Chapter 8..is it? Lol

Two days later, Lily was sitting in the Great Hall, sipping a cup of tea and reading the Evening Prophet when someone came up behind her. Before she could look around, large hands had placed themselves over her eyes, shielding her view. She giggled and breathed in the man's scent. It was musky and mixed with a sweet smell that she couldn't put her finger on, but it smelled like home.
She wondered to herself who it could be; James had been hoping to get some time off to see her soon, but always wore the same cologne. Remus, maybe?
"Ok, I give up," she said, finally. She tried to turn around but his hands stayed put.
Then she felt a hot breath next to her ear; she could smell the slight smell of alcohol in his whisper, but he wasn't drunk, just a little evening Firewhiskey.
"Guess, Lily," he said, sending a chill up her spine. It was all Lily could do to not physically shake. She recognized the voice.
"Jason?" she said, knowing that she was right.
"Right!" came his voice, now high and chipper as he gave her possession of her sight again and appeared to her left. "This seat taken?" he asked, motioning towards the chair next to hers.
"No, go ahead," Lily said. She smiled at him and he pulled the chair out and sat down.
"So," he said, waving his wand to make a second cup of tea appear. "How are you? I haven't talked to you in a while."
"Oh, good. I've been good," she replied, motioning to the paper. "Just reading about all the raids the Ministry's been doing lately. James talks about it in his letters, but he says it's really nothing to worry about, that the media is blowing it out of proportion." She smiled again and pushed the paper across the table.
Jason gave it a once-over and took a sip of his tea.
"I suppose it's best to trust the professionals, right?" he said, grinning at Lily and flipping the paper closed.
"Guess so," she replied, softly.
Jay quickly drained his mug and stood up. "Hey, do you have anything planned tonight?" he asked, and Lily looked up at him.
Remus had said he'd be in his room all night but they hadn't actually planned anything. She shook her head. "No, why?"
"I just wondered if you might like to go to the Hog's Head and grab a drink, maybe see if there's some dancing in the town after," Jay said, putting his hands in his pocket.
"Oh, um.." Lily trailed off. She looked away and then back up at him. "You see, Jason, James and I, we've been dating for quite a while, and I really do love him a lot, I just couldn't do that to him." She frowned slightly.
"Do what? We're friends, right?" Jason replied, wrinkling his brow. "And I have a girlfriend, too. Her name is Melissa and I love her very much; I'd never want to mess that up. Trust me," he said, smiling. "Just friends?"
Lily felt herself nodding. "Ok, then. Just friends."
"Hey, and you can invite Remus, too, if you want," Jay offered. "He's quite welcome."
"Um, no, Remus said he had plans tonight. I wouldn't want to intrude," Lily heard herself saying. Even as she said it, she had to wonder what was she doing. She knew Remus wasn't busy and she knew she shouldn't be out with another man, even if they were "just friends." She swallowed some tea quickly and put on a fake smile.
"C'mon, it'll be fun. Plus, I heard you were quite the underage party-animal while you were still here, Miss Evans!" Jason said as she stood up.
Lily's jaw fell open. "You knew about that!" she cried.
Jason smirked. "We all knew about that, Lils."

