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Title: Complex Touch

Summary: For the sake of the Order, Ginny Weasley takes a mission to go back in time to find a Horcrux for Harry. She just never expected to fall in love with a familiar future convicted escaped murderer. And that's just the beginning of the difficult times ahead for her.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot.

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Chapter Thirteen

Signing Your Soul To The Devil

"I just never had enough time to tell you. There was never enough time."

It was a beautiful day, with a bright sun despite the slightly bitter winds. All of Hogwarts seemed to know that this would be one of the last days with weather like this, especially with how October was ending so quickly, and everyone seemed to be outside. This did not exclude the professors or ghosts, both of whom were wandering the grounds with delighted smiles on their faces.

"How is it possible? She had disappeared… We had a fight and she was gone. Moony, I searched for her for ages."

Among the people outside were the Marauders and Ginny. It was Sunday and, after spending all of Saturday completing homework (at least Remus did), they had decided to bring a board for a game of Wizard Chess with them outside. Sitting beside the lake, they all took turns playing the champion of the previous game.

"Time travel."

Despite the laughs and smiles, though, Ginny felt as though she had a weight on her shoulders. She stared at Remus, words being whispered in her ear from her dream from the night before. This was the third time in the past week that she woke up feeling nausea, her stomach churning. Those three nights she was reminded of the fact that she would eventually give the burden of her secret to Remus.

"Time travel? How do you know?"

Was the secret going to spill from her lips by accident or would she purposely tell Remus, sit him down and allow him to know why she'd been so mysterious since she came to Hogwarts? Would Dumbledore find out that she let someone know that she came from the future? How was Remus going to react? The questions had been plaguing Ginny's mind, distracting her from her studies and from truly enjoying her time with Remus.

"She told me."

Frowning, Ginny tried to focus on what the boys were doing. Sirius and Remus were currently playing the game, with Remus beating Sirius by a good amount. James was writing out plays on his parchment for Quidditch, for Gryffindor and Slytherin were going to play each other in the first match of the season in just two weeks. Peter was casting spells, causing the grass around him to change colors or melt.

Stretching her legs in front of her, Ginny glanced at the plays James was creating. His forehead was wrinkled and he was playing with his ear with his free hand. Though his glasses were a different shape, as are the color of his eyes, Ginny still couldn't help but be astonished by the resemblance between Harry and James. She took a deep breath just as his eyes met hers.

"Trying to see my plays, eh?" James asked, rolling up the parchment with a grin. "Tricky little Hufflepuff!"

"I was not trying to see your plays," Ginny replied, rolling her eyes. "I have no doubt that, when it comes time for us to play each other, my team will beat yours."

"Oh ho ho!" James cried out, throwing his hands into the air. "Do you not realize you're talking to the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain?"

Sirius began to snicker, turning his attention away from the game and causing Remus to huff in frustration.

"I don't think she quite realizes that, mate," Sirius told him.

"Don't cut into our conversation, Sirius," Ginny snapped jokingly, causing Peter to laugh.

"Hey!" Sirius said. "Both of you need to relax a bit, it's all in good fun."

Ginny and Peter shared a look.

"Padfoot, how long have you been thinking up a move?" Peter asked suddenly.

"Probably a good forty minutes," Remus answered before Sirius could.

"Now, now! Remus told me to be a bit less rash so I'm thinking up a good move! And, in the end, I shall beat Sir Lupin, the man who believes he can win any Wizard Chess game!" Sirius declared, grinning and catching Ginny's eyes.

She smiled back.

"If I knew it would take you this long to think I wouldn't have said anything to you," Remus said, sighing.

Sirius' jaw dropped open and Ginny laughed. Grabbing a random chess piece, Sirius slammed it down onto an open spot before sticking his tongue out at Remus.

"Git!" Sirius cried.

As soon as Sirius put down his piece, Remus crossed his legs and put his chin in his hand, trying to think of where to go next. Ginny tilted her head a bit as watched Remus. He would know her secret eventually…

"Ginny, let's go for a walk."

Ginny looked up in surprise as James reached out to take her hand. She wrapped her fingers around his and let him pull her to her feet. The three boys seemed hardly surprised that James had just asked Ginny to walk with him so Ginny followed James with a smile. They walked in silence for a few minutes, passing by fellow students and nodding their heads in greeting.

They ended up walking to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and Ginny turned to James with her eyebrows raised. He simply shrugged, lowering his head so he was looking at the ground and kicking his foot in the dirt.

