Chapter 14

Lily opened her trunk and from the deepest end of that trunk she pulled out a wooden box. "I will show you everything," she told her friends sitting on her bed cross legged. The three other girls looked at each other, puzzled, but quickly rushed to sit on Lily's bed. The four of them sat in a circle, Lily had opened the wooden box and kept it on her lap. "Do you remember what Snape told me on the last day of O.W.L.s in fifth year?" Lily asked them, "Yes," Alice replied stiffly. "Well, I received this letter from James," Lily opened the box and pulled out the letter she had read so many times and handed it to Alice who was sitting closest to her. The other two girl rushed to Alice's side to read the letter. Lily watched her friends' expressions change from surprised to be awestricken. "What did you reply?" Dorcas asked, "I told him he should mend his ways," Lily shrugged.

The girls continued talking through the night, and Lily finally showed them the photographs they had taken on Christmas. "Why didn't you tell us about the letter from Petunia?" Dorcas asked, "You could have come to stay with one of us," Mary added. "I did not want to ruin your Christmas, all of you were so excited and I did not want to ruin it," Lily shrugged. "Ruin?! Lils! How can you even think that?" Mary was offended, "Alright, I am sorry, I was not thinking straight," Lily apologized, "Now do you want to see these or not?" Lily asked holding the photographs. Alice took the photographs from her hand and the girls squealed.

There they were, James and Lily, looking into each other's eyes, James had pulled her to himself, his hand on her waist, and her hand resting on his chest. Lily still remembered the exact feeling she had when that had happened, as if it was only yesterday. "How romantic!" Alice squealed, and Lily snorted, trying to hide her red ears. "Of course you would fall for James, just look at this!" Dorcas pointed at the photograph. "There are other photographs too, you know!" Lily shook the photographs she was holding in her hand. "Give it here," Mary took the photographs from her.

There was one with Sirius, his hand around Lily's shoulder and the two smiling happily. The photographs with James' parents, James, Sirius and Lily. The photograph with James' parents and Lily. "What all happened on Christmas?" Dorcas asked excitedly. Lily took a deep breath and started telling everything to her friends, including how she danced with James, her presents for them, their presents for her, how she baked cookies with his mother and talked to his father. "I had judged him too quickly, he isn't as bad," Lily sighed. "We had already told you to give him a chance," Mary replied in a matter-of-fact voice. "But this doesn't get out of this room," Lily shook her head. "Wait, you are not going to tell James your feelings?" Alice was puzzled. "Not yet, I want to be sure of what I feel for him," Lily replied.

"Well, he is obviously head over heels in love with you Lils, I don't think there would be a better guy for you," Alice told her. "I know that but with the war going on and the hatred against muggle-borns he should not be stuck with me, he deserves better than this," Lily told her deepest fear to her friends. "Lily Evans! How could you even think like that?" Mary exclaimed, "No, honestly, do you think I would be happy to put him in that position? Do you think he deserves it? You know how witches and wizards are treated for associating with muggle-borns, no matter if they are pureblood. Now, I cannot get you girls away from me, but at least I can minimize the damage I do," Lily mumbled. "Lils, you are being absurd," Alice shook her head. "You tell me, can you put Frank in such danger? We will be out of Hogwarts in a year, out of Dumbledore's protection, if James and I get involved, and something goes wrong, he gets roped in too," Lily asked Alice. "So, it's blood status that is going to keep you and James apart?" Dorcas asked, "Yes," Lily replied. "Unbelievable!" Dorcas exclaimed.

"That bloke is in love with you and clearly you are in love with him, don't do this Lils, you might lose the love of your life," Dorcas continued. "Don't you believe he can protect you and you can protect him?" she asked, "Remember what he did to Mulciber?" Lily asked, her lips set in a straight line. "That's how impulsive he can be to protect me," she continued when no one replied, "Now imagine hundred Mulciber, but not pushing me down the stairs, instead using killing curse or torture curse, or anything else. I know my fate, I have to fight or die, that is the fate of all mudbloods" Lily huffed, and the girls gasped at the use of that word. "I am going to fight but I am not dragging James with me," she completed.

