Last chapter. For now at least. Enjoy!

Chapter sixteen

"Hey!"

Lily looked down the spiral staircase and saw Amy at the bottom glaring at her, her hands on her hips. Lily didn't know what Amy was going to do, it could have been anything. All she knew was that she had made sure she had gotten her wand out as quickly as possible.

"What did I tell you Lily?" Amy said angrily. "Do you even remember!"

"Do you remember how I responded to that?" Lily asked calmly.

Amy didn't answer, but pointed down to the floor and said fiercely. "Get down here now!"

Lily looked at James. He shrugged and said, "I think you can take her."

Lily stared at him disbelievingly for a minute and then laughed a bit. She took his hand and lead him down the steps with her, Amy's face getting redder and redder.

"What were you doing?" she spat.

"Nothing," said Lily and James in unison. Yeah...that'll make it more convincing, Lily thought.

Amy just glared, her grip tightening on her wand, she seemed to be trying to think of what curse would be best to cast. Lily didn't really feel scared, when it came to aiming curses, Amy was - well - not the best?

"Amy you're making a huge mistake," it was James who spoke. Amy turned from Lily to him. "You just immediately jump to conclusions. Geeze, if it were up to you I wouldn't even get to hang out with my friends. Every time I'm not with you, you automatically assume I'm with Lily, which, I'll admit, sometimes I am, but just as friends Amy."

"Hmpf, you'd think I was more important then your friends."

"I've known them for seven years."

"You've known me for seven years!" Amy cried. "That's no excuse."

"Never as a friend. We only really met this year."

Amy crossed her arms. "Well what about Lily? You've only known her this year then."

"There is nothing going on between Lily and I!" James said angrily. "Could you get that through your head!"

Amy faltered looking very shocked. It seemed as though she'd never had James yell at her before and she was at a loss for what to say.

"Well, good, then there won't ever be."

"Amy," James said flatly, "Look I'm sorry, but this is it. We're through."

There was a pause.

"What?" Amy asked menacingly and turned to Lily. "You told him didn't you!"

"Yes she did," James answered. "But that had nothing to do with what I felt before."

"You're making a huge mistake James," Amy hissed. "I hope you'll realize it in time. We're not through, I'll make sure of - "

"Amy there's nothing you can do!" James yelled.

Lily felt the atmosphere tense up a lot more and felt she should probably leave the two of them. Trying to suppress a smirk, she strode over to the stairs leading to her dormitory and climbed up into her dormitory.

"They're breaking up?" Alice asked as Lily entered the room.

"Yes, you're still awake?" Lily asked, shutting the door behind her, before walking over to her bed and collapsing on it.

"Yes I knew it would never last," Alice said. "Amy... what a - "

"James found out in time," Lily said pulling off her socks and tossing them into her trunk.

Alice looked at Lily for a second before replying. "And Bridget..."

"We sure know how to pick our friends," Lily commented, rummaging through her trunk.

Alice gave a shaky laugh. "I never would have thought... Was she under the imperious curse or something?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't know... maybe..."

"It'll be up to us to stop her."

Lily looked over at Alice perplexed. "What? Why?"

Alice gaped at her disbelievingly. "When we join the order of course!"

"Y - you're joining?"

"Of course. Frank is too. We'll have to stop Bridget because it's us who know the most about her and what she can do."

"We used to know," Lily said quietly. "I don't think we do anymore..."

"Mmm..." Alice was silent as Lily changed into her pyjama's and climbed into bed. "So - " Alice started. "So now that Amy and James have broken up-"

"Are breaking up," Lily corrected as she heard the slightly muffled voice of James rise through the walls. She couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but she thought she caught a few words that sounded like, 'stalker', 'possessive', and 'jellybean'.

"Well they're through anyways," Alice continued. "So if their relationship is over, where does that leave you?"

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked curiously, propping herself up on her elbow.

"You and James."

"We haven't been making out behind Amy's back!" Lily said furiously. "It's not true at all!"

"No I mean how you've been acting around him lately," Alice said indifferently. "I know you didn't kiss him or anything."

"Oh..." Lily didn't say anything. She couldn't very well deny anything was going on. "And now you're just assuming that because I'm no longer with Dom I'm getting together with James?"

"No, no," Alice said quickly. "I just meant... I mean its none of my business, but - well you certainly would make an odd couple..."

Lily laughed and Alice looked relieved at the fact she wasn't mad. "It's okay Alice," Lily reassured. "An honest mistake."

"So - so you don't like James in that way? You - you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just curious..."

"I dunno..." Lily flopped onto her back at looked up the canopy of her bed. "It's just weird..." She paused, wondering if she should tell Alice how close James and her had come to kissing... twice...

In the end she decided to keep that piece of information private and instead said, "Well, goodnight."

