Chapter 13

Finally….!

After that whole disastrous fight, Lily and James went back to being quiet and acting differently. News of the whole James-calling-Lily-a-mudblood had spread like wildfire, and it seemed as if it wasn't about to be forgotten soon. In fact, it was the talk of the week, until Sirius had threatened to hex anyone who would say anything about it, as James was in no state to. Their friends had gone from being exasperated to dismayed. They knew that James had gone too far, but Lily had some fault in it too. Honestly, everything was a big mess.

A week later, Lily was lying on her bed, thinking deeply about James and this whole blasted situation. She just couldn't stand it. Her anger had evaporated, and now it was replaced by sadness. She still loved him, but she couldn't bear to speak to him, not after he had called her that awful word. Her mind was in a whirl. "Why is it that this whole damn thing with James have to be so screwed up?" she asked herself repeatedly, groaning. She was, to be frank, emotionally drained. She couldn't take it anymore. Her heart was screaming to go to him, to confess everything and tell him that she forgave him. Sadly, her mind told her the exact opposite. And to tell you, Lily Evans was the type of girl who followed her mind almost all the time.

Unknown to her, James was also in his bed, looking deep in thought. His anger towards her had long since gone, and was now replaced with guilt and sadness. He kept berating himself for ever saying that awful word and for doing such a stupid thing. "How is it that a seemingly innocent plan could go so freakin' wrong?" he asked himself. He hated himself right now. He also kept on asking himself how he could be so stupid. He wondered if his relationship with Lily, whatever it was, would ever be resolved. He couldn't take it anymore. The very mixed up emotions, the silence, everything. "I have to talk to her" he finally decided after a few minutes. He pondered for a while on how to do it best without having another fight with her. He was finally going to tell her everything.

..------..

Transfiguration class. Professor McGonagall was explaining to them about their final project, as well as a help for preparation for the N.E.W.Ts, which were fast approaching: to research and perform a spell to turn a wooden desk into a water goblet into a raven-using only one spell. That seemed quite impossible, at least to the students, until the professor had told them otherwise.

"Now you will be doing this project in pairs and I can assure you, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black---" she added when she saw that Sirius was trying to talk to James, who was looking very out of it and deeply in thought, "----that I will NOT pair the both of you up. Now let's see…..Calloway-Black….Morrison-Lupin….Langton-Lewis….Prewett- Barton….Evans- Potter…."

Lily could not believe it. She was paired with James AGAIN. It's as if it wasn't bad enough that she was paired with him in Charms, Potions, and Arthimancy. She was really beginning to think that either the teachers knew what was going on between her and James and tried to set them up for their own amusement, or that they were just all plain sadistic psychopaths. She betted on the latter. She took a chance and snuck a quick look at James and judging from his expression, he seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her.

"Please go to your partners NOW!" McGonagall ordered and for a while, the scraping of chairs and light chatter were heard as the students made their way to their partners.

James slipped quietly into the empty seat next to Lily. For the rest of the period, they researched in silence, barely talking. James checked his watch and saw that it was ten minutes before the bell would ring. It was now or never. He took a deep breath.

"Lily," he said as quietly as he could, making sure that no one could hear except her. "Meet me by the lake around 8:30. Please. We really need to talk".

She had so wanted to say yes right away. But suddenly, everything that had happened that past week came back in a rush, somehow possessing her. Instead she snapped before she could stop herself, "Go to hell".

"Don't you know that I'm already in hell since I said those words to you and ruined our friendship?" he shot back quietly. "Please Lily. Just this once".

Lily was taken a back by what he had said and instantly regretted what she had said to him. She sighed and said, "Fine". At that moment the bell rang.

James gave her a small smile before turning and leaving. Lily continued walking to her next class, sighing and thinking about what might happen tonight.

..------..

That night, after she was finished doing rounds, Lily went directly to the lake, wrapped up in her blue cloak, as it was a very cold night. "Honestly, this climate is doing nothing to help soothe my nerves," Lily said as she walked, shivering as a cold gust of wind suddenly passed by her.

When she arrived, she found James sitting by the water's edge, staring into the moonlight being reflected in the lake. She walked towards him and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

James managed a faint smile when he saw her. She sat down beside him and asked, "Alright, tell me why you wanted to talk"

"Honestly Lily, for the smartest witch in your year you sure are slow" James said absentmindedly, his mind not really focusing on what he was saying.

Lily glared at him. "James, did you call me hear just to insult me? You said you wanted to talk and I agreed. Do you really want the both of us to end up fighting again?"

"Sorry. It's just that, everything is so messed up right now, I can't handle it anymore!".

"What can't you handle, James?"

"I can't handle not being with you" James said in a tone Lily had never heard him use, a tone full of sadness.

"Well then, you should have thought about that before you did what you did to me" Lily said softly, her tone quiet, not harsh like he had expected.

"Lily, listen. I'm sorry. But you have to realize, I didn't do it just because I thought of you as some kind of trophy"

Lily sighed and said, "Really? Because from my point of view, it was exactly what you were doing". Again her tone was quiet, not harsh and cold.

"Well, you're wrong. Sure, I admit that, when this all started, I did it primarily because I wanted to finally win you over. But not because you looked like some kind of a prize of trophy to me. It was because I really liked you" James explained.

"Liked me? The way you were acting made me think that you were infatuated with me" Lily said, a small smile on her lips.

"Well, yeah, that too. But seriously, I just thought at first that this whole thing was the perfect plan. Flawless, no unexpected turnouts or anything. Guess I was wrong. You see, when this whole thing started, I really did like you, but I never really expected to……." He trailed off.

"Never really expected to what?" Lily pressed on.

With a sigh, James replied, "I never really expected myself to fall in love with you".

Lily's eyes widened. She tried to speak, but her voice was stuck and there were a million butterflies in her stomach. She met James's gaze and smiled.

"Now would be a really good time to say something, Lily" James said, a mere trace of nervousness in his eyes.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing I can say" Lily said, her eyes bright and her voice full of emotion, "I never really expected to fall in love with you myself".

The moment she said that, James leaned in and the two shared a kiss. It was sweet, it was heart stopping. It was everything a kiss shared between two people who were in love should be.

When they broke away from each other, Lily blushing a bit, although it was not visible due to the darkness, James got up, and offered his hand to Lily. She stood up as well, taking it. He then said, "Come on. Let's go tell the others".

"Tell the others what?" Lily asked.

"Tell them that you, Lily Elizabeth Evans, are now the girlfriend of James Potter, of course"

"Me? Your girlfriend? I haven't even said yes since you never even asked me yet! For all you know, I might refuse" Lily said, teasing as the two headed back to the castle.

James gave a mock sigh before saying, "Alright, alright. Lily, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes"

"Now that that's taken care of, let's go" James said. When they reached the Gryffindor common room, they said the password to a very irritated Fat Lady, as they had woken her up from her sleep. James kissed her cheek before Lily went to the girl's dormitories, while James headed to the boy's to tell them the news.

After successfully waking up Stacie and Alyssa, Lily proceeded to tell them everything. Needless to say, her two friends were ecstatic.

"Finally" Stacie said. Suddenly, a old gust of wind from the open window passed, making her and her friends shiver. "You know what guys? Tonight's so cold I think even Hell must be freezing over".

In an instant, Lily remembered something she had once told James when they were fighting. It'll be a cold day in hell before I go out with you, Potter. Guess what? Turns out she was right after all.

Hi! What do think? Please review. Next chapter, which is the last one, we fast forward to a year later when…..