Chapter 14: Unexpected News

Lily woke up really early the day after her patrols. She got up from her bed and looked out of the window. She watched as the sun slowly rose and reflecting off the lake. The leaves in the Forbidden Forest had turned to the colours of autumn and were gradually falling to the floor. She sighed. Autumn was her favourite season. It made everything look beautiful and warm. It held Halloween, the first Hogsmeade weekend and usually the first Quidditch game. It was when the students of Hogwarts would be getting used to school and Lily would start to settle back into her home.

As the sun was now up, Lily checked the time. It was just nearing seven in the morning. She went into her normal routine and woke up Marlene. She quickly told her about last night before Nicole and Melissa woke up. Marlene and Lily chatted quickly about what they could be looking for, some kind of relic of the four founders and if they should tell Dumbledore of their discovery. When they were finished talking, Nicole woke up from her slumber.

"Morning, girls," she said yawning and stretching her arms out.

"Morning," replied Lily and Marlene. The three girls woke up their remaining roommate and got ready. When they were done, they went downstairs to see the four Marauders waiting for them.

"Morning girls," said James, smiling up at the descending seventh years.

"Hey, boys. You look better James," said Marlene.

"Thanks," he replied.

"Why, what was wrong with James?" asked Melissa, looking between everybody.

"Oh, just wasn't feeling well," he replied.

Lily smiled at James and they all walked down to breakfast together.

"So, didn't have a dream tonight, James?" whispered Lily, falling behind the group to talk to James alone.

"Yea, it was weird. I would think that they would get worse after last night, but surprisingly, I didn't have any that I can remember," James whispered back.

Lily thought about this. It was strange. Why all of a sudden would the dreams stop? What would cause it? "Well, as long as you're getting sleep now, I guess we can't complain," said Lily, shrugging. It was true, James looked so much better now that he didn't have purple bags underneath his tired eyes.

"I guess not. And I've seen the dream plenty of times, it's not like I wouldn't be able to remember it if I needed to," said James.

Lily nodded and smiled. "It's good to see that they're gone," she said.

James smiled at her and they caught up with the rest of the group.

…………………………

It happened during Charms class. The seventh years were busy practising a charm that made an object sprout wings and fly away. Of course, Lily was the first one in the class to do it, and she was now helping Marlene to perfect it as well.

"No, Marly. It's more of a snap of the wrist, you're doing more of a flick," said Lily.

"What's the difference?" Marlene whined. Lily had been trying to help her for at least 10 minutes now.

"Watch," said Lily. She took her wand and performed the charm perfectly once again. Marlene was watching the pillow's wings grow perfectly from it and fly around the classroom trying to figure out what she was doing wrong.

"Now you try," said Lily.

Marlene nodded and turned to face the front. She said the incantation and snapped her wrist. A light shot out of her wand and hit the pillow in front of her. It struggled a bit, but eventually sprouted wings and started to rise out of the air. Marlene squealed excitedly. It wasn't as good as Lily's, but hey, no one was a good as Lily in Charms.

Lily grinned at Marlene. "It's a start, Marly, good job!" said Lily encouragingly.

"Thanks, Lils," said Marlene.

"Ms. Evans, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office," squeaked Professor Flitwick. A little boy was standing in front of the class; it seemed that he was the messenger.

Lily looked at him confused. "Did he say why, Professor?" asked Lily.

"Afraid not, Ms. Evans. It might be Head business," he replied.

"Then why would James not be called down as well?" asked Lily.

"I'm not sure. Mr. Potter, would you like to accompany Ms. Evans to the Headmaster's office?" asked Flitwick.

James glanced at Lily who was staring at him. He was just as confused as she was. He nodded and began to pack up his things. Lily and James said goodbye to their friends and walked out of class after getting the password to the Headmaster's office from Flitwick.

"Hey Lily, what do you think it could be about?" asked James.

Lily didn't answer. She was staring straight ahead with no expression on her face. She looked a bit pale.

"Lily?" James asked looking at her.

She turned to him and stopped walking. She didn't answer for a while. James put his hands on her shoulders. "Lily?" he asked one more time.

"What if it's bad news? What if it's my parents?" she whispered, looking right into his eyes.

James blanched. He hadn't thought about that. He looked at Lily, who eyes were full of fear and concern. He didn't want to think about what this could do to her if it were true what she said.

"No, Lily. You can't think like that. It won't be that. Nothing is wrong, don't worry," he said. It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Lily.

