A/N:::: hey! i hope you guys are liking it! sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! Please let me know what you think! Reviews are GREATLY appreciated! Enjoy!

Carnival Day 3: Wednesday

James woke up the next morning to the sound of someone running down the stairs frantically. It was only then that he realized he had fallen asleep downstairs on the couch. Looking over the back of the couch, he saw Lily running down the stairs frantically in her shower robe, her hair still damp. She ran over to the desk and started throwing papers all over the floor, looking for something. James watched her for a moment.

"Um, Lily? You ok?" he asked.

"James! What are you doing!" she said, so startled that she nearly fell on the floor.

"I just woke up. Fell asleep on the couch last night. What are you looking for?" he said taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"My charms essay! I can't find it anywhere! I don't remember what I did with it!" she said frantically, turning back to the papers, throwing them around again. James got up from the couch, tired of watching her throw things everywhere.

"Lily…Lily….Lily! Stop! Are you or are you not a witch?" he asked grabbing her wrists. She sighed heavily as she realized how stupid her antics must have looked.

"Yes. Accio charms essay" she said effortlessly. The paper came zoming at her from under the couch. She shook her head at her own stupidity.

"I swear I have wrack spurts buzzing around my head sometimes" she mumbled before bending down to pick up the papers she had thrown.

"Wrackspurts? I think you been around ol' Lovegood too much" James said laughing at her. She smiled, sitting down at the table, getting out her ink and quill to work on her homework more.

When James came back down after his shower, he saw that Lily hadn't moved from the table.

"You coming to breakfast?" he asked her.

"No. Might not make it to morning classes either. I really have to finish this" she said looking up, giving him a weak smile.

"Want me to bring you something from breakfast?" he suggested before heading out of the portrait hole.

"No, don't worry about it James. You have a lot on your plate today, with the game and everything" she said, looking back down at her papers. James didn't know what else to say, so he walked out of the portrait hole, going to meet the marauders at breakfast.

James stuffed some muffins in his pocket when breakfast came to a close. Telling Sirius that he was going to get a nap in before the game, he ran back up to the Heads' Tower. Lily looked up when he came through the door.

"Forget something?" she asked him.

"Oh no, I was bringing you these and…well, I'm not sure what I was doing after that since I told Sirius I was taking a nap" he added.

"You didn't have to bring me anything"

"I know. Its only a couple of muffins, and now that I think about it, theyre more than likely kind of smushed. Sorry about that…" he said pulling them out of his pocket. She chuckled softly at him.

"Well, thank you anyway. I'm sure they'll taste just fine. You can help me with my essay if you want" she said.

James was taken aback, "Lily Evans asking for help? The world has turned upside down! Are you feeling well? Do you have a fever? …Lily, you do actually have a fever" he said as he put the back of his hand on her forehead.

"I know, I know. I need it to go away before tomorrow night. I'd be so upset if I missed the Ball! And yes, I am asking for help because it is my Defense essay and unlike you, I do not excell in Defense" she said not looking at him. He noticed how weak she was at the moment, feeling sorry for her, but trying not to show it because she knew she wouldn't want him to.

"You're right. You don't excell in defense" he joked. She attempted to glare at him, failing miserably. "Come on, bring your stuff over here on the floor. Easier to look at everything at once" he said picking up two of the books she had laid out on top of each other on the table. She slowly gathered her papers in a stack in the amount of time that James took all of her books and set them on the floor, he smirked at her, taking the papers from her and setting them on the floor too. James sat on the floor, Lily joining him.

"So, where shall we begin?" he asked her, looking around at all the material.

"I guess with what I have. I have basic outline done, but I don't really understand the concept of how to use Legilimency. How are you supposed to protect your mind from a spell, without using a spell to block it? If it were that simple, wouldn't we all just go around repelling each others' spells with out minds instead of using protego? Or a counter-spell?" she said, letting her frustrations out.

"Lily, you're thinking about it too hard. Legilimency is about closing your mind, not just leaving it open like a book" he tried explaining.

"Or like the Marauder's Map?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, that's a good- hey! How do you know about the map?"

"Fess doesn't keep all of your secrets, you know"

"That sneaky little…anyway. Yes, like the map. Leave your mind open and anyone can read it, but if you close your mind, like saying 'Mischief Managed,' you defend the mind against anyone who tries to penetrate it" he tried again to explain.

"But I still don't understand HOW to do it! How do I close my mind?" she said, again frustrated.

"Well, it's really quite simple, you just-Lily?" he said seeing the look on her face.

"Oh yes, it's so simple for you James Potter! You're just sooo good at everything!" she said out of no where.

"Lily, I'm just trying to help you" he said calmly.

"I don't need your help!"

"Yes you do!" he said a little louder.

"No I don't! Get out! Leave!" she said. James looked at her weak expression and got up, heading towards the stairs.

"No, James, wait. I'm sorry. I just…I'm so frustrated! I'm really sorry, will you come back and help me please?" she pleaded with him.

A part of him said to keep going up the stairs, that she would just have this same breakdown in about an hour, but then another part of him said that if he left her now, it would only make things worse for him later. He chose to go sit down again. Reaching across the small space between them, he felt her head again. She was hotter than before.

"Lily, are you sure you feel ok?" he asked, concerned.

"No. No, I don't. I think I'm dying" she said. James snorted. She looked at him, bewildered.

"I'm sorry. You're not dying, Lils. You just have the sniffles. It'll go away in a day or two" he told her.

