SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Summary: Lily and James went to Hogwarts together. Unfortunately their memories are not all enjoyable. Their time was spent pranking each other senseless, while competing for the top grades in the school. Two years after graduation they bump into each other, again, and again, and again... Could it be that they have a combined fate?
Disclaimer: Trust me this is just my hobby. I needed something to do while I was getting sued for using characters that aren't mine. They all belong to J.K.R!!
Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thanks for waiting once again! I know it's hard but school takes up all of my free time and I finally have a day off. ::sighs:: I know the weekends I don't have school but trust me with all the homework, basketball (yeah now it's changed from badminton to basketball) and community service I get I might as well. Hopefully this chapter will keep you laughing as hard as the others have been in the past. That's my goal! This chapter should add a little more substance to James and Lily's relationship than before. A whole other side of the plot begins to unfold. Could this be the chapter where some action begins? You'll just have to read and see now won't you!
Midnightgoddess1
.....................................................................
Excuse Me Miss Evans
Chapter Seven: Please Don't Say That
By: Midnight Goddess
.....................................................................
"Miss Evans!" a healer shouted as she burst in through the door to Lily's office. She gently pushed her black hair out of her eyes as she took a deep sigh at the sight of Lily sitting at her desk.
"Yes?" Lily asked; although she remained calm and collected in her response. Her eyes showed inner turmoil at the sudden announcement that was about to be spoken.
"They need you—attack—training center—death eaters—now!" the young witch managed to fumble out as she wrung her hands nervously on her white robes, as if she were terribly frightened of Lily's reaction.
"What?!" Lily shrieked as she stood up from her desk, in the process managing to knock over her chair. The chair clattered onto the floor and the echoes bounced silently off the walls.
'There is no way! I must have heard wrong. I need to get my ears checked. Why would they check the Auror training center? It doesn't make sense. It doesn't match up. How could they even find it? It has such high protection. What if he's hurt? What would I do?' Lily thought frantically.
"There was an attack at the Auror Training Center," the witch repeated with a clearer voice as she fixed her posture and looked Lily straight in her eyes trying to mask her excitement and worry.
Lily's papers fell straight out of her hands as she finally comprehended the words that the younger witch had spoken. She bent down to pick them up as she asked, "Are you sure?"
'She's going to say no. She's going to say she didn't mean that. She's going to name another place and I'm going to go help save wizards and witches and I won't have to worry about him being there. I won't have to worry about him being hurt.' Lily pleaded with herself.
"They need you down there," the young witch breathed out as she stood up straighter and tried to appear calm and responsible.
"At the training center?" Lily asked as if she didn't want it to be true.
"Yes," the witch replied warily as she turned to leave the room.
"You're positive?" Lily asked once again as she leaped forward and grabbed the woman's arm hesitantly.
'She has to say no. She has to say no. She has to say no.' Lily thought as she began to shake slightly.
"Yes," the witch replied as she looked at Lily strangely.
'I can't believe this! I have to go find him! I have to go make sure that he's not hurt! He has to be okay he can't die on me.' Lily thought.
"Have there been any deaths?" Lily asked frantically.
"Unfortunately there were quite a few," the healer mumbled sadly.
'This can't be happening!' Lily screamed in her mind.
"I have to get down there!" Lily shouted as she pushed past the healer and flew out the door instantly apparating in the hallway leaving her papers scattered across the floor and the witch standing in the middle of them staring blankly at the stop where Lily was last seen.
~*~
Lily instantly appeared in the middle of a large field. The once green grass appeared scorched and painted black as smoke rose from the end of each individual blade. The gray smoke swirled around and danced throughout the sky where a large green skull was painted.
'It's horrible here. It's like a dream. Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe this isn't real and I will wake up and I will realize that everything is fine and that everyone is safe and sound in their beds.'
"No," Lily murmured as she glanced quickly around the field at all the damage. She watched as mediwizards and witches bustled around the field, bringing all sorts of concoctions to the wounded.
She watched as Aurors lay on the ground. Their black robes waving slightly in the wind. They moaned in pain and twitched in agony. Lily gasped as she walked slowly across the field to where there was a tent set up to keep the hurt.
'What if one of these people in pain is him? What if I miss him completely and I can't find him? What would I do? What can I do? Where am I supposed to go?' Lily thought.
She entered the tent and was immediately drawn to the back of the tent to a head of messy black hair. She blinked a few times as if she couldn't believe the sight that was lying clearly in front of her.
'Oh no. That cant' be him. It can't be. That's his hair though. It's not moving. He's not moving. I can't believe this. He could be dead. He could already be dead and I would have never been able to say goodbye. No, he's just injured. I have to say that he's just injured. I can go help him and everything will be okay.' Lily sighed out.
"God no," Lily breathed out as she proceeded to walk to the back of the tent. The beds became blurs as she continued to walk further and further in a never-ending row of crying. The smell of blood filled the air and suddenly Lily found it hard to breathe. The needing and wanting of everything seemed to fade away until it was erased from her memory. The only thing in the world that mattered was that he was okay.
