Chapter 16- Almost ready
James woke up one Friday morning and took a deep breath. He had to check with Sirius, who had been on duty to watch and make sure Snape didn't mess anything up. James had been with Remus, or another side of Remus, the previous night or he would've gladly done the job himself. It seemed that every comment Severus had made lately grated his nerves. Not that they usually didn't, but James was getting tired of trying to calculate and understand every snide remark, making sure it didn't suggest anything about sabotaging the potion. James was almost starting to regret trusting Snape with something so important now. Did Snape really take it the life debt that seriously? Or was it something he had feigned to gain just enough trust to get back at them? Either way, it was too late now.
James put on his glasses and rolled out of bed. He brushed through his hair a bit, though it didn't matter because he ran his fingers through it right after counteracting any effect the brush might have had. He threw on some robes and went into the Heads' common to wait for Lily. It had become a usual thing to walk to meals and classes together. Lily felt more comfortable knowing that if something happened there was someone she could trust there...someone she could trust. That was a huge order that James had filled, and Lily knew it.
Lily thought about it as she combed through her slowly thinning hair. When did I start trusting him so much, one part of her asked. Since you fell in love with him, the other responded. Lily grinned at her reflection, and didn't even bother arguing with that statement. It had only been a week since she had found out that Mungo's could do nothing but help ease the pain and weakness, but even that was minimal. It had been hard to know that neither world had a solution, but tried to take it in stride. That meant not telling Samantha or the Marauders, since she knew they would just dwell on what was wrong with the situation again.
She finished getting ready and walked into the commons where a sleepy looking James had his arms sprawled along the couch, his head hanging down, and a snoring sound emitting from his mouth. Lily grinned a bit at the sight. She had learned that James wasn't what you'd consider a morning person, but this was pretty pathetic.
She sat down on the couch next to him, on leg curled under her, the other on the ground. "Potter," Lily said quietly while prodding his side gently. He moved slightly and a groan came out amid the snoring. "Hey Potter, time for breakfast," she said prodding him again.
James moved his right arm from behind Lily and placed both hands under his head as a pillow on the side of the couch. At the same time James lifted his legs and put them over Lily, trapping her there until he was awake. "Now James!" Lily said more playfully than angry and started tickling him.
"NO!" James said, as he tried moving out of Lily's reach and ended up on the floor. "Hey," he said while rubbing his head where he had bumped it on the floor. "That hurt!"
"Oh," Lily said 'sympathetically'. "Let's just make that better then." Lily leaned down and kissed the top of James's head. It was enough to wake him up at least.
"How about breakfast then?" James asked with a new out look on the mornings.
"Sure," Lily said, rolling her eyes and accepting the arm James had offered her. She was feeling a bit weak today, but with James there things just seemed better. "I'm going to be gone next weekend," Lily tried to slip in as casually as possible.
"Really?" James became concerned. "Treatment?"
"No, not this time," Lily said.
"What now?"
"They're testing to see if the treatments helped at all this time," Lily said, still trying to make it sound like an every day event.
James stopped Lily just outside the Great Hall. "What if it didn't?" he asked.
Lily looked into his eyes. "Let's not think about it now."
"No, we need to. I need to."
"They'll probably stop treatments," Lily told James, hoping he wouldn't explode. To her surprise, he didn't.
"Either way, I want you to be my girlfriend," James whispered.
"James I told you, I-I can't do that to you and the-"
"We're going to be there either way. You can't force us out of your life. Besides, I have a feeling things will be turning around soon," James said. "Come on, Lily, you're the best person I think I have and ever will know, and I can't just let you slip away."
Lily had been playing with this idea for a while now, and found it too hard to say no' now. "Promise if anything happens you won't be too upset."
"I can't promise that; I'll still care just as much whether you say yes or no, so you might as well say yes," James put on a charming smile. Lily wasn't responding, so James decided to use a line that his mother had suggested. " Tis better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all."
Lily thought about it and looked up at James. "Sure, I guess so," Lily said off handedly then smiled.
"Was that a yes?" James asked, pulling Lily toward him.
"Yes," Lily said. James pulled her even closer and started lowering his lips to hers...
"Oy! James! What are you doing?" Peter came by just before the kiss.
"What does it look like?" James asked sending him a look that could kill. By now, Lily had pulled away a bit.
"Well, I'm hungry," she said, standing on her toes and giving James a quick peck on the cheek before entering the Great Hall for breakfast.
James stood planted, as did Peter. "What? What did I do?" Peter asked, confused and clueless.
James merely shook his head and walked in after Lily. With any luck a seat next to her would be open and he could at least celebrate this triumph with a small game of footsies.
That afternoon they had potions with the Slytherins. Right before class begun, James walked by smoothly placing a note in front of Snape. Severus looked on jealously as James escorted Lily to two seats next to one another, hand in hand.
They were instructed to start making the Mandrake potions before Snape dared open it. Professor Riddle had a certain knack for catching students out of line during a lecture, but Snape had mastered doing things behind his back years before now.
Meet me after class in the hall.
