Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter blah blah blah

Chapter Fourteen: More Questions

"Oh Frank, you really don't have to go so soon do you?" Alice pouted after lunch. She was nestled in his arms, and having the time of her life. Since he had arrived she couldn't stop smiling, and Lily was really glad that he had been able to make it to see Alice.

"I'm sorry love, I have to. I wouldn't if it was a choice, believe me." Frank told her, kissing her lips softly. Lily smiled again, turning away.

"Come on Ellie, Marlene. Let's go." She said, leaving Alice and Frank to have their Hallmark moment.

"That's so cute!" Marlene moaned as they left the Great Hall and headed towards the grounds. "Where's Remus? I'm feeling all sentimental."

"I don't know," Lily said, frowning slightly. "I didn't see them at lunch."

"I didn't see them at breakfast, but that's probably because I didn't go to breakfast," Ellie added, smirking. "I had a late night."

"We can only imagine," Marlene smirked, pushing Ellie slightly, "Come on, spill,"

"Spill what?" Ellie asked innocently.

"You know what we're talking about, how far did you and Sirius go?" Lily asked, stepping over a root of some tree as she spoke.

"Well, not that far really, but your now looking at Sirius's new girlfriend," Ellie said. Both Lily and Marlene squealed and grabbed her hands.

"Merlin no way!" Lily exclaimed, "He finally asked you out? When!"

"When we went into the garden after dancing," Ellie sighed, her eyes glazed dreamily.

"Tell us everything!" Marlene demanded, squealing again.

XXXX

"You finally asked her out? Good going mate!" James said, patting Sirius on the back.

"When did this happen?" Remus asked, brushing back his hair that the wind kept tossing around. Remus had to have perfectly neat hair.

"Last night. I took her out into the garden and asked her out. It was weird mate," Sirius said, shaking his head as they walked. They were walking around the grounds, absently searching for Peter and Ledaria. They weren't in the Owlery like Peter had said, which sparked a curious search.

"What was weird about it Padfoot?" James questioned, spotting Lily, Ellie, and Marlene about a yard away.

"Well, she said that she didn't want to end up like the other girls I dated, and that she didn't want to just date for a little while. She wanted an actual relationship,"

"And what did you say to that mate?" James questioned, suspecting his friend had finally fallen victim to Cupid's Arrow.

"I told her that I wanted a relationship too, then she made me promise not to hurt her, which I did," Sirius replied, his usually laughing eyes a little serious. Sirius was never, well, serious.

"You seem to really like her," Remus said, looking at Sirius questionably.

"I think I do. I haven't ever felt the way I feel when I'm around her, and I just want to be around her. It's weird, and very complicated," Sirius told them. James smirked, glancing at Remus.

"Mate, we know all about that. You in love Padfoot," James said, punching Sirius in the arm, "It's about time too,"

"I can't be in love. I'm just in serious like, I mean, I'm only seventeen." Sirius replied in disbelief. They were nearing the girls now, and Ellie flashed him a smile. James and Remus watched as Sirius got that look on his face that clearly said he was in love.

"Love can happen at any age," Remus wisely said before Marlene jumped into his arms and kissed him.

"Sorry Remus, she's sentimental," Lily laughed, earning a mock glare from Marlene.

"Why don't you be sentimental too?" James cheekily asked, taking her in his arms, "I promise I won't mind," Lily playfully hit him in the stomach, her eyes fixed on Ellie and Sirius.

Sirius is looking at her like James looks at me, and Remus looks at Marlene, Lily thought with glee as Ellie and Sirius stood awkwardly facing each other.

"Go on mate, snog her," James said laughing. It was the first time that Sirius ever acted shy in front of a girl. Sirius tossed him a dirty look and smiled sheepishly at Ellie.

"Way to make an awkward moment James," Lily rolled her eyes, dragging him a little bit away from Ellie and Sirius so they could talk. Remus and Marlene followed their lead.

"It's about time," Marlene huffed, "Just what was he thinking? Waiting so long, I mean they're destined to be together!"

