Emerald Eyes

Ok, so I'm REALLY stupid. On the SAME chapter that I wrote how stupid I was, i wrote 'Preview' not 'Previously'. Wow.

Disclaimer: I'm stupid! SO THEREFORE I DONT OWN ANYTHING! Hehe. I like being broke

Previously

The man turned around, and Voldemort stamped the letter. In-between to fingers, he raised it up in the air, and a bony sparrow swooped down, taking the letter with it, as it flew off into the night.

"You," he addressed the man in front of him, "I want you to find that Evans and make her regret ever coming to Hogwarts. Comprehend?" He asked, and the man, under the dark hood, nodded. An un-seen grinned formed upon his face, oh, Lily would certainly regret ever boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time seven years ago.

Chapter Eleven: You Know You Like It

The remaining six climbed slyly through the trap door on the floor and once again into the dark chamber. Tired and worn out, they rushed to get out and soak into their soft beds.

"So, Peter said he'd meet us back at Hogwarts?" Remus whispered, double-checking of his friend's whereabouts.

"Yeah, he probably got bored." Lily whispered back.

"Probably." Remus said as he pushed open the wooden door that let in a small stream of light as he opened it, and hopped out into the castle. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Remus signaled forward and everyone popped out.

Leah yawned, and Lily leaned against the wall, completely exhausted.

"Guys, I'm gonna walk Mary back, okay?" James whispered back as she grabbed his hand and dragged him off.

After a moment of just sitting there, Lily pushed herself up from the wall with her elbows, "Come on, let's hurry up."

They absent-mindedly made their way towards the Gryffindor Common Room. The scene was all too familiar for them to think twice about it: sneaking out at the middle of the night and returning once again to the couches up at the Gryffindor Common Room. Lily and Leah had sometimes tagged along, to Remus' request, even before they were friends with James, Peter, and Sirius. Before Lily and James had become Head Girl, they had always, after an adventure, sneaked into the common room, grabbed some blankets, and slept on the couches. Then in the morning before anyone rose, they would climb out and get into their bed like nothing happened. Lily sighed, how she missed that. It sounded so simple, but it had really come a habit after countless years of doing it. And she coudltn believe she had never even become aquainted with Sirius and James after all those midnight wanderings. Then again, they had never really spoken to each other even then…

"Leah, " Lily called, grabbing the collar of her shirt right when she was about to turn to the Head Dormitories, "lets sleep in the common room tonight, okay?"

Leah looked at her and smiled at the memories, "Yeah…lets go."

"You guys really want to?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Leah shrugged as they turned down the hallway towards the portrait.

Remus grinned, "I'm sure James will find us easily."

Sirius walked up to the portrait, spoke the password quietly, and opened the large door enough so they could slide in. When they all had stepped over, they closed the door gently behind them.

Lily absolutely loved the common room; it was magnificent, yet simple. The golden colors always made her feel warm and at home. The fire that was always blazing soothed her nerves, and its warmth melted the snow off her hair during the long snowy winters. She sighed as she fell onto the couch, Leah following her suit on the other side of it. Sirius flew down the stairs with some blankets, tossing one to the girls and keeping three for him, Remus, and James (when he came).

"G'night." Lily said softly as she turned her head and covered herself with the soft, warm blanket. The soft pillow, familiar warm blanket, and warm fire put her to sleep instantly.

If anyone responded, she didn't hear it, and slept peacefully through the rest of the night. She might have had dreams, but they didn't bother her once. Even through Sirius' loud snoring, she somehow managed to sleep through it. Then, even before the sun rose up, large, warm hands shaking her shoulders shattered her comfort. Lily's only motive to open her eyes was to make whoever was shaking her to stop so she could then drift back to sleep. She groaned and whipped her hair out of her eyes and looked up to see James looking down at her, yawning.

"Lily," you could tell by his voice he was tired, "Come on, let's go back."

"No…" she sighed and tried to turn away from him.

"Yes, come on, Leah already left." James said impatiently as he rubbed his eyes.

"Fuck off." She said, turning briefly to hit him with a pillow.

James grunted impatiently, sighing and then grabbing her arm. "Come on, now."

