A/N: Thank you for all your reviews! This isn't one of my favorite chapters but I promise I'll make up for it later!

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The evening drew along and the ruins of the dinner were cleared away. Lily led James to the sitting room and together they sat in front of the fireplace. It was no where as big as the roaring fire place in Hogwarts but nonetheless it offered the same comfortable warmth accompanied by pops and crackling of burning wood and coal. They sat crossed legged with James watching Lily and Lily twirling the tassels of the rug between her fingers. Above them raised voices could be heard followed with occasional thunk where Petunia had probably thrown an object.

"Normally I'd be up there screaming my head off too." Lily admitted. James thought that the argument sounded rather mild, especially after having witnessed a typical argument in the Black household. Now one of those was pretty nasty. "I'm really sorry you got dragged in all this." James reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder and she could feel the warmth from it spread.

"You don't need to apologize. I think I've come off rather lucky! I got a yummy dinner!"

Lily chuckled softly. "Always about food. Food is the way to a man's heart was what Mum keeps saying."

"Sure it is. Is that how your Mum bagged your Dad?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, but don't let her start telling you that story! You'll never get to leave this place."

"Not a bad idea." James stretched but then realized what he'd just said. "I mean, I uh, it's comfortable place. I like your family, they're very nice people." He said truthfully.

Lily was clearly not feeling particularly sensitive or chose to ignore James' slip. "Believe me, after having Petunia treat you like you should have a carry a sticker that says 'handle with care' for a couple of hours. You wouldn't want to be here."

"So what do you do?"

"Pretend I'm a Muggle for a few weeks. It's a nice break I suppose because when I have to go back to school again everything seems new and amazing again."

"Wow." James wondered what it was like being a Muggle. Wouldn't life be boring? Maybe he should start watching some football.

"James? How much do you know about St. Mungo's?"

"St. Mungo's?" James repeated surprised at the sudden change in direction. "Not too much I'm afraid. I've only had to go a few times."

"You have?"

"Well yeah, learning doesn't really stop when school breaks up for holidays."

Lily felt the corners of her mouth go up in a knowing smile. "If that came from anyone else I would have believed them, but coming from you, no way."

"Why, Lily I'm hurt!" he feigned.

"No you're not." She said. "I can see right through that one. Tell me how you managed to land yourself in hospital. I trust it won't be as anything straight forward as a broken bone."

"No that can be fixed as a DIY job."

"You're kidding?" her eyes automatically searched along his limbs to see if there were any ill-fixed joints under his clothes but as far as she could tell there weren't any.

"No, I'm not." He replied seriously. He managed to maintain the seriousness for no more than a few seconds before he dissolved into laughter. "You are so gullible!"

Lily smacked him playfully on the arm. "I'm not! It's just you! I can never tell when you being serious or when you're..." her expression fell. "Or when you're just playing around."

James noted the change but did not pursue it. "Why the interest in St. Mungo's?"

"I tried to visit Yoanna."

"And?" he prompted when she didn't finish.

"They wouldn't let me."

"Why?"

She gave a little shrug. "They had to increase the security. Apparently it's something to do with increased numbers of unknown people coming to the hospital, so now it's restricted access only."

James frowned. This was some serious stuff; increasing security in a hospital was not an easy feat yet there was a need that was demanding enough to require such extreme precautions. "Could the strange people be identified?"

"They didn't tell me."

"Did they harm anyone or anything?" Lily shook her head again to indicate that she did not know. They must have done something otherwise they wouldn't increase security. Most interestingly the event had not been reported in the Daily Prophet. That alone made it very suspicious however James did not want to share his suspicious with Lily because there was no need to alarm her, instead he planned to discuss this with his Dad as soon as he got back.

"Is something wrong?"

James shook his head and let a grin slid easily back on his face. "No, was just thinking." Lily looked like she was going to question more but something upstairs was thrown down the stairs where it crashed and broke. They winced.

"I think it would be a good idea if I made my way home now." James said with a glance at the clock above the fireplace.

"All right." She saw him to the door and ventured out onto the driveway. It was a cold night and the light wind nipped at her fingers. Neither of them wore a jacket.

"Go back in it's cold." He spun her on her feet so that she faced the porch.

"Okay well, good night!" she said eager to return indoors.

"Lily?"

Lily stopped and turned around. "Hm?"

"Can you wait here for me for a moment please?" Lily's eyebrows went up but she nodded. James grinned. "But go wait in the porch. I promise I'll be right back." He disappeared with a pop and reappeared in less than thirty seconds. He had his hands behind his back. "I've got you a present."

Lily stepped forward again out into the cold. "Oh?"

He nodded. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands." Lily did as she was told. It was very hard not to expect him to drop something slimy onto her hands and she was surprised when he placed something warm and soft on her open palms. "Open your eyes." Lily opened one eye and the other flew open when she saw what her present was.