"I know, but that means I have to go to the Ball tomorrow all sick and with a head cold, and…and…this is such a disaster!" she said throwing her head in her hands. James scooted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in an embrace.

"Lily, you'll be fine tomorrow. Yes, you will still have the sniffles, but, you will be as beautiful as you always are, sickness and all. Who knows, your nose might match your hair" he joked. She playfully hit his stomach.

"Ha, it might. No one is going to want to dance with the 'sniffles' girl though. I'll be watching from the bar with Peter all night!" she said.

"Peter? Oh no, no, Peter has been known to cut a rug on the dance floor, so hate to say it but, he won't be joining you on the sidelines" James explained.

"Oh great! I'll go stand outside with the giant squid then!" she said tossing her hands in the air.

"And what makes you think that I'm going to let you stand there alone? Or let you stand period? Sniffles or no sniffles, you'll have a dance partner in me at least. I cant believe you don't have a date!" he said over her shoulder as they leaned against the couch.

"I cant believe you don't have a date!" she said back to him.

"Well, I was taking Johanna, but that plan kind of fell through, so now I'm going stag" he said.

"No pun intended?" she said chuckling.

"Hm?"

"Oh come off it James, I know your little secret. I'm not stupid, I mean, it's not everyday you see a deer and big black dog running around the grounds is it?"

"It's a stag…." he corrected her.

"Ok stag! Whatever!" she said laughing.

"I can't believe you never said anything" he said in disbelief.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Never came up"

"Right, right….Any other secrets you know about me that you'd like to share?" he asked, looking at her profile angle.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, smirking, "Wouldn't you love to know" she responded.

"Oh that's how you want to play?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, leaning away.

"Well, I'll have you know I know quite a few of your little secrets" she said, batting her eyes.

"Do tell"

She turned around towards him, sitting on her knees like a little kid, "I know that you wet your bed until you were 10...I know that you snore terribly, probably worse than Hagrid…I know thattttt you begged Slughorn to let you retake your final first year because you failed miserably…you repeat the question back to the professor when you don't know the answer…I know that Severus kicked your ass second year in the boys' bathroom…"

"He did not!" James interrupted.

"Oh yes he did! I saw your jaw when you left…its why you have that scar" she said smiling. James folded his arms across his chest, "Fine. Go on"

"Ok. I know that during a quidditch game, you only catch the snitch when you're either bored, or when it will make for a dramatic ending…you asked out Bellatrix Black in 5th year as a prank, and then you ended up in the hospital wing…you sneak out at night to go to the kitchens at least three times a week…you fiddle with your thumbs when you are extremelyyyyy nervous…you-what?" she said abruptly, looking at James's now smirking face.

"Nothing, nothing, I'm just glad you seem to feel better…that's all" he said, lying through his teeth. He couldn't believe how much she noticed about him.

"Yeah, I think I do. Thanks, James" she said blushing.

"For what?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno what exactly, everything I guess. Making me feel better, for one" she told him, smiling sweetly. James returned the smile, then glanced at he clock on the mantle.

"You shouldn't be so surprised, Lily. You know what I'm good at" he said with a wink.

"Oh shut it!" she said laughing, falling off of her knees towards the couch. She looked towards the clock also.

"Is it really 12 already?" she asked.

"Yep. Three hours… want to make out?" he asked, his serious face on. Lily looked at him, attempting a straight face, completely failing. As soon as she looked at his eyes, she burst out laughing. "You are so bad, James! No, I will not make out with you!" she said grabbing a pillow from the couch and throwing it at him.

"Why not? You've done it before!" he said blocking the pillow from his face.

"Well, that was…different! Last week! Not this week!" she told him, throwing the pillow again, laughing hysterically. "And last week doesn't even count! You cant call one kiss making out!" she said.

"What about the one before that?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"What one?" she said, pausing from her pillow throwing, half of her hair on top of her head, falling in her face, feathers scattered around them.

"You know, the one where you came downstairs, trying to seduce me" he said, sitting up on his knees.

She thought a minute, "No idea what you're talking about" she said looking away from him, a smile dancing on her lips.

"When you walked up to me, talking about how hot it was in the room" he said, now crawling towards her.

"Did you have this dream last night? Very vivid" she said watching him get closer.

"Then you kissed me, pulled my hair, dragged me down the floor and took off my pants" he said smiling.

"I did not! You're exaggerating!" she said in a high-pitched voice.

"Aha! You admit it! To which part are you denying!" he said proudly, as if he had just discovered a very dark secret of hers.

"The part where I dragged you to the ground and almost shagged you! I did not do that! That must have been part of your dream" she said defensively.

"No. Haven't had one of those in a few weeks" he admitted. She raised her eyebrows, smirking at him. "I mean, umm… I've…I've-I've never had one of those dreams, uh, but-but if I had had one, it would have been a, um, few weeks ago. Haven't been sleeping much…Anyway!" he said trying to recover.

"You stutter when you're nervous too" she said, as if she'd just discovered another secret of his.

"Caught on, have you?" he said running a hand through the back of his hair.

They then heard the portrait door open, seeing Sirius and Remus walk through, they forgot how messy their common room must have looked to them.

"And what have you two been doing?" Remus said, eyeing the feathers.

"Looks pretty kinky from here, eh Moony?" Sirius said, nudging his arm. Lily and James looked around at the floor. Three pillows were destroyed, their papers were strewn all over the place, the books, once neatly placed in a stack, were now knocked over. James looked at Lily's hair, seeing how many feathers she had in it.