"Stop!" Lily swatted him away with her hand, but failed as he grabbed her extended hand and yanked her off the couch and onto the hard floor, where she landed with a large thump.

"Shit!" She said in pain, now wide awake, "You didn't need to give me a brain injury to get me up, you know?"

James shrugged, "With you, it was my only choice."

Lily rolled her eyes and, realizing they were the only ones up, lowered her voice, "Lets hurry before anyone wakes up."

Back at the Head Dorms, Lily was fast asleep in her bed, she had found her drowsiness once again after she laid down. After two hours of sleeping in her bed, she found herself being awakened by the same face.

"What now James?" Lily sighed, her eyes still closed and head against the pillow.

"We're going to be late if you don't hurry up." Already dressed and showered, he hauled the load of covers off her body. James flinched and turned red, while she didn't, still with her eyes amazingly closed. Lily was wearing a slightly large shirt and visible purple underwear. She apparently didn't care much about it, but James turned around due to the awkwardness he felt.

"Just go without me, I'll meet you guys up in the Great Hall." She waved him off.

"If you're not at the Great Hall in fifteen minutes I'm sending Sirius over here to get you." He threatened before shutting the door on his way out.

Not wanting Sirius near her at these precious, early hours of the morning, she reluctantly sat up, hopped off her bed, and dragged herself over to the wardrobe and quickly got dressed, not bothering to take a shower.

After brushing her teeth, washing her face, and brushing her hair, she still felt tired and completely worn out. Lily stumbled as she fished her flip-flops onto her feet and walked down the steps. Then halfway down the stairs, she remembered what she had forgotten. Lily ran back up and snatched her bags, and continued on. Quickly checking her watch, she glided and slipped through winding hallways not stopping for the slightest thing. Obviously, she was panting profusely by the time she reached the stairs towering above the hall.

"Lils, you got an owl." Leah tossed Lily a letter as she sat down.

"Thanks." She tarred open the envelope and dug out the letter. Her face changed to tired look to a confused face after she read it quickly.

"Leah, read this," she whispered to her and passed the letter to the side.

Leah also read it quickly and was very surprised by the bluntness and….well, you just don't really except these kinds of things in the mail.

"What do you know?" Leah asked.

"About Peter…" she trailed off, and then stuffed the letter into her bag when Mary came over to join them. She'd look it over later, yeah, that was it.

The rest of the day continued much like this, late and tired, breathless and annoyed. One of those days the only thing on your mind is what you're going to do when you're done with this. She had already forgotten her quills back at the dorms (she had to use Leah's) and was caught zoning out by Professor McGonogall. And she had thought today was going to be easy! It was like every other first or second day of school, except for the fact she was dreadfully behind on everything.

"Lily!"

She jumped at the sound of her name, and broke away from her distracting thoughts to look at James.

"Class is over already, we have to go to the Prefects meeting!" He said, picking up all his books.

"Right." She sighed, bending down to collect all her textbooks. Swinging the bag over her shoulder, they exited together.

"Where are we holding the meeting again?" Lily asked, she had been told that information, too. But, like so many other things today, she had forgotten it.

James looked at her, she had seemed rather un-focused and distance today, "The Meeting Room, don't you remember?"

Lily sighed and shook her head; "I have been just so damn out of it today! I've never even heard of that room"

"We all have our bad days." He shrugged, reaching the stairs, "It'll get better soon enough."

"I hope so." She muttered and followed him over to an old-looking hallway with plenty of portraits from when the school had been made.

"This is the Meeting Room," the said, signaling to the door, "I'm pretty sure Remus has brought you here before, am I right?" James asked as he walked up to a wooden door with a handle that could have very well been a doorknocker.

"Oh yes, this one?" Lily nodded, seeing the doorknob, "This is a good place, but are you sure everyone will know where it is?" She asked at James, and then pulled open the door.

Her question was answered by an explosion of chatter that grabbed her attention immediately as she opened the door. Very clearly everyone knew where the Meeting Room was. Before stepping up in front of them for the beginning of the meeting, she quickly took a head count to make sure everyone was here.

"Okay, all here," Lily whispered in James' ears, "You talk first."