As she kept up her pace and continued walking slowly past all those who were lying helplessly in their beds she began to think. 'What if he isn't okay? What if something horrible happened and things are never the same? What if they can't save him? What if he dies? What if I never get to tell him how I feel? What if he never knows?'
Lily let out a deep breath and closed her eyes to try and control the spinning objects in the room that were threatening to topple her over the edge.
'It's all okay now.'
As she stopped to catch her breath and to prepare herself for what might be, she was pushed by a healer, who was pushing past people quickly to the back of the tent where a young Auror was screaming and twitching in terror. In his haste, he bumped into Lily, who in turn lost her balance. As her foot finally grasped the ground and she began to steady herself, her other foot became entangled in the leg of the bed she was standing next to.
The man with the messy black hair just happened to occupy the bed that Lily had been standing next to. Lily, who was unable to keep her balance, fell into the bed toppling herself and the man resting onto the floor. Lily didn't move but instead clung tightly onto the man's tattered robes afraid to let go and open her eyes in fear of how he might appear.
"Excuse me miss," the man mumbled from underneath Lily.
Her eyes flew open. She quickly jumped up and dropped the man's robes from her fingers as she looked down into the cool brown eyes of a complete stranger. His messy black hair was standing up at odd angles and his cool brown eyes were twinkling with laughter as he watched Lily turn a scarlet shade of red.
"I'm sorry!" Lily blurted out as she began to back away from the man, horrified at what had just happened to her. She shook her head as if trying to erase the memory of what had just happened from her mind. It didn't work. The event just kept repeating over and over on fast forward never taking a break. She took a step backwards and quickly turned around. This time, she knocked into another man sending healing utensils across the tent and knocking both of them down to the hard, cold ground.
"I'm sorry!" Lily shouted out again as she quickly stood up this time and turned away, trying to mask her embarrassment of being involved in yet another mishap. A shiver danced its way up her spine as she felt a hand grasp her shoulder tightly.
'I think I could recognize his touch anywhere.' Lily thought with a small smile after all of the heartache that she had just experienced.
"You've only been here five minutes and you've already caused a disaster," a clear voice rang out from behind Lily as the man squeezed her shoulder lightly. The laughter was evident in his voice and Lily turned around with her green eyes open wide and glimmering under the dim candle light of the tent.
"James!" Lily mumbled mistily as she suddenly found herself face to face with the hazel eyes she had been searching for what seemed the entire night.
"That was an interesting performance," James joked as he lightly tapped Lily's shoulder teasingly. His eyes then grew somber as he looked down at Lily carefully. Even through her eyes were now illuminating the room, the remnants of the tears that had been rolling down her cheeks were still evident and shimmering lightly. James reached down to wipe away a stray tear that had been resting on her cheek.
"I was so worried," Lily managed to utter before she completely broke down with relief and found herself wrapped up in James' arms. He clasped his arms around her tightly and pulled her in as closely as he could to his body.
"Everything is fine now," James whispered into her ear as he gently rubbed her back, trying to calm her silent sobs that racked her body as she clung onto him in desperation.
"What if everything wasn't fine?!" Lily sniffled out as she let her arms fall limply to her sides and she turned her helpless eyes up to James' face.
"Stop imagining and just be thankful," James commanded as he tried to pull her back into his arms. 'I need to feel her close to me again. I need to be able to touch her again. I need to be able to smell her hair. I need to be able to love her even if it isn't meant to be.'
"Everything's running past too fast," Lily breathed out as if she were out of breath. She took a step back and let out a sigh. She was trying to keep up with the world that was speeding past her faster than she could ever hope to even glimpse a smear of color.
"Just let everything out," James insisted as Lily fell limp once again in his arms. This time wrapping her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his shoulder and James smiled softly as he felt the warmth of her tears spread about his neck. Lily gently raised her head from James' shoulder and broke free from his grasp, never removing her eyes from his.
"Thank you," Lily announced clearly as she studied James' face intently.
"You're welcome," James replied as he watched Lily.
"You have a cut," Lily quickly covered as she brought her finger up to trace a gash across James' arm. As if she was suddenly realizing exactly what she was doing, Lily pulled her hand away from James.
'I shouldn't be so worried about a cut. I'm overreacting. After thinking he was dead what else am I supposed to do? I need to get rid of this shaky feeling. Everything is alright. He's safe. I'm safe. We're together. Why am I still this nervous?' Lily thought to herself.
"It's nothing," James replied as he firmly stood his ground, though appearing slightly dazed at the turn of events.
"You have another," Lily responded as she brought her hand up to James' face to gently press on another cut that was just above his eye. James watched Lily's small smile turn into a frown as she ran her hand across a blue bruise that was beginning to appear.
"What are you doing here?" James asked as he shrugged Lily's hand away from his face, trying to ignore the shivers running down his spine.
"I'm a mediwitch," Lily explained as she stepped back from James' face, which was beginning to grow pink with an unleashed anger that seemed to be boiling up inside of him.
"They gave you this shift?!" James shouted quite loudly. A few witches and wizards in the tent stopped their jobs to watch James and Lily's conversation.
