A/N: Sorry if I ended the last chapter in a bit of a weird spot! I'm not
going to begin exactly where I left off, I've decided, because it isn't
really necessary. To my reviewers: I love you all, thank you very very
much!
Parselmouth Majere- Lol, I know what you mean. When I was eleven I thought I knew everything...but I knew next to nothing! Thanks for reviewing- twice!
KoolKitty- Thanks! And I see that you've added chapter six to your story...I'll be reading it as soon as I'm finished with this.
phoenix6545- I agree. I like to torture him though. Thank you!
aznangelicgurl89- To tell you the truth, I started this story the end of March, and with not a clue where it was going. When I write chapters, I just start them off and write what come out off the top of my head. Like this chapter, I didn't even know that Lily was going to think they were moving fast until I wrote it. Sometimes it works well, but sometimes it doesn't. I'm so happy that you liked it! And you have to tell me when you post your story; I'd really like to read it! Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Rachel- Lol, I seem to do that a lot with stories I read. Wow, 3:40am! I haven't been up that late in awhile! Thanks a lot for your comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Jezebel- I hope this was quick enough! I don't want any yellow ducks to be hurt! Lol, and I certainly hope your nose is crayon-free. Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Alexa- James does sometimes need something to keep his feet on the ground! Thanks again!
Ruby Tuesday- Thanks a lot! And James is afraid she would say no...
kristatwen- Yes, of course she'll come around sooner or later...but it's a matter of when. Thanks a bunch for reviewing; I really appreciate it!
Phoenixheart- Thanks! And I agree with Lily as well. I can't imagine ever getting married that young!
midnightlily- Lol, we *just* watched that movie in school. Actually, I had thought about making Sirius do something like that...but I suppose I shouldn't give anything away now. Thanks for reviewing; I'm glad you like it!
Kiriko Himura- Thank you! I appreciate it!
Min Hee Ha- Again, thank you. I hope this chapter is up to your standards!
Lilyblossom- Lol, I think James's heart will heal with time. Thanks again!
lily potter- Thank you! I'm happy you like it!
Lady of Magic- I hope I didn't leave you in too much of a cliffhanger...I try not to do that too often. But it *is* fun sometimes. Anyway, thanks a lot, once again!
KoolKitty- Thanks again! Lol, and I'm still deciding whether I want to say something about where he got the thong from...
Hooper- Not long ago. I like to write a little each day, so it never takes me very long to post. Thanks a lot! But I don't think I could ever live up to the hp books; they're too good! Which brings me too ask: where the heck is book five?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 22- Understanding
"Padfoot, come over here." James said suddenly, peering out the window in the boys' dorm.
"What is it Prongs?" Sirius asked unconcernedly.
"It's Peter. I see him down there." he pointed to a scrawny, brown rat, which was scampering towards the Forbidden Forest. "But what's he doing down there?"
Sirius squinted and said, "Gosh you have good eyes. All I see is a small brown dot. But I have no idea why he would be out there *now*." He yawned. "I just woke up."
"Odd." James replied, while grabbing a clean robe. "We'll have to ask him about it later."
While James dressed, Sirius walked over to their other friend. "Remus?" he put his face near his friend's ear and yelled. "Time to get up!" He chuckled, watching the young werewolf jump up in surprise.
"Ahh! Padfoot, that was just plain evil!" he said, annoyed. "I was having a good dream too!"
"Oh, really? And what did you and Chloe do in your dream?" he asked, teasingly.
Remus blushed a deep shade of red and replied, "Well, you'll never know, will you?"
***********************
"Jennifer, you'd better get up or we're going to be late for class!" Chloe and Lily stood above their friend, their arms crossed. Jennifer chose to ignore them, and pulled her pillow over her head, shutting their voices out.
Chloe turned to Lily and said, "Fine, if she wants to be that way, she'll be the only one who'll be late. Let's go to breakfast." Lily nodded in response and they left their dorm, shutting to door loudly behind them.
Upon reaching the Great Hall, they saw that the Marauders had not yet arrived, so they sat down and began piling their plates without them.
"Is everybody going to sleep late today, or something?" Lily asked, shaking her head. But just then three boys stumbled into the Hall. James looked right into her eyes and smiled, though it wasn't as big of one as she might have hoped for. This worried her. I really didn't mean to hurt his feelings. I just don't want him to make any wrong decisions. We're young. We've got time to do all that yet. He just doesn't understand. She smiled back at him reassuringly. I'll just have to make him understand, now won't I. She sighed. That could take awhile. Guys are so dense, James in particular. At least he's sweet, though.
