Chapter 12: The Disappearance of James Potter

A/N Sorry about the long wait for the next chapter. I had originally wanted to have it done before the 31st, but that didn't happen. Anyway, I hope you still enjoy the chapter and be sure to let me know your thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything in this story that appears to come from anything Harry Potter related. The only thing that I own in this story is my OC, Jasmine, as well as the plot of this story.

Chapter Summary: When students start coming back from their Christmas breaks, Sirius and the rest of the Marauders are excited to see their missing member again as well as their honorary member (Lily). But when only Lily comes back, they are left with so many questions that Lily refuses to answer. Where in the world is James Potter and is he okay?

Before any of them knew it, the Christmas holiday was coming to an end and soon their final term at Hogwarts would begin. But before all that was to happen, James Potter had a decision to make. He had to decide whether to go back to Hogwarts with Lily or delay his return. He was leaning more toward the latter as his father was still ill and didn't seem to be getting any better. James wanted to be there for his mother and father, especially if this was the last time he would see his father. James didn't wasn't to miss the chance to say goodbye to his father. So, James was leaning toward staying home, at least for a short while.

James discussed his decision with Lily, who encouraged him to write to Dumbledore before making a final decision. Lily figured the headmaster would be able to give James some time to stay with his family. Plus, if James did end up staying at home, when he eventually comes back to Hogwarts, he would a need a way to get there. Thus, Lily figured, Dumbledore could help with that too. So, with that advice from Lily, James wrote to the headmaster.

Upon getting a response from Dumbledore, James makes plants to stay at home for as long as his parents need him. When that time came, Dumbledore told James to owl him so that he could prepare for him to floo into his office. Though, when James finally told his mother his plans, she insisted that he only stay a week at most. "I won't have you missing the entire term, James. You need to be there. N.E.W.T.s are coming up and I want you to do well. You won't if you spend the whole term here. So, you better owl back Dumbledore and tell him you will be back after a week because you will be. This is not up for discussion, James." Mrs. Potter then left to go tend to her husband, leaving James no room to even argue his point.

So, as James was unable to argue back, he did as his mother insisted and wrote back to Dumbledore saying he would be back a week after term started so that he could have the floo ready for James. After sending the owl off, James went to tell Lily his final plans. He knew she would understand, but he also needed to discuss what she would tell the other Marauders when she got back. Lord knows they will be worried when only Lily comes back with no James in sight. And yet he didn't wasn't anyone (read Sirius) rushing back to Potter Manor. So, they needed to figure out what to tell them so that that didn't happen.

James found the feisty ginger in her room reading a book she had found in the library earlier. Her door was open, but James knocked anyway. She looked up upon hearing a knock on the door. Lily smiled upon seeing James and indicated with her hands for him to come in while she set the book down. James entered, closing the door behind him. He walked over to where Lily was laying on her bed. He didn't take a seat, though. "Lils, we need to talk."

"Of course, James." After a few moments, James finally took a seat at the end of the bed but didn't say anything. He wasn't really sure where to starts, so he just kept staring down at his hands thinking until a smaller hand came and took one of his hands. James turned and looked at Lily who was now sitting next to him. "What did your mother say when you told her about staying?"

James smiled as Lily just resolved his internal debate with one simple question. "She insisted I only stay for a week. I would have argued for longer, but she didn't give me the chance. So, I wrote to Dumbledore to tell him I would be back the weekend before the second week of term so that he can have his floo ready."

Lily smiled, glad that Mrs. Potter was able to get her son to see reason. "That's good. You shouldn't miss too much, but I'll be sure to take notes for you when I can. We can ask one of the boys or Mina or someone else if necessary to take notes in your other classes since we don't share all of our classes. But I'm glad your mother insisted on only a week because if she didn't, I would have."

James chuckled a bit. "I'm sure you would have been very convincing, Lils." Then James leaned over and kissed the ginger girl next to him. "But that's not what I came in here to talk to you about," James said, pulling away. "Or at least not the main reason," James added as an afterthought. "We need to talk about what you are going to tell the boys and Jazzy when you go back alone."

Lily sighed. She knew this was coming. She had been thinking about it since James first mentioned he might not come back to Hogwarts right away. "Yes, we do need to talk about that. I won't tell them the truth if you don't want me to, but then we will have to come up with a reasonable explanation if that's the case."

"I know, Lily, believe me I know. I've been trying to come up with a different reason than the truth. So far, I've got nothing that's not going to worry them more." James sighed, feeling rather defeated.