"James, they're understaffed. They need me here," Lily tried to explain as she began to take a step back from James.
"It's not safe," James shivered as he remembered the events that had occurred.
"We're both safe now," Lily whispered as she took a small step towards James again as if she were trying to calm him. James responded by wrapping his arms around Lily once again and holding her tightly.
"Miss Evans," a nurse finally cut in as she watched with a smile as Lily reluctantly broke free from James' grasp and turned her way.
"Yes," Lily absent-mindedly responded as she turned her eyes towards James.
"They need you to come have a look at another patient," a healer with shining black hair commanded lightly as her grin grew larger, realizing Lily was still watching the man.
"What?" Lily asked as she finally tore her eyes away from James, who was watching her very strangely.
"Please just tear your attention away from your husband for one minute and come look at this patient," another healer commanded as she grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her away from James.
"He's not my husband!" Lily exclaimed, somewhat angrily at the accusation that the woman had just made.
'How could she possibly think that James and I were married? MARRIED. Is my last name Potter? No! I don't even have a ring! We're not even in love! Sure I was glad to see that he wasn't hurt. I hugged him. Am I not allowed to hug a guy without everyone jumping to conclusions?' Lily complained.
"Boyfriend," the healer corrected herself as she continued to pull Lily towards the opposite side of the tent.
"We aren't dating," Lily insisted as she let out a heavy sigh of annoyance. The healer turned to give Lily a look with her eyebrows raised. Lily rolled her eyes and looked away.
~*~
"What are you looking for?" Arabella asked Lily as she followed her through the rows and rows of books.
"I heard about an old book with ancient healing charms," Lily explained as she continued to sift through the books reading the titles with great interest. Arabella just rolled her eyes as she watched her friend become absorbed in the books of the past.
Arabella turned her eyes to another pair between the books on the shelf. A smile appeared on her lips as she looked innocently over towards Lily with a small smirk on her face.
"What?" Lily asked as she looked up from the titles and found Arabella watching her with an odd look upon her face.
"It's nothing," Arabella responded as she turned around and pretended to be engulfed in a large book that she pulled off the shelf. The book left a capacious hole in the shelf so that she could peer through to the other side.
A chocolate brown eye peeked through a gave a quick wink before disappearing again. Arabella glanced over at Lily who was still absorbed in a book that she had begun to read. She quickly placed her book back on the shelf and uttered an incantation underneath her breathe.
In a split second the entire shelf, which reached up to the ceiling, had collapsed. Lily snapped her head up in time to watch all the books splatter on the floor. She glanced over at Arabella stunned.
"What just happened?" Lily asked astonished.
"I have no idea," Arabella responded as she looked around trying to conceal her laughter. In the midst of Lily's confusion and Arabella's giggling they both heard a cry and turned around sharply. Lily's face twisted into a frown as she began to work her way through the books. Arabella just smirked as she quickly followed Lily through the wreckage.
"James?" Lily asked as she bent down next to a man who was covered with books. Hearing laughter she looked up at a laughing Sirius who was trying to keep hidden in the shadows.
'I can't believe Sirius and Arabella! They can be so immature sometimes. Just because they think that James and I belong together doesn't make it true. They should just stop messing with fate and let it chose.' Lily thought as she shoved a glare towards Sirius.
"You are such an idiot!" Lily shouted at Sirius, who shrunk further back into the shadows of the nearest shelf than before.
"What did I do?!" James asked as he tried desperately to shove the heavy books off of himself. He didn't appear to be having much luck with his task and Arabella laughed as she watched Lily leave James underneath the books and advance towards Sirius.
"Why can't you just leave us the hell alone?!" Lily screamed in Sirius' face. James twisted his head around and realized that Sirius was standing with his head down trying to mask himself from Lily's violent anger radiating off her body.
"You were here the whole time!" James accused Sirius as he once again tried to struggle from underneath the books.
"Why don't you ask Arabella it was her idea!" Sirius pleaded as James and Lily turned their attention to Arabella, who had been silent the whole time.
"Yes, Arabella, please do explain," Lily asked sweetly as she began walking across the mess towards Arabella.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Arabella muttered as she began to back up, afraid of Lily's calm nature. Just then the store manager began walking over to see what the commotion was about. His eyes widened in anger and amazement as he realized the mess that had been created in his store. He turned his eyes to the four before narrowing them angrily.
"Get out!" He shouted. Lily, who was too enwrapped in her quest to hurt Arabella, ignored the command and immediately lunged towards Arabella. Arabella, by that time, had turned and bolted out of the store, leaving Lily flying through the air at the store manager.
"I said GET OUT!" the store manager screamed once again. Lily scampered off of the man as she looked down at the floor sheepishly as she tried to cover her beet red face.
"Is anyone going to help me?" James blurted out. Lily shot her head up as her eyes widened in sympathy. She glanced shyly over at the manager who turned his head towards James.
"Are you going to help him?" the manager asked Lily crossly. Lily nodded shortly as she darted over to where James was laying and bent down in the pile of books next to him. Her eyes darted across James' face and she felt herself heat up once she realized that James was watching her every move.
