I'VE GOT A FEELING

"James! Get to the basement!" Mrs. Potter's voice echoed through the halls as spells fired this way and that. Explosions rained down over the mansion and Sirius and James ran through the corridor, dodging falling trinkets and bricks. They heard the cackling laugh of Bellatrix Lestrange and the growls of Fenrir Greyback. Red and green lights flashed and James' heart stopped when he heard his mother scream.

"Dad! Dad won't be home for another hour!" James shouted to Sirius. Sirius nodded, trying to keep a brave face. James could see the cracks in his façade, however, and gripped his hand tightly.

Mrs. Potter's scream rang out and her sons followed them to the ballroom, where she laid writhing under the Cruciatus curse that streamed from that cowardly Rodolphus Lestrange's wand.

"No!" Sirius shouted, jerking his wand. "Stupefy!" He screamed and Rodolphus dropped his curse, using a protection charm. This gave James enough time to run to his mother and scoop her from the ground. She was limp in his arms and he ran from the room, depositing her in a closet not far off.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, Mum, I swear," James said. He wouldn't cry, he promised himself. Not while she can see him.

"James, you need to run. Get out of here," Mrs. Potter said weakly. She dissolved into a fit of coughs and sweat broke out on her forehead.

"No. No. I'm sending a Patronus to Dad right now. We're going to get you help." James looked down on his mother. She once looked so strong and beautiful, but now she looked sorrowful and weak, like she knew she was going to die.

"James-" She smiled tiredly.

"No! No, don't go there. I have to go help Sirius, Mum. I love you." He turned and ran back to the ballroom where Sirius fought off Rodolphus slowly. The boy was struggling, that was clear, but the look of pure anger and determination on his face was enough to keep him standing.

"Confringo!" James shouted, and Rodolphus shot back against the wall, which cracked beneath him.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius finished Lestrange off just as a stunning spell hit him in the back. Bellatrix cackled evilly, ignoring her husband lying frozen on the ground.

Bellatrix flung curses left and right and James shot back, but he wasn't well-versed in dueling. He shot useless curses like hair loss and boil jinxes at her, but she easily dodged each one.

Sirius laid groaning on the other side and James wanted to scream at him to be quiet, but he couldn't. Sweat crowned his forehead as he was backed against the wall further and further. Bellatrix grinned and laughed.

"We've come to kill you, James Potter!" She screeched. "Submit to the Dark Lord or prepare to die!" Her robes swung around her as she whipped her wand about wildly. She was talented, James had to give her that, but the way she fought was unlike anything he had ever seen. She was insane and had no regard for her own safety as she twirled and danced. Lightning crashed around her and James dropped his guard.

"Crucio!" She screamed, directing her wand at him. It hit James just above his heart and he cried out, crumbling to the ground.

In fourth year, James had heard that the only way you could cast an Unforgivable Curse was if you really, truly meant it. He wondered what he had done to make Bellatrix Lestrange hate him so much that she could cast a Cruciatus on him. He wondered how long it would be until his father arrived. He wondered if his mother was okay. He wondered if he would see Lily ever again. He wondered why it hurt so bloody much.

His vision turned white and he couldn't hear anything but his thoughts racing through his brain a million miles a minute. Pain radiated from his shoulder and he screamed until his voice turned hoarse.

The last thing he remembered was his father's voice and the cackling of Bellatrix Lestrange fading away.

James awoke in a room in St. Mungo's. As his vision cleared, he noticed several bouquets of flowers on his windowsill and a large box of chocolates on his nightstand. It was dark in the room, but he could just make out a line of wrappers that trailed from the box to a pile of sleeping boys on the other side of the room.

James chuckled softly, but immediately regretted it. He groaned and sat up, regretting that too. Remus heard him and started awake, shaking the other two boys awake too.

"Prongs!" He shouted, throwing himself onto the bed. Sirius and Peter landed beside him and James tried not to cry out in pain.

"Eh, mates, I believe I'm still broken a bit, could you ease off?" He weased.

"Oh! Right, sorry, mate!" Sirius said, and they all stood up.

"How are you feeling?" Peter asked, nibbling on a cockroach cluster.

"Like hell," James coughed and Remus handed him a cup of water.

"I'm so sorry, Prongs. It's all my fault," Sirius said guiltily. He had only ever looked so sorrowful after he had tricked Sirius into following Remus into the Shrieking Shack.

"No, Padfoot, it's not. You were tired and there was no way you would've known Bellatrix was there. It's not your fault, you tried your hardest."

"What happened?" Peter asked curiously. The cockroach cluster was gone and a chocolate frog had replaced it.

"I don't know… one moment everything was fine… and then… I don't remember. It's kind of blank…" James trailed off.