"Why can't we just tell them the truth, James? I mean sure they will be worried, especially about your father, but I doubt they will do anything drastic. They will still be your friends at the end of the day."

James sighed again. "I don't doubt that, Lily. What I'm concerned about is Sirius and how he would take the news. My father is more of a father to him than his ever was. I'm sure that as soon as he hears my father is ill, he would find a way to rush over here. I'd prefer that not to happen. So, if I thought that wasn't going to happen, I would say go for it and tell them the truth. Since that's not the case, I'm not sure what you should tell them."

Lily looked at James sympathetically. "I can see why you are concerned, James. But since I doubt we will end up coming up with an acceptable alternative to tell them, I can always just tell them nothing. I can tell them that you would like to tell them yourself when you come back in a week. I'm sure they will be worried not matter what we tell them, but this way they won't know where you are so they can't come to you. Plus, I'm sure they will respect your wishes." James gave Lily a look. "Okay, so Remus and Peter will at least respect it. Mina will too. Though, I know she will be worried and thus, want to know what's up so she will feel better about you being gone. I'm sure Sirius will be the same. Though, I'm sure after I tell them off when I get annoyed with all their questions they will give up and just wait to ask you. It's the best option I can come up with, James"

James nodded and considered Lily's plan. It really was the best option, considering James has yet to come up with anything else that would work. "I agree, Lils, its best you don't lie to them because I'm sure they will eventually find out the truth and be upset with us. So, just go ahead with that plan. You can tell them if they keep bothering you that I asked you to keep my whereabouts a secret for the time being. That should get them to stop since they should know that you won't reveal my secrets." Lily smiled but doesn't say anything. "And one more thing, Lils." James pulled Lily in for another kiss before saying, "I'm going to miss you, but I need to stay. Not just for my parents but for my own sake too. I love you." He kisses her once more before letting go.

Lily chuckled a bit. "Oh, James. I'm not leaving just yet. We still have a couple more days together. But for the record, I'm going to miss you too." She gave him a quick peck on the lips before pulling James to lay down on the bed with her for an impromptu cuddle session. Lily wasn't going to let these last couple of days slip by while she had James all to herself. It was likely going to be awhile before they had this opportunity again

James, for his part, just went with it. He could do with a good cuddle session. And like Lily, James knew he wasn't going to get much of an opportunity to be alone with Lily in the coming months. It was just going to be a busy term what with NEWTs, quidditch, and the looming danger outside the walls of Hogwarts. James was going to cherish this peaceful alone time with Lily while he still could. So, the two cuddled and eventually fell asleep in each other's arms.

Too soon, it was time for Lily to head back to Hogwarts. James, not wanting to be apart from her just yet, took her to the station. Though, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to them, James kissed her goodbye just outside the barrier to platform 9¾. "Bye, Lils," James said after the kiss. "I'll see you next week, so don't do anything drastic while we are apart." Lily giggled but said nothing. "I love you, Lily. See you in a week." He gave her another quick peck before reluctantly pulling himself away from the ginger. James knew if he didn't leave soon, he might end up going back to Hogwarts with her.

Before he could go, Lily pulled him in for a hug and whispered into his ear, "I love you too, James." Then she released him, watching him go before heading to the platform.

Once Lily was all settled on the Hogwarts Express, Lily suddenly remembered that she was head girl. That meant she was supposed to be in the prefect compartment at the front of the train. Thankfully, she had arrived early, so if she hurried, she could make it in just enough time where she wouldn't be late. So, as Lily rushed to the front of the train, she was grateful she remembered until she realized that there were likely to be questions about the missing head boy. That realization almost stopped Lily in her tracks, but her own determination not to be late kept her going. As she went, Lily decided she would just say that James wouldn't be joining them before giving out rounds' assignments. That way it didn't necessarily mean that James wasn't on the train even though he wasn't.

Eventually Lily arrived outside of the prefects' compartment. She took a few minutes to gather her bearings before entering. She straightened out her uniform, dusting off her skirt and adjusting her head girl badge. Finally, she did her best to tame her hair, so it didn't look like she just ran the length of the Hogwarts Express. Then Lily took a deep breath and entered the compartment. The head girl was met with a compartment full of prefects staring at her as she entered. They all had curious looks on their faces (probably wondering why the head girl was the last one to arrive. Lily didn't let it phase her, though. She just held her held her head high and tried to look authoritative as she continued through the compartment.

