During the coming week, everyone went off to complete their own chores. Sirius left to look for a flat, Cassidy left for her birthday and Rosalyn left to apply for a new job. James, Peter and Remus spent the week playing Quidditch, mostly which was a rather hair raising experience as Peter still could not ride a broom properly. Julie's husband Michael also dropped by, and Lily found him to be very good company. He was a remarkable raconteur and could entertain anyone for hours with humorous anecdotes of his travels abroad. Lily found herself in stitches as he told her about his encounter with a senile sphinx on one of his visits to Egypt. She laughed until tears streamed down her cheeks when he told her about the 75 year old Russian Minister for Culture who kicked a drunken leprechaun after he tried to hit on her.

At 6 ft 2 Michael was a very imposing man, with a tan complexion and dark brown wavy hair. Not that Julie was ugly, but she was petite, plump with nothing very out of the ordinary about her looks. She was attractive at most and Lily couldn't help but find their pairing comical. Julie was the shortest out of all of them and even when she stood on tiptoe, she barely reached her husbands chin. Though no one could miss that the couple loved each other very much. Lily got along very well with the two and managed to stifle her giggles whenever she saw Michael leaning down so he could hear what his wife was whispering.

She would spend hours on end sitting with Julie and her husband talking about different things. James couldn't help but feel a little disgruntled. He thought it was unfair that his sister was hogging Lily.

Sometime, during this uneventful quiet week Julie arranged for a press interview.

"You two just have to be honest." Julie coaxed a few hours before the interview was to take place. "You are very good friends and accidents happen. We don't need any scandals going on. We're going to be very open about how Lily is a very good friend of yours and that you two are treating this as some sort of fun experience. We don't need the press turning this into some sick and twisted torrid affair."

Lily nodded dutifully as James expelled a sigh beside her-he hated the press,

"Just as long as she's not there-what's her name? That, that woman who…"

"Oh! Rita? Of course she won't be here." said Julie with a self-satisfied smirk. "I wouldn't let her inside the house after she wrote those articles. Bet she feels sorry for that now. After all, this is quite a story."

"Who's Rita? And what did she write?" asked Lily curiously.

"Rita Skeeter. Daily Prophet reporter. Deranged, that woman is" muttered a disgruntled James.

"She wrote an article about how James doesn't really exist. Said that James Potter was actually a figment of the Potters' imagination and they were leading the world to believe that he actually existed to prove that they had a male heir. Was a pretty convincing article too. Unfortunately, however, James Potter did exist and was enrolled at Hogwarts, so she was proved wrong. " explained Julie.

James let out a snort of derision. "She wrote that when she was 17 and fresh out of Hogwarts."

Julie continued, "Then after a year or two, she wrote another article about how I killed James to take over the family fortune. Unfortunately, once again, she was proved wrong."

"Do you have to put in the word "unfortunately" every time you mention me?" asked James. "Honestly, the stuff that woman comes up with…"

"Did you hear something, Julie?" asked Lily innocently, "I thought I heard a voice."

"I thought I did too, Lily." Julie shrugged, "Must be a figment of our imagination"

"I AM NOT A FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATIONS!" yelled James.

"Shut up James" said Julie, "You don't exist."

James growled "You two are trying my patience."

Both girls laughed and shared conspiring smiles.

The next thing Lily knew was that Julie was dragging her along to get her hair done at some salon.

A few hours later, Lily arrived at the Potter mansion with Julie. Her hair had been put into loose curls and a hint of light makeup had been applied to her face along with some peach blush and pink lipstick.

"You look so pretty." gushed Julie. "Twirl around so I can see your new robe from the back."

Lily did so and suddenly heard a squeal from her far left. It was Andrea.

"Lily that color suits you so much!" Andrea marveled.

Lily was wearing light yellow, long robes that brought out the gold highlights in her hair. They were half sleeved with an off the shoulder neck.

"Put your bracelet on." Julie suddenly said. "You are the wife of the eldest Potter, after all. Let no one say we didn't follow tradition as best we could, considering the circumstances. "

Lily rushed into her room and opened the box in which she kept the bracelet. A knock at her door made her pause while opening her box.

