Author's Note:
Hey so here goes another chapter...Review Please, it makes me happy and more motivated to update faster ;-)
Hope you all are enjoying the story and as usual let me know if you have any comments, questions or suggestions. Also I've been thinking of posting a summary of the upcoming chapter on my profile page...what do you think?
Another Collision, A Birthday Bash and an Unexpected Setback
Lily dashed toward the scarlet steam engine pulling her trunk along behind her. She was not just a little bit late, she was really late. Her mother hadn't woken her up in time and her dad had then proceeded to drive five under the limit all the way to the train station despite her pleas for him to hurry. So now here she was looking a complete mess, having worn the first thing she could find, and dragging her heavy trunk along in a desperate attempt to make it to the train in time.
She was nearing her destination when someone accidentally bumped into her sending her sprawling onto the concrete her things flying every which way.
"Oh dear I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Lily pushed herself up off the ground and into a sitting position.
"Yes I'm fine." She answered back politely looking over her scraped up palms and the rip in her jeans.
"I take it you were running late. Here let me help you."
Lily looked up at the woman who was now rushing to cast summoning spells to collect all of her scattered belongings and stared. Merlin she was beautiful! Her hair was piled up on top of her head in an elegant manner and she wore clothes that while they looked casual were no doubt really expensive. The way she moved was so graceful it only made Lily feel all the more ridiculous for having gone flying through the air. But what really struck Lily about her was the fact that her hair, for all it's elegance, was the exact shade of red as her own and damn it if she didn't wish she could pull it off like the woman in front of her.
"Charlotte." A familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind Lily.
"Oh…Jason." The woman looked up from gathering Lily's things and into the eyes of none other than James' Dad.
"I got James all settled with Sirius what's…Lily?"He said in surprise as he looked down at the young woman still sitting dazed on the pavement.
"Lily?!" The woman gasped. "You mean I knocked over…but I didn't…"
Jason put an arm around his wife consolingly before leading her over to where Lily sat.
"I think I can guess what happened." He put in giving Lily a conspiratorial smirk.
"I didn't mean to send her crashing to the ground." Charlotte put in elbowing her husband playfully. "She was in such a hurry too I…"
Lily jumped up just as a sharp whistle sounded throughout the station.
"Oh no...the train!" She breathed and reached for the bag Mrs. Potter was holding. "Thankyou so much for getting my things, and I'm terribly sorry to have run into you like that. And I'm even more sorry for being so rude and taking off like this but I'm afraid I'm about to be left behind."
Charlotte elbowed her husband again just as Lily was reaching for her trunk.
"Oh…right. Here let me get that for you. I can get it there faster." He supplied levitating it with his wand and directing it toward the train. Lily and Charlotte dashed off after him, Lily still trying to collect herself somewhat.
"I didn't really think this is how I would end up meeting you." Charlotte chuckled wryly.
"Huh?"
"Oh it's just that James, my son, has told us so much about you. I just always envisioned something a little more…graceful, on my part."
Lily laughed and smiled at Mrs. Potter brightly as they dashed toward the train.
"I don't know if I would have been able to handle meeting you, if you had seemed any more wonderful than you do right now." She supplied.
At that moment they approached the train that was just beginning to move forward and as Mr. Potter managed to get Lily's trunk onto the luggage compartment Lily went dashing off toward one of the passenger cars.
"It was wonderful meeting you Mrs. Potter!" She yelled as she ran. "And it was good to see you again Mr. Potter! Thankyou for all your help…" She latched on to the first handle available to her and pulled herself up onto the platform of the car.
She looked back and saw that James' parents were smiling and waving at her as the train disappeared from sight.
What else am I going to get myself into today? She thought shaking her head at her crazy morning.
***
"So…" Jason drawled. "What's the verdict Char?"
His wife turned to him with a smile.
"She said I was wonderful. And she's so polite. And Merlin is she beautiful and…"
Jason covered his wife's mouth with his hand.
"So I take it you like her then? I told you that would be the case."
Charlotte nodded and gently pulled his hand away.
"I like her very much. Did you see she was wearing the necklace?"
