Completely and Totally Obsessed With You.

Dear James,

I wouldn't be writing this letter unless I had to. I need you help.

Dear James,

I'm sorry.

Dear James,

My family is broke, and since you always have so much money.


Dear James,

I need your help.


Dear James,

Frustrated, Lily threw down her quill. The blank parchment stared at her, taunting her. How could she ask James for help? The last time they had talked, she had just stormed out, not even bothering to tell him she was leaving. Unless Sirius had explained things, James still thought that she was dating his best friend. Or maybe ex-best friend. And if Sirius had explained things…why hadn't James come back to her? He had said that, when they were in the hospital wing after the other students had hexed her. "I came back to you." He had always waited for her, not matter what she had done. And now, he hadn't come back. Did that mean he had given up on her?

James had told her to leave him alone, but it was only just now that Lily believed him.

She stared at the half-written letters in front of her. The words swam, running together in her mind. Sorry. Broke. Money. Help. Help. Help. That's what it came down to: she needed his help and he had no reason to give her any. After what she had done to him, he must despise her and she couldn't blame him. She could ask Chase…maybe. But, as she had told Sirius, one hundred thousand Euros was too much for her to ask for from a friend. James may hate her, but the two of them had never been just friends. They had always been less, or more.

Lily sat there for another ten minutes, just staring at the letters. She didn't move; she simply sat and let all the possibilities run through her mind. In the end, she came up with exactly nothing.

Sighing, Lily dropped her quill to the ground and stood up, crushing it beneath her feet. She would get a job in the Muggle world. She was seventeen now; she couldn't be penalized if she used magic to make herself a background that would make her eligible for the type of job she needed. If James was willing to help her, he never would have left.

xXx

From a secluded corner, Sirius watched Lily walk out of the owlery. He turned his head automatically to watch the sky. He waited several minutes, expecting to see an owl to break up the monotony of blue. A smile played at his lips when one failed to appear. Even with her dad in mortal danger, Lily Evans was still Lily Evans.

Sirius casually pushed himself off the wall and walked into the now-empty owlery. He bent down and picked up the quill that lay broken on the floor. Whistling, he dipped it into the ink Lily had also left abandoned.

Dear James,

This is your present-the thing I need to do to redeem myself in your eyes. Lily's family is in debt, the serious type. He dad owes one hundred thousand Euros to a loan shark. He'll kill her dad if he can't pay. Lily won't accept money from me; she says it is too big of a loan from someone who is just a friend. And I think it was clear to all of us that whatever you guys were, you weren't friends. She tried to write you, but she couldn't.

Come back, James. Save her, because I'm not sure she can save herself.

Padfoot

He walked over to the fireplace and pulled some floo powder out of his pocket. He threw it in first, the letter following closely.

" Potter Place , New York ."

xXx

James played with fork, twisting it around and around. The girl sitting across from him began to stutter as she realized exactly how little attention to her he was paying. Her mom had pulled so many strings to get her a date with the heir to the Potter fortune. "So you play Quidditch?" she asked, trying to engage him in a conversation.

James didn't look up from his plate. "Yeah," he answered, obviously bored with the question. "Catcher."

The girl began to play with her hair, twirling it around one finger. She glanced from left to right, panicking. It had already been fifteen minutes and James hadn't spoken more than three words in a row.

"Why did you even come?"

James jerked his head up. Those words sounded so like Lily: the tone, the insolence. He looked around, expecting to see her tell-tale red hair in the crowd. Instead, he just saw the girl in front of him, waiting for an answer. He deflated a little as he tried to remember her name. Julie, Julia, Joanne?

"Look, Jenny-"

"Clare," the girl corrected him.

"Clare," James nodded his head, vaguely remembering. "I came become my mom badgered me until I agreed. She thinks the two of us dating would bring our two empires together. Your family has something she wants. Simple as that. And you have proven to be such an exceptionally boring dining partner that I'm sure your parent's money will eventually be necessary to secure you a husband."

The girl, Clare, sat shell-shock, stunned by James's sudden burst of cruel eloquence. James stood up and dropped his napkin onto his chair. He casually pulled out a hundred dollar bill to pay for their drinks-he hadn't waited until dinner had been served to insult Clare.

As he turned to leave, Clare suddenly spoke. "Good luck finding a girl who is willing to put up with you James Potter."

