My second lily and james story. AU, a story i've wanted to write for ages but never got around to doing. her and him on the titanic. it's sort of a time travel story. James is more of the time traveller though and Lily fell through the fourth dimension too long ago to remember anything.

FULL SUMMARY: When Lily was seven she accidently stumbled into the past. Now, ten years later, the year is 1912 and she remembers nothing of her life in the future. Brought up by a rich couple, Lily was spoiled beyond any child's wildest dreams. But this was not Lily's dream and never was. She boards the Titanic to travel to America where her fiance is waiting for her. On the ship however, her love life gets tangled as she meets a familiar stranger who has been searching for her for ten years. When James first sees her however, he doesn't recognize her, and is unaware that the girl he has been looking for for so long, is right in front of his eyes.

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Chapter one

It all started on December 14th 1967; or at least, that's when the story starts. It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for a rift in space and time, a large hole sucking in fragments of the fourth dimension. It was a glitch and it had been there for no less than a few days. No one knew it was there, but time had a way of mending itself. The universes victim was a small girl, chosen for her curiosity and lack of respect for the rules. She wouldn't be the only one who would fix it, but she was alone for now. And that's when the story starts.

Lily Evans was a seven year old and was like one in every way. It was her infamous curiosity that even she despised and wished would go away. At the same time she enjoyed where it brung her; though not always.

She hadn't wanted to go to that museum. She had kicked and screamed all the way there trying to make her parents realize her disprovel of the situation and take her home. They wouldn't listen.

Lily was forced to give in when her throat became to sore to continue shouting. But she was still angry and wanted to find some way to pay her parents back.

Her plan worked better than she could have thought, but it wasn't for her liking. She did pay her parents back, they would never see her again. But Lily had no way of knowing this and ignored the forbidden mist hanging around the air that day.

She clambered up the stone steps leading to the museum, holding her mothers hand bitterly and trying to ignore the uncomfortable itching her dress's fabric caused against her skin.

"Mummy it's cold," Lily told her mother.

"Lily, we've only just got here and you won't stop complaining," Helen Evan's scolded. "I wish just once you would behave and be quiet. Your sister Petunia's really excited about this!"

"She'll spoil it mum," ten year old Petunia said indifferently.

Lily glared at her sister, but didn't say another word until they stepped inside the museum.

She tugged at her mother's sleeve. "It's cold in here too!"

"No its not, Lily," her mother sighed. "Please stop trying to be difficult and just enjoy the place. Look at this picture, it has a horse. You love horses!"

"No I don't," Lily said angrily. "Look at it. It has a stupid man on its back. It doesn't look happy."

"Lily please," her mother sighed. "Come on, don't let go of my hand. Let's go join the tour."

Lily had never been fond of her family. She wasn't sure if it was normal for them to force her into things she really didn't like. And her father had a drinking problem which gave him a state of anger that terrified Lily to the very bone.

The tour was just how Lily suspected it would be. Boring and pointless and she found it hard to keep her eyes open. There weren't many people in the museum. Besides her family there were two older couples and then a younger one.

Petunia pretended to listen and look interested, but in truth she herself was starting to doze off. Lily saw this and decided now was her cue. As quietly as she could, she slipped away from the group and ducked behind a corridor.

The second she was out of their sight she felt that rush of relief and happiness she got whenever she was alone and free to explore by herself. Lily felt she worked best herself and disliked it greatly whenever she had anyone telling her what to do. When she was alone it was just her and her rules. And she didn't have any rules.

Lily was so busy being elated she didn't even see a small podium which she crashed into a second later.

"Are you okay?"

Lily looked up from the ground and saw a young boy looking down at her slightly confused. Determined not to show any weakness, she nodded fiercely and got up so she could observe him properly.

He was about a head shorter than her with a mop of messy black hair and hazel eyes. He was still looking slightly dumbfounded and Lily took the time to observe an object he was clutching tightly in his left hand. Or at least, Lily was pretty sure it was his left hand, she didn't know left and right too well and could only guess.

Lily knew this boy. James, the son of her father's best friend and work colleague, but Lily had never gotten along with him. They teased and argued with each other constantly and could never seem to cooperate. Lily still hadn't forgiven James for snipping her long red hair that one day.

"What's that?" she asked pointing to his hand.

James shrugged.

"Oh, well," Lily said. "I don't care. I'm going now," and she was just about to turn her heel when she heard a loud screech of panic.

"James!"

James jumped and dropped the object he was holding. It fell to the ground and the noise echoed through the many halls.

"James!" a middle aged man swooped into the scene. "There you are. Have - " he paused and picked up the object James had been holding a second before. "Did you take this from the professor!"

James shook his head quickly, but Lily saw his cheeks turning brilliantly red.

The man shook his head, placed the object on the podium, took James by the scruff of the neck and started to drag him away muttering, "How many times have I told you, don't steal! Do you want to end up like your father!"

Lily looked away from them and turned instead to the object. She reached out and took it from the podium it was placed upon. It was a watch.

Lily didn't know how to tell time, but she thought the watch looked very ugly. Though, strangely enough, in a nice way. It looked incredibly old and Lily ran her finger over it. The glass was slightly chipped and there was some dirt on the white background behind the hands.

She should wash it... she thought to herself. Something this old shouldn't look so dirty and ugly.

So Lily looked around the hallway, trying to find the bathroom. It took her only a few minutes and she rushed over to the sinks, tripping halfway there and falling on the watch. She yelped in pain as a shard of glass cut into her finger and stayed there.

