Summary: 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: I swear that I do not own anything you can bet my story...
Author's Note: Hey everyone! I am SOOOO sorry that it took me so long to update. I just got so caught up in school and homework took over my life and I didn't have enough time to breathe much less write. But now it's summer and I have summer school but at least it's only one class and it shouldn't be that bad. Not as bad as the year but I swear I'll update more often. Well, I'll try my hardest at least :) sorry once again!
Midnightgoddess1
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Excuse Me Miss Evans
Chapter Nine: Put Your Wand Down
By: Midnight Goddess
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"Mr. Potter, how nice to see you again," announced a sarcastic voice that James remembered vividly.
'Just my luck. I was worried I'd have to go to Lily and explain why I'm here...and I get him. I already have a pounding pain in the back of my head I don't need one in my ass too.' James complained as he closed his eyes due to the flashing stars that appeared before his eyes every time he opened them.
"Would you mind explaining to me what happened?" the healer asked James as James was forced to wince from the sound of his voice.
'Why does she has to have this effect on me? Why does the thought of her have to send my legs to jelly and my mind to mush? Why can't I stay composed?' James wondered before he opened his mouth to answer.
"I was dodging a spell and I fell," James answered truthfully. Even with his eyes closed he could feel the smirk growing on the healer's face and he could sense the bright color of his cheeks changing rapidly to a deep red.
"Guilt can be distracting," the healer smirked as James slowly opened his eyes.
"Why would I have guilt?" James questioned wearily as he felt the room begin to spin again.
"I think you know what I'm talking about," Edward accused as he glared at James.
"I don't have the slightest idea," James responded quietly as he began to feel the pain coming back with full force.
"Why did you feel the need to turn Lily against me?" Edward snapped at James which caused James to have to close his eyes in order to keep himself from losing his conscience from the blinding pain in his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about," James answered weakly.
"I think that you know exactly what I'm talking about!" Edward began as his voice began to rise. "What did you tell her? Why can't you just accept the fact that Lily chose me and not you?"
James just shook his head lightly unable to respond.
"You bloody well know what I'm talking about!" Edward growled through his clenched teeth as he raised his wand towards James.
"Bloody hell!" Lily shrieked as she glared at Edward through the doorway. She glanced over at James in his current condition and then she turned her fierce glare back onto Edward once more.
"Lily!" Edward jumped slightly at her sudden presence in the room.
"Put your wand down!" Lily commanded.
"I was just preparing to heal him, Lily, it's not what you think it is!" Edward exclaimed quickly as his words slurred together in his haste to make sure that Lily believed his story before James could open his mouth.
"Edward, aside from the fact that I don't trust you've made a complete assessment and know exactly what is wrong with James, I am positive that you are in no condition to be able to heal him correctly," Lily said sternly through her clenched jaws as she watched Edward's icy glare turn from James onto her, where it instantly turned sugary sweet.
'How is it possible for someone to change their appearance that much in a split second? Edward was glaring at James as if he could kill him that very instant and then the instant he turns to me his eyes appear innocent. That should be a crime, no one should be able to lie like that.' Lily thought as she felt herself shaking with rage at Edward's tactics.
"That's not necessary. I'm perfectly fine," Edward announced in a calmer, more soothing voice. Lily watched as he let out the air he had been holding in his lungs as her eyes softened against her will as she watched James open his eyes and attempt to stand up straighter.
'James tries to appear so strong and brave even though it's blatantly obvious that he's in incredible pain. He's not nearly as accomplished at lying as Edward is. You can read James' eyes like a book.' Lily thought as a smile floated over her face for a second before her eyes turned cold again.
"Edward, I'm going to take him. Send over his paperwork with the nurse," Lily announced as she gripped James' arm lightly and helped him balance on his feet. The two of them walked out of the door without another word. Edward was left in the silent room where the tension and anger was still floating around a million miles per hour in his head.
"James?" Lily murmured once she had James laying down on a table in her office. She was hesitantly trying to figure out what had happened and James wasn't exactly helping.
"Mmm," James moaned as he tried to sit up to face Lily. She gently shoved him back down on the table.
"What happened?" Lily asked.
James didn't respond at first but he could feel the heat beginning to radiate off his body. He tried to force an innocent smile over his lips but he realized that he was losing feeling fast.
'What can I possibly say that would explain exactly what happened without embarrassing myself too much? I can't tell her that I can't get her out of my head and that she makes me lose concentration so that I hurt myself. I can't tell her that Sirius thinks that I'm doing it purposefully so I can go visit her. So what am I supposed to say?' James thought as he once again let out a feeble moan.
"I was dodging a spell during training and I tripped," James managed to choke out without looking at Lily's expression, which he was sure was breaking into a smile.
'At any moment now she'll just break out laughing.' James thought to himself.
"You need to be more careful!" Lily exclaimed as she brushed her fingers over the back of his head watching him clench his eyes shut tighter than before.
"There was a lot going on today," James offered as a weak excuse.
"I see you here much more than I'd prefer," Lily laughed out lightly as she gently mumbled a quick spell and took a bottle out of a cabinet on the side of the room.
"Well, you know this is my favorite place to see you," James managed to laugh out lightly.
"Drink this," Lily commanded, ignoring James' previous comment.
"It smells horrible!" James exclaimed.