"Are you going to help me?" James asked Lily, who had bowed her head to hide her inflamed face.
"Oh yes, sorry," Lily muttered as she looked up once again. Lily couldn't remove her eyes from James' inquisitive ones, so when she began to mutter wingaridum leviosa, she pointed her wand at James instead of at the large charm books that were piled across his body. This of course, caused James to go flying in the air.
"What are you doing?!" James yelled.
"Sorry!" Lily rambled as she pulled her wand down causing James to drop down to the ground and fall upon the pile of books.
"Ouch," James grumbled as he rubbed his backside.
"Sorry," Lily muttered as she tried to hide her steaming face and turned around quickly to run out of the store. In the doorway James caught her arm and whipped her around so that she was facing him. Lily, who had not been expecting the sudden contact, lost her footing and fell into James' arms, knocking him backwards and onto his back in the middle of the street outside.
"I just wanted to thank you," James breathed from underneath Lily.
"You're welcome," Lily muttered as she flew up off of James and straightened her robes looking around to see who had been watching their exchange.
"There you are!" Arabella exclaimed as she and Sirius popped out of the shadows of the building. They had clearly been eavesdropping as they were both wearing identical smiles along with matching guilty eyes.
"We've been looking all over for you!" Sirius added as he glanced nervously at Arabella. His eyes turned back to James and Lily and he smiled at them, seemingly innocently.
"Shut it," Lily shouted forcefully.
"You guys are giving me a headache!" James shouted after Lily as he rubbed his temples and closed his eyes as if trying to block out the entire world.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lily asked James as she turned to face him with a concerned look pasted on her face.
"I'm fine," James muttered as he continued to rub his head.
"I never checked to make sure that your head was okay!" Lily exclaimed as she took a tentative step towards James, as if she were afraid of what he might say, or worse, what Arabella and Sirius might begin.
"We're going to go get some ice cream," Arabella announced as she grabbed Sirius' arm and pulled him around the corner.
"I'm fine," James repeated as he tried to back away from Lily.
"You still have a bruise," Lily noted as she gently pressed on the side of James' head where there had been a long cut.
"Ouch!" James exclaimed. Lily quickly pulled her hand away from James' face.
"Sorry," Lily muttered sheepishly as she gently poked her wand to James' head and uttered a spell.
"How do you feel?" Lily asked James as he opened his eyes and stared deeply into Lily's.
'I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to control myself. I can't seem to push her out of my mind. I try so hard. I just can't muster up the strength to go through with the plan. It's impossible. Every single time she touches me I'm reminded of how I used to feel. No, how I still feel.' James thought.
"Confused," James responded. After a few silent seconds he mentally slapped himself.
"Why are you confused?" Lily asked curiously.
"Forget it," James muttered as he turned his head and noticed that Arabella and Sirius were still standing in the shadows. He narrowed his eyes as he realized their motivation for standing there. Lily, who followed his glance, turned a bright pink and began to stomp over to where their friends were standing.
"What do you think you are doing?!" Lily screamed as she walked up to Arabella and Sirius. Her knuckles were white and her hands were shaking.
"Lily," Arabella warned as she backed away. James walked up and pulled Lily behind him as he smirked.
"Ice cream?" James asked innocently as he pointed to their empty hands.
"Well—" Sirius began.
"Save it," Lily muttered murderously.
~*~
"Everyone together now!" the photographer shouted to the crowd of people waiting to be photographed. The group scurried together quickly leaving to open chairs next to each other. Lily and James tentatively sat in the chairs next to each other. They tossed small smiles in each other's direction and then they quickly looked forward trying to avoid eye contact.
"Can you believe that this is happening?" Lily asked James as she turned in her seat, finally giving into the urge to glance at him.
"It feels like a dream," James replied with a nod of his head as he looked around the crowd proudly.
"The Order of the Phoenix," Lily mumbled as she looked out over the crowd with a smile on her face.
"It is too surreal," James added.
"What is?" Lily asked as she converted her eyes back to James.
"Everything. The war, this order, the fact that you're sitting here next to me," James blurted out before he quickly turned his head and allowed silence to fall over the two of them once again.
"Where's Arabella?" James finally asked Lily, trying to break the awkward silence that had fallen over them.
"She didn't want to join," Lily mumbled, scanning her eyes across the crowd of people who had gathered there. James shifted his position causing his wand to fall out of his pocket. Lily and James bent down to pick up James' wand at the same time and when their fingers met an electric jolt went up both of their arms causing them to drop the wand again and pull away from each other.
"She just doesn't have time," Sirius announced from behind them. He was smiling happily around the crowd.
"That too," Lily added with a small smile at Sirius' happiness.
"It's so amazing to be part of this," Sirius told Lily and James as he took a deep breath to try and lighten his mood again.
"Does anyone know?" James asked curiously trying to avoid details because of Lily.
"Do you think I've talked to them?!" Sirius exclaimed angrily as his eyes darkened over and he glared at James.
"No," James mumbled as he looked down at his feet and tried to avoid Lily's questioning glances.
