BOTH ALIKE IN DIGNITY
By: geekinthepink
Rating: T
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing; everything you recognize belongs to either JK Rowling or William Shakespeare.

Notes: The song "Vienna" by The Fray fits this chapter incredibly well so if you have access to that song, playing it during this chapter adds to the atmosphere.

Chapter Ten: The End of Act Four and the Beginning of Act Five
Also Known As: A Pair of Star-Crossed Lovers Take Their Lives

By the time that Lily found herself in her room with the Nurse, her own emotions were on such high alert that she was certain that the beating of her heart would shake the walls. She was trying to calm herself down, to convince herself that nothing bad could come from this. She was an excellent potions student, James was right up there as well and they had done the best that they could have with this potion.

The weight of the bottle was never forgotten as it rest in the odd pouch perched on the inside of her dress. She supposed it was originally used for holding coins or perhaps a few herbs during monthlies but for now it was the only storage place she truly trusted to encase the vial. It was the vial that determined her life, after all.

Nurse inquired about the clothing that had been laid aside for the morning's wedding and she nodded her approval, just pleading for the woman to leave so she could relieve herself of the hundred pound weight pressing against her skin. With a soft clatter the door was closed and Lily found herself standing in the middle of her room alone.

She had to stop doing that, she reminded herself. This wasn't her room, this was Juliet's room. This was the room of someone who didn't exist. However, that was the one thing that she could never understand about this trip, if Juliet didn't exist how could any of this? How could she face death? How could Mercutio have fallen? She was convinced at this point that Juliet was more real to her now than ever before.

She felt for the girl as it was only understandable. She had seen the Capulets and Montagues in action and felt the pain that came from being caught in the middle. Lily couldn't even lie to herself anymore and say she didn't understand the sort of feelings that Juliet held for Romeo. James had become as much Romeo as she had become Juliet, and as the play had written, the pair was star-crossed. Fate – in the complete cliché. Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare's way of making fun of the idea that fate could take two completely opposite people and make them fall in love.

But, perhaps it wasn't so far-fetched?

She wouldn't admit that she loved James, couldn't admit it, but obviously distain had been forgotten in the past few days. Maybe that was part of the joke, it had taken less than a week and Lily had kissed him twice. It had taken her six years to hate him but days to kiss him.

As she withdrew the vial from the small pouch she had to remind herself to take steadying breaths. Nerves were the enemy here, not the potion.

"Goodbye." She dismissed this dimension, uncorking the vial with a pop. She sighed, trying to rid of her nerves once more. "Merlin, I shouldn't be so nervous." She reminded herself softly. "But what if it doesn't work? Will I marry Paris, the giant prat that he is? How do we know that we even used the right potion? There was no ingredients list, no instructions and no real text. For all we know this could be poison in my hand." A characteristic of Lily had always been to ramble, and in dire circumstances she held monologues for an audience of herself. "It shouldn't be poison, James and I knew what we were doing."

At last she brought the vial to her lips, "James, I'm drinking this for you." It was as though she expected her words to reach his ears wherever he was. "Hopefully I shall wake to find us both back at Hogwarts."

She tipped the liquid into her mouth, only the smallest of tastes, but within an instant her body fell still.

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This was the third time this week that James had woken up in a bed that was not his. The first had been the day that he had found that his life had taken a turn that he would never have thought of. It was the day that he had literally become Romeo Montague and found the girl that would become his Juliet.

The second time he had found himself in an unfamiliar bed actually dealt with her, with Juliet, with Lily. It was bizarre to think that they had become so close, that he had kissed her twice and spent the night beside her. He couldn't sleep at all while she lay beside him. She was the epitome of everything that he loved about her at that moment. Every so often she would shift in her sleep and eventually she came to use his shoulder as a pillow, a move that sent his heart into rapid palpitations.

And the third time was now; he had woken up in a make-shift bed, a bed that he had to assemble himself in the middle of yet another fictional place. Mantua, the place where his banishment had led him. He couldn't even say that he hadn't deserved the banishment, for he had, but it was the fact that he was far enough away from Lily not to know whether the potion had worked or not that was driving him mad.

Spotting what he later learned was a serving boy for the Montagues; he rose excitedly from the bed and greeted the boy in a rush. "Do you have any news from Verona?" Anything would be welcomed at this point, a note of apology from Lily explaining how the potion hadn't worked, a letter of apology from the friar saying the same, or a letter from Friar Lawrence that Lily had returned to their own time and now all that was left was for him follow her.

"I cannot bear to tell you the truth, sir, so all is well and nothing is wrong." The serving boy poised his gaze at the floor and James was growing exasperated. Could nobody in this dimension just come out and say what it is that they were going to say? "Juliet sleeps in the Capulet tomb. Pardon me, sir, for having to be the bearer of bad news."

It was impossible for James to believe what the boy said, but wasn't it one of Lily's fears? That this potion could actually kill them and not transport them home? If this boy was the only source of news he had, then he had no choice but to travel to Verona himself and see if it were true.