"Just drink it," Lily whined as she watched James slowly open his hazel eyes and look around the room slowly.
"Do I have to?" He asked innocently.
"If you plan on making your headache go away then yes," Lily responded in a motherlike tone.
"Yes mother," James smirked as he shot the glass down quickly and made a disgusted face.
"Well, I can see that you're feeling better," Lily said, more to herself than to James.
"A little," he admitted.
"I'm sorry," Lily finally blurted out as she darted her eyes quickly to the floor to avoid James' eyes.
"About what? I don't hurt anymore," James smiled as he shook his head from side to side, "See! I can do that without crying now."
Lily smiled and replied quietly, "About Edward, James."
James just shook his head still and responded quietly, "It doesn't matter anymore, Lily."
Lily walked into the kitchen with her eyes half closed and a stressed expression etched across her face. She walked straight towards the refrigerator and began shuffling through the contents until Arabella looked up from the Daily Prophet she had been reading.
"What are you looking for?"
"I don't know," Lily sighed with frustration as she shut the door and plopped down in a chair.
"Did you have a stressful day?" Arabella asked as she set down the newspaper with a slight rustle in the quiet air as Lily was assessing the question.
"I had a surprising visit from James," Lily sighed out as she rubbed her temples lightly.
"To declare his undying love for you?" Arabella asked with a tone of normality that made it sound as if it were the most normal thing for James to drop into the hospital.
'How does Arabella manage to make that question sound so unimportant? How is she able to just blow off the impact of that statement? She can just ask me something so personal and expect me to be able to answer and keep the same composure as her...that can't be possible. How the hell does she do that?' Lily wondered as she watched Arabella continue to watch her.
"He was injured," Lily finally blurted out, not able to come up with a witty response to Arabella's question.
"So he didn't declare his undying love for you?" Arabella asked again with the same calm composure as she did the first time.
"No!" Lily finally cracked and exclaimed quite loudly.
"You are stressed. I'm just joking," Arabella laughed lightly as she watched Lily tense up even more underneath the added pressure.
"You need to work on adding some humor to your jokes. That's usually what lets people know that you're joking," Lily snapped as she let her head drop to the table and closed her eyes.
"Thanks Lil, I'll remember that," Arabella replied sarcastically.
Lily mumbled something incoherent that Arabella was sure wasn't something she needed to hear about herself at the moment. Lily had taken to rubbing her temples once again and she didn't appear to be any less tense than before.
"Why don't you take a nice warm shower?" Arabella suggested as she watched Lily raise her head.
"That actually sounds kinda nice right now," Lily admitted as she stood up and walked out of the room without another word. A few minutes later Arabella could hear the water running, with a sigh she turned back to her newspaper and forgot all about Lily's testy mood.
"Bella!" Sirius shouted as he and James apparated into Lily and Arabella's apartment, which was rather dark and seemingly empty at the moment. Sirius looked around in a confused manner
"Bloody hell where is she?" Sirius whispered underneath his breath, but loud enough for James to hear. He sent a worried look in Sirius' direction as Sirius began to fidget with the edge of his robes.
"Arabella! Are you here?" Sirius shouted out once again. Once again there was no response or sign that anyone was even in the apartment.
Upstairs a door shut.
"Did you hear that?" Sirius asked James. James simply nodded, the fear that was beginning to arise within him was making it hard for him to open his mouth and speak.
'There's something strange about this. Something that doesn't seem to make any sense. Arabella told us to meet her here and now the apartment is empty and dark...then there's the door closing upstairs. It's all too creepy to be normal.' James thought as he looked around the room suspiciously.
"Maybe we should go look," James suggested softly as he too became nervous underneath the silent pressure in the apartment.
Without another word the two friends walked down the hallway towards the sound of the door that had closed. There was a light mist coming out from underneath the door and James and Sirius looked at each other and swallowed slowly.
"I'll go first," James announced bravely although he could feel his heart pounding underneath his plain black robes.
Sirius just nodded in agreement as James bent the doorhandle downwards quickly and silently and took a step inside the door.
"Oomph!"
There was a crashing sound of what seemed like bottles of potions of some sort falling on the ground and sure enough a light, and visible mist of a pleasant scent filled the air around them and with the sound of something being ripped off the wall and glass breaking on the floor, two bodies came rolling out of the bathroom.
"Lily?" Sirius asked as Lily and James disentangled themselves from each other and Lily quickly clung to the dark blue towel that was covering her body. James quickly jumped up to his feet and stood a few feet away from Lily and averted his eyes towards the ground.
"Hi Sirius," Lily mumbled as she shoved her damp red hair out of her eyes, and equally red face and clutched the towel to her body even tighter than before.
"Sorry," James murmured as he still avoided Lily's eyes.
Sirius watched the interaction between the two with slight amusement before his curiosity won out the battle, "What just happened? And where in bloody hell is Arabella?!"
"Arabella went to pick up a few things for dinner, she didn't tell me you two would be coming so early..." Lily trailed off as she once again made sure that the towel was still clutched to her body as tight as possible.
"And?" Sirius edged her on as her and James once again blushed lightly.
"Well, you see," Lily began as she looked at James hopelessly for a way to put what had just happened into words.