"Do you think they'd approve?" Sirius asked James angrily, not sensing that James was trying to end their conversation.
"No," James mumbled once again trying to hide his embarrassment for bringing up this topic.
"They've already disowned me. My name's burned off the curtain. They hate me. I hate them. I don't think we still keep in touch about things like this. What am I supposed to do? Do you want me to call them up and tell them I joined an order against their Lord?" Sirius whispered angrily as if he were too angry to yell.
"No," James mumbled.
Lily seemed to sense that the conversation had come to a close and that neither James nor Sirius would be willing to talk about what had just happened so she just sat there watching them for a few minutes before turning her head to watch the other members of the order take their seats.
"Black!" A man shouted from behind the group causing the three to turn around sharply. A man with fizzy red hair and a long beard appeared behind them. He looked slightly dizzy and out of place in the group but he was still acting as if he were the most significant person there.
"Hello Aberforth," Sirius and James chimed in together. Lily gave a small wave as she turned around.
'Aberforth has always been strange.' Lily thought to herself as she watched him trip over his own feet as he came around to talk to James and Sirius.
"I don't know what this world is coming to," Aberforth admitted sadly as he turned his eyes down to the floor. Lily looked up to listen to what he was saying.
"I know. This war is horrible," James replied seriously.
"Well, that and I can't seem to find any decent wool scarves," Aberforth admitted with an annoyed tone of voice. Lily caught James' eye and they shared a secret laugh before turning their attention back to Aberforth.
"Really," Sirius replied casually.
"Oh look! There's my brother! I must go say hello. Perhaps he knows where I can find a scarf," Aberforth exclaimed as he headed off towards Dumbledore who was standing in the corner with Moody talking.
"He's always been strange," James mirrored Lily's previous thoughts as he settled back into his chair.
"Hello Dorcas," Lily said as the woman sat down next to her.
"Oh hello Lily! How are you?" Dorcas asked politely as she turned her eyes to James who was sitting next to her.
"I'm doing fine and yourself?" Lily asked.
"Oh I'm doing wonderful. I see you and James are getting along better than in school," Dorcas laughed out lightly as James turned his head to listen to the conversation.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked slightly curious as to what Dorcas was talking about.
"Well, during Hogwarts you wouldn't have been able to sit next to each other this calmly. You'd both be dead or hexed to no tomorrow by now!" Dorcas laughed out as if she were remembering the times when this had occurred.
"We're more mature now," Lily explained as she tried to drop the conversation. Although it was too late because Sirius had now become interested in what Lily and Dorcas were discussing.
"You know sometimes I have to wonder what brought about their change," Sirius told Dorcas with an evil glint in his eye as he watched Lily growl.
"Oh we all knew it would happen sooner or later!" Dorcas laughed as she winked at Lily and James who sat there with their mouths gaping.
"It's not what you think!" Lily exclaimed.
"I always knew that you two would end up together!" Dorcas exclaimed happily. At this exclamation Emmeline turned around to look at Lily and James sitting next to each other and she quickly turned to Dorcas.
"I personally thought it would be sooner than now," Emmeline stated as a matter of fact statement before she gave Lily and James a small smile and turned back around, ignoring their matching shocked expressions.
"We aren't dating!" Lily screamed so loud that everyone stopped talking and turned around to stare at her and James sitting next to each other. They were sitting quite closely due to the amount of people being squeezed in a small space.
Silence filled their seats as they sat staring straight ahead for a few minutes. The chattering around them seemed to become louder as they tried to concentrate on something across the room. Anything but each other.
"Peter!" James suddenly shouted as he stood up quickly.
"Hello Prongs," Peter mumbled as he looked down at the ground to avoid James' gaze.
"Hi Peter," Lily muttered as she glanced up at Peter quickly enough so that she could avoid James.
"There aren't any more chairs," Peter complained as he looked around the crowd helplessly. A glint of anger flashed through his watery eyes, but as quickly as it had come it disappeared.
"Here you can sit between me and Lily," James announced quickly as he scooted over leaving a spot open for Peter. Peter sat down and Lily instantly inched away. She stole a glance of James, who was concentrating on looking straight ahead.
"Come together again now!" the photographer yelled.
'Sometimes I wonder if he feels the things that I feel. He certainly acts awkward enough around me. It makes me start thinking if he really does think about me that way. Then again, he can probably tell how I feel. That's it. He knows what I'm thinking. He knows how I feel and he feels awkward about that. It has nothing to do with how he feels. He doesn't feel anything for me. Nothing.' Lily thought as she finally tore her eyes away from James and smiled for the click of the camera.
~*~
"To the downfall of he-who-must-not-be-named!" Sirius exclaimed happily as he sneakily wrapped his arm around Arabella's shoulders and lifted his drink into the air in a toast. Arabella, James, and Lily followed and lifted their drinks up as well.
"You sound as if the war is over," Lily laughed lightly. Her eyes darkened over as she thought of reality and how the war was really beginning instead of having just finished. James flashed a concerned glance towards Lily as he reached out his hand, as if to console her, before grabbing it away quickly.