"Night," Alice replied.

xxx

The Christmas break was spent with a lot of awkwardness. Lily didn't really have anyone to spend time with save Alice who was often times off somewhere with Frank. Amy was of course not speaking with her and Lily felt it best not to test her temper anymore by spending time with James. Not that she could anyway. She had been taking up most of her time trying to find him, having absolutely no luck. She desperately wanted to talk to him and try and figure out exactly what she felt for him.

She was getting a little worried though. Was James trying to avoid her? He usually wasn't difficult to spot seeing is how he loved to be the center of attention. Well, not this year...

Lily stopped her wandering around the castle, pausing to look out a window. The world outside looked very cold and the sky was filled with dark clouds and one tiny speck of an owl was flying towards the owlery.

Then suddenly she remembered... it was Christmas. She had promised to send a letter to her parents. She dashed up to the owlery and quickly scribbled a letter to her family.

She was concentrating on it so much she didn't even notice an owl land beside her, a letter attached to its leg. It whooed impatiently and Lily jumped.

How she knew the letter was from Bridget was a mystery, not even she knew. But it was a strong feeling and she knew there was no chance of her being wrong on this one.

Lily simply stared at the letter for a short amount of time in shock, ignoring all the fluttering owls around her in the owlery.

Finally, she ripped open the seal and read quietly:

Dear Lily,

It's Bridget writing. Apologizing actually... For several

things... One, for sort of attacking you, two, for hiding

all of this for so long, and three, for becoming a death eater.

Yeah...you read that right. Sorry, but I know this is my destiny

I hope in time you'll realize who you really should be loyal to

and we'll see each other again soon..

Though I'm guessing we're not friends anymore...

Bye then. Merry Christmas.

Lily read the letter over a few times, making its full weight sink into her like a stone.

Maybe it wasn't the imperious curse, but Bridget had definitely been brainwashed. It was the only answer.

Her fingers now tracing the sides of the parchment the letter was written on, Lily got the strong urge to tear it to shreds, but in the end, decided against it. This was all she really had left of Bridget. She might need it anyway for the Order...

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew through the wide open window in the room and sent Lily shivering. She wrapped her cloak around her and stuffed the letter into one of her pockets. Trying best to ignore the ice that was burning into her skin, Lily walked over to the window and looked down onto the grounds.

She saw a tentacle splashing around on the surface of the lake and got a twinge of fear in her and she plunged back into the night she had been the squids victim.

Would she even be here if James hadn't come along? Lily liked to think yes, but had a pretty good feeling the correct answer was no.

The spider though... she could have handled that one herself. Lily then saw Hagrid emerging from the castle doors and trudging back over to his hut. Lily wondered if he knew where James was... She was getting frustrated that she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him, Sirius, Peter, or Remus all break.

Lily leaned over the edge of the window wondering if she should stop by Hagrids to wish him a happy Christmas. It would be nice and it wasn't as though she had anything else to do.

Lily jumped as she heard the door to the owlery creak open and whirled around to see who had just entered.

"Oh it's you..." Lily turned away from him and back outside the grounds.

"I'm just sending a letter," Dom replied, holding up a note.

"Send it then," Lily said, still not looking at him.

Dom looked at her annoyed. "You know what Lily? I don't care anymore. I don't need anyone who hates quidditch in my life. It's my dream after all. The one I've had - "

"All your life, yes," Lily finished tiredly. "I'm glad you've finally figured it out."

Dom, still angry, strode over to one of the schools owls and tied the letter to a barn owls leg. "Fine, you know what, I'm sorry! But I think you should be apologizing too."

"Why?" Lily asked calmly as the barn owl flew past her into the air outside.

"Because... I - "

"Dom, I'm really not in the mood to argue right now," Lily sighed and walked past him towards the door.

"Wait."

Lily stopped, hand on the doorknob and turned back to face Dom. "Yes?" she asked.

"Are - are we still friends?"

Lily wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to him. He looked sad, angry, and confused all at once and she wondered what his reaction would be if she told him what she really thought.

Lily looked down at the floor for a second before looking back up at Dom. "I don't think so," she said quietly, but sincerely. And with that, she turned the handle of the door and stepped out, leaving a nonplused Dom in her wake.

Once away from his presence, Lily shook her head trying to rid all thought of that unpleasant encounter and walked down another one of the many hallways connecting the school.

On her way down to the entrance hall, Lily walked past another window and saw something that made her heart smile. It had started to snow. The first snow of the season. Lily couldn't resist the opportunity to go outside and catch a few snowflakes on her tongue and so she started jogging down to the grounds.

When she got out there she got more than just a few snowflakes. She felt a rush of relief when she spotted a familiar person sitting on a rock near the lake and walked over to greet him.

"Hi James," she said quietly.

James looked up, startled, and snapped his book shut. "L - Lily, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the very same question James. It's very cold outside. One would think that the library would be a much more comfortable place to read a book," Lily replied, smiling slightly. "And reading an advanced transfiguration book at Christmas? Someone's ambitious."

"You're one to talk, I hear you take on extra potions assignments during your spare time," James said smirking, slipping the book into his bag.

