Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the storyline
Previously:
Alice, I am so sorry to inform you that your father has been killed in an attack by the Death Eaters. He was a great man, who fought valiantly, and I will deeply miss him.
Frank went with Alice to the funeral
James showed Lily a new place she could go to think.
Lily woke up the next day to the sound of tapping on her window. She got up and pushed the window open. Jackie flew into her room, dropped a letter on her bed, and sat in the corner, its eyes on Lily's hair. Lily wiped her eyes, and walked over to the letter.
"This probably isn't mine," she said to the owl, "It's for James. He's over there," she said, pointing in the direction of James' room. The owl hooted and flew out of the window and Lily groaned. She was going to have to hand deliver the note to James.
She opened the door to her room, wearing her pajamas, and wobbled down the spiral staircase. She climbed up the staircase to James' room and threw open the door, irritated. James sat up at the bang, reaching for his glasses. He put them on and looked to see Lily holding a letter out to him.
"Why are you up so early?" he said, getting out of bed, wearing nothing but his boxers. James didn't miss the way Lily's eyes flickered over his bare chest and controlled a smirk. He walked over to her, not bothering to put on a shirt.
"Your owl woke me up," she said grumpily, handing the letter to him. James chuckled and took the letter from Lily, "What time is it?" she whined. James rolled his eyes and walked over to his dresser to look at his watch.
"It's 4:30," he said, and turned to see Lily's shocked expression.
"What the hell!" she said, stomping her foot. James bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Lily walked over to James bed and lay down, pulling the covers over herself.
"Uh…Lily?" James asked incredulously.
"I'm not walking all the way back there," she said grumpily into James pillow and he laughed. He pushed aside the covers and Lily screamed, "what are you doing?" she asked, as he got into the bed, pulling the covers over himself.
"It's my bed Evans," he said, lying down on the other side of the bed.
"I don't like this," she hissed, but didn't move.
"Then leave," he said, shrugging.
"You're so irritating," she muttered into the pillow and James laughed, "I'm going to sleep," she announced.
"Okay," James said. He looked at the letter, which was still in his hands. He opened the envelope and two pieces of parchment fell out. James frowned and picked up the first one, which was addressed to him. He picked up the second one and blinked in shock. It was addressed to Lily. He looked at the handwriting on Lily's letter and saw that it was his mother's handwriting, "Uh Lily?" he said and heard a groan, "this one's for you."
Lily sat up, her hair everywhere, and turned to look at James, who was holding her letter out to her. She sighed and grabbed the letter, "Why am I getting letters from your family?" she asked, looking down at the letter, which was in unfamiliar handwriting. James shrugged, and tried to read the Lily's letter but she snatched it away so he wouldn't be able to read it, "Don't read my letter," she said grumpily, turning so that she was leaning her shoulder against the headboard, and so that James could see the back of the letter.
Dear Lily,
Congratulations on becoming Head Girl! James told us about it in his last letter. We haven't actually met; my name is Emily, Emily Potter, James' mum. I have heard a lot about you from James, and I want to apologize formally for the multitude of times my son has asked you out.
Lily laughed reading that last line, and James looked up curiously. Lily shook her head and continued reading, irritating James, who wanted to know what his mother was saying to Lily.
Anyway, I feel like I know you already so you'll have to forgive me if I am too pushy. As I am apologizing on James' behalf already, I also want to apologize for the absolute slob my son can be. James has told us that you are living together, that is to say, in the same dorm, and I want to warn you about walking into his room, which you probably have done already seeing as you probably thought this letter was meant for James.
I hope you're having a wonderful year so far, and I hope to hear from you.
Love, Emily
Lily smiled down at the piece of parchment. It was incredibly nice of James' mum to send a letter to her. She looked around James room, looking for evidence that he was a slob, as his mother had said, but found herself in a very tidy room. She looked up at James, who was reading the letter, which, judging by the handwriting, Lily assumed was from his father. There was a small crease in between his eyebrows as he read the letter, which, Lily noticed, was the same as it was when he was concentrating. She watched as James smiled at certain parts of the letter, and felt her stomach swoop.