Again that line was so Lily that James had to resist scanning the crowd to look for her. He turned around to face Clare again. "You should have been this interesting from the start, Clare."

The girl in front of him suddenly wilted back into the person she had been under the full gaze of James Potter. She sat there, fingering her napkin. Something about being around him made her unable to sit still.

James laughed. He walked away from her still chuckling. Maybe his mom was right: a nice, rich girl could be entertaining. Certainly less pig-headed.

xXx

Lily spent the rest of the day avoiding her friends. She was incapable of dealing with anyone at the moment. She didn't trust herself not to blurt out all of her problems and beg for help. The trees and solitude provided some measure of comfort. She weighed her options in her head. No part-time job was going to make anywhere near the amount of money that she needed. It wasn't like she had a lot of options.

Lily spent a few more hours wondering around Hogwarts, saying good-bye to her favorite places. It was going to be hard to give up her home.

xXx

"This came for you sir," the butler said. He held out a piece of parchment smudged with ashes.

James shook his head. "Put it with all the other business mail. I'll get to it tonight."

"This isn't business related, sir," the butler informed him somewhat snootily.

James tilted his head in question, reaching out to take the letter. He scanned it quickly then sat down to read it properly. His mouth was hanging open by the time he reached the second line.

"I knew it," James said.

"Knew what, sir?" the butler asked.

James dropped the letter to the floor and began to walk to his room. "That she needs me to save her," he said over his shoulder.

The butler bent down to pick up the letter, utterly confused.

xXx

Lily patted the tree and stood up, brushing the grass off her robe. She had decided. She could always come back to school, but her family needed her help now.

Her first step back towards the castle was decidedly slower than a normal one.

xXx

"Where are you going?" Gwen asked. She watched James run around his room, grabbing various items.

James opened his wallet and flipped through it. He threw it back down and opened the safe, taking some bills out of it. "Hogwarts," James answered.

Gwen titled her head, her long black hair sliding to cover part of her face. "Four days?" she asked, her mouth twisting into a grin. "You could only last four days?"

James patted his pockets, looking for the letter, before realizing that he had dropped it back in the hall. "Lily is in trouble," he answered.

Gwen leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms. She contemplated James as he threw the last of his stuff into his bag. She waited until he was ready to go before she spoke. "So you're going to save her? Why?" Remus had told her that Sirius had broken up with Lily. What he hadn't told her was why.

James looked at his watch. It would six thirty at Hogwarts by now. James grabbed a handful of floo powder and turned back one last time. "Because," he answered, "I said I would come back to her."

He threw the powder into the fireplace and a second later he was gone.

xXx

Lily stopped by her dormitory first, to throw a few things into a bag. After she told Dumbledore, she didn't want to have to hang around. It would be far too painful. She finished packing in five minutes. She didn't have much to pack. She gave her room one last look before leaving it for the last time. Her watch ticked loudly. Seven o' clock.

The walk to Dumbledore's office was easy. It was telling him that was the hard part.

"I'm afraid I have no choice but to resign, Professor," Lily said, trying to keep her gaze level as she ended her explanation. Her hands shook slightly.

"I am so sorry Miss-" Dumbledore stopped suddenly, staring at something behind Lily. "Mr. Potter?" he asked.

"James!?" Lily almost shrieked, turning completely to face him.

A small smirk played on the teenager's face. His six foot plus frame took up the entire doorway as he shook his head to get rid of some of the excess water.

"Mr. Potter, as delightful and unsurprising it is to have you back, I must ask that you wait outside my office," Dumbledore said in an even tone devoid of shock.

James inclined his head slightly. "With all due respect Professor, I think that Lily is done. I would like to help carry her things back to her room."

Lily's facial features instantaneously turned from shock to anger. "What right do you have to say whether I am done or not?" Her hands were quite steady as she glared at him.

James stepped further into the room, causing Lily to take a few steps back. He handed her a slip of paper as he addressed Dumbledore.

Lily blocked out what he was saying as she unfolded the paper.

The debt of One Hundred Thousand Euros of S. Evans is paid in full.

James's arms caught Lily as she fell.

xXx

"Why did you do it?" Lily asked James. They were walking back to the Gryffindor common room. As James had said he would, he was carrying her things back to her room.

James laughed. "Why wouldn't I? It was only one hundred thousand euros. That's petty cash. My outfit is worth more than that."

