A/N: Okay, so here is the next chapter. I got it to you fairly fast (Okay, well faster than what I normally do). I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 20: Marissa makes a Deal

James had envisioned many different possibilities of what would occur when he finally proposed to Lily. All of them had something to do with the girl beaming and glowing with happiness and love; and none of them had anything to do with her doubling over and retching all over the floor. Which was why James was so worried when his future bride-to-be did exactly that.

"Lily!" he cried as the girl became sick "Are you ill? Did you catch strep throat again? Do you need me to take you to the nurse?" he asked, feeling her forehead to see if it was warm.

Lily just brushed the boys hand away and lifted her head, shakily. She still felt awful, but she knew that her sudden illness wasn't caused by a virus.

"I'm not sick, James" she said lightly, which caused the boy to scoff.

"Don't jest, Lily, you just threw up all over the floor. Of course you're sick" he retorted.

"I threw up because I was…confused" Lily answered.

"That's ridiculous, no one throws up because their confused" James said.

"I do!" Lily said, haughtily.

"Well, why are you confused then? All I did was ask you to marry me" James asked, confused. It wasn't like it was a big deal or anything.

"James, how can you take marriage so lightly? How can you be so confident?" Lily cried, becoming angry at the confused look on the boy's face.

"I'm not taking marriage lightly, Lily, I…I just don't see why your making it seem like such a surprise that I proposed." James said, becoming even more confused.

"Why shouldn't I have acted surprised? Most girls are surprised when their boyfriends propose" Lily answered.

"But…it wasn't like this was some sort of new idea. We were going to get married- we both knew that" James said, trying to talk some sense into the boy. Lily just gave out a mirthless laugh.

"James- you were the only one who knew we were going to get married. Did you not even think to ask me what I thought about this whole thing?" she asked, her voice ringing with fury.

"But, Lily, why would I need to? We're in love- why wouldn't we get married? Who else is there out there better suited for you than I am?" James asked, trying not to sound conceded or smug- though he was coming off as both.

"James Potter- how do you know that I am completely as enamored with you as you seem to think I am? What if there is somebody out there that I like better?" Lily said, brining herself up to her full height and staring at the boy straight in the eye.

"You can't be in love with someone else!" James said, his tone final. That wasn't even a possibility…

"Well, I am" Lily said, fueled by anger. But as soon as she uttered the words, her eyes went big and she immediately clutched her mouth. Oh god, what did she just do…

Upon hearing Lily's words, the fire immediately left James and she stared at her with disbelief and so much pain that Lily's eyes started to tear up.

"James, I didn't mean to…"

"I'm glad you told me that" James said, cutting her off, his voice flat and dull.

"Listen, James, I didn't mean it, it just came out" lily said, desperately trying to fix the situation.

"Lily, if you really are in love with someone else- then…I'm not going to force you into marriage" James said "I love you, more than you will ever know. But loving you means that I put your happiness before mine; and if you are going to be happier with some other man, then I'll make sure that you two get together, no matter how much it will hurt me"

Lily stared up at James, wondering how somebody who was usually so conceited and arrogant could be so utterly sweet and selfless. It was moments such as these that made her want to stay by the boy's side forever. But she didn't know if even these moments made up for the endless headaches that he gave her.

"James…I don't want to be with anybody else" Lily said finally.

"But you just said that you're in love with somebody else" James said. Lily just shook her head.

"But I'll never be with him- I could never see myself being with him. I could see myself being with you, though" Lily said.

"I'll never bring you as much happiness as this other man" James answered sullenly.

"James- you have brought me so much happiness along with so much anguish. I love you and I hate you. I can't imagine living with you, but I can't imagine living without you either" Lily answered, expressing her confusion.

"Then what do you want to do?" James asked. Lily looked up at the boy for a good minute before she finally gave him an answer.

"I want time, James. I want time to think things over" she said.

"How much time?" James asked.

"Give me until the end of the Merlin pageant. That will be enough time for me to sort things out" she said quickly. James nodded his head slightly.

"So you'll tell me at the end of the pageant whether you love me or not" he said, trying to clarify everything. Lily shook her head.

"I do love you, James. I just need to see if I could spend the rest of my life with you" Lily answered. James still remained a bit skeptical.

"But how do I know for sure that you really do love me, and not this mystery man?" James asked. Lily just grinned at him.

"James, do you really think that I would subjugate myself to the tortures of pageant preparation if I really didn't love you?"

"I guess you do have a point there…"

And what a torture pageant preparations truly were. By the end of the week- Lily had been stuffed full of so much information that she felt like she was going to explode.