Snape crumpled the paper and looked over to where Lily and James were now dicing the Mandrake roots together. Lily was showing him how to get even slices, something Snape had once tutored Lily in. He turned back to his own cauldron, tears threatening to show themselves in anger and jealousy. He wouldn't let that happen though. Potter would enjoy that all too much.
Class ended and everyone placed their containers with potion on Professor Riddle's desk and made their way out. James drug his feet as he waited for Snape to hurry, but Severus wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hurrying. "Are you coming James?" Lily asked from the doorway.
"I'll meet you in the Gryffindor common room," James told her. Lily shrugged and left the room.
There were a few more students in the class, but Snape followed James out of the class and was lead to a dark little corner where no one would see either of them. "When will it be ready?" James asked.
"Soon," Snape said vaguely. He knew he had to seem like he didn't care to keep up his reputation and Lily's.
"She's going home next Friday, and I need to give it to her by then," James informed him. "Will it be ready or not?"
"It'll be ready," Snape said dangerously. He didn't like being ordered around by James, but knew that was the only way he could help Lily right now. James turned around ready to go. "Going out with her now?" Snape said bitterly.
"Yeah," James responded then turned around to face him again. "So now I can put it this way: if you hurt my girlfriend, you will pay." James turned and walked away without even seeing the reaction in Snape's facial expression. It was a good thing, too, because that just might have given it all away.
A/N: Finally! I'm updating on this one! I had writer's block forever here, but I finally figured out that I could use that first conversation to reveal everything and accomplish my goals!. Muahaha take that you wall of not knowing what to do! I hope this isn't too dull of a chapter since it took me so long to get it going, I'm afraid it might not be as good as I was picturing in my head, but I do hope you all like it!
Thank you:
Rose in Winter: You don't have to apologize, I know it's been forever since I've updated on this, but I just got to one of those points where I knew what had to happen, but didn't know how to get it there. Then I began having so much fun writing comedy that it was really hard to get back to the drama of this all. Thank you for caring enough to write and kick my butt into gear! Oh yeah, and I've been thinking, and I wasn't going to original have a smack down, but I just might put one in the next chapter =)
mochalattee: Sorry I didn't update soon, but I'll let you know now, threatening me with taking away coffee isn't a very good leverage since I don't drink it. Just thought you'd like to know =) Thank you for reviewing and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.
Lady Riddle: I'm glad you like the cancer bit, because it's been really getting me down since the people who don't like it usually end up bashing the writing BIG TIME. I hope thos one is worth the wait and I'll try to keep going. There's only a few more chapters from here.
misakichi1: Thanks for reviewing.
Daine Sarrasri: I'll merely remind you that in my story Snape is secretly infatuated with Lily... that's all I'll say on the topic of if he'll hurt her. Thank you for reviewing for this and I hope it was worth your wait for this next installment.
Flameofshadows: That's alright if you were having problems, I'm just happy that you reviewed.
storywritter10791: I'll try to keep the energy to write on this one going. I think I might be able to get another chapter written tonight! I make no promises though.
Josephine Sawyer: Thank you for all your reviews and detailed emails! I just love hearing from you. If you haven't yet, I would really like your opinion on the other two Lily James pieces I've been writing. It is a huge change from all the drama in this one. It's actually a prank war series. I'd start with the April Fool and the Goofter one, if you have time.... Either way, thank you!
theoneandonlystephy: I'm glad you remembered that little detail, because that become crucial to why he has to save Harry in the books, at least according to the times and life of Sarah-Mason19 =) Hope you like this one, and I'd really like to see your reviews on some of my other things, if you have the time.
DK Lili: She can't make the potion for herself. The word that I used to catagorize the potion itself means 'secret' so she can't make it for herself, because it wouldn't work. That would be funny though.
Meaghan: I tried to Hurry... sorry it took so long.
BitterHeart: I just want to say that she wasn't necessarily holding a grudge; it was more like Lily was trying to prove a point, though she probably didn't hold out as long as she would have liked to. I think people handle hurt in very different ways. You see James just blow up but quickly forgive and then there's Lily who tries to stay mad or upset though it doesn't last very long. The only reason I figure the Snape one lasted was because that was HARSH and completely out of line. Thank you though for pointing this out and showing that it concerned you.
KatKit: I think James just lets things like that just roll off and not get under his skin. He just seems that type: friends are friends and enemies are enemies, and nothing can change that. Thanks for the review.
JamieBell: Everything you said in this review was exactly what was going through my head when considering reactions. Thank you for always reviewing, and I'm sorry this didn't get posted sooner (though you didn't seem to care much).
Hearts Goddess: I'll try to put more with Remus, but I don't make any promises. I ought to write one about him someday soon.... anyway, the word that I chose for the potion basically means 'secret' so that's how it is. Mainly because it moves the story along though =) Thanks for your review!
KSO: Thank you for reviewing!
Mell Minamoto: I'm glad you liked Resentment. Sorry it took so long to post this one, but I hope it's worth it! Thank you for all of your comments.