Hey, everyone, thank you so much for the reviews! It gave me enough motivation to continue writing. Thanks, and hope you like this chappie!

Chapter 6

Of Trials and Serious Fights

It was finally Friday, and Lily was nervous as she headed to the Ministry. It was the day of the trial, and though she was well-prepared, she was quite anxious since James was playing Prosecutor, and after working with him for the past week, she knew that he was darn good at what he did.

"Good morning, Lily," Dianne greeted as Lily arrived at the Criminal Law Department. "Nervous for today?"

"Well to be frank, yes," Lily replied. "I was up almost all night, replaying everything I learned".

"Well, if that's the case, you're better off than James. He's been in his office since 6 in the morning, running through everything just to make sure. And he was using an extremely loud voice too, it was driving me crazy!" Dianne and Lily laughed.

"Why is he so nervous? He's usually calm about things like this," Lily asked.

"I heard him screaming, I mean practicing, and I went in and asked him. Simple. He told me that one look at your 'beautiful and angelic face' might send everything he learned and practiced out the window," Kelsey said as she arrived from the end of the corridor.

Glad to have a light-hearted atmosphere that saved her from a nervous breakdown, Lily laughed and conversed along with the two girls then after awhile, excused herself to go to her office. As she walked, she could distinctly hear the strains of James's voice. Shaking her head lightly, she went inside her office.

..------..

It was a quarter to ten, and Lily was pacing the floor of her office. It was exactly fifteen minutes before the trial, and she was getting apprehensive. Suddenly, Dianne came in again.

"Hey Lily, Mr. Potter asked me to call you to his office. He didn't say why though," she said.

"Oh. Thanks, Dianne," Lily said. She went to James's office, taking her briefcase with her, as she figured she would just directly go to the courtroom after her meeting with James.

"You called?" Lily asked him as she arrived. James smiled.

"Hey, Lily. Nervous?" James asked her.

"Yes. You?" Lily said. When she remembered the flowers he had sent last night, she added, "Oh, by the way, thank you for the roses. They were lovely".

"But not as lovely as you," James countered.

Lily sighed. "James, what did I tell you about your lame pick-up lines at the Ministry Party?"

James appeared to think for a moment before replying, "Oh yes, I remember now. You told me to 'get my 1987 pick-up lines, shove them out the window, and do the same to myself too'. Unfortunately," he gave her a half-smirk, half- grin which made Lily raise her brow. "If I do that, I would be depriving everyone of my great presence, and I would never have the pleasure of taking you out and proving my worth to you, which would be such a shame, because, of course, I am one of the most eligible men in wizarding England".

Lily snapped, "James, did you take an overdose of your arrogance pill today? Because you seem to be overly cocky right now. You're acting like your fifteen again, you know," she paused then, as if she realized something, she added, "Oh, so is this your technique? Working up and making your opponent mad, so they can forget everything and fumble, causing you to win the case and get all the fame and glory? Well I'm sorry, buddy, but it just won't work, because I am considered one of the best at what I do. I have had my fair share of diversionary tactics already, and I can overcome each and every one of them".

"Lily, you must understand something," James said, smirking now. "I don't need diversionary tactics to win this case, it's all in the bag, and I assure you, I am so winning this thing".

Lily looked up into his eyes with unwavering cool. "Seem a bit too sure of yourself, now aren't you? You haven't seen what I can do yet, James, and I assure you, I may follow and respect the rules as much as any self-respecting lawyer would, but I can also fight fearlessly to get what I want".

"It's a good thing you are willing to bend the rules, Lily," James replied. "And here I was, beginning to think that you were as rigid and rule-obsessed as McGonagall".

"Professor McGonagall is not a rule-obsessed person, James. She is just very disciplined and values the rules for the students' own safety, unlike some people," Lily retorted, wondering how on earth their conversation had reached into the subject of Professor Minerva McGonagall.

"Yes she is. McGonagall is a crazy, rules-obsessed bat, okay?" James said, his eyes holding traces of amusement.

"SHE IS NOT!"

"SHE IS TOO!"
"IS NOT!"

"IS TOO!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, JAMES, SHE IS NOT A CRAZY, RULE-OBSESSED BAT!" she yelled. She paused, then resumed in her normal voice, "Why the hell are we even arguing about Professor McGonagall?"

"I don't know, really," James said, giving her a grin.

"This is so stupid. Wait, sorry, let me rephrase that, you are stupid," Lily said. She sighed tiredly. "You know what, why don't you find yourself a bridge and jump off it?"

"That's certainly new," James commented. "I've heard something involving jumping out the window, strangling myself with the sheets, and running over myself with a truck, but never a jumping off a bridge. You think that up last night, Lily?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did, after I had four martinis and I threw a couple of darts at your picture," Lily said, sarcasm dripping from every word she spoke.

