"Lily!"

James stormed though the portrait hole, his eyes wide and frantic. "Lily!" he shouted, again, craning his neck in the hopes that he might catch a glimpse of her red head in the sea of people.

"James?" Lily's disembodied voice sounded from nearby.

James pushed through a pair of chatting fifth year girls in the direction of Lily's voice. When he still couldn't see her, he let out a growl of annoyance. His frustration mounting knowing he could hear her but couldn't see her. Still, he was closer than he had been.

"Lily! Where are you?" he called, straining once more to see over the milling crowd.

"Over here."

"That doesn't help!" he shouted, still craning his neck.

"James!" she raised her voice, standing on a sofa to his right, looking at him in exasperation. "I'm over here. What's the matter with you? What's the rush?"

The moment he spotted her James started to head in her direction with a purposeful stride, but he got tangled up when he bumped into a first year that'd chosen that inopportune moment to run across his path. With his Quidditch reflexes, James managed to catch and steady the little girl before she went crashing to the floor, but the moment she was stable again, James practically lifted her off her feet and moved her to the side, an absent 'sorry' falling from his lips as he continued to push, dodge, and weave towards where Lily stood above the crowd.

Lily watched his hurried approach with shock and when he didn't slow down, despite his near accident, Lily couldn't help, but laugh. "Slow down, James! I'm not going anywhere!" She shook her head in amusement as she stepped down from the sofa.

He ignored her and kept bulldozing through the crowd. It didn't take long before he was mere feet away.

Smiling fondly at his antics, Lily turned to face him, but now that he was closer she could see that his face was ashen.

"What is it?" she asked quickly, covering the few remaining steps to him in seconds. She grabbed his hand in a strong grip. "What's going on?" she asked, pulling him over to a quiet corner and down onto a vacant chair.

James followed her silent commands easily and sank into the seat without complaint. It was a bit too small for both of them, but it provided some privacy in the crowded room and neither of them seemed to mind the close proximity as they adjusted themselves to fit.

Once they were settled, James's arm behind Lily's shoulders and her legs thrown across his lap, both of their bodies accommodated nicely; he started shaking his head miserably.

"James!" Lily sharply said as she shifted a little more towards him, inadvertently pushing them closer. "Tell me what's wrong," she demanded. "It can't be as bad as all that."

James stared into her worried face, and then groaned, leaning his entire weight into her body, burying his face in her neck.

As he lay pathetically against her, Lily brought up a hand and rested it around his shoulder. "What is it?" she asked again, quieter this time.

James sighed heavily, and Lily felt his breath flow over her skin, causing gooseflesh to rise on her arms. And, for a moment, she forgot all about her questions, realising how close they were and privately relishing the feel of his hard body pressed so tightly against hers, but when he sighed again, Lily seemed to snap out of her daze.

"James," she coughed awkwardly, still trying to shake of the warmth his body made her feel, "you're starting to worry me now. Tell me what's going on." Her voice was quiet, but firm.

James, finally seeming to gain some strength from her, turned his head so his lips were next to her ear. "It's come," he whispered pitifully.

Lily wasn't sure whether to laugh or hit him over his dramatics, but held her tongue for the moment. "What's come?" she whispered back, running her hand across his neck soothingly, feeling the inexplicable urge to comfort him.

"The summons…" he moaned, pathetically, his body slumping so far onto her that he almost covered her like a blanket.

"Summons?" repeated Lily, now thoroughly confused, her hand freezing in mid-stroke.

Instead of answering her with words, he lifted his left hand weakly, still not removing his head from her neck. Looking at the proffered hand, Lily could see he held a crumpled bit of parchment.

"Okay," she said slowly. "You got a letter?"

James grunted.

"And?" Lily asked in confusion.

"It's probably best if you just read it," he sighed, sending another rush of air across her skin that somehow managed to warm her stomach.

Nodding, and more confused than ever, she took it from his pathetic grasp and scanned the neat handwriting in silence.

"Ah," she eventually said as she reached the bottom. "I guess I better pack, then."

"No! No, thank Merlin, not just yet. We still have time to prepare. They want us to come for a couple of days during the Christmas holidays," James said, still not removing his head.

"Come on, James," Lily said bracingly. "We knew this was coming, it was what you wanted, remember? It has to be done."

"I know," he said finally, moving his head to look up, putting their noses mere millimetres apart, "but I had so hoped that this time it might be different, and I wouldn't have to put you through this!" he said his voice low, so as not to be overheard.

"What, and waste all our hard work? Don't worry about me, James!" Lily laughed quietly. "I'll be fine. I'm a big girl… a big girl who can now kick arse in a duel." She stared into his eyes hoping he could see how dedicated she was to help him "I'm sure your parents and I will get on fine."

For a moment, all James could do was stare at her. The ease with which she accepted the melodrama of his life always managed to astonish him, making him appreciate her all the more. He was so lucky to have her on his side. "You are… amazing, spectacular; I don't know how to thank you," he said shaking his head, a large grin starting to form.

"Silly boy, you don't need to thank me, we're helping each other, remember?" she whispered in his ear as she poked him in the ribs in mock reprimand.

"Still, I get to teach you to duel for my end of the bargain," he sighed, swatting her hand away and wrapping his arm around her stomach affectionately, "and you get interrogated and pushed to your physical limits for yours. I think I definitely got the good end of the deal." He gave her an apologetic smile.