Once Lily was at the "front", she turned to face the curious eyes that were trained on her. "Now before any of you ask where the head boy is, he will not be joining us today. That's all I'm going to say about that. Now, for rounds…" Lily went on to give out assignments for round on the train. She also went over rounds assignments for the coming week, but she added that she would post them in each of the common rooms too in case someone missed theirs and for the people who weren't there. Lily was extremely thankful that she insisted that James and she do the rounds schedule for after the holiday before they left. It made her job as head girl a bit easier. "If you have any question about the schedule, let me know. Otherwise, you all are free to go. I will let you and the others who aren't here know when the next meeting will be later on." Lily smiled and started toward the exit. Thankfully, she wasn't stopped, though Lily was sure some of them wanted to stop her.

Lily made it back to the compartment where her stuff was in record time and without incident. Sadly, the compartment was not occupied, but it was just some of Lily's friends, thankfully. Lily entered the compartment and took a seat next to Marleen, who flashed her a smile before turning back to her conversation with Dorcas. Lily would have joined in on the conversation, but she really needed a moment to herself to prepare herself for what was waiting for her at Hogwarts.

She was trying to calm her worries about telling the others about James' disappearance when she heard her name being called. She turned and saw that it was Mare you called her name. "Yes, Mary? What did you say?"

Mary rolled her eyes. "I asked where's James? Ever since the you two got together you've been attached at the hip practically. I don't typically see you without him."

Before Lily could respond, Marlene added, "Yeah. And didn't you bring him home to meet your parents? It seems a bit odd that he's not here or you're not with him like you usually are. Instead, you're sitting here with us."

All the girls in the compartment now turned their attention toward Lily, staring at her expectantly. "Something came up and James isn't coming back to Hogwarts until next week. Now, before you ask, I'm not telling you what happened or where he is. I already promised I wouldn't say anything. I'm not planning on breaking that promise, so please just drop it." The girls did as Lily asked and changed the subject. The rest of Lily's trip back to Hogwarts was uneventful.

Upon arriving at the Hogsmeade station, Lily became slightly worried about what was awaiting her at the castle. That worry only grew as the carriage she was in got closer to the castle. It continued to increase as Lily entered Hogwarts and headed up to Gryffindor Tower instead of dinner with everyone else. Lily knew that Jasmine and the other boys (except Peter) would be waiting for her in the common room so that they could all hear about her and James's adventures without much interruption if any. What she didn't know was that Jasmine and Sirius also had a surprise for Lily and well they didn't need any nosy Gryffindors interrupting them.

As Lily approached the entrance, her pace slowed down considerably. But eventually she was standing in front of the Fat Lady giving the password and entering the common room. And as soon as Lily had stepped through the portrait whole, someone was on her period Jasmine, unable to hold back her excitement upon seeing her cousin, had ran to hug Lily and ended up throwing herself at the ginger girl.

It was when Jasmine pulled away and took a step back from Lily, that the ginger girl noticed the ring on her cousin's hand. Immediately all the worry Lily had been feeling about the James situation vanished. It was replaced instead with worried that her cousin had gotten herself engaged while she was gone. So, Lily turned her attention towards Sirius, who is approaching the two girls. Lily was about to curse him out for his supposed proposal when she saw a ring on his finger to. And that is 1 Lily, in her already somewhat fragile state, completely flipped out.

Upon seeing the ring on serious finger, Lily immediately jumped to the conclusion that somehow the two managed to get married while James and her were gone. And with that, Lily knees buckled, and her vision blurred. She practically almost fainted on the spot. Thankfully she didn't, but she was still helped into one of the comfy seats by the fireplace with the aid of Jasmine and Sirius.

"You okay there, Lils?" Jasmine asked. She hasn't been expecting this kind of reaction from her cousin.

Lily nodded, but then moments later she launched into what Lily would later term a hyperventilating rant. "I never should have left you two alone. I knew you do would do something stupid. It's like that date night all over again. You two always seem to do stupid things when I'm not around. I guess I'll just never be able to leave you two alone again. You're both too impulsive." By this time, Lily was now pacing in front of the fireplace while Jasmine and Sirius watched her from their spot on the couch. "And Mina, I thought you were smarter than this! How could you go about doing this without list running a by me first? This is ridiculous! How could you?!" the last accusing question was directed more at Sirius then Jasmine, but it still hurt them both all the same.

While Lily was ranting, Jasmine shot a look over at Sirius to see if he had figured out what was going on with Lily. They had already figured this rant was about the rings, but they couldn't figure out what she thought the rings meant. Her rant was confusing, so when Lily paused, Jasmine took the opportunity to voice her confusion. "Lils, Calm down. What are you even going on about?"

