Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. The only thing that is are the characters I made up. (Like Laura) Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, of course.

A/N: A little longer chapter at least. This is one of my favorites so far, but I'm strange. I think it's just because James and Lily's friends are starting to say to themselves, "Hey, what is going on here?" Haha. So, here it is, ready to be read. I hope you'll review! Oh, and by the way, Asinad, you're awesome! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your reviews! I hope you'll keep reading!!!!!! Thanks!!!

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The crisp winds of late Autumn swirled Lily Evans' hair around her face as she walked alongside James. The sun had momentarily gone behind the clouds, lowering the temperature significantly. Her cheeks were now rosy from the chilly gusts of air.

"I got a letter from my father this morning," she said quietly.

James looked a her with a mixture of sympathy and concern. "It's been a long time, what did he say?"

"Absolutely nothing…I can predict every letter's contents before I even bother to open them."

"It's communication, at least," he said, "albeit not the most in depth."

"You would think that it would suspend my worrying for a little while, but it only makes it worse." She tugged her cloak around her, "I don't understand why."

"You think more about him," James pointed out, "It's a lot harder to escape when you've got something concrete in front of you." He ducked as they walked beneath a tree, a low hanging branch elevated enough from the ground for only Lily to pass under. "It serves a reminder," he finished.

"Is there anything you don't have a quick response to?"

He smiled, "Yes. Any question asked in a classroom environment."

She shook her head, laughing, and linked her arm with his, completely unabashed. He glanced down at this, slightly surprised, but said nothing. Instead, he marveled at how natural it felt. They walked for a while in silence, James fighting to keep the tremendous grin from spreading across his face.

"How is Sirius doing?" His smile quickly turned to a frown.

"Reasonably well, considering the circumstances."

"We're creatures of the same sort," she said, "He doesn't let a lot show. Has he talked to you, about any of it?"

"Only when it comes to finding his own place," James replied, "but otherwise, no."

"I think it would be good for him." She smiled, welcoming the warmth of the remerging sunlight.

He retuned her smile, "So does he."

"It's going to be a cold winter," she said abruptly.

He raised his eyebrows incredulously, "What makes you say that?"

"I can feel it."

James laughed at the matter-of-factness in her voice, "For someone who struggled so much with Divination you seem to be pretty confident."

Lily wrinkled her nose, "All that crystal ball reading, dream interpreting, let's look at a tea cup and predict the future trash isn't worth a stone," she declared, "I rely on my intuition."

He grinned, "Then I trust your judgment."

"Thank you."

To any outsider the pair would have appeared to be great friends, possibly more, with Lily's arm entwined in James's and the two conversing as they strolled along the grounds. Sirius, at least, stared at the scene for a good couple of minutes before nudging Remus and saying, "Lookit' that." Remus glanced in their direction. "Good for James," he said. Sirius laughed, cupping his hands to bellow, "Hey Prongs, we are touched, really, but we need to have a discussion."

James turned his head to look at him, visibly annoyed. "It can wait."

Sirius gawked, put-off. "Yeah, sure…" he muttered, heading back toward the direction he came. Remus looked at James apologetically and nodded to Lily before heading off after Sirius.

Lily's arm had somehow managed to slip away from James's during all of this, and she now walked beside him instead. "You should go catch him," she said.

"Why? To talk about the latest prank he's devised? I'd rather talk to you."

Lily glanced at him, 'Suit yourself."

"So, it's back to this, now, is it?," he thought, planning on having his full say when he saw Sirius again.

A few moments of quiet passed before she looked to him and said, "Did you ever read anything by Lord Byron? Non-magical, of course, but he wrote a poem called "Darkness." I've been thinking a lot of it lately."

She looked at him before continuing. "It's about a world without light, after the sun is extinguished. People live in perpetual blackness, struggling to survive, tuning against one another, and a war breaks out. Life slowly begins to fade away, and soon, it's gone. Civilization collapses."

"Let's hope that doesn't become too applicable to our situation," James said.

"It will get much worse," she murmured, "before it gets any better."

"It won't always be this way. Life will eventually go back to normal." "I'm not so optimistic."

