AN: Happy Sunday everyone! To everyone that doesn't follow me on tumblr, I am sorry that I didn't give you a heads up that I wasn't going to post last weekend. I tried, but this chapter was giving me some trouble. I really hope that you like it though!
Enjoy!
Lily didn't leave the library with any answers, but she couldn't say that she didn't feel better, quipped with the extra knowledge that she had gathered. She also left with an armful of books that James insisted he carry back to her room for her.
And Lily let him, even though she was capable of doing it herself, because she wanted him to walk her back to her room.
It seemed a bit silly and frivolous to even entertain the idea of stealing a moment alone with James for anything other than plotting and scheming and planning, but she couldn't quite help herself.
"I hope you know that there will be no talking me out of sleeping on your couch tonight." He said as he managed to open her door with one hand while balancing the stack of books, quickly stepping inside so he could lean against the door and let her in.
She stepped past him, into the room, and shook her head. "Well no one can claim that chivalry is dead in Fairyland." She teased. "And I appreciate that, but you need to sleep. You stayed in the hospital wing all night. In a chair no less. You're not going to sleep well on that couch."
James shrugged and carefully set the books down on the table, quickly sorting them into smaller piles.
"I will be fine. I have slept in more uncomfortable places." He looked over at her. "Like the ground a few nights ago."
Lily shrugged a shoulder. "I'll just feel bad though. The beds in the castle are so comfortable. And I really don't think that Riddle is going to try something again tonight. Not in my dreams anyway."
James leaned against the table and crossed his arms. "I think you are right. He will try something soon though, and when he does, I would rather not have to track you down."
Because Riddle was going to come for her. At some point or another, he or a proxy of his, would come for her.
"Alright," She conceded. "I mean, if I knew how to better use magic, or if I had a way to defend myself that didn't depend on the land deciding when I can and cannot order people about, then I'd say no, but… I'd be more comfortable with you here as well."
"Then it is decided." James grinned. Lily couldn't help but smile back at him.
"I think I'd like to take a walk before dinner." She said, peeking out the window at the brilliant blue sky and the sunbeams cutting through the clouds. "Some fresh air sounds heavenly after being in the library all day while knowing that the sun was out."
"I can show you the gardens." James offered.
"That sounds wonderful. Let me just change out of my nightgown." He smiled and then slipped out of the room.
Lily pulled out her JanSport instead of going to the wardrobe, and dug out a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. She felt a lot more like herself when she had her own clothes on, and her hair braided and away from her face.
She picked up the bag and set it on one of the chairs by the table. As she went to zip it, she caught sight of Remus's invitation. She remembered standing in her room, worrying over whether or not she would need to bring it with her, to prove that someone had invited her, that she wasn't trespassing.
Not only had James come to assist her through the Forbidden Forest, but now she had come to realize that there were greater forces at play here. She would have ended up back here one way or another, because despite how the fae had made her feel as a child, she belonged her.
She took out the invitation and folded it into quarters before stuffing it back into the bag. She'd keep it because it was from Remus and she was too sentimental, but it was no longer permission to be in Fairyland.
oOo
James held her hand while they walked through the garden.
It would have taken them the rest of the evening to get through the garden with how often Lily was stopping to get a closer look at something. The micro-fairy family that lived in the knot of an ancient elm tree, the bird sized bumble bees that were napping in the sun atop flat boulders, the flowers that were literally dancing in the breeze. It was all peaceful and enchanting, and it was interrupted by Peter.
"What is going on, Peter?" James asked, his grip on her hand tightening just so. He didn't want to be interrupted. Lily looked over at him and then smiled down at the ground. "I expected you to be back later. Is everything alright?"
"No," Peter frowned. "No, I am afraid I come with bad news. Severus Snape is here, and he is asking for an audience with the two of you. On behalf of his master."
Lily's head snapped up and she looked from Peter to James to the front of the castle, where she assumed Snape would be waiting. She felt as though her feet were tingling again, like when she'd stood in front of Riddle. But this time it was more a comfort than concerning.
