Chapter 6

The next day, Lily got up, did all her morning rituals and, after insuring that her luggage was there, went down to the Great Hall to have breakfast. She saw that Aimee, Kirsten, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and of course, James, were already there. She set her luggage down beside her, then sat down and began to eat.

Around fifteen minutes later, she finished and walked up to James, who was still, surprisingly, eating. "Potter," she said, "Dumbledore asked us to meet him in his office at 8:20. It's around 8:10 already, and we have ten minutes to get there, and in case you forgot, his office is at the other side of the castle, so let's go, now".

"Evans! Go away; I'm still eating" James said, looking thoroughly annoyed as he piled yet another croissant, a piece of toast smothered with peanut butter and jelly into his plate, as well as a bowl of porridge.

"Potter, I mean it. Let's GO!"

"Evans, I mean it. Go AWAY!" James shot back, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

"Urgh, I've had enough of this. Evanesco!" Lily said and, with a wave of her wand, all the food on James's plate disappeared.

"Evans! What the hell was that for!" James cried in outrage. It was a common and unwritten rule that no one was to ever interrupt James Potter while he was eating; when someone did that, things could get really ugly. (Stupid I know).

"That, Potter was for making me wait and for being an absolute idiot" Lily snapped, her fiery temper rising once more. Lily was a very impatient and not a morning person, and James wasn't improving the situation.

"How am I an idiot, huh? Care to explain?" James snapped angrily.

"Hmmm, I don't know, Potter. You tell me. After all, you're the one who's the idiot, not me," Lily shot back, her feelings as of this moment torn between irritation and smugness at getting the upper hand.

"Evans, why are you such an uptight prude that you cant even wait for one more minute for me to finish eating in peace? You're face isn't a pleasant thing to see while you're eating, you know," James yelled, standing and matched Lily's expression with his own glare full of unexplainable and irrational fury.

"Evans, you are such an uptight prude'?" Lily mimicked angrily. "That line is way overused. Can't you think of something more original? You are so pathetic, Potter" she added, crossing her arms.

"WHAT? FIRST I'M AN IDIOT, AND NOW I'M PATHETIC? WHICH IS IT!" James shouted angrily. By now, Sirius was laughing like a complete lunatic at the absolute hilarity of the scene, as where the rest of the students. The teachers, much more refined, opted to just chuckle quietly to themselves as they surveyed the scene with increasing interest and amusement.

"Hmm, I don't know…maybe both?" Lily suggested with an evil smile. They did not notice that it was well past 8: 20 already. Hell, they were pretty much oblivious to the hordes of people surveying them as of the moment.

Surprisingly, James stood up straighter and suddenly, his expression turned into a calm one. Lily's eyes narrowed in suspicion. James Potter never suddenly became calm in the middle of any fight, and Lily was sure that what James was going to do or say was going to be bad.

Forget bad. What James was about to do was much, much, worse.

"I know what this is about, Evans," James said in a eerily calm voice, much to Lily's annoyance. "You're simply getting all worked up because" –his voice suddenly turned into a yell—"I FOUND OUT THAT YOU WERE PROCALMING YOUR LIKE FOR JAKE THOMAS OF RAVECLAW IN ALMOST EVEY PAGE OF YOUR DIARY AND THAT I'D THREATEN TO TELL HIM?"

A stunned silence met his words, and James looked at Lily, and smiled smugly when he saw the completely murderous look on her face. "Potter, you jerk!" Lily hissed to him.

Suddenly, Jake Thomas himself called out, "Hey, Lily! I was going to ask you this after you got back, but I guess now'll have to do: Do you want to go out sometime?"

If possible, Lily got even redder and answered a quiet but strong, "Yes, I'd love to Jake".

For some strange reason, James felt a monster of jealousy come up and roaring for him to tear Jake limb from limb just for saying it. "I will have to control this particular feeling of constant jealousy," James said to himself as he shook his head.

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall arrived at their side. "Alright, you two, that is enough. Come along; Professor Dumbledore is expecting the both of you".

After saying goodbye to all their friends, they took their luggage and followed McGonagall to the headmaster's office.

On the way there, Lily suddenly hissed at James, "What the hell did you do THAT for!"

"Why are so mad? In any case, you should be thanking me," James replied, skillfully sidestepping the question.

"Thanking you!" Lily whispered back incredulously. "For what, telling the whole bloody school that I had a crush on Jake!"
"No, for getting you a boyfriend, although I'm surprised that anyone would go for someone as hideous as you," James repaid, unfazed, although he was lying about saying that she was hideous, and he knew it.

Lily was about to retort but Professor McGonagall stopped her, saying, "Now, here we are. Good Luck", and ushered them into Dumbledore's office.

Once the two went in, they found the headmaster sitting behind his desk. Lily immediately launched into an apology. "I'm so sorry we're late, Professor. You see, Potter over here was acting like an idiot again and-----"

Dumbledore waved her apologies aside. "That is quite alright. Now, I trust that all your things are ready?" When the two nodded, he said, "Good. Now, follow me". He motioned for the two to follow him across the room.

As they walked, Lily "accidentally" stuck out her foot and made James trip, causing him to fall to the ground with a loud thud. He picked himself up off the floor and glared at the smirking redhead, who mouthed, "Revenge is sweet" to James.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm never alright when I'm around Evans, Professor, but I'll be fine," James said, smirking at Lily, whose eyes had narrowed. I don't feel alright, I strangely feel like I'm floating on air…no, wait, what the hell am I thinking? Bad thoughts, James, he thought. He shook his head to clear himself of these thoughts.

Dumbledore held out a black, dusty kettle. Lily and James immediately understood it to be a Portkey. "Good luck. I hope the both of you return back to Hogwarts in one piece" Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling.

James and Lily held their luggage in one hand, and using their free hand, they touched a part of the Portkey. One…two….three…..and in a mass of swirling blue light, Lily and James were gone.