"That's not optimism, it's intuition," he said, smiling softly. She paused, her eyes on his. The wind had died down, only emphasizing the silence between them. Lily's eyes sparkled with laughter, making him want more than ever to take her in his arms, to hold her an eternity and forget about the world around them. She touched his arm, shattering him from his thoughts.

"We should probably head back," she said.

He blurted out, "Why?" before he could stop himself.

"Because it's getting cold," she laughed.

He grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right."

She shook her head, "Come on."

~~**~~

"Glad you could join us, Prongs. Been having a good time?" Sirius glanced up sarcastically as James entered the dormitory.

"No thanks to you," James muttered, sinking onto his bed.

Sirius raised his hands in defense, "Hey, I was under the assumption that your friends mattered to you."

"Bugger off," James snapped, throwing his pillow at Sirius's head. He dodged the assault and said with a chuckle, "A bit temperamental, eh?"

Peter giggled from his seat on the floor, "Lily must be affecting him," he snorted.

James sat up, looking decidedly irritated. "Well Wormtail, considering that you cannot even set foot near a girl without falling all over yourself, I'd say I'm a little better off."

Peter grumbled something and shut up, producing another roar of laughter from Sirius.

"Now, where did Moony go?"

Where else? The library.," Peter mumbled. He was still sulking.

"Figures," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "Better go get him. I've got plans. Big plans!"

James looked at him skeptically. "The last time you had a 'big plan' it consisted of jinxing the toilets to sing whenever someone used them."

"That was a good plan," Sirius said defensively, "but this is better!"

"Leave me out of it," James sighed, falling back on his now pillow-less bed.

"You're starting to sound like Moony."

"Am I?" James found he didn't much care.

Sirius stared at him, shocked. "Fine. He's right though, you know. She is getting to you."

James would have thrown something else at his friend had there been anything within grabbing distance, but they exited before he had the chance. He closed his eyes, realizing that he now had a tremendous headache.

~~**~~

Lily stood up, her body aching.

"Am I getting better?" Laura had been practicing for nearly an hour now with Lily, and was, surprisingly, showing improvement. After yelling 'Stupefy" for the fifth time, she was becoming quite good.

"Erm, yeah," Lily laughed, "In fact, I think we should move onto something else." She'd fallen to the floor, always missing the pillows and landing on the hard stone. Needless to say, she felt pretty sore.

"Alright," Laura said, "lets-"

"Lets take a break," Lily interjected, "Just for a while."

"Sorry, I'm just afraid I'll lose my ability. I was on a roll."

"I know," Lily muttered, sitting gingerly on one of the pillows.

"Where were you earlier? I was looking everywhere. Thought you might want to go down to the library with me."

"With you and Remus? No thanks. We all know how that goes."

"No, not with Remus, just you and me. I have that Potions essay to finish yet."

"Ah, have you given up the relentless pursuit?" Lily grinned, knowing full well that Laura had decided quite some time ago that Remus was too hard an egg to crack.

Laura sighed, "Well, I don't think I was getting anywhere."

"You gave good effort," Lily teased, "I'm sure, given time-"

"Oh stop it," Laura said, "I know I was a bit enthusiastic."

" Not the word I would have chosen, but yes, you were," Lily laughed.

"You still didn't answer my question," Laura said evasively.

"About?"

"Where were you this afternoon?"

"Walking." Lily stood up, "Ready to begin again? I thought we'd try the-"

"Walking? Why on earth for?"

"No reason. I just felt like it. Now can we please-"

"Were you out there thinking about that letter you got? I know you don't want to talk about it with anyone ," at this Lily glanced away, "but don't go beating yourself silly about it. Honestly, I don't see why you-"

"I was just talking to James," Lily sighed, exasperated. "I can't bear to hear another speech. Are you ready to work or not?"

"James? Why? Were you having ANOTHER argument? It's always an argument, always. I don't see why you can't even get along for five minutes, it's like a sport or something,-"

"LAURA!!!"

Laura stopped, surprised, and looked up at Lily. "What?"

"Not arguing, alright? Now, let's work on some hexes."

Laura got to her feet, eyeing Lily. "Not arguing? But," Lily gave her a sharp look and she closed her mouth quickly.

"As I was saying, hexes can come in very handy if….."

~~**~~