Warning: if you are younger and are reading this and you're not exactly ready for something more 'saucy' (as nic puts it) then don't read the end of this chapter.

Moving On and Trying to Forget

Sophie left Dumbledore's office a little while later with Lily. She was overwhelmed. Many things she had been trying to forget were brought up again simply by the arrival of her elder sister. She had worked so hard to remove the thoughts of the bad times from her mind: the rape, the beatings when she refused to go through with it, the loneliness afterwards. It had been difficult for her to say the things she had and acknowledge that it had actually happened, but once she started the words wouldn't stop. She hadn't meant to tell Lily and Dumbledore about what her father had done to her or that it had happened to her sister. Now she was starting to regret it. Sophie knew that it would be coming. It was inevitable, the conversation that she would have to have with Lily explaining many of the things that had been unearthed. It was bad enough that she had heard it all, but Dumbledore too. And he knew that he shouldn't have allowed the conversation to continue, he'd admitted it after they had finished crying.

Flashback

Sophie wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She turned in her seat to find Lily watching her intently. Shit! She had completely forgotten about her presence. Why had she asked her to come anyway? It seemed like a long time ago now. Sophie turned back to face the Headmaster. He had a mixed expression on his face. Half of it seemed to show a sense of success and accomplishment, like he'd intended to get the two sisters back on speaking terms. The other part was that of worry, concern and slight confusion. Sophie couldn't understand why.

"Miss Lane, a lot has happened this morning, some of it better than other parts. I am sorry though."

"Why are you sorry, Sir?" she asked. She felt that this would be his explanation for the mixed expression.

"I am sorry, because I let it all go too far. I should not have allowed the conversation to venture where it did. I am assuming that you were not planning on disclosing the fact that you were raped."

"Well, yes, it's something I try to forget."

"Of course, I in any case, we will not take the matter further if that is alright with you."

"Yeah, I don't care. Honestly, I just want to move on."

"Understandable. I will not bring the matter up again unless of course you feel the need to discuss it."

"I assure you Sir that I won't."

End Flashback

Sophie turned back to Lily. "I really don't want to talk about it now."

"Its fine, but eventually you are going to have to talk to me about this," Lily said.

"Yeah, eventually." They walked down the corridor that they had left Charlotte in keeping and eye out for her. When she wasn't on the floor dreaming about food, they assumed she had gone to class. Looking at her watch, Sophie realised how long they'd been in Dumbledore's office. It was now ten thirty. They'd already missed their first lesson. Oh well, how much could they have missed in History of Magic. Sophie didn't even remember what had possessed her to choose History of Magic in the first place, she hated it. Although it was a good opportunity to catch up on sleep that she had been deprived due to some of her 'extra curricular activities'. "Shit, Lily we're meant to be in potions right now."

"Don't worry, Professor Slughorn won't have a problem with it."

"Yes, how could I have forgotten? You're his star pupil!"

"Shut up, I just like potions," Lily said giving Sophie a small shove.

"So we're back to normal then?" Sophie asked after patting down her hair.

"What do you mean 'back to normal'? When were we ever not?"

"Well, I just assumed you were going to treat me differently now that you know all that shit," she said, gesturing backwards to Dumbledore's office.

"As if I would! I just might be a little more sensitive to some of the stuff that you do now."

"Oh no, don't be more sensitive, fuck Lily if you were any more sensitive to my feelings you wouldn't be a human, you'd be a fucking councillor."

"Well maybe that's what you need."

"I so do not need a councillor."

Lily turned to Sophie and raised an eyebrow. "Ok, I'll admit I have a few issues but I do NOT need a councillor!"

"Alright fine, but I'm here if you want to talk, ok?"

"Yes, I know, you can sleep soundly in the thought that I won't hold back."

"Oh good, feel free to interrupt me anytime."

"Don't worry, I will." They didn't bother running to class, or even walking briskly. Instead they strolled along at their own natural speed. Lily would usually have been frantic about missing so much of a lesson, yet she appeared a changed person today.

When they finally reached the dungeons, Lily and Sophie excused themselves and asked Slughorn to take it up with Dumbledore if he felt the need. Taking their seats they sat through the remainder of the lesson which only ended up being about twenty minutes, with straight faces, barely commenting or moving. They were the first to leave the room when they were dismissed.