Lily looked at him with her eyes slowly watering. "How do you know? HOW?!" she shouted.

James' heart clenched. He hated seeing Lily in so much despair. At that moment, he would do anything just so that Lily could have her parents back. Stop, James. You don't even know that they are dead yet! He couldn't think of anything to do, so he just wrapped her up in his arms.

Lily was taken aback by his actions but hugged him back all the same. She closed her eyes and the few tears in her eyes slipped out. She was acting like a fool; she didn't even know what Dumbledore wanted her for, but she felt grateful to James all the same. Then suddenly, she felt him loosen up and let go.

"Lily, it will be fine. Let's just go up there, okay? We'll find out soon enough what it is. I'll sit with you if you want," he offered.

Lily smiled and wiped her eyes as they walked towards Dumbledore's office. He said the password and they walked up the moving staircase together. Lily knocked on the door with James at her side. They heard the voice of their headmaster beckon them inside and they opened the door.

"Ah, Ms. Evans. And Mr. Potter, I see?" said Dumbledore looking at them through his half moon spectacles.

"Professor Flitwick sent me here to accompany her," replied James.

"I see, very well, have a seat," he said, conjuring two armchairs for the Head students.

"Why did you want to see me, Professor?" asked Lily in a small voice. She was struggling to keep it even.

Dumbledore looked at her and replied, "It's about your family," said Dumbledore.

Lily almost fainted right there. But she saw that James was next to her and it gave her an unexplainable strength to hear what Dumbledore had to say. She gulped and said, "What is it, Professor?" her voice was squeaky and it was a great challenge to just get those four words out without bawling.

Suddenly, Dumbledore smiled. Lily and James were both shocked that their Headmaster could smile at a time like this.

"Your sister, Petunia, is getting married and your parents have asked me to omit you from school so that you can attend," he said.

That wasn't expected. Lily looked at him with eyes wide open. She so prepared to faint that she almost did right there. Her parents were not dead but Petunia was getting married.

"What?" asked Lily, somewhat rudely.

"Your sister, Petunia is getting married to a young man named," Dumbledore looked down at a paper on his desk, "Vernon," he finished. He was still smiling, and Lily felt the sudden urge to do something reckless, like start smashing things in the office. How could he scare her like that?

"With all due respect, sir. But you called Lily out of class to tell her that her sister is getting married?" asked James from beside her. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Lily.

"Yes, I did, Mr. Potter. Was that some sort of inconvenience for the two of you?" he replied politely.

"Well, Lily and I were expecting the worse; that her parents were…" James trailed off, glancing at Lily from the corner of his eye.

Lily was still looking at Dumbledore with wide eyes and her mouth was still slightly open. Dumbledore turned to Lily.

"No, Ms. Evans. Thankfully that is not the case for this visit, I assure you that your parents are perfectly safe," said Dumbledore, smiling again. "I'm truly sorry that I have caused you this amount of anxiety, but I wanted to tell you myself about the good news and that you should be expecting to leave soon," he finished.

Lily closed her eyes. It was too much for her. After thinking that her parents were dead, to being so close to the person she loved, then hearing that her sister was getting married and her parents were safe, was too much for a seventeen year old girl to process in the short time of 5 minutes. Lily wasn't sure how she was supposed to react. Was she supposed to be relieved? Was she supposed to feel anger at Dumbledore for causing her so much fear? Was she supposed to feel repulsed at the idea of Petunia marrying to a man she hated? She breathed deeply and massaged her temples.

"Ms. Evans, are you alright?" asked Dumbledore, peering at her through his glasses.

Lily looked up at her Headmaster with her green eyes. There was a mixture of all those feelings in her eyes. "Yes, I'm fine, Professor. When will I be leaving?" asked Lily, her voice even.

"This Friday after classes and you will be returning Sunday in time for Monday's classes," said Dumbledore.

Lily nodded and James spoke up after being quiet for a while. "Why so soon?" he asked.

"I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Evans have their reasons and will contact Ms. Evans soon enough," replied Dumbledore. "Ms. Evans, you will be travelling by Floo to your parents' household and back. The Ministry has connected your house to the network for the weekend. I have informed them of your travelling arrangements already and they will be expecting you. You shall come to my office 15 minutes after your last class Friday afternoon. Professor McGonagall will collect you from the Common Room," he explained.

