A/N Welcome back! Thank you so very very very much to everyone who reviewed, and a special thanks to the wonderful people who are reading both this, AND my other story! :) Every time I get the 'new email!' Alert on my phone, I get so excited. (Unfortunately, sometimes It's junk mail and/or 'your watched item is ending soon' reminders from ebay. ) Anyway, I'm quite pleased with how this chapter went, so please please please keep up with the reviews. Remember, Fanfiction authors only except tips in the form of reviews. ;) - Jen Riddle.
Late Nights at The Leaky Cauldron
Chapter 2
When Lily awoke the next morning, the first thing she noticed was her head rising and falling in turn with her breathing. Her eyes flickered open immediately. That wasn't her breathing - it was James Potters. Her head was resting on his smooth chest. She jumped up quickly, freeing herself from James muscular arm that was draped around her body. His arm landed limply on the comfortable bed just as Lilys feet landed on the hard wood floor, causing a thud.
James sideways cocky smile played across his face. "Goodmorning, Love." He murmered sleepily.
Lily grimaced at the thought of having shared the bed with him last night, and how had she wound up with his arm around her and her head on his chest, anyway?
"I'm not your love, James." She scowled. He laughed, exposing perfectly white teeth.
"I'm sure that's not what you were thinking last night." He winked. Lilys mouth opened in a shocked and disgusted expression.
"What I do or do not do in my subconscious means nothing!" She cried. This only caused James to laugh again. He grabbed his glasses from the bedside table, and placed them on his face, finally able to see the redheaded beauty clearly. He couldn't help but smile at her messy bed-headed hair.
Lily rolled her eyes, and exited the room. The last thing she needed was James Potter ogling her. He was no longer a part of her life, and she had no inclination to let him back in.
Once downstairs, she walked straight to the bar.
"Have a good sleep?" Tom asked innocently. Lily glared at him, and he backed away, grabbing her a cup of coffee and placing it on the bar in front of her. "I see you're not a morning person."
Lily ignored the man and downed the cup, needing a pick me up after the previous night, and placed the empty cup back on the bar in a matter of seconds. She then grabbed a copy of The Prophet, and sat down at one of the tables.
"Lets try this again." She heard James voice emanate from over her paper. "Good morning, Lily."
She heard the chair scrape on the wooden floor, and she knew he was sitting down.
"Please find another table." She replied simply, not looking up from the article on the proper way to de-gnome your garden that she was hopelessly skimming.
"But it's so full in here, can't we share?" He asked politely. Lily rolled her eyes and set down the paper. There was less than a dozen other customers in the dingy bar.
James grabbed the paper from her. "De-gnoming, eh, Lily? I never took you for a gardener."
Lily snatched it back from him automatically. "Did you come here to get your morning tea, or to badger me about my reading choices?"
James took that as his cue to get up from the table and fetch himself a cup of tea. He returned with the warm cup in his hands, and sat back down. Lily sighed.
"Assuming you have a garden to de-gnome - does this mean you left our old flat?" James inquired curiously.
"Of course I did, James. There was nothing left for me there." She replied icily.
Ignoring her tone of voice, James pressed on. "What did you do with my things?"
Lily blinked a few times. "The flat is still there, James. I just moved out."
It was now James turn to blink stupidly. "Well - where do you live?"
"That is really none of your business, James." Lily picked her paper back up, hoping to block him out again.
"Why did you stay here last night?" James pressed on. Lily turned the page in her paper, pretending to ignore him. She was now attempting to lose herself in an article about a famous wizard who had divorced his pretty blond wife. Is this really what people cared about? She thought in exasperation.
"Fine. Don't tell me." James replied, crossing his arms. He leaned in closer to Lily, pulling down the paper. "Maybe you've forgotten, but I work for the Ministry. I have a way of finding out everything."
Lilys eyes narrowed at him, her piercing orbs staring directly into James. James smiled playfully. "Maybe you forgot, Potter," she started, leaning even closer to him so that their noses were almost touching. James breathing shortened as he brought in her scent. "but I'm particularly good at potions. It would be such a pity if your morning tea was poisoned."
She smiled ruefully, snatched the paper back from James, and left the building.
Damn, he loved that girl, James thought as he leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head. A confident smile was plastered across his handsome face.
"Miss Evans." Snarled Miranda Peroy as Lily was about to reach the elevators at the reception hall of St. Mungos. Lily sighed, she had thought Miranda hadn't even noticed her over her obsessive reading of Witch Weekly. "Weren't you wearing that yesterday?"
Lily chose to ignore the woman, and found her way to the back room of Floor Four.