"Well, well, well, so let me get this straight. You needed to be intoxicated just to have the courage to throw darts at my picture, which I wasn't aware you had, and to come up with a biting remark? You care about me after all, since you don't seem to be able to do that in a sober state of mind," James said dryly.

Lily glanced at her watch. Five minutes till the trial. "Look, James, I don't know what's wrong with you today, but I actually have an intention of showing up at the courtroom early, and winning the case fair and square. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a case to be getting to," and with that biting remark, she took her briefcase and hurried out the door, her mind still clouded by annoyance and anger.

James glanced at her retreating figure, then picked up his own briefcase and started walking towards the courtroom as well. He laughed softly to himself. "Hehe, nothing like a classic psych- out to liven things up before a trial".

..------..

"And so to conclude, it is entirely possible that my client was framed, and the murder was pinned on him by someone else, because the fingerprints on the poisoned dagger found at the crime scene do not match the defendants'," Lily said, her voice clear and resounding in the hushed courtroom.

"Thank you, Miss Evans. Now-----" the judge tried to say but was cut off by James, who seemed to shock everyone.

"If I may contradict, Judge Lindstrom," James said, "But there is a point in Miss Evan's statement which bothers me and forces me to interrupt. You see, it is perfectly plausible that though the fingerprints found on the dagger may not match the accused, it is possible that the accused still did the crime. After all, he is the only one with the proper motive to do so, and besides, if you would kill a person, would you be so careless as to leave your own mark of identification at the scene of the crime? I think not".

Lily was dumbstruck and outraged. She stood up and yelled, "OBJECTION YOUR HONOR, BUT MR. POTTER IS DISRUPTING THE WAY I AM HANDLING MY CASE. HE IS TWISTING MY WORDS, AND IS RUINING HOW I AM TRYING TO EXPLAIN MY CLIENT'S SIDE OF THE STORY".

"Objection overruled. Mr. Potter is merely doing his job, which is what you should be doing as well. Take a seat," said Judge Lindstrom calmly yet firmly.

"Your honor, I think that Ms. Evans is simply getting rattled and all worked up. You see, she knows, deep in her heart that, whatever she tries to do, she can never beat me. After all," James added with a smug expression. "I am the State's top Prosecutor".

"Oh, and who told you that, your own reflection? God, James, your arrogance is way out of control! This is exactly one of the reasons why I won't go out with you!" Lily snapped, standing back again as she tried to keep her voice as even as possible.

"Who told me that? Only the Minister of Magic himself said it," James retaliated. "Wait this is not part of the case".

"WHAT IS NOT PART OF THE CASE?"

"MY SUPPOSED 'ARROGANCE'. IT IS NOT UP FOR DISCUSSION. WHAT IS UP FOR DISCUSSION IS THIS CASE AND-------"

"AND YOU ARE TRYING TO TWIST ALL MY WORDS SO THAT I'D GET ALL WORKED UP AND FAIL! WELL GUESS WHAT, IT MAY HAVE WORKED TO SOME EXTENT IN SCHOOL, BUT NOT THIS TIME!" she yelled.

From the defendant's table, Bob Pratchet sighed and muttered, "For goodness sake, get on with the damn case already! I would like to get out of Azkaban before this century ends, you know".

"DO YOU HAVE PROOF THAT I'M DOING SUCH?" James challenged.

Before Lily could retort, the judge said, or rather, snapped, "THAT IS ENOUGH. IF THE BOTH OF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES THAT ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL, THEN DISCUSS THEM OUTSIDE OF MY COURTROOM! ON WITH THE CASE!"

"Yes your Honor," the two dully replied.

The whole thing started back up again, this time with Lily and James acting as professionally as ever, presenting their evidence, questioning the witnesses thoroughly, and the like.

Finally, after everything, Judge Lindstrom said, "Alright, we will commence with this case again in a month, as there needs to be more extensive research and studying on this case to be done by us. I expect both lawyers to be well-prepared properly by then. Case adjourned". And as she stuck the gavel and stood up, everyone started filing out of the courtroom as well, two Aurors taking Pratchet away.

Lily headed as fast as she could to her office, her face as red as her hair. "Hi, Lily, how did the case go?" Dianne said as she passed.

Lily let out a quick scream as she passed Dianne and continued walking to her office. "I'll take that as a negative," Dianne said to herself as she shook her head.

Once she reached her office, Lily went inside, slamming the door with a loud SLAM! She took her wand, formed a quick, "Silencio," then………

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! I HATE JAMES POTTER!" Lily yelled at the top of her lungs as she stormed around her office. "HE IS SUCH A JERK! THAT ARROGANT, POMPOUS JERK, I HATE HIM!"

