Authors note: Well here's chapter 21! You know what to do. I should have the next chapter up later on today or early tomorrow. So enjoy!

Chapter 21: It's not the end of the world…

Lily POV

I walked back to Gryffindor tower at a normal pace. My heart was breaking with every step I took, but I forced myself to walk on. After having to be emotionless for 4 days I had almost no trouble keeping my emotions off my face. I walked into the portrait hole to see everyone spread out. Jess was nowhere in sight. I turned to see Mel and some of her friends happily talking. Julissa, Steph and Michi were staring at some catalogs. Mel caught my eye and smiled. I smiled back the best I could and then walked to the girls dormitory. As soon as I hit my bed I felt the tears burning my eyes. Be strong I told myself. Its like my heart was tearing very slowly into small pieces. My tears kept threatening to come out. The portrait opened. I didn't want anyone to know something was wrong so I turned over to see Julissa and Mel standing in the doorway. They both were looking at me curiously.

"Lily are you okay?" Julie asked me.

"Yeah Jules I'm fine" I said as genuine as I could "Why wouldn't I be?" I asked softly.

"Cut the bullshit Lily" Mel said. "Others may think you're fine but I'm not someone else and Julie isn't either." She walked to my bed and sat next to me. She rubbed my hair releasing some of the tension I was feeling. "I can see it in your eyes and I know when you're hiding you're feelings. What happened with Jesse?" she asked. Julissa went to the other side of my bed and put a hand on my back.

"Lily you're always being there for us. You practically never let us be there for you." Julie said.

"I know you're trying to stay strong, but sometimes when you're alone with two caring relatives who happen to be your best friends you don't have to hold it in." Mel said. I couldn't help but laugh. Big mistake as soon as I laughed a tear escaped. Maybe they're right. I don't think I could hold it all in.

"I talked to Jesse about how I felt." I said slowly

"I take that it didn't go well" Mel answered softly.

"I wish that it didn't go well, that would have been easier to deal with. It went horrible." I said. I sat up leaning against Julie and facing Mel. Julie held me close trying to comfort me while Mel took my hand. I could tell she was urging me to go on. I tried to stay in control so I took a deep breath.

"He accused me of breaking our pact and he looked so angry." I choked "At one point I had no idea what he was talking about. He kept talking about soul mates." I said. Finally the tears started to fall. ". When he realized that I had no idea what he was talking about he sort of froze. He ended up walking out."

"I don't get why he acted like that. I mean all you did was tell him… right?" Julie asked noticing the guilty look i wore.

"Umm not exactly I kind of kissed him" I said a bit red in the face. "I mean I didn't intend to snog him, just a small tap kiss. But he started kissing me back and soon we were snogging. I never felt so much emotion in a kiss my body was on fire." I said " I know what it feels like to kiss him now and I know that he will probably be the only guy who can make me feel all that. No other guy can replace that yet now I have to move on. I know i shouldn't have kissed him. But I know he wouldn't have took me serious. I had to get his attention" I pleaded

"Wow sis I'm sorry. Wait-" she stopped "He kissed you back?" I nodded. "I didn't realize he was that much of a git." Mel said. She had this look on her face that I didn't like.

"Please don't do anything to him! He doesn't deserve that" i yelled. I couldn't let them make him n outcast.

"But after all this" Mel started.

"I know but he has every right to not choose me. That doesn't mean you need to treat him differently. Please promise me you won't treat him any differently." I begged as the tears flowed freely. It was actually nice to get all the feelings out. I didn't feel as burdened.

"I promise" Julie said without hesitation.

"Same I guess. I'll try, but no one gets away with making my sis cry for too long. When all this goes down I am definitely pranking him" Mel said stubbornly. I couldn't help but smile.

"It works for me" I laughed. She hugged me tightly and Julie joined in.

Jesse's POV.