Lily nodded again and stood up. "Is that all, Professor?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe so," said Dumbledore, motioning for the door. "Oh, and Ms. Evans," he said. Lily turned around from the direction of the door. "I'm sorry once more for misguiding you to believe that something was wrong," he said sincerely. Lily nodded again and opened the door with James close behind her.

Lily was walking quite fast out of the office and back to Gryffindor tower. James was jogging to keep up with her.

"Hey, Lily. Are you alright?" he asked.

Lily kept walking. James was reminded of the time when he was running after her after she had punched a guy in the face.

"Lily? Hello? Are you okay?" James asked again.

Lily walked towards a wall and sat down against it. Her knees were bent and her arms were resting on them. She sighed and held her head in her hands.

James walked to her and sat down next to her. "Hey, you alright?"

"I was not expecting that," she said, talking into her hands.

"Trust me, neither was I. But, it's good news right? I mean, your parents are safe," said James, turning to look at her.

"But, you don't know how scared I was. I was thinking about how I never got to tell them about Voldemort yet; I was planning it for Christmas. I don't know what I would have done if they were gone. It would have been my entire fault. I haven't even been writing that much because of Head duties…" she trailed off.

James remembered their conversation from their first patrol and what she had said about her parents. He also remembered what Lily had said about Petunia, how she led a perfect, normal life and how she did everything to make Lily's life miserable.

James lifted her head gently and made her look in his eyes. "Don't think like that. You know that it would never be your fault for your parent's death, nobody's but Voldemort's. And you know that they are safe, so there is nothing to worry about," he said looking in her eyes. His hand was on her chin, making sure that she didn't move away. They were so close to each other, Lily could have leaned over and kissed him. But she didn't. It took extreme strength on her part not to. Instead, she looked away and nodded.

Lily stood up and brushed her robes of invisible dirt. James stood up after her. "Thanks, James," she said, not meeting his eye.

James smiled. "Anytime, don't worry about it," he said. "So what class do we have next?" he asked as they started walking once more.

Lily thought for a moment. She knew they were supposed to be in Potions, but she didn't feel like going anymore. She felt the reckless side of her coming back, but a little less violent this time.

"Want to skive class and go to Hogsmeade?" she asked quite suddenly.

James stopped walking and looked at her. "What?" he said shocked.

"I asked if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me and skive off class," she repeated for him.

"Why?" asked James.

"Well, if you don't want to, then I guess we could just go to Potions," said Lily, starting to walk again.

James stood there staring after Lily. He shook his head and raced after her. He grabbed her arm and turned her around. "Okay, let's go," he said. James half expected Lily to ask him what he was talking about and it would have all in James' imagination. After all, this was all James had wanted for the past three years; to go to Hogsmeade with Lily (even if it was just as friends).

She smiled brightly at him and James' heart lurched forward and started beating wildly. "Come on, let's go," she said grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the Entrance hall.

"Wait a second, Lily. Where are you going?" he asked.

"The Entrance Hall. I thought you wanted to go to Hogsmeade," she said, furrowing her eyebrows and stopping.

James smiled. "Lily, if you are going to sneak off to Hogsmeade, you have to at least be sneaky about it," he said smirking.

Lily scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Have any better ideas, Mr. Marauder?" she asked, challenging him.

"As a matter of fact, I have seven. But we only need one," said James. He grabbed her arm this time and pulled her in the opposite direction to the third floor corridor.

James stopped in front of a statue of a one-eyed, humped witch.

Lily smirked. "I suppose this is some kind of passage way that leads to the Three Broomsticks?" she asked, mocking him.

"Actually it leads to the cellar of Honeydukes, but you were close," he said.

Lily faltered. "What?"

James didn't answer her, but looked around to make sure that no one was around them before turning back to the statue. "Dissendium," he whispered. The statue started to descend and Lily almost fainted for the second time that day. There, a narrow passage appeared and James walked into it, holding out his hand for Lily to follow.

"I-I don't understand," she said, not entering the passage.

"I'll explain on the way, just come on before someone comes," he said.

Lily hesitantly stepped through the passage behind James and he closed it behind them.

"Lumos," he whispered. The tip of James' wand gave them light. James moved the light to show in front of them and it showed a stone slide not two centimetres from Lily's feet. She gasped and James smiled at her.

"Shall we go?" he asked her.

Lily looked hesitant but James grabbed her hand and sat down, forcing Lily to sit down next to him. He was grinning widely, obviously enjoying this. "Bon voyage!" he said and he pushed them forward.

