Chapter 8: Compromises and Confrontations
Sunday, September 12, 1977

Yesterday had to be one of the best days I've had in a long time. First beating James in our little race downstairs (that he didn't know about), chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries, primping with the girls, Hogsmeade (and everything about it), kissing away my single life, squealing with the girls, dinner with the group, and then hanging in our common room working on homework. Yes, even the homework. Doing homework in our group is always a blast. Especially when you have eight seventeen-year-olds working on three phony dream diaries and mix that with James's giant box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

I rolled over on this lovely Sunday morning and saw Magnolia on her perch, her head under her wing.

I don't think I've ever jumped out of this particular bed so fast.

I bolted to my desk as quickly as I can without scaring 'Nola (because even with the most gentle owl, you don't scare something that can bite your finger off if it wanted to) and saw what I wanted.

A white envelope on the desk with "Lily" written in my mum's lovely script on the front. I ripped open the envelope and took out the letter inside.

My little Lily-flower,

I feel so spoiled. Two letters in one day? It lets me forgive you for taking a week in the first place.

Your Dad's been great. He had a cold, so of course it turned him into a big baby. He refused to take that cold remedy brew you made us last summer. Something about it tasting like feet. Eventually I slipped a dropper full, like you said to, into his morning coffee. He was none the wiser!

Petunia brings Vernon around at least once a week for dinner. All he does is talk poorly about my cooking and how his mum's is fabulous. Took all my control to not poor the pitcher of lemonade on his head after slicing his nose with one of your dad's business cards. You two girls are as different as night and day, it's incredible. And I am not just referring to the fact that you're a witch and she isn't.

In any case, I'm so happy that you've found someone to fancy! I know you didn't say that you fancied him, but I'm remaining hopeful. I'm your mother, after all. In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

On the subject of Christmas, I spoke with your father and we agreed that it's okay with us, on one condition. You must spend the second half of your holiday here. New Year's and all that. We want to meet him, too, and I think your dad wants to show off his "famous" Honey Mead.

Respond soon, my dear. We'll be waiting for Magnolia to return soon.

Lots of love, hugs, and kisses,
Mum and Dad

PS: James's owl is an amazing bird!

"Figures," I said out loud with a laugh.

"What figures?"

I spun around, my heart leaping into my chest. James was standing in the doorway in his blue plaid pants and white t-shirt, looking amazing even though he just rolled out of bed. Then I remembered my appearance (red polka dot shorts and a baggy black t-shirt) and how I haven't had a chance to brush my hair. How did I land this catch, again?

"Dude, you gave me a fright. Don't do that!" I told him as he entered my room.

"Sorry," he said, kissing my head. "Now, what figures?"

"Got a reply from Mum. Dad and she chatted about Christmas and said that I can go as long as we spend the second half of the holiday away from Hogwarts with them. 'Figures' because Dad's all about eye-for-an-eye and compromises."

"I think that can be arranged," he said. "I'll write my mother today so I can get a reply soon so you can tell your parents. Thing is, may have to bring one more..." he trailed off.

"Oh, right! Sirius lives with you! Can't leave him behind and the more people my dad can show off his Honey Mead to, the better, in his opinion. Our guest room has a king size bed, so you guys can either share or transfigure it into two, but if you do that you have to put it back to normal after."

"Sounds good. We can tell Sirius after breakfast. It's ten-thirty, so do you want to get ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry. I'll go throw on some real clothes."

"I like what you're wearing," James said, pulling me close.

"But do you want the whole school seeing your girlfriend like this?" I asked, holding out my shirt to show off the size of it. It looks even too large for James.

"I like the sound of 'girlfriend' and you in the same context," he said, leaning in and kissing me.

I broke the kiss before my brain gave my body signals to go to my bed. "Go change, I'm hungry." He raised an eyebrow at me and smiled. "For food, you wanker!" I shoved him playfully towards the door. He laughed and left.

I grabbed jeans and a (better fitting) shirt and threw them on. I pulled my hair back in a thick bun at the nape of my neck, although a few stray pieces decided to fall out around my face. I peeked in the mirror and approved of the fly-aways. Grabbing my trainers, I then left my room.

James was coming down the stairs as I left my room and scooped me up in his arms, kissing me. I nearly dropped my trainers.