James looked up at her, feeling her eyes on him, and smiled, causing her stomach to swoop again. What's happening? Lily panicked, looking down at her stomach to make sure everything was okay. James looked down to see what Lily was looking at, and Lily pulled the blanket up self-consciously. James looked up to meet Lily's eyes, and Lily felt her heart beat speed up. Since when did looking at James Potter make her heart speed up?
Lily stood up suddenly and walked out of the room. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see James, standing too close to her, causing her to fall down the stairs. James ran down and picked her up, carrying her to the sofa.
"Are you alright?" he said, placing her on the sofa and touching her forehead. Lily smacked his hand away, feeling a blush creep up under her cheeks.
"I'm fine," she said awkwardly, looking anywhere but at him.
"If you're fine, why are you acting weird?" he asked, looking down at her.
"I'm not acting weird," she said in a high-pitched voice, and James rose his eyebrows, "I'm going for a shower," she said, standing up quickly. James hadn't moved so Lily found herself a couple of centimeters away from James's chest. James caught her elbows to steady her and looked down at her, feeling his own heart rate speed up. Damn Evans for having such an effect on him.
Lily looked up at James and found herself lost in his eyes. She shook her head, and walked around him towards the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. James exhaled and flopped down onto the couch.
Lily looked around the gargantuan bathroom and started to undress, getting ready for a shower, "Maybe you just need a shower to clear your head," she said to herself, "It's the lack of sleep that is making you weird," she told herself firmly, stepping into the shower, turning the water on. The warm water made her feel better, and she felt her heart rate slow down.
When she was done with her shower, Lily looked around, and realized she had forgotten to get her clothes from upstairs. She groaned and wrapped the towel around herself. She picked up her nightclothes and pushed the door of the bathroom open. She screamed when she saw four boys in the common room.
The boys' heads snapped up as Lily screamed, and Lily saw all four faces redden. Peter turned away quickly, but Sirius, Remus and James didn't. Lily felt her face redden. She was wearing nothing but a small towel, standing in a room of boys. She put her hand on the towel, to make sure it didn't fall, and ran up the stairs to her room. She shut the door behind her and started to laugh.
Downstairs, James, Sirius and Remus, who had followed Lily up the stairs, looked at each other, all of them red in the face, and started to laugh.
"Well that doesn't happen every day," Remus chuckled, and fell onto one of the armchairs.
"Isn't that disappointing?" Sirius said in response to Remus' comment, and sat next to James, "Thank you Prongs," he said, patting James on the shoulder. James turned to look at Sirius, eyebrows raised
"For what?"
"For becoming Head Boy. If you hadn't become Head Boy I would have never seen that," he winked at James, who pounced on Sirius.
Remus and Peter laughed as James, who was stronger that Sirius, no matter what Sirius said, wrestled Sirius.
"Wow Prongs, so sensitive," Sirius laughed, pushing James off of him, "If I'm correct, it's because I said that about your dear Evans am I right?" Peter, Remus and Sirius laughed as James' face turned red.
"Shut up," James said, looking at the spiral staircase Lily had ran up, "What are you doing here so early anyway?" he asked, looking down at his watch, which he had put on after Lily had asked him for the time.
"We woke up because Wormy was whining in his sleep," Sirius said, and Peter blushed.
"I-I wasn't whining," he said defiantly, his face turning even redder. Sirius opened his mouth to respond but James gave him a look, as if to tell him to be quiet.
"Isn't it full moon today?" James asked, looking at Remus, who nodded sadly.
"Excellent!" Sirius said, sitting up.
"For you," Remus said quietly. James looked at his friend more closely, and saw the dark circles under his eyes, and how his face looked sallower than it usually did. James felt bad that his friend had to go through this every month. Remus suffered for a few days every month because of his 'furry little problem'. Sirius, who hated that his friend had to go through this as well, tried to cheer up the atmosphere.
"At least you have us Moony!" he said happily, gesturing to himself, James and Peter. Remus rolled his eyes, but James could see that he was grateful to have the three of them.
There was a noise and they turned to see Lily standing awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in black pants and a red shirt. Lily walked over to them, and, determinedly not looking at any them, bent over to pick up the letter from James' mother, which was lying on the coffee table. The four boys watched her as she turned around, her hair wet hair tied up, and walked over to her desk, pulling out a parchment and quill.
Sirius snickered and Lily turned red, but resolutely continued to ignore them, and begun to reply to James's mum.