I was sitting on top of the astronomy tower. I can't believe Lily would do that! How could she break our oath. I mean we both swore we'd never prove them right. At first I thought she was just saying this because of the soul mate thing but when I looked into her eyes I noticed that she was actually confused. She had no idea what I was talking about. That's what scared me. I mean when she kissed me an odd feeling spread through my body. I had to pull away. I had never felt that before ever. I know I shouldn't have be so hard on her but why now? Out of all the times to tell me she would say it when I was so close with getting with Steph. I can't let it get to me. I mean all these weird feelings I've been feeling are nothing. It's not like I fancy her or anything because I truly don't. I looked at my watch and noticed it was just about to be 11. Crap I got five minutes to get to Gryffindor tower. I ran all the way there. I am lucky that I hung out with Lily and Mel all these years. They knew all the secret shortcuts and because I was always with them I learned all of them too. I got to the tower and noticed that just Steph and Michi were in the common area from our group of friends. Danny had just went upstairs. I smiled to the girls and went upstairs to the boys dorm.

"Hey Dan where is everyone?" I asked.

"Oh well Mel was downstairs about while ago but when Lily came in she and Julissa followed her." He shrugged

"How umm how did Lily look?"

"She looked so good man. I mean I'm thinking of-" For some reason it pissed me off that Dan was saying that.

"Not that way man I mean was she happy, sad, bored?" I asked. Danny looked at me odd

"She looked normal. I mean she smiled at everyone with her usual smile. Then went upstairs. I'm kind of mad she didn't stop to talk. I wanted to talk to her" he said a bit put out. I looked at him and I felt an anger build up inside of me. What the hell was that? I never felt like that toward Danny.

"So what you think man I got a shot?" he asked me. I knew that she had a thing for me and Danny had no chance. It actually made me feel good to know that, but Danny is my friend and I didn't want to hurt him with the facts.

"You never know man it doesn't hurt to try" I said trying to keep my face impassive.

"You think so? Okay I'm going to try then. Thanks!" he said happily before changing and then going to bed.

I woke up the next day to see the boys all packing still. We were leaving in about 2 hours on the Hogwarts express. I wonder if the girls rooms are cleaner then this. I mean I looked around and there were boxers everywhere. We were all finding random items all over the dorm. Yeah the girls were probably neater.

Danny and I decided to wait for them. I wasn't sure if any of them would talk to me especially after how I treated Lily but i can only hope.

"Wow what is taking them so long?" Danny asked. I could tell he was hungry.

Suddenly the girls dormitory door opened and out walked a bunch of girls. They were all laughing and singing a song about breaking hearts. IIt took me a little while to realize it was all the 6th year girls including Mel. They were all dressed in their Hogwarts robes but none were buttoned. They were definitely not in uniform. Lily was laughing really hard and I could tell she hadn't noticed me yet. All the girls had on jeans. Mel had some nice snug ones on and a cute blouse. Steph and Michi had skirts on with cute shirts that really accentuated their chests. But oddly it was actually Lily who caught my attention. She was wearing these jeans that were skinny and snug on her. The shirt she wore showed a little but not too much. Even her hair, which was in a ponytail where her bangs on the side hung. She looked great. It was so…Lily. Why am I even noticing this I'm not a chick. I looked at Danny and noticed his eyes were on Steph. What the hell. I don't get it does he like lily or Steph? As soon as they reached the bottom they looked around and noticed everyone was staring.

"Hey guys" Mel said with a smile. She went up to me and closed my jaw. "Quit staring Lawrence" she teased. Hey if Mel isn't pissed then I am definitely good.

"Hurry up guys my boyfriend might be lonely in the great hall" She said with a dreamy look. She pulled on Lily and Dan who I just noticed were talking animatedly. I wonder what they were talking about. Lily laughed at Mel and pulled Danny with her. Was she flirting? I followed them walking with Steph and Michi. They were both discussing their plans. We got to the great hall and Mel went over to the Slytherin table where Chris was sitting. He wasn't really talking to anybody. Mel went to him and pulled him up. He looked at her oddly but complied ad stood up. She then grabbed his hand and dragged him over to our table.

