Hey everyone, it's me again. I'm sorry for update so VERY, VERY LATE…it's just, when school started things got a little busy. My Mom made a new rule, to finish homework before going to the computer, and when I was finish, it was either, it's too late or someone is using it. I was hoping I would update a little earlier since school already started. Gr. 10 is a little hard but it's just like in the 9th grade. I'm sorry again and I hope all of you could forgive me…and please R&R.

ENJOY ! 33

Trust me

Chapter Twenty-four

A Father's love

"We have a deal."

James looked at Stephanie and then nodded. "We have an agreement, if you ever hurt Lily at all or…about Remus…its over." He reminded. Stephanie grinned and nodded. "I got it, honey…but in one condition."

"What is it?"

"You are not to go near Evans not even once, now that I'm now your official girlfriend, you are not to lay your eyes on any other girl, especially Evans or else…she gets it."

"That's not what we agreed to!"

"Do you agree or not? It's either let Evans get hurt or accept my request?"

James looked at Stephanie and was now deep in his thoughts. He didn't want Lily to get hurt again, not after finding out about her past, no. He couldn't let anybody hurt Lily, not even Stephanie. He closed his eyes and nodded. "Fine, I'll do it!"

"Jamie! You can't! You can't be serious about this!" Nina cried as she shook her brother's arm roughly. He couldn't be serious; everyone knows he likes Lily…but, why? "J-Jamie…"

"Don't worry, everything will be okay." James said as he turned around and gave her a small smile. Nina looked at her brother and frowned. "Jamie…you can't agree with something like this…I mean, I know you want to protect Lily but…but…"

"It's fine. Don't worry." James smiled and soon left the Great Hall without another word.

A week passed since the deal between James and Stephanie happened and everything seems to change. Usually, you would always see them together, during breakfast, during classes, lunch and even dinner. When you see James, you see Stephanie clinging onto him flirtatiously. James didn't even have time to hang out with his own friends, or even his sister, Nina. It's all because of Stephanie Matthews.

"It's been a week, and that slut hasn't left James side since this whole thing started." Naomi protested.

"Yeah, she's been following James everywhere he goes; she's like James' tail or something." Arial chuckled.

"They did have an agreement about not having him talk or look at another girl other than her. Especially, when it's Lily." Kaytie frowned, the others nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of Lily…she hasn't woken up yet…it's been a whole week and she's still unconscious in the Hospital Wing." Nina murmured, drinking her pumpkin juice. The girls nodded in agreement once again. "The good news is the bruises on her cheeks are healing."

"Yeah…"

Suddenly, someone pounded their fists on the table which surprised the girls for a second; they looked up and found Sirius, Remus and Peter. Remus, who was feeling a lot better, heard about James and Stephanie and didn't like the idea at all. The girls looked at the fellow Marauders and saw anger printed on their faces.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Arial asked, taking a bite of her cookie.

"We can't even have one bloody word with Prongs when that…that…hag…is hanging all over him!" Sirius complained.

"She sticks to him like superglue." Remus shook his head in disgust.

"Tell me about it…" Peter murmured and suddenly started eating the food around him.

"What do you think would happen if Lily found out about the relationship between James and Stephanie?" Kaytie asked, wondering.

"Relationship! You mean, forced relationship or better yet, threatening relationship!" Nina spat, finishing her pumpkin juice. The other laughed and nodded.

"Well, I don't know what Lily's reaction will be when she finds out but…more importantly, we don't know if she'll be back to becoming mute or not. We still don't know what's going to happen to her when she wakes up." Remus informed.

"That's what I'm scared of…Lily suffered so much and we have to do everything to help her and be there for her when she needs us." Naomi said, Kaytie smiled and nodded. "And we'll also be there for her when she wakes up!"

"And we will drag Prongs with us when she wakes up, no matter what!" Sirius nodded.

"We'll sneak him away from Matthews' grasp and bring him in the Hospital Wing." Remus said.

