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My elbow met something soft as I shoved it back into my offender. I instinctively turned around with my wand in my hand, my bags strewn across the floor. I couldn't see the attacker's face as whoever it was had their head bent down low in pain. I watched them warily, and as their hand came up to grab me I found my knee forcefully making contact with their groin. With a loud grunt, they keeled over on the floor in a fetal position. Well, I can be sure of one thing. This is definitely a guy, I thought, as no kick to the groin would ever cause a girl that much pain. I cast a quick spell, causing the man on the floor to be bound in ropes. I quickly pushed aside my bags and dragged him into the small living area. As I did so, I heard a slight crunching noise but didn't think anything of it. Checking to make sure the ropes were still tightly bound, I used my foot to roll him over so that I could see his face. What I saw shocked me beyond words.
"J-James?" I shrieked. I dropped to the floor, desperately trying to undo the ropes that prevented him from moving. From my position, I could see James glance up at me best he could.
"Are you a witch or what, Lily?" he groaned.
"What? Why would you ask me that? I went to bloody school with you for 7 years!" I snapped, still trying to undo the ropes, albeit unsuccessfully.
"Your wand, Lily." James replied exasperatedly, as though he had had to tell me this many times before.
"My wand? What about my-" Oh. He was trying to tell me I could use my wand. Score one for Lily. I stopped attempting to undo the ropes by hand and groped around for my wand on the floor. I located it a little above James' head and muttered a quick charm. The ropes fell apart, freeing James. He grunted in pain as he tried to sit up. I leaned down and, using all the strength I could muster, pulled him up onto the couch. I propped many pillows up on either side of him to ensure that he didn't suddenly fall over.
"How- how are you feeling?" I asked meekly, gingerly sitting next to him. James shot me a look that could have withered a plant like that. I cast my eyes downward, wringing my hands in my lap. He really didn't have to make me feel worse than I already did.
"How do you think I feel, Lily? I come back, hoping to surprise you at your apartment, and all I get is an elbow in the stomach and a kick in the groin! Not exactly the welcome I imagined." James said angrily. At his words, something sparked in me that I hadn't felt in a while. I realized it was the feeling I would always get before James and I would have one of our famous rows. And boy, was he going to get it.
"Well how do you think I bloody feel? I come home to a stranger wrapping his arms around me when just minutes before I thought that a Death Eater had followed me home. You can't exactly expect me to be welcoming when you absolutely know you shouldn't have snuck up on me like that. This isn't a friendly time we live in, James, and being a Muggle-born I am much more prone to an attack than you are! If the Death Eaters decided to pay a visit, I'm not sure how well I'd be able to fight them off, no matter how skilled I may be." I spat at him, standing up and crossing my arms over my chest.
"Lily, I-" he began, but I cut him off before he could finish.
"Don't talk to me right now, Potter. And don't even think about apologizing, or- or saying you missed me or any of that rubbish." I glared at him. "You think you can leave… you think you can leave me here all by myself for a bloody year and expect everything to be the same once you got back? Did you expect me to snog you senseless the moment I saw you? I really hope not, because that is the absolute last thing I want to do right now." I was pacing back and forth, suddenly to angry to even sit. I glanced at James. He was sitting with his arms stretched across the back of the couch, an eerily calm look on his face and a small smirk playing at his lips. This only made me angrier.
"How can you sit there like that? You're acting as though you have no remorse for not contacting me at all during that year! I know you said you needed time to yourself, but I didn't think that meant you wouldn't even write to me! I'm not saying that I expected a letter from you every week, but just one would have been nice. What hurts the most is that I had to find out from a bloody newspaper clipping that you were okay. Not you, the news. I suppose it was too much to ask that you write me a small something so that I at least knew you were safe. I waited for you, James. I promised myself I would if it was the last thing I did." I stopped pacing and stood in front of him, angry tears threatening to spill over onto my face. "I only hope that you did the same."