"Well then," Lily let go of James' hand and shoved her hands into her pockets. "I guess we should go and see what he wants." She toed off her trainers, letting her toes curl into the moss and grass and dirt beneath her. The buzzing intensified and she leaned down to pick up her shoes. She'd gone into the last situation unprepared and ignorant on how her magic worked.
This time, she didn't feel that way. She felt strong and ready.
She took a deep breath and then reached for James' hand again, feeling comforted when his fingers quickly laced through her own.
"Are you sure you are ready?" He asked.
"Yes," She nodded. Then she looked over at him. "Can you feel it?"
He narrowed his brow. "Feel what?"
"The magic." She shrugged. "The buzzing. I can feel it."
"Is that why you took off your shoes?" Peter asked, his head was tilted to the side. Lily looked down at her shoes in her hand and then laughed.
"I guess it is." She nodded. "I didn't realize that I had done that. Or, I hadn't realized that it was a strange thing to do anyway."
James shrugged. "Whatever makes you comfortable."
She smiled at him. "Where are we meeting him?"
"He is waiting in the throne room." Peter answered. "Sirius and Moody are with him. And Remus." He added. Remus wasn't a guard and he'd told her before they knew how much magic she had access to, that he was just as vulnerable as she was here.
"I don't think I've been in the throne room yet." Lily started walking toward Peter, who turned and began leading them to Snape.
"It is quite lovely most of the time," James said conversationally, as though they weren't walking toward a man who had kidnapped Lily, who was here to deliver a message from a man who had tried to kill the both of them, who wanted to take James' throne and exploit Lily's magic. As though it was just another day.
"Is it? Well, I would expect nothing less. The entire castle is beautiful. It looks like it's been taken straight from a storybook."
They continued the rest of the way in silence, moving at a normal pace so that when they got to the doors of the throne room, they walked in looking completely at ease. Snape was standing in the middle of the room and when he turned around to face them, Lily made sure to drop her shoes at the edge of the door.
"You're right," She said, looking around the room at the floor to ceiling windows, the artfully decorated ceiling, and the stone carvings on the walls. "This room is absolutely beautiful." She continued to let her gaze wonder before she looked at Snape.
He was looking at their linked hands.
"Well," James said, leading Lily up to the raised platform on the far side of the room, where two thrones sat side by side. "What message do you bring us?"
"You are a stupid and foolish girl," Snape spit out instead. Lily raised her brows slightly.
"Really?" She asked.
"You think he has not heard the prophecy as well? You think he does not intend to use you for his own purpose?"
"How dare you come here-" But Lily squeezed James' hand and he stopped.
Lily bit the tip of her tongue for a moment, "You fae males think that you are so much better than mortal men. But you're motivated by the same things. Pride and envy. Greed and want. And most of you all feel comfortable assuming that women, fae or otherwise, are incapable of intelligent thought. I can't be glamoured, I can't be tricked, so please explain yourself to me. You tried to force me to accept your home as my prison, you tried to trick me into agreeing to marry you. Are you simply angry that I am willing to stay here without magic tricking me, or are you too stupid to see the difference in situation?"
He glowered at her, brow furrowed, and hands clenched at his sides.
"You came here with a message," James repeated, and though his face remained stoic, she could hear the smile in his voice. "What is it?"
Snape continued to glare at Lily, and she held his gaze until he looked toward James. "Lord Riddle is challenging you, Prince James, to a duel. On the deadlands, in two days' time."
Lily's heart started racing. She knew that this was coming, a duel seemed to fit perfectly with what she thought Riddle was planning, but knowing that something was coming and hearing it confirmed were two very different things.
"A duel?" James sounded unbothered. Sirius actually laughed from beside Snape. Lily had to work to retain her own air of nonchalance. "And why does your master believe that I will accept a duel from him? I have no reason to."
Snape grinned at James and Lily tightened her grip on his hand. "If you refuse, I was instructed to inform you that we have the Hollows surrounded. It has thus far remained untouched by the darkness, but that is not the only threat it faces."
