Disclaimer: If I were J.K. Rowling I'd be able to afford that shirt I wanted in the mall...lol

A/N: WOO! All of you rock: killing u with umbrellas, Lukesweetheart, And So The Wolf Howls, Lils, AnIrishLily, Phantom of a Rose, Hikari Annie, simply infatuated, PSTurner, darkmarkgirl, Darkmoon Fleur, NazgulGirl, and kurinoone! I can't even express how much I thank you!

So, school started on Tuesday for me, and I'm already missing summer after four days of being back at school. All I have to say is thank goodness it's the weekend! Surprisingly, my favorite class this year is AP English; I just love that class! Chemistry is horrible though! I can already tell I am going to hate it with a passion; science is not one of the things I enjoy...

Anyways, enough about my boring school life. Here's chapter 10.

OOO

Chapter 10:

"Hey, look, there they are."

"I heard You-Know-Who brought them back to life."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. I heard they're Death Eaters in disguise."

Continuous whispers followed James and Lily around school for the rest of the week. Each day, the rumors of their return would get even more and more outrageous until finally a second year Ravenclaw went into hysterics as he exclaimed that the world was ending and everyone was going to die. After the boy had spent four days under the care of Madame Pomfrey—and under the influence of a powerful calming draught—Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the staff had done their best to halt the rumors, but to no prevail.

Harry wasn't having an easy time with it either. It seemed like wherever he went, Slytherins were sure to follow with snide remarks and comments about him finally having a family. It was a pure miracle that Malfoy was still alive, in James' opinion.

At long last, the day of the Hogsmeade trip arrived, and Lily couldn't have been happier to escape the castle, and its curious students, and get out for some fresh air.

"So, you're going with James then?" Hermione asked, smiling in a way that caused heat to rise up into Lily's face.

"Well, it's not like a…you know…I mean…yeah," Lily gave in, pulling out some tennis shoes and tying them onto her feet. She grabbed her winter coat and gloves from off the heater as she looked outside the window. A heavy snowfall had occurred over night and had covered the ground with a good few inches of snow.

Hermione wrapped her scarf around her neck, still grinning. "I suggest we head down then. I would hate to keep our dates waiting." Date. Lily gulped as her heart beat began to race enormously, as if she had just finished running a marathon.

Trying to appear calm and collected, Lily asked, "Date? Who are you going with?"

"Just Harry and Ron as always," Hermione answered, turning to open the door from their dorm.

Lily nodded distractedly, looking herself over in the mirror once more. She hoped she didn't look like it had taken her too long to get ready. Truth be told, it had taken nearly an hour and a half for her to find a suitable outfit to wear and another forty-five minutes to curl her hair into loose ringlets. Pull yourself together, Evans, Lily thought to herself, swinging her purse over her shoulder, It's only James Potter. Her stomach immediately began doing summersaults and she began regretting ever agreeing to this date.

Finally, after many pushes and shoves from Hermione, the two girls emerged into the Great Hall where they were immediately flagged down by three guys. Hermione smiled and waved back, grabbing Lily by the hand and pulling her through the crowd of students.

"Lily, you look great as always," James said smoothly, looking her up and down. He smiled when her eye caught his.

Why, why, why did I agree to this?

Because you like him.

Who says?

You.

Oh, shove it.

Lily could sense James looking at her nervously as she fought with the voices inside of her head. She looked up at him and locked eyes with his, her nervousness immediately evaporating. Almost as if she were in a trance, she smiled. "Hey, James. Shall we get going?" Why was he suddenly having this effect on her?

James grinned, offering her his arm, which she took after a second's hesitation. "See you guys later," he called happily over his shoulder to Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

Harry watched them leave, a small grin plastered on his face. "Well, it's good to know she didn't completely hate him," he said quietly, speaking to himself. It was reassuring to know that after that scene Harry had witnessed in his parents' fifth year that somehow James had gotten onto good terms with Lily.

Hermione and Ron exchanged a quick look. "What?" Ron asked bluntly, staring at his friend.

Harry shook his head, turning to face his two best friends. "Oh, nothing. Let's go."

OOO

It took a while for Lily to ease up. As they had walked along the road leading to Hogsmeade, things were a quite awkward between the two of them. But by the time they passed through the gate which signaled the end of Hogwarts' grounds, Lily had opened up and the two had talked freely.

"I always think Hogsmeade looks like a postcard," Lily stated, spinning around in a complete 360 in order to view the snow-covered roofs of small cottages and stores and the cheery smoke rising steadily from chimneys.

James watched her, his eyes twinkling happily. He couldn't believe he was here, with Lily, on a date. Sirius owed him five galleons. "So, where do you want to go, Lilykins?"