The two of them slid forward down the slope and they soon landed on a mossy, damp floor. It was dark wherever they were and James' wand was their only source of light. James stood up and wiped his robes. James took Lily's bag and his and set it at the bottom of the slope for them to find on their way back. He then grabbed Lily's hand again and pulled her up. She was too shocked to even say anything.

James still held her hand and walked forward. After he was sure Lily was following after him, he let go.

"So, what do you think?" James asked, the light of his wand shining ahead of them.

Lily had millions of thoughts racing through her head. "How did you find this?" she asked.

James looked back at her and tapped his nose mysteriously. "A Marauder never reveals his secrets."

"Never? What about the Marauder's Map?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

James thought for a second. "There are exceptions," he replied.

"So, is this an exception?" she asked.

"Nope. Maybe one day, but today is not the day," he said, walking along.

"Okay fine then. How—uff!" Lily stumbled on the uneven floor. Thank Merlin for James' quick Quidditch reflexes; he grabbed Lily before she fell flat on her face.

"Thanks," she mumbled as her face gradually turned redder. She was so embarrassed that she tripped in front of him.

"No problem, Lily," he replied, letting go of her. "Just be more careful next time," he said smirking. He set off again. "Any more questions?" he asked, looking back at her.

"None that I can ask without getting the 'A Marauder never tells his secrets,' answer," she said. "But you boys are truly unbelievable," she said, using the walls to guide her.

James laughed. "Thanks, you are pretty unbelievable too. The Head Girl and Boy skiving of class to go to Hogsmeade," he said laughing once again. "I must be dreaming," he muttered.

"What did you say?" she asked, peering at him from behind.

James turned around. "Nothing. This tunnel's pretty long, and then we have to climb like a million steps, so we'll be there in around 20 minutes," he told her.

Lily sighed. What was she doing? All this Dumbledore business scrambled her brain and she wasn't thinking straight. Maybe she could just turn around and start running? No. She was going to stay with James and enjoy the day. She hadn't had a day off in a while, most of the weekends were spent doing homework and reviewing for NEWTs. Yes, she was reviewing for NEWTs in October. And this weekend was Petunia's wedding. Lily groaned out loud. She was too shocked or relieved earlier to have any sort of reaction yet.

James turned to look at her. "Lily? Are you okay?" he asked.

She groaned again. "Tell me this isn't happening. Tell me that my sister isn't marrying that great pig and that they aren't going to have great pig children. Tell me it isn't true and that class hasn't even started," she said. She stopped walking and put her head in her hands.

James went over to her for the second time that day and put his hands on her shoulders again. "Lily, I could tell you that, but I would be lying. So I'm not. But that's why we're going to Hogsmeade, to let you relax and forget about your sister. Besides, you'll be able to see your parents again. And thank you, by the way, for getting the image of a great pig having children with your sister in my mind," he said.

Lily laughed and looked up. "Your welcome. I guess it will be okay,' she said uncertainly. "Come on, let's go. I need to restock on Honeydukes if I'm going to be spending my weekend with Petunia," she said. James smiled and they moved forward again in silence.

Lily thought about the weekend. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe Lily would try and reconcile a bit with Petunia. No, that's pushing it, Lily. At least I'm going to this wedding, she thought to herself. Well, she'd be able to see her parents at least. But then she would have to tell them about Voldemort. Great, she thought, going to see my parents only to tell that they are in danger. But, she decided that the sooner she told them, the better.

Then, Lily had a thought. It was only October. That means school started one month ago and she was hearing about the wedding now. Then, was the wedding being planned during the summer and Petunia had not told her? Had her parents kept it from her? What was the point in telling her now, when they had the whole summer to tell her and they didn't? Lily suddenly got angry that her parents had not told her earlier. She understood that Petunia would want to keep it a secret and she didn't care. But her parents? Why would they keep it a secret? Did Lily mean so little to them that they wouldn't include her in something like this? Did they suddenly feel guilty at not telling her and decided to invite her to come at the last moment? These miserable thoughts flashed through her mind. She was so angry at her parents at something so little. Her emotions were all jumbled today.

"Hey, Lily? You still there? You're really quiet," said James' soothing voice from in front of her.

Lily's anger calmed down at remembering that she was with James. There was no reason to be angry now; she was supposed to be relaxing before the weekend, not getting worked up about it. Her angry slowly ebbed away as she thought about James.