"Okay, let's do this once again, Evans. What is the difference between a violin and a viola?" Regulus asked, looking extremely bored, a music book in his head and an open box of chocolate cauldrons beside him.

"Uh…violin has five letters and viola has six?" Lily said, brushing the red hair out of her eyes and giving Regulus a sheepish look.

"You really are the daftest person I have ever tried to teach- which is saying a lot considering that I just tutored Archibald Crabbe and Vincent Goyle the other day" Regulus said, his tone more exasperated than angry.

"Oh, shut it, Reg. Lily's doing fine" Sirius said from beside the boy.

"No, I'm not! I am absolutely horrible at music; I can't remember any etiquette; and Remus and Peter just walked out on my public speaking lesson yesterday because I was so horrid!" Lily wailed, leaning back on her chair.

"I don't even know why I'm bothering with this- I can't ever compete with all those high society girls" she added, miserably. Maybe James was better off with one of those fancy, beautiful girls…

"Yeah, but you've got one thing that none of those girls has" Sirius said, causing Lily to look up with interest.

"Oh yeah, what" she asked.

"Personality" Sirius answered. Lily groaned and leaned back once more. In high society, looks and poise were all that mattered. Personality was looked down upon…

"Okay…maybe that wasn't the best point" Sirius said, shaking his head, wondering how they could make everything work out.

And because this was Hogwarts- everybody knew about Lily and the Merlin pageant in a matter of hours. The school was abuzz with gossip and rumors by the end of the week- each one becoming more and more fantastical.

"I heard that James hired the minister of magic to tutor Lily in public speaking"

"Oh yeah- well I heard that Sora is giving the head of the pageant his weight in galleons as a bribe to get Lily through"

"Nah, you all are wrong. The H6 has already rigged the pageant to make sure Lily wins"

"I don't know about you people- but I'm getting a bit tired of constantly hearing about this sainted Lily" Adrian said finally, as he walked down the hallway, surrounded by people twittering about the famous redhead.

"Aren't you in the least bit interested by this, Adrian?" Frank Longbottom asked the boy. Adrian just scoffed.

"Please, that mudblood has no chance of winning the Merlin Pageant" he said, causing Bellatrix Black (the girl of his choice that week) to snicker beside him.

"I think Lily can win" Frank said, hiding his disgust for the other boy. How could a Gryffindor be so evil?

"Don't be daft, Longbottom. Just because you're whole family is a bunch of muggle lovers doesn't mean that all pureblood families are. The Merlin Judges know better than to let that…girl win a respectable society pageant" Adrian said coolly.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, mate" Lucius Malfoy said as he wheeled up next to Fran and Adrian.

"My Narcissa is going to enter the pageant as well" Lucius added, nodding his head towards the slight blond headed girl hanging off his arm. "She'll beat Lily, hands down"

"No doubt about it" Adrian answered.

"I don't know why you're in Gryffindor, Adrian- you're a horrible person. Why aren't you in Slytherin?" Frank asked, shaking his head at the group of people beside him.

"Because it wasn't convenient" Adrian answered coolly, walking away from Frank in long, graceful strides, Bellatrix scampering behind him like a lost puppy dog.

And being in Gryffindor really was convenient for Adrian. This way he could inform his aunt whenever something major happened with James or the rest of the H6. This time, Marissa was having her daily walk through the gardens when Adrian's owl swooped down and dropped its letter in front of her. Marissa gracefully picked the letter up, opened it, and then scanned her glorious green eyes over it, a sick grin spreading on her face as the contents of the letter sunk in.

"Henry" she said, calling her butler, who was never more than a few steps behind her.

"Yes madam" the small man said, scuttling up to her.

"Get Thomas for me, won't you" Marissa said, dismissing Henry with a wave of her hand. The man scampered away and moments later, Thomas walked up to the lady in his slow, lumbering gait.

"You called for me, Madame" Thomas said, his voice low.

"Ah, yes, my nephew just gave me an interesting piece of news" Marissa said coolly, turning to the man. For a moment, Thomas felt his insides boil with nervousness, though his impassive façade didn't change at all. Did Regulus rat him out?

"Interesting, Madame?" he asked.

"Yes, apparently James's mudblood girlfriend had decided to take part of the Merlin pageant! That girl…in a pageant!" Marissa said, as though it was the most amusing thing in the world. Thomas tried to hide his relief.

"Very amusing" he said, his hard set mouth breaking out into a very, very slight grin.

"Well, we know that there is no way that she is going to win- but we need to make it one hundred percent sure. Just for safety reasons" Marissa said, sitting down on a bench near her.

"What do you suppose we do?" Thomas asked. Marissa just looked down at her gown for a few moments in concentration before looking up once again.

"We bring in a contestant of our very own" the lady said, grinning widely.

"Who should we bring in- there are a great selection of girls to choose from" Thomas said, thinking about who the fairest of the high society girls were.

"We bring in that very pretty Black girl" Marissa said.

"Narcissa?" Thomas asked.

'No, that girl is too plain. We'll bring in Bellatrix, her sister. Much more exotic looking- plus she's a perfect lady" Marissa said. Thomas thought about it for a moment.

"It could work- I'll arrange that for you" Thomas said finally.

"And get her the best group of people to train her. She must be perfect" Marissa said.

"Of course, Madame. All will be taken care of" Thomas said lightly.

Marissa nodded her head and dismissed the man, slowly getting up and walking to the large manor, another idea already forming in her mind.

She walked up the large flight of main stairs and into her bedroom suite, which was double the size of the largest muggle manor in all of England.

Marissa entered her dressing parlor, where her husband, Jacob, stood, fixing his tie in the expansive mirror that covered one side of the room.

"Hello, Jacob" Marissa said coolly, sitting down at her table, getting out all of her jewelry and laying it down in front of her. Jacob eyes his beautiful wife warily.

"Hello, Marissa. I thought you were due to go to Italy today" he said, feeling uncomfortable. When he had first married Marissa, she was such a naïve, joyful girl with huge jade eyes and a dazzlingly bright smile. Now, she was a prim and proper lady who was always so detached from everything. She was a great businesswoman, but the kindness that she had possessed when she was younger was now completely gone.

"I had a change of plans" the lady said, holding up a large necklace, dripping with diamonds and emeralds. She examined the piece for a moment before nodding and putting it on, her skillful fingers fastening it perfectly.

"Well, where are you going then?" Jacob asked. Marissa turned around and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Your insufferable curiosity is beginning to annoy me, Jacob" she said icily before turning around once again and facing her personal mirror "but if you must know I am going to Hogwarts to visit James" she added.

"You're going to visit out son? Why, is something wrong with him?" Jacob asked suddenly. James was his one and only child, and he was constantly worrying about the boy.

"Nothing is wrong with him. I just need to have a talk with him; about his future" Marissa said.

"During school? Can't this wait until summer?" Jacob asked.

"If it could wait- I wouldn't be going now, would I?" Marissa said, getting up and walking through the door "this conversation is boring me. Next time you want to talk make sure you have something important to say" she said, leaving.

Jacob looked at the retreating figure, shaking his head. When had she changed from a happy girl to an ice queen?

Professor Dumbledore was sitting in his office, writing on a long piece of parchment when Marissa Potter appeared from out of his fire. He didn't even look up from his work as the woman stood up, dusted herself off and cleared her throat loudly.

"Professor" Marissa said to the man, nodding her head.

"Misses Potter, what an…unconventional way for you to come for a visit" Dumbledore said, still not looking up. Marissa scowled.

"I came to see James" she said, her voice low and mystical, as it always was.

"So I figured. Your son is in quidditch practice right now. You can find him on the field" Dumbledore said.

"Well, aren't you going to send somebody to accompany me?" Marissa asked, raising a single eyebrow.

Finally Dumbledore looked up at the woman and smiled, his light blue eyes dancing.

"Why of course, Misses Potter. May I introduce you to our guide, Peeves. He will escort you to the fields. But be careful, he has a nasty temper" the old man said, smiling jovially.

Peeves swooped down from the ceiling and pushed Marissa out of the room, blowing raspberries so loud that nobody could hear the woman's shrieks of protest.

Lily was sitting in the stands of the quidditch pitch, watching the Gryffindor practice while working on her potions homework. She looked up to see Sora 'accidentally' charm a bludger to follow Sirius around; grinning as the confused boy kept swatting the ball away, only to have it fly back towards him.

"What is wrong with this bloody bludger?" Sirius cried out as it came back towards him for the hundredth time.

"Apparently it has a bit of a crush on you, Padfoot" James said, laughing. He had seen Sora jinx the ball as well.

"Yeah well you better get over here and help it get an un-crush" Sirius said as he raced through the field, the bludger flying right behind him.

"Fine, fine" James said, flying over to Sirius. He got his wand out, ready to take the jinx off of the ball when Lily cried up from the stands.

"Watch out, James, behind you!"

James turned around to see the other bludger, which had just been flying around, headed his direction. Sora saw the ball as well and swooped down to hit it out of the way. James trued to swerve to the right, but just ended up colliding with Sirius, who was still trying to get his bludger off his tail. The two teens tumbled in the air, crashing into Sora. All three fell from their brooms and to the ground (which was only five feet down); landing in a heap.

"Sora, you're elbow is in my face!"

"Sirius get you foot off my stomach!"

"Whose finger is poking my eye?"

"James Jacob Potter- what in the world are you doing?"

James, Sirius, and Sora immediately sat up, looking at the woman standing in front of them.

"Oh…my" Sirius breathed as he saw Marissa Potter in front of him, looking poised, perfect, and deadly angry.

Lily stood up in the stands as the lady approached the group. Lily had never seen such a woman before in her life. She looked as though she was about as old as her mum, but there was something about the lady that spoke of detached perfection. Her auburn hair fell gracefully around her face, her clothes were absolutely perfect, but her eyes, which were a magnificent shade of green, looked disconnected and aloof. And she looked dangerous, lethally dangerous.

"Oh, hello mother" James said, standing up. Lily gasped. This perfect, poised woman was James's mother. The girl felt her stomach sink.

"James, why were you rolling around the ground like some type of…commoner?" Marissa asked, pulling herself up to her full height.

"I am very sorry mother, I fell off my broomstick. It will not happen again" James said, bowing his head down.

"It better not. You are the only heir to the House of Potter- we expect you to keep up the family name." Marissa said, holding James's chin, pulling up his face, and examining it.

"You look filthy" she said finally.

"I was just playing quidditch, mother. I haven't had a chance to shower." James explained, his voice low and polite.

"Well you know how I feel about sports. Especially when you are playing with…this lot" Marissa said coolly, looking down at Sirius and Sora.

"Hello Mistress Potter" Sora said, getting up and bowing. Marissa just scoffed at her and turned around.

"I need to have a talk with you, James. About…." The lady's eyes swept to the stands, over Lily, who was sitting very still, trying not to look at Marissa.

"Oh, well, okay" James said, following his mother out of the pitch. Lily ran down to Sora and Sirius and James and his mother left.

"What is she going to talk about?" Lily asked. Both Sora and Sirius just shrugged.

"With Marissa, you never really know what will happen" Sirius said.

Marissa led James to an empty classroom and closed the door behind them, making sure that Peeves was nowhere in sight. James sat down on one of the desks and looked at her.

"Is there something wrong, mother?" James asked. Marissa looked at him coolly.

"I heard that you decided to sign up your mudblood girlfriend for the Merlin pageant" she said. James looked up at the woman, his eyes flashing with fury.

"Do not call Lily that name" he said, his tone biting. Marissa was taken aback for half a second at her son's anger.

"You will not talk to your mother like that, James" she said, her eyes narrowing. "Now tell me, do you think that this girl has any chance of winning?"

"I have full faith that Lily will win" James said. Marissa smiled lightly.

"Then are you willing to make a wager on it?" she asked. James hesitated for a moment. His mother was famous for her wagers- she had proposed many in the past and she had won every single one. But then again, this was Lily- and wherever the girl was concerned, James felt safe.

"I'll accept any wager you can name" James said confidently. Marissa smiled widely.

"Fine then" she said, walking up to her son "If Lily wins this pageant then I will accept her, no questions asked. You two can get married, live happily, whatever you want" she said.

"That sounds fair" James said.

"Yes, but if Lily doesn't win- then you have to do what I want you to do" she said. James looked at the woman.

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"You have to go to that business school in America" Marissa said. James groaned. His mother had been trying to get him to go to some sort of business school in America, even though he knew he would rather die than leave England.

"But…that would mean that I would be away from everybody for six years" he said. Marissa smiled.

"Yes, and during the summer and winters you will have to take a business job near the school to get experience" she added. James's eyes widened.

"You mean that I won't be able to come back to England at all for six years?" he asked. Marissa nodded her head. She knew that six years in America would wipe away any puppy love feelings James had for Lily. James stared numbly at the ground. His whole life now depended on Lily. If she won the pageant, he would live happily ever after. If she lost, he would be forced to leave his friends, his homeland and go to a foreign country- never to see everything he loved for six years. James looked up and at his mother, his eyes set and firm.

"I have full confidence in Lily. She will win and we will get together" he said. Marissa scoffed and turned around.

"You keep telling yourself that" she said, walking out of the room, leaving James sitting alone in the empty room.

A/N: Okay, so in the next chapter you get to see how Lily does in the pageant and see if James has to leave for six years or not. The end of the story is comin up soon (Ak- I'm getting a bit sad thinking about that); but I think I might do a sequel- something in Harry's time. We'll see though. As always- please review. Thanks!