"What? He fits in more with the Gryffindor's then the Slytherin's. Why should he suffer because of old rules and rivalries?" she said loud enough for everyone to hear and kissed his lips softly before stealing some bacon off of his plate. Everytime I looked at them I swear I heard wedding bells. Lily is definitely going to have a new brother in law within a few years. She and Danny were sitting next to each other. I sat next to Mel, across from Lily. I think the last time I ever sat across from Lily and not next to her was probably first year. It felt weird. It's like I had to stare directly at her. It didn't help that she and Danny were talking about something together. Lily has had boyfriends but they were never in our house. So during feasts we still sat together. She would only see them during some classes and in the halls. It's almost like Chris and Mel's relationship. The only difference is that Chris was already a part of our group. Lily's boyfriends tried to hang out with us but in the end it just never worked out. It was weird since I didn't want to bother Mel while she talked to Chris. I looked next to me and noticed I was next to Michi. Steph was sitting next to her. They were talking animatedly about something called Gucci. Whatever that was. I realized that I did not like sitting across from Lily. I miss her taking food off my plate. I never noticed how she always kept me entertained during the feasts. Like she would randomly smile at me and say something that would make me laugh. Now I was forced to watch her do that with Danny. I mean she didn't eat off his plate but she would say something that would make him laugh. I looked to my right so I could focus on something else. I noticed Michi was talking but Steph wasn't. She was staring at them. I understand what she's feeling I mean its weird seeing Lily with someone else.

The train ride wasn't any better. Lily sat in her usual seat next to the window and i sat next to her. But Danny sat across from her and kept engaging her in conversation. Mel and Chris were with us for a little while but then they disappeared somewhere after an hour. Steph and Michi were also with us but Steph had to use the loo so Michi joined her. i don't know why together, but apparently its a girl thing. Julissa left a little after Mel and Chris. Finally Danny had to use the loo too. It was just Lily and I. It was actually quiet in an awkward way. She stared out the window.

"Lily" i called out quietly.

"Hmm" she said not turning "What's up Jess?"

"We should talk" i said. She sighed .

"What about this time?" she asked still looking to the window.

"Could you look at me?" I asked frustrated. She complied and turned. She looked directly into my eyes and for the first time i saw a mask. Her eyes bore no glow or emotion of any sort. "look i'm sorry about how i treated you yesterday. It was uncalled for." I apologized.

"its fine" she said about to turn back to the window.

"no its not" I said grabbing her to make her keep keep eye contact.

"would you just leave it alone. What's done is done" she said a bit roughly pulling out of my hold. It shocked me i've never seen her like this. "I'm trying not to look back and move on with my life" she sighed. Wait what?

"Moving on?" I asked

"Yeah" she looked out the window and this time i didn't stop her.

"Wait with who? Danny?" I asked angrily. My heart skipped a beat. Why was i getting so angry?

"Its none of your business. Plus why does it matter this is what you wanted." she said. That actually hit me kind of hard. This was what i had wanted, wasn't it?

"It is my business. i'm just looking out for you." I said truthfully. She looked at me angrily. Enough for me to want to cower. But this isn't the time.

"I don't need to be protected by anyone else. That's what my dad and uncles are for." She yelled poking me.

"Yeah that's what you said before you got kidnapped!" i yelled back

"yeah while you were flirting with Steph!" she shouted back. That one stung "Didn't you wonder why i left the building in the first place? Why i overreacted and just ran out. Yet you didn't even bother to follow!" she said angrily. Finally her face softened a bit. "I'm sorry Jess i'm not implying it was your fault. Look Jess you're my best friend but you can't have it both ways. You can't hold me close to you and expect me to stay waiting. I need to move on." she said softly.

"Danny isn't good enough" i said stubbornly.

"Well its not up for you to decide" She said sighing and leaning against the window.

"Well you move pretty quick." i said angrily I know i shouldn't but seeing some sort of emotion was better than her impassive side. "i mean one second i'm what you wanted and the next its Danny" i said standing up. She shook her head at me.

"You rejected me pretty roughly i might add. i have every right to move on!" she yelled with one tear falling.

"i said i was sorry!" i yelled.

"and i accepted now lets move on!" she yelled "just forget what i told you and keep chasing Steph! I'm giving you what you wanted, so shut up and be happy" she yelled.

"Fine"

"Fine"

We didn't talk for the rest of the ride. Danny came in and saw her sleeping and just read a futbol magazine.

Lily POV

I woke up to see Danny's face. i must admit it was kind of cute but sadly it wasn't the face i wanted to wake up to. The train was slowing.

"Hey Mel and Chris are waiting for you." Danny said "oh and thanks for the advice." he winked. "Now let's have some fun with this"

"No problem Danny." i said genuinely and laughed.