"It will be soon now that we're involved!" Sirius exclaimed once again happily as he chugged his drink and set it down on the table with a loud thud. Arabella glared at Sirius as she carefully picked up his arm and dropped it down on the table.
"He doesn't have a big head at all," Arabella announced sarcastically as she rolled her eyes at Sirius who mocked hurt.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sirius whined.
"He could be right," James mumbled as he looked down into his drink to avoid everyone who had now turned their attention towards him.
"Not you too," Arabella complained as she ran her hand through her hair with exasperation.
"We don't know how it's going to end," James began truthfully.
"He does have a point," Lily told Arabella, who was still rolling her eyes at James. Arabella just rolled her eyes at Lily and settled back into her chair.
"You never know. Sirius could kill him in a duel. Then again so could Lily or I," James murmured before he trailed off and looked down at the scratches in the table once again.
"It's all up to destiny," Lily added as she studied James. A few minutes later James raised his head to find that Lily was still watching him. She smiled lightly as her face began to heat up and turn scarlet before she looked down. James, who continued to watch her, rested his elbow on the table.
'Why does she have to say that it is all up to destiny? What if I don't agree with destiny? Can I change it? Maybe destiny is us. Would she understand everything then? Sometimes I wonder if she would notice if it knocked on her door.' James thought as he continued to stare at Lily.
"James," Sirius laughed out as he tried to break his friend's attention away from Lily for a few seconds.
Sirius continued laughing as he turned to Arabella and winked. Arabella rolled her eyes in James and Lily's direction. They shook hands and then immediately calmed down and resumed their original positions.
"James, could you please tear your eyes away from her for one minute?" Sirius shouted causing many people in other tables to turn and face them. Sirius just smiled sweetly at them and they quickly turned back around to their former conversations. James jerked his eyes from Lily and turned them to Sirius.
"I wasn't staring at Lily!" James yelled at Sirius as he took his glasses off and rubbed them on his robes.
"I never said you were," Sirius replied exasperated. James' face began to heat up as he cautiously glanced over at Lily who was turning the same bright shade of red. He finally mustered up enough courage to glance back at Sirius innocently praying that he wouldn't say anything else.
"What?" James asked. He was growing uncomfortable under Sirius and Arabella's stares. They finally lifted their eyes off of him with smiles.
"You spilt your butterbeer," Arabella managed to burst out with a straight face before finally collapsing into a fit of giggles as she looked over at Lily, who was glaring at her and Sirius.
James jumped up as he realized that he had indeed spilt the butterbeer all over his lap. The entire restaurant turned to stare at him as he tried to dry off his robes quickly. Lily then turned her head and pointed her wand as she muttered a drying spell. James looked at Lily thankfully, unfortunately she missed his gaze. He sat down calmly and covered his head in his arms.
"Thanks," he murmured in Lily's direction. Lily just nodded her head as she tried not to attract the attention of Arabella and Sirius once again who were busy congratulating each other on causing another of James and Lily's awkward moments.
After a few minutes of silence their food arrived. The awkward silence was then filled with the clattering of utensils on their plates as they tried to eat as quickly as possible so that they could avoid conversation and return home as quickly as possible.
"Lily Evans!" a woman's voice called from behind the table. Lily and James turned to look around and found themselves face to face with Alice Wilson. Her brown hair was bobbing up and down happily and she sat down in a chair that Arabella pulled up for her.
"Alice Wilson!" Lily exclaimed happily as she hugged her friend and sat back down next to James.
"How have you been?" Lily asked Alice after everyone had settled back down after their initial greetings.
"I've been great!" Alice exclaimed, "Actually, I've been doing better," Alice announced as she held out her hand to Lily and Arabella, which had a glistening diamond rested on her ring finger.
"You're engaged!" Arabella squeaked happily as she watched Lily and James' reaction to the news. Their faces were expressionless as if they were trying to hide their true feelings from everyone else at the table.
"Congratulations!" Lily smiled as she risked a glance at James, who had been watching Lily the entire time.
"Frank?" Sirius asked curiously with his eyebrows raised. Alice just blushed casually and nodded her head happily.
"How are you and James?" Alice asked Lily with a knowing smile.
"We're not dating," James cut in before Lily could politely correct Alice for her mistake. She turned and gave James a glare before she turned back to Alice and rolled her eyes in James' direction.
"Sorry," Alice muttered as she shot a questioning glance to Arabella and Sirius who just shrugged their shoulders and looked down at the table.
"You're not the only one," Lily grumbled as she shot daggers at Arabella and Sirius who were watching her with impassive faces.
~*~
"Lily you look tired," Arabella commented as she looked over at Lily. Her green eyes were beginning to glaze over and her eyelids were dropping as if they were trying to hold up weights.
"No, I'm fine," Lily replied as she forced herself to open her eyes and sit up straight.
'I can't help myself. I'm drained. I can't keep my eyes open. I just don't trust myself to fall asleep in here. I could accidentally touch James in my sleep and then a whole new set of rumors would be started. I know that it was Arabella who suggested that we were dating to Alice. She didn't just come up with that idea on her own. I saw that look she gave Arabella and Sirius. Like they had told her something before. I wouldn't doubt the fact that they did.' Lily thought as she tried to force herself to stay awake.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to bed?" Arabella asked as she once again watched her friend's eyelids droop.