"I walked in when she was walking out and in a very bad attempt to keep my balance I grabbed onto the counter. Lily had so luckily placed her perfume bottles right where my hand landed so they fell to the ground. Then in another clumsy attempt to jump away from the broken glass on the floor I crashed against the wall where a picture frame was knocking it to the floor also and as Lily tried to jump away from the glass she tripped and we both came flying out of the bathroom," James laughed out uneasily as he looked back into the bathroom at all of the damage.
"It was Arabella's perfume. I don't use any and I most certainly wouldn't put it right on the edge of the counter! I mean honestly, they're in glass bottles. Anyone can just come and knock them down! Arabella should be more careful!" Lily ranted quickly trying to get rid of all of the blame.
"Blaming things on me already?" Arabella asked as she suddenly appeared in the hallway. After a few seconds her eyes grew wide as she surveyed the mess and a bright red James and Lily, the latter who was still gripping the towel to her body tightly.
"I don't really want to know," Arabella decided was easier to say than to ask for details from Lily and James who were looking very uncomfortable.
"Lils, maybe you want to actually put some clothes on and then we can eat," Arabella announced lightly as she turned around and went into the kitchen as if nothing at all had just happened.
Lily and James just shared a glance as they watched Arabella walk off to the kitchen shaking her head and mumbling underneath her breath about having everything being blamed on her. With a small giggle Lily turned and ran into her room quickly closing the door and locking it.
"Come on mate, the food will be out soon!" Sirius announced as he bounded towards the kitchen.
James just shook his head at the mess and allowed his eyes to dart towards Lily's room. He quickly followed Sirius down the hallway without another glance towards Lily.
"How's training coming along?" Arabella finally asked after the four friends had finished a very silent awkward dinner. The conversation had been scarce, basically nonexistent because Lily and James kept avoiding each other's eyes, much less joined in on the conversation.
"It's been going well," James answered in a vague manner as if he were still too terrified to join in the conversation completely.
"That's good," Lily added to the conversation before quickly turning her eyes away as a light blush began to creep up onto her cheeks as the memories of before dinner once again flashed through her head.
"I don't know what James has been drinking the past few weeks at training!" Sirius exclaimed, suddenly ready to get rid of the tension between Lily and James.
"What is that supposed to mean?" James asked quickly as he turned his worried eyes in Sirius' direction.
"It means that it's been incredibly painful and complicated these past few weeks!" Sirius exclaimed as if James were as insane.
"Maybe you just aren't paying much attention," James suggested as he tried to pry Sirius away from the topic of James' mind being elsewhere during training, and also being just as confused.
"James you've gone as nutty as that old woman who lives next door to us who asks the doorknob how his day went," Sirius said in the most serious tone he could muster.
"Just because I don't find something difficult that you do doesn't mean I talk to doorknobs!" James exclaimed as he caught Arabella and Lily laughing out of the corner of his eye.
'Great now they think that I'm a total idiot. Why do I always have to seem like such a strong, brave man in front of Lily? Why can't I just let her see the real me? Why must I be so afraid of rejection when there really is no chance or a real relationship between the two of us?' James thought as he finally decided to surrender to Sirius.
"I'd say that you're well on your way to discussing what kind of bread to buy with our doorknob," Sirius laughed.
"I think that you just are too afraid to admit that you find something hard that I don't!" James replied back to Sirius with a smirk.
'So much for admitting that I was wrong...' James thought as he lightly shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts.
"You're right Jamsie," Sirius finally surrendered.
'Finally, this whole conversation can be over and I can be spared the embarrassment in front of Lily. She won't have to think that I'm a wimp and everything will be perefctly fine.' James thought as he let out an audible sigh.
"Thank you Sirius," James smiled proudly as if he had just won a great battle.
"I mean how could I think that this junk was difficult for you? You only got sent to the hospital once in the past two weeks. But then there were the five times that you got yourself knocked out and had to be revived by our instructor. But I guess that those don't count. Still, I think being sent to the hospital one time has to be some kind of record. I can say for myself that I wasn't sent there, and as far as I know no one else was either," Sirius finished with a smirk.
James couldn't help himself and let his mouth drop open.
'Please let me wake up and find out that this was all some crazy nightmare that I'm having. Please let me realize that Sirius did not just say that in front of Lily.' James thought but his face contorted in a grimace of pain as he pinched himself as hard as he could on his leg only to find out that it did indeed hurt and that he was very much awake and breathing.
Lily let out a small laugh, "I don't seem to recall any other aurors in training being sent to the hospital either, at least not during my shift."
James just lowered his eyes in defeat.
"Just admit that you think it's hard James. No one here is going to laugh at you," Sirius said.
"Alright, the dueling is getting more and more difficult to comprehend and I've had a lot on my mind recently," James sighed.
Sirius, Arabella, and Lily all began to laugh.
"Thanks for saying you wouldn't laugh," James grumbled.
"Come on Jamsie, you've got to admit that it was funny!" Sirius laughed.
"It was not funny. Those times I got knocked out hurt!" James exclaimed as he tried to inflict how much they hurt through his voice unsuccessfully.
Sirius kept on laughing.
"Bad," James added on in hopes that Sirius would get his point.
"I'm sure they did. Maybe you lost a lot of brain cells when you hit your head and that's why it's so hard for you to remember exactly how hard these concepts are for you!" Sirius laughed out even more.
"Did you really get knocked out five times?" Arabella asked through giggles.