"Are we going in there?" Ginny asked, looking into the forest.

"No, of course not," James replied as though it were silly for her to even think that. "We'd be caught in an instance. I just wanted to get away from the crowd of students walking around."

Ginny slowly nodded her head, her interest peaked.

"What's on your mind?" she questioned, curiosity seeping into her veins.

"Nothing." He sent her a small grin. "I'm just realizing how terrible my situation is."

Ginny nudged James with her elbow.

"Keep talking," she told him, her tone playful.

Unexpectedly James collapsed onto the ground, leaning his back against a huge tree with a dramatic sigh. Ginny followed suit and they were soon sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"I've been trying to win her heart for years but she won't give me the time of day. But she… she's friends with Snape. He calls her a Mud- you know. He calls her that all the time. But she's friends with him." James ran a hand through his hair. "I must be much more terrible if she can look at him with a smile and look at me with disgust."

There was silence as Ginny tried to get over her surprise that James was talking to her about this and as she tried to think of what to say. James had the same look Harry would have when he was crushed and it caused her stomach to tighten a bit.

"She'll come around," Ginny promised softly.

After all, Lily had to come around. If she didn't then how was Harry even alive?

James sent Ginny a frown.

"Why do you think that?" he asked. "She doesn't even talk to me anymore. Not that she ever willingly talked to me to begin with."

"You two haven't fought lately, though," Ginny pointed out. "And she's always nice-"

"She's polite-"

"Lily has been much kinder to you then how she use to be, or so I've heard. Didn't you two use to fight all the time?"

James nodded slowly.

"If I even tried to talk to her before she'd yell at me. Now she… doesn't yell."

"She's nice to you now," Ginny said, smiling to reassure James. "You do know what this means, don't you?"

When James shook his head, Ginny licked her lips.

"It means she just might need a push in the right direction," she told him.

"What does that mean?"

What did that mean? If the signs were right then Lily was beginning to get use to James. After the incident in Hogsmeade, Lily had been much kinder to the Marauders- though she wasn't the nicest witch to them. She was polite. They had gained her respect. So what would help move her and James along to becoming a couple?

"Did you and Lily fight?" James asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" Ginny looked at James.

"You two seemed like you were becoming friends and then you stopped talking. Just something I noticed," James said.

"She wanted me to do something for her that I didn't want to do-"

It was as though she was hit with a Stunner. The idea came to Ginny with such force that she stopped talking. She knew exactly what she'd have to do to get Lily and James moving along. Her breath got caught in her throat and she stood up, looking down at James with an almost dumbfounded expression. Just don't think about it yet, she told herself.

"Don't fret about it, James," Ginny said slowly.

He looked curious.

"Why not?"

"Miss Stiles! Is that you?"

The sudden shout caused Ginny to look away from James at lightening speed. Her stomach sank and her eyes grew wide. James began to laugh, getting to his feet as he did so.

"Is that Slughorn? Are you one of Slughorn's favorites?" he asked, still laughing. "One of his 'rising stars'!"

Ginny groaned as the large teacher walked up to her and James. If only she had been hidden… Since her first and only meeting with him during this time period, Ginny had been very good at keeping her distance from the professor who obviously favored her. But now she couldn't hide.

Professor Slughorn waddled up to Ginny and James, a large grin on his face. She fought back another groan.

"My, it's been a while since our last talk, hasn't it?" Slughorn cried out, patting his stomach in pleasure. "I've been searching for you, you should know, Miss Stiles."

Ginny sent him a falsely bright smile and James coughed next to her, though his cough sounded a bit like a hidden snicker.

"I've been busy with Quidditch and…"

"Schoolwork," James supplied, winking at her when they caught eyes.

She nodded quickly. Slughorn looked at James for a long second, as though trying to remember who he was, before turning a glowing face back to Ginny.

"Ah, of course! You should have visited me, however!" Slughorn wiggled his finger at her. "Nevertheless, I have an invitation for you!"

"An invitation?"

"I'm holding a Halloween party for all my rising stars!" Slughorn said.

James was definitely laughing this time, though he was still trying to cover it with coughs. Slughorn sent James a concerned look and Ginny patted his back hard, which caused James to laugh more.

"It'll be held the night before Halloween! I expect you to be there, Miss Stiles!"

Ginny shook her head.

"I think I have Quidditch practice that night," Ginny lied.