"Um, Lils, your hair…" he said slowly. She felt her hair, all feathers.

"Ah, crap! Who wants to be a monkey and get the feathers out of my hair?" she said to the boys.

"Remus has small hands, let him" Sirius said, before Remus hit him in the stomach for the comment. "My hands aren't that small!" Remus replied. Lily laughed at them, sitting in front of the armchair so that Remus could pick the feathers out of her hair.

"Good grief Lily, what were you two doing?" he asked her.

"Making out" James said before Lily could respond. All of their eyes went wide, Lily got up and hit his already bruised side. "We. Were. Not!" she said hitting him. She sat back down in front of Remus again, trying to regain her composure.

James laughed at her, then realized the pain in his side, "Ow woman! I have a quidditch game today!" he told her.

"Well, stop telling people that! And maybe you wont get hit!" she said joking.

"Now, Lily, didn't we have this discussion yesterday?" Sirius said to her, walking around the room.

"I am not denying anything right now, Sirius! We were not making out!" she said to him, throwing her hands in the air. They laughed at her. Remus continued to pick the small white feathers out of her hair, while Sirius and James discussed a gameplan for the quidditch game.

"Right so, last time Malfoy tried to cheat by hexing Longbottom, Think he'll do it again?" Sirius asked him.

"Well considering he was kicked out of the game after he hexed him, I hope not, but I would never count it out. Question is, what are we going to do if he or any of the other players do hex us. Or atleast what do we do if we don't realize what they're doing in time to repel" James replied.

"I think I'll pulverize all of them with a couple of bludgers before they get a chance" Sirius said defensively.

"And get banned from quidditch? I don't think so. I'll keep watch while I'm looking for the snitch. My main concern is looking after Longbottom, Fess and Bell. They'll be getting the worst of it if they are going to be hexing us. Just make sure you're circling them at all times. The last thing we need is a bludger injury" James concluded, sighing heavily, rubbing his neck.

"You got that right" Sirius agreed, falling in to the couch.

Lily smirked at them. James noticed. He picked up a piece of rolled parchment and threw it at her, "What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just you two" she said simply.

"What about us?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. I guess just seeing you two be serious about something for once" she explained.

"All done" Remus exclaimed.

"You don't hang out with us enough, Lils. We're actually pretty serious guys" Sirius told her.

"We are?" James asked him.

"Yes, we are Prongs. Lily, just see us out in the halls and stuff. Never behind the scenes when we actually do our homework, talk about class, girls, the next full moon, quidditch, planning pranks…all that stuff" Sirius tried explaining. Lily nodded her head in understanding. She really didn't hang out with them when they weren't in class or in the Great Hall.

"I guess I should start hanging out with you all more often, then" she said picking up one of her papers in front of her. They looked at her, a look of surprise on their faces.

"What?" she asked.

"Oi! Prongs, we got to get going, mate!" Sirius said jumping out of the couch. James looked up at the clock again.

"Yeah, we do. Remus, you going to head down there with us or go to lunch?" James asked him.

"I'll go eat something, then head out there, Lily, would you like to join me? You haven't eaten today have you?" Remus asked her.

"Um…I think I'm actually going to work on this more before heading down to the pitch, you go on" she told him, standing up. Remus headed towards he door with Sirius, James turning to Lily, "Are you sure you're still ok?" he asked softly, feeling her forehead.

She smiled as his hand moved from her forehead to her cheek, "No, but I will be. You just worry about the game, and kicking Slytherin's ass" she told him.

He chuckled, "Oh, that's a given"

"Prongs! You coming, mate?" Sirius yelled at him from the door. "Hang on to your knickers, Padfoot, I'm coming!" James yelled back before turning back to Lily, his hand still on her cheek. Seeing a stray feather, he reached up, picking it out of her hair and holding it in his hand. He closed his hand for a brief second, and upon opening it, a single lily appeared.

Lily tucked her hair behind her ear, nervously, as he gave her the flower, "James…" she couldn't think of anything else to say. James smiled as he reached for her hand, closing the lily in it. She looked up into his eyes, blushing. He laughed silently, then leaned in and kissed her forehead, "See you after the game, Lils" he whispered before turning away from her, heading towards the door.

Lily was in a daze, what just happened? It was just a flower. A beautiful flower. And the way he looked at her when he gave her the flower, she had seen him look at her like that before, but thought nothing of it, but today she felt like the look on her face was similar to it. She blinked twice, snapping out of it, then yelled after him, "James!"

He turned, looking at her desperate face. She didn't know what it was she wanted to say to him, but instead said the first thing that came to mind, "Good luck at the game." she said softly, the flower still in the palm of her hand. James smiled, then turned and left out of the room.

Lily closed her eyes, mentally kicking herself, then fell back on to the couch, "Oh bloody hell" she said as she was falling. She buried her face in a pillow, screaming at what an idiot she had just made of herself.

James strode out of the portrait hole trying to catch up with Sirius, "You ready to kick ass, mate?" he asked Sirius, putting his arm around Sirius's neck, trying to get him hyped up. Sirius laughed at him, "Someone's suddenly extremely happy. Did you get a good luck kiss?" he asked.

"No, I got a 'good luck at the game'" James told him.

"Ahh, Prongs, I keep forgetting how the tiniest things make you so happy" Sirius said shaking his head. They then were almost knocked over by someone jumping in between them, holding themselves up by holding on to each of their shoulders. "Bloody hell!" James said. "What the-" Sirius started to say.