"Come in!" Lily called before taking her bracelet out. She turned to see James staring at her with wide eyes.

"You look beautiful." He murmured, taking in her appearance from head to toe.

"Thanks." Lily replied quietly, looking at the ground briefly (for some reason his intense gaze made her blush) before looking back up at James. "Did you want anything?"

James didn't reply as his eyes strayed to the bracelet clutched in Lily's hand.

"Let me." He said gruffly, walking over and taking the bracelet from her. He opened the clasp and arranged the bracelet over Lily's left wrist. Even doing something as minor as this made James ponder over the huge barriers that separated them. He didn't just want to clasp jewelry onto her wrists, he wanted to hold her,to hug her, to tell her exactly how much he loved her.

James suddenly heard a commotion downstairs. The reporters must have arrived.

"Ready?" Lily asked hesitantly as James secured the bracelet around her wrist.

James nodded, offered her his arm (even though what he really wanted to do was kiss her) and walked down the steps with her deciding that it would serve as a good picture-Lily and him walking down the stairs together.

He still didn't know what had compelled him to knock on her door and enter her room. The door to his room had been open and she'd been in such a hurry to enter her room….he hadn't gotten a good glimpse of her. He had wanted to just look at her. The feeling of wanting to look at her had just been so overwhelming….

'What I feel for her now is so different. With Liz I had never felt the strong urge to kiss, hug or even hold her. Now I just want to keep her with me and never let her go, never let her have any other life than a life that involves me. Is this, what love really is?' James asked himself as cameras began to go off and a white flash of light was in front of his eyes constantly while he walked down the steps with Lily.

It hurt so much to see Lily beside him and yet she wasn't his. He wanted her, wanted to be able to call her his and only his but he couldn't….

Lily suddenly stumbled; James suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling. The flashes of light intensified times ten as photographers tried to get as many pictures of the couple like that as possible-James arms wrapped around her waist with Lily's hands clutching the part of his arms coming over her stomach, as leverage. Maybe there was some sort of romantic relationship between the two.

Once Lily and James had finally reached the bottom of the staircase and entered the formal lounge, reserved for high profile guests, the interviewers (there were about 5 of them) began asking questions.

"How does it feel to be married at 17? And forced into it no doubt?"

"It feels pretty weird." James confessed, seated beside Lily on a cream colored couch. "But it's only a contract marriage. It's nothing life altering. Lily and I have been very good friends for awhile now. We are both treating this as an interesting experience."

"So an annulment is to be expected?"

James hesitated and Lily rushed in. "Most definitely. James and I are too young to be married. I, myself am underage."

"There are no romantic feelings being harbored by either of you for the other?"

"No!" both exclaimed fervently.

Julie winced, way to make it obvious.

"Mr. Potter, the day you had to marry your wife, you also still had a girlfriend. What was her reaction? Do you intend to keep on seeing her even after your contract marriage?"

No one had really expected this question to be asked and Lily tensed. James however breezed through it easily.

"Her reaction?" James asked humorously. "Well she wasn't very happy about it I can tell you that." There was a murmur of laughter and James went on. "Even though our marriage is only a contract marriage, it is still binding. The Goblet of Ice is ancient magic that cannot be defied. I do not think the Goblet of Ice intended for me to carry on an affair while still married. Rosalyn and I are not together any longer even though we are still on the best of terms. No ill feelings are held on either side."

"What about you Mrs. Potter? Did you have a boyfriend or anyone you liked?"

Lily giggled. "Goodness no. I had just recently gone through a very disturbing breakup. I had no wish to get back into another relationship."

More cameras suddenly started going off.

"So you two are just friends? Nothing more?"

"No chances of you two staying together?"

"Never felt any sort of attraction towards each other?"

"Neither of you seeing someone else?"

Lily could sense the disappointment in their voices. Of course, they had wanted to write something more interesting than two friends who were on the very best of terms being forced to live together.

James and Lily merely laughed at the preposterous questions posed by the interviewers and adamantly continued with their statements of just being friends, not seeing anyone else and going as far as to say that they preferred it this way as they got a chance to spend more time with each other and were going to live their lives as normally as they could.