Lily took a few seconds to evaluate what he was wearing. Dark blue jeans, with a black, button-down t-shirt, and a diamond stud in one ear obscured by his messy hair. He had paid one hundred grand for that?

James laughed again when he realized what she was doing. "Just because you don't care what you look like, doesn't mean others can't."

Lily flushed red again, only in half anger. "I'm going to pay you back, you know." She grabbed her bag away from James.

James shrugged. "How?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Lily hadn't quite gotten that far in her thought process. "Eventually. After we graduate. This is only a loan." She didn't relax her intense look.

James shrugged again, not really caring. Then something occurred to him. "I do know one way you could raise that money."

Lily scowled at him. "I am not going to do anything dirty for the money. Just because I'm not rich, doesn't mean I don't have morals."

James laughed condescendingly. "Not that way, Lily. But it's interesting that that's the first thing you thought of. I meant the Miss Witch contest?"

Lily gave him a blank look.

"It's a contest between witches from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts." James explained. He took a long look at her. "I mean, you wouldn't have a chance, obviously," Lily glared at him, "but it would make you feel better."

Lily straightened her shoulders and stood up slightly. "So what would I have to do?"

James held up his fingers and began ticking things off, becoming smugger and smugger as he went. "Learn Latin, etiquette, poise, fashion, etc. Candice was the last winner several years ago. My cousin won before that." He smiled.

Lily shook her heard. "I'll think about it," she finally answered him. Inside, she scoffed. What was there to think about. She would have to repay him some other way. She couldn't compete against the people here who had been training in stuff like that since they were born.

They walked in silence for a little while after that. James stared straight ahead, but Lily occasionally snuck glances at him. For once, he actually seemed serene. Or at least, he wasn't yelling at her. His black hair still stuck up exactly the same way she remembered.

"Seriously, James. After what I did to you, why did you save me?" The again went unspoken. Her eyes got a little wider as she waited for his answer.

James stopped and dropped her bag to the ground. He leaned against the wall and stared down at her. Lily felt tiny in comparison. James reached up to ruffle his hair even further. "'Cause you're stupid," James finally answered bluntly.

Lily's mouth dropped open. It wasn't the answer that she had been expecting. It probably should have been though. "What!?" she practically yelled.

"You're stupid," James repeated.

"I heard you the first time," Lily bared her teeth a little, "I was just hoping there was an explanation to go along with those words." There was a threat behind her words.

"I know you Lily Evans," James said. "You wouldn't accept money from anyone if they just offered it. You were probably planning on quitting school. And since you don't have all the required credits, you would have to get some stupid Muggle job. It would take you years to pay off this debt and you would kill yourself trying."

Lily couldn't really say anything to that since that had been her plan down to the letter. "Why do you care though?"

James pushed himself off of the wall and began walking closer to Lily. She stepped backwards, scared of the look in his eyes. He kept approaching until her back was against the wall. He put his hands on either side of her head. Lily trembled, a little scared of the way he was acting.

James bent his head down until they were eye to eye. Lily looked at his lips instead as he talked. "Because, Lily Evans, I'm completely and totally obsessed with you."

And then he kissed her.

After several seconds Lily relaxed into the kiss, running her fingers through his hair. He put one hand on the back of her neck, deepening the kiss. Lily's knees felt weak as she pressed her body against James's. After about a minute, he released, giving her one last kiss.

Lily touched her lips, shell shocked, as James walked away. He turned around when he reached the corner. "I don't really care if you pay me back, Lily. The money was meant to be a gift."

He kept walking and all Lily could do was stare after him.

A/N

I know. I know. I'm so sorry. I can only offer up the lame excuse of track and family issues and boyfriend issues. (Weren't mine btw, my best friends.) But track is over. They broke up. And so I should have an actual length update up sometime in the next two weeks or so. But I hoped this one helped? (BTW thanks to the people who sent me PMs. Love you guys. It helped me finish this.

I'm not going to respond to the reviews for last chapter. I'm sorry but its been so long and plus I had to decide between getting this update up now or responding. So if it was important and you wanted a reply PLEASE put it in a review for this chapter. Even if it wasn't important. I just feel bad for not responding.

And finally. Two days after my birthday the amazing paddynprongsie nominated me for an hourglass award in the Romance Category on . Which I have always really wanted to be nominated for. Not that I'll win, but that is a really cool honor! So thank you so much!!!! This chapter mostly got finished because of you.