***
Lily approached the compartment that her friends were all occupying and found Sirius and Remus sitting on James' chest and legs as he lay struggling on the floor.
"Hi." She said sounding out of breath. "What's going on?"
"Lily!" Alice shrieked throwing herself at her best friend. "The boys were just having a debate as to whether or not to go and look for you."
"Lily." James sat up suddenly throwing Remus and Sirius to the ground. "You're here."
"See," Sirius supplied standing up huffily. "I told you she was alright." Then Sirius looked over at Lily and his eyes widened. "What the hell happened to you?"
Lily frowned and moved past the boys to take a seat on the floor near the window, as she had on the way home for the Christmas holiday.
"For your information Black I ran into James' mother." She supplied trying to flatten her hair, straighten her shirt and examine the rip in her pants.
"James' mother did that to you?" Sirius questioned sitting down next to Marlene.
"No...I mean yes…well that is…I mean sort of..." Lily supplied digging through her bag to find a hair brush.
"So you met my mum then?" James asked cautiously taking the seat behind Lily's head.
"Yes I did. I didn't expect her to be so…" Lily searched for the right words.
"Foxy?" Sirius supplied.
"Padfoot!" James chided. "Please this is my mum we're talking about."
"I know mate and if she weren't your mother you'd be the first to admit she's damn sexy. Even Remus will say so." Sirius looked to him questioningly.
Remus shrugged, "Your mum is pretty gorgeous James."
"Try like absolutely knock-out beautiful. If she weren't married to your dad mate and I were older oh Merlin I'd…"
"Padfoot I swear if you make one more comment about my mum being anything other than a great cook I'm going to come over there and beat the shit out of you!" James growled.
Sirius held up his hands in surrender and tried to look innocent while their friends laughed.
"Your mom is really gorgeous James. You have to admit it. But then again your mom is a lucky woman as well." Marlene said and looked at Dorcas and Alice grinning mischievously. "I mean have you seen his dad? It's like James, with blue eyes and lots of muscle. I used to love spending time at James' house when I was little just to see his dad."
"For the love of Rowena Ravenclaw can we please stop discussing how attractive my parents are?" James pleaded.
"Fine mate but all were saying is it's easy to see why they can't keep their hands off of each other all the time. Besides, Lily's the one who brought it up." Sirius teased.
Lily scowled as she finally managed to free her hairbrush from the tangle of items taking up residence in her bag. "I did not. I was going to say I didn't expect his mom to be so open and likeable."
"What did you expect?" James asked taking the brush from her hand.
"I can do that." Lily said, turning about to look at him.
"I know." He replied pulling her about until her back rested between his legs. "Now answer the question."
Lily sighed as he began brushing the tangles out of her hair, rather carefully it seemed like.
"I don't know I guess you just always hear horror stories about meeting guys' mothers for the first time and she was nothing like that at all. I would have thought she would have been more reserved or something."
"So what happened exactly? I mean I'm pretty sure my mum isn't the type to just throw you down onto the pavement." James asked.
Lily looked at her scraped up palms again frowning as she thought over her answer.
"We sort of ran into each other." She admitted bashfully.
"Again? I mean isn't that how you met my dad too?" James teased.
Dorcas laughed and broke in, "Wait. You mean Lily ran into your dad when she first met him too? Like literally ran into them both?"
"He was really very nice about it." Lily blushed further.
"Of course he was. He probably looked at you and saw a younger version of his wife. It probably took him back to his Hogwarts days." Sirius chuckled.
"Wait go back to the you ran into him part…is he as solid as he looks?" Marlene asked grinning evilly.
"Yea Lily," Alice added. "I mean all that muscle it must have been like running into a wall. Did he put his arms around you to catch you?"
"Ooh did you get a good look at his eyes?" Dorcas added. "I love blue eyes."
Lily smiled at her friends even though she could feel James bristling behind her.
"I didn't look at him all that closely," She replied evenly. "Besides blue eyes aren't my thing."
She didn't have to look behind her to know James was smiling widely now. Her friends exchanging looks of interest said enough. She changed the topic to what everyone did over the holiday and was grateful when the others took off exchanging stories and laughing at one another.