Lily, still a bit hysterical, responded, "Those rings on your fingers! You can't have gotten engaged otherwise Sirius wouldn't have a ring too, so there's only one other explanation. Somehow while I was gone you two managed to get married, which I think is extremely stupid of the two of you. I mean how could you think that was a good idea?! You're both way too young. You haven't even finished Hogwarts yet!" Suddenly, another thought popped into Lily's head. "Oh my God! Mina! Did you two get married because you're pregnant?!" Lily ran over to her cousin. She had planned on checking her over, but it ended up the other way around with Jasmine leading a hyperventilating Lily over to the chair she had been sitting in earlier. Jasmine did her best to calmly down so that they could explain the truth to her. Sirius soon came over and helped her and soon after that Lily was finally breathing normally and had calmed down.

Having Lily back to normal (or as much as she could be) gave Jaz and Sirius the chance to finally explain what the rings were about. And since it was Sirius's gift, he began to explain. "First off Lils, Mare is not pregnant, right?" Sirius looked over at the girl in question for conformation. Jaz nodded, and Sirius let out a relieved sigh and continued. "Mare is definitely not pregnant, nor did we get married. The rings are only promise rings not wedding bands. I happened upon them while I was out looking for a gift for Mare for our anniversary and Christmas. The shopkeeper told me that they were actually magical promise rings. Then he explained how they worked. I was so intrigued that I bought them and here we are."

Lily's eyes narrowed. She had never heard of such a thing as a magical promise ring. She was a bit skeptical. "What makes the promise rings magical?"

Jasmine took this question. "Well as Sirius explained to me before we put the rings on each other, it works the similar to an unbreakable vow or I guess any magical vow. The only difference with these rings is that instead of dying, if the person who put the ring on your finger leaves or breaks up with you or something similar, they will feel immense heartbreak despite being the one who broke it off because they broke the vow. But really Lils, I'm sure I'd feel that anyway if I ever lost Sirius. I mean you saw me when we were fighting. I know that with or without the ring, I'd be miserable without Sirius, so really the vow didn't matter."

Lily turned to Sirius. "I feel the same way, which is why I bought the rings in the first place. Right now I know neither of us is ready to get married any time soon, but I wanted to do something special for the girl I love to show her that she means the world to me. It's even more significant after what happened before the holiday. That is not something I want to go through again. Though, I'm sure there will be more arguments in our future, but I just don't want it to go that far again where we were constantly arguing." Sirius turns to look up at Jaz as he says this last bit. "Mare, I want us to talk it out instead of just blaming and getting angry with each other."

"Oh, Sirius." Jasmine had tears threatening to fall as she pulled her boyfriend in for a kiss. "I want that too," Jaz said, pulling back and resting her forehead on Sirius's. Then she whispered so only Sirius could hear, "I love you, Sirius Black, with all of my heart."

"I love you too, Jasmine Dupont, more than anything in the world," Sirius whispered back. Then the couple pulled apart and looked at Lily.

"OK, I approve. Just be careful." Lily smiled. They sat in a comfortable science in the common room until Remus walked in.

werewolf, who as he said wanted no part in when the couple told Lily about the rings, had been hiding away in his room. When he didn't hear anymore talking, he figured it was safe to come out. Though, when Remus looked down at the common room, he saw something was wrong. He rushed down the steps and headed over to the three Gryffindors and not four as he expected to see.

"What's the rush, Moony?" Sirius asked. "You couldn't have missed Lily that much. And…" Sirius stopped himself only just now realizing what was wrong and why Remus was in such a rush. "Never mind," Sirius said to Remus as an afterthought as the werewolf passed.

Remus made a beeline for Lily. Then he asked the question that Lily had been dreading since her and James parted at the station. "Where's James?"

Lily glanced nervously at Sirius before answering. "First off, He's fine. Also, don't worry about James. He will be back next week. And before any of you ask, I already promised I would let him tell you about his absence himself. So, please just leave it."

Remus nodded and reluctantly accepted Lily's answer. "As long as he's okay, I guess I can wait until he returns for a proper explanation as to what happened. I don't like it, but I'm sure you're not about to break your promise, Lily." And with that Remus sighed and headed down to the kitchens to get them all some food as they skipped dinner.

