In the Way
By Dimantrien
"The heart has eyes that the brain knows nothing of."
~Charles H. Parkhurst
Chapter 8: Weird Emotions
"Finished!" Peter exclaimed, scribbling the last words of his essay with a flourish. Madame Pince wasn't particularly happy for his triumph in successfully completing his DADA homework, and proceeded to kicking him out the library door, and, because she was extra pissed that day, booted Remus out as well. All the way to the Great Hall, the werewolf grumbled about overexcited gloaters and being unfairly caught in the crossfire, whereas Peter skipped through the corridors in an annoying fashion.
As soon as they reached their destination, they spotted Sirius eating alone on the far right end of the Gryffindor table.
"Padfoot," Remus greeted as he sat down, and Sirius raised his fork (which still had a piece of fried chicken on it) in salute. "Where's Prongs?"
"Drffo, muff shki fenf choo faifh chili," Sirius said through a mouthful of food. Remus rolled his eyes at his friend's abhorrent eating manners.
"You ate a piece of chili?" Peter misinterpreted confusedly.
Sirius swallowed and said, "I said, dunno, but he went to find Lily. Pass the potatoes, Wormtail."
Peter automatically reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes as Remus asked, a bit baffled, "He went looking for Lily Evans?"
Sirius shrugged. "Know any other Lily?"
"But he's heading straight for suicide if he does that!" (Remus doesn't know how right he is, although not in the way he meant… -_-;;)
Sirius shrugged again. "It's his life to end, mate. Personally I think he accidentally drank a bit too much firewhisky, but then, I might be wrong and he actually drank firewhisky on purpose," he said matter-of-factly.
"Neither he nor Lily are here," Peter observed aloud, glancing at the other end of their table, where Nami and Chloe were seated.
"'Course they aren't, Lily's probably stashing his body somewhere nobody could find it," Sirius responded cheerfully.
Remus whacked him on the back of the head. "Will you stop making those kinds of jokes? They're not very funny."
Sirius pretended that he had been hurt a great deal and said, "Jeez, somebody's uptight today. If you must know, Nami was the one who thought that Lily would hospitalize Prongs, as she so kindly commented when we were out on the grounds and Prongs ran into us—" He stopped midsentence, realizing what he just said.
"You and Nami were taking a walk around the grounds together?" Peter reiterated in a louder-than-necessary voice. He and Remus stared intently at Sirius, ready to launch into a complicated series of questions about the whole deal.
Sirius squirmed in his seat and mentally slapped himself for having a big mouth.
*****
1:00. James's stomach was growling. Beside him, Lily had fallen asleep. He really needed to get some food into his system, but he didn't think he could leave Lily alone like this…
Thinking that there was no other way for it, he stood up and carried Lily in his arms, figuring that with just a bit of luck and a few secret passages, he could reach the kitchens unnoticed. He started down the steps of the tower and before he knew it, he was in front of the painting of a fruit bowl, tickling the pear and getting inside the kitchens.
"James Potter! What has happened to the poor miss sir is carrying, sir?" a floppy-eared house-elf piped up worriedly.
"It's kind of a long story. D'you think you can find somewhere for her to lie down?" The yet-to-be-named elf scurried to a corner of the kitchens, gesturing for James to follow. A few other of his fellow elves had already gotten the picture and laid pillows and blankets there. James laid her down and turned to Floppy Ears. "You wouldn't happen to have anything left over from lunch, would you, er…"
"Tassy, sir!" Floppy Ears said enthusiastically. "What would you like, sir? We have lots of food left over, sir. Tassy is at your service." Tassy bowed, and the other house-elves followed suit. Before James could open his mouth, four house-elves were setting a table and laying a platter of a whole fried chicken on it. Others flocked to the table and added bowls of different side dishes, like mashed potatoes, carrot-and-corn, and coleslaw. A container of gravy and a glass of pumpkin juice completed the scene.
"Thanks," James said appreciatively, and the house-elves looked pleased. He glanced at Lily, who was curled up in the corner, and sighed contentedly.
Things were getting better at last.
*****
A continuous scuffing sound jerked Lily out of her deep stupor. It seemed like a lot of people were milling around, but she couldn't be too sure. She opened her eyes, momentarily blinded by the glare of the lights overhead. Barely seconds later, a pair of watery tennis-ball-shaped eyes loomed over her and she immediately sat up, narrowly missing colliding her head with the one stopping over her.
