::Midnight Lily::

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter – it belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Seven

The Christmas Holidays were drawing closer. Everyone was talking with anticipation about where they were going to go and what they were going to do. Even Wade, who had been biting his nails raw at the thought of the match against Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, had decided to join the talk.

Almost everyone was deciding to go somewhere special. Charlotte and her two younger brothers kept going on about their trip to Australia on the Christmas Holidays. "It's going to be warm down there," Charlie kept telling Katie. "So while you guys are freezing your necks off, I'm going to go surfing and sun backing by the beach! Mum's booked us in a really good muggle resort."

The snow was starting to fall much more heavily then intended and the teachers began telling students off for playing in it. Lily and her friends were waiting with eagerness for the Hogsmeade weekend that was to come in a few days. After Sirius's break up with Sabina, Katie caved in and said that it was best if Sabina followed. Her attitude towards Sabina had certainly changed in the few short weeks before the holidays.

"You can't help but feel so sorry for her," Katie grunted, one cold afternoon. "She looks so lonely - it's sickening." Sabina was sitting in the closest armchair to the fire. Her face was down but you knew that she was crying. Her shoulders trembled every few minutes. "I don't know whether to be amused or sympathetic."

Amber gave Katie a look of warning.

"It would do her some good if she followed," Lily said. "She could use some butterbeer to warm her up."

"I can hear you, you know," Sabina said softly. "I'm sitting right here." She turned around and gave them a grim smile. Her cheeks were shining with tears and her eyes were red and puffy. "Thanks for everything though, I'm sorry to be a burden." She turned her head to watch Sirius laughing and talking with James. "How can he be so - so okay with it?"

Amber kept her back at Sirius. "Don't even look at him," Amber said. "Don't even let him see you look at him." Amber had been avoiding Sirius for the past few weeks. She seemed to think it was best that no girl should talk to him. "Let him just think that you're over him."

Sabina's eyes turned to Amber and she gave a sigh. "You're right," she said. "It's just - I don't know whether this pain will ever go away - it feels so overpowering." A new flow of tears began to make its way down her cheeks but she wiped them away furiously. "I hate myself so much, I had wasted so much time with him - I had wasted so much of my life and I totally hate it."

"It will be good when the weekends start," Katie told Sabina absent-mindedly.

"Ya," Sabina agreed. "It'll be good to just erase Sirius from our minds."

"No," Katie said stubbornly, her cheeks turning red. "I mean - we don't have any more work to do - I hate Professor McGonagall's lectures." She scrunched her face up to make it all stern and grave. "You need to be prepared for your N.E.W.T.s! They're coming up soon and you'll need to study every day - instead of all of you dilly-dallying all the time!! Potter! Black! Put that 'thing' away this instant!"

James and Sirius jumped from the corner they were sitting in and when they realized it was Katie they laughed at her imitation. Lily, however, looked at Katie austerely but didn't say anything. It wasn't her business to spoil everyone else's holidays. Lily herself was hopeful to spend a good holiday – even though it had to be at Hogwarts. James seemed to have loosened his attitude towards her. Probably because she had been willing to stay back and help him gain Ailsa's love.

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James stopped at a door by a statue of an angel. Lily had just been walking around with her friends when he had hauled her away. "What are you doing? You're going to get us caught?" Lily hissed at him. But he didn't answer. He took out his wand and looked left and right before tapping the doorknob with his wand. "Angel Stars," James whispered at the knob. At first it didn't do anything.

Then slowly, very slowly, it turned. The door swung open to admit an empty room. "Get in," James whispered.

But Lily stayed frozen. "I'm not going in there," Lily said stubbornly. "I don't even know 'where' that is."

James sighed. "It's just a room where we can't be disturbed, alright?" He said quickly. "Stop being such a pansy and get in." Lily gave James a skeptical look but she walked in nonetheless. James followed after her. He closed the door by tapping it with his wand again. The room was made of solid grey stone. At the centre was an average sized fountain of an angel with a child at her hip. The water that flowed out of the angel's hands was crystal clear.

"What did you want me for, Potter?" Lily asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Did Ailsa find my poem?" James asked in a business-like tone of voice.

"Yes," Lily replied shortly.

"What did she think of it?"

Lily shrugged. "She said it was okay," Lily replied. "Better then most boys' poems that is."

James was practically beaming. "And, um, what did she think of me?" James asked, his cheeks heating up.

"Before or after she read the poem?" Lily asked coldly in reply.

"Both," James said eagerly.

"Before she thought you were egotistical," Lily said. "Afterwards, I don't know, she thinks you're alright." There was a long pause at which Lily walked up to the fountain and reached out to touch the water. James grabbed her hand an inch from her touching it.

