Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, no matter how many times I asked Santa Claus to bring him to me. (Come on, big guy! There's always next year!)

Chapter 7:

The next few weeks flew by Lily in sort of a blur. Ever since James had kissed her, nothing seemed to make any sense. He seemed so sincere, so truthful, that she was sort of ashamed with herself. He hadn't kissed her like some boy looking for a good time. No, he kissed her tenderly, lovingly. She had never experienced a kiss like that before, and was afraid now that she never would again. The moment he had kissed her, a series of emotions sprung up in Lily. First, she experienced the familiar anger and annoyance, then that faded into not minding, then to liking it, then to actually wishing that he wouldn't stop. But he did. And she had felt this feeling of longing ever since.

Finally, in her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Lily Evans admitted the truth. She liked James Potter. No, she loved him. And now it was too late She had screwed every chance she had with him up. Throwing her quill down onto the pile of homework she had been attempting to complete, she stood up and headed to the one place she knew he might be. If she couldn't have him, maybe she could at least apologize for the right thing now.

"Where are you going, Sirius?" Amaya asked from her position on the couch in the common room.

Sirius walked over to her and hugged her. "Just…out. With James and Remus and Peter." He said, kissing her on the lips. "Don't worry, we'll be back."

Amaya frowned. He had done the same thing last month. 'It's just a night out with the guys' he had told her then. She had been all for it, for it allowed her plenty of time away from kissing to finish all of her homework. She hadn't, however, counted on this being a monthly thing. Especially not tonight when she had nothing else to do.

"But why do you have to go out so late? Won't you get caught?" She asked, frantically. Sirius pushed a stray hair behind her ear.

"Babe, give it a rest, ok? I'll be fine." Just then Remus came down the stairs, looking rather worse for wear, followed closely by James. "Look, there's the guys." He said. "Hey, where's Pete?" He asked James.

"He couldn't make it. Something to do with detention."

"But then how do we…?" He asked, trailing off at the end.

James shook his head. Just then, Remus let out a whimper. "We have to go. Now." He said, seriously.

Sirius nodded and got up from the couch. Amaya stood as well.

"Should Remus go? He looks a little sick." She said, concerned for her cousin.

"I'm fine." Remus said, voice raspy. "Come on, Padfoot. We're running out of time."

"Alright." He turned to Amaya. "See you in the morning. Goodnight." He said, kissing her one last time before they hurried out of the portrait hole.

Amaya sat down on the couch, puzzled. What in the world was that about? Why were they short on time? And what couldn't they do without Peter?

Lily's courage was growing with every step she took towards the Common Room. She knew that James would be there with his friends. He always was. However, when she turned the corner and ran right into James himself, she suddenly lost her courage.

"Oh, um, sorry. Do you have a minute?" She asked him as she stood and dusted off her robes. He was with Remus and Sirius and seemed to be in a hurry.

"Not right now Evans. Excuse us." He said, and rushed down the hallway without so much as looking at her.

Lily felt hurt. Before she knew it the tears were spilling over her eyelids and into the floor, fogging her vision. Somehow she managed to make it to the entrance to the common room in one piece.

Amaya's thoughts were interrupted as the portrait hole swung open, revealing a crying Head Girl. Amaya instantly got up and rushed over to her.

"Oh my gosh. What's wrong Lily?" She asked, leading her to the couch with her arm around her.

Lily started crying full force now. Amaya never understood why people did that. She herself had done it tons of times. It just seems like when you're crying, you're fine until somebody starts to care and asks why. Then, you can't even tell them because it triggers something and you cry even harder.

Finally, a few minutes later, Lily calmed down enough to talk. "Amaya, if I tell you, do you promise not to tell Sirius?" Lily asked, wiping her nose on her sleeve. Amaya nodded.

"Sure."

"Well, I think I like James. No, I think I love James. Actually, I know I love James, but he doesn't want anything to do with me, and I have absolutely no idea what to do." She said, bursting into tears again at the end. Amaya hugged her.

"Aw, sweetie, you'll think of something. Besides, what ever gave you the idea that he wanted nothing to do with you?"

Lily sniffled. "He told me." She sniffled again. "Well, he didn't exactly say that, but I could tell that's what he meant."

Amaya smiled. "Oh, he's just a guy. I'm sure he just said some things he didn't mean, that's all."

"I wish. But I was going to apologize to him, you know, for being such a clueless idiot, but when I tried to talk to him a minute ago, he wouldn't even look at me. He just said, 'Not now, Evans', and just kept walking."

Amaya frowned again. "They were all in a hurry. A boys night out is what they told me. I'm sure that he'll have plenty of time to talk to you tomorrow."

