And here we have chapter fourteen. When I first got the idea for Lily finding the cup horcrux, I knew she would never find out what it really was and I knew I would have to end up putting the horcrux somewhere very difficult for harry to find and retrieve. The answer came to me in less than a second.

Chapter fourteen

The hallways in the darkly lit castle were all empty; not a soul moving through them, save one.

It was very lucky for Lily that no one else was prowling the castle this late at night. She did not like to begin to imagine what people would think if they saw her running through the halls as though her life depended on it, torso covered in blood and robes torn.

Lily's boots pounded on the stone floors loudly, echoing through the passageways, but she took no notice of the ruckus she was causing and continued on her way. She knew where she was going: the forbidden forest. She would leave the cup there and then all her problems with it would be over; or, at least, so she hoped.

How far she had to go into the forbidden forest she did not know, and frankly, did not want to know. Though the memories of her last visit in the woods had already disappeared from her mind.

Lily found she had to stop sprinting when she entered the great hall and started walking to catch her breath; the pain in her sides throbbing dully.

From there she went into the entrance hall, burst through the front doors, and stepped outside. Ignoring the rush of cold wind that swept over her when she had walked into the December air, Lily marched down the stairs and stormed off in the direction of the forbidden forest, not noticing a person sitting placidly on one of the steps.

She blinked slightly as her eyes adjusted to the dark, but did not slow her pace. She could see the forest ahead of her and gripped the cup angrily.

But there was most certainly something unusual about the cup she was holding so tightly in her hands and it somehow knew where it was going. The forest would be preferred if the choice was between it and the bottom of Lily's trunk, but the cup had a better idea.

And so this was the night when Lily Evans almost lost her life.

It happened it a split second. One moment Lily was charging towards the forest furiously, the next she felt a slimy tentacle grasp her left ankle and pull her upside down high up into the air.

In her surprised state, Lily almost dropped the cup, but she had managed to hold on and was now merely trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Then a lightbulb switched on in her mind and she realized the tentacle could have only belonged to one creature: the giant squid.

But...but that didn't make any sense, Lily thought quickly, the blood rushing to her head. The giant squid had always been a very mild mannered, friendly creature. It would never attack a student... Maybe it was just playing?

But that last thought vanished from her mind when the squid pulled her away from the land and above the water before dropping her in the lake's waters.

Lily barely had a chance to scream before she plunged into a coldness so intense it was indistinguishable from fire.

Quickly, while she still had her limbs, Lily rose to the surface and gulped in the icy air above her. Shivering violently, she looked out over the gentle waters, trying to spot the land.

With a sinking heart, she saw it was almost unthinkably far and she prayed she could swim to the end without freezing to death. She wouldn't have been surprised if there had been chunks of ice floating in the waters.

She barely swam a meter however, before the squid took a hold of her again and dragged her underneath the surface of the lake.

Lily's eyes stung as they came in contact with the murky water and she shut them quickly. Her wand... she needed to get to her wand.

Still keeping a tight hold on the cup, Lily reached into her pocket and was horrified to find nothing there. Her wand must have slipped out of her pocket when she had been hanging upside down...

When she felt the squid release her again, Lily once more returned to the surface, finding her body growing heavier and heavier every second.

"Help!" she cried into the night. "Help! Is anybody there! Please! H-"

The last word was cut off as she was pulled back into the water, using her last efforts to catch one more breath of air.

Lily tried kicking the squid, but she found she was having trouble moving her limbs; they were already stiff and numb and she feared that might have been the end.

Her last hopes floating up to the surface, Lily let herself be pulled down into the lake's depths, her mind racing, her life's memories flashing before her eyes. But then something miraculous occured.

Lily couldn't understand exactly what was happening, but she suddenly felt two arms enclose around her and suddenly, instead of being dragged down, she was being drawn up.

Her lungs filled with air and she crashed through the small waves and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and saw a shadowy figure in the water beside her, but in the darkness she couldn't make out who it was.

"Lily!" the voice gasped and as Lily's eyes readjusted to the dark, her heart leapt. It was James. "Lily I need you to swim! Come on!"

Lily felt his hand close on her robes and drag her away and she swam along as best she could with her frozen body. She didn't know why, but she found herself refusing to let go of the cup, this wasn't where it was supposed to end up.

"Come on, Lily!" James urged, his voice now shaking from the cold. "Come on, you have to keep swimming!"

Lily didn't waste any energy replying, but noticed a sudden look of panic cross James's face and she knew what he had just seen. In her shock she had stopped paddling and stayed motionless where she was. James urged her on, panic-stricken, and tightened his grip on Lily's shoulder. But it wouldn't have made any difference if she had kept on swimming; the squid would have caught up to her one way or another.

The last thing Lily heard from the world above was James's strangled cry as she was pulled down for the last time that night.

By now her mind was not working at all properly and she just stayed passive, trying to endure the ride.

One minute, two minutes...

The time dragged on for what seemed like hours. How much longer could she go without a breath of air. How long could she survive in this water?

She needed air... she couldn't go on any longer, she would never make it back up to the surface in time...