"You come here, to my home, with threats against my people?" James asked, his voice low and cold. He sounded dangerous.
"Accept the duel, your highness, and your people's safety is guaranteed. You and your friends have not found a way to curb the darkness, to harness it or deter it, Lord Riddle however controls it. If you accept the duel, he will leave the Hollows forever untouched."
"And if I do not accept," James's voice still made him sound slightly unhinged and Lily didn't know how Snape was standing before him looking as though he was enjoying what was happening. "He will wipe out the town like he did with the others? Is he hoping to win the people's favor through fear?"
Snape shook his head. "He is not in need of the people's favor. Favor and loyalty can be such fickle things. What message should I bring back to my Lord? Do you accept the duel, or the demise of your people?"
James looked over at Lily, his eyes as hard as his voice. She wished she knew what he needed to see from her in that moment, but all she could think to do was squeeze his hand again. He looked back at Snape. "Of course, I accept his duel."
"Excellent. I know that he will be pleased."
"Yes, well run off and tell him," Sirius said, reaching over and turning Snape toward the door. "Running errands is really all you are good for anyway."
"Quickly," Moody added. "Before I change my mind, toss you in the dungeon and go tell Riddle myself."
Severus simply nodded, looking far to smug for Lily's liking. She wished she could make him feel the fear she had felt when he'd thrown her to the floor of his dining room.
But instead, she watched him walked calmly out the door, her anger subsiding to worry when he was out of sight.
oOo
"We knew that this was coming," James said when the doors to the private dining room were closed. Monty had joined them, sitting quietly at the head of the table. "We knew that he was going to challenge us."
"Not like this." Remus sighed, his head in his hands. He sat at the opposite end of the table as Monty, off to the side. "What does he get by challenging you? Your father holds the title still."
"I am an old man," Monty waved his hand away. "Riddle knows that if he defeats James, which he will not, then I am not an obstacle."
"Dad," James sighed heavily and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do not talk like that."
"I said that you would not lose," Monty grinned. "So, I have nothing to worry about." But his smile was shallow, and his eyes gave him away. Riddle had told them that he could not be killed by any mortal. James was mortal. The only way he would win, was if he got Riddle to concede, and Lily couldn't think of a way to make that happen.
"You are one of the most powerful fae of our time, James," Sirius agreed with Monty. "If anyone stands a chance against Riddle, split soul or not, it is you, brother."
James crossed his arms over his chest and nodded at Sirius, "Thank you, but votes of confidence are not going to do much to keep Riddle from taking the throne. He cannot be killed by mortal means," He looked at Lily. "You even said as much."
She had, when she and the land had been connected and she was given both power and knowledge to knock Riddle off his feet. "He cannot be killed by a mortal." She repeated. "But you don't have to kill him in order to best him."
"Maybe he'll show up with no hands and you can challenge him to a sword fight instead." Remus suggested, attempting to smile. "Or, the duel is in two days, just bring me with you and stipulate that the duel has to be after sunset-"
"Remus," James sighed, relaxing his arms only to rub his hands on his eyes. "I would never put you in that kind of danger or take advantage of your curse like that."
"And werewolves are not immortal," Monty said, folding his hands in front of him. "But let us keep coming up with more ideas. Lily?"
Lily looked at him and knew that he was asking more of her than to come up with an idea. She'd been brought back to fairyland by some kind of magic, to end Riddle's dark reign over the land, to heal what he had been broken. She had no idea how to do that, but she had exactly two days to figure it out.
"Maybe we really will get lucky and he'll show up without his hands," She shrugged, because suggesting that she take James' place here, in front of everyone, would not go over well. But she kept her eyes on Monty, so he knew that she understood what his question had meant.
Sirius noticed the look though. "James has agreed to the duel, Lily. I know that things work differently in the mortal world, but that means that he has to fight in the duel."
Monty nodded and James looked back and forth from Lily to his father.