James looked at me for a moment, as though contemplating what he should do next. As strange as it sounds, I suddenly grew uncomfortable under his gaze. I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for him to spit out whatever he had to say. He continued to stare at me curiously and I finally exploded.
"What are you looking at? I just poured my heart out to you and all you can do is stare at me? I can't handle this. I'll be right back." I said, making my way to my bedroom. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James beginning to stand up. I quickly turned around and pointed a finger at the couch.
"Sit down. Don't touch anything and don't go anywhere. Like I said, I'll be right back." I hissed at him. James slowly sat back down, a flicker of fear crossing his face. I stalked into my bedroom and slammed the door shut. I resumed my pacing as the tears finally spilled over, splashing onto the hardwood floor. I don't even know why I'm so angry!
It's because he's been gone a long time. You weren't prepared to see him yet.
I suppose that was why. Ugh, why did he have to do this? I swear I would have been fine if he had just written to me first, at least warning me that he was planning on coming back soon! I wonder if his friends knew. I assume he would have told them before anyone else, especially Sirius. They were closer than any of me and my friends were, even Alice.
Alice… Sirius… Marlene! Marlene's party was tonight! Bloody hell, what am I supposed to do? Do I take James with me or leave him? If he hasn't told anyone that he'd be back today then it'll be a right shock if he just shows up at a reunion he wasn't even invited to. I'm sure Marlene would have invited him, but no one knew when he would be back so I guess she hadn't bothered. Unless James had secretly been in contact with Sirius and Sirius told Marlene to invite him and she hadn't thought to tell me…
I put my fingers to my temples and rubbed them slowly. All of this panicked thinking was giving me a headache. I suppose I better go back out there and sort some of this out. I hastily changed into a loose t-shirt and a pair of sweats; I didn't feel the need to look pretty, it was just James. I swung open the door and cautiously walked back to the living room. James was as I had left him, but the few magazines I had on the coffee table were slightly out of order. I shook my head and smiled slightly before curling up in a chair across from James. He looked at me and I could tell he was preparing himself for another Lily-outburst. Lucky for him my energy had gone out the door and exhaustion was setting in. I gave him a small smile and raised my eyebrows to let him know that it was okay for him to talk. He sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair.
"Look, Lily. I'm sorry I didn't warn you I was coming back. Sirius thought that-" James abruptly cut himself off, eyes wide in shock. "I- I mean-"
"Sirius knew?" I said quietly, hurt lacing my voice. Against my will tears formed in my green eyes once again.
"Uhm, yeah. He knew. I've been in contact with him on and off the whole year. You know he's like a brother to me; I couldn't completely cut off ties with him. And between you and me, he doesn't even know that I came back today. I only told him that I'd be back sometime this month, but not exactly when." James told me, looking at me sheepishly. I guess there wasn't really anything to hold against him as I worked out for myself that he had probably been in correspondence with Sirius.
"I understand," I said softly. "I figured as much. Have you been in touch with Remus and Peter as well?"
"No," James said with a touch of guilt in his voice.
"I have one more question for you. Did you hear that Marlene was having a party? Did Sirius tell you?"
"He did tell me, but he didn't think I'd be back in time. He said I'm welcome to come, though. Is it today?"
"Yeah, it's at 6," I said, glancing at the clock above the fireplace as I did. It was about four now so I had two hours to get ready. I looked back at James, wondering if we should go together or not. On one hand, it would surely surprise everybody there. However, I guess it will be a surprise no matter how he shows up. I was about to ask James this when he beat me to it.
"So… d'you think we should go together? Or that I should go at all? I'm not really sure." James said quietly; I could hear the slight nervousness in his voice.
"I was just thinking the same thing. I suppose we could go together. You can stop by wherever you're staying to get changed then come back here so we can go. But, James?"