"See if you can get some horses or something for me to travel to Verona, okay?" James demanded of the boy.

"Have patience," the younger boy advised. "You look all pale and wild like as though you're going to try and hurt yourself." Great, now it appeared the James's mother was making a cameo in this dimension.

"Just go and do what I've asked you, please. You don't have a letter from the friar or anyone for me?" He asked just in case, it didn't make any sense for him to rush off now if there was no hurry. Perhaps someone had left some sort of instructions for him and he simply had to remind the serving boy of it.

"No, my lord." The serving boy looked confused at the question and once more James dismissed him easily.

The desire to return to Verona had peaked with the absence of news. Today was the day that Shakespearian Italy faced Juliet's death and James was praying that it was not the death of Lily Evans that he was facing. Of course, his own doubt was hardly convincing, there were too many variables. There was too much unknown information about the potion and sometimes he even questioned how honorable Friar Lawrence really was. Of course the latter was probably due to paranoia.

"Okay then." James said dismissing his thoughts. "Why are you still standing here? I asked you to fetch me a horse or something." He inquired of the boy. Really, hadn't he asked him about a thousand times to go now, or was it simply his nerves filling his mind with all of these thoughts?

He didn't even know why he was nervous; it wasn't as though he didn't know what was going to happen. But that was the thing; he didn't really know what was going to happen. Would he find Lily's body at the Capulet tomb? Or would he find that she had returned home, leaving the vial for him to use as well? He didn't know, that was the worst part. There was no way to know other than to return to Verona and begin a search.

He was beginning to feel stupid.

No, he had been feeling stupid from the moment he had met the too tight trousers and flowing shirt, the feeling had just been multiplied now. He needed to stop worrying; he needed to pluck up some courage.

However, by the time that he had arrived at the tomb any courage he may have mustered disintegrated. He didn't even know why he was here, common sense told him to go to Lily's room and grab the vial from whatever place she had stored it. That posed another problem, where would she have put it? Would Nurse have found it and disposed of it? Lily couldn't be that careless, could she?

He entered the tomb to find that in the front of the room there lay a stone casket. It was sealed shut and he knew that if he were to open it and find Lily's body, she would no longer be alive. You couldn't survive between slabs of concrete, not even James's delusions could grant him that. He scanned the room for some sort of lever, something that would aid him in opening the casket. He needed to know for certain that Lily was alright, that she had not been poisoned.

In his search he managed to overlook a figure in the shadows, the figure of Lily's intended groom.

"You're an arrogant one, Montague." Paris sneered at him, stepping out of the shadows. "Were you not banished from this city? You are a condemned villain and I have caught you. You must obey me, come. I will not tolerate you seeking revenge on corpses. You must die now."

"I must indeed," James agreed. For it was true, if Lily's body lay within her coffin, he would surely die. Be it physically or just within his heart. He was not certain that his heart would remember how to beat if he were to find Lily's lifeless body lying before him. "That's why I'm here, actually. Go away, you do not need to be here." If the casket were empty, James was not prepared to face the questions that would undoubtedly come.

"I refuse. I am arresting you." Paris informed him stubbornly. James shook his head, never again could anyone say that he was the most stubborn person alive for this boy had him beaten.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I must." It was a fair warning, much more than Paris had shown that he deserved.

Paris showed no signs of letting down, especially as he withdrew his sword from the hilt at his side. Growing far too tired of such games, James withdrew his own weapon, one that he had not been given the opportunity to use in a while. Having his wand in his hand was comforting. He petrified the insolent boy, refusing to mar his hands with another murder.

Sufficiently, the words "They fight. Paris falls" still seemed to fit.

Having that out of the way he had nothing left but to open the tomb and discover whether or not Lily lay inside. He borrowed Paris's sword, finding nothing else to work as a makeshift crowbar.

He hesitated as he slid the sword in the crack between the stone. He didn't know whether or not the sword would break from the pressure of the stone but that was hardly of any concern. This was the unveiling. And above all, this was the climax of the play and the deciding factor for James's next move.

The stone slab moved slowing, causing James's heart to beat in his throat and he felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't even watch as the gap grew larger and his eyes remained closed as a heavy thud sounded against the marble floors. With a deep and shaky breath he opened his eyes and peered into the coffin.

It was empty.

It was empty! Lily's body did not lie in the casket, she wasn't dead. But the question was now where had the body gone? Was she home? An excited smile spread across James's lips. He looked at the empty casket one last time to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him and as if to mock him for his lack of faith there laid the glass vial. The vial itself was sitting there innocently, nearly half of the potion missing from its container.

He picked it up cautiously and uncorked it. The liquid didn't look nearly as daunting now as it had the night that he and Lily watched it all shatter against the stone floors of her bedroom. He swilled it around watching it for a moment before finishing off the vial in one swift movement.

And just like that, he was gone, never realizing that he had never received what could have been one of the most important letters he had ever gotten.