"Are you guys ready to slay some snakes?" Fess asked them, putting her arms around both of their shoulders.

"No. No, we thought we'd take a nap or something before. Don't you think that sounds like an idea, Padfoot?" James said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I agree. All this talk about slaying has me quite tired. I mean, who wants to really 'slay' snakes anyhow? I'd like to chop off a few heads though" Sirius said.

"Aye, chopping off heads, now that sounds like a plan!" James said laughing. Fess shook her head at the pair as they exited the castle and strode on to the grounds. "You two are ridiculous. So, James, how'd the song go over with Lily last night? You know I haven't seen her all morning. Is she ok?" she asked James.

"Not really, says she's coming down with a bit of a head cold. And she does have a fever, it's quite pitiful actually. And the song, well, she said she really liked it, so I assume she did. She usually would tell me if she hated it" he added thoughtfully.

"Oh, well, that's progress! I didn't know she was sick though, poor girl, I swear she can never catch a break before big events" Fess said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, at Petunia's wedding, well it was Petunia's wedding, not like she was happy to be there and then on top of that she had a horrible zit on her forehead the size of a penny. It was awful. Then in 5th year, at the Spring Ball we had, she tripped and fell down 4 flights of stairs, as they were moving, and didn't make it to the Ball"

"Ah, so that's why she didn't go, not because she was avoiding me" James interrupted her saying.

"Yes, she had a broken leg. And there was some other time that she was really sick…when was it…Oh! It was last year, right before winter break, she got pneumonia and had to stay in bed while the rest of us were at the Yule feast and festivities that Professor Flitwick was putting on. I had to take her back so much stuff, she was so upset! It was terrible!" Fess continued explaining, "And now this year she has a cold? Are you sure it's not just the love bug, James?" Fess asked.

James laughed, muttering, "love bug" mockingly at her, then rolled his eyes, "Ha, I'll keep you updated, but I'm pretty sure its not" he said looking at her over his glasses.

"Well, well, well…it it isn't the cowardly lions coming to meet their deaths" a voice said behind them. Turning around, wands out, it was Malfoy.

"Who're you calling a coward, Malfoy? The only coward I see out here is you" Fess said.

He lunged towards her, only to be pulled back by Narcissa, "Now, now, Lucius, you don't want to use all your energy on them before the big game do you? Come on, darling" she said to him, glaring at the three Gryffindors, one hand on Malfoy's chest. Malfoy blinked a few times, and retracted his wand, straightening up his robes as he addressed them again, "I hope you can manage to stay on your broom this time, Black, you're going to need all the help you can get" he said before walking away. The three straightened up as he walked away, putting their wands back in their pockets, glaring after him.

"That answer your question about the hexing then, Prongs?" Sirius asked him.

"Yes, Padfoot. I think it does. Come on, we have to go tell the others" James said. They all set off in a run to the Gryffindor locker room. Upon arriving, they found the rest of the team suiting up, very quiet. James noticed how thick the air seemed to be.

"Everyone ok?" he asked.

"We can't find Longbottom. No one's seen him since breakfast" Bell told him, tying his shoe.

"Did you guys ask Alice? Has she seen him?" James asked.

"I did. She said she hadn't seen him either, but she was going to go look. Said he was probably out on his morning run and just lost track of time" Tracy Blair said. Sirius and James exchanged glances, "Let's hope that's all it is" James said running a hand through his hair, "Alright, so, we just ran in to-"

"Found him!" Alice came in to the locker room yelling. She was holding up Frank's arm like he had just won a boxing match. Lily came in with them, she had been helping Alice look. Lily stood in the doorway as Alice explained where they had found Frank.

"Longbottom! 'Bout time you showed up! We were about to send the dogs out for you, man!" Sirius said clapping him on the back. "You get lost on your run this morning?" James asked laughing.

"Yes, he did! Lily and I found him pacing in Hagrid's pumpkin patch like a lunatic! I told him he'd been hanging out with Lovegood too much! Anyway, here he is!" Alice said proudly. James laughed, then glanced to Lily standing in to door frame. She was wearing the lily in her hair. She saw him looking at her, noticing the lily, and quickly looked down, blushing furiously. When she glanced up, her eyes locked with his. He smiled, more inside than out. Inside he was jumping for joy, he didn't want to contain it, but he knew he must.

"Alright, alright, hate to do this to you girls, but I must ask you to leave, official game strategy planning time, you see" James said finally, addressing Alice and Lily.

"Oh, fine, James! If we must!" Alice said before turning to Frank and giving him a kiss. When their kiss lasted a little longer than planned, Sirius said, "Oi! Save it for after the game! Then you two can find an empty classroom somewhere"

Alice laughed at him, "Fine, Black. Come on, Lily! Let's go get a good seat and find Remus and Peter! Good luck everyone!" Alice said before dragging Lily out of the locker room. Taking one last glance behind her, Lily grinned widely at all of them, catching James's eyes before she almost fell as Alice rushed her out.

The team laughed as the girls left from the room, turning to Frank, James looked at him quizzically, "Pacing in the pumpkin patch, eh? Doesn't sound like you got lost" he said quietly to him.

Frank shook his head, "I didn't. I lost track of time. Been trying to work on something…something really important, I just don't want it to go wrong, you know?" he tried explaining.

James looked at his friend's solemn face, "I think I do, man. How long have you been working on it?"

