I don't own harry potter at all, even though sometimes I wish I did. Anyway please read and enjoy. Sorry I haven't updated sooner and I promise I wont ever not update for that long again.

Conflicts-Chapter Six

I guess that I had finally fallen asleep on the couch with James arms wrapped around me. I woke and wished that life didn't have to be so damn ironic with little twists and turns in it that drove your mind crazy everyday and sometimes drove you almost to the brink of insanity. I wanted so desperately to come away from that. It was no way to live and in my heart I knew that but somehow my brain hadn't quite caught up yet.

I saw James with Sirius and Remus discussing God knows what, but somehow I knew it wasn't quidditch that had them hunched over in a fierce conversation. I hated being the center of attention, in a light that had me painted as the victim. When I was younger I couldn't understand why people hated to be pitied, but now I understood. It put a sick feeling in your stomach to know that you couldn't deal with a situation on your own and had to bring other people into it. Stewing it over in my mind I realized that I couldn't be here anymore, there were to many memories and I needed to be able to think things through without someone telling me it was okay to be upset.

I stood silently and wished that I knew where James's invisibility cloak was. On tiptoes I crept to the entrance of the heads room and stole silently out. I thanked the Lord that none of the guys had been facing the entrance when I slipped out. I knew I was taking a chance but I decided I to risk it. Malfoy would not be waiting for me, as he would expect James to have me under lock and key for the next month. My favorite place in the castle was a rooftop right off the astronomy tower and to my knowledge not a soul knew of that place, so I considered myself fairly safe from prying eyes.

The castle was fairly forbidding at this time of night and every now and then I thought I heard a noise behind me. I shrugged it off thinking that if it were Filch's cat then he would have to take it up with Dumbledore and somehow I doubted that he would give me a detention in regard to recent events. I finally reached the roof and as I sat on the flat rooftop I felt myself calm and for the first time I felt myself smile, a true and genuine smile. The crisp breeze ruffled my hair and I felt and inner peace inside myself.

"It has been wayyyyyyy, way too long since I came up here." Talking to myself had always made me feel better in the past and today was no difference. For three hours I sat on the rooftop just thinking about life and things that could happen. The one thing that worried me the most was the chance that I could become pregnant. In the end I decided I would deal with that aspect when or if it came. I was due to having my period in the next week so I would know then. In reference to school tomorrow I decided I would go to class and as luck would have it, face McGonagall in Double Transfiguration with the Slytherins.

"Ah well at least James will be there." I was about to stand when I heard a soft voice whisper, "How about I be there now?" I was so startled that I jumped too close to the edge. I was never in any danger of falling but James hand shot out just the same and tightly grabbed my wrist almost to the point that it hurt. I winced and he let go as soon as he had drug me a good five feet further away from the edge.

"James I think you were more afraid of that then I was." I said slightly mocking him. He just shrugged.

"James Potter!" I stated sharply, suddenly regaining my wits. "How long have you been there?"

"Nice way to repay someone who just saved your life." He stated dryly.

"First off I wouldn't have jumped if you hadn't come and even if you hadn't been there I still wouldn't have fallen. I wasn't close enough to the edge. Second, how long have you been there?"

"How long I've been where?" James asked evasively.

I didn't say a single word but just glared at him until he finally caved and said "I've been with you since about three seconds after you left. I was gonna just go talk to you but Remus said you would probably want some time by yourself so I decided just to make sure that you were all right."

I groaned in frustration. "Damn it James! I'm not some little kid who can't take care of herself. I happen to be seventeen and I do not need you to baby-sit me." I saw him flinch and for about half a second I felt bad for yelling at him, and then I realized I was still pissed off at him for following me like I was a fragile doll, that was going to break at any moment.

"Lily before you decide to unleash that red-headed temper on me, please hear me out." I glared at him for the stereotype and nodded my consent. "I love you Lily and I am not about to let anything happen to you." Those three words that every woman wants to hear had no effect on me, as I knew that he didn't mean it and didn't feel it. I was very bitter about love at that moment and I wasn't ready to hear anyone say that to me.

I groaned in frustration. "Damn it James. Damn you! Couldn't you have just followed me and not said anything. I really wanted to be by myself and not have to depend on anyone for support but now you just show me that no one thinks that I can take care of myself because for one moment I allowed myself to be weak. And then everyone else found out and decided they needed to protect me. Well, news flash James I don't need a stalker following me around right now. What I need right now is just a friend who is going to help me get over it not keep reminding me what a weak person I am." I was starting to cry by this point.