"You look like you've gotten some rest." Talia smiled as Lily entered the room. Lily took to the mirror and began pulling her hair into a bun. "Though I do believe you wore that outfit yesterday. Did you even go home last night?"
"I got a room at The Leaky Cauldron last night." Lily answered simply.
Talia's eyes widened, and she stifled a laugh. "You didn't want to go home that badly, that you took a room at The Leaky Cauldron?"
"I'd rather not remember it." She answered, pulling her uniform on.
"I know the Cauldron is no 5 star hotel, but it's not that bad." Talia raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"Oh it has nothing to do with the inn itself, but more the company it keeps."
"Did Tom try pulling the moves on you?" Talia gasped, a smile curling on her face. "I always knew he was an old perv-"
"It wasn't Tom, Talia. James is back." Lily sighed, and sat down on a stool, taking in a deep breath.
"James?" Talia asked. "James Potter?"
Lily nodded simply, her bright green eyes filling with resentment.
"Oh boy." Talia muttered quietly, taking a seat beside Lily. "Is this why you and Drake have been butting heads?"
"Of course not! I only just found out James is back." Lily replied quickly, furrowing her eyebrows. Her sour relationship with her live-in boyfriend had nothing to do with her cocky, arrogant, self-centered, immature ex-boyfriend.
Talia raised a teasing eyebrow at her friend, and the girls left the room together, ready to start their day of fixing jinxed witches and wizards, all along gossiping quietly about the return of James Potter.
"It's so nice to see you again, James. I'm glad you made it home safely." Spoke a handsome man with straight, dark brown hair, glimmering brown eyes, and an easy smile.
"You and I both, Edgar." James smiled slightly at the man. James hadn't seen Edgar Bones in nearly four years, though the two had traded scarce letters from time to time.
The duo were not the only ones in the dingy, dark, and dusty room. Along with them was a dozen other witches and wizards, all crammed into the small, undetectable room. This was the first meeting of The Order Of The Phoenix that James Potter had been to in years.
"Quiet, Quiet!" Ordered a grizzly haired man at the front end of the dark oak table than many of the witches and wizards sat around. Alastor Moody had an air of respect from the rest of the table. "Dumbledore and a few others couldn't be here tonight, so lets begin without him."
A few murmurs spread from around the table, wondering where Albus Dumbledore could be. This ceased immediately as Moody slammed a fist on the table. Just as he had received silence from his peers, the door to the room slammed open, causing many of the group to raise their wands in nervous speculation. However, the person rushing through the door meant no harm to the group.
"I'm sorry I'm late." Lily Evans panted, clearly out of breath. The patrons of the room all lowered their weapons, and continued their silence. Lily Evans closed the door quietly behind her, and found herself a seat near the back of the room.
"Would you like to begin, Mr. Potter?" Moody asked to the raven haired boy across the table. Lily Evans nearly jumped out of her seat - she hadn't noticed the man next to her.
James cleared his throat. "There's not much to tell." He began.
"Did you find anything? Did you find him?" Interrupted Benjy Fenwick in a worried voice. James sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I didn't go specifically looking for him. You have to understand that. Technically, I was still under Ministry supervision. I had places to be at certain times, certain days. Though my personal focus was on finding his whereabouts, his travel patterns, his hide outs..."
"And?" Pressed Gideon Prewett.
"Yeah, did you find anything?" Continued the boys brother, Fabien.
James looked at the ceiling for a moment, worried about continuing his speech.
"You been gone for four years, and you came back with nothing, didn' you, Potter?" Laughed Mundungus Fletcher.
A chair scraped backwards and flew into a wall, Sirius Black was on his feet, glareing at the criminalesque wizard. "He's been doing a right lot more than you have, Fletcher!"
"Sit down!" Barked Moody. Every ones eyes were wide, glancing between Sirius and Mundungus and taking in the intensity of the moment. Sirius continued standing, staring down Mundungus Fletcher, his hand gripped tightly around his wand. Mundungus cowered slightly in his chair. Sirius eyes flickered to his best friend, who had put his arm on his shoulder.
"Listen, everyone, I really shouldn't be discussing this yet. I still have to go over my notes, and I'd like to speak with Dumbledore..." James began. Sirius picked his chair back up and sat down, not taking his furious eyes off of Mundungus Fletcher.
"Very well." Growled Moody. He took a deep breath, and began to press into other matters.
James glanced at the woman next to him. Her head hair cascaded down past her shoulders, her arms were crossed, and her eyes were stuck to whoever happened to be talking. Last time they had been in a meeting together, they were happily in love. So much had changed over the past four years.
Lily sneezed quietly and quaintly, covering her face as she did so.
"Bless you." James spoke in a whisper. Lily's eyes darted to his, as if she had been working hard to avoid his contact, and finally given up.
