*Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain*
By Dorthey Star
James walked in a circle around the 7th year boys' dorm. Sirius, Remus, Peter and Frank Longbottom were all down at dinner. For once, James wasn't hungry.
'Maybe I'm coming down with something,' James thought hopefully. He grinned at the thought that all his problems could be blamed on an illness. He flopped onto his bed and drifted off into dreamless sleep.
Lily glanced around the Commonroom. James Potter, her worst enemy, wasn't there and she hadn't seen him since Potions Class, not that she cared. Maria shook Lily.
'Lily, I asked you a question,' she said.
'Huh? Wha?' Lily mumbled.
'I said, I asked you a question, but you were obviously thinking about James,' Maria laughed. She had to duck to avoid a pillow that Lily threw at her. True, she had been thinking about James, but her so-called friends were not to know that.
'I was not thinking about Potter. What did you ask me?' Lily said grumpily. She was tired of her alleged friends accusing her of being head-over-heels for James.
'Oh really?' said Maria mischievously, 'Then what were you thinking about, Lil?'
'Potions Class,' Lily lied, slamming her books down, 'and leave me alone!' she thundered up to her dorm and plopped down on her bed.
James heard someone coming up the stairs. If he had not been half asleep, James would have known that it was Sirius coming.
'Jamsie! Oh, Jamsie!' Sirius sang playfully.
'Wha?' James asked sleepily. He had been having a wonderful dream, though he couldn't remember it.
'Where were you at dinner? Up here dreaming about Miss Evans?' Sirius giggled. James groped for something to throw at him. He grabbed the nearest thing and threw it. It happened to be to be his Transfiguration Book. Only the thickest of their text books.
'Ow,' Sirius said and rubbed his head.
'Serves you right for making such false accusations. Now, leave me alone and let me sleep, Padfoot,' James yawned drifting back of to sleep. Soon, his snores filled the dorm.
Lily made her way down to breakfast. She was running late. Today had not started of to a good day. When she woke up, she found that it was going to be a bad hair day, nothing that a little magic couldn't cure. Then she forgot the spell that Sukie had taught her. She thought she remembered it, only to find out that it was the spell she had used to turn James' hair bright blue. She reversed it, but it had left faint blue streaks. She had searched for almost ten minutes, finally finding a rubber band. Then her shoes had gone missing. Now she was late for breakfast. Lily took a deep breath before entering the Great Hall. For the most part, people didn't notice the blue streaks. The people who did notice, however, laughed loud enough to catch a lot of people's attention. Lily looked at the ground and hurried to the Gryffindor Table and took her seat next to Maria.
'Hey Miss Evans! What happened to your hair?' Sirius giggled. 'Thinking about Jamsie, were you?' Lily threw a spoonful of oatmeal at him, then started to eat a piece of toast.
'Lily, what did happen to your hair?' Maria whispered. Lily glared at Maria, then turned back to her toast. When she was finished, she got up and headed off to Charms class.
'Lily, why aren't you talking to me?' Maria griped as they hurried down the corridor. Lily didn't say anything. When they got to the classroom she spoke.
'My voice,' Lily simply said hoarsely
'Ah,' Maria said as the lesson started.
All throughout the day, Lily kept getting taunts about her hair. James laughed along with the rest. It really was quiet funny. The blue stuck out easily in her dark red hair.
'Prongs, are you thinking about Lily again?' Sirius giggled as James was sitting, staring at his Crystal Ball in Divination.
'No, Padfoot,' James sighed tiredly. He was thankful when the bell rang for the day. He headed sleepily down to the Great Hall.
'Jamsie, what's wrong?' Sirius teased as they sat down.
'Nothing,' James said grumpily as he pilled spaghetti onto his plate.
'Aw, did Miss Evans turn you down for a date again Prongs?' Sirius teased. James got up and left, leaving half his dinner on the table.
Lily watched James as he left. She glared at all who were looking at her, then went back to her spaghetti.
'Lily, is your voice back yet? Its getting boring with only Jessica to talk to!' Maria moaned softly.
'No,' Lily said croakily. She left her own dinner and trudged back to the Commonroom. Inside, James was sitting by the fire, staring into it. Lily took a seat, with her Charms book, in the chair next to his. She began looking for a counter spell for the blue hair. They did not speak to each other, though they sat in a relaxed silence. James continued to stare at the fire and not speak. Finally, Lily got tired of sitting in the silence and she threw down her book. James slowly turned to see what she had done. Lily pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her kneecaps.
'You realize that we're going to leave Hogwarts in about five or six months for good?' James slowly spoke.
'I hadn't thought of that,' Lily said in her gruff voice.
'Then I'll really have to figure out with to do with my life,' James sighed.
'Yeah, and I'll have to go back to live with my parents until I find a place of my own. I'll have to live in the Muggle world…' Lily said raucously.