"About a month"

"A month? Have you written down what you want to say or are you trying just improvise?" James asked.

"Improvise. Well, a little of both I guess. It's just with the war and everything, I don't want her to get away. I wouldn't be able to go on without her" Frank explained.

"Frank, two things: one, you know as forgetful as you are you should write it down. And two, she's not going anywhere. She's only ever had eyes for you. You don't have anything to worry about"

Frank laughed, "You think so?"

"Mate, I know" James said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Alright guys. Game plan. We know the slytherins are gong to try and hex us. It's a given by the way Malfoy was just talking when we ran into him. So Sirius, Westly, I need you guys to circle the chasers at all times, keeping any rogue bludgers away and looking for any sign of them trying to hex. I'll be watching for it also while looking for the snitch. Tracy, you don't worry about anything except what you do best. Fess, Frank, Bell, you guys just play the game, let me, Sirius, and Westly worry about the hexing. If anything happens, well, we'll worry about that then. You guys ready?" James said nervously.

"Yeah! I'm ready to kick some Slytherin ASS!" Sirius said jumping up and down.

"Yeah!" Westly said also jumping up and down now.

Professor McGonagall was now coming through the door, "Potter! Is your team ready?" she asked.

James looked around at the determined faces of his team, then looked back at McGonagall, "I'd say so Professor"

"Good, good. It's time. And Potter" she said as he had turned back around to his team, "please do beat the pulp out of them. I daresay I don't believe I can take Horace's gloating again" she told him before exiting the locker room. Grabbing their brooms, the Gryffindor team set out of the locker room for the pitch. They heard the hum of the screams and applause before reaching the large door. They could hear Lovegood announcing the game, "How wonderful the weather is for this legendary game! Oh look, there's the Slytherin team now! I daresay I don't know all their names, hopefully they play fair this time. Oh the clouds today are marvelous! That one looks like a lion! And here comes the Gryffindor team! How fitting of that cloud to look like a lion!" Lovegood said as they flew out of the large door.

James laughed at the commentary. Why they had chosen him to commentate the game completely baffled him. Circling the top of the field, above everyone else, he decided to keep an eye on McNair, Zabini, and Malfoy. He knew they would be the most likely to send the curses as they would be doing the least in the game. Zabini circled the field also, coming to a halt beside James.

"Alright there, Potter? Or are you not ready to have you arse handed to you?" Zabini said to him.

"I'd be asking you the same question. Tell me, who're you going to be targeting first?" James asked.

"Hmm…well, I thought about that little mud blood girlfriend of yours, but then I figured, she's just not worth my time" Zabini said, hoping to get a rise out of him. James clenched his jaw and fist, but knew better than to go after him, that's what he wanted. Zabini laughed at him as Madame Hooch called out the rules.

Malfoy was across from Sirius in the circle, "Such a disgrace you are Black, to be in Gryffindor. Your mother must be ashamed" Malfoy said.

"I consider it to be a disgrace to have to live with such a pathetic name" Sirius said. Malfoy glared at him, "Let's dance, Black" he spat as Madame Hooch blew her whistle, throwing the quaffle in the air.

Lily watched the exchanges between the players, but couldn't tell what they were saying. As soon as the whistle blew, she got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Watching, she saw Sirius immediately hit a bludger towards one of the Slytherin chasers, Malfoy hot on his trail, hit it back towards him, missing him by an inch. The bludger went zooming off towards the ground. Longbottom had the quaffle, passing it to Bell, back to Longbottom, he zoomed down field, making the first goal. Westly was circling backfield keeping track of the bludgers, and looking for any wands. None so far. The teams battled for a few uninteresting minutes, keeping the score at 10-0. James circled overhead, watching the game, he thought he saw the snitch a couple of times, zooming to where he thought he'd seen it, only to find that it was no longer there or it had just been a reflection off of Lovegood's large gold and scarlet hat. Fess had the quaffle now, zooming downfield, she found herself surrounded closely by the three Slytherin chasers. Pointing her broom down, she dived before they knew what she had done. James couldn't see her as high as he was. Sirius and Westly's faces had looks of fear on them, she had dived so quickly they weren't able to follow. Fess finally pulled up from her dive, passing the quaffle to Longbottom, who was close to the goal, and he hit it in with his broom.

"Fess! Don't do that again!" James yelled at her.

"You worry too much, cousin!" she yelled back, trying to knock the quaffle out of one of the chasers' hands. Lily's heart finally went back to beating normally once they had made their goal. Longbottom was now trying to block a pass, distracted by a bludger zooming towards him, he backed off, letting the chaser take the shot.

"Slytherin goal" Lovegood said monotonously, putting 10 points on the board for them. James looked around, he needed that snitch. It was then that he saw McNair's wand out. He looked to see who it was pointed at. With all three of Gryffindor's chasers coming downfield, he wasn't sure. James zoomed down to the action, yelling at Sirius, "Sirius! 31!" he yelled. Sirius looked around for McNair, finding him on the left side of the field, wand pointed at Bell. "Protego!" Sirius yelled as McNair fired his charm. McNair flared his nostrils at him, swinging a bludger towards him. It came towards him so quickly, Sirius was almost unable to hit it back with his bat, it barely grazed the top of the bat, knocking it askew, spinning off towards James who was sitting still above them, looking out for any hexing. Sirius only had a split second to yell at him before it hit, "JAMES!" he yelled. James looked towards Sirius, but only saw a bludger coming towards his arm. Dipping down, he spun around his broom, the bludger missing him by a millisecond. James's heart continued to race as he straightened himself up on his broom again. He dove towards Sirius, Sirius meeting him halfway.

