Disclaimer: see chapter 1 and 3

A/N: I'm back! Now this chapter's a bit longer than usual- since I'm afraid I might not be able to update for a week or two (I'm travelling) but, I assure you, I'll update as soon as I can!

Thanks for the reviews, everyone!! :) Love yah


EnJoy!
__________________________________________________________________________


Chapter 9 : The Astronomy Tower

"Oh sh*t I have to go to detention!" James cried, jumping out of his seat in the great hall. There were only a few people left in the greal hall, and James had made everyone jump by his sudden loud cry. McGonagall eyed him critically, as she disliked his use of language, but let him go after taking 5 points and scolding him.

James waved quickly at Remus, Sirius and Peter, and dashed off.

"I never saw James so eager to go to detention." Peter said.

"It's cause he's spending it with his dearest Lily." Sirius snickered. "In the Astronomy tower, with Lily..."

"Something's bound to happen there." Remus agreed.

"Oh James, I can't reach that spot. Why don't you lift me up?" Sirius said in a high pitched tone. "Oh Jamsie! Don't be so naughty! What if we get caught?" he continued, receiving snickers from Remus and a horrified glare from Peter.

"Don't worry Lily, baby, we won't get caught, why don't we make-out under my invisibility cloak?" Remus said in a deep voice, supposely James's.

"Okay!" Sirius squealed in a girly tone, holding Remus's shoulder and pretending to kiss him.
(A/n: I hate slash, but this just looks funny)

"You guys are sick," Peter remarked, looking as if he will really vomit on them. Remus and Sirius, on the other hand, were howling with laughter, while still pretending.

Alison and Maria came just in time to see Remus and Sirius in that position.

"REMUS LUPIN!!" Alison shrieked. Remus jumped away from Sirius. "Allie! Seriously, we weren't doing anything..."

Sirius found this utterly hilarious, and continued on howling with laughter, making Maria glare down at him.

"Didn't know you swing that way." Maria said smugly, arching an eyebrow at Sirius.

"I don't." Sirius answered quickly, assuring her.

 "They're just sick..." Peter muttered.   
 

  

"POTTER! LATE! 10 POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!" Prof. Durst barked, when James finally entered the Astronomy tower 1 minute 1 second late.

"Sorry Professor." James mumbled. Lily was already there, she was standing on the other side of Durst, shutting her mouth. James cast a quick glance at her, and realized that she had been staring at him ever since he came in.

James gave her a smile, which made Lily blush and turn away.

"The walls are very dirty," Durst continued. "It needs to be re-painted, and it is your job to do so." He said, nodding at Lily and James. He conjured some paint and the other tools.

"I have some, er, errands to do. When you two are done, look for Flich." Durst said, nodding. James noted that he looked somewhat... nicer, tonight. His hair was carefully slicked back and he wore a nice set of robes. Durst then left, passing James, leaving a horrible smell stinging his nose.

James took the tools and handed one to Lily quietly. She took it and began her work, sitting on a high ladder.

The two of them work quietly for a while, until Lily cleared her throat.

"Could you get the paint here?"

"Uh, sure." James said, dragging the paint to her side. Lily hopped down from the ladder and took the paint.

"Is Durst going on a date tonight?" James blurted, trying to start a conversation. He hated how Lily and him could never really engage in a proper conversation, it was usually very awkward or very barbaric.

"I.. I think so," Lily said softly, managing a grin. "I mean, he looks... nice."

"And, his smell..." James added, shaking his head. "He's definately going on a date."

"I can't believe he's going on a date... I mean, him!"

"Neither could I," James said rather softly, looking straight into her eyes.

Lily couldn't help but stare back, once again forgetting where she was, who she was. She felt her knees buckle and she felt lighter, James had that effect on her.

Lily knew James was going to take advantage of this moment, she knew him too well. She hurriedly turned her back to him and picked up her large paintbrush.

James stood there, watching her back as she began busying herself. He was this close to kissing her again.

"Er, James?"

James looked up, but Lily still had her back turned to him. She had called him James, not Potter, but James. For the second time in her life, she called him James. James himself recalled the bad incident when she first called him by his proper name.

"Yes, Lily?" He asked, rather breathlessly. He was waiting for her to turn around again, waiting to meet that pair of green eyes once again.

