Yay, I'm updating! I know it's been a while, but if you knew how much homework I've had, then you would definitely understand! (Honors English 1 Honors Geometry DEATH). So you guys should be very happy that I'm updating at all, and on a school day too! Cookies for me! Thank you guys SOO much for all the reviews! I have more reviews on the 3 chappies in this story than any of my other ones! Cookies for you too! I'm gonna try updating at a different time for this chapter; 7:30 in the morning. shivers so early! Shows how much I love ya, eh?

Ch. 4: Visions

Preparing for the play was a lot harder than everyone had thought. With Snape and Alexia in the play also, it was not easy for Lily and James to cope.

"I just keep expecting one of the props to fall on my head," Lily said, digging into her hot waffles.

"Yeah, I don't blame you. I mean, there are tons of ways she could kill you while you're up there," Sirius said through a mouthful of sausage and egg.

"I'm sure that's encouraging," Remus said. "Don't worry Lily, I'll be back there the whole time, so there's nothing to worry about."

"What about me?!" questioned James. "I'm the one with a psychopath for my enemy, and he's playing my nemesis! I think I'm in more danger than Lily!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are-"

"Cut it out!" yelled Lori. "Sheesh, you'd think you guys were already married!"

Lily and James leaned back in their seats and sulked while everybody talked about how the play was progressing.

"I never would have thought that we would have gotten this good so fast!" said Katie.

"Yeah, I actually know some of my lines!" agreed Sirius.

The bell rang and everyone stormed out of the cafeteria. "Hey, who has that crystal ball?" asked Katie.

Umm… me," said James, fumbling around in his bag. Finally his hand emerged, in it the shiny ball. He pulled a small piece of candy off of it and said "There, good as new."

"Have you even looked at it since we got it?" asked Lily.

"Nope."

"Come on James, its due in a few days, and I still have to use it," said Lori.

"Everybody else does, too" added Remus.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it tonight. I don't know why I'm gonna bother looking at it, 'cause Professor Trelawney is going to be disappointed if I don't die anyways."

James sent another menacing glance at his book bag. He finally let out a deep sigh and reached into it. He removed the crystal ball and set it on the table. He put a piece of parchment and a quill beside it. Placing his head in his hands, he stared at the ball.

Several minutes later, he saw a flicker of light within the ball. He stared harder, but saw nothing. Just when he thought that he was imagining things, it happened again. A small pinprick of light appeared. Soon the small point of light was curling into intricate shapes, then expanded until it filled the entire ball. The light dazzled him, but he didn't take his eyes off of it. A dark shape covered the light, and James' heartbeat increased. It seemed like the ball became a TV screen, and the movie began playing, faster and faster. The dark shape overwhelmed a mob of people. It went to smother another victim, but he stood his ground. The figure was soon gone, and James felt a bolt of electricity go through him. Another figure appeared, a woman. The darkness waited a moment before taking her too, and he felt something stab through his heart. Suddenly, a blinding light pierced his eyes. He saw the darkness recoil, and the ball returned to its usual, foggy appearance.

James gasped. He was cold and shaky, and his hands were balled into tight fists. He slowly relaxed and glanced around. No one was giving him any funny looks or staring at the ball in disbelief. The few people in the library were hunched over their books, doing their homework. Obviously he had been the only one able to see the images, and the shriek at the end was heard only by him. He picked up the ball, shoved it into his bag, and walked quickly out of the library.

Lily felt someone poke her shoulder and she turned around. James stood fidgeting with the string on his rope. He shoved the crystal ball under her nose and said "Here you go."

Lily went to ask him if he was ok, but he was already gone, running up the stairs to his dormitory. She put the ball with the rest of her things and went up to her dorm. She closed the door behind her and found that everyone in her dorm was asleep. As quietly as possible she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed.

Configuring the book beside her bed into a small table (transfiguration was never her strong point), she set the ball on it and gazed at its contents. The fog swirled in big circles just as it usually did. But something seemed different to Lily, like the ball was expecting something. She tried to reach with her mind, tried to see something. Right when she was going to give up, something appeared in the ball. She jumped and looked at the ball intently. When the thing appeared this time she wasn't quite so surprised. It was a bit blurry, but she could tell it was two people, a man and a woman. They were talking to each other in happy tones and laughing. It began to rain and a baby appeared in the woman's arms. Lily's heart softened at the sight of the little child. The rain began to beat harder, turning into hail. A dark figure appeared. The man fought it off while the woman ran. The baby gazed up into Lily's eyes and she began to cry. She felt a cut go straight through her heart, and she knew the man was dead. The figure quickly caught up to the woman and she pleaded for him to pity her child and not kill him. The dark figure laughed and killed the woman, sending an electric shock through Lily. The baby began to glow, brilliantly. The figure screamed and disappeared.

Lily wiped away her tears and breathed deeply. She silently got out of bed and walked out of her room. The deserted Common Room glowed red from the dieing fires. Seeing that what she was looking for was not there, she began her climb up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. She came upon the one that said 7th years and pushed open the door. Walking through piles of dirty clothes, she finally came upon James' bed. She shook him softly until he woke up. He looked at her and she beckoned him towards the door. He climbed out of bed and followed her down the stairs, into the Common Room.

Pulling the small crystal ball out of her robes she hissed "What is up with this thing, James?"

"It happened to you too?" he asked.

"I don't know what you saw, but what I saw was weird."

"It was creepy," James began. "Some big black blob was killing everyone, and then—then I think it killed me. Then you… but right after that this huge light appeared and scared it off."

"Sounds like mine except…"

"Except what?"

"Well, except me and you were in love, and we had a kid." James smirked at her and she added "Which will never happen."

"Do you think it actually means something?" he questioned.

"No, no… at least I don't think so…" she glanced at James and noticed, for the first time, that he didn't have a shirt on. His abs were deeply defined in the firelight, and she found herself thinking that James wasn't half-bad.

"So what are you going to put on your paper then?"

Lily pulled her eyes away quickly and said "I'm not going to put that on there, that's for sure. I'll probably just put some crap on there about us winning the House Cup or something."

"Yeah, and I'll put that I was drowned by the giant squid while romping around with you in the lake," he said with a smile. Lily hit his arm, but not as hard as usual, and she even smiled a little bit. She met his eyes and her heart flopped. He did have beautiful eyes.

"Well, I really must be getting to bed, got that big uh exam tomorrow. Goodnight!" she said quickly. This was just getting way too weird for her. First that vision, and then this? Definitely way too weird. She ran up the stairs and fell onto her bed. She put the crystal ball onto her bedside table and stared at it before lying down.

James walked slowly up the stairs to his room and layed down on his bed. This had been a very strange night.

Lily and James fell asleep thinking of each other.

Hooray a nice long chappie! Do you like it? Really? No you hate it? You better write me a review and tell me, because I'm not a very good guesser… ;)