Little Problems in Life

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor do I own the plot, but the words, sentences, paragraphs, and everything else is mine, unless stated otherwise.

Dedication: This fic is dedicated to my best friend Kelly. Although in grade six (a few months younger than me, but a grade smaller) she was my only true friend other than Anna C (whom I don't talk to as much because she goes to another school) and Melina (I'm not sure if I spelt her name right but I'm dedicating a new fiction to her) Thank you Kelly for helping me when I was down and sticking by me.

Warning: This fiction is AU! Alternative Universe! So don't flame me!

Summery: James Carlos Potter of England was not happy about being betrothed by the king to a woman he had never laid eyes on. So when the brooding British Knight accidentally came across her in an ornamental garden, He was both astonished- and overjoyed. Intelligent, charming and stunning, she was the most captivating woman he'd ever met. But the magic of that enchanted moment is soon shattered by cold reality. Lily was not the woman he was to be married, but her sister, Petunia.

...

A tall man sat sullenly in a carriage, waiting for his life to end. His rough hands ran through jet-black hair nervously for the hundredth time. His hazel eyes, which once sparkled with mischievous, were dark and hard. Fury laced heavily with his body, and anger rolled off his shoulders in waves. His free hand clenched by his side.

How DARE the king marry him off without his consent? How DARE he? James sighed, and leaned his head against the wall of the carriage. Well nothing could be done now to fix this problem, 'what's done is done after all.' But if he ever saw King Alexander again... his hand reached for the hilt of his well-known sword, and his mouth twitched.

So lost in his thought was he that he fell when the carriage came to a complete stop. Recovering quickly, he called out to the driver, "Why have we halted?" The driver looked backwards making a funny face at the carriage, "We have arrived sir." James scolded himself inwardly for not being aware of his surroundings before stepping out of the carriage, as the driver opened the door.

James stared bored, at the magnificent castle before him. If you see one castle you see them all, and James had seen a lot of castles. The walls, made of smooth gray stones stacked upon each other, the enormous windows that reflected the glare of the sun stood proud and tall, and the castle itself seemed to reach towards the sky. All in all... it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.

"I'M WHAT!" The Lord sighed and slowly rubbed his temples.

"You are to be married to the knight James Potter of England. The king himself has arranged this marriage and you will cooperate understand?" As his eldest daughter opened her mouth to protest the doors of the great throne room burst open, and his youngest came rushing in. Her silky red hair was tangled messily, her face was covered in mud, her poor dress that was once beautiful and elegant was torn and everywhere you looked, there were, grass stains, dirt and mud, but she still looked both adorable and magnificent.

Lily smiled happily at her father. "Papa! Guess what? The children and I played a new game today! We call it tag! It got a little out of hand though..." She smiled sheepishly, as her hands motioned to her dress. The lord's eyes softened when they gazed upon his youngest daughter. Although eighteen and of noble blood, she was often found with the children of the village. And he would let her associate with them; he just couldn't stand to see his daughter unhappy.

"Petunia? What's wrong?" Petunia... the eldest of the two... her hair was a mucky dark brown (Dc: I don't know what she looks like...) with spoiled dark chocolate eyes, that burned with hatred towards her younger sister. She turned to face the innocent eyes of Lily as she lashed at the poor girl, "This is all your fault! Why weren't you born as eldest! Why is it that I am to wedded because I'm eldest! If you weren't such a brat, you would be the one to leave our home! I loath you!"

Lily recoiled and hurt filled her eyes, then she sighed heavily. She was used to such treatment from her 'sister,' but... this time she wasn't going to take such disrespect from her sibling.

"Father," The lord was startled at the ice located in his radiant daughter. "If by your agreement, I think I shall take my leave." Without even waiting for her father's say, Lily turned on her heel and walked towards the door, she stopped before she left and offered to her sister coldly, "Do not blame me for something I had no control of. I am not at fault for not being born first. Good-bye."

She was hurt, and didn't like it at all. When she was hurt, she tended to cry, and when she cried, Petunia would be there laughing at her so the only way to avoid that was to be angry. "Why was I born the eldest?" Lily mocked, her voice sounding a lot like Petunia's. "As if I could control destiny." She turned to face a wall of the hallway. "I'm the most beautiful, the most graceful and much better than Lily! She's so stupid and ugly, I'm the eldest!" The fiery redhead fumed as she stomped to her garden.

Her garden... it was the only thing in the world that could calm Lily's explosive anger. It... it belonged to her mother, her deceased mother. Her mother loved flowers, and since she was forbidden from ever going out of the castle, she saw them very scarcely. Her mother often looked out the window of her room and stared longingly at the happy kingdom below, with it's lush grass, alluring flowers, and laughing children, Lily's father, the lord noticed this with a frown and so on his next journey, he brought home rare flowers that grew in mountains, caves and dark forests owned by many bandits. It was no rumor that the lord would do anything for his beloved wife. When he saw the happiness and joy shinning brightly in his wife's eyes, he knew that it was worth it.