"Thanks for returning my notebook,"

James did a double-take. He never thought she would thank him for that. Lily still had her back to him, holding her paint brush. "You're welcome."

"And," Lily continued, finally turning around, meeting James's gaze. "The poem was lovely."

James instantly blushed. "I-I'm glad you l-li-liked it,"

Lily smiled, her gaze towards James softening. James took a deep breath, enjoying the beauty in front of him. He slowly leaned forward, capturing her lips in a soft kiss.

Lily returned his kiss, slunging her arms around his neck. He deepen the kiss, snaking his arms around her small waist. He made her knees wobble, he made her feel weak. Lily had the same effect on him, as his mind only had her in it for that time.

James breathed heavily, mumbling against her lips, "Lily, I-"

"Sshh..." She whispered.

James obeyed and continued caressing her soft lips with his own, his thumb slowly caressing her left cheek.

They continued on like that for quite a while, pouring all their feelings into that passionate kiss, until Lily quickly pulled away.

"What's wrong?" James managed to ask.

Lily had her head down, she was shaking her head. "This... This is wrong..."

"What? But-"

"I'm sorry James, Oh God, I'm so sorry, this shouldn't of happened again.." Lily ranted.

"Lily, it's okay- Lily, just listen to me, Lil-"

"I-I think I need some more time, ..." Lily stammered, dashing out the Astronomy Tower in tears.

"Lily!" James called out, but no luck, she was gone.





Lily hid her face under the pillow of her four-post bed, sobbing.
 
"Lily, are you okay?" Maria asked softly.

"Remus and Sirius said you came in, crying." Alison said, touching her hair. "Lily?"

Lily sniffed, pulling her face from below the pillow. Her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks were tear-staind.

"Oh my god, Lily, what happened? Did something happen during detention? Was James being his horrible self again?" Alison exclaimed, slowly rubbing Lily's back.

That made Lily burst into another set of fresh tears.

"James did something, didn't he? Oh my god, what did he do now? That b*st*rd," Maria whispered.

"If Brian knew, he'll beat him up, for sure." Alison nodded, assuring her. "Don't worry, that's what brothers are for."

"NO!" Lily wailed.

"No what?" Maria asked, confused. "James did something horrible, didn't he?"

"No," Lily croaked. She rubbed her eyes, and sniffed again. Maria and Alison both looked at her expectingly, and Lily took a deep breath.

"Um, you guys know the saying, 'Is there love without hate'?" Lily asked cautiously. Maria and Alison looked flabbergasted.

"You mean, you-you-you..." Maria repeated.

"You... DID IT? REALLY? You did it?" Alison cried.

"What?" Lily asked, arching an eyebrow. "Okay, I did something but it's not it."

"Something happened when you guys had detention?" Alison asked.

Lily looked down at her pillow. "Yeah... we, er- we... uh, ..."

Maria's eyes widen, and her mouth formed a perfect 'o'. "KISSED?"

Lily silently nodded.

Alison and Maria stared at her, not believing their ears. It was Lily's turn now to look at them expectingly, clutching on her pillow.

"NO WAY!" Alison exclaimed, breaking the ice. "We're gonna be FAMILY!"

"W-wait.... WHAT?" Lily cried. "We just kissed, it's not like we're marrying each other."

"But it's a start!" Alison said gleefully, jumping on Lily's bed. Maria threw a pillow at her.

"Wait a minute here, slooooooowww down." Maria said, taking a deep breath. "You two were in the astronomy tower serving detention, am I correct?"

"Yes." Lily answered.

"You guys kissed,"

"Yes,"

"Did he kiss you first or did you kiss him first?"

"Um, he did, just like last time."

"And you li- WHAT? You mean it's not just tonight?" Maria asked.

Alison looked at Lily excitedly, waiting for her response. Lily, on the other hand, was blushing into an incredible shade of red.

"Long story..." Lily replied.

"We've got all night!" Alison said, jumping up and down again. "Lily and James! Lily and James! Lily and James Potter! Mr. & Mrs. James Potter! Mrs. Lily Potter!" Alison said happily.


Lily chucked her with a pillow. "Shut up Allie. He doesn't like me."

"Yes he does!" Maria answered immediately. Alison's jaw dropped, and she continued her chant.