"Thanks for that, mate" James said, still hearing his heartbeat in his ears.

"Right. I think you should catch that snitch soon" Sirius told him.

"I think you're right" James said upon seeing Slytherin score another goal. He flew around the pitch again, now only looking for the snitch. He didn't see it. Flying around once more, below the players, he then caught a glimmer of gold by the teachers' stands. Squinting further, he saw it. James zoomed towards it, dodging the chasers as they flew up field. Zabini was hot on his trail, as he had seen it also. James was just in reach of it when he heard a scream. The snitch zoomed up, high above the game. James was in a full stall, flying straight up. He reached out, enclosing his fingers around the struggling ball. Then it hit him. Pain rushed through his body as his broom stalled, he fell backwards off of it. Fluttering in and out of consciousness, the last thing he remembered was the pain seizing through his body like lightning.

"Minne, he deserved it and you know it!" Sirius was yelling.

"I am in full awareness of what he deserves Mr. Black, however, the rules are rules, and I have no choice in the matter! It's not like I can give you 50 points for pulverizing Malfoy's face! I'm sorry, Sirius, but I have no choice. You are suspended from the next game" Professor McGonagall explained. James could have sworn he heard something break then, but there was no backlash, so he thought maybe he had just dreamed the entire thing.

James felt a hand on his forehead, then his cheek, and then he noticed someone was holding his hand, the same hands that were feeling his face were now in his hand.

"Oh good gods, he looks positively dreadful. How long is that going to take to heal?" he heard Fess ask.

"Madame Pomfrey says he'll be out by the night. Just bruising" Lily told her. James heard how close she was. Wait. She was the one holding his hand! His insides squirmed with excitement.

"I hope that bruise on his face heals by tomorrow" Sirius said.

"Sirius, he broke the bone under his eye, what do you expect?" Lily said.

"I expect that he should look as handsome as he always does, not like someone who-"

"Just fell off of their broom?" James said waking up finally.

"James!" they all said crowding around him. "You gave us a right scare, mate! But guess what? We won!" Sirius said happily.

"Really? So what happened to me?" he asked.

They all looked at each other skeptically. "You can't get mad, James. Sirius is already suspended. So when we tell you, you have to promise that you won't go looking for Malfoy" Lily said cautiously.

"What. Did. He. Do" James said slowly. Remus came up behind them, "James, you have to promise" he said. James pursed his lips angrily, "Fine. I promise" he said through his gritted teeth.

"He used the cruciatous curse on you" Fess said quietly.

"He did WHAT?" James yelled.

"Well, McNair hit a bludger towards you, and then Malfoy said crucio, and we didn't know which one to try and stop first because they both kind of hit you at the same time and we all flew to you trying to stop you from falling, but Lily, Lily had already done a charm that would keep you from falling so quickly. So you just kind of fell gracefully to the ground. But you were twitching and it was terrible. Horrifying actually. Sirius got off of his broom and just started hitting Malfoy, he just got released a few minutes ago. He sort of broke about 5 of the bones in his face. And I went to hex McNair, but Professor McGonagall grabbed me and took my wand before I could. It took Hagrid, Remus, Westly, and Frank to get Sirius off of Malfoy. It was terrible. We should have been watching you, we knew you were diving for the snitch!" Fess said, almost in tears.

"Great. So that's what felt like lightning shooting up my spine. Wonderful" James said sarcastically.

Lily glanced to Remus and Sirius, swallowing hard before she spoke, "There's something else" she said quietly. James looked solemnly at her, "What could possibly be worse?" he asked. She wouldn't look him in the eye, "Malfoy didn't get in trouble. Slughorn wasn't paying attention and didn't see him curse you, so he says he can't punish him based on 'here-say'" Lily explained.

"WHAT? HE GOT AWAY WITH IT? He tortures me and gets away with it! Great! What the fuck was Slughorn doing? Why cant Dumbledore do anything about it? What the fuck is wrong with these people? He just walks free, no detention, no suspension from quidditch, no….anything? His ass is going to be walking around the school like he's a god now! Why the fuck-" James was yelling.

"Mr. POTTER! I will not have that kind of language in my infirmary! I understand that you are upset, but you can save your anger until I release you! And you all! If you all being here is going to make him this angry you can all just leave! OUT! His blood pressure does not need to be any higher than it already was! Get OUT! All of you!" Madame Pomfrey yelled at them, throwing her hands in the air as if the was waving away flies.

"Right. Sorry, Madame Pomfrey. We'll see you tonight, James" Fess said apologetically. "See you later, Prongs" Sirius said before turning to leave with Fess. Remus nodded at James, then left with them.

"Ms. Evans, did you not hear me? It means you also! You best be gone in the next thirty seconds or I'll be kicking you out with a boot!" Madame Pomfrey told her, turning to check on the person in the bed across from James.

Lily turned back to James, then noticed that she still had her hand in his. Blushing, she removed it, "Guess I should get going too before she kills me" she said softly. Looking at James's profile, she saw the vein in his neck twitch as he clenched his jaw. He breathed heavily before looking at her. "I don't understand how he's getting away with it" he said softly, the veins in his arms pulsing as he clenched his fists again.

She swallowed hard, "I'll go talk to Slughorn, see what he says. Atleast get him to give him a detention or something" she said quietly.

