Sorry for the absurdly long delay on this chapter. If you want to blame something, blame it on the Doctor. :D Oh, and Tumblr. I've become insanely obsessed with Tumblr.

Disclaimer: Not Jo.

I awoke to sun streaming into the dormitory Saturday morning and then realized, about two seconds after I opened my eyes, that today was the Hogsmeade trip.

I jumped out of bed and hurried straight into the showers. Fifteen minutes later, just as I pulled on a green sweater, Alice and Marlene began stirring and not long after those two got in the showers, Emmeline and Mary followed suit and I was left alone.

I couldn't believe how the last two days of the week passed by. It seemed slightly unreal how, one minute I'm talking to Sirius about his brother and the next, I'm getting ready for the trip to Hogsmeade trip.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I contemplated how to wear my hair until I decided to just let it hang around my shoulders. I pulled on my shoes, stuck my wand and a few Galleons in my pocket and, without waiting for any of the other girls, I headed straight down to the entrance hall where there was already a pretty good sized line cued up. I spotted James standing a little off to the side, chewing the inside of his cheek and he leaned against the stone wall, watching everyone passing Filch's inspection, Mrs. Norris mewing loudly at every student who was checked off the list.

I sidled over to James and said, "Shall we go?"

He nodded, looking a little nervous, and we got in line. I noticed we were drawing stares, so I cleared my throat and said, "How's Quidditch practice been?"

"Pretty good," James replied shortly.

"Think we've the match in the bag?"

He shrugged. "I haven't seen the other team play yet, so I can't really say."

"You spy on them?" I asked curiously, not really surprised that they spy.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's usually me and Sirius who spy on them, occasionally Remus, but he's too busy following rules that he thinks spying is such a crime. He's a buzzkill, so we don't bring him along often anymore."

"Remus does like following rules," I conceded as we neared Filch.

"So, what did you want to do today?" James asked courtesously.

"How about we just go to the Three Broomsticks first and go from there?" I suggested.

"I like that idea," James agreed, smiling slightly as Filch glowered at us, trying to find something out of place and, not finding any, reluctantly let us pass.

"He's gotten worse, have you noticed?" I asked, looking back at Filch, who was questioning a Slytherin.

"Think about the times, Lily," James pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, right."

"I want to fight him," James said suddenly.

"Fight who?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"Voldemort."

I flinched.

"But you could die!" I said quickly.

He shrugged. "Small price, I think, if it means saving innocent people who deserve to live."

"And you think you don't deserve to live?" I demanded angrily.

"I never said I didn't," James said in an offhand voice. "But if my giving up my life means I could save wizards from Voldemort" – flinched again – "then I'll gladly die. Why cower away when you could save a life?"

I looked at the sky where gray clouds were beginning to form and thought about what he said. Would I willingly give up my life to save innocent people? The answer was yes, I already knew it. I looked at James with quiet admiration.

"Something wrong?" he asked teasingly, noticing my gaze.

I shook my head. "No, I'm just impressed, that's all."

"Oh, Lily Evans is impressed by me?" James laughed.

"Shut up."

"Never."

We both laughed for a bit before falling into a comfortable silence. I was amazed at how easy it was to be around him.

Then James cleared his throat slightly nervously and I looked up curiously.

"Lily?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Have you had anymore of those dreams?" he asked me.

I thought hard for a moment before I said, "Just that one that I told you about, the one we apparently shared. Have you?"

"No, except like you said. The same one." He looked out at the gates that were nearing, deep in thought. "What do you think it means?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, it could mean anything. It could mean we're both mental."

"I wonder if it means something serious," he said, a look of deep concentration on his face.

"Well I hope not," I said and James looked up, hurt. I backtracked. "Okay, I don't mean it like that. It's just…it's too weird, James. We have the same dream and I just…I don't know. It's too weird, even in the Wizarding world."

"I agree with that bit," James chuckled before growing serious again.

"Okay, none of this serious stuff," I said quickly. "I don't want to be thinking about things that could bring this day down. I want to have fun, which means, no serious talk."

James' face split into a smile and offered his hand, which I took. "Deal."

"Deal," I repeated, beaming.

We continued into the Three Broomsticks, which was already crowded with students. I saw, off in a far corner, Sirius, Peter, and Remus having a Butterbeer chugging contest where many Gryffindor's and Hufflepuff's were cheering them on.

"Only them," I said with a roll of my eyes while James laughed raucously as Peter fell off his chair, his glass rolling off the table. "Guess he lost," I said, noting the large stain on the front of his shirt.

"He never wins the Butterbeer contest," James laughed. "It's always either Sirius or me who wins. Remus won a few times, but not much."

"Looks like he'll win today, too," I said.

