Chapter 15

"What do you reckon Padfoot, Moony?" James had forwarded back to the Gryffindor Common Room immediately after Dumbledore left, leaving Lily all alone. There was one intention he had, and that was to tell his best friends the news.

Sirius and Remus had indeed been quite excited at the news that James had brought them. They were both just as passionate as James was about defeating dark wizards, and those than threatened many of the wizarding world.

James, Sirius and Remus all shared understanding glances at Dumbledore's suggestions, and no words needed to be spoken to acknowledge that all of them were willing to risk their lives for Dumbledore for each other, and for protecting the innocent.

Much the same was happening in the Girls Dormitories, specifically, in Brittany's room.

"Brit, I know this is the chance we've been waiting for…to prove ourselves against Voldemort! All of us are scared, but I want to actually do something worthwhile…and now, with Dumbledore suggesting it, it's definitely the perfect opportunity. I mean, I was even going to agree to Potter's proposal!" Now recalling back, Lily was amazed at how she could've thought that James Potter had matured into a gentlemen in one measly summer.

No, Lily now understood that he'd been putting on an act…after all; he was always good at pretending and deceiving others. Why, the whole school was put under his fake charms! Lily pitied them all…how could they even consider him to be charming, perfect and dashing? It was perpetually outrageous! She now felt like she was going to be sick every time his name was vaguely mentioned.

It seemed that their ever changing relationship had taken an upturn, but it had taken another dramatic drop now. In fact, it seemed her dislike for him had increased a few notches after yesterday. She seemed to be picturing his arrogant figure in her mind more often, and each time it happened, she would feel a burning desire to extinguish the guy form in her chest.

Too many things had happened in the year, and Lily was overwhelmed. Along with the quickly approaching NEWT's, she had to face internal conflicts and mixed emotions in her mind. Especially now with her and James' unstable relationship, she was more confused than ever! To be honest, she thought she was going to go crazy soon. She was constantly questioned what she wanted and what was right or wrong. Nothing seemed to be making much sense at all!

Snape had always called her a filthy Mudblood, but now he was being exceptionally nice. He even nodded to her a few times in the corridors. Although she didn't really take it into account, Snape's behaviour did seem queer. And once again, she took into account what James Potter had said. And annoyingly, she did see that he had a point. Snape seemed too friendly for her liking…it really did seem he was up to something; and she didn't like it, not one bit.

But of course, she would rather eat pus than admit this to anyone. She didn't like being proved wrong, nor did she like having a protector. She'd always been independent. And also, she had thought Amos Diggory was a handsome, respectable Hufflepuff, but again, it seemed she'd been proved wrong.

The menace and dangerousness in his eyes that night in the corridor was unmistakable. Lily didn't dare think of the deadly consequences that would have occurred if Snape hadn't been there. Much to her infuriation, a voice in her head kept telling her that James Potter would've saved her, and repeating it over and over again.

As much as she possessed a passionate hate for him, Lily couldn't deny that he'd saved her life. Nor could she deny that he was a loyal, brave and respectable Gryffindor. Yet, these qualities didn't outweigh his arrogance and self assurance. No, in fact, it proved that James just used his better qualities to prove to the world how great he was. And Lily hated him for it.

"Of course I'll join Dumbledore's defense association Lils! I'm dying for an adventure…it'll help me loosen up. I'm just really tense at the moment." Lily raised an eyebrow at her friend and shook her head slightly, particularly amused.

"Oh Brit, as much as I don't like Sirius Black…I don't think it's healthy for you to keep refusing to keep denying him like this! Surely he can't be as bad as Potter"

"You're one of my closest friends Lily, but sometimes I don't think Eva or you really know me. Sure, I might have some feelings for the guy, but I'm sure it'll die down soon enough…besides, you know how he is, he'll just break my heart in the end!" Brittany's short temper was back to boiling point. Sirius Black was an especially touch subject.

"Being afraid is normal in every relationship. If you can't even face Black, how are you supposed to find courage to stand up to Death Eaters?"