James POV

I saw her starting to cry and I felt the anger that had been inside of me fade away. "Look Lily" I started. "I'm sorry for following you. And I'm not saying that you can't take care of yourself I just don't want to risk you even having to defend yourself because your under enough stress as it is. I also don't think it's a good idea for you to start classes again tomorrow."

She fought with me for a while about it, but in the end she gave in. But, she said she was going to school at least by next week and I had a feeling that I was going to have to fight with her about attendance every day of the week. In spite of myself I agreed that if she felt up to it I would raise no objections about her going next week. But this week I was making no promises. She didn't say anything but merely stared over the grounds of Hogwarts.

"How can a place that holds so much beauty and life also house such evil. I'm not even talking about 'the incident' but the fact that there are so many death eaters here. Half of the Slytherin house is made up of them and somehow I wouldn't be surprised if there were traitors in the other houses."

Seeing her shiver I placed my cloak over her shoulders before responding, "I don't know Lily. But without evil there can be no good. People are still out there fighting them. Dumbledore, the teachers and my family as well as all the other aurors." This conversation suddenly reminded me of the conversation I had with Dumbledore earlier that day.

Flashback

"James I would like to ask you something." He spoke in such a sincere voice, and I noticed that the usual twinkle found in his eyes was gone, and that he looked for the first time in his life like an old man.

"Anything." I responded, instantly mimicking his sincere manner.

"If right now you were face to face with Malfoy what would you do?" For half a second I thought he was kidding. The look on his face told me otherwise.

"I guess I would just punch the shit, sorry sir, out of him and then curse him with as many curses I could possibly think of." "Why?" He asked it so simply that I paused before asking, "Excuse me sir?" "Why would you choose to physically hit him rather then only using your wand?"

"I guess because it's faster then drawing my wand and thinking of a spell to use. Umm, no offense sir, but why are you asking me this?" His line of questioning genuinely intrigued me and I was curious as to where this was headed.

"I know that both your mother and father are currently Aurors and work in the Department of Mysteries. And as you are in that family I know that you are aware of the truth about the rising of Voldemort and that his powers are growing to extraordinary levels and the tide of the war is about to turn in his favor." I nodded. "Yes sir I am aware of that."

"Then I have one more question for you. We would like you to join the Order of the Phoenix." I was shocked. "You, your asking me to join the Order?" "Yes I am." Still shocked I could only ask, "Why?" He sighed deeply before speaking, "For two reasons James. The first is because you intrigue me and I believe that you will be a valuable asset to the Order. The second reason is because we need the people. It's as simple as that. Normally we would until you were out of school but I honestly believe that we do not have the time. Our ranks have been thinning increasingly for the last few months and we need the support. So what do you say James? I know that you want to be an auror once you get out of school, which of course can be arranged."

"It would be an honor sir to do anything I could to help the Order." "Very good. I also have one favor I would like to ask you." "Anything." "We would also like the rest of your fellow marauders to join as well and Lily." I smiled, "Of course Sirius, Remus and Peter will want to join." I paused, "Umm, sir did you say Lily?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly before responding, "Yes James. I did say Lily." "Umm, no offense sir but why her?" Yeah Lily was good at hexes and charms but actual fighting, this recent event just made it more clear that this wasn't something she could do or was good at. I wasn't insulting her, like I couldn't cook to save my life she just couldn't fight.

There was a bemused smile on his face when he answered, "Lily has a hidden strength James, which you know nothing of. She's stronger than you think." "I'm sure she is sir, but do you really think she can handle this?" "I do," he said simply and in such a way that I knew the conversation was over. I sighed and rose to leave. I was almost to the door when he spoke. "Oh and James. If you don't ask her, I will." I walked out without responding.

End flashback

Third person POV

"Lily." His voice was so soft that she could barely hear him. He put his arm around her shoulders, rested his head on hers and sighed. "What is it James? What's wrong?" He sighed again before saying, "I spoke to Dumbledore today." "And...?" "He asked me to join the Order." She gasped. "Are you serious?" "No I'm James, but he got invited to." She punched him lightly for the much-overused pun. "Hey! But yeah I did get invited."

"That is so awesome. I wish I could be a part of that. I would give anything to see Voldemort fall." Her voice became wistful and she trailed off. James stared at her in shock. "Are you serious? I thought you didn't like to fight. And when did you start saying Voldemort's name?" "James did you miss all of out fights that we have had over the last few years? And I have always said his name because I have never got the point of being afraid of a simple name."