We watched for a moment while Sirius and Remus chugged their Butterbeers. Remus was almost done and, just as Sirius got down to the dregs of his own Butterbeer, Remus slammed his now-empty glass onto the table, beaming. The crowd roared while Sirius finished his drink and slammed his own glass on the table, only two seconds behind Remus, looking thoroughly disgruntled.

"Oh, lighten up, Padfoot!" Remus roared, throwing an arm around Sirius, who tried to shrug out from under it. Remus pulled him closer. "You'll win next time!"

"I better, Moony, or I'll hex you," Sirius threatened.

The crowd and Remus laughed.

James' was still chuckling as we took our own seat at a table on the opposite end of the pub. A waiter took our order and was back within a few minutes with Butterbeer.

"What did they say when you told them you were coming to Hogsmeade with me?" I asked him as he continued to watch his friends.

"Oh they had a good laugh," James replied. "That is until I made Padfoot come up with a sudden case of coughing bubbles, Moony sprouted boils all of his face, and Wormtail, well, I just put the Leg-Locker curse on him."

"How are they friends with you?" I asked, laughing.

"Oh, I'm just a wonderful person," James joked, puffing out his chest.

"Hardly," I snorted.

The waiter came back and put our Butterbeers in front of us without a word and then left.

James was eyeing his own glass and then looked at me.

"No, no!"I cried. "We are not having a contest."

"Oh, come on, Evans!" Sirius shouted across the room. "Have a Butterbeer contest with Prongs!"

"No, Black, I'm not making a fool of myself!" I shouted back. The room laughed.

"You're just afraid Prongs will beat you!" he shouted back.

"He wouldn't beat me!" I protested, laughing.

"Then do it!" Sirius shouted, and suddenly, the whole pub was chanting, "Do it, do it, do it!"

James and I exchanged looks, wide grins on our faces and then we both grabbed our mugs. The pub cheered and Sirius called across the room, "One – two – three!"

I gulped down the Butterbeer as fast as I could and I realized, in the back of my mind, that I was enjoying myself.

A few seconds later, I slammed my glass back onto the table and wiped my mouth. James dropped his a second later and looked pleased with himself – that is, until he realized I had beaten him.

"What?" he cried in disbelief.

"Prongs was beat by a girl!" a Hufflepuff called out to the pub and every laughed.

"Rematch, Evans," James growled.

"Nope, I won fair and square," I laughed.

"God, Evans, you've turned into one of the morons," a voice sneered from behind me.

I turned and saw Severus sitting with Mulciber and Avery.

I felt the blood leave my face when I saw the two boys, but it was James who spoke up.

"I don't remember asking you to join the conversation, Snivellus," he sneered.

"No, but it is very much a nuisance having to listen to dunderheads trying to be, ah, cool," Severus said delicately, causing Mulciber and Avery to snicker. Avery caught my gaze and winked at me. I looked away and slunk down in my seat.

"James, can we go?" I pleaded.

He nodded, his jaw clenched. He stood up and waited for me.

"Oh, going to so soon, Evans?" Avery called after us.

"Shove it, Avery," James snapped.

"Aren't you glad you've got your boyfriend to defend you this time?" he asked tauntingly.

I had to hold James back.

"Don't bother, James," I said to him, glaring at Avery. "I'm sure their master has them torture other Mudbloods, not school-aged ones, isn't that right, boys?"

The room was deadly quiet as they watched with bated breath.

Avery sat back in his seat and took a sip of his drink.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Evans," he said airily. "You must have hit your head hard when I Stunned you."

This time, it wasn't James who ran at Avery, but Sirius and Remus.

They launched themselves at the table, but we thrown back by the bartender.

"You'll do not fighting in my pub," he roared. "Get out of here!"

We all left, James and I walking ahead of the others.

When we reached the edge of the village, James pulled me back and said, "Are you okay, Lily?"

I nodded and looked up at the sky. It was getting darker, threatening rain.

"It's going to rain," I mumbled and just as I said that, the first drops fell and soon, it was pouring.

We rain inside Zonko's, which was crammed with students milling about, looking at all the crazy products that stocked the shelves.

"Do you want to go back?" he asked, but I shook my head.

"No, we'll just forget about it," I said determinedly. "Come on, I want to go to Honeyduke's. My Sugar Quills are running low."

James grinned and led the way back outside and to Honeyduke's, but we didn't make it far before we came upon Sirius and Remus, who were fighting with Mulciber and Avery. Severus stood a little ways back, watching with a bored expression on his face. He glanced up as we neared and sneered at us.

The next thing I saw, Severus was blasted backwards and James was rushing towards him.

"James, no!" I shrieked.

I ran forward only to be thrown back by someone's curse.

Looking up, I saw Avery aiming his wand at me, but Sirius rammed into him, knocking them both to the ground.