Just when Lily thought that the reporters had labeled them as 'boring' and unworthy of more than half a page worth of a magazine, she did the one thing to set off another round of questions. Raising her left hand she used it to swish her hair behind her shoulder. The bracelet on her left wrist was not missed by a single person in the room.

Cameras went off and Lily was temporarily blinded by white light as the questions began anew.

"How long have you had this bracelet?"

"When did Mr. Potter give this to you?"

"Did Mr. Potter give this to you?"

"Well uh…I…uh-" Lily stuttered. She couldn't tell them the truth. Their private lives would be all over Witch Weekly if she did.

"I gave it to her!" Julie suddenly called out.

Lily nodded. "Yes, Julie gave it to me."

"Why did she give this to you?"

"She said we might as well try and follow tradition as best we can considering the circumstances." Lily said quietly, not looking up from her hands. It didn't feel right lying about the bracelet. To Lily it was a symbol of love, not something to feel ashamed of and lie about.

It seemed that the reporters were getting bored again. Then the one question came that no one had anticipated.

"After the annulment, Mr. Potter, do you intend to take it back and give it to the woman who finally becomes your wife? It is a family heirloom after all and a very important one."

There was silence for a minute before James let out a bark of laughter.

"That would be rather ungentlemanly of me to do." He finally ended.

"I'd give it back to him myself." Lily rushed in finally. "I know he would never take it back but I would insist he keep it for his future wife."

James wasn't sure if Lily was serious or just saying that. It hurt, however to think of her returning that bracelet to him. Truth be told, he couldn't ever see it around anyone's wrist but hers.

Finally the interviewers had had enough. There was no scandal…no torrid affair...not even the hint of a pregnancy and the whole Goblet of Ice story being a cover-up story for the quick wedding. It was all nice, clean and utterly mundane.

Lily sighed in relief as the interviewers left and she leaned back against the sofa.

"Would you really give it back to me?" James asked quietly from beside her after a moment's pause.

Lily shrugged. "If you wanted it back to give to the person you loved James…I would give it back." She whispered before getting up and leaving.

'But the only person I love is you' James thought as he watched her leave.

OoOoOoooO

"Going to the beach?!" Marian Evans asked her daughter enthusiastically as Lily, Julie, Andrea and Natalie nodded happily. "Why, we absolutely must get you girls new bathing suits!!"

Julie snickered as she watched her husband and Neil Evans groan under the weight of five huge shopping bags.

"It's already time for lunch." Neil said impatiently. "James will be arriving at the food court any moment now."

Mrs. Evans suddenly clutched Lily's hand and staggered back onto a bench located outside of a shop in the mall.

"Mum!" Lily exclaimed urgently. "Are you o.k.?"

Marian smiled faintly. "I'm fine dear. You know I get these spells when shopping for a long time."

"You need some sugar inside your system." Lily stated pleadingly. "Let's forget the bathing suits. You already bought me enough clothes mum. Come on, we should get down to the food court and get you something to eat."

Marian shook her head adamantly and stood up. "I'm fine dear. All we have is one more shop to go. I think I will be fine."

"But-" Neil began worriedly.

Julie cut him off. "How about the men go on down to the food court and we'll be along soon." She supplied.

"I'll be able to get rid of these bags." Neil said in relief and again gazed at his wife with concern. "I'll go down and get you something from the food court and bring it back up."

"Water will do." Marian said with a bright smile before ushering the girls along towards a shop she knew off that sold 'cute' bathing suits. She told her husband the location of the store over her shoulder, showing how much of a rush she was in, in getting the girls to the store so they could shop for bathing suits. "Don't forget my water!" she called happily before turning to face the direction she was walking in.

"What she needs is sugar in her system." Neil muttered worriedly. "She already has a low blood pressure. Never takes care of herself." He mumbled before walking down towards the food court with Julie's husband.

Meanwhile, the females had reached the store and Lily's mum instantly began looking through bathing suits taking the ones she deemed as 'cute', 'gorgeous', and 'stunning' and handing them to Lily.

"Mum, sit down." Lily said tentatively. "You should sit and rest. You've been at this for hours. Go sit down over there. They have chairs outside the dressing room."

"I'm fine Lily. You know I have those dizzy spells sometimes."