"I think you may be right!" she laughed, but being able to sense his genuine concern she made sure to add, "but I'm loving it, anyway."

He smiled at her in acknowledgement before groaning, "Loving it or not, it still seems that everything is dropping on you at once; your first team practice and my parents. I'm sorry."

Lily nodded and sighed tiredly. "It's not ideal, but at least we can practice openly at your house—you know, get some intensive training in before the tournament … we can do that, right? There will be time?"

"Of course," he smiled. "Knowing my dad, he'll probably want to help! Maybe even my mum, if I ask really nicely and she's not training anyone else. Sirius too, probably."

"Sirius will be with us," she clarified uneasily.

"Of course. He's my brother," James said, as if the fact were so incontrovertible that it had been written in stone a millennia ago.

"Oh, just great, he's going to have a field day with this, isn't he?" Lily sighed, but she made sure to smile so James knew she didn't really mind Sirius being there.

He laughed, relieved. "You know Sirius, he never misses an opportunity to humiliate me and, unfortunately, this time you're going to be along for the ride."

Lily nodded her head in resignation.

"Thank you so much, Lils," James said, when it finally sank in she was willing to go home with him, when every other girl he'd ever been with had balked at the mere mention of having to meet his parent. He was so pleased and relieved that without really thinking about what he was doing, and with his arm still wrapped around her, he leaned in to kiss her.

Just when he was within a centimetre of her lips he froze mid action, unsure what he was doing. Lily's smile had slowly dissolved and she stared back at him a little confused. James's eyes flickered to the side and noticed that, even though no one could hear what they were saying, people had still been watching them rather avidly the whole time.

They'd originally agreed that pecking on the lips was allowed, but after her performance a couple of weeks ago, his subsequent kiss later that same evening, and the awkwardness that that had caused, they had kept the affection between them to a minimum.

His eyes rested on hers once more and asked the silent question; Lily's eyes flickered to take in their audience as well, before facing James once more unflinchingly.

James closed the remaining space.

Their lips touched and flashbacks of their previous kisses flew across Lily's memory so fast she thought her head was spinning. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and her hand, still on his neck, slid up into his hair. Feeling her submission, James tightened his hold on her as if trying to steady them both as they shared a little less than chaste kiss.

Realisation was slow in coming, having to force its way through the hazy fog of her mind, but once Lily fully realised what they were doing, and just how easily they were doing it, she stiffened imperceptibly yet couldn't quite bring herself to pull away.

But before she really had time to process the sudden change in their relationship and the major shift in personal barriers that had just taken place, he was gone. All she could do was hold her fingers up to her warm lips in wonder.

This kiss was much tamer than the first time, but nothing close to that level of affection had happened in weeks. Lily had not been prepared at all for the jolt of energy that shot through her body with his touch, reminding her forcefully of the last time she had felt his mouth on hers.

When he pulled away, she grabbed his hand instinctively. "James," she whispered, as she unconsciously licked her lips, staring right in to him, her mouth desperately trying to put her feelings into words before they slipped away again.

"What?" he asked, returning her look with a one that mirrored her surprise and…desire?

"I just… I don't know…what does this… mean?" she trailed off, her body leaning in towards him without her commanding it to.

"Does it really matter what it means?" he murmured, right before he met her in the middle and his lips touched hers again.

Just as he was about to really start to kiss her, James's head was jerked back roughly.

"What? You two don't get enough time to do that when you're out sneaking away with each other every evening, so now you have to ruin my appetite for dinner with your public displays of affection?" quipped Sirius, as he flopped down on a nearby sofa.

"Sirius," James growled as he cast a worried look at Lily's lowered head, he could almost feel the heat of her blush and her grip on his hand was almost painful now. He didn't think she was even aware she hadn't let go yet; that thought was almost enough to make him smile. Almost.

This situation with him and Lily, this arrangement, for lack of a better word, was wreaking the best sort of havoc on him. Knowing she was sitting here, on his lap for Merlin's sake, kissing him and blushing and holding his hand made him feel absolutely elated. Even if it was just for show, he couldn't deny that he was enjoying it.

Then Sirius had come, and the moment was gone.

James had never been so close to killing his best friend. And considering the shit Sirius had pulled during his still relatively short life, that was saying something.

Sirius, obviously reading the exceptional amount of anger in his friend's gaze, leaned across and whispered, "I was only joking. You can kiss her in front of me until you both suffocate from lack of oxygen, I don't care, but that prissy little sixth year prefect just came in, and I figured as Head Girl Lily wouldn't want to get points deducted for public display of affection, in front of the very full common room," Sirius added defensively, reminding James he was in a very public place.

James sighed and nodded his thanks and his apology. Sirius didn't need anything else. Lily, he knew, was a different matter altogether. She'd now pulled her hand away from his. She brushed her hair behind her ear before mumbling a 'thanks' to Sirius and standing, leaving the area as quickly as possible.

"Bugger," James whispered as he watched her disappear up the staircase, again. He really needed to talk to her about her habit of leaving him standing and staring like an idiot.

"What was that?" Sirius asked absently.

James spent another second with his gaze lingering on the stairway before turning around. "Nothing, mate" he said with a slightly self- mocking tone. "Absolutely nothing."

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AN

Not nearly as long a wait this time around!

Unfortunately the next chap is not even remotely done but I will endeavor to find time to write, perhaps I'll try to do some sneaky writing while at work

Thank you for all your reviews – I can't believe I have almost reached 500 - that's really amazing!