James was flopped against the couch. Now that he didn't have a source of income, he was one of those jobless blokes who goofed around all day doing nothing.

The moment he'd told Lily he'd given up on her, she hadn't said anything. She'd just… left. What was wrong?

It had been a week since that incident, and Lily hadn't talked to him since then. He really needed to clear things up with her. He knew she was feeling apologetic. But he wasn't sure. It was all so confusing, why would she be apologizing?

He donned a dark green sweater and dark blue jeans before Apparating to Lily's neighborhood. He took a deep breath and marched up to her door, banging on it.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," came a dull voice from inside. She wrenched open the door and her eyes widened when she saw James. "Why are you here?"

"Hello to you too."

"Yeah, yeah, hi. Why are you here?"

"Can I come in?"

Lily eyed him.

"What's wrong?" James asked. "Why are you ignoring me?"

Lily took a deep breath. "Nothing. Why are you here?"

He frowned at him. "Why can't I be here?"

"Stop beating around the bush," she told him, her voice sounding more and more like it normally did. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to ask why you weren't talking to me," James replied, feeling like a child.

She rolled her eyes, running a hand through her hair. "I am talking to you."

He eyed her. Was she really going to be impossible? Well, two could play this game. "Fine, then. Can I come in?"

Lily sighed, opening the door wide. "Yeah, sure."

James walked in, and then he slammed the door and pinned her up against the wall. "Now tell me," he demanded. "Or else I won't let you go."

"James, what the-"

"You could've slammed the door on me then, but you can't now. I'm the one with the advantage. You tell me or I won't let you go," he snarled.

"James, let me go!"

"Tell me first," he responded smoothly.

"Can't you guess?" she asked. "Is it that hard for you to understand?"

He thought about it. She'd gotten furious when he'd barely 'flirted'. She'd apologized. He'd said he'd given up on him. Then she'd gotten mad…

About him giving up on her?

His eyes widened. "Wait a minute. You're saying that… You… like me?"

She didn't say anything, but the expression on her face gave it away.

"As in… like-like me?" he asked.

She remained silent.

He let go of her in shock. "I thought you hated me…"

"You figured it out," she said in a dry voice. "Hooray. You want to get a medal or a trophy?"

"But… But…" He didn't know what to say. He had plenty of questions, statements, comments. This one came out first,

"Doesn't this work out just perfectly, then?"

She scrunched up her face in confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I like you… You like me… I mean… doesn't it work?"

She took a while to answer. "I… James…"

He tentatively reached out a hand and put it on her shoulder, not daring to do anything more. "What's wrong now?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," she replied. And then she laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" James asked, bewildered.

She just shook her head and continued giggling.

"What…"

She held up a finger and took a deep breath. "I don't know! This whole thing is so funny." She giggled again, then continued. "I mean, you're out of a job, I'm related in a murder case, and here we are, discussing casual, everyday things…" She burst out in laughter.

James gave her a blank smile. It wasn't that funny. But if she was laughing… Hey, he'd take it.

She took another deep breath. "Okay, I'm fine now."

He laughed. "Good for you."

She grinned at him. "Today's my favorite day, did you know that?"

And James's face broke out into a smile.

Because he knew that was a 'yes'.

"Now, I have something to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"You know the guy who…"

Whatever she was about to say got interrupted by knocking on the door.

She turned to the door. "Come in!"

A short, squat man walked in the doorway, a smile plastered across his face.

"Lily Evans?" he asked.

"Hi," Lily greeted. "Uh… Do I know you?"

"Yeah. One second." He reached in his bag and yanked out a large stick, swinging it at Lily so fast it might not have happened. James's eyes widened and in less than a second, he'd slid over to her side and knocked her over. The stick barely brushed past her head.

"What the…"

James surged up, his hands balling into fists. "What was that?"

"I…"

"Who are you?"

He didn't reply.

James growled, turning to Lily. "Lily…"

Lily kicked him flat on the ground and hauled him into her house. James locked the door. "Spill," he ordered.

"I…"

"This won't do any good," Lily observed. She took his bag from him and rummaged inside, pulling out an indigo notebook.

James took it from her and read, "'March thirty-first. LilClothes. Lily Evans. Ten purple jackets. April fourteenth. LilClothes. Lily Evans. Two baskets of sweaters. April twenty-fourth. LilClothes. Lily Evans. Four hangers worth of thick green jackets.'" His eyes widened. Something about these dates were familiar. He flipped through the notebook until he caught something.

Bernie Bartleby.

He dropped the notebook. "No way," he whispered. "This can't be."

"What?" Lily asked, sounding worried. She walked over to him. "Bernie Bartleby. Is that him?"