"No! We agreed you would go first, now come on," he said, pushing her forward slightly.

"I'm nervous! I was never even on speaking terms with 90% of the people here, what the hell makes you think that they'll listen to me?" She said turning around, frustrated.

"Because you're the Head Girl and they have to listen." He said, their voices now somewhat raised.

Lily glanced at all the people. She felt incredibly pathetic almost instantly, there wasn't over fifteen of them yet her heart was pounding hard enough you'd suspect she was going to jump into a tank full of sharks. In comparison, Lily briefly thought, the sharks might be better.

"Go." James ordered, then stepping back and folding his arms showing her he wasn't going anywhere.

She gave him a hesitance 'thanks-for-nothing' glance and took a deep breath before asking for silence with a spark of her wand. It came to her as a shock when the voices stopped talking and they turned to look in her direction. Their faces easily demonstrated reluctance in listening to anything she had to say, but they none-the less waited her to begin talking. Yes, even the ones who had, not a year ago, made her life living hell. Especially Malfoy, who she noticed was leaning over to talk to a Hufflepuff girl seated closest to them. Which was interesting, because he never talked to Hufflepuffs.

"Anyway, as you all know, this is the first official Prefects meeting." She said nervously, fidgeting her hands subconsciously. "We will let everyone know the date of each meeting so you can plan your schedule and such. We wont take any more than fifteen minutes of your time, don't worry." She sighed quietly and looked at James for a moment, who was grinning at her.

"Right, first things first. It's been different year-to-year dealing with rounds. Each night we're going to have two Prefects do rounds from 11 PM to midnight. To pick out what days you'll be doing rounds, James has a hat over there with two dates written on pieces of papers." She waved her hand in his direction, and In less than a second, everyone was watching him (especially the girls). Yes, they listened to him very intently when he spoke. The girl sitting closest to him (the one Draco had been whispering to earlier) even began to apply some lipstick innocently to her lips. Turning her head to see his reaction to this, she realized he did not pay the slightest attention to anything the girls were doing. Except one girl, that girl being Mary. He was speaking to everyone, but his eyes watched her distinctly. Lovely, just lovely, Mary was a Prefect. Thank God Lily didn't see her before, she might have run away right then. She didn't like the way James was looking at Mary. She didn't know why either, it was just one of those un-explained, quick pangs of emotion that left as quickly as they came.

"Does anyone not have their dates?" Lily heard James say finally, and she snapped out of her thoughts. "Good. You're all free to go now." He dismissed, and they all returned instantly to their own lives, chattering away as they left the room. Mary of course, with a kiss on the cheek. He had a silly grin on his face when she left. Except that one Hufflepuff girl, Elisa must have been her name. She was walking up nervously to Lily, tapping her on the shoulder.

Lily whipped around, and gave a sigh of relief when she saw it was only her. "Hello, do you need something?"

"Yeah, actually. Since you and James have rounds tonight, I should tell you. I've been told there's going to be some trouble makers up there, trying to start something up. They're in the room on the left in the Astronomy Tower. But please, you didn't hear it from me." Elisa begged.

Lily looked at her strangely, she knew from experience Elisa wasn't one to crash a party, "Alright. I'll tell James."

"Don't, please. If you don't mind me saying, I don't think they'll really take James seriously if he tells them to stop partying." She said, passing her hand through her curly brown waves of hair.

Lily smiled slightly, "Alright. Thanks for telling me."

"Ok." Elisa said before walking away without a glance back.

Awkward. Sort of random, too. And suspicious, of Elisa, not of these 'trouble makers'. She shrugged and turned around to see James waving Mary off.

"Oh God I thought it was going to go horribly." She admitted, walking up to him.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Not that bad, but not great either. Do you see how those girls apply make-up every time you talk?" She said, laughter in her voice.

James shrugged and smiled at her, "Nah, I learn to ignore it after a while."

They then began to clean up the room in silence, folding up the chairs and straightening up the large mess that had accumulated in such a small amount of time.

"Did you notice how nice Mary looked?" James asked randomly as he landed one chair on top of another.