James knocked on the Minister's door and waited for a reply before he entered. Mr. Mencanio sat behind his desk, a stack of papers on either side of him and several unopened letters lay in front of him.
James shut the door and walked over to the desk. "You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked politely. The Minister nodded and motioned towards the seat across from him.
"Have a seat, James, there's a good lad," he said, rubbing his face and taking a deep breath. It looked to James as though he hadn't slept in many days; there were dark circles under his eyes and his clothes were slightly wrinkled. James took the seat offered to him and waited. The Minister took another breath and looked up at him.
"Drink?" he offered, picking up his wand.
"Oh, um, yes please," James replied, still wondering what this meeting was about. Had he done something wrong he didn't know about? Did he know about his and Lyla's "friendship"? James gulped as the old man waved his wand two glasses of scotch appeared on the desk. He handed one to James, who took a small sip and prayed he wasn't about to be sacked.
"James," Mr, Menacio started, finally, and James set his glass down, fearing the worst.
"Sir?"
"James, you know how when we first met about your position here I said I was planning on retiring soon?" he said, pausing to take a long sip of his scotch.
"Yes, sir," James replied, now very confused about what was happening.
"Well, my health seems to have taken a turn for the worse lately and my doctor wants me gone as soon as possible." Then, almost as if to prove his point, the old man set down his drink and began to cough violently. James jumped up from his seat to go and help.
"I'm fine, James, thank-you. I'm fine," the Minister said, holding up his hand. "Thank-you."
James nodded and walked back around the desk, taking his seat and watching as the Minister wheezed lightly across from him. He tried to laugh, but it came out sickly-sounding and he just smiled at the young man instead.
"How long do you-" James started, but was cut off by the Minister.
"End of the week and I'm gone for good. I suppose early retirement can't be all that bad..." he said, trailing off and sipping his drink.
James was silent for a minute. "I'm sorry, sir," he said. He glanced at his own glass, still sitting on the table in front of him.
"Oh, don't be, James! You see, this is very good new for you, and a few other members of the Ministry."
James didn't understand. "How do you mean, sir?" he asked.
"I mean," he started, taking the final swig of his scotch and looking across at James, "that now I am out of the picture, we've started to look for a replacement. Now I've been begging Albus to take over for me for years, but alas, he won't leave Hogwarts." James smiled, remembering his old Headmaster. He quickly wondered how Lily was, but pushed it out of his mind, and shifted his concentration back to the Minister.
"Now, we asked a few others, as well, but no one was very keen on the job at the moment, so that young whipper-snapper Crouch will be taking my job." He scowled for a moment at his own words before remembering James was there. He continued, "Now, I can't pretend that everyone is very pleased at our decision, but we were pressed for time and under the circumstances..." he trailed off and pointed his wand over his glass, refilling it with liquor. He motioned to James' glass, but he shook his head.
"No thank-you. So, what does all of this have to do with me?" he asked.
"Well, Smith is taking over for Crouch, Kraft is taking Smith's job and Weasley will be the new man in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office...not a big step up, but he deserves a boost, poor guy's been here for a few years now.." the old man began trailing off again, giving James a second to work it out in his head. Arthur Weasley had joined the Ministry about 9 years back, hoping to land the vacant position in the Misuse office, but had been offered, instead to go through training to become an Auror. He had accepted, only with the hope of moving in a year or two.
"But that means...not me, sir?" James asked, realizing that a hole now lay in the Junior Auror division. Most aurors in training couldn't hope to see that type of promotion for at least a year, but usually much more.
The Minister nodded, smiling. "That's right. You've shown some great initiative in these last few weeks, James, and we all feel that you would be a great addition to the Junior Auror team. Congratulations!"
James actually laughed out loud; he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Well, thank-you, thank-you very much, sir! I'm, I'm honoured!" James stammered, standing up. He walked around the desk to where the Minister was sitting, a large grin on his face.
"You're very welcome, James. You deserve this!" he held out his hand, but James leaned down and gave the old man a hug, startling him slightly.
James pulled back, beaming.
"Thank-you," he said again.
"Go home, James, it's late and you should be celebrating, not working!"
"Yes, sir," James turned and walked to the door.
"And, James!" the Minister called after him. James turned to see Mancanio standing behind his desk. "This will not be an easy job, I'm sure you know that, don't you?" He said, his face not entirely worried, but not holding the same gleam it had a moment ago.
James nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Dark times lie ahead, James, and we need all of the help we can get right now to fight whatever might be coming. We trust you are one of those people, just like your parents were." James stood staring for a second and then nodded again and smiled.
"I will be, sir. That's a promise," he said.
The Minister nodded as well. "Good man. Say hello to Ms. Evans for me, would you?"
"Of course. Good evening sir," James replied, and then turned the knob and nearly skipped down the hall towards the fireplace.

A few hours, and a few drinks, later, Lily and Jay were walking back across the grounds towards the gleaming castle. Lily was laughing loudly at something Jason had just said, clinging onto him for support on the bumpy terrain.
They reached their common room and Lily tried to get out the password.
"Snafl..no..snam..snifle..ooo, um...amble?" she began giggling madly, her purse falling off of her shoulder as she clung on Jason's arm. He smiled at her and then said, "Cherry Pie," to get them in. He felt Lily let go of him as he walked through and a second later, he heard a loud thump! and turned to see Lily on the ground, laughing hysterically and not the least bit upset about her fall.
He rolled his eyes and went to help her up.
"Here we go, Lily," he said, grabbing her by the wrists. She pulled out of his grasp.
"I can do it, myself!" she snapped, pushing herself up off the floor with great force. She teetered where she stood and then stepped wobbly back and forth for a minute before Jason saw her fall forward. He ran over and caught her in his arms just in time.
"Ok, Lily, let's get you inside...Lily?" he said, shifting her in his arms and lifting her head up. Lily's eyes were closed and a second later she began to snore. Jason let out a long laugh and hoisted the drunken-girl into his arms and carried her across the doorway and into her room.

Jay laid Lily down on the bed crawled up next to her. She grabbed the pillow and hugged it to herself as she slept; a strand of her hair was stuck to her lip-gloss. Jay smiled and pushed the hair back, revealing her lovely face.
"Lily?" he tried, rubbing her cheek, but still, she slept.
He leaned closer to her face and tried again, "Lils?"

Lily felt a warm breath on her face and awoke from her slumber. She saw a smiling face above her but couldn't make out who it was. James? She called to him in her head, but she couldn't make her mouth say the word as well. Whoever it was had gotten her into her bed, and was now holding water out for her. Lily used all of her strength to sit up, and took the glass from her mystery helper, downing it in three large gulps.
She dropped the glass onto the carpet and closed her eyes again. When she opened them, she saw the same blurry man across from her.
Suddenly, she leaned over and kissed him, shoving her beautiful lips against his. The man was taken aback and stiffened at kiss at first, but soon leaned into her as well, deepening the passionate embrace. He cradled her head in his hands and parted her lips with his tongue as Lily felt herself lean slowly back onto her pillow. He leaned with her, his arms supporting his weight on either side of her. They broke the kiss and she opened her eyes, smiling up at the man, who was grinning back at her.
"I knew you wanted this," he whispered, leaning in again. Something about that voice clicked in Lily's brain and her eyes widened. Before she knew it, she had rolled over onto her side, her head over the bed. She opened her mouth and barfed onto the plush pink rug, and then she collapsed back onto the bed, breathing heavily.
"Lily? Are you o.k?" Jason asked.
Lily didn't open her eyes. "You should go," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"But.."
"Just go," she said, opening her eyes and seeing him still across from her, his forehead wrinkled in dissatisfaction. "Go," she ordered, a firmness in her voice.
"Fine," he spat at her, and she felt his weight move off of the bed and heard him trudge out of her room, slamming the door behind him. Lily winced at the sound.
What had she done?