"Oh Snivellus," Sirius called tauntingly. Snape tried to walk inconspicuously past the sixth year Gryffindors without success.

"Are you ignoring me?" Sirius asked in a mock pained voice. He said a quick incantation and Snape was yanked backwards by an invisible force.

"It's not polite to ignore people, Snivellus," Sirius sing-songed. James tried to conceal the smirk that was tugging at his lips, while Peter watched in fascination and Remus shook his head.

"A little help here, James?" James pulled out his wand, ready to oblige. A little voice in his head reminded him that Lily hated people who tormented others, and that she had often chastised him for it, but he couldn't let Sirius down.

A quick swish and flick of Sirius's wand turned Snape upside down. A chocolate frog fell out of Snape's pockets and James grabbed it.

"Didn't realize you had a sweet tooth, Snivellus. I thought you'd be more likely to eat pickled lizard tongues or the like," he commented lazily. He tossed the frog to Peter who unwrapped it eagerly.

"Put me down!" Snape demanded, his pale pasty skin turning an alarming shade of fuchsia.

James twitched his wand back and forth a little, causing Snape to dance in midair. Then he let his wand fall, allowing Sirius to turn him right side up.

"Well done," Sirius congratulated him. "I didn't know if you still had the ole' touch."

James gulped. He could see Lily standing not a hundred feet from him, making him wholeheartedly wish that he had indeed lost the touch. Lily looked as if she was about to crucify him, and he didn't imagine that'd feel pleasant.

"I gotta go, guys," he said quickly. Sirius looked confused until he saw Lily.

"You're screwed, mate."

"Thanks for sharing," James growled. He slowly made his way to Lily - dreading what was to come.

"What was that?" Lily demanded, her face stiff with anger.

"It was…it was just a bit of…" James sighed. "I'm sorry, Lily. I swear that I didn't do it, this time it was Sirius, not me."

"And why did you have your wand raised?"

"I…I admit, I possibly might have twitched him around a bit while he was in midair, but that's it!"

"Do you not learn? You know how I feel about people who cruelly torment others for no reason!"

'I know…I wasn't thinking."

"I'd say not," Lily harrumphed, turning her back on him.

"Lily…"

"James, I don't want to talk to you right now."

"That'll be the last time I ever touch him, I swear! I won't lay a hand on Snape, ever again," James promised fervently as he followed Lily back to the castle.

"I don't want you to promise that because you know I get angry," Lily said, turning around. "I want you to stop because you realize what an arrogant, malicious, hurtful thing it is to do. You hate Snape because he's a Slytherin. How can he ever be anything more than what you expect him to be when you don't give him the chance? If all people ever did was hurt me, I wouldn't want to do anything other than hurt them in return."

James felt a rush of shame flood through him. He hung his head, knowing that what Lily said was true.

"It's called 'karma' James. What goes around, comes around. And it's due to hit you soon."

At dinner that night James slid into a spot across from Lily. She sighed when she saw him, but didn't move.

"You're right," James said as he sat down.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm an arrogant, malicious, hurtful idiot."

Lily blinked at him.

"You know…what you were telling me earlier. You were right, and I know that now. The last time this happened, I apologized to Snape to make you happy. This time I realize that it's not about you, it's about me and Snape, and the way I treat him."

Lily didn't say anything; she remained impassive.

"People are only what they are expected to be, what they're taught to be. And I regret that I'm one of the ones forming Snape's future right now. I want to tell you I'm sorry. I apologize to you, not because I want you to stop being angry with me, although I do want that, but because I let you down. You thought you were going out with an okay guy, but all I was today was a jerk."

"Did Remus tell you to say that?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"No!" James protested indignantly.

Lily smiled. "In that case, I accept your apology."

James felt a small weight lift off his shoulders and he smiled in relief. "Can we put that behind us now?"

Lily gave him a puzzled look.

"Because I can't eat if I'm worried, and that means I won't be eating until you tell me that we can move on."

Lily laughed. "You're so full of it, James. I've never seen you unable to eat before."

"That's because we've never gotten in a fight before."

"We have too! Do you not remember the time we got detention for fighting in the halls?"

James leaned forward, an all-knowing look on his face. "That," he said seriously, "was before we were going out, pre-us days, days when I was hardly even alive. You can't count them, because I was so desperate for you, I couldn't be held responsible for my own actions."

Lily laughed even harder and reached a hand over and mussed his hair. As always, it made him yelp.

"Hey! Leave my hair alone!"

"How can I when it's so irresistible?" she teased.

"Is that the only reason you're going out with me?" James asked warily. "So you can mess up my gorgeous locks?"

"You guessed it," she said gravely. "I must confess. It was your chaotic mop of hair that attracted me to you."

"Chaotic mop?" James grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged it gently. "You're calling my hair a chaotic mop?"

"Damn right!" Lily playfully reached across the table for his head. James ducked, grabbing her arm and immobilizing it.

"That," he intoned, "was entirely uncalled for."