"And when Lily wakes up, she'll be happy to see James and us there, she'll feel a lot better and be back to normal!" Naomi, Kaytie and Arial along with the Marauders agreed.

"Even if we tried to do so, Matthews will find out and Lily will be the target of her schemes once again." Nina said, staring blankly at her empty cup with her head resting on her crossed arms on the table.

Naomi, Kaytie, Arial and the Marauders suddenly stopped and stared down at Nina with a frown. "Why do you have to bring us down, Peanut? We were in a hopeful mood!" Sirius pouted.

"You and I know that Matthews will still find out about Jamie sneaking off just to see Lily, and she will do everything she has to hurt Lily again and I can't afford that to happen. Going out with Matthews was Jamie's decision and giving up seeing Lily was also his decision. We have to respect it."

"But, Nina…"

"If we tried sneaking Jamie away from Matthews to see Lily, it'll be our fault that Lily was hurt again. I want to protect Lily and Jamie. For all we know, Jamie might get hurt too!"

Nina's friends grew quiet as they stared at her, after seconds passed; they nodded and went back finishing their lunch. Nina looked at her friends and then frowned as she looked down at her hands. "I just want to protect them, I mean, I also disagree that Jamie had to go out with that girl...but we can't do anything about it…"

"We won't know until we try…" Kaytie whispered.

"Right, and if any of them get hurt, we'll prevent it from happening!" Sirius smiled, and nodded proudly while the others nodded in agreement.

"Hey guys…" a voice behind them greeted, they all looked up and found James, pale in t he face. The Marauders and the girls' eyes lit up as soon as they saw James. "Prongs!" The other Marauders ran to their leader and patted him on his back. Nina smiled and sighed in relief.

"Jamie, thank goodness you finally escaped from that evil little ha-" She suddenly stopped when she saw Stephanie coming from behind James. "-oh, hi Matthews…" Nina laughed nervously and then turned around, her face twisted from what she almost said.

"You were saying something, huh, Potter-wannabe?" Stephanie asked, raising her eyebrows right when she called her by that nickname. Nina turned around and then glared at Stephanie. "What did you say?" Nina asked angrily.

"I said, 'You were saying something, Potter-wannabe?'" Stephanie repeated.

Suddenly, Nina stood up and was ready to fight that little blond little-"Nina!" James glared at Nina, his eyes asking her not to pick a fight with Stephanie. Stephanie smirked while she watched 'her' James stop his own sister. "You're not even blood-related to Jamesy…I mean, you did find your genetic mother, why don't you stay with them and stop becoming such a trouble to the Potters."

Holding her anger, her fist tightens as she continuously glared at Stephanie. "You might as well take care of your mother, I mean; your mother is a widow, isn't she?"

"How do you know that!" Naomi asked, angrily as soon as she heard her mother's name.

"I know all…" Stephanie laughed. "Your mother is a widow and your father was killed by a Deatheater, was he not?" Stephanie laughed again and smirked evilly. "He was killed trying to protect you hopeless bit-"

"Stephanie, stop it…" James cut her off and was about to take her hands and leave the Great Hall when suddenly, they heard a loud slap. James' eyes widen as he found Stephanie with a red handprint on her face, then he looked at his sister and Naomi.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Nina screamed furiously.

"OUR FATHER PROTECTED US BECAUSE HE LOVES US, SO I'M GUESSING YOU DON'T KNOW THE FEELING BECAUSE YOUR FATHER PROBABLY DIDN'T LOVE YOU LIKE OUR FATHER DID!" Naomi screamed too furiously, and then soon was breathing hard.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! MY DADDY LOVES ME DEARLY, HE BUYS ME EVERYTHING I WANT AND TAKE ME WHEREVER I WANT TO GO!"

"He's only doing that because probably, he didn't want you to bother him." Sirius laughed, everyone, who suddenly stopped and watched the whole scene burst out laughing.

Stephanie's face was filled with shock and anger. How dare they say such things about her father, they don't even know anything about her. "MY DADDY LOVES ME, I KNOW HE DOES! YOU DON'T KNOW MY DADDY LIKE I DO! YOU ALL DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" She cried.