All he could do was stare in shock. When he got his voice back he spoke, "Well here's the thing. Dumbledore told me to tell you that you were also invited to join the Order." He looked into her eyes and he saw a sudden surge of steel in them. "If you don't want to I'm sure Dumbledore will understand." He added hastily. "No I want to James. I want to do this more than anything else in the world. He needs to be stopped. So many people are being killed from both world's, that if we don't end this than Voldemort is going to be he only survivor."

"If you're afraid or anything than I'm sure he would understand and he wouldn't make you do any of the front-line activities." He seemed to be oblivious of what she was saying as he was so sure that she wanted to help but wouldn't want to do any risky stuff. "No James I am not going to sit behind a desk and type papers for you. I want to fight and do everything I possibly can to bring that man to his knees." The hardness in her voice surprised him but he just thought, "Oh well, she'll do it for a while and then realize that she can't handle it. Hopefully she doesn't get anyone killed in the meantime." Realization suddenly hit her and she spoke,

"You don't think I can do it, do you? You don't think I'm strong enough to fight in the rebellion do you?" "Lily that's not what I meant-" "Then tell me James what did you mean by, 'If you're afraid or anything than I'm sure he would understand and wouldn't make you do any of the front-line activities.' What was that supposed to mean James if it didn't mean that you thought I couldn't handle it."

"It's not that I don't think you can handle, I just didn't think that you would want to." He lied. She glared at him and he suddenly felt something akin to fear. It was then that he realized that she would be a formidable opponent when challenged. He ignored this thought as ridiculous and focused on what she was saying.

"You are a lying bastard. I can see it in your eyes. You think that I'm just a toy that's going to break at any second and needs to be guarded against all possible threats." This news devastated her. She had thought that she had finally found someone, other than Jessica, who thought her to be capable of anything. But no James thought her to be a weak coward. She shook her head in disgust. "Goodnight Potter." She said ending the conversation before walking off the roof and back onto the astronomy tower.

He groaned in frustration, watching her leave. That was not how that conversation was supposed to go. "Why the hell did she get so angry? All I did was tell her the truth. I wasn't trying to insult her." He sighed in anger. "Women they get so uppity when you tell them that they're not good at things. On the bright side they always get over it the next day and apologize for getting upset over nothing." It never occurred to him though that Lily would not be getting over it any time soon. Sighing for a third time, he donned his invisibility cloak and followed her to make sure she was okay. This time though, he never revealed himself to her.

Lily Pov

She ran as fast as she could to the heads room, tears streaming down her face. She said the password to the portrait and ran straight passed Sirius and Remus to her room. Sirius reached out a hand to grab her but she twisted free. "Lily! What wrong? What happened?" Remus shouted after her. She ignored him and slammed her door shut and didn't even hear Remus and Sirius questioning James about what happened.

Looking around her room she saw her wand on the side table and grabbed it. She muttered a silencing charm on the room and locked it with a powerful spell that Alohomora would not be able to break. Knowing James he would still be able to get in but she didn't care she had to try something because she could not stand another conversation with him tonight. She threw herself into her bed and cried herself to sleep.

Upon waking she noticed a house elf carrying a tray full of food. "You didn't need to bring that up here. I'm going to eat breakfast in the great hall." "Mr. Potter told me that you are not allowed to do that and that you are to remain here." The small being said. She could see the creature was nervous at the thought of having to detain someone. "Good for him I'm going to eat down stairs." She glared at the creature as if to make her point when all of a sudden his demeanor changed. He no longer looked nervous and instead he seemed to emanate a certain powerful magic. "Mr. Potter told me that I am to do everything in my power to keep you here until he returns after his lessons this afternoon."

She had never heard a house elf speak to her like that before. For one it seemed to speak English better than James did and it also seemed to be threatening her. She felt fear grip her before she shook it off. "James does know that this could be considered kidnapping right?" The elf did not answer. She sighed, "Fine. What's there to eat?" Once again he seemed to change and this time he answered like a servant and gave off a list of the foods she could have. "That sounds excellent." She said aloud while inside she was thinking, "I'm going to kill James." "Umm, can you turn around for a minute? I just want to get dressed real fast."

The elf gave her a curious look and asked, "Why do you need to get dressed? Your not going anywhere for a few hours." A sudden thought occurred to her. "Your James's house elf aren't you?" It nodded. That explained a few things because the school elves were taught that all students were masters and to listen to everyone equally. "Anyway, I just wanted to because I never lay around all day in my pj's." It nodded once more and gave her a curious look before turning around. Silently, she sighed in relief. She went over to her wardrobe and pulled out the traditional black school robes, put them on and then walked as quietly as she could toward her bed and grabbed her wand. Suddenly she felt a level of magic surround her that she had never felt before. It was coming from the elf. He turned toward her.

