Before it Began

By. SkyQuill

Summary

James knew he was in love at first sight, but what would it take for Lily to love him back? Read their story leading up to their deaths and discover the dangers they faced and the loves and friendships they shared.

Disclaimer

I do not own most of the characters and places or anything else that may seem familiar. J.K. Rowling has the exclusive claim to this as well as the general plot that formed this fanfic.

Chapter 5: Lost in a Dream

Sirius and Cadence headed back towards the castle after an hour of bliss. Contentedly, Sirius enjoyed the feeling of her hand in his as he watched her mildly wavy hair seemingly float in the breeze. She caught him staring and blushed.

"Sirius!" she protested playfully,

"What!" he said, automatically playing innocent.

"You're staring again!" Cadence replied, punching his arm lightly.

"Well I can't help it if i've got the most beautiful girlfriend in the world!" Sirius said romantically and then wrapping his arms around her he pulled her close so that he met her lips softly. Moments later the couple broke away, breathless but extremely satisfied.

Once again, they attempted to re-enter the castle but not before Cadence's observant hazel eyes fell on a shadowy figure making his way past the game-keepers hut on the edge of the forest.

"Is that Peter?" she asked suspiciously. Sirius tore his eyes reluctantly from Cadence's face and squinted in the direction she was pointing too.

"I think so..." he muttered quietly and without a word set off in long strides in that direction.

"Sirius!" Cadence protested, "We should really be getting up to the castle, it's getting dark! And with all this death eater stuff..."

"We'll go in just a second, besides we can't leave Peter here by himself! The idiot, he should know it's not safe to be out alone." Sirius replied distractedly though his voice was wrought with concern. Cadence, in spite of her hesitancy felt a pang of worry, Peter really shouldn't be out here by himself...So hurriedly, the two battled the on-coming darkness and broke off into a run towards Peter's stooped figure.

"Oi, Peter!" Sirius called when they were in hearing distance. Panting, Cadence caught up with him. Both of them watched as Peter swung around, apparantly startled from the look on his face. Sirius strode up to him, grabbing Cadence's hand and pulling her along.

"Peter? What are you doing? It's not safe you know..." Sirius said worriedly. Peter remained motionless for a moment then stuttered nervously,

"O-O-Oh I know, it's j-just i've lost my c-c-cat." Cadence immediatly made to comfort the boy, for whom she'd always felt a bit sorry for,

"Don't worry Peter, i'm sure he'll turn up. But remember, all the death eater stuff." And she cast a nervous glance around as though expecting one to jump out at that very moment and attack them. Peter nodded as if dumbstruck and allowed himself to be herded back to the castle.

00000

Lily glanced at her watch with a huge yawn,

"How'd it get so late?" she said thickly, covering her mouth with her hand. Alice quickly checked the time on her own watch and shrugged,

"I dunno but i'm off to bed. I'm exhausted. Catch you later Lily." she stated. "It's been a rough few days." With that, Alice seized her supplies and scrambled up the stairs. Lily watched her go, she had done her rounds already and the others had retired ages ago. Lily had opted to stay up as she found she wasn't really tired. The only person in the common room besides herself was James who was scribbling away madly at an essay. She imagined it must be Potions as he hadn't done well and was now referring to a large volume titled 'Cures for the Cursed and Injured.'

Lily watched his coppery eagle's feather quill move back and forth on his parchment. The red glimmers caused by the distance and lighting as the quill moved with acute speed as it formed words entranced Lily and for a while she sat contentedly watching it, her eyes following the fiery reflection obsessively. Abruptly, James looked up and immediatly Lily, broken from her reverie, snapped her head away. A moment later she dared a look back but apparantly James had not noticed her dazed staring and was now correcting his work.

Suddenly the portrait door swung open and Peter walked through, followed by Sirius and Cadence who were hand in hand. Grinning, Lily leapt to her feet to greet her friend. She waited patiently as Sirius gave her a peck on the lips and then made his way across the room to James followed by 'tag-a-long' Peter.

"So?" Lily inquired, unable to stop smirking. Fortunately, Cadence didn't seem to mind.

"So what?" she shot back innocently. Lily rolled her eyes,

"You know..." Cadence shrugged, acting as though she didn't know what Lily was talking about.

"Fine, if you'd rather I get specific... So did you have a good time with Sirius, snogging and doing Merlin-knows-what!" Lily teased. Cadence pulled a shocked expression,

"Lily, what kind of girl do you think I am? Really!"