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering… is it possible if we just went as… well, friends? It's just that with you being away for a whole year, it feels weird jumping right back into a relationship, y'know?" I said a bit scared of how he was going to react. I had thought about this moment quite a lot and came to the conclusion that I really didn't want to rush back into things. That's basically how our relationship at Hogwarts began. The tension of six years kind of exploded and we skipped the whole 'dating' thing and went right into the 'boyfriend/girlfriend' stage. I wanted to do it right this time.
"That's fine. I understand. I mean, I waited six years for you, Lily. I think I can wait a little longer." James said jokingly, although I could sense he was a little sad at what I suggested. I smiled and got up from my seat, James copying my moves. We made our way to the door together; I wanted so badly to reach for his hand but that would essentially go against everything I had just said. I turned to face him in the doorway and he did the same.
"It is really nice to see you again, James. I've really missed you." I gave him a little half-smile, which he returned happily.
"It's good to see you too, Lils. I'll meet you back here around 5:45? Then we can apparate right to the party."
"Sounds perfect." I said. Then, hoping I wasn't crossing any of the boundaries we had just set, I stood on tiptoe and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. I could sense he was a bit hesitant at first, but then his arms made their way around my waist and his warm body was pressed against mine. I let out a small sigh of content and James chuckled.
"Friends do this, right?" he asked, a smile evident in his voice.
"Of course they do, I hug Alice all the time!" I said.
"Ah, but do you always sigh when you hug Alice?" James asked. I pulled back slightly and saw that he was smirking. I glared at him in a joking way and swatted his arm playfully.
"You know what I mean. Now get going or we'll be late!" I said, giving him a slight push out the door. Once he had left, I closed the door and slid down so that my back was pressed against the hard wood. In a way I was very happy he was back, but I also felt a little scared. What if he left again? Just because he did it once doesn't mean he won't do it again. Although, judging by the photograph in the Prophet, I think I can honestly say he's found himself like he meant to. With that thought in mind, I made my way back to my bedroom to get ready for tonight.
When James knocked on my door at precisely 5:45, it was with nervousness that I opened it. I know I had just seen him an hour or two before, but I still felt the flutters of a girl with a crush.
"Wow. You look… amazing." James said, mouth slightly open as he looked at my outfit. I had chosen a simple dark green dress, tight around the top and tapering off toward the knee. Every time I moved it flowed and shimmered, changing from green to blue to gold depending on the light. I had paired it with flats and a small clutch. I wanted to keep my hair as simple as possible, letting it fall in natural waves down my back. I took James' distraction as a chance to look him up and down. He was wearing a black blazer with a tan t-shirt visible beneath it. His dark jeans complimented him very well and his hair had not changed since I had last seen him.
"You're not so bad yourself," I said. I reached my hand up and put it in his hair as an attempt to flatten it a bit but it wouldn't budge.
"C'mon Lily, leave it be. You know that it doesn't change. It really has a mind of its own." James said grinning.
"Well, we should be on our way, it's nearly six! Shall we?" I said, offering him my arm.
"We shall," he replied. We walked out of my apartment and I locked the door behind me. We made our way to a small alley across the way.
"The Leaky Cauldron, correct?" James asked, glancing down at me.
"Yup," I said. "On the count of three. One…"
"Two…"
"Three." We said together and I felt the familiar pull on my navel as we were sucked in, grasping each other tightly. I felt my feet touch the ground and I looked up. We had landed just outside of the dark building and I suddenly felt very nervous. I snuck a peek over at James and saw that he too was fidgeting a bit. I took his hand and squeezed it gently.
"It'll be fine. Ready?" I said with what I hoped was a reassuring voice.
James took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "Ready."
We walked hand in hand toward the door and I let go to open it. Here goes nothing.
A/N: Slight cliffy? I think so! I'm sorry I've neglected to update. At first I told myself it was because I wanted to wait until Deathly Hallows came out and once that passed, I was just being lazy :D I really wanted to get this chapter up today because I'll be very busy this week and won't have access to a computer. I hope that this chapter holds you over until I return! Reviews are lovely :]