Lily turned darker than her hair. "No, he doesn't!"

"Well, he likes you, you like him, perfect match!" Maria said, grinning.

"I do not like him!" Lily hissed.

"Then why did you guys kiss? He kissed you and you kissed him back!" Alison cried.

Lily looked down, unsure what to say. She was sure that she did feel something for James. It was just weird how everything's going so fast.

Maria and Alison exploded into squeals.

"Oh my god! You do like him! OH MY GOD! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!" Maria squealed.

"Lily! We're family now! FAMILY!" Alison cried.

Lily looked at both of them, a horrified expression pasted on her delicate face. She calmed the two nutters down, and took a deep breath.

"Okay... I... do like him, but it doesn't mean he does, and he won't, anyway, since this is the 2nd time I ran away after he kissed me."

Maria patted her back, smiling assuringly. "Don't worry Lil, he does like you. Right, A.J?" Alison nodded in response.

"Oh, yeah, right," Lily muttered sarcastically. "Where did you guys get that from, Malfoy?"

"No, it's true! And not from Malfoy," Alison said. "But we overheard a conversation..."

"The Marauders." Maria said, cutting in. "We overheard them."

"Well," Lily said, biting her lip. "I told him I needed to think about it first. Oh god, this is confusing."

Alison put an arm around her. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"Yeah," Maria nodded. "You'll figure this out, you and James will go on your first date, then you'll go steady, then he'll propose to you, then you'll get married and have a baby boy, then-"

"That's a bit too much, Mars," Lily said dryly. "By the way, I want a baby girl."






James slowly dragged his feet to the portrait of the fat lady. It was past midnight, and James had finished serving detention, alone. He had covered up for Lily, saying to Flich that Lily had a stomach ache. Apparently the fat lady was fast asleep.

"Ehem," James said, clearing his throat. The fat lady continued to doze off. "Uh, Hello?"

"Uh? Yes, password?" The fat lady croaked drowsily.

"Majeu," James said promptly. (A/n: Mel, Ri! haha, 'langkah tegap majeeeuuuuuuu...'- Ehem, sorry, inside joke) The fat lady swung open and let James crawl through the portrait hole.

The common room was deserted, everyone was probably at bed already, except for Sirius who was sitting by the fire.

"Prongs, there you are! I've been waiting for you, where have you been?" Sirius said in a hoarse whisper. James looked at him expectingly.

"What, you knew I had detention." James shrugged.

"Prongs," Sirius started, giving him a warning look. "You are a dead man."

"What? What did I do?"

"Gee, I wonder." Sirius said sarcastically. "Lily ran into the common room in tears, a few hours after she left for detention with you."

"Oh,"

"James, what did you do to her? Brian caught a glimpse of her- and he's hunting you down."

"But I-" James started. Brian Evans, who was notorious for overprotecting his sister Lily. When guys like her, he'd do his best to chase them off. It was a rather hard job to do, since Lily was quite popular among the boys, but he usually managed to do it. And now he was hunting down James. "I didn't do anything..."

"Then why was she crying, James?" Sirius asked. "Logically, we thought you did something to her because the timing was perfect- she should've been at detention with you."

James looked down at his shoes, unsure what to say. Should he just tell Sirius? Sirius was his best friend, his brother, James usually never kept any secrets away from him.

"Sirius," James whispered. "I think you need to sit down for this."

Sirius sat down on the nearest cushion, looking unexpectedly at James.

"You know, ever since 2nd year you all thought it was funny to tease about me and... and... Lily?"

"James, you called her by her first name." Sirius gawked.

"Yes, I did. Well, you know how everyone thinks I like Lily, right?"

"Yeah, of course. The girls who like you are all jealous of her." Sirius nodded. "They think you spend more time playing pranks on her than with your current girlfriends."

Deep down inside, Sirius knew where this was coming. He knew James would confess how much he secretly likes Lily. Sirius has been waiting for this moment ever since 2nd year! He knew James was going to tell him that, he just knew it.

"Well, I do." James admitted. "Do you know why?"

"Cause you like her alot!!" Sirius blurted out.

James looked truly surprise. "Y-you... k-kn-knew... all along?"