"Sometimes Lily, standing up to the person you love is much harder than an enemy. Much harder than you think…" Brittany's voice was barely above a whisper. It was clear she'd already had many traumas over what to do with Sirius…and how hard it was to just meet these problems head on.

Lily found no response for this, and her mouth was gaping for a response. It didn't seem that difficult to stand up to anybody at the moment for her. Although she was confused at first at her feelings towards Amos, she had thought they had progressed to love. But clearly she was wrong. Standing up to him was the thing she'd been dying to do after he betrayed her.

She'd always her lover to be charming, loyal, gentlemanly and courageous. Although she'd dated few people, none of them even came close to her expectations. She wanted people to take her seriously…not just some pretty face that had a temper and was something new for them to play with!

"But Brit…you have to confront your fears! I can't bear to see being tortured like this anymore!"

Brittany only grunted to Lily's extreme irritation. Her temper had been growing shorter than it already was, and many times, she'd even considered hexing very annoying students in the corridors. The only reason why she didn't was that she knew James always did it, and she didn't want to be in any way like him.

"That's it, Brit! I can't stand you moping around the place anymore. I'm going to tell Sirius Black if you don't have the guts to" And with that, Lily bounded for the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. Lily didn't even know if she was serious herself. She hated seeing her friend like this, but didn't want to betray her wishes either. But she had even confessed her love for him! Why couldn't they just get together as a happy couple and minimize so many problems…

Brittany's eyes widened to the size of Galleons and shrieked like a banshee, causing a few birds outside their window to flap away in shock. After realizing what Lily was going to do, she didn't whether to be furious or just amused. In fact, Brittany didn't even know whether Lily was going to actually do it.

The two girls struggled to get a hold off one another. Lily's hair was already in a horrible frizz, and Brittany's make-up was smudged badly. While Lily was trying to make her way down the stairs, Brittany was trying to pull her back. The few students studying in the Common Room scowled menacingly at them, but went back to their textbooks, now having placed earmuffs over their ears.

It seemed perfect timing that the 3 Marauders had to enter the Common Room at that time, grinning their heads off. Lily and Brittany immediately stopped giggling and let go of one another. When Sirius, James and Remus realised who was on the stairs, their grins died down and an uncomfortable tension was immediately established.

An awkward silence then lasted, with Remus coughing unsurely a few times to stop it, but to no avail. While James was trying to meet Lily's eyes, Lily's emerald ones were trying very hard to avoid the hazel ones. Lily's neck turned a light shade of pink, and a few splotches appeared on her face. Whether it was from awkwardness, embarrassment or anger she wasn't quite sure.

On the other hand, Brittany was glaring menacingly at Sirius' direction, her fists clenching and unclenching themselves unconsciously. Sirius tried to smile seductively, but all it achieved was an expression as if he'd just swallowed 50 red hot chilli peppers.

Finally, James could bear it no longer. A few people in the Common Room had abandoned their text books and were expecting another sort of argument between the infamous pair. They weren't disappointed.

"So, Evans" James chuckled nervously as Lily was still staring fixedly at the flickering flames in the fireplace. "What did you think of Dumbledore's proposal?" James had inched a few steps towards her, Sirius and Remus following. James knew Dumbledore hadn't wanted this to be spread around.

Lily shifted her eyes, and clasped her hands which she found were icy cold.

"O-oh…not that it's any of your business, but I'm considering it." Lily found herself quite nervous for some reason. She still hadn't properly forgiven him about spying on her and Amos. In fact, all the dislike she'd felt strongly for the past 6 years was all rolling back into her body.

James' fake laugh cracked as he saw Lily's bitterness towards him. As much as he wanted to rid himself of his feelings for her, it seemed next to impossible. Sirius was shifting uncomfortably on the spot next to him, while Remus was constantly changing his gaze between them and the girls, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Well Potter…we better be off. Unlike you, we use our time effectively and don't go pranking whoever we see in the corridors." With a grunt, Lily grasped Brittany's sleeve, who was still trying to calm herself and stepped out of the Fat Lady's portrait and walked hastily down the hall.