Lily wrinkled her nose in distaste, clearly not finding the nick-name at all fanciable. "Lilykins? You sound like Sirius."

James grinned, remembering how his best mate had adopted that nickname for her back in their fourth year, mostly to annoy her. And annoyed her it had; in fact James could clearly remember the slightly disturbing sight of Sirius after she had dealt with him on an occasion. "I'll take that as a compliment," he replied cheekily.

Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed his upper arm, dragging him off in the direction of Honeydukes. Minutes later, their money bags considerably lighter than they had been at the start, and each with a bag of candy in their hands, Lily and James walked out of the warm candy shop and headed down the street packed with Hogwarts students.

"You know," James began, glancing at her, "once upon a time you would never have been seen with me in Hogsmeade."

Lily smiled, her cheeks turning a warm shade of pink. "Yeah, well, things are different now." She said coyly, shrugging.

James smirked. "Like twenty years later different?"

Lily laughed and continued walking, but James had suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, staring at her. Realizing the absence of his presence by her side, Lily spun around confusedly. "Lily," he started, seeing the curious expression on her face, "if we had never come here, to this time, would you be on this date with me now in 1980?"

Lily shifted her feet uncomfortably, staring off into the distance as James scrutinized her. "If your head had been deflated like it has now, then yes," she answered smartly.

A small grin spread across his face as he reached out and grabbed her hand, satisfied with her answer. Lily would never change…"Come on, let's head over to the Three Broomsticks. I know of two Butterbeers with our names on them."

"Well, if it isn't James' Potter!" the pretty-faced bartender exclaimed, a wide smile spreading across her face. Lily vaguely recognized her as the same woman who ran the Three Broomsticks back in 1980.

"Hey Rose," James greeted, approaching the bar, and pointedly ignoring the perplexed stares of the other customers. "I'd like two Butterbeers, if you'd be so kind." He grinned and she consented, pulling out two tankards of the warm, tasty beverage.

"Don't be silly," she said, as James pulled out some silver coins from his pocket, "these are on the house. I've missed you coming in here all the time. It's good to see you again."

James smiled, shaking his head. "And of course, it's great to see you, but I'm paying." He counted out a galleon and seven sickles and handed them over, before Lily slapped down her own money. James looked at her questioningly.

"I can buy my own, it's alright."

"Lily, don't be silly, the drinks are on me," James replied, pushing his money back towards the bartender, Madame Rosmerta, and scooping up Lily's coins and handing them back to her.

"Honestly, James, just let me pay," Lily fought, reaching out and taking his coins back off of the counter and replacing them with her own.

Madame Rosmerta watched amusedly, as the couple in front of her continued to fight over who would pay for what.

"Lily, I'm paying and that's final."

"You're going to make me mad."

"I can deal with that." In one swift motion he had grabbed Lily, pinning her arms to her side. He put his money into Rosmerta's hands, winked, and then walked away with Lily and the drinks in his arms.

Lily sat down at the table and pretended to glare at James, refusing to touch her Butterbeer that he placed in front of her. James grinned. "You know, you could say thank you."

Unable to contain it, Lily laughed, breaking the charade. "Thanks, James. But I do believe we held the line up." She motioned over to where a long line of customers were waiting to be served.

James shrugged, taking a sip of his drink, warmth immediately stretching all the way to his fingertips. Over the top of his glass, he chanced a look at Lily. Her bright greens eyes surveyed the small bar, a contented smile formed on her lips. She sighed happily and she looked over to James, who immediately dropped his gaze.

"So, how'd you get so friendly with Madame Rosmerta?" Lily asked, her eyes shining.

James grinned, remembering all the times him and Sirius would sneak out under the invisibility cloak to Hogsmeade in order to get beverages and other certain items for after-match parties and such. "Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I give her a lot of business," he replied cryptically.

Lily laughed. "I don't think I even want to know."

"You're probably—"

A large echoing crash from a couple stores down the street caused James to break off as he looked quickly to his left. The force of the crash sent ripples of shock waves along the street and into the Three Broomsticks, making the glasses rattle uncomfortably on the tables. Lily peered out the window to see what had happened. It sounded as if a bomb had just detonated.

"What in the name of Godric Gryffindor…" James said. "I hope whatever fell didn't hurt anyone that was in that store."

"Maybe we should go check."

"I'm sure everything's fine. It was probably only a shelf."

"Yeah, a very large shelf," commented Lily, biting her lip but assuring herself everything was fine.

James looked out into the street for a couple of minutes, and then he shook his head. "I'm sure the customers in there will help with everything." As he spoke, a strange feeling erupted inside of his stomach. It was a sense of worry, a sense of foreboding as if his body was warning him that something was about to happen. "Lily…" he said, barely moving his lips, "something isn't right."