By now, Lily couldn't feel an inch of her fingers so she wasn't the least bit aware that the last thing that happened before she stole away into unconsciousness, was the cup slipping from her left hand and drifting down to the darkness below...

xxx

"Lily! L-Lily wake up! Please, w-wake up!"

Lily groaned and turned her head slightly. Where was she? Her chest and head were blinding her with pain and she had never felt so cold in her life. Trying to pay as little attention as possible to the icy air around her, Lily opened her eyes and managed to slowly sit up before coughing out a lot of water on the ground beside her.

"Oh L-Lily t-thank God," James muttered relieved, running a hand over his face. Lily could see ice particles formed in his hair.

"How - how long w-was I out?" Lily stuttered, shivering violently.

"J-just pulled y-you out," James replied, pointing out towards the waters with a shaking arm.

Perhaps it was because of all the emotional stress Lily had been dealing with over the past few hours, perhaps it was the fact she was just so cold; wherever this strong surge of impulse came from was unknown, but the only thing Lily knew was that for before she knew it, she had leapt at James and pulled him into a deep hug.

James, who had known Lily for almost seven years; known her great dislike of him in the past, known her reluctance to get near him, was curiously not at all surprised at this startling change of behavior and responded to her sudden gesture by putting his arms tightly around Lily.

James's body wasn't as warm as she could have hoped, but it provided Lily warmth in terms of comfort and the knowledge that this feeling was coming from James didn't seem odd at all. Lily didn't even have the strength to ponder if this meant they were friends. Or had they been friends since that night in the forbidden forest?

They sat there on the ground by the lake, shivering madly in their tight embrace until the numbness in their bodies was replaced, once again, by what felt like burning ice and they could take it no more.

Still holding onto each other, the two of them made their way back towards the castle as fast as they could - which wasn't very fast.

Lily was too cold to even feel relieved when they found out that the giant entrance doors of the castle weren't locked. This didn't mean they didn't have any trouble opening though. The two of them were still weak from the icy water they had been fully submerged in just a few minutes ago and could barely stand up straight, relying on each other for support.

They finally did managed to make it into the castle and Lily felt a warm sweep of air engulf her just before she collapsed back onto the ground, almost immediately helped back up by James who was a bit unsteady himself.

And instead of heading towards the hospital wing - which is what they probably should have done - the two of them went over to the kitchens and managed to get a pot of tea, some cups, and a couple of blankets from several overjoyed house elves.

They didn't stay in the kitchen, but took the pot and blankets to the empty great hall instead and warmed themselves up there.

Lily peeled off her damp robes and pulled one of the blankets over her shoulders. She looked down at her shirt and saw that iswas torn near the sides where the cups fangs had gotten her.

The hall was very dark and James muttered Lumos, illuminating the tip of his wand, and placing it down on the table so they had a little light.

"How is it," Lily asked James after several long minutes of awkwardly sipping tea, holding her hands above her steaming cup of tea in an attempt to warm them, "that whenever I'm in some sort of mortal peril, it's always you that saves me. Or is it just a coincidence?"

James took a sip of his tea before replying. "Are you implying that you think I'm stalking you and that's how I managed to always be in the right place at the right time?"

Lily laughed quietly. "No I just - well do you have anyway of defending yourself?"

"The first time was most definitely a coincidence," James said. "You're just lucky I was near a window at the right time. And tonight I was just outside trying to calm down. I left the common room to get away from Sirius..." He stopped talking and reached for the teapot before pouring more tea into his cup.

"I heard what he did..." Lily said slowly, watching James carefully.

James looked at her slightly alarmed, "What? How could you possibly know that?"

"Peter told me," Lily said, tracing a drop of spilt tea around on the wooden table.

"Peter told you? Can't tell him anything..."

"Was it supposed to be a secret?"

"No, I never told Peter it was. I just assumed he would have the common sense not to tell anyone. I mean something like this getting out..."

"Well, defending Peter, he did seem very reluctant to tell me." Lily took another sip of tea before continuing. "I sort of forced it out of him...sorry," she added.

"So - did you know about Remus being a werewolf before?"

"Yes."

"Oh... For - for how long."

Lily shrugged, "I dunno, maybe four years?"

"Mmm..."

Lily observed James closely before voicing the thought now in her mind. "And I heard what you did. Saving his life I mean, and I just want you to know I think it was really noble."

James didn't smile, but a spark of glee shone in his in his eyes when Lily had uttered these words. Or at least that's what Lily guessed. She was having some trouble trying to read his face at the moment.

"I'm an animagus," James suddenly blurted out.

Lily choked on her tea. "W - what?" she asked coughing.

"Nothing... I mean - "

"An animagus?" Lily looked at him wide eyed. "But - you're not registered are you?"

"Of course I - no, not really..."

"What do you mean not really?" Lily asked.

"Well, no... see it happened so fast that I never really got anytime to -"

"I thought it took at least seven years to become an animagus James. That's plenty of time."

"Took me five," James said somewhat proudly.

"Ok, but five years is still a lot of time."

James turned back to his tea. "And now I'm regretting telling you this," but there was a smile on his face.