"Well, c'mon!" James snapped at his best friends. His mood had flared after Lily left. He felt a mixture of anger, love and hate. He really didn't know what to do these days. They too, proceeded out of the Common Room, the portrait of the Fat Lady swinging loudly as they exited. After a few awkward moments of hearing their footsteps echo loudly on the wooden floors, James apologized for his strange behaviour.

"I'm sorry you guys---you know how it's like, Evans and all…" The other two smiled soundlessly, and the three shared a moment.

"Yes Prongs…we know what it's like with Lily. Nothing needs to be said. Now, what're we going to do with Dumbledore's offer? I hope he sets a task soon for us…I can't wait to go on an actual adventure! You know, Dumbledore's always been a little on the eccentric side, but I can't believe he actually asked Seventh years to actually form a defense organization! Imagine the look of the Ministry if they found out." Sirius' expression was one of disbelief, but complete respect for the Headmaster.

"Yeah, I'm a little worried. It's like we've got the jobs of Aurors…if you think about it, most wizards don't have the courage to even face Death Eaters, let alone Voldemort himself. I wonder what Dumbledore's really thinking. It's a little dangerous to just let us face him alone." Remus rubbed his chin in order to come up with a response, but found no appropriate answer.

"Well, Dumbeldore's always done things his way. And he's always succeeded hasn't he? I see no reason to question ourselves about his motives." At this, the other 2 nodded in complete agreement. "I think we should be more concerned in actually working out strategies to defend ourselves. You heard what Dumbledore said, we need cunning and plan!"

"Argh! We'll know more when we have another meeting with Dumbledore. For now, we have more important issues to concern ourselves with." At this, James and Remus looked strangely at Sirius with raised eyebrows. They exchanged looks and shook their heads with humour as they continued walking down the hallway.

Suddenly, all the laughter and joke had been rubbed off Sirius' face as he stopped suddenly in the hallway. Remus and James who were conversing about the next Hogsmeade trip which was a few days after the New Year, stopped short as well. They followed Sirius' intense gaze to something at the end of the corridor.

It was Severus Snape.

"Wellllll, hello there Snivelly. How lucky of us to meet here in this very much deserted corridor." Sirius snickered loudly. James also couldn't resist a grin, but Remus was shifting his feet and scratching the back of his head nervously.

Snape had only just realized the 3 Marauders' presence, and his eyes narrowed noticeably, and his nostrils flared in utter loathe. He immediately plunged his hand in his robes and drew out his wand. Yet, his reflexes were nowhere near as fast as James or Sirius. They both had their wands pointed at his heart.

Snape gritted his teeth together hard. With 2 wands pointed at him belonging to his two most hated enemies, he didn't have much of an escape route. Considering it was very late at night, and the corridor was one that few people visited, he guessed the odds were definitely against him.

"So, any requests before we send you along, Snivelly?" Sirius sneered. Snape however, remained unusually calm and merely stared at them, pure hatred in his eyes. If looks could kill, it definitely wouldn't be clear who would be dead fastest.

"Levicorpus" James and Sirius muttered almost in unison.

Almost immediately, Snape was dangling by the feet in mid-air. His face was turning rapidly red, and the greasy strands of his hair were dangling down in clumps.

"I'll h-have you someday. Potter, Black You'll pay, all of you! J-just wait" He spat, his voice dangerously low. He was panting quite hard now and he laughed maniacally. His eyes squeezed shut in discomfort. He tried swiping at them, to the amusement of James and Sirius who exchanged cackles.

A few times, Remus looked as if he was going to say something and opened his mouth, but closed it with a look of defeat on his face. He was left gaping in the sidelines, no use whatsoever. Of course he knew that James and Sirius were only making empty threats and they wouldn't actually kill Snape. However much they liked to have a go at him, they always drew the line.

Snape was on the brink of fainting now, as so much blood had rushed into his head in such a short amount of time. He spluttered weakly and his hands fumbled for any way to get down. Unfortunately for him, his wand lay on the floor, half covered by moonlight, the other half, in the murky shadows.

James opened his mouth, his wand pointing directly at Snape's head. "Fur---" He was cut short, however, by a particular short, red-haired girl who wasn't looking very happy.

In fact, that was an understatement. Lily Evans approached the 3 Marauders, her eyes blazing with fury. Each step she took gave her an air of mysterious blaze. James immediately lowered his wand, and smiled nervously. It was just great that she of all people had to come at this time.

Sirius also clasped his wand nervously, as the girl flaring with uncontrollable anger took more steps and closing the distance between them. Her eyes shot sparks, and after giving a cowering Remus Lupin one of her infamous death stares, she turned to James.

"Well, Potter, what a surprise!" She smiled almost evilly, the white of teeth illuminated by the pale glow of moonlight. There was now only a few feet between her and James. Although James was almost taller than her by a head, he felt very small now…very small. In fact, under her gaze, all he wanted to do was cover himself in a lot of dirt and never come out again.

But of course, he couldn't do that. He was the great James Potter! He couldn't refuse a challenge when it came meeting him face on. Although the chime of warning bells sounded in his head, he chose unwisely to ignore them. He wiped his face off all his real emotions, and smirked attractively.

"Evans…how lovely of you to, errr…stumble here" Some of his courage had now become lost as he met her killing gaze.

No words were spoken, and an ugly silence continued with only Snape's heavy breathing in the background. Now, he was finding it extremely to keep breathing, and his anger for the people around him didn't help much.

However, Lily and James were too worked up over each other to notice him. Many minutes had passed, before their intense glares were broken. Lily smiled once again, a daring in her eyes that James hadn't seen much of. He wasn't sure he liked this Lily very much, but then again, he loved all of her.

As if in slow motion, Lily uncrossed her arms and drew out her wand. She stepped a few paced back and pointed her wand at James, whose smile had waned quite a little by now. She didn't even know why she was doing this! Just seeing James' arrogant smirk made her forget all reason. All she wanted to do right now was to flatten that handsome, inflated head of his.

"Prepare yourself, Potter" Lily whispered, nervousness and excitement in her voice as she prepared for a duel.

James gulped nervously. This was definitely not what he was expecting when he had hexed Snape for a bit of fun. In fact, he concluded, this was probably going to be one of the biggest mistakes of his life. He didn't want to hex Lily, nor could he find the courage to. No, he couldn't…and he wouldn't. His right hand which was grasping his wand lay stiffly by his body.

Lily opened her mouth, and James clenched his jaw nervously. He had been many times at the receiving end of her hexes, and he knew the damage they could do. He squinted his eyes shut and decided that if he didn't wake up in the Hospital Wing a week later, he would be at St Mungo's. This was sure going to be ugly.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: Mmmmm…not much happens in the chapter. I'm just trying to describe that Lily's hatred for James is still pretty intense. And although James know he loves Lily whatever, he still tries to avoid her. Lily on the other hand, is definitely confused about what she's feeling. Yeah…generally she doesn't know what all these emotions mean. So, yeah, you'll just have to see what makes her change her mind

Yeah, and if you're wondering, Lily still hasn't forgiven James for eavesdropping on her and Amos. And she's glad for Snape saving her, even though he's not nice to her usually. But as you know, his attitude has changed…and you'll all see what he's plotting soon enough. XD

Oh, also, the love potion still needs to come up…and of course, the battling with Voldemort will also happen. The first encounter will probably happen very soon in the Christmas Holidays actually!

Alright, enough said. Once again, to my dear, faithful reviewers: I LOVE YOU ALL! I really don't know where I'd be without all of you. So ALLLLLLL of you, please support me and tell mi what you thought of the chapter. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Oh, any suggestions for the story will also be greatly considered.

THANX EVERY1

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

Luvz,

Purebliss90