"Alright, if you believe that this is the right thing to do, then we would not tip James off on your feelings for him," Mary started, "But mark my words Lils, there would not be another bloke like James, and he is your epic love, and you will realise it very soon" she shrugged. Lily already knew that there would not be another James Potter, there would not be another who could love her the way he does, and that is what scared her. Maybe if she did not tell James her feelings, he would move on, maybe he would find another Aubrey Cole and fall for her. Maybe once they are out of Hogwarts, maybe then it will what they say, "Out of sight, out of mind" or will it be "Distance makes heart grow fonder"? Lily knew what it would be for her and hopefully that would not be for James.

When the next day Lily reached the Potions class, she was not sure if Remus would sit next to her or someone else. Dorcas and Mary were sitting together and although Alice had offered to sit with her, Lily had told her to join Frank. She wanted her best friend to have the time she deserved with her new boyfriend, who seemed very pleased to be sitting with Alice.

The Marauders entered the class, laughing at one of their inside jokes as always. James' eyes immediately found Lily, who was sitting alone. "Padfoot," he whispered, "What?" Padfoot asked, "Push me towards Evans," he told him, "I am not doing that," Padfoot looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "I want to sit with her," James whined, "then just go sit with her you git," Remus rolled his eyes. "Alright just touch me," James turned to Wormtail, who did just as he was told. "Stop it! Don't push me," James said loudly, making Lily's head turn in his direction. Wormtail immediately withdrew his hand but James caught it in time and put it against his back, dragging Wormtail with him. "Come on, stop it!" James whined, "We aren't even touching you Prongs," Padfoot spoke loudly, taking his seat right behind Lily, who was watching this exchange. "Stop!" James fell in the seat next to Lily and turned to give her one of his charming smiles, letting go of Wormtail's hand; Lily in return only rolled her eyes, knowing full well what was going on.

"Alright Evans?" James asked, casually putting his arm on the back rest of Lily's chair. "I see you have turned back to your old self," Lily mumbled, and James immediately took his hand off of Lily's chair. "Does that annoy you?" he asked, "Why does it matter?" she shrugged, "Because I have been trying to impress you for so long, I want to know the progress I made," most students in the class chuckled at that. "No progress," Lily lied, "I think you are lying Evans," James' words made Lily's heart leap. "Prat," Lily mumbled under her breath, making Padfoot snort. "Alright, I will stop annoying you" James spoke only loud enough for them to hear, "Thank you," Lily replied sarcastically, "If you tell me what did the Amortentia smelt like to you," James shrugged. "Keep dreaming Potter," Lily smiled and looked ahead. "Alright then I will continue impressing you," James shrugged. Before Lily could respond to that, Professor Slughorn entered the classroom.

As promised, James continued impressing Lily in his own unique way. Every time they would cross each other's path, James would wink in her direction before giving her his charming smile, making Lily's heart skip a beat. In classes, he started sitting right next to her; most of the time he would not disturb her but rather just keep glancing in her direction. Sometimes, their hands would brush against each other and James would turn to her and grin. But James' favourite thing was to work with Lily in classes as her partner. That way, not only did he get to watch Lily but to actually interact with her, and on subjects that interested both of them like transfiguration, it would be the most fun class.

"Should I send her a note?" James asked no one in particular, "She is studying and so should you," Moony told him. "She looks bored, if you ask me," James was sitting with his friends in the library, and Lily was sitting with her friends, all of them studying for their exams, this year they had to start earlier than ever. "I will write her a poem," James decided, "Prongs no, you are disastrous at writing poetry," Wormtail asked him. "Yes, you are right," James agreed after remembering how Lily had once shouted on him in the great hall when he sent her a poem because it was pathetic and had warned him never to send her such poems.

Half way through studying, James yawned, bored to say the least. "How long do we have to stay here?" he asked Moony. "You and Padfoot can leave, don't you have Quidditch practice?" Moony asked without looking up from his book. "Can I leave with you?" Wormtail frowned, as Padfoot and Prongs started collecting their books to rush out of the library. "You are still lacking in Potions, once you are done with that, come to the pitch" Prongs told him earnestly and Wormtail sank back in his seat.

"I want these exams to get over soon, it takes all the fun away," Padfoot complained as he walked with Prongs to change to their Quidditch uniform. "At least we have an escape, poor Wormtail, he looks miserable," Prongs shook his head. "Maybe he should find some other way of studying," Padfoot added. "He will pass," Prongs sighed, "Hopefully," Padfoot shrugged.