"You are awake, Miss. Zeep will inform James Potter at once," the house-elf squeaked, scurrying away after bowing low at the redhead. Lily looked around dazedly, starting to become aware that hundreds of house-elves were walking about, carrying pots and pans, cutting up meat, chopping vegetables to bits, washing dishes. She blinked.
Where am I? she thought, her half-asleep mind only just starting to churn its cogwheels and informing her that the activities taking place before her were connected to what you usually do in a kitchen. She stood up and walked around, watching the strange creatures busy at work.
"So. Welcome to the Hogwarts kitchens," a voice spoke behind her.
Lily whirled around, not too surprised; the house-elf had told her James was here, after all. As she looked at him, she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks—she suddenly remembered breaking down in front of him, sobbing like there was no tomorrow. She had probably looked so pathetic then…
"Are you hungry? There's plenty of food to spare," James said after a moment, when he realized that he wouldn't be able to get a word out of her.
She shook her head, trying to smooth out the wrinkles on her robes. "Where's the exit?" she inquired in a slightly hoarse voice, wincing at how weak she sounded.
James just stared at her like she was crazy. "You're not going anywhere until you eat something. You do realize that you look like a wreck. You don't want people to think you were trying to kill yourself just an hour ago," he responded in a matter-of-fact tone.
"How sensitive of you to remark on that," Lily muttered sardonically, her anti-Potter instincts kicking in. She had actually thought he had started to care… No doubt he was going to stroll around the school later on, giving her smug looks, knowing that it was entirely in his power to divulge his newfound information to everyone and tarnish Lily's reputation permanently. When was she going to stop being tortured? Why did he have to—
"Sorry. I guess I really don't know how to act in these kinds of situations," James apologized, suddenly keen at avoiding Lily's eyes. "But I am aware that telling you that I'm sorry for you will only make you feel worse, and then you'd just bite my head off for implying that you're inferior, or whatever."
Lily's expression softened as she realized that he was right. He had gone out of his way to save her, and she had to be grateful for that. She silently moved toward a table where a few house-elves had piled liberal amounts of food onto, and sat down.
Nothing was said between them for a good part of Lily's meal, but as she started picking on the carrots on her plate, she looked up albeit a bit timidly and said in a soft voice, "Thank you…for stopping me from making a big mistake."
James looked surprised but recovered quickly. "No problem. Anyone else would have done the same…" he trailed off, averting his eyes again.
The redhead stared intently at him. Nobody knew where she had been at that time, so how did he find her? Why did he look for her? It wasn't like they were friends, in fact, it was the exact opposite. He didn't understand the way her mind worked, thinking that her perfectionism was beyond him. He knew next to nothing about her, but by some miracle he realized at the precise moment that she was trying to end it all and came to her rescue.
James glanced at her and she felt the blood rush to her face, aware that he had caught her staring. She thought she saw a hint of a blush on his cheeks too, but it was entirely possible that she had just imagined it. "Remember what I told you a few hours ago? Trying to kill yourself is the most cowardly thing you could ever do. Instead of facing your problems, you'll opt for the easy way out. You think that no one will care about you once you're gone, that they never really knew you well enough to stop you. But the truth is that you're just afraid to show them the real you, the one who isn't perfect. How then can they help you, if you keep all the burdens to yourself? Nobody's perfect, Lily. That's why you despised me so much, because I was the only one who saw through your act and threatened to ruin it."
Lily mulled over his words, saying nothing. She knew James was right, and maybe he always had been. Maybe he started out trying to just torment her for his own amusement, but it had stretched to something more than that. He was the only one in a long time to realize that she wasn't happy with her life. Maybe he really did know more about her than she had given him credit for. He knew the real her, at least, and that was always enough. But still…something just didn't fit. He wasn't supposed to help her…he didn't have anything to gain by doing so.
With all her thinking, she hadn't noticed that James was already halfway toward the entrance to the kitchens, probably thinking that he wasn't going to get any answers from her this time. "Wait," Lily suddenly blurted out, making him stop short. She stood up and walked up to him. "Why are you being so nice to me? Why do you care?" She had to know.
James turned around and gave her a small smile, making her feel strangely lightheaded. "I just do. Does there have to be a reason?" He disappeared through the exit, leaving a confused Lily in his wake.