"I know, but as you said, the people in the store are bound to help with whatever—"

"—No, Lily," James interrupted hastily, standing up and scanning his eyes around his surroundings. The feeling inside of him moved from his stomach to his chest where it exploded, putting him onto a full alert. "We need to get out of here."

Lily's eyes clouded with worry and confusion as she looked into James' hazel eyes. His body stood rigid. Many of the students at the surrounding tables were giving James odd looks as they tried to eat their meals in peace, completely disregarding whatever had just happened.

"What is it?" Lily asked quietly. He didn't respond right away. She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to get his attention. "James?"

He finally looked at her, but before he could respond, a window from the store directly across the street exploded, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. The confused people and students out on the street all screamed with surprise, jumping out of the way of the glass now raining down upon them.

BOOM

The door from the same shop got blasted off its hinges, landing on top of a, thankfully empty, horse-drawn carriage. The scene outside turned into total chaos as Hogwarts' students and parents with small kids began fleeing from the scene, fear gripping each person as they pushed their way about trying to escape.

Lily held James' shoulder as everyone in the pub looked out with a mixture of surprise and fear on the commotion now occurring out in the streets. No one was ignoring the situation any longer.

"What's going on?" A middle-aged man exclaimed, standing from his table where his wife sat. With three long strides he approached the window to inspect the events that had happened outside. He pressed his hands against the pane, attempting to get a better view.

Before anyone could react, the window exploded with a sickening screech. The lights extinguished and The Three Broomsticks was sent into complete darkness. The store immediately filled with screams as everyone scrambled to their feet. James grabbed Lily around the waist and pulled her down towards the ground as large pieces of glass flew into the building from the smashed window.

Lily screamed as they hit the floor, covering her head with her hands as sharp pieces of glass cut into her skin. "What is happening?" she cried desperately, coughing as dust streamed into her mouth.

As soon as the dirt and glass settled onto the floor, James jumped up, pulling Lily with him. Together they whipped out their wands and surveyed the area. Tables and chairs were overturned as people dazedly stood up, some running to get out of the building. The pretty bartender hesitantly stuck her head out from behind the bar and wove her wand, restoring some of the light. "What in the world is happening?" she exclaimed wildly.

James' eyes shifted towards the empty hole in the wall where the window once stood. The window frame had been blasted out too, littering the ground with bits of wood. His heart dropped when he saw a woman kneeling beside the mess, tears running down her face; sticking out from underneath the pile of rubbish was a hand.

He felt Lily shivering next to him as he put his hand reassuringly in hers. "Stay here," he said. "I'm going to go see what happened."

Lily's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? I'm coming with you."

"Lily, no—"

"Don't try it. I'm coming."

James stared at her for a while seeing the determination hidden behind her eyes. Deciding he wanted her by her side anyways in order to protect her himself, he slowly nodded. With one last determined look from Lily, he held his wand out in front of him and exited the pub with Lily behind him.

The scene outside was like a nightmare. It seemed as if an alarm had gone off, signaling an evacuation of the whole town. People ran from every direction; out of shops and out of houses. Debris covered the cobbled stone streets and James' noticed that the sun seemed to have disappeared, causing blackness to fall onto everything. What had happened?

He took hold of Lily's hand and began pulling her through the masses of hectic people. Screams were beginning to fill throughout the town, wide-spread panic along with it. It was now becoming obvious that whatever had happened back at the Three Broomsticks was happening all around town. The bubbling feeling in James' gut returned. His pace increased.

"James! Lily!"

James spun around, tightening his grip on Lily's hand. They both looked in the direction they had heard the voice and saw a bushy haired girl running towards them. Hermione. A large cut had formed itself on the top of her forehead, drops of blood dripping from the wound.

She gasped, hands on her knees as she stopped in front of them. "Thank Merlin I found you. You need to get out of here!" she cried, struggling with maintaining a steady breathing rate.

James and Lily looked at her in alarm. "What?"

"Harry…sent me to warn you…it's a trap! They came to find you!"

The poor girl seemed delirious, her wand arm shaking uncontrollably, but her voice came out steady and strong. An explosion sounded to their left as a small town-house erupted into flames.

"Who? Who's looking for us?" James bellowed over the ever increasing noise of the town.

A jet of red light shot from across the street, hitting an old woman in the chest. She keeled over and fell to the ground, her face pale and unmoving.

Hermione's eyes darted around the street, her voice reaching a note of forcefulness in order for the words to have the right impact. "Death Eaters! They're here and they want you! You both must leave now!"

OOO

Tehehe...sorry to cut it off at such a...dramatic...time. Thanks for reading!

Until next time!

--HeyLookTheSnitch