"I'm awake!" Lily shouted, louder than expected as she sat up straight and opened her eyes wide to show that she was not asleep.
'She makes me wonder why she wants me to go to bed right now. What is she going to tell James if I leave? I have to stay awake. I can't risk her letting my secret slip. What would James think if he found out? He probably would stay as far away from me as possible and I don't' know how I would deal with that.' Lily thought once again as she began to drift off to sleep.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to bed?" Sirius asked as he eyed Lily who once again forced herself to stay awake.
"Yes!" Lily shouted angrily as she shifted positions so that she wouldn't be in James' way if she actually did fall asleep.
"We won't mind," Sirius added as he watched Lily's expression change from angry to livid. She didn't speak but instead glared at Sirius with an unknown hatred. Sirius blinked and quickly looked away from Lily afraid of her sudden anger projected towards him.
Lily once again began to fall asleep. The conversation between Sirius and Arabella seemed to become more distant and the room appeared to become foggy as she began to loose her grip on her consciousness and began to fall into sleep once again.
"I think Lily's asleep," she heard Arabella say softly to Sirius and James as the three of them turned to look in Lily's direction.
"I am not asleep!" Lily exclaimed as she sat up once again this time she didn't make sure she was positioned away from James. As soon as her commotion was finished and the normal conversation between Sirius and Arabella had returned she began to drift off this once again. This time she allowed her head to fall on his shoulder.
"Lily," James mumbled as he reached up to pat her silky red hair.
'Why does he have to touch me. He makes my mind go into a chaotic state. I can't think straight. I can't breathe normal. Why does it have to be him? Why James of all people?' Lily thought.
Lily grumbled a response that sounded as if she said she wasn't asleep. James just smiled as he watched her eyes finally close and her breathing become slightly slower than normal.
"I think it's time for you to go to bed," James whispered in Lily's ear as she shifted her head on his shoulder. He turned his head as he watched Arabella and Sirius begin to change their conversation as if they were trying to get James and Lily to leave the room so that they could spend some quality time together.
James glanced at Arabella and Sirius who had become entangled in each other's mouths. He rolled his eyes as he quickly shielded his eyes and looked away not wanting to watch them any longer than he had to. He looked down at Lily, who mumbled something that was incoherent as she kept her head on James' shoulder and unconsciously snuggled in tighter.
"I'm going to take you up to bed," James whispered once again as he glanced over at Sirius and Arabella who were leaning in closer at a rapid rate. James took the opportunity to scoop Lily up in his arms and quickly bolt out of the room.
James began to walk through the hallway unsteadily. He opened every door he came to and never finding Lily's bedroom. He finally opened Lily's door, he pushed it open and walked inside. As James advanced towards the bed in the middle of the room he stepped on a stray shoe that Lily had left next to her bed. This caused James to topple himself and Lily on the bed with himself placed on top of her.
"James," Lily asked groggily as she opened her eyes to find James lying on top of her.
She could feel his breath on her face and suddenly she didn't feel so sleepy anymore. James watched as Lily opened her startling green eyes and looked deeply into his own. He could feel her lifting her head slightly up and he tried to resist to bending his down to meet her.
"I was just bringing you to bed," James announced quickly as he shook himself out of his thoughts and jerked his head up. He jumped quickly off of Lily and bolted out of the room as fast as he could. Lily just sighed and flopped back on the bed.
~*~
Author's Note: I first of all have to thank all of my amazing betas because I would never be able to have this story up here without them! They are so awesome!!! So thank you Brenda, Natalie, and Manda!
I also have to thank all of my reviewers because you motivate me more than anything! THANK YOU!
PonyLuvrGirl: I'm sorry I wasn't able to update that quickly but I did update! I was just motivated to write another chapter for this story! Thank you so much for your nice review. Oh and this fanfiction should end up being 17 chapters. That's how I have it planned out!
islandgirl4: Thank you so much for the review! Hopefully my update didn't take too long!
izzybell4life: I know I hate school it's way to much work! It keeps me from updating! I guess you'll just have to wait to see if Mark or Sherry return...lol...Joey will be back trust me. You might have to wait a while though but keep checking for him!
emily63: Thank you!! Hopefully I didn't take too long to update! I should really be updating my other stories so be happy I updated this as soon as I did.
pokie4389: Thank you for your review! I sent another chapter of Behind Locked Doors out to my betas and only 1 has returned it! Ugh! Anyway it should be updated very soon and I will get working on my other updates too!!
elvencherry07: Thank you tons for the review!!!
Hermione101888: oh no! That must've not been fun! I hate it when embarrassing things like that happen to me too. I'm glad that my story isn't getting cliche! I've been trying to get away from all the cliche fictions that are out there. Hopefully it's still continuing with the twists!
lilblondie2182: Thank you for reviewing!!