"Thank you." She answered quietly, and then ripped her eyes, almost forcefully, away from his.
He couldn't help but smile subtly.
"You're... leaving?" She asked quietly. She sat on a dark blue couch in front of a large ceiling to floor window - the moonlight reflected in her eyes. James took a deep breath.
"I have to." He said quietly.
"For four years?" She asked. He noticed the tears pool into her eyes. They didn't hesitate in spilling over.
"I have to, Lily." He reminded her.
"You're leaving for a - a job?" She bit her lip. He could tell she wasn't grasping this.
"I'm trying to find him." He sighed.
"Why can't someone else go?" She demanded, sniffling. He pulled her soft, small hand into his.
"I love you, Lily. I always have, and when I get back, I still will." He stared into her deep green eyes.
"Please don't go." She begged, desperately.
"I have to!" He squeezed his eyes shut, exasperated.
"Please." She whispered, sqeezing his hand.
She had begged him not to go... and he had left anyway. James silently cursed himself for leaving. He never expected her to wait for him. In fact, he told her not to. It was he who broke up with her. He told her it would be easier on the both of them, if there was no ties. What killed James even more was how Lily seemed completely detached from him, now.
James was awoken from his thoughts when Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. "What do you say to drinks at the Cauldron tonight?" He asked, a wide grin plastering his face.
James smiled back at him. "Just like old times, huh?"
Sirius nodded excitedly, and the two stood from their chairs, intending to exit the room. James paused, however, when he overheard the conversation Lily was having with Alice Longbottom.
"You and Drake have to come over for dinner sometime." Alice, a short girl with a round face and a very short hairstyle, assured Lily.
Lily smiled slightly, and quited her voice. "Things have been ... sort-of a mess, lately."
Alice raised an eyebrow. "Aren't the two of you still together?"
Lily paused for a moment, running a hand through her red hair as she did so. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm staying at The Leaky Cauldron."
Alice put her small hands on her hips and shook her head. "Come stay with Frank and I!"
"Oh, I couldn't -"
"-Lily honestly, The Leaky Cauldron is no home."
Lily thanked the girl and politely declined again.
"James! Come on!" Sirius called from the doorway. James took one last look at the two girls, and was on his way.
The Leaky Cauldron was buzzing with excitement when the two boys returned to the pub. Sirius marched straight to the bartender, pushing a few young witches out of the way while he did so, and ordered himself and his friend a few drinks, as well as a few for the witches (Who were now admiring him hopelessly) who he'd pushed out of the way.
"Sorry, M'Ladies." He winked at them, as he walked back through the throng of people to the only unoccupied table that James had located.
James shook his head at his friend when he returned. "You have a woman, Padfoot."
"Ah, but they don't know that, do they?" Sirius laughed. James rolled his eyes. "Just because I'm committed, doesn't mean I can't excite a couple of young broads."
"You're impossible, you know that?" James laughed. The two raised their glasses to each other. "Some things never change."
Their mugs clinked against each other, and they each downed large gulps.
"So!" Sirius began when he set his mug back down on the small table. "Have you talked to Evans?"
Leave it to Sirius to get right to the point. James thought miserably. "A bit." He shrugged.
"You're a terrible liar, Prongs, always have been." Sirius tilted his head at his old friend.
"Ah, some things never change." James grinned.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"You always used to tell me about you and your little love bug, what are you hiding from me?" Sirius demanded.
"We may or may not have shared a room - here - last night." James eyed his friend mischievously.
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"I guess she just missed me so terribly that -" Suddenly, James was covered in ice cold water. It was dripping from every portion of his face and hair, drenching his shirt, and dripping all the way down to the dirty floorboards beneath them.
"Sorry, boys." Began Lily Evans, with a special sort of fire in her eyes. "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation."
Sirius looked at her wide-eyed, with a sense of adoration in his face. James was trying to clear the water from his glasses, but looked absolutely furious while doing so.
"Lets get a few things straight, shall we?" Lily smiled, while pulling up a chair. "James and I did share a room last night - Sirius, wipe that grin off your face - but it was quite unwillingly and absolutely nothing happened. Now, are one of you boys going to buy me a new drink? I seem to have lost mine."
"I think I love you." Sirius blurted, when Lily finished her speech. This only caused Lily to blurt out in giggles, and James to glare at his best friend angrily.
"Well?" Lily questioned, waiting for a new drink.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Sirius laughed. "You deserve a hundred drinks, for what you have done, Miss Evans."
Lily leaned back in her chair, quite pleased with herself, with a small smile on her porcelain face. She watched, her smile unfaltering, as James miserably cleared the water from himself with his wand.
Jen Riddle
August 12th 2010
Please Review!