James woke up to find his arms wrapped around Lily Evans, like he had only two months before. Before Lily had walked into his room the night before, he had been dreading the morning. Now he knew he had someone on his side, and that someone was the one person he needed the most. He smiled to himself and looked down at Lily, who was sleeping peacefully.
Very carefully and slowly (so as not to wake her), he got out of bed and down to the Heads common room, where he had dropped his schoolbag on the last day of term. He pulled out a quill and three rolls of parchment, planning on writing a letter to Sirius and Remus (who were staying in the same house), and then to Peter, about everything that had happened the night before.
Dear Moony and Padfoot,
I decided to write to both of you in the same letter, seeing as you guys are both staying at the same house. Anyway, last night was pretty…interesting (No, Padfoot, I didn't do anything that you would've done.). At that point he paused, his quill suspended inches above the parchment, wondering how in the name of Merlin he was going to put everything that happened into words. The Minister sent me a letter. (Here there were many scratched-out sentences, as James couldn't find a way to put his parent's death into words) He said that Voldemort murdered my parents. I'm pretty upset, but I can't say that I wasn't expecting it. I mean, if somebody is sent to capture Voldemort, they really have no chance. The Ministry just doesn't take him seriously enough.
I didn't eat dinner last night. I wrote a letter to Lily saying that if she wanted to talk to me I was in my room. I honestly didn't think she was going to come up, but she did. I gave her the letter to read. The one that the Minister sent me. And then the truly amazing thing happened: SHE SAID YES! I asked her out and she said YES! SHE ACTUALLY SAID YES! Well, actually, what she did was kiss me and then say "Please don't take this as rejection" but that pretty much counts as a yes. In fact, I'd say it was more than a yes.
James Potter
He sent the letter to Remus and Sirius, and sent a similar one to Peter, then returned to the Heads dormitory, smiling like a kid in a Quidditch store.
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A lone figure of a man cloaked all in black stood in the doorway. "My lord," he said, bowing to the man before him, "it has happened."
"How can you be sure?" said the man in a high, cold voice, sitting down on a thrown and fingering his wand with long, pale fingers.
"I am quite sure, Lord Voldemort," the figure said.
"You dare speak my name?" Voldemort asked quietly in a vehement hiss.
"No, my lord, I am quite sorry, it slipped!" the man said quickly and nervously, kneeling at Voldemort's feet and kissing the hem of his robes.
"Never mind, never mind," Voldemort hissed, still fingering his wand. The man in the cloak eyed it nervously. "Now, how did it happen, may I ask?"
"My lord, you killed his parents. He was very upset, and she went and comforted him. The rest is quite self-explanatory, I assure you."
"Indeed, indeed," Voldemort said quietly. "Where is the proof of this?"
The man pulled something out of his cloak and handed it to Voldemort. "It is all written there, in that letter, master," he said proudly.
Voldemort's eyes skimmed the paper quickly. A sinister smile curled on his lips. "Very well," he said, flicking his wand at the letter. It curled into ashes upon his palm. "I am glad to see that he trusts you with such news. You have done your job well. Continue with it, and a most prized place among my followers may be yours. You must not let them know, for the consequences, my servant, will be most gruesome. Not only the punishment from the Ministry, but the punishment from myself, as well."
"Yes, my lord," the man said, bowing low again. "I understand."
"Now," Voldemort said quietly, "this is a cause for celebration, my dear servant. You have done well. Show me the Mark."
The man rolled up his left sleeve to reveal an image of the Dark Mark burned upon his forearm.
"Excellent," Voldemort said, picking his wand up and placing the tip of it to the Mark. The man screamed as it burned, turning from jet-black to bright red. Death Eaters began apparating into the room. Voldemort stretched out his arms to the room. "My friends," he said as the Death Eaters bowed low, "a joyous occasion has occurred. A celebration is in order." The Death Eaters laughed, evidently enjoying the sinister meaning that the sentence held. "An attack on Muggle London is in order. Go!"