This seemed to placate Lily for the time being. "Thank you, Amaya." She said, hugging her. Amaya smiled.

"Anytime. Now, what do you say we have ourselves a girls night in?" She asked, hoping that Lily would agree.

Thankfully, she did. "I have to patrol first, though. It's going to take a while because James isn't here."

Amaya smiled. "Fine. I'll just have to come with you then, won't I?"

Lily smiled and stood. "If you want to, you are more than welcome. I hate patrolling alone. This school can be a tad spooky at night."

Amaya stood and the girls locked arms and headed out of the portrait hole.

"Come on, Sirius, we have to think. Remus has been in there alone for about thirty minutes now. Can you imagine what he's going through?" James said as the two boys stood a safe distance from the whomping willow that guarded the entrance to the shrieking shack.

Sirius looked around. Spotting a long stick on the ground, he ran to it and picked it up. "Let's try this." Stretching the stick as far out as he could without getting hit by the swinging branches, he carefully aimed for the knot in the middle that would grant them passage. After two failed attempts, he finally got it.

"Yes! Good one, Padfoot! Now, let's go!" James said, transforming into a beautiful stag and running into the hole under the tree. Sirius followed suite, and, after turning into a great black dog, he ran in after him.

Sirius and James were tired. Not that they normally weren't after a night with Remus the werewolf, but after they had shown up late, Remus the wolf decided to give them a little payback before he settled back into the calmer wolf he usually was with them. Each one was covered with a least two or more deep scratches.

Needless to say, they were ready for nothing but a peaceful few hours of sleep when they entered the portrait hole at 5:30 in the morning. They were surprised to find when they entered the two sleeping forms of Lily and Amaya on the couch in front of the fire.

Sirius looked at James, who had a look of wanting in his eyes. "They look so beautiful, don't they?" He asked.

James nodded. "Yeah, she does." He said, dreamily.

"Maybe you should talk to her more, James. She did seem a little down in the dumps after your last argument."

James shook his head. "Nah. Besides, she doesn't want to talk to me, anyway."

"She wanted to talk to you tonight, remember?" Sirius said, smiling. He hoped that things went alright for James. After spending a glorious month with Amaya, he wanted the same for his friend and Lily.

"Yeah, but it was probably just Heads business."

Lily and Amaya were both wide awake and listening to this conversation. They couldn't help it. They had been awake to begin with, but heard someone coming in and decided to fake sleep. Now they wished they hadn't.

"You're wrong." A voice said from the couch. James and Sirius nearly jumped out of their shoes, suddenly wide awake.

"You were…did you hear…?" James stuttered. Lily nodded.

"Yes. And I did want to talk to you. I still do, if you'll talk to me." Lily said, hopping up from her position on the couch.

"Alright then, on the way back to the Heads Rooms." James answered, waiting for her before they walked out.

When they left, Sirius slumped onto the couch. "Whew. I sure hope that goes well."

Amaya smiled. "It will. At least, if James cooperates it will." She said, leaning into him. He wrapped his arms around her. "So, did you have fun on your boys night out?" She asked. "Wait a minute, where's Remus?" She exclaimed, sitting up in a panic. "Is he alright? You didn't leave him, did you, because if you did so help me, I'll…" She said, but he put his finger to her mouth to shush her.

"Calm down. He's fine. He just felt sick and decided to go to the hospital wing when we got back."

She sat back down against the couch. "Oh. Sorry, I just got so worried. He used to be so sickly when he was little. And then I jumped to conclusions."

He wrapped his arms around her once more and the two settled into the couch. "It's alright. I forgive you." Sirius said, and they each drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

"So? What did you want to talk to me about?" James asked Lily as the two made their way to their rooms.

Lily felt brave in the dim light of the corridor. "James, I'm sorry." She began. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for being a clueless prat, for being so mean to you when you were nothing but kind to me, and I'm sorry for hurting you." she paused to look at him.

His face was, so far, expressionless. He nodded for her to continue.

"James, I am also sorry that I didn't believe you. You know, when you said you had feelings for me. I'm sorry that I was so blind to my feelings for you. And I am also sorry that you've given up, because that means that we can't be together." she finished.

He stopped and was now staring at her, mouth gaping open in shock. She stood there for a minute, trying to let her words sink in.

"I hope that you can come to forgive me, James. I…" She began, but was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers and wrapped his arms around her waist. When he pulled away, there were tears in his eyes.

Lily Evans, you have no idea how long I have waited to hear you say those words. Of course I forgive you. And you're a fool if you think I have given up that easily. James Potter never gives up." He said, wiping his eyes.

Lily smiled, tears coming despite herself. This time, it was her who kissed him firmly on the lips.