Sirius took a deep breath and gave James a pointy look. "Yes, I did. So did Remus and Peter. We're not stupid. Okay, maybe Peter is, but not Remus and I." Sirius grinned, then his expression became sober again. "It hurts to know that my best friend didn't tell me something like this. James, we tell each other everything."

James looked down, and nodded. "I'm sorry Padfoot." He said sincerely.

"No sweat," Sirius replied. "Just tell me straight away next time, alright?" James nodded in response, and Sirius continued, "So, tell me more about you and Lily..."

James grinned and proceeded to talk about the events leading him to this feeling.






"LILYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Lily woke up with a start, rubbing her eyes. Supposedly the whole dorm also woke up by just hearing the loud holler of Brian Evans.

In a matter of seconds, Brian barged into the girl's dorm, and trooped immediately to Lily's bed. A few girls who wore very little under their blankets shrieked, but Brian paid no attention  to them.

"God, Brian," Lily groaned. "Why can't you be a daysleeper like usual and not wake us up at 6 am?"

"You should be awake anyway!" Brian argued. "It's a school day, you shouldn't be late, especially since you're a prefect, you should set good examples-"

"Hold up, hold up... am I hearing right? Did Brian Evans just say that I should be awake at 6 am and-"

"Yes, I did. I couldn't sleep anyway, you worried me the whole night!"

"What? Why should you be worried about?" Lily grumbled. She was still not delighted by the fact that her older brother barged into her dorm room at 6am, yelling at her.

"What happened with James last night, Lily? Tell me so I can beat his sorry as*!"

Lily was dumbfounded. Brian knew something happened? Oh no! This was horrible! Now Lily will never have a chance with James! Brian would probably send James to the Hospital wing, and James wouldn't remember Lily afterwards, until he fully gained his memory!

There were a few gasps followed by Brian's loud remark. Apparantly the other girls in the dorm had overheard it.

"Brian," Lily hissed. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

"Lily, I'm going to beat the s**t 'outta Potter, if that's the last thing I do!" Brian shouted, storming out the room, leaving Lily speechless.

Typical of Brian to do so. He'd usually chase away the guys she liked, hex the guys who tease her, and send the guys who dared to kiss her to the hospital wing.

"Lily?" A soft voice called out from Alison's bed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just hate my brother."





"Yeah, it's true. Of course they are going out..." A group of Hufflepuffs whispered as James passed by. "Oh, Hi James!!" They chorused angelically.

James nodded, wondering who they were talking about.

"Lily and him... I think they've been keeping it from everyone all these years..."

James frowned. Lily? Lily and who? Were they talking about Lily Evans? Well, there isn't any other Lilys in Hogwarts...

"I knew it. I knew he had always had something in for her. I mean, when we were going out, he'd spend more time playing pranks on her than hanging with me..."

James watched as a Ravenclaw talked with her other friends, hand on hips. James noted he had once dated her, last year... Had someone else dated her too? This someone who now has something with Lily?

"Potter!" A group of Ravenclaw 5th year boys said, approaching him. "How come you never told us?" One, named Greg asked, rather baffled.

"Huh?" James asked stupidly.

"You are one lucky lad." Greg sighed, his other friends joining into his sighing.

"What?"

"You becareful, I heard some Hufflepuffs were really upset." Greg said. "Especially Ian Kirk, he's been trying to get your girl all year..."

James looked at them, frowning. "What are you guys talking about?"

"You don't have to pretend to be so modest, Potter." Greg said, shaking his head. "Well, We'll see you around."

James stared quizzically at Greg and his friends, who had already left.

"Prongs!" Remus called, running over to him.

"Moony! OH great, is there a new rumour or something I didn't catch on? Something about Lil-er, Evans?"

"Er..." Remus started. "James, I think you should sit down..."


- - - -

"Oh Potter, you rotter,
 You think Lily's getting hotter,

 But you ain't gonne date her,
 Before her brother gets a piece of ya'!"

James glared as Peeves passed by him, grinning and cackling in his evil manner.

"That was interesting, don't you think?" Remus joked.

James buried his face in his hands. "Brian's out to kill me!"

"No shit, sherlock." Remus said, rolling his eyes. "Rumours are going around about you and Lily having a secret meeting almost every night."