"Oh you should've seen him!" Sirius interrupted before James even had a chance to try and defend the true facts that Sirius was spreading as if it were the juiciest piece of gossip he'd ever heard in his life.
"I can't believe that you got knocked out five times!" Arabella laughed once again. James shifted his eyes back down towards the ground as he convinced himself that he wouldn't open his mouth again that night.
"Here, I'll reenact it for you!" Sirius suggested.
"You don't need to do that," James mumbled but he wasn't heard over Arabella.
"Do it!" Arabella shouted and James once again turned his eyes towards the floor and didn't even make a comment.
"Okay!" Sirius jumped up without another word.
"Stand up James, you're going to be our instructor!" Sirius commanded as he tugged at the corner of James' robes until he stood up off the floor.
"I don't understand why I can't be myself," James mumbled.
"It'd never be as interesting! You'd underplay everything and it wouldn't be nearly as funny as it really was," Sirius explained as he made sure James was positioned across from him correctly.
"Maybe you're just over exaggerating. The fact that I was injured and had to be sent to the hospital isn't really the funniest thing in the world," James rolled his eyes as he saw Sirius begin to laugh again.
"It was funny," he told Lily and Arabella who were watching him begin to reenact the event with eager eyes.
"Okay James, point your wand at me and pretend to shoot one of those curses that we were practicing!" Sirius exclaimed.
"James held up his wand and said in a bored voice, "A spell that we learned in training that day."
At that moment Sirius shouted, "Stop! You have to actually say the spell otherwise it won't be as funny! I know you remember which one it was!"
James sighed in defeat as he raised his wand and muttered a spell underneath his breath that was unheard by Arabella and Lily. With that a blast of gray light burst from his wand and suddenly Sirius was obviously bound and gagged with heavy silver chains.
"Change it now!" Sirius shouted although it was barely understood since he was so muffled by everything that James had shot at him. With a flick of James' wand and a smirk Sirius was free.
"That was not the rights spell!" Sirius exclaimed angrily as he once again took his position, "Do the right one."
James pulled up his wand once more and shot out a simple spell that he once again mumbled underneath his breath and watched as Sirius let it hit him in his chest and in an attempt to keep himself standing up straight he put his foot forward, causing him to trip over his feet and fall backwards with a loud crash.
Lily and Arabella began to laugh.
"Is that what really happened?" Arabella asked eager to find out the answer.
"It's a spell that causes you to fall backwards," James explained in attempt to make them understand what the spell was.
"It causes you to fall backwards, but land on your arse," Sirius added to the explanation, determined to make James pay for the spell he had used on Sirius earlier.
"I was trying to standing up!" James exclaimed.
"You must've missed the part right before we did the spell that said it's impossible to stay on your feet once this spell has been administered you'll just fall on your back and hurt your head. That's what usually helps us in the battle, most will try and fight it and even once you're standing and they're on the ground you have an advantage," Sirius added.
"I had a lot on my mind!" James shouted.
"Oh we all know who you were thinking about," Sirius rolled his eyes with a smirk in Arabella's direction.
James just lifted his wand and grumbled the same spell that bound Sirius and let him plop down onto the floor once again in defeat.
"James set him free," Arabella commanded lightly as she watched Sirius struggle against the chains furiously.
"It serves him right for bringing up that story," James mumbled as he flicked his wand and set Sirius free from the chains for the second time that evening.
James uncertainly turned his eyes in Lily's direction. She was laughing at Sirius' hurt look on his face. She allowed her eyes to meet James' and they locked.
'I can't help but wonder sometimes what she would think if I just confessed to everything that I've been thinking and feeling these weeks that we've known each other.' James thought as he allowed himself to stay caught up in Lily's eyes.
Sirius seeing his advantage snuck up behind James and quickly shot a spell at his back that sent him flying through the air. James flew across the room and landed in the smack middle of the sofa between Lily and Arabella and before the two girls could stand up the sofa had toppled over backwards sending Arabella rolling into a table until a lamp crashed down inches away from her and Lily and James rolling right next to each other.
Sirius opened his eyes, which he had shut tight once he saw the direction James was flying, to find Arabella stuck underneath Lily who was trapped underneath James' legs.
"Comfy Jamsie?" Sirius asked in a joking manner before he quickly decided to dart the glares all three of his friends were sending him.
"I think it's time to call it a night," James finally spoke as he jumped up off of Lily and Arabella who were still sitting on the floor in shock.
"I can't believe you did that Sirius!" Arabella shrieked as she finally came to her senses and stood up to face Sirius.
"I agree," Sirius mumbled to James and with a brief goodnight they both apparated leaving Lily and Arabella in the living room with an overturned sofa and a broken lamp. The two girls rolled their eyes and quickly set themselves to cleaning up the mess.
Lily walked down the street of Diagon Alley quickly. She had promised Arabella that she'd have dinner ready on time tonight since she kept coming in late every other night that it was her turn to cook. If only James, Sirius, and Remus hadn't insisted that they join her since they needed to get some shopping done. She wouldn't have been kept distracted by their jokes for so long.
'What is making it impossible for me to keep things straight these days? Why do I always lose track of time because I'm thinking or forget to do things because I'm in a daydream?' Lily wondered as she once again became unfocused and in her thoughts completely forgetting her task at hand.
"Watch where you're walking you filthy mudblood!"
