Chapter 16:

Lily and James spent the next few days rekindling the almost-dead embers of their relationship. James managed to wiggle out of a few days' work, promising extra hours the next week, and Lily was still on break from school.
The bliss had to end at some point, though, and before she knew it, Lily was repacking her suitcase to head back to school.
"I don't want you to go!" James whined from the bed.
I know, I don't either," Lily replied as she dragged her suitcase out of the closet. She dumped it on the floor and walked over to the bed. "But I have to...those kids just won't teach themselves - trust me, I tried!" she said, laughing, and James cracked a smile. She kissed him. "I love you."
He sighed. "I love you, too...I suppose..." he added, cheekily.
Lily smacked him on the chest. "James!"
"Owwww!" he exclaimed, rubbing his chest. "Vicious!"
Lily cuddled herself into James' lap and looked up at him with puppy eyes. "But you know you love my love taps," she crooned. James laughed.
"Love taps - yeah, right!" he replied.
Lily hit him with a pillow.
"That's it! You're going down, Miss Evans!" James roared, lifting her easily in his strong grasp. James dropped Lily down against the pillows and she screamed with delight.
"Jamesssss!" she yelled, but she had a huge smile on her face. James jumped on top of Lily and began tickling her.
"J-jam-jamessss!" Lily yelled, hardly getting a word out in between giggle fits as James attacked her stomach and neck with his fingers. "Alright, alright!"
James paused, his hands still on Lily's bare skin, ready to pounce. "Alright what?" he asked slyly.
Lily took a few deep breaths before replying. "You win..." she said, grimacing.
"Yes!" James jumped up on the bed. "Victory!" he called to no one in particular. Lily rolled her eyes as James held his arms up over his head. "Potter is champion!" he yelled, stopping only to make the raspy sound of the "crowd" cheering him on.
"Get down here!" Lily told him. James looked over at her and grinned.
"Sore loser, Lily?" he asked, plopping down beside her.
"Only when you act like a gigantic butthead afterwards!" she replied.
"Language, Miss Evans! What will the children think!" James chastised. Lily smiled up at him.
"Come here," she said, pulling him to her by the shirt.

James nuzzled his mouth in the crook of Lily's neck and bit her lightly, making loud animal noises to accompany his nips.
"James!" Lily squealed and broke into a giggle fit.
"Oh, God; here she goes again," James said. "I swear, you laugh more than anyone I have ever met!"
"It's not a bad thing! Now get off of me; I have to pack!" Lily announced, pushing James off onto the other side of the bed and standing up.
James made a noise behind her. "I hate Hogwarts," he announced.
"No you don't," Lily replied without turning around.
"No...but I hate you!" he said, changing his mind.
Lily sighed. "No, you don't."
James was playing with the comforter on the bed. "No...I guess I don't" he ceded, rolling off the bed.
He walked over to Lily, who was sorting through some shirts she had pulled out of the drawer. James wrapped his arms around Lily's stomach and kissed her neck. "I hate that you have to leave," he whispered against her ear.
Lily frowned and sighed. "I hate it, too," she told him. She turned her head and gave James a quick kiss. "But I have to go..."
She walked over to her bag carrying a stack of shirts.
"No you don't!" James said, bounding over. "Not if you don't pack! If you never pack, you don't - can't go!" he told her.
Lily sighed. "James, you're being childish - I have to go back." She placed the shirts in the bag and turned to a pile of jeans sitting on the bed. When she turned back, the shirts were gone from the bag and James was smiling evilly.
Lily rolled her eyes and put the pants in her suitcase. "James, give me the shirts," she said firmly.
He shook his head. "No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Ok, now it's you who is in trouble!" Lily yelled, jumping on top of him.
"Ahhh, one slight flaw, Miss Evans," he told her.
Lily paused. "And what is that?"
"You forget that I'm not ticklish like you are," James replied matter-of-factly.
"Ahh, but I think you may have overlooked one thing as well," Lily told him, cocking an eyebrow evilly.
"And what would that be?" he asked.
Lily reached across the floor, careful not to lose her grip on James' legs with her own. She came back with-
"Perfume!" James said the word like it was venom in his mouth. "You wouldn't dare!"
Lily smiled. "Oh, wouldn't I?" she taunted.
"Lily..." he warned.
"You better watch out, Potter: I'm armed," she pulled off the perfume bottle top and grinned, "and dangerous!"
"You won't do it," James told her, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Oh, yeah?" Lily held the bottle over James' face and his eyes grew wide.
"No!"
"Ooooh, yes!" Lily pushed her finger down on the top of the bottle, and a spray of scented perfume flew in James' face. He let out a scream and closed his eyes.
"EVANSSSSS!" he yelled.
"Hm?" she answered, innocently.
"You are so dead!" James cried as he flipped her over and climbed in top of her, trying to wrestle the perfume out of her hands.
Lily's yells and giggled echoed through the empty house.