In the Great Hall at lunch, Lily ran into Harry who had just come from an argument with Tasha over the correct way to spot the Amortentia potion. As usual, Tasha had to debate the topic until she won the fight. Harry was starting to get overly pissed off by the constant bickering but admitted that he couldn't back down as he didn't want to give Tasha the satisfaction in knowing that she had annoyed him to the point of breaking. "Just pretend to get bored and she'll start to lay off," Lily advised.

"Thanks."

"Hey, no problem, I've had six years of Tasha, I know."

"Yeah, personally I don't know how you put up with her!"

"You get on her good side," Lily said with a laugh.

"Oh right." Harry bid Lily and the others goodbye and went off to get some more books that he hadn't packed into his book bag in the morning. When she had seen him disappear completely, Tasha ran across the hall to the Gryffindor table and seated herself next to Charlotte. "What lies was he spreading?" she asked suspiciously.

"None at all Tash," Sophie replied with a smile.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure; did he tell you about him being wrong? Did he tell you he doesn't know how to spot the Amortentia potion when he sees one?"

"Umm, no Tasha, he didn't."

"HA! I knew it; he's so ashamed that he wouldn't even tell you guys. I won't him live it down now."

"Why don't you just stop? I don't think he really wants to fight with you anymore," Lily said.

"Yeah right, of course he does, he lives for it; I mean what else has he got to do? If you don't mind me saying, he was a pretty sad life," Tasha mocked.

"I don't want to listen to this anymore," Charlotte said.

"Yeah, can't you tell we're extremely bored by this continuous talking about him and arguing with him? Anyone would think you liked the guy," Sophie said.

Lily looked at Sophie then up at Tasha. "Oh my God, you like him! You like Harry Roberts, don't you!" she accused.

"I so do not! That is a ridiculous idea." Tasha tried to dismiss the comment.

"No Tasha, it isn't, it explains a hell of a lot: the obsession with fighting with him, the almost stalker behaviour, getting upset when he wins an argument, wanting to know where he is and what he's doing, mocking him constantly. It all fits," Charlotte said.

"Tasha Lambert likes Harry Robert!" Sophie said loudly.

"Shut up," she said.

"Woo, Tasha and Harry sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G!" Charlotte started.

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then a baby in a baby carriage," Sophie continued.

"Oh come on, as if I like Harry!"

"Try and deny it all you like, but we know the truth now," Lily said.

"Psht, whatever, I'm not listening to you."

"Fine."

"Fine." Tasha got up and stamped away towards the Ravenclaw table. Sophie, Lily and Charlotte burst into hysterical fits of laughter. It was hard to take Tasha seriously. "Wow, talk about revelations," Lily said turning to her lunch.

"Yes, today has been eventful to say the least," Sophie said with an unhappy look on her face.

"Sophie, don't worry," Lily said trying to comfort her.

"You know you still haven't told me what happened," Charlotte butted in, looking between Lily and Sophie.

"Well, if you had been less concerned with food then you would have been there," Lily said.

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks," she said, trying and failing to sound smart.

"I am well aware of this."

"Oh good."

"Can we just eat without arguing?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, sorry," Lily said guiltily.

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Eliza remained at Hogwarts for two days. She had to be kept out of sight as the some of the Slytherins had already spotted her. Dumbledore thought it best that she stay somewhere where no one else could get in. He came to the conclusion that it would be best for everyone if Eliza stayed in the Head's quarters. The only people it didn't suit best were Lily and James. James felt extremely awkward about the situation. He had no problem being alone with Lily there but with another attractive female and it just didn't feel right. James had no idea why either.

And Lily was almost as equally uncomfortable. As much as she liked Sophie's sister and wanted to be nice, she knew way too much about the woman's past which made it hard to be totally open with her and find her approachable. Lily was still as polite as always though and tried to make it easier on Eliza.

Sophie spent several hours with Eliza that night in the Head's Common room, basically catching up for the time they had lost while Eliza had been away. Lily and James retreated to his bedroom for most of the time, allowing them to have some privacy. They spent the time lying on his bed talking about the plans for the upcoming Valentine's Day Ball. They both had different ideas for everything: the music, the decorations, and the food. But in the end, they compromised and had everything sorted for when Professor McGonagall would ask them in ten days time if they had started planning.

On Wednesday morning, Sophie arrived in the common room at four thirty to see Eliza off. She had requested that they leave her departure for a later time ("perhaps a time when the living are awake!") to no avail. So there she was standing in the middle of the common room hugging her sister goodbye for what felt like the hundredth time. Then just as the other times, her sister disappeared before her eyes.