Mrs. Potter,
Thank you so much for your congratulations! I was so excited when I received my letter from Professor Dumbledore telling me I had become Head Girl. It's nice to hear from you. I'm Lily Evans, which, assuming from the rest of your letter, you already knew, but I still feel as if I should introduce myself.
I accept your apologies graciously, ha-ha. He's better this year; for starters he hasn't asked me out yet, which is actually slightly shocking. Last year he asked me out on the Hogwarts Express on the way to Hogwarts. He's a slob? When I walked into his room it was probably tidier than my own, maybe it's a progressive thing? Ha-ha.
Living with James has been an, experience. I'm not used to it. This morning, I was walking out of the bathroom after a shower (there's only one bathroom, and its downstairs between our two staircases) and I opened the door to see James, Sirius, Remus and Peter sitting there…pretty awkward, and I was wearing nothing but a towel. I do not know why I am telling you this. I apologize if I'm saying too much.
Thank you so much for writing to me, it was so nice to 'meet' you,
Lily
She stood up and walked up the spiral staircase to her room, leaving the letter on the desk. James, who had been watching Lily as the boys discussed the plans for that night quietly, watched her climb the stairs, and turned back to the conversation. He couldn't stop thinking about Lily in her towel, which, he had to admit, was quite inappropriate of him, but he couldn't help himself.
"Prongs?" James turned to see the other three Marauders looking at him.
"Sorry what was that?" he said, scratching his head. While Lily had been in the shower, he had changed into his Hogwarts robes and had walked downstairs to find his friends sitting there.
"We were asking what you were going to tell Evans, as you wont be coming back tonight?" Peter asked, looking towards Lily's staircase to make sure she wasn't there.
"I haven't thought about that," James said, running his hand through his hair, "What should I tell her?" he asked, looking up at Remus, who shrugged.
"Tell her Moony has to go visit a sick aunt, and that I don't like being left with Wormy in a dorm," Sirius said, looking apologetically at Peter who smiled.
"Alright," James said. He heard footsteps and turned to see Lily running down the stairs in her Hogwarts robes, her hair still tied up. She grabbed the letter and headed towards the door, "Lils where are you going?" James asked, looking at her. He saw Lily's blush and smirked, realizing she was probably more embarrassed about the towel situation than they were.
"Owlery," she said, gesturing to the letter in her hand.
"I'll come with you," he said, standing up. He walked over to Lily who shook her head.
"You don't have to, I think I can make it there by myself." James shrugged and pulled a letter out of his pocket, his reply to his father.
"I have to go post this, and as you scared Jackie off, I'm going to need another owl," he said, and grinned at her. Lily felt her stomach flip again and frowned. Why was her stomach flipping? Lily rolled her eyes at James' comment.
"I didn't scare your owl off," she said, rolling her eyes, and James' grin widened, "And what about your friends who don't seem to have their own dorm?" she said, nodding towards Sirius, Remus and Peter, who pretended to look offended.
"Whatever does that mean Lily?" Remus asked, putting a hand on his chest.
"I think she's just upset because we saw her in an teeny-weeny towel," Sirius said, waggling his eyebrows at Lily, who blushed furiously. James turned towards Sirius and glared at him, but Sirius only winked at Lily, who blushed even harder.
"I'm going to go now," Lily said, turning around and walking out of the dorm, and Sirius erupted in laughter, Peter and Remus joining in. James grinned and followed Lily out of the dorm, yelling 'see you later' over his shoulder to his friends.
"Lils!" he yelled, catching up with her. He stopped next to her and she looked up at him, blushed, and looked away, "If it makes you feel better, you didn't look bad in that towel," he said, winking at her.
Lily gasped and smacked James in the arm, trying not to laugh, "Shut up Potter. We never speak of that again," she said with finality. James laughed and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Aw Lils are you embarrassed?" he teased and Lily laughed. She pulled herself out from under James's arm, not wanting him to realize how much her heart had sped up when he had touched her.
"What did my mother want by the way?" he asked, gesturing to the letter in her hand.
"She apologized on behalf of you," she said, grinning. James felt his stomach drop.
"What did she apologize for?" he asked, turning nervously to Lily.
"You being a slob, you asking me out," she said, looking up to wink at him, and James felt his own hear rate speed up.
