Hi guys! I am really irked by the way fanfiction deletes all of my paragraphing. Is this normal? IT'S REALLY ANNOYING. Okay, sorry. And sorry I've been so slow, but this time I actually have the most valid excuse there is.
I was in Orlando, Florida, visiting Harry Potter Universal for the first time! Oh my Rowling. It was absolutely amazing! The Forbidden Journey, so worth waiting for, the butterbeer was delicious, and well, it was just indescribable. Already, I can't wait to go back. Oh, and I also visited my beautiful friend, MiscellaneousRhinos on the trip home. We watched A Very Potter Musical. It was odd.

Anyways, read, enjoy, and review! Honestly, the more reviews I get, the more I write. It would be lovely of you to do so. Please and thank-you!

Chapter 11

Monday afternoon was somewhat painful for Lily. She couldn't focus, she couldn't eat. She was jittery and erratic all day, jumping at small sounds and day-dreaming in all of her classes instead of meticulously taking notes as usual. After coming back through the mirror on the fourth floor, Lily and James had raced to Transfiguration, where they miraculously were spared from punishment for being late. When they entered, the class was already working on their task of human transfiguration. It didn't seem to be going well. There was a duck running around the classroom, quacking noisily, and Lily's ex-dorm-mate Abby Jugson had been somehow shrunk to the size of a dwarf.
"Ms. Evans, I am surprised in you! This is your first time in being late for my class in six years." McGonogall had said, her lips dangerously thin.
"Er." Lily had replied, distracted by Sirius, who was smirking at her and making small, heart-shaped clouds blossom out of his wand and float toward her and James.
"That," McGonogall continued. "is why I will let you off this once."
"Thank-you Professor." Lily said gratefully, bowing her head.
"And Mr. Potter," McGonogall sniffed, just loud enough for the three of them to hear. "I suppose I will have to let you off too, seeing as you received one hundred and twelve percent on your last exam." She gave them a very rare, small smile.
"Thanks Professor." James grinned. "Whew." he whispered in Lily's ear, when they turned away from McGonogall's desk. "That was close."
"Sirius Black, stop that this instant." McGonogall snapped, as the puffy hearts drifted down the aisle after them.

After that, the day went very wrong. Lily completely lost her head in Charms and set her desk on fire, merely because James had winked at her from across the room. Flitwick had set her extra practice - a first. She went to the library at noon where she spent a full hour reliving breakfast instead of eating lunch-her stomach was too full of butterflies anyways. Her strengthening solution in Potions was much too runny, and she had already incorrectly answered two of Professor Greenhorn's questions. Time seemed to pass by at the pace of a horned slug. She couldn't wait to see James again. She could technically see him right now, as they sat in Herbology, but he was a whole table's-length away from her, sitting with the rest of the Marauders. She wanted to really see him again though. She wanted to feel his hand around hers, she wanted his undivided attention, she wanted to hear his voice, to feel once more that they were the only two people in the universe.
Throughout the day she'd thought of so many more things to ask him. What was his favorite season? Why? What did he do during the summer? Where did he live? What was his middle name? What were his parent's names? She was shocked by her desire to know more about him. It was very strange indeed to think that at this time last year, she didn't care about James Potter at all, let alone what his parent's names were. Things had most certainly changed.
Finally, Herbology ended. Lily watched out of the corner of her eye as Remus, Sirius, and Peter packed up their things quickly, while James seemed to dawdle.
"You coming, Prongs?" Sirius cocked his head at James.
"You go ahead." James waved him off. "I'll see you at practice." Sirius glanced at Lily. She quickly averted her eyes, but not before seeing his suspicious smile.
"All right." Lily could hear the smirk in Sirius's voice. "See you." She listened to the three of them troupe out of the room, concentrating harder than necessary on the removal of her dragon-hide gloves. Her mind raced.
Was he waiting for her? How should she act? Would he walk her back up to the castle? Would he hold her hand again? She looked up to see James looking at her. Her stomach seemed to vanish at the shy look in his sparkling eyes. She quickly gathered her things, stuffed them in her bag, then walked towards James, trying very hard not to leap into his arms.
"Hey, you." he gave her a crooked smile that left her breathless.
"Hi." she managed to reply. "How are you?"