"But, we aren't-"

"You don't have to worry." Remus replied. "If you say all of these are lies, then lies they are. Unless.. Unless there's something behind this-"

"NO, OF COURSE NOT!" James practically yelled.

Remus grinned. Typical. James would never admit he liked Lily. But Remus got the idea that James actually liked all these rumours going around about him.

"POTTER!" James moaned again and turned to the talker. Lucius Malfoy and his Slytherin cronies were staring stonily at him.

"Let me talk to him, Lucius." Dennis Avery said, glaring at James. Malfoy and the other Slytherins left. "I always knew you liked her."

"So?"

"So," Avery spat. "I thought I told you to back off, and you agreed."

"I didn't agree to do anything," James hissed.

"You're enjoying these rumours, aren't you Potter?"

"Well, All I know is that you aren't,"

Avery gave him a stony glare, his fist clenched. "Potter, I'm ordering you. Back off, she's mine."

"She wouldn't want you anyway, Avery." James shrugged. "And you're friends have a reputation to hate her, don't they? Won't you be a disgrace to them?"

Apparently Avery had never thought about that. He had a strucked look on his face, all the while still glaring at James. He then turned his body and stalked away.

Remus sighed. "Very noble, James."

James shrugged.


Lily ran passed the Great Hall, all the way up to the library.

Peeves had been repeating his joyful chant all morning, Brian was in killing mode, tracking down James, yelling at people asking where he was. James's infamous fanclub had been trailing behind her, whispering and spying on her every move. Even the Professors had detected something going on, but said no word about it.

Lily had been avoiding James all morning, worried that she would have to witness Brian's *barbaric* actions towards him, worried that the Hufflepuffs would giggle louder if she talked to him.

She pushed open the Library doors, walking fastily towards her favorite corner.

Lily was quite surprise to find Olivia sitting there studying, but all the while she was glad to find her there. Lily practically ran to her, and plopped down into the seat next to her.

"OLIVIA!" Lily cried, recieving looks of annoyance from Mdm. Pince, the Librarian.

Olivia looked up from her book and smiled. "Lily, what's up?" She whispered.

"Livi... I'm doomed, I'M DOOMED!" Lily whispered dramatically. (A/N: hah!)

Olivia closed her book and gave Lily a curious look. "You want to talk about it?"

"Yeah," Lily whimpered.

- - -

"I heard the rumours too, but I wasn't sure about it, cause it wasn't actually the first time people have been talking about you and James." Olivia said, smiling.

Lily and Olivia had went out from the Library just half-way through their important conversation, right after Mdm. Pince had told them off. They were now walking along the deserted corriders, talking in a hush whisper.

"Brian's going to kill him! Seriously! It's all my fault!" Lily cried. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I REALLY LIKE HIM!"

"Told you so," Olivia said, smirking. "But, I don't think Brian would do much. He just says he'll beat them up. Mostly boys are afraid of him because he's famous for being so overprotective, and they run away from him."

"Really?" Lily asked. "But... James is different. He's not like those Hufflepuffs. He's a gryffindor."

"I personally think James will stand up for himself, you know, cause word on the street is that he's courageous and all that. He probably is, but, that's what I'm afraid of..."

"Livi! Brian's going to kill him!!" Lily cried again. Olivia snorted.

"Don't be such a drama queen, Lil. He'll be fine. I'll talk some sense into Brian. Maybe Eric* could help, too."


__________________________________________________________________________

*Eric, as in Eric Johnson, Alison's older brother, Brian and Olivia's friend. Alison is somewhat like Ginny Weasley. Alison has about 6 older brothers, and all are very protective towards her, and they finally loosen up after Alison dated Remus Lupin.


A/N: I can't say anything else, JUST REVIEW!! :) I'd like to see um.. 170 reviews? hehe...
        Love yah people... hope y'all liked this chapter! Well review, I'd like to hear what you guys think! ^^+ AighT? (Flames accepted... but... don't be too harsh on me... I come out as a softy hehe...)

P.S: My obsessed D/G friend found a site full of Draco/Ginny fanart and fanfics, and I was tempted to search for a MWPP/Lily archive site, but couldn't find any! Does anybody know any sites? (Hopefully it's not in geocities, cause I can't view any geocities sites!)

++sCHEm

 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
\/ Click this button!