Hey, Amour Lily here! Sorry I haven't updated for the longest time! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter!
What's wrong, what's wrong now?
Too many, too many problems.
Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs.
She wants to go home, but nobody's home.
It's where she lies, broken inside.
With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.
Broken inside. "Nobody's home" by Avril Laving
Chapter 13 Realizations and Brooms
"Lily, let's try this store!" Emma cried, pointing to a little shop. Lily, Emma, and the Marauders finished the business at the house, and were currently shopping in a Muggle shopping center. The Marauders decided not to hang around and told them they'd meet them in a ice cream parlor off the street. This left Lily and Emma to do some shopping and talking.
"Okay, let's go." Lily replied, walking into the store. James and Sirius had given them some money, which they converted it onto Muggle money, so they could buy a few things. The shop may have looked small on the outside, but it had so many racks of clothes on the inside.
"So..Lily, what do you think about staying at James house for the rest of the holiday?" Emma asked.
Lily shrugged. "It's nice of them to let us stay."
"What about James?"
"What about him?"
"Oy, Lily! Your so oblivious to everything! I mean, are you two going to get together?"
"What? So I could add the the idiot girls who went out with Potter and got dumped by his too? I'll probably just be his flavor of the week."
Emma sighed in frustration. "Lily, he really cares! Why can't you see that? It's not a stupid little crush. The guy is head over heels for you, I thought he would've proved that after he saved your life! Mine too for that matter!"
Lily looked at her friend. She began thinking very quickly. Maybe Emma was right, maybe he did really care. He did save her life and comforted her when she had a break down in her house a little while ago. She had to at least give him a chance.
"Alright, Emma, I'll give him a chance." Lily said quietly.
Emma squealed in delight. She could be really girly when it came to guys.
"After you tell me what's going on with you and Sirius." Lily said shortly. Emma looked at Lily, a little confused. The look on Emma's face made Lily smile.
"What are you talking about?" Emma asked innocently.
"Come on! I'm not totally clueless when it comes to guys. I see the stares you give him and the stares he gives you." Lily said in exasperation.
"But Sirius always goes out with girls and dumps them by the end of the week-"
"Give him a chance." Lily said, mimicking the same thing her friend told her a little while ago.
It was Emma's turn to sigh. "Fine."
Lily smiled. "Good. Now that that's settled, what do you think of those pajamas over there?"
Lily, Emma and the Marauders collapsed on the couch in James house hours later. Sirius glanced at the clock.
"It's already nine o'clock. You girls know how to shop!" Sirius commented. Lily and Emma looked at each other and smiled. Emma stood up and picked up her bags.
"Well, I'm off to bed. Anyone else?" Emma asked, looking around. Lily didn't know whether it was because she was tired or not, but she could've sworn she gave Remus and Sirius a pointed look. As if on cue, the two boys stood up.
"Right behind you!" Sirius said cheerfully.
"Night James, Lily." Remus said, eyes twinkling. The three of them disappeared upstairs, while Lily and James sat there in awkward silence.
Until Lily broke it, "I'm going to go outside." She whispered so quietly, that she didn't know whether James had heard her or not. She stood up, made her way outside, and sat down on the same bench she sat on earlier that day.
The sight was still beautiful. Snow was falling a bit harder, and it looked beautiful with the ice sculptures placed all around the yard. It looked better than Hogsmeade even. She suddenly felt someone place a jacket on her and someone slide on to the seat next to her.
"Honestly, Evans, you'd think after you top mark grades you'd remember to put a jacket on when coming outside in the snow!" James said in mock concern.
Lily smiled. "Well, Potter, how do you know I wasn't enjoying the cold?"
James raised an eyebrow at her.
Lily sighed. "Right, well, maybe I was a little cold." She admitted, looking out onto the huge yard. It was so big there was even a Quidditch pitch on it! James must've seen her staring, because next moment he asked, "Want to go for a ride?"
Lily looked a little surprised. "Well...I don't exactly know how to fly." She admitted quietly, as though hoping he wouldn't hear.
She looked up and noticed James was grinning. "What?" Lily asked, dumbfounded on to why he was grinning. "What's so funny?"
"You don't know how to fly?" he asked incredulously.
"Not everyone is a big Quidditch player like you, James! No one every taught me, is that such a crime?" Lily snapped. She shut her mouth, instantly wishing she didn't say that. He would obviously get mad and storm back inside, but as much as she hated to admit it, she wanted him to stay with her.
James looked a little taken aback and held out his hands in defense.
"Whoa, Lily, calm down! I didn't mean to insult you. I was just a little surprise. I'm sorry. I know! How about I teach you?" James offered.
Now it was Lily's turn to look incredulous. "What? No comment? No insult to say to you rival, Lily Evans?" Lily asked him.
"Well, were friends now. No reason to snap."
"Friends?"
"Yes, friends, Lily." James said impatiently, "Now, do you want to learn or not?"
"Actually...."
"That's a yes! Stay here, I'll grab you a broom." James said happily, running off to the broom shed. Lily watched him go. She felt empty when he left, but reminded herself that he would be back.
'Stupid, Lily! Just when you became friends, your going to embarrass yourself by probably falling off the broom. I'm terrified of heights.' Lily thought frantically.
She stood up and was about to walk away, thinking of any excuse to get her out of this mess, when James came up and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Your not going any where, are you?" he asked, eyes twinkling and giving her that charming smile that made most girls fall to their knees. Lily found herself staring into his eyes, when she finally came to her senses.
"What? No, of course not! I was just, well, getting up. I was tired of sitting down." Lily said quickly, in a way that could tell anyone she was lying.
James looked at her skeptically, but didn't ask anymore questions. He handed her the broom and Lily took it, gaping. He had the fastest broom in the world-a thunderbolt (1). Not only one of them, two of them!