"Usually when you do it means your sugar level is low. Go sit." Lily said more firmly.

Marian sighed in defeat and conceded to her daughter's request.

After browsing around some more, Lily found a very cute bottle green tankini with black trimming on it. It was a halter top and the bottom was black. Lily, deciding that she really liked this one, made her way towards where her mother was sitting.

"How about some pretty lingerie?" her mother suggested once Lily reached her and started to walk towards the changing rooms. "Never miss the chance to impress your husband dear."

Lily suddenly blushed bright red. "Mum. He's not...we're…..and….there is no chance...I'm …uh well…..YOU KNOW!" Lily ended exasperatedly. "I showed you the contract." She ended with finality.

"Ahh but it's only valid until you turn 17 and become of age." Marian said with a wink. "After that I expect a grandchild."

"Mum!" Lily exclaimed, feeling her face heat up. "I told you we're getting an annulment at the end of one year!"

"Yes, yes I've heard that word from your mouth numerous times already" Marian said non-caringly. She handed Lily a very skimpy emerald green bikini.

"I think this will look lovely on you. The sales associate was taking it out of the changing room and I asked her for it." Marian said happily. She knew Lily would never wear something like this but desperate times called for desperate measures. She would force Lily to buy it if she had to for if her son-in-law held the same views about his marriage as Lily did then Marian had to work quickly.

OOooOoOOo

"Am I early?" James inquired upon seeing Neil Evans and his brother-in-law Michael sitting at the designated Muggle food court.

Neil shook his head as he stood up after pouring a cup of water from a pitcher.

"The ladies are late." He said tiredly and motioned to a table near them that was piled high with bags. "They've been shopping for forever and Marian is so stubborn." He sighed. "She's feeling lightheaded and needs some water." He suddenly grabbed a chocolate bar lying next to the pitcher of water. "I think her sugar level is low considering she's been walking around this damn mall for the past four hours."

"I'll take the water and chocolate to her." James suddenly offered, holding his hands out. "Which store are they in?"

"One floor below us, the fifth store on the left when you get off the lift." Neil Evans said sitting down heavily after handing James his burden. "Thanks James. You have no idea how tired the two if us-" he motioned to Michael and then himself. "-are." He shook his head. "Honestly they have to go through every single item in every single store and then they don't even end up buying half the stuff they pickup!"

James chuckled before walking towards the lift. Mr. Evans words reminded him of the speech he had given to Julie about girls and shopping. It seemed like all men had the same views.

He'd been to a similar muggle mall with his sister once and knowing how to use a lift, he arrived one floor below the food court only to see with mounting dread that the store Neil Evans had referred to was a female clothing store advertising bathing suits on their mannequins.

Uneasily, he entered to see Natalie looking at a beige one piece bathing suit and Andrea holding up a rather skimpy two piece.

"Uh..." James began turning red as both saw him.

Andrea smirked as she put the two-piece aside, eyed the water and candy in his hand and pointed towards the fitting rooms. Outside of it were a few chairs.

"She should be sitting over there." Andrea said.

"Mrs. Evans?" James ventured upon arriving at the chairs and seeing them empty.

A voice suddenly squealed excitedly.

"Dear, I'm right here." She waved a hand from the fitting room hallway motioning him over. She took the water and chocolate from James with a small smile and said in an undertone. "Thank you."

James opened his mouth to speak but Mrs. Evans put a hand over his mouth as a shriek emitted from one of the stalls.

"Mum!" Lily exclaimed from her stall.

"Yes, Dear?" Mrs. Evans asked removing her hand from James mouth and taking a sip of water. She handed him her candy bar so both her hands could hold her cup.

"L-L-just LOOK AT THIS! How can you expect me to-" the door came crashing open with Lily standing in the door way.

James mouth ran dry. In a split second he registered what she was wearing and it bordered on NOTHING.

Lily wore a two piece bikini bathing suit that was dark, emerald green. The top couldn't even be called a bra and it was strappy with two thin black straps going over her shoulders and a lot of cleavage showing, in fact ALL her cleavage was showing. Her hair flowed down all the way past her hips and Lily suddenly angrily motioned towards the sides of the bottom part of her bikini where it was held up by strings that had to be tied around the waist.