--

James had his arms around Lily's waist as they said good-bye at the car. Remus was sitting in the back, staring the other way.
"Are you sure this is ok?" Lily asked, nodding in Remus' direction.
James smiled. "I trust you - both of you," he told her.
Lily grinned. "I love you so much," she told him.
"I love you, too," he replied. James kissed her hard on the mouth and pulled away. "I'll miss you!" he whispered.
"I'll be back at Christmas," she reminded him.
"Bye," James said, squeezing Lily's hand hard before letting it go. He turned and walked back towards the house.
"Bye!" Lily called as she opened the car door and slid into the back seat. She rolled the window down just as James reached the door. He turned and smiled, and waved to them as the car pulled away from the curb.

--

October melted into November and the wind began to chill. Leaves began to change colors more rapidly on the tall trees surrounding Hogwarts and excited whispers began buzzing through the student body about the upcoming Christmas Ball; who was taking whom, and who was wearing what.
Lily smiled as she walked past group after group of giggling girls in the hallways.
"I heard Sally Darling was asked by Rick Smith and she totally turned him down because she's waiting for Will Bennet to ask her instead!" one girl with curly brown hair was whispering loudly to a large group of girls.
"No way's!" and "Oh My God's!" echoed around the circle until one brave girl spoke up.
"I heard that Will is already taking Sandra Grey," she said, matter-of-factly.
The onlookers gasped.
"But isn't he dating Elizabeth Dodds?" one girl asked.
"I guess not anymore!" the brown-haired girl replied, and they all squealed.
Lily just smiled as she past them and thought back to the days when she, too, sat around with her friends talking about boys and dances and dresses. In some ways, she missed it, in others, she was glad to be rid of the whole thing.
Lily continued down the hall, and as she passed a small huddle of boys, she couldn't help but listen in on what they were saying.
One boy with sandy hair and freckles was half hiding his bright red face in his hands. Another boy was trying to make him feel better while the rest laughed loudly at his misery.
"I can't believe I did that!" he was saying, loud enough for Lily to hear.
"It'll be ok, man...everyone will forget by tomorrow," the other boy was telling him. Just then a group of girls walked by. As they saw the first boy, they paused and then pointed and began giggling and rushed off to gossip about it.
The sandy-haired boy burst out crying and ran away up the stairs, much to the delight of his friends.
One of them turned to another and grinned. "Hey, did I tell you that I'm taking Amber James to the dance?" he bragged.
"You already asked her?" the other asked.
"Well, not yet, but is she really gonna say no?" he replied. The second boy laughed and high-fived the first.
Lily rolled her eyes and sneakily pointed her wand at the boy's bag. She whispered an incantation and grinned.
"Alright, man, time for class," the boy said. He reached down and picked up his book bag, and as he did, the seam split on the bottom and everything fell out onto the floor. The boy yelled out a loud obscenity, which made a teacher come running. She slapped the boy with a detention and told him to clean up his mess and get to class. The boy scowled as he lifted his bag; Lily grinned as she continued up the stairs to her office.

--

Lily was still smiling as she opened the door to her office. She dropped her mail and some class notes onto her desk and waved her wand at the kettle to start it boiling for tea. She didn't see Jason looming in the shadows.