Once Remus was gone, Sirius and Jasmine tuned their attention (and questions) toward Lily once again. "What do you mean James will be back next week?" Sirius asked worriedly. He feared something had happened at home (aka Potter Manor), which concerned Sirius. "And I know you said James was okay but what about his parents?"

Before Lily could respond, Jaz piped up. "Yeah. What exactly could be keeping James away for a weak? I doubt that he would miss being away from you, Lils, for very long if he didn't feel he had to."

Lily's only response was to stare at them. She never said anything, instead opting to just go up to her dorm and get some rest. She knew this week was going to be a long one without James and the Head Boy.

Lily was right. The week without James seemed to drag on forever. So much so that by Wednesday (the half-way point), Lily was missing James so much that she hardly ever stopped thinking about him and his parents. Not only that but Wednesday also happened to be her breaking point.

Ever since that night Lily arrived back at Hogwarts, Jasmine and Sirius had kept worriedly asking what happened to James. Now Lily hadn't answered any of their questions which when Jaz realized that Lily was never going to, she gave up (that was on Monday evening). Sirius, however, had no intention of giving up and kept trying. He was really worried, not only about his best mate, but the rest of the Potters as well. Plus, Sirius, despite Jaz's company, was really missing having his best mate around. Thus, he kept up with questioning Lily, that is until Wednesday evening when the ginger finally snapped.

It was just before dinner that evening, and Lily was coming back from the library when Sirius spotted her. Sirius, being the annoying git that he is, just had to stop Lily before she reached her destination, the Gryffindor common room. He caught up with Lily in a deserted hallway, which Lily took to avoid running into anyone. Lily was at her wits ends and just wanted to avoid any more people coming up to her to ask about James or questions about rounds or other Head Girl questions. It was a bit tiring, especially since she also had to make time for revising for her NEWTs at the end of the term (which is why she had been in the library). Though, really part of the reason she had been revising was mainly to distract herself from missing and thinking about James. Also, went to the library in order to avoid people interrupting her. It was a win-win, except when her boyfriend's git of a best mate happens to catch up to her in a deserted hallway as he did that Wednesday.

Anyway, when Sirius caught up to Lily in that deserted hallway, he stopped her in the middle of the hallway. "Lily, wait up. Can we talk?"

Lily really wanted to tell Sirius to f-off, but she knew that it wouldn't stop him from bothering her. She really didn't want to deal with him at the moment. It had been a tiring day and she was ready to just scream into her pillow before passing out. She would just have to delay that screaming session for a few minutes to deal with the pestering she was about to get from Sirius. So, Lily stopped and waited for Sirius to catch up to her. "Yes, Sirius? What did you want to talk about?" Lily asked as soon as he reached her.

Sirius gave her a curious look. "James, what else?"

Lily sighed. "I'm not telling you anything, Sirius. I promised James I wouldn't. Why can't you just get that through your thick skull like Mina already has?!" Lily was already starting to get upset. She needed to get out of this conversation before she lost it, and she was close to doing just that. Sirius really needed to just leave her alone. Sadly, he didn't do that."

"I get that, Lily, but I'm worried. James is basically my brother in everything but blood. His parents are my parents as far as I'm concerned. I just want to know that everything is okay. I would hate if I couldn't be there when James needs me."

Lily's temper was rising with every word Sirius said. She could understand where he was coming from, but she just wasn't up for it at the moment. She was about to erupt if Sirius said anymore, so Lily tried to get out of there before that happened. "I know you're worried, Sirius, but everything is fine. And I'm sure if James felt like he needed you, he would have told me to tell you the truth." Lily said trying to placate Sirius. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to drop off my books and things before dinner."

Lily started to walk away, but Sirius stopped her. "Lily, wait. I just want to know where my best mate is. I miss him so much. I want to know that he is okay."

The pleading look Sirius gave Lily did nothing for her temper. And it was with that, Lily broke and was pushed over the edge. So, she turned back around to face Sirius. She marched straight up to him getting pretty close to him. She stared he straight in the eyes and Sirius knew then that he messed up. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST DROP IT, SIRIUS?! I'M NOT TELLING YOU ANYTHING. Just wait patiently for James to get back like everyone else!" Tears started to form in Lily's eyes. She tried hard to keep them from falling, but after all the stress that she's been through this week (the pestering about where James was and how much she was missing him), Lily couldn't stop the tears from falling. As they fell, Lily quietly told Sirius, "You're not the only one who's missing him, Sirius."