"I can't wear this!" Lily exclaimed, motioning towards where she had to tie a pair of strings together to keep the bottom up. She then turned pulling her hair over her shoulder, baring her back and James dropped his candy bar.

"There isn't even a back!" Lily exclaimed trying to show her mother that the back also constituted of just a string tied beneath her shoulder blades.

"You're drooling, Dear." Marian Evans whispered to James.

Flustered beyond belief, James suddenly turned his back to the sight and clenched his eyes shut. Dear GOD who knew Lily had THAT underneath her robes? And the top…he snapped his eyes open; her robe never even hinted that she had…had THAT underneath her robes. James clenched his fists together wondering why him. The last thing he needed right now was to be lusting after Lily.

Lily suddenly gasped and James realized she'd seen him. A slam told James that she had slammed the door of her stall shut. All James could think about was that her skin had looked so smooth and so silky, he wanted to graze his hands across…NO NO NO he could NOT think like this!!

"I think you should buy it." Marian Evans said to Lily. The satisfied tone of Marian Evans voice was lost by the two teenagers who were still disconcerted by what had just happened.

"I dunno." Lily was able to mumble, being so flustered that James had seen her wearing that THING.

Suddenly, James mind rebelled against her wearing that sorry excuse for a bathing suit. If she wore it then OTHER guys would see her in that and think the same way about her…

"You're not buying it." James suddenly spoke up, his back still turned to her stall.

There was a pause and then "Excuse me?" came Lily's disbelieving voice.

"You're not buying it." James repeated patiently. "I won't let you."

"You won't let me?!" Lily shrieked as there was frantic shuffling. The door was suddenly flung open with Lily holding the offending bikini in her fist. "James Potter! You have no right!" she exclaimed.

James turned to look at her and was relieved that now she had normal clothes on.

"I don't mind you buying another bikini." He reasoned. "But that-that….those two pieces of cloth should not be allowed to constitute as a bikini. I won't have you prancing about the beach in THAT!"

Lily looked at him angrily and then she grabbed another bathing suit which was a halter top tankini. James didn't know it but it was the same one Lily had admired earlier.

"I approve of that." James said pointing to the tankini.

Lily marched over to the register and James followed her out relieved that she wasn't buying the bikini.

"I'll buy BOTH." Lily emphasized as she put the tankini and bikini in front of the sales clerk.

"WHAT?!" James exploded and suddenly came up to the register. "No you wont I told you-"

"I don't care what you told me." Lily said angrily as she got her wallet out of her purse. "It's not YOUR money James. I'm using MY money. The money my parents gave me. So stop being stingy."

"I'm not being stingy!" James yelled. "That bikini is entirely inappropriate for you to go prancing around in!!"

"Inappropriate?!" Lily roared. "You-you-CHAUVNISTIC PIG!! I've seen girls wear worse!! (She was lying through her teeth; she had never seen any girl wear a bikini as skimpy as that) Don't think you can boss me around! I'm buying it and that's that!" she turned to the sales clerk for the total amount she owed.

"64 pounds." He said in a bored voice as if people fought like this all the time in front of him.

Lily's hands went limp. She didn't have enough money to buy both. She was only buying the bikini because of what James said.

"Put the bikini back." James said to the sales clerk.

"NO!" Lily exclaimed and continued smoothly, "Put the tankini back. I'm buying the bikini."

"Dammit Lily!" James exclaimed hitting his fist against the table. "You're not buying that thing that can not even constitute as enough cloth to cover a baby!

"I'll buy whatever I want!!" Lily argued back as she reached out to push the tankini aside. James hand came over hers firmly and pulled it away.

With a snarl he took out 64 pounds and set it down in front of the sales clerk. He had changed some galleons for pounds on the way to the mall in case of an emergency and this definitely constituted as an emergency.

"I'd rather have you buy both than just that-that article of clothing that even Sirius would deem as inappropriate!" James spat angrily. He then leaned down and whispered, rather viciously in her ear. "The only person who will ever see you in THAT is me. I hope I've made myself clear."

The pit of Lily's stomach suddenly dropped at the implication he was making.