"Ok, sorry. But - what animal do you change into?"

James looked back over at her. "Can't guess?"

"I'm terrible at guessing. Well actually not always, there was this multiple choice pop quiz we got in charms once and I hadn't studied so of course I - "

"A stag."

"And - oh, you mean like a deer?" Lily breathed out. "Well congratulations."

"Just don't tell Sirius or Remus or anyone that I told you."

"Supposed to be a secret?" Lily said amused.

"Sort of..."

"Then why did you tell me?"

"I - I dunno... It just slipped out..."

"Mmm..." Lily drained the last of her tea in the cup and turned back to James. "Can you show me?"

"What?"

"Can you show me you in your transfigured form?" Lily repeated.

"Here?" James looked around the room they were in as if trying to spot any people hiding underneath any of the tables or crouching behind suits of armor.

"There's no one else here James," Lily assured. "It's just you and me."

James exhaled. "Yeah, alright." He put his teacup on the table and stood up. "Hold this," he handed her the blanket he'd had draped over his shoulders. Lily took it from his outstretched arms and waited.

It happened in less than a few seconds and Lily could have missed it in a blink. One minute James was a human, and the next he had morphed into a large brown stag, complete with antlers.

Lily let out a gasp of surprise and watched in astonishment as the stag formally known as James trotted up to her and bent his head. Lily slowly reached out and stroked his antlers gently.

She laughed a little and whispered, "Wow... I can't believe that's really you in there."

She flinched as James suddenly switched back. "Aww!" Lily said, disappointed. "I liked you better that way!"

James laughed. "Sorry. Now give me back my blanket."

Lily, who had already wrapped his blanket around herself, shook her head and smiled. "Mine now."

"Aw no fair Lily, you tricked me. Give it back."

"No," Lily said stubbornly, still smiling.

"Alright that's it," James grinned and reached out for the blanket. "Come on Lily let it go."

"Ah! James stop it!" Lily laughed as James started to tickle her and she tightened her grasp on the blanket.

"Come on Lily," James said, prying the blanket away from Lily's fingers. "Haha," he jumped back victorious, holding the blanket in his hands.

Lily glared at him and crossed her arms, "Alright well now you get to feel bad because I'm cold."

"I could live with that," James grinned, sitting back down on the table.

"Fine then," Lily reached out and took a hold of the teapot before finding out there was nothing left in it. "We're out of tea..."she said sadly. "What do you say we head back to the common room?"

James nodded, "Yeah alright."

But for some peculiar reason, after James had said these words, neither of them moved. Lily wasn't quite sure what was happening, but she didn't like it. She was getting that strange feeling in her stomach again, her heart was starting to thump loudly, and she was suddenly starting to feel very hot. She was also suddenly very aware of the fact that her and James's knees where touching. She pulled her's back quickly, but had somehow missed the fact that in all this time, their faces had slowly been inching towards each others and continued to do so even after Lily had realized this fact.

Then their noses suddenly made contact and Lily leapt back as if she'd received a huge electric shock.

"We have to return the cups," she squeaked, eyes wide.

James shook himself out of the trance he was in and nodded. "Yeah," he said in a scratchy voice. He cleared his throat. "Let's return these to the kitchens," he gestured at the cups.

Lily nodded gratefully and leapt out of her seat.

They brought the cups and teapot back to the kitchen and headed off towards to common room, both not speaking to each other. Lily found it a bit strange; just a few minutes ago they had been getting along fine...

She knew what had happened between them of course, and she had a pretty good idea why. But she found it hard to accept it. The main reason being that she had thought that any kind of this contact with James would feel very wrong and disturbing and, granted it didn't exactly feel right, but still... it didn't feel as if they were doing anything really wrong...

Lily reminded herself and she had a boyfriend and that James had a girlfriend...but for how long?

Should she tell him what she saw just a few hours earlier? Did she want him to find out? Would James break up with Amy on the spot? Was it wrong that this is what Lily was hoping for?

Lily shook off these thoughts as she crawled through the portrait hole and looked around; the common room was completely empty. She then gazed into the fireplace, disappointed at the fact it was only carrying a few embers in its hearth. She figured it would be best it she just went to bed.

But wait, what if Bridget was there? ...

"Well," said James looking very awkward. "Goodnight then."

"Yeah...night. And - you know - thanks again..." Lily found she couldn't look James in the eyes anymore and discovered it much easier just to examine her shoelaces instead.

James held out his hand. "You're welcome."

Lily shook it and let go quickly. "I've got to go," she whispered and turned her back on him, hurrying over to her dormitory.

According to my notes I only have two chapters left. Maybe even one. If so, thanks to everyone who read the whole thing and enjoyed it. (and reviewed it!)

This might not be the end though. I would like to write an AU lily and james where they survived and one where the two of them are on the titanic, both with my own little twist on them. I've only found 2 lily and james titanic fics and I think that's far too few - well for me at least. I don't know what it is about me and ships, but i love 'em.

hehe, right now it's so foggy outside i swear the dementors are breeding

...anyways

As always, review.