And, as quickly as they came, the Death Eaters departed, laughing sinisterly and rubbing their hands together at the prospect of an attack. Only the first man was left, the one who had given Lord Voldemort cause for such a 'celebration'. "My lord, I must return home. My family will get suspicious," he said cautiously.
"Yes, yes, of course," Voldemort said distractedly. "You have done well." The man bowed and walked out of the darkened room.
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"Lily!" James exclaimed, shaking Lily to wake her up.
"What?" Lily asked groggily, sitting up in James's bed.
"I went to the Owlery to send a letter, and I came back here and you were thrashing around! I was worried!" James certainly looked worried; he was frowning down at her and holding her close.
"It's nothing, James," Lily said, pressing her palms to her eyes. "I just had a nightmare, that's all."
James didn't look convinced. "Are you sure you're okay? Because I could take you to the Hospital Wing or something. Maybe you should see Dumbledore. I'm going to go get McGonagall."
He stood up quickly and turned to leave, but Lily grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the bed. "I'm fine," Lily said quietly.
"Wow," James said, looking at her as though seeing her for the first time, "you're strong." He shook his head as though getting water out of his ears. "Lily, you're not fine. You're pale as snow, and you're shaking!"
"I just had a nightmare, James, really," Lily said, sighing.
"I still think you should go see McGonagall, or Dumbledore, or somebody," James said, and he began making a list of all the people she could go see.
"James, SHUT UP!" Lily said, clamping a hand over his mouth. The only thing she accomplished from this was his spit on her hand; in an attempt to get her hand off of his mouth he licked her palm. "EW!" she screamed, and proceeded to wipe her hand all over his hair. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" James just shrugged, smirking. "I'm trying to remember my dream, you dolt," Lily said, play-smacking his shoulder. She wracked her brain, trying to remember. She remembered something about a man in a cloak…or was it a woman? It was like cupping water in her hands; the more she tried to remember the more she forgot. All she knew was that it was something important.
James's arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Just forget about it, Lily," James whispered in her ear.
"James, it was important," she said, attempting to pound her forehead with her fist. James grabbed her wrists and brought them down onto the bed.
"Lily, it was only a dream," James said, looking at Lily worriedly.
She sighed, recognizing defeat. "I suppose you're right, James."
"Besides," James said, placing his hand under her chin and tilting her face up to look at him, "I can think of a few things we could do instead of interpreting nightmares."
"And what would those things be, James?" Lily asked softly, leaning close to him and putting her hand on his cheek.
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" James screamed, jumping up and putting on heavy layers of clothing, as Lily watching him, looking slightly put-out. "Come on, Lily, you can't go outside wearing those pajamas! Go get ready!"
Lily laughed at his eagerness. "Okay," she said, heaving herself up out of bed and flinching as her foot touched the coldness of the floor. "Just wait a minute."
James gave her the thumbs up and watched her walk away, then turned to look out the window. What he saw startled him. A big barn owl was flying straight towards the window. He opened the window and untied the letter off of its leg, then shut the window again as a blast of frigid air blew through and sent shivers down his spine.
He flipped the letter over, and found that the envelope was sealed with sinister skull-and-crossbones. I daresay you'll be reunited with your dear parents soon, James read as he opened up the letter, which was written in red ink (at least, he hoped that it was ink). He crushed it in his hand with a crackling sound, then ran into the common room and threw it into the fire, pushing the thought of it out of his mind. He wasn't going to let a stupid threat-letter ruin his day. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Lord Voldemort laughed.
A/N: Yes, I know James cheers up rather quickly after his parents die…but everybody reacts differently to that sort of thing, and having Lily near him cheers him up more than anything else could. So, yeah, just thought I'd clarify that. Um, don't forget to check out Silverwings' story, it's in the author's note in the chapter before this. Hers makes mine seem like a pile of doo-doo. Go check it out! Oh, and review, but don't send anything mean unless it's constructive criticism…thanks :)