Lily cringed as she recognized the icy voice. She forced herself out of her deep thoughts to face the man with determined eyes and stood up straighter.
"I see that you are still resorting to the same tactics that you used when you were eleven, Malfoy," Lily spoke in a tone that could freeze boiling water.
"You disgrace to the wizarding world! You don't know what the bloody hell you're talking about," Lucius Malfoy growled out in contempt.
"I know just as much magic and I am just as powerful as you will ever be," Lily announced, loud enough for the wizards and witches passing by to hear. Her tactics caused Malfoy to become more livid than before.
"My Lord doesn't appreciate your stubbornness," Lucius whispered out in a way that sent shivers down Lily's spine.
"Neither of you frighten me," Lily spoke out in a tone of voice that even made herself slightly believe that it was true.
"We'll see how you feel about that tomorrow," Malfoy spat out as he mumbled a spell underneath his breath leaving Lily in the middle of Diagon Alley crumpled on the ground.
"Miss?" a soft voice questioned as Lily's eyes fluttered open taking in the dark, musty room with concern.
'What just happened? Why am I here? Where am I?' Lily wondered frantically as she looked around the room noting the many tables placed around the room.
"You're in the Leaky Cauldron," the voice came once again. Lily opened her eyes further and allowed them to rest on a young woman a few years older than herself. She had long black hair and warm brown eyes and she allowed a small smile to float over her lips as Lily looked up at her questioningly.
"You were hexed or something by that git Malfoy," the woman once again spoke as she sighed and glanced out the door before continuing, "I swear the fact that I'm related to him makes me want to choke."
Lily opened her mouth as if to say something but decided against it and instead just looked at the young woman questioningly as if pleading her to continue with her eyes. The woman didn't seem to take any notice of Lily's expressions and just continued on talking, "I mean he's my brother-in-law, my fool of a sister married him."
Lily's eyes widened at that information but quickly looked down to avoid the woman's gaze she gently rubbed the back of her head that she suddenly realized was stinging.
"Anyway he hexed you and I saw you fall to the ground. Well, actually I didn't see it, Nymphadora did," the woman smiled as Lily turned her eyes and finally noticed a little girl with blinding blue hair and a pig shaped nose, the girl smiled widely and her dark eyes twinkled.
"Nymphadora! What did I tell you about your hair!" the young girl's mother commanded as the young girl smiled sheepishly and with a very pained expression she screwed up her face causing her nose to turn the exact shape of her mothers and her hair to turn into a muddy brown.
Lily couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer, "You're a metamorphagus!"
"Yes, but mum doesn't like me changing the way I look!" the young girl grimaced as she pulled at her brown hair.
"Nymphadora, I just don't understand what compels you to turn it such outrageous colors!" her mother sighed out as she turned her attention back to Lily and away from her daughter who was glaring into her back.
"How old are you Nymphadora?" Lily asked as she finally pulled herself up into a sitting position. She winced in the pain it was causing her and in turn missed little Nymphadora contorting her face with the mention of her name.
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" she exclaimed.
Her mother turned and gave her daughter a stern look and turned back towards Lily, "She prefers to be called by her surname, Tonks."
"Answer her question dear," her mother once again commanded.
"I'm nine," Tonks bounced happily with a smile, "Only two more years until I can go to Hogwarts!"
Her mother just laughed and then with a start began to apologize, "I'm sorry! I haven't introduced myself I'm—"
"Andromeda?" a family voice questioned as Lily sighed and rubbed her head more trying to ease the incredible stinging.
'Just when I thought I was going to be able to deal with something on my own without having the them hanging over every single thing I do...' Lily sighed as she lifted her eyes and turned around to face Sirius, James, and Remus.
"Sirius!" Andromeda exclaimed as she jumped up from Lily's side and hugged the man who had spoken her name just moments earlier.
"Sirius!" Tonks shouted as she jumped up and ran to the man's side just as quickly as her mother had.
Lily couldn't help but smile as she looked around sheepishly trying to avoid James and Remus who were looking at her through very concerned eyes.
'Here we go. James will tell me to be more careful and I'll feel like an idiot because the second he's out of my sight I get hurt. I can't even walk into a store by myself without the protection of the three men.' Lily thought.
"What happened?" Sirius asked as he ruffled Tonks' soft brown hair and shot her down a charming smile.
"Malfoy hexed her," Andromeda spoke before Lily even had a chance to open her mouth and get a word in her defense.
"The git!" Sirius sighed angrily as his body tensed.
"I saw it!" Tonks smiled up at the three men.
"What did he use?" James broke in with a concerned voice.
"Good job Nymphadora," Remus smiled down at the little girl who glared right back up at him.
"Tonks!" She shouted angrily.
Sirius, James, and Remus just laughed at the young girl and turned back to her mother as if her mother would know the answers. Andromeda just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Tonks saw the whole thing and told me."
"Nymphadora, are you sure you didn't see what happened?" Remus smiled in teasing the young girl. She glared at him and made a face as she began to walk over in his direction she tripped over the edge of a chair and sent it toppling over and her flying across the floor landing right at James' feet.
"Have a nice trip Tonks?" James joked as he helped the little girl up off of the floor.
She opened her mouth ready to say something smart back, but Lily finally spotted her chance to get a word in the conversation, "How do you know each other?"