Lily laughed and stopped what she was doing to look at him, "No. I don't notice those kind of things"

"Oh, right." James said awkwardly, knowing just how stupid he sounded. "I forgot you were a girl for a second." Truth was he hadn't, but she was like any other friend, and they were all guys. All the girls he had been acquainted with eventually became his girlfriend, then his ex, and so on.

Lily burst out laughing, shaking her head at his dim observation skills, "Well that's what happens when you spend all your time obsessing over small-minded girls, James. You forget."

"Mary isn't small-minded!" He argued.

"Look at you!" She said, not accusingly, just observationally. "You think you're in love-"

"I'm not in love!"

"Fine," Lily corrected herself, "You're not in love, you're just infatuated. Alright, you're infatuated with a girl you hardly know, what's so special about her? Yes, she's pretty. So are the rest of the girls. Yes, she's…smarter than some. That doesn't mean she's worthy, James. Do you really think she's so different?"

Stubborn tendencies led James to not thinking too much of what she had just said, "Because she really is! She wants to take things slowly, and she's nice. I've already told you this, and we've already discussed it countless times."

"I'm never convinced easily, I think too much. It makes me doubt things. That's not always good, either. Plus, I bet a lot of the other girls were nice, too. This is just the first girlfriend who showed you her soft side before her breasts."

Smack.

"James! I don't mean she's a bad person, I'm just saying don't get to crazy over her and think this is different when it just might not be."

"I see what you're saying. But I still find that comment about breasts very offensive, Lils."

"Sorry. But it's probably true." She added in.

"No, actually!" He corrected. "Ok, so I have slept with my fair share of girls. But it's a lot less than everyone thinks. Not even half, or one quarter of my past girlfriends I've slept with. Like….only five."

((A/N: Yeaaah…only))

This caught Lily's attention, and she raised an eyebrow, "Really? I never knew that." She smiled slightly.

"Really. And not too many people do know. It sucks sometimes, actually, having a reputation like that." James admitted, and with a finish, moved the chairs back into the closet. A few moments of silence passed before it was broken again.

"You know what?" Lily blinked, "We could have used magic for all that." She tried not to sound like she had done something stupid.

"You know what? You're right. We're idiots." James said, and quickly looked around to make sure no one had witnessed this.

"That's okay. Nobody has to know." She whispered, dismissing it quickly and sweeping past him into the hallway. "Come on, let's go back."

Everyone spent a long while doing the homework they had already been assigned on the first two days. It was a surprise they finished in an hour, then again, it was a surprise their potions professor had given them homework. "Welcome to your last year at Hogwarts, it's going to be tough," Is what he said, right before slamming down a long worksheet on their desks.

And it was tough, alright. Tough watching the younger kids talking and running around homework-less while you had to work your ass off on stuff you'd never need later on in life. But they were done soon enough, and spent some time doing whatever teenagers that age like to do. Eleven o'clock rolled around soon enough in the Head Dorm's, and Lily and James were the first to make rounds. They started on one side of the castle and ended up in another, which, if you know how, didn't take that long.

"Rounds are so pointless," Lily yawned as they dragged themselves along the hallway.

"Tell me about it. " James sighed.

"But I did get a tip from someone that there was going to be something going on in the Astronomy Tower. I doubt it though, probably driven by an old childhood revenge or something, probably isn't that bad. But we might as well check anyway."

"Right. But we have time, its on the other side of the castle." He sighed, exasperated, and began to look at the walls with a boring glance.

Determined to strike up conversation (for the sake of their sanity), Lily began "So what are you doing for Winter Break?"

James chuckled, "How the hell are you already thinking about Winter?"

Lily shot him a look that made it rather obvious.

"I'm going to go back to my house, my parents are very family oriented. Remus and Sirius always come for at least some time, Sirius stays 24/7 unless he's at a girl's apartment. You and Leah can come for Christmas this year, if you guys want. We've got plenty of room."

"Really? That'd be really fun! And you live with both your parents right?"

"Yeah. You'll love them, they're really nice. I look almost identical to my dad, we've got the whole Potter charm going on." He winked at her playfully, and she laughed.

"That ego never went away did it?"