After a while James leaned down and handed her the brush back.
"Oh thanks." She said taking it and placing it back in the bag.
She hadn't realized she'd let him sit and run his fingers through her hair for a long while after he'd finished brushing it.
James smiled and answered back softly into her ear, "I should be the one thanking you for being so wonderful."
Lily bit her bottom lip to keep from grinning and turned her attention once again to the stories being exchanged.
She supposed that one good thing about her colliding with James' mum was that it distracted them both from their last encounter with one another. Lily had wondered for the briefest of moments when looking at James again, if he had replayed their kiss outside the Leaky Cauldron in his mind as many times as she had since they'd parted. Then she had abruptly cut off her train of thought, telling herself she was being ridiculous. She had absolutely no reason to be thinking about James in that way…they were just friends.
It wasn't until they were close to their stop that Alice noticed her newest piece of jewelry.
"Oh my gosh Lil, did you get that for Christmas?" She breathed leaning forward to get a better look it.
Lily looked startled.
"What? Oh you mean the necklace…yes it was one of my presents." She said feigning nonchalance.
"Wow it's beautiful!" Marlene breathed. "Can I see it?"
Lily frowned.
"You mean you want me to take it off?"
Marlene nodded extending her hand for Lily to put the necklace into it.
"Uh…I don't really take it off." Lily scrambled for an explanation. "I mean it's sort of expensive, I think…and I am still getting used to wearing it."
Marlene looked at her oddly and then looked at Dorcas who shrugged in response. Alice looked at her shrewdly, causing Lily to wonder if she maybe knew more than Lily would like her to.
Lily tried to look as if everything were normal but she could tell by the way James had once again gone still behind her that he was waiting to see her reaction. She looked up to see that aside from a rather amused expression on his face Sirius was keeping quiet. She didn't know why but she assumed he knew that James had given her the necklace. There wasn't much the two of them didn't tell each other.
"Did your Dad get it for you?" Alice asked curiously still admiring the necklace.
"No."
Lily pretended not to notice her friends staring at her still waiting for an answer. Just as Dorcas began to ask another question Lily was saved by the train coming to a stop.
"Oh we're back already. Time sure flies huh?" She mumbled as she scrambled quickly.
She kept on rambling, feeling hot and flustered, right up until they stepped off the train, sighing in relief when no one brought up the necklace again. She wondered for a moment if maybe she should take it off to keep everyone from being so curious but oddly that felt wrong.
She couldn't help but wonder why James hadn't jumped in with an explanation, or even Sirius for that matter. She herself didn't really understand why, despite the fact that she wanted to wear the necklace, she couldn't bring herself to admit to everyone who it had come from.
****
A month back into term Lily and James seemed like they were on their way to being something more than friends. They could be seen doing any number of things together including taking walks, studying in the common room or reading side by side near the lake.
And while things seemed to be moving in the right direction for them they were also moving along for her friends. The girls had found out the first night back that Alice had been writing to Frank Longbottom all Christmas holliday. The two of them it seemed were hitting it off.
Remus and Dorcas seemed to be following the same route, or so it seemed as they were often seen in each others company each with a somewhat love-struck expression upon their face.
"So what are we going to do for Lily's seventeenth?" Alice asked the group at large as they sat in the common room one evening.
"Well it is on a Sunday, so maybe we could have it Saturday the twenty-ninth." Marlene put in as she moved her rook. She and Sirius had taken to playing chess against one another most evenings.
"You guys, please, let's not get crazy here. I mean it's just a birthday. Can't we just do something simple like hang out together by the lake and then have cupcakes."
"Oh please we both know you don't really even like cake. So why would we come up here and eat cupcakes…that's ridiculous." Alice informed her saucily. "I think we should go with my suggestion, since we didn't do it for Marlene's birthday."
Lily groaned.
"Alice honestly I just can't see myself letting some stranger decorate my body in a semi-private place."
The four Marauders looked at them with interest.
"What are you two on about?" Remus asked curiously.
"Alice wants us all to go get wizarding tattoos. But we aren't completely sold. Lily especially doesn't want to have to reveal anything to get it but she knows that if it is visible her mum and dad will probably murder her in her sleep." Dorcas supplied. "I'm inclined to agree with Lily as my dad isn't the sort to be amused by my getting a tattoo."
"I just don't fancy the idea of some stranger ogling me in order to get something that I'm not sure I want anyway." Lily supplied wrinkling her nose.
She pretended not to notice James' look of approval.
Alice sighed. "Fine I'll give you guys more time to think about them…we'll get them on Dorcas' birthday instead."
"Well that's all good and fine," Marlene chuckled, "but that doesn't answer the question of what we are going to do for Lily's seventeenth birthday."
Sirius suddenly looked up from their game, his grin impish.
"How about you leave that to us Marauders."
Lily opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by Alice and Dorcas' instant cries of agreement.
"Wait a minute you guys I…"
"This is going to be great." Alice chirped, then looked up to see Frank coming through the portrait hole. "I'm going to go invite Frank."
Lily groaned, "Wait Alice I haven't…." she sighed as her friend marched off without listening to her, "agreed to anything." She finished lamely.
"Come on Lily. It won't be that bad." Peter encouraged.
"Ya Lils." Marlene put in. "You never know you might actually have a really good time."
She sighed in defeat, already knowing that any further arguing was probably pointless.
James grinned as she slumped down into the cushions. If he had anything to do with it, she was going to have a really great birthday.
****
The night that Lily's friends threw their extravagant seventeenth birthday celebration in the common room for her was definitely more fun than she had thought it would be. The Marauders had gone all out decorating the common room in scarlet and gold and stringing all sorts of lights across the ceiling, and along the stair railings, making the atmosphere somewhat romantic. There was a butterbeer fountain in the middle of the snack table and a plethora of Honedukes and Hogwarts sweets littering the table.
Lily was thankful at least that most people had gone along with her pleas and kept the gift giving to a minimum. She had privately informed James in particular that, after his somewhat over the top Christmas gift, he was under no circumstances to buy her anything for her birthday. He had reluctantly agreed.
The party was in full swing, people were enjoying themselves immensely and James was happy to see Lily having fun while dancing with her friends.
"I guess we did an alright job eh Prongs?" Sirius remarked tipping his head at Lily.
"Yea she seems like she is having a good time."
James smiled in amusement as the song ended and Lily was dragged over to his and Sirius' corner by Alice.
Sirius grinned mischievously and grabbed ahold of Alice the second she was within reach.
"Come on Prewett. Tell us." He teased his arms wrapping around her middle and tickling her sides.
Alice struggled through her laughter attempting to break free.
"Tell you…wha..what?"
"You know what. Tell us how you feel about Longbottom."
"I'm not saying anything to you Sirius. You have the biggest… mmmm…mu…mouth of anyone in Hogwarts." She chuckled.
"I'm hurt, really I am, to think you would believe that I would tell him you like him. Because we all know you like him Alice. We aren't blind." Sirius informed still tickling her mercilously.
"So what if I do?" Alice managed through her giggles. "Wha…what's it to you?"
Sirius stopped instantly.
"To me? Nothing. But to Frank it's sure something."
Alice straightened and saw the guy in question headed straight for her. She turned her attention to Sirius whose look was daring her to man up and tell Frank how she felt.
"You know Black." Alice remarked grabbing his upper arm. "You might want to take up your own challenge someday huh?" Her gaze shifted meaningfully to Marlene, who stood over by a window looking over the party with a smile on her face, before she let go of him and went prancing toward the oncoming Frank.
"So Prewett." He said upon her reaching him, loudly enough for most of their half of common room to have heard it. "What's a guy got to do to get a date with you anyway?"
Lily watched happily as Alice smiled widely and shrugged.
"I don't know. What's a girl got to do to get a date with you?" She mimed
Frank grinned and dipped his head down to Alice's ear whispering something meant only for her. Then Alice lifted her head and smiling like mad said,
"Well you should have said something. I would have done it a long time ago."
And with that she stretched up on her toes and kissed him. Lily, James and Sirius clapped along with the rest of the common room as Frank wrapped his arms around Alice and carried her off to a more private corner.
"Ahh young love. Now if only Moony would get a move on with Meadows." Sirius put in watching as Remus danced with Dorcas.
James frowned and eyeing Lily worriedly said, "You know he has his reasons."
"He shouldn't let one minor little problem interfere with his love life." Sirius replied with a shrug.
"You know to him it's more than that." James answered back, once again looking worriedly at Lily.
"If you are trying to skirt around the fact that Remus is…" Lily looked around cautiously. "A werewolf because you are worried I'll find out I can assure you I've known for years. I figured it out when we were second years. I'm smart enough to figure out where he goes every month, considering the timing."
"Please tell me you haven't told anyone." Sirius said harshly, causing James to shoot him a warning look.
"Of course not, it's not my place to tell."
James exchanged an awkward look with Sirius and sighed before asking Lily. "How come you've never said anything about it to him?"
"Because it wasn't my place to say anything, besides it's up to Remus to decide if he wants to tell me or anyone else for that matter. I can't say I wouldn't be just as afraid of rejection if I were him. It's bad enough being muggleborn in this place. Half the time I feel I'm not wanted."
Sirius grin turned from anxious to amused as he looked from Lily to James.
"Oh trust me Lily-flower you are wanted all right. Probably more wanted than you can imagine."
Lily blushed as James elbowed his best friend in the stomach.
She then excused herself to go and see Marlene, when she found her she was leaning against a window looking at Sirius and James as they talked heatedly.
"You would think I would give up on him after all this time…" Marlene said quietly her eyes on Sirius. "I just wish he'd give me a shot you know."
"I know." Lily replied. "We all know you've been waiting for him to wise up for years. I mean you even went all through forth year not dating anyone in case he decided to ask you out."
"A fat lot of good that did me, at least the next year I dated around. Now I'm back to square one again. Single and pining for someone who won't give me the time of day."
Lily sighed and turned to look out the window wondering, not for the first time that year, if maybe she had made a similar mistake with James.
"Maybe he just needs to know that he is what you want." She supplied. "Maybe if you hint to him that he's what you are looking for then he'll start to get the message."
Marlene snorted in frustration, "Something tells me it won't get through that easily."
Alice came rushing over with Frank in tow, her face flushed with excitement.
"Come on Lily it's time for you to blow out the candles."
Lily allowed herself to be towed along with Frank over to a couch that had been moved against the wall, the coffee table in front of it was cleared of all empty cups and plates.
Everyone gathered around as Remus came over with a three tiered cake, with white frosting and complete with emerald green decorative icing in the shape of lilies.
Marlene bent over the back of the couch to whisper in Lily's ear.
"Sirius told me that since you had forbidden James to buy you anything he oversaw every step of the house elves making your cake."
Lily blushed slightly but smiled wide as the candles were lit and the crowd began singing 'Happy Birthday' to her.
She blew out the candles to a chorus of cheers and clapping. Her smile if possible grew even wider when she realized that the cake was in fact an ice-cream cake, complete with her three favorite flavors, one in each tier.
She chose the mint chocolate chip layer and set about eating a huge slice, telling herself more than once that she really enjoyed ice-cream and that her happiness about the cake had nothing to do with how much effort James had put into making it and everything to do with her enjoying her birthday celebration in general.
She grinned fabulously at James as she took a huge bite. All in all she had had a pretty great birthday.
****
It was nearing the middle of February when all James' hard work shattered into a million pieces.
"Come on mate don't you think it's about time you asked her out again?" Sirius prodded from his bed.
The four Marauders were each sitting on their own four poster their curtains drawn up and back as they threw a muggle baseball, stolen from some first year back when they were third years, back and forth between each of their beds.
"I can't. It has to be her decision this time." James replied sounding determined.
"Prongs mate, what if she never does that?"
"She will." Remus broke in. "I mean look at how far we've come from last year."
"Ya she'll come around." Peter put in catching the baseball Remus threw him and launching it back.
"But what if James goes through seventeen years of life never getting laid, never fooling around, never even kissing another girl, at least since third or fourth year, and all because he's waiting on Lily Evans and she never decides to date him."
"Thanks Padfoot that's really reassuring." James muttered crossly. "Besides when I do sleep with someone I'd like it to actually mean something if that's alright with you?"
"Hey I'm not saying it can't mean something. All I'm saying is you are sixteen and virginal. Hell Wormtail might not even be a virgin anymore and Moony doesn't count cause his circumstances are different. You are gonna be seventeen soon and your holding out for this one girl when there are dozens upon dozens of girls who would love to be with a good-looking, intelligent, athletic and rich bloke such as yourself. Your wasting your blessings here Prongs."
James sighed. "Look I know you don't understand it. Hell I don't even understand it sometimes but I just can't bring myself to even try to be with anyone but her. I've thought about it you know I have. I even kissed a few girls third and fourth year trying things out. It just never fit okay. I only want Lily."
"Merlin the standards you set for yourself are higher than the tower we're in." Sirius muttered. "I mean have you seen Lily Evans. She's drop dead out of this world beautiful…kind of like your mum. And she's smart. And she's…"
"I think he's already figured all of this out Padfoot." Remus chuckled.
"Yes well…" Sirius cleared his throat. "All I'm saying is if James is looking for a way to put losing his virginity up on a pedestal he's definitely figured it out."
James groaned. "Can we please stop talking about the fact that I'm still a virgin? Please? Merlin it's embarrassing enough without having my best friends analyze it for me. I know I'm a virgin and that's bad enough okay?"
His friends all chuckled.
"Come on James if we don't tease you you'll just get all arrogant again and then you'd lose Lily altogether." Sirius said.
"Do you really think I'm starting to make progress with her?" James asked worriedly.
"Yup. One of these days she might even let you kiss her." Sirius teased tossing the baseball back to James with a cheeky smile.
James blushed slightly, "Ya who knows." He answered feeling awkward about not telling his friends he had already done that albeit somewhat accidentally.
But there was something about the kiss he'd shared with Lily that had him keeping it to himself. It wasn't that it wasn't a great kiss, because it was. It was a flat out perfect kiss, and she hadn't slapped or cursed him at all afterward. The problem was he knew if he told them they would read more into it than there actually was. He was astute enough to know that Lily wasn't ready for that sort of thing. Things were going well between them, but he knew that at this point in time he was lucky enough to just have Lily's friendship. Anything more would probably scare her off him for awhile and then who knew where they would be in relation to one another. Ignoring their kiss for the time being was his best course of action. He would just have to settle for replaying it in his head every other moment of the day.
"Well mate. Tomorrow is another day perhaps it will be your big day." Sirius put in jovially.
James grinned, a guy could only hope.
****
The next day was the worst day of James' life.
He was on his way to Potions and he was early, having left his friends still eating breakfast in the Great Hall, since he needed to speak with Slughorn about his latest assignment, when he rounded the corner and heard a group of Slytherin's talking down the corridor.
"I mean honestly if she'll do Potter she'll do anyone. Are you trying to tell me you were all buddy buddy with the mudblood for all those years and you never got in her pants."
James scowled. He recognized Edmond Mulciber's voice and knew that he and his friends must be gathered in the hall waiting for the class to start.
"That's not what I said." Snape's voice bit back.
"Come on Severus, you're not giving us any details here." Mulciber's voice came again. "I mean how are we supposed to know if she's as good as she looks if you don't fill us in? Mudblood or no the girl just makes a bloke stiff. So tell us, what's her body like?"
"She's gorgeous." Snape answered sounding nonchalant. "Her body is likely just as enticing as her face."
"How's she in bed mate?" John Avery's voice rang out.
"You aren't honestly asking me how good Lily Evan's is in bed. I thought you of all people were against mixing with tainted blood?" Snape shot back.
"Just because I wouldn't keep the stupid slut doesn't mean I would pass up taking her for a tumble." Avery answered haughtily.
"I don't know why you care anyway. You are always saying lesser blood isn't worth the effort you'd have to extend to obtain it. Besides she's been associating with those morons who call themselves Marauders, so it definitely isn't worth the hassle to you." Snape sneered.
James had heard enough. Fury drove him as he shot around the corner and before any of the Slytherins could react launched himself at Snape tackling him to the ground, and taking Snape's two friends with them, the other boy's wand going flying.
He didn't know how many times his fists connected with Snape's body parts before he was pulled off of him and was punched in the jaw by Mulciber. He breathed through it and socked him in the nose in retaliation. Then using his wand he stunned the other two and turned to Snape who was barely managing to stagger upright. James fisted his hands in Snape's robes as he dragged him up the wall.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" He bellowed angrily. "How can you just talk about her like that? How can you let them say those things?"
Snape's chuckle was hollow sounding as he sputtered through what looked like a broken nose. "Don't speak to me about her."
James growled in frustration. "You think I don't know you care about her still? You think I don't see the way you watch her? The way you can't help but look at her every chance you get. You can act like you don't care in front of your friends all you want but I'm not fooled. You want her just as much as ever. You're just too fucking weak to act like a man and admit it."
Snape's eyes narrowed. "She's not yours you know. You think we're so different but at the end of the day you're just as pathetic as me because deep down we both know we aren't good enough. We never will be."
James took a deep breath and jerked on Snape's robes trying to keep his anger in check.
"You know what you're right. We aren't good enough for her, but at least I can sleep at night knowing I don't act like I'm too good for her because of something as stupid and meaningless as her blood."
"That also doesn't change the fact that you still haven't managed to get in her pants either does it Potter?" Snape taunted his eyes going cold.
"For Merlin's sake." James growled before punching Snape again in an almost tired manner.
Suddenly an angry voice James knew all too well rang out.
"Leave him alone!"
James turned suddenly dropping Snape to the floor. Lily stood only feet away with their friends looking on in shock from behind her. The look in her eyes was enough to make James' chest constrict.
"Lily, this isn't what it looks like I swear!" He began pleading.
Snape chuckled, the sound void of all pleasant emotion. "So you didn't come barreling around the corner hell-bent on attacking my friends and beating the shit out of me?"
"Is that true? You attacked them?" Lily demanded.
James sighed. "Well yes but…"
"So much for changing right? So much for all that talk about being a better person? And here I was thinking we were becoming friends and even having...Merlin I'm an idiot!" She shot back grabbing her hair in frustration. "I mean first he" she pointed at Snape "decides he'd rather do dark magic and hang out with pricks who torture people for fun than be my friend because I'm a mudblood…"
"Don't call yourself that." James shot in.
"…And then you" She pointed her finger at James now, "go back on your promise and turn right back into the jerk who attacks people at every turn just because he can! And I don't want to hear what you have to say!"
James shut his mouth in surrender.
"Or you!" Her eyes shot to Snape who followed suit.
"I'm…I'm…" Lily tried to take deep breaths but she felt oddly suffocated and strangely disoriented standing in the corridor looking at James standing over a bloody and bruised Severus, with Severus' friends laying about them still stunned. She turned away from it and shoved past Sirius and Remus. She wasn't going to hang around and look at either of them for another second.
James made to move after her but Sirius intercepted him.
"Prongs mate let her go cool off. She probably doesn't want to talk about it right now."
"But I have to explain." He said. "It isn't what it looks like."
Marlene walked over to him and put her hand on his arm.
"Sirius is right give her a little while to cool off okay? I mean you really can't blame her for being upset. This really does look like the old James just decided to come out and play…"
Marlene trailed off eyeing the scene in the corridor where Snape was moving to revive his friends.
"Come on mate we'll go to the kitchens or something…" Sirius suggested tugging James toward a corridor off to the side where a hidden passage led to the hallway where the portrait with the bowl of fruit was.
"Padfoot it really wasn't what she thought. I was only trying to defend her…the things they were saying…"
"I know Prongs. I know you wouldn't mess up like that." He replied reassuringly as James ran his hands through his messy hair in frustration.
Marlene, Alice and Dorcas exchanged looks as James and Sirius moved away, knowing how Lily was that it was going to take some time to get things back in order again.
****