James stopped coughing, throwing an arm around Ginny's shoulders and hugging her tight to his side.

"Now, now, Ginny, you are one of the lucky few who get to go to Professor Slughorn's parties! You must go, I'm sure Bones won't mind if you miss it."

"James-" Ginny warned.

Slughorn looked delighted.

"That's the spirit, boy! And you're… you're James Potter. You use to destroy quite a few cauldrons when you were in Potions, didn't you?" Slughorn asked.

James grinned.

"Mostly on purpose," James reassured the professor.

"Yes, you and that Sirius Black," Slughorn said, chuckling loudly. "The biggest troublemakers of any class I've had!"

"We try," James said, seeming to straighten in pride.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well, must be going. I was just going to the forest, have to get supplies for my class of sixth years who will be experimenting on different- well, I'm sure you don't really care as neither of you have Potions anymore," Slughorn realized, frowning a bit.

James nodded and Ginny sent Slughorn a small smile.

"So I'll see you at my party. Don't have me hunt you down now." Slughorn laughed at himself again. "You can bring a date, if you please. Bye now."

When Slughorn had waddled out of sight, Ginny punched James in the arm. He burst out into laughter, holding his now wounded arm and stumbling away from Ginny. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What did you do that for?" Ginny hissed, walking away from James and back towards where the Marauders were.

James rushed after Ginny, chuckling. He threw his arm around her shoulders.

"Now, Ginny, what I said was true! Very few students get to go to Slughorn's parties and I have not been one of the lucky ones! Here's my chance."

Ginny began to laugh at his words.

"What makes you think I'm going to invite you to come with me?"

---

Crookshanks purred loudly as Ginny stroked his fur. The dormitory was empty except for Marlene, who was writing a letter to her family on her bed. In front of Ginny lay the picture of her family that Fabian and Gideon had forgotten in the corridor. She touched the face of her father before looking away. Constantly the absence of Ginny's family caused her to want to cry but she forced herself not to; she had other things to worry over.

How much of herself was she willing to sacrifice for the sake of the future? Ginny had already sacrificed a few months of her life to come back in time to get a book and she could possibly have to sacrifice more of her time. She had put up with spending time and growing to like people who would be dead in the near future, she had hidden the tales of the future from those who would abuse the power of knowing its secrets, and she had tried to keep a normal face throughout it all.

Was she now willing to go to Lily and ask her for a tradeoff, to help James and Lily see past their differences and get together? To do so she would have to give up her pride and try to help an enemy, to try to help a boy who would grow up to be a murderer.

It was a tough decision but, at the same time, it wasn't at all. James needed Lily in a way that Ginny had never seen a person need another person before. The night of the attack on Hogsmeade she had been the only one who could awake him; even Sirius hadn't been able to do that. And perhaps Ginny's words to Snape would save him from… something horrid, though Ginny wasn't sure what was more horrid then destroying other people's lives. Looking back down at the picture, Ginny stopped petting Crookshanks and sighed.

"Dear Merlin, help me," she whispered.

Marlene looked up when she heard Ginny's voice and Ginny sent her a weak smile. Winking at Ginny, Marlene put down her quill and crawled off her bed, walking over to Ginny's. Quickly, Ginny grabbed the picture and hid it behind her.

"Are you okay?" Marlene asked.

Ginny nodded.

"Yeah, perfectly fine," Ginny answered. "How'd writing your letter go?"

"Fine." Marlene shrugged as she sat on the edge of Ginny's bed. "My dad wanted to know how school was going, you know how that works. Had to tell him I was getting brilliant grades on all my tests, I was handing in my homework, being a good girl…"

"Not running around with boys," Ginny finished, giggling a bit.

Marlene pursed her lips a bit but nodded.

"Though you're one to talk." Marlene was picking at her nails as she spoke. "You and those Marauder boys have become quite close, I've noticed."

"Yeah, we have," Ginny agreed slowly.

"Any of them catch your eyes?"

Now the dark haired witch looked up at her friend with interest. Ginny grinned a bit but shook her head.

"No? Not that James Potter? Well, him and Lily Evans… either way there's always Sirius Black. He's very handsome, isn't he?"

Sirius' face flashed before Ginny's eyes and she felt her cheeks flush a bit. That wasn't the reaction she expected from herself and her eyes flew to Marlene, who was smiling mysteriously.

"Ah, so you've finally found a boy," Marlene whispered.