And with that he left leaving Lily to stare at him oddly.

"He's off his rocker." She said turning to stare at the sales clerk.

The sales clerk didn't reply and merely handed her, her shopping bag.

Lunch was interesting. James and Lily sulked. Julie and Marian were overjoyed after watching the two fight. Natalie and Michael were deep in conversation while Andrea had a one sided conversation with Lily about all the new clothes they bought.

James couldn't help but growl angrily as Andrea mentioned her own new bathing suit.

"Even she got a one piece." James grunted angrily at Lily.

Lily opened her mouth to reply viciously but her father cut her off.

"Stop acting like two angry children and make up." Neil snapped, stabbing his chicken with a fork.

"He/She started it!" hey both said in unison pointing at each other.

Michael snorted. "I present to you the heir to the Potter business."

Lily suddenly giggled.

"Imagine what the reporters would say if they could see us now!" she said with a laugh. James glanced at her and began laughing too. Both finally smiled at each other sheepishly before going back to their lunch.

OOOoOo

"The only person who will ever see you in THAT is me."

Lily couldn't help but remember those words as she lay awake in bed at night. What had he meant by that? Had he meant that he had seen her in it once and she wasn't going to wear it ever again so he was the only to see her in it? Or did he mean….

That phrase conveyed some sort of intimacy that Lily currently did not have with James. She tried to imagine ever being at a stage in her relationship with ANYONE where she could wear that bikini comfortably. Every time she tried to imagine such a point in any of her relationships, Lily felt a blush come onto her cheeks and a feeling of mortification in her stomach. Never would she be able to bring herself to wear that thing, even if the only person around would be her significant other. In fact, that would make it worse because she would be all too aware of his scrutiny.

She suddenly remembered how she had been too caught up in yelling at her mother to notice James standing in front of her, looking at her….while she wore …. her stomach did a small flip flop at the thought of James seeing her in it. He had turned his back though and Lily was extremely grateful for that.

However, it also denoted that he hadn't thought her attractive enough to look at. Would he have turned his back if it had been Rosalyn standing there before him? Lily couldn't help but recall that one time at the Christmas ball when James gaze had kept straying to Rosalyn's chest on purpose to tease her. For some reason she suddenly felt jealous. She shouldn't, Rosalyn had been his girlfriend, and Lily was just a friend. However, the mere fact that he had actually turned away from looking at her seemed to tell Lily that she was not very attractive to James. Either that or he had turned away because he felt guilty ogling at her. Which one was it?

A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as she sat up in bed, unable to sleep at all. She glanced over at her shopping bags, illuminated by the moonlight.

Lily got up and decided to get a cup of water.

She walked towards the kitchen to suddenly see a figure sitting at the table. As she walked closer she saw that it was James.

"Hey." Lily said quietly as she walked up to him and sat down across from.

James inclined his head towards her. Lily reached out for the pitcher of water next to his elbow and poured a glass of water for herself after choosing the handful of glasses that were set upside down on the table.

"I wasn't going to actually wear that bikini." Lily said quietly as she set the pitcher down and looked up at James. "I only bought it because you were being such a prick."

James smiled at her sheepishly. "I'm sorry for being such a prick." he admitted. "I shouldn't have flown off the handle like I did."

"Does that mean you won't object if wear it?" Lily teased.

"Absolutely not." James said promptly before taking a sip of his own water.

Lily giggled even though in the back of her mind a question of why he cared what she wore niggled her.

"So what brings you down here at this hour?" James asked lightly.

Lily looked at James soberly. "I couldn't sleep." She took in James' night robe and then looked back at him. She didn't need to ask him why he was still up-she already knew why. "Tomorrow's the day." She said quietly.

James nodded.

"The day my father died." James acknowledged. He then looked at Lily with a small, wry smile. "One would think I would be over this by now."

"You won't ever be." Lily admitted softly. "You'll just learn to deal with it. That's all."

James looked at his empty glass of water with an ironic smile. "I'll probably need something stronger than this tomorrow night." He murmured.

"Do you want me to….to sit up with you tomorrow night?" Lily ventured hesitantly. As Liz and Jeremy this had also been one of their rituals. On the night of James fathers' death, both would stay up chatting on wizard net until dawn came and chased away the nightmares that James had hidden in his heart.