Just as the practice got over, James spotted Lily walking somewhere, she had her books tightly held against her chest. "Oi Padfoot," he shouted, who turned towards him, "I will be back," he told him and Padfoot nodded. James leaned forward and zoomed towards Lily, who had not noticed him as he hovered over her head. Watching her walk to where ever she was going, James suddenly had an idea.

As if out of thin air, James hung upside down on his broomstick right in front of Lily, making her jump back. "Alright there, Evans?" James grinned, "Potter, I was going to hit you in the face you idiot!" Lily shouted, her heart beating furiously. James studied her expressions, still upside down in the air. "Where are you headed?" he asked, "To the lake, is that comfortable? Hanging upside down?" Lily pointed towards his broomstick. All of a sudden, he turned around, now upright and landed gracefully on the ground and unmounted his broomstick. "It isn't uncomfortable," he shrugged. "Why are you headed to the lake this late?" James asked her, the sun was already setting. "It is too noisy in the library or the common room," Lily shrugged. "Want me to join you?" James winked, expecting a firm "no".

"If you want," Lily shrugged, and for a moment James froze. "I can accompany you?" he asked in disbelief, "If you want to," Lily repeated. "Of course, I want to, Let's go!" he replied excitedly, making Lily chuckle. "Don't you think you should change first?" Lily asked, looking at his Quidditch uniform. "I can accio my clothes right here," James shrugged. "And change in front of the whole school?" Lily tried to supress her laughter. Clearly, James was very excited to join her, but he could still find her once he had changed into his regular clothes. "You can find me near the lake after you have changed," Lily told him. "I will be back before you know it," James promised, pushing his feet off the ground and breaking in an Olympic runner sprint.

Lily continued walking towards the lake, hopefully to get some studying done before dinner. Not that she was lagging behind, but she liked to be on top of things. If she would be lagging, she would lose her sleep thinking about it. She frowned, thinking that she did not want to lead James on but every time he asks her to let him join her, in class, in common room, in great hall and now even to the lake, she had a hard time saying no. Earlier, it used to be so much easier to just tell James to stop following her but now, she used to enjoy his company just as much as he seemed to enjoy her company.

On that evening, the lake was as flat as any mirror. It lay without a ripple as if time itself had frozen. The air around was pungent with the fragrance of various flowers, grass and mud. It was so quiet; the only sound was made by the wind touching the trees softly and Lily's own footsteps. With the setting sun came a sky of fire, the clouds were spread across, giving a purple hue. "Lily," the voice startled her, Lily quickly turned around to see none other than the boy she once called her best friend. "What are you doing here?" her voice was as flat as the lake. "I saw you coming here and thought I could talk to you," Snape took a step forward, "Well, you thought wrong," Lily took a step back.

When James saw Lily talking to Snivellus, he grew not only angry but also protective. "So now I am Snape and he is James?" Snivellus shouted, "You have no idea how bad they are Lily, you think you know them, but you don't," he continued. "I don't think I need your opinion, thank you very much," Lily told him sharply. "Lily, I can prove to you what that Potter is," Snivellus stepped forward, "His name is James, and you can leave," Lily spoke from between her teeth. "Don't tell me – you have – feelings for Potter" the venom in his voice for James could not be missed. "It's none of your business," Lily replied. "Lily it's Potter!" he exclaimed. "I told you it is none of your business, leave before I say or do something that I don't want to," Lily warned him. "Lily –" he started again but James had heard enough of it.

"She said leave, Snivellus" James shouted, making both Lily and Severus turn in his direction. "Sod off Potter," Severus spoke from between his teeth. "Say that again and you would not be able to say anything more," James pulled his wand out, but Severus was just as fast. "James!" Lily stepped between them, her back towards James, her green eyes staring Severus down. "He was who you were waiting for?" the feeling of being betrayed was clear in Severus' voice, and he lowered his wand slightly. "Let's go James," Lily took James' hand without looking away from Severus and dragged him with her.

"Did he do something again?" James asked, "No, he just wanted to talk," Lily told James, still holding his hand. James stopped, making Lily stop abruptly too. "Then why are you upset?" he asked, but Lily did not even look up, her gaze stayed fixed on the ground. "I am not upset," she mumbled, "Evans, trust me I know you better than you think I do," James told her, taking a step closer to her. "I don't want to talk about it," Lily told him, finally looking at him from under her lashes for a split second and then dropping her gaze again. "Alright, I would not ask you then," very slowly, as if to test the water first, James intertwined his fingers with Lily's. "I will take you to a quiet place to study," his voice was calm, his eyes studying Lily's face.

