Chapter Three: Of Meetings and Games

"James" Lily said coldly as he appeared from beneath his invisibility cloak. He shook out his hair and put his invisibility cloak into his quidditch bag. He smiled awkwardly down at her, his expression showing a 'you found me' hint of mischievousness.

"Lily" he said looking at her sincerely. "When you left the great hall Laura told me what she had gotten you. I-I didn't look in the box, or take it, or anything like that." James said softly to her the words tripping out of his mouth and making him stutter. "I-I dind't take anything out of it either…I-I I'm sorry okay?" He added softly. With each word white puffs of steamy warmth blew from his lips. The warmth of his breath mingled into the cold rainy Scottish day. Lily crossed her arms in front of her, dawning a tough look that would have shocked anyone who didn't know her into thinking she was a permanent jerk. However, it didn't have such effects on people who knew her. They knew her soft side too well everyone knew it.

"Oh," Lily said quietly the cold of the rainy day showing through in her voice. She looked at the ground watching the streams of rain tumble to the lake.

"I-I did have it though," He admitted sitting next to her under the beach tree.

"What?" Lily almost yelled. "First you said you didn't have it now you say that you did! I knew it! I just bloody knew it! I just knew that you had it and were lying to me the whole time! I-I I'm, Bye" She said her words flew like the pouring rain. Perpetually tumbling from her mouth with no hope of clearing up. She got up pushing her self off of the ground by shoving herself off of the tree.

"LILY!" James said forcefully and soon she felt him grab her arm. Holding her captive with him. Lily looked down at his hand repulsed but he didn't move his hands off of her. He pulled himself up so that he was towering above her. "I didn't lie" He said softly, his voice felt coarse to her ears. His other hand grabbed her arm and he pulled her round so that she had to see his face, his body, so she had to see him so close to her. "I never would, I-I never would lie! Not to you!" He said softly to her.

"Then how did you have the gift Laura got for me?" Lily asked him her eyes holding his steadily and they pulsed with the fires of love and hate. She took a breath began to speak. "Tell me!" She said quietly but the intensity of her voice could fill a whole stadium. He didn't answer, he just looked at her, "Tell Me," She said louder to him.

"I-I, I found it." He said quietly almost inaudibly. She didn't hear him and tried to make it out. His eyes showed signs of sorrow, of happiness, and of longing? Or was that just her imagination. She asked him what it was that he had said, saying she hadn't heard him because of the rain. "Lily" he said softly it seemed as if he was cherishing the word as if it were chocolate or gold or something of value. "I found it." He added calmly and smiled at her. "Here" he said taking a small box out of his pocket. "This is what she got you," he said taking out a small mahogany box that was shaped like a heart. She looked into the palm of his hand, seeing that he was holding a music box with the letters 'listen to your heart' written in scribed Latin. Her name glistened on the top of the box and a letter hung off of it.

"I-I'm I ended up accusing you of stealing it and yeah, I-I'm sorry" Lily apologized.

"Hey, its okay." James said to her. Letting go of her other hand. Lily didn't want to apologize to him. She wanted to fall back on the safety of hating each other. She wanted to have something that wasn't ever going to happen be a dream. Not a possibility. She wanted a safety net of hate and hurt to keep her away from James and more to keep him away from her. "You don't need to apologize" James added after a moment of almost deadly silence. "You, you look cold. Here" he said handing her his cloak.

"T-Thanks" Her teeth were chattering and she felt numb through and through. However when James placed his cloak over her shoulders she could feel warmth ebbing through her body. Still this warmth didn't put a damper to the chill in her bones.

"James," Lily said looking up to him, straight into his hazel eyes. For a moment she forgot what she was going to say and stood there seeing nothing but him and his eyes. She shook herself from this place quickly and smiled up at him. "Ugh, I wanted to say something to you…" She said and began to fidget with her cloak.

"Yeah" James said and Lily thought for a moment she saw a fire in his eyes. When she looked again though, it was gone.

She smiled up at him and looked down bashfully. "James, Good luck" She said and smiled to him. She looked back up to see him smiling at her, his eyes shone with joy and she couldn't help but surpass a laugh. He looked like a child when they got the present they wanted for Christmas and thought that 'I'll never get it' but low and behold they did. His eyes held the magic and beauty of childhood filled with happiness and love.

"Thanks," He said softly and stuck his hand out to her in a friendly way. "Friends? I-I mean, I'm really sick of being enemies… I mean we should try to get along with our two best friends dating. So friends?" He asked tentatively and his smile broadened as their hands clasped together in a friendly, or so it was supposed to be, handshake. She would never say, but secretly she wanted something more…

The game was wonderful and the rain that had threatened the teams with signs of bad weather had cleared as though a spell had been broken. The sun shone brightly and warmed the wet students until they all were dried off. During the game Lily watched carefully as James played.

"Lily," Laura said to her looking over at her suspiciously. "Is my thought correct, are you…. or do you like James the hunk Potter? The one and only boy who has been swooning over you ever since well…ever?" Laura said with a laugh and Lily could feel the blood rising in her face and she knew she was flushing.

"LAURA" Lily whispered in an accusing tone. "I am friends with him now okay! Friends, just friends and nothing more!" Lily knew though, that Laura did not and would not believe this one bit. She knew Laura would believe that Lily liked James. She knew too, that Laura was right.