"Slughorn's parties are hardly extra potion assignments," Lily corrected, joining James on the rock. "And I do try to avoid them, he just makes it hard."

"Ah yes, Sirius has the same problem," James said nodding. "Except, unlike you, he actually manages to avoid them most of the time."

Lily didn't reply, instead looked out over the calm waters of the lake; the heavy snowflakes dotting the water like periods at the end of a sentence.

"So why are you out here?" Lily finally asked. "Are you avoiding me or something?"

James looked up at her surprised. "What? No, I was just trying to get away from Amy."

"And you went outside," Lily started slowly, "Because you saw it was snowing and you know how she hates getting her hair all frizzy!"

"Well no, I just knew she didn't care for the cold. It didn't start snowing until after I got out here," James replied.

"Oh..." Lily's eyes went back over to the lake. She wouldn't fancy going for a swim right now that was for certain.

"Compared to the lake, the air here doesn't feel so cold," James commented mildly.

"Speak for yourself," Lily shivered slightly. Though he was right of course. She looked down at the ground and saw a very flat rock lying beside her feet. She picked it up and held it up before turning to James. "Did you know I'm a champion rock skipper?"

"No..." James raised his eyebrows. "But lets see it then."

Lily held the rock between two fingers and flicked it out over the lake. The rock hit the water once then disappeared beneath the surface. James laughed out loud.

"Shush, you're distracting me!" Lily said, but she was laughing herself. She tried again, but this time she was no better than the last.

"Alright well let's see you do better!" she said, placing a rock into James gloved hands.

"This rock is completely round," James said observing it. "Give me a flat one."

"You're saying you can't do it with a round one?"

James glared at her. "Alright watch this." He stood up, squinted out through the snow, and hurled the rock out over the water.

Lily looked at it perplexed as it bounced once, twice, three times, four, and the finally sank into the water. "How did you do that?" she demanded and James sat back down onto the rock.

James showed her his wand. "Magic."

Lily laughed. "Of course, how could I have forgotten. And did you curse my own rocks so they wouldn't bounce?"

"No," James smiled. "That was all you. I - shit..."

"What? What is it?" Lily looked over at him.

"Amy! quick!" James grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her behind the rock so they were crouching in a few feet of snow.

"I don't see her," Lily whispered peering over the rock. James forced her head down. "Oh, but I can hear her now," she said a second after she heard a loud cry of frustration coming in the direction of the castle.

"Quiet, unless you want her to hear you," James whispered.

"Right sorry."

They waited for a few minutes, Lily crouching uncomfortably on the frozen ground and James peeking occasionally over the rock.

"Okay, I think she's given up - yeah, she's going back to the castle," he said finally after a few more minutes of uncomfortable squatting.

"Thank God," Lily breathed, standing up straight. "And that actually reminds me why I came down here in the first place. I've been looking for you all break and haven't had any luck."

"What is it?" James asked, sitting back down on the rock.

"It's just - " Lily paused, not sure what she was going to say. She instead chose to pace up and down on the shore of the lake trying to get her mind together. "It's just. Well," Lily closed her eyes and started over. "This year has been really different for me. Not because of the classes, not because of being continually attacked by magical creatures while not being in the Care of Magical Creatures class, but because of the relationships with the people I've known for so long and how they changed so suddenly.

'First there was Bridget," Lily continued. "who I thought was one of my best friends and who is now a death eater. Second came Dom who I was great friends with at first and then now we had this whole dating mess and nothing will ever be the same again. Then there was Amy who - well you know everything there is to know about that. And - and then... then there was you..." Lily trailed off, trying to think of what words to put together next that would tell him everything that came into her mind when she saw him.

Lily cleared her throat. "And then there was you..." she repeated, softer than before.

And then all of a sudden James stood up very quickly and started to say something, but Lily stopped him.

She wondered if the reason she was having so much trouble on trying to find the right words to say to James was simply because there were no right words on the matter. She had a feeling that when she looked straight into James's eyes that the two of them where thinking of exactly the same thing and that there really wasn't any need to say anything at all.

Lily didn't dare move a muscle, but James took one step closer towards Lily and took a hold of her hands. Lily's gaze was so piecing she didn't even blink and she simply waited for James to do what he had been wanting to do for almost three years now.

It happened in less than a second, but to Lily the time had already melted away. It felt short, but also endless and Lily barely had time to marvel at the effect. But what was time exactly? Time didn't exist and never existed. Mankind invented the clock and the idea, but time itself was an illusion and Lily felt herself get lost in its midst when James leaned in and kissed her.

To Lily that first kiss never ended and would never end until time itself stopped. And up until her dying day she could still remember it; feel exactly how his lips were pressed up against hers, knew precisely where the separate snowflakes fell gently onto her dark red hair, and remembered how his hands moved slowly along her hips as she tangled her fingers is his dark hair...

The End

Or is it? Even I don't know.

As always review and if you do choose to, i'd like to ask you to tell me what your favorite parts in the story were. This informationmay help me a lot if I decide to write those two other stories i have in mind.