A/N: Ooookay, I left you guys in a cliffie, but because I'm updating (strangley) during the week, you'll most likely read this chapter & the last chapter together. Reviews would be extremely appreciated!
"Let her go!" James yelled. He couldn't let them hurt her; he would never forgive himself.
"Awww, is James afraid for his mudblood girlfriend?" Alicia sneered at him, as Snape immobilized Lily with a spell.
"Lily!" He yelled, before Snape started to drag her outside the circle of popular kids. James scrambled from the edge of the water, in an attempt to get Lily from Snape's hands; but he was stopped by Alicia.
"Wow, you really do care about her," Alicia said, finding out about one of James's rare weaknesses.
"That's not for you to know," James snarled at her, pushing past. But Alicia had her plan. She attempted once to hex James; but failed. So she opted for plan B: to disarm him. If he didn't have his wand, he wouldn't know how to defend himself and Lily. But what Alicia didn't realize, was that there were more ways to do serious damage to another person.
James didn't even realize when he was unarmed by Alicia. He just kept his pace towards Snape and Lily, and reached Snape just as outside the circle of snickering 7th years. Of course, Snape stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw James as close as he was to him. He definetly didn't expect this. The way Alicia explained her 'plan' to him, was that he was to take Lily away from the circle they had made around her, near that tree that James always sat under, and hex her until Alicia gave the word to stop. Severus didn't expect her to ever give the word to stop; and he planned to hex her until her death. So when he realized that James had gotten past Alicia, he had to improvise. He pointed his wand to Lily's forehead (just like a gun) and said,
"James, you come any closer, and your mudblood gets it." Of course, James stopped as soon as Snape pointed his wand directly at Lily. But it only took him a few seconds to think about what to do next.
James threw a punch at Snape, knocking the wand out of his hand. Lily backed away from Snape, and then thought better of the action. She figured she should help James; even though he did seem to be doing just fin on his own:
He had knocked the wind out of Snape, and he was now practically passed out on the ground. The popular kids that had made the circle around her; well the ones that figured they could hold their own against James; had come after him. Of course this was very few, so he only had to beat off about 4 or 5 7th year boys; who were in quidditch shape. But what Lily saw was the most important thing out of that whole scene; Alicia had turned around to face James, and was now slowly pointing her wand at him; as if to decide whether to hex him or not. Lily's mind then clicked. Alicia had told James that she liked him because Alicia knew what his reaction be, and she figured it would ruin Lily's chances to get James. Alicia told him to ruin Lily's chances because Alicia liked James. It was all quite obvious then, but Liyl suspected that Alicia was working for Voldemort, and he had instructed her to do away with James. But Lily couldn't let Alicia do that! It would be a terrible mistake; plus Lily couldn't imagine life without James. He was her everything.
Lily walked in between Alicia and James
"I don't think you should do that," Lily stated in a very calm voice.
"How do you know what I'm planning on doing?" Alicia asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"Because I know. I know who you're working for; that you like James; that you were told to kill him. And I also know that a 7th year student would have to be very advanced in the art of Defense against the Dark Arts; and hexes; to perform a working Avada Kedavra. So the most you would do is put him into a coma." Alicia looked shocked at what Lily said. She lowered her wand; but only slightly.
"So? So what if I like James; you have him already. I want to kill him because my Lord told me to do so. What he wants; I want. And I can produce a proper Avada Kedavra; I have already. Would you like me to practice before I kill him on you? Or will you step aside like a smart mudblood to watch your betraying boyfriend die before he even hits the ground." Alicia had regained her confidence; and she meant business. That's why Lily grabbed the wand out of Alicia's hand, and tackled her to the ground. The girls had a full-out fist fight that ended when James pulled Lily off of Alicia.
"Come on Lily, she's not worth it." Lily looked up at James's face. It had various cuts and scrapes all over; but the worst was a gash on his cheek. She hugged him as soon as it sunk in that he was actually still alive. She didn't realize it until then; but those teens were trying to kill both of them; it wasn't just an attempt at scaring her and bullying. She was really afraid for James's life.
"What happened? It was just a fistfight. You're okay. Let's get out of here," James said as they met up with their shocked friends (who weren't very far away) and walked back to the Gryffindor common room.