"A detention? Lily, he used a damn unforgivable curse on me and you say 'maybe a few detentions'? I could have been killed, him hitting me with that at the altitude I was at! Do you not realize-" James said angrily.

"Yes I realize that you could have died! Do you think I haven't been thinking about that in the two hours I've been sitting here by your bed? Do you think I didn't think about that when I sent a charm at you to stop your ass from being splattered on the ground? Yes I've thought about it! I said I would talk to Slughorn! If that's not good enough then…you can…you can dance with Moaning Myrtle tomorrow night!" she spat quietly at him. She couldn't think of anything else to say before she walked out, his expression still angry.

Lily walked out of the infirmary and went straight to Professor Slughorn's office. Knocking hard on his door, she waited impatiently for him to answer. He opened the eye slip of his door to see who it was.

"Oh! Ms. Evans! This is a pleasant surprise! Come in, come in!" he said opening his door widely. She walked in, trying to control her anger, she didn't want it to come across like she was mad at Professor Slughorn, though she was, but she was more upset at the way James had just reacted to her mentioning going to see him. She smiled weakly at him as he offered her a cup of tea. "Can I get you a cup of tea? Just finished brewing! And I do make a great cup of tea, if I say so myself! Or would you like a scone or anything? A few of the elves just brought them up!" he said happily, then seeing the expression on her face, his smile faltered a little. "Dear girl! What ever is the matter!" he asked.

"Professor, I came to ask why you weren't giving Malfoy a detention or suspending him from quidditch or some kind of punishment for what he did to James" she said.

"I'm afraid I didn't see him cast the spell. And I don' like to go on here-say. You know that" he explained.

"I know sir, but every student at the game and every teacher can tell you what he did. Did you not hear him shout the incantation?" Lily asked.

"Well, I heard someone shout it, but I can't be sure who it was! For all I know it was someone on the Gryffindor team"

"How can you say that? Who do you know on the Gryffindor team that would curse their own teammate? And behind their back! It's a cowardly thing to do, only something a Slytherin would do and you know it!" she shouted at him.

"You dare talk about my house!"

"Yes I dare! He nearly killed him Professor! James almost ended up on the quidditch pitch dead! Would you have accepted that Malfoy hexed him if that had happened?" she yelled.

"Well, I-"

"You what? Are you still denying that Malfoy hexed Frank at the last game? Did you think it was out of line for him to get kicked out? You baffle me! An unforgivable curse was used on a student and you are turning your head as if nothing happened! As if the game was just as pleasant as a Sunday afternoon! How can you?"

"Alright, alright! I know it was him! I just didn't want to hear his father's wrath when he learned I'd given him detention, or a suspension! Is that so wrong?" Slughorn pleaded.

"Yes! It is wrong! Don't be a coward Professor!" Lily said. Slughorn paced around the room, shaking his head, "Alright, Ms. Evans. I'll let Professor McGonagall figure out his punishment, or give her permission to punish him as she sees fit" he said quietly.

"Thank you Professor! Thank you!" Lily said, her face lighting up and smiling. She hugged him before running to the door.

"Oh Ms. Evans" he said calling her back. She stopped, hand on the doorknob, 'Sir?" she asked. "Could you give Minne the message for me? I don't know if I can face her after our argument this afternoon on the subject" Slughorn asked.

"If it means that Malfoy will be punished quicker, then yes, I'll be glad to. Thank you Professor" she said before running out of the door and to McGonagall's office. She passed Sirius walking down the hall slowly.

"Lily?" he yelled after her.

"Sorry Sirius! I'll explain later! Got to run!" she yelled back to him, smiling. Bursting in to McGonagall's office, she stopped to catch her breath. "Ms. Evans! What is the meaning of you bursting in here like this! I would think you would still be in the infirmary with Mr. Potter!" McGonagall said in her shrill voice.

"Sorry, Professor, we were kicked out of the infirmary once James learned about Malfoy not getting punished. And so I went to Professor Slughorn, talked to him ,and he said to give you this message: you have permission to punish Malfoy as you see fit" Lily said quickly.

"He…he said that?"

"Yes. He did" Lily said smiling.

"Well..I…good work Ms. Evans" McGonagall told her. Lily smiled happily, "Thank you Professor. I'll be going now" she said before leaving her office.

Lily practically skipped all the way to dinner. Sitting down beside Fess, she helped herself to the fruit in front of her, unable to wipe the smile off of her face. They all stared at her.

"What. Are. You. Smiling about?" Remus asked.

"I just talked Slughorn in to punishing Malfoy" she said happily.

"What? How'd you do that? What's he going to do?" Sirius asked.

"Well, he gave McGonagall permission to punish him as she sees fit" Lily said.

"You're joking! Minnie, punishing Malfoy? That's brilliant! Have you told James?" Sirius said.

"No. He'll find out" she said.

They finished their dinner, all deciding to turn in early since tomorrow was going to be such a long day. Lily walked slowly up to her dorm, completely beat from the day's events. She had stashed away some food in her bag for James, whenever he was released. She knew he would be starving. She could feel her face becoming warm again, her fever spiking. Walking in to the dorm, she set the food down on the table beside the couch, putting a spell on it so that it wouldn't get cold, then sat on the floor in front of the couch to work on her essay more. James walked in to the dorm a little over an hour later, finding Lily trying to stay awake on the floor. Her head nodded sleepily as he walked through the door. Hearing him, she blinked a few times, then looked towards him. James ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"I see you got out in one piece" she said.

