A/N: Thanks to all of my reviewers I love how everyone is giving me some feedback. I would thank all of you right here, but unfortunately I can't do that.

Everyone seems to think the last chapter was the end of my story. And that is completely wrong! I am not going to be ending this story any time soon, I plan on writing 30 to 40 chapters.

Chapter 13

Preparing

A few days passed and Lily returned to the Mansion to begin the cleaning and decorating for the Ball which would be held the following day. She, herself was not doing the decorating because James' family was quite rich and along with that came house elves, willing to work for the generous family. Even though she was not decorating she still needed to guide the house elves as they worked away.

James was doing much better since the first day he was placed in room 307, which was later to be found as one of the intensive care units in St. Mungos. His lungs were almost entirely healed from the horrible battle, and each and every scrape, boil, and scar was completely diminished within the first two days of staying there.

Lily spent all of her free time at the magical hospital talking to James and filling him in on the things that were happening back at his home, but she never stayed longer than three hours. She was determined to have everything perfect for James' return, even though he would be back to his healthy self she didn't want him to be stressed with work we he came back.

Currently she was bustling about the Ballroom, which was just off the main hall, instructing the house elves. With only a day left she still had many finishing touches to make.

" This rug, Miss, Rita doesn't know where to put this rug," a young elf said timidly waving an elegant rug in front of Lily.

Lily pointed to the lounging area in the far back of the room, " Over there please Rita, thank you." She said smiling kindly and then moving on to the next elf.

Sirius walked into the large room and raised his brow.

" Wow, you think James' family has enough elves?" he asked Lily who was rubbing her temples and sighing heavily.

She looked around and watched the fifty or so little creatures scatter around, snapping their small fingers and waving miniature wands.

Lily looked at him tiredly and shrugged, " I don't mind them, actually I pity them, at least they're being paid. My only problem with them is their continuous question asking."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, " Sirius, I think I'm going to crack," Lily laughed lightly.

Sirius gave her a hug and ruffled her hair.

" Why don't you go take a break and visit your dearly beloved. I can handle this while you're gone."

She looked at him hopefully and looked up towards the heavens, " Thank Merlin..." Lily muttered, smiling at Sirius again.

" Thanks Sirius, you're fantastic." she said pecking him on the cheek in a friendly matter and scurrying towards the double doors.

Sirius bowed as she ran past him and smirked, " I know I am, but don't tell James that!"

She shook her head and laughed, " You're such a git!" she bellowed across the ballroom.

Lily giggled and turned around, running into Mallory.

" Ow!" she said rubbing her nose, " Lily you have a bad reputation of slamming into people!"

" Oh, sorry Mal." She apologized as she walked past her, " Hey, can you apparate with me to St. Mungos? Sirius is giving me a while off." she added as an after thought.

Mallory sighed, " Again? Oh, alright."

Agreeing with her she took her arm and closed her eyes, with a pop and the uncomfortable feeling of being squeezed through a tiny straw Lily was soon standing outside of James' room.

" Thanks, give me about two hours?" Lily asked, smiling at Mallory.

In understanding she just nodded and apparated back to the Mansion.

Lily turned back to the tall door and knocked lightly.

" Come on in, it's open." She heard James' voice say cheerfully from the other side of the door.

She walked in and was overcome with a wonderful sight, James was sitting in the corner of the room in a lounging chair by the open window reading while getting some fresh air. He was finally out of bed.

Lily smiled warmly at him as he slowly marked the page and closed the book.

" Oh," he said in surprise, " Lily, it's you. Come over here," James said offering his lap to her.

She walked over to him briskly and sat on his lap carefully.

He wrapped his strong arms around her slim waist and kissed her forehead, " I missed you." James said softly.

She laughed and leaned into him.

" But I was here just last night!"

He smirked, " Which is much too long for us to be apart."

Lily laughed again, " We're hopeless you know."

" Yeah, it's just a bit obvious."

Smiling, she looked out the open window and felt a light breeze brush against her cheek, which was blowing the sterile white curtains around gently. James tightened his grip around her waist as she laid her head on his shoulder.

" How's the decorating coming along?"

Lily yawned and rolled her eyes, " Stressfully. But I'm nearly done. Sirius has taken over for a while though, he noticed that I needed to get away."

James sighed, " You really didn't need to do anything. I'm coming home tonight, you know. Did I tell you?"

Lily's face lit up and she looked at him in shock. "

" Really?" she asked, as if he were bluntly lying to her.

James rolled his eyes, " I could've sworn I told you! I'm sorry I've known since yesterday."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and came down on his lips, " Oh, James this is wonderful!"

" Yeah," he said after she had let up on him. " I have to take a few tests to see if I'm fully healed and I'm outta here."

Lily beamed from ear to ear, but suddenly her smile faltered and instantaneously this was noticed by James.

" What's wrong Lils? Did I say something?" He asked in a concerned tone that matched his expression.

She shook her head, " Oh, no I was just thinking about Lucius and his little followers. Do you know when the trial will be held?"

He nodded, " Yes, June 12. All of us have to be there because we were witnesses,"

" Are you going to be tried?" she asked, not knowing if he had used unforgivable curses that could have him put into Azkaban for the rest of his life.

" No, not as far as I know. But I can guarantee that Lucius' father is going to try and sue me for starting all of it,"James frowned grimly, and watched as Lily's face paled.

" But don't worry, I'm not going to let them take me in." He said, flashing her a reassuring smile.

That didn't seem to comfort her much, although it did help a little.

" James," she said, standing up and grasping her stomach. " I have a bad feeling about all of this, like nothing will ever be normal again."

He walked up behind her and snaked his arms around her waist, nuzzling his chin into her soft neck. " Oh, Lily, don't think like that! I'm sure everything will turn out fine." he kissed her cheek and smiled.

Seeing as this wasn't helping at all he decided he would have to change the subject.

" What d'you say we go get a bite from the Cafe on the first floor? I've heard the food is pretty good."

Lily immediately noticed this sly trick of his and acted as if she had fallen for it. Plastering a fake smile on her face she sighed.

" Yeah, it's almost dinner time. Are you sure you're okay to go?"

He chuckled and took her hand, " I'm perfectly fine, now enough worrying about me! Let's get something to eat."

XxxxxX

After sharing a casual dinner with James and kissing him goodbye Mallory apparated with Lily back to the mansion.

Lily made her way to the Ballroom to check up on how things were going. When she walked in she smiled and sighed. Everything was in place.

Lights were hung on the ceiling making the illusion of there being a huge sparkling spider web dangling above them. The large chandeliers where polished and hung also. The lounging area in the back of the room was perfect, all of the couches were in place and the bar was prepared for use as well. A section in the back left of the overly large room was cleared and set up for the classical band that would be arriving at 4:00 the next day, since the ball would begin at five they needed a while to practice before the performance.

" Did I do as bad as you presumed a would?" she heard Sirius say sarcastically from behind her.

Lily grinned and shook her head, " No, actually you did quite well."

He nodded, "Thank you. So how's James doing?"

" You're welcome. Very well, he needs to take a few tests to be able to leave, but he will be back tonight in about..." she lifted her wrist and checked her silver watch. " a half hour."

It was only nine o'clock but both Sirius and Lily were exhausted.

" It will be great to have the ol' bloke back."

She smiled, " Definitely."

Just then Amanda and Mallory walked in looking quite pleased with themselves considering the large smirks they held on their faces.

With a questioning look Lily asked, " What have you two been doing?"

Amanda smiled pointing across the room at two tall glass doors that were covered with heavy blue drapes that matched the midnight blue paint on the ballroom walls.

" Why don't you go check out the garden..."

Lily having never even known there was a garden looked shocked, " Uh, James has a garden?" she asked.

Mallory sighed and shook her head, " No, Amanda just likes saying things that don't make any sense!" Lily didn't seem to catch on so again she sighed, " Yeah, dumb ass he has a garden! Go look at it, we spent two hours working on it, and that was with the help of my wand and forty seven house elves."

Obediently she waltzed over to the door and pulled on the thick golden handles. Creaking loudly they swung open revealing the most beautiful garden she had ever set eyes on.

About twenty feet in front of her, and at least a half story high stood a magnificent fountain made of white marble. It sat on a extravagant aisle-way made of a series of different colored bricks of all different shapes and sizes. The path led from the door way, to the fountain, and off into three different directions from there. Water shot up out of it in several jets, seeming to reach the sky and fell back down into the pool of water with a rushing sound, much like the sound of a heavy rain. Many spotlights were set around it so that the streams of water could be seen in the dark. There was a two foot wall of the same white marble that went around the giant fountain made for a place for visitors to sit.

This fountain, although eye-catching and extremely beautiful, was not the only wonderful thing about this garden which seemed to extend to the end of the property.

Neatly trimmed rose bushes lined the brick path and set off different sections of the garden. On the right hand side there were two benches, that would be commonly found in neighborhood parks. On either side of the benches there stood a plant potted in a golden vase.

On the left hand side of the garden there were no potted plants or benches, but there was an outdoor dinning table covered in a creamy white table cloth and around the table sat two wooden chairs that looked as if they were hand carved.

An arrangement of colorful trees, bushes and patches of both wild and planted flowers were all a part of the beautiful background that could be seen if you were to walk around the fountain.

Lily found her mouth open after she had taken all of it in, from the calming background to the rushing fountain she was mesmerized at the beauty of it all.

Turning around she found the same two smirking faces staring back at her.

" Merlin! It's amazing!" she said, still in shock.

Mallory giggled, " I know..."

Laughing the three of them walked back into the Mansion and closed the doors.

" I don't know how you managed to get all of that done.. even with a wand and, what did you say? Forty some odd elves,"

" Forty-seven, and neither do we! It seemed to take forever though, Mallory, being the smart one she is..." Amanda said giving Mallory a scolding look, who laughed cautiously and shrugged, " almost forgot to go back and get you."

Lily shook her head, " We always knew you were a little on the slow side," she said as she began to walk across the never ending dance floor.

" Hey!" Mallory said offensively, " Now that's not quite fair! Who is the one here who got herself stuck in a toilet her second year? Hmm?"

Looking very upset as she turned around Lily said, " That's not fair, you can't use that against me because all of the other lavatories were either under repair or too far away!"

By this time Amanda was laughing hysterically at the two bellowing girls.

" Oh, give it up, we're all dumb, okay?"

Lily rolled her eyes, " Fine whatever." She started into the front room and turned to go up the stairs, " I'm going to my room, when James comes home tell me, alright?"

" Sure, we'll be in the kitchen with the elves, we have to get started on the food. We have lots of it to make."

Smiling at the two Lily made her way up the staircase, rubbing her sore eyes. It seemed to be a lifetime before she had finally reached her room. She sat down on the edge of her bed and sighed, it had been a long day she couldn't wait until everything was back to normal.

Suddenly her eyes widened. James' parents would be there for the ball, what would she say? What if they didn't like her?

A million questions flew across her mind, making her head hurt.

" Ahh," she moaned in annoyance.

Deciding that she needed to relax she went to her bathroom and started up the water to her bathtub and adding soothing bubbles to the water. Lily stripped of all her cloths and sunk into the warm water, thankful for having her own bathroom.

Ten minutes later she stepped out and towel dried off, looking in the steam-covered mirror she could see the dark bags under her eyes. She wrapped a towel around her hair and body and walked into her room.

Lily walked across her room and into the large closet that had been provided for her. After fumbling through the many drawers for a few minutes she pulled out a green tank top and silky pants to match. She changed into these and went back into her room. When she had brushed her hair out and had placed the wet towels back into the bathroom on the towel rack she flung herself onto her bed with a book.

It took her about three minutes of reading before she had fallen asleep, the clock beside her read 9:48, exactly the time that James arrived back home.

XxxxX

After passing the necessary tests, James apparated back to his home. When he entered the Mansion Sirius, Remus, Amanda, and Mallory all filed out of the kitchen doorway. The girls ran up to him and suffocated him in bear hugs.

" It's so good to have you back!" Amanda said, ruffling his hair.

He smiled back at her and looked around at Sirius and Remus, " How're you feeling mate?" Remus asked as he clapped him on the shoulder.

" Better, much better, how're you doing?"

" Good," Remus and Amanda turned to go back to the kitchen.

Mallory smiled, " We're all happy to have you back, James, Lily's upstairs. It's been a rough day for her."

After everyone had left Sirius played his part, including : squealing, 'Jamsie-poo-ing' and girlish hugging.

James just laughed and threw Sirius off of him, he rolled his eyes and smirked, " Great to see you too mate,"

Sirius chuckled and slapped James upside the head, " Go up at see your lover, she's been waiting for you."

He smirked cockily and made his way up the stairs, upon reaching Lily's room he stopped in shock. James had expected the door to be open, but it was firmly shut and locked.

He muttered the unlocking charm and peaked in. James smiled to himself at what he saw.

Lily was curled up in the middle of her bed with a book laying open on her chest. He walked up to her bed and sat down gently on the side. From past experience he decided not to try and wake her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, making her stir. James jumped off the bed, afraid that she might hit him again, but she didn't. She opened her eyes and looked towards him.

Lily smiled and yawned " Hey, why are you over there?"

He shrugged, " Safety precaution,"

She laughed, " Come over here,"

James did as he was told and laid himself down beside her, " I just wanted to let you know I was back, I think I'm going to get to bed myself."

Lily shook her head, " Don't go," she mumbled sleepily as her eyes began to close, her hand wandered over to his waist and pulled him closer to her. She could smell his distinct scent, she loved it, and yet she had no idea what it was. Lily nuzzled her head into his chest and sighed.

" But, I have to, I need sleep. And you do too." James replied, running his hand through her hair.

She looked up at him, " Stay with me. There's plenty of room for two."

His eyes widened, she never ceased to amaze him. Not once had a girl said those words to him, normally it was him finding that coming out of his mouth.

" Not for that, just to sleep," she said noticing the shocked look he held on his face.

An expression of disappointment crossed his face briefly before he smiled and nodded, " Can I get changed first?"

" Yeah,"

Lily let go of him and tumbled off the bed, she pulled back the covers and slid under them. Looking up she noticed that James was still standing there.

" I thought you were going to change." she said, looking at him curiously.

He nodded and pulled off his shirt, exposing his chiseled chest and well defined abs. Lily gasped and had to look away to keep control of herself, when she glanced back he had taken off his pants and was climbing back into bed.

She didn't move over to him, she just laid there, facing the opposite direction. Lily couldn't move, if she did she would find James laying there with nothing but boxers on, and she knew she might not be able to keep herself from doing something she may regret later on.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and bit her lip.

" Are you going to turn over?" she heard James ask.

Sighing she nodded and turned, there he was nothing but boxers, right next to her.

A hurt look crossed his angelic face as he looked over at her." What's wrong?"

Lily smiled and laughed, " Nothing, you're just... not... well, in your.. I mean it's hard... uh..."

It took a few seconds for it to kick in, but when it did he began to laugh hysterically. This didn't make anything better Lily just frowned and looked away.

" It's not funny, James,"

" I get it, I'm so sexy that you can't handle looking at me without losing control."

She turned to him and shot him a dirty look, before getting up and walking into the closet.

" Two can play at this game!" She shouted from behind the door.

Thinking that she wasn't coming back, a rush of guilt came over him, " I'm sorry Lily, come back, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

She laughed to herself as she reappeared, looking much different.

James' mouth fell open as he looked across the room at her.

Lily stood there proudly as his hungry eyes scanned her well toned body. She was dressed in a thin pink gown, made of silk that fell to her mid thighs and had a very low neck line.

She sauntered over to the bed and crawled under the covers. James was still looking at her like a hungry dog with a huge steak dangling in front of his face.

" Now that isn't fair, Lily." he smirked as he crawled over to her and pinned her underneath him, " You know, I can't control myself."

She giggled and leaned up, kissing him lightly on the lips purposely to make him want more, " You'll have to learn then." she whispered seductively.

He let go of her and rolled over to her side, " I did have to pick you for my girlfriend didn't I?" he asked as he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

She smiled, " What is that supposed to mean?" Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and began to twirl his hair around her fingers.

" I picked the most beautiful, irresistible one of them all," he whispered in her ear just before he began to kiss her neck.

She laughed and turned her head to meet his lips, suddenly she stopped and looked straight into his eyes.

" James, can I ask you something?" she said seriously.

He looked back at her, with concern, " Anything."

" This may sound dumb but do you, .. like me, or is all of this just lust?"

James seemed to be thinking about this, he looked back at her and said, " No, I don't."

She was hurt at his response, and tears began to brim her eyes, " Well, um, do you think I'm pretty then?"

Once again he seemed to think about this, " No, I don't."

She looked at him in shock, but pressed on, these three questions had been haunting her for some time now, and she needed to know the answer.

" Alright, well, if I died right now would you be sad?"

Without hesitation on this he shook his head, " No."

Lily glared at him and got out of bed, tears ran down her face like a waterfall, she couldn't believe what he had said. She just stared back at him with hate written all over her face. He got up and walked over to her.

" Don't you even touch me, Potter." she growled.

He shook his head, " No, Lily, you don't understand, let me explain."

She smiled sarcastically at him, " Oh, I understand completely what you mean."

James shook his head again, " No you don't. Lily I don't like you, I love you." He said as he kissed away a tear on her face.

Her heart flip flopped at this, as she searched his face for any trace of a lie, but there was nothing there but truth.

" You, what?"

" I love you, more than I've loved anyone, the feeling I get when I see you is no where close to just liking you, I love you with all of my heart." He said, taking her in his arms, " And I don't think you're pretty, you're beautiful, inside and out. No matter what I'll always think you're beautiful, but never pretty, pretty doesn't express the way I see you."

Lily looked up at him and for the millionth time was shocked.

He lowered his voice and became very serious looking her straight in the eye he said, " And I would not be sad if you died. Lily, if you died I would be scarred for life, I couldn't live without you in my arms. Without you by my side I wouldn't be able to carry on. I would dedicate the rest of my life to sitting by your grave, I love you so much Lily. And it's taken too long for me to realize it."

" Oh, James, I love you too." she said through tears of happiness.

James smiled down at her and crashed his lips down onto hers. It felt so good to finally get it out, and to know that she felt the same way. Things between them would never be the same again, returning to being friends would never be a possibility again.

A/N: Okay, I know this chapter sucked, but I hope you enjoyed it a little. I've been very sick lately... I still am, and it's kept me from writing. The next chapter will be about the ball. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Please review!

Thanks a Bunch,

Lissa