Lily took hold of the first thing that came within her grasp, which turned out to be a pillow from her small sofa, and hurled it at the door. Unfortunately, James took that exact moment to open the door and enter the room, so the pillow hit him square in the head.

"You know Lily," he said as he entered the room fully, "If you wanted to hurt me, you could at least use something better than a pillow".

"James," Lily said in a deadly quiet and cold voice. "Get out of here, now, before I hurt you".

James merely frowned. "Lily, are you mad about what happened at the trial?"

"No, of course not, I just love to be corrected and criticized in front of the judge! What the hell do you think?" Lily said sarcastically and angrily. "Of course I'm mad, James. You ruined everything!"

"Look, Lily, I didn't ruin anything. If you looked at it logically----"

"Logically? James, you contradicted the way I handled the case in front of the entire room. You kept on being a pompous ass getting me all riled up to the point where I couldn't almost proceed properly. Is that your technique, huh? Is that the reason why you win a lot of cases? This is an all-new low James, even for you".

James looked strangely calm as ever. "Lily," he said slowly. "You have to understand something. I-----"

"Understand? UNDERSTAND!" Lily practically blew up. "James, I don't need to understand the fact that you are the most horrible person in this universe, because I already know that!"

Now James was beginning to look mad as well. "Now, Lily," he said, struggling to keep his voice still even. "You don't even know----"

"Know what? God, James, I thought you changed. Okay, maybe not changed completely, but at least to some extent! I thought you outgrew being this sneaky, but I guess not," Lily snapped. "I see now that you are no worse than those Slytherins you used to torment at school".

"No wait just a minute here, Lily," James snapped. "Don't you dare compare me to those people. I am not like them, nor will I ever be, how dare you say that!"

"You aren't like them? Are you sure? It doesn't seem like it," Lily snapped nastily.

That was when James lost it. "Damn it, Lily, don't you see that what I did earlier was for your own good!" he half-yelled.

Lily stared at him, incredulous. "For my OWN GOOD! Could you explain that to me, please?"

James sighed and snapped, "Look, it's obvious that Pratchet is guilty, everything points to him. I know that you know he is, don't deny it!"

"HE MAY BE GUITLY BUT I AM I STILL HIS LAWYER AND I WILL DO THE BEST I CAN TO NOT MAKE HIM SEEM MORE INHUMANE THAN YOU MAKE HIM OUT TO BE!"

"LILY, THAT ISN'T THE CASE!"

"OH REALLY, ENLGIHTEN ME!"

"FINE. I'LL TELL YOU HONESTLY. I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR YOU. EVERYTHING, ALL THOSE CRITICIZISMS AND ANNOYANCES I SAID WAS ALL FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!"

"WHAT! WHY IS THAT FOR MY OWN GOOD, PRAY TELL?"

"BECAUSE I WANTED TO BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOU!"

Lily stared at him, still incredulous. "The best in me? How the hell does ruining the way I handle the case by annoying me going to bring out the best in me!"

"You want to know? Fine," James snapped loudly. "Look, ever since I started working here, I noticed something. The determination, the assertiveness, the I'm not-easily-intimidated-woman I met and fell in love with at Hogwarts was almost gone. I've known you for a long time, and you never back down on any challenge, especially one that I give. I wanted to provoke you, because I thought and I hoped that you would fight, that you would give more than your best, this was partly a training ground for you!"

"Training ground?" Lily scoffed. "I don't need any training James, I learned everything I needed before you came, for your information!"

"See, that's you problem right there!" James said furiously. "You think that you know everything, that you are one of the best, when in reality, you still need a lot of work!"

"You filthy hypocrite! I can't believe that I'm hearing this from you, Mr. Oh-I'm-So-Wonderful-Come-and-Worship-Me Potter!"

"LILY, I AM YOUR BOSS. THIS IS MY JOB, DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO TELL ME OTHERWISE!" James yelled.

"DAMN IT JAMES, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUST COME HERE AND YELL AT ME, ALRIGHT? YOU GAVE ME THIS ASSIGNMENT, SO DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO QUESTION HOW I PROCEED WITH IT!"

"FOR GOODNESS' SAKE, LILY, I AM NOT TRYING TO QUESTION YOUR TECHINIQUE! I AM TRYING TO FINE-TUNE IT, BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT MY HELP, THAT'S FINE!"

"You know what, James, I don't have time for this. Just do me a favor, get the hell out of my office, and preferably out of my life as well!" Lily snapped.

"Fine then," was all James said angrily as he stormed out of Lily's office, slamming the door with a loud SLAM!

Once he was gone, Lily buried her head in her hands and thought over everything James had said. As she replayed the fight in her head, some tears began to flow, which made her felt worse. Lily knew that she wasn't crying because of the fight that had just happened, the first serious fight between her and James. No, she was crying because, deep down, she knew that James was absolutely right.