"No. Sort of. Just a little. Yes, it went away."

Lily smiled slyly, "Right James. You think about what you just said while I go up to the Astronomy Tower real quick, okay?"

James gave her a mock smile and leaned against the stone wall, waiting for her. She looked back at him before hopping up the flight of stairs that lead to the isolated tower, which was occasionally used for the older students during Astronomy or for their homework. But, more commonly, it was the place where romantic couples went up to have some "fun". It was quite annoying when you were trying to work, really.

Where was it? Ah, yes, room on the left. She went through the doorway into the tower, which had glassless windows overlooking the viciously dark Forbidden Forest. The door on the left was closed shut and tight, she couldn't open it on her first try.

"Shit," she said as she fished out her wand and quickly unlocked it.

The door knob jiggled open and she stepped into the dark room.

"Hello?" She said softly, she could see nothing in the dark in front of her. "Hello?" She repeated, this time with more confidence.

When no one answered, she stepped forward and extended her wand cautiously. Behind her, the door slammed shut, leaving her with no light at all.

She turned around, or what seemed to be around, and tried to find the doorknob with no luck. A tingling sensation on her neck, which she soon recognized as fragile breathing, made her take in a breath of the stale air. She stuck out her wand.

"Lum-"

"Lisencio!"

A purple spell that Lily recognized as a muting spell shot out and hit her, sending a numbing feeling through her throat. With failed attempts to blurt out any sounds, she spun around trying to see who else was there. Maybe this was a joke James was playing on her. Regardless of that not-so-comforting thought, she was breathing heavily, now standing in one position waiting for whoever was in the room to show their presence. But it didn't happen for some time.

A cold hand, a scrawny, bony hand, touched her finger softly. She reacted quickly, moving away to the right into the other spot of darkness.

"Lily…" mangy voices whispered so softly she could barley hear it. "Lily…Lily…" The way the voice repeated her name over and over again sent shivers down her spine. Again, she moved away, but not being able to tell where she was moving made it hard for her. She stepped backwards, and her shoulders brushed into the cold corner.

The hand….she could now feel two, touched her shoulder very lightly and then pulled back. Lily could feel him there, the way you could hear someone when they were looking over your shoulder, and the heat you got from someone's body when they grabbed you. It was now she wished desperately she had her voice back, but she was sure that even if she had it, she could not find the courage to use it. These situations, the ones that sent sweat dripping down your forehead and paralyze you with fear, they always seem so fake. But, Lily could now tell, once you experienced something even slightly similar, you'd understand. You cant find the common thought of defense when your mind was twisting, swimming, with fear and suspense.

"Lily…" the man said one last time, and played with one of the curls in her hair.

Oh no, Lily thought. She knew how this would end; she knew what was going to happen next. She knew how they'd find the "body of a defensless girl" the very next day. No…Lily wasn't that optimistic at the moment.

"Lily?" A stronger, warmer, more familiar voice shouted. "Whats wrong? Are you okay in there?"

The door began to rattle, James on the other side attempting to push it open. The man, whoever he was, quickly withdrew without hesitation. All Lily heard was a swishing sound, and when James finally burst through the door, letting light into all the corners of the room, she saw nothing. Not one trace.

"Are you okay?" James walked over to her, now incredibly concerned over the girl who was standing infront of him: face red, sweating, panting wildly in the corner with her mouth hanging open and eyes wide.

She didn't shake her head, nor did she nod, she just stood there searching him with her eyes. He was still here…he had to be…

"Lils?" He repeated, now a foot away from her. He grabbed her hand, which was warm. He turned her wrist over in his large hand and felt her pulse.

"Shit…" he mumbled, "What the hell happened in here?"

The numbing feeling in her throat was beginning to dissolve away slowly as she once again felt the words she should have screamed and shouting blocking away her throat. Lily coughed, and began to once again pant.

"I-I-I, Oh my God…I have no fuckin' clue what just happened." Her red hair was sticking to her forehead from the sweat. A piercing headache penetrated through her head, making it even more difficult than it already was to think.

James gave her a frown of concern and stepped forward, wiping the hair from her face to see her clearly. Yes, he could tell by the look on her face she did in fact have no fuckin clue what had just happened.