"I am not a slob!" he yelled, causing Lily to laugh.
"Well, I said your room was pretty tidy, but we'll see," she said, laughing. James smiled, appreciating that she had dropped the other thing his mother had apologized for.
"I'm going to kill her," he muttered and Lily smiled.
"I like your mother. Don't kill her." James laughed.
"Alright Evans, because you like her I will not kill her."
"Thanks," Lily said, smiling down at the letter, "What did your dad say?"
"How did you know it was my dad?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"The handwriting," she said matter-of-factly, "It's messy and looks like yours."
"My handwriting isn't messy," James said defensively, and Lily snorted, "It isn't!" he insisted, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Okay Potter. Your handwriting is not messy," she said.
"I know," he said triumphantly, and Lily's face split into a smile. They reached the Owlery and Lily scrunched her nose.
"Ugh, it smells so bad in here," she said, and walked carefully, making sure not to step on any of the owl droppings, which lined the floor. She pointed to an owl, and it flew down, landing on the bar next to the window, and held its leg out. Lily held her hand out to James, for him to hand her his letter, but James reached around her, grabbed her letter, and tied both of them to the owl. He picked it up and let it fly out of the window, and turned back to see Lily standing with her arms crossed.
"I could have done that," she said, irritated, and turned around. James smiled; Lily hated having things done for her.
"Yes but I don't think you could have done it as well as I did," he shrugged, and Lily smacked him in the arm, trying, and failing to control her smile. They walked down the stairs from the Owlery together, and bumped into four Slytherins, among them, Severus.
"Where do you think you're going Potter?" The one in front, Dolohov, sneered, blocking the stairwell.
"Yeah Potter," Avery said, appearing next to Lily. James looked at Avery, who was standing too close to Lily for his liking.
"Move," James said, and Lily looked at him to see James, and was shocked to see him wearing an expression she had only seen once before, when Severus had called her a mudblood.
"Not likely Potter," Mulciber said, standing next to Dolohov with his arms crossed, "you and the mudblood aren't going anywhere," he said, sneering at Lily, who glared at him.
"Take that back," James growled, taking a step down towards Mulciber, but Lily grabbed his sleeve.
"Not worth it," Lily said quietly. James turned to look at her and saw anger in her eyes as she glared at Mulciber. He hadn't seen that anger, and felt thankful that she had never been angry enough to glare at him like that.
"Severus, why aren't you saying anything?" Avery said from beside Lily. He was looking at Lily in a way that made James' stomach curl. He took a step back up and pulled Lily closer to him.
"Yeah Severus, say something to the mudblood," Dolohov said, turning to look at Severus. James took his chance and started to make his way to Dolohov, but all of a sudden, James was blasted back, falling with a thump on the Owlery floor. Lily screamed and turned to see Avery with his wand drawn, standing too close to her for comfort.
"Aw, now Potter can't save his mudblood," Avery said, taking a step closer to Lily. Lily stood her ground and turned to look at Severus, who was staring at them with large eyes. Severus met Lily's eyes, and saw the hatred in them.
"Avery," Severus said, and the three Slytherins turned to look at him. Severus took a breath, and looked back at Lily apologetically before continuing, "if you hurt her then you'll get in trouble," he said.
"Hurt who Severus?" Mulciber said, sneering at Severus, "all I see is a mudblood."
"Don't call her that," James said, reappearing at Lily's side, blood on his arm. Lily looked down to see a large cut on James' bicep.
"Aw, Potty's getting protective," said Mulciber, drawing his wand and pointing it at James. Avery took a step closer to Lily, and James pulled her closer to him, "C'mon Potter. She's just a mudblood," he said, pointing his wand at Lily. Lily felt James stiffen and she stepped on his foot.
"Move," she said, standing up straight, drawing her wand. Avery backed up from Lily, his fearful eyes on her wand. Everyone knew that Lily was dangerous with a wand, especially Avery, who had been cursed by Lily after cursing Hestia. Dolohov and Mulciber started to laugh.
"I'm not scared of a mudblood," they said, both of them pointing their wands at her. James felt irritated; he had forgotten his wand in the Heads dorm. He turned to look at Snape, who was standing, staring at Lily with wide regretful eyes. Snape's gaze moved to James as he felt his eyes on him, and James saw fear in Snape's eyes. He inclined his head a little to Lily, as if to beg James to help her, and James felt his stomach turn. Severus Snape was in love with Lily Evans.