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Friday in Defence Against the Dark Arts, the seventh years were completing a series of tasks that were to 'help review the skills that had been learnt and would possibly be needed during the N.E.W.T exam'. Sophie was standing opposite Charlotte conjuring a Patrounus and Lily and Theresa next to them. Theresa's phoenix patrounus soared above all their heads before fading away while Sophie's rhinoceros plodded across the classroom. Once their partners' patrounus had faded away, the second of the pairs were to have a go. Charlotte's patrounus took on the form of a meerkat and ran around scratching at the air and hissing at the other patrounus'. Lily's was a sleek looking panther that roamed around for a bit before it too faded into nothing. They all had a number of goes at conjuring the patrounus'.

At one point, Sophie's rhino trotted (well, as close to a trot as was possible) past two Hufflepuffs. One of them burst out laughing and started pointing at the patrounus. "Haha, look at that ridiculous thing, its so large it can barely move!"

Sophie who had heard every word got very angry very quickly. "Firstly Jensen, I'm surprised you made it into N.E.W.T level Defence Against the Dark Arts with the amount of brain you possess. And secondly, to have a rhino as a patrounus is rare, rarer than a clear patch of skin on your face. And thirdly, it requires an amount of magic to conjure it that you will never access in your entire life. So I would stop laughing if I were you because your ant is about to get squashed by my rhino," Sophie said making a gesture to wear Belinda Jensen's patrounus was being chased by Sophie's.

"Oh wow, you think you're a big girl, using big words to match your huge patrounus," she retorted.

"Ouch, you've hurt me deeply," she said mockingly.

"Yeah, well there's a lot of you to hurt isn't there!"

"Ah ha ha, cop this bitch!" Sophie cried, picking up her text book and flinging it across the room at Belinda. One of the corners hit her directly between the eyes. She cried in pain.

"Miss Lane, detention tomorrow," the professor said as he swiftly made his way to the weeping girl.

"Oh come on, as if she didn't deserve that one!" Sophie said shrugging as the rest of the class crowded round Belinda who was now howling.

"Miss Lane, would you like a second detention?"

"No, I'll cope with just the one thankyou," she said.

"Stay behind after class so we can organise your detention."

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"As if she didn't deserve it," Sophie said at dinner.

"She was asking for it," Sirius agreed with Sophie without having the slightest idea what she was talking about.

"Sophie, the text book was going a bit far," said Lily sensibly.

"Well, I had to get my point across, what better way then throw it across the room at her? Maybe some of the knowledge from the book rubbed off!"

"I have to say, you had some great calls," Charlotte added.

"Yep, they just roll off the tongue," Sophie said, starting to sound a little arrogant.

"It's not something to be proud of," Remus said who was also present in the classroom when it had happened.

"If you were me you'd be proud."

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On Saturday afternoon, Sophie had gone to serve her detention and Charlotte, Sirius and Remus were out in the school grounds somewhere. Lily sat on one of the lounge chairs in the Head's Common room next to James, reading one of her textbooks in preparation for the essay she had to write. With the heavy book in her lap, she flicked the pages with one hand and twirled a strand of hair with the other. James had his arm around her and Quidditch Through The Ages balanced on his lap. As James came to the end of his book he set it down on the table. He brushed Lily's hair out of her face and pressed a bruising kiss to her neck.

Smiling, Lily knew she wouldn't be getting anything done now, so she snapped the book closed and dumped it on to the floor. Then she turned in his arms and began kissing him. After a few moments she pulled back breathless, only to have James' lips crash down onto her own in an equally breathtaking kiss. James nibbled at her bottom lip asking for entrance. She complied and as soon as she opened her mouth his tongue darted in and met her own. Lily reacted quickly and soon their tongues were battling for dominance.

James moved his hand to Lily's back to support her as he lowered her down onto the lounge. He rolled on top of her and began to press kisses along her jawbone and down her neck. She moaned softly, encouraging more of these sensuous kisses.

In an awkward transition, Lily moved herself on top of James again. He began unbuttoning her shirt. When he reached the last one, she took over and removed it completely and threw it to the floor where it landed on the coffee table. She was now clothed in only her black bra and school skirt. She blushed in embarrassment; she had never been this undressed in front of a man before. Lily averted her eyes from James, feeling the self-conscious side of her take over.