"you know i have an idea" Danny said

"Really? Care to share what this one's about?" i asked. He smiled brightly before telling me. It was pretty good.

We left the compartment to almost run into a couple snogging.

"Sorry" i started, then i noticed the reddish brown hair "Julissa?" i asked. She broke apart from none other than Scorpius. "Umm is there something you two would like to say?" i asked

"Umm well yesterday Scorpius sort of asked me umm out and i said yes" she stuttered. I couldn't help but be happy for her. I hugged her and Scorpius instantly. "I'm so happy for you guys!" i yelped. "Well you two can continue to say bye. Meet us out front in five okay." We went in search for Mel and Chris. We found them also snogging.

"Okay i think i've seen enough of my relatives snogging for one day." i whined. They broke apart. "Lovely you noticed me here" i teased. Danny laughed.

"Maybe we should snog each other senseless too just to fit in." Danny joked

"Yeah maybe" I replied.

Jesse pushed by me and walked away. Steph and Michi were watching us oddly. I was couldn't help but laugh at their expressions. The train came to a full stop and we all exited. Right before we exited Mel and Chris stopped and kissed softly.

"i'll miss you" She told him "I promise i will tell my dad about you so you can come over" she said. He laughed and kissed her softly again. I looked around and didn't see Julissa anywhere.

"Look there's mum. Come on!" She yelled. Our trunks were shrunk and in our robes. Mel let go of Chris' hand and took mine. We were soon in our mum's arms like every year.

"That never gets old" mum sighed. "You got everything?" she asked

"Oh our trunks they're in our pockets" i told her.

"where's Jesse?" she asked. Mel looked at me and answered.

"Oh we lost him somewhere on the train." she said. Mel looked around and her eye caught Chris. She smiled at him. "Where's dad mum?" she asked

"Oh he's at home. He wants to make something special for you" mum answered smiling.

"Oh okay." Mel said. She waved Chris over. She hugged him tightly. Mum looked at them and rose her eyebrow. I shook my head and smiled.

"Mrs. Potter" Jesse's voice said smoothly appearing behind me. "My mum said that i would be traveling with you again" he said putting his phone away.

"you got that right. Your mum is home making dinner" mum said. Jesse's face lit up. "Alright where's Julissa? Ron, Hermione are joining us for dinner so Julissa is to come with me" Mum said. As soon as she said that Julissa came running at us. She hugged mum.

"Umm Julissa you might want to reapply your lipstick. It's all smudged. I wonder how that happened?" mum asked mischievously. I noticed that Mel had already reapplied her lipgloss. Wow she did that quick I need to take some time to ask her how she did it. "I have a neat spell for that. Mum taught me it last year after saying bye to Ben" Mel whispered in my ears. "I guess Aunt Hermione didn't feel it necessary to teach Julie that one"

Julissa turned a deep shade of red. We all laughed and walked to the car. Mel sat in the front with mum while i sat in my usual spot in between Jesse and Julissa. It would've been extremely awkward if Mel wouldn't have been blasting all our favorite songs. Jesse stayed quiet most of the trip until the end. After Julie, Mel and I finished singing the last line to the song "Over it" mum decided to step in.

"So Jesse have you finalized all your birthday plans?" mum asked.

"Yes all the invites will be sent out tomorrow." he said smiling. "I would invite you but then who else is going to keep my mum out of the flat" he laughed.

"Letting me down gently I see" mum laughed. At this i felt him tense next to me. I wanted to take his hand and soothe his thoughts but i don't think its appropriate anymore. Plus now that i think of it that wasn't normal for just friends to do is it?

"Thanks for the ride Mrs. Potter" Jesse said when we neared his flat. He nodded at all of us and ran out.

Finally we were home. We walked in and immediately my sense of smell kicked in.

"Mmm dad's cooking roast!" Mel screeched. "Jaimsey Poo! Where art thou?" she yelled.

"Melly!" James screamed from the stairs. He immediately ran up to us. Mel caught him and hugged him tight. It's only been a week but he is too cute to not miss. It's amazing how much he grew within the last few months. He would probably be tall and need glasses when he got older. Mel and I lucked out and inherited mum's 20/20 vision.

"Lily!" James yelled as he ran past mum and hugged me tight.

"Hey what about me munchkin?" Julissa pouted.