"James, please!" I said between giggles and kisses, "I need to put on my trainers."

He laughed and set me down. "I don't blame you. I stepped on glass once walking around in just my stocking feet. Peeves crashed a chandelier and I thought I walked around all the pieces. I was wrong."

I slipped on my trainers and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Where were we?" I asked, leaning back in to kiss him. Our lips had barely made contact when we heard a quiet "Wronski Feint" outside the portrait. "Dammit," I muttered. James laughed.

Sirius, Marlene, and Remus came in the portrait hole.

"We decided to check if you guys were at breakfast, yet," Remus said. "Wormtail already headed ahead of us to make sure Em and Dorcas secured enough seats."

"Although we seem to be interrupting something," Marlene said, smiling.

"And they have plenty of time together to make up for it," Sirius said. "I'm starving and don't want to wait anymore."

"Lets go," I said. I grabbed James's hand and the five of us walked to the Great Hall. We found Peter, Emmeline, and Dorcas in our usual spot. We sat and I grabbed sausage, eggs, and hash browns.

"Oi, James! Did you hear? First Dueling Club is this afternoon!" Dorcas said excitedly.

"Really? Dumbledore said next Saturday," James replied.

"I think there was a schedule conflict. I think Ravenclaw scheduled the Quidditch pitch that evening for tryouts," Marlene said. "I'd think Dumbledore would want everyone to be able to participate in Dueling, especially with all going on outside the school."

Marlene was right. As much as we try to ignore it, there's a war going on out there between wizards. It's something I don't like thinking about if I don't have to, since the Dark Arts freak me out a little.

"Gryffindor's tryouts are Saturday afternoon, by the way. Before Ravenclaw's trials," James told Marlene. "I want to see you there, again."

"You'd have to kill me to keep me away," she said. "Besides. You'll never find a better Seeker than me," she boasted as she took a bite out of a donut. James laughed and nodded.

Dorcas turned to me, "You going to do Dueling this year?"

"I don't know," I replied.

"Lils, you should!" Dorcas said. "You're excellent at charms and spells, so why not? What's the worst that could happen?"

"I end up in the hospital wing?" I replied.

"Psh. No big. Pomfrey fixes you up in no time," she said.

"You should come," James said. "Could be fun, and it's good practice for our N.E.W.T.s."

"Anyone else coming?" I asked the table. Everyone raised their hands. "Well, then I don't want to be a party pooper." Dorcas squealed and hugged me.

"We finished homework last night, too," Emmeline said. "One less thing to worry about after Dueling." I nodded to her in agreement and shoveled a forkful of eggs in my mouth. Nice and fluffy, just like Mom's.

"Dueling club's fun," Remus said. "We're in teams by house and can actually earn House Points."

"Just don't do anything illegal or dangerous and you won't lose points. Or cheat, of course."

"You can cheat at dueling?" I asked.

"Most common is firing while before your opponent turns to face you," Dorcas informed me.

"Everything else requires something illegal or a lot of imagination," Sirius added.

"You know the basics of dueling, right?" James asked me.

"Yes. I remember doing it in Defense Against the Dark Arts in third or fourth year," I assured him.

We all finished eating and went our separate ways. Remus and Peter went to practice Transfiguration, then the girls went to prep for Dueling with Sirius. James and I went back to the common room.

I got comfortable on the couch with a book of defensive and offensive spells while James went to his room to quickly write a letter to his mother about my parents' condition for Christmas.

Well, he told me it would be "quickly." It's been about ten minutes!

I put the book on the coffee table and went up the stairs to his room and gave his door a polite knock. I heard him say "come in" and I entered, seeing him sitting at his desk with his quill in his hand. I walked over to meet him.

"Have a lot to say?" I asked him, stroking his hair. He pulled me into his lap.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Figured I'd catch her up on everything going on. What it's like being Head Boy, how the guys are doing, plans, et cetera. And you of course."

"Not really much to say, there," I chuckled. "I'm not that interesting."