"Lily this is my cousin Andromeda, and her daughter Nymphadora, whom I'm sure you've learned prefers to be called Tonks."
Lily nodded as she watched Tonks sneakily kick Remus' foot which didn't go by her mother who scolded the child, "Nymphadora! Don't kick Remus!"
Sirius just stuck his tongue out at his younger cousin.
"Lily are you okay?" James asked as he crouched by Lily and gently touched the back of her head, not missing the fact that she winced slightly in pain from his touch.
"Oh! This is Lily," Sirius began to introduce as he pointed down at Lily, "she's James'—"
"Friend!" Lily and James shouted simultaneously.
"Friend," Sirius finished with a smirk in Remus' direction. Remus just snorted and rolled his eyes at Sirius.
"I can just pop into St. Mungos and have someone heal it," Lily said as she tried to shoo away everyone who was fluttering over her making sure that she was okay.
"You should make sure that they examine it," James added with a serious expression on his face as he once again concerned himself with making sure that Lily wasn't too dizzy to stand on her feet.
"Friend?" Andromeda questioned Sirius and Remus who were holding back laughter.
"Girlfriend," Tonks muttered, which didn't go unheard by her mother, Sirius, or Remus. Remus just lowered his hand for Tonks to high five.
"Thank you," Lily mumbled quietly as she took the coffee in her hand and lifted it up to her lips gently testing to see if it was cool enough to drink. Satisfied with the temperature, Lily took a small sip and set it down on the table, immediately putting her hands in her lap.
James just watched Lily intently as she fidgeted underneath his intense gaze.
"I'm fine," Lily mumbled as she lifted up her green eyes to meet James' worried hazel ones. She let out a sigh as he didn't lift his gaze away from her.
"I swear I'm fine!" Lily exclaimed causing everyone else to hold back laughter. Lily just shifted her gaze from James' eyes to the rest of the table. She watched as her friends tried to bite back their laughter desperately.
"What?" Lily finally snapped once her glare didn't make the other occupants of the table stop laughing.
"Lils, no one said anything!" Arabella finally managed to choke out comprehensibly as Sirius and Remus still laughed into their hands.
Lily just growled underneath her breath and turned back to James to glare at him instead.
"I didn't say anything either! I didn't even laugh! Why are you looking at me?" James questioned innocently, but Lily could read in his eyes that he knew exactly what she was glaring about.
"I'm not a child. I can take care of myself!" Lily told James in a matter of fact tone that James regarded seriously.
"I know," James mumbled as he too became aware of the stares that Lily and he were receiving because of their conversation.
"Are we missing something?" Arabella asked.
"What did James say?" Sirius asked with a smirk knowing that James didn't say anything to Lily.
'Oh great now they all know that James and I are just having a staring match and I'm finally cracking. I'm so glad that I'm stupid enough to be pulled around by Sirius like this. Lucky me, now how am I supposed to cover that I can read what James is thinking like a book?' Lily shouted at herself in her mind. She rolled her eyes and slumped down into her chair in angry defeat.
"Probably that he wants to snog Lily," Arabella added through her laughter.
"I'm sure Lily agreed!" Sirius replied with an eagerness that made Lily clench her teeth and turn a very deep tomato shade.
"He didn't say anything," Lily sighed out in exasperation and with a start she realized exactly what she had just admitted to.
"So why do you act like he's treating you like a baby?" Remus asked. Out of the three of them, Remus was the only one who was able to keep his composure completely during his turn in the questioning. He just sat there in a very calm manner with his tired gray eyes waiting for an answer.
"I can tell what his thinking," Lily said with a smirk.
'Why did I just say that? I practically announced to the world that I study everything James does.' Lily thought as she mentally slapped herself.
"By hours of studying?" Sirius teased.
'Here we go.' Lily thought.
"How else would she know?" Remus asked Sirius in that annoying calm tone that was bothering Lily to no end.
"Maybe I can just read people easily," Lily blurted out with a smile growing on her face.
"Oh so what am I thinking right now?" Arabella teased as she looked at Lily with eyes that suggested that she was scheming.
"I'm not sure that I'm ready to tell the world," Lily mumbled out as she stole a nervous glance in James' direction.
"No, I'm pretty sure that the world wants to hear!" Arabella exclaimed as she continued to watch Lily with her strong gaze that was still strongly suggesting that Lily open up about her and James.
'She can try to embarrass me as much as she wants. Same with Sirius and Remus, they are not going to crack me and I'm going to succeed. I'll just embarrass them instead. I have to have picked up a few tips by now!' Lily thought as the wheels began to turn in her head.
"If you say so, Bella," Lily sighed out, as if she was going to admit her undying love for James.
"I say so," Arabella laughed as the eagerness seeped through her voice.
"You're thinking about how much you enjoyed last night," Lily said as if it were the most natural answer in the world.
James turned his gaze from the floor to Arabella and Sirius who were both suddenly turning a deep shade of red, similar to the coloring that James and Lily wore when they were in close proximity.
"What happened last night?" Remus asked curiously, thankful that Lily had decided to leave him out of her retaliation.
"Why don't you ask Sirius and Arabella? They seem to know exactly what I'm talking about!" Lily smiled at Remus sweetly, trying to make sure that he wouldn't ruin her attack on their friends.
"Please say that it didn't happen in the flat," James pleaded with Sirius.