"I'm sorry," Lily said in mock seriousness. "I…I…" before she could finish her lips began to twitch uncontrollably.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"Never," Lily swore. As soon as the words had left her mouth she burst into gales of laughter. James scowled at her, but was unable to look angry for more than a moment, before he too succumbed to the humor of it all.

Lily looked up in surprise as a sudden intruder came flying through the Gryffindor Common Room door, breathing heavily. It was past midnight, and Lily was alone, studying by the fire.

It was James.

"Where were you?"

He slowed down and stared at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"Oh…Lily. It's you." James turned towards the fire and walked over to her.

"Yeah, it's me," she repeated in confusion. "James, what's going on?"

"I just want you to know," he said seriously, "that my debt with Snape is completely paid up. We're even - dead even." He shuddered as he spoke the last two words.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's….it's nothing. I can't tell you. Just trust me, I made up for any unjust actions I had performed towards Snape tonight. And that's all I can say."

Lily stood up to better see James's face.

"James! You have scratches and dirt all over your face? What happened to you? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Did Snape do something to you? Is that why you're even?" Lily felt completely and utterly lost.

"Do you trust me, Lily?"

"Yes…"

"Then know that I'm telling you all that I can."

Lily nodded, reluctantly accepting James's poor explanation.

When she got a better look at him, she could see that his face was pale and his eyes were wild. His glasses were askew and his hair was a total mess.

"Sit down," she said softly, gesturing to the couch she had been studying on. James sat, his body rigid with tension.

"Relax," she whispered. She moved so that he was lying with his head on her lap, allowing her to tend to him.

Gently she brushed aside the dirt on his face and removed the bits of twigs from his hair. A few simple healing spells cleared up the cuts and scratches. Once all the damage was corrected, she ran her fingers tenderly through his hair, trying to sooth the rigidity of his body. Slowly his body relaxed, his eyes closed, and his breathing became even. He wasn't asleep, but finally at peace.

"Better?" she asked.

"Better," James answered, his eyes still shut. Lily lay down alongside of him; the deep comfortable couch large enough for both of them.

James wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest. Lily closed her eyes and snuggled into him, inhaling the spicy scent that she had grown so fond of.

"Lily?"

"Mmhmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, James."

They fell asleep like that, under the bright glow of the full moon, shining through the windows.

"Good luck, James," Lily said quietly. Even though it was common knowledge that James and Lily were dating, there was still a large gaggle of girls surrounding James as he prepared for his Quidditch game.

"What? Oh, thanks, Lily," he replied absentmindedly.

"James, how did you ever get to be so good?" one of the fourth year girls squealed, delighted that she was talking to him. "You're like, the most amazing Chaser I've ever seen!"

"That play you made in the last game, it was simply brilliant!" another of the girls cried breathlessly.

James smiled at them and Lily felt her temper start to grow hot.

"James!" she said a bit sharply. He looked up at her in surprise.

"Yeah?" he asked, running a hand casually through his hair. One of the girls giggled in elation.

"I'm going to go sit down with Remus and Peter and the girls," she said, starting to edge away.

"You're not going to wait until I go out?" he asked, a hurt expression on his face.

"It looks as if you have plenty of girls already waiting with you," she replied coolly.

"Aw, Lily!" he called after as she walked away. "You know that they don't mean anything…"

"Then why don't you tell them that?" she retorted, continuing on her way to the stands.

James shook his head in exasperation and looked at the girls surrounding him. They all looked at him with wounded expressions on their faces.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he demanded. "Go!" They all scattered quickly.

He sighed. This was the first Quidditch match that had taken place while he and Lily were dating. Every match the girls had always been there…it wasn't as if he invited them there. Lily didn't understand that he didn't care about any of them, only her.

Breathing deeply, James tried to clear his head. It never did any good to play with a head full of worried thoughts. Lily would come around. She would realize that she was being overly paranoid and she'd calm down.

Convinced of this, James took his broom and started to walk out onto to the field, as the game was about to begin.

"What's wrong, Lily?" Alice asked quietly as Lily sat down beside her.

"Nothing," Lily muttered.

"Lily…I can tell something's wrong…" Alice peered at her with big round blue eyes.

"It's really nothing. I was just down talking to James, but there were so many other girls around him that he hardly paid attention to what I was saying," Lily confessed, her eyes troubled.

"Oh, Lily," Alice said, grabbing her friend's hand. "I'm sure it's nothing. James is totally head over heels over you."

"Then why doesn't he tell that to all his little friends?" Lily asked snappishly.

"I don't know, Lily. But honestly, don't worry about it. Everything will turn out fine," Alice reassured her.

Lily smiled at her and turned her head to the game. James would surely apologize as soon as the game was over and everything would be okay again.

Hey everyone! It's the holiday season and next week I'll be posting up two chapter as bit of a gift to the readers…that is, if you give me a gift in return and let me know what you think of My Immortal so far. (Greedy, aren't I? I'm sorry…but reviews really are wonderful!) Enjoy the season…Rochelle