Something was amiss. People who hated you didn't have a complete turnaround overnight. They aren't supposed to like you. They aren't supposed to know how you really feel deep inside. And they aren't supposed to do life-changing favors for you and make you feel weak in the knees by staring straight into your eyes.
Unfortunately, her usual levelheaded logic failed her in all aspects, leaving her mind in a tangle of confused emotions and thoughts.
*****
The continuous sound of quill scratching against parchment made just a little noise, but in a dead silent room with only two non-conversing people in it, it was loud enough to drive an impatient person crazy.
Chloe stood up from her study desk and threw her loaded quill onto the table in frustration, splattering black ink all over the wood, her parchment, and the back of Nami's hand. "Where is she?!"
"Will you get a grip?" Nami grumbled, putting down her own quill on top of her half-finished DADA essay and wiping at her stained hand with a cloth.
"That's easy for you to say. Your pretty li'l head is chock full of brilliant thoughts on the wonderful world of Defense against the Dark Arts, which you pour over your parchment in fluent, intelligent sentences, while I, on the other hand, need Lily's help to be able to formulate the first line! And she's not here!" Chloe continued ranting in this fashion, while Nami rolled her eyes and gave up on the cloth, discarding it and using magic to remove the ink from her skin.
"First of all—"
The door opened and in came Lily, looking a little pale but otherwise perfectly fine.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Chloe exclaimed gleefully, dragging Lily over to the seat beside hers.
"You have?" Lily asked nervously, although her two friends didn't seem to notice her tone.
"Actually, she was moping around for an hour, walking around in circles and boring a hole in the floor while waiting for you to show up," Nami piped up. "Hardly qualifies as 'looking all over for you'."
Chloe gave her a playful glare and said, "You're in no position to go around teasing others, especially people who found out that your so-called archenemy, Sirius Black, takes regular pleasant morning strolls with you out on the grounds." She smirked triumphantly when Nami stopped scribbling for a moment.
"And what do you mean by that?" the Japanese girl said slowly, dipping her quill into her ink bottle and resuming her work.
"Oh, I just heard Remus and Peter teasing Sirius about it; you can't deny it to me," Chloe said slyly.
"Who said I was denying it?" Nami countered, finally regaining her composure.
"So you admit that you were keeping your relationship with him secret?"
"I admit to taking regular pleasant morning strolls with him out on the grounds," Nami retorted. "No clandestine affairs, no romantic conquests—"
"Really? Sneaking around with him at the crack of dawn seems pretty clandestine to me…"
*****
Lily sighed as her friends continued bickering, unmindful of her lack of comment. This Sirius-and-Nami business was a shock to her too, but not as shocking as her strange feelings toward a certain messy-haired boy. She loved her friends dearly, but she decided that she wouldn't tell them about any of the events that transpired just hours before. She just wanted to be alone. And think.
"Li-leeee, just give me a hand already," Chloe wheedled abruptly when Nami threw her hands up in defeat and exited the room, mumbling about people who didn't understand platonic boy-girl relationships. Lily glanced at the latter for a moment before she disappeared behind the door, and Chloe said dismissively, "Don't worry about her; I'm sure she just went over to Sirius, wherever he is. She's bound to confess her secret crush on him sooner or later, and then the two of them will make it official by going to the Halloween Feast together…"
"They're holding a ball on Halloween?" Lily asked quizzically.
Chloe looked at her disbelievingly. "Didn't you hear it during lunch? Some rich kid in seventh year complained about how there hadn't been a ball in Hogwarts in ages, and she used her father's influence to persuade the faculty to give consent to a Halloween ball…since it was so last-minute, a lot of girls flew into a rage because they hadn't prepared for it at all, and there are only three days left and no one had dates yet—"
"Why would we be having a ball at this time? There's nothing to celebrate—well, Halloween, I suppose, but the feast's quite enough for that—and like you said, it's such short notice. They could have considered moving it to Christmas, though it would still be completely pointless, as most students go home for the holidays," Lily said matter-of-factly. She didn't like the idea of a ball at all; the next few days would be quite hectic for most students and she wouldn't get any peace. That was all she wanted right now, peace and solitude and time to be alone with her thoughts…was that too much to ask for right after a suicide attempt?