"Not in your flat," Lily assured James as she turned to Arabella and Sirius who both had their mouths hanging open.
"Thank Merlin," James breathed.
"Easy for you to say. You weren't the one who had to walk in on them!" Lily exclaimed as she sent an evil smile in James' direction.
"You didn't have to be prying!" Sirius managed to speak shakily.
"I wasn't prying I wanted water!" Lily exclaimed with a look of childish innocence that even threw Sirius and Arabella off.
"Why were you getting water out of Arabella's room?" Remus asked Lily.
"Arabella's room?" Lily asked as she realized that Remus and James were quickly catching onto what was happening.
"Where were they?" James asked quickly with a smile growing faster by the second on his face.
"I don't think I want to know where or what they were doing," Remus said as he contorted his face into a look of complete disgust.
"Oh it's not nearly as bad as you think. Trust me I wouldn't be alive if I saw that!" Lily spat out, the smile remaining intact on her face.
"How could you think we were doing that!" Arabella asked with a scandalized look on her face.
"It's Sirius!" James exclaimed in attempt to back up Remus.
"Hey!" Sirius shouted eager to get his word into the conversation.
"You know you made quite an entrance too," Sirius began as he tried to turn the embarrassment back onto Lily, "tripping as soon as you entered the kitchen."
"The kitchen?!" James and Remus exclaimed at the same time.
"You shouldn't be bringing that up either," Lily just smiled at her friends and added with a smirk, "I tripped over Arabella's shirt on the floor!"
Author's Note: Hey there everyone! I hope that you enjoyed that chapter it was an endless source of distress for me I swear I rewrote each part of it a million times so that was the delay. I was never pleased :) but I hope that you all enjoyed it! And be sure to tell me what you think because I need to know!!! So please review!
I also want you to know that you can e-mail me for updates :) and I'll send you an e-mail when I update. If you want to contact me for some reason you can always e-mail me cause even though I don't update often I always check my e-mail and respond to each one. Then you can also check out my website Or you can check out my livejournal for fun stuff! I always update those too, the livejournal more than the website, but they're both very exciting!!
And I have to thank ALL of my reviewers! Keep up reviewing you guys keep me motivated and remind me that not everything I write is horrible!
Windowseat Wonderer: Hey! I love you for reviewing!!! Last time holidays kept me from updating and this time it was unfortunately the stresses of school, mainly chemistry, which took up so much time and then I had summer school, and I got caught up in all that stupid work. Thanks for the review!!
Christy13: Thanks for the nice review! Lily loses her temper a lot, it's that red-headed nature of hers! I never seem to update soon enough but I have the next chapter almost ready so maybe I won't make you wait very long :-)
ShadowFox991: Thanks!! I hope that this chapter was worth the wait as well.
SillyGillie: Thank you so much! Lily is beginning to show a few signs, but James is the normal dense man, Sorry that I took so long I got super busy. But I have the next chapter almost ready so it shouldn't be too much longer.
Jaquelyne: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like the way I added things in, I felt rather proud of myself for putting them in there :-)
chewy1: Well, the update finally came after months and months of waiting. So you get to keep reading now and hopefully you won't have to wait too much longer because the next chapter is almost finished. Thanks for the review!!
Realmer06: I think obsessive sides are fun! Lily and James are very dense and silly but that does add to the fun of the story, don't you think?
angelbud2233: I hope that you'll be able to sleep again now! Thanks so much for the nice review! I haven't forgotten my other stories they'll be up shortly once I get a chance to update. Hopefully soon but I'm on vacation so I won't be here for a while. I'll try and sneak some writing in there somewhere :-)
izzybell4life: I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter, I enjoyed writing it. I'm glad to hear it was your favorite! Lol I wanted to go for something new in their relationship. Trust me they'll be more time spent on the floor later ;-)
pokie4389: Thank you so much! Lol I hope that I don't cause too much trouble with your school because of when I update. At least now it's summer. Wow, I took forever updating I promise the next one will be much faster!
Lily Natalia Evans: Thanks for the review! Did you ever post your story? If you did I'd love to read it and leave a helpful review!
carameLisSa: Hey! Thanks for the review! Lol I'm glad you see my point on drawing out the plot. I know that the end was kinda redundant I was debating on whether to leave it in or not but I decided to so that you could see what happened with them during the date. Trust me no more of split scenes though because that's annoying if it goes on for too long.
Willow23: Oh my god! Haha that was like 6 pages long! You're crazy! But that was definitely the longest review I've ever gotten so you can rest assured that you hold the record and I doubt that anyone will beat it soon! I'd count them but I think that I might go insane! Haha I can't do it!
Padma R.: Thanks! I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter! I hope you aren't too lazy to review this time :-) reviewing makes me update faster...haha I really don't know how true that statement really is. But if you send me e-mails, visit my livejournal or my website I'll always respond...eventually.
elegystar: Hey! I always look forward to reading your review! I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter...hopefully I'll get a similar review this time!
Anne-Janet: Thanks for the review! I'm glad that the chapter had such an effect on you and I'm glad you enjoyed the ending! It's always great to hear that my story can pull people in like that!
sports-girl: Thank you! I never tire of people telling me that my story is original. I'm glad that you liked the chapter and hopefully you enjoyed this one also!
