Author's Note: Do you want to know one thing that I absolutely love about have no school? It is the fact that then you have the entire day to do what you want to do. So, my dear readers, I wanted to give you the next chapter of Charmed Love. I know that there are some things that are not going to be as accepted as well as others. But when I started writing this story, I knew I wanted two things to keep Lily and James apart. You have already experienced the first one, and all I am going to say is that the second one is about to begin.

And I know that I hardly ever do this but… I want to dedicate this chapter to my faithful reviewers. These reviewers leave me reviews on every chapter that I have written since they have started reading my story. They are: Worldofwords97, Jessluvsharry, Zoukt, , Crazy-wee-cat, StellaGirlx3, and Punkin1294. You guys are just wonderful. And if you are not mentioned on this list but have left a review…Do Not think that I have not noticed your review. I love each and every review that I have received.

Now on with the next chapter…

Charmed Love: Chapter 17

November 13

Sometime really late at night

Everything can change in the course of one day. And I don't exclusively mean bad things, but instead, I mean things that I would have never seen coming because I just don't do relationships. (A fact that every one of my friends would attest to with alarming alacrity.)

The day started just like every other. Well I suppose that I would be lying if I said that. It was not exactly the same because when I woke up, I just got this feeling in my stomach that something exciting was going to happen.

But, anyways…I got up exactly when my alarm went off at 6:45 as I do every morning. I showered, and even used my Lily of the Valley shampoo, because I just had to be prepared. I put on some mascara and brushed my hair, deciding to leave my hair down, something that I rarely do. I got dressed and practically skipped down the stairs, because I heard some movement in the room next to mine, which meant that James was up and moving too.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I heard the door open and I saw James step out from his room. And…

I just lost my rational thought, almost as if something had soft and warm had wrapped itself around my heart, a sensation that made me smile stupidly. And I wish that I could say that this does not happen a lot, but it has become something that I have done every morning since that night. But it is just that James just looks so handsome in the morning. He is just all freshly showered and clean shaven. His shirt is a fresh pearly white, and his glasses are sitting straight on the bridge of his nose. He would look perfect if it were not for his tie still hanging loosely around his neck not having bothered to tie it before he has his first lesson, and his hair is as always even messier than usual, the ends still slightly damp from his shower. He is not perfect, but everything else just serves as a reminder that he is James Potter, perfect because of his imperfections.

Now I know that this all seems risky to be running through the mind of a girl that is not in love with him. Believe you me that if any of my friends knew that I thought these same thoughts every morning that I would never hear the end of it. But the thing is, I am not even really sure why this happens every morning. I do not have a rational explanation as to why this happens and quite frankly I do not want to know because that is what got me into trouble the last time. I was too hasty to declare myself to be in love with James and that ended in a catastrophe.

He walked up to me with a casual grace that I could never hope to achieve; those are the breaks when you can hardly walk over a flat surface without partly concentrating on not tripping over your own two feet.

I tried to push all of those lovey-dovey thoughts out of my mind before he tried to start a conversation with me. Because I always needed my wits about me whenever I tried to carry on an intelligent conversation with the man that could turn my thoughts into a complete jumble.

"Good Morning, Lily." He said when he stopped to stand directly in front of me.

"Good morning James." I replied in a slightly breathy voice as I gazed directly into his hazel eyes, which were warm, comforting, and suffused with an emotion that I could not decipher no matter how hard I tried. "I trust that you slept fine." I continued as I tried to continue with the conversation before we would head down to breakfast where all of our respective friends would try their hardest to claim our attention. All alone time that I could manage with James was precious and not to be wasted, because I only had so much time at my disposal. Because between his friends, school, homework, and Quidditch practice, that amount of time was already short to begin with.

His eyes crinkled around the edges as he burst into a really big smile as if enjoying some private joke. "It was very pleasurable, one of my favorite things to do in the day, because that is when all of my dreams come true. If only life could be like that, right?" He asked.