He turned around to face her, but continued to walk. The light from his wand was reflecting off his glasses and showing his marvellous hazel eyes. They were glimmering in the dim light and peering at her. His boyish features were highlighted by the light and Lily appreciated the dark as it was hiding her growing blush. Her heart started to beat faster and her mind turned blank.

"Lily?" he asked again.

"What?" she replied blankly.

James and Lily stopped for the second time. "You know, we're never going to get there if we keep stopping like this," he said, shining the light on her. "Are you sure you want to do this? We can turn back if you want," he said.

"Oh, no, I want to keep going! I was just thinking about the wedding again. Keep going, sorry," she urged.

James rose an eyebrow but continued walking through the tunnel. Lily followed obediently and just focused on James. She didn't want to ruin this, it was sort of an early date to Hogsmeade. Maybe if they had a good time, he would ask her to the upcoming weekend, right? She blushed and started to walk quicker, eager to get to Hogsmeade faster.

After what seemed like an eternity, James turned back to look at Lily.

"Here are the stairs. There are a lot, so be prepared. It will lead us to the cellar of Honeydukes, so we have to be careful and quiet when we get up there, okay?" he said.

Lily nodded and the two of them set to climbing the stairs. After five minutes, Lily's legs were aching. She hated climbing stairs and Hogwarts had a lot of them. Elevators and escalators were one of the Muggle things that Lily missed. Also, being behind James, she had a clear view of his arse. Determined to not to stare at it like a perverted loon, Lily glued her eyes to her feet and the rhythmic motion of them going up and up and up. Finally, after what felt like climbing 20 flights of Hogwarts' stairs, James stopped in front of her. She nearly bumped into him but stopped herself at the last minute, almost causing her to go tumbling down the stairs. She looked up and saw that there was a trapdoor stationed right above them.

"Here we are," he whispered. "Shh, don't say anything in case someone is there."

James lifted the trapdoor slowly and carefully and looked out the small crack. Lily assumed there was no one there as he opened it a bit more and manoeuvred himself out. Then, he turned around and lifted Lily carefully out after him. They walked out of the cellar and into Honeydukes.

…………………………

James stood patiently by Lily's side as she picked out her favourite chocolates. He gave Lily advice when she asked him what she should get but otherwise remained quiet. He was still convinced this was a dream and was trying to relish in the moment.

"What do you think about these?" she asked, holding up some acid pops.

"Unless you want to make a hole in your tongue, I suggest not," he said, taking them from her hand and putting them back on the counter.

"Hey, that might be good for Petunia…" she said, reaching for them.

James laughed and pushed her along the aisles. He felt as though his heart would never slow down and the tingling in his fingers would never go away. It was unbelievable that Lily always made him feel this way no matter how much time they spent together. He would never get used to it.

James wished so badly that he could ask Lily out now, that this could be their first official date. But, he knew that Lily probably thought of this as some kind of friendly get together. James knew that he had to wait; that Lily wasn't ready to accept him yet. Sure, they were great friends, but he felt that Lily needed some time first and find out what she really wanted. He still felt the need to prove himself to her, that he changed and he was a different person than he was before.

The two continued on walking through Honeydukes, James obediently following Lily and picking out some things for himself before Lily was ready.

"Okay, I'm all done," said Lily with piles of candy in her arms.

James looked at her with wide eyes. How could a girl so small eat that much candy?

"Wow, that's a lot of food," he commented, walking towards the counter to pay.

"I'm going to get bored at the wedding, no doubt. And I'll miss the wizarding world too much, even for just a weekend. It's one way for me to be with it," she said shrugging.

When their time finally came to pay, Lily placed all her items on the counter. Counting them all out would take forever, so James didn't try. The owner of Honeydukes totalled up the cash and waited for Lily to pay up. She dug around for her wallet but while she was fervently looking for it, James had already gotten out his money and paid for it. A total of 1 galleon, 14 sickles and 4 knuts. He took the bag, thanked the man, and dragged Lily out of the shop.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked, taking the bag from James' hand.

"Do what?" he asked, confused.

"Pay for me," she replied.

James blushed and shrugged. "My mum told me that I should always pay when I go out with lady friends," he said, embarrassed.

Lily blushed. Did James mean that they were sort of on a date? Or was it just friendly? UGH. James confused her so much.

"Oh, er. Thanks, James. You didn't have too, it's not like we're dating or anything," she said. She froze. Did that actually come out of her mouth? What a stupid, stupid thing to say! Now he's going to think that you don't want to date him! DAMN!

