A/n: Hey guys! Ok, I was kinda upset after my last post, because I only had ONE review two days after I posted, so thank you very much to F4nFic-F4n4tic. Your reviews are always so sweet!! Anyway, this chappie, is, as I said at the end of the last one, sorta thrown together. I ended the one before this about a page earlier than I had originally planned because it felt like a better place for an ending, and I had some ideas to incorporate into this one. Enjoy!
Ch. 12 The Healing Process

Madame Pomfrey let Lily leave about an hour after James left for classes.
"I must warn you, though, Ms. Evans, this potion can cause some very serious side-effects.
Emotional side effects. You may have a tendency to over-react to things. Drastically. Ms. Evans are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

"Hmm?" Lily snapped out of a deep reverie. She had been thinking of James. Her plans for the wedding. Their new life together. Everything that would be theirs when they were married! "Did you say something?" Madame Pomfrey sighed loudly and walked away. Lily shrugged and pulled the curtains around her bed so she could changes back into her school robes. They were spattered with blood. Lily held them up and sighed, exasperatedly, then groaned as she realized that the only other thing she had to wear besides her hospital wing robe, was back in her trunk, all the way up in Gryfindor Tower. Lily sank down onto the bed. She pulled the pillow into her lap, and, much to her surprise, she felt tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. She was being ridiculous. There was no reason to cry over something so trivial, but for some strange reason, the tears kept on falling. They continued to fall until Lily found herself sobbing silently into her pillow. She stayed that way for a short while, letting herself cry out her frustrations. Then, as suddenly as they had come, the tears left her. Lily sat up on her bed, and found that she wasn't even sure what she had been crying about. Then she remembered. Her robes. That was no problem, really. She could wear the ones from the Hospital Wing, or just put the bloody ones back on for the short walk up to Gryfindor Tower. Why had she been so upset? Lily decided to blame it on the shock of her injury and her excitement over her impending marriage to James. Yes, that was it. She was just a bit too over-excited. Lily pulled the blood-spattered robes over her head, gathered up her books, and headed off to Gryfindor Tower, completely forgetting about her earlier out burst of tears.


"Lily?" James called up the staircase at break. He ran quickly up the stairs and knocked softly on Lily's private Head Dorm.

"Come in," Lily called.

James opened the door and walked inside. "How do you feel, Lilyflower?" He asked with a smile. It was a nickname he would begin to use more and more often.

"All cured!" Lily pronounced herself. James grinned broadly and stepped forward to fold her into his arms. Lily gladly leaned into his warm, strong embrace. She lifted her gaze to his and their eyes locked for a moment. Then James lowered his lips to hers. There was a softness, a loving tenderness in James' kiss that Lily found irresistible. She leaned further into his embrace and put her arms tightly around his neck. James was surprised at the intensity that Lily put into his seemingly innocent kiss, but glad all the same. His hands quickly found their way to her waist and he complied eagerly with her intensity, allowing her tongue to dart between his mouth and hers. His tongue joined the dance and her heard her moan softly from the back of her throat. Taking this as a good sign, James allowed his hands tangle in Lily's beautiful auburn-red hair. Lily pulled away slightly to draw breath and James sucked on her sweet lower lip, extracting another soft moan from his beloved. Lily felt herself fall backwards onto her bed, but she didn't care. This felt so right. James's hand fondled her breast through her shirt, and Lily grinned seductively at him. James' hand quickly found its way to the buttons of her blouse and he began to undo them slowly. Lily suddenly pulled herself away.

"James," she said, breathlessly. "James, stop." James immediately removed his hands and sat up on Lily's bed.

"What?" he asked softly. She could read the emotions in his eyes. Confusion. Hurt. Love. Shame. But no anger. She had expected him to be angry. But James was confused. They had been intimate before, but they were both virgins and had agreed: No sex before marriage. It was a policy that they both held firmly to. Why did Lily think that he would want to break that promise? Did she not trust him not to go farther than she wanted? Lily didn't know herself why she had wanted him to stop. She loved being with him. She loved the way she felt when James held her or touched her or kissed her. She trusted him completely, but she was suddenly so scared. She was afraid of him. Lily needed to think. She just wanted to be alone to think! "James, please leave," she said softly.

"Lily, I," he began, but Lily cut him off.

"JUST GO!" she shouted. Her eyes were filled with tears, and they suddenly cascaded down her pale cheeks. James reached out, on instinct, to wipe them away, but Lily pushed his hand away. "Go," she said again. James knew better than to test her when she was angry. He was confused, but his emotions could wait. he could keep his feelings in check for the next couple of hours until classes were over, and then he would see her and they would talk everything out. Together. It was more important to him now, that Lily got space, if that was what she wanted. He wanted her to feel free. He didn't want to be suffocating to her. James loved her so much that he was willing to stow away his own feelings in turn for her needs to be met. He slowly stood and backed out of the room. Lily flung herself, facedown onto her bed and cried herself into a deep sleep.


A/n: Ok, I knew a lot of readers are going to be extremely mad at me for leaving this chapter here, but like I sad, I'm going on a different angle than I expected to. I didn't really like the way the original text of the story had turned out, so, I'm expounding on this topic, and a few of the others I planned for later chapters. Anyway, I will update after I have 50 reviews. Please review if you want me to keep writing because they really are a great inspiration. Flames accepted, though not necessarily welcomed, as I don't think they're called for. If you flame me, expect sarcastic comments. It'll give me something to do in my spare time. love from;
Lyny Angell