3

It came as a highly unpleasant surprise to James that Lily had decided to seek refuge in the same location as he had. He seemed unaffected by that until he figured out that she was seeking Snape, not refuge from him. Did she delight in not paying any attention to him and making him feel like crap?

James pulled the hood of the cloak over his head once more. Here, it was his motif. The one with the hood pulled up would always be James Potter, and those who didn't know were obviously new to the business. Lily noticed him from across the room with a smug look on her face (A/N: Aah! The song! Just be glad I'm not putting any of Hybrid Theory in here (cackle)) and started dancing with Snape.

It was around three now, and a Friday (or Saturday) too. The pub was packed with muggles partying their brains out. With their pale make up and black lipstick, James could almost mistake them for his Vampire friends if he squinted really hard and looked from really far away. He stood up and removed his cloak, rushing into the sweaty crowd. There were a few of his Hogwarts friends love-biting each other, and he thought of Lily. He thought of Lily for one second, just before he thought of showing her and Snape up.

The nearest girl to him was really tall. A prostitute, most likely, he thought. There wasn't a difference between this place and a brothel at nights like these. He sighed, sounding very much like his grandfather, the Minister. The girl was a nice dancer. She swayed her hips to the rhythm and led James, not the other way around. There had only been Lily who had done that with him before.

"Calm it down," he told himself, and trying to separate her from the others, flipped the girl in his arms. She (Lily) was carrying on a conversation in a really intimate dancing position with Snape. He tried to read their lips and was surprised to see his name floating around. He must not have been a good lip-reader. 

"I just don't know Severus," she was telling him.

"Well," he replied, "I say you don't go for it Lily, he can only hurt you."

"Yeah, you're right, but I'm feel…empty without him." (Come on, you must know whom they are taking about by now)

"Strong, Independent Lily Evans can't live without a guy? What is the world coming to?" Snape joked painfully. He knew it had to be, and he was letting her go. He was letting her die, knowing that Voldemort feared their union and would definitely kill them. He knew Voldemort would definitely kill him.

Speaking of Voldemort…

The 80s music was blaring to the beat of the grooving dancers. James was working his girl to death, watching Lily and Snape from the corner of his eyes. All of a sudden, there was a scream, and the acoustic guitars took a break. The girl ran straight to Lily. James, noticing that she could possibly be in danger, ran over to her, ignoring his dancing partner's protests. As he got closer, he noticed that the little figure running toward her was none other than Bell Figg.

"Bell, what's wrong?"

"Sirius—"

"Yes, Bell, what's up?" The second inquiry was from James.

"Lily," Snape caught her attention. "I have to," he paused, "Go." A meaningful stare toward the window to her right. James looked, as did Lily, curious as to what he was hinting. Bell was wheezing now, and crying with desperation. She could get nothing out, but her companions noticed two figures dueling as the spring rain pounded on their backs. They ran out, fearing the worst.

"James,"

"Lily, its Sirius,"

"And Voldemort." They looked at each other with fear in their eyes. They found each other's hands, ready to face up to their worst enemy.

Sirius was doing his best shooting feeble curses at Voldemort while he sent back nothing but Unforgivables.

"Crucio," he cried, and Sirius fell on all fours, clutching his stomach in pain.

"Lily, James, get away! He won't kill me!!" he screamed between screams.

"What do you want?!" Lily shouted, infuriated. James laid a calming hand on her arm, attempting to disarm him.

Unfortunately, Voldemort tried to do the same thing. He tried a Meat-Cleaning Charm (Which was used by wizard butchers in the medieval times to clean out the insides and the blood) on James. It started working slowly at first, as he felt a strange pounding in his head and the need to throw up. His ears started bleeding profusely.

"Crucio," Sirius shouted at Voldemort. Lily looked at him in surprise. Voldemort was about to kill her with The Death Curse. She was ashamed that her friend would stoop so low when she saw two figures in hoods coming toward the Dark Lord. One had the traditional black robes on and one was…it was…it was none other than their Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Petrificus Dominus." Dumbledore's tone sounded almost conversational. It did not seem to match his own Merlin-esque figure. Voldemort cursed loudly, eyeing his teacher with fierce hate. The spell would strip Voldemort of his spell-casting powers for as long as he could go without defying it. This meant that the crew had only about fifteen minutes to get outside of a ten mile radius. They all ran to the Leaky Cauldron, which was within walking distance. They would have to get rooms there for now, it was too risky to go back to their flats.

"Knock, knock."

"Come in Bell."

"I sense a little tension between you two, what happened now?"

"Did Sirius put you up to this?"

"Yes. So?"  

"Impossible."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing is wrong, leave me alone." Lily knew her best friend would do nothing of the sort.

"I never knew Snape could be so…moral and humane." Bell sighed in resignation. Lily raised her brows in amusement.

"I just can't figure out your boyfriend, Lily." It looked like someone had a crush, as disgusting as that would sound to the boys (and to herself really).

"Why would you care darling?" she asked in a sing-song voice.

"Well I'm just curious, 'snot a crime you know!" Lily smiled, but her heart fell when she remembered the last time someone said the same thing to her. Did she really sound as accusing as they said? Bell began to go to her room. She was drowsy and was looking forward to sleeping in. The two were working the afternoon shift for Florean, and their next interview wasn't until Thursday.