"No! No, he's very handsome, yes, but I don't like him-"

"And who are you trying to convince of that?" Marlene picked up Crookshanks and began petting his fluffy fur.

"You, of course," Ginny replied, fighting the nervousness that had suddenly grabbed her.

"Or yourself," Marlene said, smirking. "My, my, Miss Stiles, you have a bit of a crush, don't you?"

Even as Ginny shook her head, though, she began to realize just what she'd thought of Sirius for the past week since their kiss. There was never awkwardness; they had managed to stay friends. But when he'd grab her hand or touch her waist lightly she'd get that butterfly feeling… She had just never thought on it for Harry was always in the back of her mind. Oh, if Harry knew her thoughts he would positively… Harry would positively…

Ginny forget Marlene was there until the girl touched her shoulder.

"Hey, don't look so down about liking someone, okay?"

---

Quidditch practice was foul that afternoon. Ginny couldn't wait to get off her broom and back to her dormitory for a good night's rest before a, most likely, long school day. Ginny was jolted to reality when Dai suddenly threw the Quaffle to her. She leaned back on her broom and attempted to grab the Quaffle with her fingers but it barely brushed the tips of her fingers. A curse left her lips as the Quaffle began to fall to the ground, saved by Dempster, who had swooped down and caught the ball last minute.

"Ginny!"

Ginny looked behind her, feeling the need to curse again when she saw Edgar flying up to her.

"Ginny, you've been off all night," Edgar cried out. "You've caught about two of the thirty throws given to you and you've been roaming the pitch like a bloody snail! I'll have you know we fly against Ravenclaw in a month! A month! If you keep playing like this-"

"This is one bloody practice," Ginny snapped.

"An important practice!"

"Edgar, leave her alone," Amelia cut in. "We're all tired and it's been a long week."

"Are you going to be tired in a month? Are you going to play like this in a month if we happen to have a long week beforehand?" Edgar asked angrily. "Slytherin wouldn't have a practice like this! Gryffindor wouldn't have a practice like this-"

"If they don't have bad practices they're inhuman," Dai lightly said as he spun by.

"Then maybe they are," Edgar said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh, really," Amelia giggled as she spoke, causing Edgar to crack a smile. "Can we get to dinner now, Edgar?"

"Dinner?" Edgar blinked.

"Or maybe I can start on my homework." Meghan flew up to the group, stretching her arms above her head.

"Start your homework? The sun is setting now and it's Sunday, you'll have hardly any time," Amelia told her.

"Just enough time, actually!" Meghan replied, grinning.

Ginny relaxed on her broom as the Quidditch team began to fly to the ground. Everyone landed with the atmosphere much lighter then it had been only five minutes ago. Waving goodbye to her teammates, Ginny lifted her broom onto her shoulder and began to slowly walk off the pitch. Most of the other members had gone to the lockers to collect their things. Ginny sighed, glad the day was nearing its end. But before she even took several steps she realized the day wasn't over yet.

A shadowed figure was leaning against a wall, staring at her through his hair. She couldn't help but smile as she walked over to him, even as flashes of her conversation with Marlene came to mind.

"Hullo, love," Sirius greeted, his lips curling when he saw her face.

Sirius pushed off the wall and reached out, wrapping his fingers around her wrist, tugging her closer to him. She breathed in sharply.

"Ready for that game of Quidditch you promised me?" Sirius asked and Ginny noticed the broom he held in his other hand.

She laughed, stepping away from him. He let go of her wrist.

"I never promised you a game," she answered. "And I hope you weren't spying on our practice. Edgar would have a fit."

"I was not spying!" Sirius cried. "And you might not have promised me a game but it is obvious you weren't playing you're best just then. Or, at least, I hope that wasn't your best."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Something on your mind?"

Looking at Sirius, she saw that he was very… well, serious.

"Yes," Ginny responded honestly.

"Well, a game with me shall surely help you," Sirius told her.

Ginny shook her head. She wasn't in the mood. When Ginny told Sirius that, he groaned obnoxiously.

"Play me. Even though I'll beat you without a doubt-"

"Sirius, I need sleep, not jokes," Ginny said.

Sirius laughed at her.

"Really, come on," Sirius pleaded, grabbing her hand and pulling her after him as he began towards the pitch.

She felt her stomach flip-flop and she cursed herself for the reaction to his touch. Sirius' face lit up when she began to follow him back to the center of the pitch. This was the first time Ginny had spent time with Sirius alone after the kiss. The thought of their kiss caused Ginny to frown and she felt a chill crawl up and down her back.