James nodded and kept his face neutral, but his heart gave a painful jab. It sounded like Lily didn't want to date him and she was uncomfortable with him; like she felt sorry for him. He had this tiny flicker of hope inside him that Lily would like him, but it was very slowly being extinguished. The way she said it was a blow to the heart; "It's not like we're dating or anything." She sounded like she was reminding him that she was not with him and it hurt him more than he thought it would. He suddenly felt immensely depressed and the joy of skipping class with Lily was slowly diminishing.

The pair walked on in an uncomfortable silence. They walked aimlessly through the streets of Hogsmeade as they had nothing better to do. There were not many people as it was a Wednesday and during working hours. There was a slight breeze as the October weather was coming and fall was approaching, but it was nice.

James offered to go to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer. Lily agreed and they entered the bar. It was not crowded at all, there were a few people here and they were chatting amongst themselves. James spotted Madam Rosmerta from behind the counter and waved to her. She waved back and motioned for them to come over. James put his hand on Lily's back and they walked over to Rosmerta. His heart gave another jab and he hastily took his hand from Lily's back. Maybe he should keep the contact to the minimal.

"Why, if it isn't Mr. James Potter. And not with dear Messrs. Sirius, Remus and Peter for once," she said smiling wryly. "And, it's Lily, isn't it?" she asked, looking curiously at her.

Lily nodded and smiled. "Lily Evans," she confirmed as she sat down at the bar.

"Lovely. And what may I ask, James, are you doing, bringing girls out of school for dates?" she asked, grinning at James.

They both blushed lightly as James sat down next to Lily. "We're just friends, Rosy, and it was her idea," James said, pointing a finger at Lily, accusingly.

"Oh really, now. Well I should go and get a professor…" she started. Lily blanched and James smirked. "But, I guess I'll just let you two have fun," Lily let out a breath and James shook his head amusingly at Rosmerta. "After all, the two Head students should be allowed a day or two off," she said. "What'll it be, Hun?" she asked Lily.

"I'll just have a Butterbeer, please," said Lily, smiling at the waitress.

"And you, James?" she asked next.

"I'll have the same thing," he answered.

Rosmerta pulled out two Butterbeers from behind the counter and handed them to the students. She stayed and chatted for a bit until another customer called for her.

"It seems like you Marauders are friends of Madam Rosmerta," she said, smirking at James.

James nodded and smiled. "Sirius and I would have competitions on who Rosmerta liked better, we both thought she was extremely attractive," he said sipping at his Butterbeer.

Lily felt herself get a little jealous at his words. She mentally slapped herself. Get a grip, Lily. It's Rosmerta. "Was attractive?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

James shrugged. "I've moved on, but I don't think Sirius has. But, we will all have a little soft spot for our Rosy," he said, putting a hand to his heart. Lily laughed. "And of course, Rosmerta confessed to me that I was always her favourite," he added with a wink.

Lily rolled her eyes and drank her Butterbeer.

"So, what are you going to wear to your sister's wedding?" James asked, changing the subject.

Lily rolled her eyes. "She probably has this horrible dress picked out for me so I don't stand out and bring attention to myself. After all, I'm a freak," she said. She took a long drink of her Butterbeer.

"That's mad, she would never do that. I mean, she can't be that horrible. And unless you're a part of the wedding, she can't pick what you wear," he said.

"It's not mad, it's perfectly normal for Petunia. Yes, she is that horrible. And I hope to Merlin that I am not part of the wedding. But, she will probably say that it is her special day and I have to do whatever she wants," she countered to all of his arguments.

Now it was James' turn to roll his eyes. "I'm sure she'll be sympathetic and let you wear what you want," he said.

"Whatever you say James," she said. "Let's talk about something else, I came here to try and forget about this weekend, not think about how bad it will be," she said.

James nodded and the conversation rolled on. James and Lily sat there for hours talking until the pub started to fill up as more people were getting home from work. James decided that they should probably get back to Hogwarts as it was getting late. Lily agreed and went to the bathroom quickly. While she was there, Rosmerta came and talked to James.

"She's a pretty one, James," said Rosmerta winking at him. "That's the one Sirius and Remus were always teasing you about, wasn't it?" she asked.

James rolled his eyes and nodded reluctantly. "But, we're only friends so that's how it's going to stay unless she wants it to move forward," said James.

"Oh, cheer up, James. Anyone can see that she likes you. You two make a great couple," she said, cleaning some mugs.