I thought back on the thoughts that I had had as he came down the stairs every morning and realized that he was right and that I did wish that things could just become simpler and come true. So I replied in the affirmative.

"Well at terrific as this conversation is, I am starting to get really hungry so I think that I am going to head down to breakfast. Care to join me m'lady?" He said bowing grandly as his eyes danced with laughter.

"Why yes, we shall." I replied as I felt my cheeks grow warm because I could tell that I must be blushing.

"Perfect." He said as he extended his arm with every intention of my taking it so that he could escort me down to the Great Hall.

I looked at him for a moment before I gladly took his arm and let myself be guided out of the Common Room and into the hall. As we walked down the hall, we talked idly about school, friends, life, and really just anything that popped into our heads. It was so easy to feel comfortable around James; he just had this thing about him that makes you want to talk to him and for him to enjoy your company as well.

When we reached the Gryffindor Table we sat down with our group of friends. Ever since a few weeks ago, we were not part of our separate groups any mare. I guess they decided that they might as well become close because they must all share Beth and Alice's theory that James and I are hopelessly in love with each other but just will not admit it to the other. They started hanging out with each other more and more to the point where we were sitting with the Maurders at meals, partnering up with them in classes when we were supposed to be working in big groups, and talking outside of school. That does not mean that we spent every waking moment with them, it just means that we were all talking with one another. So when we sat down, we still separated between the boys and the girls, but conversation could very easily flow between the two groups.

I joined in the conversation a few times because if I didn't they would start to wonder and worry, but I did not really take an active part of it. I was too busy watching James as he talked with his friends; it was so natural and artless for him. He was open and sparkling and quite frankly really desirable. It was just the way that he held himself and the way even though I was being silent he would still look over at me and smile and wink, which made me feel like I was actually part of the conversation. And I came to the conclusion that falling in love would be so easy; it would be exactly like falling. Natural and Effortless. He is what most women want in their lover. He is intelligent, good looking, funny, down to earth, athletic, and just an all around good guy.

I realized that while I may not currently be in love with him (and even though I did not want to admit it, that possibility was slim to none) that I could not let anyone know because he could just do so much better than me. And if he did find out that I like him, he would only be nice to me because that is just the type of guy that he is. And that would be worse than him just ignoring it because then I would know that the only reason that he was pretending to like me is because he felt sorry for me.

So when I headed to Charms, I felt a lump form at the back of my throat because I knew that James has to see Professor Sprout about something. I sat numbly in my seat with my notebook out so that I could distract myself with taking notes.

But when Professor Flitwick addressed the class about today's lesson plan I knew that I was going to get no such luck. "Today is going to be a free period so that those who do not understand the recent material can talk to me to get further assistance. I expect the rest or you to work on something silently."

I was just about to pull out The Duke and I by Julia Quinn because I had had nothing else to do when all of a sudden a piece of paper was shoved under my hand.

So anything happen with James that I should know about. –Beth

I stared at her and she just smirked and gave me this look that said that I knew what she is talking about. However I decided that I was not going to cooperate with her so I sent the note back with this message.

I really do not know what you are talking about. Nothing has "happened" between a certain Mr. Potter and myself. ~Lily

I saw her get the note back and then she show it to Alice because she wanted her opinion on the matter. It was actually very funny watching this unfold because it reminded me of a silent film. After Alice was finished writing she sent me this message.

Lily, I am only going to warn you once, but you are going to tell us what is going on and you are going to tell us NOW. I will not tolerate any attempt to change the topic so don't even try. I feel as your best friend that I have the right to know what is going on, and I will not appreciate finding out when the rest of the school sees you two stumble out of a broom closet that you two have become an item. SO SPILL! _Alice_

I stared at the piece of paper with a fair amount of shock and confusion before I even felt to be at a point where I could respond. Had anything really happened this morning between James and I that I even wanted to share with my friends? I had never really planned to tell anyone about the fact that I was quickly falling in love with James. It would somehow make the entire thing seem more planned and less special. So I replied

Alice, I am being serious when I say that I do not even know what is going on fully. Everything is just changing, and even if I did discover that something might be blossoming it would never actually work because James and I are just not right. We are at different ends of the social scale and he could just do so much better if he wanted to. ~Lily

Before I even had time to think another piece of paper landed on my desk to me with very different handwriting on it previously, but I recognized the handwriting as belonging to Sirius. However, the paper was folded so many times that I accidently tore off the end of the note.