"So you waited for us to finish practice so you could play with me?" Ginny asked.

Sirius grinned at her, baring his teeth. Her cheeks flushed a bit and she lowered her eyes. Perhaps it was best if they didn't hang out alone, not yet. Ginny had an odd feeling that nothing good would come from this game of Quidditch they were about to play.

"I was going to play tonight, with or without you. But I did have something to ask you either way," Sirius admitted.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Sirius lifted Ginny's hand to his mouth and his lips brushed her knuckles. "Tell me, Miss Stiles…"

But whatever he was going to say was forgotten as Ginny tilted her head to look at him. A haze had washed over her as she looked at this boy, this boy who was so handsome, so dark, so sinister… For a second Ginny struggled with her conflicted emotions before she stopped herself. She didn't want to think, for a few minutes she didn't want to think.

So she took a step closer to him. She wasn't sure why she did it, why she had taken that step, but it changed their mood completely. They went from joking to still, not uncomfortable but, rather, perhaps a bit too comfortable. Ginny dropped her broom and the sound of it hitting the ground echoed in the corridor. The corner of Sirius' lip curled a bit and Ginny lifted her head closer to his. Her heart pounded harsh in her ribcage and she felt a bit lightheaded…

"Just friends, remember?" Sirius whispered.

His words caused Ginny to jerk back, awakening from the haze she had been under. She blinked, opening her mouth to apologize to him, but he didn't let her. Sirius grabbed her by the face and lowered his mouth to hers. Neither pulled away this time.

---

The walk to the Gryffindor portrait was quiet. Sirius and Ginny both felt a bit awkward and every time they opened their mouth to say something, a strange sound would leave their throats and they'd looked away. Ginny couldn't collect her thoughts; she couldn't make sense of anything. They had kissed, again.

"You told me to forget we kissed last week," Sirius suddenly said.

Ginny looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"But I didn't want to- I still don't want to, actually, and I wish it wouldn't be awkward."

For a second Ginny couldn't comprehend what he had said but, when she did, she frowned.

"Sirius, it would be too complicated to start anything," she began.

"To start anything?" Sirius looked confused. "Ginny, love, something has already been started."

"I'm not about to get into a relationship," Ginny told him, ignoring his words. "I don't need that, not right now-"

The lights in corridor suddenly lit and Ginny jumped, glancing out the window. The sun had just set completely so dinner had to have just begun.

"It wouldn't have to be different from what we are now," Sirius said.

"I'm not just some-some thing that's there, Sirius," Ginny snapped, stopping her walk and staring at Sirius in surprise.

He looked just as surprised as her.

"I never said that!" Sirius said, his eyebrows furrowing. "We could be friends-"

"And I'd be a nice little snog on the side?"

Ginny held her hands out when he took a step towards her. She couldn't stand that he wanted to touch her as he was saying what he was.

"Stop putting words in my mouth." There was a bit of a growl in Sirius' voice.

Before she could help it, Ginny laughed.

"I'm not putting words in your mouth, Sirius. I enjoy our friendship too much to have it ruined by the dramatics of a romantic relationship. If we just snog on the side it's still going to affect our friendship…"

Sirius was staring at her in disbelief.

"You say this as if you hadn't kissed me only ten minutes ago!" Sirius shouted. "You make it seem like I've been forcing you to kiss me!"

Ginny shook her head.

"No-"

"You're absolutely mad, Ginny," Sirius told her in complete seriousness. "A complete nutter."

His words caused her to stiffen and she took another step away from him. He seemed frustrated as he watched her movements. There was a long drag of silence in which Ginny let her tiredness show. There were so many things to worry over, so many things that needed to be done… and a relationship with Sirius shouldn't be one of them.

"I can't give you what you want," Ginny said.

"You did at the Quidditch pitch," Sirius snapped, his eyes darkening in anger.

Ginny took a deep breath to try to calm herself.

"I'm not going to fight with you over this, Sirius, so leave it alone."

"We're not going to fight? But, Ginny dear, that's what our friendship is based off of!" Sirius growled to her.

When Ginny didn't reply, Sirius simply shook his head before walking away. Her eyes followed him until she could no longer see him and, when he was finally out of sight, she leaned against the wall. Tiredly, she rubbed her face. No more crying…

She took a minute to collect herself before she began to the Great Hall for dinner.