"Funny, because I'm finding I have too much to say about you," he said, leaning in and kissing me. I heard him put his quill down on the desk and then he wrapped both arms around my waist. I turned around, moving my leg so I was straddling his lap and cupped his face with my hands. Our lips moved as one, as if choreographed. One of his hands left my waist and moved up to my hair. It easily found the single hairpin holding my bun in place and gave it a gentle tug, releasing my hair from it's prison and let it fall over us like a blanket. I broke the kiss to move to his ear, giving his ear a nibble before placing light kisses down his neck. He took his hand and gently gripped my chin and directed my face back to his, continuing our kiss where we left off.

He stood up, and I wrapped my legs around him so I could keep kissing him, and he moved us to the bed. Without ever breaking our kiss, he leaned me back on his bed and supported himself over me. I kept my arms around his neck, holding him close to me. I felt his hand slip under my shirt and grip my waist. I took both of my hands and slipped them under the hem of his t-shirt as well, and lifted it off him. I wrapped my arms around his neck again and pulled him close again, losing myself in his kiss. He now had both hands around my waist, under my shirt. I pulled myself up into a sitting position and raised both hands in the air, giving him a smile as permission. He pulled my shirt off and gently caressed my back along my spine with his fingers. I felt his fingers under the clasp to my bra and I broke the kiss long enough to give him a small nod. He undid the clasp and removed my bra and I pulled him back on top of me on the bed, letting our chests have complete contact. The feel of his skin against mine was intoxicating. I let my hands caress his back and chest, memorizing every curve, every imperfection, every muscle. I wanted a permanent image of him in my mind at all times. He let his hands travel over any area of exposed skin on my body, then let them travel to my thigh, stopping right behind my knee. Here he pulled my knee to him, and I wrapped my legs back around his waist.

The kisses kept getting harder and deeper. Every touch had feeling behind it, and each time was like he was asking my permission. After a bit of time (could have been ten minutes or two hours, I didn't notice), he stopped and hovered over me, hid lips barely separated from mine. Our breathing was in sync and heavy.

"Lily, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time, now," he whispered.

"Yes?" I whispered back. I didn't want to ruin the moment with anything louder than a whisper.

He looked at me right in the eyes, his hazel eyes piercing. "Lily Evans, I love you."

I let the words repeat themselves over and over in my head, like a melody. The more I heard them in my head, the more I felt a smile creep across my face.

"You know what, James Potter?" I whispered to him, closing my eyes and pulling his face close so his forehead resting against mine. "I think I love you, too. No, I know I do. I've felt that way for some time now. It's like I'm supposed to love you."

He laughed a short, quick laugh, like in relief. Then he pressed his lips against mine once more, giving me the most passionate kiss we've shared yet.

"You make me so happy, Lily."

"As do you, James. Always."

With that, we just laid there in each other's arms, enjoying each other's company.

"You aren't going to add all that to the letter now, right?" I asked, smiling like a kid on Christmas.

He laughed, "Of course not. This is our moment," he said, kissing my forehead. "My Lily."

"Not to mention it would make Christmas really awkward for me," I added. He laughed again.

We stayed that way for a time, then dressed again so he could finish the letter without distraction (with me in his bathroom fixing my hair back into a bun out of his vision). When I reentered the room he had just let Aether go and then turned to me. "You make me so happy," he said softly, holding out his arms for me. I walked over and lay my head against his chest as we wrapped our arms around each other.

"You make me happy, too."

Shortly after the gang came to hang and talk about Dueling Club before heading down to lunch.

We all walked to lunch together, taking our usual seats and still talking about Dueling. I was feeling nervous about it, so I anxiously looked around the table for my lunchtime "happy food." Dorcas saw me looking and rolled her eyes. She mouthed "relax" to me as she passed me the pizza tray, full of little mini pizzas. I grabbed my share of cheese pizzas and passed the tray back to Dorcas to put back in its place.

James looked at my option, leaning towards my ear, "Is this the lunchtime equivalent of the chocolate-chip pancakes with strawberries?" I nodded in reply as I took a bite of the mini pizzas. "About Dueling?" I nodded again, taking another bite. He squeeze my leg and smiled at me, as if to say Relax, Lily, you'll do great. It did help me relax.

But I still ate the pizza. Mmm... oregano... Praise those house elves!

McGonagall always enthusiastically encouraged students to wear their house robes for official Hogwarts clubs, so right after lunch we all went back to our dorms to change and met up back in the hallway. Once we were all together, we went out on the grounds to enjoy the weather while it was still a little warm. In our excitement, we could only talk about Dueling Club.