Before Lily could turn and run back to the common room, Sirius pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, Lily. I didn't mean to upset you." Sirius said into the ginger's hair. "I know you miss him too. I've just been worried, and that's made me act like a git. I'll stop pestering you about James, but you don't have to miss him alone. You can talk to me or Mare. I can imagine you miss him as much as I would miss Jaz if she was away from me for too long."

Lily smiled a tearful smile into Sirius. She waited until the tears let up before responding and pulling away from the hug. "I would really appreciate that, Sirius. It's been a pretty stressful week what with the Head Boy not here and everyone else coming up to me asking about James. I had completely forgot we were heads together and well, doing it alone has not been fun. It also hasn't helped that I haven't stopped thinking about him. I love him, Sirius, and it's been hard to be away from him for more than one reason. And I'm not elaborating on that."

Sirius grinned at that last part. "I wasn't planning on asking. But if you are feeling so stressed about your Head Girl duties, I'm sure Mare and Moony would be willing to help you for the time being." Sirius paused, going back over what Lily just said. Then he realized Lily had said that she loved James. "Wait a minute. Did you just say that you love James?"

Lily, feeling much better now, started to walk with Sirius back to the common room. "Yes, and James already knows how I feel. I told him over the holiday. He said it back to me after teasing me of course."

Sirius chuckled. "Sounds like, Prongs. Though, I do have to say that I'm surprised he waited for you to say it first. I always figured that when the two of you finally got together, he'd be the first one to say those words."

Lily giggled. "Not saying I blame you for thinking that, but I'm happy he waited for me to say it first. And it was the perfect moment to say it. I've known I love him for a little bit and was just waiting for the right moment to say it to him."

Sirius was happy for his best mate. "That's great, Lily. I'm happy for you two." They were now standing outside of the painting of The Fat Lady, who was waiting for them to give her the password. Lily was smiling brightly at Sirius. Though her eyes were still a bit puffy from her breakdown, she looked happy again, a bit lighter too. Sirius was happy to see this side of Lily again.

Soon, Lily turned to the Fat Lady and gave her the password. She entered the common room first, followed closely by Sirius. Then Lily bid Sirius good night. "Goodnight, Sirius. I'm going to head to bed a little early. I definitely need some sleep, so let Mina know that's where I am when she doesn't see me at dinner." Lily smiles and starts to go up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Before she gets to far up, though, she turns back and says, "Thank you, Sirius. I really needed that." Then she heads up to her room and bed.

Sirius just watches the ginger until she disappears form view. He had not been expecting that breakdown from Lily, but he should have. It appeared it was inevitable, which is why Sirius was grateful that it had been him that she blew up at instead of someone else. And despite still being worried about James, he didn't miss him as much after talking to Lily. He could make it through the rest of the week (hopefully). Then he would finally get the chance to ask James what exactly happened over the Christmas holiday.

Eventually, it was finally the weekend and the "week from Hell" (as Lily termed it) was finally over. It was finally Saturday and James would be back. He was going to floo into Dumbledore's office late that evening. Now, Lily was actually the only one to know this as James only wanted her to know. This was mainly because he didn't want to be bombarded with questions from the Marauders right away. He didn't really feel up to it right away. Plus, from the letters that he's gotten from Lily, James knows that they all have been curious and a bit worried, especially Sirius and Jasmine. So, knowing those two won't let him leave until all their questions are answered, James decided to come back secretly, Saturday night. He originally had planned to come back Sunday morning, which is what he told Lily to tell the others. The change in his plans were in part due to the afore mentioned reasons, but also because James really wanted to see Lily first. He really missed her this past week and just wanted some alone time with her before everything got crazy again.

So, that evening after dinner, Lily tells the Marauders that she has "rounds" and sneaks away from them to go to Dumbledore's office. She is going to meet James in the office, thankfully with Dumbledore's permission. So, when she reached his office, Lily gave the password and excitedly ran up the stairs in anticipation at finally getting to see James again.

Dumbledore smiled at the Head Girl when she entered his office. "Welcome, Ms. Evans. I'm sure Mr. Potter won't be much longer." True to his words, James suddenly popped out of the fireplace in the office.

The first thing that James registers is Lily once he has gathered his wits. Immediately he goes over to her and pulls her into a hug. The couple stay like that for several minutes before the headmaster coughs and interrupts them. They break apart and look over at the headmaster a bit embarrassed. "Ah, young love." Dumbledore muses. "I know you two must have much to catch up on. So, please, if you'll excuse me, I have work I must attend to." James and Lily glanced at each other before making quiet a hasty exit from the headmaster's office.