Lily stretched stingily. This was not supposed to happen. Where was she letting her life go? This was what her mother had warned her about. She hadn't taken her dead mother's advice because she was a housewife, and she'd gotten married as soon as she fell in love with her father, right after college. She was stuck at home all of her short life. Lily did not want that under any circumstances. It was time for a nice cup of Dark Roast, as James would put it. Wouldn't anybody be upset if your loving boyfriend was the servant of the Dark Lord that was trying to kill you, while the person that they truly loved hated their guts? Maybe it was time for Lily to take up the smoking habit of her mother's. It kept her going? It may not be too late to take her advice after all. She was going crazy.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

James was thinking somewhere along the same lines. They seemed to be doing that, especially lately, thinking along the same lines.

The night covered the small motel and its gargantuan secrets as the mother would tuck in her child. The inhabitants slept peacefully protected from the vengeance of the Dark Lord's servants. Even if it was a moment in the fast-paced blurriness of their quick lives. For now, that moment would last forever, giving everyone a break for a change, keeping that flicker of hope alive.

"Lily?"

"Oh. It's you."

"There's no need to sound so depressed, Sirius kicked me out for Remus and his girlfriend. I have no will to be here, you know."

"Remus has a girlfriend?" James took her in queerly.

"Yeah, Angelina Combs, I would've thought you would be the first person he'd tell! You know he has a big crush on you." He took on a malicious expression. "He had a crush on you, but he figured out what a bitchy know-it-all you are."

"Why are you so mean to me?" Lily asked with amazing openness. The air became tense, and James was at certain loss. She changed the subject.

"Got a smoke?" The boy laughed.

"Since when do you smoke?" he asked with contemptuous amusement.

"Since now," replied Lily defensively. He threw his hands up.

"What?"

"Every time I say something, you automatically start defending yourself. What are you trying to avoid Lil?"

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?"

"What, Snape will get jealous?"

"For your kind information," she started to say, but James interrupted.

"Oh please!"

"What?!"

"Don't tell me you let grease-face dump you! Lily, you are a shame to all Gryffindors!"

"Humph!" ashamed to say anything and prove him right (which he was, except it was a mutual decision, but James wouldn't buy it, since he wanted to make her life miserable

"What, hrpfff?" James tried to imitate Lily's self-assured grunt, but failed miserably. His face was scrunched up, and one eye closed, and he sent a spray of spit in front of him. Lily broke into a chain of irrepressible (sp?) giggles.

"Huh—"

Lily was now coughing and giggling at the same time, holding her stomach, aching with lack of oxygen. James looked at her and followed her example. Soon, without knowing why, they clutched each other and laughed like the ten-year olds that they used to be at Hogwarts. They laughed like they used to when Lily and the Marauders stayed at the Potter's over the summer just to torture the Snapes and James' cousins. They laughed like they had just poisoned the lake during obstacle flying with the Slytherins so their face would break out like Steven Midgen in Hufflepuff. They laughed, bringing back so many scrapbook recollections that they stopped hastily, afraid of what was happening. They were suddenly conscious that their arms were enmeshed and they were leaning against each other for support. Not surprisingly (atleast to us) they did not let go, and broke the ultimate rule, and looked into each others' eyes.

Slowly, and voluntarily, they inched closer together, trying to keep their hearts from jumping out of their mouths at any moment. Both youngsters, now free of the guilty conscious that came from having significant others, were more willing to engage in precisely that that they had tried hardest to avoid. Animal instincts possessed them like the Devil, and once again, all pent up anger was released upon each other.

James pulled away from the kiss first, looking at her tenderly. She closed her eyes, as the hormones rushed to her brain, and she let one tear trail down her cheek. She was no virgin, and they hadn't even gotten that far with James, just a kiss (no tongues either!). Why was she feeling this way? If only his touch was enough to give her the pleasure tantamount to... Could she possibly be falling in love? No! Of course not! She had to stop this before he could hurt her any further. She had to stop it before she got too attached. She didn't want her mother's life. She wanted to rid herself of that large lump that was forming in her throat, the same lump that she got when her parents were killed in the snowstorm, the same lump that she got when Voldemort had gotten into Hogwarts. James' eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Hey, are you okay Lils'?" The girl was jerked into reality, and she felt Potter's hands around her.

"I told you not to call me that," she whispered. " I need some coffee."

"Hey wait— what'd I do?! I cannot understand her!" James ran off after her through the lobby as a chill ran through him when he remembered the incidents of the night. He could see the faint pink of dawn through the window and felt the familiar surge of anger for Voldemort.

***

"Crucio Familiario."

A dark, panting lump let out a strangled cry as the rocky ground dug into it's back. Waves crashed unto him as if it was a frail attempt of nature at protection. About twenty cloaked figures looked as if they had dissolved into the air. Lily felt a strange pain in the small of her back, as she too fell from the tall stool and the coffee mug broke at her feet. James carried her to the sofa in the lobby and as she dozed off into a fitful slumber, he sat in the opposite chair, watching her thrashing wildly with the nightmares. Six minutes past six, Lily fell asleep, finally under James' comforting arms.

***

A/N: Sorry; Don't say I didn't warn you about the mush! As always, this isn't proofread, 'cos no one cares anyway how correct it is; If it really bothers you that much that I don't know what spell-check is, why don't you review and tell me about your vexations? Believe me, I really care (atleast about my review count *maniacal laugh*). Anyways, even if it doesn't bother you, review? You'll have my eternal gratefullness, and when I get famous (which is very unlikely unless you review) I'll dedicate one of my books to you. OH, oh, oh, I forgot to thank Quack (once more, lol) my bestest (virtual) friend now, for reviewing so often and keeping my self-esteem at a healthy level (heh heh)

-Parsel