"Drop the wand. I am under strict orders that you are not to touch it." The glare he sent her mimicked her own and she almost quailed under it. Her eyes flashed and she said, "In hell." Her eyes glared and she felt a sudden surge of strength that didn't feel like hers. She saw a flash of red light streak towards her. "Protego!"(sp? I couldn't find it in the books) she shouted. Her shield sprung up half a second to late but luckily she only caught some of it. It was enough to knock her off her feet though. She felt the blood trickle down her face. Her anger increased tenfold as she thought, "This is all James's fault and I'm going to kill him." Without her noticing the shield surrounding her body seemed to increase and began to glow a deep blue. "Stupefy!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, all her magic seemed to pool together into that one spell.

The spell worked and she stood there shocked for a moment, and in that calm she felt her shield slide off. Suddenly she realized her magic was gone. "What? First I stun a house elf and now I have no magic. Oh." She understood. It took so much magic to stun the elf that she was drained. She hadn't even know that it was possible to stun them. Shrugging it off she went to check if the door was open. To her relief it was, if it hadn't been then she would have been stuck with one very pissed off house elf when it woke. As she walked through the door she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very wrong.

James POV

Smiling from a joke Sirius said, James looked towards the entrance hall. To his surprise he saw Lily standing there. She looked at him and he flinched at the anger he saw in her eyes. She looked away, spotted Jessica and went to sit by her. He got up feeling his own anger starting to rise. When he reached her, he calmly asked, "I thought you were going to stay in the heads tower today since you aren't going to classes. And what happened to your head?" he asked glancing at the blood drying on her face.

"I have news for you Potter. I am going to class today." "You were raped on Saturday and you decide that your going to classes two days later? Besides you told me you weren't going to." He saw the fire in her eyes and was almost afraid of the next words she was going to say. "Well Potter guess what I lied. And second," Jessica looked between the two and James could tell she was afraid of what was going to happen next, she seemed to be quite familiar with Lily's temper, "I almost didn't make it thanks to your house elf who is the reason that I'm bleeding." He gave her a confused look. "House elves don't attack people unless they're directed to by their masters." "Is that a confession?" she cocked her head as she looked at him.

"What are you talking about? Are you saying my house elf attacked you? And stop calling me Potter. I thought we were passed that." "And I didn't think a friend would send a house elf to keep me hostage in my room. So therefore I don't think you deserve a first name."

"I didn't send my house elf to hold you hostage. I only told him to ask you to stay there until classes ended and I specifically told him not to try to keep you there against your will." He gave her a confused look that was laced with anger. "Well than why the hell did I suddenly find myself fighting a house elf who looked like he was about to kill me and told me that he was under strict orders not to let me touch my wand and not to let me leave my room? Please clarify then to the unconscious house elf in my room if he was wrong. Maybe he misunderstood your orders. And I'm still not sure how he got into my room as it was locked with a really strong spell."

Still confused about what happened he said, "House elves are extremely powerful magical creatures that can draw on their masters powers if they let them. Hold on wait. You said it was unconscious?" At her vicious nod he demanded, "What spell did you use?" "The Stunning Spell. Why?" "Because it is impossible to stun an elf with that spell. Trust me the Ministry has tried many times." She gave him a confused look. "Well I did and if you want proof there is an unconscious elf upstairs that you can look at. Now I wanna know why you sent your house elf to keep me there and I know it was you because house elves only answer to members of the family in which they are bound. James I'm not stupid, it was you. Unless one of your family is here and they did it." She scoffed. "But that is highly unlikely."

James's skin suddenly went ghostly white. "Give me the map Sirius." He handed it over and James snapped, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The map revealed Hogwarts and James saw a small dot in his room labeled, "Harold Potter." "No." he whispered. "Please God no." His worse fear had come true and he had no idea what to do next.

I wanna thank all my reviewers and I'm sorry it took me so long to write and sorry about the cliff hanger but if I didn't leave one it would be harder to start writing again and I promise I wont leave it this late again. Also just so you know I'm going to take this to present time, eventually, since I'm gonna find a way for James and Lily as well as Sirius to live. I already know how I'm gonna do it to. Well thanks to everyone who hung in there and I'm sorry this is kinda plotless and one of my worst updates but I will definitely make up for it in the next chapter.

NatsterSugerRush thanks for reviewing my story, twice no less. I'm glad you like and I think yours is awesome too as I'm currently in the middle of it.

Iamaiceskater08- thanks for reviewing I hope you enjoy this update as much.