"Lisa!" James cried and he jumped onto her awaiting arms.

We all went to my room and relaxed. Soon it was dinnertime and we were all starving.

"I hope dad cooked a feast" Mel said. 3 giant growls were heard. "See I told you we're related" Mel joked. We went downstairs and helped set up the table. We heard a noise in the living room.

"Mum, dad!" Julissa yelled as two figures joined us in the living room. Julissa hugged them both dearly. Hermione hadn't been able to see Julissa when she was hurt.

We all sat at the table and stuffed our faces. It was amazing to eat as a family. We were all sitting in the living room relaxing. Mum and Hermione were watching dad and uncle Ron play chess. Mel was trying to whisper moves in dad's ears and I was just relaxing.

"Haha checkmate" Uncle Ron cheered.

"Just face it Harry after all these years you still won't beat me." Ron stated.

"okay boys now that you've had your fun don't you think that you have something to say to the girls?" mum asked in her sweet voice. Dad gulped and looked at Mel and I.

"Well you see it goes like this. Umm well Ron and I would like to tell you" Dad started. He looked at mum and Aunt Hermione who looked like they wanted to laugh. "We want you to know that we understand you are growing up. We want you to know that we are going to try to be less overprotective." Dad finally finished.

"Yes" Uncle Ron said looking at Julissa.

"Its just we know that even by being overprotective it won't keep you safe, just imprisoned. So we want you to know we're sorry if we made you feel too guarded" Uncle Ron said. Mel, Julissa and I stared at them shocked. Are they apologizing for placing a tracker on us and trying to scare boys away? I wonder how mum threatened them to make this happen.

Mel was the first to speak "You know dad now that you're not trying to be too protective I do have something to tell you." She walked up to him. I really hope she's not going to do what I think she's going to do. "Well you see I just started dating someone. You probably know him his name's Christian Zabini" Mel said so casually that it made me want to laugh. I looked at mum and aunt Hermione, both looked tense. Actually with a closer look i noticed my mum was laughing hysterically, it seemed that a silencing charm had been placed on her.

Dad and Uncle Ron looked at her waiting for her to say just kidding. Seeing as how she looked serious they both gaped at her.

"You mean the Slytherin?" dad asked

"He should be in Gryffindor he is so much more brave than cunning" Mel said. That did not help at all. "I mean now that you're going to let us be our own person I thought you should know so that if he comes over it won't be unexpected." Mel said with a straight face. Poor dad looked like he was going to cry or scream.

"Oh my gosh! You and Chris? I knew it would happen that's my baby!" mum said as soon as Hermione removed the charm. Dad looked t mum shocked. Uncle Ron didn't help either.

"A Slytherin? Poor you Harry!" Uncle Ron laughed loudly. I actually felt kind of bad for dad. Apparently so did Jules.

"Well dad you know since you seem to approve of Mel dating a Slytherin I think you'd love my new boyfriend." Julie said happily. At the word boyfriend it looked like Ron would faint. I looked to mum to see her whisper something in Hermione's ear that made her smile brightly. "I'm dating Scorpius Malfoy" She said. Immediately Ron paled. His ears turned Red.

"Malfoy?" he yelled "No way. He's too dangerous." Ron stated.

"Dad Scorpius is nothing like his dad used to be. I mean he's in Hufflepuff for Merlin's sake!" Julie argued. Hermione looked proud and mum had out a camera and was alternating between pictures and recording. He looked to Hermione and sighed. Slowly he deflated.

"I mean you two are just dating then right? It's not like you two will get married. Its like your mum when she dated Krum or when Ginny dated those 20 guys" Ron said shrugging, he looked a bit brighter that is until he saw the look on mum's face. Dad however didn't look too happy.

"God Ron it was just Michael Corner and Dean Thomas and from counting that is only 2 guys!" Mum argued. Dad looked at her with a jealous look. "Ugh Harry don't give me that look. You weren't interested in me until I started dating Dean and still then I had been with him for 3 months. If you would've said something then that almost year would've been cut shorter" Mum said in a soft voice. She went to dad and hugged him. His jealousy deflated instantly. "Plus I couldn't just sit there and wait for you to make up your mind. It would have been terribly boring" She teased. "Need I remind you of a certain Miss Cho Chang." Okay why do I recognize all these names?