"Well, this Ravenclaw—she's the rich one I was talking about—has plans for the Christmas holidays with her family so obviously a Christmas ball was a no-no for her…can you believe how demanding…" Lily tuned out her friend's descriptive account of the news, thinking that maybe if she kept to herself for the next three days, no one would notice her absence during the dance…she could just go eat in the kitchens, might as well make use of the newfound information that James had revealed to her…
"…why am I telling this to you anyway? You'd know all about it, Dumbledore explained the important parts in the Great Hall," Chloe finished, looking at the preoccupied Lily expectantly. "Wait. You weren't at lunch, were you? Where have you been all this time?"
Lily snapped to, her mind racing for answers to the dreaded question she had wanted to avoid. Oh, nowhere important, really…just in a tower where I was trying to kill myself…she mentally answered. "Library. Had to finish some last-minute work." She thanked the gods that she had been extra-diligent for the last few days and had done most of her homework.
Still, Chloe had a suspicious glint in her eye, and Lily breathed a sigh of relief when her friend decided not to comment on it. "Well, the good news about having a ball on Tuesday—not that I think it's not a good idea, mind you—is that they're canceling all the Monday classes so the students have time to prepare. They've also allowed us to go to Hogsmeade until tomorrow, for any preparations. I do wish they'd announced it sooner—all the shops will be brimming with students and we all know that it takes ages to pick the best dress robes…"
"Why are you doing your essay, then, if we have Monday off?" Lily asked, stopping her friend from going into a long lecture on the process of shopping for clothes and accessories.
Chloe's eyes widened, as if Lily had just said something horrendous. "Are you kidding? I have to get all this work out of the way; I won't have time to do them in the next few days, what with the shopping and preparing and—oh, why am I prattling on like this? You have to help me with this dumb essay now…"
*****
The next day, Sunday, Lily and her friends set off for Hogsmeade at the ungodly hour of 7 o'clock in the morning, much to Lily's protest and Chloe's insistence. ("Why are we going so early? I don't even think that the shop owners know that there's a seven o'clock in the morning!" "Just get up and at it! They'll have known all about the ball, I suppose, we'd get a good head start!") Nami too was more than a little annoyed at Chloe's way-too-early wake-up call, but grudgingly admitted that it was wise to get ahead of the others. Unfortunately when they got there…
Nami yawned, surveying the mob of girls crowding Madame Maeve's Boutique. "Where'd all these people come from?" she asked sleepily.
"I haven't a bloody clue," Lily said grumpily, glaring at Chloe. "Mind explaining to us why the rest of Hogwarts' female population had the same brilliant idea that you did?" She was still hung over her very recent suicide attempt (which, of course, she didn't share to her two companions), and the added fact that she had no intention of attending the ball made her feel all the more impatient and short-tempered.
"Oh, just shut up, both of you," Chloe responded, scanning all the clothing and robe shops in the near vicinity. All of them were full of students. "Why don't we look at accessories and makeup while everyone else is busy playing dress up?" She didn't wait for an answer and dragged them to a jewelry shop. Which, predictably, was chock-full of rabid shopping students. "Honestly," she exasperatedly said aloud, wheeling back around to find another store. "C'mon, Lily…Nami—"
The only responses she got were a soft snore and an incoherent mumble, as her two friends were slumped against the shop's wall, sleeping peacefully.
*****
The Three Broomsticks was, as was usual on a Hogsmeade weekend, filled with people, and in one corner beside a window sat the marauders, who were armed with a mug of butterbeer each. Sirius was energetically telling the story of how he got his date to the ball, and among his three mates only Remus seemed remotely interested. Peter was still worrying about how he would get a date on such short notice, and James was miserable because he already had a date. He had made a vague promise to one of his many admirers that he would go with her to the next big social event that would happen at Hogwarts, and since the school hadn't had a ball in years, he had forgotten all about it. Unfortunately for him, the girl he had made the promise to had an excellent memory, especially for things which concerned James Potter.
"…so I'm all set for Tuesday, then. What about you, Prongs? You're going with Charlotte McAllister, right?" Sirius asked, a bit of a slur in his voice, as he had mixed a bit of firewhisky into his butterbeer.
James groaned in reply, causing the half-drunk Sirius to perk up a bit. "What's the matter? She's a fine catch, mate. Beautiful and smart—inherently so, I s'pose, being a Ravenclaw—and not a bad kisser. Definitely not," he related, grinning in an inebriated way.