Once they are back in the hallway, James hugs Lily again before pulling her into a kiss. When he pulls back, he doesn't go too far, resting his forehead on Lily's. "I missed you so much, Lils," James whispered.

"I missed you too, James. It's been a week from Hell. I've had to do all the Head duties all by myself because you weren't here to help. Eventually I got Mina and Remus to help me," Lily whispered back. "But enough about my week, how is your father? Is he doing better?"

As they make their way to Gryffindor Tower, James tells Lily about what happened during the week that they were apart. Just as they are about to reach the Fat Lady, James tells Lily, "Though my father is doing a bit better, I still feel guilty about leaving. I feel like I was abandoning my mum when she needed me most. It was terrible."

Lily flashes him a quick smile before first giving the Fat Lady the password. Once they were in the now empty common room, Lily responded. "I can understand why you might feel that way, James, but you can't think that way. Your mum wouldn't have insisted you come back if she really needed you. I'm sure she is quite capable of taking care of your father herself."

James gave Lily a quick peck on the lips. "I love you, Lils. And I appreciate you're attempt at trying to alleviate my guilt." James pauses and turns away from Lily mumbling something under his breath.

"What was that, James?"

James turned back to look at Lily. His cheeks were now stained red as he repeated himself. "I asked if I could stay in your room for now. I just don't think I could handle being alone right now. I want to spend as much time together as we can before the others find out."

The look on James's face was enough for Lily to say yes, not that she didn't also want to spend as much time as possible with James. "Of course, you can, James." And with that Lily stood on the steps to the girls' dormitories so that they wouldn't turn into a slide as James climbed up them. Once James was safely on the landing of the 7th year girls' dormitories, Lily quickly and quietly made he way up to join him.

Lily peaked into the room to make sure none of the girls were still up before ushering James in. James went and laid down on Lily's bed while Lily got herself ready bed. When Lily returned, she found that James had fallen asleep in her bed. Lily figured he could really use the sleep. Plus, she didn't really want to wake him up. So, instead, Lily closed the curtains around her bed after taking off James's glasses and putting them somewhere safe. Then, Lily snuggled up next to James, who reacted by pulling Lily closer to him. It was like that that, snuggled up in James Potter's arms, that Lily fell asleep that night. Her last thought before falling asleep was about how glad she was that James was finally back.

The next morning, James is the first one to wake up. And at first when he wakes up everything is blurry, which is concerning. Then James realizes that he must have actually remembered to take his glasses off last night before he fell asleep. Suddenly James becomes concerned again as he registers that he isn't alone in his bed. And when he turns and sees a slightly blurry Lily curled up in his arms, the memories from last night finally come back to him. He hadn't meant to fall asleep in Lily's bed, but he was glad he had. He almost didn't want to wake her up, but he really needed to know where she had put his glasses since he didn't remember taking them off last night, thus Lily must have done it for him. "Lils?" James shakes her with his free arm. The ginger girl stirs but doesn't wake up. "Lily, I need you to wake up. I need my glasses before I can sneak out of here."

Lily, who had been having a fabulous dream that she fell asleep in James's arms, suddenly woke up when she realized her dream was not just a dream. Her eyes shot open when James mentioned his glasses. It took her a few more minutes for her to gather her thoughts and remember where she had put James's glasses. She quietly got them making sure that none of the other girls were up yet. She was extremely grateful (as was James) that none of them were much of an early riser. So, as Lily handed James his glasses, she whispered, "The coast is clear. I'll see you soon."

James gave her a quick peck on the lips before sneaking out of the room. Then he realized that when he got to the steps that they would turn into a slide as soon as he stepped on them. That was not going to help him make a stealthy exit. So, he snuck back into Lily's dorm room and over to his bed. Thankfully she was still awake. She looked up at him curiously, so he explained himself. "I need you to stand on the steps, so they don't turn into a slide."

Lily giggled quietly. She had forgotten about the steps. So, she followed James out of the dorm and stood on one of the steps as James made his way down. She watched as he snuck across the common room and up the steps to the boys' dormitories. Upon reaching the 7th year landing, he turned and blew Lily a kiss before turning to sneak into his room and into his bed.

Lily blushed before going back into her room to get ready for the day. There was no way she would be able to get back to sleep now, so she might as well get ready and get some work done since she's up. So, soon the ginger girl was sitting at table in the common room doing some of her assignments as she waited for some of the others to wake up so they could go to breakfast. Lily wasn't alone for long though as James soon joined her with his own books. He flashed her a smile before taking a seat across from her at the table. "So, where are these notes you promised?" James joked.