James stared at her steadily and asked. "Do you want to?"

Lily stared at her hand resting on the table hesitantly before reaching across and holding onto James hand. "Yes." She whispered and James threaded his fingers through hers.

"Thank you." He replied quietly.

Lily squeezed his hand before loosening her hold. "You're welcome." She replied quietly and then she looked up at him solemnly. "I'll go with you to his grave James, if you don't have any objections."

He was suddenly up and sitting beside her, pulling her closer to him, tugging her hands to come around his waist, and then his hands traveling up her bare arms. Lily shivered.

"I want you to come with me." He whispered achingly into ear. "I want you very, very much." He whispered and Lily shivered, wondering if he meant another form of want altogether.

His hands came to rest on her shoulders and he rested his forehead against hers.

'What was happening?' Lily asked herself. She had to stop this, she had to…but he was so close to her and his lips were inches apart and he was looking at her with such warmth and…oh his arms felt so good around her body. Lily felt his hot breath graze her lips and she couldn't help but shiver. She didn't want this to end. It felt so good….he needed to kiss her now…finally….he was going to...

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed a new voice.

Both pulled apart, startled and Lily saw a middle aged witch with messy black hair and hazel eyes. She looked so much like James, but her eyelashes were thicker, her face a little more oval and a more feminine touch surrounded hers. She was looking at both of them with a pink blush on her cheeks.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed.

"It's all right… Mum." James ended forcefully, running one hand down Lily's bare arm before dropping it. Lily expelled a small breath….they had almost….almost…Lily shook her head as the woman spoke up.

"I didn't know anyone would be awake right now." She said feebly and Lily's heart went out to the woman. Not once had she seen this lady around the mansion. Everyday they would have food on the table and eat it. Did she eat alone?

"I'm Lily." Lily suddenly said rushing over to her to greet her.

"Oh so you're um…" she suddenly glanced at James hesitantly.

"I'm going to bed." James mumbled before going up to his room.

The lady sighed heavily before settling herself into a chair.

Lily felt her heart constrict. It wasn't just James father's death anniversary tomorrow; it was this poor lady's brother's death anniversary.

"Um Ms…" Lily trailed off.

"Call me Agnes, Dear." The lady said tiredly.

"I'm sorry about James." Lily whispered. "He's…well you know."

"I know." Agnes said quietly and there was pain in her eyes. "It's partially my fault. I've never been able to give him the love of a mother. I'm not his mother, and it showed. I tried…I honestly tried but there is a reason I never settled down. I-" her throat clogged up and she looked at the floor. "-I was more the one who would spoil him while his father would tell me not to. But I was his aunt. It's my right to spoil my only nephew. When…when my brother passed away and I adopted James…" Agnes sighed. "…I began to treat him more as I would a younger brother. I spoiled him but never once tucked him in at night. He...I should have taken him to parks and festivals but all I would do is go shopping and bring him back at most a trinket. Once he got lost in the woods at the back of this huge mansion for over a day and I didn't know. It was Julie who realized he was missing and went out to find him. He was found underneath a tree, asleep in the middle of the night," Agnes brought a hand to her forehead. "He was only 13 then. It made me realize that I was doing a very poor job of trying to be a parent but when I finally tried to coddle him he wouldn't accept it. He had gotten used to being ignored and now the attention he got was more frustrating than it was warming."

Lily looked at Agnes compassionately.

"I understand." She whispered.

Agnes wiped away a few tears from her eyes.

"It's late. You should be asleep." Agnes whispered.

"Can I give you some advice?"Lily asked softly and continued after a moments pause.

"Stop trying to be his Mother. Just be his aunt instead of sending him mixed signals. You force him to call you "Mum" and he resents it. He feels as if you're trying to take his parents' place. Don't try to take their place Agnes, create room in his heart for you. Don't try to usurp someone else's place."

Agnes sighed. "I-I always thought…"she trailed off and taking in this new point of view.

"I hope to see you at breakfast tomorrow." Lily said warmly. "You should come with me and James to the graveyard." She added quietly. After all, it was her brothers' grave that they were going to.