"Oh, my." She gasped. In her hand was the cutest thing she had ever seen. A kitten wearing a velvet bow was snuggling comfortably in her cupped hands. It looked at her with wide liquid eyes and it mewed to her softly. Lily stroked its furry head. "He's so cute!"

"She." James had thought the little Persian cat to be cute too and knew that Lily would fall in love with it. She did like cats after all.

"Aww!" Lily tried not to make any more silly cooing noises but it was very hard when faced by with something that could be called the epitome of cute. The little kitten had the most beautiful fur: it was very thick and fluffy with various shades of gray all over it's body. She cuddled the kitten. "Has she got a name yet?"

"Nope not yet. She's yours. You name her."

"Hmm...I'm going to have to think about it." Lily held the kitten up and pressed her nose against its soft neck. "Thank you James, she's so lovely." She lowered the kitten again and so James could stroke her too but soon she seemed to grow melancholy again.

"What's wrong? You don't look so happy anymore. Did she pee on you?" he eyed the cat wishing he had asked the shopkeeper whether it was litter trained.

Lily laughed. "No. Petunia doesn't like pets."

"Oh." James gulped. "Whoops." He cursed himself wondering why it hadn't even crossed his mind why Lily had said Cronks was the closest thing to a pet she would ever get. Now it seemed wonderfully obvious.

"No! But I'm glad you got me a cat. I've always wanted one!"

"I guess that's okay then, isn't it?"

Lily nodded. "Sure is!" The little cat mewed again in agreement. "Clever little thing aren't you?" Again she mewed. They laughed.

"Well, I guess I should be off now." James said after a few minutes of cat petting.

"Oh, wait! Not yet." Lily handed the kitten over to him. "Wait for me!" she called over her shoulder and sprinted back indoors.

"What is she up to?" James looked at the kitten and the kitten looked back up at him.

Lily sprinted up the stairs and into her room. The gifts still lay wrapped on her bed and with a slight hesitation she grabbed both. Ignoring Petunia's shouting at her she dashed back down the stairs. "I've got something for you too!"

James eyed the presents with surprise. "Really? For me?"

"Yeah." She handed them over and took the kitten back.

"Both of them?"

"Well, yeah. I bought one of them but decided that it wasn't really all that so I made the other one. I couldn't decide which to give to you so I thought I'd give you both."

"Wow." James ran his fingers along the snowman covered wrapping paper. "You made one?" he was impressed that she had taken the time to make something for him.

Lily nodded. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"Uh, sure!" He placed one under his armpit and began to pull of the wrapping paper of the other. "Cool!" he pulled out the book. "I love Quidditch!" He began to unwrap the other, wondering what Lily had made for him. Whatever it was he vowed to treasure it; she could have given him a piece of paper with glue on it and still, he would have loved it. "Wow." He pulled out a thick scarf from the tissue paper. She had made him a scarf. She had put a lot of time in for him.

"Do you like it?" She asked hopefully while monitoring his response. So far so good, it seemed.

"I love it!"

Lily grinned as he wrapped it around his neck. It looked good she thought triumphantly, and the handiwork wasn't too shabby either.

James was grinning too. He hadn't really worn scarves before but that didn't matter. He'd wear this everyday for the rest of his life because Lily had made it. "Thank you!"

"That's okay-" Lily started and James pulled her into a hug. Careful not to squash the kitten she returned it as best as she could.

It was very hard for Lily to explain what it was that went through her mind in that instant. The cold December seemed to melt away leaving just the odd tingling feeling that somehow seemed to spread. Time appeared to want to drift by and lose its way in a fashion that was not unlike its cousin in the Forbidden Forest. She would find it hard to explain what it was that she had thought later, but she would always remember how it felt to be tucked safely in the arms of James Potter. She breathed in deeply taking in his scent and warmth. Everything was just him. Enveloped in his arms she could not shake off how right everything seemed.

"This feels good." James thought and then realized that he'd said it aloud. Whatever it was snapped and they pulled apart feeling the chill once again. "I think you should go back in, it's cold." He said seemingly taking control of himself again. He gave her a little nudge back towards the door.

Lily lingered looking up at him thoughtfully. "Thank you James." She whispered and leaned up kiss him on the cheek. Having done that she was off and in the house. The door closed before he could even react. His hand went to the spot where her lips had touched his skin in wonder.


A/N: Lily is falling hard and fast! Yes, they will get together soon but it's not going to be easy. I've got some pretty nasty things planned. And yes that kitten is cute but she also has a role to play. Later...

By the way, I'm going on holiday next week and I'm not sure how much of the truckload of ideas I can write down but don't abandon me I'll be gone for approximately a month. Don't stop checking for updates either because being the loopy idea crazed person I am I might grab a computer while in a foreign country and tap down some chapters!