"I heard rumors that there's going to be a cup for the House that has the most wins at the end of the year," Emmeline said. "Hope that's true."

"Then Gryffindor can have the Dueling Cup, the Quidditch Cup, and the House Cup at the end of the year!" Marlene said.

"High hopes for Quidditch, I see," I laughed at her. "You all haven't even had trials!"

"I saw some of the first and second years last year flying around the pitch on weekends," James said. "Tossing a Quaffle back and forth. Some of them were good. Hope the really good ones were Gryffindors and they come out on Saturday. Couldn't tell from the ground."

"I wonder if Regulus is going to be at Dueling..." Sirius wondered aloud.

"Don't do anything rash, Padfoot," Peter said.

"I'm not planning to," Sirius said. "I just plan on kicking his Slytherin arse to the ground." The seven of us looked at him in warning. "Legally and sportsmanlike," he said, holding his hands up in defense.

"I'd sooner get disqualified for transfiguring you into a brick than let you do something stupid, even if it's Regulus," James said, ruffling Sirius's hair.

"Yeah, he's not worth it, mate," Remus said.

"I don't care whom I duel," Dorcas said. "I just care that Gryffindor wins in the end, fair and square."

I checked my watch, "I think we should head back to the Great Hall. It's nearly three."

We all went back to the castle then, giving our predictions and ideas on what the next two hours will bring. I was mostly quiet, only because of my nerves coming to the surface again. James never once dropped my hand, which kept my nerves from exploding everywhere.

The Great Hall was set up with a long platform raised about half a meter off the ground with two staircases, one on either side. There were four sets of bleachers set up for each house to sit together. We took our sets with the other Gryffindors and waited for events to begin.

Our Defense teacher, Professor Robertson, came up and explained the rules (no contact, no killing, etc) and told everyone under the age of fifteen to leave (cue many moans and groans), then passed command off to each House head. McGonagall was standing in front of our bleachers, looking over each student, examining her team. Then she turned and did a quick appraisal of the other teams before turning back to her team of about thirty students. She had a satisfied grin on her face and said in a voice that only the Gryffindors could hear, "I believe we're at a slight advantage."

"Why is that, Professor?" a fellow seventh year, Frank Longbottom, asked.

"The other teams look a bit dim, wouldn't you say?" she replied with a sly smile.

I leaned towards the center our group, who was clumped over two bleachers, and whispered, "Have I mentioned how much I love this woman?"

Each teams took turns choosing students, matching them one-on-one. Gryffindor was doing great, winning 6 out of 9 matches we've done so far. Five of those wins came from our group, the sixth was a fifth year that cast a quick disarming charm.

McGonagall then chose Sirius, who jumped off the bleachers and ran on the platform. I don't think Slughorn was paying attention, because he chose Regulus.

"Oh, no..." I heard Marlene say. "I don't think I can watch this," she added, covering her eyes.

I glanced at McGonagall, who I think also noticed Slughorn's folly. She tightened her grip on her wand, preparing herself in case things were to go wrong. I noticed James do the same thing. I rested my hand on his grip and shook my head. "McGonagall has it covered." He looked at her and relaxed.

They bowed, raised their wands in salute, then turned and walked about ten steps before turning at each other.

Regulus made the first move, "Serpensortia!" and a snake slithered out of his wand, curling to strike.

Sirius was quick. He aimed at the snake, "Incendio!" The snake burst into flame. Then he turned on his brother, "Impedimenta!" Regulus knocked back a little, and when he tried to approach Sirius he couldn't. Sirius saw the opening, "Flipendo!" Regulus flew backwards, landing on his back. He glared at Sirius, the Professor Robertson shot red sparks in the air and exclaimed, "Point to Gryffindor!"

We all cheered while he returned to his seat. A few more pairs went up before I heard McGonagall say, "Lily, please take the stage."

I pulled out my wand and ran up to the stage, standing ready. I closed my eyes, running different charms, jinxes, and hexes through my brain. When I opened them, I felt my heart stop and fall into my stomach as I made eye contact with my opponent.

Oh, no, not him... I thought to myself.

Standing in front of me, was my childhood friend. Severus Snape.