"Yeah. So you talked to Slughorn, then?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "Yes" she replied.

"I cant believe you actually got him to let McGonagall punish him" James said, still unable to look at her.

"It wasn't easy. I had to call him a coward" she said.

"You did what? You insulted a teacher?"

"Well, how the hell else did you think I'd gotten him to do it? Sleep with him? I'm not that kind of girl, James, if you didn't already know! Yes I called him a coward. I'll be lucky if he even grades me fairly for the rest of the semester! I just lost my favorite teacher! So don't you dare stand there and tell me that I don't care like you did earlier" she spat at him.

James couldn't say anything. He then noticed the food sitting on the table, and heard his stomach growl with hunger. Lily snorted, "It's yours" she said talking about the food.

"You didn't have-" he started.

"I know I didn't have to. But I did, ok?" she hissed at him. James picked up a bread roll, then sat it back down, "Lily, I'm sorry" he said quietly.

"James, why bother?" she said looking up at his face, shaking hers.

"Will you shut up, get out of this damn sour mood, and listen to me for a minute? I said I'm sorry!" he said.

"No. There's nothing for you to be sorry for. You had just been tortured, nearly died, and told that the person who did that to you was getting off scant free! You were perfectly in your right to yell at me for thinking a slight detention would be enough. I should have worded my statement about Slughorn better. It's my fault" she said quickly.

"Right. Then, what are you so….so damn upset or angry about?" he asked.

"You just think that I don't care, and I do, and it drives me insane! I…I….I don't know what you want from me" she said.

"Lily...I…thank you" he said. She looked up, giving him a confused face. "For practically saving my life, I mean" he finished.

A small smile played on her lips as she looked back to her essay in her lap. "You seem so surprised that I actually did it" she said shaking her head.

"A bit. I would have expected it from Remus, since Sirius was on the field with me. Peter wouldn't have known the incantation" he said grabbing the plate of food and sitting on the floor with her.

"Are they the only people you think would save your life?"

"Well….I've never really thought about it before. I suppose. I guess that's why you saving me just surprises me so" he said, biting off a bit of bread.

She smiled out of the corner of her mouth, "I think anything I do still surprises you, James. You should get used to it" she said writing down on her essay.

"I should?"

"You should"

"Example?" he asked.

She put her essay down, then turned her body to look at him, "Example" she said then thought a minute, "well, I guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for an example" she said batting her eyes and smirking.

James snorted, "Not if I'm dancing with Moaning Myrtle. Isn't that what you said?"

Lily laughed, "Yes, but I think you'll have at least one more dance partner than Myrtle"

"I will? That's a relief! So, can I see your dress?" he asked.

"What? No! That would ruin the whole drama of the event!" she told him.

"Ah come on!" he begged.

"No!" she said sternly. He pouted, poking his bottom lip out and looking at her over his glasses.

"Oh stop it, you know you cant even see me over those glasses!" she joked. "Hey! Not nice! I nearly died, and you're being mean! That's rude!" he said jokingly.

"Oh and let's not forget why you are still alive!" she said proudly.

"Right right. Remind me to thank Sirius for saving my broom" he said. She pushed him over into the armchair. Laughing, James grabbed her arm as she pushed him over, he hit his head on the bottom of the chair as he fell. Still laughing, he reached for his head, rubbing it. Lily laughed, laying her head on his chest. She quickly noticed the position she was in, one leg between his, her arms laying on his chest, his hands laying lazily on her hips, her body perfectly fitting on top of his. She planted her hands on either side of him, propping herself up.

"Are you ok?" she asked still laughing softly.

He looked up at her emerald eyes, becoming serious, "I think I will be" he said reaching a hand up to her face, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She seemed to lean into his hand unknowingly. Lily felt herself take in a sharp breath of air as he touched her face. Slightly closing her eyes, but opening them quickly, hoping he hadn't really noticed.

"I'd…I'd better get to bed" she whispered.

"Why?" he whispered back, tracing the outline of her cheekbone with his thumb.

His calloused hands rubbed gently against her cheek, Lily felt goosebumps on her arms, it was a simple thing for him to be doing, but being this close to him, on the floor, was making her crazy. "I just.. I just think…think I should be…should be…um…" she stuttered, James had reached up and was now planting kisses on her forehead, her cheekbone, her cheek, her nose, her jaw, he then stopped, looking at her, the hand on her hip gripping her tightly. Her eyes fluttered as he had kissed her face. She opened her eyes to meet his intense, hazel eyes.

"You should be going to bed" he said quietly. She looked at him, bewildered. Blinking a few times, she pushed herself off of him, standing. She didn't know why she was upset, she was the one who had suggested she needed to go to bed. Gaining her composure, she looked back at James before going up the stairs. He was snickering.

"Are you laughing?" she asked.

"I might be" he said.

"….why?" she asked.

"Don't worry yourself with it, Lily. Just worry about how you're going to keep up with me on the dance floor tomorrow night" he said with a wink.

"Oh right, right, I forget you are the lord of the dance" she said walking up the staircase.

"Goodnight, Lily" he yelled to her.

"Night James" she yelled back down.

"Oh! James!" she said running back down to the landing.

"What?" he asked.

"It's black" she said smiling.

"What is?" he asked.

"I think you'll figure it out. Goodnight!" she yelled back, heading up the stairs again.

A/N::::Next chapter...the Halloween Ball! R/R! Thanks!