Lisa Meunier: Thank you! I'm glad you like my story and my style! It's always great to hear from people who do!
cara-meLisSa: I'm still alive! Haha I hope that this wait was worth it just as much as the others have been. I don't want to disappoint anyone! You're just going to have to wait and see when Lily and James get together. I'm not telling! And no, Peter will NEVER be loved.
Elegystar: I'm sorry I always take a long time to update and this was hurrying for me! It was all your review ;-)
smile28: Thank you! I'm glad that you can imagine everything. That's one of a writer's goals. To have such a vivid world that anyone can feel as if they are actually there! I'm honored that I can write like that!! Thanks!!
Donzabobo: I'm glad you didn't care about the fluffiness! Thanks for the review!!
Mimi: Thank you so much! Hopefully the wait wasn't too bad!
I o u a name: Thank you! Arabella and Sirius are being very annoying. That's their job though they have to go through with it because I'm making them! Haha. Sorry about the wait!
LENAk: Thank you! I'm glad that you caught the double meaning of the line! I'm so honored to be one of your favorite L/J writers! Thank you! I'll be sure to keep up my writing for you!!
Carmen: Thank you so much! I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter!
Anne-Janet: thank you! I have to say that I agree with you when you say Poor Lily and James.
ShorTi: I'm so happy you stayed up late just to read my fic and that you liked it! Thanks for reviewing! Hopefully you got my e-mail and you'll review again!!
cloak12: I am honored to be your first review! Thank you so much for reviewing! Trust me I won't stop ever I just take a while to update unfortunately. Thanks!
I Love James Potter 4 eva: Don't worry I'm always going to update! It just sometimes takes me a while...okay it usually takes me a while. We all know they're going to eventually get together...the question is when. An old witch on the sidewalk said that the younger generation was blind...and I'm glad you like Joey! I love him!
Willow23: Thank you so much for the review! Oh and I'm sorry about your face mask! Oh trust me Lily and James will eventually kiss and I threw in a tiny bit of Arabella and Sirius. Not that much though...sorry it shall come. I don't know if that was the longest review ever but it's up there trust me! Try again and if it's the longest I'll let you know!
khel-shaye: Thank you! I'm going to keep writing until it's finished don't worry about it!!!!
aliyah5: Thank you so much! I'm glad that my fic is different that's what I try and do with all of my fanfictions. I don't want them to be cliche! They will kiss soon enough don't worry it's not fun if they kiss now! Your English is very good-and I'm learning French in school!
Lololchik: I'm glad you like it! Thanks!
NiNaPoP: Thank you...maybe one of them should smack Arabella and/or Sirius. It would make for an interesting chapter. Hopefully I didn't make you wait too long for this update!
Princess19: Thank you for reviewing! I'm so glad you like my story!!
Rachel: thank you for the review. Oops I didn't think about that when I wrote it. Maybe I'll fix it someday but if I ever use shopping cart again I'll be sure to put trolley instead! Oh and yes it is what the British say. Thanks for pointing that out for me!
Geets: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the chapter! Don't worry about reviewing late! As long as you review!! Hopefully I updated quickly enough. Don't hurry the story! Won't you be sad when it's over? Lol
Elven Dagger: Don't worry I'm going to continue this story until it's finished! Thanks so much for reviewing!
Eva: I'm sorry I am such a busy person that it's hard to find time to actually write a chapter and update. Since I try and keep my chapters long and detailed, as many people enjoy, it takes longer than it would if I just pulled something together quickly. I take lots of pride in how and I write and I try to make it as good as it can possibly be for your enjoyment! On top of that I have school, with tons and tons of homework, basketball practice for 2 hours every day after school, then dance and guitar...but I'll try and update as fast as I can...I already have 4 pages done of the next chapter...
Tribal Leader: Like I've said a million times I'm going to continue even if it takes me a while! The story will eventually finish! Thank you so much for your review! I always love hearing from people who say they love my story, it encourages me to keep writing :) I started to read your story and I have to say that I really liked it I didn't have a chance to leave a review since I haven't had any more time to read but I swear that as soon as I have a spare moment I will review!! I promise!
Nestle: You know whenever I leave a note I always sign in and make sure that if I'm not I at least leave my e-mail address so that I can be contacted. I asked for constructive criticism and the note you left me was far from that. I found it extremely rude and immature. I realize that you are entitled to your own opinion of my story and that's perfectly fine with me, however, fanfictions aren't based on reality. The characters are based on ones from a book. They aren't real, they haven't ever been real, and they are never going to be real. They only exist in our imaginations. The whole Harry Potter series is based on a fantasy, a world that isn't reality. If we all stuck to reality we wouldn't be writing fanfictions or reading any fiction books. When you find another story that has the same plot as me, that was written before mine, you can call my story unoriginal but to my knowledge this story is the only one of its kind. I'm not going to change anything in my story just because you tell me to. If you don't enjoy my story then please refrain from reading it and go find yourself a life.
Loraliant Angelisa Snape: Hey since I'm talking to you as I'm actually writing this review I don't really have that much to say, but thanks for reviewing! It's always fun to hear from you!!