"Yes. Didn't you know that memory loss is a common side-effect of the Cruciatus curse?" An angry voice came from the doorway and the boys looked up.

There, dressed in her pajamas and James' Quidditch jacket, stood Lily Evans. Her hair was falling out of its braid and it fell over her brow and her green eyes were narrowed. She looked absolutely gorgeous and… livid.

"Hey, Evans. Fancy seeing you here?" James tried weakly. She closed the distance between them in two wide steps and wrapped her arms around his neck. It was brief, but it told James so much more than words.

"You almost died!" She said sternly, and a tear escaped from her vividly emerald eyes. She swiped it away as quickly as it appeared and James probably wouldn't have even noticed it was there if he hadn't been staring so intently at her face. She looked beautiful, even though she had probably just gotten out of bed.

"But I didn't," James responded quietly, gazing up at her.

"But you could have!" She yelled and Remus whispered something to Sirius.

"We'll let you two talk it out… or snog it out, either way works," Sirius said, herding the boys to the door.

"Oh, no, Black!" Lily whirled around to face him. "You're not leaving yet! You could've died also! Can you imagine the pain that would've caused Marlene?! God, I put up with too much shit from you four! Sirius, you complete and absolute fool! If you could get your head out of your arse long enough, you'd see that Marlene has completely fallen for you and wants more than just a relationship based on shagging in broom closets! And Remus, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going on with you, but you never let anyone close enough to let them really see you! Stop distancing yourself from others because you think you're a monster and accept the fact that we love you and we want to be there for you! And Peter… Well, you haven't done anything wrong yet, but for Merlin's sake you have to stop letting everyone walk all over you! And you…" She faced James. "You selfish, barmy git! Why'd you have to go and be a good person?! Why'd you have to stop being an absolute prat?! Why'd you have to go and make me- fancy you?!"

The four boys stood in shock at her outburst until Sirius said, "That was hot."

"Shut up, Padfoot!" Remus whacked him on the arm and yanked them out of the room.

James sat there quietly. 'Dumbfounded' was not a word often used to describe James Potter, but in that moment, there was not a better suited word.

"I'm so sorry," Lily said, and another tear dripped from her eye. She didn't bother to wipe that one away, however.

"Why are you here, Lily?" James asked quietly.

"I'm here because at three in the morning Sirius Black showed up on my doorstep and told me that someone I l- cared for was in the hospital. So I came all the way here and waited in that waiting room for three hours until you woke up."

"Why did you want to meet?"

"I was going to tell you that I was sorry. That I was being selfish and I was scared. I was scared to- to… fall in love with you, James Potter, because you make me feel something I've never felt before. You make me feel alive and that scares me." She sat on the edge of his bed tentatively, picking at a button on her pajamas.

"I was going to tell you that I… I like you. And I don't want to stay away from you."

James sat up and reached for her hand. "Come here," He whispered, pulling her towards him.

She crawled up next to him and curled against his chest, her red hair falling over the bedcovers.

"I'm glad you came, Lily. Even though you yelled at me."

Lilt sniffled a bit. "I get it, if you're tired of fighting for me. Every time I let you get close I only end up pushing you further away and I understand if you're tired of that."

"Lily, I've fought for you for nearly seven years. If you think I'm giving up that easily then you don't know me at all." He laughed and brushed her hair away from her face. She smelled like flowers and he inhaled deeply, trying to remember that scent.

They laid there quietly for what seemed like decades until Lily broke the silence. "So what does this mean?"

"This means that I'm never letting you go," James whispered.

"Good," Lily responded. She tucked her head deeper into his shirt and closed her eyes. She wanted to remember this moment for forever and ever and ever. The moment she finally ceded to the famous James Potter.

Mrs. Potter could not wait to see her son. She hobbled down the corridor, holding her husband tightly with one arm and dressed in hospital robes. Mr. Potter, a tall, gangly man, much like his son, held her up, smiling down on her the entire time.

As they approached the room where their son was recovering, they noticed that the boys had disappeared. The lights were off inside, which was surprising. James had never liked sleeping in late and it was nearly ten a.m. now.

Mrs. Potter opened the door and peeked in, only to see a young redheaded girl curled around her son, holding tightly to his hand.

"You must be James' Lily," Mrs. Potter said softly, laughing under her breath. Here was the infamous Lily Evans, the girl her son had chased after for years and had never had any luck with. The one who had broken James' heart more times than Mrs. Potter could count, and she was sleeping soundly in his arms.

"I guess he finally caught his break," Mrs. Potter whispered to her husband, motioning to the young teenagers.

"Of course he did, he's my son," Mr. Potter said proudly.