"I don't want to study anymore," Lily mumbled. "Then do you want to stay out for some fresh air? Or do you want to head inside?" James asked her, "Outside sounds good," Lily told him. James put his wand away and very slowly took the books from Lily's hand, holding it to his side. "Let's go," he told her, pulling her to his side. Much to James' surprise, Lily did not protest against holding his hand and the two of them walked hand in hand together.

"Do you want to sit here for a while?" James asked Lily, they were on the other side of the lake, a little away from the school. "This looks so beautiful," Lily's eyes glistened looking at the picturesque view in front of her, it made James' lips turn up in a small smile. He reluctantly let go of Lily's hand and sat down, patting the ground next to him, gesturing Lily to sit beside him and she immediately did.

"You should see the view from above," James pointed towards the sky, "I am sure it must be breath-taking but as you know I am not particularly good at flying," Lily turned towards James. "I can give you two options," James started, "I can take you up on my broomstick," Lily wanted to reply with "I would love that" but kept mum, "or I could levitate you" he joked. "Prat!" Lily chuckled, "Why don't you fly?" James asked her, "Broomsticks and I don't have a good chemistry, and I am scared of falling" Lily told him. "You are scared?" James could not believe that Lily Evans, could be scared of something! "Yes, aren't – you? Especially after – your fall?" A shiver went Lily's spine, remembering the horrid accident. "No, I don't even remember the fall, I was unconscious" James shrugged. "Do you have any idea what had happened?" Lily asked in disbelief. "Padfoot told me you cried," James teased.

"I did not mean that," Lily could feel the heat rising to her ears, "The Quaffle hit me, and I blacked out, Padfoot said, I fell," James told her. "You were falling from such height, had Sirius not caught you – you would have—" she could not even complete the sentence, "Died? Would that have made you cry harder?" James jested, making Lily punch him in his arm. "Ouch!" he rubbed his arm vigorously where she had hit him. "You are an arse sometimes, it isn't a joke, you would have died!" she exclaimed, looking away. "I would not die, because then I would not get to see you everyday" James told her.

"Is that why you don't want to die?" Lily rolled her eyes, trying to supress a smile. "And of course, who would ask you if you are alright, who would wink at you in the corridors, who would flirt with you? I am the only source of entertainment you have Evans, I am thinking how hard it would be for you," James jested, and Lily turned towards her, "I am so thankful that you are around Potter, what would I ever do without you?" she replied with a smirk. "I am a joy to be around," James grinned, "Sure," Lily replied in a sarcastic tone but in her heart, she knew it was true, he was perhaps her only source of joy.

"Tell me Evans, would you let me take you on a ride on my broomstick?" James asked her excitedly, "I told you I am scared," Lily replied. "You can hold onto me, I would not let you fall," James promised her. "I don't know," Lily chuckled nervously, "Do you trust me?" James asked, looking into her eyes. His hazel eyes seemed to bewitch her, she instantly replied, "Yes".

"Do you—want to go tonight?" James asked her in a low voice, "Tonight?" Lily's brows creased together, "After the whole castle is asleep," James' eyes sparkled with mischief. "I don't want to get caught," Lily had never felt this rush that she felt at the moment. "Don't worry Prefect, I would not let you get caught," James winked. "How?" Lily asked her curiously. "I am going to introduce you to one of my secrets to success," James smirked, "That is if you want to come."

Lily's heart was beating fast, pounding, banging, as if trying to escape. Her senses suddenly seemed to be on high alert, and a thousand butterflies in her stomach erupted at once. Adrenaline rushed through her and she smirked, saying "Yes."

A/N: Hey Readers,

Wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you all have the most wonderful year ahead. Thank you 'LadyGley92' and 'powerofthename' for your reviews, a huge shout out! Thank you for your unconditional support and thank you to all the readers for their unconditional support! It made my year! Please continue giving the story the same support this year, leave a review and let me know your opinion. Hit the favourite and follow button if you like the story!

Thanks!

Lots of Love

-JT