"Don't get my hopes up, Rosmerta. No matter how much I want to believe you, I don't think so," he said solemnly.

"Oh, James. Men are so oblivious," she said rolling her eyes.

James rolled his eyes back. "And if women aren't oblivious, can't she see that I am going absolutely mad just being her friend?" he asked miserably.

"Love blinds you, and if you're going so mad, then why don't you do something about it?" she asked, putting her hands on her waist.

"It's not that easy, Rosmerta. She only wants to be friends," he said exasperatedly.

Rosmerta gave a frustrated sigh and resumed her mug cleaning. "James, you need to take some chances. If you sit here thinking like that, nothing will happen!" she said, cleaning the mug fervently, releasing all her frustration at James out on the mug.

James shook his head. "I've taken enough chances; I don't think I can take it anymore. My heart can't take it anymore," he whispered.

At that moment, Lily came back from the washroom. She was smiling happily and stood next to James. "Should we get back then?" she asked cheerfully.

James nodded and stood up from his seat. Rosmerta was giving him a look but he ignored it.

"G'bye, Rosmerta! It was nice talking to you," said Lily.

"Oh, it was nice talking to you too, Hun. I'll see you soon enough, after all a real Hogsmeade weekend is coming up," she said. She looked pointedly at James. Again, he ignored her.

"Right! See you," said Lily.

Lily and James walked out of the pub and down the streets of Hogsmeade. The sun was setting slowly and everything was shades of red, orange and brown. Hogsmeade was so beautiful during the fall. Everything was so beautiful during fall.

Lily sighed contently at the view. She wondered how long they had been absent. Only then did she stop to think about what Marlene would think. If Marlene had been called down to the Headmaster's office and disappeared for the rest of the day, Lily would be immensely worried. She suddenly felt guilty that she didn't tell Marlene anything and just took off. She momentarily forgot about James being there until his hand brushed hers slightly. Her hand tingled and she restrained herself from glancing at James.

That day had been wonderful for Lily. It was exactly how she imagined a date with James would be, except there would be a bit more snogging. She shook her head from the thought and the anticipation of thinking if James would kiss her before they went back to the castle. Just the thought of it made her head spin and she removed it from her mind immediately. They were just friends and it was not something that she should be thinking about.

They quickly walked into Honeydukes and sneaked into the cellar undetected.

By the time they were walking through the tunnel, Lily got extremely tired. Maybe it was the combination of being with James and the darkness of the tunnel that made her so tired, but she hardly remembered falling asleep until James woke her up at the base of the slope.

"Sorry to wake you, Lily. But, I can't carry you up this slope, you're going to have to walk," he said uncomfortably.

Lily blushed so hard that her feet felt like they were a deep red. She got up hastily from the ground where James must have put her down and she brushed herself off. She mumbled a quick sorry and thanks to James and picked up her bag from where James had left them earlier that day. She was not making eye contact with him.

They walked up the stone slope with some difficulty as Lily had just woken up and was slightly uncoordinated. She reached out for James often and he just resorted to having a hand on her arm constantly until they made it to the top. James muttered the spell to lower the statue and they climbed out quickly. They were lucky no one was in that corridor as James didn't have the Marauder's Map to check if anyone was around.

Lily guessed it was about dinner time because all the corridors they walked through were empty. It made sense as Lily's stomach was grumbling silently.

The Head Boy and Girl went up to the Gryffindor tower to drop off their bags before going down to dinner. Lily still refused to meet James' eye as she was still heavily embarrassed at falling asleep and having to be carried by James. Hmm, I wonder what that felt like. Too bad I can't remember, she thought gloomily. It must have felt wonderful; she stopped herself before she got too carried away.

They walked into the loud Great Hall, hoping to enter unnoticed. James didn't think to bring the invisibility cloak and now wished he had. They had not been present for most of the day and suddenly showing up at dinner together was a bit suspicious.

Thankfully, only a couple of heads turned in their direction, mostly James' fan club and Slytherins', but they didn't really cause any worry for Lily. They spotted their friends sitting at the Gryffindor table; Marlene and Remus were wearing concerned looks, Sirius and Peter were eating their food, looking calm and collected. (Actually, only Sirius looked calm and collected; Peter was stuffing HUGE amounts of food into his mouth.)

Lily and James approached their friends and sat down across from each other, Lily beside Marlene and James beside Remus.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU TWO BEEN!" Marlene shouted at them, looking hysterical.