"Wait okay is it me or do these names sound familiar?" Mel stated voicing all my concerns "Cho Chang isn't that Michael Chang's mum?" Dad nodded. "You dated Michael's mum?" Again dad nodded.

"Dean Thomas that sounds like Daniel Thomas" I said. "Wait he's Danny's dad?" I asked. Mum nodded and smiled. "Michael Corner too. Hehe I'm guessing his son is Robert Corner. I guess all these boys like red heads and seemed to have inherited that from their dads" Immediately both looked at me. Uh oh I am so glad that I'm not with Danny. I mean I'm sure they can handle Scorpius and Chris but a son of mum's ex boyfriend might be too much.

Suddenly all heads turned towards me expectantly "What? Don't look at me I'm the only single one here apparently, aside from James. But he's sleeping and 9 so he doesn't count" I said. Dad and Ron smiled and both hugged me.

"That's right Lily. You don't need to date till you're 30 and that's still a bit young" Dad said.

"Dad I'm single not a nun" I replied.

After those fun outbursts we all relaxed and then Ron, Hermione and Julie left. I slept peacefully that night.
-+-

The smell of pancakes is what I awoke to this morning. It had been 2 days and I've been home both days.

"Morning mum" I said as I took my usual place at the table.

"Morning hun" she said handing me a cup of coffee. "So what's your plans for today" she asked. "Hanging out with any friends today like i don't know... Jesse?" she asked casually. Just hearing his name made my heart hurt.

"Nope nothing today. You get me to yourself all day again." I stated happily trying to drift the subject off of Jesse.
"Oh okay! Yay we should go shopping or clean!" Mum said excited. I looked at her appalled.

"Mum have you been hanging with Hermione too long? Or is it the age because from what I remember cleaning isn't that fun" I teased her. She threw a cloth at me.

"Oh hush you. This house needs to be cleaner. Now that Harry knows about Chris I'm sure he will be over any day now. I mean Mel leaves so early to see him. She must be getting tired of not bringing him over. Plus I'm running out of things to do together besides talk" she said. "So are you excited for Jesse's party" mum asked. This was the question I hoped she wouldn't ask. You see Jesse emailed Mel and Julie yesterday with the invite and password to get through the floo. I never got one. Even if I did I wasn't sure if I'd be going just because of the problems we were having.

"Umm not really especially since I'm not going.'' I told her. I drank my coffee waiting for the questions.

"To Jesse's party? Are we talking about the same Jesse you know tall brown hair, your best friend?"

"Yep." I sipped my coffee. "Mum you know I'm not that bitter towards him. I didn't get an invite mum. He doesn't want me there" I whispered. Mum stopped and looked at me.

"Explain" she said as she sat down. So I did. By the end she was holding me and I was openly letting my tears fall again. I don't think I've ever cried like this much in one month.

"You see mum I know he stopped inviting me to his parties years ago because he just expects me there, but this time is different. We haven't talked since the train ride. So he either forgot that I existed since we aren't talking, is still mad, or expects me to go. I doubt it's the last one" I told mum. She nodded.

"So I guess there's one thing to do. Watch movies!" mum said "But first let me owl Hermione"

"owl? You still do that?" I asked "I thought only the ministry did that?"

"What old habits die hard? Fine I'll floo her." mum said taking in my look.

A few many hours later I heard the floo.

"Hello?" Mel's voice called from the floo. She turned to see us on the couch watching the Telly. "What the?"

"It's Titanic." I said. Mum handed me the tissue to wipe my tears. "Jack! Don't die!"

"You see this is why muggles need us witches. We could've just apperated out of there or placed a heating charm on the water." Mel said. Mum, Hermione and I all looked at her with tearful eyes.

"That's not the point. Rose finally found love and he died. No picture of him nothing" I said. "who needs love!"

"Mum you're suppose to be helping her not aiding her hate for love!" Mel scolded.

"Hey they're Hermione's movies" mum said. Hermione glared at mum.

"Okay Lily the girls want to have a sleepover tomorrow and we are definitely going." Mel said. I was about to protest but she held her hand up.

"No buts! You need to get outside. Some fresh air will do you good" Mel scolded.

"Fine" I said before walking away.