"Right, mount your broom." James instructed. Lily did as she was told. He told her to hover for a moment, which she did, then to land then kick off, which she did too. After she kicked off the ground, she flew into the air at an amazing speed, that she gave a shriek of surprise as she did so. Before she knew it, she was going in circles around the Quidditch pitch, James by her side and smiling at her. He suddenly stopped and so did she.
"Your getting good at this, Lily Flower." James said, smiling.
"Since when was my name Lily Flower?" Lily asked.
"Since I decided that that would be your nickname!" James anwered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Lily couldn't help but laugh at this.
"So, let's see just how good you are at this. Let's have a race. Three laps around the Quidditch pitch. If I win, you owe me a favor." James said.
Lily paused to think. She smiled mischievously. "Okay, James, your on. But if I win, you have to stop picking on Snape for a whole week once we get back to school!" Lily said, smiling.
The expression on James face was too funny. He looked horrorstruck, yet had some admiration in his features, and was that-longing?
"Lily, he really cares! Why can't you see that? It's not a stupid little crush. The guy is head over heels for you, I thought he would've proved that after he saved your life! Mine too for that matter!" Emma's voice flashed through her mind.
'Why do I get all warm and fuzzy and giggly when I talk to James? Could I honestly have a crush on him? Emma's right, it's time I gave James a chance.' Lily thought, then realized a hand waving in her face.
"Hello? Lily? You didn't chicken out on me, did you?" James called, waving his hand in her face.
She instantly snapped back to reality and blushed. "Yeah. Your on."
"Anyone ever told you your cute when you blush?" James asked while giving her a wink.
"Oh, yes, tons of guys." Lily said giggling. The expression on James face was funny. It was torn between disbelief and jealously. "Kidding, James. Every guy was afraid to talk to me after you threatened to hex every guy that came up to me."
The two of them leaned forward on their brooms.
"One..." Lily murmured.
Two...." James whispered.
"THREE!" they both shouted together and instantly took off. The three of them shot around the Quidditch pitch at an alarming speed. They had just did their second lap and each one was sitting on their broom in earnest, hoping they would be the one too win. They were neck to neck, just about to reach the finish line, someone shouted, "YES!"
They both stopped. The race was over. Lily gave James a pouting look.
"Not fair! You've played Quidditch way longer than I have!" Lily said.
"Yeah, well, being on the Quidditch team does have its perks." James said smiling.
"What about that favor?"
"I haven't thought of anything yet. I'll get back to you on it. You were honestly going to make me stop pranking Snivellus?"
"I don't like him either, James. But yes, I was."
"Lily?"
"Yeah, James?"
"How about we go for a ride?"
"I thought we just did."
"No, I mean, you come on my broom."
Lily tried hard not to blush on this statement and look casual. "What about this broom?"
"It'll just go back on its own. One of the great features on it."
Lily nodded. She stepped over on James broom, so that she was in front of him. He had his arms around her waist holding the broom so he was in control. Lily watched in amazement as the broom she was on slowly rode itself back to the shed. (2)
The two of them rode slowly around the Quidditch pitch for awhile, in silence, but still enjoying each others company. James suddenly stopped and they hovered in the air for a moment. Lily broke the silence.
"You're a great Quidditch player, James." She said quietly.
"So I've heard." He said playfully. Lily laughed at this.
"No, really you are."
"I know. Some scouts have already asked me to play on their team when I graduate from Hogwarts."
"Wow! That's great! Did you accept?" Lily asked, still amazed.
"No." came the short reply.
"Why not?"
"I love Quiddtich, but its not what I want to do when I leave school."
"Then what do you want to do?" Lily asked, turning around, surprised to see his face inches from her own. They were so close together. James leaned his forward so his forehead was on hers, and whispered, "I want to be an Auror."
"Like your parents?" she asked.
"Yes,"
They stood there for a moment, suspended in the air, and totally caught up in the moment. They didn't know that they were being watched. They just enjoyed each others company.
Emma, Sirius, and Remus were standing by Remus's bedroom window, staring out at the couple. Emma had told the other two boys to come with her, so Lily and James could be alone. Now she knew it was definitely a good idea.
"Isn't that sweet?" Emma asked. Sirius and Remus looked at each other, smiling.
"Yeah. Our little James is growing up!" Sirius said, pretending to wipe away a tear. Remus put his arm around his friend.
"It was just yesterday he would run around in his Chudey canons underwear. Now look, he's all settled down with a girl." Remus said, imitating his friend and pretending to wipe away a tear.
Emma laughed at them both. "Well, I think its cute."
"So do we!" Sirius said indignantly, "but we decided not to get too overly emotional about it."
"That was a great idea, Emma." Remus said.
"I know." She replied, grinning.
"And you call me concieted?" Sirius asked playfully. Emma laughed.
"They really do make a cute couple." Emma said.
"If only they would realize it themselves. I mean, the rest of the school has!" Sirius replied.
"Much to the disappointment of the girls. Still, I think they might be realizing it." Remus commented.
"You two do realize that most of the girls at school have fallen in love with you two also?" Emma asked.
"It's our charming good looks." Sirius said, putting an arm around her. "Why haven't you fallen for us yet?"
Emma shrugged his arm off and stood closer to the window. "I think I'm starting to." She whispered quietly.
The three of them watched as Lily and James went back to the ground and back inside the house.
A/N. How was it? Sorry I haven't updated for awhile so I decided to make this chapter a little longer than all the other ones. Don't forget to review!
1)I'm not sure what kind of brooms they had back then. So I made one up. Yes, I know its not the best name in the world, but it'll have to do!
2)Let's just pretend that this broom can go back to the ground when ordered too, okay?
REVIEW PLEASE!
Love always,
Amour Lily