Lily blushed a little as some heads turned to stare at them and James shrugged. "Hogsmeade," he answered.

"HOGSMEADE? HOGSMEADE? WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WERE YOU DOING IN HOGSMEADE?" she asked.

"Shh, Marlene, keep it down, people are staring," whispered Lily.

"KEEP IT DOWN? I'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO KEEP IT DOWN!" her face was now red and more and more people were looking in their direction.

"MARLENE!" shouted Remus. "I'm sure they have a good explanation for this, just calm down and let them explain," he said soothingly.

Marlene huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. She blew the hair out of her face and looked between James, who was putting food on his plate, and Lily, who was looking around to see if people were still staring.

"Well, is someone going to explain?" she asked impatiently.

Lily smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Dumbledore called me to his office and told me that Petunia was getting married and I have to leave this weekend to go to her wedding," she started.

"WHAT!" Marlene shouted. She met Petunia in Lily's fifth year when she spent some time at Lily's house for the summer vacation and she knew what a wench she was. "She's getting married? Ugh," she said, disgusted.

Lily nodded. "I know, and I thought it was something worse like my parents were dead or something, so I was a complete mess," she said.

Sirius looked at Lily and James. "What's so bad about your sister getting married? Shouldn't you be happy for her?" he asked, confused.

Marlene and Lily both looked at Sirius like he was crazy. "You haven't met Lily's sister, Sirius. She's an absolute nightmare," Marlene said, shuddering. "She makes Lily's life a living hell and she is the most wicked sister someone could have," said Marlene.

"Don't you think that's pushing it a bit?" asked Remus.

Lily shook her head. "I told you about her, Remus. She's horrible. But anyways, getting back to our story," she said. "After we left Dumbledore's office, I didn't feel like going to class, so I asked James if he wanted to go to Hogsmeade and he agreed," said Lily, now starting to pile her plate with food.

"Wow. Lily Evans, Head Girl wanting to skive class with the Head Boy," Sirius said shaking his head.

"That's exactly what I said, mate," said James, smirking. Lily glared at them.

"Showed her the tunnel, did you, Prongs?" asked Sirius, smirking.

James nodded and continued eating. Marlene looked between the two boys with a confused expression on her face.

"What tunnel?" she asked.

"SHH!" said three out of the four Marauders. Marlene was even more confused. "We'll talk about it later," said Remus.

Dinner was finally done and they walked up to the Common Room. In a secluded corner of the Common Room, the boys quickly explained the tunnel to Marlene. Much like Lily, she was amazed at the knowledge of the boys and wondered how they came to figure out this school so well.

During the explanation, Lily felt extremely tired and fell asleep on the armchair she was sitting in. When Marlene woke her up, it was around 9:00. Again, she had no memory of falling asleep and she was wondering why she was so tired. She noticed that the Marauders were still sitting with them. She glanced in James' direction and noticed him staring at her. They both blushed and looked away quickly.

Lily grabbed her bag from beside her and grabbed her homework. She asked Marlene what their homework was and then asked Remus because Marlene wasn't paying attention in class. She sighed heavily and got to work.

Two hours later, Lily was absolutely beat. Her legs were aching from walking up so much that day (she wasn't used to that much exercise) and her eyelids were drooping. She usually stayed up later than that, but tonight, she was extremely tired. She guessed it was because spending time with James made her heart beat a bit more, laugh a bit more, talk a bit more, smile a bit more and feel a bit more. Her homework was nearly finished but she decided she could leave it until breakfast. All she needed to do was do a concluding paragraph on her Transfiguration essay and that was easy.

Lily packed up her things and said good night to the Marauders and told Marlene that she was going to bed early. She still hadn't told her about her day with James but it would have to wait. She smiled at James and walked up to her dormitory.

Lily quickly changed out of her robes and into her pyjamas. She washed up and flopped into her bed. She closed the curtains around her and fell asleep with thoughts of Butterbeer, dark tunnels and strong arms carrying her in her sleep.

A/N: Wow, long chapter. I think it's the longest, it definitely took the longest to write. So, like usual, tell me what you think by reviewing please. :) Remember, suggestions are welcome so SUGGEST AWAY. Anywayss thanks if you are a reviewer, they make me happy 3.

I highly suggest reading Commentarius by Bee Daily on funniest fanfic I have ever read. Mine is utter crap compared to hers. Anyways review. XD xox 3