Lily looked up as she heard the familiar and chilling Click! of a door being locked. Her heart began to pound, but she told herself to keep her cool and she stood up and turned around.
"Who's there?" she called out, even though the room was not large enough to need a yell.
There was a chuckle in one of the corners and Lily's eyes darted to the sound. She saw an outline, but couldn't make out a face.
Then he spoke. "Lily Evans...or should I say Potter? I heard you two lovebirds made up - pity."
Lily's squinted her eyes in hatred as she heard the familiar voice and her heart suddenly stopped pounding as the heat built up in her face.
"Jason," she spat through gritted teeth.
He walked out of the shadows, grinning visibly. Lily took a step back, and then rethought the move and stood her ground.
"Lillian."
"Nobody calls me that - why would I let you?" she cringed involuntarily at his smile. Then she pointed to the door, not taking her eyes from his for a second. "Now, leave," she ordered, coldly but with force.
"Not until you promise me," he walked closer to her as he spoke, "a dance at the ball." He finished and took her hand in his. Lily jerked out of his grasp but stayed where she was. The feel of his breath near her made Lily want to vomit, but she wouldn't back down and give him the satisfaction.
"Never, you pig," she replied, coolly.
"Oh, I think you might want to reconsider, Miss Evans," he told her, stepping even closer.
"Well, I think you might want to back off, Mr. Camden," Lily mocked.
"Yeah, why is that?" he whispered in her ear.
Suddenly, Lily turned around to face Jason, stepped hard on his foot to distract him before punching him once in the gut, giving him a sharp upper-cup to the chin and finally using the side of her hand to deliver a final blow to his neck.
Jason crumpled to the floor. Lily checked his pulse to make sure he was ok, and then his pupils to check that he was out and then smiled as she stood up and looked down at him.
"Because you don't mess with the daughter of London's finest Policeman and an angry feminist who teaches self-defense courses on the weekends!" she informed the unconscious pervert.

Lily stormed back and forth across Dumbledore's office, fuming at what she was hearing. Jason lay, still out cold, on a sofa in the corner.
"What do you mean you can't take any action!" Lily yelled.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting quietly behind his desk, Professor McGonagal fidgeting by his side.
"It's gross and despicable and he should be FIRED! I mean, am I the only one seeing this for what it really is: a complete disregard for another human being, her feelings, rights and basic protection? AM I?" Lily was spitting mad and red in the face.
"Miss Evans, if you please," Dumbledore spoke up, nodding to the chair across from him.
Lily threw him a glare, but pulled out the seat - quite violently - and sat with her arms folded squarely across her chest. She had never been this angry at anyone in her life, not even James, and she could never remember a time ever being mad at Dumbledore.
"Now that you are being a little more rational..."
Lily made a noise under her breath to show her contempt.
"Lily," McGonagal said, speaking up. "We really would do something if we could." Lily rolled her eyes like a 7-year-old. "But the fact is, Mr. Camden has been reprimanded for the previous incident - however, because he didn't touch you or put you in any actual physical danger, we cannot take any action against him -"
"That's because I knocked him out before he had a chance to touch me!" Lily jumped in, outraged.
"Yes, most impressive, by the way," Dumbledore piped up, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.
"Thank you sir...but I'm still very angry!" Lily replied.
"I can assure you, Lily, that he is walking a very, very fine line, -"
"That's not good enough!" Lily said, jumping up and storming towards the door. She pulled it open and flew down the spiral stairs, her legs carrying her as fast as they could as far as they could away from Dumbledore's office.

Minerva hung her head and sighed. Se looked over at Dumbledore.
"Well, he's really gotten himself into trouble this time, hasn't he," she mused.
Dumbledore nodded. "He has."
"Stupid boy!" McGonagal cried, sighing deeply.

As Lily raced down the hallway, she turned a corner and was shocked to see a pink-faced James standing across from her. She lunged at him without thinking, and tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Lily!" he cried. "Are you alright?"
Lily pulled her head back to look at him. "I'm ok - but how did you know?" she asked.
James smiled. "News travels fast around here - you of all people should know that!" Lily cocked her head, not quite understanding. "Remus found out and contacted me. I got here as quickly as I could."
Lily smiled through her tears.
"I'm so glad you're ok!" James said, kissing her on the forehead. "Now where is that jerk!" he yelled, pulling away.
"No, James!" We'll sort it out later...I just want to be with you right now..." Lily told him. "Please?"
James smiled and pulled her close. "Of course..." he replied as he hugged her shaking body.

--

A/N

There are two chapter left to this fic and they'll go up soon, but I want to give people time to read this chappie first.

Hope you liked it

Jes xo