James, picking up on it, raised his hand to her face. Gently, he cupped her chin and brought her face to his so she had to meet his eyes. He leant close to her and whispered "Lily, you're beautiful."

Lily could see the sincerity in his eyes and this one comment was all that she needed to reassure her. She slowly undid James' shirt buttons kissing the skin she was exposing. James groaned. How was it that she could have such an effect on him by only kissing his chest? Now both topless, Lily moved up his body and brought her lips back to his and they resumed kissing with more passion than ever before. Things were getting very heated and in this moment Lily knew she was ready, there was no turning back now. She allowed James to roll her over again and resume his path down her neck to her collarbone. Hearing her moan in delight he moved further down. He reached behind her to unclasp her bra when they heard the portrait swing open. They both froze how they were, unsure of who had entered. Lily was assuming the worst: Dumbledore. Then she relaxed, only slightly when Charlotte's voice came from the other side of the room.

"So, Remus and I are going to Hogsmeade together next weekend. I'm assuming you and James are going together,"' said Charlotte as she walked into the room completely oblivious to what she had walked in on. Lily remained hopeful: maybe Charlotte wouldn't spot them over the back of the lounge. She walked to where a pile of Lily's Muggle magazines were lying on the ground near the door.

"Fuck, could her timing be any worse!" Lily whispered to James who appeared to be holding his breath on top of her.

"So, are you ready to go down to dinner? I'm starving, I haven't eaten since what…lunch," Charlotte said still reading the magazine that she had picked up.

"Lil?" she said, looking up for the first time since she had entered the room. Looking around, she spotted a foot hanging over the edge of one of the lounges. She walked towards it and soon Lily found herself looking up at Charlotte's shocked face. "Err," was all that came out of Charlotte for a second.

"Holy shit, I didn't just walk in on you two…?" she said extremely embarrassed. She was starting to go red, which was surprising considering neither Lily nor James had blushed even slightly.

"Fuck, could your timing be any worse Charlie?" she mumbled to herself. "Look, I'm sorry, I have to go now, I'll leave you two to finish…I mean start whatever you were going to do. Fuck, I'm leaving," she mumbled walking back towards the portrait hole.

James and Lily could hear Charlotte muttering "Fuck, fuck, fuck," to herself as she reached the door. Turning back to the lounge she said "I'll just close this shall I?"

James raised his head so that he could see over the back of the lounge. "That would be great, thanks Charlie," he said suppressing a laugh.

"Well, I'll see you at dinner, or maybe not," Charlotte said before closing the door. Lily looked up at James. She was mortified. He however, found Charlotte's insecurity about other people having sex rather funny. He'd had thought she would have been better under these circumstances, considering her own legendary experiences.

"I am sorry," Lily said.

"Hey, it's fine. It's not your fault. I would've thought Charlotte would've been able to cope with this kind of thing, I've never seen her this awkward in my life."

"Yeah, she's funny about things like this. Look, sorry, but the mood has been, well, eradicated. I can't do this now," Lily said, looking at him with sincere apology written all over her face.

"It's alright, I completely understand."

"I guess today wasn't meant to be."

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A/N: wooo, you said you wanted romance and you got it! i hope you enjoyed this chapter; it was kind of fun to write. there was lots of stuff i wanted to comment on but i can't really remember now, cos it Saturday night and the Dragons just lost, not that i didn't expect them too. ok, back to fan fic.

thanks to the following people who reviewed chapter 24 "The Words We Use To Disguise Our Pain": niiic smiles, brie smiles, szabatka2, GinnyRulez54, indescribably Bee, iVratOr, TDsmiles, Sally (Xgvcbvc) and grintssuperchick65. i would have liked more, particularly from you JEN!

ok, for brie: I LOVE HER, SHE HASN'T BEEN THIS EXCITED SINCE EVER AND I LOVE WES!

for nic: nic is the best, better than all the rest! I LOVE HER! she is sexy and is amazing and loves rhino's and wants you all to know that she rocks (just like the cake i baked). Sophie is better looking than Charlotte and she hopes you enjoyed her bitchy moment.

lastly: please review if you want though i will be happier if you do.

task: didn't work out too well last time but i want all of you to review and mention something randomly about a rhino. all you have to do is write the word rhino once and i shall be happy :)

love you all

anie oxox