"I know." Lily nodded. "I'm still learning how magic works, but I do understand the bit about making deals quite well. I've gone half my life doing everything I can to avoid making any kind of deal with a fae."
"But not all of fairyland." James gave her a small grin and it didn't reach his eyes.
"I didn't really know that the land was sentient enough to make a deal with." Lily shrugged, smiling back at him. "Though I've not yet regretted that deal. Made accidentally or not."
Remus stood up from the table and started pacing. He would only stop feeling guilty for bringing her here after this was all over. She could understand that to an extent, but she had told him time and time again that this is where she wanted to be.
"You are already such a strong queen," Monty stood up as well. "There are many who would have turned and run by now."
"Lily's never known how to do that," Remus didn't sound happy about it, but Monty was smiling.
James walked over and put a hand on her back. "Let's try and eat so we can get some rest." He said, his hand trailing up and down, as though he were trying to comfort her. He was the one that needed comforting though, the crease on his forehead, the tension in his shoulders, the slight pull of his lips, it was all very telling.
She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "That sounds like a great plan."
When they were back in her room later that night, they were both quiet, both lost in thought, both trying to come up with a solution to a problem that seemed impossible.
James took off his jacket and draped it over the back of a chair before he took a seat on the couch. Lily went and sat on the edge of her bed, pulling her legs up and crossing them under her. She watched James, crouch over and rest his elbows on his knees.
"It's been a long day." Lily said, reaching up and touching the burns on her neck. It had happened less than twenty-four hours ago, and yet the memory of it already felt so distant. "You haven't slept in a while."
He looked up at her and grinned. "I'm alright." His eyes darted to her neck and then up to her eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm worried about you,"
He stood from the couch and walked toward her, reaching out and brushing her hair back away from her face, his fingers trailing over her cheek. "I do not need you to worry about me. "
"You used a contraction a moment ago. I am worried."
James laughed and stepped even closer. Lily reached up and rested her hand on his wrist. He kept his hand where it was, and Lily forgot to breath for a moment.
"Lily?"
"James?"
His thumb brushed against her cheek and it felt like taking a breath of cold air in the fall, jumping off a log into the middle of a pond, squishing your toes in moss, crunching leaves beneath your feet. Sparks of small joy, bursting against her skin as his thumb moved back and forth.
"Can I kiss you?"
Those sparks grew and a storm of something stronger than butterflies rattled behind her ribcage.
"Please do."
He was already so close, and he wasted no time in erasing the remaining space between them after she gave permission.
She was supposed to be here. She had never been more sure of that than when James used his hands to cup her face and pull her close. Whatever powers that were out there, pulling her to fairyland, they were also pulling her to James.
His lips felt like fire against her own, and her hands slid up his chest, to the base of his neck so she could pull him closer.
Like everything else when she compared it to the mortal world, this kiss was more. It felt more, it reached further, it pulled her in closer. But now she didn't know if that was because of the magic that thrummed through fairyland, or if it was just because she was kissing James. It felt brighter and warmer and just… more. James had felt that way since she'd seen him in the woods, smirking at her from where he had sat on a tree branch.
She was completely breathless when he pulled away. He appeared to stumble as he stepped back, though he kept his hands on her face and his eyes were honed in on her own. The golds and greens and browns overtaken by his pupils, and there was that familiar glint of mischief in them, as though he had just done something he knew he shouldn't have, but he was going to get away with it. The way his lips were tugging up at the corner only amplified his somewhat smug demeanor.
Maybe Lily would have felt that way a few days ago, like she shouldn't be allowed to kiss James. But with him standing at the edge of her bed, his hands cupping her face like she was something precious to hold, not delicately as though she might break, she didn't feel like she shouldn't be here with him.
Of course this is where she should be.
And so she leaned forward and kissed him again.
Thank you for your patience while I tried to write this chapter. I'm sorry that I didn't have it ready last weekend, but sometimes kiss scenes come easily to me and sometimes they really, really don't. This one was hard and took some time.
Anyway! Let me know what you think!