"Like you don't know anything about Nina and Naomi's father…" Remus pointed out.

Stephanie looked at the other Marauders from the girls and then back to the guys. Then she turned to James and screamed. "AREN'T YOU GOING TO DO SOMETHING?" She asked, soon after receiving no respond, she grabbed James' arm and both left the Great Hall. "ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO GET IT!"

"YEAH, WE'RE READY FOR YOU! COME AT US, ANYTIME!" Sirius shouted with a smile.

As soon as they were gone, the group suddenly burst out laughing, while Nina and Naomi stood there with their head hanging and their hands still curled into a ball. Their friends surrounded them, asking if they were alright…they raised their head and cried.

After the whole scene was finish, everyone headed to bed, the girls in their dormitory while the guys went to theirs. That night, Nina couldn't sleep; she stared at the ceiling and then turned her head, looking towards Naomi's bed. "Naomi…"

"Yeah?" Naomi's voice suddenly came into the darkness.

"Do you remember our Father? Did Mum ever tell you about him?" Nina asked.

There was a short pause before Naomi answered. "Dad was a kind and caring man; he loved this school so much that he always wished he could go back and start all over again. Oh, did you know he and Mum were sweethearts during their Hogwarts year?" Naomi asked, smiling.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Mum was Dad's first girlfriend and Dad was Mum's first boyfriend. Mum told me many stories about Dad, which made me glad because it seems like I got to know him more and more even though I haven't seen him before."

"Hm…I would like to know more about Dad…and Mum too." Nina smiled in the darkness.

"You could come to our house if you'd like, next year in the summer, you could get to know Mum a lot."

"I want to know everything about our Mum…and hear stories about Dad. I want to know everything…but…"

"Come by anytime, Nina…Mum would love that very much…" Naomi smiled.

"Think so?"

Naomi chuckled. "I know so…get, why don't we go back to sleep, I'm getting a little tried."

"Okay, Good night."

"Good Night."

When Nina was about to go back to sleep, she suddenly heard Naomi's voice. "Nina?" Nina turned and looked towards Naomi's bed in the darkness. "Yeah?"

"You do know both Mum and Dad love us, right?

Nina smiled. "Yeah, I know." Then both went back to sleep soundlessly.

The next morning, the girls went downstairs and met up with the Marauders. "Where's James?" Naomi asked as they all started eating.

"Matthews…" Sirius said grouchily. "She walked in our dormitory and woke James and especially us may I add up, so both could have breakfast with together."

"Their right there…" Remus pointed tiredly at the end of the table where they found Stephanie feeding James breakfast like she always do everyday and James, he look like he was about to fall asleep on his food.

"That's a nice way to start my morning…" Nina said sarcastically and took eggs and toast.

"I think I just lost my appetite…" Naomi said, continued eating her breakfast.

"And yet, you're still eating…" Kaytie laughed.

"It's an expression, but by the looks of that, it does make me sick." Naomi said truthfully.

Nina laughed. "I know what you mean."

Minutes passed and there was a sudden scream coming from outside the Great Hall. Everyone turned to the door and all found Madam Pomfrey standing there looking somewhat surprise and happy. She looked tired from all the running she did just to get to the Great Hall.

"Ms. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey called, looking at Nina and the group.

"What is it, Madam Pomfrey?"

"It's about Ms. Evans…" She huffed.

Nina and the others stood up and from the end of the Gryffindor table, stood James Potter too. "What's wrong? Is Lily alright?" Nina asked.

"She's-She's…"

"She's what?" Naomi asked, impatiently, wondering what has happened to Lily.

"She's FINALLY AWAKE!"

Hah, finish this chapter and now on with the next one. I would like to apologize again from the late, late, LATEE update. I'll see all of you again soon, in the next chapter. Hah, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review and I would like to THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL FOR reviewing my story. I enjoyed reading them. Thanks.

Love you guys. (muwah)