Chapter 6 - In which James and Lily contemplate zombies

James was out on a late night walk. Technically, walking around at night in Hogwarts was against the rules, but frankly all of the professors were just too tired to care.

Much to his surprise, he ran into Lily on his way back to the castle. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"What are you doing here, James?" Lily asked in reply.

"Yeah, but I'm older. I can walk around at any given time and it's okay. But you're like ten or something."

"Twelve, you dick."

"Yeah, I know. I was just testing you."

The two of them sat down on the grass. "I have a feeling something bad's about to happen," Lily stated.

James looked around his shoulder. "What? Zombie Voldemort's going to pop out behind me and eat our brains?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, nothing quite that stupid. And not even right now. Just… soon."

"Okay, so what do you think's going to happen?" James asked. "If it doesn't involve zombies, I'm out of ideas."

Lily sat back and looked up at the stars. "Sometimes I feel like I'm not in control of my own life. What do you think?"

James shrugged. "I suppose we all have inclinations that we can't control. But in the end we always have a choice."

"I mean sometimes I feel like I don't have a choice," Lily said. "Like somebody else is controlling me, like I'm a puppet or something."

"Maybe you're being possessed by Voldemort's ghost," James offered.

"I doubt it," Lily muttered. "Besides, it's not like I'm doing bad things because of it. I'm just doing things… things that don't make much sense for me to be doing. Like I have thoughts that aren't really my own."

"Yeah, that doesn't sound crazy at all," James said.

Lily scowled. "Yesterday, I had this memory about my sister."

"We don't have a sister."

"I know, you dip shit," Lily said. "Anyway, I remembered that we were talking, and then we were yelling, and she pushed me into a rose bush. It took me an hour to get all of the thorns out of my hair and clothes. My hands were bleeding afterwards. Then I snapped out of it and I remembered that I don't really have a sister and that I was never pushed into a rose bush. But it had seemed so real."

"Yeah, that's weird," James shrugged. "So, this sister, is she hot?"

Lily smirked. "She was the sort of girl who could probably be pretty if she wanted to." Lily sat straight up and looked at James. "Don't you ever remember people you've never actually met?"

James' cheeks reddened. He thought of the two imaginary boys he dreamed about occasionally. "Nope, I can't say I do."

"Why do I think you're lying?" Lily questioned.

"Um… Because I am?"

"I thought so," Lily said. "You know, sometimes I really believe in reincarnation, like maybe I was around in another life, and that's why I have all of these memories. What do you think?"

James shrugged. "I don't really have any religious beliefs, I guess."

"You must have ideas, though," Lily said. "Don't you ever just wonder?"

"I don't know. I guess I don't like to think about it."

Suddenly Lily sprung forward, putting her arms around James.

"Uh, Lil…"

Without warning, she kissed him.

James pulled back. "What the fuck, Lil?" He wiped off his mouth. "That's not the sort of thing you usually do to your brother."

"Al kissed me before," Lily said.

James froze. "What?"

"Twice actually, I think."

"Kissed like, kissed kissed?"

"I don't know," Lily said. "And I think I might have kissed him back. But it wasn't my fault. She made me do it."

"Who made you do it?" James stood up, panicking.

"The girls who lives inside me," Lily said. "She wanted to kiss him, just to see what it would be like. And she wanted to kiss you, too, because she loves you."

"You're freaking me out, Lily," James said, backing away. "There's nobody living inside of you."

"Do you love her, too, James?" Lily asked. "She's always wondered. Or do you just think of her as a prize, something you won but that you never really needed."

"Lily, stop it…"

"Or maybe she was always just a sister to you, and you were just confusing that kind of love for another," Lily continued.

James Potter thought his brain was going to explode. To say that he was confused would be an understatement. "You're a fucking psychopath," he said. "I love you, Lily, but you're seriously crazy." He turned and began walking away.

"James, wait."

But James didn't wait. Instead, he just walked faster away. He had never heard Lily rave like this. He didn't know any specifics, but he was sure that it was Al's fault. "I could just kill him," James said to himself as he ran to his dormitory.

~*~*~

Al was aware of the fact that most people didn't like him. Not that everyone necessarily disliked him; he just wasn't the sort of person most people would willingly choose to be friends with. To extent, Al had always been confused about why his father, the man everyone in the wizarding world adored, would love him so much.

Though Al didn't know the answer to this question, what he did know was that having his father's unconditional love definitely had its perks. It was the weekend, and Al was going home for the day via portkey. Normally, leaving Hogwarts at any time during the school year was not allowed except in the case of an emergency. But Al had only to ask his father if he could go home for the day and, no questions asked, Harry Potter agreed and sent an owl to Hogwarts requesting permission for his son to come home that Saturday. The Hogwarts staff, of course, agreed immediately. Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world, was not somebody you ever said no to, unless you wanted everyone else to think that you were a total dick.

When Al arrived in front of their house, Harry was already waiting outside. "Hey there," he said.

"Hey, Dad," Al responded.

"Was there any specific reason why you wanted to come home?" Harry asked.

"No," Al said. "I just needed to be here." Al hated lying to his father, but this was definitely a lie.

"Do you want to go on a walk?"

"Yeah. Sure."