James turned to Lily, who was standing there against three opponents, as Avery had drawn his wand. The three Slytherins looked towards Severus, and Lily watched as Severus drew his wand and pointed it at Lily. James saw hurt flicker across Lily's expression as Snape pointed his wand at her. Avery, Mulciber and Dolohov smiled, satisfied, and turned back to Lily.
"You're not going to win mudblood. There's four of us and only one of you," Dolohov sneered.
"She's a mudblood, so technically there's only the four of us standing here across from filth," Mulciber sneered.
"Mudblood thinks she can beat us?" Avery said, smiling dangerously at Lily. James felt sick to his stomach as he saw Lily standing there by herself, and wished he had his wand. The three Slytherins turned to look at Severus, waiting for him to insult Lily.
"Mudblood," Severus said, looking at Lily. Lily froze, and tears blurred her vision. That was twice now that Severus Snape had called her a mudblood. James was outraged. He didn't approve of anything hurting her, especially when it was one of her friends. He watched as Lily's face twisted with rage, and waved her wand. There was a bang and Mulciber, Avery and Dolohov were thrown, over their heads, into the Owlery. Severus was standing by himself, looking at Lily. Lily stood there, glaring at him, her wand pointed at his face, "Lily, I'm sorry," Severus said quietly, looking at her.
"That's mudblood to you Snivellus," she sneered and James watched Snape's face crumple. There was a bang and James saw Snape scream in pain, clutching at his face, where Lily had sent a stinging jinx. Without another word, or glance at Severus, Lily walked around him and down the stairs, her vision blurry. James looked down at Snape, who was crying. Snape looked up to see James standing there and rubbed his eyes.
"Don't hurt her," Severus said quietly, "or I'll kill you." James nodded and held out his hand, and Snape shook it, then walked around James to the Owlery, dabbing at his eyes.
James found Lily at the bottom of the stairs, sitting on the floor, a shining doe running around her. He sat down next to her and looked at the doe.
"Your patronus is a doe?" he said, looking at the shining doe, not wanting to bring up the scene with the Slytherins. Lily turned to look at James, and James saw her face was wet.
"Yes, why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at James.
"I'll show you when I have a wand," James said, "I feel so stupid!" he growled at himself, running a hand through his hair, "I usually have my wand with me all the time and today I didn't and they were going to hurt you," he said the last few words quietly, and looked down at the floor. Lily put her hand on James's knee and rubbed circles with her thumb. James looked up at her.
"It's alright," she said quietly. James lifted up his hand to wipe away a tear that had just escaped Lily's eye with his thumb. Lily looked into James's eye and, out of the corner of his eye, James saw Lily's doe disappear.
Lily cleared her throat and turned away from James. She stood up and put her wand in her robes as James stood up, dusting off his robes from the back, "Breakfast?" he asked with a smile, and Lily chuckled.
"Breakfast!" she yelled, in a dead on imitation of Sirius, and James laughed.
"Ah Padfoot, I didn't realize you had turned into a girl," he said, ruffling Lily's still tied up hair. Lily laughed and pulled her hair-tie out, causing her hair to cascade down her back. James caught a whiff of her shampoo, "Orchids?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at Lily.
"Yes orchids, they smell good," she shrugged.
"I would've expected you to smell like lilies," he smirked, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"I have a question," Lily said suddenly, when they had reached the Entrance Hall. She was shocked to see that people were only starting to make their way down for breakfast. She felt as if it was afternoon already.
"Yes Orchid," James said, turning to Lily who rolled her eyes.
"Two things actually," she said, smiling guiltily up at James, "Firstly, why do you call each other, well, what you do?" James's smile faltered and he thought fast, trying to make something up; he couldn't just tell Lily that Sirius, Peter and himself were unregistered Animagi, and that Remus was a werewolf.
"Uh, well…" he began.
"I mean, I understand Remus' nickname, but why are you Prongs? And why is Sirius Padfoot? And, for the love of Merlin, Wormtail?" James chuckled.
"Its, uh, because of, uh, our patronusses," he said quickly, running his hand through his hair, proud of himself, for his answer.