Lily Kat: Thank you so much! You'll just have to keep reading and find out when they hook up! It's a secret :-)
cloak12: It's very hard to keep them apart but extremely fun to write!!! I hope that this was just as good as the last chapter...I'm sorry I took so long! I feel really bad!
LENAk: I'm glad to hear you didn't like Edward, I'd be worried if he was your favorite! I hope your hot chocolate was good when I was writing chapter 8 I was drinking some! :-)
auroraborealis: Hey! Thanks for the review! You're just going to have to keep reading and find out when they'll kiss :-) because right now it's my secret that none of you know!!
oobergoober: I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope that you like this one! Maybe this time you'll have something to say ;-) and if not then you should just review anyway!!
Ruth3: Thank you so much! I'm really really happy to hear that you like some of my other stories. I'm glad to see that people like more than one of the things that I write! Hopefully I'll be able to update Four White Walls soon.
MilesFromNormal: Hey! Thanks so much for the review!! I'm sure that your story is great and if you still feel that it's not I'm sure that it can be spruced up a bit easily!! You know that it'd be no fun if they kissed yet. It's much more fun to wait!!
Obbsesive: Thanks for the review! They're very clumsy, I'm really clumsy too. I was running in my friend's backyard and she has potholes and I tripped and went flying through the air. It really sucked because I ripped my jeans bad and plus it hurt!!
Tom girl: Thanks! I'm glad to see that you reviewed! Sorry I had to post this chapter before you got the chance to beta it but I felt that I was waiting too long and I should just update it. Maybe we can fix it afterwards.
tash: Come on! You know that it'd be no fun if they kissed now and it's a secret when they're going to kiss!! They're both very dense people and I'm sure that eventually they'll get it :-) obviously they must because they did have Harry.
duva: Hey! I'm glad you like it and I'm sorry that it's driving you mad but it's so much fun to write and make everyone frustrated! You know that it'd be boring if they'd already kissed. That's what makes my story different! I know what you mean about Sirius and Arabella, I think I'd have killed them already and hidden their bodies...haha jk...
Magic Mel: lol I'm sorry but you're just going to have to wait! You know that it'd be absolutely NO fun if they had already kissed you have to admit it! I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to read your story I've been super busy I'm sure I'll get a chance later. You should really send me an e-mail telling me to do that when it gets sent in a review I tend to forget. It takes me a while to update because I have long chapters and I have to edit them, plus send them to my betas and have them edit them and I'm a really busy person sometimes I don't even have enough time to just sit down at the computer and type out stories. It takes a long time to actually get it written out before editing it...sorry I take so long!
soccer-girl6: Hey thanks for the review! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated! I feel really bad about it so please review and forgive me!
angelzsweet90: Thanks for the review! I'm so sorry that I didn't get a chance to update until now!
supergirl036996: Hey! Thanks for the review! I'm sorry I haven't updated! Forgive me!
FrightninglyObsessed: Hey thanks for the review! I'm sorry that I'm driving you insane but it's so much fun to write when they aren't together you're just going to have to wait! It'd be boring if they were already together! This chapter is just as long so I hope it makes you happy :-) I'm so sorry I haven't updated!
limbo-gal: Thank you so much!! I started the story before OotP so it's alternate universe now but kinda the same I guess. I mention things from the book. Sorry I took forever to update.
shadowed.phoenix: Thank you for the review! Haha I'm sorry that I'm an evil author but it's really fun to draw it out and make you wait. Plus it's even more fun to write when they're dancing circles around each other! You're just going to have to keep reading and wait! Your review was so great!! Thanks once again!
Geets: Hey thanks for the review! They're getting a little more aware of what is going on between the two but then again they're very dense, proud, and stubborn characters so I don't know how much that's going to help. I'm sorry I took so long to update!
Unknown VD: Thank you so much for the review! I'm sorry that I took so long updating!
littlelady: Thanks so much for the review! You'll just have to wait and see what happens with them. It's too much fun to write when I draw it out so you'll just have to wait and see when I crack underneath the pressure...except for the fact that it's been planned out ever since I started writing it.
unknown: Sorry that I took forever updating! But thanks for the review!
uNitY ruLz: Thanks for the review! I'm sorry I took forever updating, I've been really busy! You're just going to have to keep reading and find out when something happens between the two of them.
cactus jam: Thank you so much! I'm so glad that I could make you laugh that much! I'm so glad to hear that you're glad I'm prolonging it to make it different! So many people want me to stick them together!! You're just going to have to see what approach I take but I can assure you that this is a comedy :-) and Joey is very cool I might have to consider him being there! Thanks so much for the review it was so nice! I'm so sorry that I took so long to update!!
Hyena: Thank you so much for the review! You're just going to have to keep reading and find out when they get together! It's a surprise! I'm glad that you like Joey he's a personal favorite of mine! To answer your question it's just too fun to write them suffering and going through all the interruptions to make them get together now!
JimsLil-Angel48: I got really busy and I didn't have time to write the chapter! I'm sorry I took so long! Thanks so much for the review!!!
marauderluva4eva: Thank you for the review! I'm sorry I took so long to update! I just got really busy.
Shichan Goddess: Hey! I'm glad to hear that you liked it!! Lol I'm really glad actually :-) was kinda worried at telling you at first. Well, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter too. If you ever actually get that long in reading it. Call my cell phone when I'm gone!