"Good morning, ladies." Remus said, tipping his imaginary hat in reverence.
"Hello honey." Chloe replied, kissing him on the cheek and grinning. The boys seated themselves and licked their lips at the sight of breakfast.
"Where's Jennifer?" Sirius asked. Chloe was about to answer when Jennifer walked in. She was rubbing her eyes, and her blond hair was in disarray.
"G'morning everyone." She greeted them sleepily.
"Why are you so tired?" James asked curiously. It was well-known that Jennifer was not a morning person in the least, but she wasn't normally late for breakfast.
"Oh, she was out late with Sirius last night." Lily said nonchalantly.
Both Jennifer and Sirius looked at each other and blushed slightly. The rest of them grinned.
"Where's Peter?" asked Chloe, breaking the silence.
*****************
Peter was, in fact, just running back towards the castle at that moment. But let's rewind just a bit to the time when James had spotted him.
Peter, in his rat form, scrambled across the grass towards the forest. He was nervous, yet eager. What will my reward be? he asked himself. He wondered whether it would be given to him today or some other time. But nobody knew how the dark lord worked, and never would. He kept to himself, and never shared anything with anyone unworthy (which was everyone besides himself).
Wormtail reached the forest's edge and started running slightly left, right towards where Voldemort sat, on the same rock on which he did every day.
"My lord, I have come again." He said, a bit unsteadily.
"What?" Voldemort looked up, his red eyes fixed on the scrawny rat. "What are you doing here? I did not send for you! What do you want?" he snapped. He was rather irritated this morning, for reasons we'll never know.
Peter jumped at this, and transformed back into his human form. "I- I'm sorry, my lord. I just wanted to come and report to you new information. Nothing special, to be sure, but you told me to tell you everything."
Voldemort replied gruffly, "So I did. Go on, if it's anything worth knowing."
"Well, not much has been going on since I returned to Hogwarts. Nobody has suspected me, not even Dumbledore himself. I have been keeping to myself and listening. Nobody else that I know of wishes to become an auror at this point, my lord. But I think James is pretty frightened by you. That letter you sent him sure made his face pale." Voldemort smiled evilly at this before Peter continued. "He has been very close with Lily lately. I'm afraid they'll probably be married."
"Oh, what does that matter? Then I'll just have to kill them both. Stupid mudblood. If she knew what was good for her she'd stay away from him. Now, Wormtail, as we discussed at our meeting the other evening…have you done what I've asked?" he inquired in a tone that demanded an answer.
"I-I, well, no, my lord. I admit that I wasn't really paying much attention that night, during the meeting. Please, my lord, have mercy on me. Tell me again what you wish me to do."
"Stupid rat!" Voldemort spat. "Fine! I would get someone more reliable to do it, but you're the only one I have. Potter won't listen to or answer anyone else. Fine, I will tell you again. Find out exactly what he plans to do after he graduates. Everything, mind you! Don't return until you've found out, and make it soon!"
Peter stammered out words of agreement and, changing back into his rat form, ran back to the castle as fast as his rat-legs would carry him.
**********************
After classes that day, Lily grabbed hold of James and said, "We need to talk. Come with me out to the lake?" she asked.
"Sure." He smiled warily and followed her. They sat down on a rock next to the lake. For a few minutes, they simply sat and looked out across its depths. But then she turned to him and said, once more, "We need to talk."
He sighed. "I know. But, Lily, I need to know this. Do you love me? Like, *really* love me?"
"Oh, James, I couldn't be any more in love with you if my life depended on it. But you have to understand where I'm coming from. We've gone out for a few months. We're seventeen. What do you expect?"
"I'm sorry." He said softly. "We are too young. But I just thought…I don't know…everything seemed to be going so well, so quickly. I've never loved anyone like I love you Lily. It almost scares me."
"Me too, James. It scares me too. That's why I don't think I'm ready for a big commitment right now. Not yet."
"I understand. I respect that." He replied, and draped his arm over her shoulders.
She smiled up at him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I love you more than I can say James, please don't forget that."
"Never." he responded, grinning. He bent his head down to kiss her when suddenly he heard something moving behind them. He looked up and his dark eyes widened.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Hehe, alright, no need to tell me that was mean. I know *I* hate to read cliffhangers. But at least you can expect the next chapter pretty soon; I'm going to be working on it. Please review! I love getting new (and old) opinions! And thanks again to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I really really appreciate it! Lol, I'm getting a headache. We've been having bad storms lately and now hail is beating on the windows. Not the most pleasant noise ever…if only I could find batteries for my cd player…
Until 23,
~Emily~
Parselmouth Majere- Lol, I know what you mean. When I was eleven I thought I knew everything...but I knew next to nothing! Thanks for reviewing- twice!