"Oh," Lily said, and James exhaled, relieved, that she had believed him. It wasn't as if he'd lied, exactly, because those were their patronusses, but that wasn't why they called each other what they did. Then James frowned, "What did you mean by you 'understand Remus' nickname'? he said, looking down at Lily.
"Well, it's not that hard to piece together," she said. James put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her, and turned her to face him.
"Lily, what do you know?" James said, his voice shaking.
"I know about Remus', well, situation," she said, "I mean, he looks sick every full moon, and then he's absent from school the next day. His situation really isn't so hard to figure out," she said, looking up at James.
"You know about his furry little problem?" he asked incredulously, and Lily nodded.
"I've known since fifth year," she shrugged, "He didn't tell me, but if you think about it, it's really not so hard to piece together. And the fact that you guys call him Moony really doesn't make it hard to figure out." James shook his head.
"You're the only one who knows right? You haven't told Hestia, Gwenog and Alice?" Lily shook her head before he had finished.
"It's not my secret to tell," she said. James smiled down at her, never having liked her as much as he did at that moment. Then he felt his stomach clench as he thought about what to tell her about his absence that night.
"Uh, regarding full moons," he said nervously, running his hand through his hair, "I'm not going to be at the dorm every full moon night," he said, looking anywhere but at Lily, who frowned.
"Why?"
"Well, Pad-Sirius doesn't like being alone with W-Peter, and since Moony, I mean Remus, isn't there, he's going to be stuck with Pete all night," he said pathetically, and James looked at Lily who was smiling.
"I always knew Black was the baby," she said, laughing, "Well that makes sense. Oh and you can call them by their nicknames around me," she added, smiling at James, who smiled back gratefully. He had cleared up his schedule for every full moon and he and Lily were closer than ever. What was there to not smile about?
Moony had been taken down to the shrieking shack a half hour ago, and the other Marauders were looking at the map, waiting until they saw McGonagall's footprints back in her office. James wasn't concentrating on the map, but was thinking about Lily, who was alone in the Heads dorm. He wondered what she was doing. Homework probably, James thought to himself, and chuckled.
"What are you laughing at Prongs?" Peter asked from across the room where he was finishing the Transfiguration essay that was to be turned in the next day. James was glad Lily had made him finish it the day it was assigned.
"Nothing," James said looking back at the map. McGonagall was back in her office, "Alright let's go," James said, closing the map and putting it in his robes. He pulled the invisibility cloak out of his robes and opened it up. Peter and Sirius stood up and the three of them squished under the cloak.
"I think we're getting too big for this," Sirius said as he looked down to see his legs sticking out of thin air.
"Maybe Wormtail should transform so we're covered?" James said, turning to Peter who sighed and stepped out from under the cloak, which fell down to cover both James and Sirius from head to toe. When James looked over to where Peter was standing, it was to see a rat on the floor.
"Let's go," Sirius said, walking towards the door. He opened it and stepped back so Peter could slip out, before following, James at his side. Peter ran down stairs, James and Sirius right behind him. James heard screams and looked around to see girls jumping up on tables and couches, pointing at Peter.
"So much for Gryffindor courage," Sirius smirked, looking at a bunch of sixth year guys who were screaming and were sitting up on a table, keeping their feet off the floor. James laughed and walked to the portrait hole. The portrait hole opened and James gasped as he saw Lily walk in. They slipped past her, and James found himself pressed up against Lily for a few seconds, his heart rate speeding up. They kept walking and James turned around to see Lily looking back as she felt something push by her. He saw her frown, and realized she knew about the invisibility cloak. He held his breath until he saw her shrug and turn around.
"How's that going with you and Evans?" Sirius said, looking at James. James shrugged, "You going to ask her to Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked. James looked up at Sirius.
"I hadn't thought of that. When is the next Hogsmeade visit?"
"Couple of weeks," Sirius said, smiling cheekily at James, "So I see you still like her?" James mock punched Sirius in the shoulder, causing Sirius to laugh. They walked out across the garden towards the Whomping Willow, "Ah I cant see Wormy," Sirius said, scanning the grass. James saw something move in the grass and pointed, and Sirius relaxed. Sirius and James stopped by the Whomping Willow, and when it froze, they ran into the tunnel. The boys pulled off their robes and left them in the tunnel, and James put the cloak carefully inside his robes before hanging them up.
