never been so relieved to see Alice. "Now, Cara," she adds, "I suggest you be off now and head to your common room before word spills of your attempt to break up everyone's favourite couple."

Cara just looked at her.

"What did Alice just say? Off with you," I bark. I shake my head in disbelief as she scurries out of the library. "Can you believe her," Alice asks me in disbelief.

"I can't believe you told her that James told me he loves me!"

"Wait, I thought he did…"

"He hasn't said it, but you all are so hell-bent on thinking he's in love with me."

"Well, to Cara's knowledge, he has, and he is."

"What are you all talking about," Brianna Fletcher, a Hufflepuff in our year, butts in.

"Oh, nothing, Brianna," Alice says. "How're you?"

"Oh, I'm just swell…." She keeps on. I tune her out. I don't have anything against Brianna. I mean, she seems nice, but she's loud, obnoxious, and likes to stick her nose in other people's business. Which, that isn't really okay with me.

"How are you and James doing, Lily," Brianna asks me, bringing me out of my trance.

"We're great, thanks," I say and smile at her.

"Oh that's so good to hear. You two are the Hufflepuff's favourite couple!"

My heart is bursting with pride. "Oh, thanks, Brianna. Hey, I'll see you later; I really ought to get going."

"Alright, nice seeing you!"

After leaving the library, we head to the Common Room. There, I run my face into a sweaty grey t shirt. It smells bad. The human occupying the shirt smells worse. That human, I discover as I look up, happens to be my boyfriend.

"Oi, James, ever came across the idea of showering," I tease.

"What," James asks, feigning shock.

"Mate, isn't it obvious? She doesn't enjoy the essence of manhood," Sirius interjects, smirking.

I roll my eyes. "Well, once you shower, I'll consider giving you your present, birthday boy."

"You can't deny the birthday boy his rightful presents!"

"Of course I can," I say as I turn my back on him and saunter off.

As I reach the other side of the room, a pair of strong arms picks me up and cradles me. My arms automatically wrap around their neck. I hate being picked up.

"James?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Why are you cradling my?"

"Well, because you were about to fall, and I couldn't let you do that," James explains, with zero honesty.

"Really," I ask doubtfully.

"You were a damsel in distress!"

"Oh, I was?"

"No, I just wanted an excuse to pick you up. Remus mentioned the fact you love being picked up."

I crane my neck to find Remus doubled over in laughter. He mouths a "sorry" to me and continues laughing. Bloody wanker. I then became aware that the Common Room was slowly emptying.

"But you sort of are a damsel in distress."

"How so?"

"You just are."

"Well, then I must repay my gratitude to my hero," I say playfully.

Before he could even say anything, I pull on his neck and give him a quick peck of his lips before pulling away.

"Shower time, birthday boy!"

Before James and I left to make our rounds, we let James open his presents. Watching him open birthday presents is like watching a kid on Christmas.

As he and I make our rounds, I notice no one is in the halls. Lucky kids, I think, at least they get to study tonight for their finals. My own schedule is way off. But, right now, that is least of my worries.

"James." "Lily." We manage to say at the same time.

"You first," he offers.

"Okay, James, I realize this isn't really the way you imagined spending your seventeenth birthday, but-"

"But there's no one I would rather spend it with." He stops, grabs my hand, and makes me stop too.

I search his eyes, trying to find an answer as to why we're stopped. My heart is pounding.

"Lily," he says, looking into my eyes. "I love you."

Oh my. I'm sorry for this chapter and it's shortness. It's sort of a filler-yet-semi-important chapter. If that even makes sense. I don't think it does.

Writer's block sucks.

I want to give two shout outs:

1. Blue Luver5000 for keeping me on task and reviewing so much! You rock!
2. katien100 for being a new reviewer! Welcome to my fantasy world.

Please read and review! Reviews are like candy!

Olivia update:

Well, it's spring break, almost a month to prom, and I still don't have a date. This may be an issue. I went to two college visits, and now my mind is only focusing on not having a prom date. Crap.

Well, off to find a date.

Always,

Olivia