"Miss Evans? Miss Evans, are you all right?" Lily moaned a little and opened her eyes a crack. She could see someone in front of her, but who…

"Nutcracker?" As her vision cleared, she could see her wooden friend kneeling over her, a relieved smile on his face. "What happened?" she asked. "Am I dead?"

"If you are, it's thanks to Captain Moron over there."

"Shut UP Sirius!" Lily looked around- they were still in the Gryffindor Common Room, Sirius and Remus were finishing cleaning up dead mice. Gross. "Miss Evans?" Lily looked back at her nutcracker- he had a gold crown in his hand. "You're not dead," he assured her. "This is for you," He placed the crown on top of her head, prompting her to smile.

"Thank you, Nutcracker…"

"Please, call me James. Come on." James took Lily's hand and lead her to a Christmas present that was on the floor- it was lying on it's side with the top open… and there seemed to be a light coming from inside.

"What is…?" James merely smiled at her and led her through the opening, which turned out to be the entrance to a tunnel. It was quite dark in there, except for the small bright spot near the end. Lily held James's hand tight, a bit nervous. It wasn't that she was afraid of the dark… she was just afraid of what the dark might be hiding.

"Don't worry, Miss Evans," James said kindly. "There's nothing here to be afraid of. Even if there was, I'll protect you." Lily smiled, moving a bit closer. It was nice hearing James Potter say that to her… even if this wasn't the James Potter she wanted to hear it from.

She didn't quite understand it. Other than the fact that her Nutcracker was… well… a nutcracker, he and the James she knew were identical, like twins. Same appearance, same facial expressions, same sense of humor… they were exactly the same… so why wasn't she having any feelings towards the Nutcracker? Sure, she loved the Nutcracker… but it was as a dear friend and nothing more. With James… her James… she knew it was more than that. After six years of getting pestered and hexing him beyond belief, Lily had fallen for James Potter…

"Miss Evans?" Lily snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Nutcracker James. He had a worried look on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked. "You've been pretty quiet."

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied with a smile. "And please, call me Lily." She looked at the light at the end of the tunnel, which was slowly getting brighter. "Where are we going, James?" He smiled back at her.

"My palace," he said, mysteriously. "A place where imagination runs wild and anything can happen." (A.N: -sings- Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination… ahem. Read on.) Lily chuckled a little bit, but her eyes soon widened as they gazed upon the majestic view in front of her.

They were standing on a white sandy beach, which under Lily's one bare foot felt more like sugar than sand, staring out over a shimmering rose colored lake. But what was beyond the lake, on a small island green with foliage, was what really took Lily's breath away- the large white stone castle that had windows with panes made of spun sugar and was surrounded by marzipan roses, daffodils, carnations… every flower you could imagine. There was a small dock pointing towards the island, made of ribbon candy and peppermint sticks. Next to the dock was a matching ship, with a gingerbread captain waving to James and Lily from his spot at the helm.

"Oh James," Lily whispered. "It's so beautiful… like a dream..." James said nothing. He simply smiled and gently took her hand, leading her to the boat. Once on board, the Gingerbread Captain rang a bell next to him, smiling at the couple.

"Next stop," he said. "The Bastion of Dreams."

"The Bastion of Dreams?" asked Lily, looking at James. "What is that?"

"My palace," he said, the smile not leaving his face. "I think you'll like it." He pondered this for a moment. "I know you will." (AN: Two references to the same movie in the same chapter. I must be nuts or something.)

Within moments they had reached the palace and James led Lily inside. She couldn't look away from all the fantastic things she saw- little people no bigger than trolls ran the hallways, but they weren't trolls. These little guys had pleasant smiles and wore bright, sparkling clothes, adorned with little round bells. They all looked at Lily and James, giggling a little before scurrying away.

"Those are elves," James said with a grin. "I guess they're not used to seeing such a beautiful girl here in the palace." Lily blushed a little bit, a smile curling her lips. There were two men that ever called her beautiful: her father and James Potter. Both James Potter's, the human and the Nutcracker. But… it didn't seem to mean as much coming from the Nutcracker James.

She was back to that again. She was with a person, an exact double of someone she had grown to love… but she felt nothing more than the love she would share with a dear friend or possibly a brother. She could tell that he felt a little bit more for her… but how could she break it to him… without breaking his heart?

"Lily?" she heard him say, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I wanted to ask you something…"

"Hm?" she replied, still thinking a bit about the James she left behind. "What's that?" For the first time ever, she saw James Potter… either James Potter look nervous. "James, is something wrong?" He shook his head.

"No, nothing's wrong," he said slowly. "You saved me, Lily- Severus would have gotten me for sure if you hadn't intervened."

"You saved me first," Lily told him. "If you hadn't called out when you did…" Right then, James got down on one knee, taking Lily's hand in his own.

"My dear Lily…" He gave her hand a gentle kiss. "I ask you, please- stay here at my Bastion with me, be my princess." Lily didn't know what to say. He had been so kind to her, she couldn't tell him no… could she?

"James," she said. "This place is wonderful, its more that I've dreamed…" She watched his eyes light up happily, causing her face to fall. "But…James?" He was fading from view. She could barely see his mouth moving, she definitely couldn't hear anything. Within a few moments, everything had gone completely black. Lily felt like she was falling… and falling… and falling…

I know it's a killer cliffy, but if you haven't noticed, there's another chapter after this!!! Review!!!