KoolKitty- Thanks! And I see that you've added chapter six to your story...I'll be reading it as soon as I'm finished with this.
phoenix6545- I agree. I like to torture him though. Thank you!
aznangelicgurl89- To tell you the truth, I started this story the end of March, and with not a clue where it was going. When I write chapters, I just start them off and write what come out off the top of my head. Like this chapter, I didn't even know that Lily was going to think they were moving fast until I wrote it. Sometimes it works well, but sometimes it doesn't. I'm so happy that you liked it! And you have to tell me when you post your story; I'd really like to read it! Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Rachel- Lol, I seem to do that a lot with stories I read. Wow, 3:40am! I haven't been up that late in awhile! Thanks a lot for your comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Jezebel- I hope this was quick enough! I don't want any yellow ducks to be hurt! Lol, and I certainly hope your nose is crayon-free. Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Alexa- James does sometimes need something to keep his feet on the ground! Thanks again!
Ruby Tuesday- Thanks a lot! And James is afraid she would say no...
kristatwen- Yes, of course she'll come around sooner or later...but it's a matter of when. Thanks a bunch for reviewing; I really appreciate it!
Phoenixheart- Thanks! And I agree with Lily as well. I can't imagine ever getting married that young!
midnightlily- Lol, we *just* watched that movie in school. Actually, I had thought about making Sirius do something like that...but I suppose I shouldn't give anything away now. Thanks for reviewing; I'm glad you like it!
Kiriko Himura- Thank you! I appreciate it!
Min Hee Ha- Again, thank you. I hope this chapter is up to your standards!
Lilyblossom- Lol, I think James's heart will heal with time. Thanks again!
lily potter- Thank you! I'm happy you like it!
Lady of Magic- I hope I didn't leave you in too much of a cliffhanger...I try not to do that too often. But it *is* fun sometimes. Anyway, thanks a lot, once again!
KoolKitty- Thanks again! Lol, and I'm still deciding whether I want to say something about where he got the thong from...
Hooper- Not long ago. I like to write a little each day, so it never takes me very long to post. Thanks a lot! But I don't think I could ever live up to the hp books; they're too good! Which brings me too ask: where the heck is book five?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 22- Understanding
"Padfoot, come over here." James said suddenly, peering out the window in the boys' dorm.
"What is it Prongs?" Sirius asked unconcernedly.
"It's Peter. I see him down there." he pointed to a scrawny, brown rat, which was scampering towards the Forbidden Forest. "But what's he doing down there?"
Sirius squinted and said, "Gosh you have good eyes. All I see is a small brown dot. But I have no idea why he would be out there *now*." He yawned. "I just woke up."
"Odd." James replied, while grabbing a clean robe. "We'll have to ask him about it later."
While James dressed, Sirius walked over to their other friend. "Remus?" he put his face near his friend's ear and yelled. "Time to get up!" He chuckled, watching the young werewolf jump up in surprise.
"Ahh! Padfoot, that was just plain evil!" he said, annoyed. "I was having a good dream too!"
"Oh, really? And what did you and Chloe do in your dream?" he asked, teasingly.
Remus blushed a deep shade of red and replied, "Well, you'll never know, will you?"
***********************
"Jennifer, you'd better get up or we're going to be late for class!" Chloe and Lily stood above their friend, their arms crossed. Jennifer chose to ignore them, and pulled her pillow over her head, shutting their voices out.
Chloe turned to Lily and said, "Fine, if she wants to be that way, she'll be the only one who'll be late. Let's go to breakfast." Lily nodded in response and they left their dorm, shutting to door loudly behind them.
Upon reaching the Great Hall, they saw that the Marauders had not yet arrived, so they sat down and began piling their plates without them.
"Is everybody going to sleep late today, or something?" Lily asked, shaking her head. But just then three boys stumbled into the Hall. James looked right into her eyes and smiled, though it wasn't as big of one as she might have hoped for. This worried her. I really didn't mean to hurt his feelings. I just don't want him to make any wrong decisions. We're young. We've got time to do all that yet. He just doesn't understand. She smiled back at him reassuringly. I'll just have to make him understand, now won't I. She sighed. That could take awhile. Guys are so dense, James in particular. At least he's sweet, though.
"Good morning, ladies." Remus said, tipping his imaginary hat in reverence.