"Alright, that's enough alcohol for you, my friend," Remus announced, starting to get fed up with all this talk about dates and the Ball; he was getting worried that his friends had all been possessed by dance-obsessed girls in the last half-hour. "Let's go to Zonko's, then, shall we?" He dragged Sirius off his chair and across the floor halfway out of the pub, before looking back at James and Peter, who were still sitting at their table. "You guys coming?"
"In a minute," Peter replied, raising his still half-full mug. "Why don't you go ahead and we'll meet up with you later?"
Remus nodded in assent, saying that he would find a Sobering Potion somewhere for Sirius while waiting. After a moment, the two disappeared beyond the door leading outside.
When they had gone, James continued mumbling to himself and Peter looked absently out the window, as if he would miraculously find a suitable date passing by. He spotted several girls and turned to James, asking eagerly, "D'you think Nami Tzu would agree to go to the ball with me if I asked her?"
James snorted not-so-inaudibly over his butterbeer, momentarily snapping out of his glum mood. "Not trying to burst your bubble, Wormtail, but I don't think you have much of a chance with her. That girl can be…dangerous when she wants to be—not your type of girl at all. Besides, doesn't she have a thing for Padfoot?"
"No, she doesn't," Peter insisted. "Padfoot made that clear already. Might as well hold him on his word, right? Besides, d'you think I'm afraid of a girl?" he challenged indignantly in his squeaky voice. It would have been hilarious seeing Peter like that, if James was in a normal state of mind, but he was too lethargic at the moment. Instead, he glanced out the window at the subject of their discussion.
And saw who she was with.
He straightened in his seat, his eyes fixed on Lily. She looked perfectly…normal, he should say, as if nothing had ever happened the day before. She was apparently arguing with Chloe, who was holding several enormous paper bags full of…whatever girls bought when a social even was coming up, in front of a cosmetics shop across the street from the Three Broomsticks. Nami was off to the side, looking bored.
"…and I've never done anything to make her angry, unlike Padfoot, so she's not bound to hurl hexes at me anytime soon…" Peter went on.
James, still staring at the three girls, or particularly, at one of the three girls, interrupted him. "Look, Pete, I've gotta go somewhere first. D'you mind telling that to Moony and Padfoot?" He glanced back at his friend, who still had a determined look on his face.
"So, you think I should go for it then?" the smaller boy queried, as if James's lack of argument were a sign of resignation.
"Er-yeah, sure, whatever," James answered distractedly as Chloe and Lily appeared to have reached an agreement. Chloe and Nami entered the shop, while Lily waved at them and started walking away. James leapt up from his chair and practically ran out of the Three Broomsticks, but when he reached the street he didn't see her anywhere in sight. He peered over the heads of students passing by and caught a flash of red hair to the far left.
When Peter strolled out of the inn, he saw James running down the road, dodging people walking past or apologizing to the unfortunate ones that he knocked down in his hurry.
What's up with Prongs? he wondered as his untidy-haired friend's figure grew smaller and smaller in the distance. He started to cross the street, shrugging and dismissing the thought.
*****
Lily kept walking until the outskirts of Hogsmeade village, where the shrubbery grew wilder and the houses fewer. She finally stopped when there seemed to be no more people in the near vicinity, beside an isolated pond with lots of unmanageable weeds about. Sighing and thinking that she would get some alone time at last, she sat down on the grass Indian-style, laying her shopping bag beside her.
Finally, some well-deserved peace and quiet… She stared out at the calm water, occasionally spotting a small fish or two darting near the surface. The thing was, she really didn't want to go to the ball, besides, who would she go with? She didn't feel like forcing polite conversation with a random date she barely knew—she didn't have any close guy friends that she could go with, either. And she didn't have any particular boy in mind…
She closed her eyes, and instantly, an image of a messy-haired, bespectacled boy entered her mind. Fine, so she did have somebody in mind, but it wasn't like he would want to ask her to the dance. James Potter was known for being a guy whom girls had to line up to get a date from, and she was sure that she wasn't anywhere on his waiting list…
Besides, the guy hated her, didn't he? So what if he saved her life? He was still the same James…the same old, carefree, arrogant James…
Or was he?