'Poor you,' James laughed. An owl flew over to the window. Lily crossed from the warmth of the fire to let it in. The owl dropped a letter in Lily's hand, then flew out the window once again. She slowly opened it up and read the letter as she crossed back to her chair.
'Oh my…oh my…' Lily said faintly. The letter fluttered from her hand to the floor.
'What's wrong?' James asked her worriedly.
'My parents and Daisy,' Lily said on the brink of tears, 'were killed by Voldemort.'
'Well, I guess you won't be living with them…what about your other sister…Petunia wasn't it?' James asked as the tears came rolling down her cheeks.
'She lived. I have to stay with her. Do not even joke about that James Potter. You don't know what it feels like! Daisy was so special to me. She-she was going to start Hogwarts soon. I knew it. I saw the magic she did,' Lily sobbed, her voice back. James sat down on the edge of her seat and put his arms around her.
'I'm sorry. And yes, I do know. My older brother, Daniel. He graduated from Hogwarts a year or two before we came and was killed last year. He and I were very close,' James said. Lily pulled away from him and ran up to her dorm. Once in there she cried herself to sleep.
James watched Lily run up to her dorm, then he turned back to the fire, settling in Lily's chair. He thought about Daniel. He felt like crying, but at that moment, Sirius came bouncing in.
'Padfoot,' James said wearily, 'do you always have to be so cheerful?'
'Only when you and Lily could have been-' Sirius was cut off by a silencing charm being thrown at him from James.
'Since when were you good at Charms?' Maria who had just walked in when James had sent the charm asked.
'Since always. I'm the best at everything,' James said, trying to act cheerful.
'Where's Lily?' Maria asked, ignoring Sirius's attempts to get one of them to take the charm off.
'Her dorm. She got this a few minutes ago,' James said and handed her the letter. After Maria read it, she hurried up to the dorm.
'Sirius, I will not take that charm off you tonight. Padfoot, you'd be more use asleep right now,' James said with his back toward Sirius who dejectedly went up to his dorm. Maria came back down.
'She wants you, James,' Maria said with a strange look on her face.
'Huh? Why?' James asked, truly surprised
'I don't know. She just wants to see you. She keeps asking for you. If any of us girls are going to get any sleep tonight, you'd better go up there.'
'Why can't she just come down here?' James asked, thinking about all the charms that she knew that he would hate to get.
'Just go!' Maria said and James headed up the stairs.
Lily sat in the middle of her bed waiting for James. She knew what she had to do. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Finally, James came in and shut the door behind him.
'Maria said that you were unremittingly asking for me,' James said as he sat on Jessica's bed.
'Yeah, I have. I'm really sorry about your brother, and saying that you didn't know what it was like. I guess it just came as a huge shock to me. I mean, why would they be targeted?'
'I dunno,' James said, looking around the room. This wasn't the first time he'd been in there, but it was the first time that he could see anything.
'James, why do you hate me?' Lily threw that question at an unsuspecting James.
"W-what? I don't hate you,' James said, a slight blush creeping up onto his face. Lily smiled at it.
'Potter, you're blushing,' she laughed.
'Really,' James said, praying that it would go away.
'You don't hate me?' Lily asked.
'No. But why do you hate me?' James said.
'I don't remember. Haven't for years in fact,' Lily smiled.
'Then why do we go on hating each other?' James asked frowning slightly.
'I'm not sure. But I realized today that I don't have much to lose, so I'm going to be totally honest with you for once if you'll be honest with me,' Lily said taking a deep breath.
'Alright, I will. I'll start. That blue hair does not suit you,' James said, with a solemn look on his face. Lily groaned. She laid back and put a pillow over her face.
'Maybe this won't work. Just go, Potter,' Lily said in a slightly muffled voice.
'No, what did you want to say? I'm just teasing you, Miss Evans,' James said, not moving from where he was. Lily said something. She was pressing the pillow harder over her face, so James could only just understand it.
'What was that? Did I hear correctly? You love me?' James asked astonished. Lily nodded weakly. James laughed.
'What's funny?' Lily demanded, sitting up. Her face was now thoroughly red. James moved from Jessica's bed to Lily's bed put his arm across her shoulders.
'Nothing except for the fact that Sirius has been right about us for years!' James said looking into Lily's beautiful green eyes.
'You mean, you like me too?' Lily squealed.
'Yes Lily,' James said. He pulled Lily into his arms and kissed her. Finally, they separated.
'Oh, what are they going to say?' Lily chuckled and cuddled closer to James.
'It only took them seven years, I guess Sirius will say something to that affect,' James said resting his chin on her head. James gently lay back on the bed.
'I love you, James,' Lily said sleepily.
'I love ya, too, Lily,' James yawned. And they slept.
Disclaimer:
Author's note: this only took Amanda FOREVER to beta read J that's ok, though. Ok, its just a little something I wrote while I have- had- a writers block (which is finally gone and I finally have added to Lily Evans! Yay!). Well, R/R…
Love, Lemonade, and Girl Scout cookies to all and sundry,
~*Dorthey Star*~
