Chapter 26

The door closed as the last prefect left the room. It had been a productive meeting that was sure. The schedule had been worked out for the next month of patrolling the halls in the evenings and they had discussed how they would all ensure that the younger students didn't attempt to go into Hogsmeade on the twentieth.

Lily leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a moment. It had been a very long weekend that was sure. Saturday had seen the first Quidditch game of the year. She had never been that big into the game but she had been surrounded by friends who were crazy about it for years. It had started to rub off. She had found herself in the stands screaming along with the rest of the house.

She still cringed as she replayed the moves the Slytherins had used. She could see the injuries of the Gryffindors so clearly. And as much as she didn't want to admit it the one that was the clearest in her mind was James' injury. It hadn't been the worse move of them all but Adrian Dixon had elbowed him roughly in the eye. She had seen his glasses smash and by the end his eye was puffy and red.

She wondered if she had over reacted about the injuries. The rest of the house had been happy to go and party after the victory of the team. She had heard Sirius argue with Amanda in the hospital wing before he had been sent to party about how stupid she had been to keep flying with a dislocated shoulder. But nothing had been said about Kat's hairline fracture or Jackie's twisted ankle. It seemed to her as if they were wiling to risk everything to win.

She had of course made a major fuss about it. She had yelled at the four injured players, told them how stupid they all were. But it was James she was annoyed with. He had been the one that she had directed most of her shouting at. But he had dismissed her worries so easily that she had stormed off.

She hadn't gone to the party she had walked around the halls. She knew that James had only suffered a black eye in the end but she had been really worried about him. It was driving her crazy this intense worry. She didn't understand why all of a sudden she cared so much about what happened to him.

It had been late when she had gone back to the common room. The party was still going on and she had noticed that there was a crowd around the three uninjured Quidditch players and that they had been joined by James. The other three were kept in the hospital wing over night to be watched.

Then the Sunday had been busy for Lily too. She had spent it trying to ignore James while doing her homework for Monday. She managed it just and then it was time to go to bed. Her head had been spinning still with thoughts of why she cared for his injuries. She had spent all Monday thinking about it and even all of that day. She had managed to keep away from James pretty much until the Tuesday evening prefect meeting.

"I'll finish up here if you like."

Lily opened her eyes and leaned forward causing the front two legs of the chair to hit the floor. She hadn't realised that he was still there.

"No I'll help."

She stood up and collected the sheets of paper off the table. James was extinguishing the candles around the room. They were quiet for a moment. It was a strange silence. It felt comfortable to Lily. But there was a strange edge to it. Looking up she watched the way that James leaned up to put out a high candle. He must have felt her eyes because he turned and gave her a small smile. She returned it before speaking.

"Are you planning to go into Hogsmeade on Saturday?"

He gave a shrug as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a wall.

"I've been considering it but the boys don't want to head down there. So I might just stay up here with them. What about you?"

"I can't decide. Alice is going because she's meeting Frank in the café there. She really can't wait. But she wants somebody to walk down with her. But Branwen can't face the town. Besides Joe said he'd come up here to see her. And Amanda can't decide if she wants to go down there and buy a new set of robes or stay up here. But I suppose I might walk down with Alice and sit in the café with a book until she's ready to come back up here."

James nodded slightly.

"That's nice of you. It's best that nobody goes on their own."

"Yeah that's what I thought. So if Amanda wants to go I'll probably stay here but if she doesn't I'll go with Alice."

Again he nodded as Lily picked up the last sheet. He looked around the room quickly.

"I think that's everything. Do you want to head back to the common room."

She smiled and nodded her agreement.

She reached the door before him and waited while he closed it. Then she was surprised by the way he reached towards her. She felt her stomach flutter as his hands got close to hers. But she heard the harsh words escape her mouth.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought that maybe you'd want me to carry some of those papers. But if you'd rather."

He lifted his hands up to his shoulders in a sign of defeat. She watched then as he shoved them in his pockets and felt a little disappointed. This time the silence was more uncomfortable and Lily needed to break it.

"Have you decided if you're staying for Christmas yet?"

His eyes went up to her and he gave a brief little laugh.

"I'm going home. Actually Alice is coming to stay with us this Christmas. And I think that Sirius and Amanda are going to come round as well. I know they were planning on going back to Sirius' place but my mother has been writing to Sirius two or three times a week telling him that he's welcome to stay with us. I'm pretty sure they will. Are you going to stay here with Branwen?"

Lily shook her head slowly.

"Not a chance. Pa Evans thinks that dad might make it to Christmas but he's getting weaker. So this will probably be our last Christmas together and I don't want to miss that."

"I thought he was doing alright."

Lily gave a little sigh.

"I don't know to be honest. He looked so much weaker at Petunia's wedding. I don't know if I ever told you but when they walked passed me down the aisle he was whiter than the dress Tuney was wearing. And I'm pretty much positive that she was holding him up as they walked. He looked so ill."

"No you didn't tell me that."

James' voice was soft and there was a soothing edge to it. Lily could tell that he wasn't just saying that but that he meant what he said.

A small laugh escaped her mouth as she remembered the wedding. James' brow raised in a questioning manner.

"Sorry I was just remembering something he said that day."

"What?"

Lily shifted her weight a little as she walked up a hidden staircase.

"He was talking about how grown up Petunia and I looked and how he was worried about someone stealing me away from him like Vernon did Tuney."

"And that's funny?"

"He asked if you'd already managed it."

"Oh."

Lily saw the way his cheeks reddened a little and felt her own do the same.

"They were only teasing me. And daddy remembered that I used you as an excuse for him to let me come back to Hogwarts."

"You did?"

Lily felt her cheeks gain more heat.

"He wanted me to stay home when he found out about the war. But I told him if that was the case he'd have to get use to you camping out on the doorstep. I told him that you had to ask me on a date at least twice a week. But I honestly didn't think he had taken it in, I mean he was pretty out of it when we spoke that time. And then he brought it up at the wedding. But it was nice to see him and Pa laughing even if it was embarrassing me."

James simply nodded.

"Pa told me that day that dad is losing the battle he's fighting."

"That must be hard to know. At least with my dad it was quick and nobody saw it coming. I can't imagine how it must feel to watch someone you love slowly slip away."

Lily nodded as the came out onto the seventh floor corridor. It was empty as they walked together towards the portrait.

"There's something I want to ask you Lily."

She felt her stomach flutter. Maybe this was it. Maybe he would finally ask her out again.

"Why were you so worked up over the Quidditch game this weekend?"

She sighed and briefly closed her eyes. She stopped walking and faced the boy in front of her.

"I was worried about my friends. It was a really rough game and I thought the injuries may have been worse than they were."

He nodded slightly and she noticed that his left hand went to his hair. His voice was almost a whisper when he spoke again.

"Some people think that you were worried about me."

"Of course I was. You are my friend."

A silence appeared and Lily didn't know what to do. There was something new on James' face that she was unsure of. Then something her father had said came to her mind. He had told her it was okay for a girl to make the first move. Taking a breath she spoke quickly in one go afraid to stop in case she chickened out.

"James will you come to Hogsmeade with me?"

This time the silence felt heavier than before. A blush was on her face as the boy looked at her. She saw his eyes were wide. His mouth opened and closed a few times then he spoke softly.

"Do you mean that?"

"Yes."

The word barely sounded even to her own ears.

"Like a date?"

"Yes."

Again her voice was tiny. She watched as a smile came to his face and then a laugh escaped his lips.

"I'd love to."