A few weeks later James was sitting alone at the end of breakfast, waiting for Lily to return from a quick dash back to her dorm for a forgotten text book.

He was playing with his soggy cereal and chatting to his friends, when he heard Lily's joyous voice calling out his name.

He looked up quickly to see her bouncing down the aisle towards where he was sitting, excitedly dropping down into the seat next to him, and in the process, drawing many shocked and confused looks from the people still left surrounding him.

"What?" James asked, finding himself easily disregarding all the avid stares of his classmates and friends and automatically smiling back at her, her obvious giddiness rubbing off on him instantly.

"You'll never guess!" she giggled happily, her eyes shining at him.

"What?" he asked again, even more eager the more animated she became.

"It came!" she said, reaching out and shaking his arm excitedly. "I have to admit I was starting to think it never would, but it came!

"What came?" he asked, still smiling while his whole torso shook with her overzealous shaking.

"It came, my dad's reply, and he signed it, James, he bloody well signed it! I can't believe it worked!" She slammed down the permission slip and accompanying letter right in front of him, right there in the Great Hall, so he could see it for himself.

He quickly snatched them up before anyone else could see what they were, sending her a slightly reproachful look for carelessness. She shrugged sheepishly and he shook his head at her fondly before allowing his eyes to scan the words of the letter quickly, his eyes briefly flashing to the signature on the magically charmed piece of paper.

When he turned his gigantic smile on her, the light of the joy from a prank well done shining off of him, Lily couldn't help but lean forward and hug him tightly. "I can't believe it worked!"

James was surprised by her action, and both of them blushed lightly at the normally unused method of affection, but it only made his grin wider. He was starting to look like his face would crack in two, and Lily's was almost identical, their shared glee bouncing between them and increasing the mutual sentiment of satisfaction.

"That's great, Lily!" he whispered, pulling her back into the hug so as to disguise their actual conversation. "Meet me later and we'll remove the charm."

"Okay," she breathed, before pulling away and picking up her letters.

"Where are you going?" he asked, confused and a little disappointed. "I didn't mean that you had to leave."

"Oh, I still haven't been back to the dorm," she told him breathlessly. "The owl caught me before I got there." And then, with one last fleeting look at him over her shoulder, she left the Great Hall.

The moment she was out of his sight James slouched down in his seat, rested his head on his fist, and released a long sigh, tingles racing under his skin and all over his body.

He was broken out of his trance, however, by Sirius's deep chuckle.

"What?" he asked defensively when he saw his friend's smirk.

"Nothing, Prongs, just that it's only been a couple of weeks and you're already a besotted fool."

"Shut up," James snapped.

"Hey, it's all good," Sirius tried to placate him, shocked by his unreasonable response. "There's no need to be shy about it around us, we know you've always had a thing for her …"

James shifted uncomfortably after his friend said that, wondering if Sirius was right and he really had become a besotted fool again. It had taken him a long time to let go of his feelings for Lily in fifth year, and it had been hard enough the first time around. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to do it again, especially seeing as he'd had a taste of what it was like to actually be with her now.

Eventually, he managed to force himself to reply, "So, what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, it's just that I'm sorry I doubted your relationship and that… we're really happy for you," said Sirius, before returning to his breakfast without another word.

James smiled tightly, but internally started to worry about the mess that he might have gotten himself into.

What would happen if he started to like her again? What if he already did? After all, he'd have to be in a coma not to notice how beautiful she was, especially seeing as their practices allowed him tantalising glimpses of her body. Plus, now that she'd let go of all her hostility towards him, they got along with each other fantastically. They talked about everything as they trained and he trusted her implicitly.

He thought perhaps he'd even noticed her looking at him occasionally.

James shook himself trying to ignore the sudden anxious feeling he had in his gut.

Things were different now, they were friends... best friends, he acknowledged to himself…but that was it.

He could handle this.

Couldn't he?

--

Lily had been advancing in leaps and bounds, both with her physical training and her magical.

She was now only a few minutes behind James on the morning jog, and she was completing her crunches, push ups, and other various exercises without having to stop at all any more. Although she was still always totally puffed out by the time it was over, they could both agree that she had come a long way since training began.

She had progressed through the basic spells and hexes at a speed that had left James speechless. He had already known she had wickedly fast reflexes, having seen her pull her wand many times before they'd started to train, but her vast knowledge and excellent instincts left him astounded.