They heard a howl in the distance and James saw Sirius smile in excitement, "Let's do this." They transformed, and then the dog, stag and rat made their way up the tunnels towards the howls. In the excitement, James' mind slipped away from Lily.
Lily looked out of the window from the Heads dorm. She had just finished all of her work, including a nasty 3ft. essay for potions. Lily flopped down onto her favorite armchair, all her work done, bored. She hadn't realized how much James had been distracting her for the past few days they had been at Hogwarts. She stood up and walked over to her staircase. She looked around and spotted a letter on James' desk. She walked over to it and picked it up, recognizing James's fathers' handwriting. Curiously, she picked up the letter, and began to read.
James,
I'm glad you're Head Boy, but don't abuse your power. I don't want to have you graduate without that badge. I need to frame it. Your mother is not glaring anymore; she's busy writing a letter to Merlin knows whom.
I can't believe you managed to turn the ceiling pink! That is fantastic! For some odd reason I'm proud of you. And Dumbledore played along? That's even better, but I must say he is an odd man. Well, even if it is only the first week back, please focus on your studies, and Quidditch. I was Quidditch Captain remember? Not that you'll ever be better than me, but I still want you to try.
Lily? The love of your life is staying in the same dorm as you? Don't do anything I wouldn't. You're actually talking? Even after you've probably asked her out already? She must have been hit with a powerful Confundus charm, which made her friends with you. Just kidding son, congratulations on your newfound friendship with her. Don't blow it. You wont be able to hex me through this letter. Auror remember? My house is protected *laughs evilly*
Jackie attacked Lily's hair? That's hilarious! Not for Lily though. Yikes. Well I doubt Jackie has ever seen red hair. Maybe that's why she likes Lily's hair.
I really hope you can come home from Christmas. You can bring everyone, even Lily. Especially Lily actually, I would love to meet her. We have to use your baby pictures for something.
Love, Dad (Mum stopped talking to you. I think she's writing to Lily)
Lily laughed as she finished the letter. Mr. Potter was a lot like James. She ran her hand through her hair, a habit she seemed to have picked up from James, and put the letter down. James had told his parents he liked her?
She turned and looked at James' staircase. She looked around to make sure no one was looking, and climbed the stairs. She pushed the door open and saw that he hadn't made his bed. She shook her head and pointed her wand at it, straightening out the covers. She walked over to his dresser, and looked at what was on it.
She saw James' wallet lying on top of the dresser and picked it up. Inside, was a picture of a girl, which was moving, as it was a wizard picture. The girl was laughing at the camera, and kept trying to cover her face. She turned it to the side and saw that the girl had the same hazel eyes that James did. She didn't know James had a sister. She pulled out the picture to get a closer look, and saw a picture of the girl, James, and James' parents smiling up at her. She watched as James and his father ran their hands through their identically messy hair simultaneously and smiled. The James in the picture ruffled the girl's hair and the girl slapped his hand away, turning to glare at him. Emily Potter rolled her eyes and ruffled James' hair with a smile, causing James to yell out and run his hand through his hair, attempting to fix it.
Lily started to put the picture of the girl back into James' wallet and saw something written on the back. She turned it over and read a single word. 'Alissa'. Lily turned the picture over to see the girl; she looked about 11 years old. Why wasn't she at Hogwarts?
She heard a noise and turned around to see James standing in the doorway, a cut on his face. She rushed over to him and pulled her wand out. She pointed it at the cut and slowly the cut healed. She led him over to the bed and pushed him down.
"Are you alright?" she said quietly. James nodded and looked up at her.
"Why are you still awake? What are you doing in here?" he asked.
"I was exploring," she said, rolling her eyes, "And why? What time is it?"
"Exploring what?" he asked, looking towards his dresser where she had been standing, "Oh and it's about 1 in the morning."
"That late!" Lily screamed, ignoring James' first question. James nodded and Lily stood up, and started to leave the room.
"Lily wait," said James, and she turned around. James stood up and walked to her, "Ask." She looked at him and frowned.
"Ask what?"
"I know what you want to ask," he said, gesturing towards his wallet, which was lying open, the picture of Alissa on the dresser.
"Oh, Alissa," she said, looking down at the floor guiltily, "Sorry, I was curious," she said, looking up at James who grinned and shook his head.
