Chapter 11:

A/N: Good afternoon, lovely readers. I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance for what's about to happen in this chapter. It's not my favorite. I was really struggling while writing this. There were too many distractions around me. Also, the reviews on the last chapter were virtually nonexistent, so thank you to those who did review, or add me to your alerts. I believe that's all I have to say… Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear I don't own anything to do with the Harry Potter franchise. I only own my limited creativity.

Last Chapter:

James took a deep breath and glanced quickly up to the castle. He could just barely see the Gryffindor Tower from where they stood. This ought to be far enough away, he thought. "Would you like to go out with me, Lily?"

Lily bit her lip, trying to contain the brilliant smile that was threatening to break across her face. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes?" James asked in disbelief, staring wide-eyed at her. "You'll go out with me?"

"Yes!" Lily replied jubilantly, laughing as James picked her up and spun her around. "James!" she squealed.

He set her on her feet, and leaned in to kiss her, but a loud outburst off in the distance caused both their heads to snap up.

Out of the window of a dorm high in one of the towers of the castle, huge fireworks were exploding in the air. Sparks of every color were lighting up the blue sky, erupting into various shapes and words. Lily giggled as a pink heart framed the letters L+J blew up above them.

James watched Lily's expression carefully, internally wincing every time he heard a boom from the fireworks overhead. He didn't know what else exactly would happen, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid an explanation if it went much farther than this.

Lily clapped appreciatively at the end of the fireworks show, and turned to James with an expectant look. But James panicked when he began hearing a familiar, deep voice; magically magnified to one hundred times its normal volume, Sirius's voice spoke out to the students of Hogwarts.

"Fellow Hogwartians…" the voice boomed.

James turned to Lily, and grabbed her hands in his, fearful of anything Sirius had to say. "Listen, Lily, I need you to know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Okay? Please, you have to believe that I never meant for any of this to happen and " he pleaded desperately.

Lily slipped her hands out of his slowly, her brow pushing together in the middle, confused. "James, what are you talking about?" she demanded.

But her question was soon answered by Sirius's thunderous voice. "Now pay up, Jamesiekins!" was all Lily heard, but it was all she needed to hear.

"Pay up? Pay up?" she hissed menacingly. "What does he mean pay up?" Her hands were balled into fists by her sides; her chest was heaving, and her teeth were clenched.

James looked as though he was being tortured by means of the Cruciatus Curse. He grimaced, and reached out to touch her arm, but she yanked it out of his reach. "Lily, please," he whispered hoarsely.

"You made a bet on me." Though her stance had not changed, her voice had lost its hysterical edge, and was now deadly calm. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "How much?"

James did a double take. "Wha—what?"

"How much?" she repeated quietly. "How much was the bet for?"

James swallowed nervously, and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Er, 10 galleons," he croaked out. (A/N: In chapter 4, I said it was for 1000 galleons, but I assure you that was a typo. No first year has 1000 galleons! At least, I hope not.)

Her eyes snapped open, and she glared at him through narrowed slits. "You made a damn bet on me for 10 galleons?" Then she snapped.

James swore loudly, and tried awkwardly to comfort her without invading her 'personal bubble'. "Aw, Lily, please don't cry!" He reached out to pull her into his arms, but she began pummeling every inch of him.

"You—selfish—bastard! I—trusted—you! I told—you—how I—felt—and you—lied—to me!" Lily shouted in between punches. "I wish I never even met you! Stay the hell away from me, Potter!" And then she ran.

She ran all the way back to the girls' seventh year dorms before she succumbed to the pain, and the misery. She threw herself down onto her bed, and buried her head in the feathery pillows on the bed.

After Lily had cried herself out, the anger flared up.

No one dared to enter the room for hours, except for Alice and Camey. They sat there and took her rants, and her meltdowns in silence, occasionally adding their two bits, letting her cry, and letting her throw things.

Meanwhile, James didn't even bother to go back to his dorm. He knew what he would have to face if he did: ashamed Sirius, wise Remus, comforting Peter. He slipped the cloak out of his back pocket where he had stowed it with the Map, and, after putting his broom into his locker in the team locker room, left. He didn't know where he was going; he didn't care. He just needed to get away. Far, far away.

James Potter sat in the back corner of the Three Broomsticks, staring moodily at his tall glass of Firewhiskey with his hood pulled over his head. It was Saturday, so the pub was packed with middle-aged witches and wizards, and those who had just graduated Hogwarts in the past few years. More than once, girls in their early twenties approached him wearing alluring smiles, and asked him to dance or buy them a drink. But they usually scampered away once he looked up and glared at them through his narrowed eyes.

His usually clear hazel was murky and his hurt was plain in the depths of them. But then, the Firewhiskey might have something to do with that as well.

He picked up his glass and drained the last of it in one long gulp. Upon hearing his glass slam down on the table, Madam Rosmerta picked up another bottle from behind the bar, and walked over to him.

"You feeling alright?" she asked him while filling his glass again.

James nodded glumly, and sipped on his Firewhiskey. Rosmerta eyed him wearily, and then glanced back at the bar. Only one other bartender was working, Tom. She untied apron, tossed it on the table, and slid into the booth seat across from him.

"Tell me about her," Rosmerta commanded, pressing the bottle she had used to fill James's glass to her lips.

James looked up, startled by her abrupt question. "Er, what?" he asked, thrown.

"I'm assuming that it's the Head Girl, Lily Evans, that's the source of your troubles, am I correct?"

James winced at her name, but nodded.

Rosmerta smiled knowingly at him, and went on. "I thought so. This wouldn't have anything to do with the bet you and Sirius made back in first year, would it?"

James's brow furrowed, and he leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table between them. "Yeah, it is," he replied distractedly, "but how do you know all this?"

Rosmerta just shrugged. "You boys have been coming in here for years. Don't think I don't overhear the things you talk about, or know how you sneak in here."

James grimaced, wondering just how much she knew, and went back to drinking his Firewhiskey. A warm, tingling feeling was spreading through his veins, and he welcomed the familiar feeling. He knew it wasn't much longer until he was completely smashed.

"James," Rosmerta began gently, "you need to let her alone. She'll come around in due time, but until then, keep your distance. Right now, she doesn't want anything to do with you or your mates."

He didn't say anything in reply; he just kept drinking. He wasn't worried about getting drunk, not now. He begged for ease of mind. He wanted to forget.

Rosmerta patted his hand, and stood up, picking her apron up off the table. "My shift's over, so I'm going home." She took another look at him, and added, "And I'm telling Tom to cut you off after another two glasses."

James nodded his thanks, and watched her leave. Once she was out of sight, he pulled out his wand, and transfigured a napkin into a sign that said, "Reserved", and pulled his Invisibility Cloak over him, and rested his head against the back of the seat.

It was going to be a long night.

A/N: Did I forget to mention that this chapter was quite short up there? Huh. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! If you didn't, I'm terribly sorry. Please, please review! They light up my day! Thanks!

One more thing: Last week I said that there was only two chapters left, but I decided upon writing this chapter that I would need more than that if I wanted to include everything I wanted to before the ending. So now there are only two chapters left!

~Livelier~