"Me?" James grinned, and turned to head out of the greenhouse. "I'm fine. What about you?" he cast her un-brushed hair and dirt-smudged face a glance. "No offense, but you look a little frazzled."
"I feel a little frazzled." she admitted, rubbing the dirt off her forehead with the sleeve of her robe. "I think I singed my eyebrows in Charms."
"Maybe you shouldn't try to incinerate your desk." James nodded, feigning seriousness.
"Oh, shut up." she blushed. "That was your fault, you know."
"I suppose it was also my fault that you forgot to add salamander blood to your potion?" He raised his eyebrows at her. "And that you didn't know the properties of asphodel or the reason why Chinese Chomping cabbages died out in the 1700s?"

She muttered something incomprehensible about lack of sleep.
"I know you know those things, Lily." James said, frowning at her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm just distracted. Tired, too." she said truthfully, failing to mention that he was her distraction. "Anyways, you have Quidditch practice tonight?" Lily asked, intentionally changing the subject.
"Yeah." he sighed, waving his wand in a complicated motion so that the snow melted to clear a path in front of them. He looked at her. "Would you believe I just want to cancel and do homework with you tonight?"
"Actually, yes." she smiled. "It's freezing out here. I don't know how you ride brooms in this sort of weather."
"Most of us are used to it by now." he shrugged. "Well, except for Tonks, since this is her first season." he shook his head. "She'll learn soon enough what Quidditch in January feels like."
That comment brought all her questions about him bursting back to the surface of her mind. "What's your favorite season?" Lily asked eagerly. He looked at her, bemused, but answered. "Before, it was summer. But I might just change my mind this year." He smiled wryly. Now it was Lily's turn to be confused. Since when was James Potter such a cryptic person?
"What's yours?"
"Autumn." she replied, still trying to unravel his previous statement. "I love summer's warmth and sunshine, but the last couple summers mostly consisted of avoiding Severus and Tuney's boyfriend. Not exactly what I would call fun."
He made a face. "I would imagine so."
"What do you usually do during the summer holidays?" she asked, her curiosity insatiable.
"Sirius and I usually play a lot of one on one Quidditch." James replied, opening the door for her as they went inside. "Sometimes Remus and Peter'll stay at my place for a week or so. My mum makes us pitch a tent in the backyard so she can get some sleep." He grinned, as though reminiscing. "It's kind of become a tradition. Our house backs up to a forest, so we do a lot of hiking and swimming - we have a lake too. Oh, and we roast practically all of our food over a fire. We're all pretty sick of toast by the end of the week."
"Sounds fun." she grinned, envisioning the four of them traipsing through the woods.
"It is." he agreed, heading up a staircase. "But enough about me."
She silently disagreed.
"What about you? What do you do at home besides avoid uncomfortable social situations?" Her heart stopped as he turned to face her, placed two hands around her waist and lifted her over a trick step with ease. It was a good thing he did, too. She was very scatter-brained today and probably would be waist-deep in the step by now if he hadn't.
"Read." she replied when he set her down again, trying to sound natural. "And I enjoy bicycling."
"Bicycling?" James repeated, appearing befuddled. "What is that?" Lily paused, stumped. How could she explain bicycling?
"Well it's like... there's a seat, on two wheels, with pedals." she tried to explain. She frowned. "I'll show you a picture. I'm sure I have one of me on my first bicycle somewhere."
"Okay." James still sounded puzzled. "Is it like a car or something? I do know what a car is." He sounded rather proud of that fact.
The two of them made their way up six more staircases, discussing how to operate a car, a concept that James couldn't seem to grasp. "So the gas pedal makes it go, and the brake makes it stop?" James asked as they climbed through their portrait hole.
"Yes."
"But you just press the pedal with your foot, you don't have to move your legs, like the pedals on a bike?"
"That is correct." James made an exasperated sound. "I think I'll stick with apparition and brooms."
"Maybe you should do that." she grinned up at him. He just shook his head.
"I'd like to see that picture, though."'
"Sure." Lily ran upstairs, threw off her dirty robes, ran a brush through her hair, grabbed her photo album, and ran back downstairs to where James was settled on their couch in front of the fireplace.
"Come here." James indicated the seat next to him. She plopped down on the couch much closer to him than necessary.