Lily didn't take it as a joke though and handed James the copies that she had made of her notes for him. "There's also a list of the assignments you missed in there as well, though it only has the ones that you must do, at least for the classes that we share. Most of the professors were understanding and don't expect you to finish all the assignments that you missed. There's not much for you to do though." Lily smiled at James before turning back to her own work.

James glanced through the notes Lily had handed him and he was quite impressed. They were very through. He really appreciated the effort Lily had made for him, so he got up and pressed a quick kiss on her lips before taking the seat across from Lily again.

They worked mostly in silence for the next couple of hours before the rest of their friends started to wake up. The first one who made their way down to the common room was Remus. Upon seeing James, Remus's eyebrows raised in surprise but said nothing. Instead, he took a seat with one of his books on the sofa by the fireplace. Soon after Remus, came Peter, who just scurried over to one of the armchairs near Remus upon seeing that James was back.

It was about half an hour later that both Jasmine and Sirius both emerged from their respective dorms. They saw each other first and Sirius flashed Jasmine a smile before making his descent down the stairs to say good morning to his girlfriend. Though, it wasn't until after Sirius gave Jaz their usual good morning kiss that Sirius finally noticed his best mate. The reason for that being that James had been chuckling, which drew Sirius attention. As soon as Sirius spotted James, his eyes went wide and he ran over to his best mate, completely abandoning Jasmine. It didn't really matter as Jaz was right behind him.

As Sirius and Jasmine got closer, James happened to see something glint from Sirius's hand as well as Jasmine's. James's face scrunched in confusion. He thought they were rings, but that couldn't be right. So, once they had reached the table that James and Lily were still sitting at and James saw that they were in fact rings, his confusion only increased. And James wanted to clear up this up before he was bombarded with questions. So, he held his hand up to stop them from asking any questions. "Okay, before I'm interrogated, what is with the rings? I know you both didn't have those before I left, so what happened while I was away?"

Sirius sighed a bit impatiently. He really wanted to know where James had been. Plus, this was the 4th time he had to explain the rings and what they were and what they meant. Though, despite being slightly annoyed, Sirius knew he needed to explain because James wouldn't drop it until he did. So, Sirius did his best to quickly explain the promise rings and the vow that came with them once again.

Once Sirius was finished, James was a bit surprised at the sudden step the couple had taken but was overall happy for them. "Okay, you two. Just be careful and don't do anything stupid." James paused before continuing. "Before any of you ask any questions, I'm just going to tell you that I was gone the past week because my father had become ill, which is why we ended up heading to Potter Manor earlier than we intended. When I left, he was doing a bit better, and I'm sure he's going to be fine, especially with my mum taking care of him. But I wanted to be there for them. And the only reason I didn't have Lily tell you what was going on is because I didn't want any of you making any rash decisions and come rushing to Potter Manor. It was nothing too serious, I was just overreacting a bit because I was worried about my father."

Everyone seemed to accept this explanation, nodding their heads in understanding. All except Sirius. "James, you realize how much it would have hurt me if your father didn't make it. He's basically my own father as far as I'm concerned." Sirius bowed his head.

"I know, Sirius, but I was sure that my mother would have sent you right back. If it was really the end, I'm sure she wouldn't have made me come back to Hogwarts until. I wouldn't have left you in the dark if my father really was on his death bed, Sirius," James promised. "I know how much you care about him, Padfoot."

Sirius nodded before pulling his best mate into a hug. "I missed you, Prongs." James smiled and released Sirius. Then Sirius turned his attention back toward Jasmine, but to everyone said, "How about we go down and get some breakfast. I'm starving."

A/N You know when I originally wrote that scene about the promise rings, I really felt like Jasmine and Sirius (Sazzy) had been dating for so much longer than a year. I guess that might be because it has been over a year since I started this series (but it feels so much longer than that). I don't know how you guys feel, but I feel like they've been together forever. Let me know your thoughts (please, with sprinkles on top). I really love to hear from you guys and would love some feedback on this chapter or other chapter or the story as a whole. Reviews really motivate me to want to write more. On another note, I have about 2-3 more chapters left of this story planned out. Then I have 1 more story in this series that I have planned. I'm going to try and outline the last couple of chapters of this story out and the first couple chapters of the next story out. Hopefully that will lead to me updating sooner rather than later.

Peace Out,
 :) Knk6700 (: