Chapter 9: Encounters

The next day was Sunday. The day they would devote to homework. James, who is normally the first one to wake up, was one of the last ones to wake up. As he got ready, he realized that Sirius was still sleeping and remembered faintly that he came in a long time after he fell asleep. James laughed to himself about the fact that Sirius and Emily were snogging last night. Then James remembered Lily and smiled. As he was leaving, he threw a pillow at Sirius telling him to get up. He quietly exited the room so he wouldn't wake Sirius and on his way down met Lily and Emily on the stairs. He smiled at Lily and tried to keep a composed face as he smiled at Emily but found it really difficult. Although, Emily was yawning widely so she didn't see the look James gave her. He and Lily exchanged a look and a small chuckle before Emily started to push them down the stairs.

"Come on, get moving. I'm hungry and I'm not going to wait for you two."

"Alright, Em, we're going. No need to get pushy."

"Too late."

As they left the common room, they ran into Remus, Peter, Frank, Alice and Mary. They had just finished breakfast and were coming back to see if the others were awake.

"Well, I guess the only one we need to worry about getting down to breakfast on time is Sirius" Remus laughed.

"Moony, I suspect he might miss it. He looked pretty out of it and I kind of remember hearing him come in after Lily and I got back from patrols. I did throw a pillow at him though" James said and noted that Emily blushed slightly.

"Oh, well, in that case maybe when you come back you could bring him some food. I would rather not hear him complain the rest of the morning."

"Right you are Moony, I'll make sure to grab him something." And with that they parted ways and the three went to the Great Hall. There were only a few other people from each house who were sitting down to eat. Emily plopped down on the bench and didn't even bother to fill her plate with food.

"Em, what's wrong?" Lily asked as she scooped up some bacon.

"Hmm… let me think. You practically dragged me out of bed. I'm tired because you didn't want to eat by yourself" Emily said sarcastically and Lily laughed.

"I wouldn't have cared if I ate by myself. I only dragged you out because I want to talk to you. Also, I didn't want to hear you complain when you missed breakfast. You really should eat something."

"Fine, but what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Lily, you might want to wait until Sirius is sitting here." James said looking toward the door. He was watching Sirius slowly drag himself down the aisle to where they were sitting.

Sirius, half awake, sat down next to James and piled food onto his plate. Lily and Emily were across from the boys and just stared at Sirius who sleepily started to shovel food into his mouth. Sirius looked like he was going to pass out. James just looked at his friend and then noticed something on his neck. It was a purplish, brown color and in the shape of lips. James almost choked on his pumpkin juice, laughing, when he realized where it came from. Lily, Emily and Sirius looked at him with concern.

"Sorry, it went down wrong" James told them. They all nodded and went back to eating but he caught Lily's eyes before she looked away.

James mouthed to her "Look at Sirius' neck." She eyed him strangely but looked anyway and then snorted and covered her mouth once she saw it. Luckily, Emily and Sirius were too tired to notice their conversation. James and Lily laughed as silently as they could, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Lily looked over to Emily and noticed the same thing on her neck. She showed James and they silently laughed harder. Finally, they stopped and continued eating but not long after Emily remembered that Lily wanted to talk to her.

"Oh, sorry Lily, you said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, but actually James and I would like to talk to you and Sirius."

"Me?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"Yes, we have to tell you about something we saw last night." James continued.

"What did you see?" Emily's curiosity started to get the better of her and her face lit up in joy.

James and Lily glanced at each other and decided to just jump right in.

"Just be glad that the others ate before us, otherwise this would be a lot worse." Lily said.

"Lily, what are you talking about?" Emily asked impatiently.

"Alright, James and I saw you two snogging last night." Lily said with a smirk.

Both Emily and Sirius turned bright red. James and Lily laughed a little waiting for one of them to speak. Sirius was the first one to break the silence.

"How did you see us? We didn't hear anyone come in last."

"Er, Sirius, you two were laying horizontally on the couch, which is the first thing you see after you come out of the entrance way behind the Fat Lady. It was hard not to miss it" James smirked.

"Yes, alright, but when did you come in?" Sirius asked. Emily still looked like she couldn't speak.

"A little after one when our patrol ended. Plus, I heard you come in last night after I went to bed." James answered.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Emily snapped.

"Em, we didn't want to interrupt and we didn't think you would want to be caught." Lily said softly.

"Oh, well, thanks. But please don't tell anyone else" she pleaded.

"Of course not. I wouldn't and James won't either" Lily assured her.

"I have one question though," James said "what changed? Emily you kneed him in the groin earlier and then you're snogging him. It doesn't make sense."

"I-well, er, I guess it was because I started to fancy him. Then last night, we were the last two in the common room and we started talking without all the anger and then we were snogging" Emily blushed and then looked at Sirius who was smiling.

"Okay, so you have to promise not to tell anyone until we are ready. I think for a while we are going to keep it on the down low. We are still going to playfully banter like we always do but Emily promised to stop physically harming me" Sirius laughed.

"Don't worry Padfoot, we won't tell but you both might want to check your necks otherwise people will think something is going on between you two" James laughed as they realized what he was talking about. Both turned red and tried to cover up their necks for the rest of breakfast until they could get rid of it.

For the rest of September and all of October, Sirius and Emily kept up their playful banter being careful not to get caught by anyone. The seventh years were busier than they thought was possible. The teachers piled them with homework every class and they barely had any time for themselves. James and Lily barely saw each other outside of class unless they were patrolling. Lily had scheduled patrols around the full moon for Remus and James (she had known about Remus since first year and James and the others since sixth year). Those few days put even more stress on James and the others because they were lacking sleep. The seventh years had also missed the first Hogsmeade weekend because of all the homework they had. Although, none of them really seemed to mind, they had been there plenty of times before.

James, being Quidditch captain again, had also started tryouts for new team members. They were held the third weekend of October. That put more stress on him. He had everyone try out even if they were on the team last year. Lily, Remus, Emily and some random other Gryffindors were the only ones who could come down and watch the try outs. Sirius and Peter were in detention for putting dung bombs in Filch's office and proceeded to get caught by McGonagall. Mary was tutoring a second year in the Great Hall and Alice and Frank were on a date since they didn't have much time together since school started.

James was talking to sixth year Ben Gordon, a chaser from the previous year, while everyone was getting brooms and getting ready for the try outs. Ben went over to join everyone, while James was going over the list of names he had in his hand.

"Alright, everyone. Welcome to Quidditch try outs. If you were on the team last year, you are not guaranteed a spot. I want the absolute best for this team and I know Professor McGonagall does too. I won't turn anyone away unless you are not from Gryffindor or you are really, really horrid." At this everyone gave a nervous chuckle and fidgeted hoping that they weren't they horrid ones.

"First, I want everyone to mount their brooms. We are going to have a race around the pitch to eliminate the ones who I feel aren't proficient enough to fly during an actual Quidditch game. I'm not saying that you aren't good flyers but there is a certain style to flying in a Quidditch game. Alright, mount your broom, five laps around the pitch and land back here when you have finished. I guess it's not really a race but more I want to see how well you fly but complete it as fast as you can. Ready, get set, GO!"

By the time they all landed, James already knew who he was going to eliminate. It wasn't that they were bad but they weren't aggressive enough. He called off the names of the people who could not continue the try outs and they went to sit in the stands. They were mostly first years and some from the other years too. There were roughly twenty people left. Not including James, there were three members from the previous year seeing as three had completed their years at Hogwarts.

"Okay, now split into groups, chasers over there, seekers over there, keepers over there, and beaters over there. We'll do chasers and keepers first; seekers and beaters wait over there please. I will send a keeper up to each set of goal posts and they will have to block the shots of the chasers. I will help test the keepers if the chasers do not do as well as expected."

James sent two of the four keepers up there and four of the nine chasers. He had them each shoot four times against each keeper and then had them play a three minute game. He did that with the other two keepers and the remaining five chasers. He joined in to make each side evenly numbered.

Of the three beaters trying out he released a bludger and had them practice hitting it through the goal posts to see how well they could aim. With the four seekers, he had them race each other and then released a practice snitch to see who could catch it.

Once everyone was done trying out, he told them that he would post the team later that evening. He really felt that this team would be top notch and impress McGonagall who was a Quidditch fanatic, whether she would admit it or not. The team had the four returning players from last year, Ben, Maria, Jonathon, and himself, and three new players, George, Susan, and Alyssa. He posted the list after dinner.

NEW GRYFFINDOR QUIDDITCH TEAM

First Practice: Tuesday at 5:30 pm, meet in locker room.
Chasers: Seventh year James Potter, captain
Sixth year Ben Gordon
Fifth year Alyssa Hewitt
Beaters: Fifth year Jonathan Bleat
Fourth year George Harper
Keeper: Fourth year Susan Jacobs
Seeker: Third year Maria Stanley

All decisions are final. Thanks to all who tried out!

By the time November started, all the seventh years were ready for the holidays. They needed a really long break that wouldn't be here for another month and a half.

Finally, one Sunday afternoon in early November, James and Lily found themselves some time alone. They were glad that they were caught up on their homework so that they could take the afternoon to be with each other. James wouldn't tell her where he was taking her. He only told her to dress for the outdoors. Luckily, today was a sunny and warm day in November so a light jacket with jeans was enough to enjoy the outdoors. James had blind folded her and began leading her down stairs and tunnels so she would be confused as to which door he was taking her out of.

Once outside, he led her around to a spot on a hill that was overlooking the Black Lake. It was one of those breath takingly beautiful spots. He had a picnic all ready for just the two of them. A blanket was laid out with a basket of food from the house elves in the kitchen. He had set out a few extra blankets in case it got cold but it didn't seem like it would. Once they had gotten to the spot, James stopped Lily and removed the blindfold. She blinked a few times while her eyes adjusted and then gasped in surprise.

They were standing on top of a secluded hill that was behind the taller towers of the castle and down closer to the lake. This hill faced the lake which was sparkling from the sunlight. The trees were shades of red, gold and orange and barely any leaves had fallen off. The weather wasn't quiet cold enough for winter but there was a light breeze that made everything perfect.

"Oh, James" Lily exclaimed "it's so beautiful. I didn't know this spot was here."

"I'm glad you like it. I found it a couple of years ago when I just needed time away from Sirius and his craziness. My favorite hideaway spot. Come on, let's eat."

James helped Lily to the ground and then sat down next to her. They took off their cloaks because sitting in the sun made them warm. Lily had a dark green sweater on and her favorite pairs of jeans. James had a gray and gold sweater on and his nicest pair of jeans. He handed her some food and a glass of butterbeer. They sat and ate their food just looking out over the lake talking about anything and everything. Once they finished, they cleaned up and then Lily snuggled into James' arms.

"Thank you, James. That was wonderful."

"You are very welcome, Lily. I thought we should have a nice date since we haven't had much time together."

"Well, thank you again. It is a very lovely date." Lily leaned up and kissed James.

"James, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course, you can talk to me about anything."

"Okay, do you remember a few months ago when you said you would never let anything come between us?" James nodded. "Well, I feel like more and more girls are glaring at me like they can break us up by just a look. I know that I said I hated you but things change, people change. I guess I'm just tired of people thinking we don't belong together."

"Lily, why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"I thought it would go away but it only got worse."

"I would do anything for you, you know that. As for the other girls, they are just jealous because I have the most beautiful, smart, kind, and gentle girl in the world" Lily blushed but he continued "soon they will stop because they will realize that I am not going to let you go."

"I'm still not sure that they will stop but I trust you" she smiled at him.

"How about, if the glaring, jealous looks haven't stopped by the end of the holidays, we will do something to make it stop" he gave her a smile that melted her heart.

"Okay, but promise that we won't do anything that will embarrass ourselves."

"I promise. Let's not worry about this until the time comes."

Lily nodded and snuggled closer to James. They sat there together for a few more minutes before either of them spoke.

"Lily, I love you" James whispered in her ear.

"I love you too, James" she whispered back.

Lily twisted herself around to face James. She lightly touched his face, stroking his cheek. He leaned his face into her touch and kissed her palm. He then continued to kiss up her arm, then across her shoulder and up her bare neck. She gave a shudder of delight as they pulled each other closer and James continued to kiss up her neck, across her jaw and then finally her lips. They were soft and gentle and just the way he remembered them. Lily began to lean backwards and pulled James with her never breaking the kiss. She laid down, wrapping her arms around his neck and in his hair. James gently pressed his body against hers, not wanting to put his whole weight on her, he held himself above her. Their kissing became passionate and fierce, soft and gentle, never hurried. James gently pulled Lily with him as he rolled over so she was on top of him. Her hands were still in his hair and he put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer, gently running his hands underneath her sweater, all over her lower back.

They were breathing as one and softly moaning together. They were in perfect sync. After a long snogging session (lasting for who knows how long), Lily finally pulled away, breathing heavily, smiled at him and just looked into his eyes. He gazed back and smiled at her. She shifted herself down so she could rest her head against his chest. She could hear his heart beat and smiled to herself. James gently ran a hand along her hair and rested his other hand on her arm. They laid there until the sky began to grow dark and Lily mentioned that they should go back inside.

James and Lily gathered up their things and made their way back into the school. They held hands as they climbed the hills back. When they entered the common room, they met their friends who were sitting in front of the fire. They all had the same look on their faces, shocked but happy. No one looked up as Lily and James joined them.

"Okay, what's going on?" James asked because he couldn't stand the silence anymore. Several people jumped and looked at James and Lily.

"Oh, James, Lily, well, we found out that Emily and Sirius are together" Remus said still stunned.

"Why don't you look shocked?" Frank asked. James and Lily just looked at each other, neither one wanting to say anything.

"They already knew" Emily interrupted. Then everyone's eyes shifted back and forth between Lily and James and Emily and Sirius. They couldn't understand why they kept it a secret.

"What? You knew?" Alice asked shocked.

"Yes, er, Em can I tell them?" Lily asked with a sheepish smile. Emily nodded.

"Okay, so back in the first week of school, James and I came back from patrol and we saw those two snogging the life out of each other. We talked to them the next morning and they asked us to keep it quiet. So we did. How did you find out?"

"Well, none of us had seen Emily or Sirius all day, so we went looking for them and found them in a secret passageway, snogging" Mary said.

"All I have to say is, it's about time. I was tired of hearing you two bicker" Remus laughed.

The rest of the evening was spent laughing and talking about everything. Some ended the night early and others followed shortly after. Homework can be very exhausting.

The next week was abuzz with chatter about the first Quidditch match of the season. Like always it was Gryffindor versus Slytherin and everyone knew it. Both houses took to hexing the others in the corridors in between classes. Thankfully no Quidditch player was seriously hurt enough that they wouldn't be able to play on Saturday. James was very quick at blocking hexes thrown his way but others weren't as lucky.

On top of Quidditch practice, there was homework and a lot of it but towards the end of the week teachers were sympathetic and surprisingly, gave them less homework. The seventh years were shocked when Professor McGonagall didn't give them homework. They were sure she would have but then again she wanted to hold onto that Quidditch Cup. She had a major soft spot for Quidditch so she only punished those who hexed the Gryffindors (biased, yes, but nonetheless appreciated).

It was Saturday morning, and the Great Hall was very lively. The Gryffindor team sat together with friends and fans surrounding them. Lily sat next to James comforting him because this was the game that would set the whole season. He was feeling better after Lily gave him a good luck kiss and walked with the team to the locker room.

Once the team reached the locker rooms, James gave them a last minute pep talk about everything. He raised their spirits and that's why the whole team respected him.

Twenty minutes before the game began, Lily and her friends made their way to the Quidditch pitch, trying to find the best seats possible. Almost all of the school was there by now and the stands were full of cheers and boos. Soon after, a voice rang out among the students. Anthony Bennett, a Ravenclaw, was the commentator for the day's match.

"Hello, and welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season. We see Gryffindor" he paused for cheers and boos "take on Slytherin" more cheers and boos.

"Please welcome the Gryffindor team lead by Captain James Potter… and the Slytherin team lead by Captain Augustus Flint."

The captains shook hands as instructed by Madam Hooch. The teams mounted their brooms and kicked off from the ground. They hovered while she got the balls ready.

"The bludgers are released followed by the golden snitch. And the quaffle is up… Gryffindor is in possession. Potter to Gordon to Hewitt back to Potter and score. Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Slytherin has the quaffle, Rowles to Thornton. Thornton swerves in and out of Gryffindor. Thornton narrowly misses getting hit by a bludger. Passes to Greene and back to Rowles…OH! Intercepted by Potter. Potter speeds off to the other end. Passes to Gordon, back to Potter. Potter rolls and misses a bludger. Potter drops it to Hewitt…Hewitt SCORES. Ten more points to Gryffindor."

Everyone so often, when James would hang back near the goal posts as strategy, he would glance to where Lily was sitting and smile at her. Every time she blushed and it made his heart swell, but then got quickly back into the game. The game lasted almost three hours and everyone had screamed themselves hoarse.

"The score is 190 to 180, Slytherins leads. Gryffindor has the quaffle and wait, did someone see the snitch. Yes, yes both seekers saw it and are battling it out!" It seemed like everyone else stopped and watched the two seekers go after it but James was taking advantage of the opposing team's distraction and scored another goal.

"Ten points for Gryffindor."

Lily watched excitedly as Maria Stanley, the Gryffindor seeker, and Athelney Strange, the Slytherin seeker battled it out for the snitch. They continuously bumped each other trying to get the other out of the way. Each had followed the movements of the snitch perfectly. The snitch went this way and that way, dipped and came back up. Finally the snitch dived toward the ground. Both seekers followed, Maria was a bit closer than Athelney. All of a sudden they leveled out with the ground following the snitch, and Maria inched ahead with her arm stretched out.

"GRYFFINDOR HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS! 340 TO 190! What a catch made by Maria Stanley!"

As the team landed, a flood of red and gold stormed the field. Everyone surrounded the team and shouted victoriously. James made his way through the crowd searching for his favorite red head and found her standing near the locker room. She ran up to him and jumped up to him. He lifted her in a hug and spun her around. Once he set her down they had to yell a bit to be able to hear each other.

"James, that was fantastic. You were brilliant!" Lily smiled.

"Thanks, I really tried my hardest!"

"Well, it showed. You put together a spectacular team too! I'm so proud of you!"

Before he could speak again, he was surrounded by the rest of the team herding him into the locker room. He waved bye to Lily as she mouthed to meet her in his dormitory when he was done. Lily found Mary and they walked back to the common room. They were talking excitedly about the game just like everyone around them. Ever since they watched their first Quidditch match, they fell in love with it. Never wanting to play competitively themselves, they occasionally played for fun but they loved watching it. They loved when the boys would talk about it because they could get into the conversations as well. Quidditch was just one of the many topics that James and Lily had had a fight over in their time at Hogwarts.

Mary and Lily walked through the common room and up to their dormitory. There were preparations for the after party in the common room already going on. They took off their cloaks while laughing about the looks on the Slytherin's faces when the snitch was caught.

"Argh" Lily shouted as she looked in the mirror "my hair is atrocious. I didn't think it was that windy outside."

Mary laughed while Lily attempted to tame the wild mess that was her hair. After about five minutes, her hair was flat again and Emily and Alice had come back up. They mentioned that the team should be back soon and then the party will officially start. Lily said she should go over to the boy's dormitory before James gets back. She told them she would see them in a bit and left.

Lily walked down the stairs and then up the other stairs. She was glad that when the founders built the school that they trusted girls more than boys. When she reached the seventh year boys dormitory, she knocked just in case. She heard footsteps and then saw Remus open the door.

"Oh, I didn't think anyone would be in here. James asked me to meet him here."

"No, that's fine. I was just about to leave anyway. Will I see you at the party?"

"Yes, I don't think I could keep James away for too long before Sirius came looking for him" Lily laughed and Remus joined her. They smiled at each other and he left her sitting on James' bed.

While she waited, she looked at the pictures that James had laid on his table. Most were of him and his friends. There was one of James and his parents and then one of him and her from the summer that Sirius insisted on taking. James had insisted on giving her a piggy back ride. James was smiling and looked like he was thrilled that she was on his back. She was smiling too but she was laughing at the fact that she agreed to the ride in the first place. The picture made her smile and as she looked at the figures move, she didn't notice the door open and close and that James was standing in behind her.

"Lily?"

"Oh, James you scared me" she said while putting the pictures back.

"Sorry, what were you looking at?"

"The picture that Sirius made us take. The one where you're giving me a piggy back ride."

"That one, really? I thought you were mad that day."

"No, I wasn't mad. I was laughing in that picture because I couldn't believe that I let you give me a piggy back ride. Now that I look at it, I really like the picture" Lily said standing up.

"Good, because I love that picture" he said pulling her into a hug.

"James, you did wonderful today" she said looking up at him. He was actually quite a bit taller than her, roughly a foot taller.

"Thank you" he said leaning down to kiss her "was there something else you wanted? There had to be a reason you wanted to meet me here."

Lily laughed "Not really, I just wanted to congratulate you without on lookers."

"Oh, and how did you want to congratulate me?" he laughed.

"With a little of this" she kissed his cheek "and some of this" she kissed his lips "and more of this" she mumbled against his lips. They were lip locked for quite a while. Finally, James pulled back for some air.

"Sorry" he laughed "but thank you for your congratulations. It was much appreciated."

"You are very welcome. You really did play wonderfully."

"Alright, as much as I want to continue, if we don't go down soon, Sirius will come up" he said while pulling her in for one last kiss. Then they walked out the door and joined everyone else for the party.

November passed in much the same way as October and then faded into December. The seventh years got more and more homework and it felt like they were only getting about five hours of sleep during the week, a little more on the weekends. The weather was finally showing signs of winter. The castle began to get drafty and they could hear the winds howl during the night.

Two weeks before Christmas break, everyone in the castle was anxious for it. The castle had been decorated like it was every year. There were the twelve trees in the Great Hall and then garland and other decorations were put all over the school. This seemed to put everyone in a better mood even though they were stressed.

It was Saturday of the last Hogsmeade weekend before the New Year and the last Saturday before Christmas. James and Lily were in the Great Hall eating breakfast when Sirius and Emily joined them. They looked excited and ready to beg if they had to. This made James curious to what they were up to.

"Morning, what's going on?" James asked.

"What? Nothing" Sirius said a little too quickly.

"Sure, Sirius and I'm a veela. I know that look, what's on your mind?"

"Okay, fine, Em and I were hoping that you and Lily would take a break for one day and come to Hogsmeade with us" he said with a hopeful look on his face.

"I don't know, Sirius. I really do have a lot of homework and I don't think I could get it all done tomorrow" Lily said uncertain.

"Come on, Lily. It's one day and we haven't been there all year. I'm sure you want to pick up some Christmas presents or something. We couldn't convince anyone else but we were really hoping that you two would agree" Emily pleaded.

"Lily, why not? We can help each other tomorrow if need be and we always get our homework done on time. It could be a kind of double date" James said convinced already.

Lily contemplated for a minute before answering "Oh, alright, one day won't hurt. But I don't need to pick up any presents. I'm done Christmas shopping."

"Yes, thank you Lily!" Emily squealed a little.

After breakfast, the four went to collect their cloaks, gloves and hats. It was a really windy and cold day. Lily snuggled closer to James as they walked the short way to Hogsmeade. As soon as they reached the village, they rushed into the Three Broomsticks to get away from the biting wind. They claimed a table near the fire and order some butterbeers.

"Oh, yes this was the perfect day to come to Hogsmeade" Lily said sarcastically.

"Oh, Lily, get over it. You will have a good time no matter what the weather is doing" Emily snapped.

"So Em, what are you doing for Christmas?" James asked.

"Well, I will be at my parent's house in London but they're kicking me out for New Year's."

"Oh, where are you going to go?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, maybe Mary's or something. I will figure it out" she shrugged.

"Why don't you come to my house? My parents always go out and I'm always welcome to invite people to keep me company" James said.

"Em, that would be wonderful. We could have everyone come over. Would that be alright?" Lily asked.

"Of course, it will be more fun."

They sat there for the next hour just talking about the holidays, speculating about what they're getting from everyone. After bundling up, they headed to Honeydukes to stock up on some candy for the Christmas holidays. As they were leaving, Sirius swore loudly causing several passing students to look strangely at him.

"Sirius, what is it?" Emily asked.

"Look over there. It's my brother and Snivellus with my cousin Bellatrix" Sirius hissed pointing across the street.

They all looked and saw that they were speaking in hushed tones looking around making sure they weren't being overheard. None of them noticed the four Gryffindors staring at them. James could tell that Sirius really wanted to go over and give his brother a piece of his mind but Sirius was holding himself back. Regulus, Severus and Bellatrix turned around and headed down an alley behind Zonko's. There was something going on.

"Padfoot, don't do anything stupid. Because if you do, then we all will have to go after you" James warned.

"Prongs, how can I just let them go? They could be planning something horrible and what if I could stop it? I will not let them hurt anyone" he growled.

"Sirius, James is right. It's one thing to be concerned but it's another to be stupid and rash" Emily said.

"I know, but it's my brother. I can't just let him throw his life away" Sirius said.

"Sirius, we're your friends, you have to trust us on this" Lily pleaded.

"Besides, you have known about your brother for a couple of years now. There's nothing you can do to change it" James said looking concerned at Sirius.

"I guess you're right. I just wish there was something I could do. I really thought that he would be different."

Sirius heaved a sigh and realized that he was going to lose this one. He nodded and grabbed Emily's arm and started walking back to the castle. James and Lily followed, looking at each other with concerned looks. They were having a silent conversation when they heard Emily shout.

"SIRIUS!" Emily shouted. James and Lily turned around to see him sprinting toward the alley. The three looked at each other and took off after him. They knew they wouldn't be able to bring him back but they wouldn't let him do this by himself. James was the first one to catch up to him. He was standing next a wall, looking around the corner. James peered over his shoulder and saw that he was staring at the three, no, four people standing in the shadows. James felt the girls stop behind him and look over their shoulders toward the end of the alley.

All of a sudden a flash of light shot straight over their heads. They all jumped back and whipped out their wands. They heard the voices becoming louder and closer.

"Come out, come out wherever you are" a voice rang out. It must have been Bellatrix because Sirius always tensed up when she was near.

The four looked at each other trying to figure out what to do next. If they ran, they would be caught. If they fought, they would be trapped. Either way they lost. They all looked at each other and nodded because they knew what they had to do. All at once they rounded the corner and shouted the same thing.

"INCARCEROUS!"

One of the curses hit the fourth person, while the other three missed. The other three looked startled that they were going to face them head on. They thought that the four would run away.

"Expelliarmus!" Regulus shouted but James threw a shield charm in front of them which caused the spell to rebound but it missed on the way back.

"Oh, look, the babies can play games" Bellatrix laughed in her infamous baby voice.

"Now, now, Bellatrix" Snape said "let's not play with them. We weren't supposed to harm anyone."

"Don't tell me what to do!" she hissed at him. The fourth person was still frozen and on the ground but no one paid him any attention.

"Lily, just leave. I don't want to hurt you" Snape pleaded.

"Don't tell me what to do! I will do whatever I bloody well please!" Lily spat back.

"Oh, Snape, is this the mudblood you are so fond of?" Bellatrix laughed.

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" James shouted.

"Oh, touched a nerve, have I?" Bellatrix laughed again. James, Sirius, Lily and Emily just glared at them.

"Well, if you care so much for her, what will you do for her?" Bellatrix said giving them a wicked grin.

"Bellatrix" Snape warned ready to interfere. But she didn't hear him, she had something planned.

"Crucio" she said and the spell missed Lily because she moved out of the way, she knew it was coming.

Just then James sent a spell at Bellatrix but she blocked it. Everyone was starting to get angry now.

"Sirius, why don't you and your friends get lost before you lose one of them" Regulus hissed.

"No, baby brother" was all he got out because just then Snape sent a hex his way but he quickly blocked it.

"Have it your way then" Regulus said and threw a hex toward Emily. It missed her by an inch. Sirius was really angry by now and wanted this to end.

All seven of them began throwing hexes, jinxes and spells at each other but none seemed to hit their mark. They were all shooting and deflecting spells and were surprised when no one came to see what the ruckus was; it wasn't exactly a quiet exchange. Bricks were hit and sent pieces toward everyone. A few got hit with those shards but didn't really notice, they were too wrapped up in protecting themselves from spells.

"CRUICO!" Bellatrix shouted and hit Lily square in the chest. She dropped to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain as Bellatrix's face lit up with demented glee. She was too preoccupied with Lily, to notice the spell James sent at her. She let out a shriek as she lost concentration therefore releasing Lily from her torture.

Lily laid there for a little bit, catching her breath. In the meantime, James, Sirius and Emily kept shooting spell after spell towards the enemy. They were all glad that they were really good at nonverbal spells otherwise they wouldn't be getting anywhere. Just as Lily got to her feet, Bellatrix took off into a side door of an abandoned building in the alley. Regulus, Snape and the other one (the jinx finally wore off) sent spells toward the others as they followed Bellatrix.

The other four took off after them, not wanting to lose this fight. They were ready as soon as they entered the building because four spells were coming at them, but they blocked them. There was really nothing in the building to hide behind except one tall rack of metal shelves but it wouldn't protect you very much. They spread out to be able to attack better.

Emily took on the unknown fourth person, James had Snape, Sirius had his brother Regulus and Lily got Bellatrix. They were all dueling, spells going this way and that way, each taunting the other.

"It looks like the itty, bitty mudblood knows how to play" Bellatrix taunted as she looked at Lily.

Lily was about to retort when Bellatrix pointed her wand at the shelves behind Lily. There was a small explosion as boxes and other things on the shelves were blasted into the air. The shelving began to sway and Lily tried to get out of the way but Bellatrix shouted something inaudible causing Lily to freeze and fall over. Her wand was forced out of her hand once she hit the ground and it skidded next to James' foot. Just then everyone seemed to stop at the same time as the shelving came crashing down on Lily. The four Death Eaters took this opportunity to run and as they left Bellatrix cackled with glee.

"LILY!" James screamed as he rushed over to her.