"Let me see if I can find it..." she muttered, acutely aware of his arm against hers. She opened up to the first page, all pictures of her as a very small baby surrounded by her mum, dad, and Tuney, who was around two years old at the time. Lily had been a chubby baby, with a fuzzy tuft of bright red hair, and overlarge, alert green eyes on her round, pale face.
"But they don't move!" James exclaimed, frowning down at the photos.
"Muggle pictures don't move." she told him matter-of-factly
"At all?" he sounded amazed.
"Nope." she grinned. "Haven't you ever had any Muggle or Muggle-born friends, James?" she asked incredulously. "Have you never been out in the Muggle world?"
James looked down at the photo pensively.
"Not really." he frowned. My family's pureblood, Sirius is my best mate, and he's pure-blood too. Remus and Peter are half-blood, and I live in Godric's Hollow, which is a Wizarding community." Lily mentally made note of that.
"You should come to my place this summer." she said, shaking her head. "We could do all the fun Muggle stuff you've missed out on. I could teach you how to ride a bicycle, how to drive we could watch movies-"
"Movies?"
"Never mind." Lily grinned and turned to the second page, mostly consisting of her as a toddler alongside her sister. They wore matching outfits in many of the pictures, and they were always holding hands. A wave of sadness washed over Lily. They'd been so close as children, and now they barely spoke to each-other.
"That's Petunia, right?" James asked gently. Lily just nodded. James must have sensed her discomfort, because he slipped an arm around her shoulders.
Her heart beat a little faster and she turned another couple pages of the album, searching.
"Here it is!" she exclaimed. There was a photo of her at six or seven years old on her very first bicycle. She was beaming excitedly up at the camera, showing a large gap where her two front teeth were missing.
"Cute." James chuckled. She elbowed him playfully. "I'm serious!" he lifted his hands defensively, then peered down at the photo. "How odd." he remarked. "Bicycle." he sounded out the word slowly.
There were many more pictures of her and Tuney. At parks, at the zoo, at school, the two sisters were always together. Lily flipped another page, knowing what was coming. When she was about eight or nine years old, the pictures changed abruptly. No longer did Petunia's blond head smile up at them, but instead, Severus's. He was an unnaturally pale, dark haired, dark eyed, and obviously not well cared for child. The contrast between the two friends was amazing. While he looked up at the camera uncertainly, his mouth turned down into a half-frown, Lily stood brightly beside him, her arm often cheerfully flung over his shoulders. James's own arm tightened around her as they looked at the photos.
"That's the park." Lily said softly, pointing at a photo of her and Snape on a swing-set. "That's where we first met. He had been watching us- spying - Tuney said. He watched me do magic. That's why he first introduced himself. He knew I was like him." James looked at her intensely, brow furrowed.
"You're nothing like him." he murmured softly. She looked up at him, showing him the bitterness she felt welling into her eyes.
"I wish I could blame him for making Tuney hate me." she sighed, voicing her regrets for the first time. "He was the one who barged into my life and made her feel like an outsider. He was the one who sneered at her for being a Muggle... I want it to be his fault that she won't speak to me anymore. I just need someone else to blame besides myself." Lily ground her teeth, remembering. "He made a branch fall on her once, on purpose. She wasn't really hurt, but I think it was the last straw for her. But it was all my fault, really." she sighed again. "I should've realized what he would become."
"You couldn't know, Lily." James said earnestly. "You couldn't know he was going to end up being... well, how he is."
"I guess." she turned the page again. It was full of very similar pictures: each one was of her and Severus on Platform 9 and 3/4 with the Hogwarts Express in the background. There were five photos, and two blank spaces at the bottom of the page.
"He showed up at our house every year on September 1st." She whispered, and pointed to the first blank space, where their sixth year photo would have been. "I cried the whole way to King's Cross that year." she blinked back fresh tears. "He never showed. I nearly didn't make it onto the train because I made my parents wait "till the last second to leave our house. I thought he just might come." James pulled her closer to him. She leaned into his chest, feeling sad but content. She had lost Severus and Tuney, but she had James. And he was worth the world to her now.
"That was your awkward year." James said after a long time. He chuckled, pointing to the photo of her and Sev from second year. Indeed, her hair was chopped short in an unflattering style. She was extremely thin and gangly with teeth that hadn't quite grown into place yet and a sunburned face. She moaned, embarrassed.
"Oh, Merlin." she laughed, already feeling marginally more cheerful. "Let's not look at that anymore." They looked through the rest of the album, occasionally laughing at some of Lily's awkward childhood photos. She didn't mind, though; it was oddly cheering. Finally, she turned to the last page in the album, where the most special picture was.
"My drawing." James said, sounding surprised.
"It's my favorite." she said, gazing at it. "I still can't get over what a talented artist you are."
James didn't say anything, but he looked at his watch and sighed.
"I'm keeping you, aren't I?" Lily said guiltily, sitting up.
"Well, technically practice doesn't start 'till six, but I'm just going to grab dinner to go then go set up." He withdrew his arm, and stood up.
"I guess I'll see you at breakfast then." Lily said, trying not to look too disappointed.
James dropped to his knees in front of her so that they were at the same eye level. For a wild moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but instead he gently wiped his thumb across her brow.
"Soot." he flashed a grin. His face was close to hers, she could count every eyelash if she so desired. "I'll see you in the morning." His fingers lingered at her cheekbone, brushing her skin ever so slightly with his knuckles. Her heart went wild.
"Goodnight." she breathed as he rose to his feet and crossed the room.
"Goodnight." he called, stepping out of their porthole.
When she heard the painting click, she collapsed onto her back on the couch and expelled the air from her lungs loudly. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath.

Lily woke Tuesday morning thinking that this week was bound to be busy, and she learned at breakfast that she was not mistaken. She received two pieces of mail at owl post. She knew they were both from Slughorn before she even opened them; they were both wrapped with a delicate red ribbon and smelled strongly of pineapple. The first one was inviting her to a casual dinner on the upcoming Friday and the next for a formal next Saturday night.
"Bring a special friend and your dancing shoes!" the note read at the bottom. She couldn't help but immediately think of James. She would love to have a night with James, just to talk and relax, but she didn't even really know if he would be interested. He didn't tend to do things like that. Lily sighed. She supposed she would go alone, as she usually did. Over the past couple years, she occasionally brought her Ravenclaw friend, Nicholas Stebbins, to Slughorn's formal parties - but neither of them had looked at it like dating. She had taken Nicholas because he was one of her very few guy friends (only guy friend, really, besides Remus) that never expressed interest in her outside of friendship. He got a steady girlfriend at the end of last year and Lily didn't see much of him, but they were still on good terms.
She shook herself. She shouldn't be worrying about Slughorn's party, because she had more important things to think about. Her and James were very behind on schedule with planning for the Christmas ball, which would take place the night before the holidays began. She most definitely had to make up for her abysmal performance in Charms on Monday, which meant extra practice, plus the usual head duties... The week was barely beginning and she was already looking forward to the weekend.
"Hey." Alice slipped into the seat next to Lily and beamed. Today her light brown her was pulled back into two braids, making her round face look even younger than usual. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you yesterday. What's up?"
"Not much." Lily said, spooning eggs into her mouth. "How about you?"
"I saw your face when you walked into Potions yesterday afternoon." Alice looked at her with eyebrows raised. '"You looked a little mad."
Lily laughed. "In a good way," Alice reassured her, "if that's possible."
"Well, actually," she was bursting to share the news with her best friend, even though it was slightly humiliating. "James and I," Alice's blue eyes went wide. "Sort of, maybe went on a date...?"
Alice's jaw dropped.
"Explain!" she ordered immediately. Lily told her how she had woken to find the package by her bedside and how it led to breakfast in Hogsmeade. Alice was a kind and loyal friend, but not the best listener. By the time Lily managed to finish the story, Alice had squealed and squeaked more times than she could count and interrupted to ask a question at least every twelve seconds.
"Did he kiss you when he said goodbye?" she asked excitedly.
"Well, no." Lily said, blushing at the thought. "But, I mean, we kind of just went straight to Transfiguration, after, it wasn't like he was dropping me off after dinner or something."

"Hmm." Alice nodded. "Maybe next time..." she paused. "There will be a next time, won't there?" she narrowed her eyes at Lily suspiciously as though daring her to disagree.
"I can't say for sure." Lily shrugged. "I kind of thought about asking him if he wants to go to Slughorn's party with me..." Her friend's eyes lit up.
"Yes! That's perfect. That way, he'll know you're interested-"
"Who said I'm interested?" Lily interjected, frowning. Alice looked at her and blinked.
"You're interested."
"I am?"
"Yes." Alice sighed, exasperated. "You fancy him, don't you?"
Lily nodded.
"You enjoyed your date, right?"
"Yes."
"And you'd like to do something like that again?" Alice nodded slowly with the air of talking to an intellectually challenged person.
"Yes." Lily said slowly. "But Slughorn's party... that's... different..."
"In what way?" Alice demanded.
"Well, there will be other people there." she wrinkled her nose.
"That's kind of the whole point of a party." Alice smiled. "But I know what you're afraid of."
"What?"
"Going public." she nodded sympathetically. "It's a scary thing." Lily thought for a moment. It was a scary thing. She envisioned herself and James walking through the busy corridors, hand in hand, or dancing at Slughorn's party, surrounded by peers. She knew she would certainly be mocked for it. Most of the student body knew that she had been rejecting James for years.
"Just think about it." Alice said gently, giving her a quick hug. "You'll figure it out." With that she stood up. "I have to get to Muggle Studies, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay." Lily said thoughtfully. "Thanks, Alice."
"Anytime!" she waved and joined the crowd leaving the Great Hall. Lily finished off her eggs and swung her bag over her shoulder. She headed off, wondering why she hadn't seen James at breakfast. He probably ran Quidditch practice too long or something. Arithmacy was her first class, at nine o' clock. It was challenging and interesting as usual, taught by Professor Vector, a cheerful, engaging, thirty-something year old man. Then it was off to History of Magic. She entered the class, subconsciously searching for James. He wasn't there yet, so she took a seat, taking care to make sure there was an open one next to her. She pulled out her parchment and quill and started doodling.
"Hey." She jumped violently, knocking over her inkwell. James had appeared over her shoulder.
"Merlin, James!" she gasped, glancing down at her soaked parchment. Thankfully, her spilt ink had splashed across the J.P. she had been embellishing. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry," he grinned. "Scourgify." Her desktop was instantly clean again. He slid into the chair next to her.
She gazed at him for a moment, taking him in. "Why weren't you at breakfast?"
"I was, believe it or not, working." he gave a winning half-smile.
"On what?" She raised her eyebrows at him doubtfully
"I know we're really slacking on planning for that Christmas ball, so I got started." he shrugged.
"Really?" she said, taken aback.
"Yup." he rummaged in his bag for a moment, pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, and handed it to her. "I just scribbled down some ideas. You know, menu, decorations, time, entertainment... so on. Oh, I also got the list of how many seventh years there are attending. It's all there."
She looked down the list and gave a relieved smile. "You're a life-saver, James."
"It's not a big deal." he smiled back at her. "Just doing my job."
"Our job, you mean." She bit her bottom lip guiltily. "Sorry I haven't been more on top of things."
"Nobody's perfect, Lily." James said kindly.
"I've always been a perfectionist though." she admitted, relishing in the sound of her name on his lips.
"No, really?" James replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Who has their homework color coded by class and filed alphabetically?"
"That would be me." Lily grinned sheepishly. "Listen," she continued, thinking quickly and not thoroughly. "I don't know if you would be interested..." she could feel heat creeping up to her cheeks."but Slughorn sent me an invitation this morning, and I was just wondering, you see, it's a formal, and you're supposed to bring- well a, er, friend and, maybe if you would-but don't feel obligated at all- if possibly you would-"
"Lily." James interrupted, eyes sparkling mischievously. "Can I go to Slughorn's party with you?" She blanched.
"Er." she managed to stutter after a very pregnant pause. "Sure."
"Awesome." James smiled brightly at her. Lily blushed furiously and looked down at her shoes. "So when is this party anyways?"
"Er, next Saturday night. Eight o' clock." she looked up from her shoes. His smoldering hazel eyes gazed at her intensely. Actually, his eyes seemed to not gaze at her, but through her. Straight through her. to the soul. She gulped.
"Today's lesson will be review on the Goblin Rebellion of the fifth century." Professor Binns had just drifted through the chalkboard. "As you should know, there have been multiple Goblin uprisings throughout the history of wizard-kind. And while Gur the Guiltless..."
"I look forward to it." James tore his eyes from hers and leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.