The late wife of the lord planted the flowers and soon, few grew into many, and many turned the once empty field into a beautiful garden that had no rival. It was just plain unfortunate that the delicate lady never lived to see how truly stunning the garden she grew with love was. An unknown decease had befallen her, killing her slowly, ripping her into little pieces from the inside out. She died right after given birth to Lily. The lord was devastated; he never took a second wife, being so in love with his late lady.

Lily's heart grew heavy and tears brimmed her eyes. Her mother. She was gone before Lily ever met her... leaving only a garden of rare flowers for her youngest daughter, which was why, Lily took great care of the enchanting garden making sure all it's needs were fulfilled. She didn't notice that she was at her destined spot, until she clumsily tripped.

"Owie!" She winced as she probed at the scrape, "You're so mean!" Lily scolded the ground; hand on hips making her look utterly ridiculous. She sighed as she stood up, her torn gown, flowing down her figure, "What am I doing? Am I going crazy? I'm talking to the ground for Christ's sake. Oh Goddess, look at my dress! It's ruined... and now I'm sounding like Petunia... just great." She looked to the small lake in the middle of the garden and dived in. The lake wasn't any lake, as Lily found when she was five. It was... magical. And not just magical as in beautiful, it was magical as in magical.

She was five at that time, small, innocent, unknowing. Against her father's wishes, little Lily started to explore the enormous garden that seemed to call out to her, never expecting to encounter near death experience. She stumbled onto the lake, purely by accident. Enchanted by the enticing lake she walked towards it, never noticing that she was going in deeper and deeper until she was completely under water, and even then it was too late. Hard as she tried, she just couldn't get back to the surface.

Her breath was leaving her quickly and she felt faint. Her lungs felts as though it were on fire, and Lily's vision started to fade out on her. 'At least...' Lily thought sleepily, 'I got to see the lake.' The last of her breath left and Lily took a hesitant gasp, and was stunned to see that she wasn't choking on water. Slowly she took another breath and nothing happened, water didn't rushing into her mouth as she first expected, it just danced around her, making her red hair wave with them. When she came out, a cut made when she fell, running from Petunia was gone, but she was as dry as a bone, as though she never entered the lake in the first place. Since then, Lily would always take a quick swim in the 'pool of healing' as she put it.

As she foresaw, her gown was back to how it was before she ruined it and her scrape was gone. She smiled as she gazed upon the moon, how lovely and gorgeous it was, hanging there so near and yet so far from her reach. She froze when a snap brought her out of her trance.

James glared at the ceiling of his room, his hands laid beneath his head as he tried to burn it down with his eyes. No avail. Sighing as a sign of defeat, James got up from his bed and started walking out the door. He let his feet lead him, not suspecting that he would one day be very thankful for it.

It wasn't long before he came to a wall outside the castle. His curiosity engulfed him and he started scaling it. He didn't stop climbing until he was sat straddling the wall. A conveniently, a fruit tree grew near the corner its branches like silhouettes in the full moon's light. He jumped over to it, his soft boots barely making a sound. With the stealth of a cat, he lowered himself into the early autumn smells that filled the garden. He slid towards it along the wall until he could see a section of the garden not shadowed by trees. The bright moon displayed a little pool, its glittering surface dotted with fallen leaves. A woman strolled down the path surrounding it, pausing every now and then at bushes to touch one of the late-blooming roses. (Dc: The last six sentences belong to the book.)

James's breath caught in his throat, she was divine. A goddess not meant to be beholden by mortal eyes... Her fiery auburn hair, fell around her body, swaying with each step. She wore a straight white robe with long broad sleeves. She didn't seem to notice that her robe, that a woman would wear when she first went to bed, provided no protection against the chilly air of the night. (Dc: She didn't change when she went to play with the children.) With each step she took, he saw more of her alluring face. Pale of skin, plumb lips that invited him to take a taste (he blushed) and wide eyes that made her seem both adorable and innocent, under the moon's unearthly glow, she cast a spell on the garden... and on him. Mesmerized, he took a step forward, not realizing until, too late, that a branch lay under his foot. James winced as a crack echoed loudly throughout the amazing garden; the woman's craving gaze that was, only moments ago directed at the moon, was now turned on his direction...

Dark: Yes... :sigh: I revised it once again... although it's short, it's better... I'll update soon I hope... Thank you all for reviewing. Please read and review. I'm so tired from writing so long that I'm not going to make any wise cracks.