On their walk, the two barely spoke. Most of the time, when the were together, they didn't need to speak. They understood each other.

Finally, Harry asked, "How are James and Lily doing?"

Al shrugged. "The same."

"Are you and James getting along?"

"About as much as usual," Al responded.

Harry adjusted his glasses. "I should really just get contacts," he said to himself.

"What do you do if you want to do something good, but everyone thinks that the good thing you want to do is bad?" Al asked.

"Sometimes everyone can be wrong," Harry said.

"That's what I thought."

They continued on their walk for quite some time before returned to their home. At the end of the day when Al went home, Harry didn't even notice that his old cloak and wand were missing.

~*~*~

It was the evening, and James was pissed. The day before, he hadn't been able to find Al anywhere. Then, this afternoon, he had found out that Al had randomly been given consent to go home for a day. Finally, he found Al outside. Al was sitting on the ground by himself, reading.

"Hey, you prick," James said, giving Al a solid kick in the chest. Al dropped his book. "What are you doing back at school so early?"

Al stood up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you went home yesterday, shit head, and now you're back," James said. "Let me guess, you and dad probably went on a long walk and had a meaningful talk and everything is well in the world, right?"

"James, what the fuck are you talking about?" Al asked.

"I don't see why he likes you," James said. "You stupid son of a bitch."

"Son of a bitch? James, we have the same mom."

James furrowed his brow. "Shut up. I'm trying to tell you off. Now, where was I?" James thought for a moment. "Oh, right. What I was saying is that I don't see why Dad likes you best. If he could see how you really are, he'd despise you."

"How I really am? Tell me, how am I really?" Al asked.

"You're a whiney, uncaring, stupid mother fucker, that's how you are!" James yelled. He was drawing quite a crowd around him at this point. He didn't care, though.

"What are you even mad about, James?" Al asked. "I didn't do anything to you."

"What about her?" James whispered through gritted teeth.

"Who?"

"Our fucking sister, man," James hissed. "What did you do to her? She was raving like a fucking lunatic the other night, and she said something about you."

Al's face went pale. "What did she say."

"Well, that you kissed her for one," James said, continuing in a hissing whisper. "Kissed her in a very not brotherly sort of way."

"James, I…"

"Don't tell me that it wasn't you and somebody inside of you made you do it," James said. "Because I'm not falling for that crap."

Al had no idea what to say to this. Finally, he said, "I don't have to explain myself to you, you stupid, arrogant asshole."

James fist hit Al's cheek with a fury.

Al stumbled backwards, but caught himself just in time to keep from falling over. He pulled out his want.

Unfortunately, James' wand was already out, and in a flash Al found himself being thrown upside down in the air, dropping his wand onto the ground.

Judging by the looks on their faces, nobody could be sure who looked more surprised by this: James or Al.

"How did you do that?" Al asked, hanging in the air by one leg.

"I, uh… I don't… Hey, shut up!" James pointed his wand back up at Al.

Right then, Lily came through the crowd. "James, what are you doing?"

"Defending your honor, sis," James said.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Everyone's watching, you know."

"I know. I don't care," James said.

"Seriously, James, put him…"

"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Al yelled. "Let me handle this by myself. Fuck!"

Though the crowd around them hadn't heard most of what the three siblings were talking about, they had definitely heard this. Lily's face reddened. "Fine. See if I care. Have fun getting down on your own, dickhead." She stomped off, leaving Al hanging.

James turned back to Al. He grabbed onto his arms, pulling his brother down. Al fell with a magnificent thud onto the ground. Before Al could quite collect himself, James sent another kick in his direction, this time hitting Al's face and breaking his nose.

James turned and looked at the crowd. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have some family business to take care of." He then proceeded to beat the shit out of Al. If there was one thing James Potter was good at, it was beating the shit out of people.

~*~*~

It was night time when Lily found Al, sitting bloody on the ground. "Is it just me, or does life suck?" Al asked.

"No, if pretty much just sucks," Lily said.

"I just got my ass kicked in front of the entire school and not a single person went to get a teacher. I guess that's a good indicator of how popular I am."

Lily helped Al up. "Come on. Let's get you to the bathroom to clean up."

Al knew immediately what bathroom it was that they were heading to. "Hey, Myrtle," Al said as they entered the room.

Moaning Myrtle inspected Al. "Your brother's a lot cuter than you."

"Thanks," Al replied. He sat down next to a sink. Lily came up to him and began soaking a towel in the sink. She handed it to him and he wiped the blood off of his face. "Thanks, Lily."

"No problem."

"Why did you come back?"

"Well, at first I was really pissed off that you insulted me in front of everyone like that," Lily began.

"I know, I'm really sorry about that. I hated myself immediately for saying anything," Al said.

"I know. That's why I came back." Lily began soaking a fresh towel. "We're too proud, I think. Anyone attacks or insults us, we immediately go and try to hurt everyone around us. Well, I'm tired of doing that Al."

"I know. Me, too." Al brushed a hand over his broken nose. It hurt like a bitch.

"Let's not repeat our mistakes," Lily said. "Deal?"

"Deal," Al said.

Lily slipped her hand into Al's. "Alright, let's go see if the infirmary is still open."