"Oh let's not get into this again. You know as well as I do that you and Sirius are both the more...outgoing sort." Lily explained, with a fake note of exasperation in her voice. Finally, giving in, Cadence smiled wickedly.

"True, true, "she mumbled thoughtfully, "But anyways it was good. We just went for a walk across the grounds"

"So you're over Mark then, are you?" Lily inquired cautiously referring to Cadence's ex-boyfriend whom she had dated for half of fifth year and all of sixth. Cadence nodded, thankfully showing no sign of tears,

"Yeah I was over that jerk months ago." Lily smiled gladly. She had hated recieving letters from Cadence full of remorse and depression everyday that summer..

"Anyways," Cadence cut in, interrupting Lily's thoughts, "How come you haven't dated anyone in so long?" Lily, taken off guard by this question, blushed slightly,

"Why do you ask?" Cadence shrugged and gazed at her intently. When Lily failed to reply she added, "Come on, Alice is going out with Frank, i'm dating Sirius, Calli's involved with that Durmstrang guy, Briac I think, and Serena's been dating off on for the last year. I mean the last person you actually dated was Fabion Prewett in fourth year."

"I went on a date with Lovegood last year!"

"Oh big deal, you went to Hogsmeade with him once! But he turned out to be a real lunatic didn't he-" Cadence said exasperatedly.

"Ok, Ok I get it." Lily snapped impatiently, then immediatly softened, "Sorry, it's just, well I don't know." Cadence waited patiently for Lily to find her words to explain. "I'd just prefer to wait for someone...worthwhile. You know, someone I can actually picture a future with. I don't want to waste my time with somebody just for fling."

"Well how do you expect to ever find somebody worthwhile if you don't give anyone a chance?"Cadence asked impatiently. Lily bit her lip, then narrowed her eyes. This situation seemed awfully familiar to her.

"What are you suggesting?" she asked suspciously. Cadence grinned, realizing her friend had caught on.

"Just that you can't actually know if somebodies right for you if you never give them a try." Cadence replied, trying to keep a smirk off her face. "I mean, James Potter for example-" But Cadence never got to finish her sentence for Lily flared up immediatly.

"If you're suggesting I give that bullying, arrogant toad a shot then you've lost your mind." she stated angrily. Cadence looked taken aback,

"For someone who'd rather try and ignore his existence you certainly do spend a lot of time thinking about him, even if it isn't in such a positive manner." Cadence retorted cooly. Lily blushed slightly, then scowled.

"Whatever. I hate Potter and that's not about to change." Lily said vehemently. Cadence shrugged as though it was a matter of little important,

"Fine, it's your decision. But you better choose someone to bestow your heart upon quickly because in case you haven't notice, Potter's attempts have only gotten more outrageous these last years. I wouldn't be surprised if the next thing he tried was a curse to prevent any other male in the school from approaching you." Cadence stated, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

Lily allowed a small smile to grace her face.

"Maybe, but for now, i'll just keep dreaming." she mused.

"More like your lost in a dream. " Cadence replied teasingly. Lily rolled her eyes.

Suddenly a rustle from behind the girls caught their attention. Swinging around, Lily caught a glimpse of Sirius and James fleeing up the boy's staircase. Eyes widening in horror, Lily seized the nearest object to her (which happened to be some first year's forgotten textbook) and flung it at their retreating heads. Lily heard a satisfying thunk and moan before the boys disappeared completely from sight.

"POTTER!" Lily hollared,

"SIRIUS BLACK!" Cadence's voice echoed after Lily's. They both exchanged furious glances but before she could help it Cadence burst into laughter.

"It's not funny!" Lily spat, breathing heavily. Cadence merely paused and glanced at her friends furious expression, framed by her red hair which was falling out of it's pony tail and laughed harder.

Then before Lily knew what was happening she was giggling. Then that giggling turned to laughter, which quickly erupted into hyseterical mirth. Not quite knowing what was so funny, Lily marched up to bed minutes later clutching her sides. Furious as she was about the eavesdroppiing incident she couldn't quite forget the hilarity of the bump one of the marauders would be sporting in the morning.

A/N: I really had fun writing this chapter. As deep as it delves the end was just light-hearted. Anyways I hope people will really enjoy this chapter, not only because it was funny(or at least I thought it was) but because i've dropped major hints.