---

Finding Lily the next day wasn't difficult. She had never realized how much she had blocked out the auburn haired witch from her mind until she actually began looking for her. Lily passed Ginny many times in the corridors and, by dinner time Monday, Ginny was sure she saw Lily about twenty times throughout the day. Ginny listened to Dorcas talk until she saw Lily get up from the Gryffindor table. Now was her chance to talk to her.

Waving goodbye to Dorcas, Ginny rushed to catch up to Lily, who had already exited the Great Hall. She was just going through the doors when she saw James, Remus, Peter and Sirius. They were just coming down to dinner, though a bit late.

"Hello, Ginny," Remus said, smiling at her.

"Done dinner already?" Peter asked, glancing around her with a small smile. "Can't wait to eat myself, I've been starving since lunch."

Ginny grinned before letting her eyes to drift to Sirius. She hadn't talked to him since the corridor incident the night before. He looked at her and he was smiling, his face light and carefree as normal. It caused Ginny to frown a bit.

"I was actually running to go…" Ginny paused. "I have a ton of homework to finish. You boys enjoy dinner."

She walked out, patting James on the arm as she went by. Quickly she darted up the stairs, hoping to see a sign of Lily. After racing through the halls a bit, Ginny finally managed to catch up with her. Lily was standing in front of a large portrait of two lions. The sound of Ginny running must have caught Lily's attention, though, for she was looking at Ginny just as Ginny caught sight of her.

A look of surprise and caution covered Lily's face as Ginny approached her.

"Hey," Ginny said, panting a bit.

"Hello," Lily slowly responded.

"Is this where the Head dorms are?" Ginny asked.

Lily nodded, glancing at the portrait. The two prowling lions growled at Ginny as they paced the portrait.

"Do they always have two lions?"

"No," Lily answered. "Counts on what houses the Head Boy and Head Girl are in."

Ginny nodded and a stretch of silence followed. Finally, Ginny cleared her throat.

"I need to talk to you. Can we go inside?"

Lily nodded sharply and said the password. The portrait swung open and Lily climbed in with Ginny following her. When the portrait shut behind them, Ginny took some time to look around the room before turning to Lily. Surprisingly the dorm looked like it hadn't been in much use at all.

"I only come in here when I need to study," Lily explained, as though reading Ginny's mind. "It's more of a getaway."

"That's interesting," Ginny murmured.

"Sometimes the Heads spent their whole year in here but since me and Potter don't get along very well…" Lily trailed off.

Ginny nodded in understanding.

"James is actually part of the reason I wanted to talk to you," Ginny said.

Lily looked surprised.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, not really." Ginny took a seat as she tried to collect her thoughts. "I want to make a deal with you."

The caution on Lily's face grew.

"A deal?"

Ginny nodded.

"You want me to be friends with Snape and I… I want you to go on a date with James."

Lily frowned and crossed her arms across her chest.

"You want me to go on a date with Potter? Did he put you up to this?" Lily asked.

"No," Ginny sharply said. "I want you to give him a chance."

A sniff from Lily caused Ginny to smile.

"Weren't you the one who told me 'There's more to people than what they show'?" Ginny used Lily's words against her. "It's not fair for you to say that to me when you hardly give James the time of day."

"It's different," Lily began.

"It's not different," Ginny cut in. "And James has just as many flaws as Snape does. If you want me to give Snape a chance, I want you to give James one."

Lily stared at Ginny.

"You looked ready to murder me the last time you talked to Severus," Lily informed her. "You're willing to talk to him again for James?"

Ginny nodded.

"And you won't give up this time? Even if he makes you angry?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Not if you're nice to James the whole date," Ginny responded.

Lily tilted her head before nodding.

"Okay. I'm sure I can stand him for a couple of hours," she said.

A smile curled onto Ginny's lips even as dread filled her. She had just signed her soul to the devil. There was no way she could get out of talking to Snape if Lily were to go through with her part of the deal. Lily smiled.

"So how have you been?" Lily asked.

----------------

Author's Note: Okay. So it's been about two months now and I apologize so much. This is your Thanksgiving present for anyone who happens to celebrate the holiday. I spent about five hours typing this and editing and there are probably a million mistakes but I'm so tired right now and I want to get this out for you guys to read. Thank you so much for the reviews given to me and I hope you haven't given up on this story, because I haven't. Read, review, and let me know what you think.