Chapter 11 – Lily Freaks Out, Part II

Harry, James, and Ron made their way down to the Quidditch pitch – Harry with his Firebolt, Ron with his Cleansweep, and James with a moldy-smelling Comet Two Ninety that they'd taken from the broom shed. Since Harry was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, he unlocked Madam Hooch's office and grabbed the Quaffle out of the box, and they tossed it back and forth, occasionally lobbing it at Ron to see if he could save it. "You're a brilliant flier, Harry!" James yelled as he sped past. "I've never seen a broom that could go that fast, either!"

"Sirius bought it for me in my third year!" Harry called back. "He said it was thirteen years worth of presents!"

"Bloody hell!" James bellowed from the opposite goal post. "My godfather gives me socks and quills! I guess we made a good choice!"

Harry laughed, and noticed an orange speck leave the castle and run down to the Quidditch pitch. As it drew nearer, he saw that it was Ginny. "JAMES!" she screeched, and James turned, saw her, and landed. "Lily's having a bit of a breakdown," she panted. "You need to talk to her. She's in the boys' dorm."

"Um, listen Ginny. I'm not the best person to be comforting Evans. She and I aren't exactly best mates." Ginny gave James the sort of look that only girls can give boys, the look that said do this immediately or bad things will happen to you. James sighed, rolling his eyes. "Take this back to the broom shed," he grumbled, thrusting the Comet Two Ninety at Ginny, and trudged back toward the castle.

"Remind me why we're in the boys' dormitory again?" Lily hiccupped, wiping her eyes.

"Because," Hermione said. "My roommates are the biggest gossips you have ever met. If they get so much as a hint of what's going on…I don't even want to think about what kind of rumors would start spreading." Lily nodded and shakily opened a Chocolate Frog. Just then, a knock sounded on the door and James entered. "I'll just leave you two alone," Hermione said, giving Lily a quick hug. "It'll be okay."

James entered the boys' dormitory and sat down next to Lily on his bed. She was wearing a blue sweater of Ginny's, as she didn't have any changes of clothes with her, and it was much more low-cut than any of her other sweaters. Don't say anything, James, he thought, but at the same time he found himself saying "Damn, Evans, what'd you do?"

"I took a shower," said Lily, narrowing her eyes. "Maybe you should try it sometime."

"Don't get all snarky with me, Evans," James shot back. "I'm only here because Ginny made me come. Tell me what's wrong, will you? Then I can say something generically comforting and go back outside."

Lily glared at him, but then decided that he was as good as two girls who were very sweet, but didn't know her at all. "If I'm going to tell you anything, you have to keep your stupid little comments to yourself. No one likes them." James sighed, exasperated, but agreed. "Snape is in love with me," she said, going on to explain everything.

Hell no! James exclaimed inwardly. Snape doesn't get any of that! Then he stopped himself. James, what the hell are you doing? You gave up on Lily years ago. She doesn't like you. What's the point of liking her?

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, bewildered. James was sitting with his knees drawn to his chest and muttering to himself. When he didn't answer, she flicked his arm. "Hey! Potter!"

James blinked. "What?"

"What should I do?"

"To be honest, I don't know," admitted James. "Maybe you should just see what happens when we get back. And in the meantime, you should avoid Snape. He'll just make things worse." And that little slimeball will get you when I go out with Wormtail. "But cheer up! Tomorrow's Christmas! Who knows, maybe we'll have futuristic-type presents that we can take back to the past or something." Lily gave a shaky giggle. "If I was a girl, would I…hug you or something now?" he asked. Lily tentatively rested her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her.

"You're all right, Potter," she murmured. "This is so weird."

James laughed. "It is, isn't it? When we get back, I'm never touching a TimeTurner again. I'm never even touching a clock." Lily giggled again, and James smiled to himself. The thought of them being married seemed less and less strange all the time.