He had certainly changed in some ways, like in the way he always seemed to be around when Lily needed help, like in the way he had made her fall for him…
Lily buried her face in her hands, trying to calm down. Okay, stop it, she said to herself. It's not like you have a chance with him anyway. It's not like he treats you as something more than a friend…
It's not like he's your friend from the start, for that matter—
She heard the sound of footsteps slightly muffled by the grass. Her eyes flew open and she looked over her shoulder, startled. James Potter stood a few feet behind her, grinning sheepishly.
She turned back around and sighed, feeling her solitude melting away. Of course. Just start thinking weird thoughts about him, and he comes to you like a well-placed Summoning Charm…
"Hey. Sorry for disturbing you… Mind if I sit here?" James asked, walking to the spot beside her.
"Like I have a choice?" Lily muttered, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden.
James just grinned that heart-stopping grin of his. "Of course you do. You could tell me to bugger off and leave you alone, if you wanted." Nevertheless, he took Lily's reply as consent and plopped down on the grass beside her.
After a moment of silence, James spoke up. "So, is that for the ball on Tuesday?" he asked, pointing to the paper bag on Lily's other side.
Lily nodded and groaned again, remembering her predicament.
"What's wrong?" James asked, frowning.
"Is it really mandatory to go to the ball? Because I really don't feel like going…" Lily trailed off, wishing she hadn't answered. He didn't have to know that, but she just had to open her mouth, didn't she?
James looked at her skeptically. "Not go to the ball? But that's the first one—and probably the last—that we'll be having for the rest of our school days in Hogwarts!"
The redhead cracked a smile at that. "You sound like Chloe," she remarked, almost laughing at James' immediate reaction, which was shutting up and trying to put on an indifferent, I'm-not-a-girl-and-I-don't-care-about-the-ball-that-much expression.
"So who're you going with?" James finally asked after another pause.
Lily sighed. "James, what did you really come here for? I'm sure the dance is a thrilling topic, but that's not what you want to talk to me about, is it?" she responded a bit sarcastically. Being a little too close to him and feeling discomfort because of it made her feel just a tad more irate and desperate to hide…whatever feelings she had for him at the moment.
James adopted a serious expression which was a distinct difference from his trademark confident grin. "Well, I've been thinking for quite some time now…"
"You think? Well, that's certainly a surprise, James," Lily quipped.
James scowled at her. "Very funny. Are you going to listen to what I want to say or not? Because it's not exactly easy…"
"All right, all right, I'm sorry. Go on."
"I know that ever since the start of the school year I've teased you relentlessly and made you feel miserable quite a few times—"
"Too true," Lily interjected, rolling her eyes. She caught James's eye and shut up, nodding for him to continue.
"And, well, I know I apologized to you already, but I thought…maybe we could be, I dunno, friends? You know, a new start and everything. To make up for all the stuff I did." James looked at her expectantly, his hazel eyes staring straight at her emerald ones.
Lily broke his gaze and looked away, feeling her cheeks tingling slightly. "You've already made up for it. More than enough," she replied softly, knowing that he deserved something from her, and not the other way around. "You don't owe me anything. And with the tons of friends you already have, I think I'd hardly be significant in your social circle."
James just shrugged and smiled at her again. Why did he keep doing that? Smiling for no reason. It made her feel…she couldn't explain it, but she knew that if he kept smiling at her he would find out what she felt about him soon enough… "I'm starting to re-evaluate my opinion of you. Besides, you can never have too many friends. And I must say that you, Miss Evans, need a couple more to make you loosen up…" He tapped his index finger on her forehead, still grinning.
Lily leaned back slightly from his touch. She already knew what he meant by "loosening up." He was being too nice to her…unusually nice, although the present circumstances might have been responsible for that. "Are you trying to say that I'm uptight?" she retorted, knowing full well that he probably did.
But James just shrugged, the grin never leaving his face. "I'm saying that you need to live—really live—a little. No harm in that, right?" He winked at her, making her fight to control the blood vessels in her cheeks. Damn him for having that effect on her. "So, friends?"
Lily sighed resignedly, and she felt her lips forming into a smile. What was the harm in it, really? "Yeah," she replied, and James's eyes lit up. "Friends."
*****
A/N ~ Obviously this isn't the last chapter, which is what I promised in Chapter 7…sorry about that—wait, the longer, the better, right? Chapter 9 will definitely be the last…anyway. I might not be able to update in the next two weeks though, because my parents took my PC away from me…but I'll post the final chapter as soon as I can manage.