I got shakily to my knees and drew my wand and aimed it at Avery. Without uttering a word, I knocked him out and then took out Mulciber.

Looking around, I saw James and Severus fighting fiercely. I aimed my wand at Severus and, before cursing him, I whispered, "Please forgive me."

"STUPEFY!" I shouted.

Severus keeled over and James kicked him away.

Getting to my knees, I turned away and walked back towards the school.

"Lily? Lily!" James called after me, but I didn't turn around.

My anger at Mulciber, Avery, and Severus was now directed at James and his friends. Why couldn't they ever just leave it alone? Why did they always have to pick fights?

"Lily, what's wrong?" James demanded, catching up to me.

"Leave me alone, Potter," I shouted back.

"Oh, so now we're back to surnames now, eh?" he asked angrily. When I ignored him, he grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him."Lily, c'mon!" "

No," I retorted, pulling my arm out of his grasp, continuing my march up the path to the school.

"What have I done this time?" James cried.

"It doesn't matter," I snapped.

I fought the tears that threatened to fall.

I had thought we were making progress, I thought that things were finally changing. I guess I was wrong. I was always wrong when it came to James Potter.

"Lily, please!" he pleaded.

I spun around, not caring now if the tears fell. I hoped he saw them, I hoped he knew how much he'd hurt me.

"You can never leave well enough alone, can you, Potter?" I cried. My hands were in balls by my side as I shouted at him. My blue sweater clung heavily to me as I got soaked to the bone, my hair sticking to my face.

"Lily, you can't honestly think that I would let them do that to you!" James cried, his black hair hanging over his hazel eyes, which were full of agony. He took a step forward and I took a step back, staying out of his reach.

"It doesn't matter, James!" I cried. "Do you have any idea what's it's like to be a Muggleborn? No, you don't because you're a sainted Pureblood who won't have any problems if You-Know-Who comes into power. Mulciber and Avery will keep tormenting me, more than ever, and it's all because you can't let it drop."

"I don't want it to drop, Lily!" he said. "I care too much about you to let something bad happen to you."

"And what's Black and Remus's excuse?" I demanded.

"Remus was doing it because he's your best friend," James replied. "And Sirius did it because, well…because he…never mind."

"No, what?" I asked. I had barely noticed the pouring rain now, but I was getting cold. I was soaked to the bone.

"He knows how I feel about you," he blurted out.

"And how do you feel about me?" I asked him slowly.

"Merlin's beard, are you that daft?" he asked with a weak chuckle.

I turned away and started back up to the school. "It doesn't matter anyways."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because, James, I thought you had stopped acting like a third year," I snapped. "I was wrong. You will never change!"

"Do you even know how much I've changed?" he asked me, his voice angry. "I have changed so much for you!"

"No you haven't!" I shouted back.

"I don't prank people in the halls anymore just for fun," James pointed out. "I don't hex people because they get on my nerves! I changed because I want you, Lily! I've always wanted you!"

I froze.

"What?" I asked blankly.

"Now she gets it," he whispered as he walked cautiously forward, but I was rooted to the spot, watching him.

The rain poured down harder than ever, but neither of us took notice of it.

James put his hands on my arms and looked me in the eye, hazel to green, and said, "Lily, I have always loved you, even when I thought I didn't."

"No…impossible…."

"It's not, I can assure you," James chuckled. "Lily, I can assure you that Sirius only cares about you, just like Remus and Peter care for you. You make it hard for us guys not to go weak at the knees. There's just something about you that makes us want to defend you."

"You mean I'm a damsel in distress?" I asked. I felt like I was floating ten feet off the ground.

James chuckled and said, "Yes. something like that. But honestly, Lily, the only reason Sirius and Remus did what they did was because they care about you. Honest."

I looked at him for a moment, searching for anything that might have given away that he was covering for his best mate, but I saw nothing. He was telling the truth.

But I shook my head and pulled away.

"I don't know, James…," I said quietly, wrapping my arms around me. "I just…I don't know."

I turned away and started walking back to the school when I heard him say, "Stay."

Stopping, I looked back at him.

He had a desperate look in his eyes, a look of longing, and his expression was agonized. His mouth hung slightly open, his hair plastered to his face, as his shoulders hunched forward. He was soaked to the skin, but he took no notice. He was watching me.

"Stay," he said again.

After another hesitant moment, I walked back.

We looked at each other before our lips met.

My hands wound into his wet hair and his hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer.

We broke apart, but stayed close. I could feel his warm breath on my face.

"I don't think you know how long I've wanted to do that," he whispered, his gaze boring into me.

I laughed and kissed him again.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I hope to get the next chapter out a lot sooner than I did this one. Again, sorry. Blame the Doctor. :) Have a lovely weekend!

-TheTragedyIs13-