You are very different from James. You use your head too much, whereas he tends to get lost in the moment. He is not afraid of making mistakes and taking risks and you would never break the rules in the name of pure excitement and fun. You guys are complete opposites, but yet at the same time completely the same. That is why you are friends with James, and don't look for more because it would just not be good for him.

It was a good thing that the note ended right there because I did not know how much more of that I could have taken, because it was exactly right. I am not good for James because I would be restraining him from really being himself, which a part of is being impulsive and breaking the rules. He would know that I would disapprove so he would not even try. I just could not let that happen to him.

I decided that I should reassure Sirius that I would not try to smother James and I would just leave him be. I quickly penned one final message to him before the bell rang.

I know. You can count on me not to do anything wrong. ~Lily

After the bell rang I rushed out of the room before anyone could try to talk to me. I was not sure that I could talk to any of them right now because my friends would just try to sugar coat the truth with false hope. James' friends would just speak the harsh truth that I am just not any good for him. I needed to talk to someone who would not really have an opinion about this that they would be willing to offer.

I knew that there was only one person who could fit that bill exactly and thankfully me next class Defense Against the Dart Arts was the class that we had together. Eli Chatfield.

I walked into the classroom eager to talk to him so that I could let his easy to talk to demeanor make my comfortable again and that hopefully things would start to make sense again.

"Hello, Eli." I said trying to assume my usual cheerful voice that I used when I talked to him, pleased that he was waiting by my desk so that I would not have to worry about seeking him out. "I have something that I need to talk to you about."

"Well that is certainly convenient because I have something that I need to ask you. And if you don't mind can I ask you my thing first?" He asked looking warmly down at me with his gray-ish blue eyes.

"Yeah, you know that you can ask me anything, Eli. We are friends, we are honest with each other and we feel comfortable with each other. We can talk about anything." I said grateful for that fact because what I needed from him would really push this friendship to the limit.

"That is one of the reasons that I wanted to ask you this. This past month being your friend has been more wonderful that I can ever tell you Lily. I have enjoyed every moment that we have spent together. But now I can't help but want more than this. I want to be closer to you, Lily. I want you to be my girlfriend." He said gently cupping my chin with his hand.

But it was not what I wanted. He was terrific and really sweet, but he was not the one that made my heart flip upside-down when he walking into the room. I did not stare into space thinking about him. But I could not be cruel and turn him down without at least a good explanation. "Eli, this is really unexpected, and I am very flattered that you think of me so specially, but I really need to think this through. Can I just let you know my final decision at the end of class?" I said looking up at him with an apologetic smile.

"Take as much time as you need to decide. I can wait until the end of the class or the end of the week for you to feel confident with your decision." He said before he turned to walk back to his desk as the class was starting.

I did not know what I was going to do about this. I did not explicatively want to find myself as Eli Chatfield's girlfriend, but as I was thinking about it, I really did not want to hurt him either. He was really special to me and I wanted to make him happy. Would it really be so horrible of me to date Eli? I know that I am not in love with him right now, but was it totally impossible that I could just learn to love him. I knew that James and I are a complete long shot at best, and I could not just sit around waiting for him. I needed to live my life. So when the end of class came I was going to tell Eli that I would be his girlfriend.

When the bell rang, I walked over to his desk and looked him right in the eyes and told him that I would be his girlfriend. He was so excited and quickly crushed me in a huge hug and placed a small kiss on my cheek. It was sweet, but just sadly missing the warm fuzzy feeling that would have accompanied it had it been from a certain hazel-eyed boy. But I could not allow myself to think like that anymore. I was Eli's girlfriend, and I would fall in love with him.

I went through the rest of my class mechanically, not really remembering what happened nor ever really caring. I went to the Great Hall and sat with my friends, but I did not say anything about Eli to them because I knew I had to tell him first.

I let Eli walk me up to my room and give me a goodnight kiss on the cheek before I went inside. I knew that he was going to try to kiss me on my lips, but I just could not do that to him while I was still in love with James.

I waited up staring into the fire even though I was not really seeing anything. I just could not believe that I had fallen so quickly and completely in love with James. I knew that I needed to tell him first about Eli and me before I told any of my other friends.

Somewhere in my conscious thought, I heard James enter into the Common Room. I looked up to see him standing there bathed in the flickering light from the fire. I knew that I could not just come right out and tell him about it, so I decided that I needed to work my way up to it. "James, we can talk about anything, right?" I asked looking up into his eyes.

"I like to think that we can." He said flashing me a quick smile. "What do you have in mind for tonight's conversation?" He asked moving to stand closer as he began unfastening his tie.

I stood up and walked over to him so that I was standing directly in front of him. "Today during Defense Against the Dark Arts, Eli Chatfield, you know him, right?" I asked him

He stopped right in the middle of unbuttoning the top button of his shirt so that he could breathe more comfortably. "Yeah, I know him. But what does that have to do with what you want to talk about?" He said somewhat harshly as he ripped the button open.

"I want to know what you think about him because, as of this afternoon, he is my boyfriend. And I wanted you to be the first to know because you are my friend." I replied only telling him part of the truth. I wanted him to know because I was secretly and very recently in love with him and his opinion on the matter probably meant more to me right now than my own mum or dad's thoughts about this relationship.

"You are going out with him?" James asked once again with a hint of desperation that the romantic side of me wished was because that he did not want me in the arms of a different man, but I knew that that was just foolish because he was probably just making sure so that he knew he would be safe from me.

"Yeah, I am going out with him. I said looking straight into his eyes hoping that he would respond to me and that I would know what he was thinking.

I watched as his eyes went from lively and hopeful to cold and detached. "Well, I could not be happier for you and Eli." He stopped momentarily shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he continued, "We are friends and I am very honored that you took the time to tell me first." He sounded cut off almost as if he had rehearsed this before. "I am happy for you, really I am. If you will excuse me, I have to be going…" He said not even bothering to finish his statement before he hurried from the room.

I stood there for a long time before I went up to my room to just change into my pajamas. I laid there in my bed for a long time straining my ears to hear as James moved about his room getting ready for bed. Even after I heard the noises stop, which meant that he had fallen asleep, I still laid awake just staring numbly at the ceiling, willing the tears that were forming in my eyes not to fall.

I knew that I was not going to be getting much sleep tonight. My mind just kept playing what had happened today over and over in my mind. I thought about this morning and the wonderful feelings that I had had when I had realized that I was in love with James Potter. I thought about the notes I had passed in class when I realized that I was not right for him. I thought about Eli and how he was now my boyfriend, I needed to remind myself that I was going to fall in love with him and forget about James.

And lastly I thought about how much I had secretly hoped that James would not allow me to date Eli because he was too much in love with me himself for him to even allow such a thing to happen. I felt my tears leak over my eyes as I thought about how he had not even really cared that I was dating someone else, which hurt more that I was willing to admit.

And as I decided that I was not even going to bother to wipe away my tears, I realized that I was never going to convince myself to forget James Potter, because he is just not the type of guy that you fall out of love with. Once you fall in love with him, you never go back.

Author's Note: Well I hope that you enjoyed that. I know that I really had fun writing it. It took me 3 hours to write because I was writing without the benefit of having my thoughts previously written down. And I just kept going back and erasing stuff because I wanted to get everything just perfect.

Hope you have a terrific Thanksgiving, for those of you who celebrate it. : )

As always please leave me a review telling me your thoughts from this chapter

Love Allison