"Start slowly, what'd you see when you entered the room?" He grabbed her hand and began to drag her (almost literally) out of the room and into the light.

"It was…dark. I couldn't see anything. I never saw anything the whole time I was in there…" She shut the door hard behind her and leaned against the walls, eyes staring up at the ceiling.

"Then what was the first thing that happened?" James ran a hand through his hair subconsciously as he watched her intently.

"Don't do that." She said absent mindedly and his hand dropped down limply to his side.

"Sorry,"

"Anyway," she continued in almost a whisper, "someone, I don't know who, shot a muting spell at me. I couldn't talk until you came in. And-and he started whispering my name into my ear, and grabbing my hand, and touching my hair. I thought he was going to…" she trailed off, and they both knew exactly what he was probably going to do.

James sighed and put an arm around her, helping her to stand up straight, "Do you know where this person went?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?"

She shook her head; "I'll be fine, just as long as we cut rounds down short today."

"Of course! But really…I should take you to the Hospital Wing. We don't have to explain anything…" He said and steered her towards the stairs.

"I'm fine." Lily said stubbornly. Yeah, that was one of her flaws. She didn't know when she needed help and when she didn't.

She rested her head on his shoulders as they walked down the hallways in silence. Lily liked the way James always smelled, secretly. James looked down at her. Lily was now resting her head on him, and for the second time just screaming for comfort and security. That was something she didn't have too much of, James admitted. Feeling somewhat like he was her older brother that needed to take care of her, he pulled her in just a little closer.

And almost immediately, James found himself leading Lily up to her room to make sure everything ended okay. She sighed and dropped onto her bed.

"I'm so tired." She whispered as she buried herself under the mass of blankets without even bothering to change her clothes.

"Go to sleep then, hurry up." James said, sitting at the edge of her bed, his own eyes beginning to droop.

"But I still have homework to do…" she said, sitting up in bed.

James sighed, the things he did for friends. "I'll do it if you go to sleep right now."

Lily grinned broadly, "Really? Thanks! You're the best."

James shrugged and stood up, "So goodnight Lils. And you should really see Dumbledore…."

"No, I don't want to tell him…"

"Fine. At least tell Leah."

"Of course. Goodnight James. Thanks a lot." She gave him a quick hug and a peck on a cheek.

"Uh…goodnight…" He said rather awkwardly.

"Night." Lily responded, not surprised or worried, just tired.

Up at the Gryffindor Common Room, Remus was sitting on his bed quietly reading a book when downstairs he heard an arrangement of loud noises (that sounded like furniture falling) and string of curses.

"James is back," Remus said casually as he flipped a page.

Sirius laughed and plopped down on his bed, waiting for his best friend to arrive so he could laugh- uh, I mean, help him with his problems.

Sure enough, James slammed open the door and fell back onto his bed.

"What's wrong," Remus rolled his eyes.

"Nothings wrong, damnit."

"Liar." He said, taking his eyes off the page to look at him.

"Ok, fine….I think Lily…Lily might…I think Lily might like me." He said at last and gave a huge sigh of despair.

Sirius and Remus shared a quick glance, and immediately burst into fits of laughter.

"You-you- you think Lils LIKES you? Oh- oh my God. This- is- so-funny." Remus hid his face in the pillow where he let out more laughter.

Sirius was laughing too hard trying to breathe to do anything.

"WHAT? I think its FAIR for me to think that. She kissed me!"

"She kissed you on the cheek, sorry to disappoint you."

"So? And…how do you know?"

"Well, for one, she kisses EVERYONE on the cheek if you haven't noticed. She kisses me on the cheek, and even Leah sometimes. She gets very close to people, its her way of showing you're very important to her. That doesn't mean she loves you or even likes you THAT way. And she would never kiss you anywhere else, trust me."

"Oh. Right. Well, that's good news."

Awkward Silence.

Sirius smirked, "You know you liked it."

SMACK

Hi peoples! Im going on a trip for 3 weeks, so i might not update in a while...sorry... :( Review anyway, please! and i'll probably be brainstorming half the time, so i'll get right on writing afterwards