"Yeah." James turned to him. "The jacket thief."

Lily looked confused, obviously, but she didn't say anything.

"Why are you here?" James demanded. "Why are you trying to injure - or kill - Lily Evans? Has she done anything to you?"

"No, nothing."

"Then why are you here?"

"I…"

James looked at him and pulled out his wand. "Does this mean anything to you?"

He blinked. "A stick?" he asked, sounding genuine. He truly didn't know, James deduced.

"Never mind." James shoved the stick back into his bag. A Muggle had nothing to do with this. He was just a servant. A robot. A pawn on the chessboard. "Who sent you?"

"Sent me? Nobody sent me."

"Okay. So let's call the cops and tell them you came up with the idea of trying to kill Lily, yeah?" James said. "I love the idea."

"I… No! Somebody sent me! Somebody sent me!"

James smirked. "Who?"

He took a deep breath, then let it out. "Llyr Butler."

Thoughts were spinning wild in James's head. Llyr Butler. Who the heck was Llyr Butler?

"Llyr Butler," whispered Lily. James whirled around. She knew him? "He sent you?"

Bernie nodded, looking terrified. "He'll kill me. I gave him away."

"What did he send you to do?" Lily asked, a blush creeping up on her cheeks. James frowned at her, wondering why. She looked like she'd done something to Llyr Butler that made it impossible for him to be mad at him. She looked slightly embarrassed, too.

How did Lily know Llyr Butler?

More importantly, who the heck was Llyr Butler?

"He sent me to kidnap you back because you escaped last time," murmured Bernie.

"What?!" yelped James, looking back and forth from Bernie to Lily. "You were kidnapped?"

Lily grimaced. "Yeah. That's a story for later, though. Er, Bartleby, did-"

"Why were you kidnapped?" James asked. "When did that happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

Lily sighed, and told him the entire story.

"What did you do with Llyr Butler?" James asked.

Her eyes glinted, but she didn't say anything. She turned back to Bernie. "How long have you been working for Butler?"

"Around two weeks after your shop opened," he replied, looking horrified. "I'm going to die for telling you guys this-"

"Why did he hire you?" Lily interrupted. James smirked at her.

"So I could give him information on you," mumbled Bernie, covering his face.

"But he didn't want information on me… He wanted to kill Andrew Kuttle." Lily looked confused, and James felt the same way, like they had put all the puzzle pieces together, but didn't have the final picture.

"I don't know!" cried Bernie. "Let me go!"

"That's all we're going to get out of him, isn't it," murmured James. "It looks like he's being genuine. Do you have Veritaserum, though, to check?"

"No, but we can always…"

"Forget it." James ran his hands through his hair, like he did when he was irritated, frustrated, or super concentrated. "Okay, forget it. I don't think Bernie knows anything else. I'm going to go and get rid of him."

Lily's hands flew to her mouth in horror. "You mean, kill him?"

"No, of course not. I'm not a murderer. I need to cleanse his memories of this and alter them. He's been at a bakery this whole time." James grabbed Bernie by the hand and started dragging him out of the house before he felt Lily grab his arm. He turned around, and Lily's eyes were shining with fear.

"James," she whispered. "I'm scared. What does Llyr Butler want from me? Why is this happening in my shop? Please don't leave me here alone. I can't…"

James's frustration melted. He dropped Bernie Bartleby on the ground and walked to Lily, pulling her in for a hug. He patted her back gently. "It's okay, Lily, really. I understand. You just have to stay here. Don't open the door for anyone. Don't leave the house. Sit in a dark place, like a pantry. Keep your phone with you. I'll be back in a few minutes. Close all the windows, doors, and don't make a sound. Almost as if you're not in here. You don't know what danger's approaching you. We don't know a thing. So until we know more, just shut up and stay put."

Lily nodded, looking overwhelmed. James placed a super tiny kiss on the top of her head and then shot her a grin before he grabbed Bernie Bartleby.

"Come on, dude," he told him. "Time to go alter your memories."

A/N: Merlin, so much is happening! Any of you have any ideas what could possibly be happening? Why does Kuttle want information about Lily's shop? Could it be something more than information that he wants? Leave your thoughts in the reviews!

Thanks so much to all my amazing reviewers, followers, favorites, and readers! I feel like I say this wayy too much, but... I WRITE THIS FOR YOU! It means a lot that you guys enjoy.

A lot is coming up in the next chapter, so keep your eyes peeled! And don't forget to check our profile for a bunch of other stories, Jily and others! Feeling in the mood for a Holiday Special? Go check out Secret Santa, a super fluffy story, just for the holidays, just for you!