"Hello honey." Chloe replied, kissing him on the cheek and grinning. The boys seated themselves and licked their lips at the sight of breakfast.
"Where's Jennifer?" Sirius asked. Chloe was about to answer when Jennifer walked in. She was rubbing her eyes, and her blond hair was in disarray.
"G'morning everyone." She greeted them sleepily.
"Why are you so tired?" James asked curiously. It was well-known that Jennifer was not a morning person in the least, but she wasn't normally late for breakfast.
"Oh, she was out late with Sirius last night." Lily said nonchalantly.
Both Jennifer and Sirius looked at each other and blushed slightly. The rest of them grinned.
"Where's Peter?" asked Chloe, breaking the silence.
*****************
Peter was, in fact, just running back towards the castle at that moment. But let's rewind just a bit to the time when James had spotted him.
Peter, in his rat form, scrambled across the grass towards the forest. He was nervous, yet eager. What will my reward be? he asked himself. He wondered whether it would be given to him today or some other time. But nobody knew how the dark lord worked, and never would. He kept to himself, and never shared anything with anyone unworthy (which was everyone besides himself).
Wormtail reached the forest's edge and started running slightly left, right towards where Voldemort sat, on the same rock on which he did every day.
"My lord, I have come again." He said, a bit unsteadily.
"What?" Voldemort looked up, his red eyes fixed on the scrawny rat. "What are you doing here? I did not send for you! What do you want?" he snapped. He was rather irritated this morning, for reasons we'll never know.
Peter jumped at this, and transformed back into his human form. "I- I'm sorry, my lord. I just wanted to come and report to you new information. Nothing special, to be sure, but you told me to tell you everything."
Voldemort replied gruffly, "So I did. Go on, if it's anything worth knowing."
"Well, not much has been going on since I returned to Hogwarts. Nobody has suspected me, not even Dumbledore himself. I have been keeping to myself and listening. Nobody else that I know of wishes to become an auror at this point, my lord. But I think James is pretty frightened by you. That letter you sent him sure made his face pale." Voldemort smiled evilly at this before Peter continued. "He has been very close with Lily lately. I'm afraid they'll probably be married."
"Oh, what does that matter? Then I'll just have to kill them both. Stupid mudblood. If she knew what was good for her she'd stay away from him. Now, Wormtail, as we discussed at our meeting the other evening…have you done what I've asked?" he inquired in a tone that demanded an answer.
"I-I, well, no, my lord. I admit that I wasn't really paying much attention that night, during the meeting. Please, my lord, have mercy on me. Tell me again what you wish me to do."
"Stupid rat!" Voldemort spat. "Fine! I would get someone more reliable to do it, but you're the only one I have. Potter won't listen to or answer anyone else. Fine, I will tell you again. Find out exactly what he plans to do after he graduates. Everything, mind you! Don't return until you've found out, and make it soon!"
Peter stammered out words of agreement and, changing back into his rat form, ran back to the castle as fast as his rat-legs would carry him.
**********************
After classes that day, Lily grabbed hold of James and said, "We need to talk. Come with me out to the lake?" she asked.
"Sure." He smiled warily and followed her. They sat down on a rock next to the lake. For a few minutes, they simply sat and looked out across its depths. But then she turned to him and said, once more, "We need to talk."
He sighed. "I know. But, Lily, I need to know this. Do you love me? Like, *really* love me?"
"Oh, James, I couldn't be any more in love with you if my life depended on it. But you have to understand where I'm coming from. We've gone out for a few months. We're seventeen. What do you expect?"
"I'm sorry." He said softly. "We are too young. But I just thought…I don't know…everything seemed to be going so well, so quickly. I've never loved anyone like I love you Lily. It almost scares me."
"Me too, James. It scares me too. That's why I don't think I'm ready for a big commitment right now. Not yet."
"I understand. I respect that." He replied, and draped his arm over her shoulders.
She smiled up at him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I love you more than I can say James, please don't forget that."
"Never." he responded, grinning. He bent his head down to kiss her when suddenly he heard something moving behind them. He looked up and his dark eyes widened.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Hehe, alright, no need to tell me that was mean. I know *I* hate to read cliffhangers. But at least you can expect the next chapter pretty soon; I'm going to be working on it. Please review! I love getting new (and old) opinions! And thanks again to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I really really appreciate it! Lol, I'm getting a headache. We've been having bad storms lately and now hail is beating on the windows. Not the most pleasant noise ever…if only I could find batteries for my cd player…
Until 23,
~Emily~