"It's fine. Do you want to know about her?" he asked quietly, and Lily nodded.
"Why isn't she at Hogwarts?" she asked curiously, and James closed his eyes. He walked over to the dresser, put the picture back inside his wallet and turned around.
"Downstairs?" he suggested, gesturing to the door. Lily nodded and walked out. James smiled to himself; Lily Evans was curious enough about him to go exploring in his room. Downstairs, Lily flopped down onto the armchair, and James sat on the sofa, "Alissa was my little sister," James said quietly, looking at Lily.
"You mean she is your little sister?" Lily said, correcting James' grammar.
"No, I meant she was," he said, looking at Lily, whose face drained as she realized what he was trying to say.
"You mean she, she died?" she asked quietly, looking at James, who nodded and ran a hand through his hair, "I'm sorry," she whispered, looking down into her lap, feeling bad for having brought it up.
"Don't be sorry," he said, turning to look into the fire, "You couldn't have helped anyway. Voldemort was mad at dad for locking up one of his Death Eaters, so he targeted the family," James said, closing his eyes, "he arrived at the mansion last summer, the summer Alissa received her letter to go to Hogwarts. I've never been so scared," James said, his voice lowering to a whisper, "We were downstairs eating dinner, and there was a loud bang in front room. Dad got up and ran to see what it was and then there were more blasts. I got up and ran after him, telling mum to take Alissa and go upstairs. I remember walking into the front room when Voldemort screamed 'Crucio'. I watched dad writhe on the floor in pain and pulled out my wand. I sent a jinx at Voldemort, who blocked it and turned to me, pointing his wand at me. I remember freezing, but then Voldemort flew back and hit the wall. Mum was standing behind me, holding Alissa's hand. Voldemort pointed his wand at Mum and Dad and I threw him back again, but there was a flash of light and Alissa fell to the floor," a tear leaked out of the corner of James' eyes and Lily moved to sit next to him, taking his hand in hers, feeling her eyes glaze, "Mum and Dad pointed their wands at Voldemort and all of a sudden he was gone. I crouched down next to Alissa, and looked into her eyes, trying to wake her up, but she wasn't in there anymore," he said, wiping his eyes.
He turned to look at Lily, who looked sick, "I keep her picture as a reminder of what Voldemort has taken from me," he said, looking into Lily's eyes. She squeezed his hand and he looked down, realizing that she had taken his hand in hers. He looked back up at her and gave her a smile.
"I'm sorry James," Lily said quietly, leaning in and resting her head on his shoulder, "If I'd known I would've been nicer to you last year." James laughed.
"Ah Evans, are you telling me you would've gone out with me out of pity?" he said, nudging her, and Lily laughed.
"Probably," she mused, "I mean, that's why I said yes to," her eyes flashed up to see his harden and she stopped herself, "I mean, nothing," she said, looking down at her lap.
"Who Lils?" James asked, squeezing her hand.
"Nobody!" Lily said, nudging James, who smiled.
"I'll find out eventually," he winked, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, alright, good luck with that."
The two of them sat like that, not talking, for a long time, before James heard Lily's breathing slow. He looked down at her to see her asleep. He stood up, holding her so that she wouldn't fall, and carefully pulled her into his arms, noting how light she was.
"Merlin Evans, its as if you don't eat anything," he muttered as he carried her up to her room, laying her down on the bed. He untied her hair, watching in fascination as it cascaded over her pillow, and pulled the blanket over her. He looked down at her and remembered how, the day Alissa had died, he'd gone upstairs to his room and pulled out his photo album, and looked at a picture he had taken of Lily laughing, and watched as she laughed repeatedly. He closed the door quietly and walked to his room. He glanced at his watch as he took it off, and saw it was almost 2:30 in the morning.
He collapsed on top of his bed, noticing that somebody had made the bed for him, still dressed in his Hogwarts robes, and fell asleep quickly. It seemed like years ago that he and the Marauders had been in the Shrieking Shack.
Hey! I know a lot happens in this chapter, but I'm building up the fear of Voldemort. Hope you like the story so far. Please review! I really like reading them. I hope you didn't mind much about me inventing Alissa but I wanted to explore a reason for James to hate him so much. Thanks for reading!
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