"Don't," James said firmly.

"Why not?" Lily asked. "What is that?" She bent over, expecting to see her reflection, but it didn't show. The surface was a clear metallic paint.

"Be careful," James said. "Last year Peter burnt his finger from that water - we don't know what it is, but it looks very unearthly." He looked up at the angel inquiringly. "I don't know what this room is but I know that it was placed here for good reason – it must have."

Lily bent down and looked at a silver plaque that was placed on the wall of the fountain. "In memory of Marilyn H. Stimpson," she read. "May angels watch over the young." She hastily stepped back from the fountain. "I think this is a grave, Potter."

"You don't say," James said, looking at the angel with a lot more interest. "Remus thought it was one too - he thinks that the girl was buried beneath the fountain." At this, James bent down and tried to find a gap between the fountain and the floor. Lily looked at him in horror.

"This place gives me the creeps," Lily muttered under her breath. "Can't we just leave?"

"No," James said sternly. "I want to examine this a little more." He ran his hand through his hair and then stood up to look at the water. "Maybe you have to throw the water onto the angel or something - wait, maybe onto the little girl - Marilyn Stimpson."

A cold wind blew behind her and she jumped. "Potter!" Lily said shrilly. "I don't like this at all!"

"Wait!" James said back to her. "We've been here a thousand times and nothing has ever happened." James looked at the angel and then back at the water. "May angels watch over the young - we're not young."

"And I'm getting older right here," Lily said caustically. She stamped her foot on the stone ground. Then, without thinking, she walked up to the fountain, cupped some water in her hands and flung it at James. He threw his hands up in protection and braced himself for the pain - but nothing happened.

"Why didn't it hurt?" James asked, looking at his arms wildly. "Last year -"

"Who cares about last year," Lily said desperately. "Can we please leave?"

James ignored her; instead, he ran his fingers across the water. Ripples cascaded across the metallic surface and sparkled in the dim light of the room. James looked down, hoping to see his reflection, but instead he saw a baby, resting quietly.

"Lily, look," he said softly. Lily walked up beside him and bent down. The reflection of the infant grew clearer until it seemed as if a child was actually resting at the bottom of the pool. It turned to its side slightly and they saw a lightning bolt scar, just visible, on his forehead.

"Poor thing," Lily muttered. "It looks so lonely." Slowly the image vanished until it was gone. "What was that? Who was that?"

"I don't know," James said softly. He turned around. "Let's just go back." And they turned to leave.

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Lily and her friends made their way to the Three Broomsticks the next day against a tormenting snowfall. Inside the pub, it was warm and toasty, and groups of Hogwarts students were already packed around tables, talking excitedly about the Christmas Holidays. Charlie left the group to order the butterbeers and Lily, Amber, Katie and Sabina went to search for a table to sit at.

The only one that was not occupied was at a corner between two other tables. One of the two tables was in use by some shifty looking goblins and the other was taken by none other than the Marauders themselves.

"You think we could just sit out in the snow or something?" Sabina asked bitterly. She watched Sirius gulping up his butterbeer by the mouthful.

Amber gave a sigh. "No," she said. "Let's just sit down."

They made their way to the table and sat down. Charlie returned soon after with five mugs filled to the brim with warm butterbeer. "The drinks are on me," she said with a small grin.

"Why?" Lily asked curiously.

"Lost the game of exploding snaps," Charlie said disappointedly. "Knew I couldn't have won so many times in a row." They all laughed. "Hey, what's up Sabina's head?"

Sabina was staring at Sirius with a look of displeasure. On his lap was a blonde fifth year who was flirting with him extravagantly.

"He's such a cheat like the rest of them!" Charlie snarled. "Like Potter and Pettigrew – maybe not Lupin – but just like the other two horrible scoundrels!"

Lily looked at Sirius and couldn't believe that he was okay with it. How could he just move from one relationship to another? It was as if he wasn't serious about love at all. As if it were a game he could just mess around with. Almost instantly her eyes turned to James and she saw that he was staring at her too. "Hey guys," Lily said suddenly. "I'm going to go outside and stretch my legs – okay? It's so stuffy here." She stood up and left.

On the other table James saw Lily leave and he placed down his mug of butterbeer thoughtfully. "I completely forgot," he told his friends. "I hadn't paid for my acid pops."

"All the better!" Sirius said with a grin. "You saved up a handful of sickles!"

"No," James said shaking his head. "I better go and pay for them." He stood up and left. Leaving the Marauders in bewilderment. James opened the door of the Three Broomsticks and found Lily leaning on the wall outside. It was as if she understood him completely. "Morning, Evans."