The problem was, that despite all those positives, James could still sense something was preventing her reaching her full potential. He was starting to go insane trying to figure out what it was, trying to solve it.

He didn't think it was for lack of want, or dedication; she was certainly talented. She was turning out to be an exceptional duellist. She couldn't beat him yet, but she definitely gave him a work out and that was more than most could claim.

The problem was, that occasionally she would suffer from bouts of tiredness and extreme weakness, especially after she'd been pushing herself or after a particularly stressful day.

In the beginning he'd just thought it was because she wasn't used to exercising so much, but now he wasn't so sure and he was starting to worry.

What the hell wasn't she telling him?

--

Lily's back hit the stone floor and her lungs felt like they were on fire.

"Lily!" James cried, running over to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she wheezed stubbornly. "I'm just a little winded."

"Are you sure, Lily?" James sighed, frustrated with her now that he knew she was alright. "Because this only ever happens toward the end of practice. It's almost like bloody clockwork!" he said, eyeing her shrewdly.

"I'm fine!" she repeated sharply, throwing him a dirty look, though the fact that she was lying flat on her back on the ground ruined the desired effect.

"Fine," James snapped at her, standing stiffly and returning to his spot across their makeshift duelling ring.

"Get up then, and let's do it again!" he commanded mercilessly.

Lily lay staring at the dusty ceiling for another second, before valiantly pushing herself to her knees and getting to her feet.

James watched her stiff, pained movements and her slight sway angrily, desperately trying to maintain a stony look on his face and not wanting to give away just how troubled he really was.

Once she was standing in the appropriate place, he gave her the barest hint of warning before ruthlessly throwing another spell at her, putting his full power and skill behind it. This time when she hit the ground, even Lily had to admit she wouldn't be continuing to practice that day.

He walked over and stood towering above her. "Yeah, I can see you're absolutely fucking fine. After all, I just sent a tickling hex at you, a strong one yes, but still, just a tickling hex, and it knocked you off your bloody feet – that's really a normal reaction!" he drawled sarcastically, right before barking, "Practice is over!"

"Fine," whispered Lily, getting up unsteadily and collecting her things with shaking hands.

She turned to walk away, but was stopped when she felt James warm palm on her shoulder. She jerked at the sharp stinging the contact sent through her body, but managed to cover the look of pain that flashed across her expression before she turned to face him.

He missed the change of expression, but not the look in her eyes, and seeing it, he took both her trembling hands in his, the reassurance of his firm grasp making her feel more steady.

James had learned to recognise when Lily closed herself off and so, instead of questioning her, he passed her a bottle of water which she took gratefully, greedily gulping it and coughing when some went down the wrong way

"Take sips, love," James encouraged sweetly, and trying to make up for shouting at her and hurting her, he started running his hands up and down her arms, shocked to find her skin cold and clammy despite the exercise they'd just done.

She nodded, closing her eyes and taking sips. The moment she couldn't see him he frowned worriedly, changing his mind about not saying anything more to her. Instead of commenting directly however, he softly said, "We can't afford for me to keep being lenient, Lily."

"I know, James – I don't want you to be."

"It's not a matter of want, Lily," he sighed, pulling her forward so she was leaning against him. "You're a great duller - fantastic even, when we start practicing, but you deteriorate really quickly once you reach a certain point, and after you reach that point, I have to go easy on you…."

He felt her troubled breathing fan across his neck, and instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

"Is there something you need to tell me?" he finally rushed out on a single breath, tightening his hold when he felt her start to pull away. "Are you alright? Do you have Muggle asthma or something that you just didn't want to tell me about?" he asked. "Because that can be healed in less than an hour," he stressed.

"No, it's nothing like that," she said, still breathing heavily, and, to James's delight, still leaning heavily against him. "I guess I just haven't got the stamina yet," she said quietly, before pulling out of his grasp with a quiet, "Thanks, James, I'll see you later."

After that, James was left with nothing else to do but watch her go, and hope that she was being reasonable with herself about what was and wasn't good for her.

--

AN

I didn't get as many reviews for the last chap as I'm used to… you've spoilt me… I hope it doesn't mean you're all losing interest.

I know this is a little shorter than usual but there's a bit of a mystery some angst and some affection, I think that covers all the bases quite nicely

REVIEW.... please ;D