Lily saw the blood and started panicking. If she wasn't careful she'd get it on her white dress. So she got back up on her feet and hobbled over to a sink. She could just barely reach the taps, having to stand on the very tips of her toes, and she accidently dropped the watch into the basin.

And then it happened. The second Lily turned on the tap and the ice cold water poured down into the basin there was a blinding flash of blue light, and then Lily was gone.

Only one man knew where she had gone and he dared not go looking for her, even though the only object he needed to follow her was still in his possession. All that was found in the bathroom that day was the cracked pocket watch and a small bloodstain.

The man saw the watch and picked it up, planning to destroy it so this would never happen again.

But he did not destroy it and it did happen again. Only once more. The man found he could not destroy it, not when it had so many mysteries surrounding it. So many mysteries that could be solved. He had some suspicions though and knew for certain one thing: the watch had to avoid contact with water at all times.

So instead of destroying it, the man placed it in a safe, which he placed into a larger safe, which he placed into an even larger safe, which he unwittingly hid behind one of the many paintings in the museum.

He admired what he thought was his brilliance for a few minutes, looking proudly at the painting. Unaware of the little boy watching him closely, hiding behind one of the displays.

James knew that his uncle was very strict when it came to the watch. He had become so close to stealing it that one day... and now he was so far...

It was on that day he decided that his one goal in life was to get his hands on that watch and find out why his uncle was hiding it from him.

xxx

And then, fifty-five years in the past, seventeen year old Lily jerked awake, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Her emerald eyes now wide open, slowly adjusting to the dark room she had been sleeping peacefully in seconds before.

Lily couldn't think of what had suddenly brought her back to earth so quickly... she wasn't having any sort of nightmare or anything. Well, at least, not in her dreams.

Her life was beginning to turn into a nightmare. Well, one shouldn't say beginning to become a nightmare. It had been a nightmare for many years, back as far as Lily could remember, which actually wasn't too far...

Her first memory started ten years ago when she was seven. It was the year she spent in that horrible orphanage. She had apparently been found wandering the streets alone and was taken in by a kindly old woman who ran the orphanage. One week later that kind old woman was replaced by a sour woman by the name of Ms. Reamers, who had had everything taken away from her; her hopes, her dreams, her lifelong aspirations. All gone and she had no one to blame, no shoulder to cry onto. So she took all her rage and frustration and concentrated it all on the children that were in her care.

Ms. Reamers especially disliked Lily because the young childs' deep red hair reminded her so much of her own back when it still had its colour. Or perhaps it wasn't the hair. Simply the fact that Lily had the same attitude for life that Ms. Reamers had lost so long ago.

Ms. Reamers did seem to dislike Lily greatly and was the most unkind to her, but at the same time she made a promise to herself to raise the child right. By that of course she meant, stamp out Lily's curiosity and manners and transform her into a woman that every man would want to marry so Lily would never have to face the problems of the world. She needed to become a woman that no man could live without once he'd met her.

Half of this was already achieved for even at a young age Lily had much promise of becoming a beautiful woman and Ms. Reamers only had to worry about the personality.

When Lily was eight, a rich, childless couple took her into their home with welcome arms, saying they had never seen a child so well behaved, with a face so pretty.

Lily had listened to Ms. Reamers and became the 'perfect' woman in Reamer's eyes. She had lost her once powerful spark and was now a very proper young lady.

Why did Lily listen to Ms. Reamers when no other child in the orphanage bothered? Because Lily was the only one gullible enough to believe Ms. Reamers promise that it she become a proper girl, she would leave the orphanage forever.

This was something Ms. Reamers never really intended to fulfill, but it happened anyway.

Lily had lived a somewhat quiet life with her new parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Branshaw and fell deeper into the pit Ms. Reamers had dug previous. The Branshaw's had three children after Lily and couldn't have been more thrilled. Two more girls, Marcy and Anika, and one son, Idric.

Then, nine years later, Lily met the man she was told was the man of her dreams. He was of course, rich, polite, reasonable, and very responsible. He owned a few factories around the United States and one in Britain. Lily and her family had met him in London and according to Mrs. Branshaw, 'there was an immediate connection between Lily and the Mr. Isadortin.'

Two weeks after their first meeting, Lily and Linus Isadortin were engaged. As a big and powerful man, the news of his engagement to Lily sent Linus into a frenzy of excitement and he insisted to two of them make a tour around Europe and then the states before the wedding.

A lot happened in that one year, the most memorable to Lily was the fact her father had died. But of course she didn't have much time to grieve and was whisked away quickly by Linus so they could meet some more important powerful people. The two of them finished the trip just after Lily turned seventeen and the wedding started to be planned.

Lily sat idly by most of the time and felt quite relieved when Linus had to leave England immediately for an important business opportunity in the States. Lily chose to remain behind in England for a few more weeks and so he left without her. She felt that, with him gone, she wouldn't have to hear anymore on the uncomfortable topic that was the wedding, but she was wrong. Her mother and two sisters still constantly nagged her and before she knew it, it was time to meet her husband to be back in the states.

Her mother booked herself, her three daughters, and Lily's fiances best friend Rick Nott, on the Titanic after hearing about the luxuriousness in first class from her friends. She also felt very secure about the ship after hearing about it being 'practically unsinkable!'

In the back of her mind, Lily could have sworn she had heard the name of the ship before, a long time ago even before it was built. There was something she remembered, or was trying to remember about it... something that wasn't so good...

This feeling was one dismissed by her mother and Lily had no choice but to go and ignore it. She wondered if this ominous feeling had more to do with the fact she was getting married, than the fact that she was terrified of both the unforgiving sea and the ships that dare challenge it.

The year was 1912.

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