"Hi there, Potter," she said optimistically. She nudged her head towards the open, snow-covered streets. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Why not," replied James with a sigh. "Better then seeing Sirius flirting with that scatterbrain fifth year." They made their way through the snow in a direct path for the Shrieking Shack. They didn't speak to each other at all on the way there. Everything stood peacefully in a way and snowflakes began to fall gently.

James kept his eyes towards his feet. It felt awkward walking peacefully with Lily instead of arguing with her. He turned to look at her while she was observing a group of adult wizards bargaining on the prices of the owl deliveries. He wondered how he could have been so stupid to fall in love with her. Why had her dark copper hair faze him so? Why had he always been lost in her sparkling emerald eyes? The flame was out now. He didn't care for her any more. All he wanted to care about was Ailsa.

Sure, she wasn't as beautiful as Lily or as smart. But she must really be a kind person at heart. James thought of Ailsa as someone he could marry and be happy with. But when he stared at Lily, he could only picture them arguing over their wedding preparations and the names of their children. He would live in misery because he knew that she didn't love him back. James looked back down at his feet in desolation.

Lily looked up at James and saw that he was staring at his feet in deep thought. She wondered what he was thinking about. Probably stupid Ailsa. That's what a guy like him would only think about twenty-four seven. Lily watched as he ran his hand through his jet black hair. For a split second she found the action admiring but she brushed it away. It was silly. Why would you want to look a complete mess?

If Lily ever wanted to marry anyone, she knew that she'd marry someone with a good future ahead of him. Someone who was proper and not always dilly-dallying like James. But she also wanted someone who would love her for who she truly was. She hated people just thinking about how beautiful she was or how clever she was. Lily wanted to marry someone who appreciated her inner self. If they didn't then there was no point in continuing that relationship.

"Evans," James said unexpectedly. "Why do you hate me so much? I mean, we could be friends, you know."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "I don't hate you," she answered softly. "It's my friends – they hate you."

"And you do everything they tell you to?" James asked. "If I followed every stinking plan Sirius made then I wouldn't be here right now."

Lily stared at him. "Sometimes I wish I were like you," she replied. "You're so – unbound."

"Me?" James asked, trying to keep his face straight. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are," Lily pressed on. "You can break any rule you want due to your own consent and if you feel like shouting at Professor McGonagall then you do it! Sometimes it makes me feel so structured."

"Then why don't you?" James asked.

"Don't I what?" Lily brushed away the snow on her dark red hair. It seemed to twinkle between her locks like pearls.

"Why don't you go shout at Professor McGonagall?" James asked. They reached the Shrieking Shack and came to a halt. James sat down on a log by the clearing and Lily sat down beside him.

"It's not me," Lily said with a sigh.

"It could be you," James suggested. "If you want."

Lily gave a grin. "If I decided to shout at a teacher, and I do it," Lily answered. "Then I'll have you to thank for." They gave a short laugh together. "I think you and Ailsa would make a great pair. It definitely couldn't have worked out between us. You'll just have to invite me to your wedding."

"Only if you invite me to yours," James pointed out.

"But you have to come," Lily said. "It's useless if I invite you and you don't come."

"I will," James promised.

"I already know what it's going to look like," Lily remarked dreamy eyed. "I've already pictured how my wedding is going to be like."

"Okay," James said slowly. "How?" Lily gave him a 'don't go there' stare but James disregarded it. "No, really, I want to know. I won't laugh."

There was a short pause where Lily looked out into the snowy white horizon. He was never going to see the dream wedding anyway, Lily thought. I might as well tell him what it'd be like.

"I want a pearl white gown – not crème or slightly blue – just completely pure white," Lily explained to him. "And my bouquet of flowers, I want it consisting of only lilies; every type of lilies of every single colour. Then I want to be married in a church by the sea." She looked down at her pale hands. "I love the sea – the ocean." She stood up and looked at the Shrieking Shack. "But it won't happen."

"It will," James replied firmly. "If you want it to – that is." He stood up and brushed the snow off his knees. "The ocean – it's a perfect idea. You suit the ocean. After all, your eyes resemble it."

Lily turned to look at James in astonishment and she saw him smiling at her.

A/N: Did you like that chapter? Please continue to R/R! By the way, Zayne, I found the name Sabina in a book of Baby Names. It's a really useful book for authors when they can't find a good name for the character. It comes from the Latin meaning 'from the Sabine Region' and it has been used as a personal name in Britain for 300 years. That's why I thought that I'd be a good name for such a character. I also found the name Ailsa from there too.