"What do you mean by that?" Lily questioned, leaning on James a little as they walked. They were headed towards the lake, to the tree that the girls often lounged under on sunny days. Something about the way that Marlene had said destined had pulled at the corners of Lily's mind.

"Oh nothing," Marlene laughed, shrugging it off, "Sometimes I just say really weird things,"

"You've got that right," Remus said, kissing her cheek affectionately.

"So, Lily and James, are there any other dances coming up?" Marlene questioned a few moments later as they all sat comfortably under the tree. Sirius and Ellie had finally joined them, and were looking less awkward around each other.

It was a crisp autumn day, the sun was shining though it was a little cold. Lily didn't mind, James was keeping her warm with his arms wrapped around her waist. She enjoyed autumn, with all the fall colours it made everything dreamlike.

Lily titled her head back to look at James and smiled up at him.

"We have the Yule Ball at Christmas, the Valentines Day Ball on Valentines Day, and the Graduation Ball." Lily replied, still smiling at James. He was looking down at her with a large grin on his face too.

"Why are we having so many balls this year?" Ellie asked, slightly confused. It was true, usually there were only two balls, the Yule Ball and the Graduation Ball.

"I suppose Dumbledore wanted more school spirit, you know with Voldemort being on the rise." James said, glancing around at his friends.

"Fair point," Marlene agreed, nodding slightly, "I wonder if Frank's left yet?"

"Who knows, I'm just glad he came. Alice is so happy," Lily sighed contently, looking up at the clear blue sky. It was one of those days when you felt that anything could happen, when you felt that all of your dreams could come true. She felt safe and secure in James's arms, and wondered vaguely about what would happen outside of Hogwarts.

"We had her believing she was going with Peter," Marlene said, snorting with laughter.

"What's wrong with Peter?" James said defensively.

"Oh nothing, but it's just… she wanted to go with Frank, not Peter, and she wasn't expecting Frank to be there. So it was funny," Marlene shrugged. James glanced around again, this time searching for Peter somewhere.

"So when's the next Quidditch game?" Lily asked James, pulling on his collar to get him to look at her again.

"Oh, it's this Thursday. Gryffindor verses Hufflepuff. If we take Hufflepuff we'll then go on to play Ravenclaw, if we beat them it's Slytherin again, and if we beat them we're in the lead," James replied absently. Even though it was a lot said to be considered absently spoken, he said it with less enthusiasm as he normally did.

"And is that likely?" Lily asked. He has something on his mind, something pretty big if Quidditch isn't snapping his attention back, she thought.

"Very likely," James nodded, "I have a plan all worked out,"

"Hmm, well I have no doubt that you'll win. Gryffindor hasn't lost a single game since you joined the team," Lily said.

XXXX

The following evening, Lily had patrolling duties with James, and he was nowhere in sight.

"I'm going to kill that bloody idiot," Lily mumbled, completing her rounds by herself. He had casually mentioned over dinner that he would be a little late, but she was almost finished and hadn't seen James at all.

She stormed back up to the Head's Quarters, completely livid. This wasn't the first time that James had done this, but she was getting really angry about it. She was curious as to why he disappeared once every month.

She mumbled the password to the painting and shoved through the portrait hole, stewing. She glanced around, but James wasn't in the Head's Quarters. Than she went to his bedroom, but that was empty too.

"It's nearly three in the morning, where the hell are you James?"

(A/N) Muhahaha, another cliffer. Er, sorry this chapter is slightly shorter...I've got my big plans -grins wickedly-.

X.Little.Black.Cat.X: Aww, that was really sweet, thank you so very much. :)

BlazeAngleDragon: I will be sure to read that updated chapter Blaze, for sure! Thanks for loving my story!

Alex C. Potter: Urg, what a shame then. You can always marry someone with the last name Potter, then have you both change your names to Lily and James, haha talk about ahardcore fan, just joking:). Thanks for reviewing!

broomsgrl: I'm very glad you like my cliffers, I love them too. They add sugar and spice and everything nice...not really. Now I have the Power Puff Girls theme song suck in my head. -slaps self- way to go me.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you all review again! I'm enjoying this whole replying to the reviews thing. It's fun...