Lily turned to leave when Agnes suddenly spoke.

"You've never seen him, have you?" she asked softly.

"Pardon?" questioned Lily, confused.

"Henry, James' father." elaborated Agnes.

"Umm…no I haven't seen him." replied Lily, wondering why Agnes was asking her.

Agnes suddenly stood up and walked to the bookshelf, pulling out a thick green book. It looked like a well read book with frayed corners and dog ears.

She motioned Lily to sit next to her and opened it, almost reverently. It was a picture album. Agnes pointed to a picture and Lily felt her breath catch.

Henry Potter looked like the spitting image of his son. His hair was a little less messy but his eyes twinkled with life, just like James' did. He had one arm around Agnes' shoulders while James (a mere toddler) and Julie (a beautiful little girl with her long blonde hair in pigtails) sat in his lap. All of them seemed like a happy family, although there was the obvious absence of James' mother.

Lily ran her finger over the picture, absorbed in thought.

So this was Henry Potter. Even in the picture, as she looked at him smiling up at her while James and Julie poked each other playfully, she could tell why James had felt the way he had about his father. She watched as the man in the picture gave both children a smile that seemed to say 'What did we discuss earlier?' and both children suddenly sat still on their fathers lap and looked up at Lily with shy smiles. He had some sort of vibrant energy about him that exuded authority. Lily suddenly felt like crying. This was the father James had lost; this was the father-in-law she had lost. Life was so unfair. Why, why did James have to loose him? It didn't seem right that Lily had a mother and a father while James had neither. It seemed so wrong!

Agnes suddenly turned a page and Lily felt her breath catch. What she saw next in the album, was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. The female smiling serenely up at her was a beautiful blonde-haired woman with lively blue eyes. She seemed weak and frail yet her eyes seemed to warn that she wasn't like that on the inside. Her chin was lifted up proudly as if she was a Queen and the way she held herself seemed to drive home that point.

"She's beautiful." Lily whispered. Not in the conventional way though. Lily decided that this woman's beauty came more from within than anything else. Her looks were attractive but the one thing that attracted a person to her would be more of the aura of confidence surrounding her-the conviction that this woman could do no wrong.

"That's James mother." Agnes whispered, trailing a hand over the picture sadly. "We didn't get along at first, I always saw her as the one who took my place in Henry's heart. I had always been the first one Henry would share anything with but after they met….I seemed to take a backseat in my brother's life. I felt excluded and resented her for it. Eventually though, we started to get along and became very good friends." Agnes sighed. "If she was alive right now, she would hate me."

Lily turned to Agnes, shaking her head earnestly. "She would thank you for trying your best Agnes." Lily whispered.

"My best wasn't good enough." Agnes ended brokenly.

Lily shook her head fervently. "Don't think that. Please don't think that. You raised James for a good part of his life. Whatever you did, you did it right. He's grown into an exceptional young man that any mother would be proud of."

"I could have done better!" Agnes protested.

"You could have also done worse." Lily replied firmly.

This quieted Agnes and Lily left the woman to her musings as she herself mused over what a dynamic couple James parents had made.

Her musings were cut short when the clock chimed two.

"Oh my goodness! Look at the time!" Agnes exclaimed. "You best get back to bed now, Dear."

"Yeah I suppose I should be going. Good night." replied Lily, turning to leave.

"Lily." called Agnes softly.

Lily turned around to look at her and was startled to see tears in her eyes.

"Thank you."

A/n: sorry I didn't update last week!! I told everyone I was going somewhere!! Ok don't worry plot twists are ending…ive only got a few more up my sleeve and each and every one of them leads to J and L forming a closer relationship. Plz be patient for a few more chapters….i know everyone wants them to finally get together but just like in real life…these things take time….esp after all the history the two have between them!!! However don't worry….when Marian Evans decides to do something she doesn't rest until it's done and that lady is on a mission to keep lily and james together. So…no fear. LOL that was from swan princes right there.

Anyway plz review to tell me what u thought of all of this. U can thankmy beta for this last scene. She is the one who added it in and I personally loved it!!!! She also added the scene where James mentions rita skeeter!! Hehe.